Clifton L. Boyle, Tau Delta Phi Co-Founder

Sonora Library, CA     Though I've had Clifton's obituary for nearly a year, I held off posting it because the Normal School [Teacher's College and later a State College] from which he graduated was unclear. But before I looked in the card file of the Genealogy Society of Fort Bragg, I did an on-line search -- and struck paydirt.

    A transcription of a Butte County biography by Gerald Iaquinta indicated that Clifton "took up his advanced studies at San Jose State College, from which he graduated in 1916....[He] also holds membership in the Tau Delta Phi collegiate fraternity."
[Mr. Iaquinta's complete transcription can be found via the first link below.]
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    Here's Clifton's obituary as it appeared in the Mendocino Beacon.
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Clifton Lloyd Boyle
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Obituary
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Thursday 11 October 1990 Mendocino Beacon
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    Clifton L[loyd] Boyle, 95, a Fort Bragg resident, passed away at the Mendocino Coast Hospital Wednesday, Oct. 3, following a long illness.
    He was born and raised in Mendocino, where he attended local schools, graduating from Mendocino High School in 1913. He attended college at Pacific College, UCLA, University of California at Berkeley, and graduated from the Teachers College in San Francisco in 1917. [He took summer courses at San Francisco State to increase his knowledge as well as his pay since he had already graduated from San Jose State in 1916.]
    He was a U.S. Army veteran of World War I, serving in the Signal Corps in France. In 1919 he became a school teacher in McCloud, Calif. He worked there for two years; then in 1929 he became a principal in Oroville, [Butte County,] Calif. In 1934 he became a school counselor in Taft, Calif., serving in that capacity for 11 years. In 1944 he moved to Sausalito, where he served as superintendent of schools until retiring in 1959.
    Clifton returned to the Mendocino Coast, near Little River, in 1960, where he resided until 1980, when he moved to Fort Bragg.
    He was a member of the California Teachers Association and the First Presbyterian Church.
    He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Lille M. Boyle of Fort Bragg; sister, Helen Harrigan of Ukiah; nephews, James Cummings of Fort Bragg, Robert Cummings of Ukiah; and niece, Patricia House of San Francisco.
    Funeral services were held Friday, Oct. 5, at Chapel By The Sea. Rev. Terry Cole of the First Presbyterian Church officiated the service. Private encryptment followed at Santa Rosa Memorial Park.
    Memorial contributions may be made to Mendocino Coast Hospice, 700 River Drive, Fort Bragg, Calif. 95437
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    And here's another obituary from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.
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Obituary
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Friday 5 October 1990 Santa Rosa Press Democrat
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    FORT BRAGG - Clifton L. Boyle, 95, who was a school district superintendent in Sausalito for 15 years, died Wednesday at Mendocino Coast Hospital following a long illness.
    He was born and reared in Mendocino, where he attended local schools. He graduated from Mendocino High School in 1913. He attended Pacific College, the University of California, Berkeley, and UCLA, graduating from [a] Teachers College in 1917.
    Boyle entered the Army that same year and served in the Signal Corps in France. In 1919 he returned from the service and worked as a school teacher in McCloud.
    In 1921 he became the principal at Oroville Elementary School. Later he worked as a child evaluator for the [T]aft School District for more than 11 years. In 1944 he became the superintendent of schools for the Sausalito School District.
    He retired in 1959. In 1960 he moved back to the Mendocino Coast at Little River. In 1980 he moved to Fort Bragg.
    He was a member of the California Teachers Association.
    He is survived by his wife, Lillie M. Boyle of Fort Bragg; sister, Helen Harrigan of Ukiah; two nephews; and one niece.
    Funeral service will be at 11 a.m. today at Chapel by the Sea in Fort Bragg. Private encryptment will follow at Santa Rosa Memorial Park.
    Contributions may be made to the Medocino Coast Hospice, 700 River Drive, Fort Bragg.

    You'll find two other Tau Delta Phi Co-Founders in the posts to this blog on 3 Dec 2011, Raymond W. Miller, and 15 Dec 2011, Darrell J. Sedgwick.
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Links:

• Gerald Iaquinta transcription of a 1931 Butte County Biography
• On the Trail of Raymond W. Miller, Tau Delta Phi Co-Founder and first Grand Magistrate
• Darrell J. Sedgwick, Tau Delta Phi Co-Founder

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Su 12 Aug Actual Route: 2 mi E of Pickel Mdw Marine Camp bd - Sonora Pass - Iceberg Mdw - Arnot Crk Trailhead bd

M 13 Aug Actual Route: Arnot Crk Trailhead bd - Donnell Vista - Mi-Wuk Village Library - Long Barn - 1 mi E of N.F. Tuolumne Riv bd

T 14 Aug Actual Route: 1 mi E of N.F. Tuolumne Riv bd - Mi-Wuk Willage - Sonora - Mi-Wuk Village - 1 mi E of N.F. Tuolumne Riv bd

W 15 Aug Actual Route: 1 mi E of N.F. Tuolumne Riv bd - Mi-Wuk Willage - Sonora - Mi-Wuk Village - 1 mi E of N.F. Tuolumne Riv bd

Th 16 Aug Actual Route: 1 mi E of N.F. Tuolumne Riv bd - Mi-Wuk Willage - Sonora - Mi-Wuk Village - 1 mi E of N.F. Tuolumne Riv bd

F 16 Aug Route: 1 mi E of N.F. Tuolumne Riv bd - Mi-Wuk Willage - Sonora - Mi-Wuk Village - 1 mi E of N.F. Tuolumne Riv bd

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Finding Campgrounds:

• RV Campgrounds from TrailerLifeDirectory.com
• Family Camping Directories from Woodalls.com
• Free campsites website
• Info on finding BLM Campgrounds

N.B. I receive nothing from Trailer Life, Woodalls, or FreeCampsites.net for including links to their free campground lookups.

On the Trail of Raymond W. Miller, Tau Delta Phi Co-Founder

Sonora, CA
    According to Brian Kromrey, self-appointed historian of the Tau Delta Phi Alumni Society, Raymond W. Miller, Tau Delta Phi's first Grand Magistrate in 1916, went on to compile a rather impressive record not only academically but also in business and government service. The 1939 La Torre is dedicated to Raymond.
    He was born in San Jose in 1895 and likely graduated from San Jose Normal School in 1916 or 1917. He went on to earn a PhD, write seven books, create one of the first public relations firms, and serve as a United Nations adviser to farmers in several foreign countries. For a time he followed in his father's footsteps and became a walnut grower near Linden in San Joaquin County.
    It's rather clear that his father had a very strong influence on him. Here's an obituary for his father, David Wiley Miller.
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David Wiley MILLER
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Obituary
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Wednesday 14 December 1927 Stockton Daily Evening Record, Page One
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David W, Miller, Linden Grower, Called By Death
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Was Community Builder and Father of Area's Walnut Industry
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    David W. Miller, one of San Joaquin county's best known and loved farmers and a guiding force in the development of the Linden district, passed away on his 77th birthday this morning after an illness of some three months. Death occurred at Dameron Hospital, to which he was removed from his Linden home a few days ago.
    Always interested in community and county problems, David W. Miller's name has been identified with movements for the betterment of civic and rural life. Age failed to retard his activities. During the last few years he centered his activities around the Linden High School and the Linden Community Church, from which he will be buried. He served as chairman of the building committee responsible for the present church structure and for the past six years has been chairman of the board of trustees of Linden Union High School.
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Father of Walnut Industry
    In the Linden district Miller was considered the father of the walnut industry, which has made that district famous. Back in 1904 against the advice of nurserymen Miller planted his first walnut orchard. Since that day he has watched and influenced the development of the entire district, which is now recognized as one of the best in Northern California. The Miller home is surrounded by one of the best orchards in the district. Miller's farming activity in the Linden district extends back more than thirty-three years.
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Active in Farm Bureau
    The deceased was for years prominently identified with the farmer organizations in the county. He was a director of the San Joaquin Farm Bureau Federation and an active worker in the interests of the farmer. He was likewise closely connected with Stockton's civic life and was the first farmer admitted to the Stockton Rotary Club under the farmer classification.
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Served as Assemblyman
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    At one time in his career he was elected to represent his district in the State Legislature. As an assemblyman he served but one term, but his interest in legislative matters was continued and served the farm bureau in good stead.
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Came to State 55 Years Ago
    David W. Miller was born in Northhampton, Mass., in 1850. He came to California at the age of 25 years by way of the Panama canal. His first activities in this state were around San Jose, where he became engaged in newspaper work and later accepted an appointment as deputy county assessor. During his residence in the Santa Clara valley he developed a number of orchard properties, all of which he sold when he moved to the Linden district.
    The deceased is survived by a wife, Jennie G. Miller, and three children, Raymond, Margaret and David Miller, all of Linden. The funeral will be held Friday, Dec. 16, at 2 p.m. from the Linden Methodist Church. Interment will be in the Linden cemetery.
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    In 1927 Raymond was in Linden when the co-operative his father was instrumental in founding, which eventually became part of Diamond Walnut, wanted to build a processing plant. The following excerpt explains Raymond's part.
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Walnut Growers Ready to Launch Big Campaign
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Article
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Saturday 24 December 1927 Stockton Daily Evening Record, p.25
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By Verne Scoggins
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First Meeting January 3; Committee is Named; Prof Christie to Assist
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    Progress is being stealily made in the preliminaries for a campaign to organize San Joaquin county walnut growers and bring about the construction of a walnut processing plant in the county. A county committee has been named and the first week in January will see the first gun fired in the campaign.
    Raymond Miller, Linden grower appointed by the San Joaquin farm bureau federation to take the lead in preliminary activities, has appointed the county campaign committee and announced two meeting, one to be held in Linden January 3 and one in Lodi the following day. Miller also announced that he has received the promise of whole-hearted co-operation from the California Walnut Growers Association and that A.W. Christie, field manager of the big co-operative, has been detailed to spend two weeks in the county helping with organization activities.
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    The Truman Library has an Oral History of Raymond W. Miller done in Oct and Nov 1969 by Jerry N. Hess at this link.
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    And you'll find a brief obituary in the New York Times Archives.
    Once I find microfilm of the Washington Post perhaps I might find a lengthier obituary; there was no obituary for him in the Stockton Record.
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    However, a librarian at the Linden Library gave me a booklet on the history of Linden done by three 1955 Linden High School grads and they noted that Raymond was the most famous person from Linden.
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    "Dr. Ray Miller was maybe the most famous person produced in that era; a Farm Bureau executive, and Harvard lecturer, he traveled the world as a UN consultant on agricultural cooperatives. Into his 90s he lived at the elegant Cosmos Club in Washington DC, still churning out a column for the Scottish RiteMasonic magazine." [From "Remembrance of Linden Past: Geo-History of Linden, Calif. in the 1950s," pp. 47-48]
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    Perhaps the most notable thing I learned in researching Raymond and his family was that his father used to commute from Linden to San Jose and back weekly by bicycle sometime during the first two decades of the 20th century. [N.B., When George Tinkham's biography of David Wylie Miller was transcribed, the comment on commuting by bicycle from Linden to San Jose was excised; however, it's likely that David used Patterson Pass (elev: 1602') to get from Livermore to the San Joaquin Valley; see first link below.]
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Links:

• History of San Joaquin County by George H. Tinkham, 1923
• Wikipedia article on Linden, CA

Th 1 Dec Actual Route: Sutter Creek - Lathrop - Dos Reis [San Joaquin] County Park

F 2 Dec Actual Route: Dos Reis County Park - Stockton - French Camp - Escalon - Woodward Resv

Sa 3 Dec Actual Route: Woodward Resv - Oakdale - Sonora

Su 4 Dec Actual Route: Sonora

M 5 Dec Actual Route: Sonora - Oakdale - Riverbank - Waterford - Modesto Reservoir RV Park

T 6 Dec Actual Route: Modesto Reservoir RV Park - Waterford - Modesto - Waterford - Modesto Reservoir RV Park

W 7 Dec Actual Route: Modesto Reservoir RV Park - Waterford - Modesto - Waterford - Modesto Reservoir RV Park

Th 8 Dec Route: Modesto Reservoir RV Park - Waterford - Empire - Modesto - Waterford - Modesto Reservoir RV Park

F 9 Dec Actual Route: Modesto Reservoir RV Park - Waterford - Turlock - Merced - Chowchilla - Arena RV Park

Sa 10 Dec Actual Route: Arena RV Park - Merced - Chowchilla - Eastman Lake COE CG

Su 11 Dec Actual Route: Eastman Lake COE CG

M 12 Dec Actual Route: Eastman - Chowchilla - Merced - Waterford - Modesto Resv

T 13 Dec Actual Route: Modesto Resv - Waterford - Empire - Modesto - Lathrop - Dos Reis County Park

W 14 Dec Actual Route: Dos Reis RV Park - Stockton - Woodland - Esparto - Clearlake

Th 15 Dec Actual Route: Clearlake - Lakeport - Willits - Fort Bragg

F 16 Dec Actual Route: Fort Bragg - Boonville - Ukiah - Healdsburg - Westside Road

Sa 17 Dec Route: Westside Road - Healdsburg - Jimtown - Calistoga - Napa - Skyline Park

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Finding Campgrounds:

• RV Campgrounds from TrailerLifeDirectory.com
• Family Camping Directories from Woodalls.com

N.B. I receive nothing from Trailer Life or Woodalls for including links to their free campground lookups.