California Biographies Mendocino and Lake Counties, California Transcribed by Peggy Hooper This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm Source: History of Mendocino and Lake Counties, California With Biographical Sketches History by Aurelius O. Carpenter And Percy H. Millberry Illustrated, Complete In One Volume Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1914 FRED C. HANDY. � It would be impossible to present any resume of the Mendocino state hospital without due mention of Fred C. Handy, for- merly secretary and now steward and business manager of the institution. The position that he fills is one demanding the highest efficiency and wisest judgment. Decisions of importance must be made promptly, problems must be solved sagaciously and large affairs must be governed with wisdom. No less than fifty different departments come under his immediate supervision. All purchases are made by his authority and with his approval. The task of distribution also comes within the scope of his jurisdiction. All of the con- struction work of recent years (aggregating in value more than $500,000 has been superintended by him personally. In addition he has charge of the kitchen, dining-room, dairy, laundry, bakery, shops, etc. ; also manages the buy- ing and selling of the stock, the care of the stables and the cultivation of the great estate of one thousand acres comprising the hospital farm, the whole forming a task of such magnitude that the greatest care and an unusual amount of time are demanded for its Successful consummation and the maintenance of a high-class business system is absolutely imperative. A native of Eldorado county and a lifelong resident of California with the exception of a few years spent in Honolulu during the incumbency of a position of official importance, Mr. Handy understands conditions as they exist in the west, is familiar with the development of this section of the country and has great faith in its future progress. He was born near Placerville, November 26, 1865, a son of Philo and Laura (Roper) Handy, natives of Ohio and Illinois respectively. The father served in the Fifteenth Illinois Regiment under General Grant, in which he received wounds at the battle of Shiloh. After the close of the war, in 1865, he crossed the plains to California with teams and wagons. He followed mining until 1870, when he located in Round valley, Mendocino county, and thereafter followed farming. Fred C. Handy attended the grammar schools and the Santa Clara high school, as well as the Academy of Science, from which he was graduated in 1884. Upon returning to Mendocino county to take up the active duties of life, he devoted his attention for a time to the raising of sheep and the tilling of the soil in Round valley. Later he filled a number of offices with intelligence and fidelity, being connected with the offices of county assessor, county tax col- lector and county clerk as a deputy and later serving as undersheriff of the county. Before the Mendocino state hospital had been completed he was chosen secretary of the institution and entered upon his duties October 1, 1893, after which he filled the position for eight consecutive years. Next he spent three years in Honolulu as deputy United States marshal. Upon his return to California in 1903 he was chosen steward or business manager of the Mendocino state hospital and in that important position he has placed the business affairs of the institution upon a sound basis. Of the officials who became connected with the hospital at the time it was started in the lat- ter part of 1893, he alone remains. Under different administrations and various boards his work has been alike satisfactory. Naturally, he is some- what progressive in his views, somewhat of a reformer in his ideas. Many of the reforms for which he worked he has had the gratification of seeing adopted. His life has been given to service to his commonwealth. To pro- mote the welfare of the institution with which he is connected, to increase its usefulness and enhance its efficiency, comprise ambitions that form the very foundation of his character, the keynote of his energetic temperament. Yet he has not centered himself selfishly upon the one ideal nor limited himself narrowly to the one institution : on the other hand, with his wife, who was Miss Amy Morrison, a native of California, he has been a power for good in all movements for the social and educational upbuilding of the community ; he has been and still is a director in the Bank of Ukiah and has made other associations in business or public affairs. Fraternally he has had many im- portant connections. In Masonry he is past master of Abell Lodge No. 146, F. & A. M., past high priest of Ukiah Chapter No. 53, R. A. M., commander of Ukiah Commandery No. 33, K. T., past patron of Kingsley Chapter, O. E. S., and for some years served as inspector of this Masonic district. In the local lodge of Odd Fellows he is past grand, while he furthermore has been influ- ential locally in the Knights of Pythias, the Eagles and the Woodmen of the World.