Tulare & Kings Counties
California
Biographies
1913
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GUIBERSON, J W

 Conspicuous among California’s self-made men, is the prominent financier and member of the state Legislature, whose name heads this article. He is a native of the state, having been born in Lake County, November 26, 1865. When four years of age he was taken to Ventura County, where he grew up attending the public schools, and later became a student at the University of Southern California, supplementing this with a commercial course at Woodbury Business College.

 

     Full of ambition and eager to succeed, J. W. Guiberson started his active business career without a dollar to aid him. At the age of nineteen he rented a six hundred and forty acre stock ranch in Ventura County, his good reputation and credit enabling him to obtain a five-year lease of this ranch. He devoted himself most assiduously to the operating of this place, reaping such a measure of success, that when he was dispossessed of it at the end of fifteen months, because of the sale of said ranch, he was reimbursed for his labor there to the amount of $1,500. He then rented mountain land for a cattle range and increased his herd. Meanwhile he had bought out a drug store and made some good investments in real estate at Santa Paula, the results of which at the end of that year netted him a capital of $3250 cash. His career, however, had not been an easy one. His health broke because of his close confinement in the drug store, and he was compelled to seek an outdoor life. For a short time he engaged in the mercantile business, but met with heavy financial losses, and with such discouragements at hand he was again was obliged to begin at the bottom to retrieve his losses. He obtained a lease for one-half share in the renting of the same ranch on which he has started out when nineteen years, at the end of the first year being able to make a payment on eighty acres in Ventura County which he immediately began to improve and farm. Some years later he purchased a second ranch of forty acres in the same County, improving and farming it for some time, and finally having a fine farm, good buildings and most productive orchards on both places. His orchards were planted to apricots, lemons and prunes, and he soon had them in condition to be good income property.

 

     Continuing to operate the two ranches, Mr. Guiberson bought out a livery business at Piru with the proceeds, and engaged in the livery and team contracting business, sending his teams into the oil fields near Piru, and soon was the proprietor of an extensive teaming business. He prospered well and by 1905 found himself the owner of considerable money for which he sought good investment. In company with about twenty-five others, many of whom were from Los Angeles, as members of the Security Land and Loan Company, he bought thirty thousand acres of land in Kings County, and in that same year came to Corcoran as the superintendent of said company, whose affairs he managed very successfully. During this time he made large individual purchases of land in that vicinity, his ideas of purchase providing most ingenious, as for instance his purchase of a thousand acres at $13 per acre, which he sold a few months later at $30. He has explicit faith in the fertility of the lands of this locality, and it has never been shaken, and it is due to him more than any other person that the value of the lands about Corcoran has been demonstrated.

 

     Mr. Guiberson’s principal aim has been to develop and improve these lands and place them on an income-paying basis. He has no hesitancy in saying that for the growing of alfalfa these lands have few equals and no superiors in the entire state of California. Among his first purchases were eighty acres of land adjacent to the townsite of Corcoran, forty acres of which he retains as his home place, and this he has beautified and improved until it is a model suburban home. To him belongs the distinction of having erected the first building on the townsite of Corcoran.

 

     At a later date Mr. Guiberson organized the J. W. Guiberson Company, a dairy and stockraising concern with a capital of $500,000 based on bona fide land values. In this he is associated with J. C. Sperry, of Berkeley; Nathan W. Blanchard, of Santa Paula, and the company’s holdings aggregate twenty-six hundred acres in all, two thousand acres of which is planted to alfalfa and irrigated by means of artesian wells. On one section of this property are two dairies which produce cream to the amount of $2075 per month. There are six hundred head of cattle on this property, and about nine hundred hogs, all of which are very well kept. 

 

     Besides these great landed interests Mr. Guiberson has others, different in character but almost as important. He is vice president of the Bank of Corcoran, vice president of the company operating the Corcoran Department Store, president of the Kings County Dairyman’s Association, vice president of the Board of Trade of Corcoran, vice president of the Kings County Chamber of Commerce and president of the California State Dairy Association.

 

     The lady who became the wife of Mr. Guiberson was before her marriage Miss Nellie F. Throckmorton, who was born in Illinois, October 8, 1866. They have four daughters, viz: Hazel, Claire, Helen and Edythe. Mr. Guiberson is a Mason, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Fraternal Order of Elks. Of unusual public spirit, he is ready whenever occasion demands to aid any measure which in his judgment involves the public good, and he is confidently relied upon to be the friend and helper of all public enterprises. With the privilege of the pioneer to take pride in the town, he is zealous for the promotion of very interest, and in church and education circles he is particularly active. He is president of the Board of Trustees of the Presbyterian church at Corcoran and the commodious edifice recently erected by the congregation at once testifies to his munificence in gift of money as well as able and untiring effort as a member of the building committee. He is president of the high school board and Corcoran will before the commencement of another school year have a fifty thousand dollar high school building.

 

     Relying upon his ability and good judgment Mr. Guiberson was, by the Board of County Supervisors of Kings County, made president of the Kings County Panama Pacific exhibit Commission, a position for which he is peculiarly qualified. No better testimonial of his real worth can be adduced than to mention the fact that in the campaign of 1912 he was elected as a Democrat by the people of his County, which in normally Republican, by more than thirteen hundred majority. For years he has been interested in the subject of good roads, and takes an active part in everything else pertaining to the public welfare and human upliftment. As a natural consequence he at the last election received a very flattering vote in his home and all other precincts in that County, where he was best known, and in his election to the assembly his fellow-citizens have made no mistake. This fact is recognized by the opposition as well as his Democratic friends, and became very evident from such expressions as the following editorial from the pen of L. P. Mitchell, editor and proprietor of the Corcoran Journal of November 14, 1912:

 

     Assemblyman-elect J. W. Guiberson is well qualified for the position to which he has been elected. He is a self-made man who has achieved success in his own affairs, and Corcoran people feel sure he will represent his district in a most satisfactory manner. Mr. Guiberson is an enthusiast on good roads and advocates the abolition of the unsatisfactory system of handling County road matters, favoring the employment of an expert road man and placing the entire County road system in his charge. We consider this a very logical solution of the vexatious road problem.  Pages 411 - 413

 

 

 

FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF LEMOORE

 

     That strong financial institution, the First National Bank of Lemoore, the policy of which from the first has been to extend to the business community all accommodations consistent with sound banking and which has been a potent factor in the upbuilding and development of Lemoore and its tributary territory, was organized June 9, 1905, and began business in July following. Its original capital stock was $25,000, all paid up. The first officers and directors were: B. K. Sweetland, president: Stiles McLaughlin, vice-president; F. J. O. Cockran, cashier; E. G. Sellers, C. H. Bailey, John Trimble and E. P. May. In February, 1912, its capital stock was increased to $50,000. The bank has erected a fine two-story building, covering a ground space of seventy-five by one hundred feet, at Fox and D streets. It is a modern brick structure, containing fine banking offices and the best facilities for keeping of cash and valuable securities. It is the belief of the bank officials and of the general public that this banking establishment is as nearly fireproof and burglar-proof as it is possible to make it.

 

     The First National Bank of Lemoore has from the day of its opening steadily grown in the confidence of the business community of the city and surrounding country, and numbers among its depositors many of the wealthiest and most important business men and citizens of that part of the County. The following are the names of its present officers and directors; C. H. Bailey, president: E. G. Sellers, vice-president; W. E. Dingley, cashier: G. B. Chinn, Stiles McLaughlin, L. S. Step, and J. K. Trimble. Page 308

 

 

 

FOWLER, PERRY DORMAN

      As horticultural commissioner for Tulare County, Perry Dorman Fowler is proving excellent ability. His splendid life dates from March 1, 1851, when he was born in the state of Missouri, a son of Benjamin and Mary Ann (Thompson) Fowler, natives respectively of Indiana and of Missouri. In 1854, when he was about three years old, his parents accompanied an ox-team immigration party to California, bringing their family, and the father mined for a time near Oroville, but moved from there to San Ramon valley and farmed there until the fall of 1858. From that time until 1868 he farmed near Woodland, Yolo County, and there Perry D. attended the public schools and was a student in the Hesperian College. The next home of the family was near the present site of Newman in Stanislaus County, where the elder Fowler bought three thousand acres of land, raised stock and grew grain until in 1874. After that he herded sheep and farmed in the Deer Creek region of Tulare County until February 20, 1876, when he passed away. The son settled the family estate in the fall of that year Mrs. Fowler moved to Tulare, which was her home as long as she lived, her death, however, occurring in Los Angeles in September, 1895.

 

     Until 1881 Perry Dorman Fowler farmed and raised sheep. Then he began buying grain for G. W. McNear and selling farm machinery for baker & Hamilton of San Francisco. In the period 1887-1900 he operated the Fowler farm. In 1900 he was appointed horticultural commissioner for Tulare County and to the work of that office he has since devoted himself. He has a farm of seventy- one acres, five miles from Tulare, which is leased by his son-in-law. Thirty acres of it is in orchard and thirty acres in alfalfa.

 

     On September 9, 1879, Mr. Fowler married Jeanette Josephine Hawkins, who was born at Suisun, Solano County, Cal., February 1, 1857, and died May 12, 1910, a pioneer in that part of the state. She bore her husband two children, Jeanette May, December 10, 1880, and J. Benjamin, July 19, 1882. The daughter is the wife of J. B. Southwell of Tulare County. The son who is farming on the Lindsay road, seven miles east of Tulare, married Mrs. Annie Smith, and they have two sons, Roy Benjamin and Perry Daniel Fowler.

 

     By the board of directors of the Tulare irrigation district, Mr. Fowler was appointed to assess property to raise revenue with which to pay off the bonded indebtedness of the district to settlers, as provided in the compromise with the bondholders in 1883. He is a member of the Mutual Farmer’s Insurance Company, and being a man of much public spirit has been identified from time to time with other interests of importance to the community. He is a member of the First Christian church of Tulare. Pages 397 - 398

 

 

FULMER, ALFRED C

      The grandson of a gallant soldier, Alfred C. Fulmer, of Orosi, Tulare County, Cal., was born in Crete, Nebr., on Independence Day, 1890, son of William and Amelia (Wilkie) Fulmer. The former is deceased and the latter is now the wife of W. F. McCormick. He attended public schools and graduated from the grammar school when he was fourteen years old. In 1909 he came to Tulare County, where for a time he worked for wages during the summer months, attending winter terms of school. Following a post-graduate course at Orosi, he began working at ranching and planned and strove for such successes as he might win by industrious application of the business ability which he certainly possessed. In the course of events he paid $3,500 for fifteen acres of land. He has three and a half acres of Thompson grapes, which brought him $1,100 in 1911, ten acres bearing vines of Muscat and Malaga grapes and two acres of pasture land. Though young in years he is succeeding along lines that mark him as a scientific cultivator in his chosen field, and there are those who predict for him great achievements in the years that are to come. As a citizen he is public spiritedly helpful to all worthy local interests. Pages 348 - 351

 

 

GALLAHER, W C

 

     One of the successful and highly esteemed of the younger business men of Hanford, Kings County, Cal., is W. C. Gallaher, wholesale and retail dealer in meat. Born in Missouri, February 11, 1874, Mr. Gallaher came to the vicinity of Hanford when he was about eleven years old and grew to manhood in Kings County. His first business engagement was as an assistant in the meat market of E. Selbah, at Lemoore, where he remained for two and a half years, during which time Mr. Selbah passed away. Mr. Gallaher in partnership with I. Burlington then leased the market from Mrs. Selbah and for a year and a half ran the business, but at the end of that time Mr. Gallaher sold out his interest in the market. During the succeeding three years he owned and operated the old Hanford Stables, one of the oldest livery and feed stables in the town, which was destroyed by fire after he sold it. On September 10, 1900, Mr. Gallaher opened a meat market on the site of the Vogel store on Seventh street, but this establishment was destroyed by fire January 3, 1903, and he later occupied a little shack which proved most inadequate in his needs. On the first of February, 1905, he moved into his present building on North Irwin street, and here he has since done a general business in meat and kindred merchandise, both retail and wholesale. Mr. Gallaher took into partnership on January 1, 1912, G. T. Lundh, who assumed the duties of inside manager of the retail department, and in connection with his business Mr. Gallaher own and leases on shares a three hundred and twenty-acre stock ranch five miles south of Hanford. He buys and feeds stock, and thus supplies his own market with the best of beef, also being a heavy shipper to the San Francisco market.

 

     All in all, his business is one of the largest of its kind in the County, and he is entitled to much credit for the fact that he started it on a very small scale and has gradually but steadily built it up to its present fine and promising proportions.

 

     In 1897 Mr. Gallaher married Miss Laura Hess of Tulare. Socially he affiliates with Hanford organizations of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, Woodmen of the World, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to all local bodies of the last mentioned order, and he is also a member of the Portuguese Orders of I. D. E. S. and U. P. E. C. The same enterprise which he has exhibited in his private business he manifests in all that he does for the general welfare, for he has an abiding faith in the future of Hanford and is ready at all time to do anything within his ability to further its development and prosperity. Pages 367 - 368

 

 

 

GARR, JOHN WESLEY

 

     When John Wesley Garr, who lives half a mile north of Monson, came to Tulare County there were but three houses between his residence and Hanford, roads were few and unimproved, the towns of Dinuba and Sawyer had not come into existence, and irrigation ditches had not been constructed. Mr. Garr was born in Indiana, September 10, 1837, and his father was a soldier in the war of 1812. He was reared and educated there and passed his active years there until he was forty years old, then went to Texas, where he lived three years. His next place of residence was in southern Iowa, in which state his brother died aged ninety-six years, their father living to be eighty-six years old.

 

     In Indiana Mr. Garr married Mary J. English, a native of that state, whose parents came there from Pennsylvania. She was the mother of children as follows: Alice J., Charles N., William F., James F., Martha and George. Alice J. married Light Frazier and lives near Dinuba; they have three had children 9one has passed away), and Dora is married, her husband being employed in the oil fields of California. William F., whose wife died thirty years ago while he was a citizen of Texas, is living with his father. John W. Garr has lived in Tulare County since 1881. Pre-empting an eighty-acre homestead, he paid for it partially by chopping wood and has improved it and prospered on it as a farmer. He has some given some attention to figs and has on his place the largest fig tree in Tulare County, which he planted twenty years ago, and which in 1911 produced $75 worth of fruit. From twelve trees his crop altogether made more than a ton.

 

     In his political affiliations Mr. Garr is a Democrat. He takes a deep and abiding interest in every question pertaining to the welfare of the community and co-operates public-spiritedly in every movement for the general good.

 

GILL, LEE

      A son of L. L. Gill, a pioneer of Tulare County, by many thought to have been the owner of the first orange trees in Tulare County, Lee Gill was born in Yokohl valley, cal., Aug. 16, 1884. When he was a child, his father moved to Frazier valley to the property on which Lee now lives. The old place was purchased from H. M. White and was the scene of the primitive venture in orange-growing referred to above.

 

     In the public schools near his home, Mr. Gill was educated and on his father’s ranch he obtained the intimate knowledge of stock-raising which has made him adept in that line. His operations in association with his brothers mark him as one of the leading stockmen of California. They own about forty-eight thousand acres of range land and keep on Lee’s ranch about six hundred cattle, two hundred hogs and many fine horses, buying and selling for the city market, in which Mr. Gill is as well known and as highly esteemed as any stockman in the state.

 

     In 1908 Mr. Gill married Miss Maud Porter, a native of California, a lady of many accomplishments who shares with him much social popularity. They have one son, Austin. Mr. Gill is a young man of much public spirit, who is found always ready to assist to the extent of his ability any movement for the benefit of the community. Page 406

 

 

 

 

 

GOBLE, WILLIAM E

     In Coles County, Ill., November 18, 1872, William E. Goble, now a resident of Tulare County, two and one-half miles east of Orosi, was born. He is widely known as a pioneer in this section and as a successful nurseryman. When he was nineteen years old he went to Labette County, Kans., where he lived six years. From that state W. E. Goble came to Tulare County, where he bought sixty acres of an old place on which an orchard had been established about 1871. He now has four thousand small orange trees and ten thousand grape vines in three varieties, six thousand Malagas, three thousand Thompsons, and one thousand Emperors, all which he intends using on his own place. He has nine acres of Emperors grapes, six acres of Malagas and four acres of Muscats. He is gradually working out of the nursery business and caring for his own land. Water is made available from wells from which it is drawn by means of rotary pumps, and a continual flow of thirty inches assure him a sufficient quantity for the entire place.

 

     While he was living in Kansas, Mr. Goble married Miss Ida Stoddard, a native of Indiana, and they have two children, Gladys and Reva Goble. His parents were John and Catherine (Reynolds) Goble, the former now living in Kansas and the latter died in Illinois in 1890. Politically he is an industrial organizer and socially he affiliates with the Fraternal Brotherhood of America. He holds membership in the Baptist church. As a citizen he is progressive and public-spirited, willing at all times to contribute liberally to the support of any measure which in his opinion promises to benefit the community at large.

 

 

GORDON, GEORGE (DR.)       

     The profession of veterinary medicine and surgery has within the last half-century taken a recognized place among the learned professions and in its membership are included many practitioners who have given to its study and research as much time and thought as the average physician. The veterinary colleges are well equipped and their courses of study are very thorough, enabling their students to become most efficient in their branch of treatment. One of the most proficient and popular veterinarians in the central California is Dr. George Gordon, whose establishment at the end of South Douty street, Hanford, is one of the places of interest of that town.

 

     Dr. Gordon was born in Scotland, January 4, 1870, and was there reared to manhood. His earlier education was obtained in public schools in Banffshire and in Dundee, and later he took a course at the London Polytechnic, where he gave two years to the preparation for his professional education, which was finished in the Veterinary College of San Francisco, except for six months of experience at the Chicago stockyards, where he did post mortem work. His diploma, given him in San Francisco, bears date 1904. The first fifteen months of his professional experience were spent at Lemoore, whence he came to Hanford to establish his veterinary hospital, which has stalls for the accommodation of twenty horses. The hospital and grounds are located at the south end of South Douty street and occupy five acres. It is fully equipped with chemicals and microscopical laboratories. There is also a dental department in connection, with a complement of dental and surgical instruments, and he is thus enabled to give every branch in the veterinary profession the best possible service. In San Francisco, before he entered veterinary college, he conducted a dog hospital and became well known as a canine expert, and he also makes the treatment of diseases of the dog a feature of his practice here. In February, 1910 he was appointed livestock inspector for Kings County and in April following was made a state dairy inspector. He finds his time from his professional duties to affiliate with various fraternal bodies, including the Royal Order of the Scottish Clans, Lemoore lodge and Hanford chapter, No. 74, R. A. M., the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World.  

 

     The able assistant of Dr. George Gordon is W. D. Gordon, who has been identified with this enterprise since 1906 and is now taking the course at San Francisco Veterinary College. He will graduate with the class of 1913, after which he will enter actively upon the practice of veterinary medicine and surgery.

 

      Dr. George Gordon left Scotland in 1888, when he was eighteen years old, and has since returned to his native land four times. His travels in South America have been extensive and he has passed two years in the West Indies as a representative of the International Phosphate company, and was for a time located on Connitable Island, off the northeast coast of French Guiana, near the city of Cayenne. While in South America he became assistant superintendent of the aforesaid International Phosphate company, and thus had a most valuable and interesting experience in a line only indirectly connected with his profession, but one of the great importance in furthering production and commerce.  Pages 370 - 373

 

 

 

JORDAN, JOHN F

 

     The prominent citizen of Tulare County whose name is above and whose residence is at No. 108 West Center street, Visalia, is a son of Frank and Alabama (McMicken) Jordan, natives respectively of Illinois and Alabama, and he was born in eastern Texas December 10, 1850. His father had settled there early and had been for a time manager of a plantation near Shreveport, La. In 1854 he came to California as a captain of a train which included seventy-four families, whom he brought through safely overcoming many difficulties by the way. Locating within the present borders of San Benito County, he became a stock-dealer and hotel keeper, and in 1858 he made his Tulare County, where he brought his family in 1860. He prospered as a stockman, traveling extensively in the prosecution of his business and died at Visalia in 1878, in his sixtieth year, his wife having passed away while the family was in San Benito County. He won the credit to which every self-made and is entitled of having begun with almost nothing and achieved good financial success. He was a citizen of much public spirit, influential in the councils of the Democratic party.

 

     Of the four sons and three daughters of Frank and Alabama (McMicken) Jordan, John F. Jordan was the fifth in order of birth and he was four years old when he accompanied his parents on their memorable overland journey to California. After having completed his studies in the Visalia public schools, he became a student at Heald’s Business College, San Francisco, from which institution he was duly graduated in February, 1875. Soon after his return to Visalia, in that year, he was appointed deputy postmaster of that city, and in 1876 was appointed deputy sheriff. He was elected in 1879 County auditor of Tulare County, in which office he served with great credit for five years. Later, in 1884, he engaged in the abstract business, in 1892 incorporating the Visalia Abstract Company, in which he is now a director, being formerly its secretary and general manager. The knowledge he has acquired of land titles in Tulare County is the result of years of study and experience and it makes his advice along these lines of the greatest practical value. At the same time it should be noticed that his work as secretary and manager of this enterprise, is no indication of the extent of his activities. In June, 1912, he became president of the Citizens’ Bank of Visalia, at which time he retired from the management of the abstract business. He assisted in organizing the Kaweah Lemon Company (Inc) of which he is secretary and which owns three hundred and seventy acres in the foothills east of Visalia. He is a director in the Encina Fruit Company and has much to do with the development of its lands, which include four hundred and forty acres, two miles north of Visalia. In the organization of the Visalia Fruit & Land Company he was prominently active and he is secretary of the Lemon Cove Ditch Company.  

 

     The lady who became the wife of Mr. Jordan was Alice L. Neill, a native daughter of California, and they have tree children: Ethel V., wife of William B. Rowland: Ray F. and Neill J. Mr. Jordan affiliates fraternally with Lodge No. 128, F. & A. M., of Visalia; Chapter No. 44, R. A. M.; Commandery No. 26, K. T., of which he is recorder; Scottish Rite No. 9, of which he is treasurer; and Islam Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of San Francisco. He has been a local leader of the democracy, was a delegate to the state convention of his party in 1904 and at one time served on the County central committee. He also served n the city council of Visalia for eight years. It goes without saying that in every emergency his fellow citizens have found his public spirit equal to and demand upon it. Page 332 - 335

 

 

HAMILTON, HUGH L

 

     One of the sturdy characters in the business life of Exeter is Hugh L. Hamilton, a blacksmith there. Born in 1861, in Mississippi County, Ark., he was a son of Andrew Hamilton, a native of Ireland. His mother died when he was three years old and he was only in his eighth year when his father passed away. About a year after his second bereavement, he went with his grandfather and the latter’s family to Missouri, where he remained three years. In 1872 he was brought to Tulare County, Cal., and his education, begun in Missouri, was continues in the public schools here. He was taken into the family of his uncle, Hugh Hamilton, for whom he was named. In his early life he worked at stock-raising and later for a considerable time gave his attention to both that and grain farming, meanwhile learning the blacksmith’s trade and devoting himself to it as occasion offered. Eventually he turned his attention entirely to blacksmithing, and his shop in Exeter is one of the leading concerns of its kind in that part of the County.

 

     When Mr. Hamilton came to Tulare County there were few settlers in the vicinity of Exeter and the whole country round about was new and developed. Stock-raising and grain-growing were the principal interests for many years. His uncle had one of the big stock ranches of the time and locality, and he gave his nephew a fair start in life. At one time Mr. Hamilton owned five hundred and ninety acres of land and did well as a farmer, but his inclination made him a follower of his chosen trade.

 

     In 184 Mr. Hamilton united his fortunes with those of Miss Mildred Ferril, a native of Missouri, who bore him six children, five of whom are living. She died in 1895 and in 1897 he married Ida May Butts, a native of California. By his second marriage he has had two children, one of whom is deceased. The other, Harvey W. Hamilton, is a student in the Exeter high school. In his political affiliations Mr. Hamilton is a Democrat. He is identified with the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World and is a loyal citizen, for no worthy interest of the community is without his encouragement.  Page 389 - 390       

 

 

 

HAMLIN, BENJAMIN (DR.)

 

     A factor and a landmark in the history of Kings County is Dr. Benjamin Hamlin, of Lemoore, who was born January 20, 1824, and came to the present site of Lemoore in 1874, when he was about fifty years old. But at the time there was no town there; on the ground Lemoore now occupies were a few scattered houses of primitive construction and a few settlers had come to the country round about. The doctor has witnesses the transformation of the County from wild land to a vast wheat-field and has watched the gradual supplanting of grain by fruit and vine. There are few people who have ever lived at Lemoore with whom he was not at one time or another personally acquainted, and many who have known him have had just reason to recognize in him the proverbial friend in need who is a friend indeed.

 

     When he was seven years old the future physician, dentist and druggist was taken by his parents to Lorain County, Ohio, where he grew to manhood. After leaving the public schools, he entered upon his professional studies under the preceptorship of Dr. Hubbard, teaching school in the meantime, to provide for current expenses. In 1847 he received his degree of M. D. at Angola, the County seat of Steuben County, Ind., where he practiced medicine during the decade that immediately followed. The next ten years he spent in practice in St. Joseph County, Mich., and while practicing here he volunteered his services in the Civil war, and engaged as a hospital surgeon at Chattanooga during the time of Hood’s raid, being in that service for seven months. From St. Joseph County he went to Florida, where he practiced dentistry five years. In 1872 he came to Santa Cruz, Cal, where he practiced medicine and dentistry until 1874, when he came to a little settlement on the site of Lemoore and opened a small drug store on the front of which he hung his professional sign. In 1875 he was appointed postmaster there and for ten years he combined the practice of medicine with the sales of drugs, then abandoned the former the better to give attention to the latter. For many years his drug store was the only establishment of its kind in the vicinity. He retired from the drug trade in 1899, since when he has done little business beyond giving attention to his fruit and vine ranch, north of Lemoore, which is now operated by a tenant.  

 

     In 1847 Dr. Hamlin married Miss Margaret Fowls, who bore him three daughters and a son. Of these children only one of the daughters is living, her home being in Santa Cruz. Mrs. Hamlin died in 1886 and on the 16^th of September, 1889, he married Maria L. Wells, a native of Buffalo, N. Y., but at the time living in San Francisco. Together they are spending their declining years in the companionship of many old friends, all in the country roundabout Lemoore the doctor is held in loving regard as a pioneer.

 

     Mrs. Maria L. (Wells) Hamlin is a member of a patriotic family of soldiers, her brother, the late Brig.-Gen. A. B. Wells, having had a military record of over forty years’ actual military service. He father, Captain William U. Wells, was one of the pioneer miners at Virginia city, Nev., and he had four sons and one daughter in his family. All four of her brothers were enlisted soldiers in the war of the Rebellion, and the three surviving have given their entire lives to their country’s military service. Of these, Capt. Charles H. now resides at St. Louis, Mo.; he served through the entire Civil war, was at Libby and Andersonville prisons and was one of the brave men who dug his way out of Libby by means of an oyster-shell as their sole tool, and he has recently published a book which fully described this incident. The second brother was the late Brig.-Gen. A. B. Wells. Another is Capt. William Wells, of Chicago, and the fourth brother, Almer H. Wells, of Chicago enlisted as a drummer boy when he was thirteen years old.

 

     Mrs. Hamlin has had the misfortune of losing her eyesight, but notwithstanding her life has been one philanthropy and kindness, and hundreds of needy and unfortunate people at San Francisco as well as Lemoore will ever bless her for her gentle and generous aid. Pages 335 - 336

 

 

HAWLEY, LUTHER C

 

     In Trumbull County, Ohio, within the Western Reserve, Luther C. Hawley was born May 4, 1829, and when he was six years old his father, who was a farmer, removed to Bond County, Illinois, where the boy gained some schooling and a knowledge of farming. In 1851, when he was twenty-two years old, he with two partners traveled with a four horse team to Oregon City, Ore., being five months on the road. He went to Salem, Ore., and from there to Eugene, Lane County, where he was among the first settlers, and shortly after became first clerk of that County.  In 1855 he helped to organize and enlist in the Mounted Volunteer and was made first lieutenant, serving as such in the Indian service from October to January. His term having expired he with others organized another company and he was appointed chief of the staff, with rank of major, under General Lamerick. He served as such until the war was over and later was a clerk in the Governor’s office at Salem and helped in the settlement of local war and Indian affairs until 1857. Desiring again to see his mother he returned east by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and the Panama railroad was the first railroad he had ever seen. Remaining in Illinois until the spring of 1859, he then started across the plains to Colorado, with a determination to reach Pike’s Peak. He was captain of a train of fifty-three wagons, and his party located on the present site of Denver, where there was then but one house, this being a double log cabin. He did placer mining in Russell’s Gulch, then returned East with a mule team to Illinois. He practiced law at Greenville, Bond County, Ill., until 1862, when he enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirtieth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he served as sergeant major until the end of the war, participation in the siege of Fort Gibson. He remained at Vicksburg, in General McPherson’s command, until February, 1864, and fought under that general at Tombigbee river at Jackson, Miss. In June he marched toward Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge and Chickamauga, and after participating in the fighting at those points went to Atlanta, where General McPherson was killed. Mr. Hawley was then acting as assistant adjutant-general; after the death of General McPherson he was transferred to General Canby’s headquarters at New Orleans, ranking as captain. He was present at the capture of Mobile, whence he returned to New Orleans, and remained there until the close of the war, being mustered out November, 1865.

 

     After the war Mr. Hawley went back to Illinois and resumed the practice of law at Vandalia, where he married and lived until 1870, when he came to California, bringing his family with him. He lived in the Sacramento valley, raising wheat until 1874, then came to Tulare County. The country round about was a naked plain and one could scarcely see a house in half a day ride of fast riding. Mr. Hawley bought a quarter-section of railroad land near the present site of Hanford on the south, and for a time he prospered with wheat and stock, later putting his land into fruit trees. He lived on is place until 1905, when he rented it and bought a residence in Hanford, and since his removal to the city he has sold the ranch. He was a participant in the Mussel Slough tragedy and was a member of a committee sent to San Francisco to deal with the railroad company. He and his associates were put in prison there but were released the next day. In the later development of this section he has been active in the promotion of irrigation, and in all relations with his fellow citizens has been helpfully public spirited. He keeps alive memories of 1861-65 by membership with McPherson Post G. A. R., of Hanford.

 

     In 1865 Mr. Hawley married Alice M. Stevenson, a native of Kentucky. Two of their eight children were born in Illinois, the others being natives of California. Their son Charles Richard became a lawyer, but has passed away. Samuel Vincent is a farmer located a mile and a half from Hanford. Clarence E., is a rig-builder in the oil fields at Maricopa, Cal. Lulu J. is the wife of John H. Van Vlear, of Hanford. Ralph S., of Berkeley, is a civil engineer. Edgar L. is deceased. Victor C. and Claude were twins. Victor is a plumber at Hanford; Claude is deceased. Mrs. Hawley passed away in 1902, aged sixty-two years. Pages 395 - 396

 

 

 

HAYS, JOHN N

 

     The president of the Hays Cattle Co., John N. Hays, a prominent business man of Kings County, Cal., has had a career the history of which thus far is both interesting and instructive, and it should be an encouragement to young me who would succeed in spite of lack of capital and in the face of many obstacles. Mr. Hays was born in Missouri, February 3, 1854, and came to California in September, 1872, when he was in his nineteenth year. The first eighteen months of his life here were spent in Mariposa County, where he was employed by some relatives who had come on before him. Late in 1873 or early in 1874 he came to Lake Tulare (then in Tulare but now in Kings County), where his people took up land on the border of the lake. For two years they farmed on rented land in the Dingley Addition, now the site of Lemoore, Mr. Overstreet, his stepfather, having been in charge, and there Mr. Hays remained until 1886, when he disposed of his interests at the lake and moved to Cholame valley, Monterey County, where he lived and labored ten years. At the expiration of that time he came back to Lemoore and went into the stock business and in 1894 he bought three hundred and twenty acres of land, a mile and a half west of Guernsey, which he devoted to grazing. He operated independently until 1911, increasing his business from year to year till he took rank with the big cattle men of central California. He then organized and incorporated the Hays Cattle Company, of which he is president; Roy D. Hays, vice-president; R. W. Forbes, secretary. The company expects to dispose of about six hundred to eight hundred cattle annually, its last year’s business having amounted to six hundred, and is renting forty thousand acres of pasture for its stock.

 

     Oil developments in the Devil’s Den country has interested Mr. Hays, who has investments there and he owns also an interest in oil lands in the Cholame valley district. He has from time to time had to do with business of other kinds and his interest in the community makes him a citizen of much public spirit. Fraternally, he affiliates with the Circle and with the Woodmen of the World. He married Miss Lillie Mills in 1882 and she passed away in 1891, leaving three daughters and a son. Floy is the wife of R. W. Forbes, of Lemoore. Roy D. is vice-president of the Hays Cattle Company. Pauline married Clarence Esrey of Lemoore. Alice is Mrs. William McAdam and her husband is operating in the oil field. In 1907 Mr. Hays united his life with that of Mrs. Jeanette Bryan, who has borne him children whom they have named Richard Upton, Dorothy and Ann.  Pages 314 - 315

 

 

 

HICKS, BENJAMIN

 

     A descendant from old Canadian families, Benjamin Hicks was born in Toronto, Canada, December 30, 1847, and grew to maturity and acquired his education in the city of his nativity. It was in 1869 that he set out to seek his fortune. Crossing the line into the United States he made his way through the heart of the West and located in Tulare County, Cal., and settled on a ranch a mile and a half north of Visalia. From there he moved in 1884 to an eight hundred-acre stock and grain ranch on Smith road and on rural free delivery route No. 2 of the Visalia postal district. There he farmed nine years, saving considerable money, a portion of which he invested in an eighty-acre grain tract, and in another tract of one hundred acres two miles Northeast of Visalia. From the time of his settlement in Tulare County until his death, June 9, 1900, a period of about a quarter of a century, he was identified with the agricultural development of central California. When he began here nothing had been done to irrigate the soil and the degree of its productiveness was unknown, but he and other pioneers proved that profitable grain cultivation and cattle-raising were not only possible but easy of attainment. He gained a position of influence in the County and was respected for his keen judgment, high honor and energy. In his dealings with his fellow men he exemplified the teaching of the Christian Church, of which he was a devout and helpful member. Politically he was Republican, and as a citizen he gave his support to all measures tending to the benefit of the community. The free school system always had his generous promotion and he long held the office of trustee of the Elbow Creek district, greatly to the benefit of the local school. Fraternally he affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. 

 

     In 1871 Mr. Hicks was married near Visalia to Miss Elizabeth A. March, who was born in Merced, Cal., a daughter of Robert and Mary Jane (Holloway) March, who were of Kentucky birth. Her parents settled early in Missouri and from there came overland to California in 1849. They lived first in Mariposa County, next in Merced County, and then in Tulare County, where she died in 1881, in her fifty-seventh year, he passing away in 1903, in his seventy-ninth year. Until his removal to Tulare County Mr. March had devoted himself entirely to farming; here he gave some attention to mining interests. Mr. and Mrs. Hicks had seven children, four of whom survive: Albert E., Mary Pearl, Jewell and Ruby Louise.

 

     Albert E. Hicks has charge of the old Hicks homestead, which he has managed since 1876. After his father’s death he planted eighty acres to orchard, and now he has one of the best producing orchards in the County. Thirty acres of his land is devoted to peaches and of that fruit he sold one hundred and fifteen tons in 1911, chiefly Phillips clingstones, Lovells and Muirs. The relative value of these peaches per acre was, in the order in which they have been named, $300, $150 and $50 an acre. The entire average value of his peach crop is somewhat in excess of $4,000. His eight hundred and sixty prune trees produce one hundred and ninety tons of prunes valued at more than $6,000. Mr. Hicks married Miss Elizabeth Alles, and they have children named Gladys, Elwood and Allison. Mr. Hicks affiliates with the Woodmen of the World. His sister Mary Pearl and Jewell live with their mother at No. 503 North Church street, Visalia, and his sister Ruby Louise became the wife of A. E. Blair and their home is near Visalia. By the will of Benjamin Hicks his wife was made administrator of his estate and her management of it has given her a reputation for uncommon business ability. The Hicks family is strong in its support of the Christian Church.

 

HIGDON, WILLIAM J

 

     A native son of California, William J. Hogdon was born in Nevada County, in 1876. When he was even years old his parents moved to the Capay valley, in Yolo County, where he was educated in the public schools and acquired some knowledge of farming. In 1898, when he was about twenty-two years old, he followed the lure of the gold-seeker to Alaska, where he remained a year and a half and in 1901 he came to Tulare County and for three years was in the livery business, first as proprietor of the Dexter stables then of the Grand stables, and finally of the City stables. After a year and a half spent in Tulare following his retirement from this business, he moved to the I. N. Wright ranch of two hundred and fifty-four acres, one hundred and seventy-four acres of which was within the city limits, and there engaged in farming, stock-raising and dairying, milking fifty to eighty cows, He owns two hundred and forty acres of other land, eighty acres of which is half a mile southeast and one hundred and sixty acres three miles southwest of his homestead. The larger tract is used for farming and grazing, the smaller one is rented and devoted to the production of corn and other grain. One hundred and sixty acres of the home ranch is in alfalfa. Mr. Higdon keeps an average of about two hundred and d fifty hogs and one hundred head of stock besides his milch cows. He is a stockholder in and a director of the Dairymen’s Co-operative Creamery Co., and the Rochdale Store Co. of Tulare, and is a stockholder in the New Power Co. He has also been secretary of the Tulare County Dairymen’s association since its organization.

 

     Fraternally Mr. Higdon affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His public spirit has led him to identify himself with many movements for the general benefit. On November 23, 1904, he married Miss Hattie M. Wright, a native of Tulare and a daughter of Isaac N. Wright, who was instrumental in securing the location of the city of Tulare where it has been built, and who is mentioned fully elsewhere in this publication. Its boundaries include the old home place where his daughter was born. Mr. and Mrs. Higdon have a son and a daughter, Alice Charlotte and Newton Elliott, who are now (1913) aged respectively seven and four years. Mrs. Higdon, a graduate of the State Normal school at San Jose was for ten years a teacher in the public school at Tulare. Pages 304 - 307

 

 

HUNTLEY, JOHN HOLMES

 

     A pioneer of 1852, a busy and patriotically active citizen since 1865, John Holmes Huntley, of Visalia, Tulare County, was ever a factor in the upbuilding of his community whose influence has been potent all along. Born in Canajoharie, N. Y., September 7, 1829, a son of Oliver D. and Mary (Stark) Huntley, he was educated in the public schools of his native County and at Ames academy, and to a considerable extent in a bookstore in Albany, N. Y., where he was employed two years. His father was a native of Stonington, R. I., and his mother was born in Connecticut, a daughter of Joshua Stark, a farmer who passed away in New York. John Holmes Huntley was but six years old when his mother died. His father was brought up to the mercantile business and sold goods many years; his second wife was a sister of his first. By each marriage he had six children. He died at the age of sixty-five years.

 

     John H. Huntley was the third child of his father by the first marriage and inherited industry and thrift from ancestors who had behind them unnumbered ancestors of Scotch blood. In 1852 when he was about twenty-three years old, he started for California by way of the Nicaragua route and arrived in November that year. In the Sonora mining district he kept busy and made some money buying and selling stock till October, 1861, when he enlisted for Federal service in the Civil war in Company E., Second California Cavalry. He was mustered in at San Francisco, was on duty for a time against Indians on the northern border, was transferred to Tulare County, served at the time of the Owen River outbreak, acting as sergeant-major of a detail of his regiment, and was mustered out in 1864 a continuous service of three years and four days. In the mines of Nevada he speculated a year after the war, then went back to Tulare County and engaged in loaning money in Tulare, Kern and Fresno counties. From time to time he bought land till he owned eight hundred and forty acres in the San Joaquin valley, mostly devoted to stock-raising, and acquired a fine residence on the Mineral King road, two miles east of Visalia.

 

     In politics a Republican, Mr. Huntley served his party in various offices of trust, having been internal revenue collector for Tulare, Kern, Inyo and Fresno counties for five years, until the office was abolished, and he was also gauger of liquors and surveyor of stills until he resigned. He was a member of Gen. Wright Post, G. A. R., of Visalia.

 

     On August 3, 1879, Mr. Huntley married at San Rafael, Nina R. Willfard, born at Southampton, Eng., and they were the parents of two sons, Willfard H. and Chester S. In 1900 he moved his family temporarily to Berkeley, in order to afford his children good educational advantages. In all matters that have advanced the social, political and educational welfare of Tulare County Mr. Huntley was always eagerly helpful, evidencing a public spirit commensurate with his conspicuous integrity. He passed away at the home ranch near Visalia, February 24, 1912.

 

     When the old high school in Visalia was built, Mr. Huntley bought the entire issue of bonds, amounting to $40,000, and as they ran from one to forty years, some of them have twenty-five years, yet in which to mature. He invested largely in ranch property in Tulare County, his first purchase of this kind being the Lewis creek ranch of one hundred and sixty acres, which he later sold. One of his holdings was the Cross ranch at Bakersfield, a hundred and sixty acres; another a second ranch in the Bakersfield neighborhood, a hundred and sixty acres, and both of these he rented. He bought the Cameron Creek ranch of a hundred and sixty acres, stock and timber land, and gave it to his son Chester S. Three hundred acres of the old Dr. Halsted ranch he bought and transferred to his wife and son. Mrs.. Huntley and her son have also large ranch holdings in Tulare and Kern counties and are extensively engaged in stock-raising.

 

     There is one feature of Mr. Huntley’s biography of which he seldom talked in later days, yet which should be made a matter of record. Before the railroad came, he rode pony express three trips a month between Visalia and Fort Tejon.

 

JACOB, HON. JUSTIN

 

     The life story of Judge Justin Jacobs is interesting and should be instructive to the ambitious young man who desire to get on in the world in a high-minded way and to win substantial and creditable success. Justin Jacobs was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1844. His father, who had been an officer in the Seminole war, was connected with the United States arsenal at Troy until he was crippled for life by the explosion of ordinance in that military establishment. Then he went to Wisconsin and in 1847, when his son was three years old, the family settled near Waupun, where the future jurist was educated in the common school. When the Civil war broke out he was sixteen years old, and responding to President Lincoln’s call for volunteers, he became one of the very young soldiers in the Federal army. On the same day he enlisted in the Sixteenth Regiment Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, which was under the command of Colonel Fairchild; his brother Curtis enlisted in the Third Regiment Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. The Sixteenth Wisconsin was assigned to the Department of the Tennessee and followed Grant and Sherman in all their long and brilliant campaigns in the west. Private Jacob took part in many hotly contested engagements, including that of Shiloh, where he was one of those who stood in the historic “Hornet’s Nest.” Exposure and bad surgical treatment resulted in the loss of one of his eyes and he was discharged from the service in March, 1865, so nearly blind that he was unable to resume his studies for a year and a half. However the sight of his remaining eye was restored and he soon became a student at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. After the junior year he entered the law department of that institution, from which he was graduated in 1871, and after two years spent as principal of the Waupun public schools, he began the practice of his profession. He came to California in 1874 and until 1876 was connected with Tipton Lindsey of Visalia in professional work. In the year last mentioned he moved to Lemoore and built the first dwelling house in the town on land which he bought from the railroad company which was promoting development there. During the legal struggles the settlers in what was once known as “the Mussel Slough Country” he was their attorney and ably defended them in the courts. In 1883 he sold his property at Lemoore and until 1885 was the law partner of L. H. Van Schaick, of San Francisco. Returning to Lemoore he was until 1891 the leading lawyer in Western Tulare County, and in that year he took up his residence in Hanford, where for a year he had as his law partners M. L. Short and B. T. Mickle. When the western part of the County became settled and developed and a movement for the creation of a new County to form he was one of the advisors who supplied the legal knowledge upon which the work of separation and re-establishment was carried to success. This fact gives him standing in history as having been one of the founders of Kings County in 1893. He was elected superior judge of the new County and re-elected to succeed himself, and he won the reputation of being one of the ablest judges of the Superior Court of California. He was foremost in all the work of general development so long as he lived, instrumental in bringing about the bonding of the County for public school purposes and in establishing the Union high school and in securing good roads throughout the County. In the founding and building up of the First Unitarian church of Hanford he was a factor and of its congregation he was a member until he passed away.

 

     At Janesville, Wis., in 1872, Judge Jacob married Miss Annie M. Lowber, a native of New York, and they had three children, Cara Belle, Scott and Louisa M. Fraternally he was an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias, a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and of the Grand Army of the Republic, and passed all the chairs in each of these orders. He died September 23, 1898. Pages 278 - 281

 

 

JACOBS, H SCOTT

 

     The talented and successful lawyer of Hanford, who has attained a high position acts at the bar of Kings County, Cal., and by many public-spirited acts has won reputation as one of the leading citizens of Hanford, is H. Scott Jacobs, who was born at Visalia November 2, 1875. He obtained his English education in public schools at Lemoore and in the San Jose high school from which he was graduated in 1894. His professional studies were begun in 1895 under competent direction, and after mastering the law course at the University of California he was graduated in 1899 and was admitted to the bar of California May 19^th that year.

 

     It was at Hanford that Mr. Jacobs entered upon the practice of his profession, opening an office in the First National Bank building. From the outset he succeeded even beyond his expectations. No much time was required for his ability and attainments to become known to the business public and his general attitude as a lawyer and as a citizen commended him to the people. It became evident that his public spirit was equal to any reasonable demand upon it and that he was willing at all times to encourage to the extent of his ability any proposition put forth for the benefit and development of the town and County. In November, 1902 he was elected district attorney for Kings County, in which office he served faithfully and efficiently four years. In 1906 he was appointed by the board of trustees of the city of Hanford to the office of city attorney, and in that relation to the general public he has still more markedly won the good opinion of all. In his political affiliations he is a Republican, and fraternally he is identified with Hanford Parlor No. 37 Native Sons of the Golden West, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World.

 

     Mr. Jacobs married, April 30, 1901, Mary Elizabeth Manning, a daughter of T. A. Manning, of Lemoore, and they have three children, Elizabeth Belle, Justin Manning and John H. Pages 405-406

 

 

JAMESON, IRVING L

 

     Born near Dixon, Solano County, Cal., in 1862, Mr. Jameson is a true son of California, proud of its history and traditions, and devoted heart and soul to its best interested. His parents were John B. and Catherine (Watts) Jameson, natives of Illinois. His father crossed the plains with mule teams in 1854, and at the end of his long and tiresome, but never to be forgotten, overland journey settled in Napa County. Later he moved to a place near Dixon, Solano County, where he acquired government land and engaged in farming and stock-raising, his chief product being grain, with which he was quite successful. Mrs. Jameson bore her husband children as follows: Henry, of Glenn County; Edwin of the state of Washington; Mrs. John Bond; Mrs. Robert Board; and Irving L. The father died in 1902, the mother in 1874. Mr. Jameson was enterprising and progressive, honest, industrious and public spirited in every sense of the term a good and useful citizen.

 

     It was in the public school near his childhood home in Solano County that Irving L. Jameson laid the foundation for the practical education which has helped to make a success of his life. His primitive venture into business was made as a rancher on the Jameson homestead, near Dixon. Afterwards he became owner of the place by purchase from his father. In 1888 he moved from Solano County to Tulare County and bought one hundred and sixty acres of land on Deer creek, where he raised grain. From there he eventually moved to Porterville. He came to his present ranch of about eighty acres, four miles north of Tulare, in 1898, and has greatly improved the place, making of it a high grade dairy ranch of thirty-five cows, sixty-five acres being devoted to alfalfa. His new dairy barn, recently built after his own plans, is one of the most practical for its purposes in the County. The cow stalls have cement floors, and there are individual stalls, which were designed by Mr. Jameson with a view of giving each animal comfort. The feed alley also is cemented, and the provisions for convenient grain storage are excellent, while the plant for pumping water is up-to-date and thoroughly efficient. Mr. Jameson’s finely bred Holsteins attract the attention of all visitors to the vicinity of his dairy. He is practically and enthusiastically interested in horses, and owns the well-known French Percheron stallion, Mardochet, registered; five brood mares and colts and an imported jack for breeding mules.

 

     Absolutely as his home interests command his attention, Mr. Jameson has others. He is a director of the Tulare Rochdale store, a member of the Dairymen’s Co-operative Association of Tulare, and is identified with local bodies of the Woodmen of the World and the Fraternal Brotherhood. He married, in 1898, Miss Ida Roberts, a native of Solano County, and they have children: Mada, Lawrence, Doris and Lowell. The interest in public affairs so characteristic of the elder Jameson has been passed down to the son, and there is no other man in this part of the County more willing to assist, according to means and opportunity, any measure that may be proposed for the general good.  Pages 414 - 417

 

 

KYLE, T W

 

     To California, Indiana, has given many citizens who have become prominent in one relation or another. The ranks of the builders of different classes include many of them. One of the builders of Tulare County few are more deservedly popular than the son of the Hoosier State whose name is above. It was in Jennings County that Mr. Kyle was born in 1853. He came to California first in 1879, remained a year and went to Texas, where he worked as a brick mason. In 1889 he came back, and settling in Tulare, began there a successful career as a brick contractor and builder. In nearly all parts of the County may be seen fine brick structures which are monuments to his skills and enterprise, and among them the following are conspicuous: At Tulare—the I. H. Ham block, the W. Clough block, the new high school building, the Carnegie Library building, the city hall; at Visalia—the George Ballou block, the County jail, the Herroll block, the Delta building, the Lucier block, the Baptist church; at Porterville—the Sarton block, the flour mill, the Henry Traga building, the remodeled First National Bank building; at Hanford—the Biddle Bank building; at Tipton—a hotel; at Traver—a hotel; at Dinuba—the Hayden & Boone block; and many other lesser buildings for different purposes. He has built also some fine blocks in Bakersfield, Kern County.

 

     As he becomes better and more widely known his business increases rapidly. It is already one of the most considerable of its class in this part of the state and bids fair within the next few years to outrank all competitors. His business methods are such as to commend him to all requiring such service as he is so well able to render; he has ample capital and backing and may be depended on faithfully to carry out any contract he may make, however large or difficult. 

 

     In 1891 Mr. Kyle married Miss Florence Owens, a native of Alabama, and she has borne him children whom they have named Alvin J., Forrest and Ruth. Pages 392 - 393

 

 

 

KELLY, SAMUEL W

 

     From Arkansas, which has long been a distributing ground for settlement throughout the south and west, Samuel W. Kelly emigrated to California in 1857, coming by way of the overland trail with ox-team and consuming seven months in making his journey. He was then twenty-nine years old, having been born February 11, 1828, in Alabama and had been taken as a small boy by his parents on their removal from his native state. It was in Arkansas that he was educated. Grew to manhood and acquired a working knowledge of agriculture.

 

On his arrival in California, Mr. Kelly settled in Tulare County and engaged in teaming between Stockton and Visalia. Settling on Elbow creek, he put up a rail pen with but a dirt floor and this was the home of the family for three years. In 1867 he went back east, but soon made a second overland journey to the Pacific coast, this time using mule teams, which brought him through in three months. From the time of his return until the completion of the railroad, which put him out of business, he teamed between Fresno slough and Visalia. Then he bought ten acres within the city limits, on which he farmed for a time and which has been cut up into lots and dotted with dwellings. For about twelve years he operated successfully as a cattleman in the Three Rivers section. Politically he affiliated with the Democratic party, and as a citizen he showed his public spirit in many practical ways.

 

In 1853, Mr. Kelly married Miss Celetha Hudson, who was born and reared in Arkansas and accompanied him to California. She bore him three children, Samuel A., Mrs. Lulu E. Reeves and Mrs. Mary J. Sparks, who with the widow survive him. The home of Mrs. Kelly is No. 500 Goshen avenue, Visalia. Mr. Kelly passed away April 15, 1911, deeply regretted by all who had known him.  Pages 408 - 411

 

 

KNIGHT, U G

 

     The editor of the Exeter Sun, published at Exeter, Tulare County, Cal., was born in Constantine, Mich., in the late ‘60s, a son of Captain G. W. Knight, of Company E, Third Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, who served nearly five years including all the period of the Civil war, and won praise for his bravery, especially at the time of the Indian uprising in Minnesota and Dakota in 1863, in the suppression of which he took part with his regiment. Captain Knight passed away in Nebraska in 1898. His widow is living in Los Angeles County, Cal.

 

     The future editor of the Sun accompanied his parents to Webster County, Neb., when he was but a few years old, and there grew to manhood and acquired an education, beginning his active career as a school teacher. In 1886 he journeyed to California and spent a year in looking over the state, but went back to the Grasshopper State, where he was married in 1895 to Miss Daisy M. Garner, of Invale, Neb, who has borne him a son now a student in the Exeter high school.

 

     In his early days, Mr. Knight turned his attention to newspaper work, almost entirely editorial and reportorial, and was time to time employed on the Omaha Bee, the Omaha World-Herald, the Lincoln Journal, the Kansas City Star and several papers in Nebraska. Eventually he came to the conclusion that, to be a competent all-round newspaper man in business for himself, he should understand the types and presses. So, dropping work at far better pay, he took employment in the press rooms of the Hebron (Neb.) Journal, and later he held cases on the Denver Daily News and other large papers, also working in and out of editorial offices as occasion offered.

 

     Soon after is marriage, Mr. Knight turned to the soil as a farmer in Nebraska. A certain amount of success rewarded him for several years, but two or three “lean” years drove him out of the business. In 1900 he passed a civil service examination and was given a responsible position in the semi-secret service of the United States, in which his duties consisted in part in obtaining data and official figures required by the Government. In this work he traveled over most of the Middle and Mountain states, encountering many dangers, but turning in such satisfactory information that he was urged to retain the place. He resigned, however, and went to Alberta, Canada, stayed a year, than came back to California.

 

     Here he again engaged in newspaper work, at first as editor and part owner of the Oxnard Sun. Later that paper emerged with the Oxnard Courier and he continued as editor, but in 1905 he sold out his interests at Oxnard and became editor and part owner of the San Pedro News, a daily. After six months he sold out and was given editorial employment on the Los Angeles Herald, which he gave up a few months later to go on the Los Angeles Examiner. In January, 1908, he resigned and moved to Exeter to take an interest in the Sun, of which he later became sole proprietor and editor.

 

     The Sun is a sprightly paper, more newsy than most papers published in small towns, well liked and well patronized. It has practically grown up with the town, is now twelve years old, and as a booster of Exeter and vicinity it has been a factor in the uplift of the city. To considerable extent Mr. Knight is interested in real estate, having sold many of the choicest tracts in the vicinity. He is considered one of the best authorities and judge of the land in the County. He is also interested in banking, having a large number of shares in the new Citrus Bank, which was established in Exeter in May, 1912, and was offered a directorship in this institution but did not care to accept. Fraternally, he affiliates with the Masons, Red Men, Modern Woodmen and other secret and beneficial organizations, including the Masonic auxiliary order of the Eastern Star. He has one of the finest homes in Exeter, a large house and an orange grove inside the city limits. He is a member of the Exeter Board of Trade and in many ways has demonstrated a public spirit that makes him a most helpful citizen with his pen and otherwise.  Pages 368 - 369

 

 

 

KNOX, GEORGE W

 

     The well-known and popular proprietor of the general merchandise business in Orosi, Cal., which enjoys such a flourishing and gratifying trade there, is George W. Knox, whose influence in the commercial, industrial and political fields in this state as well as in the middle states has been most effectively exerted. Unusual executive ability, a most sagacious reasoning power, a clear mind and the forceful spirit to bring to a successful issue all that he set out to accomplish have been the means of Mr. Knox’s brilliant achievements in the political field, and the state of Minnesota especially has reason to hold him in high esteem and to ever silently thank him for his activities towards the welfare of that vicinity.

 

     A native of Columbia County, Wis., the son of George and Julia A. (Jackson) Knox, George W. was born November 20, 1852. His parents were both natives of Essex County, N. Y., coming to Wisconsin at an early day and settling down to farming for a long period of years. Persevering hard-working people, they here reared their family and became well-to-do farmers of their day, giving to their children the benefits of good education and imparting to them that rare good training which has made of so many of our citizens the well-balanced men they are today. The latter years of their life was spent in California whence they had come in 1904, and in Grangeville the father passed away, at the age of ninety-three years, his widow dying a short time later at Orosi at the same age.

 

     At the common and high schools of Kilbourn, Wis., George W. Knox received his educational training, working during the summers with his father on the home farm. Mercantile life early attracted him and upon graduation from school he became a clerk in a drug store for a few years, later embarking in that business for himself at Elroy, Wis., which engaged his entire time for several years. In 1874 with his brother he drove across the plains to Boise City, Idaho, but remained here but a short time, returning east to locate in Aitkin, Minn., where his brother D. J. Know was then living. His career here covered the period between 1876 and 1908, during which time he became a central figure in industrial and political circles, and became most prominent through his efforts in the legislature to bring about improvement of many conditions there. With his brother D. J. Knox he engaged in the wholesale and retail mercantile business, lumbering and logging, which they carried on until the former’s death; he then continued alone until his removal to California, at that time selling out the business. A stanch Republican in political sentiment he soon became prominent in local affairs in Minnesota, and held the office of County auditor, being later superintendent of schools in Aitkin County. His exceptional ability soon attracted the attention of politicians, and he was elected to serve for two years on the State Board of Equalization, which office he filled with such satisfaction to his constituents that he received the election to the State Legislature for the term of 1907-08, and served two years as a member of the staff of governor VanSant, with rank of colonel. He was chairman of Aitkin County Central Committee for years and during his incumbency many long-felt wants of the County were fulfilled, the County being benefited in many directions by his presence on this committee. With all movements tending towards the growth and development of Minnesota and the surrounding country Mr. Knox had a great interest, and was usually instrumental in aiding in their furtherance. He had many opportunities in his business to find these deficiencies and his experience in the lumbering business had taught him the value of certain conditions which he sought to bring about.

 

     For many years the business of Mr. Knox in Aitkin was the lumbermen’s headquarter in this country, they being the most extensive outfitters in that selection in their day. After relinquishing his interests here in 1908 he decided to come to California, whence his parents had preceded him, and accordingly came to Orosi, which has since been his place of residence. In Minnesota, Mr. Knox had married Ella H. Smith, a native of Illinois, who passed away in Minnesota, and one son was born to this union, Walter DeF. Upon arriving in Orosi, Cal., he investigated conditions there, finally deciding to establish himself in his own line of business, and on January 1, 1909, the business of Bump & Knox was begun, dealing in lumber and builders’ supplies, and this has grown and increased to such an extent that a wholesale and retail business is carried on, Mr. Knox now being sole proprietor. He has a general merchandise business in connection and enjoys a wide and profitable trade, gaining his patronage chiefly by his sagacious handling of his wares and his courteous yet business-like manner.

 

     In 1909 Mr. Knox married in Los Angeles, Christina (Thompson) Smith, and they make their home in Orosi, being well-known members of the society there. Mr. Knox has been a prominent Mason in Minnesota as well as in California; he is a 32d degree Scottish Rite Mason and Knight Templar of York Rite, member of Osman Temple of St. Paul, Minn., and past master of Blue lodge at Aitkin, Minn.; member of the Knights of Pythias of Orosi; and is also a member of the Blue lodge of Masons of Orosi. He has one sister, Mrs. S. J. Knowlton, widow of E. G. Knowlton, who is residing in Orosi.

 

     It is of interest to add that Mr. Knox has become very interested in drainage systems in Minnesota, and his entrance into the legislature was for the furtherance of the project to secure appropriations for that purpose. During his term of service $4000,000 was secured under his bill, and the appropriation has been continued ever since under the same ratio, thus perpetuating the influence and accomplishments of its loyal instigator and friend. Mr. Knox’s career has spelled power and success  from its inception, and he has earned the deepest gratitude and admiration of all who have come to know him.

 

History of Tulare and Kings Counties, California with Biographical Sketches
History By Eugene L Menefee and Fred A Dodge
Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company, 1913
Transcribed by: Craig A Hahn

                                                             Site Updated: 12 January 2009
                                                                  Martha A Crosley Graham
                                                                    Rights Reserved - 2009