Mendocino Mill Crew, 1897. Front row, left to right: William (Bill) Hines, George Knudsen, Frank Brown, Ernest Knudsen, Will Brown, Albert Gregory, John Salvador. Second row: Henry Kleinschmidt, Joe King, Sr., John Ramus, Fred Halling (Mill boss), Albert Peterson, Frank Clement, Theodore Hansen, Sam Bever (planing mill foreman). Third row: George Jarvis, Frank Mendosa, Tom Knudsen, John Larsen, George Marshal (sawyer), Unidentified, Isaac Silvia, Tom Richards. Fourth row: Percy Daniels, Joe “Junior” Ramus, Steady Boy, Old Man MacDonald, Allie Grindle, Little River Smith, Charles Nystrom (engineer), Mike Vaughn, Gus Kontag, Charles Peterson.
July 8, 1915 – Retired Mendocino Mill foreman Fred Halling died in Fort Bragg. Born in Falun, Sweden in 1836, Fred arrived in Mendocino in 1869 and began working at the Mendocino Mill as a blacksmith. Later, he become an engineer, and the Beacon reported, “after several years of satisfactory service was made foreman. The latter position he held until 1902, when he retired from active life.”
In 1881, Fred married Sigrid Sophia Carlson, and they had one daughter, Emilie in 1883. In 1897, Mrs. Halling passed away at St. Luke’s Hospital in San Francisco following a long illness.
Emilie married Harold C. Gray in 1910 and moved to Fort Bragg. In his later years, “Mr. Halling divided his time between his daughter’s home and his old home here. He was always glad to come back to Mendocino to see his old friends and they were always glad to see him.”
Mr. Halling was a member of Mendocino Lodge, No. 179, F. & A. M., which he served as master three terms; the Royal Arch Masons, the Knights Templar of Santa Rosa, the Scottish Rite and the Consistory of San Francisco. He was also past patron of the Eastern Star.
Funeral services were held at the Masonic hall, conducted by the local lodges of Masons and Eastern Star. The funeral was largely attended, numerous friends of the deceased coming from all over the coast to pay their last respects to the memory of a true friend and an estimable man.
Don’t miss our current exhibit! The Kelley House pays tribute to legendary local ‘70s band Cat Mother with a collection of ephemera, albums, and artwork. Cat Mother was an eclectic rock band formed in Greenwich Village, New York in 1967. By 1970, Cat Mother was living on the Mendocino Coast inspiring locals with outdoor “Boogies” and sparking creativity and community on the coast. Museum Hours: Thurs – Sun, 11 AM – 3 PM.