Mendocino County
History
History of Mendocino County California - Alley, Bowen & Co., San Francisco, 1880
MENDOCINO CITY.
This town is the most important place on the coast of Mendocino county, and is located on the north shore of Mendocino bay, at the mouth of Big river, one hundred and twenty-eight miles from San Francisco. It is the shipping point for a large lumber region, and the outlet for the produce of a large agricultural section. Away back in 1850 or 1851 foul weather drove a man by the name of William Kaster ashore at this place, as he was cruising along up the coast in a small craft of some kind, and when once here he was loth to leave, and finally settled on the land on which the town was built in later years. On the 19th day of July, 1852, a brig might have been seen in the offing heading landward, and bearing directly for the bight at the mouth of Big river. Closer and closer it came, until at last it "hove to" and dropped anchor in the quiet waters of the sheltered cove. But there was no one to watch their movements from the shore save about a half dozen white men and some listless Indians. Of the white men all but one, perhaps, belonged to their own party and had been sent overland with oxen. The secret of the whole movement was that a saw-mill was about to be built and put in operation here and the vessel had on board the machinery for it, and the men who were to put it in operation. The projector of the enterprise was the irrepressible Harry Meigs, and the name of this brig was Ontario. The machinery was soon disembarked, and the construction of the mill buildings begun, and in a short time the hum of the steel was heard echoing up the cañons and floating out across the heaving billows of the Pacific.
J. E. Carlson, W. H. Kelley, and J. B. Ford, were among the crowd of men who helped to put that pioneer mill in operation, and who are still residents of Mendocino City. J. F. Hills, came here shortly after.
The first house built on the town site was erected by its pioneer settler, William Kasten, of lumber given him by Meigs, as part payment for his claim to the water-front and the point of land on which the shipping is done. This house is now occupied by William Heeser as a dwelling-house, and is in a good state of preservation, although it is the first house ever built in Mendocino county out of mill-sawed lumber. The first business in the place was a store by the mill company, soon after the commencement of their operations there. Fred. Heldt opened a saloon shortly after, and in 1855 added a general stock of goods to his business. J. F. Hills opened a store on the flat, near where the bridge now is, in 1856. The plat of the town was surveyed and recorded in 1869.
A correspondent of one of the Ukiah papers, in 1865, gives the following graphic description of Mendocino City as it was then, and we append it, that our readers may compare the appearance of the place then with the present, and mark its improvement: "This place is situated immediately on the coast, the peninsula upon which it is being washed on three sides by the ocean, whose hoarse murmurings are heard all day long, as well as through the more silent vigils of the night. It derives its importance from the lumber trade, great quantities of which are exported to all parts of our own State, as well as to Mexico and South America. The lumber is obtained from immense redwood forests, which stretch for many miles towards the interior. Nothing can exceed the sublimity of these forests. Silent, solemn and awful, the huge trees rear their lofty tops until they seem to touch the skies, standing like sentinels to the departing years that have gone; looking like the remnants of an antediluvian ocean. The growth of many a century must be garnered up in their huge bulks, and many a wintry blast has swept around them since they sprang from the virgin soil. Besides the lumber interests, there are several articles of export; the very finest crops of potatoes, oats and vegetables are produced. The cereals, however, do not flourish so well, the cold ocean breezes being detrimental, and for the same reason, fruit-trees are quite scarce on the coast. The town contains three hotels, three dry-goods stores, two drug stores, two or three huckster shops, one livery stable, two barber shops, and two butcher shops. Each of the hotels keep a bar, and there is also a large saloon. There is a Protestant church, with a Sunday-school in connection with it, and a Catholic church in the course of construction. There is a Good Templars' lodge here, and also one of the finest and best furnished school-houses in the county, with an attendance of thirty scholars." At present the business interests of the town are represented as follows: Three hotels, four stores, two banks, one newspaper, three saloons, two drug stores, two restaurants, three shoe shops, one saddlery, one millinery establishment, one barber shop, one jewelry business, one meat-market, three livery stables, and one blacksmith shop. The population is estimated at seven hundred, and is increasing slowly, but permanently. The town presents a beautiful picture as it is approached from the south on a midsummer's day, with its white cottages, painted business houses, and modest, yet beautiful edifices of learning, workship and fraternity—all basking in the flood of sunlight, with the quiet bay as a foreground and the swelling, throbbing bosom of the blue ocean on the left background, and on the right the verdant hues of the evergreen pine and fir trees. In its environs all is activity and bustle, and the energy and enterprise of the citizens of the place are visible on every hand. Much of the future prosperity of the town depends upon the milling industry, and as there is ample timber yet accessible to the mills here to supply their demand for many years to come, no fears need be entertained of any immediate decline in the importance or growth of the town. H. H. Jarvis is the postmaster, Eugene Brown s agent for Wells, Fargo & Co., and O. Everson is telegraph operator.
BANK OF MENDOCINO.—The Bank of Mendocino was organized September 14, 1870, as a mutual saving's bank, under the general laws of the State of California. The incorporators of the bank were William Reeser, A. Heeser, J. E. Chalfant, James Townsend, J. B. Ford, C. W. Denslow, T. Reeves, and J. P. Carroll. The following officers were elected upon its organization: William Heeser, President; J. B. Ford, Treasurer; and A. Reeser, Secretary. These gentlemen remained in office until 1878, when the following officers were elected: Eugene Brown, President; C. W. Denslow, Treasurer; and William Heeser, Secretary, who still continue in their respective positions.
The following statement of the financial condition of this bank was made June 17, 1880: "Real estate, $11,564.52; loans on real estate, $195,078.42; loans on other security, $2,794.37; money on hand, $4,769.87; deposits in other banks, $8,368.09; office furniture, etc., $189.00; expense, taxes, etc., $677.16; making the total amount of assets $223,441.43. The liabilities are as follows: Reserve fund, $9,816.75; due depositors, $213,227.50; undivided profits, $397.18, making a total of $223,441.43." The bank is in a flourishing condition, and the first decade of its operations has been one of marked financial success, and it is reported to be in a sound condition by the Bank Commissioners of the State. It is an institution which has added much to the material prosperity of the place and the adjacent vicinity, affording a safe and reliable agent for the investment of the surplus capital of the place.
MENDOCINO DISCOUNT BANK.—This bank was organized December 22, 1871, under the general laws of the State, with the following gentlemen as incorporators: J. P. Carroll, James Townsend, A. Heeser, J. B. Ford, William Heeser, Charles W. Denslow, and J. E. Chalfant. The capital stock at the time of its organization was $30,000. The following statement of the financial condition of the bank was made June 17, 1880: " Loans on real estate, $9,577.12; invested in county warrants, $145.00; loans on stocks and bonds, $2,500; loaned on personal security, $14,639.87; loans on other securities, $60.00; deposited in other banks, $4,718.42; expenses, taxes, etc., $68.90; School orders, $100; bills receivable on the Pacific Bank, $8,550.65 ; making the total of the assets of the bank $40,359.96. The liabilities of the business are as follows: Capital paid in coin $30,000; reserve and surplus, $334.59; due depositors, $5,238,04; interest account, $365.15; tax not paid, $43.13; other undivided profits, $583.75; collections, $3,795.30 ; making a total of $40,359.96." This bank is reported by the State Commissioners to be perfectly sound and on a good basis. It is, as its name indicates, a bank of discount, and any one familiar with the modus operandi of conducting business at the mills of the coast know what a niche in the monetary economy of that section such an institution fills. The mills do not keep the cash on hand with which to liquidate their monthly dues to their men, but give orders on firms or banks in San Francisco, which the men have to dispose of to the best advantage possible, but of course always at a greater or less discount; hence the demand for an enterprise of this kind, for it is not always that the orders can be disposed of to private individuals, no matter how sound the order is.
NEWSPAPER.—The Mendocino Beacon was established October 6, 1877, by William Heeser, who still remains its proprietor. It is a seven column folio, size of form thirty-two by twenty-one inches. It is independent in politics, and devoted entirely to local matters, and the large circulation of eight hundred attests how highly it is appreciated on the coast and all over the entire extent of Mendocino county. Mr. Reeser always takes great pride in the success and welfare of any enterprise he undertakes, and in none has he displayed a greater interest than this, and, knowing that the reception which the readers would accord to it would depend entirely upon its editorial management, he has always employed the best available talent to assist him in conducting its columns. He is at present assisted by Mr. J. B. Fitch, whose ready, able and facile pen has added very much towards the improvement and acceptability of the journal among its patrons. The mechanical department is under the management of a competent man, and is fully fitted up with all the appliances necessary to the publication of the journal and to perform all job printing which the demands of the place require, consisting of a hand press and a job press. Too much cannot be said in commendation of a good local newspaper properly conducted, and such is certainly the Beacon.
INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS.—Stella Lodge, No. 213, I. O. O F., was organized November 22, 1872, with the following charter members: M. J. C. Galvin, William H. Cureton, N. Iverson, George Sanders, J. F. Nickols and J. E. Kenedy. The first officers were: J. F. Nickols, N. G.; M. J. C. Galvin, V. G.; and N. W. Lane, Secretary. The following named gentlemen have had the honor of filling the position of Noble Grand: J. F. Nichols, M. , J. C. Galvin, N. W. Lane, Frank Wilber, J. McCroden, E. S. O'Brien, W. R. Stewart, E. Clifton, G. R. Bowman, B. F. Higgins, E. W. Potter, J. J. Morrow and L. A. Morgan. The present officers are : L. A. Morgan, N. G.; F. Wilber, V. G.; B. F. Higgins, Secretary ; and George Switzer, Treasurer. The present membership is eighty-five, and the lodge is in a most prosperous condition, and is doing the good work which is allotted to all organizations of its kind with a degree of fidelity to its principles well worthy of emulation. In January, 1879, the Lodge erected a fine hall, fifty-five by thirty feet and two-story high and hard finished throughout, at a cost of $2,100, all of which indebtedness has been since liquidated. The upper story of the building is devoted to lodge purposes, and the lower story is used for library purposes, in which there are four hundred volumes of choice reading matter. In the "Evergreen" cemetery they have a lot forty-four by forty-four feet, to be used for the interment of their brothers, around which they have lately constructed a new and substantial fence.
Ancient Order of United Workmen.— Mendocino Lodge, No. 70, A. O. U. W., was organized December 7, 1878, with the following charter members: B. F. Higgins, G. H. Bowman, D. N. Le Ballister, John Sirouski, T. R. Smith, E. W. Potter, J. McCroden, A. Fredding, O. Hamilton, and N. E. Hoak. The first officers of the lodge were: G. H. Bowman, M. W.; D. N. Le Ballister, G. F.; J. Sirouski, O.; T. R. Smith, Recorder; E. W. Potter, F.; and J. McCroden, Receiver. The following members have filled the executive chair: G. H. Bowman, and C. F. Reeves; Mr. Bowman having served three terms in all. The present officers are: G. H. Bowman, M. W.; O. Hamilton, G. F.; J. Barry, O.; B. F. Higgins, Recorder ; J. Kupp, F.; W. T. Wilson, Recorder. The present membership is forty-five, and on the increase. The meetings of the lodge are held in the Odd Fellows' lodge-room as yet, and they have only lost two members by death since the organization of the lodge.
Free and Accepted Masons. — Mendocino Lodge, No. 179, was organized under dispensation October, 1865, and the charter was granted in October, 1866. The officers under dispensation were : E. J. Albertson, W. M.; William Heeser, S. W. ; George R. Lowell, J. W.; R. G. Coombs, Treasurer ; G. Canning Smith, Secretary. The charter members were : E. J. Albertson, William Heeserer, George R. Lowell, F. B. Lowell, G. Canning Smith, J. Gschwind, S. Coombs, R. G. Coombs, I. Stevens, and William Booth. The first officers under the charter were: E. J. Albertson, W. M.; G. R. Lowell, S. W.; Alfred Nelson, Jr., J. W.; G. Hegenmeyer, Treasurer; and A. Chalfant, Secretary. The following named members have filled the position of W. M.: E. J. Albertson, George R. Lowell, A. Chalfant, Alfred Nelson Jr., B. A. Paddleford, Frank E. Warren, F. Hailing, and J. P. Lindberg. The present officers are : J. P. Lindberg, W. M.; C. O. Packard, S. W.; J. Grindle, J. W.; G. Hegenmeyer, Treasurer ; Frank E. Warren, Secretary.* The present membership is fifty-nine, and they have made one hundred and three members since the organization of the lodge. In 1866 an enterprise was put on foot by the members of this lodge by which they were enabled to build a fine hall for their use. A stock company was organized, and the shares of stock were sold for $100 each, which were readily disposed of to the required amount. These shares of stock were bought in from time to time by the lodge as money accumulated in the treasury, until at the present time it is all in the hands of the Order. The building cost $6,000 and is not fully completed yet. When all the projected plans for the building are fully carried to a successful issue, it will be one of the handsomest lodge
buildings of any in the interior of the State. The different styles of architecture are handsomely represented by pillars on the sides of the wall which seem to be sustaining the dome of the "starry heavens," in which are represented two of the great lights of the Order. On the pinnacle of the dome there is a beautiful piece of sculpture carved from a block of the indigenous redwood. It represents the beautiful Masonic emblem, the broken pillar the maiden beside it, with the sprig in her hand, and old father Time toying with her tresses. The execution of the design is very perfect, and speaks volumes for the skill and ability of the workman who produced it. There it ever stands, visible to all who enter the town or pass through its streets, proclaiming in silent majesty, that grandest of all lessons which the teachings of this worthy fraternity seek to inculcate.
(* Frank E. Warren, the Secretary of this lodge for the present year (1880), died while occupying the position, and the office was filled by other members, temporarily during the remainder of the Masonic year.)
CHURCHES.—It seems perfectly natural for mankind to have a place of worship, and no matter how long they may be isolated from the influences or teachings of the Gospel, when an opportunity presents itself they attend upon the services with a great degree of regularity, and give very liberally of their means for the support of the ministry and the erection of church edifices. As a striking evidence of this fact we have but to refer to the old mining days, when the best contributors to the Gospel ministrations were gamblers and saloon-keepers, not because they had any more desire to see sacred institutions flourish and divine influences spread, than did the horny-fisted miners, but because they had more ready cash at their command when the subscription was taken. In those days denominationalism did not flourish to any great extent; the population was altogether too cosmopolitan, and in fact remains so to this day. The minister went into a camp and promised the "boys " as everybody was then called, that he would preach to them, not as the representative of the Methodist, Baptist, or any other sect, but simply as a minister or proclaimer of the Gospel truth, as set forth in the life, example and death of Jesus Christ, and away down in the hearts of all those sturdy sun-browned men there would be a feeling that they had not felt before for many and many a day. The remembrance of the early religious training of their youth, the songs and prayers of a now sainted mother, the blessings and invocations of a father who, as the boy was just about to step over the threshold of his boyhood's home into the realms of the outer and to him all untried world, had placed his hand reverentially on his young head and said, as tears, scalding burning tears flowed down his furrowed cheek, all furrowed with care and anxiety for this same boy: "My son, may the God who has been so merciful to me and to you, and spared your life and mine to see the day of your complete and full manhood, ever keep you in the paths of duty, rectitude and truth, ever protect you from all the ills of life, shielding you from the tempter's snare, with the great strong wing of His love, and finally guide you to that haven of eternal rest, that mansion of light not made by hands, eternally in the heavens, where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary be at rest." All this came up in their memory, and a longing to hear once more the "old, old story of Jesus and His love," would seize them, and out would come the buckskin bags, and the shining dust would be poured out without stint or measure.
And so it was in Mendocino City. The first church building erected in the place was built in the winter of 1857-8, and was dedicated by Rev. Kellen, a Methodist Episcopal minister, but it was not dedicated as a denominational church at all, as all sects had contributed towards its erection. A public subscription had been taken to secure the necessary funds, and the only stipulation made was, that it should be Protestant in its creed. This building was located near the northeast corner of Ukiah and Lansing streets, and on the former. It was about thirty by forty in size, and is now used for school purposes. In 1867 the present handsome church edifice was erected under the auspices of the Presbyterian denomination at a cost of about $7,000. The stranger in Mendocino City is greatly surprised to see such a beautiful and evidently expensive church structure in a modest little place like that, and it speaks very highly indeed for the spirit of Christian advancement in the place. Of a truth, too much cannot be said in commendation of the enterprising spirit that seems to pervade the good people along the entire Mendocino coast, and is made so patently evident, by the erection of elegantly costly temples of worship in every town from Point Arena to Mendocino City. As a witness to our assertion, stand out the handsome structures erected by the Methodist people at Point Arena and Manchester, the neat, substantial, and really tasteful buildings, at Nevarra, Cuffey's Cove and Mendocino City, erected by the Catholic people, and the beautiful edifice under consideration at Mendocino City. This building is situated on the south side of Main street, east of Church street, and on the north side of the old county road. The following named gentlemen have officiated in this place as pastors: Rev. Kellen, who seemed to fill the pulpit of the old church altogether, until the change occurred. Under the Presbyterian regime Rev. David McClure, now of Oakland, was the first one to preach here. He was followed by Rev. S. P. Whiting, now of Cloverdale, Sonoma county, and he by Rev. Charles Dewing, now of Union, New York, and he by Rev. D. K. Nesbitt, now of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and he by Rev. W. R. Stewart, and he by Rev. A. C. Gillies, and he by the present pastor, Rev. Thomas Kirkland.
Catholic Church.—As the first church of this creed was erected in Mendocino City, and as the headquarters of the mission has always remained here we will incorporate the following statement concerning the work of the Catholic Church in Mendocino county, into the history of this place. This sketch has been kindly furnished us by the present rector of the mission, Rev. Father J. Sheridan, and is full and complete in regard to all the facts and figures that are of interest to the reader of this work, and will prove of incalculable interest to the Catholic people twenty years from now. This courtesy was extended to the pastors of all churches, and that some failed to respond accounts for the absence of that mention which it is always the intention of the compiler of this work to give church and all other moral or religious organizations in the county.
"There are four church buildings in Mendocino county, erected under the auspices of the Catholics: one in Mendocino City, one in Ukiah, one in Cuffey's Cove and one in Nevarra. The church in Mendocino City was built about sixteen years ago (1864) at a cost of about $2,500, by the Rev. Father Sheehan. Father Sheehan founded this mission in 1863, and supplied it himself for the first two years, being located at Mendocino City, as the first resident pastor, in the place or in the county. Two years after the founding of the mission, Rev. Father Vincent Riera was sent to succeed the reverend founder in the charge of the mission. Father Riera built the church at Nevarra, and then left for Lower California. To this day the memory of the good and dear Father Riera is fresh in the hearts of the people of Mendocino. He was succeeded by Rev. Father Luceano O'Suna, and he by Rev. Father Rooney, who had charge of the mission about one year, when Rev. J. J. Callan, the pious priest, and gifted preacher, was sent to relieve him. Father Callan labored with great success for over a year, when he was succeeded by Rev. Father P. O'Kane. After Father O'Kane, came Rev. Father Becker, who served in the mission over a year, and was then succeeded by Rev. Father S. Pettit. During the four years of Father Pettit's administration the mission flourished wonderfully, as he is a man of untiring zeal and unbounded generosity. Four years ago Father Pettit was succeeded by Rev John Sheridan, the present rector of the mission.
The size of St. Vincent's church in Mendocino City is sixty-four feet in length and thirty-two feet in width. It is twenty feet. to the ceiling and fifty feet to the top of the spire. St. Patrick's church, at Nevarra, was built in 1866, at a cost of about $800, and its dimensions are about forty by twenty, with a ceiling fourteen feet high. St. Mary's church, at Ukiah, was built in 1870 by Father Luceano, at a cost of about $2,000. Its size is about sixty-eight by thirty-two, with a twenty-two-foot ceiling. The spire has not yet been added. St. Mary's "Star of the Sea," at Cuffey's Cove, was built in the present year by Father Sheridan, at a cost of about $3,000. The style of the building is simple gothic with an arched ceiling throughout the whole building. There are three aisles in the nave and three altars in the chancel, together with a choir gallery inside and above the front entrance. The size of the church is seventy-six feet in length by thirty-six in width, with a ceiling twenty-two feet high. It has a spire which is twelve by twelve at its base and extends heavenward to a distance of eighty-four feet to the top of the cross. There is also a small church about to be built in Anderson valley, and at some not very far distant day there will be a convent school erected in Ukiah, as a portion of the money is already donated for that purpose. In Round Valley, Long Valley, Hopland and Point Arena occasional services are held, but there are no church buildings as yet in any of the last-named places."
MENDOCINO BREWERY.—This enterprise was set on foot in 1867 by M. Brizen, who continued it till May, 1877, when he disposed of the business to John C. Sirouski. The brewery is situated at Ocean View, a mile or so north of Mendocino City, and the market for the beer is found along the coast.
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.