Nevada
County
Biographies
HORACE W. HULBERT
Horace W. Hulbert, the proprietor of
the Georgetown Gazette, came to California in 1861. He is a native of Wisconsin, born May 15,
1844, a son of J. W. Hulbert, a representative of the family that was founded
in America by English ancestors who made early settlements in New Hampshire and
New York. Leaving the Badger state, J.
W. Hulbert crossed the plains with his wife and five children. The party with which they traveled was well
armed and the journey was made in safety.
On reaching this state the father purchased a farm of one hundred and
sixty acres near Colusa in Colusa County, and became engaged in the raising of
grain and in the nursery business.
Success attended the enterprise and he was soon recognized as one of the
most prominent representatives of the nursery business in northern California,
having furnished the trees and planted many of the orchards of this section of
the state. Ere his removal to the west
he had been engaged in merchandising in Iowa.
He married Miss Betsey Webb, and located in Chicago when that city was a
little trading post. All of the children
who crossed the plains with them are still living.
Horace W. Hulbert acquired his
education in the public schools and was seventeen years of age when he came
with the family to California. He
learned the printer’s trade in Ukiah, Mendocino County, California, after which
he published the Sutter Banner, establishing the paper in 1867 and publishing
it for six years. He also published the
Colusa Independent and through the columns of his paper was instrumental in
securing victory for the independent ticket at that time. Success attended his newspaper ventures, but
after a time he removed to Modoc County, where he engaged in the stock
business. He owned two farms, but after
two years spent in that way his health became impaired and he sold out,
removing to Auburn, near which place he engaged in prospecting and made several
valuable discoveries; but a year and a half of illness largely reduced his
financial resources and he established the Auburn Advance, which he published
for ten months. On the expiration of
that period he went to Georgetown and again engaged in prospecting. On the 9th of April, 1880, he
founded the Georgetown Gazette, a weekly paper published every Thursday. It is independent in politics and is a well
edited journal, having a large circulation and receiving a liberal advertising
patronage. In September, 1900, Mr.
Hulbert sold his interest in the Georgetown Gazette to Mr. Horn, who is now
editing and publishing the paper. In
addition to his journalistic interests he continued his connection with mining,
and is a half owner of the Bright Hope mine, which is considered a very
valuable property and is now leased to and operated by his son-in-law, Mr.
Horn, in company with Mr. Hersey.
On the 4th of July, 1874,
in Yuba City, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Hulbert and Miss Celia Willeford. Their
marriage has been blessed with two sons and two daughters. Maude is now the wife of John C. Horn, a
practical newspaperman of marked ability, who is now the manager of the
Georgetown Gazette and is operating the mine.
His wife is a capable newspaperwoman, having become familiar with the
business in the various departments under the instruction of her father. Mr. Horn is a native of Chambersburg,
Pennsylvania. He learned the printer’s
trade in the office of the Franklin Repository, and with Milton G. Peters
established the Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Advertiser, and was for five years in
San Francisco with H. S. Crocker & Company.
He afterward came to Georgetown, where he made the acquaintance of Miss
Hulbert, who was acting as the manager of her father’s paper. Since his marriage he has assumed the duties
of that position and has done much to add to the success of that journalistic
enterprise. Dale C., the elder son of
Mr. Hulbert, is a traveling acrobat and has a wide reputation in his
profession. Clinton H. is in the
electrical department of the California Electrical Works at San Francisco,
while the younger daughter, Celia, is living with her sister. Mrs. Hulbert departed this life in 1896, and
the subject of this review has since resided with Mrs. Horn.
Messrs. Hulbert and Horn are
independent Republicans and the Gazette is a clean and progressive paper. They are highly esteemed by their patrons and
by their fellow men and their success in business is richly merited. They are wide awake to the best interests of
the town and personally and through the columns of the journal do much to
advance all measures which contribute to the general good. Mr. Hulbert is a member of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 335-337. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Nevada County Biographies