Colusa County
Biographies
HON. K. E. KELLEY
Kirk Etna Kelley is a native of Warren County, Illinois, born June 3, 1848. His father was one of the pioneers of California, coming to this State in 1848, shortly after the birth of Kirk E., and dying there some two years later. When but a child, his widowed mother, his brother and an adopted sister moved to Iowa, and here young Kirk was brought up on a farm. He attended school only three months and never entered the door of a high school or college except in the capacity of a teacher. What he acquired in an educational way was the result of his own self-teaching, of long hours in the evening, spent in reading, after a hard day’s work. He was always an omnivorous reader of books, and his retentive memory gleaned and stored away the pith and substance of what he found therein, for effective use in after life. When he had reached his seventeenth year, young Kelley passed his examination and received his certificate of teacher. He then began teaching in the public schools and followed it for several years in Missouri and Kansas. In 1871 he came to California, and for two years taught school in Solano County. Being naturally ambitious to rise, Mr. Kelley began the study of law. He had formed a partnership in the real-estate business at Dixon, and this afforded him an opportunity to devote his leisure time to his “black-letter books.” He borrowed his books, and, by dint of hard study, was admitted to practice in the county court of Solano at the end of a year. At the close of the following year he was admitted to practice his profession before the District Courts of the Sixth and Seventh Judicial Districts. He was afterwards entitled to practice by admission before the Supreme Court of the State and Circuit Court of the United States. His large business was extensive and his fees were fat, and he was enabled to retire from active practice in the courts in 1884. In 1882 he was elected State Senator from Yolo and Solano Counties, and served in the twenty-fifth Legislative Assembly during the regular and extra sessions. This was the notable period in which efforts were made to oust the Railroad Commissioners by joint resolution of the two Houses of the Legislature. Mr. Kelley opposed the movement, and by reason thereof he was, with other members, read out by the Democratic party at the famous Stockton convention.
Mr. Kelley came to Willows in 1885, and purchased the Willows “Journal,” which he edited and conducted in connection with W. H. Kelley for two years. A close logician and a master of vigorous English, Mr. Kelley soon lifted this newspaper from obscurity into the most flattering prosperity. Since his coming to Willows he has always identified himself with the business and social advancements of that town. His energy, shrewdness, persistence and knowledge of men and motives, have always brought him to the front, a cheerful leader, particularly of any forlorn hope in which his town requires prudent generalship. In the struggles for the division of the county and for the formation of Glenn County, Mr. Kelley was acknowledged by the opponents of that measure to be their most skillful and most formidable adversary. In 1888 he was sent as a delegate to the Democratic State Convention at Los Angeles. Mr. Kelley was married, in 1876, to Miss Louisa, daughter of Daniel Zumwalt, a pioneer of California and an old resident of the county.
“Colusa County” – by Justus H. Rogers – Orland, CA – 1891 – pp 409-410.
KEEPERS ALBERY
Is a native of Franklin County, Ohio, born in the year 1838. His youth was uneventful, being passed in a resolute struggle to secure a common education. This once acquired, he taught school in Franklin County, Ohio, and also in Iowa, laying by with genteel economy every dollar for which he toiled so patiently and successfully in the school-rooms of the young Buckeyes. Having amassed a snug little hoard for a pedagogue in those days, he invested it all in securing a higher education than he had yet attained, at Ann Arbor University, Michigan. Completing his course here, he undertook the study of the law and was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of Ohio in 1865. After practicing his chosen profession for a few years in Mercer County, of that State, he was elected District Attorney thereof, serving in that office from January 1, 1868, to January 1, 1872. Meanwhile, with the proceeds from his profession, he was aiding a younger brother, H. M. Albery, the present District Attorney of Colusa County, to acquire an education, and who became proficient in a knowledge of the law. While serving as prosecuting attorney, the criminal element of his district had reason to fear his ability, for not one of the many indictments prepared by him was quashed.
In 1875 Mr. Albery removed to Shelby County, in his State, and there practiced his profession till 1880, when, becoming possessed of a strong inclination to reside in California, he determined to realize it. For this purpose he sundered the strong ties and warm friendships of a life-time, placed his property in the care of an agent and turned his face toward the setting sun. On arriving in California in the fall of 1880, he cast about for some out-of-door occupation to relieve the strain of years of professional toil, and concluded to engage in mining in Plumas County. This he followed till 1886, when he located in Colusa County, though still retaining an interest in his mines. With his capability for making and holding friends, it was not long till Mr. Albery had gathered clients about him and built up a good practice in the legal profession. Shortly after locating in his present abode, the Wright Irrigation law was passed. Mr. Albery was a close student of this measure from its first introduction in the Legislature, and was convinced that it was radically wrong, though he himself was not opposed to irrigation as an adjunct of cultivation. Among a multitude of reasons for antagonism to this law, adduced by Mr. Albery, was that “for at least another generation, it will add to the large real-estate holdings at the expense and ruin of the small holdings, and particularly of the small holdings which happen to be encumbered.” He fought the measure sturdily as a citizen of the county, while his professional services were retained by the opponents of the creation of the Colusa and Central Irrigation Districts. Mr. Albery is a pleasant companion, cheerful as well as thoughtful, has a legion of friends, and, as he is in the prime and vigor of life, can look forward to increasing prosperity in his Colusa County home.
“Colusa County” – by Justus H. Rogers – Orland, CA – 1891 – pp 410-411
A. MONTGOMERY
Alexander Montgomery is a native of County Down, Ireland, born March 2, 1825. His father had been a wealthy farmer, but about the time of the birth of young Montgomery, he lost all his property, and at an early age Alexander was obliged to earn his own living. He was apprenticed to a tailor for four years, at the end of which time he followed his trade in Ireland and England until September 21, 1846, when he set out to seek his fortune in the United States. He was not in the Eastern States long before he decided to go to the gold fields of California; hence he took passage on a ship, via the Straits of Magellan for San Francisco, and on September 6, 1849, the vessel entered the Golden Gate, with a Masonic banner flying at the mast, which was designed and made by Mr. Montgomery. This was the first banner of that order brought to San Francisco.
Upon his arrival, he at once set off for the mines at Bidwell’s Bar, and followed mining for a year and a half on Feather and American Rivers. At the end of that time his capital amounted to $1,500, and, deciding to abandon the uncertain life of mining, he engaged in mercantile business, also running a tailor shop at Benicia and later at Shasta. He loaned his earnings, taking real-estate security generally. Owing to the ever-shifting conditions of those times, he was often obliged to take the security in satisfaction of the principal, and in that way became interested in lands in Colusa County in 1855. In 1856-57 he made a visit to the scenes of his birth, in Ireland. In 1861 he moved to this county, settling on Grand Island, where he farmed. Later he lived in Colusa. In 1866 he made a visit abroad, visiting all the capitals of Europe, excepting Portugal, the principal places of interest in Europe, Palestine and Egypt, and upon his return visited all the States of the Union, excepting Maine and Texas. He has since visited the Yellowstone National Park and Alaska.
He has acquired great wealth by the increase in land values, and is classed as one of the millionaires of the Pacific Coast. At the meeting of the Scotch-Irish Congress, May 29, 1890, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, he was elected Vice-President, and was later elected President of the State society of the same organization. On July 7, 1890, he was honored with the presidency of the Society of Pioneers of 1849. While Mr. Montgomery is a careful business man, he is generous to all objects which meet his approval, and has donated large sums of money to various worthy institutions. He has an especially warm corner in his heart for the old pioneer, and is extremely sympathetic and generous to the Association of California Pioneers. He is happy in his domestic life, living in his spacious and handsome residence in San Francisco. He was married to Miss Lizzie A. Green, and is the father of two pretty daughters, Annie, aged nine, and Hazel, aged six years.
“Colusa County” – by Justus H. Rogers – Orland, CA – 1891 – pp 411-412