William Heeser

William Heeser (August 28, 1822, in Koblenz, Germany – April 9, 1906) was a German-American newspaper publisher and banker in Mendocino County, California. As a United States deputy surveyor, Heeser constructed Little Lake road (a wagon road from Mendocino to Willits), and another road from Mendocino to Ukiah. In 1870 and 1871 he founded the Bank of Mendocino and the Mendocino Discount Bank. and the Fort Bragg Advocate in Fort Bragg, California, in 1889; he also founded newspapers in the Mendocino County communities of Kibesillah, Rockport, and Westport. In 1892, he purchased the Point Arena Record, which had been founded in 1888 by H. B. Cartnell.

Heeser became a Freemason in 1850, and joined the California lodge of the Masons around 1852. He was one of the founders, initially warden and later master of the Mendocino lodge, #179,