Alameda County
Biographies
TIMOTHY C. COUGHLIN.
Timothy C. Coughlin, newspaper writer and well known Alamedan, took up his residence in that city with his parents in 1892, moving from Santa Cruz county. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, February 17, 1872, his parents being Michael C. and Margaret M. (O'Brien) Coughlin. His father, a native of Ireland, was brought to the United States as a child and was educated in the schools of the old Bay State. In 1868 he came to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama and assisted in the building of the first transcontinental railroad into Alameda county, via the Altamont pass. In 1874 he went to Santa Cruz, becoming one of the pioneer lumbermen of that section of the state. He later directed large lumber industries in Humboldt and Shasta counties. His death occurred in Alameda in 1903. His wife, a daughter of the late William and Margaret O'Brien, of Springfield, Massachusetts, followed him to the grave the same year.
Timothy C. Coughlin obtained his early education at Notre Dame Convent, San Jose, and in the public schools of Santa Cruz county. He continued his studies at St. Mary's College, Oakland, from which institution he was graduated with high honors in 1893, taking the degree of Bachelor of Science. Following two years' connection with the San Francisco commission house of Henry Doyle & Company, Mr. Coughlin took up news writing, joining the editorial staff of the Examiner. After two years with that paper he went to the Morning Call, with which he continued for nearly fourteen years, also doing work at various times during that period for the Oakland Herald, Tribune and Enquirer. He retired from the Call editorial staff April 19, 1913, and two days later was appointed city clerk of Alameda, the first political position he ever accepted and one to which he did not aspire. As city clerk he won an enviable name for himself by reason of his sterling, rugged honesty, fair dealing, all around competency and incorruptibility.
Mr. Coughlin was married in San Francisco, February 17, 1909, to Miss Mary C. O'Brien, daughter of the late John and Mary O'Brien of Altamont. Two children, a son and daughter, have blessed the union. Mr. Coughlin is affiliated with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, being a member of Oakland Lodge, No. 171. The high principles that have consistently actuated his life have been such as to win for him the respect and esteem of all who know him well.
Past & Present of Alameda County, California – Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914
p. 215
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
B. B. MASTEN, M. D.
Dr. B. B. Masten, who since 1906 has been in active and successful practice of medicine and surgery in Oakland, where he is numbered among the foremost representatives of his profession, was born in Brazil, Indiana, in 1871, and acquired his early education in the public schools of Lafayette, in the same state. He afterward took a course in mechanical engineering at Purdue University and then entered the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he spent three years. At the end of that time he enrolled in Bennett Medical College of Chicago and in 1895 was graduated from that institution with the degree of M. D.
He came to California in 1896 but remained only a short time, returning to Chicago and accepting a position as house physician at the Palmer House. He did creditable and able work in that capacity for a number of years, after which, in 1905, he returned west, locating in San Francisco. After one year's practice there he moved his office to Oakland and here he has since built up a large and representative patronage, accorded to him in recognition of his unusual proficiency in his chosen field of labor. Dr. Masten belongs to the National Medical Association and the state and county medical societies and keeps in touch with his profession in its most advanced phases. Everything pertaining to the medical science, every new experiment, every different field of investigation and research are of interest to him, and he himself has always remained a close and earnest student, his powers developing with the years. In Oakland he is regarded as an able, conscientious and reliable physician and has the respect of his associates in the medical fraternity and the esteem and confidence of the local public.
Past & Present of Alameda County, California – Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914
p. 216
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
FRED L. HANNA.
Fred L. Hanna, who has been in the service of the Santa Fe Railroad for almost a quarter of a century, has worked his way steadily upward from a clerical position to that of general freight and passenger agent in Oakland, winning the last promotion on the 1st of January, 1914. His birth occurred in Steubenville, Ohio, on the 1st of May, 1869, his parents being D. W. and Ella Hanna. He attended public school in his native town until fourteen years of age and then came to Los Angeles, California, where he completed the high-school course by graduation in 1888.
Mr. Hanna afterward embarked in the stationery business, but sold out at the end of two years and secured a position as clerk with the Santa Fe Railroad Company, in the service of which he has remained continuously to the present time, winning gradual promotion as he has demonstrated his ability and faithfulness in the discharge of the duties entrusted to his care. Mr. Hanna served as traveling freight agent from 1901 until 1907 and subsequently acted as traveling freight and passenger agent until the 1st of January, 1914, when he was made general agent of the freight and passenger department in Oakland. In this important position he has already ingratiated himself with the officers of the road, as well as shippers and the traveling public, by reason of the new ideas which he has advanced and the improvements he has promulgated.
On the 24th of December, 1896, in Los Angeles, Mr. Hanna was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary McAleer. He is a valued member of the Chamber of Commerce and also belongs to the Commercial Club and the Nile Club. In politics he is a republican, while his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church. In whatever relation of life he has been found he has been true and loyal to the trust reposed in him and his career has been in conformity with a high standard of conduct.
Past & Present of Alameda County, California – Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914
p. 217
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler