The fOurMinor

brothersA II contributed

to area developmeEditor's note: Thefour Minor

ers, Isaac, Samuel, David and ",liam, all came to Arcata" with' .first to arrive in 1853 and the ~' ":1872. They were all born and ra .llton the farm operated by their j '"Samuel Minor, at a site borUniontown, Fayette County, R '.,sylvania. Each of the b'rotherstributed to the early dwvel.opmthe Arcata-Eureka area.

They were sixth genera.tiondants of Thomas Minor who, i"very early 20s, left his home inMagna, Somersett Coun/.y, Engand arrived in Ma,ssnchuseUl1629. He was one offour co-fouof Stonington, Connecticut, where"!lived out his life after lea,ving At'sachusetts. .

Stories on the four M1:nor brofollow. The section on Isa,ac MO'was compiled by Herbert J. Waterflgrandson of Isaac. The a(:countlt'Samuel, David and W1:11.iam~"compiled by Gordon M. MinM'"grandson of William."

ISAAC MINOR iIsaac Minor, pioneer California I~

berman, embarked on his successful,"reer in Arcata, Humboldt CountY;:'1853 at the age of 23. He turned his :'on the gold fields for the vision of op'tunity in the towering redwoods of,North Coast. ~

He is believed to be the first ofMinor family to adventure westwardlJto California, exemplifying the pio ling spiritof his great-great-great- .great-grandfather, Thomas Minai)founder of Stonington, Conn., andfirst of the Minor family to emithe United States from Chew M,Somersett County, England. ;

Before Isaac Minor's death in 191~was described as "capitalist,' b. 'builder and pioneer" who "has V:1,,:perhaps a greater influence In:growth and development of Hu '.County than any other man,". bY:Davis Commercial EncyclopedIa '~Pacific Southwest, published ~that same year. ,l

Isaac Minor of Arcata is a desce ,?,

;/AI' ;3·.... ···7, "r ~.I. .... / ;'C. , --...l

HH

DescendantsThomas to

Ulysses S. Grant

ThomasJohn

Grace (married U.S. Grant)Noah Grant

Noah Grant IINoah Grant III

Jesse Root GrantUlysses S. Grant

was in charge of Fort Humboldtin Eureka.

In all probability, they did notknow that they were related asshown in the following dia-gram, a record that would makeIsaac's three Arcata brothers,Samuel, David and William, alsosixth cousins of Grant.

Same PersonBrothers

1st Cousins2nd Cousins3rd Cousins4th Cousins5th Cousins6th Cousins

Relationship

ThomasClementWilliamStevenSamuel

IsaacSamuel

Isaac

DescendantsThomas to

Isaac

12345678

According to family informa-tion passed down to the descend-ants of Isaac and William Mi-nor, and also according to re-search done by Kaaren Buf-fington, Arcata resident andhistory buff, Isaac Minor andUlysses S. Grant were sixth cou-cousins and became friends dur-ing the 1854 period that Grant

Study of family records concludesIsaac and Grant were 6th cousins

Generation

a~!ti.d';'._~ .Ulysses S. Grant struck this pose in 1864 during the Civil War.-Courtesy

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institute

- 4 The HUMBOLDT HISTORIAN

The schooner Jessie Minor, in a rare old picture, is shown ploughing through the sea under sail and with a full load of lumber. Thevessel was built at the Bendixsen Shipyards at Fairhaven in 1883 for Isaac Minor, pioneer Humboldt County lumberman. It was one ofrour he had built to carry redwood lumber in the Pacific coastal trade. It was christened by Jessie Minor, youngest child of Isaac Minor,when she was nine years old. Later, the schooner took Jessie from Eureka to San Francisco to enter Mills College. And still later, the shiplook Miss Minor and several of her friends for a vacation trip to Hawaii, chaperoned by her brother, David. In 1911, the schooner waswrecked when it went aground at the entrance of Nelson's Lagoon in Alaska.

_.,,~_....~~......,' ,~...., ~:: :':"'~"- --~'

,ne 1989

.rf

'8d~ent

or broth.tnd Wit.with the~e last i"~d raised~r fatherorderi~y, Penn·\'ers con. (pment of

n descen·w, in hu~ in ChewEngland,uselt.s ix-founder.where hi

ling MCUl-

r brother.a.c MinorWa.ters, ocounts 011i,a.m wertMinor, a

ornia lum'~cessful ca·County, ined his backIn of oppor' -oods of the

first of theestward in-;he pioneer-Teat-great-: Minor, a'n., and the ,:emigrate to :ew Magna. "

~ in 1915, heist, banker,;:has wielded:nce in the:,f H rnbolcJl.~..u '1

" by tbtlan, thf:'!pedia of .':~hed earl~l

i:-!ll

1descend~'

fr1ay.June 1989

. f Thomas Minor through his second~on, Lieutenant Clement Minor, 1638-1700, on d~w.n throu~h five more gener-ations-WIlham MInor, 1670--; Ste-phen Minor, 1706-1750; Samuel Minor,1739-1826; Isaac Minor, 1769-1836, andSamuel Minor, 1800-1878.

Isaac Minor of Arcata was born inUniontown, Fayette County, Pennsylva-nia, on April 8, 1830, the same townwhere his father was born and is buried.He is the son of Samuel Minor and Lou-isa (Keller) Minor. His mother was thegranddaughter of General EphraimDouglas, first Burgess of Uniontown,who served with George Washingtonand sat with him at the signing of theDeclaration of Independence.

Isaac used to tell his children stories ofhis great-grandfather fighting Indians,including this anecdote: General Doug-l~s was selected to go west to convey tothe Indians that the War of 1812 hadcome to a close, and their hostilitiesshould cease. However, he was capturedby the Indians and held prisoner. Heescaped by a ruse with his ice skates-demonstrating skating to the Indians,but going out a Iittle further each dayuntil one day he skated away to safety.

Isaac's mother inherited from hergrandfather his "meadow lot situated onRedstone Creek one mile below Union-town, containing about thirty acres,with the tenements and appurtenancesthereto belonging... ," according to thewill of Ephraim Douglas, The GeneralDouglas home plantation of around 100acres near Uniontown was bequeathedto his grandson, Ephriam Douglas Kel-ler, but was purchased by Samuel andwuisa Minor from Ephriam Keller in1845 for $3,000, when Isaac was 15 yearsof age,

As a young man, Isaac farmed withhis father, but early sought new adven-tures. Somewhere near the start of 1852,he traveled by boat down the east coastand disembarked at Panama. Accord-ing to the Davis Encyclopedia account,written in Isaac's lifetime, he "walked30 miles across the isthmus in one day,"and boarded a steamer for San Fran-cisco. "It became disabled en route andthe trip required 49 days, during whichPassengers consumed 65 head of beeffrom the cargo when provisions ranOut," the' Davis account says.fAn earlier history book, "The History

~. Humboldt County, California," pub-p8hed?y Wallace W. Elliot & Co. of Sanlr~anclsCO in 1881, recounts that Minor's

Ip from New York to San FranciscoreqUired two months and 10 days.

ROllsofthe Humboldt County Pioneer(continued on page 6)

The HUMBOLDT HISTORIAN

Isaac Minor, standing at center, is dwarfed by enormous slabs of newly cut granitehis quarry in the hills not far from Blue Lake. He used stone from this quarry feconstruction of the Isaac Mausoleum at Arcata's Greenwood Cemetery.

Slabs of granite can be seen stacked at the Minor quarry. A group of workers stand onlarge piece at right.

created a wiring cost of $2,800.In front· of the theatre were

street lights of nitrogen type, used'the first time in Arcata. Each light, r400-candlepower, gave a soft lightcould be seen for a couple of bloceach direction. '

Extra safety features of the thwere nine exits and a projectionthat was steel-lined with fire-pequipment. This room containedMoteograph moving picture macha stereoptician, and a spotlight for,atrical work. The building was of,,-forced concrete. All parts of the b ~.'ing were connected by a telephonetem. A fine feature of the theatrethe excellent acoustics. A person sing on the stage and speaking i Itordinary conversational tone coulheard in any part of the house.

carry goods to safety in higher sectionsof the city. Minor worked for 12 hoursovernight, and with a grubstake of only$42 left wal ki ng the next day to MormonIsland on the American River, about 75miles from Sacramento.

He engaged in gold mining there, atnearby Jamestown. During his lifetime,Isaac said his mining met with "toler-able success," but as soon as he accumu-lated enough savings he started a mer-cantile establishment for trading withother miners. Soon, he decided he want-ed greater opportunity than seemed to

The opening night audience when the Minor Theatre opened in Arcata in 1914.photo courtesy Peter Palmquist

were separated from the rest of the bal-cony by an enameled railing hung withmonk's cloth. The center of the balconyhad the largest 10ge...Seating capacityof the loges was 48 and the balcony 132.There were four boxes on the main floorwhich were usually reserved in advancewhen plays and vaudeville were pre-sented. Box seats cost 75 cents, and theentire seating capacity of the house was524 seats.

The color scheme of the Minor The-atre was tan and blue. Woodwork washand-rubbed gray with a greenish tinge.The walls were tinted a delicate shade ofgray harmonizing well with the othercolors.

The management was most proud ofits electric system and safety measures,one of the finest in the state. Four hun-dred lights of different candlepower

Four Isaac brothers played role in area developmentbe offered by the small mining viii, 'he sold his store and headed back to.Francisco. His intention was atrip to Pennsylvania. but he was S9pressed by the evidence of swealth and rapid growth in Sancisco that he decided California Wplace to stay.

Again he struck out for neW cOtraveling north to the smaIl haaeEureka, on the Humboldt BaY· •impressed by the great poten"Humboldt Bay, and saw in it new -tunity for the surrounding area. '

'Old theatrekeeps Minorname alive

The Minor Theatre, built in 1914 byIsaac Minor and still in l,lse today, is abuilding that has kept the Minor namealive through the years in downtownArcata. This year, 1989, marks the the-atre's 75th anniversary.

Some impressions of the theatre's ear-ly years can be gleaned from the follow-ing portions of an article in the ArcataUnion:

The entrance had four double doors tothe lobby with the upper portion of plateglass monogrammed 'P & P' for Petten-gill and Pettengill, leasees of the the-atre.

The curved partition separating thefoyer from the auditorium had the up-per part of heavY plate glass. The threeentrances to the auditorium were hungwith heavy partiers of tan monk's clothto keep drafts out of the foyer.

The orchestra was well appointed andhad room for 12 musicians. The latesttype of shaded orchestra lamps wereused on the piano and music stands. Thestage measured 25 to 43 feet and had anupward slope of three inches to the rearand was large enough to accommodate alarge theatrical company or a chorus ofat least 75 people. The drop curtain wasa pleasing design representing a Hum-boldt redwood scene and was surround-ed by the announcements of a number ofArcata advertisers.

Dressing rooms, five in number, eachsix by nine feet, were beneath the stagein a waterproof concrete basement andcould be entered by the rear of the stageor from the orchestra.

Inside the curve of the balcony were12 loges with movable chairs. The loges

(continued/rom page 5)Society, founded in 1870 and reorgan-ized and incorporated in 1881 with Isaacamong the Board of Directors, show hearrived in California in March, 1852,and in Humboldt County the followingyear.

When Isaac Minor reached San Fran-cisco he had barely enough money left togo to Sacramento, nearer the gold coun-try. When he reached Sacramento, theDavis Encyclopedia recounts, he foundpart of that city flooded, with emergen-cy pay of $1 per hour being offered to

The HUMBOLDT HISTORIANness. buying a ranch on the trail ltween Arcata and Hoopa Valley on Rtwood Creek, 25 miles from ArealThere he raised cattle, started a dai!engaged in general farming, and kep'"public house" that became the .mlprosperous in the area, a conveniestopping place for mail and travelers

But just as he was prospering aexpanding there, the following year hitilities between Indians and settlers kied a number of his neighbors, eventua'driving him out. He took his familyArcata for safety, after boarding up Jwindows and doors the best he could ahiring 12 men to protect his place. Ispite his precautions, the Indian raicon ti nued and eventually his busi nlwas burned out completely.

He began life anew in Arcata, astarted cutting timber and hauling lcto Eureka. His younger brother, Sauel, had arrived from Uniontown, Penand joined him in working in the woo'This was during the Indian Wars1862-63 in that area. During 1863, 1two of them were cutting down a layredwood tree when Isaac decided toback into Arcata on an errand. Whilewas gone the Indians attacked, killiSamuel with arrows and scalping hiHe was only 28 years old when kill,and unmarried.

The tragedy forced Isaac to giveworking in the woods for awhile, andnext settled on a ranch on the bott,lands about one mile from Arcata. Tbecame a prosperous farm of 140 aerbut Isaac was still drawn by the lumlindustry.

In 1870 he got his real timbering st:by building the Dolly Varden sawnnear Arcata, with his partner N.Falk. It was so successful that by 1second year they started a second 0the Jolly Giant Mill. These were lasold and they built a new mill at War!Creek. five miles north, on the Mad Rer. It became known as the Mad Ri\Mill.

The 188] Elliot History of HumboCounty says the Mad River Mill halcapacity of 50,000 feet per day, and 1Mad River dam they built. createclumber pond with a capacity of 10 tomillion feet of logs. While operating:Mad Hiver Mill, Minor and his part!built the Glendale Mill, on the oppo~side of Mad River. Isaac Minor prpered in the timber business and cantued expanding. During this periodcut practically all of the trees betwlEureka and Blue Lake, an area of so,6,000 acres.

With lumber from his own mills,(eontinned on page 8)

Uniontown (Arcata) for foul' cents perpound, and sold at the mines for anounce of gold per one hundred weight.An ounce of gold was then worth $17.50,and allowing 200 pounds of potatoes tothe mule this would make a profit ofmore than $600.

In 1855 Isaac married Hannah Caro-line Nixon, from Iowa. Their first son,Theodore H. Minor, was born in 1856while Isaac was still conducting hispack trains to the interior mines. Hecontinued hauling food and supplies un-til 1858, increasing his pack train herdto 65 head.

He sold out to enter the cattle busi-

traps.Mr. Minor was cheered to the echo

when he got up to speak. According tothe report, he dwelled on the "SafetyFirst" features of the house, and humor-ously stated that "if the whole townshould burn down, I could shut myselfup in the theatre and feel perfectlysafe."

The first play, "Her Own Way," was anotable success as produced by the Nor-mal School Thespians. There wasn't avacant seat left in the house.

It was the policy of Pettengill & Pet-tengill to bring the best in featured pic-tures, vaudeville and stock companyproductions. There was a selection ofconcerts, musicals and drama. HH

The Minor Theatre after its opening in 1914. The billboards announce the showing of amovie film on the Golden Spike events marking the completion of the NorthwesternPacific rail line to Eureka. -Courtesy Peter Pa.l1nquist

The fine theatre was designed by Am-brose Foster, Eureka architect. Theleasees, Mr. and Mrs. Pettengill, man-aged the Pastime Theater in Eureka.Isaac Minor, builder and owner, hadpreviously built Excelsior Hall in Ar-cata, used as a Firemen's Hall until itburned down in 1947.

The theatre was dedicated Dec. 3,1917, after several postponements. Spe-cial picture for the evening was TheChimes, by Charles Dickens, describedas an interesting and exciting photoplay in five acts. Special music was fur-nished by a five-piece orchestra com-prised of Willard Wagner (director).piano; Miss Marguerite Baker, Violin;Harlow R.eed, ciarinet: Ray Horton, cor-nel; and Gillis Courtright, drums and

tained a (;anoe and rowed across the bay10 a pioneer settlement called unio~~wn-:-bY coincidence, the same name as

, Ue. birthplace he had left in the east.',: nlOntown became Arcata.; When Isaac reached Uniontown and• law th. all e vast re.dwo~d stands covering'.: . thesurroundmg hills. he became con-~'~ed this was his land of opportunity.~d c bOught a 25-h:ad team of mules. . started conductmg a supply pack

In froln Arcata to Orleans Bar on thetnath River, to Sawyer's Bar, and aseast as Weaverville.

c told of starting this pack train\ture with a load of potatoes bought in

O.'ere three '!, used for '~light, with;/. light that f'f blocks in;~

~,~,r~\ ;":~i:!s

he theatre:!Lction room :'~ire·proofed§'.tained twoiimachines. f'1~.

rht for the-i'~ . ".'.,-,; ,vas of reID"!;f the build~:~r,.ephone 5)'1':,'.heatre wlI~rson stand".king in ail1e couldse.

nt

Ine 198 '. r- 9 lj: . ,..ay-June 1989• ••.J •~ "'. 'f,1.;'fIi:

:~

Humboldt Bay jetties.Isaac built Excelsior Hall, the

public hall in Arcata; the Minorater, still standing in Arcata and red the town of McKinleyville named'President McKinley, with his stores~creamery. One of his last major busi"enterprises was organizing the Na •Bank of Arcata, of which he servpresident until his death.

Isaac and his wife, HannahMinor, had twelve children, onlywhom lived to adulthood. Six werely stricken by scarlet fever, thinfants: Lottie F., Maggie L. andL., and three asyoung children: AliFlorence and May.

The children who survivedwere:

Theodore H., who went into <business in Bakersfield, Calif.

Isaac N., who took over mana eof the Minor Mill and LumberGlendale.

David K., who became an oil 0in Oakland.

Elizabeth, who married B.D.in San Francisco.

Bertha, who married L.D. GrMcKinleyville. -

Jessie I., who married H.J. W .'Santa Rosa, Calif. . ::'

Isaac's wife died in 1908 and IS.in the mausoleum that Minor bremarried in 1909toCarolineC "Arcata, younger than his Ydaughter, Jessie.

Horses team up to haul logs down a skid road in this early scene near Isaac Minor':at Glendale, Humboldt County. -Courtesy Harmon Minor

consin interests at considerable profit.He took trips to Tuolumne County andMerced and Madera Counties to inspectsugar pine tracts, buying and resellingfive redwood and two sugar pine tracts.It was during this period that he ac-quired the now famous Mariposa Groveof Sequoias, borrowing nearly $1 mil-lion in San Francisco to make the pur-chase. He later resold it to an easternsyndicate at a substantial profit. Thegrove has since been preserved as a na-tional forest adjoining Yosemite Nation-al Park.

Isaac Minor built the Warren CreekRailroad, from Arcata to the MinorGranite Quarry in the hills near WarrenCreek, not far from Blue Lake, and wasplanning its extension east to Red Bluffin Tehema County. It was the era ofrailroads, and he envisioned an eventualeast-west rail link between Chicago andHumboldt Bay, the only east-west linksending at San Francisco on the southand Portland, Oregon, on the north.

The mountain of granite he developedinto a quarry was acquired in 1898, andhad an appraised value of $1 million. Itwas from this quarry that he obtainedthe granite to build the Minor Mausole-um he constructed in Greenwood Ceme-tery at Arcata, where he and othermembers of his family are entombed.The mausoleum was built at a cost of$35,000, with the roof made from fourslabs weighing 13 tons each. Isaac fur-nished the granite for building the first

The four Minorbrothers mademark in Arcata

(continued/rom page 7)started shipbuilding at the old Bendix-son Shipyards in Humboldt Bay. Hebuilt four lumber schooners for trans-porting his lumber to the San FranciscoBay area and other points. The fourwere named the Jessie Minor, BirdieMinor (named for two of his daughters),Hester Buhne and Artille Foaud.

The Jessie Minor was built in 1883,and dedicated by Minor's youngestdaughter in front of all her school class-mates. It carried the first shipload ofredwood lumber to the Hawaiian Is-lands. When Jessie Minor reached col-lege age, the three-masted schooner wasoutfitted for her as a personal sailingvessel to carry her into San FranciscoBay to enter Mills College. On her grad-uation, she took a group of her class-mates aboard with her on a trip to Ha-waii. The Jessie Minor's longest voyage,58 days, was to Bristol Bay. It finallywas wrecked and sunk off Nelson's La-goon in Alaska, during a storm in1911.

In 1889 Isaac Minor gave his last twosawmills to his children and establishedpermanent residence in Arcata. He thenbegan to speculate in lumber and tim-berlands. He bought 26,000 acres of tim-berland near Crescent City in Del NorteCounty, considered one of the fineststands in the world, and sold it to Wis-

,

Steam donkey yarder bringing in logs for Glendale Mill. Note pack horse with,bags to supply boiler. -Courtesy Harmon Minor

-June 1989

.~-

c Minor's mill

ill, the firstMinor The·a and found· tIe named for ojIis stores andajor businessthe Nationalhe served as

mnah Nixonn, only six ofix were fatal·ler, th ree asL. and SarahIren: Alice 1..,

rvived Isaac

t into the oil

alif'?5management "Iumber Co. at.;;

, 01'1 operator;!Ln _!';..tj'J:)"'

IH.D. pressei~~

of I-,.D. Graeter "

H.J. Waters o(

gand is buri[inor built.,line CropleYhis youn

r.1ay-June 1989

".;.

Out of Minor's eight brothers and sis-ters, three followed him to Californiaand were associated with him in histimber ventures. They were Samuel,killed by the Indians; David, who died inArcata in 1920 and William Hazlett Mi-nor. All three brothers are buried in theGreenwood Cemetery at Arcata wherethe Minor Mausoleum is located, alongwith at least 27 other Minor descen-dants.

At the time of his death in 1915, IsaacMinor still owned and operated what theDavis Encyclopedia of that year called"one of the finest farms in the region" on140 acres of Arcata bottom land, "pro-ducing 80 bushels of wheat per acre andPOtato production exceeding all otherfarms in the area." The earlier ElliotHistory of Humboldt County, publishedin 1881, contains two full pages of draw-ings of the Minor city residence, theMinor residence and ranch, and theMad River sawmill. Describing the Ar-tata farm, that history says it had "100head of cattle, 30 hogs, 30 thoroughbredrams, 15 horses, 100 apple trees, 25eherry, 12 plum and 12 pear."

SAMUEL MINORWe know that Samuel was in Arcata,

~~married and working for his brother,'"'l8.C, on or before the year of 1863 dueto the account of his death told below

? lnd also from the date of his death as~engravedon his tombstone in the Green-!1~00d Cemetery, Arcata.i\~he following account of Samuel's~l. th Was written by Andrew Genzoli

and Wallace Martin and appears intheir article, "A Frontier Remembers,"contained in the "Redwood Pioneer"published in 1968 by Schooner Fea-tures, Eureka. It is assumed that thisaccount was taken from its originalsource which was probably an Arcata orEureka newspaper published in or closeto August, 1863. It is recorded as fol-lows:

"The autumn of 1863 was a bloodyseason for the settlers of the new Hum-boldt country. In one instance, withsummer dwindling away, one of Arca-ta's best known young citizens was shotand killed only a few hundred yardsfrom the Plaza. The tragic event wasdemoralizing to the pioneer settlement.Fear had come home where it was leastexpected.

"Samuel Minor and his brother, Isaac,were logging in the redwoods, a fewhundred yards southeast of Arcata, andabout 200 yards from the Phillips' homeon Monday morning, August 1, 1863.Later Isaac returned to Arcata on busi-ness, planning to return to work in theafternoon.

"About 11 o'clock, Wesley Sumption,who drove team, had left with his thirdlog, when he heard Samuel call. Think-ing Samuel had cut his foot, or in someway injured himself, he ran back to findhim bleeding profusely.

"Samuel had been shot with a ballwhich entered his back, passed through

one lung and out. Three Indiansthen rushed upon him, one ofdrawing an arrow over his bow, seYiit through Samuel's prostrate bodyother Indian took Samuel's axestruck him a powerful blow on theof the neck, leaving him for dead.

"Sumption saw the Indians wh(ran back, and found the patch 0bullet still burning near wherewounded man lay. Minor was remto the home of his brother, wherlingered in agony until seven themorning. It is told that he was perfconscious up to the moment of his d·and aware that he had but a few hOllive. He stated all the circumstaconnected with the murder, andconfident that he recognized one 0diggers as a Redwood Indian. VSamuel Minor died (Aug. 3, 186~was 26 years of age."

Family records prove that Salwas born in 1835, thus the age adeath was 28 rather than 26 as stabove. He was buried in Arcata's GIwood Cemetery about 100 yards t<right of Isaac Minor's Mausoleum.grave is covered with a large,marker.

DA VID W. MINORDavid W. Minor was born in 1840

died in Arcata in 1920. He was marto Esther A. (maiden surnameknown) and both are buried in I

(continued on page 10)

10 The HUMBOLDT HISTORIAN

This photo, taken in 1980, shows Gordon Minor in front of the first Arcata farmhousebuilt by his grandfather, William H. Minor, Sr., next door to a larger, second house builtlater. Gordon and his family lived in this house from 1918 to 1921. The house, 110 yearsold, is located on Foster Road, Arcata.

.....~

'and'.'Jan'~dlOyandbar

\'frol.f.t!and

':;'rlt\tl

87

Harriet Hedden Minor, wife of Willi'Minor, Sr.

William Hazlett Minor, Sr., holding~·of the horses at his Arcata Bottom fa; ;

the trench, landing upon the youngdier. This caused a chest injury, and'September 29 he was admitted to ~"Pleasant Hospital, Washington, D.~~Hospital records show "dysentery,remittent fever ... returned to actived .October 27." The military record.him returning to Fort Ethan Allen", .ginia, 011 Nov. 3, 1864. He was mus,\out of the Army at Fort Ethan Allen:June 13, 1865.

Shortly thereafter his hospital ,William received the following Ie,dated Oct. 9, 1864, from his father, ..uel. This letter is still in the possesslO1!tlo~William's descendants and hascarefully reproduced here; spelling.all, exactly as his father wrote it:

"My sone I reseved your letterMount Pleasent Hospittel Septethe 30 and was glad to hear frombut verry sorrye to here that yOU,sick but I was looking to it when~stand out at knight you must :ap ~~'best you can... know Billy I will te:~

WILLIAM HAZLETT MINORWilliam was born in 1843 near Union-

town, Fayette County, Penn., where heworked on his father's family farm untilage.21. In 1864 he enlisted in the Penn.Volunteers for the Civil War. His de-scription on the enlistment paper is giv-en as "eyes grey, hair dark, complexiondark, height 5'6"."

While William was at work construct-ing a trench, a large man jumped into

Farmhouse of William Minor, Sr., in Ar-cata. The house, built in 1891, is still stand-ing. In the picture is Gordon Minor, grand-son of William.

Jr

\

, "'+._,.'-~ , '-.' .

," ."!tj '

• .. : I I .' I'

(continued/rom page 9)

Minor's Mausoleum at Arcata's Green-wood Cemetery. Esther was born in1846 and died in 1926.

Some of the information on Davidcomes in a letter written in 1864 by thesenior Samuel, father of the four Minorbrothers, to William who was then serv-ing in the Civil War. In the letter, thefather said he had not heard for quiteawhile from Isaac or David.

This could imply that the father knewthat his son, Samuel, had been killedand also that David was in Arcata withIsaac prior to 1864. The writer remem-bers that ~s a "'.oung boy of five or sixyears Ai age, he accompanied his par-ents for several visits to Uncle Davidand Aunt Esther in their Arcata home.

The following information has beengleaned from these yisits and from ver-bal information from the writer's par-ents, James M. and Mary Miilard Mi-nor:

David did some gold mining and hadseveral gold nuggets on display in hishome. At various times he worked forhis brother, Isaac, in his lumber busi-ness. David had the distinction of beingthe first R.F.D. (Rural Free Delivery)mailman in Arcata. David and Estherhad no children, but did have an unoffi-cially adopted daughter who lived withthem.

The four Minorbrothers mademark in Arcata

The HUMBOLDT HISTORIAN

(continued on page 12)

all of whom lived to adulthood. The fi'children helped with the farm work armanagement as well as pursuing theeducations independently.

Harriet, along with her daughter, Lretta Belle, are listed as two of the seVEfounders of the Arcata Baptist Churc;Harriet was born Oct. 22,1848, and diE'on March 19, 1926, at the age of 77 at t}-horne of her daughter, Alice Elean(Brown in Oakland, Calif. She is buriebeside her husband in the WiJliam Mnor plot at Greenwood Cemetery, Arc;tao The plot is located to the right (Isaac Minor's mausoleum.

At the death of Harriet, the farm an,buildings were inherited in equal shareby the remaining three living child reIJames Marion, Alice Eleanor, and Wi;liam H., Jr., and sold shortly thereaftelThe smaller home is now at least 11,years old and the larger one 98 years 0age. Both of these homes are in gOOIcondition, the farmland has been increased to near its original size of 151acres and is a successful dairy farnunder its present owners, Johnnie antMary Avila, Jr. The home is located a3067 Foster Rd., Arcata.

There were six children from thlmarriage of William and Harriet. Th(last two were twins. The six are listed affollows:

Isaac Minor's farmhouse on Arcata Bottom was built in 1862 and is in excelieearly-era condition. Today it is a bed and breakfast inn known as "The Plough and tlStars Country Inn" operated by Bill and Melissa Hans. It is located at 1800 27th Stre,Arcata.

Hazlett Minor, Jr., who lived in Arcatato adulthood and was the daughter ofMads Kjer, who settled on his farm onthe Arcata Bottom in 1874, stated thatWilliam H. Minor, Sr., was the firstofficial agricultural instructor for theIndians on the Hoopa Reservation.

William was troubled with chronicbronchitis ever since his chest injury inthe Civil War. On July 17,1891, at age48, William applied for a total disabilitymilitary pension, listing "chronic bron-chitis, affliction ofthe liver, and generaldebility." His death two years later, July6, 1893, due to "consumption" was attri-buted to the Civil War chest injury.

Despite the early death of Williamand his marriage of only 15 years and 4months, he left his widow, Harriet, incomfortable circumstances. With themoney she received from sell ing off partof the farmland, the accumulated fundsleft her by William, and her $30 permonth Civil War widow's pension, shelived the remaining 32 years of her lifevery comfortably on the family farmwhich included the large 14-room house,the smaller original home, outbuildings,and 15 acres offarmland. She rented outthe cottage on the farm property andhired one or more men to do the farmwork.

At the time of her husband's death shehad five children, 14 years and younger,

May-Junt: I ;,U'"

rnething about home well WI' thrash-_~Og oun the tlH'shine broke and we hadeIn .. fb ht wate 10 days It rall1 a part a oatdOays the wheat staks whare all a little

road we had 82 bs of what and one~undred and thirty fore bushels of oatswe have our corn cutup theadore has gotut of the Noshin of listing for the pre-

~ent well William I haven't laid out yourmoney yet and I gess I wont till Spring...knoW William the fare has come off andwas how grait things Theadore and ourhouskeeper went to the fair and tharewas a young lady came home with themand staid all night with us hur name wasJane Craft and she was a very pirty girland lived in BrownsvilLTheadore hasgown to the mountain today for grapesand has knot got back yeLwe had knothard from David sense you left home norfrom Isaac. I close four the present yourfather write as soon as this come to handand let us know how you have got. Sam-uel Minor to William Minor."

After his Civil War duties Williamreturned to the farm to work for hisfather for the next six years. Then in1879, at age 29, and with the savings hehad accumulated by working for hisfather, he left Penn: to join his brother,Isaac, and, we believe, his brother,David, in Arcata.

William's date of arrival and means oftransportation are indicated on a trans-continental passenger train's list of pas-sengers containing his name and statingthat the train passed Carlin, Nev., Aug.7, 1872. He probably arrived in SanFrancisco on the following day and soonlook an ocean steamer from San Fran-cisco to Eureka and thence to ArcataWhere he worked for his brother, Isaac.Five years later, on Nov. 7, 1877, at age84, he married Harriet Eleanor Hed-den.

It is uncertain where they lived for thefirst one or two years, but it is knownthat their first child, James Marion, wasborn Aug. 24, 1878, in Isaac's ArcataBottom farmhouse and that the next fivetbildren were born on the ranch that

, William bought on Arcata Bottom about,one mile west of Arcata. Since Isaact'~~ver, William and Harriet's se.co~d,~, ,lId, was born on Oct. 13, 1879, It 111-r~~cates that William bought his farm:i~:d moved th~re at least prior to that'.:;,~ and possIbly even by the end of~tQ18t his farm William raised thorough-,,~' h~rses and did general farming,,~h Included hay, potatoes, poultry,l., ,milk cows, a family vegetable and; J. garden, and fruit and English

',ut trees.:;ary Kjer Minor, wife of William

.~.

William

I" • fle nU.D'U~"'1 n ••• 'Unl~n

,

The four Minorbrothers mademark in Arcata

(continued/rom page 11)

1. James Marion Minor, born Aug. 24,1878, died Feb. 6, 1949, at age 70. Mar-ried Mary Elizabeth Millard, Jan. 6,1910, daughter of the Arcata pioneers,Samuel and Catherine Millard. Had twosons, Carl Wilbur and Gordon Marion.James Marion, an electrical engineer,helped to build the first electric powerline through his native HumboldtCounty.

2. Isaac Oliver, born Oct. 13, 1879,died June 9, 1904, unmarried. As ayoung man in his early 20s, Isaac Oliverwent to Bakersfield, Calif., to work inthe oil business for his uncle, TheodoreH. Minor. He contracted valley feverand died of this ailment shortly there-after at age 24.

3. Loretta Belle, born Mar. 8, 1881,died Feb. 12, 1926, at age 45 of a braintumor. She was unmarried and livedwith her mother on the family farm ascompanion and general helper.

4. Alice Eleanor, born June 8, 1884,died July 8, 1969, in Oakland, Calif., atage 85. She married Claude Brown ofSanta Rosa and had two daughters, Ar-nalda Lowry and Claudia Elva Laver-ty.

J'

The family home that Isaac Minor built at 11 th and H streets, Arcata. Only a pothe house remains as a part of a later structure.

The Isaac Minor Mausoleum under construction at Greenwood Cemetery, Ar ..crane was used to put the granite blocks in place. It cost $35,000 when built in earlyThe roof consisted of four large slabs of granite, each weighing 13 tons.

5. William Hazlett, Jr., born Sept. 24, several fine groves and being afm:'"1886, died May 6, 1969. He married with the Sunkist Growers CoopetedMary Kjer of Arcata. In his late teens William and Mary had one adop ",and before his marriage, William mov- William H. Minor, III. 6'~ed from Arcata to Riverside, Calif. 6. Harriet L., born Sept. 24,188 ilHere, with his wife, Mary, he estab- Jan. 19, 1887, at three months 0,,lished himself very successfully in the Harriet L. was a twin sister of W.orange grove business accumulating Hazlett, Jr.