Full text of "History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county and environs who have been identified with the growth and development of the section from the early days to the present"

See other formats

979.401

1729149

HISTORY OF

San Luis Obispo County
and Environs

CALIFORNIA

WITH

Biographical Sketches

The Leading Men and Women of the County and Environs

Who have been Identified ivith the Growth and

Development of the Section from the

Earlv Davs to the Present

HISTORY ^\
Mrs. Annie L. Morrison and John H. Haydon

ILU'STRATED
COMPLETE IN ONE NOLUME

HISTORIC RF.CORD COMPANY

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNLA

1917

17?S149

CONTENTS— HISTORICAL

HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY

liy Airs. Annie L. Alorrison

PAGE

Introduction 17

"Memories Green," by Horace Annesley Vachell, noted English novelist and
dramatist — Beginning of San Luis Obispo County — Cabrillo in 1542 names
Morro Rock, visits the bays, and names Piedra Blanca — Beauty of the natural

scenery — Topography of tlie county.

CHAPTER I
The Spanish Quest p^ok "Et. Dorado" 21

How our state got its name — Spanish formalities in taking possession of the
state — Cabrillo, his voyage to Cape Mendocino ; his death and burial place —
Indians in San Luis Obispo County — Piedra Pintada, or Painted Rock, an
ancient temple of sun worship on the Carissa plains.

CHAPTER II

The Pounding op toe Missions 24

The Jesuits expelled from Spain's dominions by order of Charles the Third,
of Spain — The Franciscans establish missions in Alta California — Don Caspar
de Portola and Fathers Junipero Serra and Francisco Palou, and the two expe-
ditions, by land and by sea — The founding of the San Diego Mission — ^Transla-
tion of Father Juan Crespi's diary describing Portola's journey through San
Luis Obispo County — Manner of founding a mission — Construction of the mis-
sions— Founding of ^Mission San Luis de Tolosa — Wealth of the mission —
Later history of the mission — San Miguel Mission — Relics of mission day.s —
Origin of the introduction of the tiled roofs.

CHAPTER III

California During the Mexican Revolt 33

Mexico a dependency of Spain from the conquest of Cortez — Father Hidalgo,
and the revolt of 1810 — Mexican independence acknowledged, and a republican
form of government adopted — Execution of Iturbide — The Indians of the mis-
sions inaugurate a little civil service reform of their own — The Indian revolt
at Santa Ynez — California declares her independence of Spain and her allc.i»iance
to Mexico — The beginning of the end of ecclesiastical rule — Tlie act of seculari-
zation— The end of mission rule.

CHAPTER IV

The American Conquest 3(5

The early Californians — Their speech and manner of life — Captain John Wilson
— Prominent families of the early days — Means of travel — Julian Estrada and
Joaquin Estrada — Rufus Burnett Olmstead, Jerry Johnson, the Mathers, and
the Leffingwclls — Trade by barter — Mexican governors of California — The com-
ing of the Americans. The Conquest: .-X move by the .Vmericans — Fremont —
The trip to Sonoma, and the raising of tlie Bear Flag — Ford's address — Sloat
at Monterey — Fremont goes south — .\ Iiluuder — Juan Flaco (Lean John) or
John Brown's ride — The trouble in tlie south — Flores ahead — Stockton to the
rescue — The Americans are defeated — Merritt retakes San Diego — Kit Carson
and Stephen W. Kearny reach the crossing of the Colorado — Gillespie and Beal
are sent to their relief — Pico defeats the .-\mericans at San Pasqual — Lieutenant
Gray to the rescue — Kearny and his dragoons reach San Diego — The Battle of
the Mesa, and the capture of Los .'\n.geles — Fremont goes north for recruits —
San Luis Obispo captured — Pico a prisoner — Pico's life saved — The departure
of Fremont — The struggle through the storm over San Marcos Pass — Terms
of peace — Governors of California after the conquest — Fremont's great ride.

CONTENTS— HISTORICAL
CHAPTER V

Spanish Grants and Old Faiuues in San Ll'is Obispo County 51

The Grants : A list of the grants made in San Luis Obispo County — The
breaking up of the grants with the coming of the "Gringos/' Old Families:
John M. IVice — William G. Dana — Francis Ziba Branch — Isaac J. Sparks —
Francis E. Quintana — Captain John Wilson — Mrs. Ramona Hillard — Mrs.
Estafana Esquar.

CliAPTEB VI

Discovery of Gold, and Early History op" the Countv 56

Government under Kearny and Mason — Peace proclamation published — Discov-
ery of gold — Governor Riley and the first constitution — First state election —
California admitted to the Union, September 9, 18,S0 — A jubilee — Counties estab-
lished— First county elections — First courthouse, and laws of the court — First
Sunday liquor law — First board of supervisors — Tax list and taxes in ISSO —
A few items of interest — A little episode not confined entirely to the pjist — A
tribute to the early pioneers.

CHAPTER VTI

History prom IS.'O th ISCO. A Ijand op Crimes 62

Cattle-raiHii: ilu iiimipal industry — Travel limited — The whole county infested
by bancK .i di i.. i.uKirs — Love's Rangers — Murrieta, Vasquez, and Jack Powers
— Murder oi lv\o Frenchmen — Murder at San Juan — Murder of the Read
family at San Miguel Mission — Other crimes — Organizing of a Vigilance Com-
mittee— The pledge — Roll of members — The mvsterious disappearance of O. K.
Smith.

CHAPTER VTII

The Great Drought. The Early Pioneers _

Development of the county hindered by various conditions — The early land-
holders— Manner of life before the great drought — The dry years of 1862-
63-6-1 — J. P. Andrews raises hogs — The cattle die, new settlers come in, and
a new era is entered upon — A pioneer woman, Mrs. Neal Stewart — Other
p'oneers of the coast section — Settlers in the Salinas vallev — Earlv office holders
-J. B. Kcster tells about Old Creek— G. W. Hampton— R W. Murph\-— Afessrs.
James and D. D. Blackburn— D. W. James— John H. Hollister— Charles H.
Johnson— Myron Angel— Henrv M. Osgood— C, H. Phillips- T. 1. Simmler—
J. W. Slack— Major William Jackson and Mrs. Mary Jack<on.

CHAPTER TX

Products op the Soil, Dairvinc;, Grazing .\nd the Great Landholdings

Wlieat and barley— Cultivation of the wheat— Mills— Irrigation-Vegetables—
Beans— Orchards— Dairying; Its history and growth— The Steele brothers-
Production of butter and cheese— J. H. "Orcutt and Laurel ranch— Grazing and

the yr

CHAPTER X

ORAL I'RODrCTIONS 9(3

Coi.m: Where found- Early Indian and Mexican operations in the La Panza
niMu-;— (lold production in De la Guerra gulch— Prospecting on Navajo creek
I," 'S'"^-— The stream and pool in Haystack canon— Crevice deposits near the
"1 auited Rock"— Findings of an old prospector in 1879— Report of Mason and
Stdl. Salt: The salt springs around the headwaters of the Salinas— The dry
lake bed on tlic Carissa plains. Coal: Outcroppings in northern end of the
county— The rocks along the bay at San Simeon— Coal- Mountain. Quicksilver :
Josephine mme— Klau mine- Pine Mountain mine— The Keystone mine— Oceanic
mine. Coi>i>i;r : Good Will mine Coodwill Mining Svndicate. Chromit'm:
Ranks next to quicksilver— TwrKr-niile vein northwest of San Luis Obispo—

CONTENTS— HISTORICAL

Deposits at the head of Chorro creek — Assay and production — Deposit between
San Luis Obispo and Avila — Shipments. Other Minerals and Stonks: SiHca
— Iron — Lime — Gypsum — Alabaster — Onyx. ,\sphaltum: Deposits on the
Corral de Piedra, Pismo, and Santa Manuela grants — Uses — The beds below
Edna — Shipments— fThe Huasna deposits — Tar Springs ranch. The Oil In-
dustry: Early operations in Price's canon — Tiber Oil Company — Operations of
the Baker Ensign Company and the California Paint Company at Hadley — The
Producers Transportation Company — The Tank Farm — Ships and shipments.
Building Stone: The yellow sandstone quarries near Arroyo Grande — The
green granite of Bishop's Peak and San Luis Mountain — "Chalk rock" — The red
granite of Morro Rock. Statistical Data: Items from assessor's report, and
statistics of the State Mining Bureau.

CHAPTER XI

Roads, Whakxes. Raii,K((.\i)s. Stage Lines axd Mail Routes, County

Buildings .vnd Countv Finances 103

Roads : Travel in the early days^— Early road laws — Roads and bridges — State
highway. Wharves: Pismo wharf — Morro wharf — San Simeon wharf —
Cuyucos wharf — Wharves on San Luis bay — County wharves. Railroads : Bill
enacted, authorizing construction of a railroad from San Luis bay to Santa
Maria valley — San Luis Obispo Railroad Co. — San Luis Obispo & Santa Maria
Valley Railroad Co. — Fares — Oregon Navigation Co. — Pacific Coast Railway Co.
— Southern Pacific Railroad — Excursion and land sale — Tunnels — May 5, 1894,
a historic date in the county's history — Completion of the line from San Fran-
cisco to Los Angeles — From surf boat to parlor car. Mail Routes and Stage
Lines: First regular mail route — First post office — Early passenger service to
Monterey, San Jose and San Francisco — Tri-weekly and daily stage and mail
service from San Francisco to Los Angeles — Coast Line Stage Co. — A typical
stage driver — Other mail routes and stage lines — Post offices and post office
receipts. County Buildings : Courthouse and Hall of Records — Walter Mur-
ray's stand in the interest of public progress — County hospital. County Fi-
nances : Early property valuation, tax rate and taxes, state and county — Work
of present advisory board — Present valuation, debt, and tax rates on city and
county property.

CIIAPTf]R XII

Schools, Churches and Lodges .113

Edwin Markliam and his "Oak-tree College." Schools: The first schools in
California — First .American schools — Provision of public school fund — Public
school sj-stem established — First public schools in San Luis Obispo County —
Early teachers, and county superintendents — .\ttendance in 1882 — Pioneer
teachers — Growth of the schools since 1882 — School funds — A much misunder-
stood law. High Schools: San Luis Obispo high school— Paso Robles high
school — Templeton union high school — Arroyo Grande union high school. New
Grammar Schools: Paso Robles. Santa Margarita, Atascadero, San Marcos.
Other Schools: Academy of the Immaculate Heart— The State Polytechnic
Scliool. Our Honored Veterans: Mrs. Mary S. Spaulding — Clara Belle
Churchill— Flora E. Armstrong— William M. .'\rmstrong— Clara E. Paulding—
F. E. Darke. Churches; Pioneer churches and preachers — Episcopal Church —
Presbyterian churches. Lodges : Early and later Masonic and Odd Fellow
lodges — Rebekah lodges and Eastern Star — Knights of Pythias — Native Sons
and Native Daughters — Other lodges

CIIAI"l'i:i; XIII

The Press, the Bench and I5ar, Piivsici ans and Others

The Press: The Californian— The Pioneer— The Tribune— The South Coast
— The Southern California .\dvocate — The Mirror — The Breeze — 'The Telegram.
Bench and Bar: Early judges — Judges Beebe, Venable, Gregory, Gregg.
Unangst, and Murray — Present judges and lawyers. Physicians: The pioneer
doctors — Present practitioners. Other Prominent Names: Dana, Mallah,
Leland, Rodriguez, Kelshaw — Present county officials — Paderewski's ranch —
The .\tascadero Colonv.

CONTEXTS— HISTORICAL

CHAPTER XIV

Cities, Towns, and Villages 136

San Luis Obispo, the City of the Bishop: Description of the early settlement
— Land rights — Organized under state law in 1859 — Incorporated as a city in
1876 — History of the water works — Progress in development and in population
since 1868 — Present city government — Public improvements — Fires — Churches
— New Federal Building — Banks — San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce — The
Woman's Civic Club of San Luis Obispo — Climate. Paso Roples : Incorporated
in 1889 — Pioneer business men — Dr. J. H. Glass — Other pioneers — Products —
Churches — Banks — Upper Salinas Valley Fair — Newspapers — Public improve-
ments. Templeton: Settlement — Pioneers: Albert Crum, H. C. Whitney, Ly-
man Brewer, Frank Hansen, Harry Scheele, Will Lawton, Drs. Pendleton and
Heath, Dr. S. Helgesen, G. H. Fisher, Eben Ward. H. B. Morrison, Jean Donel-
son, William Horstman, Hans Petersen — Other pioneer business men — Pioneer
families: The Wessels, the Bierers, the Mercers, the Thomas's — "College Hill"
— Present business men — Churches — The first entertainment — Attractive features
of the town. San Miguel: Settlement — Celebration of the one hundredth an-
niversary of the Mission — Improvements and industries. Creston. Santa
Margarita: Location and settlement — Industries and improvements. Nipomo:
Location, improvements and industries. PiSMO: Pismo beach — Pismo clam
beds — The baths — Scenery and climate. Arroyo Grande : Location — Develop-
ment since 1867 — Incorporated in 1911 — Improvements and industries — Bank of
Arroyo Grande — Newspapers — Seed farms — The valley. Oceano: Location —
Shipping interests— "Le Grand Beach." Newsom's Springs: Location— .As a
resort — The springs. Behros : Location and industries. San Simeon: Early
shipping interests — Early stage line — Ocean View mine — Captain Clark's whaling
station — Industries and improvements — Piedra Blanca lighthouse. CAMnRiA:
Government land surveyed and thrown open to settlement — Early settlers —
Adoption of its name — Early enterprises — Improvements and industries.
Cayucos ; The name — Captain Tames Cass — Early settlers — Pioneer ministers —
Pioneer business men — The abalone cannery — Other business firms — Another
O. K. Smith item — The Cayucos bank robbery. MoRRO : Morro Rock — Campers
on the "Point" — The legend of Morro Rock — The town laid out in 1870-71 —
Celebration on Toro creek, July 4, 1870 — Atascadero Beach — Morro Rock Inn —
Improvements and industries. Avila : Laid out by the Avila brothers — Avila
beach — The county wharf. Port San Luis : Wharves — Hotel Marre — The har-
bor— The lighthouse — San Luis hot sulphur springs — The climate. Pozo : The
name — The Salinas river — The climate. Shandon : .\doption of the name —
Laid out by the West Coast Land Co. — The staple product — Starkey — Pioneer
settlers — Products and climate.

CHAPTER XV

PREsinEXTiAi. Visits, and the G. A. H.. JGP

President McKinlev's vi'iit- President Roosevelt's visit— G. .A. R. of San Luis
Obispo County: Colonel Harper Post, No. 126, roster and charter members;
Fred Steele Post, No. 70, charter members and present officers — Woman's Relief
Corps of .-\rroyo Grande, organization and charter members — The Fred Steele
Relief Corps, past presidents and present officers.

CHAPTER XVI

A Celebrated Land Case, and Old County Documents 173

The story of the litigation over the Cuesta rancho — Copy of old documents
found in the county clerk's office — .An old account, illu.strating old-time trans-
actions.

CHAl'TER XVII

A Chapter op Politic.vl History, and Items from the Tribune MG

Fir.st county election — Early political parties — First Republican state convention
in 1856— The county divided into election precincts in 1859- Election of 1860;
the state carried for Lincoln— The first Republican county convention, in 1873—
Various parties— The state divided into six Congressional districts— Organiza-
tion of the Grangers, the Good Samaritans, and the Good Templars— .A new
issue: .Saloons or no saloons — The Farmers' .Alliance — Progress of Prohibi-
tion-Items of interest taken from the files of the Tribune.

CONTENTS— HISTORICAL

HISTORY OF SANTA MARIA VALLEY

P.y John H. Haydon

Santa JIaria 1S3

Laid out in 1875— Change of name— Early buildings— Churches— Early school
districts— Pacific Coast Railroad— First hotel— First brick buildings— Reuben
Hart— An eye for the beautiful— Efforts at fruit industry— Banks— Homicide—
Telephone— Incorporation— Temples and halls— Lodges in the city— Santa Maria
high school— Grammar schools— Hotels— Roads— Santa Maria oil fields— Opera-
tions of the oil companies— The Palmer field, and the Santa Maria Valley and
Southern Pacific railroads — Sisquoc.

Santa Maria Valley and Environs 189

Location and description of valley— Fremont's expedition in 1846. Guadalupe
rancho: Original grant— The "Old Adobe"— Industries— Settlement of Guada-
iupe— Pioneers— Chisito Olivera— Lodges— History of growth. Rancho Punta
de la Laguna: Original grant and patent— The Laguna— Santa Maria water-
shed— Early industries — The Union Sugar Company — Improved farming methods
—Public improvements— Bean culture. Suey rancho: Original grant and
patent — Location — Stock, grain and beans. Rancho Tepesquct : Original grant
— W. D. Foxen— Pacifico Ontiveros, patentee— Santa Maria mesa. Sisquoc
rancho : Location and description — Industries. Rancho Tinaquaic : Original
grant and patent — Industries. Rancho Los Alamos: Original grant and patent
— Contest over title — Industries — Los Alamos. Todos Santos rancho: Original
grant and patent— La Graciosa pass— The great gusher, Hartnell No. 2. Town
of Garey: Thomas A. Garey— Kaiser brothers— Attemps at fruit culture. Or-
cutt : Charter provision — Improvements and industries. Cuyama Valley :
Description — Pioneer settlers— Early school districts— The drought of 1897-98
— Products and improvements — Cuyama rancho : Original grant and patent —
Ranches No. 1 and No. 2 — Improvements — "A Tragedy of thf. Range," by
Augustus Slack. What Was Public Domain of Santa Maria Valley : Loca-
tions by early settlers — La Graciosa district — Santa Maria city and vicinity.

A Chapter on Education 202

Education under the Mexican regime — .\merican influence — Early commissioners
— ^Early county superintendents — Recent county superintendcnLs — The schools
of the Santa Maria valley — The high school district — The Bell district.

INDEX— BIOGRAPHICAL

Aaroe, Hans Nissen 924

Aaroe, Laurits N 72.S

Abbey, Thomas F 303

Abels, Henry John 939

Abies, Asa W 455

Ahramson, Martin Theodore 767

Acebedo, Manuel C 689

Albert!. Lorenzo 986

Anderson, Charles \V 655

Anderson, Herman 798

Anderson, James Robert 897

Anderson. John S -- 601

Anderson. Victor 654

Andrews. George H 352

Andrews, George Leslie 607

Andrews, John Pinckney 207

Angel, Myron 78

Arata, P. A. H 531

Armstrong, Flora E 127

Armstrong, William M 127

Asebez, Edward --- 807

Asmus. T. C 920

Atkinson, J. W 941

Avila, Manuel F 972

Await, William Henry 610

Bagby. William C 802

Bagnell. John D 866

P>akeman. George A 783

Ballard. Edward Boucher 814

Ballard. Thomas Jefferson 375

Bank of Santa Maria 389

Barba, Ramon K 79.5

Barlogio, Joseph 98.-1

Barnhart, James 71S

Barr, Sidnev Montgomery 91)2

Bassi, Alessio 1"31

Bassi, Angiolino lOl.-'

Bassi, Rinaldo WM)

Bassi, Ugo 1032

Bassi, Vincenzo /33

Beckett. John F £.52

Bell, George F /81

Bcnnedsen. Jens 515

Bennett, Frank E S79

Bennett, Warren C 275

Berkemever, John B S97

Bettiga,. I^uis 9/9

Biaggini, Ercole 309

I'.ianchini. Eugenio 739

Biasoni. Alex ?93

Bick.nnre. Elery 582

Biddlc, I'hilip and John 587

Biggs, Mr. and Mrs. John D 31/

Bigler, A. B 442

Bilton, Leonard Law 691

Black, John P 246

Black. Patrick James 256

Blackburn D. D 76

Blackburn, James 76

Bondietti, A 995

Booth, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred R 667

Borkey, Mr. and Mrs. .Andrew Paul.. 557

Bosse, Henry 767

Botts, John Franklin 632

Bowen. Royal Eugene 713

Bowers, Frank J 935

Boyd, John : 393

Boyd, Thomas 362

Bradhoff, John Henry 591

Bradley, Charles 232

Brainard. John H 602

Branch, Francis Ziba 54, 394

Branch, J. Fred 377

Bras, Anton V 1005

Brass, John V 1003

Brass, Joseph, Sr 1003

Bray, Egbert D 546

Brewer, Lyman 657

Brintnall Eucalyptus Ranch 949

Brooks, Benjamin .503

Brooks, Herbert E 624

Brooks, Mr. and Mrs. Myron H 497

Brophv, John 786

Brown. Evan 848

Brown. James M 355

Brown, Richard 433

Brubaker. Mr. and Mrs. Elias P 3.38

Bryan, George W 925

Budan. Edith B 31!?

Budan. Herman 318

Bulcy, Rev. Thomas McPherson 779

Bunch, John H 927

Burke, William G 587

Cahill, Hiram S 661

Caldcron, Jose J 1020

Caldcron, Jose S 1013

CamiJodonico, S 335

Campodonico, Stephen V 1034

Careaga, Bernardo F 658

Careaga, Charles M 735

Careaga, James F 613

Careaga, Ramon A 908

Careaga, Ramon F 217

Carr. Thornton Washington 310

Carranza. Geronimo 397

Carroll. John 617

Carson, Charles 4ri9

Carson. Ellard W 815

Cass. Charles Albert 400

Cass. Capt. James 435

Castillo. Graciano 730

INDEX-BIOGRAPHICAL

Castro, Rosamel 943

Castro, Vicente 943

Cesmat, Ernest F ol9

Cliaffin, Mrs. George 943

Chapek, John 569

Chase, Samuel P 910

Cheadle, Charles A 419

Childs, Mr. and Mrs. John E 29!

Christensen, .\braham 639

Christensen, C. A 679

Cliristensen, John 581

Churchill. Arthur C 749

Churchill, Clara Belle 126

Clark, Capt. Abner 450

Claus, Mr. and Mrs. Charles T 810

Clausen, Fritz 734

Clink. Frank 889

Coiner, Samuel T 330

Colbcck. William Thomas 797

Colby. H. H., D. 0 788

Conkey, John F 551

Conkcy. Robert M 938

Conrad. William .Arthur, Jr 560

Cook, Ale-K Stirling 609

Conterno, Othello Charles 611

Costa, Frank 516

Cox, Arthur E 860

Cox. Marion 959

Craig, Edgar 863

Crediford, Joseph 785

Crossett. Fred D 596

Cruni, Albert 685

Cuendet, Frederic 727

Culp, William W 376

Curti, Joseph 1025

Dana, Richard H 538

Dana, William G - 53

Daniels, Edward J 90S

Darke, Frederick E 128, 229

Dauth, Otto Edgar 895

Davis, Anthony Tinsley .. 871

Davis, Joseph Benjamin 349

Dean, Fred A 835

Deising. Walter Hugh 950

Deiss. George F 545

Dflcissegues, Alberto 854

Delcisscgues, Benjamin Pierre 953

Dille, Stephen P 631

Doane, George M., Sr 521

Dodd, Willis 899

Domingues. John P 998

Donclson, Virlin Eugene 705

Donovan, Con 499

Donovan, Jerry 293

Doty, Jacob R 855

Doty, Sherman 1 840

Dowell, William II 568

Doylc, Patrick 888

Draper. Harry 1) 400

Dresser, William Orlando 744

Drumm, Calviu R 494

Dubost, .Mfred .\uguste 823

Dubost, -Augustc 402

Dudley. Albert Allen 845

Dughi. I'.dwin P 1024

F:ames, Abraham Lincoln 859

Earl, Fred 922

Earl, John Robert 919

Earl, Robert Wesley 413

Eddy, William Tyler 405

Ellis, William 828

Emerson. Mrs. Dove 647

linos. William L 1001

Erickson, Matt William 729

I'irickson, Oscar F 790

Estergren, John P 877

Exline, Bernard 237

Exline, Mrs. Harriet Esther 281

Exline, Levi 271

Exline, Vernon 613

I'arnum, Lucius Lamar 870

I'"ast, Gustav W 833

Feliciano, Antone 1028

hY-rrari, Severino 914

Ferrasci, Louis 980

I-'ilipponi, Laurice 988

Filoucheau, F. J 930

Fink, Carl 413

Fink, Charles 412

Finley, Hon. T. R 2.V

First National Bank of Santa Maria.

The 520

Fiscalini, Charles 982

Fiscaliui, John D 977

Fleig, Joseph 804

Foley, Patrick 881

Forbes, James F 868

Ford, John J 801

Fotheringham, Frank E 751

Fouch, Erastus 573

Fowler, Cecil H 960

Foxen, Thomas Frank 543

Franklin. J. H., M. D 590

Fratis, Frank M 1032

Fratis, John J 987

Fredrickson. Gustav Robert - . 793

Freeman, Mrs. Albert J 945

Freeman, John C 6^3

Freeman, Josiah 743

F'reeman, Rega Dent 504

Freeman, Thomas Francis 730

Frick, Norman F 576

Fritzinger, Edward Henry 899

Froom, John R 626

Fruits, George A 803

Fuller, George Lesh 906

Gallup, Howard A., M. D 581

Ganoung, Mrs. Priscilla 443

Garcia, Lazaro Silvers 881

Gardner, Mrs. Helen L 420

Garkee, Mrs. Lulu Terrill 332

Gates, Marion Francis 723

Gerst. Michael 409

Ghigliotti. John 976

Gilibons. Lewis D. and Carrie 226

INDEX— BIOGRAPHICAL

Gibson, Alex Franklin 787

Gibson, Ernest H 502

Gillespie, George Winfield 514

Gillis, Archibald 757

Gillis, Mrs. Lucy 416

Gingg, G. Conrad 589

Giumini, Innocenti - 971

Glass, Karl Bevan 652

Glines, Cassius H 244

Glines, John T. and Dora B 948

Glines, Robert Cassius 867

Gnesa, Henry Andrew 1022

Goodchild, James Wilson 476

Goodchild, John Thomas 447

Goodchild, Ramon W 915

Gorham, Thomas P : 829

Goulding, James M 849

Grafft, Herbert W 911

Gragg, George T 231

Grant, John - 847

Gray, Samuel 278

Grove, Mrs. Clara Susan 894

Gruwell, Charles L 563

Guerra, Mrs. Mary 1021

Gularte, John S 994

Gularte, Manuel S 1022

Gunderson, Gunder 832

Guy, John 882

Haabesland, Hjalmar 707

Hahl, Ernest A 928

Hallstrom, Oscar E 934

Hampton. G. W 75

Hansen, Hans N 544

Hansen, John C 574

Hansen, Jacob P 917

Hansen, Morten Peter 513

Hanson, Carl E 673

Harloe, Capt. Marcus 479

Harris, John L 911

Harrison, John H 958

Hart, Reuben 224

Hathway, Amos Riley 361

Haun, Louis Z 567

Hawkins, Howard A 674

Haydon, John H 565

Hearst, George W 559

Heinrich, Johannes R 574

Hemphill William 570

Hobson, Clarence J 954

Hollister, John H >. n

Holloway, John James 219

Holmes, Albert 789

Holt. Henry 297

Holzinger, Ed 831

Holzinger, Martin 680

Hopper, David Le Roy 876

Hopper, John B 876

ll..p,,cr, John T 873

llM,.,i,r. Oliver and Everett 874

llorMiiian, Albert Ralph 778

Hou,L;hton, George A 412

Houghton, Jonah 411

Houk, John 398

Hourihan, Patrick E 904

Howard. A. A 857

Howard. Harry H 598

Hudson, John 698

Hudson, Perry •. 905

Hudson, William K 880

Hutches, James M 916

Hultquist. John 891

Ide. Bela Clinton 552

lliff. Horace Greeley 898

Iversen, Andrew H 933

Iversen, Chresten A 324

Iverson, Clemen Fredleff 851

Iversen. Hans 846

Iversen, Iver - 843

Iversen, Mat 300

Jack, Miss Christine 223

Jackson, Major William 85

James, D. W 11

Jardine, John T 774

Jensen, Thomas 955

Jespersen, Christian N 927

Jespersen, Hans 1 824

Jessee, Archer Catron 250

Jessee, Bert E 916

Johe, William 422

Johnson, Albert . 675

Johnson, Charles H /8

Johnson, Edwin S 864

Johnson, Elvert Andrew 722

Johnson, Niels .'. 636

Johnson, Peter and Ina 382

Johnson, Thomas 928

Jones Albert 456

Jones, J. Thomas 614

Jones, Miss Sophia F 457

Jones, Mrs. Sophie Butler 312

Jones, Thomas Allen 312

Kalar. Johnson M 469

Kelsea, Henry Clay 816

Kester, John Bonham 383

Kiler. Mrs. Jane 645

Kimball, John Albion 794

King, Charles 0 292

King. Maria Zorada 271

Kinnebrew, Marcus 951

Kinney, Charles S 679

Kirchncr, Gottlieb W 535

Kitchen, William Henry 830

Klintworth, Gerd 771

Kneppel Bros 664

Kortner, Christian 277

Kortner, James 277

Krumlinde, John Charles M. 879

Kuehl, Mrs. Emma 790

Kuhnle, Emanuel D 669

Lack. Rev. F. M 634

Laing. George 642

Lambrccht, Peter C 721

INDEX— BIOGRAPHICAL

Lanini. Gioachino 965

Larson, Carl 742

Lauridsen, Louis 853

Lee, Joseph B. F 597

Leffingwell, William and William J... 500

Lehner, Mary Vignette 486

Leisy, Herbert E :.- 745

Lertora, James 345

Lewis, Charles Samuel 791

Lewis, Mrs. Frances E 924

Lewis, Jesse E 537

Lima, Frank A. and Manuel F 522

Lingo, George W 699

Linn, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Mal-
colm 651

Long, E. E 623

Loose, August, Jr S5.t

Lopez, Joseph V 1014

Lovgren, Alfred Theodore 714

Lowe, Dawson 390

Lowe, S. Jackson 542

Lucas, William T., M. D 249

Luchessa, James 978

Luis, Joseph S 969

Lundbeck, Frank J 653

Lyman, Harry E 524

Lynch, Frank J., D. 0 585

Mc.\li)in. John W 930

McCabe, Anthony F S9cS

McCann, Peter 784

McCulloch, John 8.38

McDonald, Michael 629

McEUigott, William 914

McKay, Ralph E 901

McKce, Tomas Edgar 909

McKinzie, Simon Henley 71)6

McMillan, Alexander 432

McMillan, Donald C 481

McNeil, Archibald 404

Macdonald, William 937

Mader, Anton 656

Madonna, Paul 984

Madruga, Manuel F 1033

Madscn, Niels G 756

Magoria. Peter F 962

Mahoney, James J 825

Maino, Joseph 358

Malmberg. Rev. Anders 0 764

Mann, William Joseph 782

Marctti, Joseph C 974

Margetts, Percy Jennings 690

Marre, Luigi 211

Martin, James G 946

Martin, James Wightman 837

Martinez, Manuel M 996

Marzorini, John 991

.Mathieson, Hans Peter 554

.Matncy, Jackson Rodkey 819

Mastagni, Bernardo A 989

Meherin, Michael J 298

.Mehlschau, .Andrew 595

Mehlschau, Hans 590

Melchior, Taylor S 344

Mcng. Albert 826

Meyer. Eskel E 886

Miclielson, George Louis Feilcr 704

Aliller, Orrin E 635

Miller, William Alfred 773

Minetti, Thomas 1012

Miossi, Bernardo 973

Monighetti, Charles 970

Moore, George W 913

Moore, Oliver Perrv 387

Mora, Rafael A 620

:Morehous, Edward .Sherman 719

;\Iorehouse, Ambert C 662

Morrison, .Annie L 463

Morrison, Hamilton Brown 428

Morton. Mrs. Annia Blair 719

Mosher, Carnii Fllisr.n 567

Mnrpliv, r W 76

.Musci^i. Alirain 414

.\lii>ci... CUinem 999

Negranti. James Peter, Sr 724

Nelson, Andrew 378

Nelson, Frederick 851

Nelson, Knute Berger 763

Nelson, Ole 501

Nelson, Swan 900

Nerelli. Lorenzo 1011

Newsom, David F 235

Nichols, Stanley L 525

Nicholson, Abraham Lincoln 922

Nielsen, James Poulsen 585

Nielsen, Knud 592

Norris, John M 869

Nunez. Frank 758

Nunez, Manuel 1017

Nyberg, Charles L 840

Oakley, Carey C. and William C 370

Oaklev, William Calvin, Jr 952

O'Donovan, Patrick 811

Oilar, John Lincoln 604

Olgiati, Charles 990

Ontiveros, Abdon T 857

Ontiveros, Abraham 364

Ontiveros, Jose Dolores and Mrs.

Augusta 381

Ontiveros, Juan Pacifico 364

Ontiveros, Kencho Salvador 903"

Ooley, John Harris 646

Ortega, Victor 717

Osgood, Henry M 79

Palla, Joseph Edward 836

Palmer, Charles W 603

Palmer, John Joseph 806

Paolini, Luis 1019

Parnell, Harrv 940

Paul, Alva .... 304

Paulding, Mrs Clara E 127

Pearson, Charles H 509

Pedraita, Louis G 1018

Pcdrotta. Tames 700

Pentzer. W. C 862

I'eppard. Matthew T 580

INDEX— BIOGRAPHICAL

Perinoni, Frank 746

Perozzi, Peter 967

Perry, Robert Lucian 762

Pertiisi, Filippo _ 1007

Petersen, John 529

Petersen, Martin 875

Petersen, Thomas 774

Peterson, Andrew C 601

Peterson, Capt. Frederick J 890

Peterson, Halver '. 800

Peterson, Swan 305

Pezzoni, Ernest J 966

Ptister, Albert 319

Pfister, Paul 752

Phelan, Jeffrey _ 618

Phelan, Jeffrey William 618

Phelan, Michael W 609

Philbrick. George A 885

Phillips, C. H 79

Pimentel, August C 1023

Pimentel, Joseph C 1002

Pinkert, Mrs. Magdalina 708

Pippin, William T 884

Plympton, Robert M 633

Poletti, James 992

Pond, John H 478

Powell, Col. William V 472

Prell, John G 264

Prewitt, John Calhoun 331

Price, John M 52. 299

Price, William B 498

Purkiss, Myrton M 912

Quenzer. Fred 894

Quintana. Francis E 55

Radloff, William t arl
Raincy, Robirt \lc\and
Ranney. Willard C
Records, Spencer C
Records, Thomas B
Reese, Jenkin
Reid, Robert P
Reinke, John Henry
Rcmbusch, Joseph \
Reynolds, Carmi W
Rcvnclds. Charks
Kt-vncdds. Duii^'ht
Reynolds, Ross
Rhyne, Walter W
Rice, Marion Hell
Rice, William 11
Richina, Peter
Ricioli, Victor
Righetti, Frank Egedio
Robertson, Risdom W
Rolita, Manuel P
Ronconi, Charles, Jr
Root, George Francis
Rosa, Jose G
Rossi, Vincent
Rotanzi, Eligio
Rotta, Geromi
Rougcot, Thomas H

766
670

S50
^V
Wl
741
S70

808
24 1
76.1
772
858
388
967
976

1035
932
96?
989
676

1013
752

1019
994
881

Routzahn, Lewis C 466

Rubel, Eugene D !!."..''..!. 936

Rucker, James H 329

Rude, Amador Nevada ..: 438

Rude, Mrs. Emma Kearney 553

Rude, William H 355

Ruiz, Elisco B [[[ 1012

Ruiz, Estanislao N ' 1...1018

Rusconi, Fulgenzio C 953

Rutherford. Jesse T 597

Ryan, John J _ §22

Salmina, Marius G 931

Samuelson, Philip 923

Sanborn, Harry John .....'. 955

Sanchez, Miguel D 740

Santa Maria Free Public Library 918

Santa Maria Union High School 907

banta Maria Valley Railroad 938

Santos, Manuel J jqjq

Sargenti, George 999

Sarmento, Manuel ."''....Z 964

Satchell, Ernest A 944

Saunders, Harry C. 942

scaroni, John ^ :zz;::;;;i03i

Scaroni, Leo P 334

Schlegel, Joseph, Jr 'ZZZ''. 809

Schroeder, Henry F 634

Schulze. William H. " 523

Schutte, Fred ' "' yn

Scolari. Pietro '.1037

Seeber. Alonzo H

Senneth. John 344

Serrano, Carlos 530

Serrano, Michael 530

Shackelford, Richard .\l \jj

Sherman, Thaddeus 7%

Shimmin. Marion 261

Shinners, Michael .. ... ^ 663

Signorelli, .Mfred Isadore 1035

Signorelli, Celestino 7l026

Signorelli, Frank 1036

Signorelli, Louis _ ;io29

^^ignurelli, Lovia iq29

Silacci, Antone 975

Silacci, Paul '[''' jqj^

Silacci. Peter ......."l021

Silva, Faustino J -[QQg

Silva, Joseph C. Jr .'.Z^^^'lQOO

Si va. Joseph F. 1027

Silvcira, .Anton, Jr ]004

Silvcira. Antonio T

simmier, J. J... ;;;;■; -^

Sims. Isaac 93J

Skinner C P ..:;:: 366

Slack. J. W 31

Smith, Benjamin Reed 77.77 694

Smith. Clark Sherwood 692

Smith, Henry B 54]

Smith, Prof. Nelson Croxford .7 907

Smith, William E 530

Smithers, Amos sgg

Soares, Joseph C ]005

Souza, Antonio J 294

Souza. Catano Joseph 425

Souza. Frank C ]001

Souza. Joe J " 995

INDEX— BIOGRAPHICAL

Souza, John Paul 1"09

Souza, Manuel J., Sr ]l^

Souza, Maria Doroth> -t^-^

Sparks, Isaac J "

Spaulding, Mrs. Mary 15 '^o

-Spillman, John Calvin ^^o

Spooner. Rev ^ R ,^ , ^^^

Spooner, Ahlen Bradford -«/

Steiner, Karl fli,

Stevens, Thoniab ^f

Stevenson, Milton Stewart »J^

Stewart. Mrs Ntal ^^

Stier, Henr> \ f^

Still, Abrani \ ^i/

Still. Mrs. Ltlia Penwell 48/

Stockdale. David rMnle> -Jfi

Stokes. William C I'"

Stoltz. Randolph Joseph SW

Stombs, Mrs S R 9^9

Stone, Carol H 886

Stornetta, Antonio ^°°

Storni, Achille 1016

Storni, Nicola 961

StuU. Ed . «^

Stull. Jacob B 86

Stumpf, John 641

Sutton. Herbert Charles 485

Swall, Mathias R ■ ^04

Sykes, Heni> ^"-^

T
Talbot, Giles \ 625

Tanner, Heniv 624

Tanner, James C and Nora E 59_

Taylor, Hiram 283

Taylor, John 79/

Taylor, Peter 45^

Terris. David. Sr 392

Thaler, Da\id '^^J

Thomas, Allen Lloyd 4/,^

Thompson, Charlotte M (Ashbaugh") 41U
Thornburg, John 346

Thralls, Arthur 792

Thralls, James (. onstantine 833

Thurmond, Gideon Edward 564

Tidrow, Joseph (^77

Tietzen, Paul 0 371

Tobey, Stephen Henry 470

Tognazzini, Abraham 102j

Tognazzini, John 972

Tognazzini, Samuel Martin 964

Tolle, Henry Bascome 683

Toniasini, Benjamin 983

Tomasini, Frank E 985

Tonini, Michael 962

Tonini, Robert 983

Trigueiro, Manuel 995

Trignciro, Manuel J 1011

True, Charley 765

True, Hanson W .' 712

Trucsdale, Isaac Newton 934

Truesdalc, Willis H 52(1

Tucker. Douglas A 827

Tulcy, Jacob Thomas 893

Tuley, John li 648

Tuley, William Henry 460

Tunncll, George R 427

Tunnell, Martin Luther 426

Twitchell, Jacob Silas 812

Upton, Roscoe E 863

Valley Savings Bank 937

Vanderpool, P. F 736

Van ?.latre. Isaac S 548

Vasquez. Rudolph 575

Vear. Frank 761

Villa, Frank N 768

Villi, Augusto 970

von Dollen. Martin E. E 892

von Dollen. Ma.K 755

Wahlgren, O. P 835

Waite. David 519

Walker, Judge Gordon G 356

Wallace, William 569

Waller, L. D 618

Warden, Horatio M., Jr 608

Warden, Horatio Moore 209

Warden, Mrs. Queenie 214

Webster. Hon. Jonathan Vinton 488

Weeks. Lewis Drew 433

Weir. Frederick William 879

Weir. George 818

Weir. Henry 891

Welsh. Toseph and Joseph Clarke 458

Wessman. Frank A 805

Wharff. Arza A 862

Whitaker. W. S. and Ira Ray 431

White, George A 872

Whiteley, Thomas 443

Whitlock, Edwin S 586

Whitney, Mark H 919

Wickenden, Albert P 950

Wickenden. Fred 289

Wicktn.len, Tnhu R 947

Wickstroni. K.lwar.l Joseph 839

Wilkinson, Cleveland J 957

Williams, Antonio _. 777

Williams. John Perari 777

Williams. Louis 906

Willson. Henry Sanford 507

Wilson, Charles 720

Winiiner. William Dalton 887

Witcuskv. Frank - 641

Wolf. Albert 771

Wolf, Daniel 326

Wolf, Laura White 325

Wolf. Louis 842

Wolf. Otto 838

Worden, Clyde 820

W'orden, Guy T 878

Work, John , 821

Wrmhi. Horace G 306

Wriyhl. lolin Francis 444

Wy.s, (iltn 526

^•,.rk. Walter 896

Zanetti. Maurice 1008

Zanetti, Severino 1006

Zanetti. Tilden E 1010

Zimmerman, A, August 799

HISTORICAL

HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY

By Mrs. Annie L. Morrison

INTRODUCTION

In reply to a letter the writer sent to the now famous novelist and
dramatist, Horace Annesley Vachell, the following reply was received :
Beechwood House, Bartley,

Southampton. England, Oct. 29, 1916.
My dear Airs. Morrison —

I send the little sketch you ask for with pleasure, and hope it is what
you wanted. With all good wishes,

Yours sincerely,

HoR.xcE Anneslev \'achell.

Mr. Vachell lived in San Luis Obispo County from 1882 until about
1894, on his Tally-IIo! ranch at Arroyo Grande, then on the ranch near
San Luis Obispo, on the road to Pismo. \'achell Avenue is named for him.
He married Lydie Phillips at Templeton in 1889. A son was born ; and when
this child was a few years old, a daughter. Mrs. Vachell died when the
daughter was about a month old, and is buried in the San Luis Obispo city
cemetery. Mr. Vachell returned to England with his children.

His family is one of the oldest in England, his ancestors coming with
William the Conqueror. He was born at Sydenham, Kent, October 30, 1861.
In Tyson's Magna Britannica, the Vachell family is recorded as the oldest
in Berkshire, and that in 1309, John \'achell was Knight of the Shire. Many
noted men came from this family. They were soldiers and statesmen ranking
high in England. Horace Annesley Vachell was educated at the famous
Harrow School, then entered the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, gradu-
ating in 1881, at the age of twenty. He wanted to enter a special regiment,
but w^ould be obliged to wait for several years ; so he resigned his commis-
sion and decided upon a tour of America. The rest is told in the sketch
he sent. The letter was written on black-bordered paper; for in June, 1916,
his son, a member of the aviation corps of the British army, was killed —
a sacrifice to the horrible war n(nv raging in Europe. As this sketch is a
sort of keynote to much that is to follow, we give it to our readers as an
introduction.

MEMORIES GREEN
By Horace Annesley Vachell

I remember vividly — as if it were yesterday — those delightful days in
the early "eighties" when my brothers and I lived at Tally-Ho ! ranch.
Some colossal vegetables, exhibited in San Francisco, lured me to San Luis

18 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Obispo Count}'. That was in '82. and I came alone, not knowing a single
soul in the ancient IMission town, but carrying a letter to my future father-
in-law, C. H. Phillips, which I presented forthwith. He entertained me
handsomely, and then passed me on to a compatriot. Major Moreton, who
had bought land near Arroyo Grande. The Major Was the most genial and
hospitable of men, honorably known afterwards in Santa Cruz as "The
Picnic King." I became his partner. At that time the vast Spanish' fanchos
were still in existence, and one could ride league after league without seeing
that crude symbol of civilization — a barbed wire fence.

The Arroyo Grande valley was already settled up with bean-raisers
and fruit-growers, all of them prosperous. The foothills were swarming
with quail; the marshes held duck and snipe innumerable; the creeks were
full of trout ; and clams were to be had for the digging. What a paradise
for the sportsman ! And a good pony cost forty dollars ! Add to this a superb
climate and pleasant people. Throw into this delectable melting pot, youth,
an inordinate appetite for enjoyment, and the probability of making a fortune
easily. What more could be asked of the gods? Briefly, I had the time of my
life, and rushed back to England to persuade others to join me. Many came.
We started polo, and talked of a pack of hounds. We bought more land
and planted out vineyards and orchards in blissful ignorance of horticulture
and viticulture. I confess that we were reactionaries.

We liked best the old-timers, the patriarchs, the men of flocks and
herds. We knew that the old order was passing, that the courteous Don
had his back to the wall; but this knowledge lent a curious piquancy to
our lives. We were witnesses of a great change. The "bad men," I remember,
interested us enormously. A lynching of two neighbors thrilled us to the
core. This was still the land of Bret Harte. I exchanged greetings with
Frank James, and beheld Black Bart, who robbed stage-coaches, and pinned
a copy of verse embalming his adventure to the nearest live-oak. The!
foothills harboured cattle and horse thieves, and half a dozen train-robbing
desperadoes. We attended barbecues and rodeos, and practiced throwing the
lariat. We fished and hunted all the time.

Our impressions of the people are not so easily recalled. Certainly,
with rare exceptions, we remained very English. We Avore breeches and
boots, and rode in English saddles upon hogged-maned, bob-tailed ponies.
We cherished the conviction that we should make fortunes and return to
spend them in England. The old-timers hinted at dry years, but we paid
no attention to them. Land bought at five dollars an acre was sold at sixty!
We came to the conclusion that our rich friends did not know how to
spend their money. I caught one millionaire digging -post-holes, with the
thermometer above eighty in the shade. I asked him point-blank, why he
did it. ""N'oung man," he replied, "why do you drive tandem?" I told him
that I liked driving tandem. He replied drily: "And I like digging post-
holes." ," , ,

'["here were many amazing.charactej'.g— wbatwe call in England, "cards."
I remember so well Uncle Johnny Price .of Pisma, Billy Ryan, Captain Harloe
of the Iluasna, J. P. Andrews, the banker, tlie brothers Warden, Uncle Dave
Norcross, and a host-of others.- Of the men I knew whohad-much to do
with the building of the state, such as Colonel- HoHister, Frank MeCoppin,
Elwood Cooper, C-harles Crocker and Senator Stan-ford, it is a keen regret

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 19

that I did not profit by many opportunities of asking questions. In those
days I considered interrogation to be "bad form." My father-in-law, C. H.
Phillips, became my intimate friend and companion. He was a man of great
parts and energy. Had Fortune dealt with him more generously, he would
have risen to the heights. I owe much happiness to him and his. He had,
essentially, the broad outlook, and a delightful vein of humour. In bad
times his pluck, courage and optimism shone out supreme. No man had a
deeper faith in California, nor a livelier interest in men and affairs.

To Benjamin Brooks, the editor of the Tribune, I owe much kindly
criticism and advice on literary matters. He encouraged me to write at a
time when I needed badly such encouragement. He taught me the art to
blot. He counselled me, most sagely, to deal faithfully and sincerely with
life as it is rather than life as a budding novelist would like it to be. Oddly
enough, he urged me again and again to write plays, affirming that I had a
sense of the theatre which he regarded as a disability in a novelist.

I hope to revisit California in the near future. I want to smell the
tarweed again, and to see the brown hills scintillate into opalescent colours
as the sun sinks into the Pacific. It is a dear, sweet land, different from any
other I have known, a land of immeasurable spaces. It is at once intimate
and panoramic, a curious combination that battles description. It allures irre-
sistibly. During the horrors of this war, I have thought of it again and again
as a sanctuary of peace and plenty. Long may it flourish ! H. A. V".

No history of a county in California can be written until one has at least
a speaking acquaintance with the history of the state, and that always reads
like a romance. It began as that of a fabled island, peopled by a race of
Amazons clothed in strange armor who engaged in continuous warfare on
men and beasts alike.

The finger of Fate pointed westward in the dreams of Columbus, and
his voyage of 1492 opened the way to a new world. Still the goal always
lay to the west, and brave adventurous spirits followed the westward course
until the blue Pacific, its islands, its seas, its tree-clad shores or battling
clilifs were no longer myths but glorious realities.

Cabrillo, in 1542, was the first white man to set foot on our shores;
and he was here in our own county of San Luis Obispo visiting San Luis
bay, which he called Todos Santos, or All Saints bay. Los Esteros is
Morro bay, and he gave to the great conical rock towering from its placid
waters the name it still bears, Morro Rock.* San Simeon bay was the Bay
of Sardines, and he it wias who named the Piedras Blancas on whose rocky
heights now stands one of the finest lighthouses on the coast. Fifteen miles
out to sea shine its beacon rays, warning ships away from the rocks. In
times of storm, its' booming fog-signals, coupled with the pounding surf,
sound a requiem to the brave and dauntless Cabrillo. In May of 1908 the
writer stood on' the cliffs of San Simeon Bay and just at sunset saw the
great fleet of United. States war vessels sweep gallantly liy on its trip around
the world. The flags of "Our Own United States" waved fi'om every great
gray ironclad, strains of music floated to' us on the evening air across' the
dimpling, sparkling waters ;' and from Cabrillo, in his crdde 'vessel, to tliese

'Cabrillo seems' to have' spelled the -word with' a single "r" for on a copy of hi;
chart the nanie.so appears. . , ■ . ... .,..—

20 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

hiij battleships was a far cry indeed. Few of those who watched had ever
heard that Cabrillo was there in the summer of 1542, and that is one
reason why this history is being written. If every man, woman and child in
the county could read it, how interesting would be the places we daily
see about us.

Our' county has all the beauty of seashore and mountain peaks, of deep
caiions, fertile valleys and sweeping plains. Over its rolling hills the grain
fields dapple in harvest time, orchards cliiub the gentle slopes, and cattle
by thousands graze on the higher pastures or the great grazing plains of the
southeast. Its mineral wealth is of great value, its beaches beyond compare
and its climate that of paradise.

The Padres founded within its precincts two great missions, and its
history begins with Cabrillo in 1542, goes to the founding of San Luis
Obispo de Tolosa in 1772, three years before the Atlantic coast was wit-
nessing the War for Independence, and steadily on to the present, which
is only the beginning of what is to be. The "dark and bloody days" of the
Nacimiento, the days of the stage-coach, of no coach at all, of travel by
scliooner and sailing vessel, over cow-trails on horseback, and at last by fast
trains down the valley, over the range and beside the sea will be authentically
and pleasingly told.

All the industries will be written of and all the many resources dis-
cussed. The men and women, dead and living, who pioneered the way for
us shall be remembered — and what a story they lived and worked out ! Many
of them sleep the long sleep in lonely hillside cemeteries or within sound
of the lapping waves. None are left of the very early days, and only a few
of the days when a vigilance committee had to hang murderers and
thieves in order to make it possible for settlers to come and live in safety.

In order to understand the scenes and events described, one must know
the topography of the county. All along the coast, caiions and valleys,
each with its own sparkling stream, open to the sea. San Carpojaro, Arroyo la
Cruz, .■\rroyo Pinal, San Simeon, Santa Rosa, Villa creek, Cayucos creek.
Old creek, Toro creek, Morro creek, Islay creek, Canon del Diablo, Pecho
creek, San Luis creek, and Arroyo Grande creek. These open caiions
or fertile valleys were the first sections settled. Along the coast were the
great land grants which will be given a chapter by theinselves. San Simeon
bay, Cayucos, Morro bay, San Luis bay were, and three still are, good ports,
liefore wharves were built, there were "landings" — Cave landing with its
robbers' caves, and Pecho landing, where goods and cattle were hoisted or
lowered by derrick to the vessel below the rocks. Then comes the Santa
Lucia range, with Cuesta Pass the main gateway to the broad Salinas valley,
and the more northern pass up Old creek and over the Ascunsion or York
grade. Of course there are other passes that the old-time desperadoes and
cattle thieves knew how to use. Beyond the Salinas valley lies a region of
plains, canons and mountains. The San Juan, Huer-Huero and Estrclla are the
principal streams. Along the .southern "boundary runs the Santa Maria river,
a broad stretch of sand in summer and a roaring, unruly demon in winter,
tossing bridges out of its way or cavorting out over the valley and inun-
dating Santa Alaria for a lark.

The Huasna and Alamo are streams that water the cattle of the southern
ranges and flow into the Santa :\laria. The Salinas river rises in the south-

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 21

eastern portion of the county and flows northwesterly through this and
Monterey counties into Monterey bay. A range of mountains forms our
eastern Ijoundary, and as a sample, Caliente mountain rises 5,095 feet into
the clear dry air southeast of the Chimeneas ranch. Pine mountain, 3,600
feet. Coal peak, 3,500 feet. Cypress mountain and Black mountain are land-
marks in the northwestern portion of the county. The Nacimiento river
springs into life near Coal mountain and goes tumbling, splashing on its
way, a home for trout and salmon, a drinking fountain for deer, and long
ago for bears galore, until it joins the Salinas up in Monterey county. Such
was and is the land that Cabrillo, Don Caspar de Portola, Father Junipero
Serra and his brothers traversed, and that Dana, Estrada, Price, Wilson,
Branch, the Steeles, Cooks, Olmsteads, Murphys, Blackburns, Murrays, Hol-
listers, C. H. Phillips and all the others pioneered and opened up to devel-
opment. To tell the story of much that befell them and the results they
wrought, is now the task the writer begins.

CHAPTER I
The Spanish Quest for "El Dorado"

How Our State Got Its Name

When Columbus sailed from Spain in 1492, under the patronage of
Isabella, he was under promise to himself to seek an ocean passage to India,
and to the Spanish rulers, to seek for gold. "Loot," it mattered not how
gotten, just so it poured treasure into the coffers of the king. Columbus
took back no gold ; but the stories of the Indians, of treasure to the west-i
ward, were sufficient to lure the adventurers on. Pizarro ravaged the Incas
in Peru, destroyed their cities, took them captive and carried home vast
amounts of gold, silver and precious vessels used in the worship of their
gods. In 1520, Cortez climbed to the crest of a mountain in Mexico and
looked upon the peaceful blue western sea, naming it Pacific. Yet the
peace of the ocean did not deter him from following in Pizarro's wake. The
ruler of the land, Montezuma, and his people met the fate of the Incas,
and their hoards of treasure were taken by their conquerors. It is little
wonder that by this time all the new world was regarded as one vast vault
of riches, and that fabulous tales were told and written. One of these writers
was Ordonez de Montalvo. In 1510 he published a book, Ingas de Esplandian,
telling of a magic island where Amazons ruled and griffins guarded the wealth
of the land. The young grandee, Esplandian, falls in love with the Amazon
(|ueen, Califa. Many battles take place between his followers and the dragon-
like griffins. Because of their ability to sail around in the air, and because
Ingas remembered his Greek, he called them "ornis" and his bride "Kalli"
(beautiful), from the same language. Professor George Davidson, the trans-
lator, says that an "f" was inserted for euphony, and so we have the name of
our glorious state, California, meaning "beautiful bird."

When Don Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, in 1542, made liis voyage ti> our
coast, he had in mind the romance of Esplandian, and when he saw the

22 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

islands off the southern coast, lie named them "Las Californias." Soon the
name was applied to the Mexican peninsula, and later "Alta California" was
that part which is now our state.

Spanish Formalities in Taking Possession of the State

It has already been related how Cabrillo explored the coast of San Luis
Obispo and named bays and Morro rock. After leaving San Simeon bay,
he sailed on and entered Monterey bay, which he named the Bay of Pines.
The following day he took formal possession. A large cross was erected
under a great oak in a pleasant ravine, mass was said and the country claimed
for Spain. Father Andreas thus describes the place : "Near the shores are
an infinite number of pines, straight and smooth, fit for masts of ships, like-
wise oaks of a prodigious size for building ships. Here likewise are rose-trees,
white-thorns, firs, willows and poplars, large clear lakes, fine pastures and
arable lands." One likes to think that the great oak whose branches shade
more than an acre of the grounds of Del Monte, was the oak under which
mass was said by Cabrillo's priests. The description, however glowing,
failed to convince Caspar de Portola, one hundred sixty-seven years later,
that he was in the bay he sought. Viscaino, in 1602, entered this bay and
named it Monterey, in honor of the Viceroy of Mexico. Portola, recalling
Fatlier Andreas" description, went farther and discovered San Francisco bay ;
but more of that story later.

Cabrillo

Cabrillo is said to have sailed as far imrth as Cape Mendocino, which he
discovered on the last of February, 1543, and named Cabo de Fortunas, Cape
of Perils. From there he returned to the island of San Miguel, oft" the
coast of Santa Barbara, intending to winter there. Historians differ. The
accepted theory is that he died there, January 5, 1543, and is buried on the
island. Others say that he died in San Simeon bay and that his bones still
rest in San Luis Obispo County. From a narrative written by Cabrillo,
he was on Santa Rosa island, and he describes the Indians there as living
in most wretched condition. "They are fishermen, they eat -nothing but fish,
they sleep on the ground, they go naked."

Of the Indians further up the coast he speaks cpiite differently. They
seem to have had a form of government, to have been better fed, and the
women partly clothed in garments of skins. He speaks of them as coming
out from their villages in canoes to his ships, and of bartering trinkets of
beads for food from the nati\es.

Indians in San Luis Obispo County

A writer of this county during the earlier days was Charles H. Johnson.
These items are taken from a lecture of his, and refer to the Indians when
Governor Portola made his journey through this county in 1769.

"The Indians lived in the open, their only protection seeming to be stone
corrals to save tiiem from the bears. They were numerous and divided into
tribes or rancherias. The men went naked. The women wore garments of
skins. When game was scarce, they would squat in a circle and, each in turn,
chew a piece of dried meat attached to a string. It would be masticated,
swallowed, drawn up again and the performance repeated several times, then

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 23

passed to the next, and so on round the circle." It must have been a gamble
to see who began on that meat. "They ate acorns, usually pounded to a
meal in their stone mortars, and made into bread. If they lacked mortars,
they sought a big flat rock and hollowed out places to pound the nuts in."

Towards the south end of Templeton, between the highway and the
Salinas river, stands a group of big oak trees ; and under them are great
rocks showing the hollows where the Indians ground their meal. In 1887,
the writer found there several pestles buried in the soft mold close to the
hollowed rocks. Mortars of all sizes are or have been found all over the
county, especially on the tree-covered hills and in the valleys.

In the old burying grounds used to be found beautiful arrowheads, spears,
mortars and pestles, stone kettles, beads made from the claws of crabs and
bear's teeth, ornaments of abalone shell, shark's and whale's teeth, hammers,
and needles of bone. No metal whatever has been found in those ancient
graves of San Luis Obispo. The Indians believed in the Great Spirit, and
some tribes worshiped the sun. At Avila was an Indian graveyard, and
out on the Huasna, on the John P. Black ranch, was a hillside cemetery.
The Alamo school is on that ranch, and in 1902-3-4 two little boys, with their
dogs and sticks, excavated many fine arrows, spearheads, beads, mortars
and pestles. One of the neighboring ranchers used an Indian skull for a
tobacco jar. The natives rapidly decreased after the advent of the white man,
and in 1870 a census of the county showed one hundred thirty-seven Indians.
Today there is not one full-blooded Indian in the county, and probably not
one who would admit Indian ancestry.

Piedra Pintada, or Painted Rock

On the western side of Carissa plains, a tract some twelve miles wide
and sixty long, with the Diablo range of mountains to the east, is a remark-
able reminder of an ancient race. Rising from this plain to a height of two
hundred feet, and about one thousand feet in diameter at the base, is a great,
isolated rock. On its eastern side, facing the rising sun, is a portal twenty feet
wide leading to an oval-shaped chamber some two hundred tvi'enty-five feet
in length by one hundred twenty feet in its widest part. The floor seems
to slope upwards from this portal. The walls on the west are one hundred
forty feet high and the amphitheatre is open to the blue sky. A gallery
has been hewn out of the solid rock walls and extends nearly around the
great room. At the west end there seems to have been an altar.

All along this gallery, on the walls, arc pictures painted by this lost race,
no doubt depicting historical events, as did the hieroglyphics of the Egyptians.
The colors used are red, white and black, and are very well preserved. The
accepted opinion is that this was the temple of a race of sun worshipers. The
rock is cone-shaped, of a hard, gray sandstone, yet not too hard to have been
excavated by willing devotees. The ancient temple, once thronged with wor-
shipers, has been used by various owners for a sheep corral and is said to
have held four thousand sheep at a time. Vandal tourists have chipped
away portions of these paintings. The late Myron Angel wrote a charming
little book containing a legend of the ancient temple as told to Mr. Archiliald
McAllister by his Indian major-domo, Jose Sequatero ; and if you would
know more of this antique cathedral to the sun, read "The Painted Rock of
California, a Legend, by Myron Angel." Similar paintings are found on

24 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

other rocks of the Carissa, and on the series of pyramidal peaks extending from
San Luis mountain to Alorro, and ending with Morro Rock. Mr. Angel advo-
cated at least state protection for this temple of the plains, and only a few
days ago the San Luis Obispo Tribune published an article urging that some
steps be taken, as the rock is rapidly being defaced and spoiled by "tourists,"
those locusts of travel who will try to write their initials on the walls of
heaven if they ever get there, and chip the golden streets for "souvenirs."

If this marvelous work of a race forever gone were in many countries,
the authorities would protect it by law ; but in our state it may be used
f(ir a sheep corral. Here is an object worthy of effort. Why not be looked
after by the Native Sons of the state or by some of the women's clubs? It
might be possible to get an appropriation from the state if someone would
make the attempt. This "Piedra Pintada" may be as ancient as the pyramids
of the Nile, and no doubt chronicles a story as old and possibly as interesting
as ever the Rosetta stone unfolded.

CHAPTER II
The Founding of the Missions

From Cabrillo's time, 1542, to the founding of the mission at San Diego,
in 1769, the world seems to have thought little of California, the "beautiful
bird" of the Pacific coast. To be sure, Drake, in 1579, visited our shores,
landed north of San Francisco bay, at Drake's bay, and claimed the country
for England, naming it New Albion ; but that, so far as the English went,
seemed to end the matter. During this period the French had settled in
Canada and planted colonies in the Mississippi valley. England had settled
the thirteen colonies of the Atlantic coast.

In 1697, the Order of Jesus, the Jesuits, were given a license to enter the
peninsula of Lower California and establish missions for the conversion of the
Indians to the Catholic faith. The Lady of Loreto was chosen as the pa-
troness, and the place they selected to reside in and begin their labors was
called Loreto. They were to have all ecclesiastic, military and civil authority. .
l-'or seventy years the Jesuits were undisturbed in their labors of founding
missions and converting natives; but in 1767, Charles the Third of Spain,
grown jealous of the political power of the Jesuits, determined to supplant
them, and in April, 1767, issued a decree ordering their expulsion from all
])arts of his dominions. The Order of Dominicans was to have charge of
the Lower California missions, and the Franciscans were to establish missions
in Alta California.

Don Caspar de Portola, governor of the province, was ordered to carry
out the king's decree. Two expeditions, one by sea and one by land, were to
I)roceed to San Diego bay and there establish the first mission in Alta Cali-
fornia. Father Junipero Scrra was made president of all the missions. Portola
was in command of the land expedition. Father Francisco Palou accom-
])anied Junipero Serra, and from his diary, first published in Mexico in 1787,
many of the following facts are taken.

I'oth expeditions started from La Paz, and those going by sea arrived

PIEDRA PINTADA OR I'AINTIOU ROCK

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 25

first. Father Serra was then well on in years ; and having always traveled on
foot, wearing only leathern sandals, was afflicted with painful sores. In time
he became very lame, but to the end of his beautiful life he literally "walked
the narrow way." On July 1, 1769, the land expedition reached San Diego and
was joyfully greeted by those who had come by sea. The mission was founded
there July 16, 1769.

Now comes a most interesting bit of our country's history. On July 14,
two days before Father Serra performed the religious ceremonies founding
San Diego mission, Don Caspar de Portola, with a part}- numbering sixty-
five in all, set out to re-discover Monterey bay. A pack train of mules carried
provisions. With this company was Father Juan Crespi, and the following
translation from his diary is given as being of much interest, though the wil-
lows do not grow on the hills now. But to a man traveling on foot, all the
way from San Diego through the wilderness of 1769, to this county and on to
San Francisco bay, no doubt it was all an uphill road. On the evening
of September first, 1769, the party halted by a lake which Father Crespi
called Laguna Granda de San Daniel. Now for Father Crespi's diary.

Translation of Diary Relating to Portola in San Luis Obispo County

Saturday, the 2i\. — We set out from the Laguna at a (|uarter past eight,
crossing the adjacent plain at a distance of two leagues ; by the course that we
followed, being toward the northwest, the remainder of the day's journey
lay over mesas [table-lands] until we came to a watering place, which was a
large laguna, circular in form, within a glade, some sand piles between it
and the sea ; all this dale is covered with rushes and "cat-tails," and is very
swampy and wet. It lies from east to west. In the afternoon the soldiers
went out to hunt bears, of which they had seen signs, and succeeded in
shooting one, the animal measuring fourteen palms from the bottom of his
feet to his head; he might have weighed more than fifteen arrobas [375 lbs.].
We tried the meat, and to me it seemed very palatable. Six gentiles [In-
dians] came to visit us, who live in two rancherias, which they say are not
far distant. We gave to this lake the name of La Laguna de los Santos
Martires.

Sunday, the 3d. — This day we rested to allow the scouts to search out a
pass by which we might cross the sierra that we had in sight, and that we
supposed extended down to the seashore. It seems to be the same range
that we have seen upon our right ever since leaving San Diego ; retiring in
places, and again intruding upon the shore, and now is so close thereto as to
cut u.s ofT from that course. Our stopping jilace was called El Oso Flaco
[lean bear].

Monday, the 4th. — At half past six in the morning we started out, taking
the road to the west, and crossing the sand-hills by the shortest route that
our scouts were able to discover, it being only half a league to the beach. W^e
came then to the shore, which we followed for about a league to the north-
west, turning then to the east and crossing the sand-hills again to a narrow
place, when we found ourselves on firm ground. For a league further we
traveled, our course lying between two bodies of water. At the right
lay a lagoon of fresh water, which rests against the sand dunes, and is by

26- SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

them cut off from the sea; at the left we have an estero which enters this
plain, and obliges us to make a detour to the northwest to pass it. Then
taking the road to the north we entered the sierra through a glade covered
with live-oaks, alders, willows, and other trees, and halted near a running
stream covered with water cress. In all our course of more than four leagues
we encountered but one little rancheria of Indians ; but near our stopping-
place we found an Indian settlement whose people came to visit us, bringing
presents of fish and seeds, to which our Senor Comandante responded with
some glass beads.

Tuesday, the 5th. — At half past six we left camp, following the valley
[canada] until it turns to the northwest, where we left it, taking to the
high hills not far from the shore, our course being rough and painful with
many ascents and descents, but happily the hills were well covered with oaks,
live-oaks and willows. In one day's travel of two leagues we saw no Indians.
W'e halted at night within a narrow valley encircled with high hills, with
running water in plenty and abundance of grass for the animals. I named
it La Canada de Santa Elena, but it is known to the soldiers as La Canada
Angosta. It is 35° 30'.

Wednesday, the 6th. — This day was set apart for rest and to give oppor-
tunity for the explorers to lay out our future course.

Thursday, the 7th. — We left at half past six, passing over high hills
for more than three leagues of our road, until we came to another vale, spa-
cious, with many ponds of water, whose banks were so muddy as to prevent
our horses from approaching to drink. We saw here troops of bears which
have ploughed up the soil and dug pits in their search for roots, which are
their food, as also the support of the Indians, who feast upon such roots
as are of good flavor. The soldiers went out to hunt the bears and suc-
ceeded in killing one of them by shooting, after gaining some experience
as to the animal's fierceness. Upon feeling itself wounded the animal
rushes to attack the hunter, who is only able to escape by his horse's fleet-
ness, the bear never submitting until he receives a shot in the head or
heart. The one they killed received nine bullets before he fell, only suc-
cumbing to one in the head. Other soldiers had the recklessness to ride up
to one of these bears while mounted on poor saddle mules ; they then gave
him seven or eight shots and supposed he was dead ; but he arose and crippled
two mules, whose riders only escaped by a scratch. This cafiada was named
by the party de Los Osos, but I called it Canada de la Natividad de Nuestra
Senora.

Friday, the Sth. — This morning after saying mass on this great day of the
Mother of our Lord's nativity, we set out, following the same Canada west-
ward to the sea, meeting on our way some impediments because of deep
water-courses whose banks it was necessary to cut down to permit of our pack-
train passing; after two leagues we halted upon a hill within sight of the
sea, and near a rivulet of good water, upon which grew water-cress. It is a
pleasant locality, with many trees and good pastures. Not far from our
c^mp was a band of Indians who seemed to be traveling, for we saw no
house; there might have been seventy souls who came to visit us, presenting
us with a sort of ]nnole, made of parched seeds and resembling almonds in

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 27

its taste ; to this tlie Governor responded with beads and they left very
joyfully.

There enters in this Canada at its southern side an estero of immense
capacity, that seems to us to be a port; its mouth is open to the south-
west, and we observed that it was covered with reefs that occasioned furious
breakers; a little distance further to the north we saw a great rock that had
the shape of a dome, and that at high water is isolated and separated from
the coast little less than a musket-shot. From the morro the shore makes
to the west and northwest as far as a point of land which we made out
cut oflf from the sea, and between this and another point of the sierra that
we left behind, the coast forms a great bight, with shelter from the winds
of the south-south-east and west ; but it is necessary to examine the anchor-
age. We named the place La Canada de San Adriano. [This describes ]\Iorro
bay and Cayucos bay.]

Saturday, the 9th. — About 6 o'clock of the morning we went out, taking
the route towards the northwest, traveling over mesas of fertile land, treeless
but covered with grass, and after four hours of journeying, during which
we went about three leagues and crossed eight rivulets [arroyos] which run
from the mountains to the sea, we halted at the last of these within a glen
of moderate breadth, through which runs a stream which terminates in an
estero that enters the lower end of the valley or glen. The hills which
surround this valley reach to the sea on the west, and prevent our progress
along the shore, but leave a free passage to the north and northwest. The
party named this place El Estero de Santa Serafina.

Sunday, the 10th. — After having said mass and hearing all the soldiers,
we started out this pleasant morning and took the north-northwest branch
of the cafiada and traveled along it for a space of two hours and a half, trav-
eling two good leagues. We then left it, as we saw that it turned to the
north, where we discovered a mountainous region covered with pines and
surrounding a caiion of great depth whose sides were thickly clothed with
willows, poplars and other trees. Pursuing our route we encountered a large
creek, by whose banks we made our halt for the night, high above the canada.
There came to visit us some seventy gentiles of a ranchcria which was not far
from us. They presented us with bowls of ])inole, for which we returned
beads. They brought and offered to us a bear cub, which they liad bred up;
but we refused it.

Monday, the 11th. — This morning, which dawned very cloudy, we left
our camping place, and traveling down to the seashore followed the beach
to the northwest. We traveled an hour and a half over an easy route, well
provided with streams of good water, then halting by a steep rock in a small
valley where runs a rivulet I named El Arroyo de San Nicolas, but the soldiers
called it El Cantel. There is abundance of grass and wood.

Tuesday, the 12th. — At half past six we started out, following the sea-
shore, for the higher lands were extremely broken and rough. Our road
abounded with rivulets and creeks whose washed-out channels gave us much
trouble, as a great deal of labor had to be expended in creating a passage
for the beasts of burden. We came to a point of land that extends into the
sea, and then leaving this to the left we entered a narrow gorge opening from
the sierra and followed it toward the north-northeast, traversing various
valleys and -streams during a journcv of three hours, in which we came two

28 SAN LUIS (3BISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

leagues, enc(nmtering two watering-places on our way. We halted on a hill
beside a very deep canon where there is a pool of water. Apart from us
there was a rancheria of Indians, six of whom came to visit us. I named
the stream in the canon after San Vicente.

Wednesday, the 13th. — We left camp at half past six in the morning,
taking a course to the northwest, part traveling by the Canada and part by
the high table-lands to the seashore, along which the remainder of our two
leagues of travel lay. We halted by two rivulets where there was plenty of
grass and wood. There came to visit us six of the inhabitants of a rancheria
which was not far distant, and at midday they regaled us with presents of
pinole in their bowls and some good fresh fish, the Comandante responding
as usual, with beads, to the joy of the natives. We had in the front the
very high and rough sierra, thickly covered with pines, that seems to be the
Sierra de Pines or Sierra de Santa Lucia [a landmark by which they ex-
pected to find the bay of Monterey], and its roughness would seem to debar
us from crossing the range ; accordingly our commander halted us for some
days in this place, in order to give opportunity for the scouts to explore the
surrounding region. I named this place Los Arroyos de Santa Hunuliana.

Here is the record of the first white men, save Cabrillo's, who traversed
our county. They are easily traced from the laguna at Guadalupe over the
sand hills to Pismo and Arroyo Grande, the Los Osos, Morro Rock, the tree-
less hills of Cayucos, and on up over the difficult mountains of the northern
part into Monterey county and on to Monterey bay, which Portola either did
not recognize or did not want to, for he forced his men on and at last, going
via what is now San Jose, came out upon the shores of the long-sought
inland bay; and so to Portola belongs the honor of discovering San Fran-
cisco bay. The party returned to San Diego, reaching there January 24, 1770,
six months and ten days from the time of departure.

Manner of Founding a Mission

After a place had been selected for the founding of a mission, possession
was taken in the name of the King of Spain. A tent or arbor, sometimes only
a spreading oak, took the place of a church, and such adornments as were
possible were hung up. Then a Father in his robes blessed the place and
sprinkled all with holy water. The cross was erected, after being adored by
all, and a saint was named as patron of the mission. Candles were lighted and
a bell suspended from a tree was rung, to call the gentiles (Indians)
to the ceremony. Mass was said, a priest placed in charge, and the work
of converting the Indians began. Writers dififer as to the treatment of the
neophytes or converted Indians. Some say that the priests treated them as
slaves, using cruelty to compel them to stay at the missions and \\-ork, and
that if they "jumped their job," soldiers were sent to drive them in. ( )n the
other hand, it is contended that the Indians were always well treated, and
loved the Fathers and the missions. No doubt there were good and bad
priests, as there are good and bad men in every walk of life. Zeal for the
church, and later, when it was found what vast wealth could be accumulated
by the Indian labor for the missions, lust for power and wealth undoubtedly
found votaries among the priests, for priests are just plain humans unless
vitalized by the spirit of God to something akin to angels. Such men as

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 29

Junipero Serra and others of those brave old TVaiiciscans surely "walked
with God.''

The Indians came into the missions by thousands. They were fed,
clothed and cared for, always sure of food, far more than they received from
a life in the wilds; and work is good, even for "Lo" and his family. The
devotion of the majority of the Fathers to their charges far outweighs the
hardships imposed by a few in power. Romance has woven a spell about
those years of mission life, and only a vandal would dispel the charm.

Construction of the Missions

The Fathers taught the Indians to make bricks of adobe, and the walls
were made of these sun-dried bricks. The heavy timbers were hewn and
hauled, often long distances, and bound in place with thongs of rawhide.
At first thatch was used for roofs ; but experiences with fire soon drove the
Fathers to having the beautiful red tiles made that are seen yet in perfection
in several places, and that California millionaires are fond of roofing their
mansions with.

Alore than twenty years ago the tiles from the old adobe Blackburn ranch
house, just south of Templeton, were sold to help roof the mission station at
Burlingame, where the rich Englishmen and their followers disport them-
selves in polo and golf games out of doors, and live in beautiful homes when
not in the open.

Rude spikes were made by the Indian blacksmiths and used where thongs
would not do. So familiar is the mission style of architecture that it is
needless to describe it. The open court, the long-, pillared corridors, the tiled
roof, the square towers lend dignity and beauty to the picture. It is a pity
that cheap wooden structures ever attempt to be "mission." They are never
anything but ridiculous mistakes. The Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez mis-
sions are very fine examples of the beauty of real mission style ; and so was
our own mission of San Luis Obispo until, after years of neglect^ friends
attempted to save it ; but its chief beauty, the old corridor, is gone. The
picture seen in the history shows what it once was.

The P'athers journeyed up the coast as far as San Francisco I)ay, and as
they went chose sites for their missions. Always there was an abundance
of water close at hand, trees for timbers, and often a possible seaport, with
leagues of rich land back of it, or a great valley to pasture the flocks and
herds. Beauty was never forgotten, and a mission was never built that did
not face a glorious view. Visit the old missions and see the panoramas of
beautiful mountains, rolling hills, broad valleys dotted with magnificent oaks,
streams whose banks are fringed with alder, willow, giant sycamores and a
hundred other varieties of spicy fragrance stretching like dappled green rib-
bons away to the sea. Or else, as at Santa Barbara and Monterey, the mis-
sion faces the bay and the mountains form the background. No limit seems
to have been set as to the land each mission might own, just .so it did not
overlap that claimed by another.

Founding of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa

Father Junipero Serra was on a return jnurncy from Munteroy to San
Diego, where he went to confer witli the authorities, and stopjicd to found
the mission of San Luis (~)bispo de Tolosa, tlie fiftii in order of establish-

30 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

mcnt. He brought with him Fray Jose Caballar from San Antonio Mission
to assist in the ceremonies. They killed bear on the Los Osos for food,
and this pleased the Indians.

The party arrived August 19, 1772, but the ceremonies of founding were
not performed until September 1, 1772. AVhile a mission here had been set-
tled upon, the intervening days were spent in deciding the exact location,
and the present site on the north bank of San Luis creek was chosen. The
Fathers blessed and put in place the holy cross. A bell was suspended from
a Ijranch of a large sycamore on the edge of the creek. After ringing it for
some time to attract the attention of the Indians, a priest advanced towards
the wondering Indians, crying out, "Ea, gentiles, venid, venid, a la Santa
Iglesia, venid, venid, a recibir la fe de Jesu Cristo." (O gentiles, come ye,
come ye to the holy church. Come, come and receive the faith of Jesus
Christ.'") Mass was then sung to the multitude, though they understood
not a word. Thus was founded San Luis Obispo de Tolosa Mission, destined
to become the richest of all the missions, and in spite of the hand of man to
continue a place consecrated to the religion of "Jesu Cristo" unto the present .
day, and in all probability for centuries to come.

The erection of buildings began in 1773, and passed from simple to fine
proportions as the wealth and population of the mission increased, reaching
its zenith some years before the secularization. Schools were established,
orchards and vineyards were planted, vast areas were sown to grain and
wealth flowed into the mission coffers. A great storehouse was built at
Santa Margarita, one hundred ninety feet long, and some say a chapel
also. The storehouses were never emptied. The Fathers always kept a re-
serve to offset the lean years when the drought came upon the land. A launch
was built and carried grain, hides and tallow to Santa Barbara. The Indians
were housed in rows of small adobe buildings. They were taught many of
the ruder arts of civilization. Those musically inclined were taught singing,
and to play the violin and a sort of rude organ. They were clothed and well
fed. With its red-tiled roofs, whitewashed walls and beautiful setting, the
mission was a wonderful sight to all beholders. Its hospitality was un-
bounded.

Many are the tales told of when a cavalcade of visitors arrived and
stayed for days. Often it was a bridal party from the south bound for Mon-
terc)^; and to entertain a bride on one occasion, all the poultry was assorted
over night and in the morning driven past the church for her delight. It was a
comical procession, and the newly-made Senora was vastly amused.

Wealth of the Mission

Each mission, when founded, received a quota of cattle, sheep, horses
and mules. All the stock was propagated from animals originally brought
from Spain. From some that escaped came the herds of wild horses and
cattle that once roamed the western plain? and valley,s.. The vestments,
altar service and adorjnnents were magnificent, and in the treasure chests
today arc \-cry valuable reli{:s? ''-" '■•• - ■''■■<?■ '■- .t- .•■-•-"':::-"■

From ii report of thcwejilthof. tliis missiqn.,.abQut..J828,.this, is, taken. Re-
mcmlucr tk^rpadrestwere wis.G'i.the,strean'ts \v,ef:e used to- irrigate .the orchards
aiid vi>oiisihly 4lvc fields-of-, grain.. ■. ''Growja cattle, 8.700 .head ; 2,0.00 tame

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 31

horses; 3,500 mares; 3.700 mules; 7,200 sheep." In 1827 the major-domo
scattered on the ground one hundred twenty bushels of wheat and scratched
It in with wooden "harrows." There was no plowing. From this he harvested
/,000 bushels of wheat. The priest then in charge, Luis Martinez returned
to Spam m 1828 and carried with him $100,000 as the fruits of his'ranching
Possibly not all this wealth was gathered from agriculture and grazing There
are stories of rich mines that once yielded up their treasures. It is said that
a priest once came from Spain with a map to locate a mine near San Luis
Obispo; and in the Arroyo Grande regions old furnaces have been found.
Not many years since, two men searched in the mountains between here and
Santa Margarita for the "lost mines."

It is more than likely, if ever such mines existed, that the angered priests
caused all trace of them to be destroyed when the act of secularization of
1833 went into force.

Later History of the Mission

^ After the flocks and herds were taken, the land was given to the hated
Gringos" or the Spanish favorites. The Indians were ^scattered and the
priests in anger left the missions. The buildings rapidly passed from glory
and riches to poverty and decay. Volumes have been written on this subject
but the story here must be brief. Often the orchards were destroyed and the
vessels of the Church buried or hidden with some faithful family in the hope
that some day the vast possessions of the Church would be restored.

Mission San Luis Obispo was claimed by John Wilson by right of pur-
chase, but eventually 52.72 acres was deeded to the Church, and in 1874 the
portion south of the creek was laid out in town lots and sold. For almost
forty years after the secularization act of 1833, the mission was used by the
public. In It rooms were used for jails, courts, barracks, saloons, schools
hotels, stores, restaurants and dwellings. It fell rapidly into a dilapidated
condition, but strange as it may seem, through almost forty years of deso-
lation Its holy vessels, its interior treasures, remained untouched.

The devoted Junipero Serra had spent fifty-three years of his life in his
Master's service in the New World. Feeling the end near, he retired to the
Mission Carmel at Monterey and went to his reward August 29, 1784, aged
seventy-one years. Perhaps the Master he had served so well gave his' spirit
charge of this beloved mission, and the holy things were not profaned. In
1847 the mission was repaired, as it was liable, under the change of govern-
ment then taking place, to become very valuable. John Wilson claimed'^it still,
but Father Gomez maintained possession of the chapel. In 1880 it was thor-
oughly renovated, and the once beautiful old corridor removed. Ever since
then the building has been at times repaired, and the historic old pile is now
the chief attraction for visiting tourists.

San Miguel Mission

This mission was founded July 25, 1797, and is the sixteenth one estab-
lished. San Miguel Archangel stands upon the west side of the Salinas
river near the junction of, the, Estrella, and amid leagues of fine land for-
merly used for grazing but pow devoted to ranching. Great -trees dot the
valley, and in mission days' vast herds roamed the pastures. It. is forty
miles north of San Luis Obispo and four miles south, of the northern boun-

32 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

dary of the county. The mission became very prosperous, at one time
owning 91,000 cattle, 1,100 tame horses, 3,000 mares, 2,000 mules, 340 oxen
and 47,000 sheep. It claimed 6,000 Indian converts, and soldiers, priests and
other whites necessary to manage such vast estates. Ranches San Marcos
and Paso Robles were the chief tracts cultivated. Wheat and beans were
raised. Fine gardens and orchards surrounded the building and a great
wall enclosed them.

The old church seems almost indestructible. It stands facing the east, and
to the south a wing extends, once 490 feet long. Most of this is now in
ruins. The church itself is 230 feet by 44 feet, and 45 feet to the eaves. The
walls are seven feet thick. The roof is of tiles, in fine state of preservation.
The inside is frescoed, and the colors are still good. The altar stands at the
west end, guarded by its patron saint, Michael the Archangel, with extended
sword. The floor is of tiles or brick.

Through all its vicissitudes the beautiful vestments and altar service have
been retained, and about the old building within its broken walls hangs a
brooding silence. Services are held in the church, and the faithful are still
buried in its consecrated ground. Blankets were woven here by the Indians.
Water from the Santa Ysabel springs was carried by ditches to the mission,
a distance of nearly fifteen miles. Out of its possessions six great grants
were made, totaling 116,945 acres. These will be mentioned in the chapter
devoted to the land grants. The faithful Father Farrelly did much to restore
the mission in the eighties and nineties. Rev. Fr. Nevin has charge of the
mission at the present time, and has labored zealously to restore the church.

Relics of the Mission Days

Tlie furnaces found about Arroyo Grande valley have already been men-
tioned. On the Santa Ysabel ranch are remains of the old dams and irriga-
tion ditches that used to carry the water from the great springs there to the
San Miguel Mission orchards and fields. About five miles south of San Luis
Obispo is the Corral de Piedra (stone corral). This region takes its name
from the stone corrals built by the mission Indians in the days when they
lived, to the number of six hundred or more, in the San Luis Mission. Some
years ago one of these corrals was taken down and built up again to form
the boundary line between the ranch owned by Mrs. C. I. Thompson and
that of David ^Mitchell. The wall is all of three-fourths of a mile long, about
three and one-half feet high and two and one-half feet wide. On the Miossi
ranch, three miles further towards the ocean, is another long wall, probably
a part of some big corral. This used to be known as the Cavitas (cave) from
the caves in the rocks. In the city of San Luis Obispo are some giant olive
and pepper trees of the old mission gardens, still a joy to the living and monu-
ments to the devoted souls who planted them.

San Luis Obispo Mission was the first one to have a tiled roof. The
Tulare Indians had been accustomed to make trips to this section for game, as
the Caris.sa plains swarmed with deer and elk, and the coast region with bears ;
so much so that Portola's soldiers' names, Oso Flaco (lean bear) and Los
Osos (the bears), were so appropriate no one has ever troubled to change
them. In 1775, three years after the founding of the mission, a marauding
band of Tulare Indians attacked the San Luis Mission in the night, firing
lighted arrows into the thatched roofs of the buildings. The roofs ignited and

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 33

much damage resulted. Then tiles were made, and all repaired buildings and
new ones were tile-roofed. San Miguel suffered from Indian attacks, and
during its years of misfortune after secularization, was the scene of aw fid
crimes. These will be related in another chapter.

CHAPTER II!
California During the Mexican Revolt

Wiiile the missions were growing in wealth and the conditions of the
Indians hap]jy or otherwise, everything depending on the priests in charge,
Mexico was having troublous times. From the conquest of Cortez, Mexico
had been a dependency of Spain, and her country and people made to dis-
gorge wealth to fill the Spanish treasury. The government was tyrannical,
and all were tired of it, but no one arose against it until Father Hidalgo, on
September 16, 1810, with a small number of followers, revolted against the
rule of Spain. In 1822, Mexican independence was acknowledged, and in
1824 a republican form of government was adopted. During these years
of revolution in Mexico, California remained in peace under her Spanish
governors, with only a ripple or two to disturb the even tenor. The Mexicans
had executed Iturbide when he came back from his exile in Italy in 1824 with
the hope of being reinstated Emperor of Alexico. The news of this reached
the Indians at the missions, and they proceeded to inaugurate a little civil
service reform of their own.

The chief of the San Diego Indians was not a popular official, so they
proceeded to burn him at the stake and celebrated with a week's feast. When
the priest rebuked them for the deed, they cited the fate of Iturbide, saying,
"Have you not done the same in Mexico ? You say your king was not good :
well, our captain was not good, so we burned him, and if the new one shall
be bad, we will burn him also.^' This order of making officials good might
be still practiced with splendid results.

At Santa Ynez, in 1822, the Indians revolted. Two priests were in
charge and one of them was cruelly put to death ; the other, a powerful
man, escaped to the guard-house, where four soldiers, under a corporal, were
always kept as a sort of police force. The Indians shot showers of arrows and
the guard were demoralized, when the priest himself took command. The
shaven head, the sandaled feet, gray gown and cord of St. Francis did not
prevent the priest from showing the man and using carnal weapons.

"PIo, Father," shouted a young Indian, "is that the way to say mass?"
"Yes, I am saying mass, my son. Here [holding up the cartridge box] is
the chalice, here [showing his carbine] is the crucifix, and here goes my

benediction to you, you ," using a foul epithet as he tired, killing the

tormentor.

A sufficient force was at last collected from the other settlements, the
Indian converts were followed to the Tulare valley, the ringleaders were shot,
and the rest forced to return to the missions. The president of the missions
thought fit to punish the violent priest for using strong language, so his
clerical orders were revoked for a year and he was sent to live at San Luis
Obispo Mission during his punishment. A friend stopping at the mission

34 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

rallied him on his plight, and he replied, "The old fool thinks he is punishing
me. Here I have no mass to sa}', and nothing to do but eat and drink. He
knew I Avas a soldier before I was a priest. When those accursed Indians
dro\e me back to my old trade, how could I help using mj^ old language?"

When }iIexico became independent, California followed suit. In 1822, the
Spanish governor, Don Pablo \"icente de Sola, and others at Monterey issued
a declaration of independence of Spain and took oath of allegiance to the
new power, Mexico. The heads of the military and church authorities joined
with the civil authorities, and Governor De Sola held his office for a year
under the new government.

Beginning of the End

The new government at once began steps to supersede ecclesiastical
power with secular authority. It was contended that the missions had failed
to civilize the Indians. Over fifty years had passed, and Christianity had ap-
parently little hold on the natives. The power of the priests and the vast
wealth of the missions were coveted by the secular authorities, so steps were
taken to bring the priests under control. In 1824 and 1826, the Mexican
government passed laws suspending the pay of the priests and releasing all
Indians from slavery. This act was premature : for the Indians, having
learned all the vices of the white man and few of his virtues, "took to the
woods." robbing and stealing. Cattle were run off by the hundreds into the
hills and canons. The existence of the settlements was threatened by law-
less deeds. The law was repealed, and many of the Indians were induced to
return to the missions. Things w^ent on about as before for a while.

A \icious element of discharged soldiers had come to California from
IMexico. They incited the Indians to insurrection, and led all sorts of out-
rages. Manuel Victoria was appointed to put down this criminal element
and punished a few as they deserved, but there were those who claimed the
colonists were being abused. Open hostility broke out, and Jose Maria Avila
led the outbreak which began at San Diego. Victoria's friends put Avila in
irons and waited for the next move. Governor Victoria left ]\Ionterey and
reached San Fernando, near Los Angeles, December 4, 1831. A party of
the opposing forces reached Los Angeles the same evening, and Avila was
released, swearing he would kill Victoria. He led his follov,rers to Cahuenga
Pass, about eight miles west of the city, and the parties halted for a parley;
but .\vila rushed upon Victoria and wounded him in the side. Romualdo
Pacheco parried the thrust, but before he recovered his guard he was run
through by Avila. Victoria drew his pistol, shooting Avila, who fell from his
horse at the same instant Pacheco dropped from his.

The Mexican forces went to the San Gabriel Mission, while those under
Avila, calling themselves Californians, went back to Los Angeles. Victoria
resigned as go\ crnor and returned to Mexico, January 15, 1832. The bodies
of the slain were taken to the town and buried side by side. Now followed
confusion, some adhering to Victoria as governor; but finally Pio Pico was
declared governor, ad interim, and Los Angeles the capitol de facto. General
Jose Figucroa arrived in 1833 and some degree of order was restored.

The Act of Secularization

In 1833 the secularization act was enacted. In 1834 the governor began
to enforce it, or at least issued orders for its enforcement. This act sought

17^9149

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 35

to do away with the supreme power of the priests, to release the lands held
by the missions for settlement, and to put the missions on the same footing
as the parish churches. The rules issued in 1834, to take effect in August,
1835, were designed to do justice to all. In fact, they were these: To each
head of a family and all who were more than twenty years old, though with-
out families, a plot of ground not more than three hundred yards square nor
less than one hundred yards square was to be given from the mission lands.
Sufficient land in common was to be set aside for watering the cattle. \^il-
lages with roads were to be established and corporation lands designated.
Half of the movable property of the missions was to be distributed to the
Indians, and one-half of the seeds and roots and one-half of all implements
indispensable for agriculture. The other half of all property mentioned was to
be in the care of an agent, or steward, named by the supreme government,
and from the common mass of property, the expenses of missionary work, the
stewards, churches, schools, cleanliness and health were to be met.

The missionary priest was to select the place he desired for his residence
and for his servants' houses. They were to be fully furnished for him. The
vestment, library and furniture of the church were to be under the care of a
sexton chosen by the priest. The sexton was held responsible for the prop-
erty in his care, and a salary was to be paid him by the proper government
official.

Inventories of all the property of each mission, lists of all books, papers,
charges with dates and descriptions of the credits, liquidated or otherwise,
with their respective marks and explanations, were required to be made to
the supreme government. Laws were made for governing the villages. The
emancipated Indians were, required to assist in the care of the vineyards, and
other things maintained for the public good. The Indians were not allowed to
sell or mortgage the lands or cattle; if they did so, the cattle, lands, etc., w-ere
seized by the government, and the purchaser forfeited his money. The politi-
cal chief settled all disputes, and appointed those necessary to carry out the
laws of secularization. The priests were ordered to hand over to the com-
missioners all books of accounts, all houses, churches, workshops, utensils
and furniture, save that belonging to the homestead. The stock was estimated
by two responsible parties; for so vast was the number, and so few the horses
that could be ridden for a general round-U]>, that an actual count was out of
the question.

It was during these years of trouble that the great land grants were
made. It was urged that somuch land was not needed for the mission herds,
and many an enterprising "Gringo" became a naturalized Mexican citizen,
married a Spanish or Mexican woman, and shared in the lands wrung from
the missions. The Fathers were in no position to resent this, nor should
they have held such vast tracts longer; but it was a bitter experience for
them. Influential families were given vast grants, and it was no trick at all
to stock them from the mission herds running at large.
The End of Mission Rule

Abandoned by the Mexican government and plundered by the Califor-
nians, ruin faced the missions. The priests again showed their purely human
side (no discredit to them) and began slaughtering the cattle for their hides
and tallow. One-half the hides were given for killing and skinning, and the
plains reeked with decaying carcasses. Over all hovered the vultures of the

36 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

sky, and in the background rapacious human vultures; for often the lowest
passions, lust for wealth, and lust of women, were no little factors in the
transaction.

The writer knew a man, rich and influential, who got a great tract of rich
Sacramento valley land along with his ]\Iexican (half-breed Indian) wife. She
bore him two daughters and a son. He divorced or set aside the Mexican
wife and married a woman from a prominent family. There was some illegal-
ity somewhere ; for in 1884 he adopted his own son in order to make him a
legal heir to his own mother's land. However, the son inherited the bad
traits of both sides of his ancestry ; for he gambled and drank away his patri-
mony. Fourteen years later he was seen squatting on the streets of his
native town, a fat, greasy "Injun," l)egging a drink or tobacco from men he
once called his equals.

The Indians who once li\-ed at the missions and looked upon the cattle
as theirs, stole all they could. Bands of Indians from Mojave, the San Joaquin
plains, and even from Oregon and the Rockies, raided the rich coast ranches.
As late as 1840, "Peg Leg Smith," a noted scout, led a band of Indians from
the Bear river in California and drove off seventeen hundred head of horses.
This continued more or less until the Americans came in sufficient force to
put a stop to it.

Governor Figueroa, worn out and disgusted with the rapacity and dis-
honesty of the people, died September 29, 1835. Then he was lauded and
called "The Father of California." His remains were carried in a vessel
from Monterey to Santa Barbara, and buried in a vault at the mission, with
all the honors due him.

Slowly but surely the secularization of the missions went on and Ijy 1845
utter devastation marked some of them, while poverty stalked through the
deserted rooms and down the long, pillared corridors of the rest. The his-
torian may only repeat the facts as gleaned from ancient diaries, old books
and the best written records, but the poet and the artist have idealized, and
will continue to idealize, the mission days, throwing about them all a halo
of religious zeal, romantic loves and valorous deeds. As such, the writer
likes best to think of them.

CHAPTER IV

The American Conquest

From San Diego to San Francisco the people were almost entirely Span-
ish. .There were two classes: those who were pure Castilian, very careful to
remain so, and the Mexicans. These were of all degrees, both in color and in
their claim to .Spanish blood, a race produced by the intermarriage of Spanish
and Indian parents. The least claim to a Spanish ancestor was a mark of
dignity, and kept the individual apart from the Indians, both in social standing
and in clothes. Some people still adhere to the belief that clothes and caste
are synonymous. The pure Castilians spoke Spanish beautifully, were of fair
complexion, often even blonde, and avoided marrying outside their class. The
Mexicans spoke a mixture of Spanish and Indian words probably quite dif-

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 37

ferent from the speech of the superior class wlio were the rulers, sncially and
otherwise.

The grandees lived at Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and jNIonterey or on
the great ranches, where an almost feudal style of living existed. Countless
Indians and Mexicans did the work indoors or out. Cattle were the only
things raised for an income, though each ranch owned hundreds of horses,
some saddle animals being very beautiful, and all capable of fleetness and
endurance. The men were often handsomfe and dressed well ; and the women,
in many cases extremely lovely, dressed in silks, laces and dainty mus-
lins when attending the numerous fandangoes. Daacing, horse racing and
bull fighting were the main amusements. Hospitality was unbounded. Often
a cavalcade of men and women all mounted on fine horses, the men with
silver- or gold-trimmed sombreros, saddle and spurs, would go on a visit
to one ranch, then to the next, and remain a week at each, feasting, dancing
and enjoying the gay, easy life. Weddings were great events. If you want to
know Kiore about these days, read Dana's "Two Years before the Alast," and
Athertiin's "Splendid Idle Forties."

Xcrth of San Francisco and to the east. Americans were coming in
rapidly ; and John A. Sutter, the wealthy, ambitious Swiss, was gathering
about him a band of daring men. He dreamed of a new Helvetia and himself
its leader. That portion of California now embraced in the County of San
Luis Obispo was sparsely settled. Around the missions clung a few Mexi-
cans and Indians after the secularization took away their glory. Captain
John Wilson was the wealthiest man in the county in 1850. His taxes were
$639.20. He owned the Los Osos, Pecho, Chorro and other ranches;
and it will be remembered that at one time he claimed the San Luis Mission.
He was a Scotchman, a sea captain, coming from Peru in 1830. He married
Dona Ramona Pacheco, widow of Don Romualdo Pacheco, killed by Avila
near Los Angeles, as has already been related. She was the mother of
Governor Pacheco. Captain Wilson died at San Luis 01)ispo in IStiO.

Other prominent families of those early da\-s were the Pico, Estrada,
Villavicencio, Olivera, Canet, Cantua, Linares, Boronda, Avila, Sparks,
Branch, Dana, Garcia, Narvaez and Bonilla families, and probably a few
others. These families all obtained grants which will be more particularly
spoken of elsewhere. The roads were merely trails leading from one ranch
to another, and from mission to mission. Everyone rode horseback. The
carreta was a two-wheeled cart — the wheels, sections of logs sawed off —
the whole rudely bound together with thongs of rawhide. To go joy-riding
in a carreta was surely an experience.

The story is told of how once upon a time a set of society belles and
matrons set out from San Luis Obispo, escorted by their cavaliers on horse-
back, to attend a fandango given by a valiant dame at Avila. Her spouse
was opposed to balls and giddy goings-on, so she got him safely locked in his
room early in the evening. The carretas, with all aboard, tried to cross San
Luis creek. The tide had backed up and the carretas were swamped. The
stiffly starched, voluminous petticoats of the ladies hung limp and dripping
when they were at last carried out the rest of the way on horseback. All
save one. This wise sefiorita caught up over her shoulders all but one of her
skirts, and had only to slip oft' the wet one and go to dancing, while all the

38 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

others had to dry theirs or be fitted out by the hostess before they could trip
a step. No need to say who was the belle of that ball.

Julian Estrada owned the Santa Rosa rancho. This story is told by the
son of Rufus Burnett Olmstead, the first American who settled in Green val-
ley. He came there in 1860, taking possession of land claimed by Estrada.
The government survey was soon made, and Mr. Olmstead got legal pos-
session of his land. Don Julian liked to do things up with eclat, so when
he paid social calls on the neighbors he went in state, dressed in all the
grandeur of his station as master of the rancho. Before him galloped Indian
outriders on their ponies, and a guard followed, each displaying all the
horsemanship he could. When guests were to be entertained, the don had a
bear lassoed, and a bear and bull fight took place. Air. Olmstead says the
bear would be tied to a great oak tree, and several bulls driven up; then the
bear would be loosened and the fight was on. Hard on the four-legged
animals, but no doubt pleasing to the onlookers.

Joaquin Estrada owned the Santa JMargarita ranch, and it was his
enterprise that l)rought the first circus to the munty. The circus had ap-
peared at Santa Barbara, the writer was told, and Don Joaquin hired the
outfit to come to his ranch. He invited the people from all directions and
all distances, and entertained them for two weeks with a circus every after-
noon, dancing in the evening, and feasting all the time. No matter just
where the circus came from, it is certain it was there for two weeks, and
more than one old man remembers hearing his elders tell of the time when
they went to a circus fc.ir two weeks at a stretch.

A ranchcria of about seventy-five Indians lived in Green valley just aVjout
where the Olmstead schoolhouse now stands. Smallpox got in among them,
and all ])Ut three died. They knew only one mode of treatment for all ills.
They would build a great fire and dance and leap in its heat until the
perspiration was streaming from every pore, then rush into a swimming-hole
they had in the creek. It is no wonder that but three were left after they
had taken this "nature cure."

Mr. Olmstead, the pioneer of Green valley, raised some very fine water-
melons. Wishing to be neighborly, he invited Don Julian Estrada up to help
enjoy them. He came in all his state, and as a return favor arranged a bear
and bull fight in honor of Mr. Olmstead. His son, now an old man living in
Santa Cruz, says the Indians of the rancheria used to find both food and
])leasure shooting rats, probably the big wood' rats common in the hills.
Just below where the James Taylor house now stands was a low, swampy
place. After ;i storm the rats to the number of hundreds would take to the
trees; and as a boy he watched the Indians shoot them with their bows
and arrows.

In (jreen valley there \\-ere no other Americans living save the Olmstead
family. Guadalupe Graciola, a Spaniard, lived in the valley. Jerry John-
son, James lUiffum and Hardy were "baching" in a little cabin on Santa
Rosa creek. At the time, the Mathers lived near Rocky Butte, back of
where Cambria now is, and the Lefifingwells lived up in the pines above the
site of the present town. They started a sawmill there, and ran it by horse-
power. Rufus B. Olmstead was justice of the peace in Green valley. J\Iany
cattle tliieves were haled before him ; but to prove their guilt was impossible.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 39

Fear of the thieves or their kin closed the mouths of those who could have
proven their misdeeds.

Boats stopped at Santa Barbara and iMonterey, but only very occasionally
at our port, and as there was no wharf, passengers and freight were ferried
out or back in rowboats or scaled the cliffs by rope ladders. There was
almost no money; hides and tallow were traded for rations, silks, laces and
broadcloth. The food was mostly what the ranchers produced. The wheat
pounded by Indians in mortars made the bread, tortillas. Frijoles, red
peppers, garlic or onions were raised in the gardens ; the cattle and sheep
furnished abundance of excellent meats; the fruit trees, especially pears, fur-
nished preserves for great occasions; and there were often thrifty grapevines.

After Figueroa's death in 1835, three men, Jose Castro, Nicola Guiterrez
and Marino Chico, held the office in turn until Juan B. Alvarado was ap-
pointed in 1836. He continued governor until December, 1842. Then Manuel
INIicheltorena served from December, 1842, to February, 1845, when Pio Pico
took the office and held it to the American conquest in 1847.

As soon as the mission lands were known to be available, Americans
came into Southern California. They married Spanish or Mexican women,
and to all intents and purposes were Spanish. The Americans north and east
of San Francisco bay cared little for the Spanish. Their interests were purely
personal. They were in California for gain, for the enjoyment of its climate
and scenic beauties, much as they are today. The "Californians" then meant
those of pure or mixed Spanish blood and those naturalized iMexican citizens
who were once Americans or of other nationalities.

THE CONQUEST

The Mexican government had resented the indifference or open disregard
of the Californians for the parental rule; and taking advantage of the jealous-
ies and quarrelings of those in authority in the province of Alta California,
started in to pay up old scores. Santa Anna had risen to be the head of the
Mexican government. In February, 1842, he ordered an army of three hun-
dred convicts and about one hundred fifty others to be sent to Cali-
fornia under Micheltorena, who was also appointed governor. He arrived
in San Diego in August, and as a new governor meant feasting, balls, bull-
fights and g-eneral hilarity, he was joyfully received. Pie started northward,
but before he reached Monterey he got news that set him footing it back to
Los Angeles. This was that Commodore Jones of the United States navy
had sailed into Monterey bay and hoisted the American flag. Acting Gover-
nor Alvarado preferred this to being deposed, and took things as they came.
Micheltorena ordered the Californians to drive all their cattle and horses into
the mountains. Jones hauled down the Stars and Stripes after they had
floated over the "Castillo" for just one day, being assured that there was no
war between the United States and Mexico. He retired from the Bay of
Monterey, and sent dispatches to his government explaining his mistake.
Micheltorena removed all the military stores, guns, etc., from Monterey to
the Mission San Juan Bautista, near the present town of Hollister. This
was to prevent the Americans, or any one else, from sailing into port and cap-
turing them.

The convict-soldiery was an offense to the Californians, and they were
tired of Mexican rule. Alvarado, Castro and Vallejo united for an insur-

40 SAN LUIS OBISIHl COUxXTY AND ENVIRONS

rectiun. Alichelti irena had promised wSutter rich grants of land in tlie Sacra-
mento xalley for himself and American friends in return for his friendship.
November I'-l, 1842, the insurrectionists captured the gams and ammunition
stored at San Juan Mission; Castro retreated, followed by Micheltorena, to
San Jose, where he expected aid from the foreigners, the Americans. They
failed him. antl he continued his retreat up the east side of the bay. At San
Jose was Charles M. Weber, who had purchased and brought there a large
store of fine goods. Fearing that if the convict-soldiers entered San Jose his
goods would suflfer, he went out to meet Micheltorena and begged him not to
enter the town. With Weber went a number of Americans and Californians.
They meant resistance if the troops tried to come into the town. Castro,
hearing of this, came back, and IMicheltorena agreed to return to Monterey.
Al)out this time a family of note arrived at Sutter's fort. It was Martin
Murphy with his wife, sons and daughters. Of this family, P. W. INIurphy
and James Murphy became residents of San Luis Obispo County, owning the
Santa Margarita and Atascadero ranches. Sutter got his men together, and
in January, 1845, started south to help Micheltorena. He had about one hun-
dred fifty Indians and sixty Americans. Soon the .Vmericans learned
that it was only their countrymen of the Sacramento who favored Michel-
torena, and they began leaving Sutter. Castro had gone south and ]\Iichel-
torena followed. The two forces finally came together near Los Angeles.
A battle took place, but in the end Micheltorena was induced to surrender
and return to Mexico. Pio Pico was declared governor.

A Move by the Americans

Now was started a movement among the Americans designed to result
in l^anding them together for mutual protection, and eventually to wrest the
northern half of the state from the southern ; but events were fast coming
that were to settle the fate of California witiiout their aid. In 1846 war was
declared between Mexico and the L'nited States. The results were bound to
follow as they did.

Fremont

John C. Fremont was sent by the United States government on a third
trip across the continent. He Avas a captain of topographical engineers and
was, no doubt, sent to be here in case of trouble with Mexico. He was
already known as the Pathfinder, and was seeking, on this trip, among other
things, an easier route from the western base of the Rocky mountains to
the mouth of the Columbia river. Fremont visited Castro, stated his pur-
[)(.>se and asked permission to continue his journey. Castro was all cor-
diality, and readily gave consent "on the honor of a Mexican soldier," as-
suring him of protection. With Fremont were sixty-two hardy soldiers and
frontiersmen, among them Kit Carson. No sooner had Fremont started north
than Castro began pursuing him with his rabble army, dancing up in front of
Fremont's men, l)ut always keeping out of range of their bullets. He ordered
F'remont to at once leave California or be annihilated. Fremont was not
here to start troulde, so he left Castro and his circus-riders, and moved on to
the north. May '>, 1846, he was overtaken near Klamath lake by Lieutenant
A. Ti. Gil!es[)ie, U. S. Marine Corps, who had been sent out from \\'ashington
the previous November, with orders to overtake Fremont. Gillespie had had
a long conference with U. S. Consul Larkin at ^Monterey, where he was

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 41

known as a ""private gentleman traveling for his health." Gillespie cer-
tainly carried verbal messages from President Polk to Fremont (it was not
intended that the messages should be taken, if the bearer were himself cap-
tured), and he brought letters to Fremont from his father-in-law, U. S. Sen-
ator Benton. In Congress much had been said about California in the event of
war with Mexico. The slave-holding states were looking forward to getting
another slave state, or at least the half that lay south of 36 degrees 30 min-
utes N. Lat., the old Missouri Compromise line. Fremont and Gillespie
talked long by the camp fire that night, and in the morning the horses were
headed south on the backward trail. - '

The controversy with England over the northern boundary line was on.
An English fleet was on the coast, and three nations were watching, each
eager for the plum when California should finally drop from the parent tree.
These were England, France and the United States. Castro was making a
great ado over driving out the "Gringos," this to curry favor with Mexico in
hope of being made governor. When Fremont got back to Sutter's fort, he
found the settlers greatly excited. Castro had given orders for all the horses
north of San Francisco bay to be taken and driven to the Santa Clara valley
for his soldiers' use. A large band had been driven to Knights Landing on
the Sacramento river to be swum across. This was reported at .Sutter's as
"a band of three hundred men approaching." The settlers about the fort
joined Fremont's men, and it was decided to "go ahead." The Americans
were thoroughly tired of Castro's boastings, and, it seemed, were determined
to really let him get acquainted with the genuine "Yankee," and not allow him
to have the horses he had gathered to use against them.

Ezekiel Merritt, with twelve others, was ordered to "get" the horses.
On the night of June 9 they surprised the camp — De Arce was in charge —
and drove the animals back to Fremont's camp. It is not definitely known
that Fremont sent Merritt for the horses, but he certainly did not insist on
their being taken back. No doubt Fremont understood that the United
States government intended him to take a hand if he felt it was necessary, but
he did not want to repeat Jones' error at Monterey four years before; so he
seems to have done things without definite orders from the government at
Washington, yet fully assured that if necessary it would back him.

He knew that Commodore John Drake Sloat was sailing northward in the
U. S. frigate "Savannah," closely followed by Admiral Sir George Seymour in
the British ship "Collingwood," and that it was an ocean race, with California
the prize. He probably knew that Secretary of the Navy Bancroft had
ordered Sloat to take Monterey, and that the British Vice-Consul at Mon-
terey was only waiting for Seymour and the guns to annex California to
Great Britain.

The Trip to Sonoma

Fremont may not have ordered the thirty-three men who left camp at
3 P. M., June 12, 1846, to take Sonoma, but he saw them start from his camp
on the Feather river, and he knew their intentions. On June 13 they reached
Grigsby's ranch in Napa valley, where others joined them. June 14, 1846. at
daybreak the Americans rode into Sonoma and surrounded General Vallejo's
l)ig adobe house. Vallejo knew that California was bound to be annexed
by one (it the three nations after it. He preferred the United States, so
when he heard English words calling at his door, he dressed and ordered the

42 SAN LUIS OCISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

men to enter. In spite of the writers who have tried to make this event
dramatic, spectacular or ridiculous, it was really none of the three. Coman-
dante Vallejo asked the callers their business, and by whose authority
they made their demand. He was a Republican and quite ready to foil Castro
and Pico, who were plotting to annex California to a monarchy. The Ameri-
cans told Vallejo they arrested him by orders of Captain John Fremont, but
said nothing about the United States. If trouble came, they were going to
shoulder it, and not make it a matter for their country. If this was not true
"love of country," then show a greater example.

Vallejo knew that Fremont was not the man to act hastily nor without
authority, so he realized this was not just a mob he was dealing with. He
could surrender and be relieved of his duties as a Mexican official, and he was
ready to become an American. His brother, Salvador Vallejo, and Victor
Prudon were arrested with him. The surrender of all the guns and govern-
ment property in the castillo ended his official connection with Mexico, and
now it was "up to him" to show California hospitality; so he invited all tlie
company, to breakfast. There were lively times in the old adobe kitchen for
a wliilc, then all sat down to a bountiful meal. The .Americans were toasted
l)y the General in his own wine, and as Tom Gregory says in his history of
Sonoma county, "Knight the interpreter didn't try to interpret. He let
everybody eat and drink in his own language." The following paper was
drawn up and signed, then presented to General Vallejo :

"We, the undersigned, having resolved to esta1)lish a government upon
republican principles, in connection with others of our fellow citizens, and
having taken up arms to support it, have taken three Mexican officials
prisoners, General M. G. Vallejo, Lieutenant Colonel Victor Prudon and
Captain Salvador Vallejo. Having formed and published to the world no
rogular plan of government, feel it our duty to say it is not our intention to
take or injure any person who is not found in opposition to our cause, nor will
we take or destroy the property of private individuals further than is lieccs-
sar_\- to our support. Signed, Ezekiel Merritt, R. Semple, William Fallon."

The Raising of the Bear Flag

The little s<|ua(l of men whu captured Sonuma, June 14, 1846, had a new
rciMiblic on their hands; so the next thing was a flag for it. Bound to save
trouble for their "own United States," they did not raise her flag, but made
one of their own. They used Old Glory's colors, red and white, a white square
of cloth \vith a strip of red flannel sewed across the bottom. James McChris-
tian, the last known survivor of the Bear Flag party, lived at Sebastopol in
1912, and he told the story as follows: "Colonel Merritt told oflf Jack Rans-
ford, Peter Storm and John Kellar to 'do the heavy work.' In their cruise
around Sonoma, thev came across Mrs. John Matthews, wife of the express
rider between Sutter's fort and Sonoma. She gave them a red flannel petti-
coat. A band of it was sewed across the piece -of white sheeting by Ransford.
\\'i]liam Lincoln Todd, nephew of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, was the artist. It
had been decided to paint 'Los Osos," emblem of strength and native of the
country, on the while field, and a star in the right upper corner. Across the
lower ])art the legend. 'California Republic' Some lampblack, a can of red
ixiint and another of linseed oil had been commandeered. Henry Ford out-
lined with pen and ink the outlines of the bear on both sides of the cloth, and

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 43

Todd went to work. The bear came out more cinnamon than grizzly. The
townspeople looking on pronounced it 'el porcino,' and an English sailor
present said it 'looked like a bloomin' red 'og.' The flag of Mexico came
down, and that of the Bear Flag Republic went up and stayed up for twcnty-
five days."

The Bear Flag was adopted by the new California Republic sixty-nine
years to a day after Congress adopted the national flag June 14, 1777. It
became the state flag March 3, 1911. June 8, 1880, the Native Sons adopted
it as the standard of their order. At the request of J. R. Snyder of Sonoma,
its bear was placed on the state seal. The only ceremony at this flag-raising,
aside from the cheers of "Los Osos!" as the new flag fluttered from the staff
from which the Mexican colors had come down, was an oration by Lieutenant
Henry L. Ford, who with First Sergeant Granville F. Swift and Second
Sergeant Daniel Gibson, composed the "Grand Army" of the new republic.

Ford's Address

"My countrj'men, we have taken upon ourselves a damned big contract.
We have gone to war with the Mexican nation, and that will keep us busy
for some time. We are bound to defend one another or be shot. There is
probably no half-way place in the matter. To make our object good and
take care of ourselves we must have order, we must have discipline. Each
of you have had a voice in choosing your officers. Now that they have been
chosen, the}' must be obeyed. This is business, and there is no back-out from
it." Vallejo said "Bucno," and started right in being a good American citizen.

Sloat at Monterey

"Down on the Rio Grande" the two republics, the United States and
Mexico, were bitterly fighting, but as yet the people at large in California
knew nothing of this. Twenty-five days later, war in California was on in
earnest. ]\Iay 15, 1846, Secretary of the Navy Bancroft sent Sloat orders to
take Mazatlan, ^Monterey and San Francisco, one or all, according as his
force would permit. Arriving at the port, he learned more of Great Britain's
schemes.

British Consul Forbes, Governor Pico and Castro had talked over a fresh
"declaration of war" on the part of California, and an appeal to Great Britain
for protection. A British fleet was to be handy and, presto, California was to
lie "protected" by the British lion. Mexico owed large sums of money to
luiglishmen in Mexico ; she was tired of her troublesome child, California :
her enemy, the United States, would be cheated out of the chief prize of
victory over Mexico, and by letting California go to Great Britain she saw a
chance to pay her debts, get revenge, and be rid. of trouble, so there was
nothing to fear from Mexico if this little plan carried. Larkin had managed
to let this plan be known at Washington, so Fremont, acting on the verbal
orders Gillespie carried to him, had retraced his steps and gone into camp on
the Sacramento river close to the Feather river. His civil engineering train-
ing told him to get possession of Sonoma, for there he had a clear way to
San Francisco bay. Sutter's fort was close at hand, where the Americans
from the east gathered, and upon tliese he knew he could rely for help if
he needed it.

While Sloat's ship, the "Savannah," lay idle in the port of Monterey, the
"Collingwood," slow but sure, was ct)ming, too. Sloat hesitated about raising

44 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

th'e fl'AiX for fear he should be premature as was Jones four years before, but
if Seymour L;xit ahead of him on shore, then there would surely be trouble.
He had been told to take any one of three ports and it was hard to under-
stand his delay. He had heard of the capture of Sonoma and at last, July
7, 1846, hoisted the Stars and Stripes over Alonterey, where it has ever since
floated on the breezes of the blue Pacific, and from wdiich it shall ever float
while American men live to protect Old Glory.

The three men taken prisoners at Sonoma were removed to Sutter's fort.
Vallejo communicated with Commander John B. Montgomery of the U. S.
sloop of war "Portsmouth" in San Francisco bay. Montgomery disavowed that
his government had anything to do with Fremont's or Merritt's acts, and
promised to protect the people of Sonoma. It was the fashion to "disavow"
Fremont in those days, but he was not the only one to suffer in the end.
Sloat "disavowed" but finally stirred himself and obeyed orders, taking Mon-
terey, though that did not save him from being rebuked by the government
for his tardiness. He resigned his command, and Stockton took his place.
Fremont kept on doing what he believed his duty, which meant terrible
hardship and considerable fighting, while the others "disavowed" and
squabbled.

Colonel Philip Coke thus descriljes the situation : "Colonel Kearny is
supreme, somewhere up the coast. Colonel Fremont is supreme at Pueblo de
Los Angeles, Commodore Stockton is supreme at San Diego, Commodore
Shubrick the same at Monterey, and I at San Luis Rey. We are all su-
premely poor, the government having no money nor no credit, and we hold
the territory because Mexico is the poorest of all."

On July 8, 1846, the Stars and Stripes went up over Verba Uuena by
Montgomery's orders; on the 10th the Bear Flag was lowered at Sonoma,
ha\-ing floated there since June 14; ;md on July 13 the American flag was
raised over the town of San Jose by Captain Roliert Fallon.

Fremont Goes South

St'u'kton decided to take the southern towns, and July 27, by his orders,
the "Cyane." with Commodore Dupont in command, sailed for San Diego with
I'"renioiit's battalion of one hundred and sixty volunteers on board. August
10, Stockton and three hundred soldiers on board the "Congress" sailed, intend-
ing to take Los Angeles. August 12 the U. S. sloop of war "^Varren," under
Ihdl. arrived with the news of war between the United States and Mexico.
Then it was realized that Fremont must have known what he was about, and
that lie and liis followers would be protected.

A Blunder

Castro and his men liad been jiaroled and Los Angeles garrisoned by
fifty men, while only ten were left to hold Santa Barbara. The naval and
land forces had gone north, ('.illcspie at Los Angeles had tried reforms that
angered the Cahfornians. who, led by Jose Maria Flores, rebelled, and there
was another "insurrection" to (|uell.

Juan Flaco (Lean John) or John Brown's Ride

September 23. 1846, i^Kires with a large force demanded the surrender of
Los Angeles, Cillespie refused and Mores began a siege. Stockton must be

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 45

asked for aid. lie was at Monterey, nearly five hundred miles to the north,
and it was presumed that the intervening country was filled with hostile Cali-
fornians. In Gillespie's command was a man bearing a name later to become
immortal, the name of John Brown, christened by the Californians Juan Flaco
(Lean John). He volunteered to ride with the message to Stockton. He
worked his way through the enemy's lines, but was soon discovered and given
chase. A horse was shot and killed under him, but he fled on foot for nine
leagues, about thirty miles, until he reached the house of an American and
secured a fresh mount. He reached ]\Ionterey September 30, having cov-
ered four hundred sixty miles in fifty-two hours and walked about thirty
miles of it. Stockton was in Yerba Buena, one hundred forty miles farther
north, and it was vital that he get to him. He had a few written words
signed by the American alcalde rolled in a cigar carried in his hair. Colton
says : "He was quite exhausted. I ordered him a bowl of cofTee and a hearty
supper. He slept three hours. In the meantime I secured fresh horses for
him, and penned a permit to press others wdien these should flag. Fle was up
and away before dawn." Colton was not inclined to give credit when not
due, especially to those of the lower walks in life, so we may believe this
story of an awful ride over the trails and mountain passes between Los
Angeles and San Francisco, or Yer])a P.ucna, as it was then called, "luan
Flaco" died at Stockton in 1863.

Gillespie surrendered to Florcs with the understanding that he might
march under arms to San Pedro and embark for Alonterey. The garrison
at San Diego escaped on board a whaler that lay at anchor in that harbor.
This garrison was in the command of Captain Merritt of Bear Flag fame.
Lieutenant Talbot at Santa Barbara, though having only ten men, refused
to surrender when surrounded by two hundred Californians on horseback.
The little garrison escaped in the night and were hunted over the hills
and through the canons back of the town for some time. The country was
even set on fire to rout them out of their hiding, but a little canon of pines
concealed them until Cholo, an Indian chief, found them and conducted them
safely to the San Joaquin valley. From there, though half starved, they
made their way to Alonterey, traveling probably full}' five hundred miles.

Flores seemed to now have the country at his disposal with an army
of three hundred to do his bidding. He issued a proclamation promising
death to all Americans and confiscation of ]:)roperty. He called upon all
Californians between the ages of fifteen and sixty to rally to arms and
promised them death if they opposed him. W'lien Stockton received John
Brown's news he sailed in the '■Sa\ainiah" for San IV'drn, wliore he found
Gillespie ajid his men on the ■■\'andalia" in llie liarlxir. ()ctw])er 7, the forces
were landed and started for Los Angeles. They were met by a party under
Flores and Jose Antonio Carrillo on horses, and having a four-pound field
piece. The Americans on foot, armed with muskets, were no match for their
enemies; so after five of them were killed and others wounded, they retreated.
The next day they re-embarked and sailed for Monterey, an<ither ojiportunity
for ending the rumpus gone.

Stockton sailed from San Francisco. October 2.^, and when he reached
San Diego, found that Merritt had retaken it. He set his men at work making
saddles, harness and bridles, preparatory to marching on Los .Vngeles.

In September, when Fremont was holding San Diego, he started Kit
Carson and a small party to Washington to tell of the capture of California.

46 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

The\' went by the old Santa Fe route and on the Rio Grande met Stephen
\\". Kearn}' and an army on their way to California. When Kearny heard
that his army was not needed here, he left it in New Alexico to help hold
things even there, and with one hundred dragoons, guided by Carson, has-
tened on to California, reaching the crossing of the Colorado in November
with exhausted men and famished horses.

There he learned of this second uprising and the need of his army left
in New Mexico. Stockton was sent word of his arrival and of his condition.
Stockton sent fifteen men under Gillespie and Beal to help the forlorn rem-
nant to San Diego. On December 6, at San Pasqual, an Indian rancheria,
they were met by one hundred sixty Californians under General Don
Andres Pico. A fight ensued. Three ofificers and sixteen men were killed.
The horses drawing one of the howitzers became scared, stampeded and
were lost, cannon and all. Kearny took position on a rocky elevation, but
having neither food nor water, knew he was doomed unless help came.
That night Carson, Beal and an Indian made their way through the enemies'
line and succeeded in reaching San Diego. Lieutenant Gray and others went
to the rescue, Pico fled, and at last Kearn}^ and his dragoons reached San Diego.

January 8, 1847, the Americans with Kearny and his men, a force num-
bering six hundred, met the Californians, five hundred in number, at the San
Gabriel river. The Americans forded the river, drove the enemy from their
entrenchments and camped on the field. January 9, the battle of the Mesa
took place, victory being with the Americans. On January 10 they took
possession of Los Angeles, while the Californians. with glistening lances,
looked on from the near-by hills.

Fremont Goes North for Recruits

Ncjw we must go back to Fremont, wdiu \vas in the northern part of the
state seeking more help. In November, 1846, he organized a battalion of
four hundred twenty-eight men. Among them were his mountaineers who
crossed the plains with him, some Walla AA'alla Indians, and a few men
lately arrived from the East. No gay uniforms clothed this army. Buck-
skin, woolen of all colors, slouched hats or coon-skin caps, clothed the white
men. The Indians wore their nakedness, paint and war bonnets. The only
music was a l)attered bugle. All were mounted and four hundred horses,
])esides pack-mules and beeves, were driven along.

On Novcinl)er 15, former Consul Larkin was captured while on his way
to San Juan. The Californians proposed to make him write notes to different
members of Fremont's battalion, asking them to come to him. Fie refused,
knowing that the object was to capture them if they came. Fie was threat-
ened with death, but refused to write. They carried him prisoner to Los
Angeles, and he was not restored to liberty until the Americans won the
state. November 28, Fremont left San Juan, and reached San Miguel Decem-
ber 10. The cattle brought along for food were all gone, but the sheep at
San Miguel furnished mutton instead. His horses were worn out, as there
was almost no grass left at this season; so they were turned loose with
bridles and saddles, and driven forward by the horse guard. The battalion
left San Miguel on foot, December 14, the rain pouring. At noon cattle were
killed and dinner (just meat) prepared.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 4/

San Luis Obispo Captured

The battalion reached the foot of Cuesta grade during tlie night, the
rain still coming in torrents. Don Mariano Bonilla and his family lived in the
Canada and were made prisoners to prevent them from warning the enemj' that
was thought to be in waiting for them at San Luis Obispo. In reality there
was no military force at San Luis Obispo. Fremont's men struggled along in
the pitchy, wet night and the foremost halted on the outskirts of the town,
waiting for the rest to come up. The artillery was still in the rear with the
pack animals. What a trip that must have l)eeii over the old Cuesta road !
Picture, if you can, getting any sort of artillery over the mountains in the
deep mud and inky darkness with tired, worn-out, half starved animals for
power. The town lay in darkness and Fremont supposed, when he saw one
solitary light go out or disappear, that an armed force was waiting to receive
him. Fremont formed his men in column, the bugles sounded "Charge" and
three hundred horsemen dashed down the main street, the Indians sounding
their war-whoops. The row aroused the sleeping people and ])anic ensued.
All were declared prisoners and San Luis Obispo was taken "without blood-
shed."

Two are said to have escaped and carried news of the capture to the
outside populace on the ranchos. The soldiers were quartered in the Mission
buildings and some in the church, where a guard was set to see that the
altar and church decorations were not disturbed by sacrilegious hands.

Pico a Prisoner

Don Jose de Jesus Pico, who had taken part in several insurrections or
revolutions, was brought in from the house of a friend and made a prisoner.
He was tried on the charge that he had written a letter to some of his
friends denouncing the manner in which Fremont's army was taking horses
from the Californians, depriving them of caring for their cattle, in thus
taking away the horses. Also that he had broken his parole and was inciting
the Californians against the Americans. A most natural thing to do, surely,
all considered ; still it was held punishable with death and the court-martial
so pronounced it. The letter. Pico was accused of having written had been
found on an Indian, December 15. The Indian had been tied to a tree,
Indians from a near-by rancheria driven in to witness the proceedings, and
a file of soldiers ordered to fire upon the wretched creature. It is said the
letter was never made public. This occurred just south of San ]\figuel, near
Paso Robles.

Tlie day after entering the town Fremont's men threw up earth-works
on the elevation just beyond the present Andrews Hotel and back of the
courthouse, the artillery so placed as to command the approaches to the
town, for it was believed a large force of Californians was somewhere close
at hand. Pico was sentenced, on December 16, to be shot the next day.
lie was not in arms when taken, and the whole thing has since been con-
demned.

Pico's Life Saved

Early on the morning of December 17, a procession of women, with
faces covered, some weeping audibly, led by a stately, beautiful woman with
face upturned as if in prayer, passed down the corridor of the Mission to

48 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Fremont's headquarters, where, on bended knees, they besought his mercy,
begging for the life of their friend and relative, Don Jose de Jesus Pico.
Fremont was obdurate at first, but the women still knelt before him and
at last, a few minutes before the time wdien Pico was to have been shot,
pardon was granted, at least his life was spared. He was taken with Fre-
mont, a prisoner to Los Angeles. The beautiful woman who led the pro-
cession was Doiia Ramona Wilson, mother of Romualdo Pacheco, whose
father had been killed at Los Angeles by Avila. This son later became
go\ernor oi the state.

The Departure of Fremont

On December 18, about ten in the morning, the army started south,
the expected enemy not having appeared. Fremont and his frontiersmen
first, then the settlers who had joined him, then the Walla Walla Indians,
and last a small band of California Indians under their chief, Antonio. All
were in bad shape, draggled, wet and dirty. They traveled on through
mud and rain for a week, then went into camp at Santa Ynez ^lission,
December 24. Fremont seems to have taken his men over difficult moun-
tain trails in order to avoid an encounter with the enemy he believed
traveling to meet him by the easier road along the coast. They were
now in sore straits for food and the "aguardiente" they found in the
^Mission in abundance turned the men for the time being into hungry,
but happy drunks. They drowned with liquor their memories of happier
Christmases, as men in like straits have often done. Christmas morn broke
bright and cheerful. Fremont, having been warned bj- Capt. Isaac J. Sparks
and Mr. Foxen not to attempt Gaviota pass, as it was strongly guarded,
led the men o\er a narrow trail now known as San Marcos pass. On top
of the mountain a fearful cold blast almost froze the men, but they rolled
and stumbled on, for rain and wind now tore down the canon, almost sweeping
the men into the gorge below. Some of the horses did go over into the
canon and perished. The horses were turned loose to do the best they
could for themselves. The two pieces of artillery were left somwhere on
the Santa Ynez mountains.

I'icture those men, half clad, hungry and some shoeless, crawling and
stumbling over the rocky pass in the storm on Christmas day, 1846, and
take off your hats to those who saved this state to be one of the brightest
stars in the galaxy of our national diadem. At the foot of the pass on a
strip of level land the battered soldiers tried to make camp. A few little fires
were got to burn, but the cold was terrible. All night men half dead
from exposure straggled into camp. The army found no resistance at Santa
Barliara and went on to Los Angeles too late to take part in the fighting
in the south ; but they had certainly shown their zeal for the cause, winning
California for the United States. The Californians surrendered to Fremont
at Cahuenga pass, a treaty of peace was negotiated and the war of conquest
ended January 13, 1847.

Terms of Peace

P'remont sent I\Iajor Pearson B. Reading, Lieutenant Louis McLane
and Captain \\'illiam II. Russell to Cahuenga pass, where Jose Antonio
Carrillo and Augustin Olivera of the California forces met them. The
treaty was arranged and signed January 13, 1847. By its terms all the Cali-

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 49

fornians were to deliver all guns and artillery to Fremont, return peacealjly
to their homes, promising to obey the laws of the United States, and not
again take up arms during the war between the United States and Mexico,
but to aid in preserving peace in California. Fremont guaranteed protec-
tion to life and property, and no one had to take the oath of allegiance until
a treaty of peace between the United States and Mexico was made and
signed. Any Californian so desiring could leave the country, and those
choosing to remain should lun-e all the rights and pri\-ileges of American citi-
zens. Three days later, at Los Angeles, another item was added whereby all
prisoners of both parties were released and all paroles and terms thereof
canceled. The men from both sides appointed to arrange this treaty signed
this and Fremont affixed his signature as Military Commander of California.
This ended the insurrection. The Californians knew a nation stronger than
themselves possessed the land ; and thus was born the state of the golden
poppy.

Governors of California .after the Conquest

\Vhen Sloat raised the flag, July 7, 1846, at Monterey, California passed
under the government of the United States. Sloat, by virtue of his office
as commander of the American vessel that raised the flag, was governor;
but he never assumed the title, only issued a few proclamations. On July 17,
1846, he resigned his authority to Capt. Robert F. Stockton, who added
governor to his title. After the second occupation of Los Angeles, Stockton,'
on January IS, 1847, appointed John C. Fremont governor, and himself
returned to the command of his ship. As has already been told, Gen. Stephen
W. Kearny had arrived in California without his army, having left it in New
Mexico. He carried orders from Washington to organize a civil government
in California if he conquered it. He certainly had done very little, compared
with Fremont, in conquering the state. Stockton felt that he should be
ahead of Kearny. Fremont's men blamed him for holding them back by his
many detours, thus preventing them from getting to Los Angeles in time to
share in the fighting. They could not get their pay ; they blamed him for
the awful hardships of the winter march, and for his liberality towards the
Californians in allowing them all to go unpunished. His soldiers returned
north, but Fremont remained in Los Angeles, calling it the capital. The
Californians liked him because of his generous treaty terms, and in the
south he had no trouble being governor. Early in March letters from Wash-'
ington arrived for Kearny addressing him as governor, and that settled it.
Kearny sent out a circular proclamation by couriers to all parts of the
state, and when the news reached Los Angeles it resulted in Fremont's
great ride.

Fremont's Great Ride

Fremont at once set out for Monterey to see what could be done. With
him were Don Jesus Pico, who.se life he had spared at San Luis Obispo,
and who was now a strong friend ; also a servant, Jacob Dodson. They left
with three horses apiece, so as to be able to change every twenty miles or so.
They left early in the morning of March 22. Dodson or Pico lassoed the
horses, which ran loose with the riders, when they desired to change mounts.
Over the rough mountains and across deep caiions the riders sped until, at
El Rincon, they were obliged to ride for fifteen miles in the surf that at

50 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

times almost covered them. Twilight was creeping over the sea when they
at last reached the home of Don Thomas Robbins, who had married a
sister of William Dana's wife. They had ridden one hundred and twenty
miles. They stayed at the Robbins ranch over night, and the horses refreshed
themselves on the abundant green grass. The next morning they were away
over the spurs of the Santa Barbara mountains and close to the steep ridge
where, the Christmas before, Fremont had taken his men over San Marcos
pass through the awful storm. By evening they were at Captain Dana"s
home on the Nipomo, where the}" ate supper ; but Don Jesus's home and friends
were at San Luis Obispo, so they pressed on, reaching there at nine o'clock,
one hundred thirty-five miles for that day's ride. The friends of Pico and
Fremont were bent on entertaining the guests royally, and an elaborate
breakfast was insisted upon ; so it was eleven o'clock when, with eight
fresh horses, the party resumed the ride.

At eight in the evening they lay down in their blankets for a few hours
sleep, seventy miles from San Luis Obispo. There bears stampeded the
horses. They were at length caught up, and early in the morning the party
rode forward. At sunset they rode into Monterey, having ridden ninety
miles that day. Fremont had an interview with Kearny, who showed him
no orders, but commanded him to return to Los Angeles and send his soldiers
to Monterey by sea ; while he, himself, was to follow by land.

Colton tells this story of the return ride. "The two horses ridden from
San Luis to ^Monterey were a present to him from Don Jesus, who now-
desired Fremont to test their strength. They were brothers, one a year
younger than the other, both beautiful satin-coated (los canelos). Fremont
mounted the older of the two, that with tossing head and streaming mane
gallantly led the rest. They started at four o'clock in the afternoon, the day
after their arrival, rode forty miles that evening, and Fremont on the same
horse rode ninety miles the next day. When thirty miles from San Luis
Obispo he changed to the younger horse, thovigh Pico insisted the one ridden
so far that day could easily finish the remaining thirty miles. However
Fremont turned him loose, and he led the loos.e horses while the younger
one swept ahead of all those under the saddle. The older horse, after
carrying Fremont ninety miles, entered San Luis Obispo in the lead on a
sweeping gallop, neighing with exultation and joy at the return to home
pastures. All the eight horses had traveled one hundred and twenty miles
each that day. A rainstorm held the party in San Luis Obispo until noon
the next day, when they left on the horses ridden from Los Angeles and
made the rest of the trip in equally good time. In all, they had ridden eight
hundred and fort}' miles in seventy-six hours.

Kearny as general had rank over Fremont as captain. Envy and jealousy
played a large part in trumping up charges of disobedience to a superior
officer. Fremont was ordered to Fortress Monroe, A'a., wdiere he was tried
and ordered dismissed from the service. The President, after signing the
order for dismissal from the army and the service, at once re-instated him to
his rank and asked him to enter the service. Fremont refused. He had
endured enough of "military precedence." The people, to show their sym-
pathy, nominated him for President, and he made a close run with his
opponent. He entered the Civil War as a volunteer and was mustered out
Major General. He died in New York, Julv 13, 1890.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 51

CHAPTER V
Spanish Grants and Old Families in San Luis Obispo County

THE GRANTS

The following is a list of the grants made in San Luis Obispo County.
A few Spanish grants were made prior to the secularization of the missions,
but the most were made later by the Mexican government. By the treaty
with Mexico, the landholders were guaranteed their possessions. A com-
mission was appointed to hear testimony and settle claims. The decision
of the commission might be appealed to the United States District and Su-
preme courts. In many cases long litigation followed the commission's de-
cisions, and often the costs of the suits ate up the land in question. Taking
the San jMiguel Mission lands, they were divided into the Ascunsion rancho of
39,224.81 acres, and the Atascadero, 4,348.23 acres. These were at one time
owned by Martin Murphy, and later by his sons, P. W. and James Murphy.
P. W. Murphy also owned the Santa Margarita ranch, in all about 70,000
acres, in this county, 'and the Cojo ranch of 9,000 acres in Santa Barbara
county. The Cholame grant of 13,919.82 acres was given to Mauricio Gon-
zalez. The Santa Ysabel,. 17,774.12 acres, was granted to Francisco Arce;
the Huer-Huero, to Jose Mariano Bonilla, 15,684.95 acres. Paso de Roblcs
grant, 25,993.18 acres, became the property of James and Daniel Blackburn
and D. L. James, a brother-in-law of the Blackburn brothers. Piedra Blanca,
48,805.59 acres, was granted to Jose de Jesus Pico. Later owners were Juan
Castro, heirs of Mariano Pacheco, and Peter Gillis. At present this and the
Santa Rosa grant are owned by W. R. Hearst and are known as the Hearst
Ranch. One of Mr. Hearst's vaqueros, it is said, is the son of Julian Estrada,
who once owned the Santa Rosa grant and lived in feudal style. This ranch
controls almost fifteen miles of seacoast and the fine harbor of San Simeon
bay, where large seagoing vessels can and do anchor at the wharf. The San
Simeon grant of 4,468.81 acres was granted to Jose Ramon Estrada; San
Geronimo, 8,893.35 acres, was granted to Rafael Villavicencio; Morro y
Cayucos, 8,845.49 acres, to Martin Olivera and Vicente Feliz ; San Bernardo,
4,379.43 acres, to Vicente Canet; San Luisito, 4,389.13 acres, to Guadalupe
Cantua; Canada del Chorro, 3,160.99 acres, to John Wilson and James Scott;
El Chorro or Huerta de Romualdo, 117.13 acres, to an Indian, Romualdo, but
it soon passed to another person ; Canada de Los Osos, 32,430.70 acres, to
Victor Linares, Francisco P.adillo, James Scott and John Wilson.

Potrero de San Luis Obispo, containing 3,506.33 acres, went to Maria
Concepcion Boronda ; Santa Fe, 156.76 acres, to Victor Linares; La Laguna,
one league mission land, 4,157.02 acres, confirmed to Archbishop Joseph
Sadoc Alemany ; San Miguelito, 22,135.89 acres, to Miguel Avila ; Corral de
Piedra, 30,911.20 acres, to Jose Maria Villavicencio; Pismo, 8,838.89 acres, to
Isaac J. Sparks; Arroyo Grande or San Ramon, 4,437.58 acres, to Zeferino
Carlon ; Santa Manuela, 16,954.83 acres, to Francis Z. Branch ; Balsa tie
Chemisal, 14,335.22 acres, to Francisco Ouijada; Nipomo grant of 37,887.91
acres, to William G. Dana.

Suey was granted to Ramona de Carillo Wilson ; the entire ranch con-
tained 48,234.77 acres, 24,497 acres lying in this county and the remainder in

52 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Santa Barbara county. Huasna, 22,152.99 acres, was given to Isaac J. Sparks;
Tepesquet, 2,950 acres in San Luis Obispo County, and 5,950.75 acres in
Santa Barbara county, to Tomas Olivera ; Santa Margarita, 17,734 acres, to
Joaquin Estrada ; Atascadero, 4,348.23 acres, to Triphon Garcia ; Ascunsion
39,224.81 acres, to Pedro Estrada; Paso de Robles, 25,993.18 acres, to Pedro
Narvaez; Mission San Luis Obispo, 52.72 acres, to Catholic Church; lot in
Mission San Luis Obispo, one acre, to John Wilson. The public library of
San Luis Obispo now stands on that lot.

In the majority of cases these great grants were literally sold for a
song to the American settlers when they came in. At the present time only
a very few are held in part by the heirs of those who received the grants.
The Huasna rancho was divided by Mr. Sparks among his three daughters,
Mrs. Flora Harloe, Mrs. Rose Porter and Mrs. Sallie Harkness. These
ladies either still own part of their inheritance, or held it until it commanded
a good price. The Nipomo grant was subdivided among the heirs of William
G. Dana, and some of his sons still own portions of it. Members of the
Branch family still own a small portion of the Santa Manuela and Arroyo
Grande ranches. So far as can be learned, all the other great grants have
passed out of the possession of the original holders. '

About fifteen years ago the grandson and granddaughter of Jose Maria
Villavicencio, known as Villa, found and homesteaded a piece of govern-
ment land in the hills back of Nipomo. The granddaughter is a teacher in
the county, a fine woman, who, with her brother, has for years made -a
comfcjrtable home for their mother. This mother as a girl dressed in silks
and wore her satin dancing slippers. As a wife and mother she toiled on a
little ranch to raise the family, and saw others grow rich and live in luxury
on the lands of the Corral de Piedra that her father sold for so little. No
wonder some of these Spanish women of the olden days refuse to speak the
language of the Americans. To them the Americans spelled ruin, and their
girlhood memories were embittered because their Spanish fathers were not
able to cope with the keen Yankee business of the "Gringos."

OLD FAMILIES
John M. Price

John M. Price came to California in 1830. lie was born in Bristol, Eng-
land, in 1810. From there he went to sea at the age of fifteen and before he
was eighteen was on a whaling vessel in the Pacific. With a companion he
ran away while on shore in western Mexico to escape the brutal treatment of
his captain. For six or seven years Mr. Price worked on the cattle ranches
of the Salinas valley, in what is now Monterey county. He then came down
and went to work on the Nipomo for William Dana, being paid fifteen dollars
per month. Alvarado, the Mexican governor, had made promises to an
American, Isaac Graham, who had helped him win over Guiterrez as governor
of the state. Those promises Alvarado now refused to fulfil and determined
to rid himself of Graham and all the other Americans. On one pretext or
another he induced "the foreigners" to come by twos and threes to IMonterey,
when he arrested them and threw them into prison, until he had one hundred
sixty prisoners. He placed them on a ship and started them to Mexico,
stopping at Santa Barbara.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 53

One day in May, 1840, a band of soldiers arrived at the Dana ranch
and arrested Price. He was taken to Santa Barbara and placed with the
other prisoners. At Monterey it was debated whether shooting the prisoners
would not be best ; but a vessel, the "Don Quixote," came into port, and the
captain learned Alvarado's plan and induced him to send the captives to San
Bias for trial. The "Don Quixote" followed the ship having on board the
prisoners. At Santa Barbara, they were taken off the vessel and put in prison
there, where one, an Englishman, died from the cruel treatment they were all
subjected to. After a few days at Santa Barljara, the men were taken l)ack to
the ship and the vessels sailed for Tepic. Plere an appeal was made to the
American consul, who seemed to do nothing; then the English consul was
asked to interfere. He got the prisoners released, and allowed $3.50 per
week for rations.

The men now demanded compensation of the Mexican government and
after months were offered $400.00 each, and all to be set free at San Bias.
All but fifteen accepted these terms. Among the latter was Price. These
men demanded to be returned to their homes and compensated in full for
their losses and sufferings. They were settled with, and returned to Mon-
terey after six months' absence. In 1846, Mr. Price lived in an old adobe
near where the town of Arroyo Grande is. Fremont, on his way from San
Luis Obispo to Los Angeles, stopped at the ranch, but after a short parley
went on. "Uncle Johnnie Price" was the friend of all, and during his latter
years dressed in a neat gray suit and silk hat. He was a familiar figure
on the streets of Arroyo Grande, where the writer first met him in 1900, still
hale and hearty. He owned 7,000 acres at Pismo and held many public offices
which will be mentioned later. He died at his home, June 4, 1902, at the
age of eighty-two. He is buried in the Catholic cemetery at ,\rroyo (jrande.

William G. Dana

On the Nipomo lived ^\'ill^am G. Dana and his family. Mr. Dana was
born in Massachusetts in 1797. He came of a fine family, among them min-
isters, statesmen, authors, poets and men of the sea. At the age of eighteen,
he went to China on board his uncle's vessel. He determined to enter the trade
with China and India and later we find him captain of the "Waverly," plying
between this coast, the Sandwich islands and the Orient. In 1825 he estab-
lished a store at Santa Barbara. The handsome young American fell in love
With Dofia Maria Josefa Carrillo, daughter of a wealthy Spanish family of
Santa Barbara, and he applied to Mexico for citizenship. Things did not
move fast enough to suit the ardent lover, so he applied to the governor of
California for permission to marry the lady at once. The governor said he
must wait five months, or until his papers of naturalization were forwarded.
In August, 1828, the marriage was celebrated with great ceremony. The
same year he built the first vessel ever launched in California. The place
where it slipped into the sea still bears the name Goleta (schooner). In
1835 he secured the Nipomo (foot of the hill) grant and in 1839 came there
to live. A big adobe house of thirteen rooms was built, and a lavish hos-
pitality characterized the Dana home. Often marauding bands of Tulare
Indians had to be driven off or suffered to drive off the cattle. Mr. Dana
established a soap factory, furniture factnr\-. l<ir«ms for weaving and black-

54 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

smitli shops. He sold his goods to neighboring ranches, and to the Santa
Ynez and La Purisima missions.

He brought home from his voyage quantities of sandal and other valuable
woods. From these he made beautiful furniture, tables, bedsteads and ward-
robes. Mr. Dana held the office of Prefecto under the Mexican rule. At
the first election for state officers in 1849, he received a large vote for state
senator; but some informalities awarded the election to Don Pablo de la
Guerra. In 1851 he was the first county treasurer elected. Twenty-one
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Dana. He died February 12, 1858, and is
buried in the Catholic cemetery at San Luis Obispo, where a fine monument
marks his resting-place.

Francis Ziba Branch

Francis Ziba Branch was born in New York, July 24, 1802. His father
died before he could remember him, and as soon as he was able the boy
had to become self-supporting. He went to work on the Erie canal, then on
the Great Lakes and Mississippi river boats. At St. Louis he joined a party
of one hundred fifty men, with eighty-two ox-drawn wagons, bound for
Santa F'e, N. M. Later Mr. Branch joined a party under William Wolfskill,
bound for California. In this state Mr. Branch engaged in hunting the sea
otter. He made enough capital to set up a store at Santa Barbara. In
1835 he married Dona Manuela Corlona. In 1837 he received his great land
grants on the Arroyo and the Santa jNIanuela, amounting to almost 17,000
acres. Later he became owner of the Huer-Huero and Pisnio grants. He
came to live upon his Arroyo grant and built a large adobe house. To pro-
tect his stock from Indians and bears, he kept his horses in a large corral.
A bell was kept on one of the animals to warn him if they were disturbed.
One night the steady tinkling of the bell aroused his suspicions. He went
out and found an Indian steadily ringing the bell, while the corral was
empty of horses. The rifle ball he sent after the thief missed, but soon Price,
Sparks, Dana, Branch and others organized against the thieves, and more than
one met his dues at the hands of the ranchers.

Bears were a great pest, killing the stock, and Mr. Branch related how,
on one occasion, a bear killed a cow and partly ate the carcass. A pit was
arranged, covered with brush, and in this Branch and a companion hid,
hoping to get bruin the following night when he or she returned to finish
the cow. It proved to be "she" and her cub. Branch shot the cub, and the
cries of her child enraged the mother beyond telling. She tore around the
dead body, leaping at the trees, tearing great strips of bark from them.
Neither of the men in the pit dared reload and fire, so they stayed till morn-
ing, when the maddened creature left. On another occasion Mr. Branch said
he saw nine bears at one time eating berries in the thickets on the hillside.
He had his rifle and had gone out intending to shoot a bear if he saw one.
To shoot nine was more than he wanted to tackle, so he quietly "got out."

Michael Daugherty, "Old Mike," was a valued servant on the place; and
one time when a bear had killed a calf, he skinned the calf, put on the skin
with head and horns attached, and "lay" for the bear. Fie also got it when it
came back to finish the calf. In a copy of the San Luis Tribune, 1877, Hal
Williams writes of a visit to the Branch estate. In the old adobe house one
room was used for a school room ; and fifteen children, mostly scions of the
Branch family, were lacing taught there. In another room Old Mike, now

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND . ENVIRONS - 55

blind and eighty years of age, was being cared for. He said one day, while
talking to Williams, "I don't know where old man Branch has gone, but
wherever he is, he wants Mike." A few months later, November 3, 1877,
Old Mike went to his master.

Mr. Branch at one time was the wealthiest man in the county, owning
37,000 acres of land and great herds of cattle and horses ; but the dry years
of 1862-63-64 almost ruined him and many others. In the beginning of 1863
he had 20,000 head of large cattle ; before the close of 1864 he could gather
less than 800 alive. Early in 1863 a cattle buyer from the north offered him
twenty-eight dollars a head for his cattle ; Branch refused and the deal Avas
off. By failing to sell at the price oiifered, he lost $96,000. He was a man
well liked and was elected treasurer of the county and supervisor of his dis-
trict. He died J\Iay 8, 1874, and is buried in the family burying ground on
tTie Santa ]\lanuela ranch. His descendants still live on portions of the old
grants and in the towns of Arroyo Grande and San Luis Obispo.

Isaac J. Sparks

Mr. Sparks was born in ]\laine in 1804. With his father he went west and
finally went to St. Louis, leaving there in 1831, with a party bound for Santa
Fe. He had many adventures on the way, but finally reached California in
February, getting into Los Angeles, February 10, 1832. Here trouble awaited
him ; for by the laws, no one without a passport was allowed, and he was
made a prisoner. He soon escaped ; and without a cent in his pocket, but
still possessed of a gun, he started to reach the coast at San Pedro. He shot
a sea otter and thus began a business that he followed for years, reaping a rich
harvest from it. The business then often yielded from seventy to one hundred
thirty otter skins a year to each hunter, and the skins sold for from twenty-
five to forty-five dollars each. He had, by 1848, established a large business,
and had his headquarters at Santa Barbara. He decided to go further north
for otter and took four boats and twenty men to Cape Mendocino. Hostile
Indians drove them off and they returned to Yerba Buena. Here the gold
excitement demoralized his crew ; they sought the mines and Sparks returned
to Santa Barbara and engaged in storekeeping. He was the first postmaster
at that place under the L^nited States government. He was a firm friend of
the .American cause in California, and of Fremont. He advanced $25,000
worth of supplies in cattle, horses and other things to the army, and appealed
in vain to the government for payment. He erected the first fine brick build-
ing in Santa Barbara. Mr. Sparks obtained from the Mexican government
two grants, the Pluasna and Pismo. The latter he sold to John M. Price and
the Huasna lie gave to his three daughters, as previously mentioned.

Francis E. Quintana

Francisco l^stevan Quintana came here from Mexico in 1843. He pur-
chased 6,000 acres of land, owned much town property and was one of the
pioneer business men of San Luis Obispo. His son, Pedro Quintana, lives
in a fine home in this city at the present time (1917). Francisco E. Quintana
died in 1880, at the age of seventy-nine years.

In a previous chapter Captain John Wilson and famih- were mentioned.
The members of those prominent early Spanish families that once lived
here are now few and fast passing away. Mrs. Ramona Hillard, daughter

56 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

of Dona Ramona Carrilld A^'ilsl>n, died in 1913, and is Iniried here. Mrs.
Estafana Esquar. dantihter tif Governor Alvarado, and wife of E. Esqnar, at
one time superior judge of Monterey, died at her home in San Luis Obispo
in September, V>\(k Mrs. Esquar would tell of looking on with all the others
at Monterey when the Mexican flag went down and the Stars and Stripes
went up. She had resided here for sixty years and was eighty-four when
she died. At her wedding the military band from the L\ S. battleship ".Savan-
nah." lying in the harbor, came out in all their jximp of uniform and furnished
music for the occasion. Officers in full regalia and all the grandees attended
the ceremony.

CHAPTER VI
Discovery of Gold, and Early History of the County

Kearny was recognized liere as governor, but on Novemlicr 7, 1846, Col.
R. B. ^lason was dispatched by General Scott, Commander-in-chief of the
U. S. Army, with a letter to Kearny, dated November 3, 1846. Mason came
by way of Panama, arriving in San Francisco, February 13, 1847. This letter
charged Kearny to assure himself that all was quiet here, and then to turn
over his authority to Colonel Mason, and to return with a proper escort of
soldiers. The U. S. Dragoons that came with him were to remain here.

July 4, 1848, the peace proclamation and its terms ending the war with
IMexico were officially signed and published.

Discovery of Gold

January 19, 1848, James W. Marshall discovered gold in the mill-race
of Sutter's sawmill. Of all that followed, of the mad rush of gold-seekers,
by wagon train and Panama or around the Horn, so much has been written,
and so often, that we are not going to repeat it here. On February 28, 1849,
the steamship "California" arrived in San Francisco bay, having on board
Gen. Persifer F. Smith, who had come to take command of the department,
relieving Mason.

Governor Riley and the First Constitution

The disco\-ery of gold had brought a great number of people to Cali-
fornia, an<l a hundred thousand more were expected during the summer.
The state so far had been under military government and no civil government
had been established. The time had come when a suitable state constitution
and government must be decided upon. On April 13, 1849, Brevet Brig. Gen.
Bennett Riley issued a proclamation as commander of the department and
goxernor of California. No longer were the people willing to be governed
by a military governor and alcalde. Therefore, on June 3, 1849, Riley issued
a ]iroclamation recommending the forming of a state or territorial government.
Ten districts were named, San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San
Luis Obispo, Ab>nterey, San Jose, Sonoma, San Francisco, San Joaquin and
Sacramento.

The convention met in Colton's hall at ]\Ionterey, September 1, 1849.
San Luis Oi)ispo sent Henry Amos Tefift and Jose AT. Covarrulnas to the con-

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS :-'7

ventinn, which was in session six weeks, adjourning sine die October 13.
The Ixiundaries of the state were decided upon, and of course the discussion of
slavery was introduced. There were seventy-three delegates to the con-
vention. Of those American born, thirteen were from slave states. It was
often reiterated, "This is a white man's government," and slavery or not for
California was hotly discussed. William E. Shannon, a native of Ireland,
was an ardent champion for a free state, and a free state California entered
the Union, but with heavy restrictions upon the colored race.

The two great interests of the state at that time were mining and graph-
ing, and there were "cow counties" and "mining counties." A\'e were in the
former class, and some folks still refer to us as "cow county." Long live the
cow, for she has turned millions of dollars into our pockets, and we are plant-
ing alfalfa for her, building good barns and toadying to Madam Cow generally ;
but we do a few other things also, even mine a little. When taxes were dis-
cussed, members from the cow counties saw to it that a clause went in read-
ing: "All property shall be taxed according to its value." November 13, 1849,
the people adopted the constitution by a \ote of 12,064 to 811.

First State Election

The first state election was held Novemlx-r 12, 1849. State and legislative
officers were both chosen at this election. The Constitution had divided the
state into assembly and senatorial districts, and San Luis Obispo and Santa
Barbara counties formed one senatorial district. Don Pablo de la Guerra
of Santa Barbara was chosen senator and Henry A. Tefift, assemblyman
from San Luis Obispo County. Peter H. Burnett was chosen governor and
John McDougal lieutenant governor; William Van Voorhies, secretary of
state ; Richard Roman, state treasurer ; John I. Houston, comptroller ; E. J. C.
Kewen, attorney general; Charles 'H. Whiting, surveyor general; S. C. Hast-
ings, chief justice; J. A. Lyon and Nathaniel Bennett, associate justices of the
supreme court. The constitution, if adopted, appointed December 15, 1849,
for the opening of the assembly without waiting for the action of Congress.
There were sixteen senators and thirty-seven assemblymen in the first Cali-
fornia assembly which met at San Jose. E. Kirby Chamberlain was presi-
dent pro tem and John Bigler, speaker. William M. Gwin and John C. Fre-
mont were elected United States senators, and the congressmen were Gil-
bert and Wright.

These four men were instructed to go at once to Washington and urge
Congress to admit California to statehood. Considerable discussion took place
in Congress when the men from California made their request. The old
slavery and anti-slavery wrangle had to be gone over. Some insisted that
California must be a territory before she could be a state. After a long ses-
sion and some compromising, California was admitted to the L'uion as a
free state, September 9, 1850.

A Jubilee

October 18, 1850, the steamship "Oregon" entered the port n\ San I'ran-
cisco firing repeated signals as she rounded Clark's Point, her masts literally
covered with flags. A universal shout went up from the entire populace,
which at the first firing of the signals had left homes and all places of
business to hear the news they expected the ship was bringing. I'eople were

58 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

crowded upon the wharves, the hills and house-tops, and the ships in the
bay. From every throat leaped huzzas, flags of all nations were run up on
the masts of the ships in the bay. An hour after the Oregon's arrival, the
newsboys were crying the joyful tidings and selling papers for from one
to five dollars each. The rejoicings continued all night. Cannons were fired,
rockets hissed across the sky, bonfires blazed on the hills and it is safe to say
no Fourth of July or Admission Day celebration since has ever equaled that
celebration of October 18, 1850.

Counties Established

February 18, 1850, an act was passed by the assembly dividing the state
into twcnt3'-seven counties and fixing their boundaries. The boundaries of
San Luis Obispo County are practically the same as those fixed at that
time. A little change was made in the southern boundary line a few years
later, making it what it is today. San Luis Obispo was named as the county
seat. The topography of the county has been described. The area is 3,284.3
square miles ; its average length is sixty-two miles and average width sixty-
four miles, though from the farthest eastern to its most western point is a
distance of one hundred miles.

First County Elections

Tlic first county elections were ordered held on the first ^Monday in
April, 1850. Tiie prefects of districts were to designate election precincts
and name the officers of election. March 23, 1850, an act was passed pro-
viding for general elections ; the first Monday in October of each year state
and district officers were to be elected. County officers were to be elected
the second Monday in April, 1852, and every two years thereafter. The
officers of each county wore Id ]ic; one county judge, clerk, attorney, treas-
urer, surveyor, sherifif, recorder, assessor and coroner. It was ordered to
have printed in Spanish two hundred fifty copies of the act, and these
were to be sent to the prefects of Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Bar-
bara, Los Angeles and San Diego, and by them distributed at their dis-
cretion.

J\Iarch 16, 1850, the state was divided into nine judicial districts; San
Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties formed the second district. A
"Court of Sessions," consisting of the county judge and two justices of the
peace, exercised the administrative and financial authority until 1852, when
these duties were passed over to the board of supervisors. The legislature
adjourned April 2, 1850, and has come down in history as "The Legislature
of a Thousand Drinks," some say because all the members w-ere so convivial;
others say it was because on one occasion one member who felt very much
like rejoicing, exclaimed, "Come on, boys, let's take a thousand drinks."
Drinks or not, a pretty good job was accomplished, and some brilliant men
sat in tliat first legislature.

All have passed to the "Great Beyond," but here is a list of some of
them. Senators: Salem E. Woodworth, David F. Douglass, Elean Heyden-
feldt, M. G. \''allejo, Pablo de la Guerra, Thomas Vermeule, W. D. Fair, Elisha
O. Crosby, David C. Brodcrick, Dr. E. Kirby Chamberlain, John Bidwell,
H. C. Robinson, I'.cnjamin S. Lippincott. Assemblymen — Thomas J. White,
Flam Brown, J. S. K. Ogier, Dr. E. B. Bateman, Edmund Randolph, E. P.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 59

Baldwin, A. P. Crittenden, Alfred Wheeler, James A. Gray, Joseph Aram,
Joseph C. Morehead, Dr. Benjamin Cory, Thomas J. Henly, Jose jM. Covar-
rubias, Elisha W. McKinlev, John B. Tingley, John S. Bradford and Henry
A. Tefft.

The population of the county, in 1850, is given as three hundred thirty-
six ; this did not include Indians, but there were not a great number of them.
A few worked on the great ranches and several hundred probably lived in
rancherias. Before 1850, William G. Dana had served as prefecto of this
section. Victor Linares, Jose de Jesus Pico, John M. Price, Miguel Avila,
Joaquin Estrada, Esteban Ouintana, J. M. Bonilla and others had been al-
caldes.

At the first election for county officers held April 14, 1850, the following
were elected: J. Mariano Bonilla, judge; Henry J. Dally, sheriff; C. J. Free-
man, clerk; Joacjuin Estrada, recorder; John ^^'ilson, treasurer; Joseph War-
ren and Jesus Luna, justices of the peace. The court of sessions appointed
Francis Z. Branch, assessor; William Hulon, county surveyor; and William
Stener, harbor-master. Gabriel Salazar was appointed "judge of the plains."
This was an important office, for these judges had charge of all questions
relating to cattle, had to supervise the driving, branding, killing and ownership
of the cattle on the great stock ranges. San Luis Obispo County had several
judges of the plains after it became a county. The office had first been created
under Mexican rule, but it was an office needed much under American rule
as well. All records were kept in little books, much like the blank books
used by children in school for their written work, and in the Spanish language.
The court passed sentence as it thought best. In the case of Pedro IMar-
quez, recorded as '"a criminal case between the state versus Marquez," the
criminal was sentenced to three months imprisonment and $100.00 fine. The
fine was evidently worked out on the ranches of "Juan" Price and "Guillermo"
Dana, as there were certificates filed from these men stating the number of
days he had worked for each.

First Courthouse

At the meeting of the court of sessions, August 20, 1850, the (luestion
of a courthouse and jail came up. Rooms in the ^Mission had been used for
holding court and for confining prisoners. The chapel and adjoining rooms
were under the control of the priest, by order of Secretary Halleck. John
Wilson and his partner, Scott, claimed the rest of the buildings, and the pub-
lic also claimed and had used for all sorts of purposes, rooms of the wings.
If Wilson owned the property, he was ordered to make repairs. The court
took upon itself a good many powers. It ordered the people to put the
roads in repair and keep them so ; closed to travel the road made by passengers
from the entrance of the Cuesta to the Nipomo road, and a fine of ten dollars
was imposed for each oft'ense of disobeying; arranged for tavern licenses
to be granted only to residents. A gambling license cost fifteen dollars a
month, rules in Spanish and English to be placed on view in each gambling
resort. It appointed a superintendent of water to look after the irrigation
rights. The one farthest from the dam could irrigate first, the others in
order, and each "one hundred varas" of land could have water for forty-eight
hours at a time. It allotted land in the town, where all cattle killed in the
town nuist be slaughtered, aiul provided a penalty of two dollars fine for the

60 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

first infraction of tlie law and twenty for the second. The streets were to be
kept clean by the inhaljitants. All foot-paths in front of buildings must be
swept by 8 A. AI. on Saturdays or a fine of two dollars would be im-
posed; also on Saturdays the justice of the peace should see that a cart and
two men clean away all street garbage.

A prisoner, Francisco Garcia, was being held and the court ordered two
dollars per night paid to each man necessary to watch him. No mention is
made of the crime for which he was held. The days on which each cattle
owner in the county might hold a rodeo were set and the "judge of the
plains" was to be notified of a rodeo two days in advance. All brands and
earmarks were to be registered. A piece of the town land was set aside as a
sort of rancheria ; all Indians "with white masters" must live on this plot,
and persons holding contracts with Indians for labor to be performed must
publish the same without delay. Liquor could be sold to Indians on Sunday
afternoons only between the close of church and sundown, and the Indians
must go to a place designated to drink it. Behold the first "Sunday liquor
law" of the county.

Henry A. Tefift was elected the first judge of the second judicial district,
viz. : this and Santa Barbara counties. ^lay 3, 1852, boards of supervisors were
provided for, by an act of the legislature, for some counties, this being one.
The supervisors took over the duties of the courts of sessions, and they ceased
to be. The duties were about the same as for supervisors at present. The
first Ijoard was composed of John Wilson, Francis Z. Branch, Joaquin
Estrada, William G. Dana and Samuel A. Pollard. At the first meeting, Mr.
Dana was declared "not eligible," as he was to be treasurer of the county;
so ^^'illiam L. Beebee was appointed in his place. Each supervisor was to
receive five dollars per day for each day's necessary attendance, and twenty-
five cents per mile going, the miles to be estimated from his home to the place
of meeting. They could not contract debts that would exceed the annual
revenue of the county for county purposes.

In 1850, the tax list showed sixty-two taxpayers and the amount of
taxes placed at $4,150.67. Of this sum John Wilson paid S639.20; jesus Pico,
$207.30; Rafael Villa, $176.57; Isaac J. Sparks, $260.80; Julian Estrada,
$190.70; Joaquin Estrada, $296.50; W. G. Dana, $379.17; Vicente Canet,
$122.10: F. Z. Branch, $431.52. The other sums ranged from $98.50 to the
lowest, $4.50. Don Jose Jesus Pico got a change made in his taxes as you
will see later.

A Few Items of Interest

March, 1852, $300 for repairing courthouse, $20 for lock to "gaol," $8 for
county branding iron, $5 for interpreter. Licensed, two monte tables, @
$"35.00 per month; two billiard tables @ $10.00 per month; retailing liquor,
$7.50 per (lunrter, nine bars licensed. Two peddler's licenses, @ $7.00 per
month. Merchants, $1.00 per month, seven licensed. This is in 1852-53.

.At a meeting of the court of sessions in December, 1851 the following
business was transacted. County Judge Bonilla received $759.00 for three
months' services ; all taxes could be paid in legal tender of the United States,
foreig!! coins of fixed \aluc or gold dust at the rate of $16.00 Troy ounce; a
jailor was appointed, pay $25.00 per month ; $36.00 per month allowed for
each prisoner's l)oard. The clerk's salary was reduced from ten to six dol-
lars per day "while attending upon the court." The county auditor got ten

• SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 61

dollars for the month of September, 1851; $300.00 was appropriated for
courthouse furniture, to lie used presumably in a room of the Mission,
"to wit, five common lienches, each eight feet long, two six feet long, one
judge's liench five and a half feet long, to be raised twelve inches from the
lloor, one seat for the associate judges ; one book case with pigeon-holes, one
clerk's table, two smaller tables for use of lawyers, and a railing across the
court-room with gate." The contract was awarded Rollin M. C. Hoyt, wit-
nessed i)y F. I. Maguire, county clerk.

A Little Episode not Confined Entirely to the Past

An unassuming gentleman called upon Don Jesus Pico, asked for enter-
tainment, and it was granted. During the visit the Don boasted of his wealth,
family jewels, land and herds worth $22,000. Out came a little book and the
assessor (it chanced to be he) entered Don Pico's taxable property in his
lists. In January, 1852, the Don prayed the court of sessions to reduce his
taxes; he was worth only $1,200. They were reduced. A little later the Don
appeared, complaining that fifteen young mares had been omitted, and asked
that the court add them. It did, and justice seemed to be satisfied.

A Tribute to the Early Pioneers

It is not our intention in this history of San Luis Obispo County to make
it a record of political parties. It matters little to our readers whether the
Republicans, Democrats or some other party won at this or that election. If
anyone is especially interested in political records let him search the election
returns for himself. Myron Angel's history of the county, published by
Thompson & West in 1883, contains a record of every county election from
1850 to 1883, and all are interesting; but in the space allotted us in this
volume we w^ish to tell of the men and women who won our county from a
wilderness to its present state of prosperity. Of their toils, dangers and suc-
cesses we shall write. Few of those who first settled in the county won wealth
or fame ; pioneers in any place seldom do. They break the way, sufl:'er priva-
tions and loss, then die or give up in despair. The second and third genera-
tions of settlers come, profit by the others' mistakes, find the foundations all
laid and go on building up successful, prosperous lives, often thinking it is
because they have the "gray matter" under their hats. It is nothing of the
kind, it is because they have "reaped where others have sown." None of
the men in San Luis Obispo County today, calling themselves rich, fought
bears and cleared the "montes" for cultivation; neither have they been com-
pelled to travel hundreds of miles on horseback, eat coarse fare and little of
it, and wait for months for the letter their lonesome hearts were longing for.
The pioneers have mostly gone to their graves made on lonely hillsides or in
forgotten places. Some of these gra\es are marked by leaning headstones ;
more are covered with weeds and briars. They have passed on among those
"unhonored and unsung" on earth, but we have faith in the God who created
souls brave and strong enough to dare the wilderness, to see that they are
not unhonored in "the land of the hereafter."

62 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

CHAPTER VII
History from 1850 to 1860. A Land of Crimes

The discovery of gold had apparent!)' no influence upon the history of
this county. The gold frenzy was confined to the northern part of the state.
From San Jose to Los Angeles the cattle business was the principal industry.
Only two settlements large enough to be called villages even, existed in 1850,
San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara. Travel from one place to the other had
to be by schooner or sailing vessel, and few stopped at our ports ; for there
were no wharves, only "landings," and rarely a passenger; so on horseback
down the Salinas valley, over the Santa Lucia mountains, through Cuesta
pass to the first little town, and on by the coast trail to Santa Barbara and
Los Angeles. Travel by land was very dangerous, for the whole region,
especially south of Soledad, was infested by bands of desperadoes. Robber-
ies and murders were of great frequency. The native Californians, with
their hatred for the "Gringos" and fear of meeting a like fate at the same
hands, would give no evidence against the villains, but harbored them, either
through fear or for a share of the plunder.

In 1852-53, the state was terrorized by a band of desperadoes that ranged
the country under the leadership of Joaquin Murrieta. Another leader. Jack
Powers, with his gang infested this and Santa Barbara counties, making
excursions into other territory as well. In 1853, the legislature ordered the
enlisting of a company of rangers to hunt Murrieta and the others.

The company was known as Harry Love's Rangers, Love being the
captain. Murrieta on more than one occasion was in San Luis Obispo living
with his pals. At the end of Chorro street over near the mountains are two
little adobe houses ; Murrieta is said to have lived in one, and another scoun-
drel, Vasquez, in the other. In the spring of 1853 Murrieta and his gang came
to town, first sending word that they were coming for a rest, before going on
to Mexico; and if any one attempted to meddle with them, the town would
be sacked. They arrived, a desperate, swarthy set, "armed to the teeth," and
camped in the garden of the Mission. There. were only five or six Americans
in town ; and knowing his hatred of them, they kept out of sight day times,
and at night camped with their arms in Pollard's store. The building was
an old adobe on the corner of Chorro and Monterey streets, where Fletcher's
store now stands. Murrieta left town without making any "killings," only
robbing a gambler of his ill-gotten gains.

Jack Powers was a criminal and gambler in San Francisco in 1849.
Fleeing from justice there, he organized a band of cutthroats and transferred
his operations to this section. He would send out spies to find out when
men would lie coming south to buy up cattle. Often these fellows repre-
sented themselves as owning large herds seeking buyers. The buyers would
set a time to come ; and few, if any, got south of the Nacimiento river, which
became known as the "dark and bloody ground." Their disappearances
remained mysteries so far as the courts were concerned, for reasons already
given. Their bodies with bullet holes or gaping knife thrusts were often
found beside the road ; or later in some ravine not far distant a bleached
skeleton, with jierhaps enough clothing left for identification, would be found.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 63

In November, 1857, two Frenchmen, Pedro Obiesa and Graciano, col-
lected a band of cattle and started north, hiring a Mexican, Prolian, as
vaquero. This man and Jack Powers saw the Frenchmen receive money
before leaving San Luis Obispo. The following Monday, November 30, a
horse race took place at Santa Margarita; Powers, Lenares and a band of
"greasers" were present, and that night disappeared. At Paso Robles the
Frenchmen received cattle and paid for them. Here Frolian left the cattle
buyers, but a man named Nieves Robles appeared and asked to join the
Frenchmen and travel with them to San Jose. That night their horses
were stampeded. In the morning the two Frenchmen left camp, going in
opposite directions to look for their horses. Neither ever returned. Robles
made excuses twice during the day to the others at camp and went off, each
time returning with his horse in a lather. The next inorning he left, saying
he was going back to San Luis. A few days later Lenares, flush with money,
was back in tow^n. At last, on December 20, Robles was taken from a
gambling den on suspicion of the murder and jailed; Lenares at once went
north and warned Powers, who came down on the next steamer and furnished
Robles with cofifee, liquor and other comforts, at the same time urging
Robles' attorney to get him released in some way. The night before the
murder, Juan Pedro Olivera, a man of evil deeds, told another rascal what
was to take place, mentioning every one in the plot. An Indian told of seeing
one of the men murdered, the one found, by two men on horseback with
reatas and pistols. One was never found. Robles was tried. He was a
Californian, the murdered men only Frenchmen, and the Californians swore
to kill every Frenchman in the county if Robles were convicted. W. J.
Graves, the best lawyer in the county, was district attorney, but what could
he do with a "packed" jury? One juryman was a fugitive from a murder
committed; another, it was later learned, participated in the murder of the
cattle buyers.

Murder at San Juan

The cattle buyers were murdered in the early part of December. In May
two more Frenchmen, Bartolo Baratie and M. J. Borel, came down from
Oakland to settle on the San Juan ranch, which was forty-five miles from San
Luis Obispo, fifteen miles from the Mallah ranch, and six miles from the
Comatti. They had two Californians for servants, Ysidero Silvas and Luis
Murillo. On May 10, eight men appeared saying they were horse runners
and wanted to buy food. The food was freely given to them. That night
they slept in a hut apart from the rest, leaving on the morning of the eleventh.
On the twelfth, Miguel Blanco, one of the party, returned saying he was not
going to run his horse, and asked if he might unsaddle it there and rest.
His request was granted. The Frenchmen were some distance from the
house cleaning out a spring. The Californians were a short distance away
cutting hay, but out of sight of the Frenchmen. Miguel Blanco stood on a
little knoll that commanded a view of both parties. Suddenly he started
towards the two Frenchmen. Baratie left his partner and started to go to
the servants. Just as he reached them shots were heard from where Blanco
and Borel were. The rest of the desperadoes rode up on horseback; and as
Baratie appeared, Blanco shot him, wounding him in the shoulder. A bullet
passed so close to the servant .Murillo that it singed his hair. Murillo, .Silvas

64 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

and Baratie were then bound and driven to the house, where ]\Iadani Baratie
was threatened, with death. The bandits then forced Baratie to show them
the trunk the money was in. The captain of the band, Huer Rafael, poured
the money, $2,700, onto a blanket, dividing it into eight piles, which were
passed out to the eight murderers, for so they all were. Baratie and his wife
begged for mercy and it was promised. Two of the villains, Luciano and
Frolian, one of the gang that committed the double murder the December
before, but still at large, were told to take Murillo and Silvas off and shoot
them. They took them, still bound, some distance, but finally promised not
to kill them if they stayed where they were told until dark. The thieves
then returned to the rest of the gang. Meantime Baratie and his wife had
been taken to a patch of willows. Here Baratie was shot before his wife's
eyes. The poor woman covered her husband's body with his cloak and hat,
and so he was found.

Luciano returned after taking the servants away and was told off to
take Airs. Baratie to his resort, the "Ctievas." He compelled her to mount a
horse and started oft', promising her safet}'. For a week he took her by trails
known only to the thieves, and at last arrived at a ranch, the "Pulvaderas,"
kept by a harborer of thieves. They stayed there one night, but the terri-
fied woman dared not speak. At last he took her to San Juan, the old settle-
ment near Hollister. She knew he was among accomplices and she held
her peace. The house where Luciano left her was about a half mile out from
the town and was kept by a fellow named Chavez. From there she took the
stage and went to Oakland, let us hope to safety and friends.

About five o'clock Murillo and Silvas went back to the house ; Borel lay
dead with three shots in his body. They did not find Baratie in the willows.
Everything had been rifled and the best clothing was gone. The horses were
unmolested save a black horse, and a mare the woman rode. Murillo and
Silvas went that night to the Estrella. On the morning of May 13 they
went to Captain J\Iallah's ranch, now known as the Huer-Huero, and told
their story, ^klallah at once saddled up and came with them to San Luis,
where warrants were issued for the murderers as John Doe and Richard Roe.
Mallah, Alurillo, Silvas and the sheriff walked about the town to see if they
could locate any of the murderers. They stumbled on one, Santos Peralta,
who was recognized as one of Chico Martinez's band of horse runners. Of
course he denied his guilt, but part of the stolen clothing was found on him.
He was arrested and jailed, and that night a party of citizens saved the county
expense by taking him out and hanging him.

In the morning word was brought to the town that four of the gang
were hid in a ravine back of town, where Pio Lenares had a "ranchito" for
stolen horses. The sheriff with fifteen men set out to capture them. It was
later proven that Lenares went with the gang to murder the two Frenchmen,
as far as the San Juan ranch, but left there because the rest would not consent
to the murder of the woman. Lenares' motto was "Dead men tell no talcs."
This was also the saying of Jack Powers. For a week the sheriff" and his men
hunted the bandits, who on fine horses easily eluded them in the hills. At a
ranch, however, they took Joaquin Valenzuela, identified by several as one
of the five Love's Rangers were to capture. He was one of Jack Powers'
pals, whom he called his "patron." He was hanged in dajdight in full sight
of the po]nilace, who turjied out to a hanging as to a new kind of "fiesta."

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 65

Before dying he confessed his guilt. Aimthcr party followed on the tracks
of Mrs. Baratie and captured Luciano on liis return from San Juan. He was
brought to town, confessed and was hanged in broad daylight — "fiesta" num-
ber two. Mrs. Baratie was brought down from Oakland by Americans and
corroborated the testimony of the others in the case.

One June 6, 1858, Jose Antonio Garcia was arrested and confessed to being
one of the gang who murdered the two Frenchmen the previous December. In
his confession he told of the part Pio Lenares, Jack Powers and Huer Rafael
Ilerrado took, and told of receiving two hundred dollars Powers sent him as
his share of the booty. Garcia was hanged at 3 P. M., June 8, another
"fiesta"; but now things were getting serious, for justice was being dealt out
by the Vigilantes — but that story must be told more fully. On the same
night ten men, with twenty horses furnished by the ranchers, set out after
the remaining members of the gang. On June 9 another party went to
Lenares' "ranchito," and driving in his horses as a preventive measure,
started off for Santa Ynez and La Purisima, where the rest were said to
be. Pio and his friends were right at hand, however, and saw the party
starting, but thought it was two parties. This spelled business; so in the
night Lenares and his men left for the immense willow thickets that grew
on the Los Osos, then owned by Captain John Wilson. On Thursday morn-
ing, June 10, Captain Wilson sent word that one of the gang, Pluero Rafael,
had given one of his shepherds twenty-two dollars and asked him to get
them food. The shepherd gave Wilson the money and information. In
about two hours thirty men were in the saddle and off. The men pushed
their horses into the willows, but so dense was the growth little could be
done. At 3 P. M. fifteen men on foot entered the thicket beating the brush
for their men. At length three horses, two saddles and a little bag of provi-
sions were found. Night was near and it was thought best to get out of the
woods. Guards were placed, but wide apart, as there were not enough men
to circle the place at nearer distances. One guard was shot through the
instep. About 10 A. M. the guard was called oft', and it was decided to let
the bandits get out of the woods and then set the "trackers" on their trail.
However, twenty men insisted on taking up the trail in the willows. Soon
they found Lenares' saddle bags, and robber and murderer though he was,
he carried with him a picture of his wife, which was in one of the bags. In
a moment bullets flew, one wounding Lenares through the leg. The pur-
suers then left the woods and the brush was set on fire; but it was so green
it would not burn. Couriers were sent all ovc-r the county, and soon one
hundred fifty men were on the ground. ,\ close line of guards were set about
the willows, through which, all night long, the bandits could be heard
breaking their way. In the morning a party of twenty-four men under
Captain Mallah crawled on their bellies into the thicket, for shots from the
hunted men showed their location. In about fifteen minutes Pio Lenares was
shot through the head and Miguel Blanco and Desidero Grijalva taken priso-
ners. John Matlock, a well-borer from San Jose, was killed and two men
wounded, of the pursuing party. The prisoners stated that they had been
without food for four days, but Lenares refused to let them surrender. The
dead and i)oth sides were brought to town and buried. Alonday, June 14,
Blanco and Grijalva were hanged at 1 P. M., all hands looking on ; but now the
"fiestas" were not very gay aft'airs. Human life is not a tiling to sec pass

66 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

without a tremor, and the Californians of the desperado class knew they
were all in close quarters. Some of the better class of Californians assisted
the Americans in raiding the bands from the county, notal:)ly Romualdo
Pacheco.

Murder of the Read Family

In 18-17, a man named Read, w'de and daughter, son-in-law, and an old
negro ser\-ant came to San Miguel, and as the ^Mission was then regarded
as public property, they set up housekeeping in some of the rooms of the
old building. When gold was discovered, Mr. Read went to the mines, and
in the fall of 1848 returned with several thousand dollars in gold. Read was
hospitable and talkative, and showed his "dust" to several people. In Octo-
ber, 1848, a party of sailors, deserters from a ship at Monterey, came to
Read's home. He showed his gold and talked freely. The sailors asked to
stay all night and permission was given, also food. Mrs. Read had recently
been confined, and with her w-as another woman acting as nurse, besides her
grown daughter, son-in-law, their three children, the old negro and Mr.
Read. The sailors planned and executed the murder of the entire family,
even brained the infant on one of the pillars of the corridor. Of course the
gold dust was the incentive for the deed.

The following day John M. Price and F. Z. Branch, on their way home
from the mines, stopped to visit tlje Reads, who were friends of Mr. Price.
Calling, and receiving no answer, they dismounted, entered and soon knew
of the terrible murder. After making sure that no breath of life remained in
any of the Ijodies, they hastened to the Paso Robles rancho and gave the
alarm. One party went north to bury the victims and another south in pur-
suit of the murderers, whose trail was easily followed. At Carpinteria, or
where it now is, close to the beach, the sailors were overtaken. A desperate
battle ensued. One of the pursuers was killed and others w'ounded. All the
murderers were shot. One plunged into the surf and tried to swim out to sea.
A bullet was sent after him and down he went, food for sea monsters. The
others were left where they fell, food for vultures and coyotes. Thus closed
one of the greatest criminal tragedies of the state and of this count}-. \Miat
became of the gold dust? Did the pursuers get it?
Other Crimes

In November, 1855, Isaac B. Wall, collector of the port of Monterey and
T. B. Williamson, an officer of Monterey county, were on their way to San
Luis Obispo. On the "dark and bloody ground" of the Nacimicnto they were
waylaid and murdered. No direct trace of the murderers was ever found.

In October, 1853, eight or ten men passed through San Luis Obispo
going south and openly boasted of having killed a peddler near San Juan.
After being "bad men" here for a few days they stole a lot of horses and left.
A party from San Luis Obispo followed them and overtook them in Los
Angeles. They had the horses and the stolen goods of the peddler. Three
of them were put aboard a boat and started back. At Avila a party with
ropes received the gentlemen and there was a triple hanging. One w^as
brought back with the pursuers, some say taken in town. At any rate he
also was hanged.

Bodies were found beside the road, north or south of town. Once
four bodies were fi mud in one place. In 1850, a man named George

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 67

Fearless came down from San Francisco with $2,000, and went into
business with Jesus Luna, a Mexican. They established a "ranchito" on the
Nacimiento. Soon Fearless disappeared ; Luna said he "had gone to the
states." Luna sold out cattle, horses, and even the Newfoundland dog and
his partner's gold watch, then left for the south. About three months later
Fearless' body, or what was left of it, was found near the ranchito. Luna
was a pal of Pio Lenares, so the truth is easy to guess. John Gilkey, living
on the Comatti ranch, had been killed by the gang who murdered Borel and
Baratie, after they left the San Juan ranch. Grijalva confessed that he shot
him in the back and Valenzuela dragged him fifty yards with his reata.

Organizing of a Vigilance Committee

Nieves Robles had been acquitted, though every one knew he was a
murderer. The majority of the native Californians either resented or resisted
punishing the criminals. Settlers would not come into a county where they
were almost sure to meet death on the way. Other portions of the state were
filling up with a good class of settlers. Here business was prostrate, life very
unsafe and the county known far and wide as a camping ground for count-
less thieves and murderers. From Monterey to Los Angeles stretched a
country full of mountain hiding-places, pleasant pastures for horses, and
abundant game. No wonder the bandits gathered here from all over the
state. Jack Powers and ex-Jtidge "Ned McGowan," infamous Americans,
who had fled from the San Francisco Vigilantes, came here and organized
bands. They plotted and planned most of the crimes, while the natives exe-
cuted them, alone if the leaders failed to take a hand at the critical moment.
The Vigilance Committee of 1858 was the result, and they deserve great
praise for the work they did that the courts could not do for lack of evidence,
that is, sworn evidence in a court room.

The Pledge

"The undersigned hereby pledge themselves, each to the other, that in
the case of the murder of two Frenchmen, Bartolo Baratie and M. Jose
Borel, we will stand together and by all means whatsoever, discover the
truth and punish the guilty. The first step shall be the personal restraint
and intimidation to the prisoner now in jail, even if necessary to the danger
of life. Signed : Walter Murray, Francisco Letora, Francisco Brizzolara,
Charles Pellerier, B. Block, P. A. Forrester, Jacob J. Scheifferley, A. Alba-
relli, Luis de la Cella, Domingo Garcia, Nicolo Ravello, T. P. Commay, J. J.
Simmler, Rudol[)h Blum, B. F. Hamilton."

Roll of Members

"The undersigned citizens of San Luis Obispo sign our names as members
of a body to be called the San Luis Vigilance Committee, the object of which
is and shall be the repression and punishment of crimes by all means whatso-
ever: \\alter Murra}', Fred'k Hillard. S. A. Pollard, Thos. Graves, Labat Pere,
G. Leemo, P. A. Forrester, Jules Baume, Chas. Johnson, Wm. Coates, Ber-
nardo Lazcano, Jose Cantua, Carl Dictz, Ferdinand Quievreux, Manuel Otero,
Thomas Herrara. N. Amos, J. J. Simmler, Thos. R. Thorp, Leonardo Lopez,
Ramon Baldez, J. A. dc la Guerra, Pedro Ruperez, Trinidad Beccrro, John

68 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Matlock, Cayetano Amador, Fabian Dastas, B. P. Brown, Miguel Serrano,
A. Farnsworth, Joseph Stutz, Domingo Garcia, Dolores Herrara, Henry
Tandee. W. L. Beebee, Daniel McLeod, B. J. Jones, Guadalupe Gonzales, D. P.
Mallah, Basilio Castro, John Patton, A. Albarelli, J. T. Zamorano, Ysidro
Balderana, Ysidro Silbas, Jerome A. Limas, John Bains, Albert Mann, Calistro
Morales, L. H. Morrison, Captain John Wilson, F. Laburthe, Enrique Galindo,
Feliz Buelna, A. Elgutter, Estevan Quintana, Jose M. Topete, Inocento Garcia,
Didelot, Manuel Serrano, S. Rojas, James White, W. W. Gilfoyle, Bias Castro,
Bentura Lopez, F. Wickenden, Chas. Pellesier, F. Martinez, Benjamin Wil-
liams, Jose Canet, Luis de la Cella, R. Holford, F. Salgado, Ardadio Borgues,
Jesus Olgin, jMiguel Herrara, F. W. Slaughter, Nicolo Revello, Chas. W.
Dana. Francisco Huares, A. Cordova, Jose Maria Ordunio, Modesto Carranza,
Byron Olney, Lugardo Aguila, W. C. Dana, Antonio Paradeo, James A.
Wright, S. O. Sweet, Francisco Brizzolara, D. D. Blackburn, Pedro Ortega,
J. A. Chaves, Antonio Capuero, B. Clement, B. F. Davenport, A. Murray, Dr.
Ed Albert, Rudolph Selm, A. Mullins, Isaac H. Bunce, G. F. Sauer, Reyes
Enriquez, A. Stanwick, Peter Forrester, Robert Johnson, Chas. Varrian, W.
J. Graves, John Daley, Juan Stanwick, Ygnacio Esquerre, H. Dallidet, Vic-
torino Chavez, C. Dockes, Manuel Vanegas, William Church, William F.
Gilkey, V. Mancillas, A. Hcrrera, C. G. Abbey, Bonifacio Manchego, B. F.
Hamilton, John M. Price, Ricardo Durazo, J. Roth, B. La Rey, I. Mora,
J. Garcia, Jose A. Garcia, Mariano Lazcano, Sandy Martin, Francisco Garcia,
T. Ph. Schring, Augustin Garcia, Jose Carlon, P. W. Williams, P. Z. Taylor,
A. P. Hartnell, Angel Barron, V. Mancillas, William Snelling, Noracio Car-
roso. Win. E. Borland, Gabriel Labat, W. C. Imos, James McNicol, J. M.
Martinez."

The following subscrilied ior tlie expenses of the committee: ]\Iurray,
$50: Thomas Herrara, $50; Albarelli & Co., $100; Pollard, $50; Beebee, $50;
Lafayette, $50; Johnson, $30; Stone and Barns, $65; Dr. Thorp, $25; F.
\\"icken(len, $30; Davenport, $40; Elgutter, $20; Alex Murray, $25; Pedro
Labat, .'R5 ; John Wilson, $500; Capt. F. Hillard, $30; Joaquin Estrada, $200;
F. Z. Branch, $300; Lazcano, $50; Domingo Garcia, $10; Fabian Dastas,
$5; Dolores Herrara, $10; Ramon Valdez, $10; J. H. Hill, $10; Simmler &:
Co., $20; C. F. Roman, $20; Lenares, $50; Letora & Co., $50; Juan Price, $50;
D. P. Mallah, $22; Horse, $37; ditto, $26; Stanish, $30; Block & Co., $25;
Dana. $20. Total amount, $1,525; disbursements, $1,487; balance, $38.

Many more murders were committed besides those mentioned, but the
quick work of the Vigilance Committee put a damper on crime and it was
less openly boasted of and of much less frequency. The accounts of those
crimes from 1850 to 1858, are taken from a scries of letters written by ^Valter
^Murray in 1858, to the San Francisco Bulletin. He came to San Luis Obispo
in 1853, and was from the first a leading citizen, foremost in wiping ofif the
slate of criminality, that for so long had made of the county a safe nest for
all sorts of vagabonds. ^Murders and roliberics still occurred, but at longer
intervals.

The Mysterious Disappearance of O. K. Smith

One crime frcciucntly referred to as we gathered data for this history
was the disappearance of O. K. Smith. Strange to say, he was always
spoken of as assessor and tax collector. The stories varied so in date that

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 69

the writer determined to .sjet at the facts, at least of his calling and the date
of his disappearance, and so went to the one reliable and accurate source, the
files of the Tribune. There we find that in August, 1869, O. K. Smith ran for
assessor on the Republican ticket, receiving 393 votes, but James Buffum,
Democrat, received 467 ; as the majority rules, this lets Smith out as assessor.
Smith came to the county in 1866 and settled near Cambria. In 1861 he
represented Tulare county in the legislature, and had also served as a deputy
sheriff in that county. He began farming near Cambria, but being a man of
considerable education and ability, he naturally took an active part in county
affairs.

The Tribune of June 11, 1870, announced that Governor Worris had
appointed O. K. Smith of San Simeon (this name then included all that
upper coast country) census marshal of this county. A. M. Hardie worked
with Smith taking the 1870 census. February 25, 1871, The Tribune pub-
lished a letter sent from Cambria and signed by C. Mathers, in which
Mathers states that "our friend" O. K. Smith had left Cambria on Friday,
February 17, 1871, bound for San Luis Obispo; that a wagon thought to be
his had been found on the beach near ^Morro Rock; and that it was feared
that Smith had been drowned. On February 25, 1871, a letter was sent
to the Tribune from Morro signed by Smith's ^Masonic brothers, G. S.
Davis, G. Rothschild and G. AI. Cole, telling about the same news and
asking for help in the search for his body or any trace of him, his team
or papers.

JMarch 25, 1871, the following description \\as printed in the paper:
"Two fair-sized strawberry roan mares, bearing the brand of K in a circle or
circle K, one a little darker than the other. Gentle to work or ride. Any
persons seeing such horses are requested to write to this office or to Z. B.
Smith, Cambria. Papers throughout the state please copy." Now we have
two facts at least: O. K. Smith was census marshal, not assessor; and he was
undoubtedly murdered, February 17, 1871.

One other fact was established. Smith was last seen alive Friday, Feb-
ruary 17, 1871, at a saloon and road-house kept by George Stone on the
road to San Luis Obispo. It stood on the rocky point just where the Old
creek road enters the coast road, where the old unpainted shack now stands
up on the rocky hillside to the right going to San Luis Obispo. A. M. Hardie
says it was a bad, stormy day ; that Smith had a premonition that evil was
to befall him and wanted his wife to go with him ; also that at Stone's place he
asked a man named Rudisill to go on with him, but Rudisill also refused.
Mr. Hardie says that Stone and Rudisill helped Smith to harness up when,
about two o'clock P. M., he .started out on what proved to be his last ride,
and that they used rope and wire to fasten the tugs to the whiffletrees. "The
horses never got out of those tugs without help," said Mr. Hardie. Of course
from the moment the wagon was found, and no trace of the body, the team
or harness, foul play was suspected and suspicion placed upon several men
now dead. Here are a few of the many stories told the writer.

In those days the farmers often sent their tax money to the oflSce in
San Luis Obispo by neighbors going down. This custom yet prevails. One
man (we are .going to eliminate names) says that after Smith's death men
presented receipts given by him to them showing that he had nearly or Cjuite
$600 of tax moncv ^^■ith him when he was killed. Certain it is that he had

70 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

papers of some census reports, for a boy sixteen years old named Taylor,
brother of Charlie Taylor, the present sheriff, found the wagon and a roll
of wet papers belonging to Smith. The papers were taken home and dried
out. Later some men rode up to the Taylor house and asked for the papers,
which the boy gave to them. They were census reports, and ]\Ir. Hardie
received them from the boy, and w^as entitled to them as he was Smith's
helper in taking the census. Now for stories weird and otherwise. If
they are all just fabrications built upon the facts stated, they show brilliant
imaginations and some good novelists have missed their calling. Story num-
ber one follows :

A man about to die confessed that he and another man equally well
respected were hard up and killed Smith.

Story number two is more elaborate in detail : On the night of Smith's
disappearance, a man living on Morro creek went down to dig clams. He
saw a fire burning on the beach and, turning back, went up on the blufif
where he could see l^ut not be seen. Looking over, he saw two men digging
a great hole. They gathered beach wood and built a fire in it, meantime dig-
ging another hole. Soon Smith's team, driven by a third man, came around
Toro point ; Smith was very drunk and was being held in the light wagon.
He was knocked on the head, stripped, rolled into hole number two and sand
was scooped in on him. All his clothing, his gold watch, the harness from the
horses, their halter ropes and the tongue and one wdieel from the wagon were
thrown upon the fire and burned. When burned down to coals sand was
scooped into that hole and all traces of the doings destroyed by scraping and
scratching about over the sand. Then the three men tied their own ropes
about Smith's horses and led them up the creek to a rocky side canon and
shot them. The narrator said this yarn w-as told to him by a dying man
under a promise of secrecy until after his death, and that it was told to that
man by another man. Upon asking why this story was kept secret so long,
the man said it would have meant death to the teller had he told it then
or while certain other men now dead were living.

This is written not as a fact but because it has thrills in it. It may or
may not be true; no one will now ever know. The strange thing was that
no trace of the harness or team was ever found. Two skeletons of horses,
each with a bullet hole in the skull, were certainly found in a canon not too
far from the be^ch to have been led there by Smith's murderers. The
wagon when found had lost one wheel and the tongue.

At about the place where the wagon was found others had lost their
lives in the quicksand in attempting to drive across when the tide was out,
but their bodies or some trace of them was always found. There were
many suspicious circumstances, or so it seemed, about Smith's disappearance;
but one more story, and then we will leave the subject.

Near the entrance to Green valley in an old house lived a man named
Kilpatrick. He was the wreck of what had once been a well-educated, well-
bred man, and was well acquainted with Smith. One night Kilpatrick on his
way to San Luis Obispo camped in the "monte" or patch of willows all are
familiar with, just north of Morro on the road to Cayucos. It was a beauti-
ful moonlight night, made more so by a luminous sort of haze. Kilpatrick
had just lain down and composed himself when O. K. Smith, or so it seemed
to him, walked out of the willows and up to the foot of his shake-down. So

SAN LUIS OCISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 71

sure was he that it was Smith that he exclaimed, "Where the devil have you
been all this time!" Smith stood looking at him in silence for some moments;
then turned and disappeared into the willows. This might be called "a
psychological moment."

CHAPTER VIII
The Great Drought. The Early Pioneers

Many things conspired to hold back the development of the county after
it became such. The murders and robberies related in the previous pages
had much to do with this. Then it was said abroad that all the land in the
county good for anything was held in the great grants. We know now that
there was much fine land outside the grants, but it was only when a thorough
government survey was made that the fact was established. Tiie owners
of the grants did not want their ranges interfered with and avoided exact
boundaries. All along the coast extended the grants held by Spanish families
or the five Americans, Dana, Price, Wilson, Sparks and Branch. Across the
mountains were the Blackburn brothers, James and P. W. Murphy, and D. W.
James, associated with the Blackburn brothers, who controlled immense
tracts. P. W. Murphy had the Santa Margarita, Atascadero and Ascunsion
grants, in all 70,000 acres, by right of purchase from the original grantees,
who seemed to have no appreciation of the value of their holdings. The
Spanish grantees, no matter what their previous condition, \vhen once they
could claim thousands of acres as their own, tried to live in great style.
Velvet and broadcloth for the men ; silks, satins, laces and jewels for the
women. Silver- or gold-trimmed sombreros, trappings for their saddle ani-
mals adorned with gold, silver and even costly jewels. The men did no work,
unless an occasional interest in counting up the cattle at a lively rodeo could
be called work. The women were supposed to manage the household, but
Indians and ^Mexicans did the work. A life of pleasure and case was all
that was sought.

A pioneer woman, who braved great hardships, told the writer of licing
robbed and begged of the greater part of the supplies her husband brought
with them, by members of a Spanish family who wore clothing stiff with gold
lace when they went out to a fandango or fiesta. Among the things taken
was a bottle of whiskey with garlic in it. This was supposed to cure worms
in children. No doubt the "kiddies" were very glad when the bottle disap-
peared, but it would be interesting to know what the other party thought
about his liquor.

In order to live and 'not work, they eventually mortgaged the grants for
large sums. When the mortgages became due, portions of the land were
given in payment, and what was left was sold for almost nothing. There were
no good roads, no railroads, nor, in spite of seventy miles of sea coast and
three or four good harbors, no wdiarves where schooners or steamers could
take on or deliver cargoes. Cattle could be driven off to market, so cattle it
was and nothing else. After the gold discoveries the ranges of this section

71 SAN LUIS (3BISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

furnished meat for the miners of tiie northern seeticjn, and so things were
until the great drought.

The Dry Years of 1862-63-64

Usually all the hills and plains were covered with abundant rich grass;
wild oats six feet high covered the hills where the grass did not flourish.
From the early winter rains to the end of May or June green feed was plenti-
ful. Then tiio hunch grass ripened and furnished winter feed. No hay was
raised, nu attempt whatever was made to provide food for the cattle, if Nature
failed to do it. At last Nature did fail; while in the East men were fighting
the awful battles of the Civil War and meeting death, here on the great
ranges hundreds of thousands of cattle were fighting a losing battle with
Nature and the long-horned Spanish cattle were literally wiped out of exist-
ence. It meant ruin for the cattlemen in some instances, and years of effort
to recover from their losses to the rest. Over across the mountains the cattle
were driven to the swamps of the Tulare, and many of the herds were saved.

\Vhile many grew poor one man at least laid the foundation for his
future fortune. J. P. Andrews bought up hundreds of the starving cattle
for ten cents each, killed them, boiled them up and fed them to his hogs,
which for lack of beef he sold at a high price. Also towards the close of the
drought he bought two hundred head of steers for two hundred dollars ; and
before December he had sold them for just twenty-five dollars per head, a
neat little profit of $4,800. Any one else could have turned the deal. Mr.
Andrews had no monopoly on the beef-bones-versus-hogs transaction ; but he
later loaned his profits at big interest to some of those who looked on while
their herds died, and he was called "skinflint." He was not; he was just a
keen-witted, hard-working, brainy man, who looked out for chances to make
honest money, which he held together while he lived.

Many thousands of cattle and horses were driven over the bluffs into
the sea and drowned. The owners could not stand the meanings of their herds,
nor bear to see them falling by hundreds before their eyes ; for be it known,
when starvation pursues the dumb animals, horses and cattle especially, no
matter how "wild" they may have been before, they will crowd up to the
ranch buildings, asking in their low moaning cries for food. Julian Estrada
of the Santa Rosa grant drove hundreds of his cattle and horses over the
bluffs into the sea up near Cambria. \\'hen the creatures are almost gone,
they will form a circle, heads to the center, and. by jiressing against one
another, hold each other u|.). When one drops, the circle narrows. In 1898-99,
a "dr}- year" Ijrought suffering and loss to many in the northern half of this
count}' and Monterey county. We saw a few years later on several ranches
these circles of cattle-skeletons, and were told how they came to be there.

When the grass grew again, after the great drought, it grew up through
the skeletons and around the bleached bones of the Spanish cattle. The
cattle Avere gone, and few had money to restock their ranches. They .must
turn their attcniioii to other ways of making money ; so they began to think of
cultivating the land. Some maintain the drought was a blessing, for it ridded
the count}- of the long-horned, rangy Spanish cattle and started agriculture.
If it blessed some, it was certainly not a blessing to a good many others.
Now the cattle were dead, the land likely to be sold cheap, the criminals
reduced to a fair average with other communities, settlers beoan comin"' in and

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 7i

of course other things followed. Roads in time were built, wharves came as a
matter of course, and later railroads. We will write of these in another chap-
ter, but in this speak of the very early pioneers of the late sixties and early
seventies, and of the conditions they met and overcame.

In a previous chapter we spoke of Rufus Burnett Olmstead, who was the
first American settler in Green valley. Mr. Olmstead was a man of education,
helped establish schools, and was at one time supported by his friends for
county superintendent of schools. The Olmstead school in Green valley
was built on his land and was named for him.

A Pioneer Woman

In March, 1868, Mr. and Mrs. Neal Stewart arrived from San Francisco,
coming originally from Canada. They came by boat and were landed at Port
San Simeon. Mrs. Stewart carried in her arms her oldest child, James,
then a baby about a year old. The waves were tossing whitecaps. The
steamer came to anchor well out from shore, a ladder was lowered to a small
boat, and Mrs. Stewart, with her child in her arms, clambered down into the
tossing rowboat. The surf was so bad, the waves so rough, that as soon as
the boat came in close enough, two men carried Mrs. Stewart and her baby
ashore. Mr. Stewart rented two rooms in the big adobe house of Julian
Estrada, located on the Santa Rosa grant. It stood near the corner where
the road from Green valley now joins the Cambria road. One room was
weatherproof, but the other was only partly roofed. They brought with
them supplies of groceries and food enough to last for some time, but ]\Irs.
Stewart says it was a problem to keep it, especially the "poppas" — potatoes.
Mr. Stewart homesteaded one hundred sixty acres in Green valley and later
pre-empted one hundred sixty more. The Stewarts brought with them the
sterling principles and sincere Christianity of their Scotch ancestry. They
were in a wilderness devoid of schools or churches, but the family altar was
set up and no lack of parental training or authority was ever let interfere
with the upbringing of their children. Mrs. Stewart did all the work, wash-
ing, cooking, sewing, and successfully mothered and reared ten children.
She had no near neighbors and little time for what nowadays are called
"social duties," which so often seem to replace all other duties. I lowever,
if a woman were to go through the throes of childbirth, or a child, or man,
or any human being were ill, this woman left her home, carrying her baby
along, if it couldn't be left, mounted her horse and rode any distance through
any sort of weather to minister to the one in need. On horseback she rode
to church with the baby in front and the one next in order behind.

^\'hen on rare occasions church services were held in a schoolhouse at
Cambria or elsewhere, she attended ; the stranger or acquaintance was al-
ways made welcome, and kindness and charity were shown to all in need.
When the children were old enough to go to school and none was within
reach, Mr. Stewart moved over onto Toro creek, where he gave ground
for a school yard. Others were coming in, and there at I'airview scliool
the ten Stewart children received their grammar school education. In turn
they were given the advantages of higher education. Four are graduates
of the university, and others of normal schools. One daughter. Dr. I\Iary
Alarshall, has been a medical missionary to India for many years. Another
daughter, Katherine, was also a missionary in India, where she died, in May,

74 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

1917, from an attack of diphtheria, a disease almost unknown there. Her
brother John died early in June, 1917, and word of her death was received
a few days later. All are filling places of honor and trust. One daughter,
Helen, a beautiful girl, died just in the flush of early womanhood in 1902.
In 1904, Mr. and Mrs. Stewart, with the unmarried children, came to live in
San Luis Oliispo, renting their ranch of four hundred seventy-five acres on
Toro creek to a Swiss for dairying purposes. Mr. Stewart died December 24,
1915, but "Mother Stewart," as she is known to so many, now a frail old
lady, still lives at the family home on ^Monterey street.

There were many women of sterling worth among those who came about
the time Mrs. Stewart did. THe families settled mainly in the little valleys,
each with its creek running to the sea. In Harmony valley, Alexander Cook,
father of I\lrs. Stewart, settled, bringing with him a faniih' of sons and
daughters who have made worth-while citizens. There were the Buffington
families, the Lcffingwells, the Hazards, Swains, Kesters, Freemans, Floods,
Taylors, Brians, Van Gordons, Rectors, Wallaces, Hardies, Mayfields, Hills,
McPhersons, Murphys, Cass's, McFaddens, Archers, Harolds, Bickells, Pe-
tersens, De Nises, Yorks, Hudsons, Whitakers, Kingerys, Mables, Langlois's,
Stockings and many others who lived along the coast or in the valleys along
the creeks between San Simeon and Morro. The O'Connors, Wardens,
Steeles and Hollisters li\'ed near San Luis Obispo. jMusick, Fink, Hasbrouck,
Newsom, Fowler, Ryan and Branch were names of early settlers about Arroyo
Grande. Across the mountains were the Blackburns, Alurphys, James's, and
Henry \\'ilson and others who ranched there before the coming of the South-
ern Pacific Railroad in 1886. Then many others came, settling in the towns of
San ;\liguel, Paso Robles, Templeton, and Santa ^largarita, and buying up
the farming tracts into which the large landhoklings were then divided.

Going back to the old records of from 1850 up, we find these men holding
prominent offices: A\'illiam J. Graves, county judge in 1852. The first board
of supervisors was composed of John Wilson, Francis Z. Branch, Joaquin
Estrada, \\'illiani G. Dana, S. A. Pollard. At the first meeting, December 13,
1852. Dana was found disqualified, as he held the office of county treasurer,
and William L. Beebee was appointed to take the place. Parker H. French
was appointed district attorney with a salar}' of $500 per 3-ear. AV. J. Graves
was also sent to the legislature as senator and assemblyman at different
times. Alexander Alurray, Walter Murray, D. F. Newsom, PI. M. Osgood,
F. Wickenden, J. J. Simmler, J. M. Havens, F. E. Darke, P. W. iSIurphy,
S. P. Mallard, C. W. Dana, Levi Racklift'e, D. C. Norcross, A. M. Hardie,
McD. R. \'enable, R. R. Harris, L. M. Warden, Nathan King, W. J. Oaks,
Romauldo Pacheco, A. C. McLeod, all held offices of trust for the people
before 1883, and in the years immediately following. The writer has written
letters to some of tlie pioneer men and women still living, and seen a few in
personal interviews, and many interesting facts are gleaned.

J. B. Kester gives these items in a letter dated September 30, 1916. In
1868, I\lr. Kester settled on Old creek. A few Spanish families and one or
two American families were alread}' living along the creek and must have
been there for some time; for ?vlr. Kester says one of the first jobs he had
there was putting new ro(jfs on some of the houses. These first settlers
soon Sold out and moved awav. The Packwood faniilv, A\'illiam Munn,

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 75

Wash and Samuel James were living on Old creek prior to Mr. Kester"s
going there. There were but two orchards in the valley, one owned by Mr.
Munn, but with the second influx of families many orchards were set out
about the year 1870. When they came into bearing, the fruit was of the
finest in flavor and size. The now famous Glenbrook orchard, owned by
the late Captain Cass, is near the headwaters of Old creek, but on tlic coast
side of the mountain range, where moisture and heat are controlled by the
fogs and breezes of the ocean. School was kept in a private house and the
expenses borne by the settlers until, in 1869, a small schoolhouse was built
by subscriptions. Miss Annie Packwood taught in the private house and
James F. Beckett was the. first teacher in the little new school building.
Many wild animals, bears, mountain lions, coons, wildcats, coyotes and foxes
were to be reckoned with. Cattle thieves raided the country — "about as
many thieves as cattle," says Mr. Kester, for the country was still sufifering
from the great cattle loss of the big drought. There were no fences, and
plenty of hiding-places in the mountains ; so the thieves generalh^ got away
with the cattle unmolested. The lions killed many young horses and fine
colts. Mr. Kester lost two of his own, and one belonging to his neighbor,
which he was pasturing. Mr. Kester was a trustee of Central school for
twenty-five years. Twenty-two years of this time he was clerk of the board.
He was supervisor from his district from 1890 to 1898, and deputy United
States census marshal in 1900. O. K. Smith is referred to by almost every old-
timer interviewed. Mr. Kester thinks Smith never collected taxes on Old
creek or in the county. He thinks Dave Norcross, sheriff at the time of
Smith's disappearance, collected taxes, appointing the time and place where
taxes might be paid that had not been paid directly into the sheriff's office.
The fact, if such it was, that Smith was not collecting taxes, was not so fully
known that it saved him from being murdered or at least "disappearing."
The "O. K. Smith mystery" bids fair to "bob up" anywhere, at any time,
all through the succeeding pages.

G. W. Hampton

Mr. Hamilton now lives with his wife and one daughter in a pleasant
home on Broad street, San Luis Obispo, and has always resided in this town
since coming here in 1869. He was born July 12, 1832, in Washington
county, Va.. and is now eighty-four years old, but quite hale and hearty,
and his mind seems as alert as it ever was. Mrs. Hampton is seventy-seven.
The couple were married in Napa county, October 3, 1866, her maiden name
being Julia Hudson. Mr. Hampton was a carpenter by trade and worked
on all the good buildings put up in the town in the early days. One of those
is the building now occupied by the San Luis Implement Company, on the
corner of Higuera and Chorro streets. He was tax collector in Napa county
and supervisor in this county for three years. When he came to San Luis
he bought eighty acres of land adjoining Charles Johnson in the Stenner
creek valley; Judge Venable owned an eighty-acre tract beyond the eighty,
between Hampton and the Venable place. Ned Morris bought these eighty
acres for $4,000, and sold out soon to a man named Wheeler for $15,000.
This was in the late seventies, or early eighties, when the residents of the
town in some way started a boom. There was another of those erui)tions
just aI)out the time the Soutiiern Pacific entered the county, when property

76 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

changed hands for high prices. An old adobe ruin now used as a Chinese
wash house was once pointed out to the writer by a man who paid
$9,000 for the "corner" and shortly sold it for $16,000. It is still adorned by
the adobe and is a dumping ground apparently for old boxes. Mr. Hampton
says he is the oldest living Odd Fellow, or has been a member of the local
lodge longer than any one else now residing here. He joined Napa Lodge
No. 18 in 1855. In 1869, when Mr. Hampton came to San Luis, there was
but one dwelling south of San Luis creek. That was the old Dallidet adobe
in the midst of its vineyard. Mr. Dallidet was French and married a Spanish
lady. He took an active part in civic life during the early days.

P. W. Murphy

This gentleman has already been referred to as the owner of 70,000 acres
of land at or near Santa JNIargarita. He erected a fine home for those days,
and took an active part in the social and business life of the county. The
Atascadero Colony is on a part of his former holdings, and the Reis estate,
comprising 20,806 acres, once belonged to him. His brother James was
associated with him, owning the Atascadero ranch in the early eighties
and later.

Messrs. James and D. D. Blackburn

These men owned the Paso Robles rancho ; they came to California in
1849, and to tliis county in 1857, and with Lazarus Godchaux bought the
rancho of Petronillo Rios. It comprised six leagues of land, 25,993.18 acres,
including the now famous Paso Robles Hot Springs, and they paid $8,000
for it. In 1860, the firm divided and D. D. Blackburn took one league, upon
wlrich were the springs. In 1860. he sold a half interest to I\Ir. McCreel,
who resold it in 1865 to D. \V. James for $11,000; and in 1873, he sold a
one-fourth interest to James Blackburn. D. D. Blackburn was a member
of the Viligance Committee of 1858, and acted as sheriff for that body, the
regularly elected sheriff taking a back seat while the A'igilantes cleaned up
the county and drove out the notorious desperadoes, or hung them up on
trees or the old iron arch of the jail gate.

James Blackburn raised sheep and cattle, and invested in property in
San Luis Obispo. The old Cosmopolitan Hotel, which had for a beginning
a small adobe building put up for a saloon, was his property. He enlarged
it until it.became a fine hotel; Ned Morris was the manager most of the time.
The home of the Blackburns was, until 1872, a l)ig adobe house with iron-
barred doors and windows, that was built by the padres of San Miguel
Mission, for the mission lands extended to an indefinite line near the present
town of Santa ^largarita. This old adobe was used for store rooms and
laljorcrs' (juartcrs after the erection of the wooden structure that was the
ranch house when the rancho was divided in 1887 and sold to eager buyers;
for now the .Southern Pacific had reached Templeton. The old adobe stood
close tci tlie newer Imnie, which was surrounded by lawns and an orchard
that Ixirc delicious fruit, especially cherries. The tiles of the old adobe
were sold t(j help roof the depot at Burlingame, and only a few yards of crum-
bling wall now stand close beside the highway to mark the place where once
stood one of the landmarks for close to one hundred years. James Blackburn
never married, but Y). D. Blackljurn and D. W. James married sisters, Celia

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 77

and Louisa Dunn. The marriages were a douljle wedding on September L^,
1866, and occurred in San Luis Obispo, Rev. Father Sastre officiating.

For a few years after 1887, the Blackburn family continued to live on the
ranch, but Mrs. Blackburn and the children finally went to Paso Robles,
where a big modern house was built, which was their home for some years.
After the death of James Blackburn, there were many lawsuits brought by
some of the D. D. Blackburn children for portions of the estate, which had
been willed to Mrs. D. D. Blackburn and certain of the children. As usual,
the lawyers' fees ate up large portions, and this was a case where money
seemed to be a curse. The Blackburn home in Paso Robles was bought,
after Mrs. Blackburn went to the bay cities to reside, by Dr. J. H. Glass
and used as a sanitarium until he died there a few years ago. It is now the
property of Rollo Heaton and is occupied by himself and family as a resi-
dence. Tlie towns of Paso Robles and Templeton are built on the Blackburn
rancho.

D. W. James

This man's connection with the county history is so interwoven with
that of the Blackburns that little need be separately written. He built a
good home in Paso Robles in 1871, which still stands amid its trees close to
the Paso Robles Hotel grounds. The Blackburns were natives of Virginia,
but James was a Kentuckian. He served all through the war with Mexico,
and in 1849 crossed the plains, mining at Hangtown, Weber and other camps
until the spring of 1850, when he began buying cattle, steers, at twenty
dollars each in Santa Clara county, driving them to the mines at Hangtown
and selling them on the hoof at sixty cents per pound, or one dollar a pound
if he killed and retailed them. Talk about the "high cost of living" ! Later
he bought cattle as far south as Los Angeles, at one time driving fifteen
hundred head from there to the mines. In 1860, with John D. Thompson,
he bought 10,000 acres of government land on the La Panza and stocked
it with 2,500 head of cattle. His neighbors were Robert G. Flint at the
San Juan ranch, Briggs on the Comatti, and Slaven at French camp, a sort
of trappers' camp, some say, also a resort for cattle thieves, over on the
eastern border of the county. At the time of the great drought he had 5,000
head of cattle which he drove to Tulare and Buena Vista lakes, saving them
all. James stopped at Paso Robles springs on a cattle-buying trip in 1851,
and it was he who 'first made the place a resort. The James family were
prominent in the new town of Paso Robles, which came into existence along
with the toot of the railroad whistle in 1886-87. The Blackburn brothers,
D. W. James and all their "neighbors" of those very early days have gone
over the "Great Divide," but they lived up to the times and had the courage
of strong men. All were kind and > 'iien-hcarted.

John H. Hollister

The Hollister family has been ])r(iniiiienl in ranching interests in se\eral
counties of the state. Hollister in San I'.cnito cnunty is named for the family.
In 1866 John II. Ildllistcr, then ten years of age, came witli his parents to
this county, and in time went to rancliing on the large [)riipcrtv ciwned by his
father near Morro. A big adnlie still stands on the old llnllister ranch,
"Morro Castle." April 12, 1880, he married Miss Mcira .M. Stocking of

78 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

INIorro. In 187'', he was elected supervisor, being at the time only twenty-
three years old; but he is said to have been the man for the place just the
same. In 1882, he was elected to the assembly on the Republican ticket. He
was sent to the legislature to get measures passed protecting the dairymen
from competing with oleomargarine and other manufactured stufif being
placed on the market as butter. He succeeded in' having the anti-oleomargarine
law passed ; also laws to exterminate fruit pests and combat diseases of fruit
trees. He lived on El Chorro ranch, and owned a ranch south of town for
some years. Later, the family residence was in town. In 1906, Mr. Hollister
was elected assessor, and again in 1910. He died on November 7, 1913, a man
witli many friends. He was a member of the Masons, Knights of Pythias,
Elks and Woodmen. His funeral was one of the largest ever held in the
county. He is buried in the Odd Fellows cemetery of San Luis Obispo. His
son, W. M. Hollister, finished out his father's term as assessor and was ap-
pointed deputy assessor, which oftice the young man fills with the very best
results to the county.

Charles H. Johnson

Coming to this county first as deputy collector of customs in 1852, Mr.
Johnson came here to reside permanently in 1856, purchasing land on Stenner
creek just west of town on the Morro road. He had visited China, India,
the islands of the Pacific, and was on his way with a cargo of goods for the
Orient when, learning of the discovery of gold, he turned about and entered
the port of San Francisco. The goods were sold at a big profit and Mr.
Johnson went into the mercantile business. lie was a heavy loser in each
of three big fires that swept that town, one on May 4, 1850, another June 14,
1850, and the third May 3, 1851. No insurance was collected and Mr. Johnson
was financially "broke." He was appointed inspector of customs at Mon-
tere)' and later at Port San Luis. He retained that oftice until 1860. when
he gave it up to take his seat in the legislature as assemblyman. In 1859,
when the town government of San Luis Obispo was organized, Mr. Johnson
was elected president of the board of trustees, and up to the time of his.
death was prominent in all business and social life. He acquired valuable
property, but will go down in history as a man whose literary ability con-
tributed many valuable lectures, and articles for publication, on the history of
the county. From his w^ritings many interesting facts have been gleaned
for this volume. C. H. Johnson was a member of the Vigilance Committee
of 1858. He died on April 8, 1915.

Myron Angel

This man was a fluent speaker and writer, having lieen educated at
AA'est Point. With his brother, Eugene, he came to California in the forty-
nine rush, made and lost in the mines, and finally turned his talents to estab-
lishing newspapers, in which he was successful. He once said : "I mine
for a fortune, but w^rite for a living." He prepared many reports on mining
and wrote several histories. The only previous history of this county, pub-
lislied in 1883 by an Oakland firm, was prepared by ^lyron .\ngcl, and is a
fine book for the period it covers.

January 12, 1883, ]\lr. .\ngel purchased an interest in the San Luis
Obispo Tribune, writing m;iny fine articles for publication. He took much

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 79

interest in educational matters, and it was largely through his efforts that
the State Polytechnic School was established here. He spent two entire
winters in Washington presenting the claims of this county for an appro-
priation for a breakwater at Port Harford, and paid his own expenses for
the entire time, save for one hundred dollars which the citizens sent him
during the second winter. A little money now and then was useless, for
no firm would go to the expense of buying machinery to get out the rock
from Morro Rock, and boats to convey it to the breakwater, on such uncer-
tainties ; so Mr. Angel thought out the plan of getting a bill through Congress
for a "continuous appropriation," which meant a certain sum year after year,
so that a reliable firm could be secured to take the contract. Caminetti
and Perkins were in Congress then from California. Of course the thing
would have to be got through them. Caminetti applauded the idea and con-
sented to work for it, but he said Oakland harbor had to get aid first, and then
he would push it for our harbor ; so with that Mr. Angel had to be content.
Our harbor got the second "continuous appropriation" and the breakwater
was built. This year, however, Congress refused to make an appropriation
for the harbor, and why? Because, Congress says, it will no longer make
appropriations for a harbor that is of use only to a private corporation, the
Pacific Coast Railway. Mr. Angel's scrap-books containing articles from
his pen have been asked for by the state library and are now there. Mr.
Angel died in June, 1911, but his name will live on in the history of this
county and state.

Henry M. Osgood

A native of New York state, Henry M. Osgood was born September 21,
1828. At the age of eighteen he joined Stevenson's regiment of volunteers,
designed for service and settlement in California, arriving in the state during
the spring of 1847. After the war between the Californians and the Ameri-
cans, in which Fremont played such a prominent part, Henry M. Osgood
entered the service of the state as an express rider, or mail carrier, and
made trips through this section. In 1850, he settled in the county on the
Arroyo Grande, later moving to San Luis Obispo, where he kept a jewelry
store. He was elected assemblyman in 1857, was justice of the peace and
associate judge, held many other ofSces, and was a member of the Vigilance
Committee of 1858. He was a popular man and a member of the first tem-
perance societies established in the county. He died in December, 1882,
and the I. O. G. T. lodge passed resolutions of respect signed by C. H. Woods,
H. P. Flood and D. M. Meredith, which shows where these three gentlemen
stood on the "booze" question.

C. H. Phillips

A native of Ohio, born in ^Medina count}', July 5, 1837, C. II. Phillips
came to California and taught school in Napa county. He studied law, was
deputy county clerk of Napa county, and chief deputy collector of internal
revenue of the fifth district for five years. Later, he was chief deputy for
the second district, and when that was consolidated with the first, he remained
chief, handling about $5,000,000 annually, without bonds. In 1871 he came
to this county and, with PI. M. Warden, E. W. Steele, George Steele. P. W.
Murphy, J. P. Andrews, Hugh Isom, D. W. James, M. Gilbert, John Harford,

80 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

W. L. Beebee, James H. Goodman and I. G. Wickersham, organized the
Bank of San Luis Obispo — the first bank in the county. H. AI. Warden was
president and Mr. Phillips cashier. In August, 1875, came the great panic,
and the Bank of California, the financial dictator of the coast, failed. The
news was telegraphed to Mr. Phillips, but he posted a notice that his bank
would meet all obligations, met the anxious callers with perfect calm, and
so saved a run on the bank which would have spelled ruin. The Phillips
residence was in the northern part of the town, set in large grounds. On
the evening of April 1, 1878, Mr. Phillips answered a ring at the door. A
suspicious character asked him to come outside. Mr. Phillips started to
close the door, when the villain struck at his breast with a long knife. After
a struggle he released himself and managed to slam the door shut. One of
his little girls followed him into the hall and witnessed the affair. A bright
light was burning in the hall, and Mr. Phillips and his daughter were able
to describe two of the gang who were just outside the door. Four were
arrested and convicted of robbery, as that was their business — two Mexicans,
one Swiss and a Frenchman. In 1878, Mr. Phillips retired from the bank
and entered the real estate business with P. H. Dallidet, Jr. In 1878 he
purchased the Morro y Cayucos rancho of 8,100 acres, laid out the town of
Cayucos and sold off the tract in smaller ranches. In 1882, he sold a large
amount of land for the Steele brothers. In September of that year he bought
the Corbett tract of 1,900 acres for $8,000, and in ninety days sold it for
$16,000. Later he sold the San Miguelito rancho ; and when the Southern
Pacific Railroad entered the county in 1886, the West Coast Land Company
was organized, with C. H. Phillips as manager. He sold the Paso Robles
rancho, laid out the town of Templeton, and built a fine home there, where
his family ?ind he resided for several years. Later he sold the Chino ranch
in the southern part of the state, and one of the Murphy ranches in Santa
Clara county, laying out the towns of ^Morgan Hill and San Martin. In
this county he also sold a tract of land about Shandon, but the town never
got very far on the way to a big city. Air. Phillips finally went to San Jose
to li^-e, after years of great successes and many failures. He made and lost
money, but died just comfortably well off. No man ever had more to do
Avith real estate transactions and general interests here than C. H. Phillips
wiiile he lived in this county.

J. J. Simmler

A native of France, born July 18, 1826, J. J. Sinimler learned the painter's
trade, and to perfect his business, traveled much in France, Germany, Swit-
zerland and other countries, learning the craft as it was practiced in other
places. His father was a pupil of the great school teacher and reformer,
Pcstalozzi, and passed on to his son many of the views he received from
the master teacher. In February, 1847, he started out for the New World
and landed in Texas. In May, 1852, he started for the gold fields of Cali-
fornia, crossing the plains of Mexico and taking passage on a sailing vessel
for San Francisco. A period of calms held the ship at sea, and rations
giving out, seven of the passengers died of starvation. At last, after two
months, the ship made the Port of San Luis, and Mr. Simmler concluded
to go no farther. He worked at his trade, was in charge of the St. Charles
Hotel of San Luis Obispo for two years, was a member of the Pollard &

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 81

Simmler firm, and in 1872 was appointed postmaster of San Luis 01)ispo,
holding the office until 1890. There is a postoffice named for him over in
the eastern section of the county, so named because he took great interest
in getting it established. Mr. Simmler died in February, 1906, and is buried
in San Luis Obispo.

J. W. Slack

The life story of J. W. Slack reads like one of Stevenson's tales, and
confirms tlie statement, "Truth is stranger than fiction." ]Mr. Slack has the
Iniild of a hero — tall, of commanding presence, fine-looking and with an eye
that compels one to look straight at him. Kentucky never sent a braver son
to California than when, in 1854, young Slack, then in his twenty-first year,
said good-bye and started for El Dorado, the land of gold. He crossed the
plains and reached Hangtown in October, 1854. He went to mining in
Diamond Spring, struck it rich, and for a while took out from $2,000 to
$4,000 a day. He mined about two months, and wdien he had cleaned up
$200,000, he resolved to go back home. He sailed from San Francisco on
the "Yankee Blade." This vessel carried an immense amount of gold and
was bound for Panama. When ofif the coast of Point Concepcion tlie vessel
was run ashore by the officers and wrecked on the rocks close to the shore.
No doubt of this remains. The captain and first mate were seen in a boat
together when boats were lowered for all hands to go ashore, but they
never came ashore, at least not where the rest did.

Much money was spent by tlie government to raise the treasure chest,
but when it came up and was opened, no treasure was there. Slack's gold
went with the rest, and all believed it went with the missing officers, wdio
kept themselves well lost for years ; but Mr. Slack says he heard of one of
them being seen in New York, very opulent, many years later. Young Slack
"went wild" when he realized what had been done to him and the rest, and
was almost a madman, flourishing his revolver and vowing vengeance on
the scurvy officers.

The day after the wreck another vessel called and took the passengers
to Panama. Slack went from Panama back to the mines, but his big luck
was gone, and he only made a modest sum at mining in his second venture.
The second attempt was at a place known as Burns's Barley Field. Here
his partner was William Morrell, a shoemaker from New Hampshire.

In 1858, Mr. Slack married Miss Ellen Kamp at San Jose. He bought
cattle and came to this county. His range was in what is now known as
Slack's canon, northeast of San Miguel. Mrs. Slack's father and a brother
were here in the county, and in 1862 J. W. Slack sold out his cattle and
came to the town of San Luis Oljispo, then ;i little collection of adobe huts
clustered about the Mission.

The San Miguel Mission Indians had evidently planted an orchard years
before near Slack's canon, for sojne old ])ear trees stotxl near by. Othar
Kamp, a brother-in-law, set out an orchard on his ranch near town, and
remnants of the old orchard still stood a few years ago. All about San Luis
Obispo was government land, but unsurveyed. Mr. Slack settled on two
hundred acres just north of town, lying in between where the Polytechnic
School lands and George Andrews' home on Monterey street now are. Even-
tually, :\Ir. Slack sold "the land to C. H. Phillips, and' part or all of it became

82 SAN LUIS OBISrO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Slack's addition to San Luis Obispo. ^Ir. Slack plowed and sowed wheat,
and as loose st(jck roamed all over the country, he found it necessary to drive
off cattle and threaten to shoot them if they were not kept oft'. He was
an offense to most of the inhabitants. His wife was, like himself, an Ameri-
can. The Spanish, more properly the Mexicans, wanted this county for a
cattle country and resented the wheat-raising and the call for fencing ; so,
after sc\eral vain attempts to torment Slack into leaving, they set a price
of $2.^0 on his life. "Any 'Mcx' who could get me was to get $250,'' said the
old gentleman when talking to the writer.

In those days gambling was as legitimate a Inisiness as raising cattle
or Avheat. Alexander ]Murray had a gambling house in town, and he struck
a bargain with the "big American," who was afraid of nothing on earth
and could play "bagatelle" as well as he could do other things — shoot, if it
came to a show-down, and never miss. So ]\Iurray agreed to pay Slack $20
a night. He was to play for the house: if he won a big stake, he only got
$20 : if he lost, he got $20. "

The Mexicans had tried \-arious schemes to obtain that reward of $250,
but so far had failed. Early one morning Slack was going home from
Murray's "place.'' He says: "Something told me not to follow the trail at
the foot of the hill. I called myself a coward and tried to go on, but I
couldn't, so I took oft" my shoes and went around up above the trail and got
behind a big rock. Looking over, I saw three Mexicans laj'ing for me, one
abo\-e the trail lying behind a rock, and two down below behind rocks. I
coxered them with my gun, then picked up little stones and began pelting
them. They sprang up, and when they saw me (I was higher than the rock
I stood l)ehind), they saw my gun, too, and they just tumbled down the
hill. I knew them" — he gave the names here — "and that afternoon I got

on my horse and rode to where I knew I would meet . He was on his

horse, too. I said to him: "You meant to get me this morning; now one
of us has got to be shot. I won't shoot you on your horse. Get off, and
draw Aiiur gun.' He slid off his horse and held up his hands, gun and all.
I told him to measure the ground and take his place, for we were going to
shoot. At last he fell on his knees, fairly groveled, and said he'd leave the
countr}'. I told him if he were here the next day I would shoot him, and
I never saw him again. I corralled the other two and told them what I

had told , and they agreed to go to Sonora, and did. At any rate, they

left, and that ended the shooting business." This is just what another old-
timer told me about Mr. Slack. In concluding, he said: "Slack was a
powerful man, and not afraid of the devil himself."

The next job was to accuse Slack of having shot a man named Sinoles
up at San jose IMission. The Mexicans got word sent to the sheriff'. Moss,
that here at San Luis Obispo lived John Wilson, alias Slack, the man who
shot Sinoles. John \^^ilson took up government land that Sinoles claimed
as his, but h;i(l no atom of title to. He harried Wilson in many ways, at
last came to his cabin, tore off the door and with his reata dragged it off'.
He came back, shot at Wilson, and then attempted to throw his reata over
him — the old game, "dragged to death" at the end of a reata, while the
fellow in the saddle sinirred his horse over rocks and brush. Sinoles missed
in his intention, but wounded Wilson in the arm. Wilson went to a friend
aiifl got the wound dressed; then went on and met Sinoles coming from

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 83

his house on horseback. He shot Sinoles and disappeared. AIoss, the Ala-
meda sheriff, came down to arrest Wilson, alias Slack, and lined up the
sheriff of this county, de la Guerra, to go with him. Mr. Slack was goinj^
into town on horseback carrying some plowshares to be sharpened. Just
about where the old "Pavilion" now stands in San Luis Obispo, Slack came
face to face with the posse. Moss, the Alameda county sheriff, stepped out
and said to Slack, "You are my prisoner." Slack demanded an explanation,
and the local officials urged him "not to make a fuss." A "fuss" with
Slack was no funny thing — especially when the "fuss" had no foundation.

Slack at last agreed to talk things over, but refused to have "irons" put
on him, and suggested that the Alameda man go with him to the jail and
there tell him what he was arrested for. To cut the story short. Slack agreed
to go to Oakland for trial. Othar Kamp warned the outfit that if they tried
to take Slack away in "irons," handcuft'ed, he -would shoot them, ^\'hen the
time came to go, they did put on the "irons." Slack said he wanted them
to do all they could, for he knew his day was coming. True to his word,
Kamp was on hand and ready to shoot, but his friends overpowered him
and took his gun until the stage got oft". With Mr. Slack went Mr. Kamp,
his father-in-law. The Cuesta grade was wet and slippery and all hands
were ordered to get out and help push the stage uphill. Slack and Kamp
refused to get out. Mr. Slack said to the officers: "You are taking me to
Oakland on a false charge, and you know it; I'm going, but I ride," and ride
he did, as well as did Kamp, while the officials pushed.

At Gilroy a number of Slack's friends from in and about Slack's caiion
had gathered, were armed and let him understand that they were there to
take him from the officers if he would go, but ?vlr. Slack said he had no
desire to go. He wanted to be entirely cleared of the Sinoles affair. The
handcuffs were taken off while he ate dinner, and he refused to have them
put on again. He told Moss not to interfere with him, for he would take
no more indignities from him. In San Francisco, Moss refused to let Mr.
Slack get a witness he wanted, William Morrell, wdio had mined with him.
Twenty-one "greasers" were introduced as witnesses by Moss, and each
swore that Slack was John Wilson. In the jail, when Moss brought one in
to identify Slack as Wilson, he overheard Moss tell him in Spanish that he
had got to swear that this man was Wilson. "But Wilson had lost a front
tooth, and this man has all his teeth," said the greaser. Slack later told
Moss that he thought it only fair to tell him that he both understood and
spoke Spanish. Moss slunk off'; but $4,000 reward was offered for Wilson,
and lie though he must have known it to be, he went on trying to turn Slack
into Wilson. For three weeks the farce went on. Men of the best-known
probity came voluntarily from San Jose, also in time came Morrell, and
testified that Slack was Slack, and no one else. Also, it turned out that
Mr. Slack was in St. Louis, just ready to start across the plains, thirteen
years before, when Sinoles was killed. .\t last the judge addressed the
court, saying: "This thing shall go uo farther. That man is not Wilson,
and you all know it. I declare him a free man." Mr. Slack came back to
San Luis Obispo, and thereafter was unmolested.

Mis wife, Ellen Kamp Slack, died of pneumonia and her death is reported
in the first issue of the Tribune, .August 7, 1869. There were five little
children to be taken care of, and Mr. .Slack went with tlioin to their mother's

84 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

people in San Jose. Later lie returned and went on ranching. Some time
after this false arrest, the real John Wilson saw an account of the matter
in a paper and wrote to Mr. Slack from Arizona, saying he was married,
had children, and shot Sinoles in self-defense, but left, for he knew that
among the greasers at San Jose Mission he stood no chance for fair play.
Mr. Slack sent the letter on to Moss.

On his ranch at San Luis Obispo he continued to farm. He says he
always managed, during the awful drought, to keep salt on hand to use in
seasoning the beans. Many others did without salt, and almost everything
else. During the dry years, when no cultivated crops can be grown, the
oak trees bear great crops of acorns, and many bushes yield abundance of
berries. The bears were rolling fat during 1862-63-64, when cattle died of
starvation ; and men hunted the bears for meat. When it became possible
to raise wheat again, many sowed it, and it was threshed out by flails or
trampled out by bands of horses, and then tossed in the air to be winnowed.
It was ground, or pounded in a mortar ; or one stone was made to fit into an-
other slightly hollowed, and was turned by hand to crush the wheat. Later
the first mills were built. The Mexicans used a forked stick to scratch the
ground, but the Americans, as soon as possible, introduced plows. The first
reaper in the county was brought in by Mr. Slack, and he also ran the first
threshing machine around San Luis Obispo.

In 1875, Mr. Slack was farming near Morro bay, and from the Tribune
we copy this item, dated October 11, 1875 : "J. W. Slack brought in a cabbage
the other day grown at the head of Morro bay and tried to put it on our
office table. It measured three feet nine inches in circumference, ten inches
from top to stem, and weighed twenty-nine and one-half pounds. It was
solid and fine, although of great size." There were no bridges in those
davs, and Augustus Slack tells of going with his father and the family to
attend a celebration held on Old creek, the Fourth of July celebration referred
to in writing of Cambria, and of how his father had to take one of the horses
and go across the mouth of the creek first on horseback to see if it would
be possible to drive the wagon over, then come back and drive over. All
went well until they tried driving up the canon to the picnic grounds. On
the slanting grade the wagon upset and "Gus" went into the creek. He was
just a little boy, his picnic clothes were sadly mussed, and the first part of
his celebration was being set behind a bush while his clothes were dried out;
but the rest of it was exciting, all that a Fourth of July should be, and it occu-
pied at least three days' — one to go, one to celebrate and one to get back home.

Mr. Slack not only farmed, btit worked in the Tribune office binding
hooks, and his son, Augustus, worked there for years setting type and gather-
ing up information which later' he worked up into interesting stories for
publication. Some very good poems also came from his pen.

In 1882, Mr. Slack married Miss Mary J. Dunning, and by this marriage
there were three children, two daughters and one son. This son. David,
was killed in an automobile accident near Stockton in July, 1911, when
eighteen years of age. The other children are all living and are : Mrs.
Maggie Oaks of Los Angeles, Mrs. Carrie Priest of Alameda, Mrs. Annie
Pool of Arroyo Grande, Benjamin of San Jose, Augustus of San Ltiis Obispo,
Mrs. Venona Englander of the Huer-Huero, and Miss Arley Slack, who
resides with her parents on their pleasant ranch five miles south of Creston.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 85

Mr. Slack was eighty-three on June 12, 1016. He is a hale, handsome old
gentleman, drives his own team to San Luis Obispo or anywhere else he
wishes to go, steps off as spry as his son, carries himself as straight and tall
as ever. His splendid, big, dark eyes shadow forth a soul clean and brave.
In looking at ^Ir. Slack, one is bound to apply to him Kipling's words, "A
gentleman unafraid."

Major William Jackson and Mrs. Mary Jackson

Among the men and women who pioneered San Luis Obispo and arc
well worth a place in its history, are Major William Jackson and his wife,
Airs. Mary Francis Jackson. Major Jackson, of the Third ]\Iissouri Cavalry
Volunteers, was born in Tennessee, June 5, 1828. He enlisted on the first
call to arms for the Civil War and served two years. At the expiration
of two years, broken health compelled him to retire from the service. In
the fall of 1863 he married Mary Francis in Missouri, and in the spring of
1864, they left from White Cloud, Kansas, just across the Missouri line, l^y
wagon train, crossing the plains to California.

Mrs. Jackson was even then a remarkable woman, and dro\'e a mule
team the entire distance. The journey lasted four months, and in September
the party reached Sebastopol, Sonoma county. With the party were George
and \\'illiam Downing. Robert Coon, who had crossed the plains three
times already, acted as guide, else the time would have been longer; but he
knew just where the water holes and pastures were, and what Indians to
avoid, and how; so the train made a quick, safe trip.

Mrs. Jackson's father and three brothers had started across the plains
for California in 1849, but the father and two brothers had died of cholera
and were buried somewhere on the road. This much Mrs. Jackson and her
mother knew, also that one brother had reached California. The party
camped on a flat below Fort Laramie, and were told several men were buried
there who had died while crossing. Arrived in California, Mrs. Jackson
found her brother, and from him learned that her own father and two brothers
were buried there on Laramie flat, where she had camped. All the way,
she says, she wondered where they lay, and yet camped beside their graves
without knowing it.

Before telling the rest of iier story, this incident should l)e given : It
is known to all students of the history of our Civil War that Missouri was
the scene of a terrible struggle between the LTnion and Confederate forces,
each trying to save the state for its own side.

At Springfield, where Marj^ Francis was then a schoolgirl, the Union
men were trying to keep "Old Glor}^" floating until General Sigcl and his
ten thousand men, many of them Germans, should arrive. Several times the
Confederate men tore down the flag and tramped it under foot. At last they
shot the Union men who tried to guard it at night. Sigel was coming.
Should the Stars and Stripes greet him or not? One day, the day before he
was expected, the principal of the school said, "Will any one here volunteer to
guard the flag tonight?" Mary Francis arose and said, "I will." Girl after
girl arose until twelve girls had said, "I will."

At home she told what she was going to do, and a brother. t!ie last one
remaining, said, "If you do that, I will enlist in the Confederate army to-

86 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

morrow morning." The twelve girls went to the public square and the flag
was run up. There they stayed all night dancing, singing, but always circling
the flag pole. About ten the next morning a glad shout went up from the
Union men and women, who, at dawn, began to collect about the brave girls
that had guarded the flag all night and whom no man had molested ; for listen,
faint and far away, sounds of fife and drum ; and then as on a sea of glass,
the sun flashed on ten thousand glistening bayonets. In a little while Gen-
eral Sigel and his men swept around the square. The bands surrounded the
girls and serenaded them and the flag, while General Sigel shook hands with
each and thanked them for this service to their country.

True to his word, the brother enlisted in the Southern Army, and
^Irs. [acksoii recalls how her mother stood at the gate one evening while
General Lyon, on his fine dappled gray charger, rode past on his evening
ride. She questioned him, saying, "Do you think there will be a battle?"
"Yes, Madam, there will be a battle, probably tomorrow." At break of day,
the roll of artillery began. Five miles away a son and brother were fighting
against the flag that the sister had guarded : but so it was all through those
awful years — son against father, brother against brother, on the battlefield,
while the women wept, worked and prayed at home with no drums, no fifes,
no yelling hordes, to cheer them on ; and so it will ever be while the hell
of war is allowed by so-called civilized nations.

In the fall of 1863, Mary Francis married her soldier lover and, as stated,
started for California the next spring. The husband and wife had brought
little cash with them, but great store of pluck and energy. ■Mrs. Jackson
says she grew tired of living without butter and milk, so urged ]\Iajor Jack-
son to offer her fine gold watch and chain to a man who owned some good-
looking cows, for one of them. At first the Alajor demurred, but she finally
had her way, and in exchange for watch and chain, the man gave her two
of his best cows. Each cow had a heifer calf; and when, in 1867, the family
decided to remove to Santa Barbara county, those cows and young heifers
came along, following the wagon in which the family rode. It took two
weeks for the trip, but it was spring and feed was fine, so cows and folks
arri\-ed in good condition. Mrs. Jackson says as long as they ranched, the
cows were always hers, as she started the herd with her gold watch and chain.
When they went to Lompoc valley, some years later, sixty head of fine cattle
followed the wagons. With the Jacksons came the Downing boys, also.
Mrs. Jackson says San Luis Obispo was just a little huddle of adobe huts.
One luirrow dirty street ran past the Mission, and it was littered with old
cast-iTf clothing, hats, shirts, etc.

The ])arty had started for Santa Barbara county and passed through the
town, camping across San Luis creek at the end of what is now Dana street,
or rather across the creek from the end of it. The men in the party went
back up town to see the sights. W^alter Murray, who without doubt was the
most inlluential and gifted man of those days in San Luis Obispo, got into
con\-ersatii>n with them. He urged them to stay there and not go on, saying,
"All about town liere is rich government land. Stay here and I will locate
you on some." After two days of talk and seeing the country, Major Jackson
decided to stay, and Walter Murray located him on 160 acres where a big old
adobe house stood, that h.-id been owned 1)V the Mission. Later he bought

SAN LUIS OmSPO COUNTY AND ENVIROxN'S 87

forty acres more. This land he sohl in 1875, to J. 11. Orcutt. and it was
known for forty years as Laurel Ranch, or the J. H. Orcutt ranch.

In the old adobe, Mrs. Jackson set up housekeeping. Its crumbling-
walls still stand. All the great eucalyptus trees now on that ranch were set
out by Mr. Orcutt, but in 1867 no tree obstructed the view down the valley;
Mrs. Jackson says she stood at her kitchen door every morning and looked
down the valley to an old adobe, once Mission property, on land now owned
by Peter McMillan, and remembered the story told her of some ]\Iexicans
who rode up to the cabin door of a family asking for a drink of water.
The husband was away ; when the woman turned to go into the house, the
Mexicans followed and attacked her, and she died as a result of her injuries.
Mrs. Jackson says she shuddered as she looked, and wondered about her
own future. Major Jackson started selling milk, using at first one horse
and a light wagon. Later he put on a big wagon and a spirited team. One
day the hired driver got too much "hot stufl^" and his team ran away. Mrs.
Jackson says she saw them heading up the hill scattering milk cans as
they came.

On what is now the Goldtree place, adjoiningthe Orcutt ranch, a Spanish
family li\ed. A brother was sick and died. One night at midnight, one of
them came to Major Jackson's house and begged him to buy their two cows.
They said they wanted the money to pay for a mass for the rei)ose of their
brother's soul. The Major bought the cows. ]\frs. Jackson says the other
brothers carried the coffin on their shoulders to the Mission. The priest said
the mass, but would come no farther than the Mission door Avith them; hut
she and the Major went with the bmthers still carrying the coffin on their
shoulders to the cemetery. There was only one cemetery in those days.

Well, the Steeles had just started up their big dairy at Corral de Piedra,
and w^ere the nearest neighbors of the Jacksons on the south ; and the families
visited back and forth. Also Major Jackson bought a number of fine cows
from Steele Bros. Airs. Jackson showed the writer a little old album con-
taining pictures of Judge Walter Murray, a \-ery handsome man ; his brother,
Alexander Murray; Mr. and Mrs. Morris, who ran the old Cosmopolitan Hotel,
the "Casa Grande" of pioneer days; and other (|uaint old jjhotographs. ^'ears
after Mr. Orcutt bought the ranch, a Spaniard came and re(|uested permission
to dig in one corner of the old adobe house. It was refused, but that night
some one did "dig," and in the morning, in one corner of the deep adobe walls,
was a hole showing where a vessel, a kettle-shaped one, had been removed.
It had been embedded in the walls and plastered over. No doubt it con-
tained valuables. It might have been a kettle full of Spanish coins, jewels,
or treasures from the Mission, but it went as mysteriously as the Spaniard
came, and no doubt went with him. Our county is plastered thick with
romance that has never been written, and there are still hidden treasures to
be dug up.

In 1874, Major Jackson was one of a hundred men who bought sevent}'-
two thousand acres of land in Lonipoc \alley, the Downing boys being mem-
bers of the company, ilither the .Major and his family removed; and here
they lived for about twenty-eight years. In l'X)2 .Major and Mrs. Jackson
removed to Orange.

Major Jackson was an officer and charter member of King David's
Lodge of San Luis Obispo, which was instituted in Xo\ember, 1870. .Mrs.

88 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Jackson was a charter member of the Mothers' and Daughters' Degree of
Masonry, which later hccanie the Eastern Star of San Luis Obispo. Irvin
McGuire installed the members.

Major Jackson died, June 12, 1912, and is buried at Orange. I\Irs.
Jackson, a very bright, interesting woman, active in social and benevo-
lent duties, still resides in Orange. The children are : Judge Grant Jackson
of Los Angeles ; Mrs. Hattie M. Ross of Santa Barbara ; ]\Irs. Louisa Meyers,
deceased ; Mrs. Julia Stafford of Santa Barbara ; Fred Jackson, a conductor
on the Southern Pacific, who lives at Santa Barbara ; Robert and Adeline,
twins ; and Logan, the youngest son, who resides in Orange. Adeline died
at the age of thirteen. Robert lives in Pomona.

CHAPTER IX
Products of the Soil, Dairying, Grazing and the Great Landholdings

Wheat and Barley

AVhile a few of the tlujusands who dug for gold won and kept fortunes,
many who "lost out," and some who did not, saw in the great level floors
of the valleys certain gold mines if sown to wheat. The Sacramento valley
and the smaller valleys about San Francisco bay had produced bountiful
crops, when in 1865, after the loss of the cattle, the men of this county had
to seek other means of income than grazing. Surely some tales of the great
crops of wheat harvested by the padres must have reached them. The means
of transportation were so poor that they no doubt were a drawback even after
these men began to think of cultivating the land. From 1850 to 1860 steamers
anchored out from San Simeon and Port San Luis twice a month ; but the
means for loading grain were so poor, much loss and expense would have been
incurred had there been wheat to ship. After the Vigilantes had cleaned out
the criminals and the drought had ruined many of the cattlemen, the people
turned to agriculture, especially when, about 1867, Americans began coming
in to settle on the government land. In 1868, Mr. Rome G. Vicars issued the
first newspaper published in the county, the Pioneer. In it he published
many articles advocating wheat-raising and urging the people to take advan-
tage of the splendid opportunity the country offered. They must have lis-
tened, for five years later the assessor's crop reports state that 5,000 acres
had been sown to wheat and 100,000 bushels harvested; 30,000 acres were
sown to barley and produced 750.000 bushels. In 1876 the report is: wheat
120.000 bushels, barley 1,500,000 bushels. In 1879 there were 7,000 acres in
wheat and 40,000 acres in barley. For 1881-82 the report is 36,384 acres in
wheat, 8,454 acres in barley and 2,932 acres in oats. This is interesting, for
wheat is on the increase and barley decreasing. By this time the Estrella
had been settled and found to be a fine wheat-growing country; also wheat
was being raised in some other sections of the countw as at Pozo, then called
San jose valley.

In 1886 the whistles of the Southern Pacific gladdened the waiting people
of the coimtry as far south as Templeton. This meant better means of ship-
ment as well as many other things. The Paso Roblcs ranch was subdivided

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 89

and sold off in farming tracts by the West Coast Land Co. Over about
Shandon, government land was rapidly taken up. Four brothers, D. C,
James, Peter, and Alec ]\IcJ\Iillan, all took up land in what is now known
as McMillan canon. They have all grown well-off raising wheat, even
though it must still be hauled over twenty miles to a market. Others haul
as far as forty miles to the same warehouses, yet they make money, especially
in "good years." In McMillan canon, this year of 1916, there has been a fine
crop of wheat, although in most other sections it has been light or a total
failure.

We have already mentioned that in 1873, 5,000 acres produced 100,000
bushels of wheat. From the State Board of Agriculture report for 1915, we
learn that this county seeded 33,608 acres to wheat and harvested 428,636
bushels. By these figures the 1873 crop averaged twenty bushels to the
acre, while the 1915 crop was not quite an average of fourteen bushels to
the acre. The season of 1882-83 yielded a bumper crop in some sections.
From an old crop report we learn that Frank McCoppin, on a farm of four
hundred acres near San Luis Obispo, raised 20,000 bushels, or fifty bushels
per acre. C. Fairbanks, near Morro, raised 1,000 centals from forty acres.
Judge Steele of the Corral de Piedra reported an average of forty bushels to
the acre. For the last thirty years the writer has resided in the county and
knows that the wdieat crops have varied greatly. The yield depends so much
upon the season, upon summer-fallowing, and good or bad preparation of
the land and seed. Barley has decreased in acreage but the yield is the same.
Almost invariably the quality is unsurpassed.

Cultivation of the Wheat

The first plowing in the county was with a sort of forked stick with,
in some cases, a piece of iron fastened on one side, a sort of rude plowshare.
A branch drawn by oxen harrowed in the wdieat scattered by hand. The first
real plows used, and they were very crude, WilUam Dana had made in his
blacksmith shop on his Nipomo rancho. The great "caterpillars," steam
plows, and wonderful modern ranch machinery now in use in the county
show we have progressed with the best.

From a hand flail or trampling out the grain with horses, to an up-to-date
combined harvester, is the story of the progress in threshing. After the
wharves were built, steamers carried away the surplus wdieat and barley,
which is now shipped mostly by rail to the various sca])orts and warehouses.
England and other European countries, with China and India, are California
markets.

Mills

The "molino," a rude contrivance with a wheel at one end and a mill-
stone at the other run by either water or horse power, was the first mill
used in the county. • In 1854-55, seed wheat was brought down from San
Francisco and "smut" was introduced; proper care in preparing the seed
does away with "smut" in most instances.

In 1854, Branch built a grist-mill on the Arroyo Grande, run by water
power, and ground wheat for the ranchers of that end of the county. Judge
Bonilla had built a mill on San Luis creek, grinding grist from El Chorro,
Potrero de San Luis Obispo, :Murni, Cayucos, Santa Rosa, San C.eronimo.

90 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Santa Margarita, and Piedra Blanca ranches. Grists were also brought
to Bonilla's mill from Paso Robles and the Estrella.

In 1868, Messrs. Pollard, Childs and Sauer built the El Chorro mill.
The building was 50x25 feet on the ground, four stories high. The machin-
er}', consisting of three run of stone with all the latest improvements, was
run l)y a water wheel forty feet in diameter. The water df El Chorro (the
waterfall) was capable of driving one stone the entire year, and all three
part of the time. With one set of stones running, four hundred and eighty
bushels could be ground each twenty-four hours.

In 1872, William Leffingwell, at a cost of $8,000, built a mill at Cambria.
This was a steam grist-mill having two run of stone, and capable of making
twenty-ti\-e barrels of flour per day. lM"om the assessor's report of 1874, we
learn that Branch's mill produced thirty barrels per day; the Chorro, then
owned by Pollard & James, fifty barrels per day; and the Cuesta or Bonilla's
mdl, then owned by S. Sumner, twent\f-five barrels per day. Later still the
Eagle mill was erected in San Luis Obispo by S. A. Pollard and D. \Y. James.
This was a powerful steam mill, making flour and crushing barley. After the
Southern Pacific Railroad came, the Sperry ^filling (_"o. built a fine grist-mill
at Paso Robles. In the early nineties the "Ivirmers' Alliance" put up a mill
at San Miguel and turned out fine flour. This mill later became the property
of the Sperrv Milling Co. At San Luis < )l)ispo the Sperry I'dour Co. handles
a big business.

Irrigation

Afuch ot the future prosperity of the countv is going to depend upon
what use is made of the water in the streams and in the underground reser-
voirs. Always it is too much or too little rain that causes the hard years,
or it comes at the wrong time. When we conserve the millions of gallons
now running into the sea or rampaging out of their usual confines and wash-
ing away acres and acres of valuable soil, as on Old creek or Arroyo Grande
creek; when \vells are sunk, as on the Henry ranch, now the Atascadero
ccdony — ;ind wonderful wells, even artesian, have been suid-: in the Shandon
secti(jn — w hen, in a word, we control the water instead of letting it control us,
with irrigation we can choose our crops and arrange the "season" to suit
our needs. \\'herever irrigation in any degree has l:)een used in the county,
prosperity, in a like degree, has come to the landholder. \\'e will cite one
instance. Xo better' man ever lived and worked hard in Templeton than
"Charlie" .Steinbeck. He was, for many years, agent for the S. P. Milling
Co. there. He bought a tract of land just across the Salinas from town, a
nice le\el i)iece of alluvial land one would call it, set out a pear orchard, and
year in and year out spent his salary in caring for it. One year the trees were
l(.)aded with fruit — one year mind you, not every year — and Charlie hired all
the help he could get, picked, packed and shipped his big pear crop East. He
!)aid his help, paid for liis bo.xes and for loading the car, out of his salary, and
waited for the return from his car load o! pears. It came — a bill for freight.
They sold or took the pears and asked for more to defray freight charges.
Alter years of this sort of tiling Mr. Steinbeck passed over his land to the
man who held the mortgage, and left for Hollister, where he is now, a suc-
cessful business man; but as the children say, "listen here." That land
which was always a bill of expense to C. M. Steinbeck is now a little gold

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EX\'IROXS 91

mine. The present owner just pumped some water up out of the Salinas
and ran it out on the alfalfa that coN'ers those acres. It feeds sleek dairy
cows and waddling porkers, and you couldn't buy that land today, for it is
not for sale.

In the dry year of 1898-99, the cattle on the P. W. Murphy ranch died
\tv hundreds, for no way had been provided to feed the cattle if Nature lay
duwn (in her job, as she quite often does all over California, as well as else-
where. When Mr. Henry bought the ranch he put down wells, irrigated plots
here and there, built great barns, stored them full of hay, and the "dry years"
were robbed of their terror and destruction so far as that ranch was con-
cerned. A book might be filled with these stories. Irrigation is coming into
the county fast, and it brings peace of mind as well as a comfortable living.
Fields of fragrant blue-blossomed, emerald-green alfalfa gladden the eyes
of those who roll along in their automobiles over the great state highway
that now runs clear through our county. Several years ago bleaching cattle
bones lay beside the same roadway as it crossed the old .Mur])hy ranch, for
then we waited for Nature to do the "job" we are learning it is wise and
profitable to do for ourselves — irrigate.

Vegetables

Vegetables will grow anywhere in the county if soil is properly prepared
and water supplied. The Arroyo Grande valley has long been famous for
its fine vegetables, berries and mammoth pumpkins. Splendid gardens are
cultivated b}' Japanese and Chinamen on plots around San Luis Obispo and
along the Salinas river.

Beans

The "bean land" of the county is very valuable and lies mostly south
of San Luis Obispo, in patches along the coast and the creeks ilowing into
the sea. More and more land is being annually planted. Usually the returns
are good, sometimes very profitable. The report of the State P.oard of Agri-
culture for 1915 gives 11,169 acres planted to beans in this county, which
i>roduced 207,674 bushels of dry beans. The crop of 1882, according to
the assessor's report, was 123,570 bushels from 6,530 acres. If these statistics
be true, the average per acre was twenty Inislicls in 1882, and eighteen and
one-half bushels in 1915. Threshing then was with flails or trampling out
by horses. Now there are bean threshers, cutters and all sorts of modern
machinery for working the crop. Large acreages were planted in the year
1916, but the season was rather late for planting, or some thought so, and
the beans were mostly still in the field when the rain began failing on
September 28, and continued, with but little let-up, to October 10. The
official report from the town of San Luis Obis])o is 4.16 inches, and the
fall was heavier south. The great bean crop was badly damaged. Some
means of housing the beans after the_\- are ]Hilled would have saved thou-
sands of dollars. Sheds with tiers of racks might solve the problem. One
man. a Portuguese, was heard telling that he had 1,800 sacks of beans in the
warehouse and was "going to quit and go to Europe." I'uyers offered 7.7
cents per pound in the sack, and as high as lO'/i to 11 cents. The great
European war is given as the cause of the high ])rice of l)eans as of every-
thing else.

(Dec. 28, 1916. — In spite of heavy rain and added e.\])ense the beans turned

92 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

out much Ix'ttcr tlian was thought possible when the heavy September rain
l)esan and continued on into October. Ten cents per pound meant big
returns.)

Orchards

The settlers who came into the country during the late sixties and early
seventies set out orchards and found that almost all deciduous fruits and
berries did well in certain localities. Apples^ peaches, plums and apricots
did well in the little canons or valleys opening to the sea. Over about
Pozo peaches and plums throve, and in some places pears were excellent.
On the old Blackburn ranch just south of Templeton was a fine orchard.
The finest cherries grew on great trees near the house. Mrs. Blackburn was
verA' kind and gracious to her new Templeton neighbors, who were often
invited to come down and pick cherries. Such delicious fruit as those trees
yielded willing pickers, and how good they were in winter, canned ! A for-
tune in cherries awaits some one who will buy that old orchard tract and
set it to cherries. Old "Uncle Misenheimer" used to bring in wagon loads
of fruit raised on his hill ranch out in Summit district, and peddle it in Tem-
pleton ; so when the real estate agents advised us to buy land and set out
orchards we all took the bait and bought. A¥e had not then learned that
the difference in soil and climate, between a little bench on a hillside of
some valley in the mountains or hills, on the one hand, and the open
Salinas valley on the other, meant all the difference between failure and
success. Hundreds and hundreds of acres about Templeton and Paso
Robles were set out to prunes, apples, olives, pears, peaches and plums.
Thousands of dollars were spent caring for the orchards, but not one of the
many who set out the orchards ever got back his investment. At Templeton,
William Horstman, Hans Petersen, Mr. Aiken, H. W'essel, C. I\I. Steinbeck,
King, Putnam, and scores of others, set out orchards ; and in the end, after
years of trial, the orchards were left to die or were dug out. This is the truth,
for the writer came there in 1887, got "stung" with the rest, and in the fall
of 1898 did newspaper work to earn money to pay for pulling out and burn-
ing up six acres of fine, big, fruitless prune trees. What was true of that or-
chard was true of others. Witnesses can be found to corroborate this state-
ment. .Some contend that since the great earthquake of 1906, the climate has
changed and good peaches and apples are now being raised on some of the
same ]jlaces where they were failures twentj'-five years ago. Across the river
from Paso Robles, R. L. Shacke'lford set out a very large prune orchard. It
never paid. We saw it when it was an abandoned wreck of dead, scraggly
trees, and again when a booming chicken ranch was on the site of the old or-
chard. Almonds have paid good returns in some localities about Paso Robles,
and on the strength of that, large acreages have been set out. It is hoped that
none of the jircsent owners of orchards will suft'er the losses the pioneers of
that section did. The trees always grew. Those orchards as far as wood
was concerned were howling successes, but alas for the fruit !

The Atascadero colony, on the old Atascadcro, Mur])li_\-, Henry ranch,
has set out thousands of trees. They say experts told them just where and
how to ])lani them. The trees grew fairly well — so did ours four miles north
of there — but let us hojie that the "quake"' or the "experts." or old Dame
Nature herself, will do a better job than ever any of us were able to do when

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 93

it comes to making those trees bear fruit. This is history, not fiction, so we
are sticking to the truth as it was demonstrated from 1887 up to 1900, a
period of thirteen years. Since irrigation has been given a trial and alfalfa
sown, the question of making a living from a small or great acreage has
been changed. Feed the alfalfa to the cows, sell the cream, feed the separated
milk to the calves, hogs and chickens, and use ordinary wit about the rest,
and you can make a comfortable living now where, twenty-five or more years
ago, we made nothing.

^^'ahluts are very profita1)le when grown in tiie right section. D. J.
Matthews set out walnuts and a profitable orchard resulted. Out in the
Ascunsion district, the York, Anderson, Matthews and other families have
raised quantities of wine grapes, and the York Winery has made money.
San Luis Obispo County is all right, soil, climate and people ; but it is, as we
have stated before, "a county where the pioneers made the mistakes and the
people are now profiting, or can profit, l)y them, and reap fortunes where they
lost them."

Dairying: Its History and Growth

The great drought of 1862-63-64 had destroyed the herds of Spanish cattle
and the owners of the grants could not afford to restock them. Settlers
were coming in demanding surveys and the government land for settlement.
These new settlers began to cultivate the land and asked protection for their
crops from the ranging cattle; this meant fencing. Endless fights and not a
few deaths were the result of this war between the farmers and the cattlemen.
John Slack, who came to San Luis Obispo in the early sixties, in addition to
plowing land and sowing wheat, had an American wife, a double offense; so
various schemes were tried to get rid of him. Three dift'erent times plans
were laid for killing him. Once an old Mexican woman, some called her
plain "Injun," warned him that his home was to be attacked that night; so he
arranged not to be there. He "was gettin' reckless like" about that time,
and the Mexicans concluded he was not a safe man to fool with. A few
men. Slack with the others, had tried to tame native cows sufficiently to be
milked Yankee fashion, that is, without tying up the hind legs and letting
the calf suckle while the milker hustled to get a little of the drip. Possibly
these men started the dairy business in the county, but by common consent
the honor is given to the Steele brothers. These men, George and E. W.
Steele, had been in the dairy business on a large scale in Marin county. Their
leases were about to expire, so in June, 1866, K. W. Steele visited this county,
rode over the Corral de Piedra, Pismo, Balsa de Chemisal and Arroyo
Grande ranches, and declared "This is cow heaven." He arranged to pur-
chase 45,000 acres of these lands at $1.10 per acre. Later, an heir to the
Corral de Piedra brought suit against Steele Bros, on complaint of a flaw
in the title. A trial in the United States district court, where Judge Hoffman
presided, gave the land to Steele Bros., but the case was carried to the United
States supreme court, where the decision was reversed and the Stceles had
to pay $150,000; but even so they got the land cheap. They brought down
six hundred good cows from Marin county, employed one hundred men and
spent about $20,000 a year for five years in buildings, fences and improve-
ments. They did not propo.se to let a dry year ruin them, so raised feed for
their stock. Steele Bros, made cheese for manv vears, as that could be mar-

94 SAX i.ris oiiisro county and environs

kclcd at aiiv linu-. and steamers were the only means of shipment. Later
they made huller, a> well as eheese. The great Steele dairy raneh was divided
and' sold off tor small farms years jigo. M. ^\■. Steele, Jr., has just sold out
his last hit of the Steele ranch and homestead, forty-seven acres Both of the
men who started the dairy business in the county are dead, as are their wives.
George Steele had no children, and E. W. only one son, who at present lives
on hFs ranch near Edna. After Steele Mros. showed what a good dairy
could do, peoiiie all along the coast went into the business. Steamers at
San Simeon. Tort San Luis and Cayucos carried away the cheese and butter.
In 187.\ the dairies produced 300,000 pounds of butter, and 500,000
pounds of cheese: 8.342 cows and 9,609 calves were reported. In 1876, the
reports were butter, .=;00,0(X) pounds: cheese, 600,000 pounds; cows, 19,000;
calves, 18,000. In 1882, there were 1,331,160 ])ounds of butter, 872,362 pounds
of cheese. In 1883, there were 1,567,100 pounds of butter and 985,420 pounds

.V great many Swiss canie to the count)', for here was a business they
knew in Switzerland. At first most of the young men were employed as
milkers on the .American-owned ranches: but they had no intention of
milking other people's cows always. They saved their earnings, until they
had a few hundred dollars, or maybe less, rented a ranch and cows, and worked
it for a sliare of the profits. Soon the Swiss lad could buy some cows, then
some land, and today the majority of the fine coast ranches are owned by
Swiss, while the rest are leased by them. One man told the writer of bor-
rowing passage money from a friend and coming to California at the age
of eighteen. lie must repay that money and send money home to his old
])arents. lie said he used to declare to himself that some day he would own
the ranch that he was then slaving on half the night, getting up at 3:30 A. AI.
in the winter rain and milking shivering cows in the open wdiile his own
garments \\ere sometimes frozen stiff. "He held the thought," and also
woi'ked to\\ards that end. He has owned that ranch for years and tw-o
others right in a string on Old creek. More than ten years ago he was
offered SIOO.OOO for his land alone, but he did not feel like selling. His cows
are well housed in winter; no one freezes while milking on that ranch now;
acet_\-lene lights are used in all the buildings and the big corral,

'I'his stor_\- would about fit most of the rich Swiss dairymen of the county.
They build nice homes, have many comforts and are as automobile-mad as
their American neighbors. Their fine driving teams were the admiration
of all tliirty years ago, and now it is the l)est in automobiles for them. The
Swiss for the dairies and the Portuguese for the beans. Now the dairy busi-
ness is carried on differently. The cream is separated, and great truck loads
of ii ari' hauled to the creameries in San Luis and at other points, while a
string of w;igons and aulos bring in the cream from the local ranches. The
milk goes to feed liogs and calves. The work on the ranch is lessened, and
the profits are certainly good, judging by ap])earances.

The d.airy ins])ectors went after dirty dairies in the countv, and from
Dccemher, \'>\2. to November, 1<)14, thirteen dairymen were arrested for
having unsanitary dairies; hut it is only fair to say the dairies were cleaned
up; 8135 in fines was collected.

The creameries in operation in 1910 were the Polytechnic School cream-
cry, Cayucos creamery, Diamond creamery at Cayucos, Maple Grove and

SAN LUIS OBISPO COL'XTY AND EXVIROXS 95

San Luis creameries at San Luis Oliispo, and Santa Ysabel creamery near
Paso Robles. In 1914, the Polytechnic, California Central, Los Angeles,
and Swift & Co. creameries were in operation in San Luis Obispo, and the
Santa Ysabel near Paso Robles. In 1905, the "county produced 1,309,831
pounds of butter and 61,569 pounds of cheese; in 1906, 1,388,551 pounds of
butter and 147,717 pounds of cheese; in 1913, 1,846,828 pounds of butter and
156,380 pounds of cheese; in 1914, 1,909,176 pounds of butter and 246,090
pounds of cheese; in 1915, 2,759,751 pounds of l)utter and 134,662 pounds of
cheese. The creameries now operate as in 1914, and there is a fine cheese
factory at Harmony owned by a company of dairymen. The O'Connors of
Los Osos have a cheese factory, and there are two near San Miguel. For
1914, butter averaged 27.61 cents ; for 1915, it averaged 28.70 cents, and cheese
14.10 cents per pound.

Major William Jackson, a sketch of wIkjui a|)])cars in Chapter VHI. was
among those who very early engaged in dairj-ing. He settled on 160 acres
of government land and later sold it to J. H. Orcutt. It became a part of
Laurel ranch, for forty years the property of Mr. Orcutt. who set out hun-
dreds of eucalyptus trees along the little creeks and gullies of his big ranch,
built a nice home, planted an orange orchard, built a reservoir to impound
the waters of a little stream, piped it all over tiie place, irrigated orchards
and gardens, and eventually had a fine herd of Jersey cattle. From the
Orcutt herd many other dairymen improved theirs. Mr. Orcutt also owned
and raised some fine driving horses in the days when a swift team was a
valuable asset to any man. Laurel ranch contained about five hundred acres
and lies just southeast of the city limits. It was sold to ^Ir. Johnson recently.
About five years ago the Orcutt family removed to Garden Grove, in Orange
count3\

Grazing and the Great Landholdings

(Jrazing is the main business on all the great landholdings. Most of
them lie in the eastern and southeastern parts of the county, but the Hearst
holding known as the Piedra Blanca ranch, containing 52,577 acres, lies in
the northwest corner of the county, and controls fifteen miles of seacoast and
the deep sea harbor of San Simeon bay. The Xacimionto, owned bv Isaias
\V. Hellman, lies partly in this county and partly in Monterey, 24,198 acres
in this county.

Painted Rock ranch, 21,303 acres, is owned by Sarah lUakey. McDonald
ranch, 41,125 acres, lies just west of the Chicote ranch of 23,400 acres owned
by Miller & Lux. The Chimeneas ranch of 15,192 acres belongs to the Reis
estate, as does also the Santa Margarita of 20,806 acres, a total of 35,998
acres in this holding. The Spanish ranch of 9,080 acres belongs to the
Orena estate and lies in the extreme southern part of the county. The
Cuyama ranch belonging to George C. Perkins contains 9,878 acres. It is
now on the market in subdivisions. Jt)hn W. Ulm owns the Godfrey ranch
of 9,295 acres lying in the northern part of the county west of the Xacimiento
ranch. The Biddle ranch of 8,253 acres lies along the north bank of Arroyo
Grande creek. The X'ewhall ranch, Alamo, lies in the southern part and
contains 24,015 acres. S. Koshland owns 11,946 acres. The Santa Rosa ranch
I'f 2,530 acres also belonirs to the Hearsts. It is south of Cambria. The

96 SA\ LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Estrella ranch of 42,643 acres lies cast of Paso Roblcs and belongs to the
HeUmans of Los Angeles.

The Sacramento ranch, 48.002 acres, lies south of the Estrella and
belongs to C. W. Clark. The Kern Land Company owns 28,431 acres in the
southeastern part of the county. La Panza ranch, 24,000 acres, belongs
to Jacob and Rosie Schoenfeldt. San Juan ranch, 59,175 acres, lies in the
eastern part of the county and belongs to Henry Wreden. The Sinsheimers
own 30,000 acres or more; the Avenals, Spring ranch and Canyon ranch
southeast of Pozo. Cholame ranch, 22,993 acres, is in the northeast corner
of the county and belongs to the R. E. Jack Company. Camatti ranch,
28,368 acres, is northwest of the San Juan ranch and belongs to Ogden Mills.

Wheat is raised on portions of the Sacramento, Cholame, Estrella, San
Juan and La Panza ranches, but cattle are the main dependence. Thousands
of them are driven to stations on the Southern Pacific and shipped to the San
Francisco market. The new valuation placed this year on these ranches
may result in subdivision, but most of the owners are so rich already
that they can choose to be land-barons and pay their taxes easily out of their
cattle profits. The spring rodeos are still events, and the vaquero in all his
cowboy dress, mounted on a flying pony swinging his reata, is just as pic-
turesque and daring as ever he was. Less silver adorns his hat; more wiry,
clean-cut Americans, and fewer Mexicans, now "vaquero," but nothing of efifi-
ciency or bravery has been lost in the exchange. A first-class "Wild West
Show" is easily put on by the "cowboys" of our county when they want
to cut a few shines to please the people at their annual Admission Day
celebrations at Cambria, or at the biennial fairs of Paso Robles. The state
board reports for 1915 give these statistics: Dairy cows, 24,193; other cows,
22,903; yearling heifers, 10,345; calves, 15,635; yearling steers and bulls,
8,948; other steers and bulls, 33,180; total, 118,704; value, $2,789,415.

CHAPTER X

Mineral Productions

GOLD

Gold has been found in many sections of the county. It has been mined
in the mountains of the northern part, has been washed out of the beach
sands south of Port San Luis, but only over in the eastern part in the La
Panza country has it ever really paid. Over in the San Jose range, between
the head waters of the Salinas (salt) river and the San Juan, which both
flow north or west and northwest, rises another stream, the La Panza, flowing
northeastward, sometimes sinking into the sand, at other times reaching the
.San Juan. Here in this mountain region of canons, as early as we have
record, Indians and ^Mexicans mined for gold. In 1878 thei-e was quite a
"rush" to these mines, and in De la Guerra gulch a few Americans and about
two hundred fifty Spanish and Mexicans were busily working. Over ,$100,000
is known to have been taken out. In 1882, Frank H. Reynolds prospected on
the Navajo creek; one day he packed water on a burro and washed out
$9 worth of gold. This creek flows through a narrow canon. He reported

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AND ENVIRONS 97

averaging $4 a day. Haystack cancm has a clear stream, its head waters
falling over a perpendicular wall twenty feet high into a pool twelve feet
deep. So clear is it that its pebbly bottom is plainly seen. Coarse gold was
foimd all along the stream, which reaches the San Juan only during seasons
of heavy rain.

Reynolds visited the famous "Painted Rock," the ancient temple of a
race of sun-worshipers on the Carissa plains, and found gold in crevices of
the ridge west of the temple. He carried the dirt to water and washed it
tiut. The rock was soft granite, and while digging he exhumed live scor-
pions, small, colorless and blind ; as soon as exposed to the light they died.
In the soft sandstone west of La Panza he found scallop shells nine inches
in diameter, sharks' teeth, bones and other fossils. Petrified oyster shells
of great size are found on the high mountain shelves, showing unmistakably
that once the ocean covered our highest coast ranges far inland. An old
miner prospected the La Panza country, and in 1879 published an article
in the South Coast under date of February 5, 1879. In it he says: "Pros-
pects of fine gold are found nearly everywhere in the streams. Evidently
there are rich 'pockets' of gold which wash into the streams from the lower
hills and flats. A belt of cement gravel six miles long exists similar tc) that
of Forrest Hill and Yankee Jim in Placer county, of You Bet and Little
York in Nevada county, and of Monte Cristo in Sierra county, but there is
not enough water to use the hydraulic process." He believed rich deposits
existed in all the gravel belt ; he also reported that in the lime belt was a
lead of rich-looking silver ore. Tests showed as high as $36 per ton silver
and gold. The Comanche claim made several pulverized-cjuartz pan-tests
which yielded about $30 a ton gold and silver, mostly silver. John ^Llson
and T. C. Still reported an aggregate of $10,000 a 3'ear from tiie claims
worked. During 1878-79 the output amounted to $50,000.

SALT

Around the head waters of the Salinas are salt springs so strong that the
brine was used to pickle meats. Out on the Carissa plains is a dry bed of a
salt lake. The cattlemen haul blocks of salt for the cattle to lick on the
ranges, and in pioneer days it was refined b\- them for home use.

COAL

Outcroppings of coal ha\e been located in the northern end of the
county. At San Simeon the coal cropped out of the rocks along the bay,
and in 1863, William Leffingwell used to mine it for use in his blacksmith
shnp. A shaft was sunk one hundred feet, but the coal pinched out, showing
it to 1)0 only a gash-vein. There is a peak north of Cambria called Coal
Mountain, but so far coal in paying quantities and of sufficient hardness to
be valuable has not been mined here. The vein has been worked in Stone
canon, Monterey county, with success, and that vein may extend southward
into this county as well.

QUICKSILVER

Josephine Mine

The first ciuicksilver mining in this county that was really profitable
was about 1862, when the loseijliine mine, al)out half-wav iietween Paso

98 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Roljk-s and San Simeon bay, was worked. A party of Mexicans located
the mine near the head waters of Santa Rosa creek. Barron & Co. of San
Francisco, owners of the New Alniaden mines in Santa Clara county, bought
the Josephine of ^^'alter Murray and C. B. Rutherford. They worked the
mine three years and produced $280,000 worth of quicksilver, which was
shipped from San Simeon. As the ore seemed to lie in "pockets" or "kid-
neys" and was hard to handle, this company quit work, but retained their
claim upon the property. The late John E. Childs of San Luis Obispo came
down from New Almaden mine for Barron, Bolton & Bell in 1862 as superin-
tendent, and for some years managed the mine.

Klau Mine

A young Spaniard named Felipe Villegas came to California when
twenty-one years old, worked at various things, and finally went to raising
sheep and goats on Santa Rosa creek. He married Helena Rochas, who bore
him one son, Felipe, Jr. They lived on the banks of Huero creek and here
the wife died, but the father kept the boy and raised him at his camp. On
his return one day the father missed the little lad. Knowing he had strayed
into the hills and was liable to meet death, the father searched through the
canons and over the rugged mountainside for his boy, whom he at last
found. W'hile climbing the hills he discovered a ledge of cinnabar. He lo-
catetl a mine, opened it, put up a retort, and mined and retorted quicksilver.
The mine was first called the Santa Cruz, then the Sunderland, later the
Dubost and now the Klau. A company of rich Swiss organized the Klau
Mining Co. and are now opening up new ledges, taking out ore and retorting
quicksilver. Felipe Villegas lived in this section of country until he died
at the' age of seventy, and his son Felipe was once a trusted foreman for the
manager of the Klau company.

Some maintain the Klau mine was worked before A'illegas discovered it ;
but from all the historian has been able to learn, she sees no reason to dis-
credit the Villegas story. When the present European war broke out and
quicksilver jumped in price, A. Luchesa, William Bagby and Eugenio Bian-
cliini jnn-chased the Klau mine and began operating it. A sixty-ton Scott
furnace was erected, tracks and cars for hauling ore were put in, and the
ouiinit averaged a flask a day when run full time.

Pine Mountain Mine

This claim, situated near the northeast corner of the Piedra Blanca
ranch, \vas discovered by a Mexican in 1871. Eight claims were located near
tlie summit of the range. Land & Brewster of San Francisco first bonded
the Pine Mountain claims for $40,000, paying down $3,000. They let go and
Senator J. P. Jones of Nevada bonded them for $30,000, paying down $1,500.
.'Vfter spending $8,000 to incompetent management, he surrendered his claim.
Later, ainjut 1890, G. W. Gillespie's father became owner and also ran a
sawmill in the vicinity. Gillespie also bought the Ocean View claim, located
l)y Giljson iK: Phillips. The Ocean View company spent about $200,000 pros-
l)ecting. building furnaces, buying machinery and equipment, building roads
and trying out theories. Quicksilver dropped from $1.50 to 40 cents per
pound and made mining it unju-ofitable, so the work was abandoned by the

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AND ENVIRONS 99

company. The Ke\'Stone mine was discovered in December, 1871. In .May,
1872, Cross & Co. of San Francisco bonded it for $36,000, but later they
bought it for $20,000. After spending a great deal of money, they decided
it was only a "slide" from Pine Mountain lode, and quit.

Oceanic Mine

These are the richest quicksilver mines ever located in this county.
Three residents of Cambria discovered and located the claims in 1872. They are
about three quarters of a mile from the north side of Santa Rosa creek and
five miles from Cambria. The claims in 1874 were sold to a company
of San Francisco capitalists among whom were A. C Peachy, Lafayette
Maynard, T. F. Cronise, and M. Zellerbach. They organized the Oceanic
Mining Co. The capital stock was $6,000,000 or 60,000 shares, and the
shares were sold for twenty-five dollars each. The three men who located
the mine sold out to the company for $36,000. At times three hundred
men were employed; and three furnaces were built, wdiich, together with
cost of operation, amounted to $90,000. Seven well-timbered tunnels were
run and the quicksilver was easily produced, owing to the kind of ore.
At $1.50 per pound it promised big returns, but quicksilver dropped and
then the mines were closed down. They were kept in repair; and when
prices warranted, work was again started. When in 1914 the cataclysm of
war broke loose in Europe, prices soared. The Oceanic mine was quickly
opened up and over three hundred men set to work. The output was very
satisfactory and soon prices went up. Quoting from the state mining
bureau under date of February 28, 1916, the report for 1915, quicksilver
sold at $51.90 per flask of seventy-five pounds in January, 1915; steadily
advanced to $123.00 in December, 1915; and during January, 1916, sold for
from $275 to $316 per flask. The prices fell during the year 1916; and
at this writing, January, 1917, quicksilver is selling for $80 a flask delivered
from the mine to Paso Robles. The Oceanic has produced 25,000 flasks
of seventy-five pounds each since development began. Murray Innis has
owned the property for the last five years. Early in the year he sold out
to a New York company for $400,000; and $200,000 was paid down. This
company ran the mine about seven months, and then turned the property over
to Mr. Innis. Pending this settlement the mine was not worked ; but after
Mr. Innis was again in full possession he resumed work, and fifty men, with
]•-. W. Carson as superintendent, are now operating the mine.

COPPER

Good Will Mine

Copper exists in several parts of San Luis Obispo County. A peculiar
ore called Cuban exists in large quantities along Santa Rosa creek. Many
boulders of almost pure copper are found. One is estimated to weigh over
1,000 tons. It is believed to be almost pure metal, being very hard to break
or drill. The first copper mining in the county was in 1863, when Mr. Ruther-
ford located and operated the Green Elephant and the North Mexican copper
mines. The ore was smelted at the mines; also much was shipped to San
Francisco. .^11 along the Chorro, copper exists and seems to run in a
heavy vein nortlnvest from the Chorro.

100 SAX LLMS OIUSPU COUNTY AND EX\-IRONS

Mr. l>;iulu.Tl(ir(l sold out to an English syndicate. Good ore was taken out,
hauled by ox-cart around the hill to Port Harford and shipped around
the llorn'to Swansea, Wales. This shows that the ore was of high grade to
warrant such e.\i)euse in shipping. About the close of the Civil War the
mine was ahandcjued. In 1<898, IMr. Geeres, Attorney General of California,
ojiencd up the old mine. At 210 feet a tunnel showed signs of good ore, but Mr.
(ieercs was stricken with appendicitis and died in a hospital. His son, being
a minor, could not force the estate to carry on the work, so the mine was

[n l')04 Mr. Paulson attempted to operate the mine for inin ore and
spent between $4000 and $5000 prospecting, but the time was not ripe for
iron |)roduction, for coal and coke used in smelting iron ore could not be
shi])])eil from Pennsylvania to use at a profitable figure.

fn the fall of 1''15, W. H. Curcton and his associate leased seventy acres
from Mr. Filipponi and Ale.\ Gibson with the intention of developing copper.
In Tune, 1916, a new company was formed and the lease transferred to
Maurice B. Ayars and Ernest L. Ouist. In July, by the joint efiforts of C.
.A. Iversen, George F. Root and E. L. Quist, twelve hundred acres more were
leased, all interested united, and the Goodwill Mining Syndicate was formed,
Mr. Ouist as manager liaving charge of development. The property is
seven miles west of San Luis Obispo, on the south side of Los Osos valley,
four miles from Alorro bay, where the ore from the Green- Elephant mine
was shipped in the early si.xties. A good wagon road, in no place over seven
per cent, grade, leads to the mine. At present there is one tunnel three hun-
dred feet long with a perpendicular cut of ninety feet, practically blocking
out two million tons of ore, valued at ten dollars a ton in the ledge. Several
cottages have been built for workmen and a temporary hotel or boarding
house. .\ second tunnel has been run two hundred feet into the hill and a
third one has reached seventy-five feet, showing a good ledge of iron and
ciii)per. .\ fourth tunnel cross-cuts a thirty-foot ledge of fifty per cent,
metallic iron.

This ore runs so low in silica that it can only l)e reduced by fusing it
with lower grades of iron ore. The company will at once install a system
of mineral concentrators which will extract the gold, copper or iron in what-
e\er quantities found. They will also install an electric generating system,
Ijower drills and air pumps. Messrs. johe & ^^"eIch are also interested in the
Goodwill Mining C<.., owning land leased l>y it.

CHROMIUM

Chromium or "chrome" ore probably ranks next to quicksilver in this
county, so far as }-et lesti-d. I'Vom it dyes and paints are made, used in the
arts, especially ])orcelain jiainting. It is here in large veins, the best-known
one so far being a \ein twelve miles long extending northwesterly from
San Luis ( )))ispo. very rich deposits being found on and near the head of
Chorro creek. It has assayed as high as seventy per cent. During 1878-79
the county was rated as jjroducing $60,000 w^orth of chrome. In 1882 a report
stated that twenty thousand tons had been shipped and eight thousand tons
were at the depot. This would mean at the Pacific Coast depot, for the
Southern Pacific had not then been biiilt through the county. Ore was then

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AND ENVIRONS 101

sent o\-er the Pacific Coast Railway to Port Harford, now Port San Luis, and
sliipped Ijy steamer. There is a rich deposit of chrome between San Luis
Obispo and Avila. Usually the L'nited States buys abroad rather than
bother to develop at home: but when the present European war interfered
with that easy-going plan, we had to bestir ourselves and consequently-
home products have been recognized. A good deal of chrome ore has been
shipped during the last year and a half, and some day it and all the other great
mineral wealth of San Luis Obispo County will be appreciated and yield up
millions of dollars.

OTHER MINERALS AND STONES

Silica is here and has been made into a polish for metals ; iron abounds
in almcist every form; lime is found in \ast beds; gypsum and alaliaster,
both of the purest and best quality, are found in great abundance on the
head waters of the Arroyo Grande creek and on Navajo creek. Onyx, capable
of the finest polish, is also found at the head of Arroyo Grande creek. J. and
V. Kessler, owners of a deposit in Solano county, owned the property at
last accounts.

ASPHALTUM

Great beds of asphaltum are found on the Corral de Piedra, Pismo and
Santa Manuela grants. The old Spanish families used it to cover the roofs
of buildings, to lubricate the wheels of their carretas, and later it was used
for walks and pavements. More than thirty-five j^ears ago McDougal, Neuval
and others shipped' about one hundred tons monthly. In the Tribune for
Alarch 30, 1883, is an account of the finding of the rich asphaltum beds below
Edna. A vein from three to five feet in thickness was uncovered, but a
few inches below the surface ; twenty-five tons refined left less than five
hundred pounds of waste. One hundred tons a month were at once con-
tracted for in San Francisco and taken there by steamer. The shipping of
asphaltum continued for years to be a big industry, and there are beds of it
all over the southern and western parts of the count)'. Out on the Iluasna
on the J. P. Black ranch it oozes from the ground, and at times heavy
rumblings of gas are heard; then it boils up like a spring, lietwecn .Arroyo
Grande and the Huasna is Tar Springs ranch, the name signifying asphaltum
in big beds and soft pools.

THE OIL INDUSTRY

.\bout fifteen years ago in Price's canon, where the asphaltum beds
abiive described are located, derricks were erected and drilling for oil liegan.
A g(jod many rigs were put up, but only the Tiber Oil Company brought in
paying wells. The Tiber is now oijcrating si.x wells, producing 450 barrels
a day, which is sent out b}' pipe line. All the territory below Price's cafion
and Pismo has just been leased by Doheny and others. ^luch prospecting
is being done with a reasonal)le hope of bringing in a rich oil field in our own
county. Hadley is the name applied to a refining plant in Price's canon.
The Baker Ensign Company ran it for some time, but eventually went under.
The California Paint Company also ojierated at Hadley for a few years. They
bought oil, and made li(|uid asphalt and many other products. The asjihalt
was placed in barrels and thousands of t<ins shipped. The plant was in

102 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

lili.^alion for a while, but was again operated this year, and 800 barrels are
nijw at Tort San Luis awaiting shipment.

The Producers Transportation Company
This represents the largest oil interest in the county. The company
owns five hundred miles of pipe line, one hundred thirty-eight of which
is in this county. Oil from the Bakersfield, Taft, Midway, Sunset,
Lost Hills, AicKittrick and Belridge fields is brought to Port San Luis,
whence 10,000,000 barrels is sent out annually to points all the way from
Alaska to Chile and to the Hawaiian islands, it handles oil for the Union
Oil Company and the Independent Producers Agency. There are pumping
stations at Shandon, Creston, Santa Margarita, Tank Farm, Avila and Port
San Luis in this county. Great oil tanks are at each station, and houses
for the men with families. The Tank Farm situated just south of San Luis
Obispo contains two hundred fifty acres. This is where the oil is stored,
whence it is pumped to Avila and the Port as called for. There are thirty-six
tanks, each holding 55,000 barrels of oil; also five great reservoirs: three,
each holding 1,000,000 barrels; and two, each holding 750,000 barrels—
a ttjtal storage capacity of 6,480,000 barrels. Since war was declared, two
coni])anies of soldiers have been guarding the Tank Farm.

At Port San Luis the Pacific Coast Railway built a special wharf to
handle the oil. A pipe line runs out and loads the great oil tankers as they
lie alongside. The Producers own the following ships: "La Brea," "Los
Angeles," "Lyman Stewart," "Coalinga," "Lansing," "Washtenaw," "Oleum,"
"Argyll," "Whittier," "Indlerton," "Phelps" and "Simla." The chartered ves-
sels are "La Habra," "Cordelia," "Santa Maria," "Belridge" and "Lompoc."
At A\-ila a refinery handles oil from the Union wells of the Santa Maria fields.
The oil business of the company has made of Port San Luis the greatest oil
shipping port in the world and furnishes employment to hundreds of men in
the county. 'L'he I'roducers pay-roll enriches the merchants and helps many
families to comfortable livings. The officers of the company at present are
L. P. St. Clair, president; Stanley Morsehead, vice-president; E. W. Clark,
general manager; O. B. Kibele, general superintendent; Lafe Todd, chief
engineer; William ( Iroundwater, superintendent of affairs for this county
arid the Santa Ai.aria oil field interests of the Union.*

BUILDING STONE

Near Arroyo Crande are quarries of beautiful yellow sandstone that
chisels well. Many pretty buildings have been built out of it, and it makes
fine mantels and ornamental facings. Old Bishop's Peak and San Luis
Mountain are vast ]nles of green granite that would, if quarried and used,
build many cities. The San Luis High School and Presbyterian Church, as
well as a number of houses, are built of this beautiful stone. ■ Many retaining
walls and coi)ings are also constructed of it. The so-called "chalk rock"
was used for building chimneys, fire-places, and dwellings in pioneer days.
P.oulders and stones, such as the millionaires delight to use in building their
fire-places and walls, lie in heajis in fence corners or along the streams. Old
Morro Rock has enough red granite in it to build a wall across the state,

* In July, 1917, the Proihiccrs Transp,. nation Company sold out to the Union Oil

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 103

and then some. Hundreds of tons of rock have been quarried and broken
up at the rock-crushing plant on the Avila or Pismo road and used on the
state highway. The man who wishes to build a home may get lumber from
the Cambria pines, make adobe or brick walls, or have them of granite or sand-
stone, and not go out of the county for material. Also he may make a table of
onyx, polish his silver with silica, light and heat his home with natural gas,
lay asphalt walks, and get all his material within the county lines. If he
wishes, he may mine gohl for the wedding-ring for the mistress of the
house.

STATISTICAL DATA

The following data we ol)tained thnnigli the State Alining Bureau, at
least all given since 1909. In an old assessor's report we learn that 300
flasks of quicksilver valued at $40 per flask were shipped over the San
Simeon wharf in 1872. In 1909 the county produced 317 flasks of the mineral
valued at $15,510; 4,000 gallons mineral water, $1,000; 2,731 tons bituminous
rock, $6,369; 1,500 tons asphalt, $55,000; 30,000 barrels oil, value $15,000;
2,245 M brick, value $19,605; 700 tons rubble, $400; total value of mineral
products for the year 1909, , $112,884. The total value for 1908 was
$78,379 ; total value for 1911, $75,556; for 1912, $31,564. For 1913 : Bituminous
rock, 609 tons, value )$1,149; brick, 1,500 M, value $15,000; gold, $124;
mineral water, 1,500 gallons, value $600; quicksilver, 1,160 flasks, value
$46,667; silver, $1.00; stone industry, $134; total value, $63,675. For 1914:
Bituminous rock, 579 tons, value $1,118; mineral water, 1,000 gallons, value
$250; quicksilver, 1,266 flasks, value $62,097; total value, $63,465.

By comparison, quicksilver is seen to be the most valuable mineral in the
county so far. The oil production has greatly increased since the Tiber
wells have been cleaned and deepened, and prices have risen during the last
two years. The mining bureau was asked for data later than 1914, but
failed to furnish it, and so no data for the county farther than that given was
secured from the bureau ; but by personal inquiry we know that the mineral
development and production are rapidly increasing. Very soon we shall be
on the map, not only as one of the greatest "cow" counties, but as running
close with some of the best mining counties.

CHAPTER XI

Roads, Wharves, Railroads, Stage Lines and Mail Routes, County
Buildings and County Finances

ROADS

The trail and the saddle horse were the first means of "getting there."
Then schooners, sailing vessels and steamers began calling at the "landings."
Finally, wharves were built at San Simeon, near Cambria, Cayucos, Morro
and Port Harford, now San Luis bay. Rowboats and ropes and tackle
took passengers and freight ofT or on when tlie landings were in use. About
1860, steamers began calling twice a month, and by 1875 a lively steamer
trade had been established.

104 SAX r.L'IS OBISIH) COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

AuLVUst 20, 1S50. tlie Court of Sessions resolved "tlKit there be formed
a code by which the roads be put in repair, obliging all the inhabitants to
assist in the repairs." JNIay 3, 1852, the legislature established boards of
supervisors in several counties, this being one of them, the board to be
Composed of live meml)ers, elected annually. The term has been lengthened,
but the duties of supervisors are about the same as then. The Court of
Sessions passed out, handing over the business to the supervisors, who were
to have ciiarge of the count}^ finances, provide a courthouse, jail and other
county buildings, and have control of all county roads, bridges, wharves and
■■ferries." The county was divided into road districts, taxes were levied for
building and rejjairing roads, and from cattle trails a road system has been
l)uill u]) that conipares very favorably with those of the other counties.

In 1S72, a poll ta.x of $2 was levied on all males between the ages of
twenty-one and sixty, the net receipts to go int(j the njad fund. Later a
portion of the poll tax went to the school fund. When sufifrage was granted
to the women of California, the law had to be changed so as to include them
or be abolished, for it is illegal to tax one part of the voters and not the
rest; so the gallant lawmakers abolished it. Also, in 1872, bonds for $15,000
were issued by the county to build and repair roads. In 1876, bonds for
$20,000 were issued to build a better road over Cuesta Pass. A movement
is being pushed to build an "east and west" road from the San Joaquin valley
to the coast, like the highwaj', and to build a similar road from San Luis
Obisi)o up the coast to San Simeon. For several years all the new county
bridges have been made of either concrete or steel. Fine steel bridges span
the Salinas at Templeton, Paso Robles, San Miguel and other points, and
our concrete bridges are beautiful, especially the one at Atascadero Colony,
with its electroliers. The apportionment for building and improving county
roads for the year 1916-1917 is $86,717.51.

The fine new state highway is now C(jm]deted through the county from
.Arroyo (irande to Monterey county, including the new grade over Cuesta
Pass, on Avhich the cement has now been laid. The supervisors have
built a portion of the highway through San Luis Obispo out of the general
county fund, and it is supposed they will build it the rest of the way through
tlie cit\'. San Luis claimed it was onl}^ right, as the city pays a large pro-
portion of tile county taxes. Arroyo Grande and Paso Robles, the other
incorporated towns, have as yet built no highway through their city limits.
The California Highway Ikilletin, July 1, 1916, states that San Luis Obispo
County has i)urcliased $280,000 worth of bonds. Of this amount the county
purcliased .SIOO.OOO the first time, the Colony Holding Corporation of Atasca-
dero. .^lUO.OnO. and the lianks $.50,000. The remainder is either held by private
parties or has i)een bought up by the county or banks. It was difficult to
make the amounts bought in the county, and of i)ublic record, match with
the bulletin's figures. l)iit the I'.ulletin is l)ound to he correct. The entire

isl of the h

iglnvay thn

Ulgh

the county is estima
WHARVES

ted at S750.000.

A whan
(me years.
d a good 1

and wareli

At .Morro.

jusiness bef

ouse
Riley

ore t:

built \<v b,hn M. P
X: W illiams built a
he bay so filled wit

rice was used at Pismo for
wii.arf and warehouse which
h sand that it was imprac-

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENMRONS 105

tical)le to get steamers in or out. The channel l:)y Morro Rock was always
a serious proposition to face.

San Simeon Wharf

A wharf had e.xisted at San Simeon previously; hut in 1878, Georye
Hearst, owner of the Hearst ranch ami water front on the bay, built a wharf
one thousand feet long, ending in water twenty feet deep. The wharf is
twenty feet wide for seven hundred fifty feet, with strong railings, then
widens to fifty feet for the last two hundred fifty feet. A warehouse 48.xl00
feet is provided, and the entire cost was $20,000. This wharf used to do a
big business in its palmy days. A few statistics to prove the statement :
For the first six months of 1869 the wharf's business included the handling
of $30,000 worth of butter, wool $8,000, whale oil $8,000, Chinese products
$3,000, eggs 88,000, beans $5,000, hides $250, cheese $300, terrainn $100, a
total of $62,650. There were 2,500 live hogs shipped that year. In 1880,
eleven years later, 3,934 boxes of butter were shipped, 930 firkins and barrels
of butter, 250 boxes of eggs, 169 flasks of quicksilver, 94 coops of fowls, 374
hides, 5,350 calf hides, 299 packages of whale oil, 72'h tons of grain, 14 barrels
of tallow, 104 neats of seaweed, 169 sacks of abalones, 1,209 hogs. This is
enough to show the kinds and amount of business in the northern end of
the county during the periods named. Hearst has always had a big cattle
business. The cattle used to be driven to market ; now they are shipped by
rail from Goldtree, a stock station, just north of San Luis. After Captain
Cass built a good wharf, the people of Cayucos section shipped from there.

Cass's Wharf at Cayucos

This wharf was 380 feet long until 187(>, when a partnership was formed
including Beebee, Harford and Schwartz ; then the wharf was lengthened to
940 feet, the seaward end forty feet wide for the last sixty feet. The total
cost was $10,840.26, as stated in an old record. A warehouse, 92x50 feet,
was put up and a portion of it, 50.\20 feet, partitioned off for a store. A
railroad was built on the wharf to take goods out to the steamers. This
wharf has been one of the greatest factors in building up the trade of the
county, doing a big business for many years. Since the dairying business
has changed so much in that section, most of the dairymen now shipping
cream by auto truck to San Luis, where creameries make it into butter, the
business of the wharf has decreased. At "Port Harford," as it used to be
called, previous to 1872, two wharves were in operation. One was ?ilallah's
wharf or the "Steamer Landing," and the other was called the People's
Wharf; but surf boats and lighters had to be used. In February, 1873, Block-
man & Cerf purchased the People's Wharf and extended it to deep water so
vessels could lie alongside. John Harford then built the railroad wdiarf. A
liorse-car line was built out from the wharf to the level land at .Avila,
and freight could be easily hauled to or from this terminus. IMallah's wharf
was abandoned. Now were lively times; the People's and the '"Railroad"
wharf were in opposition. Rates and "tickets" went down, until anybody
ri>ul(l travel or ship any old thing to market. Fares from San Francisco to
San Diego went down to $5. Steamers arrived and departed several times
each week. .\s many as ninety passengers and 200 tons of freight landed

106 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

at one time from a single steamer. So great was the travel that even the
ladies sometimes had to sleep on the floor of the ladies' cabins, while in the
berths they were packed "thick as sardines." The l)usiness became so great
that people l:)egan tn talk railroad, and a movement for one was soon on foot.

County Wharves

About six miles north of Cambria there used to l)e a small wharf owned
by the Leffingwells, where schooners unloaded lumber and a few other things.
About 1907, a hue and cry went up for county wharves; Cambria, Cayucos
and Port San Luis each wanted to have one built ; so bonds for $90,000 were
issued, $30,000 to be spent at each place. The one built for Cambria was to
be where the old Leffingwell wharf was, but the sea wouldn't stand for it,
and the storms of February and March, 1908, strewed the timbers of that
wharf along the beach ; $30,000 gone to limlio. The wharf at Avila was built
and a wharfinger, Payne, employed at a salary of $150 a month. No vessels
came to it ; there was nothing to do but hang out a lantern at night and take
it in in the morning; still the people had a county wharf, and $1,800 a year
to ])ay besides. After a time the salary was reduced to $75 per month, but
$900 a year is considerable to throw away. Of what earthly use is a wharf
at Avila until an electric or auto truck line can be put on to compete with-
the Pacific Coast Railway? When it came to Cayucos wharf, the people
had begun to realize what a fool job they were trying to do, so the Cass
wharf was paid a bonus and a county wharfinger was employed for a while.
The $30,000 for the county wharf at Cayucos is stHl in pickle. It was voted
to build a wharf there, and it will stay in pickle until a special election is
called to vote it for something else. Meanwhile the taxpayers pay interest
on county debts and incur more.

RAILROADS

Pacific Coast Railway Company

In 1874, J. W. Graves introduced a bill in the legislature which became
a law, forming a company for the construction of a railroad from San Luis
1)ay to the .Santa Maria valley. The incorporators were John M. Price,
H. M. Newhall, Juan V. Avila, N. Goldtree, F. M. Meisinger, C. Nelson,
John O'Farrel and Charles Goodall. The previous year, January, 1873, the
San Luis 01)ispo Railroad Co. was organized and filed articles of incorpora-
tion. In I'ebruary, 1873, a company consisting of John Harford, W. S. Chap-
man, \\ . 1^. Peebce, L. Schwartz and others was formed to build a wharf
and construct a narrow-gauge railroad to San Luis Obispo. A survey was
made and an estimate of $140,757 given. Ward was the engineer who laid
out the route. In ^larch some grading was done and the line was started
out, thus securing the right of way to this company. Now, two companies
were aiming to build roads over about the same route. Some trouble ensued,
but in 1875 the two roads consolidated under the name of the San Luis
Obispo & Santa Maria \'alley Railroad Co., taking over the wharf and liorse-
car line Iniilt Ijy Harford, paying him $30,000 for them. The right of way
was given or sold fur very little. Avila Brothers gave depot grounds, and
riglit of way on llie San Miguelito ranch. In December, 1875, the road had
reached IMiles station, formerly called Root and Harford. Here things

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 107

seemed to come to a standstill. The manai^er said San Luis Obispo must
put up $25,000 before the road came any farther. C. H. Phillips and C. 11.
Johnson, who were always boosting- for the public good, took the matter up
and very soon had $28,500 subscribed. Things moved again, and in August,
1876, the road was completed to San Luis Obispo. August 23, the opening
for business was celebrated by a grand excursion and picnic. The road had
cost $180,000, plus $30,000 paid to Harford for his wharf and road. The fare
was eight cents per mile for passengers and fifteen cents a ton per mile for
freight. Fare to and from Port Harford was ninety cents each way, or $1.25
round trip. In 1881 the road was extended to Arroyo Grande ; in April, 1882,
it reached Santa Maria, then called Central City ; and in October, 1882, it had
reached Los Alamos. About a year later it was built to Los Olivos, and
that remains the end of the road. The entire distance from the ])ort to Los
Olivos is seventy-six miles.

In September, 1882, the S. L. O. & S. M. Valley road was transferred
to the Oregon Navigation Co. The road from Santa Maria to Los Olivos
had been built by the Pacific Coast Railway Co., composed of the same stock-
holders as built the first division. September 23, 1882, the companies con-
solidated, taking the name of the Pacific Coast Railroad Co. The great land-
holdings over which the road passed gave right of way ; Steele Bros, gave
a strip of land several miles long and sixty feet wide ; the Dana estate gave
a strip fourteen miles long of the same width, only asking that the mother,
Doiia Carrillo Dana, be allowed to travel on the road free of charge as long
as she lived. The road for years has been a very profitable line. The pas-
senger traffic to steamers has greatly lessened since the Southern Pacific
has a through line and excellent train service, but the lumber and freight
traffic is still heavy. With our splendid harbor at Port San Luis, a port of
entry where deep-sea vessels anchor safely or lie along the wharf, only a
cross-country road to the San Joaquin valley is needed to make it one of
the great harbors of the world.

The Southern Pacific Railroad

As early as 1855 a party of government surveyors, under Lieut. John G.
Parke, passed through the county taking levels and estimating costs. In
January, 1864, a railroad from San Francisco reached San Jose; by March,
1869, it had reached Gilroy. In 1870 this road was transferred to the Central
Pacific Co., which changed the name to Southern Pacific, and in 1873 ex-
tended to Salinas, in 1874 to Soledad, one hundred seventy-four miles from
San Francisco. Soledad remained the terminal until the middle of the
eighties. In 1886, the Southern Pacific started building south, and on October
18, 1886, reached San Miguel, trains bringing mail and passengers to that
point. The first regular freight was delivered at Paso Robles, Noveml)er 15,
1886. From then on, trains carried passengers and freight. November 15.
1886, Lyman Brewer went down on a sort of "construction limited" to Tem-
])lcton and opened up business in a box-car station. The box car was the
depot and family residence until April, 1887, when the depot was built.
Templeton was "the end of the line"' until January 31, 1889. In the summer
of 1888, grading was begun for the road from Templeton to Santa Margarita,
and the road reached the new townsitc January 31, 1889.

Li April tlicre was an excursion train from San Francisco, and the usual

108 SAX lA'lS Ol'.rSPO COUXTY AXD EXVIROXS

land sale took place. A platform was erected, some San I'rancisco and Paso
Rohles "American I'eauties" in spring costumes sat in the chairs thereon,
the band played and the auctioneer did his "darndest," as one "boomer" ex-
pressed it, but somehow there was less enthusiasm than two years before
when the big Templeton land sale was "pulled ofif."

Santa Margarita was the terminus of the railroad from January 31, 1889,
to Ma\- 5, 1894. The road from Santa Margarita to San Luis Obispo lay
over the Santa Lucia mountains. The route called for seven tunnels, many
great fills, the horseshoe curve, and a long steel trestle across Stenner creek
canon. The creek is ninety feet below the rails of the trestle in one place.
This piece of the Coast Division of the Southern Pacific is said to have been
one of the costliest bits of railroad ever built. After resting and recuperating
the finances, the company began work with an army of men. It took over
two years to build this seventeen miles of road. The first tunnel on the
.Santa iMargarita side is 3,616j/2 feet long and the bed of the tunnel at its
highest point is 1,300 feet. Tunnel number seven, as it was called, was the
last one before reaching San Luis Obispo. This tunnel caved in and was,
after years of use, made into a deep "cut"; so now there are six tunnels to
be kept in safe repair. The total cost of this seventeen miles was $1,774,000.

May 5, 1894, was a tremendous event in the history of this county, for
on that day the Southern Pacific ran its first passenger train into San Luis
Obis])o. 'Vhe whole county came "down" or "up" to share in the glorifica-
tion. An excursion train from San Francisco brought down many of the
high officials and their wives. Every band in the county was there to make
as much noise as possible, for all the whistles and bells in town insisted on
ringing or tooting along with the bands. Everybody yelled, ladies no excep-
tion, when the long, jubilant whistle of the incoming train was heard singing
down the canon, and a stampede up the track to meet it was next in order.
The fine big Hotel Ramona was new and in splendid order to entertain com-
])an}-, ])ut every available room in the town as well was required to house
the visitors, and many camped in the open. Twenty beeves were barbecued
and a great feast enjoyed. A "grand ball" was given at Hotel Ramona.
A. (". McLeod, mayor of the city, ex-sherift and one time prominent man in
many lines, was here, there and everywhere attending to it all, along with
the eflicient committees. AIcLeod was just one of the many "canny Scots"
who took a hand in setting this county "on its feet," and "Here's to them a'
and .Auld Lang S3nie."

San Luis Obispo was the terminus for fourteen months; then the road
was slowly built on south, first to Guadalupe, then to Surf. ^Meantime the
road was coming north from Los Angeles. On March 31, 1901. the "gap"
was closed and trains ran all the way from San l'"rancisco to Los Angeles.

L'ntil the Southern Pacific came to our relief in 1886-1894, we were
hardly on the maj). The county had remained an isolated spot in spite of
the brave efforts on the pun of the men and women who "landed" in surf
boats, or scaled rope ladders, as at Cave Landing, to settle in our beautiful
county. Xow we are getting right up in front; and if thirty years has seen
so much accomplished, what may we not expect of the next thirty?

It was .Mrs. .\. M. Hardie who scaled the rope ladder up the clift" at
Cave Landing in October, 1867, while Mr. Hardie went ahead carrying the
two-nionths-Mld son, I'rank. Mrs. Hardie says she was h.M-rified on' looking

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 109

up to see that Air. Hardie had grasped the baby by his long dress-skirt and
was carrying him wrong end up. In spite of his entrance into the county
"reversed," so to speak, Frank Hardie has gone ahead and is a prominent
man of aflfairs. The plucky young mother climbed to the top of a big load
of seed grain the next morning and, with her infant in her arms, rode all the
way to her new home three miles beyond Cayucos ; that is, she got almost
there, but when the bronchos began kicking over the traces, she leaped with
her child to a high bank and walked the rest of the way. Some more Scotch
pluck. No wonder that when, October 8, 1916, this couple celebrated their
golden wedding at a daughter's home in Paso Robles, people of note from
all over the county went to bestow their gifts of gold and, better still, lo\ing
regard, upon the gray-haired but vigorous old pioneers of 1867.

MAIL ROUTES AND STAGE LINES

The first regular mail route established in California was mentioned
in the California Star of San Francisco, May 13, 1847. It announced that
Governor Kearny had established a regular semi-monthly mail route between
San Francisco and San Diego, mail to be carried by two soldiers on horse-
back, commencing May 19, 1847. Starting every Monday from San Fran-
cisco and San Diego, the carriers were to meet the next Sunday at Captain
Dana's rancho (Nipomo), exchange mails, start back the next morning and
arrive at San Francisco and San Diego the next Saturday. Henry M. Osgood
of Stevenson's regiment was one of the very first mail carriers, and in 1850
settled in this county. In 1849 Osgood was succeeded by a man named
Smith, who made his headquarters at Pollard's store. Here he obligingly
let the people read all the papers, which they were careful to return to the
mail sack. Smith disappeared, was last seen near .Santa ^'nez, and was in
all likelihood murdered.

The first real post office in the county was estaldished at San Luis Obispo
in 18.S.5, with Alexander Murray as postmaster. l'"ur some years steamers and
sailing vessels had touched semi-monthly, or when they got there, at the port,
and had carried express and mail which from the ])ort was brought up in
the stages or on horseback. When the post oflice was established at San
Luis, Walter Murray was given the mail contract. .\ two-horse wagon made
the trip to Monterey once a week, carrying mail and passengers. The roads
were little better than trails ; so if need be, passengers not only paid a good
round sum for the ride, but had to get out and jnish uphill or help pry the
wagon out if it "bogged down." The mail from San Luis to Santa P>arbara
was carried on horseback by a man Mr. Murray hired for the job. Passengers
going north, stage and team, stayed over night at San Miguel. The next
lap was to Jolon, and the third day all hands reached Monterey, if thi'ngs
went well. Passengers not going Monterey way, but still north, remained
at Hill's h'erry on the Salinas until the stage from Monterey, bound for San
Jose, San Juan and San Francisco, came the next day. Both stages had to
be ferried over the Salinas river at that point. Alexander Murray was post-
master until 1870, or for fifteen years. In 1861, a tri-weekly stage and mail
was put on from San I'rancisco to Los .Angeles. In 1862, this was made a
daily four-horse stage. \V. L. i'.allaril was stage agent for this section, with
lieadquarters at VA Alamo Pinladd, miw P.allard. Santa Barbara county. As
has been told in writing of the Southern Pacific Railroad Co., the trains

110 SAX LUIS OniSPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

reached Soledad in 1874. Here the Coast Line Stage Co. met passengers
and mail sacks. When the road was built to points in this county, the mail,
as well as passengers, was carried by train. For years Flint, Bixby & Co.
owned the stage line. The stage fare from San Luis Obispo to Soledad was
$17, and a one-night stop was made at the Salinas crossing. Hill's Ferry.
Those stage rides were sometimes interrupted by hold-up men, and in winter
by flooded streams. An upset in the creek or river was not unknown.

l!ig, jolly Jim Alj-ers "handled the ribbons'' when, in 1887, the stage for
San Luis ran from Templeton. To sit beside him, listen to his stories and
go spinning around the down-grade curves, or swing upward over the pass
on a keen, frosty morning, was an experience worth living for. Horses,
harness and coach always shone on starting out, even if they were mud-
bespattered or dusty on arrival. Jim was careful of his appearance. \\'ell-
shaven, ruddy-faced, his cigar just right and gauntlets "up to snutt," Jim
was the beau ideal of a stage driver. He never refused passage to a cus-
tomer. In October, 1891, at teachers' institute time, he packed "seventeen
schoolma'ams and six passengers" into and on top of his stage, took us all
safely over Cuesta Pass and deposited us at Hotel Ramona. The stage then
ran from Santa ^Margarita. The writer and a "little peach of a schoolma'am"
sat with Jim going and returning, and it was on that trip he told of his hold-up
the year before, just where the road makes a sharp curve and a little stream
used to trickle out over on the north side of the pass. He called it his "masked
ball," because the robbers threw bedticking masks to all hands. Jim "got his''
first. "They took my express box and the gents' wallets and 'jooles'; they
just let the women make the fuss. I carried the lightest express box and
the worst-scared load of passengers over the grade that night I ever traveled
with," concluded Jim, flicking the ash from his cigar and touching up his
shiny leaders. Shorter and shorter grew the stage line, and when at last
the "gap" Avas closed, Jim doffed his hat and said, "]My occupation's gone."
He has gone "to the other side," but the memory of him will live as long as
any of us do who rode with him in the days when, full of hope, we came to
the county to "grow up with the country."

In February, 1883, Kester & Cass put on a line of stages running from
Cayucos to San Miguel via Paso Robles. These stages carried mail to Ade-
laida post ofticc and enabled passengers to take passage on the weekly
steamers at Cayucos or connect with the Coast Line stages for the north. In
1867 a weekly stage was run from San Luis to San Simeon, leaving e\-ery
Saturday, fare three dollars. This line was owned b)'- J. P. Lewelling and
carried the mail, \\'. S. ^^'hitaker was postmaster. In April, 1868, Miller
bought the line and made semi-weekly trips. Miller sold out to Brown &
Castro, who put on daily stages, Sunday excepted. The two-horse stage
carried mail and passengers until 1910, when Miles Sanders got the mail
contract and used automobiles. In 1914, J. C. Welch got the contract and
uses automobiles, carrying mail and passengers. This stage line has carried
mail to Morro, Cayucos, Cambria and San Simeon ever since they came into
existence as towns. Orle ilayfield runs a private stage line of'autos from
San Luis Obispo to Cambria. Soon after Templeton was on the map, F. G.
Tillman was given a contract to carry mail from there to Cavucos : but
when, in 1894, the trains reached San Luis, the mail was sent from there
by the u])-coast stage line. Several stage lines, mostly autos, run from Paso

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 111

Robles. One carries mail to Creston, another to Union and Shandon, another
to Adelaida. From San Miguel, stage autos run to Coalinga and the oil
fields of Kern county. From Santa Margarita a stage takes mail and pas-
sengers to Pozo and Simmler.

Post Offices

The post offices in the county at present are San Miguel, Paso Robles,
Templeton, Santa Margarita, San Luis Obispo, Edna, Arroyo Grande, Berros,
Nipomo, Oceano, Pismo, Morro, Cayucos, Cambria, San Simeon, Pozo, Simm-
ler, Creston, Union, Shandon, Estrella, Adelaida, Avila, Atascadero, Bern,
Carissa Plains, Cholame, Halcyon, Klau, La Panza, Linne, Musick, Port
San Luis, Harmony. Rural delivery routes are numerous.

Total receipts of the San Luis Obispo office for the past ten years are
$201,072.37. There has been an increase of over $10,000 since 1905, for in
that year the receipts were $14,421.71, and in 1915 the receipts were $24,597.06.
George A. Barnett is postmaster and George E. Kirby assistant postmaster.
The office employs five clerks, four city carriers and two rural carriers. The
salary is $2,700 per year for the postmaster and $1,300 per year for the
assistant postmaster. This office is now close to the first-class rank, when
the salary will be $3,000 for postmaster and $1,500 for the assistant post-
master. Quite a political plum !

COUNTY BUILDINGS
Courthouse and Hall of Records

We quote the following from the San Luis Obispo Tribune of November
18, 1871 : "Financially, the county is in tolerable circumstances, but beyond
a good jail we really have nothing to show for the large revenue annually
drawn from the taxpayers. San Luis Obispo should be possessed of a
decent courthouse, yet when the county and district court happen in session
together, one or the other has to go gerrymandering about town to find a
room to sit in. This was the case last month and doubtless will be again.
The old adobe building called a courthouse is a marvel of repulsiveness, and
that court room with its wretched appointments is a disgrace to the county."
^\^-llter Murray was the editor of the Tribune when this article appeared, and
no man in the county wielded a stronger influence than he. Mr. Murray was
a lawyer and journalist, as well as a fearless man. He served in Stevenson's
regiment in the Mexican War, and came with it to California when the regi-
ment was sent here to maintain law and order after the American occupation.
In 1853 he came to this county, where he held many offices, the highest being
that of judge of the first judicial district. He died October 5, 1875, at the
age of fifty years, and is buried in San Luis Obispo.

The jail referred to was on what is now Palm street, and about opposite
the present home of Paul M. Gregg. Such good effect had Mr. ^lurray's pen,
backed by other progressive citizens, that the supervisors called for liids for
a courthouse and jail, and on May 7, 1872, a contract was awarded to Beck
& Walker to construct a courthouse and jail according to specifications, for
the sum of $40,000. The courthouse bonds sold for 96>4 to 96^ per cent.,
and bore 10 per cent, interest. The building was completed early in 1873.
Ornaments and a few changes lirouglit the cost up to $42,000. The super-

11_> SAX LUIS OlilSPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

visors were D. \\'. James, J. C. McPherson and John M. Price. This makes
the building- forty-three years old in 1916. The jail is in the basement, also
the sheriff's offices. If ^^■alter Murray were alive, we should probably hear
from him again on the subject of a courthouse. The late J. P. Andrews and
Ernest C'erf ga\e the large plot of ground upon which the courthouse stands.
.Mr. Andrews alone gave all the ground of the Court school. He was a man
whose gifts to the town were never fully known or appreciated.

A iiall of records, erected in 1888, stands in the southwest corner of the
court park.

County Hospital

I'\)r some years after the organization of the county there was no call
for charity, but after the great drought, when land was o])ened up for settle-
ment, a new class of people entered, population increased rapidly, and there
l^egan to be indigent sick to be cared for. Dr. W. AI. Hays, the pioneer
jjhysician of San Luis Obispo, began caring for them, and under his direction
a hospital was arranged for. The present building stands on a rise about
a mile southeast of the center of town and was erected in 1878. The grounds
cover thirteen acres. Water from the hills is supplied for all tises. In 1882,
the records say, the cost was fifteen cents a day per patient, and the number of
l)atients was fifteen. Andrew J. Green was steward. At present J- E. Lewis is
superintendent. He reports forty patients, and the cost per capita for meals,
eighteen cents a day, and the patients agree that they are well fed. In 1915
a lirick building was erected as a detention ward for insane patients. Dr.
C. J. .Mc(io\ern is now physician to the county hospital.

COUNTY FINANCES

in lc%7 the records show that assessed real estate values were $177,711.60;
personal property, $311,121.25; total, $488,832.85. Tax rate, $3.85; total tax,
$18.598.'X). State levy, $5,206.16; county levy, $13,222.74. In 1871 the state
board of equalization reported that land in the county was assessed at 50
per cent, of its value. About 1868 an cfYort was made by the county board
of equalization to reject the assessor's valuation of the great landholdings
and make the owners pay taxes on real value of land, hoping thereby to
comiiel the owners to break up the great ranches and sell in small parcels
to real settlers. Test cases resulted in failure.

A county advisory board has been out during the summer of 1916 esti-
mating the actual cash value of all the property in the county— one member
frum each supervisoral district, five in all, three working together in each
district. Deputy Assessor Will HoUister says this will result in at least
5(1 per cent, increase on \aluation of the pro])erty as a whole. From the
assessor we get this report for 1916-17: The county is in the twenty-seventh
class. Land value as assessed, 2.528,275 acres; value, $9,907,381. Improve-
ments. S3,678,,S01 : personal property, $5,663,994. Money and solvent credits,
$1,100. \'alue of non-operative property, $19,249,276. Value of property
assessed on operative roll, S75G.5i<3. Total value of property as returned by
the audit, .r. $20,005,859. \^alue of railroads as assessed bv the board of equal-
izati..n, $2,KH,218. Funded debt, $66,000, which is the total indebtedness.
1 ax rate on city property, $l.(i9; on outside property, $2.25.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 113

CHAPTER XII
Schools, Churches and Lodges

In g'athering data for this history, we heard that Edwin Markham had
once taught school in the county. Then we followed the clue, finally learn-
ing from his old friend, J. F. Beckett of Arroyo Grande, that Mr. Markham
did teach school under a tree down on Berros Creek in 1872. Mr. Beckett
was teaching the Arroyo Grande school and sent to the San Jose Normal for
a teacher to come down and teach a band of children living too far away
from Arroyo Grande to attend the school there. In 1872 Arroyo Grande was
the only school south of San Luis Obispo district, so far as any available
records show. There were seventeeh teachers employed in the county, and
P. A. Forrester was county superintendent of schools. In reply to JMr.
Beckett's recjuest, Edwin Markham came. If the now famous poet once
taught in the county, what a fine thing it would be for our book if we
could persuade him to tell us about it himself, in his own way. \Vc wrote
to him, and his answer is given in full. With his letter and sketch came a
picture of a white-haired, deep-eyed old gentleman. Not the stripling, sing-
ing or talking poetry as he rode with his friend Beckett to San Luis Obispo
on his galloping pony, the "mustang" he mentions in his letter. Two noted
writers, the English novelist and dramatist, Horace Annesley Vachell, and
America's beloved poet, Edwin Markham, whom Flerbert Bashford called
"the chief poet of the English-speaking race," have lived in our county.
Each has graciously responded when asked to do so, by giving a sketch of
the days when he lived here ; each has recalled those days as among his
happiest, and expressed a desire and intention of returning to visit the scenes
he loved and still cherishes. Below we give Mr. Markham's reply in full.

92 Waters Avenue,
West New Brighton, N. Y.
Dec. 14, 1916.
Mrs. Annie L. IMorrison :

I am sending you enclosed a brief account of my life in San Luis Obispo
County. It may perhaps meet the needs of your history. I am also enclos-
ing a little poem that is a reminiscence of my young manhood when I rode
joyfully on the Californian hills. Many a time did I ride a mustang on the
Los Berros ridges. This little poem is from my "Man with the Hoe and
Other Poems." You may want to give credit to the volume.

I should like to return to the county again and retrace my old footsteps.
In fact, I expect to do this when I make my next visit to the Far West. I
have not forgotten my friends of that early time, and I trust that they have
not altogether forgotten mc.

Faithfully yours,

Edwin M.\rk]i.\m.

114 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

92 Waters Avenue,
\\'est New lirighton, N. Y.
Mrs. Annie L. .Morrison: Dec. 16, 1916.

1 have vivid nu-niorics of my days on Los Berros Creek in San Luis
Obispo Countv; for it was there that I taught my iirst school, and had my
first adventure in the duties of responsilile manhood.

[ was o-raduatcd from the State Normal School at San Jose, California,
in 1872, and forthwith I received a call to go south to teach the school in the
highlands of Los Berros. 1 took train to Gilroy, and there I mounted the
six-horse stage for San Luis Obispo. It seems now that the trip took three
davs and nights of ceaseless riding. I shall never forget the rocking stage,
and the owlish faces of my stage companions. All thru the night we
heard the crack of the driver's whip, except for the hours when we caught
a fitful sleep or paused for a meal at some wayside tavern.

Reaching Arroyo Grande, I found a half-wrecked carriage waiting to
take me up the winding canyons to Los Berros. It was a joyful ride in the
carlv fall. Tt was the dry of the year, and the air was full of the scents of
mints and sages; the hills were parched and tawny, patched in places by the
wild oats fallen in yellow heaps in the hollows. Cottontails flickered under
the rail fences; crowds gossiped in the boughs.

.Arriving at Los Berros, I found a hearty welcome from the sunburnt
mountaineers. l>ut, alas, no schoolhouse was read}'. "Well, this need not
disturb you," I said to the crestfallen patrons. "Let me have an axe and
I will remedy your deficiency."

I went into the wood, selected a fine live-oak, one with broad, friendly
branches, all woven so thick that no rain could penetrate the leafy roof. Now
cutting down some young saplings, I built a rail fence around my chosen
tree. Next I set up in the enclosure short sections of a tree-trunk, for seats
and desks for my nine pupils. Finally I erected a high platform next the
tree. It was a scat tall and commanding; a seat that had no parallel except
that lofty seat on wliich Satan sat, as told in "Paradise Lost." This was
my Oak-tree College. So you see that I was the pioneer in the Out-door
School movement. Mere I led the children along the paths of wisdom. An
inquisitive deer once wandered down to survey us \vith soft wondering eyes.
Sometimes we saw the tracks of a fox that visited the college in the darkness.
1 h.e wildcat sent up his cry of hate on some neighl)oring cliff in the deep
night. The coyote, always at a safe distance, would come from the far cliffs
to sciifY at the man on the earth and the man in the moon.

Since those days in the first flush of manhood, I have ruled over many
schools in Iniildings that were beautiful and ornate; but never have I else-
where l.dt the deep satisfaction, felt the lyric happiness I knew in that green
kingdom on the hills, iu my airy Live-oak College of San Luis Obispo.

Edwim ]\I.\rkh.\m.

SAN LUIS OBISrO COUXTY AND ENVIRONS 115

The Joy of the Hills

I ride on the mountain tops, I ride ;
I have found my Ufe and am satisfied.
Onward I ride in the blowing oats.
Checking the field-lark's rippling notes —

Lightly I sweep

From steep to steep :
Over my head through the branches high
Come glimpses of a rushing sky ;
The tall oats brush my horse's flanks ;
Wild poppies crowd on the sunny banks ;
A bee booms out of the scented grass ;
A jay laughs with me as I pass.

I ride on the hills, I forgive, I forget

Life's hoard of regret —

All the terror and pain

Of the chafing chain.

Grind on, O cities, grind :

I leave you a blur beliind.
I am lifted elate — the skies expand :
Here the world's heaped gold is a pile of sand.
Let them weary and work in their narrow walls :
I ride with the voices of waterfalls !

I swing on as one in a dream — I swing

Down the airy hollows, I shout, I sing!

The world is gone like an empty word:

Aly body's a bough in the wind, my heart a bird!

— Edwin Markh.-\m.

SCHOOLS

The first schools of the state were taught by the priests and were con-
nected with the missions. The priests were well educated, but little was taught
except reading, writing and the doctrines of the church. Few of the Indian
neophytes ever learned to read ; their education was mostly "vocational," for
they were taught, and compelled to do, the labor of the missions. They made
the adobe bricks, cut and hauled the timbers needed in constructing the mis-
sion buildings, tended the flocks and herds, were taught to make spikes, nails,
chains, and do all sorts of rude blacksmithing. Also they put in the crops
of wheat and harvested them, all with no machinery save the rudest; and
after the grain was threshed out by flail or trampling horses, the Indians trans-
ported it to the storerooms in great baskets and two-wheeled carts drawn
sometimes by oxen, often by the Indians themselves. Some of the Indians
who showed special musical talent were taught singing, and to play the
violin. Often a woman's voice of thrilling sweetness, a man's clear tenor or
deep-toned bass, was found among the Indians, and then it was trained to
sing the sacred songs and was added to the mission choir. Among the wealthy
Spanish families it was the custom to employ private teachers or send tlie

116 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

sons to Spain, I'eru and Mexico to be educated in the colleges there. This
helped to bring back to California the newer customs in dress and manners,
and the returned college student was an authority on fashions eagerly sought.
Such was the school system, or lack of it, until California became astate.
Then the American citizens planned a public school system on a broad and
liberal basis that has steadily improved until today no state in the Union
has its equal. The writer speaks advisedly, having taught in three states
ranking among the best in their school systems, and having kept well informed
as to the others. In California there is a concerted effort to teach the same sub-
jects in all the schools and along similar lines. The teacher who has nine or
ten pupils in a secluded mountain district must be as well trained and as fit for
the job as the teacher of the city or town, and is held as responsible for the
work she does. Two great universities, eight state normal schools and
countless other institutions prepare the teachers. Moral or physical defects
are not tolerated. The state furnishes free and uniform text-books and abun-
dant school supplies; and nowhere are there more fine, modern school build-
ings, e(|uipped with the best of furniture and apparatus. Plenty of school
ground, al^undance of sunshine and fresh air, well-trained, well-paid teachers
at the head of every schoolroom. Is it any wonder the California school
children are a happy, brainy lot of youngsters "making good" along all lines?

Pioneer Schools of CaUfornia

The first American school in California was a private school opened in
San Francisco in 1847 by a Mr. Marston. This school was conducted for about
a year. In February, 1848, a meeting of the citizens of San Francisco was
called to organize a public school. A board of trustees was chosen, Thomas
Douglas, a Yale graduate, was engaged as teacher, and the school opened
April 3, 1848. The same month Rev. Albert \Mlliams of the Presbyterian
Church opened a private school; and in the fall of 184S', J. C. Pelton opened a
.school in the IJaptist Church.

Provision for Funds of the Public Schools

In the state constitution of 1849, ample provision was made for the
support of the public schools. Each new state organized is allowed 500,000
acres of the public land, to be sold, and the money realized forms a school
fund to be invested ; and the interest only is used to defray running expenses
of schools. In addition to this 500,000 acres, California law sets aside the
si.xteenth and thirty-sixth sections of every township for public school lands.
May 3, 1852, an act was passed providing' for the sale of these school lands
at $2.00 per acre. The proceeds of the sales were converted into bonds of
tlie civil funded debt of the state bearing seven per cent, interest. April 23,
1«58, an act of the legislature provided for the selection of the unsold portion of
the school lands and reduced the price to $1.25 an acre, cash. When the sales
amounted to $10,000, state bonds were purchased and placed to the credit
of the public schools. The interest is paid semi-annually. By Tanuary 1,
18.58, 237,440 acres of the .=;00,000 had been sold. The proceeds'amounted to
$4/4,880; and the annual interest, at seven per cent., was $33,241.60. The
sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections amounted to 6,000,000 acres Later the
legislature hxed the nrice of the land at $2.00 per acre. This, when all is
.s..l(i, would yield a fund of 812,000,000 and provide, with interest a large

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 117

total fund. \'ery little school land in the state remains unsold. Later an
act provided that the funds realized from each sixteenth and thirty-si.xth
section should be credited to the school funds of the township in which it
was located. Also it was enacted that each county levy a special school
tax, not to exceed ten cents on each $100.

In 1858, a law provided that one-fourth of the poll tax money paid into
the state treasury should be used as school funds. When suffrage was
granted to women, the law was changed and the poll tax was abolished.

Public School Systenii Established

John G. Marvin was the first state superintendent of schools. In his
report to the legislature, 1852, he recommended creating the office of county
superintendent of schools, provision for school libraries, and that the funds
realized from the sale of swamp and overflowed lands should go to swell the
public school funds ; also that a tax of five cents on each $100 be levied for
school purposes. He reported 6,000 children in the state of school age.
In 1862, there were twenty public schools in the state, 17,821 children of
school age and 3,314 were attending .school. He recommended that the
county assessor should be county superdintendent of schools ex-officio. This
was done in this county; and we find that in 1857 Charles Varian, Isy virtue
of his office as assessor, was also county superintendent of schools. In 1859,
we find F. Wickenden elected to the office of county superintendent of
schools, and in 1860, P. Dunn— the redoubtable "Patsey" of Paso Robles,
we suppose.

First PubHc Schools in the County

The first public school in the count}- was at San Luis Obispo and was
held in a room of the old Mission building. Don Guillermo Series, a native of
Chile, was the teacher. Spanish was the language taught, and the district com-
prised the whole county. Don. Miguel Merchant, an "Irishman from Mex-
ico," was teacher number two. Spanish continued to be the language and
the teaching was by "rote" — the teacher repeated the lesson to the pupils
and then they in concert repeated it to him. The records of the court of
sessions show that Merchant occasionally received $100 for his services as
teacher. August 22, 1853, we find the supervisors passing this order: "Or-
dered that the salary paid out of the county fund to the teacher cease until
funds be received, and that each scholar shall pay five dollars per month
tuition."

D. F. Newsom really organized the public schools of the county. He
came in 1853 and was soon appointed county clerk, and by general consent
took charge of school matters. Mr. Parker followed Merchant as teacher,
but in 1854 Mr. Newsom became teacher and began to teach English, requir-
ing the pupils to translate Spanish into English and English into Spanish. At
this time there were only forty children in the county who could speak
English at all. In 1853 there were in the whole state but fifty-three schools
and fift3'-six teachers. Owing largely to the crimes in our cotinty, as previ-
ously related, settlers did not come. In 1861 only two schools existed in the
county. The one at San Luis Obispo was known as Mission district ; and up
in the northern end of the county was San Simeon school district, where in 1859
a little schoolhouse had been erected in a canon adjacent to Santa Rosa creek.

118 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENMRONS

A small area of jfovcrninent land had been settled on by a few American
families, and in 1859 Jerry Phelan is credited with having built the first
schoolhouse in the county north of San Luis Obispo, which may or may
not have built a schoolhouse by this time. We learn that after the room in
the Mission was abandoned, school was held in a building across the road ;
and later a two-room building was built on the lot where the Nipomo school
now is.

In 1861 the total number of children of school age was seven hundred
and thirty-five. Of these, sixty-two attended Mission school and thirteen
San Simeon school. E. A. Clark taught the former, and Miss S. M. Clark
the latter; Mr. Clark's salary was $75 per month and Miss Clark received
$30 per month. There are really no records of the schools until 1861. After
1863 there is a lapse until 1866, after which the records are quite complete. A
list of the early county superintendents of schools shows F. Wickenden, 1859;
P. Dunn, 1860; Alexander ^Murray, 1861 to 1865, when P. A. Forrester was
elected and served until 1868. James H. Gooch served until 1870; Forrester
was re-elected and served until 1873. when J. ]\I. Felts got the job for four
years. In 1878, F. E. Darke was elected and held the office two years. In
1880 J. F. Beckett was elected and served two years ; in 1883 jXfr. Felts was
again serving. Here we dig up an old record which says that D. F. Newsom
was superintendent in 1853, W. C. Dana in 1857. Going back to the records,
William Armstrong was elected and served eight years, ^Ir. Messer followed,
serving four years, and then came !Mrs. Adelaide Woods for four years. In
January, 1903, F. P. Johnson took the office; in January, 1907, F. E. Darke;
and in January, 1911, W. S. Wight, who was again elected in 1914 and is
serving at the present time.

In 1882 there were fifty-three school districts and 2,795 pupils of school
age, with an average daily attendance of 1.110. There were fifty-nine teachers
employed ; and of these twenty-three were men and thirty-six, women. The
county superintendent received a salary of $600 per year and could also teach
school to help out his income. The average length of the school year (time
school was taught) in 1882 was six and nine-tenths months. Total valuation
of school property, $43,593. In 1881, the average monthly salary of the men
teachers was $73 and of the women. $63.

Pioneer Teachers

From the list of teachers teaching in the county in 1883, of those who con-
tinued for many years to teach in the county we find Miss Cynthia Kingery,
now Mrs. Stringfield; Miss Cornelia Richards, now on the retired list; Miss
M.iry L. .McKcnnnn, retired; Fred E. Darke, retired; Miss Clara B. Churchill,
still teaching in Paso Robles ; J. M. Felts ; A. F. Parsons. Mr. Parsons is now
county surveyor. J. M. Felts quit teaching and was in the real estate bushiess
iVir some years, but has resumed teaching, being now employed in the Iron
Springs school. Mr«. Stringfield has taught much of the time,'between whiles
rearing a tamily of children ; at present she is teaching the Alamo school. In
I.SS3 the county superintendent's salary was raised to $1000, and he could
n-t teach school while holding office. In May, 1882, Superintendent J. F.
I.eckett i-<ues a lengthy report from which we cull a few interesting items,
ynthia kingory is then teaching Ascunsion school, and with the help of the

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 119

boys has killed a big rattler with twelve buttons to his suit, all on the tail.
In Oak Grove district Mr. E\ans is teaching and has taken his organ to
school, where great delight prevails over the possession of so rare an instru-
ment as an organ. The schoolhouse is of logs, but the view outside is
beautiful; and inside, oh joy! there is an organ, and a teacher to play it!
Canyon school, James A. Ford, teacher, closes with an entertainment and
picnic where apples and candy are passed and three prizes given out.
Miss Sallie Findley is teaching Cienega school, a new district. Corral de
Piedra has been whitewashed, a fence built and on the walls is a "neatly
framed motto card presented by Mrs. Patchett.'' Estrella school has twenty-
nine pupils enrolled, Cornelia Richards, teacher. During the ten years the
school has existed, with from twenty-five to seventy children attending,
only one death has occurred among the pujjils. (Pretty healthy locality!)
Fairview is a new school built by subscription. Franklin school has thirty
pupils, order below par. This school will be moved to Cayucos if the citizens
of "that thriving city" (Cayucos) will subscribe funds for a new schoolhouse.
(They did, but the "order" has always been hard to keep, it is said.) Hes-
perian school (now Cambria) has been ravaged by an epidemic of diphtheria ;
F. E. Darke is teacher. At times one hundred and fifty children have at-
tended the school, and for twelve years no pupil has died ; but when this
scourge came, climate was not equal to it. Home school has forty pupils.
Agnes M. Doud, teacher, ranks as one of the best in the county. The super-
intendent tries to visit Huer-Huero school, gets lost, scans the roadside
carefully for some trace of a road, goes two miles in the wrong direction,
turns back, follows a wagon track, goes up a sandy canon, finally reaches
Moody's place. Moody directs him to cross the ridge to another brancli
of the llucr-Iiuero and go down to Donovan's place, where he is told to
tie up his steed and walk a half mile. He arrives late in the day and finds
jack L. Dunn, a practical printer, also a graduate of the Warrensburg, Mo.,
Normal, in charge; log schoolhouse "situated in a se(|ucstered glen." (.Quite
so!) Los Osos school needs a fence and shade trees.

In the fall of 1876 "Mission School," now known as the Court school,
corner of Mill and Santa Rosa streets, was erected. It is described as "an
imposing structure of two stories, 50.x88 feet on the ground, costing $14,000."
J. P. Andrews gave the ground and in the deed it is stipulated that it can
only be used for school purposes. If ever the trustees try to sell the
ground or use it for other purposes, it reverts to the Andrews heirs. C. H.
Woods was then principal of the school. Mountain View and Oak Flat were
new schools. Paso Robles school had sixteen pupils. Miss Annie Osborn,
teacher.

Thirty-four \'ears have ])asscd since Superintendent I'.eeketl made his vol-
uminous report of 1882, which was pul)lishetl in the Tribune. During those
years the towns of San Miguel, Paso Robles, Templeton, Santa Margarita,
Pismo, Oceano and Nipomo have come into existence. All the others have
increased in population and the county has been well settled with thrifty,
enterprising citizens. .\t present there arc ninety-one school districts, em-
ploying one hundred sixty-four teachers. Of these, twenty-six are high-
school teachers, four are special teachers, and one liundred thirty-four arc
teaching in the graiumar-school grades. ( Irammar schools em|)loying more
than one teacher are: .Atascadero, 4; Camliria, 2; j'isiuo. 2; Cayucos, 2;

120 SAN LUIS Or.ISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Morro, 2; Nipomo, 2: Oceano, 2; San Miguel, 3; Santa Margarita, 4; Shan-
don, 2 ; Templeton. 3 ; San 1 -uis Obispo, 20 ; Arroyo Grande, 6 ; Paso Robles, 17.

School Funds

For the year 1915-1916 the state appropriation for grammar schools in
this county was $55,994.68; county funds, $49,373; special taxes, $19,622;
bond sales,' $64,692. All the bonds sold at a good premium, llie total enroll-
ment in grammar schools was 3,474; average daily attendance, 2,897. The
high schiKil iiad 354 enrolled, and an average attendance of 299. High
school funds were: State appropriation, $5,561.01; county fund, $15,480;
district taxes, $15,826.70.

A Much Misunderstood Law

The first schools of the state and county were connected with the
missions, and of course the doctrines of the church were zealously taught,
a perfectly reasonable thing to expect and to do. When the public school
system was being considered, a body of wise, far-seeing men looked beyond
the present moment. So far all the schools had been really church schools
under the control of the Roman Catholic Church, teaching the doctrines of
that body. If the public school funds were apportioned to such schools,
those teaching the Catholic faith, every other denomination on earth might
eventually start up schools in California and demand support out of the
public school funds. No one discredited the efforts at education so far made,
but to safeguard the school funds and to prevent chaos in future years, the
legislature in 1855 passed the law "No sectarian doctrines shall be taught in
schools receiving public money, and no money shall be apportioned to any
school not taught by a regularly examined and licensed teacher."

This law, wise and good, has been distorted by overzealous, ignorant
religionists; we do not say Christians, but religionists. "Back East" they
will tell you with bulging eyes how the law forbids the reading of the Bible
in the public schools. It forbids fools and zealots trying to expound it for
their own or a sect's benefit. Nowhere in the school law of California is the
Bible mentioned, and since it is impossible to study literature without a
knowledge of P>ible stories and references, any teacher is at liberty, in order
to enhance the value of the piece of literature being studied, to read that
portion of the P.ible to her pupils and tell them all the history she or he
knows connected with it ; but if the teacher attempted to expound her private
opinion on religious views she would be told to seek another job or lose her
credentials. The California school law makes it obligatory upon every teacher
to "teach manners and morals" as a part of the daily routine, but she
cannot try to make Presbyterians, Baptists, Scientists or Catholics out of
them. Show us a higher, purer-minded, cleaner-living set of teachers any-
where Ulan those reared and educated in California if you can. Some come
from acnjss the Sierras and cry about not being al)le to use the Bible in
school. What they need is first to use in their own lives the Bible principles
of true Christianity and to back that up with the thorough preparation that
real California teachers get who are reared and educated for the profession
right here in thi.-^ state, where respect and obedience to law are considered a
prime essential.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 121

HIGH SCHOOLS
San Luis Obispo High School

The San Luis Obispo or Mission district high school employs nine
regular and four special teacliers. A. H. Mabley is city superintendent and
principal of the high school. The high school was first held in that dear,
but awful old relic, the "Pavilion" ; then in the Court school ; and in August,
1906, it was opened in the fine $40,000 stone building it now occupies on
Marsh street. This school ranks well and sends many young men and women
yearly to the universities and normal schools, while equipping many more
for useful positions. It has a commercial course, and manual training and
domestic science and arts courses.

Paso Robles High School

Paso Robles high school employs eight teachers, and has a good building
and a large tract of land within the city limits for agricultural training. One
or two large auto busses bring the students to and from San Miguel and
other points. This school has an attendance of over one hundred pupils.

Templeton Union High School

This school began operations last August in the free reading room
and a big canvas annex. It opened with three teachers and thirty pupils.
A tract of nine acres sufficient for agriculture and all other purposes was
bought, and bonds for $5,000 were issued for the building, which is of concrete,
and so arranged that necessary additions can easily be made as required. At
this writing, January 8, 1917, the new building is ready for occupancy.

Arroyo Grande Union High School

Arroyo Grande had what it called a high school away back in 1898. It
was held in Good Samaritan Hall, presided over by James Stringfield. Next
it was in the grammar-school building, and A. F. Parsons was in charge.
Finally there was a movement to organize a union high school, with six or
seven districts included. It was voted, but when it came to collecting the taxes
for it the fur flew. There were lawsuits, much wrangling, and not a little
bitterness. A modest wooden building went up on "Crown Hill," and three
or four teachers were employed, but for some years it was not accredited to
the university. At last it rose to that dignity, also let go some of the more
disgruntled districts, but held on to enough to he a union high school. Last
year it voted $12,000 for a new building, which is brick-faced and near the
former wooden building. It now employs six teachers, has manual training
and domestic science teachers, and is prospering.

NEW GRAMMAR SCHOOLS

Paso Robles voted bonds for $40,000, built one of the finest concrete
grammar-school buildings in tlie state, furnished it beautifully, and had it
ready for occupancy at the beginning of the school year, 1916-17.

Santa Margarita voted bonds for $20,000, liuilt a beautiful concrete school-
house with large assembly hall, and on May day, 1916, celebrated its opening

122 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

with a picnic, barl)ccuc. a play by the pupils and speeches by various county
orators.

Atascadero voted $16,000 in its first school bond and a second bond for
$3,000. The funds are now being used to erect a fine modern building. The
New district l)onded itself for $1,700 to build with. Simmler voted a special
tax of $3,000 for a new school. Sunderland voted bonds for $1,600. Lincoln
is bonded for $2,700. Shandon sold a $4,000 bond and built a fine new
schoolhousc; and after, lo! these many years, San Marcos has as pretty a
new schoolhouse as one could wish — but thereby hangs a tale :

In August, 1914, Miss Helen Morrison was engaged to teach San Alarcos
school. .The tiny old shack stood on its wind-swept slope, cold in winter,
zi])ping hut in summer, and the tramps camped within its gates or slept on
its floor. "Campers" left their old tin cans and rags, gypsies hung their
dazzling colored wash to dry on its fence, evil-minded vandals wrote vile
words upon its doorposts. A'ea, San Marcos was in sore straits, and the
inhabitants thereof indifferent to its plight. The children felt the demoraliz-
ing effect and were rebellious to it all, the teacher included. This plucky
young woman avoided the broken boards in the floor, thrashed one or two
big boys, won their respect, and later their boyish devotion, mothered the little
tots, taught the lessons well, saw that they were learned and finally was
engaged for a second year. Towards the close of her second year and when
things were running like clock-work, she was offered ninety dollars a month
in a district that had a good schoolhouse. The trustees spoke to her about
taking the school for a third year. She told them of her ninety-dollar offer
and said, "If I decide to remain here it is only with your promise of a new
schoolhouse for next 3-ear ; I will waive the ninety-dollar offer, will go on
for the scventy-five-doUar salary, but a new schoolhouse has got to come."
Result, those good people got busy right away ; they respected the teacher
for her grit and self-respect. They respected themselves and their children
when they got really waked up, so they voted $2,500 to build the pretty
new Ijuilding and kept the teacher who was doing a good job for them when
she made them see their duty. San jMarcos has a good board of trustees, a
schoolhouse to i)e proud of, twenty bright and well-behaved pupils, an up-to-
date teacher, and woe betide the tramp, camper or gypsy who dares deface
or maltreat any of its property now.

A ride over our county will soon convince the traveler that we are
getting up b_v the band wagon when it comes to schoolhouses, all except
our chief city — and of that we are ashamed. The two old grammar-school
buildings in San Luis Obispo are a disgrace to the town. The Court school,
forty years old, is an old fire-trap now, whatever it was at the beginning. The
tiiree-rooni schoolhouse on Nipomo street was burned down in 1885, when
D. M. Meredith was principal. In 1886 a fine four-room, two-story building
was put up at a cost of $6,000. Later, about 1900, it was added to, and now
contanis eiglu schoolrooms, but many regard it as a menace to those forced to
attend or teach sch.x.l there. In the yard are two or three little shacks used
f'lr scho...! rooms: one is the domestic-science plant. Time and again a
strong etlori h;s been made to vote bonds for a new building, but always they
are turned down. The last school-bond fight was early in 1916. F. E. Darke
was prmcipal of the Xijiomo street school for fifteen years, and he it was who
designed and vath the boy? laid out and itlanted the pretty grounds fronting

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUxNTY AND ENVIRONS 123

the building;. The Mitchell block was b(night a few years ago for additional
school grounds. Recently a plot back of the high school and adjoining it was
also purchased. This was a wise move and one or two more pitched battles
like that of 1916 will end in victory for better school buildings for San Luis
Obispo. The town is rapidly improving along other lines, and it is the worst
kind of bad business to refuse to Iniild modern up-to-date schoolhouses for
the children.

OTHER SCHOOLS

Academy of the Immaculate Heart

On Palm street, not far from the Mission, stands the "Convent School,"
as it is generally called. The group of buildings is upon ground once a
part of the Mission lands, probably a part of the fifty-two acres set aside
for the use of the church when John Wilson's claims to all the Mission build-
ings and land were refuted and settled by state officials. This school is in
charge of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It was opened to
students August 16, 1876, with eight Sisters as teachers, four of whom were
natives of Spain and four natives of this country, all belonging to the order.
Bishop Amat and Bishop Mora assisted at the opening of the school, and
Bishop Mora presented the institution with a fine piano. It is both a day and
boarding school, giving a course of instruction similar to or corresponding
with the eight grammar-school grades. There is a sewing class for the
girls, and the musical instruction is of a high order. A boys' school, for boys
in the grammar grades, is connected with the Convent school for girls. There
are now one hundred twenty pupils and eight Sisters in charge. In 1882
a three-story wing, 90x28 feet, was added to the main building, also a separate
building one hundred feet long. In one end is the chapel, 43x26 feet, ceiling
22 feet high. A gallery extends across one end. The upper rooms are
dormitories. In the chapel are beautiful stained-glass windows. The build-
ing cost $5,000 when erected. These Sisters exert a great influence upon the
children in their charge, and needless to sav the Convent school is highly
\alued by l^an Luis Obispo citizens.

The State Polytechnic School

Just north of the city limits, facing the Southern Pacific Railroad, is a
beautiful group of cream-colored buildings that excites the interest of many
passing on the long trains. This is the State Polytechnic School, the realiza-
tion of ]\Iyron Angel's vision and of Assemblyman Warren M. John's and
Senator S. C. Smith's unceasing efforts in its behalf. December 25, 1896,
Myron Angel published in the Breeze a letter urging all political parties to
"bury the hatchet" and unite in an effort to get a state normal school estab-
lished here. C. H. Phillips, president of the West Coast Land Co., had offered
fifteen acres of ground as a gift to such a school. Budd was governor, a
Democrat ; Smith, the senator, was a Republican, and our assemblyman at
the time was J. K. Burnett, a Populist. Mr. Angel called attention to our
fine, even climate and quoted the weather bureau. The Tribune joined in
\vitli the Breeze, the people got busy and called a public meeting. A petition
til the legislature was prepared and a collection taken to get it typed. A
ccinmiittce on sites was ap])ointcd consisting of Benjamin II. Brooks, J. D.

124 SAN LUIS omSPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Fowler and \\\ A. Henderson. Mr. Phillips' offer was either disregarded
or withdrawn, one would suppose.

In 1897 Smith introduced a bill to the legislature asking that a normal
school be located here, very soon after San Diego put in a claim for a normal
school. So a committee was sent to examine both places. February 20, 1897,
the committee on its return from San Diego stopped to look over the ground
here and of course they were royally entertained. A reception and banquet
at Hotel Ramona was tendered, and the city council voted one hundred
dollars towards it. Myron Angel was called upon to speak. In his remarks
he told of how he arrived in San Francisco in December, 1849, after crossing
the plains on foot from Fort Leavenworth to San Diego direct from school
on the Atlantic coast. Passage on a brig to San Francisco had taken his last
cent, and he walked the muddy streets in the winter rain penniless, ragged
and hungry. He said a man hailed him with, "Say, boy, do you want a job?"
"Yes," he eagerly replied. "Get up on that roof and nail on those shingles;
I'll give you eight dollars a day." He blurted out, "Mister, I never drove a
nail in my life." "To hell with you!" he called, and whistled for another boy.
"I met other boys who could w^ork with their hands and earn good money ;
I had plenty of book lore, but no one had a job for me. Gentlemen of the
Committee : I have planned for a school here which shall teach the hand
as well as the head ; so that no young man or woman attending it need be
sent into the world as helpless to earn a living as I was when I landed in
San Francisco in 1849." Hon. Sig Bettman from San Francisco arose and
said : "I have been opposed to any more normal schools and came here deter-
mined to oppose this one ; but I will return and vote for a Polytechnic, and do
all in my power to carry it through."

A l)ill was presented, passed both houses, but Budd vetoed it. Economy
was the plea. The bill called for a school teaching trades and agriculture.
In 1898 a governor was to be elected; so with zeal the friends of the pro-
posed school "went to it." Gage ran on the Republican ticket ; Maguire, on the
Democratic. A new party, the Silver Republicans, convened in Los Angeles,
intending to endorse the Democratic nominee ; so Mr. Angel attended the
convention and did some lobbying; at any rate the Breeze received and pub-
lished this: "Alcatraz Landing, Cal., August 29, 1898. Breeze, San Luis
Obispo. Our polytechnic school adopted in platform and approved by
Maguire. Signed : .Angel and Kimball." December 8, 1898, at a public meeting
held in San Luis Obispo, Angel read a letter from Smith promising that the
first bill he introduced should be for the school. C. II. Johnson, D. Lowe,
Thomas Barrett, J. P. Andrews, A. McAllister, IMyron Angel, A. F. Fitz-
gerald were named a committee to bond and secure options from which a site
could be selected. The Bakersfield Democratic paper "kicked" at the school,
and is still periodically throwing out its heels; but "we should worry." In
1S"9, a bill for the school was again presented, but the assemblymen were
fighting over the payment of bounties on coyote scalps. Our assemblyman
had favored the bill for scalps, so his enemies got his scalp and voted down
the bill.

In 1900, Warren M. John was sent to the assembly from this county.
He and Smith at once presented a bill for the school. In January, 1901, a
bill passed both houses and was signed by the governor. It was to take
effect and be in force after January 1, 1902. Governor Gage appointed War-

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 125

ren AI. John, William Graves, of San Luis Obispo, Senator S. C. Smith of
Bakersfield, F. A. Hihn of Santa Cruz and E. J. Wickson of San Francisco
a board of trustees. An appropriation of $50,000 had been made. March 12,
1902, the trustees met in San Luis Obispo. There were banquets, addresses,
etc. It was said our young assemblyman, John, "wore a smile a mile wide"
when the bill he fought so hard for was a law. He was only twenty-eight years
old, and probably about the best-beloved young politician in the state.

The commission had selected the site offered by Mr. Lowe. At the Palace
Hotel, iVIay 26, 1902, the deeds were delivered to the commission charged
with establishing the school, which consisted of Governor Gage, State Super-
intendent of Schools Thomas J. Kirk, and the board of trustees. Prof. LeRoy
Anderson of the state university was chosen director of the school at a
salary of $200 per month. In September, 1902, Mr. Graves died and R. L.
Shackelford of Paso Robles was selected to fill the vacancy. Early in 1903
the corner stone of the main building was laid with due ceremony. October
1, 1903, the school received its first pupils, fifteen in number — Laura and
Irene Righetti, Lila Weaver, of San Luis Obispo ; Kent S. Knowlton, Port
Harford ; Allen V. and Charles J. Emmet, Arroyo Grande ; Mary Bello,
Morro ; Gustavus and Henry Wade, Francis D. Buck, Owen Hollister, of
Goleta ; Paul L. Williams, Ventura ; \\'illiam H. Boswell, Soledad ; Herbert
H. Cox, Morgan Hill; Frank L. Flinn, Descano, in San Diego county. The
faculty was Director Anderson, S. S. Twombly, Gwendolin Stewart, O. L.
Heald and Naomi Lake, stenographer. A minute history of the school was
written and published by Myron Angel ; so for all data other than what is here
given we refer you to his book, as it covers all points up to 1907-1908.

Many fine teachers were added to the faculty, among them Miss May
Secrest, domestic science. In November, 1907, -Mr. Anderson resigned and
LeRoy B. Smith, a graduate of Cornell, was chosen director. In 1913 Smith
resigned and Prof. Ryder became director, and is still at the head of the
school. In 1913 the tenth anniversary of the school was celebrated with a
beautiful pageant and three-day glorification. Many new shops and barns
have been built, a beautiful domestic arts building, boys' dormitory, dining
hall and electric plant. In December, 1907, there were one hundred thirty-
four students attending. The enrolment for 1916-1917 is about two hun-
dred. The school fills a great need, and to show what its future may be we
append this from the Telegram of January 6, 1917. "After years of but
little or no recognition by the state, the California Polytechnic School is to he
considered at this year's session of the legislature for permanent improve-
ments.

"The State Board of Control has rcc|uestcd that the. state architectural
department go over the ground plans of the Polytechnic and make plans for
a permanent building plan similar to that of the University of California.
In complance with the board's request, Charles F. Dean, assistant state
architect; A. R. Widdowson, chief draftsman; and James Dean, chief de-
signer, are now at the Polytechnic, and with Director Ryder are making a
careful survey of the grounds.

"The plans are for making the Polytechnic one of the state's influential,
permanent institutions, sufficient for the instructing of one thousand stu-
dents.

"It is expected that this year's legislature will pass an approjiriation suf-

126 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Ik-iciit for the erection of five permanent buildings: an armory, an administra-
tion huildins;-, an agrictiltural building, a science hall, and a combined shops
buildino-."

OUR HONORED VETS

In writing this history of the San Luis Obispo County schools, we feel
it only right to pay a tribute to those who, for many years, have faithfully
served as' teachers. Not only have they taught the curriculum required, but
in hundreds of cases they have been as "a lamp unto the feet and a light unto
the path'' of ihose struggling for an education under adverse circum-
stances or, more pitiful yet, of those hampered by low moral surroundings.
To help a child realize its possibilities, to give a helping hand at the right
moment, to encourage in all noble endeavor and aspiration, to have the
tlivine mother-instinct and use it for everybody's child, this is what makes
so many teachers revered long years after they are dust. There are other
names that belong among the "vets," but for various reasons we ha\e ob-
tained no data other than what we could recall. Miss Mary McKennon was a
highly prized teacher of this county for nearly thirty years. Mrs. String-
field is mentioned elsewhere ; C. H. Woods wielded a good influence in our
schools for many years ; and there are other names that will come to the
minds of our mature readers, of well-beloved teachers — Mrs. Lesa Lane for
one, and Aliss Lottie \\'ise for another.

Mrs. Mary S. Spaulding

Probably no l3etter-lo\ed nor more capable teacher ever taught in the
county than Mrs. Spaulding. She was born at Killingly, Conn., was educated
in the grammar and high schools of her native town, and taught nine years
in the union graded schools of Danielson, Conn. She came to California in
January, 1884, and her first teaching in the state was in the Home district.
She then taught in San Luis Obispo, but a change caused her to go to
Arroyo Grande. She taught there for a while, then took charge of the Laguna
school, which position she held for fifteen years. Later she taught at Stowe,
Avila and Santa l'"e. She taught almost continuously in this county for
thirty years, only ceasing during a severe illness. In 1914 she retired on a
$500-a-year annuity granted for thirty years' service by the Retirement Salary
Board. Both of Mrs. Spaulding's parents were teachers. A brother, seventy
years of age, is now principal of Brown School at Hartford. Conn. He has
just completed fifty years of service, twenty-five of which have been in the
"l.!rown School."'

Miss Clara Belle Churchill

l\Iiss Ciuirchill surely deserves a place among our "vets." She was
born in Marysville in 185.S, was educated in San Jose, graduated from the
higji school in 1873 and from the normal in 1876. She taught two years in
the northern part of the state and in 1878 came to this county and taught in
th'j Alission school of San Luis Obispo. Later she taught at Los Osos, West
Santa Fc, East Santa Fe, then back to San Luis, Avhere she taught for five
years in tiie grammar and primary grades. After teaching for five years in
San Luis she taught at Excelsior, Lincoln and Cuesta. In 1888 she went to
Paso Roliles when there v.^erc only three teachers in the town, taking charge
of the primary work. There she has been for twenty-eight vears, constantly

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 127

employed as teacher of the first grade. The little "beginners" go joyfully off to
school, for there they can spend lovely hours with Miss Churchill, whom
they all know and already love. She is "pretty" too, they say, and no one
disputes it. She says that for some years now she has had pupils who are
children of former pupils of hers ; and going to school to "papa's teacher"' is
now their delight. She proudly says, "I've seen the schools grow from
three teachers to ten in our new $40,000 grammar school and seven teachers
in our fine high school." By the way, this new concrete grammar school is
one of the finest in the state. A large plot of ground has just been bought
for agricultural uses ; irrigation is taught, using sulphur water from the
school's artesian well. A new barn with stalls for twenty horses and room
for as many vehicles is also being built. It's good to go to school in Paso
Robles.

Flora E. Armstrong

Mrs. Armstrong deserves mention among those who have had a strong-
influence in our public schools. She came to California via Panama in 1860,
was educated by private tutor in her uncle's home, as there were few good
grammar schools at that date. She took a course at the University of the
Pacific and at the San Jose normal. She taught in the San Jose city schools
and was vice-principal of the San Jose high school. In October, 1876, she
came to this county and taught several years in San Luis Obispo. She went
to New Mexico, but in 1896 returned to this county and taught three and a
half years at Sa.n Marcos. Next she was principal of the Templeton school
for five years, then principal of Arroyo Grande school for six years, and vice-
principal of the high school there for three years. She is now on the retired
list. Mrs. Armstrong also was a member of the county board of education
in Santa Clara county for two years, and was on the board of this county
for some years.

William M. Armstrong

William M. Armstrong crossed the plains by ox team in 1864, going to
]'<jrtland, Oregon. He was twenty years old and entered the Portland Com-
mercial College, graduating the next year. He came to this county in 1878,
taught many years, was twice elected county superintendent of schools,
1886-1890. Before being elected he was principal of the Court school in
San Luis Obispo. In 1896 he founded the Armstrong Business College in
San Luis Obispo and trained many successful business men and women.
He died, July 13, 1909.

Clara E. Paulding

Mrs. Paulding has been identified with the schools of the county since
1883. She taught two years in Arroyo Grande, then in Cafion district, two
years in San Luis Obispo town school, then taught the Spring school near
Shandon, while homesteading a government claim. Later she taught five
years in Arroyo Grande, a term in Stowe district, two years in Huasna, and
is now teaching her fourth year in Brancli school. From 1900 to 1910,
Mrs. Paulding was teaching music and acting as substitute in Arroyo Grande
school. She says, "This is what might be called a checkered career." At any
rate it has been a very useful, well-appreciated career. No woman in Arroyo
Grande has ever lield or now holds a higher place in social and school life

128 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

than this inuch-Io\-ed woman, who for years has served on the school board,
and is sought as an authority on questions of the public or moral good.
Clara Edwards Paulding is a descendant of the noted Jonathan Edwards of
colonial days and sister of Professor Edwards, teacher of mathematics in the
University at Berkeley. She married Dr. Edward Paulding, the pioneer
physician of Arroyo Grande. They have one daughter, Ruth, now a teacher
in the Arroyo Grande high school.

F. E. Darke
No man has been more active and efficient in the schools of the county
for the last forty-seven years than F. E. Darke. Mr. Darke served four
years in the Civil ^\'ar, and was in many hard-fought battles to save our
country from disunion and ruin. He did not come to California to escape
his duty, but continued to serve his country, for he went right to work
helping boys and girls make men and women of themselves, teaching them
the lessons in their books and the lessons of self-help, self-respect and hon-
orable living. Mr. Darke came to the state from New York in 1868. In
1869 he was employed to teach the San Simeon school. From 1870 to 1882,
or for twelve years, he taught the Hesperian school, now called Cambria
school. Each year when the funds were used up at Hesperian school, he
would teach a summer term for Mammoth Rock, Santa Rosa, San Simeon,
Salinas or Morro school. In 1882, Mr. Darke was elected county recorder,
and from 1882 to 1889 he filled that office. In 1889 he was engaged as
principal for the Nipomo street school in San Luis Obispo and taught there
until he resigned in December, 1907, to take office as county superintendent
of schools. He served four years, and did much to improve certain con-
ditions. One thing was to compel trustees to pay the salary granted by law,
not less than $70 per month for eight months ; also he saw to it that ladies
looking for "a good time in a cow country" left for other fields, and teachers
able and willing to teach school got the positions. Mr. Darke advocated
teaching the essentials rather than the furbelows of education, and the schools
of the county showed marked improvement under his rule as superin-
tendent. In 1911 he again taught Cambria school, remaining there until
1913. His last active schoolroom work was at Nipomo in 1914. He retired
on the $5G0-a-year annuity in 1915, after having served in the ranks four years
as a soldier of infantry, and forty years as captain in a schoolroom. ]Mr.
Darke's wife died, leaving a family of small children. These children were all
raised by the father, well looked after and every one sent to a university or
college. Such a father deserves the respect of all, and few have it in larger
measure than .Mr. Darke.

CHURCHES
Pioneer Churches
The first religious services held in the county were those of San Luis
and San Miguel missions. September 1, 1772, Junipero Serra hung a bell
to a branch of a big sycamore tree on the bank of San Luis creek. After
ringing it, hoping to attract the Indians, he blessed and raised the cross and
said mass.

The first Protestant clmrch built in the county was erected by the
Methodist Episcopal congregation in December, 1869, at San Luis Obispo.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 129

The first service in the building was held on the Sabbath, January 2, 1870,
Rev. A. P. Hendon, pastor. The pastor inserted a notice in the Tribune
announcing Sunday school at 9:30 A. M. and preaching at 11 A. M. He
stated that the building was enclosed. -"We have ordered the windows and
doors, which will cost not to exceed $50, and at our first service we hope to
raise this amount by collection." It is hoped he got it, for going to church
in winter without doors or floor or windows in the building would mean a
surplus of fresh air, though now we are apt to have too little of it. If we
had to take up a "collection" to pay for fresh air, we should likely have it in
abundance. This building cost $1,400 cash. In 1874, Rev. D. H. Haskins
pastor, the church lot on Garden street was bought, and the church build-
ing moved onto it. There were repairs .and additions made ; and the new
edifice was dedicated June 21, 1874, Rev. C. V. Anthony from Oakland preach-
ing the sermon. The congregation was the largest ever seen in the town ; and
when the minister stated that they had a debt of $900, and "passed the hat,"
the enthusiasm was so great that $1020 was dropped in. The ladies had
raised enough to buy a bell weighing one thousand pounds, and this was
placed in the new belfry. In 1911 the congregation erected the present
commodious structure on the corner of Morro and Pacific streets, and built
a pretty parsonage. This building cost $18,000, and was dedicated February
19, 1911. Rev. H. F. Munger was pastor. Rev. Dr. Charles Edward Locke
of. Los Angeles preached the dedicatory sermon.

Rev. A. B. Spooner was the first Protestant minister in the county. He
resided on Old creek, was chaplain of the San Simeon Lodge, F. and A. M.,
and preached wherever and whenever he was called upon to do so. He said
words of comfort to the dying, preached the funeral sermons of those who
died, and helped the living by his counsel. In time he moved to Morro, and
being well acquainted with the bay, sometimes acted as pilot. On the
evening of February 5, 1877, he heard the steamer "Alary Taylor" whistling
for a pilot. He started out in a small boat, but the tide was racing out to
sea and capsized the little boat. The current was sweeping through the
channel by Morro Rock and his body was never recovered. Memorial ser-
vices were iield in all the Protestant churches for this good man.
Episcopal Church

The first Protestant Episcopal church in the county was St. Stephen's
in San Luis Obispo. It was organized in August, 1867. May 14, 1868, it
elected vestrymen and officers: Dr. W. W. Hays, senior warden; J. B.
Townsend, junior warden; G. F. Sauer, treasurer; John Flint, secretary; J. H.
HoUister, O. Kemp, J. Jones, I. C. Smith, vestrymen. Rev. H. Chetwood
was the first rector that we find on record. He was stationed at San Diego,
but frequently came up here and held services. The first service was held in
Odd Fellows Hall, July 28, 1872. In April, 1873, at a meeting held, plans
for a church building were submitted, and it was decided to erect a building
on the northeast corner of Nipunio and I'ismo streets. Tlie church cost $3,000
and seats about one hundred persons. Rev. C. II. L. Chandler is now the rec-
tor in charge.

Presbyterian Churches

The first Presbyterian Cliurch services in the county were held in San
Luis Obispo by Rev. Frazicr oi Oakland, July 18, 1874. May 12. 1875, a

130 SAX 1-flS oinSlH.) COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

numhcr of friends ni that denomination met at the residence of Judge
Venal)lc and took the jircliminary steps towards organizing a church, which
were completed the next Sunday, May 16, 1875. Rev. Alvin Ostrom was
ens-aged as pastor, and the services were held in Little & Cochran's hall.
Tliishall is now a part of the building occupied by the Golden State Hotel.
About 1884 a church seating two hundred people was built on the corner
of -Morro and Marsh streets. This building was moved to the lot adjoining,
given to the church by Mr. Henry Bruhner, named Hersman Hall, and is now
used for social meetings, Sunday school rooms, etc. In 1905 the fine edifice
now occupied by the church was dedicated ; Rev. Harry Hillard was pastor
and Rev. Hugh K. Walker of Los Angeles preached the dedication sermon.
Rev. joim D. Habbick is now the pastor. After the influx of settlers that
came with the Southern Pacific Railway, in 1886, Presbyterian churches were
organized and built at Templeton, Estrella and Shandon. For years the ,
Estrella and Shandon churches were lively institutions, but at Estrella the
church has been without a pastor for years, and at Shandon the services are
only held irregularlv.

LODGES
Lodges are numerous and prosperous. The first lodge organized in
the county was a Masonic lodge, San Luis Obispo Lodge, No. 148. Dr. Joseph
M. Havens, "the father of Masonry" in the county, took the first steps and
a charter dated May 16, 1861, was obtained from the Grand Lodge of Cali-
fornia. There were nine charter members. Later in the year others joined.
Governor Pacheco being one. The great drought of 1862-63-64 caused many
changes in population, and the lodge surrendered its charter. Early in 1869,
San Simeon Lodge, No. 169, of Cambria was organized, and a charter was
granted October 14, 1869. On December 12, 1869, a public dedication of the
lodge was held, and a grand ball concluded the ceremonies. Here O. K. Smith
figures as one of the committee ; he was Senior Warden of the lodge. King
David Lodge, No. 209, was organized ; a charter was obtained October 14, 1870;
and on November 1, 1870, it was duly instituted in San Luis Obispo. The
first I. O. O. F. lodge in the county was instituted ]\Iarch 3, 1870, at San
Luis Obispo and named Chorro Lodge. The second lodge of this order in
the county was organized at Cambria, Hesperian Lodge, No. 181. It was
instituted on September 28, 1870. Many prominent Odd Fellows were
present, District Deputy Grand Master M. Peppcrman, Past Grand
L. Landeker of Chorro Lodge, and John B. Fitch, Past Grand of
Healdsliurg Lodge, being among them. The charter members were
D. P. Crawford,' Geo. S. Davis, O. S. Palmer, John H. Rader, Ed. M.
Minott, C. H. Egbert and F. F. Letcher. Officers installed: N. G., C. PI.
Egbert ; V. G., Geo. S. Davis ; Sec, O. S. Palmer ; Treas., J. H. Rader. Arroyo
Grande Lodge, No. 278, I. O. O. F., was instituted January 12, 1878. The first
officers were: X. ( ,., J. II. boston: V. G.. G. A. Robbins': P. S., P. J. Wash-
ington; R. S., B. J. Woods; Treas., M. Hammerschlag. The last two lodges
mentioned own halls and have always flourished. About 1902 the Arroj^o
Grande lodge built a fine two-story building of the handsome yellow sand-
stone quarried near there. The first Rebekah lodge in this county, Morse's
Kebekali Degree. X.). 25. was instituted at Cambria, June 10, 1877. The second
I'riendship Rebekah Degree, No. 36, was instituted at San Luis Obispo, Tulv
12, 1877. Cayucos Lodge, No. 300. I. O; O. F., was organized about 1883.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 131

This lodge owns it own hall. The 0(hl Fellows lodge at Paso Robles was
organized soon after the town was started. In June, 1889, the Templeton
lodge was instituted. It prospered for about ten years, and was then united
with the Paso Robles lodge. Paso Robles has a Masonic lodge and a Rebekah
Degree, as has also San Miguel. There arc Eastern Star lodges at San Luis
Obispo, Paso Robles and San Miguel.

The Knights of Pythias lodge was first introduced to San Luis Obispo
when Park Lodge, No. 40, was instituted, December 21, 1876, with
thirteen charter members, J. M. Wilcoxan, Chancellor Commander. Those
who joined the lodge at its organization, or very soon thereafter, and have
been faithful members since, are: J. ;\I. \'incent, Ben Sinsheimer, P. F. Ready,
A. C. McLeod, J. E. Lewis, who all joined in 1887; A. H. Hicox, 1878;
J. F. Branch and T- B. Weaver, 1881: Otto Tullman, 1884: Finnev, 1888;
H. C. Fry, 1889.

The Native Sons of the Golden West have had lodges at several places,
as have also their sisters, the Native Daughters of the Golden West. At
Cambria the parlor w'as organized on November 8, 1889, with nineteen
members. There are sixty-four members at present. This lodge has six
thousand dollars now in its treasury and is socially a strong factor. Each
year it celebrates Admission Day, September 9, with great enthusiasm. A
Wild West show has been the leading feature for years now. There are
lodges of this order at San Miguel and San Luis Obispo, and a strong one
formerly existed at Nipomo. The Native Daughters of San Miguel and San
Luis Obispo are also lodges of influence.

There are, in the county, lodges of the Woodmen of the World, Red Men,
Women of W'oodcraft, Royal Neighbors, Knights of Columbus, and various
other orders ; but space will not permit us to write of them all. We have
endeavored to note those of greatest importance, and earliest in the county.

CHAPTER XIII
The Press, the Bench and Bar, Physicians and Others

THE PRESS

The first newspaper published in California was The Californian, at
Monterey, August 15, 1846, by Rev. Walter Colton and Dr. Robert Semple.
The latter was the printer and had come with FYemont's expedition. Colton
had come into the country as chaplain of the frigate "Congress." He had been
appointed alcalde of Monterey by Commodore Stockton. As there were no
newspapers in this county to print public notices, the legislature passed a
special act, April 27, 1837, for the benefit of this county and Santa Barbara,
which was also without a paper. The act provided for the posting of notices
"At the house of Jacob J. Simmler in the town of San Luis Obispo, and at
the house of Felipe Gaxiola. At the house of Charles Varian in Arroyo
Grande, and at the house of Joaquin Estrada in Santa Margarita."

The first newspaper published in the county was The Pioneer of San
Luis Obispo. The editor and owner was Rome G. Vickars, and his first
issue was January 4, 1868. The price was $5.00 per annum, invariably in

132 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

advance. The paper was printed on paper 22x28 inches, six columns to
each one of the four pages. In the first number were professional cards of
James Van Ness, James White, Wm. J. Graves, Chas. Lindley, P. A. For-
rester, Walter Murray, attorneys; W. W. Hays, M. D. The ofificial directory
was Pablo de la Guerra, judge of the first district; W. M. Beebee, county
judge; j. A. de la Guerra, sherif?; Wm. J. Graves, district attorney; C. W.
Dana, clerk and recorder; G. F. Sauer, treasurer; John Bains, assessor;
George Deffner, surveyor ; P. A. Forrester, superintendent of schools ; J. J.
Simmler, justice of the peace of San Luis Obispo and R. Rigdon of San
Simeon. The Eagle Hotel of San Luis Obispo was run by S. H. Parsons.

The Pioneer was a Democratic paper and the Republicans wanted an
organ : so a rival, the San Luis Obispo Tribune, entered the field, August
7, 1869, and came to stay, for it is here yet and still a stanch Republican.
Here is the place to say that the authentic county history for every week
and day since August 7, 1869, is to be found in the files of the Tribune kept
in the public library of San Luis Obispo. Without those files of the Tribune,
getting authentic history would be impossible. We say the Tribune, for it
is the only paper that began with the pioneer days of the county and has
continued publication up to the present day. It is doubtful if the people
of the county realize the great value of those files of the paper. They
should be carefully stored in an iron-proof safe ; for if a fire destroys them,
away go the only authentic records of the county since August 7, 1869,
save those found in the county records, and the county records contain
nothing outside of county business.

The Tribune began life under the ownership of H. S. Rembaugh & Co.
The "company" was Walter Murray, who was also the brilliant editor. As
there were so many people unable to read English, one or two columns were
printed in Spanish. The paper was 28x36 inches, seven columns, four pages.
One of the most interesting things in connection with the writing of this
history lias been the taking of some event as told by a pioneer, and then get-
ting fiction untangled from fact by going back to the old, reliable Tribune. All
sorts of things — murders, births, deaths, marriages, public and private trans-
actions— have been unraveled l)y that old standby, and the truth dug up. The
Pioneer, in 1869, died, but in 1870 it was resurrected as the Standard, lived a
few months and was bought by the Tribune. April 20, 1872, Judge Murray
published his "Valedictory," saying that long ago he had wished to "hang
his harp on a willow tree" and be rid of editorial duties that interfered with
other business, but had continued editor imtil some reliable person could be
found to take his place. O. F. Thornton took Mr. ^Murray's place on the
paper. March 6, 1883, the Tribune began a daily issue. It now publishes a
semi-weekly and daily paper. J. K. Tuley, George B. Staniford, George
Maxwell, Myron Angel, Warren M. John, Benjamin Brooks, have all been
identified with the Tribune.

:\Iarch 20, 1878, appeared the first issue of The South Coast, published
by Charles L. Wood. This paper was in existence about a year. August 2,
1879. appeared a new paper calling itself The Southern California Advocate.
No names appeared, but it was understood that C. H. Phillips and Geo. W.
Mauk were behind the scenes. March 27, 1880, Phillips retired and W. M.
Armstrong published the paper until its fifty-second number and then sold
out to the Tribune. October 13, 1880, a Democratic paper. The Mirror, pub-

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 133

lished by H. H. Doyle, made its appearance. Its office was on Court street
between Higuera and Monterey, where we think it later passed into the
hands of The Breeze Publishing Co. In 1898, T. T. Crittenden was editor.
The San Luis Obispo Breeze was a Democratic paper and a live wire for
all news while it was in existence. It finally became involved with the affairs
of the County Bank, and went under when that did.

The Telegram was first published in 1905 by a stock company. March
12, 1912, C. L. Day took over the paper. He has always conducted it as a
purely independent paper regardless of politics. The paper is published
semi-weekly and as an eight-page daily. It is brim-full of county, state,
national and world news, and goes to a large number of well-satisfied sub-
scribers. ^Ir. Day has a controlling interest and is editor-in-chief, ably as-
sisted by a lively corps. The plant is the largest and best-equipped in
the county.

We have written rather fully of these papers, because each has been
a paper going to all quarters of the county. Those published in other towns
and more of a local nature will be mentioned in writing of the respective
towns. Some very able men have been connected with our county papers-
Walter Murray, Myron Angel, T. T. Crittenden, A\'ill Fischer, Warren M.
John, Benjamin Brooks, C. L. Day, and others who have written under the
editorship of these men.

BENCH AND BAR

Some notable men have presided over the courts of the county, and
man}' really brilliant lawyers have pleaded for their clients. J. M. Bonilla
occupied the first judicial bench, John M. Price followed Bonilla for about
a year as county judge, then W. J. Graves was elected. In March, 1853,
O. M. Brown became county judge, in 1854 Romualdo Pacheco was elected,
in 1857 Jose Maria Munoz took Pacheco's place and was drowned when
the steamer on which he had taken passage for San Francisco was wrecked.
In 1861, Joseph M. Havens was elected. Judge Beebee was elected in 1863, and
again in 1867. In October, 1871, Judge Venable was elected, and again in
1875. In 1879 the new constitution was adopted, the county and district
courts were abolished and each county held a superior court. In 1884
Judge Gregory was elected ; his health became impaired, and by special act of
the legislature Judge Gregg was appointed to serve also with Judge Gregory.
In 1890 Gregg was elected superior judge, and in 1896 Judge Unangst was
elected. He served continuously until 1914, when broken health compelled him
to retire from the bench. For eighteen years this man presided over the su-
perior court with unfailing fairness, a highly respected and well-liked oflScial.
It may be interesting to recall that Miss Anita Murray, the daughter of the
brilliant Judge JMurray, became the wife of Judge Unangst. The eldest son of
this union is Edwin, who seems to have inherited his grandfather's ability to
write, along with musical talent of a high order. The young gentleman is
teaching music at present in a boys' school at Santa Barbara and is still in
his early twenties.

In 1914 Judge Norton was elected superior judge, and his term will not
expire until 1920. He is a rather young man, but ably fills the position.
"Arch" Campbell was district attorney, then an able criminal lawyer. He
was elected to the state senate and is now identified with a state office con-

LU SAX 1A"1S ()15JSPO COUXTY AXD EXVIRONS

nected with the law. Chas. A. Palmer is now serving his third term as
district attorney. S. \". W ri.^ht, Paul Gregg, Phil Kaetzel, Thos. Rhodes,
W. A. Van \\'ormcr, W. K. Burnett, and Alex ^^^ebster are other well-known
lawyers df the present time.

PHYSICIANS

Some of the men who have become well-known physicians or surgeons
are: W. A\'. Plays, the pioneer doctor of the county, who came to San Luis
Obispo in 1866. He was a native of Maryland, was a surgeon in the United
States army and was connected with the Smithsonian Institute. Mrs. Hays
was a daughter of Rev. Dr. Park, rector of Trinity church, New York. The
family was highly cultured ; and two daughters, one of whom married E. B.
Ballard, an English gentleman and friend of H. A. Vachell, were belles in
early San Luis society. The old Hays home still stands, though sadly
changed from its former beauty, on a sloping hillside just north of San Luis
Obispo. Dr. Nichols of San Luis and Dr. J. H. Glass of Paso Robles were
pioneer doctors. Dr. Clark and Dr. Paulding of Arroyo Grande are old-
timers. For many years old Dr. Smiley practiced at Morro, and at present
Dr. H. W. Jones, Dr. Paul Jackson, Dr. C. J. ?iIcGovern, Dr. W. M. Stover
and Dr. Guilfoil are prominent in San Luis Obispo and are identified with
the two well-equipped hospitals of the city.

OTHER PROMINENT NAMES

In this chapter we shall also mention a few men who in one way or
another have become prominent. C. ^^■. Dana was county clerk for over
twenty years, ^^'illiam Mallah, son of Captain Mallah, one time owner of
the Huer-Iluero ranch and member of the \'igilance Committee, was born
on the ranch in 186-1-. In 1889 he went into the county clerk's office, C. W.
Dana clerk, and w^orked with Dana six years, then was deputy under Whicher
for eight years, was elected tax collector in 1906, and served as deputy for
four years under County Clerk Leland. In 1910 he was elected justice of
the peace for San Luis Obispo and is still serving. His wife was formerly
Miss Xellie Dana, daughter of C. W. Dana. F. J. Rodrigues went into the
courthouse as a clerk in 1891. In 1899 he was deputy tax collector; January,
190,5, deputy county clerk ; and in 191 1 he w^as elected to that office. He is now
forty-four years of age and has been employed in the courthouse for twenty-
five years. Mrs. Grace Kelshaw is county treasurer. For many years her
husband, John Kelshaw, was treasurer. When he died, the supervisors ap-
I)ointe(l .Mrs. Kelshaw to fill the vacancy. Having been in the office for some
time, she was well qualified to fill the j.i.sition with satisfaction.

County Officials

Tile present county officials are: T. A. Norton, superior judge: C. A.
Palmer, district attorney ; Frank J. Rodrigues. countv clerk ; D. F. IMahonev,
reorder: Richard Leland, tax collector; P. J. McCaffrey, assessor; Mrs.
Grace Kelshaw, treasurer; P. H. ?*furphy, auditor; W. S. Wight, countv
superintendent of schools ; Charles J. Taylor, sheriff; C. W. Palmer, coroner;
.\. h. P.-irsons, county survej-or; Thomas Fogarty, public administrator.
Supervisors, E. W . Bhuk, Patrick Donovan, Peter Tognazzini, Mathias Iver-
sen and lohn Xortoii.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AND ENVIRONS 135

Paderewski's Ranch

A few years ago Ignace Paderewski, the great pianist, came to Paso
Robles to rest and recuperate. At the time some fear was felt that his hands
were becoming affected with muscular trouble arising from so much piano-
playing. He recovered from his affliction, fell in love with the surroundings
and bought several thousand acres of hill and valley land northwest of Paso
Robles. Quite recently he purchased the T. M. Wear ranch of three hundred
twenty acres, and will set it to nuts and fruits. He also has some fine stock,
and no doubt will evolve one of the fine estates Europe set the pattern for
long ago. September 16, 1916, the San Francisco Chronicle announced the
most recent purchase and said the estate would be known as "Ignace Farms"
and all stock branded Ignace, according to trade-mark letters issued.

The Atascadero Colony

This colon}^ is situated on the old Henry ranch, aboiit four miles south
of Templeton. The ranch contained 23,150 acres. Later 849.21 acres were
bought, Baron von Schroeder's beach property at Morro and other parcels,
the colony holdings now totaling 24,062.31 acres. E. G. Lewis, who founded
the Woman's Republic, was the originator of the plan. In a recent issue of
the Review, published at Atascadero, these statements are made: "The
colony is situated half-way between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the
main line of the Southern Pacific, and the great concrete paved highway, the
El Camino Real — The King's Highway — on the line of the old trail from
mission to mission, passes through it. Three thousand people have pur-
chased town lots or acreage tracts, 10,000 acres are planted or are to be
planted to orchards, seventy miles of roads and streets are or are to be con-
structed, twenty-one miles .of water mains are laid, and two hundred homes,
some very fine ones, are already built or are in course of construction."

A large department store is nearing completion, and a fine new school-
house is going up at the present writing. The administration building, quite
a pretentious affair, was well on the way when a new turn of affairs stopped
the l)uilding of such things until the more necessary work on roads, bridges
and orchards was done. A large printing plant is in operation, and the
Re\ie\v says: "A special daylight rotar}- gravure printing plant, the finest
in the world, is to be built especially for the Review." This paper states
that more than $2,000,000 has been expended in the improvement of Atas-
cadero Colony, and that the state of California has recently authorized a bond
issue of $1,750,000 for the completion of the remaining improvements.

This colony is a try-out. It started to become an old, established city in
phenomenal time. People lost all sense of time, for many have told the
writer — in fact, it was published at the inception of the colony three years
ago — that orchards would be yielding good incomes in two years from time
of planting. Let no one ever believe such marvelous stories, even of Cali-
fornia, "the land of wonders." People from the East sufficiently able to play
at farming may come right along to Atascadero or any part of the county
and find lovely scenery and a climate without blizzards or extreme cold ;
but in the Salinas valley there will be tliree or four months of dry, hot weather,
and it is of no use to pretend otherwise. At the same time, the heat never
debilitates like the summer heat of the East, and the nights are generally

136 SAN LUIS ()l:!ISPO COUNTY AND EN\-IRONS

cool. Along- the coast side of the county hot summer months do not occur,
nor is it ever so cold as on the eastern side of the Santa Lucia range. There
are no cyclones nor electrical storms. Occasionally in summer a slight
play of lightning will be seen, but often years pass without the sight of light-
ning or tile rollof thunder. Snow is so rare that most people (natives) have
never seen it, save at a distance on the mountain tops. Once in many years
a light, feathery fall occurs, melting almost as quickly as it touches earth.
San Luis Obispo County is an empire in itself. It felt the foot of the first
white man, Cabrillo, who sailed along its shores and landed at its bays. It
saw the rise and fall of two great missions: then Spanish dons held sway
until the Americans came in sufficient numbers to change the old regime.
The county is developing rapidly. Its great resources will soon be utilized,
and even now it is the best spot on earth, for within its borders everything
worth having is to be f(.)und.

CHAPTER XIV

Cities, Towns, and Villages

SAN LUIS OBISPO, THE CITY OF THE BISHOP

When the county was organized in 1830, San Luis Obispo was the only
settlement in it. Around the Mission clustered a few small adobe buildings.
The main road passed through it from southwest to northeast, crossing San
Luis creek about half a mile below the Mission, at the end of what is now
Dana street. It followed up the right bank and a trail led ofif to the chorro
that is now Chorro street. The main road has become Monterey street, but
the "bend." after passing the Mission, has never been straightened. A year
or so ago the city authorities compelled property owners to move back their
buildings on the lower left side going north, after passing the Mission, so
that the whole street should be of uniform width. On the southwest corner
of Chorro and Monterey streets stood a two-story adobe with a dance hall
and restaurant in it. This was considered quite a grand building.

Farther north, and fronting on Monterey street, Captain W. G. Dana,
in LS50, erected the first frame l)uilding in the county out of material brought
from Chile. Captain John Wilson soon after erected a two-story frame
building on the lot where the public library now stands, or in that block.
The material came around the "Horn." Beebee & Pollard had an adobe
store on the corner where the Sinsheimer store now is. In 1851 Captain
Dana put u|) a large adobe building on the corner where the Carpenter building
now stands, the northeast corner of Monterey and Court streets. The roof
was of sheet iron, the walls adobe. The timber was drawn by oxen from Cam-
bria, and the tk)oring and doors came from the Atlantic coast. This was known
as Casa Crandc. was the first hotel in town, and the scene of many a festivity.
In this building a room or so was used for a courthouse after the room in the
old .Mission was abandoned, and it was, we believe, the courtroom up to the
time of building the present courthouse, in 1872.

l'.ig bands u\ Sonorans used to pass through the town on their wav to
the mines in lS4'i-.-()-.q-.^2. One lesus Luna was alcalde in 1852. Some-

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 137

times two huiulred fifty (ir three luuKlred Sonorans would be in one band,
tlie men on foot, the women and little ones on burros or horses. The men
were called Calzones blancos (white breeches) and each carried a "machete,"
or long knife. This alcalde had his office in the adobe on the corner near
the j\Iission. Usually the Sonorans stopped at the Mission to make the sign
of the cross or to ask a blessing from the Virgin. Luna, in 1852, exacted a
fee of fifty cents from each one of a large band as "toll" for passing through
the town. Some in the rear, learning of his plan, tried to go another way
through the town, but Luna sent his constables to compel them to pass the
.Mission and pay the toll. One way to get graft, which is one of the oldest
things under the sun. This Luna was the one who killed his partner, in the
story of crimes, and later fled to New Mexico when the \*igilance Committee
began to clean things up.

The question came up, was San Luis Obispo a pueljlo and entitled to
the puelilo lands? The claim was presented in 1853 to the land commission
and rejected by them in 1854. A pueblo had the right to incorporate, elect
officers and use in common four leagues, about twelve square miles. San
Luis was a pueblo, but the rights of one were rejected on the grounds of
insufficient proof. In 1867 the town acquired a right to six hundred forty
acres by act of Congress. In 1871 the town authorities received from the
United States Land Office a certificate of purchase to the town site containing
552.65 acres. This was a great relief to all hands.

In 1859 the town was organized under the laws of the state, with Charles
II. Johnson president of the board of trustees and Thomas H. Bouton clerk.
The board passed ordinances and tried to enforce them. Dr. W. W. Ilays
and C. \V. Dana succeeded Johnson and Bouton. In 1868 the first bridge
across San Luis creek was built. A. Blockman & Co. put up the first brick
store. In 1874, by act of legislature, the town issued bonds for $10,000,
interest eight per cent., payable in fifteen years. The bonds sold at ninety
per cent., and the proceeds were used for repairing roads and streets and
building bridges. In 1876 the city was incorporated, the city officials being :
S. A. McDougall, mayor; councilmen, Racklift'e, Reed, Barger, Bayer and
Harris ; clerk, Julius Krebs. The city limits were extended to their present
confines. Bridges existed at Mill, Court, Morro, Chorro, Nipomo and Broad
streets in 1876. Gas and water works had been installed and a fire company
organized. March 20, 1876, the city was bonded for $15,000, payable in
twenty years, eight per cent, interest, proceeds to pay the floating debt and
erect town buildings; $8,400 worth were sold at ninety-three per cent, and
the del)t liquidated. The first city marshal was A. C. McLcod. This man
became prominent, w-as three times elected sheriiif, twice deputy sheriff, and
was mayor in 1894 when the Southern Pacific Railway entered the city limits
and "one big time" celebrated the event.

In 1872, Dr. Hays, C. W. Dana and M. .\. Benrino obtained a franchise
for water works; the next year A. M. Loomis and Alfred Walker bought the
franchise and went to work. A small reservoir was built on Murray hill, about
a mile and a half north of the town, and the water was brought in a flume from
the upper San Luis creek. Cost, about $5,000. In 1874 the San Luis Obispo
Water Co. was formed, capital stock $60,000. The men behind this were
P. W. Murphy, A. M. Loomis, E. W. Steele, C. H. Phillips and Judge Venable.
Sheet-iron pipes were laid in the streets and water carried through them in

138 SAX l.llS OISISPO COUXTY AXD EXVIRONS

Xovembcr, 1874. In 1876 a large reservoir was built up the canon, capacity
1,250,000 gallons, in 1883 the sheet-iron pipe was replaced with cast-iron
pipe seven inches in diameter, and seventeen fire-plugs were installed. Later
anotluT reservoir was built, and a dam three hundred feet long, fifty feet wide,
and line hundred fifty feet at the base, was placed across a little canon and fed
by a small trout stream. This held 20,000,000 gallons, and later was the
place where the tramps bathed and the boj'S and dogs went swimming. It
was there, in 1906. that a boy of fifteen was drowned one Sunday morning-
while taking a ride on a raft. In 1910 a new reservoir was built holding
9,000,000 gallons. It is roofed and the jiublic health is a little better pro-
tected. Mr. Burch, Ed. Branch and an assistant look after the water works
at present. There is still much to be done before the city will have an ade-
quate supply of pure water for all purposes ; but the matter is of such vital
importance that it will soon be attended to, for San Luis Ol^ispo has moved
forward in long strides during the last few years. St. Luis the Bishop is
stirring in his sleep and will soon be wide awake.

The centennial year, 1876, marked an epoch in the history of the whole
county. Here are a few items culled from the Tribune of December 30, 1876,:
The year had fulfilled its early promise by an abundant harvest. Cambria,
Cayucos and Arroyo Grande showed improvement. The buildings noted in
San Luis Obispo were L. Lasar's store of brick with iron front, two stories, at
the foot of Monterey street: Ouintana's store, next to Goldtree's block; the
Convent school ; a balcony to the Cosmopolitan Hotel, now the St. James :
and the Court schoolhouse. The Pacific Coast Railway, and the "commodious"
depot, still used, were also completed, and many private homes. A new road
was opened over Cuesta pass, "so gigantic an undertaking that the county
refused to build it until compelled to by an act of the legislature" ; and many
new roads and bridges had been built throughout the county — one over Paso
Robles creek that would ensure safe passage for the stage in winter time.

In 1868 there were exactly six hundred people living within the one
square mile of the town site. By 1880 the census showed 2,500 within the
town limjts. In 1883 the city claimed 3,000 population. The first county
vote, all at San Luis Obispo, polled forty-eight.

Deceml)cr 13, 1871, the Bank of San Luis Obispo, with H. :\I. \\'ardcn
president and C, H. Phillips cashier, opened for business, the first bank in the
county. Tlie l)ank was in rooms on the west side of Monterey street be-
tween .Mtirro and Chorro streets, in the l)uilding Avhere the California Clothing
Store now is. In 1881 the bank put up a handsome two-story building on
the northeast corner of Monterey and Court streets. This bank is fully
written up in the sketch of C. H. Phillips in this book.

The city hall was begun in October, 1879. Below, the fire apparatus is
stored, a line clicniical wagon, engines, hook-and-ladder truck, etc.; and al>ove
are the city ofiices. The city jail was also in the building until 1916, when
it became utterly unlit and a new jail was built in the rear at a cost of $2,000.
It i.s of concrete, and was put up by the E. Cole Co.

'I he city now has a jiopulation of 6,500. There are many 1)eautiful homes,
anrl a g.)od high school : l)ut tlie grammar schools are in need of new buildings
an.l mnre of them. The Mitchell Idock was purchased a few years ago for
scIkhiI grounds, .-uul early this year a hard fight wa.s put up for bonds for
new school bnildin-s, The old luie and crv of "taxes" was heard, and the

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 139

bonds lost out. The children are crowded into two ancient buildins^s; one,
Court school, an old wooden fire-trap of two stories, was built in the fall
of 1876.

The present government (1916) is by Freeholders' Charter. The lioard of
commissioners is composed of W. AI. Stover, mayor; Dick Saunders, finance
and revenue; H. A. Cowman, public health and safety; L. F. Sinsheimer,
public works ; George H. Andrews, supplies ; Mrs. Callie M. John, city clerk.
The total assessed value is $3,079,060.

The business houses have grown from a few old adobes to a city of
finely constructed business blocks. The Union National Bank building, the
Commercial Bank building, the Elks building. Masonic Temple, Wade build-
ing. Warden blocks and Andrews Hotel are especially fine. To enumerate
further would take too much space ; suffice it to say, the city is well supplied
with good stores and shops of every kind. The business men are a fine class
of up-to-date, progressive men. There are the Andrews, St. James, Golden
State and Commercial hotels ; also a Swiss hotel called the Griitli. There are
.many good rooming houses and private boarding houses.

There are five fine garages in San Luis Obispo, each doing a good
business, which speaks for the automobiles of the community. A horse and
buggy will soon be a novelty on the streets, and it is already unsafe to try
to drive a "rig" through town or along country roads. The automobiles
claim all the rights to run down horses or foot passengers, and the super-
visors have decided to put a "speed cop" on the force to prevent the wholesale
killing that goes on between this city and Pismo on the state highway.

The streets are wide and well laid out. Morro street is paved, as are
Monterey and Higuera, and during the last year an immense amount of splen-
did street work has been completed. A big steam roller has aided much in the
street work. Fine concrete bridges now replace the old wooden ones in the
town. San Luis creek has been walled along the sides where it runs through
the business section of the city. The city owns a good sewer system and a
sewer farm, where the waste is taken care of, A force of men keep the
streets well swept and very clean.

The Midlands Counties Electric Co. furnishes electricity for lighting
the city, and a 60,000-volt line carries power through the county. This com-
pany and the Santa Maria Gas Co. both furnish natural gas for lighting and
heating purposes, the gas coming from the Santa Maria oil fields in iron
pipe lines.

There are two hospitals, Stover's Sanitarium and the Pacific Hospital,
owned by Miss Ester Biaggini. Dr. H. W. Jones is the head surgeon of this
hospital, assisted by Dr. Paul Jackson and Dr. C. H. McGovern, a very able
corps indeed. Stover's Sanitarium is in charge of Dr. Stover and Dr. Guil-
foil, and is the first institution of tlie kind ])ut up in the city. The medical
staff of the city is a very able one, and ])coplc come from a distance to these
hospitals for treatment.

On a lot south of the Mission stands the public library, built by Carnegie
in l'»(i4. There are 11,812 volumes; with the documents, there are over
T 3,000. 'i'he building is of brick with stone facings, a very fine building with
liigh cement basement rooms. The librarian is Mrs. E. L. Kellogg; Mrs.
1'". E. I'lUtl is assistant librarian. Kav Mclntvre is caretaker. The board of

140 SAX LUIS olUSrO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

trustees consists uf \\'. E. Sliipsey, president: A. H. Mabley. Airs. R. F.
\\"ickenden, -Mrs. H. j. ANdchl and Mrs. Callie M. John.

The city lacks a park. All it has to call one is a very small triangle near
the Southern Pacific depot which the Civic Club of ladies has so far tried
to care for. It is .called "El Triangulo," to be Spanish, and interesting to
tourists. This little park is novi^ to be greatly improved Ijy the Civic Club.

The police force numbers six, and keeps order day and night.

Several big fires have destroyed much property. The big Ramona Hotel,
built abt)ut 1889, and a fine hotel for the time, was burned down in 1905. April
25, 1885, on Sunday, a devastating fire burned the Andrews Hotel that occupied
the corner where later the Andrews Bank was built, southwest corner of
Monterey and Osos streets. The hotel fronted one hundred forty feet on
Alonterey street. The buildings across Monterey street were badly dam-
aged, and the livery stable on the opposite corner, belonging to A. C. jMcLeod
and Payne, was burned. The CTrvitli Hotel was burned out several times.
Some years ago the entire block bounded by Broad, Nipomo, Higuera and
Alarsh streets was burned, save the old Beebee mansion and one house facing
on Marsh street. Fire also swept out all the old wooden and adobe buildings
in the block between Monterey, Higuera, Chorro and Morro streets, all but
the old Cosmopolitan, now the St. James, and Sinsheimer's store. The War-
den, Jr., building, Wade building and Steinhart building are now in that
block. Fire always cleans out the old wiMiden 1_>uildings. and this town was
no exception.

Churches

Churches of many denominations are here. The Presbyterian, Methodist
and Episcopal churches are written of elsewhere, as they were the pioneer
churches of the county. A large Baptist Church, Lutheran Church and
Christian Church are here, each with a good congregation. A Methodist
Church .South once existed. J. P. Andrews gave the organ and the bell to
that church, and supported it liberally ; but the times changed and the property
was sold to the Congregational people. For many years that was a thriving
church, but about seven years ago it began to die out and is now no more.
The lot with the cliurch building adjoins the new Federal Building site on
Marsh street, and the lot is now (|uitc valuable, for it is wide and deep, as
lots go.

New Federal Building

On the SdUtiieast rrTner of Morni and Marsh streets a fine new Federal
Building is to lie at once constructed. An appropriation of $7,500 was made
for the lot and this corner was selected for the site. W'hen it came to buying,
complications arose. To get the corner and enough more room for the
building it was necessary to buy out a livery stable and two houses and lots.
Real estate advanced so fast on that corner that to get it $12,600 had to be
in sight. This left $5,100 to be raised by subscription. W. D. Adriance,
A. F. l-'itzgerald and Jtilm Gibson were a committee to solicit. To date,
November 14, 1916, $3,485 has been subscribed. The property has been
deeded to the proper authority and the ground is being cleared. One house
has been sold off for $1,200. On Morro street a lot 20><xll9 feet will be
left to sell, and when sold the proceeds will go back pro rata to the men who
have made up the deficit. The building will be two stories high, and will front

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 141

one hundred forty-five feet on ]\Iorro street and one hundred nineteen feet on
Marsh street. In it will be the post office and all federal offices. The director
of the weather bureau, the collector of the port, and other officials will have
offices there. The sum set aside for the building is $75,000. Diagonally
across the street stands the beautiful Elks building, and across jMorro street
is the fine stone Presbyterian Church. The building is as centrally located
as possible, and will be of great public service.

Banks

Two large banks, each beautifully housed, take care of the people's money.
The Commercial Bank was organized in March, 1888. Its first location was
on Monterey street, near Latimer's drug store. It moved to its present loca-
tion, at the southeast corner of Chorro and Higuera streets, in 1899. A few
years ago the building was remodeled, and it is now one of the handsomest in
town. In May, 1913, it absorbed the Andrews Bank. It has a capital stock of
$300,000; its deposits, August 31, 1916, were $3,326,535. The Tribune, a few-
days since, reported that this bank had loaned $150,000 to a Salinas firm,
'ilie present officers are J- ^^'- Barneberg. president: E. W. Clark, vice-
president; R. R. Muscio, vice-president; H. L. Kemper, cashier; Francis H.
Throop and L. J- Defosset, assistant cashiers. The board of directors are J. W.
Barneberg, L. J. Beckett, E. Biaggini, E. W. Clark, S. A. Dana, H. L. Kemper,
R. R. ]\luscio, A. Muscio and A. Tognazzini. The L'nion National Bank is
on the northeast corner of Higuera and Garden streets, in a fine cement
building with marble staircase, and this building, erected in 1906, is one of
the fine new buildings of which so many have been erected during the last
decade. This bank opened for business August 23, 1905, in temporary quar-
ters at 1133 Chorro street, in the Erickson building; capital stock, $100,000;
W. T. Summers, president; J. W. Smith, vice-president; W. D. Dibblee,
cashier. The board of directors were Mark Elberg, Lawrence Harris, Geo.
J. Walters, C. A. Edwards, Wm. Sandercock, John R. \\'illiams, W. T. Sum-
mers, J. W. Smith and T. W. Dibblee. The present officers are ; President,
Wm. Sandercock ; vice-presidents, T. W. Dibblee and W. T. Summers ;
cashier, Henry Dawe ; assistant cashier, Allan L. Bickell ; board of directors,
Wm. Sandercock, A. T. Souza, Henry Dawe, T. W. Dibblee, John P. Wil-
liams, Mark Elberg, Lawrence Harris, C. A. Edwards and W. T. Summers.

San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce

A chamber of commerce has long existed in San Luis Oljispo. I'or years
a room has been rented and an "exhibit" kept on display. Sometimes the
exhibit might have been more attractive in appearance ; l^ut through it, and the
county fairs once held in the pavilion — which, with races at the old race
track, drew crowds for a week at a time — and later through the Upper Salinas
Valley fairs held at Paso Robles, the outsider has gradually learned about
our mammoth vegetables, fine fruits, splendid dairies, grains, minerals and
other products. In 1901 the writer described the sweet-pea festivals held at
Arroyo Grande, in an article in Sunset, and from letters received
knows a good many heard about the seed farms there. When the automobile
came and people by thousands passed through our county, they were always
much impressed by the climate and beautiful scenery, but they mostly got
away before we could get around and induce them to stay in God"s country.

142 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Thev got as far as Los Angeles; then some "live wire" of a real estate man,
generally one who had been caught for a "sucker" himself, sold them an
orange or lemon grove. Often and again they repented buying it; but San
Luis Obispo was so comfortable, anyway, and had so good a living without
chasing tourists for it, that we let "Sunny Southern California" get so well
known that now, down there, all one has to do is to say "San Luis Obispo"
and he is besieged with inquiries which, if he is "Truthful James," he answers
as he should.

Leigh H. Irvine was finally engaged to lead our county out of the wilder-
ness, and he got us away out of the woods. He wrote and sent Ijroadcast
a fine booklet, was in charge of the chamber of commerce when the Exposi-
tion was being put into shape, and had something to do with the exhibits
sent up to it when it finally opened ; but there were so many "commissioners"
from the county, only five for a year before it opened and for the first six
months or more thereafter, that Mr. Irvine's efforts were submerged by the
"commission." This commission cost the county a pile of money, and a few
lawsuits with judgment in favor of the very determined lady commissioner,
but it is doubtful if the returns to the count}' in any measure whatever justi-
fied the expense to the taxpayers. This county's exhibit at the P. P. I.
Exposition was a mighty expensive and a very poor piece of advertising.
The men of San Luis Obispo were forever giving money to the chamber of
commerce and forever looking for the results of their giving, but generally
they looked in vain. Not always, of course ; but without doubt thousands
of dollars have been spent trying to keep alive a chamber that helped few
other than the man drawing the salary. Finally, in 1913, Mr. Du Vaul was en-
gaged as secretary of the chamber. He did good work for the year he was
in charge. In 1914, Leigh H. Irvine came and, being a man of ideas and
of literary ability as well, wrote much for publication and did well, consider-
ing conditions ; for during his stay here the Exposition was taking all the
money and all the interest of the people. In April, 1916, Charles H. Roberts
succeeded Mr. Irvine, and at once the chamber began to take on new life.
In April it opened a publicity campaign for the $15,000,000 bond issue for
the state highway, and never ceased until the bonds were voted. The first
Chautauqua held in the city was enthusiastically worked up b}- the chamber,
and Mr. Roberts was secretary of the local committee which secured a very
delightful week of high-class entertainment for the people.

The next imiiortant move was in securing the presence of Max Thelan
of the railroad commission at a conference held on street lighting, which
resulted in plans and specifications for a system of street lighting by elec-
troliers and other ujj-to-date means. These plans and specifications are now
in the hands of the commission on street lighting. In July the horticultural
commissioner, Carl Nichols, was invited to use the chamber of commerce
rooms as iiis headquarters, and eventually a strong movement for a county
farm bureau \\as launched. i'"ive hundred farmers signed up ; but when it
came to getting $2,000 voted l)y the supervisors to help defray expenses, the
bureau was lost, or at least not helped on its way. A farm bureau is the one
great thing the county needs to develop and safeguard the agricultural, dairy-
ing and stock-raising interests, and it will eventually have to come; but the
county has not yet recovered from its P. P. I. E. commission's expenses, which
were supposedly spent to help out those same interests.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 143

In August the campaign for re-organizing- the chamber was started
and actively pursued, until at the present writing two hundred members
have been pledged to pay $25 per year for three years. This gives a sure
amount of funds for a working basis. The methods used by other suc-
cessful enterprises and chambers of commerce have been adopted, and things
are moving now where once they only wobbled. A get-together luncheon
is held monthly, where very often some noted man speaks along lines per-
taining to the work of the chamber. All business men are requested to attend
these midday meetings and to place before the members anything they
think needs the attention of the chamber. When, early in the fall, a gigantic
strike was threatened, the chamber of commerce petitioned the California
Commission by telephone, urging that the differences be arbitrated and the
strike be thus avoided. This was commented upon by many leading papers
throughout the country, and about the same time Secretary Roberts wrote an
article for the San Francisco Examiner that appeared in various other pub-
lications, setting forth the advantages of the county. In November the
secretary contributed to the Saturday Evening Post, the Los Angeles Times,
and other Southern California papers, articles on good roads in which he had
the opportunity to speak of the splendid road work of the county. Believ-
ing that conventions do much to advertise a town, the chamber of com-
merce lent its efforts towards securing the Letter Carriers' Convention, held
here in September, 1916. On November 19, good-roads meetings were held
all over the county, and the chamber secured automobiles and speakers for
the meetings. Such is a brief outline of the work carried on since last April.
W. D. Egilbert, secretary of the California Development Company, and C. F.
Stern of the State Highway Commission, have recently written the cham-
ber expressing approval of the work as carried on by it. The chamber aims
to be an institution representative of the whole community, recognizing
those fundamental truths that it must be and is non-sectarian, non-partisan,
and non-sectional, that it must serve the city as a whole and accomplish the
greatest good for the greatest number, and that it must have men, money,
and interest — all of which it seems to have gotten and to be using for the
development, not only of the city of San Luis Obispo, but of the entire county.
The present board of directors includes Dr. W. M. Stover, president : R. W.
Putnam, first vice-president; G. J. Walters, second vice-president; Fred
Kluver, W. E. Lawrence, J. G. DriscoII, H. L. Kemper. P. A. H. Arata, F. D.
Crossett, Rev. J. D. Habbick, Dr. H. B. Kirtland, T. A. Rcnctskv, C. 11. Kamm",
W. M. Sandercock and J. D. Gilliland.

The Woman's Civic Club of San Luis Obispo

The Woman's Civic Club of San Luis Obispo was organized in Jan-
uary, 1909, federated March, 1909, and incorporated under the laws of the
State of California, November 2, 191.S. In the articles of incorporation it is
stated :

"That the purposes for which said Corporation is formed are to provide
entertainment and civic education and training for its members, to foster
and cultivate the interest of women in civic affairs, and to promote the gen-
eral culture, welfare and education and comfort of the inhabitants of the
community; also to acc|uire by gift, purchase or otherwise, ])roperty, both
real and personal, required for the cfl'ecti\e carrying out of the above-named

144 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

purposes, and to hold, mortgage, sell and otherwise legally convey, encumber
or otherwise dispose of such property as required.

"That the place where the principal business of said Corporation is to be
transacted is San Luis Obispo, County of San Luis Obispo, State of Cali-
fornia.

■■■J'hal the term for which said Corporation is to exist is fifty (50) years
from and after the date of its incorporation."

The first board of directors under the articles of incorporation were
Eliza Miller, Anna Shurragar, ]\Iary E. Ridle, Queenie Warden, ^larguerite
Johnson. From its beginning the club has aided civic movements and per-
formed many good deeds. The first thing it did for the improvement of the
town was to take in charge the unsightly little triangle bounded by Santa
Barbara avenue, Osos and Church streets, near the Southern Pacific sta-
tion. Mrs. Ida G. Stowe owned considerable property in that locality.
When she laid it out in town lots this little three-cornered piece was donated
by her to the town for a plaza. Someone set out the palms that have since
grown to such good size, and the pepper trees were set at the same time;
but no systematic care was given the plot and it degenerated into a weed
patch, where tramps camped and loose stock used the pepper trees for shade.
Very soon after the Civic Club was organized, it assumed care of the place,
calling it El Triangulo, Spanish for triangle. They put in walks and seats,
planted geraniums and roses, had grass sown and spent considerable money
upon it. The city for a time paid a caretaker part salary ; but at present it is
only seven dollars per month, so of course the park got to looking seedy.

The club is now determined to put the place in good shape and hopes
to keep it so. New seats, a drinking fountain and better care are to be
at once attended to. As it has been, under the care of the club, it has fur-
nished a pleasant resting place for weary men, and on sunny days its seats
are usually all occupied. A place of sufficient size and equipment to be a
really worth-while municipal park has been the one continuous aim of the
club, and they are still working for it. They aim also to purchase or build
a Chamber of Commerce Building and Woman's Civic Club House, to aug-
ment the city water supply and to maintain a beautiful plaza opposite the
Mission.

The past presidents of the club are Mrs. Ella Ridle, IMrs. C. E. Ferrel,
Mrs. Jennie W. Johnson, Mrs. Eliza ]\Iiller, ]\Irs. Queenie Warden. ^Irs.
Warden is serving her second term as president, and is a woman of great
energy and executive ability, able and willing to spend generously both time
and money to further the attainment of the club's aims. Under her able
leadcrshij) the Civic Club has rapidly advanced along all lines. It now has one
hundred and two life members, each of whom pays one dollar per month
for three years. From the year-book we quote the following:

"The object of this Club shall be to provide entertainment and civic
education and training for its members, to foster and to cultivate the inter-
ests of women in civic affairs, and to promote the general culture, welfare
and education and comfort of the inhabitants of the community.

"Our Motto: 'Rut screw your courage to the sticking place, and we'll not
fail.' — -Shakespeare.

"Club Flower: Marguerite.

"Club Colors: Gold, \\'hite and Green.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 145

"Branches of \\'ork : Alusic. History and Landmarks. Parliamentary
study. Literature. Philanthropy. Civics. Household Economics.

"Officers: President, iMrs. H. M. Warden, Sr. ; First Vice-President, Mrs.
Eliza ]\Jiller; Second Vice-President, Mrs. Mary Ella Ridle ; Secretary, Mrs.
Josephine Pratt Plughston ; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Josephine Pratt
Hughston; Treasurer, Mrs. Alida Mclntyre.

"Board of Directors: Mrs. Eliza D. Miller. Mrs. Jennie W. Johnson, Mrs.
Paul M. Gregg, Mrs. R. R. Muscio, Mrs. Queenie Warden Norton."

Thus far the club has held its meetings in the basement of the Carnegie
..Library. The room, while comfortable enough for business purposes, admits
of no social life, and the sooner the club can own a proper building the
sooner will it become a large factor in the civic and social life of the com-
munity. Since Mrs. Warden has been president she has freely offered the
use of Warden Court in the Warden block for social meetings. During
1915-16 the club gave a number of excellent entertainments; a musicale with
Mr. Pratt, lyric tenor, as the leading attraction, a Shakespearian concert and
a comic opera, "Oscar's Awful Uncle," were put on at Elmo theater. Under
the department of philanthropy sixty dollars has been given to the Belgian
relief fund and five dollars towards lifting the mortgage on the Longfellow
birthplace. The treasurer's report at the close of the year shows life mem-
berships payable, $3,672; receipts, $1,514.47; disbursements, $863.23.

Climate

The climate of San Luis Obispo is beyond compare. The writer has
lived in many parts of the state, some famed for climate, and nowhere are
there such beautiful sunny days in winter as here at the foot of the Santa
Lucia mountains, ten miles from the balmy blue Pacific. Bishop's Peak and
San Luis Mountain guard the town northwest ; at her back rises the Santa
Lucia range ; opening south and west are wide valleys ; over all bends a sky
of deepest azure, flecked with softly sailing, fleecy little clouds. Sometimes
a fog rolls in, but it comes from the sea and its salty tang adds a zest to
living. Sometimes the west wind romps in and bends low the heads of the
tall eucalyptus trees, or a north wind comes over the range, bringing pure
air from the mountains. The flowers, and palms, and pepper trees lend beauty
to the landscape ; while blossoms of orange and lemon send out a fragrance
sweet as dreams of heaven.

PASO ROBLES

The city of Paso Robles came into existence as a city when the election
for incorporation was carried, February 25, 1889. A city government was at
once organized, the board of trustees being D. W. James (president). Dr.
J. H. Glass, W. E. Grant, John M. \'an Wormer, F. B. Jack (treasurer).
W. R. Stokes was appointed city attorney. A little later the name of
George R. Adams appears as a trustee also. The nucleus of the present
beautiful little city of 2,000 population was the old wooden hotel, bath-
hou.se, and group of cottages, not forgetting "Patsy Dunn's store," wherein
mail, express and telegrams were handled, as well as a general supply of
groceries, dry goods, and shoes ; nor was it impossible to get a "drink"
in this very accommodating establishment. The old building is still stand-
ing at the back of the present magnificent Hotel de Paso Robles. In a

146 SAX LflS OIUSI'O COrXTY AND ENVIRONS

former chapter in wliicli mention is made of the Blackburn brothers and D. W.
lames, is told the story of the purchase of the Rancho Paso Robles, 25.000
"acres of the San .Miguel .Mission lands, and the wonderful group of sulphur
springs. In these springs the padres and the Indians bathed and found healing
before the "Gringo" came. Also, it is vouched for in an old record that the
wild animals, especially the bears, bathed in the waters and the warm mud.
The Indians had rudely walled the main spring with logs. A big tree grew by
the spring, and a stout branch grew out low over it. One old grizzly was
in the habit of coming to the spring on moonlight nights. Grasping the
branch with his fore paws, he would swing and souse himself up and down
in the warm water and mud for an hour or more at a time.

When D. W. James, as previously related, became the owner of that
portion of the ranch, and the spring, he erected a hotel, cottages and bath-
house and opened a resgrt to which people gladly came from all directions,
even when getting here entailed a stage ride from Gilroy, Salinas or Soledad.
Hundreds of people came by rail and stage or drove from San Francisco or
Los Angeles in their own conveyances. Some few, as Banker Ralston of
San Francisco, were allowed to put up private cottages, but the general pub-
lic could not Iniy land here until after the Southern Pacific Railroad came, in
the fall of 1886. Then Blackburn Bros, and James had a town site surveyed.
The great auctioneer. Ferguson, was engaged, as also a brass band ; and in
October or November of 1886 a land sale took place. (Right here we wish
to say that getting data for this history of Paso Robles has been very difificult,
as no files of the Leader, the first paper established in the town and still
being issued, are avilable. We have set on foot a plan to get the files of the
Leader placed in the public library, which, if carried out, will be of great
value, not only to the historian, but also to the general public. )

People flocked to the new town and many ranches were also sold. H. G.
\\'right, editor and owner of the Santa Clara Journal, sold out and came to
the new town. He started the Paso Robles Leader, issuing his first paper
November 15, 1886. Every Wednesday since the Leader has greeted the
people. When the AA'ylie local option law was tried out by the people here,
Mr. Wright stood with the "drys." The election was held August 29, 1911,
and carried. Paso Robles was the first town to take advantage of the
Wylie act. It has been difficult to enforce the law, but for five years the
saloons have been closed and the majority of the business men agree that the
law not only has greatly benefited the people who used to frequent the
sal<:)ons, but also has increased the volume of business in the banks and stores.

The first man to open a store in I'aso Robles, exclusive of the Honorable
Patsy, whose Irish wit is still handed down to regale visitors, was George
I', r.ell. He Iniilt a little room on I'ine, between Twelfth and Thirteenth
streets. \'ery sonn he enlarged this, and later still he conducted business in a
building facing the p;irk, between Pine and Park streets. Xathan Elliot erected
a two-story brick l)uilding on the corner of Thirteenth and Pine. A company
called the ( Irangers' rnion o])ened business in it on a large scale, but eventually
went under. Pfister, l.add & Co. bought out the hardware department;
^'iiung bought (lut the grocery department; and Bell, the dry goods; later
i'.ell l)Mught nu{ all the others. Today the George F. Bell Co. has the
i-ntire lower Hour and does .a tremendous business. They sell everything
from a pin to an automobile. .Mr. I'.ell says he started business in Paso

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 147

Robles, November 16, 1886, with a capital of $5,000. Now he is a wealthy
inan, but one much Hked and trusted in the community where he has made
his money. As he gained money for himself he lent a helping hand to hun-
dreds of farmers struggling with a mortgage. He never refused credit to an
honest man ; but carried accounts, loaned money, and so helped those who
showed themselves honest and willing to help themselves. In the dry years
of 1888-89, Claus Spreckels sent carloads of hay to Paso Robles and placed
Air. Bell in charge of its distribution ; Spreckels also empowered Mr. Bell
to furnish needed food to those in want, and bore the expense himself so
far as we have ever been able to learn. It meant $25,000 to ease the suffering
in this end of the county ; and the notes the self-respecting people gave in
payment were never taken up. The beauty of this act was shown in first
allowing the people to give their notes, and so avoiding the sting of charity,
when they were burdened with so many other ills, and later announcing that
the notes were canceled.

Another pioneer was Will Lewis, whose little stock of tobacco, cigars
and fruit came down on the first train that brought freight to Paso Robles.
Later he went into the implement business, and, in 1911, erected a fine
building on the corner of Pine and Thirteenth streets. His brother Dan
joined in the business, and the}^ have a big stock of machinery which is sold
ofif in satisfactory lots. We also noterl that they sold "Fords" faster than
they could get them in.

W. C. Henderson had the first blacksmith shop. He bought out the old
stage stand where the stage horses were shod. This building stood on the
southeast corner of Pine and Thirteenth streets. About 1904, he built the Pio-
neer Garage on the same lot, and in 1912 built the fine garage on the southeast
corner of Spring and Thirteenth streets, where . he still conducts business.
P. Lundbeck was also one of the pioneer blacksmiths of the town. Tom
Hood had the first harness shop on the corner of Pine and Twelfth streets.
Mr. Booth had the first drug store, the "Eagle Pharmacy" starting business
where it still is conducted at the corner of Spring and Twelfth. W. C. Ben-
nett was also a pioneer druggist.

Dr. J. H. Glass was the first physician to locate in the new town. He
had his house and ofifice in a little four-room cottage on Spring street in
the summer of 1887. He was a splendid doctor. His practice grew rapidly
and he prospered accordingly. For many years Dr. Glass was the leading
physician of the northern section of the county. He never refused to go any
distance in any sort of weather. He saved many lives in those days; and
though in the end trouble and misfortune broke this man, who in the beginning
promised to become so much, the writer who saw him pull from "the jaws
of death" the life of a beautiful little girl and shed tears when he said to the
mother, "Your child will live," wishes in the history of Paso Robles to pay
tribute to the memory of its pioneer physician, Dr. J. H. Glass.

Among the doctors practicing their profession in the community arc
Dr. \V. O. Dresser, Dr. Wilmer, and Dr. Soby.

Alex Webster and Charles Putnam have represented the bar in Paso
Robles for many years.

E. M. Bennett was for four years in charge of the express ofiice in Patsy
Dunn's store before the railroad came. He has always been identified with the
town's interests and has handled a great deal of real estate.

148 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

It is impossible to give space to all the pioneer business men of Paso
Rubles. We have tried to write of a few who still do business in the town,
but no doubt there are others whose names we have failed to notice. The
town now has a fine array of well-kept stores and shops of every sort, pre-
sided over by courteous owners and assistants.

The Sperry Milling Co. has a large mill at Paso Robles, and the
surrounding country is devoted largely to raising grains. The acreage set
out to mixed fruits and nuts is said to be about 4,665, of which 1,000 acres
are in bearing almond trees, while 1,500 acres are being set out this winter
(1916), mainly to almonds.

In 1899 the Hotel de Paso Robles was begun. It was two years in
building. The Western Realty Co. built and owns the hotel. Later the archi-
tect, Weeks, was engaged to plan th,e bath house. He was sent to Europe
ftir a }-ear to study the finest bath houses of the famous spas there, and
this w<jnderfully beautiful and splendidly equipped bath house is the resillt.
Pre\-iuus to building the present bath house a large wooden structure was
built across the street which later burned down. The grounds of the hotel
are beautifully laid out and well kept. C. A. Cabb is the present manager.

Churches

The Methodist Church was the first church built in Paso Robles. There
are now other churches of the following denominations : Congregational,
Baptist, Christian, Catholic, and Episcopal ; and a new building where a sect
calling themselves the "Church of God" worship.

Banks

The Citizens Bank of Paso Robles was organized and opened for busi-
ness June 1, 1892; Adolph Horstman was cashier, and Lyman Brewer, assist-
ant cashier. A few years later the business was in bad shape, but the bank
w-as reorganized, every dollar of indebtedness paid and the bank placed on
a firm, safe basis. The present board of directors is composed of W. C.
Bennett. Alex Webster, :\I. Shimmin, W. O. Dresser, D. S. Lewis, Paul
Pfister and A. Pfister.

The First National Bank of Paso Robles took over the business of the
old Paso Robles Bank, reorganized the management and in October, 1910,
began doing business. The present board of directors includes George F.
P-ell, W. S. Lewis and R. C. Heaton.

Upper Salinas Valley Fair

The Cpper Salinas Valley l-'air is held at Paso Robles about every two
years, and is a revelation of the resources of the section that certainly prom-
ises much for the future. The one held in October, 1816, was very good.
Among the unique exhibits was a large American flag made of almonds on a
wooden background. The wdiole was designed and executed by Miss Bernice
Exline. She dyed the nuts for the red stripes and blue field. The stars and
white stripes were of bleached almonds. She designed the wooden back-
ground so that the flag seemed floating in the breeze. The almond growers,
to show their appreciation, presented Miss Exline with a beautifully engraved
silver cup.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 149

Paso Robles was the first town in the county to secure a Chautauqua,
and has held at least four successful ones.

A beautiful park lends enchantment to the place. In its center stands
the fine $10,000 Carnegie Library, presided over 1iy the efiicient librarian,
]\Irs. Satira A. Gano. The shelves hold 2,500 volumes and more are con-
stantly being added. The streets of the city are well-kept and shaded by
rows of fine trees. It is well lighted by electricity, has a good water supply
pumped from wells across the river and carried in an iron pipe across the
fine iron bridge that here spans the Salinas river. The new $40,000 grammar
school has been mentioned in the chapter on schools. Three newspapers are
published in the town. The Leader, Paso Robles Record (started in 1907,
into which the Aloon and Independent were merged, owned by a company),
and the Paso Robles Press, owned and edited by INIrs. Dorothy Lawrence.
This paper was started July 11, 1915.

In April, 1905, the fine municipal bath house was opened, the citizens
first boring for water and getting a great flow of hot sulphur water. There
seems to be an underground lake of the water, for R. C. Heaton has an
artesian well of hot sulphur water. He is a pioneer business man dealing in
real estate and furniture, has been very successful and is still doing business.

A fine new bath house at the mud springs was built three years ago.
The business blocks of the city are mainly of brick and concrete. Every-
where things show prosperity and up-to-date methods. Paso Robles, the
little city built at the Pass of the Oaks, now just thirty years old, is one of
the prettiest, busiest towns in the state. Long may she flourish, amid her
almond-crowned hills and bubbling hot sulphur springs.

TEMPLETON

Templeton came into existence along with the Southern Pacific in the
fall of 1886. The West Coast Land Co., with C. H. Phillips, manager, bought
the Blackburn (Paso Robles) ranch, or most of it, laid out the town site, sur-
veyed the rest into small ranches ; and things began moving. A. J. Hudson,
wlio owned a fine ranch in the Oakdale district, became a real estate agent
and for about a month a hotel man, running the first Templeton hotel that
was under a roof. The first one was conducted under the great oak that
stood just west of the big building the Land Company erected in the early
part of 1887 and which burned down in the fall of 1897. This hotel was on
the corner of Main and Fourth streets, facing east, a two-story building.
It had a number of different managers, but Cook was in charge during the
"boom" of 1887 and cared for the crowd of people seeking real estate or health ;
for a number of Easterners were so charmed with the climate and lovely
scenery that they just w^ent into winter quarters and stayed. Among them
were a delightful old gentleman, Rev. ^'ork from New York, and his charm-
ing daughter.

There were a few men hovering around from tlie time tlie first stakes
were driven down on the right of way ; but the first man to arrive and stay
through all the vicissitudes of a "boom" and a "dead town," and be present at
the awakening to a more healthful career, was Albert Crum, who still stays
with Templeton. Early in October, 1886, the first construction trains reached
the town site, and the "boom" was on and in full swing. IMr. Crum was on

150 SAX LL'IS OI'.ISIM) COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

haiicl, and uii Octol.ier 16. 1886, bought a lot on the southeast corner of
-Main and Sixth streets, and erected a two-story building. The lower floor
was rented to Jacobowitz & Golliber for a store, and the upper story was used
for a hall until July, 1888, when Mr. Crum married jMiss Eunice Wright and
converted the upper story into living rooms for his family. Jacobowitz &
Golliber got all the goods they could from the wholesale man, sold them,
pocketed the money and "failed." They then went to Nipomo and "Central
City," now Santa Maria, and failed some more. .Mrs. Wengren put in a stock
(if g. KKJs in this store building, and was there for a while. In 1897 Mr. Crum
jiut in a stock of goods and conducted a general store until 1900, when he
sold out the stock to George F. Bell and retired from business. He took off
the upper story, used the lumber in building a pretty home, and sold the
lower story and the roof, we suppose to Joel Pate, who moved it up the street
int.. the next block, where it is still used as a store. A\'e have followed up
this building because it was the very first building erected in the town and,
like the man who built it, has stayed with the town and escaped the fire
that burned down all the other very early buildings.

H. C. Whitney bought a lot on the northeast corner of Main and Fourth
streets ; his deed antedated Crum's deed by a day or so, but Crum's building
was up first. Mr. Whitney put up a building and conducted a meat market
in front, while there were living rooms back. Later Mr. Whitney and son
Frank had a store in the building. 11. C. Whitney was postmaster and had
the office in his own building. Air. and Airs. Whitney and sons, Frank and
Eugene, were very much liked in business and social life. Mr. Whitney
was a sergeant in the Civil War and a suft'erer from a terrible wound in the
side, but was always a pleasant, cheerful man. Frank died and was buried
in Tenipleton about 1898. In 1900 the family left Templeton, .going to Pied-
niunt. where they lived until moving to San Jose, where they now reside.

Lyman Brewer, the first Southern Pacific agent in Templeton, came down
on a "construction limited," November 15, 1886, and opened up the box-car sta-
tion. In this he and his pretty bride lived until the depot was built with liv-
ing moms above. Mr. Brewer was agent until June 1, 1892, when he left to
go into the newly-opened Citizens Bank at Paso Robles as assistant cashier.

I'"rank Hansen, and his wife and daughter Etta, came to Templeton, he in
()ct()l)er, 1886, and Mrs. Hansen and Etta in December. Mrs. Hansen was the
third woman to come to live in Templeton. Mrs. Whitney and Mrs. Harry
Scheele were already there. Mr. Hansen built a hotel and livery stable; he
ran the hotel and stable until 1904, then quit the business, but still lives in his
building. A s<in. Grant, was born in Templeton soon after the family came.

Air. and Airs. Harry Scheele and daughter ]\Iabel came to the town site
bvfore ;iny buildings were up except Crum's, wdiich was under way. Mr.
Scheele was a painter and decorator and did about all that sort of work in the
new town. Later he clerked in Ouarnstrom's store, and about 1900 removed to
-Manicda, where lie now has a good business and employs several men. Mr.
Scheele and Aliss Al.abc! were very much missed when they left, as they were
both g(.)od musicians.

Will Lawlon had the lirst drug sttire in town in a building on the south-
east corner of Alain and i'lfth streets, where Petersen's store now stands.
He was also the first postmaster.

Dr Pendleton was the first physician to settle in town, and Dr. Glass of

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 151

Paso Robles was often called for consultation. Later, Dr. J. IL Heath came
and was there until, in the 1900 exodus, he left and went to Oakland.

Dr. S. Helgesen, who had been a medical missionary in China, came early
in 1897. She was a splendid doctor, a remarkable woman in many ways,
and was an angel of mercy to that town and community until August, 1915,
when she was killed on Cuesta Grade. She loved animals almost as much as
humanity. She was driving her car up the grade and. in trying not to run
down some loose horses, she swung her car too far over, and was hurled to
her death. She was buried in the Templeton cemetery, August 15, 1915.

G. H. Fisher, wife and twin daughters, came to Teinpleton in the fall
of 1886 or spring of 1887. They lived there until a few years ago, when the
daughters were employed as teachers in the bay city and they removed to
Berkeley. In December, 1915, Mr. Fisher died and his body was brought
back to Templeton for burial.

Eben Ward .had the first blacksmith shop in town. In January, 1887.
H. B. Morrison bought a lot on South Jklain street and put up a shop ; later
he added farm machinery, bought for cash but sold on credit. He managed
to keep this system up until 1899, when in broken health and after a loss of
five thousand dollars' worth of property, he left the town. In April, 1887, he
was married to a young lady teacher at Winters. He built a four-room house
on his lot in town, and Mrs. Miorrison bought eight acres west of town. In
1893 they built a nice home on the land, set out a prune orchard and lived
there until, in April, 1900, Mrs. Morrison and the four children left to join
Mr. Morrison at Nipomo. This property, that cost $3000 all told, was sold for
about $700. This alone tells the story of conditions there in 1900. The prop-
erty now belongs to Mr. McVicar. Jean Donelson worked for Ward awhile ;
and about 1889 Rainey and Donelson built a shop just north of the ^Morrison
shop, on the lot south of the Reading Room, where Donelson ran a shop for
years, until he went into the garage business.

In the fall of 1886, William Horstman came, bringing about $40,000. He
bought land, built a fine big home, set out orchards, built the first brick
blocks in town and engaged in store-keeping. He lost heavily, as did other
pioneers. One venture was a bank. His son Adolph, with A. P. Seeman.
John Ouarnstrom and H. Wessel, engaged in the banking business. In the end
the bank failed and H. Wessel's money was no more, for by some means,
.Mrs. Wessel says, he was left to pay notes and other obligations. Maybe
this was because he came there with over $50,000 and the other parties in the
business had little cash at that time, for William Horstman had drawn out
of the concern before the crash came.

Hans Petersen, a brother-in-law of Mr. Ijurstnian. came in 1888 with
about $30,000. He bought out Griffith, who had the first hardware store,
and went into the iiardware business, buying the Lawton building. He
also bought land and set out orchards, and met the same fate as the rest
of the pioneers — lost money. In October, 1898, a fire started in a saloon
next to Whitney's and swept the entire side of the block, which was all
filled in with wooden buildings. As soon as possible Petersen rebuilt, using
brick, and stocked up again, also adding groceries. In 1908 he turned the
business over to his sons and went to reside in Pismo, where he kept a small
store. In May, 1913, Mr. and i\frs. Petersen celebrated their golden wedding
in Templeton at the home of a daughter. Mrs. Joseph Kddy, entertaining over

152 SAX LUIS OlilSPO COUNTY AND EXMRONS

three hundred guests. ^Ir. Petersen died January 1, 1916. and is buried in
the Templeton cemetery.

Others engaged in business in pioneer days were A. F. Stull, general
store; H. Morton, jeweler; E. A. Spangenberg, books and drugs; Brown,
who Ijought out Spangenberg; and John Ouarnstrom and A. P. Seeman,
general merchandise. Gus Fredrickson bought out ]\Iuggler, who had a har-
ness and shoe shop, and still conducts the business. Mrs. Tillman, IMiss
Annie Petersen, and :\Irs. Culver had millinery shops at one time or another,
as also Mrs. Hines, who became Mrs. Adolph Petersen.

Among the pioneer families are the Wessels, who came in April, 1891— Air.
and Airs. Wessel and four children, Pauline, Etta, Frank and Harry. Mr.
W'essel bought the fine home C. H. Phillips had built, and here the family has
resided since. Pauline is a trained nurse, spending most of her time in the
bay cities. Harry is a druggist in Hdnolnlu. Frank married a daughter of
Niels Johnson, and Etta remains with her nmther. This family lost heavily
in pioneer days. Mr. Wessel died CJctober 0, 1915. Four pioneers were laid
to rest within about 1. lur month.s— Dr. Helgesen, H. Wessel, G. H. Fisher and
Hans Petersen.

Another pioneer family was the Bierers. They came in March, 1887,
bringing a fine herd of Jersey cattle. They lived on the Santa Ysabel ranch
for a time, and then bought a ranch west of town. Captain Everett H. Bierer
was a stafl:' officer under General Turney before he was twenty-one. He
recruited a company of volunteers for the Civil A\'ar' at Rockford, 111. Cap-
tain Bierer died about four years ago. A daughter, Helen Jessie Bierer, a
beautiful, brilliant girl, was a well-known teacher and lecturer on physical
culture. She married and enjoyed a brief life of happy wedlock, but died, in
spite of care, a few years later. Airs. Amanda M. Bierer, the mother, still lives
in Templeton and was ninety-two in Noxember, 1916.

The James Alercer family, east of the river, and the Thomas family at
Mt. Pleasant ranch, are old residents, who came with the earliest pioneers.

"College Hill" still enjoys its name. The site was given by the West
Coast Land Co. to Professor Summers, who purposed to have a college going
full blast in short order. He built a small building, taught a private school
in it for a few months, rented it for a public school before the schoolhouse
was jnit up, and finally sold it to a w(jrthy Swede, who added blue trimmings
to tlie yellow building, while the little Swedes frolicked over the whilom
"campus" merry as crickets. The Professor always wore a slouch hat and a
l)lack Prince Albert coat, and summer and winter carried a silk umbrella. He
was "from Kentucky, Sub," and added a touch of dignity to the frivolous
"b(i(im town," where all the inhabitants, ladies included, insisted on going
down t(i meet the trains. Why not? It was all the excitement there was for the
ladies. Tlie train men and male citizens could play cards and hold tarantula
figlits. 'i'hat was some sport, too, let me tell you. A\'ater was poured tlnwn the
tarantula's hole, a wide-mouthed bottle caught Mr. Tarantula when he swam
out. and then the men placed l)els. Tlie "bugs" were turned loose and liter-
ally the dust flew.

The i'".ddy Iirothers. James. Joseph, and A\'illiam S., have done much to
ini])rovc the Inisiness conditions of the town and county. They were bright
young felliiws whu started in to make good, and they did. They went into the
cattle business, l)uying and selling, established first-class meat markets in

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AND ENVIRONS 153

Templetoii and Paso Robles, boULilU up thousands of cords of wood and
shipped it. and purchased real estate and s(jld when the rise came. James
died April 11, I'Ul ; William resides in Paso Robles; and Joseph, in Temple-
ton, where he is a leading man in all that goes for improvement and moral
uplift.

The Dupont Powder \\\)rks have had a Ijig charcoal concern near Temple-
ton for some years.

\\'ill Pludson is the owner of a gra\'el plant, where cars and wagons are
loaded by an immense steam shovel.

Among the present business men are Marker & Sharp, general merchan-
dise; Petersen Bros., hardware and groceries; Albert Horstman, meat market;
Clauson, general merchandise ; Charles Johnson, groceries. The first paper
published in the town was the Templeton Times, edited by Captain Haley but
financed by the West Coast Lumber Company. There are now two, the Ad-
vance, edited and owned by Ben Bierer, and the Times, owned by Mr. Osgood.
The grammar school of three rooms was built in 1887, and with the land
valued at $10,000, more than it is worth now. A union high school is being
built and is described in the chapter on schools. The town is "dry," but seems
!o thri\e, as do others like it.

Churches

There is a large brick church belonging to the Swedish Lutheran society,
who also own a hall for social gatherings. The Swedish residents of tlie
vicinity have always been a most thrifty and desirable class.

The Presbyterian church at Templeton was built in 1888, and dedicated
late that year. Rev. F. H. Robinson was the first pastor, Rev. Wells followed
him and in 1892 Rev. Isaac Baird became pastor, and served for six years
Rev. Lowry, Rev. John H. AlcLennon, and Rev. Thompson followed in suc-
cession, and there may have been others for short periods.

In June, 1887, the first "entertainment" in the town of Templeton was
given under the auspices of the Ladies' Aid of the Presbyterian Church. The
writer was in charge of it. jMusic, tableaux, readings and "Mrs. Jarley's
Wax Works" were on the program. It came oE in Knapp's hall, was a
great success and netted nearly one hundred fifty dollars. The church
nrgan was paid for and a surplus left. A young man who afterwards became
fanmus as a novelist and playwright, Horace A. Vachell, was present. He
was courting ]\liss Lydie Phillips, the beautiful daughter of C. H. Phillips,
who a year or so later became his bride ; and as he has put most oi this
county and a good many of its people into his books, we do not doubt he
got "material" out of some of us and our efforts at "entertaining."

A manse was built at Templeton, and for years the faithful women of
the "Aid" toiled to get it clear of debt, which they finally did some eighteen
years after it was built. The church has been the scene of many christenings
and weddings, and from its door have been carried the bodies of the loved
dead. Patriarchs, men and women in the prime of life, maidens and little
children have all been carried from that little church among the oak trees to
their last resting-place "beneath the sk\-, underneath the sod, but home to
God."

We can not forbear writing about the beautiful country about Teniple-
tiin. Xdwhere on earth is there a nicire beautiful spot, with the distant blue

154 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

mountains; the rounded hills covered in spring with wild oats, where not
cultivated ; the wide, park-like valley dotted with immense oaks ; the Salinas
river, with its tree-fringed banks — alders, willows, sycamores and oaks — and
spicewood breathing its fragrance on the air. Wild roses in spring and
waxen "snowberries" in winter beautify the wilderness of undergrowth
along the streams. The climate is very salubrious. Templeton is now coming
into its own. The little town, with its beautiful setting, will ever be dear
to the writer and all the others who, during those lirst hopeful, happy days,
picked flowers in the streets, shunned squirrel holes in the same, or brought
land at the big sale in April, when the brass band played and the auctioneer
made you feel that you had to have a lot in the ■"villa" tract or a ranch. We
got the "'villa" lot, built a nice home, and lost out because others would not
pay their debts, so we could cancel a $700 mortgage.

During the last few years, real estate has sold at a good price ; the town
is electric-lighted ; and in all respects Templeton is now a lively, thrifty com-
munity.

SAN MIGUEL

San Miguel, our most northern town, is located north of the old Mission,
and was begun when the Southern Pacific came in 1886. It has had its ups and
downs along with the rest of the pioneers. It is the shipping point for the
wheat grown in that section, and has a large S. P. ^lilling Co. warehouse.
It was there the Farmers' Alliance built a fine grist-mill in the early nineties
There have been the usual number of general stores and shops for all pur-
poses. It has a pretty park, with its flag pole in the center, from which
often float the Stars and Stripes. A big celebration was held there on the one
hundredth anniversary of the Mission, when old, decrepit Indians came from
San Juan and other places, w-ho, in their childhood and youth, lived at the
San Miguel ^Mission. South of town stands an old two-story adobe that
was once the Caledonian Hotel, and where balls were held to which the
whole countryside came. This was quite a famous hostelry in the stage-
line days, and was the scene of lively times when the Southern Pacific
was building. There are a good three-room schoolhouse, a Methodist
church, and good store buildings, some of brick. The town is on the state
highway, as well as on the Southern Pacific ; and it presents a neat,
thrifty appearance. Adjacent to the town are two cheese factories, one
owned by J. M. Kalar and one by Clark & Marzorini. Mrs. E. Cole is a
pioneer business woman who has a general store. Other stores are: C. E.
.\<ier, confectionery, E. Bergeman, Gorham & Sonneberg, L. Lacefield, gen-
eral merchandise, Thralls & Co. There are a garage, a blacksmith shop,
and various repair shops. San ^Miguel has always had a local paper; at pres-
ent it is the San Miguel Sentinel. Dr. AlcXaul and Dr. L. D. Murphy look
after the health of the community. Lately San IMiguel has joined the ranks of
the "drys," having voted to abolish the saloon.

CRESTON

Creston is a small village with a general store and post office, a black-
smith shop, a few houses and a schoolhouse. It is about twelve miles south-
east of Paso Robles, and is reached by daily stage carrying mail and pas-
sengers between Paso Rol)les and Creston.

AKIH IU)('K AXn SCKXE AT PISMO BEACH

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AND ENVIRONS 155

SANTA MARGARITA

Santa Margarita is the next town south of Templeton, and was laid
out and had a land sale in the spring of 1889, soon after the Southern
Pacific reached there. It is built on a part of the Santa IXIargarita ranch.
The state highway passes through it. The rich country arouncl and to the
east of it makes Santa Margarita its shipping point. It is just at the foot
of the Santa Lucia range, and there extra engines are "hooked on'' to all
trains for the stiff pull to the summit. The S. P. Milling Co. has ware-
houses there, and a lumber yard. There are general stores owned by T. W.
Arnold, Lauritson Bros., and L. D. Weeks, a pioneer merchant. The
Eureka Hotel is run by Henry Langreder. Harper & Kendrick own a garage.
There are a meat market and shops of various kinds, a Catholic church, a
number of pretty homes, and a very fine new schoolhouse described in the
chapter on schools.

NIPOMO

This little town is on the Pacific Coast Railroad about half-way be-
tween Arroyo Grande and Santa Maria. It is built on the Nipomo
ranch, and the Dana families live on some of the surrounding ranches. All
that section once belonged to the founder of the Dana family, W. G. Dana.
There are the Methodist and Catholic churches, a modern schoolhouse of
four or five rooms, and many substantial and pretty homes. It is a shipping
point for beans and barley, the principal crops grown in that section. Grocery
stores are owned by Burke Bros, and the Dana Mercantile Co. Mrs. Cameron
has for years kept a supply of dry goods. There are shops to meet other
needs, and \\'. M. Cotter runs a meat market. Two saloons still remain, one
run by J. A. G. (Jag) Dana, and one by H. Knotts.

PISMO

'i'his town exists because of the beautiful I'ismo beach, which for twenty
miles curves away to Point Sal in Santa Barbara county, and which is by
all odds the finest in the state. Under right management it will soon
come into its own. The hotel, bath house, etc., came into the possession of the
J. P. Andrews heirs when a mortgage had to be foreclosed a few years ago.
Saloons and things that go with them tend to draw a certain undesirable
element, and the place suffers in consequence. There is a tent city, which in
the summer season is full of tenants. The Pismo clam beds have long been
famous for their delicious bivalves. Tlie beach is wide, the sand clean and
white, and surf bathing safe and very enjoyable. There are hot and cold salt
baths under cover. The view out over the i)lacid blue ocean or up the beach
towards the bold rocky point north, or south to Point Sal, is one never to be
forgotten. There are a two-room schoolhouse. a post office, a garage, and
several shops and stores. Many people come to this beach from the hot San
Joaquin valley during the summer and there arc some very pretty summer
homes at Pismo. When the beach is known for what it is, it will be a winter
resort as well ; for the soft, sunny winter days at Pismo are a rare delight.

ARROYO GRANDE

.\rroyn Grande is located on tlio I'acitlc Coast Railroad, about fifteen
miles south cif San Luis Obispo, it is l)uilt .>n land granted to F. 7.. I'.ranch on

156 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

the hanks of the Arrn_yo Grande ereek. Originally it was all one big
"nionte." covered with willows and Inrush : in fact, the whole floor of the
valley was a monte. E. Z. Branch gave the people the use, for five
years, of every acre they would clear and cultivate. The land about the
town and where it now is was sold in the monte state for eighty dollars per
acre, but this same land has since sold for from, three hundred to six and
eight hundred dollars per acre. The town in 1867 consisted of a small
schoolhouse and a blacksmith shop, and was on the stage line to Santa
I'.arbara. By 18/6 it had two hotels, one owned by W. H. Ryan, two stores,
two saloons, a wheelwright and blacksmith shop, a schoolhouse, a post ofifice, a
li\-ery stable and a number of residences.

In 1877 there \\-as quite a rush for land in the \-alk'y. and the school
had an attendance of one hundred children. The early .settlers were God-
fearing people, and regular religious services were held in the schoolhouse.
The religious element has continued to predominate, and now there are
Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Catholic and Seventh Day Adventist
churches in the town. The Methodist people built a large tabernacle on the
hill above the town, and every summer an Epworth League rally and camp
meeting are held there. Hammerschlag and Meherin Bros, were the pioneer
storekeepers.

The Odd Fellows numbered sixteen members in 1877, meeting in a hall
over Meherin Brothers' store. This lodge now owns a beautiful two-story
building, built of the handsome yellow sandstone quarried near the town.
The Good Samaritans, a temperance lodge, built a hall wdiich was used for a
high school, or what passed for one, in 1899, and is now the city hall. The
temperance element also throve, and the town is now saloonless.

The Pismo wharf, built in 1881 by Meherin Bros, and a few others, was
designed to do big things for Arroyo Grande valley. It was 1,600 feet long,
twenty feet above low water, and the water was twenty-seven feet deep at
its ocean end. The cost was $14,613. During 1882 thirty-eight vessels
(sciiooners) were loaded at the wharf, and it was estimated that over $30,000
was saved the farmers in freights. In 1881 the Pacific Coast Railway reached
the town, and for the next two or three years there were lively times. The
town claimed two hundred population. A warehouse 48x100 feet was put up ;
\V. B. Carman opened a drug store; Phillips & Co. put up a store 40x80 feet:
R. Orton & Co. had a flour and grist mill ; and in 1882 the Arroyo Grande
Irrigating Co. had two ditches capable of watering three thousand acres.

Dr. Paulding and Dr. Clark, both pioneer physicians, are still practicing
in the community; and there is a third physician. Dr. Gallup. Dr. C. S. Noble
is the dentist of the town, and W. A. Conrad has the drug store. About fifteen
years ago, a company of theosophists bought the big Cofl^ee Rice house and
named in "Halcyon"; and there, two miles down the valley, they have a sani-
tarium.

The town has grown slowly but surely. It was incorporated as a city
of the sixth class, July 10, 1911, with a population of about twelve hundred.
The first board of city trustees consisted of F. E. Bennett, president; S.
Alexander, George Grieb, G. W. Gilliam, and A. A. Henry. B. E. Stewart was,
and still is, city clerk. C. B. Doty was city marshal. The members of the
board are elected every two years. The present board are: Bennett, president;
Gilliam, (irieb, H. E. Cox, and C. S. Xoble. Cleon Kite is postmaster- George

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 137

Ide, assistant. The town is lighted by electricity and there is a proposition
before the city to install public water works. .About 1904, Russell Robinson
put up an electric plant and barley crushing mill. He supplied light and
water to all who would buy, until he sold out his plant to the Midland Coun-
ties Light and Power Corporation. There is a fine grammar school on a two-
acre campus, and a new $12,000 high school building, both more particularly
mentioned in the chapter on schools. There are several general stores, two
hardware firms, Lynam's harness and shoe shop, and shops of various kinds.
There is a creamery depot, a branch of the Los Angeles Creamery, and a mil-
linery store owned by Mrs. Ellen Adair. E. C. Loomis has a large warehouse
and a barley crushing mill.

The Bank of Arroyo Grande began as a branch of the Commercial Bank
of San Luis Obispo, October 1, 1901 ; but on November 7, 1903, it was incor-
porated, with D. D. Barnard, president; S. A. Dana, vice-president; A. L.
Bickell, cashier. The directors were JMcD. Venable, L. C. Routzahn, M. R.
Swall and P. Olohan. The officials at present are ]\I. R. Swall, president ;
S. A. Dana, vice-president; J. S. Gibson, cashier; and J. B. Gibson, assistant
cashier. The capital in 1903 was $25,000; now it is $50,000.

The Arroyo Grande Herald was first published in 1885 by Steve Cleven-
ger, owner and editor. He died in 1910, and his wife and son ran the
paper for a year. In 1911, ^^^ H. Smith bought the Herald and another
local paper, the Record, and consolidated them into the Record-Herald,
which he still publishes.

The large Routzahn seed farms and the Johansen seed farm are located
near Arroyo Grande. For many years Mr. Routzahn supplied millions of
sweet peas to church societies that gave sweet-pea festivals. These festivals
were great affairs, and goodly sums were netted the societies giving them.
Often most beautiful designs were worked out in the fragrant blossoms.
Very fine horticultural and agricultural fairs used to be held also ; but
for some reason both the festivals and the fairs have been discontinued. They
did more to keep up an outside interest in the town and valley than anytiiing
else has ever done.

The state highway, when it is completed, will i)ass through Arroyo
Grande. The scenery about Arroyo Grande is inviting, and the climate is all
that could be desired. The llower-emlxnvercd Immes si)eak for themselves.

The Valley

.\rro\n Grande valley has a very deep, rich soil, r.erries, walnuts, many
kinds of fruit trees, and all sorts of vegetables — potatoes, onions, squashes and
pumpkins — grow to perfection. Apples do especially well, and large orchards
once existed ; but carelessness resulted in the trees becoming badly diseased,
and shipment of apples was prohibited. The last ship-load sent to Australia
from the valley was refused at the port, it is said, and was dumped overboard.

Two or three different times during the last decade the creek has "gone
on a rampage," and each time carried away acres and acres of the richest soil.
A few years ago the "lake" and a great volume of water tore through across
Main street, to reach the creek, cutting out a gulch twenty feet in depth and
far greater in width. The bridges were torn out or badly damaged. Thou-
sands of dollars' damage was done to the Routzahn seed farms. The ware-
house and tons of valuable seeds were destroyed or damaged, and many acres

158 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

were swept awav or covered several feet deep with gravel and debris. The
creek is at times a menace to the town and valley under existing conditions,
thousrh its waters are very valuable for irrigating.

Many fine homes dot the valley. The "Huasna," originally owned by
Isaac Sparks, is about twelve miles from the town. Fine wheat and barley
are grown there, and many cattle range over the "Upper Huasna."

OCEANO

This is a little village about halfway l>etween Arroyo Grande and Pismo
on the Southern Pacific Railroad. It is quite a freight station, much of the
Arroyo Grande valley produce being shipped from there. It has a population
of several hundred. "Le Grand Beach" is near by, and efTorts are being made
to develop a seaside resort. The ^•i!lage has a ])ost office, shops, and general
stores, and a school* employing twci teachers.

NEWSOM'S SPRINGS

.\I)Out two miles east of Arroyo ( irande. in a beautiful \alley, is the great
warm white suliihur spring owned by the D. V. Ne\\-som heirs. There are a
bath hou.se and several cottages. The springs used to be a favorite resort
and camping place. Some years ago, when the winter rains did so much havoc,
tlie Newsom valley was badly washed out. Before D. F. Newsom's death
the hotel, cottages, and bath house were kept in good repair. Big oaks and
sycamores grow beside the spring and the little stream. The air is balmy,
and no finer camping spot exists. The water has a temperature of about 100
degrees Fahrenheit and is of considerable medicinal value.

BERROS

This is a small station on the Pacific Coast Railroad five miles south
of Arroyo Grande, and has a schoolhouse, store, blacksmith shop, and post
office. A number of good-sized chicken ranches are in the locality.

SAN SIMEON

San Simeon was once a town of considerable importance. Its wharf is
described along with the other wharves of the county. As it is on private
property, the Hearst ranch, there is little hope for its growth while that
estate remains one man's property. In the days when all that coast section
dejiended ujion shipping from San Simeon it was quite a busy place. During
the first six months of 1869, $62,650 worth of produce was shipped from
there besides many live hogs. In 1876 two general stores did a good business.
It was the end of the coastwise stage line, and Brown had put on a new stage
which made daily trips to and from San Luis Obispo carrying mail and pas-
sengers. .\ telegraph line was run to the county-seat. The Ocean ^'iew mine
was shi])i)ing quicksilver, and chrome ore was also shipped. In 1878 Mr.
I-rankl had tlie only store, which did a big business; he was also wharfinger.
That year three hundred flasks of quicksilver worth S40 each were shipped,
or $12,000 wortli. Flour and chrome ore cost $3.00 per ton for shipment. In
1864 Captain Clark located a Avhaling station at San Simeon. He had five
boats in 1878. two of them thirty feet long and six feet wide. He employed
from ten to twenty men during the season, which lasted from November
to Ai)nl. Tlie lowest catch for any year was three whales, and the largest

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AND ENVIRONS 159

catch for a season, twenty-three. After Cayucos became a town and hatl a
good wharf, San Simeon had to divide the business, and now there is but little
doing at San Simeon. A son of the Frankl spoken of was in charge of the
wharf in 1908 and considerable business was carried on over the wharf. At
present Roy Summers is wharfinger. Small steamers call once or twice
a week for beans and other produce that is shipped in the fall. There is a
schoolhouse, and the store and post office are run by Mr. Sebastian. If ever
the Hearst ranch is subdivided, a lively town may spring up where now
stands a little group of houses, a store and a hotel.

Piedra Blanca Lighthouse

About six miles up the coast from San Simeon on a rocky point stands
the lighthouse. The tower is 100 feet high and the lantern 150 feet above sea
level. It throws alternate rays and flashes fifteen miles out to sea. A
keeper and two assistants are always in charge. An immense steam fog-
horn and whistle are used in time of fog and storm. The old white cliffs
were named Piedra Blanca (white stone) by Cabrillo in 1542, and no one
has ever changed the name. When the winter storms rave along that
rocky coast, Piedra Blanca lighthouse is a lonely place for the two or three
families who live there; but when the soft summer winds just ripple the sea,
and flowers and waving grass are all about, a visit to the lighthouse is a
delight.

CAMBRIA

This town is located about ten miles south of San. Simeon, where once
giant pines covered the earth. It is built on land that, with a large surround-
ing tract, was held or used by Julian Estrada as a part of his grant, the Santa
Rosa. After the dry year land was sold for very little, as witness the Steeles'
great buy of 45,000 acres for one dollar and ten cents an acre. Surveyors
were set to work to make a thorough government survey and throw open
all land for settlement that rightly belonged to the government. A large
tract along Santa Rosa creek and much in other sections, in Green Valley
for instance, was thus opened up, and settlers flocked in. Early settlers about
Cambria were De Nise, the Leffingwells, O. P. McFaddon, Jeffrey Phelan,
John C. Hill, F. J. Peterson, J. M. Whitaker, Alexander Cook, the Olmsteads,
Neil Stewart, A. C. Buffington, C. H. Evans, B. Short. S. JM. Davidson, J. R.
Fletcher, G. O. Campbell, Mather and others. Letcher and Leffingwell each
had a sawmill and from the great pines sawed lumber for the new settlers'
homes, and for fences and posts.

The first name applied to the settlement was Slabtown. Otiiers wanted
it named Santa Rosa and Roseville. It remained, however, for a decided old
Welshman to name it for all time. While others were squabbling over the
name, he hung out his sign, "Cambria Carpenter Shop." This man from
Wales, Llewellyn by name, persistently spoke of the town as "Cambria"
(Wales) ; and when it came to a show-down with the postal authorities, "Cam-
bria" stood the test and became the town's official name.

In 1867 no travel took place between Cambria and San Luis except b}-
private conveyance, mostly on horseback, and mail had to be got at San
Luis Obispo, nearly forty miles away. In 1868 the government put on a
weeklv mail service, in 1869 a tri-weeklv mail service. In lulv, 1866, G. W.

160 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Lull had a store, the first one north of San Luis, at a point between Santa
Rosa and San Simeon creeks. In 1867 the store was moved a half mile north
of where the town now is ; and in 1868 it moved into town, and the firm of
Lull, Grant & Co. began doing business. Lull and Leffingwell came to the
county in 1859. M. J. Phelan came earlier than either of these men, and in
18.^9 he built the first schoolhouse in that end of the county. It was in a
little canon between Phelan's ranch and San Simeon creek, and was called San
Simeon school. The first store built in the new town was put up by S. A.
Pollard and George E. Long on a lot later occupied by Ramage & Conway's
store. Dairying was the chief business about Cambria, as we learn that in
1869 $30,000 worth of butter was shipped from the San Simeon wharf.
In 1871 the Excelsior Cheese Factory, owned by Bowen, Baker & Co., was
built about four miles south of Cambria, and from 400 to 500 cows furnished
milk for it. The Tribune says as high as 1200 pounds of cheese were made
daily and sold for seventeen or eighteen cents per pound. In 1872 the Farmers
and Stockraisers' Co-operative Store was established, with $40,000 stock,
2,000 shares at twenty dollars each. A Grange was next in order.

From about 1862 a mining fever occurred at frequent intervals. Coal,
copper and quicksilver were all said to exist in large quantities. Copper and
chrome were mined and ore was shipped ; and in 1871 a rich lode of quicksilver
was found. The mines of Cambria are mentioned in the chapter on mineral
productions. Quicksilver mining, especially in the Oceanic mines, has meant
much to Cambria business men.

Dr. Frame was the first physician in Cambria. He died of diphtheria,
February 23, 1869. This scourge swept the country about Cambria again in
1882, and about Cayucos and on Old creek many children died.

Cambria has always been patriotic. From an old Tribune we read, "Cam-
bria led ofT in 1867 with the first real Fourth of July celebration." For many
years Cambria has celebrated Admission Day with a barbecue, speeches,
music and a Wild West show. The celebration site is up in the pines back
of town. In 1870 Cambria celebrated with races of all sorts at Van Gordon's
race track.

Probal)ly Cambria's most palmy days were about 1880, for from old re-
ports and newspapers we learn that Grant, Lull & Co., G. W. Ramage, Gans
& Co. and S. Goss all ran general stores. There were two drug stores, owned
by Manderscheid Bros, and Mr. Fisher, respectively. Geo. M. Cole had a
harness shop; Fred Ott, a shoe shop; J. W. Stiles, a jewelry shop; Jennie
Bright, a millinery shop. These were two wagon shops, one owned by Philip
Kaetzel, the other by F. Sherman. John Hackney and P. H. Eubanks each
had a blacksmith shop. James D. Campbell and Jerry Johnson each ran a
livery stable. Manon & Davis had a large sawmill, and Baker & Marsh dealt
hi luinlier. Jasi)er N. Turney practiced law.

The town has never attained much size, but it is a pretty little village,
with the ocean at its feet and the pine-clad bluffs at its Itack. The Santa Rosa
creek Hows beside the town. There are two churches, Presbyterian and
Catholic. A good schoolhouse with rooms for a hundred children is built
on a hillside. The town has a newspaper, the Cambria Courier, run l)y
C. A. Meacham. The Bank of Cambria is a solid institution and a great
hcl]) to Inisincss in the northern half of the county. J. H. Bradhoff is presi-
dent and Merle Jones cashier. The principal business houses are the Swiss

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 161

American Supply ; George Dickie, hardware : Piancorini & Co., general mer-
chandise. L. J. Renshaw has a drug store. Dr. Possum and Dr. H. 11. .Shaw-
have offices in the town and attend to patients. E. Asebes has a meat market.
The Cambria Hotel is in charge of Ad Cannozzi. Renshaw's auto livery and
the Coast Truck Company, owned by Minetti & Villa, do business for the
community. Years ago a railroad was actively discussed, but no more is
said about it. A railroad or electric line all the way up the coast would lie
of great value, and some day it will be l)uilt.

CAYUCOS

"Ca3'ucos" means "canoes"; and tlie name was first applied to the bay
because in early days these small craft, made of skin, were used in visiting the
steamers that came to anchor in the liay. The Indians probably made the
first skin boats here, as in other places. In 1867, Captain James Cass came
to Cayucos and engaged in landing merchandise and getting off produce.
Later the wharf, described in the chapter on wharves and other means
of transportation, was constructed. In 1875, Cass's dwelling, the ware-
house containing the store, and a ranch house in the distance composed the
town of Cayucos. Later a new firm, Dunn, McMillan & Co., built a store
and conducted a general merchandise business. Grant, Lull & Co. of Cambria
also had a store at Cayucos. In 1878, C. II. Phillips bought the Morro y
Cayucos rancho, subdivided it, laid out the town of Cayucos and sold off
many ranches. Ivlany Swiss settled about Cayucos and engaged in dairying,
which has always been the principal business. All sorts of crops will grow on
the level land, but as most of the country is rolling hills or steep enough
to be nKJuntainous, dairy cattle are most profitable. Along the streams irri-
gation now keeps alfalfa for green feed growing all the year. Morganti &
Signorini kept the first hotel, and R. Cheda seems to have been next in line.
Rev. A. B. Spooner was the first minister of the gospel in that end of the
county. In 1881, Rev. J. H. Blitch preached in Stone's hall the first Sunday
in the month, the second at San Luis Obispo, the third at the schoolhou.se
in Green Valley and the fourth Sunday at the Cambria Presbyterian Church.
A. Leroy kept a store in Cayucos for a while in 1881. Summers & Alurry
were blacksmiths; De Rome bouglit out Summers and the firm liecame De
Rome & Murry. B. F. Bidamon had a liarncss shop. Riordan's boot and
shoe shop and Barnes" butcher shop completed the list. Dr. Lane was also
located there. The town lots sold for seventy-five dollars and the ranch land
for twenty-five dollars per acre, we are told. Fire at different times has
swept the one main street, and now there are some good concrete stores in
Cayucos. There are two churches, Presbyterian and Catholic.

There is an abalone cannery at Cayucos that from May to November
employs sixteen men and two boats gathering the abalones from the rocks.
Divers pry the abalones off where the rocks are submerged. The cannery
is supplied with modern machinery. Met cut the abalones from the shells ;
then they are cut, packed in tin cans, cooked, sealed, and cooked again in big
steam vats. Six thousand cases were prepared and shipped this season.
Seven American girls or women and eight or nine men work in the cannery.
This is a branch of the Point Lobos Canning Co., which owns all the abalone
canneries in the state. Japanese do the catching, and Mr. .\oki. the superin-

162 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AXD EXVIROXS

tenclent of the cannen-, is a very polite, capable man. Everything about the
cannery was spotless. Air. Roy Beebee was at the abalone plant buying
the shells for C. C. Lord & Co. of Long Beach, who manufacture all sorts
of ornaments and jewelry from them. He wanted thirty tons of shells, but
could get only twenty tons. It is from these shells that the beautiful "blister
pearls"' are obtained, wdiich sell for twenty cents each and up, and an enor-
mous pile containing "blisters" had been set aside by the company and were
not for sale with the others. Air. Aoki presented the writer with a very beau-
tiful pearl, and several shells containing others.

There are three firms doing a general merchandise business, Cass & Co.,
Tognini & Ghezzi, and Tomasini Bros. The Exchange Hotel is run by
Minetti & Nicola, and the Cottage Hotel by Airs. L. Pedraita. James Pedrotta
has a blacksmith shop. A. Canevascini has a meat market. E. J. Tomasini
is postmaster. There are two cream stations, branches of Swift & Co. and the
Los Angeles Creamery Co. The California Central Creamery makes butter.
Only one small steamer, the "Homer," now calls once a week, bringing and
taking away freight. The auto trucks and creameries, instead of the old-fash-
ioned "dairy" where the butter was made on the ranch, have made a big
difference in steamer traffic.

One more O. K. Smith item. Air. James Cass, who lived in Cayucos
when Smith disappeared, told the writer a few days ago that he fully be-
lieved Smith was driving in the surf on the beach near Alorro Point and
was drowned. Air. Cass said that not long after the tragedy he was riding
along on horseback just about where Smith's papers were found, and all at once
his horse was caught in a swirl of quicksand and its hind quarters sank so
that the little boy riding behind Air. Cass would have slid off had he not
reached back and caught the child. Air. Cass also said Smith had a strong
premonition that evil lay in wait, for he tried hard to get Air: Cass to go
with him to San Luis, and also asked Rudisill to go when he was leaving
Stone's saloon. Several of the stories told the writer have previously been
given. The mystery remains, and the reader may choose his own theory.

The Cayucos Bank Robbery

Early in August, 1892, a man named Dunn, living in Oak Park, stole a
fine mare from Steele Bros, at Corral de Piedra and was known to have
gone north. Peter Banks, a one-armed man, but without fear, was constable
of San Luis Obispo and was over in Paso Robles on business. Word was
sent to him to look out for the horse and Dunn. Banks arrested Dunn in a
lumber yard at Paso Robles just as he was taking sixty-five dollars from a
buyer for the animal, valued at two hundred dollars. The County Bank had
a l)ranch bank in Cayucos and J. J. Simmler was the cashier. Banks started
for San Luis with his prisoner. At Santa Alargarita they had supper. Be-
fore leaving, Dunn demanded whiskey. He was already "ugly" from drink.
Ranks said he thought, as he was one-armed and alone, he had better humor
him, and so got a bottle of it. Dunn seemed to study for a while after leav-
ing Santa Alargarita, and finally said, "Banks, I'm in a hell of a fix. ain't
I?" Banks agreed. "Well, if I put you wise to something bigger than
stealing a horse, will you help me out of this?'' "I will," said Banks, "if you
prove that it is." Dunn then told Banks that he, a man named Isom, one
named (joss, t)nc named liill Brown, and one other, had a series of robberies

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 163

planned. Thoy were to n>]) Port ITarfonl, SaiUa ^rarg•arila and the Cayucos
bank. P.anks took Dunn to Sheriff O'Neal and he repeated the tale. The
officers then agreed to let him go if he kept "mum" and the story proved to
be true. On the night of August 30, 1892, the Cayucos robbery was to
come oft'. That would be "butter day," and $3,000 or more was sure to be
in the bank's vault. For four weeks Dunn had to "play the game" with his
pals. On August 30th, about six P. M., Sherift' O'Neal, Deputy Sheriff A.
C. McLeod, Banks and his deputy, Kues, left San Luis for Cayucos. Mean-
time the bank had been informed and Mrs. Simmler had that afternoon carried
a big iron bucket full of gold over to Cass, who put it in his safe. The plot
was, to go to Simmler's house, tell a story about a sick woman, gain admit-
tance and then force Simmler to go to the bank and open the safe. Simmler
weakened and refused to remain at the house ; so Banks got Will Waterman to
go to the house and stay. Mrs. Simmler went to the hotel for the night.
This aroused interest, and when the four officers drove into town the citizens
were sure something was about to happen and at once got their "guns."
The officers warned them to get to cover, as there was likely to be shooting.
James Cass was in the secret and acting with the officers. About nine o'clock
that evening one of the robbers got a livery team at Sarmento's stable and
with others of the gang drove to Cayucos, arriving about midnight. They
each donned a gunny sack with slits cut for arms and eyes. At the last
minute O'Neal and Kues showed the white feather and refused to be in the
bank when the robbers entered, so they stayed out in the back yard. Banks,
with his one arm, and Deputy McLeod took their station in a little room
back of the one the bank was conducted in. The fellows went to Simmler's
house and asked for him. Waterman replied that he was out of town. "Are
you in charge of the bank?" "Yes." "Well, then, you'll do. Come along."
Waterman had been told to pretend to unlock the safe (it was off the com-
bination), to throw open the large iron door and slip behind it, which he did.
One of the fellows refused to enter the bank, "got cold feet" and skipped
across the street.

Cass was hiding in a lumber pile just Ijack of where he stood. When
Waterman swung back the safe door, Banks and ]\lcLeod pushed open the
door and INlcLeod said, "Hands up!" Bill Brown was on guard and the
others down before the safe. Brown fired, his bullet splintering the door
casing. McLeod was shocked by the glancing bullet and reeled against
Banks, saying, "I'm shot !" Banks was covering the fellows before the safe,
but he knew it was shoot or be shot ; so he fired. Brown fell, but fired after
he fell, and McLeod carries the bullet in his back yet.

A candle burning on the counter was blown out, and in the darkness
Isom and Goss escaped, took horses tied at a hitching rack and fled to the
hills, where they were in hiding for weeks, and finally got clear away. O'Neal
and Kues ran ; it was too much for their nerves. The fellow who got "cold
feet" sprinted also, and Cass fired at him, but a telegraph pole got the shot.
I le took the team, drove it to within a mile of San Luis and turned it loose.
He was arrested and jailed, but was let go on turning state's evidence at the
trial. Poor Bill Brown was carried into the hall and died next day, realizing
that the way of the transgressor is hard. Some years later, when Ballou
was sheriff, Goss was caught near San Diego and Isom near Sacramento.
I'.nlh were brought back for trial and sentenced to ten years imprisonment.

164 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Goss died in prison. Most of these men were young, and it was a dare-devil
game, probably their first real offense of the kind. It was a logical outcome
of conditions that had previously existed in the county, and the blame goes
beyond those who were in the robbery. Dunn had a wife and several chil-
dren. Mr. Banks, Mr. McLeod, Mr. Cass and Mrs. Simmler all gave ac-
counts of this affair to tlie writer, and it is no doubt correct in all respects.

MORRO

Morro Rock

Standing on the gently sloping sand
That rises back from IMorro's shining bay,
I look along the glistening stretch of strand,
And hear the roar of surf, and see the spray
That rises white and pure as mountain snow,
A\'ith showers of diamond drops flung far and wide.

Flashing and gleaming in the rosy glow
Of twilight's charming hour, the sea gulls glide
On flapping wings at ease, high in the air.
Or stand in rows all silent side by side,
\\'atching and waiting for their evening-fare.

Alone and grand from out the white sea-foam,

Old Morro lifts his rugged form on high ;

\\'here fierce, tempestuous winds in fury roam.

Dauntless he lifts his head against the sky.

He stands through storm and sunshine, night and day.

The firm, grim guardian of the placid bay.

Long may the storm king howl upon the deep

And strew with helpless wrecks the sandy shore,

Hurl his wild waves about old Morro's feet

And fill the air with wild, incessant roar;

But firm and staunch, through danger's deafening din,

Stands the bold sentry of the bay within.

— C. Elwood.

This beautiful little poem by Elwood we copy from Angel's History, of
1883. It is one of those stray bits of descriptive verse found in old newspapers,
that never get saved in book form and whose authors are never duly appre-
ciated. In the old files of the Tribune, when Murray was editor, are some
gems of ])oetry, as fine literature as the first-class magazines ever published.

Morro Rock was named by Cabrillo when, in 1542, he sailed tip the coast,
the first white man to set foot upon the shore of our county. This great
cone is the last of a chain of ])eculiar pyramidical peaks that, beginning with
San Luis ^Mountain and Bishop Peak, run northwesterh^, ending with Morro
Rock out in the sea. It is a grim, lonely pile of reddish granite rising five
hundred eighty feet out of the sea and covering over fifty acres. A smaller
rock rises a short distance beyond it on the northwest, and between the two

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 165

rocks the sea rushes Hke a mill-race. A lono; sand-bar has formed between
it and the mainland, and the bay is now very shallow. Once in a long while,
the tide is so low one may walk almost to the Rock. There used to be a
little hut on the land side of Morro Rock, and an old couple lived in it. A
few half-wild goats and sheep found a scant living on the Rock. Thousands
of tons of rock were blasted from its sides and taken in barges to build the
breakwater at Port San Luis.

Eighteen years ago hundreds of people camped on the "Point" just north
of the little village. The writer was there and kept the "census" for the
San Luis Breeze, and from two hundred fifty to three hundred campers were
there for at least six weeks. Many came from the San Joac|uin valley and from
the Salinas valley. We used to get up "shows" for evening entertainment
and build a great bonfire. Spooner had a store on the Point, and Mrs.
Stocking used to make the most delicious pies, cake and bread to sell to us.
Old Dr. Smiley had a home in the town and another on his ranch north of
town. He used to fix up all the little sick children who were brought over
there. It was his personality as much as his little white pills (he was a
homeopath) that saved the babies, for when he held out his old arms and
said, "Come to doctor," the sickest, shyest little child would go to him, cud-
dle down on his shoulder and begin to get well. It was a problem then for
the doctor to get rid of his little patients, but he would let them swarm about
him and hold the littlest ones two or three at a time in his kind old arms.
Dr. Smiley came to Morro very early. He had lost his eyesight, almost, in
an accident in the East. His wife and two little girls had died; and out in this
stnte, in the little seaside hamlet, he finished his days. Harry Osgood — a son,
we think, of Henry Osgood, the pioneer — had nursed the doctor when ill. and
to him he willed his fine ranch at Morro. A little blue glass pitcher is
treasured by the writer as a keepsake from this kindly old gentleman.

We used to have dances on the Point, and a "'Inmch" of 3'oung Swedes
put on a "circus." They did some wonderful athletic turns, and the clown
wore his mother's gayly flowered calico "wrapper." Mrs. Thompson and
Mrs. Kiler of Paso Robles used to recite, as did also the writer. We sang;
and the "San Joaquin Band" — two guitars, a violin and a banjo — made the
music. When the politicians were out campaigning, they all had an evening
at the Point. Warren M. John, "Charlie" Palmer, Barlow, Spangenberg
and all the ofifice-seekers in 1899, used to come to the Point, give the glad
hand and kiss the "kids." As an old Irish lady said, "Thim were the happy
days." One day, early in the morning, word went down the line that a dead
man had been brought into camp who had died that night on his way over
from Lemoore. A hush fell over the campers. Pretty soon it was reported
he had "come to," and we heard a sigh of relief, for we were too lively a
crowd for a dead man. By noon he was able to sit up, and by three P. M.
he was playing cards. Talk about climate; beat that if you can !

The Legend of Morro Rock

A Spaniard so loved the great Rock and beautiful bay that he built a
splendid home, for the times, calling it Morro Castle. It was built about
1830, was over two hundred feet long, two stories high, with walls three feet
thick, iron-barred doors and windows, a court and corridors. The "Castle"
cost ,$40,000. A "Passing Traveler" thus speaks of it : "The largest hall is

166 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENATRONS

eighty feet long, with six windows. The plastering, made of gypsum found
near "by, has fallen off in places, but the great joists are as firm as ever. The
stairway leading to the garret is on the outside of the house. A wall almost
reaching the roof runs through the weird old garret. Moth-eaten costumes
of silk and velvet, still showing gold-lace trimming, lay in heaps on the floor.
Old saddles, bridles and spurs lay about." The Spaniard requested that when
he died his body should be carried to the top of Morro Rock and be there
left beneath a rocky cairn. His wishes were not executed, but his steed
was said to be heard madly galloping down to the shore long after master
and steed were dust. The "Castle" still stands about two and a half miles
south of Morro on a little rise close to the road, iron bars and all. A Swiss
family occupies it and a cow yard is close at hand. Alas for romance in a
"cow country" !

i'Vanklin Riley owned one hundred sixty acres of land at Morro: and in
the winter of 1870-71, Riley and "Cal" Mathers laid out a town. The wharf
and warehouse were built and quite a good business resulted ; for then small
steamers and schooners could enter the bay. Ezra Stocking had a store and
was postmaster. July 4, 1870, Morro had a celebration on Toro creek. A. M.
Hardie was marshal of the day. Revs. A. N. Spooner and A. P. Hendon took
part, L. J, Beckett read the immortal Declaration, J. Grigsby "orated" and
Miss Leonora Hazen sang. Two hundred people turned out to the celebra-
tion. Growing right along was the Morro country then. During the year
ending with May, 1873, fourteen new houses were built in Morro. In 1877
there were two wharves at Morro, extending out to water fourteen feet deep.

Morro now is quite a lively little town. Many summer tourists come each
year, and the Atascadero Colony has bought the "Point" and is promising
great things at Atascadero Beach. A good-sized tract of land on the bluft'
facing the bay and Morro Rock has been purchased, and a temporary building
has been put up. Here is to be an all-the-year-round resort, Morro Rock Inn.
The winters are even finer than the summers at Morro ; for the warm, sunny
days and sparkling blue ocean are seldom obscured by fog. Town lots are
selling off rapidly, and many new houses and a hotel have recently been built.
There is truck service for freight between Morro and San Luis Obispo ; also
stage service by auto for passengers. Mr. Sewell is postmaster. There are two
general stores, a church, a two-room schoolhouse, and shops of all sorts ;
ami Morro seems to be coming into her own. No saloons are allowed, and
naturally only a good class of people go to "Beautiful Morro by the Sea."

AVILA

.\vila was laid uut by the Avila brothers on the San iNIiguelito ranch
granted to their father. A cluster of houses, a store, a post office, a fine new
two-room schoolhouse, and several tanks and buildings owned by oil com-
])anics comjirisc the town. There is a pretty little beach at Avila. The
county wharf extends from tlu-re, and some day it may be another San Pedro.

PORT SAN LUIS

This is not a "town" ; but a post office is located here, and there are many
oil tanks and little houses hanging to the rocky bluft's. The Pacific Coast Rail-
way's wharf runs far out, and another wharf owned bv them is built to load

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 167

the many big oil "tankers" that ply up and down the coast and to the "Islands"
or Honolulu. Hotel ^larre is perched upon a shelf of rock at the landward
end of the wharf. As has been said, here is the greatest oil port in the
world, and it is a fine harbor for vessels of any size. Warships find here a good
anchorage, and if ever a war involving the sea is waged. Port San Luis will
be a vantage point, for troops could be landed here most easily. No fortifica-
tions defend the harbor. A few miles out on the rocks is the Port San Luis
lighthouse and its group of buildings. A pretty little schoolhouse is in a niche
of the bluft', and a number of children attend school there.

San Luis Hot Sulphur Springs

These springs used to be called the oil wells, for it was in drilling for
oil that a great flow of hot sulphur water was obtained. Gas is abundant
and burns all the time over the main well. The springs are about a mile
and a half this side of Avila, in a pretty, secluded glade beside San Luis creek.
There are a hotel, cottages, a hall, bath house and plunge, all very good.
Great sycamores and oaks grow about. The climate is lovely — soft, warm,
and balmy. The ozone from the near-by ocean soothes the nerves, and the
mountains shut out all harsh winds. A mile and a half distant there is surf
bathing. This is a popular resort, and many ills are cured here.

POZO

About eighteen miles southeast of Santa ^Margarita is the village of Pozo
(a deep depression, or "cup"), surrounded by mountains more or less distant.
It has a schoolhouse, a store, a blacksmith shop, a sort of hotel, a saloon and
a hall. The Salinas river is near by, and a rich fertile country surrounds it.
This vicinity used to be called San Jose Valley. The situation is beautiful and
the climate very fine, especially for those inclined to lung trouble. It is on
the stage line to Simmler and La Panza, and has daily mail. The post office
is in MacNeil's store.

SHANDON

Shandon town site was surveyed and the map filed in the Recorder's ofifice
in July, 1890. "Sunset" was the name Mr. Charles E. Tobey .selected for the
new town ; but when this was submitted to the postal authorities, they
refused it, as there was already a post ofifice of that name. "Shandon Hells."
a story published in Harper's in 1882-83, was a great favorite with Dr. John
Hughes; so he suggested "Shandon" for the name of the new town. This was
officially accepted in 1891, and the name was placed on the map.

The West Coast Land Co. laid out the town and tried to "boom" it after
their successful operations at Templeton. Years before that, all the land
now known as the Shandon country had been taken up in government
claims. It comprises the territory about the junction of the Cholame, San
Juan and Estrella rivers. Wheat is the staple product, and each season,
•^specially in the good years, long trains of mules and horses haul the grain
to Paso Robles warehouses. Two wagons, sometimes three, are chained
together, and from eight to sixteen mules or horses pull the heavy load. It
takes the best part of three days to make the round trip to and from the
farthest ranches. Men and teams are covered with sweat and gray with dust.
Tmkling bells are worn by the leaders to warn others on the short turns and
steep grades. The earliest settlers used to get mail from the Cholame post

168 SAX LL'IS OBISPO COUNTY AND EWIROXS

office. The men would take turns bringing^ the mail for the neighborhood. On
a quarter section about three miles southwest of what is now Shandon,
Rudolph Mayer had opened a saloon, and thinking it would be a good stroke
of business, he decided to try to get a post office also. He circulated a petition
and obtained the necessary signatures, with the understanding, however, that
the petitioners should have a say about the name and location of the new post
office. Alayer, however, unadvised, named the office Starkey, for a friend of
his. and located it in the saloon. Starkey had tried to jump a claim; so it is
needless to say neither name nor location was popular. But it served the
purpose and was better than going to Cholame for mail. As this new office
had not been included in the mail route, Alayer had to meet the mail
.stage on the Paso Robles road and carry his mail bag three miles to the
delivery station. Soon after Alayer got the office estal^lished in its saloon
home, C. J. Shaw started a store on the quarter section owned by At. P.
Hansen and adjoining the old Spring schoolhouse, the first store in the
valley. Air. Shaw was a quaint little old gentleman, born in London. Canada,
of English descent, who came to this country when only seventeen years
old. Well educated, quite literary, a devout Episcopalian, he always worked
in the church at Shandon, doing much for the uplift of the community. He
was exceedingly polite and afi'able in manner, and the people insisted upon
making him postmaster and moving the office to his store. Air. Shaw continued
to be postmaster until his death in May. IQl'S. Before coming to Shandon he
had lived many years at Santa Barbara, but his body was sent back to London.
Canada, for burial. Cliff Barnes succeeded Air. Shaw as postmaster for a
short time : then C. U. Alargetts received the appointment, and still holds it.
^^'hen the town of Shandon was laid out. Air. Shaw moved the office over
there, and Starkey became Shandon.

Air. Worden put up the Shandon Hotel, the first building in the new
town, and ran it until quite recently, when he turned the hotel over to his
son, Guy T. A\'orden. Among the pioneer merchants were D. T. Smouse,
Ba.xter Grainger and W. R. Post. The Alethodists built the church, but it
has always been used as a union church.

A fine class of people settled in and about Shandon. Orchards were early
set out and now bear fine fruit. A few artesian wells have been sunk, and
more probably could be. Considerable alfalfa is raised. The climate, though
hot at times during the summer months, is exceedingly salubrious. The
old Sjiring schoolhouse is now a thing of the past; for in 1915 a fine new
modern and well-equipped building was completed, and two teachers are
employed. Mrs. Clara T. Paulding taught the Spring school when she home-
ste.-ided a (|uartcr section there many years ago. The writer has heard her
descriije the nionn-white nights when the air was sweet with the scent of
the dainty little gillias that covered the hillsides.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 169

CHAPTER XV
Presidential Visits, and the G. A. R.

President McKinley's Visit

On .May 11, 1901, President McKinley, on his trip to the Pacific Coast,
paid San Luis Obispo a visit. The G. -A. R. of the county had charge of
the arrangements, and were ably assisted by all patriotic citizens. F. E.
Darke took an active part in the work of the committee. The Ramona Hotel's
wide veranda was chosen for the speaker's stand, and it was decorated with
flags and flowers. Seats were reserved for all members of the G. A. R. and
^^■omen■s Relief Corps, and the President seemed pleased at the attention
shown by all his old comrades in arms. His special train drew in from Los
Angeles, and from the station to the hotel he was cheered and showered with
flowers. Never shall we who saw him that day forget the glory of his
countenance. A great soul shone from his eyes and seemed to radiate light.
Mrs. ^VIcKinley was with him — so ill that all his later engagements, save two
or three, were canceled. After his address he quietly slipped from the hotel
to his train, which had been run up to the Ramona Hotel station, boarded it
and was at once beside his beloved wife. There was the usual rush to say
good-bye; and as the train pulled out, the President appeared on the rear
platform smiling and waving his hand. Thus we saw the last of him, on
May 11 ; for on September 6 of that year an assassin shot President McKinley
at Buffalo, N. Y. September 14 news of his death plunged the nation into
mourning. Memorial services were held for him in San Luis Obispo and in
other towns in the county.

President Roosevelt's Visit

On May. 9, 1903, we were again honored by a visit from the nation's
chief executive. President Roosevelt was making a campaign tou'- of the
Pacific Coast. He had made fame with his Rough Riders, cowboy friends of
his from Texas and elsewhere, in the Spanish-American War. Tie had risen
from the governor's chair in the Empire State to Vice-President of the
United States ; and now, through the act of an assassin's hand, the responsi-
bilities of the nation's chief executive had fallen upon him. "Teddy" was a
very popular man, and the population turned out to do him honor. As his
special train pulled into the depot, the band played ; but the memory of
September 6, 1901, was still fresh in the minds of all, and no one cheered as
the secret-service men, who had preceded him, swung onto his carriage and
the horses were put to a swift, trot down Osos street. There was a tense
silence until one little woman sprang to the curb, waved her arm and cried,
"Hurrah for Roosevelt! Three cheers for Roosevelt!" Then the President
stood straight up in his carriage, doffed his hat, showed his teeth in a royal
smile, and bowed low to the lady from the I luasna hills. That started it, and
Roosevelt got plenty of cheers thereafter.

A stand had been erected in the Mitchell block, covered with pepper
boughs and flags, and there again the G. A. R. were seated upon the platform.
We could not be proud of our city park — we had none — so borrowed the
^fitclu'll ])lock ; but Roosevelt faced the mountains, bathed in their glowing

170 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AXD EXVIROXS

colors ; his face was fanned by the western breeze, and the fragrance of the
pepper boughs and roses was distilled about him. He told us our duty, and
drove it all home with both fists. Also he smiled ; and if McKinley's face is
remembered as that of a saint and martyr, Theodore Roosevelt's will always
remind us of a big, strong man, full of zeal and purpose, afraid of nothing,
bound for high places and sure to reach them.

G. A. R. of San Luis Obispo County

Colunel Harper Post Xo. 126, G. A. R., was instituted at Arroyo Grande,
June 25. 1880. Its roster contains the following names :

Henry Bakeman, Co. F, 2nd Iowa Infantry; James G. Stevenson, Co. C,
74th Ohio Infantry; John S. Rice, Co. F, 10th Minnesota Infantry: W. L.
Carman, Co. A, 183rd Ohio Infantry; Thomas E. Hodges, Co. A, 45th Mis-
souri Infantry; Edward S. Shaw, Co. B, 74th Illinois Infantry; Sergeant
Xathan J. Keown, Co. B, 21st Missouri Infantry; John W. Spears, Co. M,
3rd Xew York Cavalry; James Eddy, Co. E, 57th Illinois Infantry; Sergeant
K. M. Jersey, Co. K, 2nd California Infantry; Thomas Whiteley, Co. G, 4th
^Massachusetts Infantry; H. A. Sperry ; C. L. Turner. Co. D, 2nd U. S. In-
fantry : S. H. Abbott, Co. E, 3rd Michigan Artillery ; Thomas J. Forkner,
Co. I, 15th Kansas Cavalry; B. C. Ide, Co. C, 24th [Michigan Infantry; Gran-
ville Shinn, Co. C, 118th Illinois Infantry; A. L. Turner, Co. D, 2nd U. S.
Infantry; H. H. Adams, Co. K, 12th Massachusetts Infantry; Isaac Miller,
Co. D, 24th Iowa Infantry; William Quimby, Co. B, 188th Xew York in-
fantrv; Allen Colton, Co. B, 6th [Michigan Infantry; William J. Harr, Co. H,
1st Xew York Artillery; E. L. \\'arner, Co. A, 193rd Xew York Infantry;
B. F. Hilliker, Co. A, 8th Wisconsin Infantry; Jefferson Wright, Co. A, 55th
Ohio Infantry; Fred Seaman, Co. E, 2nd California Infantry; R. Dodge, Co.

B, 47th [Michigan Infantry; Edmond Waterman; William Lane, Co. C, 24th
Iowa Infantry ; James Ferguson, 12th Illinois Regulars ; Erastus Fouch, Co. I,
75th Ohio Infantry ; Elisha J. Lucas, Co. F, 10th Wisconsin Infantry ; Thomas
J. Jinks, Co. F, 12th Kansas Infantry; Henry E. Hoskins, Co. K, 2nd Cali-
fornia Cavalry; George Van Order, Co. D, 143rd Xew York Infantry; Charles
Putnam, 1st Oregon Infantry; J. X. Moses, Co. E, Uth Ohio Cavalry; John

C. Lyon, Co. A, 1st Ohio Cavalry; John Finch, Co. L, 9th Minnesota In-
fantry; Paul Reil, Co. D, 6th U. S. Infantry; George A. John, Co. H, 73rd
Indiana Infantry; J. B. Eakman, Co. E, 11th Pennsylvania Infantry; Ray S.
Potter, C'o. D, 8th Minnesota Infantry; Thomas H. Keown, Co. F, 12th Mis-
souri Infantiy; C. C. Arlle, Co. D, i07th Ohio Infantry; C. H. Lockwood,
Xavy; A. Adams, Co. D, 12th .Maine Infantry; H. Bouchard, Co. A. 156th
Illinois Infantry; Salathial Wheeler, Co. K, 27th Ohio; James A. Dowell,
Co. M, 16th Kansas Cavalry; Charles X. Davis, Co. I, 66th Ohio Infantry;
John .\lcott, Co. (i, 16th Wisconsin Infantry; Francis X. Belot, Co. K, 4th
Minnesota Infantry; < )tis M. Keesey, Co. D, 98th Ohio Infantry; Timothy
Ahinger, Co. C, 44th Ohio Infantry; F. R. Baumgartner, Co. D, 144th Ohio
Infantry; S. D. Harding. Co. 1, 73rd Indiana Infantry ; ^^^ H. Hartwell, Co. I,
9tli Xew l[ami)shire infantry; C. E. Bristol, Co. D, STth Ohio Infantry;
Maurice Denham, Co. .\. 12th Wisconsin Infantry; S. H. Coomes, Co. C,
27tli Illinois Infantry; Sylvester Ullom, Co. B, 25th Ohio Infantry; W. W.
Swain, Co. .\, 1st Wisconsin Infantry: L. Wood. Co. I, 91st Indiana Infantry;
V. S. Runnels, Co. D. 136th Ohio 'infantry ; Bradford Johnson, Co. I, 3rd

SAN LUIS OBISPO COLWTY AND ENA'IROXS 171

Xew York Infantry; William IT. Owen, Co. G, 42nd AILssonri Infantry;
loseph S. Brewer, Co. G, 42nd New Jersey Infantry; .Adam Bair, Co. D, 86th
Ohio Infantry; Joseph M. Loveland, Co. H, 32nd Iowa Infantry; C. C. Mar-
tin, Co. G, 68th Illinois Infantry; John M. Gorham, Co. K, 7th Missouri
Cavalry; Joseph Quinn, Co. F, 12th Missouri Cavalry; Herman lieyer, Co. !•".,
8th N. Y. Infantry; William Brassfield, Co. M, 11th Illinois Cavalry.

This shows the names of seventy-six veterans who have belonged to the
Colonel Harper Post. Of these, sixteen were from Ohio, eight from Illinois,
seven from New York, six from IMissouri, five from Wisconsin, four from
Minnesota, four from Michigan, four from Iowa, three from Indiana, three
from Kansas, three from California, three from the U. S. Regulars, two from
Massachusetts, one from Maine, one from New Hampshire, one from New
Jersey, one from Pennsylvania, and one from Oregon. Sergeant Nathan J.
Keown, Co. B, 21st jMissouri, was a charter member and father of Thomas
H. Keown, who served in Co. F, 12th Missouri. Father and son fought
shoulder to shoulder to preserve intact their country and ours. Could we
do less than give them brief notice in our history? Only a few old and
bent gray-haired men survive of the seventy-six members of the post. Paul
Reil, until his last Memorial Day, in spite of his ninety-one years, proudly
carried the colors at the head of the little line of veterans who each year
hold memorial services at Arroyo Grande. It was a sight to stir the heart
to look upon this old man straighten his bent back, proudly lift his face and
gaze upon Old Glory, then "fall in" and march the mile or more from head-
quarters to the "bivouac of the dead." In homage we lift our hats and bow
our heads in the presence of all members of the Grand Army of the Republic.

The charter members of Colonel Harper Post were Henry Bateman,
James G. Stevenson, John S. Rice, W. S. Carman, Thomas S. Rodgers, Nathan
J. Keown, James S. Eddy, T. W. Spears, R. N. Jersey and Stewart Shaw.
This post was instituted June 25, 1880.

Fred Steele Post No. 70, G. A. R., named for Major General l-"rcd Steele,
a brother of E. W. and George Steele, was first instituted probably in the
late seventies, but the fire that destroyed the Andrews Hotel and other build-
ings destroyed the first charter, and no exact date for the organization of
the fir.st Fred Steele Post is available. The second post, bearing the same
name as the first one. Department of California and Nevada, was organized
July 1, 1886, with fourteen charter members, viz.: G. B. Staniford, R. B.
Treat, J. E. Walker, W. G. Olmstead. George B. Woods, Charles Martin,
N. R. Johnson, J. B. Seaton, Frank R. Dart, l-'rank Canncls, \\\ 1". Canon,
Levi Rackliffe, Frederick E. Darke, John Hamlin. About one hundred fifty
veterans have at various times Ijclonged to this post. At present there are
only fifteen, for death is rapidly thinning their ranks. On January 11, 1917,
James M. Brown answered the last roll call. The present officers are:
David Thaler, commander; R. 11. Seebcr, senior vice; Charles Martin,
junior vice; F. E. Darke, chaplain; S. L. Nichols, adjutant; B. F. East-
man, officer of the day ; Martin Polin, inside guard ; David Hough, outside
guard. The other members are Peter Banks, Blanchard Kirchner, Thomas
Preston, R. N. Truesdale, Comrade Shindler and J. K. Truesdale. This post
owns a i)lot of ground in the Odd I'^ellows cemetery at San Luis Obispo,
where many old soldiers are buried. There is a soldiers' monument on the
plot, and an old na\al cannon, on its carriage, presented to the post through

172 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENX'IRONS

the efforts of Senator George Perkins. Each year Memorial services are
conducted there under the auspices of the post. There used to be a goodly
number of the Boys in Blue marching to martial music as the procession
moved to this one of God's acres. Now only a dozen or so white-haired men
ride in automobiles to Memorial services, and the flags above the mounds are
many.

Too much honor cannot be shown this remnant of the gallant Union
Army, and we are proud to embody in our history this brief review of Fred
Steele Post No. 70 and C(.ilonel Harper Post No. 126 of San Luis Obispo
county.

A \-ery elticient Woman's Relief Corps is connected with each of these
jxists. The one at Arroyo Grande was organized in 1883 with eighteen
charter members, viz. : Eliza Bakeman, Hattie F. Turner, Lucy S. Spears,
Harriet B. Abbott, Martha Eldridge, Hattie Lewis, Rilla Young, Mahelda
Keown, Maira F. Peterson, Mary F. Meyers, .Sallie F. Findley, Georgia
Eddy, Carrie Barker, Annie Shinn, Sarah Love, Nellie G. Abbott, Rosa
Love, Missouri Eldridge.

The Fred Steele Relief Corps was instituted July 9, 1910, with forty
charter members. The roll call increased to seventj'-eight, but has now
dropped to twenty-six in good standing. Two other corps had been organ-
ized here in earlier years, but had ceased to be when the present corps was
organized. This one takes an active part in charitable work and provides
several socials each year for members of the G. A. R. This last year it
helped pay the taxes on the soldiers' burial plot in San Luis Obispo, sent
money to the Evergreen Home for old ladies, and assisted other worthy ob-
jects. The past presidents are Mrs. Leonora Hardy, Mrs. Eastman, Mrs.
Callie M. John, Mrs. Ethel Long, Mrs. Kitty Turney. Mrs. Corra Eastman
is now president; Cora Evans, senior vice; Lily Smith, junior vice; Rachel
Martin, chaplain; Charlotte Aliller, treasurer; Mrs. Annie Berry, secretary;
Lena Spence, conductor ; Sadie Smith, guard ; Mrs. Eastman, patriotic in-
structor; Gertie Tilsley, press correspondent: jennette Taylor, assistant con-
ductor ; Kitty Turney, assistant guard ; Mrs. Long, Catherine Taylor, Rosana
Taylor and Ida Daugherty, color bearers.

It has already been stated that Major General Steele was a brother of
E. W. and George Steele, both very prominent pioneer men of the county;
so when a post was to be organized at San Luis Obispo it seemed fitting to
name it for their illustrious brother. He was graduated from \\'est Point
in 1843, served in the Mexican War and through the Civil AVar, and was with
his regiment at the battle of Vicksburg and with Sherman in his march to the
sea. In 1912 a life-size bronze statue of Major General Steele was set up
in \ ickshurg National F'ark. It was erected to his memory by his niece and
oiher members of the Proctor family. In recognition of the honor shown
their brother, the Steele Ijrothers presented the post with a fine silk flag.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AND ENVIRONS

CHAPTER XVI
A Celebrated Land Case, and Old County Documents

W'lieii in 1831 a land commission was estal)lishcd to settle the titles to
the Spanish land tyrants, many of the Spanish and Mexican grantees scorned
tiie "Gringo law,"' believing they could not be ousted from their lands. Those
who complied fully with the law obtained patents, but those who refused
became involved later in expensive litigation. Sometimes they lost the land
entirely. Often they spent the price of it in lawsuits. As a sample case in
thi.s count}^ we give the story of the Cuesta rancho.

In 1841, Mariano Bonilla petitioned Governor Alvarado to grant him a
tract of land which should be known as la Cuesta. He described it ciuite
minutely. It is the land lying in Cuesta canon extending back along a little
stream, the stream flowing into San Luis creek. The new city reservoir is
near this stream, and the land is perhaps better known now as the Goldtree
ranch. Bonilla's petition was referred to the priest in charge of the Alission,
as la Cuesta was a part of the old Mis,sion lands. The priest reported favor-
ably, and Governor Alvarado granted the land. April 16, 1842, Manuel
Jimeno, member of the departmental junta, made an informal grant of the
land, specifying that within one year a house be built and occupied, and
that not over six or seven cows and horses, sufficient for family use, be
pastured on the grazing lands which belonged to the Mission. The land
granted Bonilla was to be for agricultural use and an orchard. Also, he was
not to "divert or diminish" the water supply of San Luis creek, which fur-
nished water for the [Mission. He might fence it, but the road must not be
enclosed.

March 14, 1846, judicial possession was given Bonilla by the alcalde of
San Luis Obispo, Jose de Jesus Pico, who directed two plainsmen, Don
Manuel Garcia and Don Vicente Bonilla, in default of a regular surveyor,
to make a cord one hundred Castilian varas long and, "in company with
witnesses and spectators," measure off the land. They promised to do it "fair
and justly." The party proceeded to La Canada Honda, on the range of
mountains, and, beginning there, measured off the land, setting suitable marks
to indicate the bounds. After the land was legally surveyed by the plainsmen
with their "cordel," Bonilla, to show that he was now sole "lord and owner,"
pulled up herbs and scattered them about ; also he "hurled stones" over his
domain. The official witnesses were Vicente Garcia and Jose Ortega. Bonilla
planted an orchard, built a house, which he lived in, and also put up a
"molino," or grist-mill, and ground wheat for all who would bring it. This
old mill, the first one at San Luis Obispo, is mentioned elsewhere.

March 22, 1869, Bonilla sold to P. W. Murphy all his land, save the
portion already sold to Sumner. Meantime a United States Government
survey had been made; and Bonilla having refused to comply with "Gringo
law," his land was surveyed with the rest and the sixteenth and thirty-sixth
sections declared school lands. February 3, 1871, the United States Land
Office issued to Leonardo Lopez a patent covering Bonilla's land, which Lope?
got as school land or government land, and transferred to Isaac and Nathan
Goldtree, who proceeded to take possession. Beyond question, this was an
underhanded trick. Probably Goldtree instigated Lopez to take the land and

174 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

furnished the funds, though this is only a supposition. Had Bonilla complied
with the Mexican law. and later the •'Gringo" law, he would have been pro-
tected, and so would Murphy; but now there was trouble. March 7, 1872,
Murphy filed complaint for the recovery of his land and asked that defendant,
Goldtree Bros., pay him $640 rent per year since the time they "forcibly, and
without complainant's consent," took possession of la Cuesta. ]\Iay 6, 1873,
the answer was filed ; and the suit was tried at the May term of court, 1874,
without a jury. Walter Murray represented the defendants; C. W. Dana was
clerk. The Goldtrees were given judgment, and Murphy had to pay costs
of suit.

^Vhen the suit was instituted, all the old records had to be hunted up.
As they were recorded in Spanish, they were translated into English. Bonilla's
petition, the priest's opinion and Alvarado's consent to it were found in
the old custom-house at Monterey. As often as this land changes hands, the
Bonilla heirs put in a claim for recognition and compensation, but so far
to no avail. These old documents are so interesting that we give them in full,
with peculiarities of style and punctuation retained.

Copy of Old Documents Found in County Clerk's Office

This cause came on to be tried at the jMay Term of this Court, 1874,
and by consent of parties was tried to the Court without a Jury. The Court
having heard the testimony and argument of Counsel now finds the facts
to be :

On the 4th day of January, 1841, Jose Mariano Bonilla, a Mexican
Citizen, and a resident of California, addressed to Juan B. Alvarado then Gov-
ernor of California, the following petition:

(Translation)

"To His Excellency the Governor —

I, Alariano Bonilla, a native of the Department of Mexico and a resi-
dent of the Ex Mission of San Miguel before your Excellency respectfully
and in the form of law, represent : That in the Canada known by the
name of San Luis Obispo, there is a small plain, on which, with industry
and labor, an orchard might be planted and mill built without disturbing
the course of the water, and since the Mission of San Luis makes no use
of said ]ilace, and does not need the same, and since the temperature of
that ])lace is very beneficial to my health, I ask your Excellency to be
pleased to grant me in said place, a solar of three hundred varas square, and
to permit me to use the water of the Arroyo which runs to San Luis Obispo,
without disturbing the course of the same or diminishing its quantity. I
will place thereon a mill, plant an orchard and build a house, all of which will
be for the pulilic benefit. The said place is well known, however, I furnish
a map for your better information.

Wherefore. 1 pray your Excellency to lie pleased to grant my petition,
in which I will receive favor.

San Miguel January 4th 1841.

J. Mariano Bonilla."

On the receipt of this petition, wliicli w:is acci miiianied by a diseno
showing the location of the land asked for. the Governor referred the same

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 175

for information to tlie Father ?ilinister of the Mission of San Luis Obispo,
as follows :

(Translation)

"Monterey, January 16th 1841.

Let the person in "charge of San Luis Obispo report on the foregoing
petition after consulting with the Revd Father Minister as to whether or not
the land petitioned for may be granted without prejudice to the Community.

Alvarado."

Thereupon Father Ramon Abella, the Priest in charge of the Mission
of San Luis Obispo, made to the Governor the following report :

"In relation to the foregoing petition dated on the 16th day of January
1841, I say That I am of the opinion, that the said place may be granted for
tlie uses set forth, but on condition, that the grantee, shall not put thereon
more than six or eight cows for supplying the family with milk and some
horses for his use, otherwise the establishment of San Luis Obispo cannot
be maintained, since this place being surrounded by hills, it is a convenient
place for the milch cows of the Establishment and the horses which are
necessary for the use of the same, the greater part of which are kept there.

God preserve you many years.

San Luis Obispo, February 1st 1841.

Fr Ramon Abella."

This report was concurred in by Vicente Canet, the person ha\ing charge
of the Mission establishment, who endorsed said report as follows :

(Translation)

"I agree in the above report, and not knowing how to write, I make the
sign of the cross date as above

Vicente Canet"

On the 14th day of April, 1842, Governor .Vlvarado made the following
decree :

(Translation)

"Monterey April 14th 1842

In view of the petition with which these proceedings commence, the
report of the Father Minister, and of the Majordomo of San Luis Obispo,
with all other matters necessary to be considered in conformity with the
laws and regulations on the subject, I declare Don Mariano Bonilla owner
in property of one half a square league, from the Arroyo of tiie Encino
towards the Cuesta of Santa Margarita as far as the mouth of the Cafiada
on the principal road from San Luis Obispo. Let the corresponding title
issue ; Let registry be made thereof in the respective book, and let the
same be delivered to the interested party for his security and let this expi-
diento be directed to the Most Excellent Departmental Junta for its ap-
proval. Ilis Excellency, Senor Don Juan P.. .Mvarado, thus ordered decreed
and signed."

As another sample of old-time transactions, we give the following: Don
Jose de Jesus Pico goes to Santa Barbara shopping. Perhaps the Doiia goes
along. I'"roin the items one is almost sure she did. This old account was
found in the office of the county clerk recently. The account is with Thomp-

176 SAX LUIS Or.ISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

son's store. The debit items are: 1 wash basin, $2.00; three striped shirts,
$7.40: 3 red shirts, $10.40: 1 doz. tin plates, $3.00; 6 pieces white dimity,
$18.00; 1 piece blue flannel, $17.00; Yi doz. plates, $4.40; 4 tin pots, $3.00;
2 pieces white sheeting, $36.00; 3 muslin dresses, $24.00; 6 axes and handles,
$21.00. Credit items :^1 horse, $30.00; hides, $100.00; 6 bags tallow, $58.50;
beef to other expedition, $10.00.

CHAPTER XVII

A Chapter of Political History, and Items from the Tribune

It is not our purpose to go minutely into the political history of San Luis
Obispo County, but rather to touch upon the more important political events
that have had considerable influence on its general history. Since the settle-
ment of the county, every political party, new and old, has found adherents
among the growing populace. The first polling place was at San Luis Obispo.

On .\ugust 1, 1849, the first election in the county was held at San ,
Luis Obispo to choose delegates to help draft the state constitution, and to
elect local officials. Henry A. Tei¥t and Jose j\I. Covarrubias were elected
delegates to the state convention, John M. Price and Esteban Quintana were
elected alcaldes, and Joaquin Estrada, regidor. This election was called by
General Riley, acting governor. When the constitution was voted upon and
the election for governor was held, forty-five votes were cast, all for W. S.
Sherwood.

California as a state in those days was strongly Democratic ; but in our
county the Whig doctrine was popular among the Spanish, a pastoral people.
In 1851, party lines were drawn and San Luis Obispo County began to
vote the Whig ticket. In November, 1851, Antonio de la Guerra of Santa
liarbara was elected state senator from this district, and Mariano Pacheco,
assemblyman. In 1852 California for the first time voted at a presidential
election. Our county cast one hundred twelve ^-otes for Gen. \Vinfield Scott,
Whig, and eleven votes for Franklin Pierce, Democrat. In 1853 the county vote
was, for governor : William Waldo, Whig, one hundred thirty-seven ; Bigler,
Democrat, nine. In 1854 the county cast an almost solid vote for George
W. liuwie, \\ jiig candidate for Congress. That year William J. Graves
was elected to the assembly. In 1855 the county cast one hundred eighteen
\-otes for lligler, Democratic nominee for governor, and forty-five votes for
J. Neely Johnson, running on the new American party ticket, whom the state
elected. The vote in San Luis Obispo was the smallest county vote cast in
tlie slate. Manuel Castro was sent to the assembly from San Luis Obispo
County.

In lS5i) a iiarly new to the State of California had to lie reckoned with;
this was tlie Republican party, strong in the Eastern and Northern states,
but new here. It was state policy to avoid sectional disputes, and the first
s|fe;d<ers of this jiarty in California met with much abuse, mobbing being
fre(|u<.-ntly resorted to. The first Republican state convention met at Sacra-
memo on .\prd .SO, 185o, attended by representatives from thirteen counties.
W lien the presiilential election of 18.=;6 was held, San Luis Obispo cast one
iunidred seven votes for John C. Fremont, Reiniblican nominee. Our county

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 177

in those days seemed always to vote on the losing side. In 1857 Kuniualdo
Pacheco of San Luis Obispo was elected to the state senate and Henry M.
Osgood was sent to the assembly. In 1858 Walter IMurray was elected assem-
blyman. Up to August 3, 1859, all county voting had been at the county-
seat, but now the supervisors divided tlie county into precincts as follows,
viz. : San Miguel, Paso Robles, Estrella, San Luis Obispo, Costa and Arroyo
Grande. The first judges, inspectors and places of election were Estrella:
.Alfred Smith, inspector; James W'ayland and William James, judges; place,
Smith's house. San Miguel: B. Palmer, inspector; AL (i. Noble and William
McCrutchen, judges; place, San Miguel House. Paso Robles: G. Cruthers,
inspector; B. J. Jones and J. Pruett, judges; place, Paso Robles Llouse.
Costa : C. Mathers, inspector ; place, Santa Rosa House. San Luis Oliispo :
F. Hillard, inspector; B. Lascano and J. Bunce, judges; place, county court-
house. Arroyo Grande: E. Z. Branch, inspector; C. Dana and L. Martin,
judges; place, F. Z. Branch's house.

In 1859 San Luis Obispo County cast two hundred eighty-four votes for
AFilton S. Latham, Democrat, for governor; later, January 9, 1860, Latham was
elected United States Senator by the legislature and Lieutenant Governor
John G. Downey became governor. Horace Greeley visited California on a
campaign trip in 1859. On one occasion, the historic old stage driver with
whom he was riding on a wild drive yelled to him : "Keep your seat, Horace;
I'll get you there on time!" — and the mud Hew.

In 1860 the first national presidential convention to meet in Chicago con-
vened and nominated Abraham Lincoln on the Republican ticket. The doc-
trines of both great parties were fully discussed. Great things were at stake;
war loomed on the horizon, and San Luis Obispo County became stirred, as did
the whole country. At the election held November 7, 1860, the vote of the
county was: Lincoln, one hundred forty-eight; Breckinridge, one hundred
fifty-five; Douglas, one hundred twenty; Bell, none. Charles H. Johnson
received one hundred fifty-six votes for assemblyman, and \\'iliam L. Becbee,
one hundred fifty-two. The state for the first time cast a plurality vote for a
Republican president, Lincoln's vote being 38,734.

The state election of 1861 was a hard-fought battle, ending in the election
of Leland Stanford, Republican, for governor. In this county Stanford re-
ceived one hundred seventy-six votes, and McConnell, the Democratic nomi-
nee, two hundred votes. Romualdo Pacheco was elected Senator. C. W.
Dana, representing San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, was sent
to the assembly. In 1863 the county gave a Republican majority to F. F.
Low, two hundred sixty votes against two hundred nineteen cast for
J. G. Downey, Democratic nominee for governor. In 1864 San Luis Obispo
County cast two hundred fifty-nine votes for Lincoln, against one hundred
forty-nine for McClellan. In 1865 P. W. Murphy was elected to the state
senate. Lie was a Democrat, but having friends in both parties, won the
election. In 1867 the state went Democratic, but this county came out
decidedly Republican.

In 1869 the county seemed to "turn over." as most of the county officers
elected ran on the Democratic ticket. In 1871 it went Democratic on the
vote for governor, but was about e\enly divided on the county officers
chosen. In 1872 the county cast four hundred fifty-five votes for Grant
and three hundred twelve for Greeley. In 1873 the first Republican county

178 SAX LUIS OI'.ISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

convention was held. A resolution was passed favoring re-election to office
as a reward for faithful service. In 1875 the county went Democratic. In
1876 the total nundier of votes cast in the county was 1,736, Tilden receiving
944, Haves 772. in 1877 P. W. iMurphy, Democrat, was elected state senator,
and L. M. Warden, Democrat, assemblyman, with 1,028 votes. In 1879 our
county cast 1,038 votes for, and six hundred sixty against, the new con-
stitution. There were many parties in the field, and in some cases two or
more parties would unite on a candidate. Warren Chase was elected senator
by the Workingmen's and New Constitution parties. H. Y. Stanley was
chosen assemblyman on the Union ticket. In 1880 the county went Repub-
lican, casting eight hundred twenty-eight votes for Garfield. In 1882 there
were eighteen election precincts in the county. In that year the first official
mention is made of a Prohibition vote. Forty-five votes were cast in the
county for McDonald, Prohibition nominee for governor of the state. Some
strides have been taken by prohibition since.

In 1883 the state was divided into six Congressional districts, the sixth
containing San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, San Benito, Los Angeles, Ven-
tura, San Bernardino, San Diego, Kern, Tulare, Fresno, Inyo, Mono and
Alpine counties, with a population of 127,136 and 22,860 voters — men over
twenty-one years of age. In 1882 Judge Steele had been declared elected state
senator on the Republican ticket ; but in the beginning of 1883, Brooks, the
Democratic candidate, contested the election, and the result was thus
expressed by Steele in a telegram to a friend : "Sacramento, Cal., Feb. 21,
1883. The railroad got me. Brooks is seated. Steele."

About 1873 the farmers of the county began to organize "Granges." the
members being known as Patrons of Husbandry. The first Grange in the
county was organized at Cambria, No. 25 ; and during the same year another
was instituted at Arroyo Grande with twenty-three charter members. Other
Granges were organized at San Luis Obispo, Old Creek, and Morro ; and one.
Confidence Grange, was located, the writer thinks, in Green Valley. We find
these Granges protesting, March 10, 1874. in a resolution sent to the repre-
sentative in the assembly, against a bill pending "To build and equip a
railroad from the Bay of San Luis Obispo to Santa 3.1aria valley." "We
believe said bill unjustly discriminates in favor of said company and against
this and Santa Barbara counties; we believe it would create an oppressive
monoijoly and we request that bill be amended so as to fix similar rates of
charge as all other railroads now being built or hereafter to be built in this
county for moving freight and passengers." Signed, William Jackson, Master,
and E. L. Reed, Secretary. The Grange, and later the Farmers' Alliance,
became factors to be reckoned with in county politics.

The "wet or dry" campaigns of these last few years were presaged, and
the seed sown, when the "Order of Good Samaritans" was instituted in the
cr.uiity. The first lodge of this order was organized at ]\Iorro, November 21,
1878, Then followed one on the Los Osos in May, 1879; and Garden Street
I.iuljre of San Luis Obispo was organized ]\Iay 3'. 1879. A strong lodge of
this order was organized and built a hall in Arroyo Grande. These, with the
Sons of Temperance and the Good Templars, did valiant work along tem-
perance !mes. Prohibition has now become a vital political issue.

_ From^ the_ account tlius far given, may be gathered some idea of the
political situation dur^n- the first thirty years of the existence of our county.

SAN LUIS OLilSPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 179

The two powerful parties have been the Democrats and the Repulilicans.
Other parties have usually, after a try-out alone, voted with one or the other,
compromising on certain candidates. As between the two main parties, for
many years it was pretty safe to run on the Republican ticket in San Luis
Obispo County.

Another question has entered into politics, one not to be downed, and
that is, Shall the saloon go? They have gone from Paso Robles, Templeton,
Santa Margarita, Arroyo Grande and several other old stands. Paso Robles
and Arroyo Grande as incorporated cities voted them out. In the other
localities they were closed when, as supervisoral districts, the people voted
them dry. As a result of a vote taken in the county in 1907, the saloons
were closed for about three months, but the saloon men contested the election
on some technicality, and in July of that year the saloons were reopened.
The Wylie local option law has Ijcen tal<en advantage of at other times. Sev-
eral hard-fought anti-saloon elections have been held in the city of San Luis
Obispo, each time coming a little closer towards winning, bvit so far the
saloons have won. The last of these elections was held early in 1916. There
is a large foreign-born element predominating, Swiss and Portuguese ; and
these, men and women alike, usually favor the saloons.

In 1890 a movement calling itself the Farmers' Alliance became prominent.
E. S. Rigdon took an active part in organizing these bodies. At several
elections the Farmers' Alliance people were able to hold the balance of power,
and the Democrats and Republicans each sought to get the Alliance vote. In
1892 E. A. Spangenberg, an Alliance man, ran for auditor, but was defeated.
In 1894 he again ran, this time to win, and held the office for twelve years.
The Alliance became identified with the Populist party, and they were able
to elect several men. J. K. Burnett was sent to the assembly on that ticket.
A. E. Campbell was sent to the state senate by the Democrats, and Warren
AL John, a popular young Republican, was sent to the assembly for two or
three terms. E. S. Rigdon is the present state senator from this district, and
C. W. Green is assemblyman, both Republicans.

"Wet or dry" has been the greatest issue at most of the county elections
for the last few years. The law that admitted supervisoral districts to vote
for or against saloons resulted in the first di.strict. Cliff supervisor, voting
"dry" in 1911. This district comprises the northeastern part of the county,
in which San Miguel, Shandon, Creston and Cholame are situated. In 1913 the
fifth district voted dry. This closed saloons in Templeton, Santa Margarita,
and Pozo, and shut up a few roadside deadfalls. Cambria, Cayucos, Avila,
Pismo, Edna, Oceano, Nipomo, and San Luis Obispo still harbor saloons,
but the "wet or dry" question comes up at cver\' state and county election
in some shape. If it's nothing else, it is an amendment, or three or four,
til the state laws. The strongest feeling prevails on both sides, but true it is
that every party out for votes is anxious to conciliate the "dry" vote, and
"wet or dry" has about as much significance now as "slavery or no slavery"
had in 1860, and certainly bears a wider relation to humanity, as it aft'ccts all
men, white or black.

Items of Interest Taken from the Files of the Tribune

Saturday, Aui;ust 7, 18()9, the first issue of the Tribune prints the Repub-
lican ticket and ntlicr pi.litical news. Delegates to state convention: Walter

180 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Murray, IT. B. Jones, W. L. Beebee. To district convention, J. C. McCollum, i

(ieorge Steele, Ira \'an Gordon, Jose M. Munoz, James Lynch. Republican \

countv ticket: C. i\I. Dana, clerk; O. K. Smith, assessor; J. \[. Alunoz, j

sheriff; John Bains, treasurer; J. C. McCollum, coroner; A. L. Cervantes, |

surveyor; Jose Cantua, administrator. Supervisors, A. M. Hardie, J. M. |

Price, Thomas Dickinson. Constables: J. G. Kester, George Davis of San I

Simeon; J. J. Schiefferly, Zenobio Pico, Rafael Huera, San Luis Obispo; i

Pablo Majica, Paso Robles. Justices of the peace : William Leffingwell, R. |

S. Brown, of San Simeon; J. J. Findley, J. J. Simmler, of San Luis Obispo; |

H(l Lester and J. R. Smith for Salinas valley. Central committee, C. L. i

Reed, C. Mathers, George Stone, A. M. Hardie, J. F. Dana, B. Lazcano, W. |

.Murray. William Jackson, J. Findley, F. Branch, (7ieorge Steele, James Lynch, j

William Ogden. ;

The first editorial says: "Our politics will be in accord with the party '

of the LTnion, that party to which under Pro\-idence we owe the preservation i

oi the Republic through five years of war succeeded by three more of political i

chaos. We seek peace rather than strife." j

October 4, 1869. — Teachers' institute met at Cambria September 22, I
1869. Present, County Superintendent of Schools J. H. Gooch and nine

teachers (all in the county) : L. Rackliffe, Miss Campbell, Miss Cox, James i

Beckett, J. G. Stewart, J. F. Beckett, Miss Balser, Mrs. Morris, F. E. Darke, i

Among the topics discussed was whispering, and the band played at several j

sessions. Institute lasted for several days. |

October 18, 1869. — The supervisors at their last meeting let the contract ;

for a bridge over the first creek north <if the Santa Margarita House to P. ]

Dunn fipr $123.00, the county to deliver free the lumber on the banks of the I

creek. Also $295.00 is allowed for repairs to courthouse. The iron roof is •

to be removed and replaced with shingles. (This was the old adobe on \

?iIonterey street used as a courthouse.) ;

December 9, 1869.— At Calaveras river, twenty miles from Stockton, |

I'rank Medina, a storekeeper, and four others were murdered and the bodies j

found in a gulch 400 yards back of the store, gagged and piled in a heap— j

Medina, his clerk, two Mexicans and a negro. The store was in great dis- '

order. Some men had reported passing the store early in the day and hearing \

a gre:it commotion, but supposed it was just a riiw and passed on without :

interfering. ;

Married— In Santa Barbara, February 14, 1870, by Rev. F. G. Williams,

Gen. I'hineas Banning of W'ilmington and Miss Marv Elizabeth Hollister of ;
San Luis Oliispo.

April 2, 1870.— We lately competed with the Standard for the county
prnitmg and advertising:, and won it at a fair figure.

April 2, 1870.— Notice. Capt. D. P. Mallah has received notice that the j
steamer "Pelican" will carry merchandise at reduced rates, $5 per ton; wool,

S8 per ton. Signed, C. H. Hewitt. Captain Mallah also states that he has i

reduced the wharfage from $1.25 to $1.00. i

August 6, 1870.— The assessment roll of San Luis Obispo Countv shows i

that the total valuation is $2,108,307.77. ' I

August 2, 1875.— Benjamin Cable, carpenter and builder. Particular )
attention paid to undertaking. Constantly on hand, zinc-lined coffins of all
sizes. A new hearse.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 181

A number of distinguished visitors have been in town this week : Senator
Booth, Governor Pacheco, W. W. Dodge, Captain Archie Harloe, port war-
den of San Francisco, Captain Marcus Harloe, Captain Engalls and Purser
True to the steamer "Los Angeles," Don Juan Castro of Piedra Blanca, Alex-
ander Forbes of San Francisco.

The town and principal business houses were lighted with gas this week.
The light is very fine, a great improvement on our old oil lamps.

August 28, 1875. — Captain Jack, a Chinaman who kept a stock of goods
for sale at his house, was found by two white men, his friends, murdered.
These gentlemen hired a man to dig a grave and take the coffined body to the
burying ground and set an hour when they would come to bury Jack. At
the hour named they set out in a buggy for the burial place, but met the
grave-digger coming into town. He told them they would find the body
lowered into the grave. Thej^ went on and filled up the grave, then went
for a ride into the country. Returning, they decided to go to Jack's house
and put away his goods. They opened the door and there lay Jack in his
coffin. Needless to tell how they felt. After an investigation it turned out
that a drowned man had been sent up from Port Harford for burial ; and
whether it was done for a "grave" joke or by mistake, his body had been
placed in the grave instead of Jack's body. Today at eleven o'clock the
gentlemen will themselves carry Jack to the burying ground, dig a grave
and place him safely in it. The gentlemen are Colonel Harrison and Frank
Grady.

September 4, 1875. — Tuesday evening the up stage was robbed one mile
from Lowe's station and three hundred feet below the foot of the grade.
Two trees arch over the road here. Only one man was seen. The W'ells-
Fargo box contained over $1,000.

September 11, 1875. — The contract for the new I. O. O. F. hall has been
let to R. T. Osgood. It will cost $8,355.60, and when done will be the most
imposing building in town. The material is all to be brought down from
San r^ancisco.

Died— Murray. — At Cosmopolitan Hotel, October 5, 1875, Hon. Walter
Murray, aged forty-nine years, one month.

October 7, 1875. — The stage was robbed at the Lost Chance station on
the up trip on Tuesday' night. A masked man covered the driver and ordered
him to throw off the box, which he did. Two more masked men were seen
standing back in the shadows. It occurred just wdiere a large tree droops
its branches over the road. The sheriff of jMonterey county had just got
off and was walking a short distance behind the stage. He shot at the robbers
and caused them to drop the box, wdiich was speedily replaced. About a
mile further on three shots were fired at the slieriff, who had mounted the
seat beside the driver.

October 9, 1875. — On the last trip, the steamer "Senator" landed fifty-five
passengers for the county. We are now being recognized and are on the
map. The stage fare has been reduced to $15.00 to Los Angeles, and $10.00
to Santa Barbara.

October 23, 1875. — In this issue is discussed the proposition to l)uihl a
cross-country road to Bakersfield.

December 4, 1875. — A large vein of coal has been discovered at Cholame
valley in Peach Tree townsliip. .\ company to work it has been formed in

182 SAX i.ris or.isi'o couxty and environs

S ( )

•.ISl'O COrXTY

lie is

prcsi

lent: I'. W.

titcre

sted.

\A'eller will

llollisler. 1-". II. Stmic is president: 1". W. IHake and C. L. Weller of San
l-"raiK-isco also ar<? interested. \A'eller will be the general agent in San
I'Vancisco.

January 7, 1876. — Total rainfall to date for the season is 10.40 inches.
A. ]. Hudson, a rancher on Old creek, visited our office this week and told
of a narrow escape from death he and his family had while on a recent trip
to San Francisco. Himself, wife and four children were all on the gang
plank when some one on the boat tried to pull it in and all of them were
thrown into the bay. ]\Ir. Hudson is a good swimmer, and with the aid of
others all were rescued from a watery grave.

January 29, 1876. — H. S. Rembaugh, editor of the Tribune, in this issue
publishes a whole page describing a seance of Spiritualists at Central City —
now Santa Maria — held in the house of Samuel Lockwood. The medium was
Mrs. George Smith. She was tied and doubled-tied in a chair. A trumpet
was "washed out" by the editor and set big end down on the floor. Franklin
Mauk went with Rembaugh ; also Mr. and Mrs. John Thornburg, Mr. and Mrs.
M. Thornburg, and Mrs. Jessie Thornburg. The lights are ordered out, trum-
pet sails around in the air and stops at each one in the room, giving messages.
Mauk's son through the medium and the trumpet tells his father he is glad
he has quit swearing. Rembaugh says that Judge Murray's last words on
earth were spoken to him and others, and were, 'T will come back and see
you." The trumpet floats to Rembaugh, says it's Murray and proceeds to
distinctly say, "I am glad to meet you." [Spiritualism was rather a new thing
and its "rappings" were held in awe by many.]

July 7, 1885. — A shooting af?ray on the Estrella near the old adobe church
built in 1878. We condense the many items into one. A young man named
Sanders was teaching school and said a heading gang of men insulted him
and demanded that the headers should apologize to him. The header men
had shot-guns with them and had been shooting the rabbits that were very
plentiful in the grain fields. As Sanders and his friends carried guns, shots
were soon being fired. Two men were killed outright and one left crippled
for life. Long trials cost the county large sums of money. Two men were
sent to prison but eventually pardoned, one from each side. The shooting
resulted not only in needless death but caused a feud on the Estrella that
lasted for years.

May 20, 1892. — M. Lewin announces that at his shaving parlors on
Higuera street he has fitted up a room especially for ladies, wdiere he will
shampoo, curl and trim the hair in the very latest style, using his own famous
shami)oo mixture.

HISTORY OF SANTA MARIA VALLEY

By J. H. Haydon

SANTA MARIA

The town of Santa ^faria was laid out and surveyed in 1875 by Isaac
Fesler, John Thornburg, Isaac I\tiller and R. D. Cook, comprising the S.E.
quarter of the S.E. quarter of section 10, the S.^^^ quarter of the S.W.
quarter of section 11, the N.E. quarter of the X.E. quarter of section 15, and
the "S.W. quarter of the N.W. quarter of section 14. The blocks were three
hundred and fifty feet east and west, and three hundred feet north and south,
with streets one hundred feet wide and alleys twelve feet wide extending
east and west. Main street and Broadway are one hundred twenty feet wide.
Many additions have since been made, and the original beauty marred In'
streets of irregular width.

As the town was located in the central part (jf the \-alley. it was named
Central City. A few years later a post otifice was petitioned for, and as there
was already an office of that name in the state, the name of the town and
post office was changed to Santa Maria. \'ery little building was done
the first year. A man named Johnston started a small store on the northwest
corner of Main and Broadway, in 1876. This was bought out by Cridell
& Fleisher one year later. A blacksmith shop, livery stable, and a few small
business houses were erected, among them a hotel. In 1878, the First Meth-
odist Church was erected. The Presbyterian Church was organized on
Christmas day, 1881, but held their meetings in three places, Guadalupe,
Santa Maria, and Pine Grove schoolhouse. The church was not specifi-
cally located in Santa Maria until 1882. The old church building on Chapel
street was erected in 1884. The Christian congregation erected their building
in 1885. The Methodists and Presbyterians have erected new and more
appropriate buildings ; and the Christian Church has, in the last few years,
been altered and greatly improved.

In 1880 two school districts were formed — Agricola, one and one-halt
miles west of town; and Pleasant Valley, about the same distance southeast.
A petition for a new district, named Central, was presented to the supervisors
in October of 1881. On account of the districts already formed, the territory
was very small. The petition was granted and the school was opened in the
Methodist Church in February. Bonds were voted and a schoolhouse was
erected that year, when seventy-eight pupils were enrolled.

The Pacific Coast Railroad, starting from Port Harford, now Port San
Luis, in San Luis Obispo County, with destination at some point in Santa
Ynez valley, reached Santa Maria in 1882 and gave a wonderful impetus to
the town. It at once became the receiving point for nearly everything pro-

184 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENMRONS

diiced in the eiitiro valley and all things shipped in for farm culture and
family cunsumiitinn.

Santa Maria was never a "boom" town. Its growth from the start was
sane and safe. Improvements came as they were needed; and when needed,
someone was always ready to su])ply the want. John Crosby built the first
hotel in 1875, a small frame structure which served all needs until 1882, when
AIcEhan\- erected another and larger one on the south side of West ]\Iain
street, called the American House. Like all new towns, the first buildings
were small frame or board structures ; and fires are a necessary evil in all
such towns. Such a fire occurred in 1883 on the west side of South Broad-
way, destroying the furniture store of T. A. Jones & Son. This led to the
erection of the first brick building in the town, now known as Hart's Hall,
but erected by T. A. Jones. The next brick building was erected by Reuben
Ilart on the southwest corner of Main and Broadway, in 1884.

This histor}' is in no way intended as biographical, but a true history of
the city could not be complete without a notice of one man w^ho has done
much for Santa Maria. Reuben Hart, often called "The Father of Santa
Maria." erected a blacksmith shop on the southeast corner of ]\Iain and
Broadway,, in the year 1875. Energetic and economical, he saved money
from the start. In 1884 he built the second brick building, and then started a
small water system for the supply of water to the citizens on the south side
of Main street, which he later enlarged by purchasing the rights of two rival
companies until he supplied the entire town. The water system established
and perfected by Mr. Hart was purchased by the city in 1915 for $72,000.
Hotel accommodations being badly needed, in 1888 Mr. Hart removed the
blacksmith shop and built in its stead the commodious hotel known as the
Hart House: now. much enlarged, the Hotel Bradley. Still later, when more
store rooms were needed, he erected a line of commodious brick buildings
the entire Icngtli of block one on Broadway. He has prospered and amassed
a competence, but he deserves the title he holds, "Father of Santa Maria."

Several succeeding fires destroyed many of the wooden structures, which
were replaced by larger buildings of brick, until very few of the original
houses are left to tell the story of the early struggles to carry on small busi-
ness.

An Eye for the Beautiful

Early in the settlement of the valley and town, the settlers began plant-
mg trees for shade and ornament, first the eucalyptus, and then the pine and
the beautiful pepper trees. The roads leading into the country were lined
by the tall, graceful eucalyptus, which, being a tree of rapid growth, soon
l)ecanie \aluable lor fire-wood as well as for its beauty. This remarkable tree
will reach to fifty or eighty feet in five years, with a body of from six to
ten inches in diameter. Cut down then, it will at once send forth from two
to eight sprouts which, in another five years, will be as large as the parent
tne w;!s when cut. I'.eing a tree of deep and wide-extending root, it draws
the n..unshment from the soil for many feet around; and as the land has
become very valuable for crops, many of the farmers, preferring value to
lH-:inty. have destroyed thein. 'I'he approaches to the city are stiU beautiful
shady drives, and tlie streets lined bv the jiepper trees 'are remarkable for
Iheir In-auty at all times of the vear.

SAN LUIS' OBISPO COUXTY AND ENVIRONS 185

Efforts at Fruit Industry

The attempts at fruit-raising began with the early settlers, and at first
were considered a great success. Trees grew rapidly and came into l)earing
at two years old. This led to extensive planting, largely of apricots, prunes,
apples and pears. For six or seven years the trees grew thriftily and the
fruit was good. Then the trees declined and the fruit grew smaller in size and
poorer in quality, until fruit-raising was abandoned as unprofitable, and the
large orchards were removed and the land used for better-paying crops. With
irrigation and judicious fertilization all these fruits can be made to yield an
income equal to, if not greater than, that realized from any other crop to
which the land is planted.

Banks

The Bank of Santa Maria was chartered in May, 1890, with William
L. Adam, president, and P. O. Tietzen, cashier and manager. Cash capital,
$50,000. Today its capital and assets are $325,000. The First National Bank
began business in 1905. Archibald McNeil is president and Ernest Gibson,
cashier and manager. A few years later, the Valley Savings Bank was
organized as a loaning institution. It does not receive deposits. William H.
Rice is president, and Thomas Adam local manager.

Homicide

In 1890 occurred the most regrettable thing that has ever happened in
Santa Maria. A man named Criswell was running a saloon on East i\lain
street. He had started the red-light district, which caused him to be con-
demned by the people of the town, in very harsh, ways. In revenge, he
posted some very libelous statements in front of his saloon. They were torn
down by the constable without a court order, but were replaced by Criswell
the next day. "Doc" Southard, the constable, went to remove them again,
without an order from the court. Criswell was standing in front of the
saloon, when Southard approached ; both were "gun men" and dead shots. A
few harsh words passed, and both drew guns and shot simultaneously.
Southard fell dead; and Criswell, fearfully wounded, was placed in his bed-
room back of the saloon. Dark threats were made against him by Southard's
friends, and the sheriff placed what he thought was an ample guard in the
ri)om. A mob of a dozen men, disguised, went to the saloon at midnight; the
guard made no resistance and Criswell was hanged in the room, choked to
death by the rope. It was one of the most cold-blooded, ghastly murders
ever perpetrated by a mob, but the perpetrators were never apprehended.
The best citizens thought that both men could well be spared, and no decided
effort was made to bring the perpetrators to justice; but it must ever remain
a dark stain on the history of the tnwn.

Telephone

In 18')2 the Sunset Tclcplione Cnnip;iny began operation in a very small
way in the town. J. C. (Barney) Martin was manager. For two years very
little progress was made; then J. II. Haydon was placed in control and he
succeeded in getting telephones into the principal business houses and many
dwellings. The people learned tlial the "plione" liad come to stay and that
it was a necessity. Haydon remained manager until 1898, when L. L. Colvin

186 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

was appointed to succeed him, and under his management telephone business
rapidly increased. The system was not improved, and there was so much
complaint that the Home Telephone Company started a plant of their own
with a better system and improved phones. This forced the old company
to make great improvements, and the telephone spread all over the district.
Now very few houses in town or country are without a telephone. Both
companies are merged under the name of the Santa Barbara Telephone Co.

Incorporation

In 1900 the first effort was made to incorporate the town. Two classes
of people were violently opposed to incorporation. The first class were
those who feared their taxes would be increased and would not vote for any
improvement that might cost them something; unfortunately we have a
few of that class still with us. The other and much larger class was the
saloon element, who feared that incorporation would result in a dry town.
The proposition was twice voted down. In April, 1905, another efi'ort was
made, and this time a proposition was made to the saloon people that they
might name the board of trustees. This was accepted, the town was incor-
porated and the law went into effect, September 5, 1905. We still have the
saloons, but under close restrictions: closing at 11 P. M. and all day Sundays,
with clear windows and no gaml)ling.

Temples and Halls

The corner-stone of the Alasonic Temple was laid in 1906, and the build-
ing completed and dedicated in May, 1907. This by far the best and costliest
building in the city acted as an inspiration to others. The Jones buildings
were erected immediately, completing the block on the east side. One year
later the Odd Fellows building was erected on the southeast corner of Main
and Lincoln streets. The Presbyterian Church on Chapel street was pur-
chased and made over into Lisbon Hall. These, with the addition of Hart's
Hall, furnish ample accommcidation for all lodges and associations in Santa
Maria.

Lodges in the City

Almost every lodge or society is represented in the little city. The
leading lodges arc the Masons, Knights of Pythias and Independent Order
of (Jdd Fellows, together with their sister associations, the Eastern Star,
Pythian Sisters and Rebekahs. Following is a list of the first otificers of the
pioneer lodges, as chosen at their organization :

Hesperian Lodge, F". iS: A. M.. of Santa Maria: A. H. Orr, Master;
W illiam Ayres, Secretary.

Santa .Maria Lodge. K. of I-.: H. C. F-agby. Chancellor Commander;
George Brown, secretary.

Santa Maria Lodge .>f Odd !• ellows : Benjamin F. Brock, Nolile Grand;
.1. Triiilett. secretary.

lidelity Chapter, R. A. At. : Koltert 'Fravers, High Priest; J. H. Havdon,
secretary.

Santa Maria High School

A union higli school (H-trirt xvas formed in 1891, embracing at that time
■ twenty -three ?'ranuT;ar scho,.! district*;. For two years the high school was

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 187

connected with the district school. In 1894 an election for voting ten thou-
sand dollars in bonds to erect a high school building was lost; but the voters
expressed a willingness that a building be erected through direct taxes. This
was done by the trustees, then consisting of the clerk of each school district,
and the first part of the building was completed that year. The school was
accredited by the State University in 1897, under the management of Prof.
J. C. Russell, then principal, and from its first organization it has been the
pride of the town and district. The building has been enlarged and the
grounds beautified until today no high school of equal size in the state can
boast of superiority. Under the superintendency of Prof. Nelson C. Smith,
the school has a proficient staff of teachers, with one hundred and thirty-five
pupils, and every study belonging to a first-grade high school is success-
fully taught.

Grammar Schools

The growth of the town and the c(inse(|uent increase in tlie number of
children had caused the erection of a four-room building in tlie northwest part
of the town, but by the act of incorporation which extended the city to two
miles square, so much additional territory was added to the school district
that additional school room was required. This need was met for a few
years by renting buildings ; but that plan having proven very unsatisfactory,
bonds were voted in the sum of $24,000, and two new and splendid buildings
were erected, which meet e^'ery demand.

Hotels

To meet the growing demand for hotel accommodations, Francis Joseph
McCoy erected a hostelry, known as The Inn, one block north of the high
school building on Broadway. This building has more than forty rooms, all
outside, and each with a bath. There are ample garage accommodations for
the traveling public, and everything is first-class.

Traveling salesmen unite in saying that Santa Maria is the liveliest and
best town of its size in the state. \\'ith its splendid line of commercial
houses; its ample hotels and restaurants; its first-class lawyers, doctors and
dentists ; its good churches and extraordinary school accommodations ; and its
beautiful residences and intelligent, hospitable people, why should it not be
the i)est? Added to this, it is the center of the largest and richest super-
visoral district in Santa Barbara County. The city has about three thousand
fi\e iiundred inhabitants, figuring from its children of school age, no census
having been taken since 1910. It has three newspapers, two private hos-
pitals, a good fire department, a perfect lighting and power system, natural
gas, good telephone and telegraph facilities, and broad, well-paved streets.
The city owns its own water system, the income from which pays the
interest and will eventually pay the water lionds ; tlierefore it is not in debt.
Homeseekers surely cannot find a better iilacc in wliich lo seek a linnic.

Roads

One of the great drawbacks tn the southern part of the valley and mesa
of the La Graciosa country was the almost impassable roads, with an open,
treeless plain to tlie ocean and sand dunes that had blown up over a great
part of the mesa. Tlie sand was lilted and l)Iown about by tlie strong winds

188 SAX LriS OlUSrO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

that prevailed during about six months of the year. Planting of trees greatly
impeded the wind, but the roads were so very sandy that travel, even by
light conveyance, was very slow and disagreeable.

For many years the only method of working these sand roads was by
placing straw on them. This was a temporary improvement only. In 1892
Walter Elliott, then supervisor of the fifth district, conceived the idea of
placing from si.x to ten inches of hard-pan on the sand and thoroughly drag-
ging and rolling it smooth and hard. This proved to be a great success.
The great number of trees planted and their rapid growth had so broken
the force of the wind that sand to a C9nsiderable extent ceased to be blown
onto the roads, and traveling was ver\- much improved. When oil became
plentiful and cheap, it was worked into the hard-pan and the sandy roads
became the best in the valley.

Santa Maria Oil Fields

From the time oil was found at Summerland, many people thought that
it might be found in the hills south of Santa Maria. John Conway may be
called the pioneer. He had faith enough to secure the opinion of some
experts and began securing oil leases on lands supposed to be in the oil belt.
These leases had time limits and he only secured the co-operation of one
company, the Casmalia Oil Co. This company operated near Casmalia and
succeeded in finding a grade of oil too heavy to be valuable. Conway had
the lease of the Careaga ranch, but failing to interest capital, gave up the
lease. A. H. McKay then secured the lease and succeeded in forming the
Western Union Oil Co., of which he was manager. The company began
drilling a well on the south part of the lease, with William P. Logan as
drilling superintendent. Oil was struck in this well in August, 1901, at a
depth of nearly two thousand feet. A slight earthquake a few days after
this well came in, broke and disarranged the pipe and the well for a time
was useless.

Two oth'er wells were then begun, one of them about a half mile east of
the first well. This well was completed in much shorter time and proved to
be a gusher. Several new companies were quickly formed and oil leases
were acquired. The most important of these companies were the Union Oil
Co.. which bought the TTobbs tract of land and leased the Fox tract (the
Al)ner Stui>blefield ranch), and the Pinal Company, composed of local
capitalists, which secured an option on the Coleman Stubblefield tract of
four Inmdred eighty acres. The Pinal No. 1 was a paying well, and 'No. 2
was the first great gusher. This well threw the oil in great streams far over
the to]) of the eighty-six-fool derrick and brought thousands of people to see
it. .\bout the same time, the Union Oil Co. brought in their first well,
l-"ox No. 1. The fact that tliese wells were two miles north from the West-
ern L nion proved a wide Ijelt of oil territory, and excitement became intense.
Oil companies were formed rapidly and everybody who had any ready
uKjney l)ought stock in almost any kind of a companv.

The Kice Ranch Oil (o., that h.id failed to sin'k a well in Cat canon,
l«ouglu lerribjry on the Kaiser rancii ; and the New Pennsylvania, the Asso-
ciated, the Graciosa, the lirookshire, tlu- Ib.pkins and manv other companies
secured leases and began operations. S...in what had been an unexplored
niouni,-Mn of jungle was covered bv derricks, and roads were constructed

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 189

where horsemen had refused to ride. The Union, on account of its immense
capital, took the lead, and the Pinal and the Pinal-Dome, both of local capital,
acquired large tracts of oil territory. Many of the new and smaller com-
panies, in which local citizens had in\-ested, failed to make good, and the
small investors lost money; but usually the promoters came out all right,
for the money spent was that paid in by the purchasers of stock.

The Newlove ranch of over three thousand acres lying between the Pinal
and Western Union was purchased by the Union Co. for three and one-half
million dollars, and has yielded millions of barrels of oil and is only partly
explored. In this oil belt deep drilling is required, some of the wells reach-
ing a depth of nearly five thousand feet, and the cost of a well ranges from
$20,000 to $60,000. The oil sand is from two hundred to one thousand feet
deep, and the wells, when finished, are durable. Very few wells have failed
to yield a paying cjuantity of oil, and the oil is of the highest grade found in
the state.

Early in the oil-prospecting stage, se\eral attempts were made to sink
wells farther east in what is known as the Cat canon territory ; but owing to
the formation of the soil, the prospectors failed to succeed. With improved
facilities, later efiforts were successful, and fine paying wells were found. This
region is generally called the Palmer, from the first and strongest company
operating there. The oil operations there have been so great that the Santa
Maria Valley Railroad was built from Betteravia to the Palmer Annex, and
the Pacific Coast Railroad was extended to the Palmer. The town of Sisquoc
was started for a shipping point for oil-well supplies, and has a good general
mercantile store and the very unnecessary saloon.

SANTA MARIA VALLEY AND ENVIRONS

In writing of a country or place, the necessary starting ])oint is "Where
is it?" Santa Maria Valley is the real and only entrance, on the north, from
Northern California to Southern California. As we are implying that Santa
Maria Valley is the northern boundary of Southern California, it may be that
a few words of explanation are necessary. A straight line drawn from the
eastern boundary of the state through the Tehachapi pass to the ocean has
always been considered the dividing line between Northern and Southern
California, and that line falls only a few miles north of this valley.

The valley is almost a perfect ellipse, but widens at the western or
ocean end, thence bending north and south in a northeasterly direction to
the intersection of the mountains at the terminus of Eoxen canon. Nothing
was known of this great valley until Fremont's expedition in 1846. Upon
what small things do great events depend ! Through the reckless nerve of
one little woman Fremont's great "pathfinding" expedition became possible.
Fremont had married Jessie, daughter of Senator Thomas H. Benton of Mis-
souri. Through the influence of Benton the expedition had been planned
and Fremont had been selected to lead it. Leaving his wife in St. Louis, with
instructions to forward by courier any mail of importance, Fremont started
I in his long trip. In the meantime the government had forwarded orders
recalling the expedition. The orders reached St. Louis four days after his

100 SAX LUIS OIUSPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

(lei)aftiire, and Mrs. l-'rcinont suppressed them. Those were not days of tele-
graph and railroads. The shortest time of mail from Washington to St.
Louis was se\en davs : and as the troop of forty-two men had left Independ-
ence four days before the letter reached St. Louis, the recall was impossible.
This was J'Vemont's third trip across the continent, and during the interval
the United States and Mexico had become engaged in war. On July 5, 1846,
he defeated General Castro at Sonoma. He was elected governor of the ter-
ritory I>y the Americans, after which he started to Los Angeles.

JIc entered the Santa Maria valley July 21st near where the city of
Santa ^laria now is, and stopped two days near La Graciosa, supposedly at
the Brookshire Springs. Fremont had intended to go south by way of
Gaviota pass; but finding the }*[exicans in control there, he secured the
guidance of William Foxen, then the owner of Rancho Tinaquaic, who
guided him through h'oxen canon up the Santa Ynez river, and over the
mountains, reaching the valley near Goleta. Mr. Charles Buckner, formerly
of St. Charles, Mo., who was with Fremont, says that Foxen 'was the only
white man in the valley. Mexicans in those days were not considered white
people. Mr. Buckner speaks of the valley as "broad, of very sandy soil and
very little water," from which we infer that the western part of the valley
was not traversed by Fremont, that the direct route to Gaviota was taken,
and that the fastest time possible was being made.

The early padres certainly passed through the valley, but it has not
been found that it impressed them sufficiently to be recorded. The western
part of the valley is covered by the Guadalu]ie, Laguna and Casmalia land
grants.

Guadalupe Rancho

The Guadalupe grant starts from the (icean with an ocean line <jf ten miles
and extends eastward eight miles. This grant was made by the Mexican gov-
ernment, March 21, 1840, to Diego Olivera and Teodoro Arellanes, and covered
originally 30,408 acres. In 1857, Congress confirmed the grant. In 1870
a patent was issued for 43,680 acres. By what logic, or other considera-
tion, the extra 13,000 acres got into this grant is unknown. As the addition
covers the most valuable portion, the reasons therefor may be easily sur-
mised. The western portion is largely covered by sand dunes. The eastern
is l)lack adobe or heavy sandy soil and very productive. The rancho passed
to the Kstudillo family before the time it was patented; and John Ward, who
had married a daughter of Fstudillo, did the first farming, in 1867. Congress
voted a triangular tract of land lying between Guadalupe rancho and Punta
de la Laguna rancho to John Ward in consideration of the construction of
a wagon road from Point Sal to Fort Tejon. He constructed nine miles of
the road and claimed the land, as there was a natural pass-way from Fort
Tcion to (;uadalui)e: and the patent was issued. The rancho house, now
t)\vnefl by William Stokes, which used to be known as the "Old Adobe," was
erected by Diego 01i^•era in 1843.

Stock-raising was the only business followed by the Spanish owners, but
vegetables ol ,-dl kinds have since been produced in great abundance. Efforts
to jiropagatc Irnits were failures. The climate is cool and health-giving, but
too l)leak for fruits unless protected liy wind-breaks, and is not a marked suc-
cess even then. The lower part of the rancho has pr.iduced one hundred

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS I'H

twenty bushels of barley to the acre, but wheat does not succeed well. In the
upper end, grain of all kinds is raised in great abundance.

In 1872, H. J. Laughlin started a store near the old adobe, and the town
of Guadalupe was established. The Kaisers came two years later. In 1875,
the first newspaper in the northern part of the county, entitled The Guadalupe
Telegraph, was established, and was printed in the old adobe. Financial
difficulties ensued, and the plant was purchased by H. J. Laughlin and con-
veyed to the late De W'itte Hubble, who published the paper many years.

Guadalupe was the starting-place of some men who have since become
very prominent in their professions, among whom may be mentioned Judge
B. F. Thomas of Santa Barbara and Dr. William T. Lucas of Santa Maria.

The most unique character that was ever about the rancho was Jose
Chisito Olivera, a relative of the patentee. He remembered and told of
the great dances or fandangoes that were held at the old adobe before the
coming of the Gringos. He also said that until 1847 there was only a small
stream of water there, and that in that year an earthquake occurred and the
lagoon was formed. He claimed that Fremont stopped three days at the
old adobe, and that a beautiful senorita fell in love with one of the officers
and went south with him.* Jose was heir to one-twelfth of the Todos Santos
rancho, and traded his entire interest for a saddle and a gallon of whiskey.
When his friends told him that the rancho would sometime be very valuable,
his rejjly was : "Yes, maybe, but I need the saddle now, and whiskey is always
good."

The first Masonic lodge in northern Santa Barbara County was organ-
i2ed in Guadalupe, on June 12, 1874, with the following officers: J. J. Eddie-
man, W. M. ; Russell "Parkhurst, S. AV. ; John R. Norris, J. W. ; and B. F.
Thomas, Sec.

Dr. William T. Lucas, afterwards Master of this lodge, was elected
Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of California in 1896. From this lodge,
Hesperian Lodge No. 264 was largely formed, in 1882, and for the next
twelve or fifteen years the lodge languished. Following the building of the
sugar factory at Betteravia the lodge sprang into a new lease of life, and in
the last few years they have erected a splendid hall, in which they hold their
meetings.

Guadalupe has two good hotels, a Catholic church, a school luiilding
of six rooms, and two large dry goods and grocery stores, with many
smaller lines of business of all kinds. The town has had a varied history.
Prosperous from its founding until, in 1882, the building of the Pacific Coast
Railway ten miles farther up the valley gave an impetus to the little town
of Santa Maria, then called Central City, Guadalupe then lost many of its
prominent resident.s, who moved to the new center of trade. Guadalupe de-
clined until the building of the Southern Pacific Railway through the town
gave it advantages in shipping facilities, since which time it has been very
prosperous. The present population is largely Swiss, with quite a number of
Japanese and Chinese in the southern part. There is a Chinese .Masonic lodge,
but it is not recognized officially by the American lodges.

' Fremont's notes do not indicate that he was in Guadalupe; neither docs Buekner s
story.

192 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Rancho Punta de la Laguna

Lying east of Guadalupe ranehu is the RanclKj I'unta de la Laguna, ten
by seven miles in extent, but of irregular shape. The grant was made to
Luis Arellanes and E. jNI. Ortega, Dec. 24. 1844, and originally was for
26,684 acres ; but when confirmed by Congress it had grown to 44,000. The
name of this rancho was derived from the irregular, but beautiful lake lying
within its territory and called the Laguna. The vast watershed or territory
embracing parts of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Kern and Ventura coun-
ties, drained by the Cuyama and Sisquoc rivers, has its outlet in the Santa
Maria valle}'.* The territory drained by these rivers is almost as large as
the state of A'crnnait. The lower ri\-er and the valley were named for an
Indian named Mario, who ruamed over this country before the occupancy
by Americans. He was one of the early converts to Christianity at the
Santa Ynez iMission and was thereafter called Santa Maria, the masculine
termination of his name being changed to the feminine. These rivers are
rushing torrents during rainy seasons: but in the spring the water sinks
into the ground when it reaches the valley, and rises twenty miles below to
form the lake.

The water in the valley is from thirty to one hundred twenty feet below
the surface, and an abundance of water can be found by drilling or digging
to those depths at almost any place. With the exception of the area cov-
ered by the Laguna, all parts of the rancho are adapted to agriculture. In
early days vast herds of cattle, horses and sheep grazed over the entire ranch.
This was followed by dairying, which gave way to grain, and this, in turn,
was superseded by beans and beets. Three large ranches, from the north-
eastern portion of this rancho, were purchased prior to 1880 by W. S. Adam,
John Shuman and John Rice, respectively. Grain was their principal crop;
but each of them tried to develop fruit culture and walnuts. Fruits were a
very poor success ; and walnuts, on account of the cool, bleak winds, were an
entire failure. Mr. Shuman made a second trial in 1894 with walnuts and
apricots ; but meeting a second failure, he abandoned all efforts to raise fruits
except a little for home use.

Land on any part of the rancho could have been purchased up to 1897
for from $30 to $50 per acre. The Union Sugar Company purchased the
southeastern portion of the rancho at that date, and began the erection of a
sugar factory on the bank of the north prong of the Laguna. They made con-
tracts with the farmers throughout the valley to raise and deliver beets in
18''S: but the great drought of 1897-98 made it an impossibility to raise beets
and all contracts were canceled. Believing it impossible to raise beets success-
fully without irrigation, the company completed the plant in 1898 and began
to erect a great irrigation system. This was begUn first by artesian wells;
later they drilled wells where they were needed, and lifted the water by im-
mense engines. This Avas the first real eff'ort at irrigation in Santa Maria
valley. In 18')8, when it was so dry that virtually nothing was produced
naturally, J. F. Goodwin erected a small plant on the bank of the Laguna
and by irrigation raised a small crop of hay.

From the advent of the sugar factory a marked improvement in farming

* That part of lhc Santa I\1aria river above the junction with the Sisquoc always was,
and shouhl now bo, called tin: Cuyama; and from the junction to the ocean, the Santa
Maria.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 193

began throughout the valley. The farmers had been using the Stockton
gang-plow drawn by from four to eight horses, and only skimming the
ground. The factory people introduced immense team or steam plows, and
turned the earth from thirteen to twenty inches deep. The favorable result
was quickly seen, shallow plowing became a thing of the past, and crops of
all kinds were much increased. It has been found that the alkali land, that
had been considered worthless, produced fair crops of beets when plowed
deeply, and that the beets neutralized the alkali. J. W. Atkinson has had
charge of the company from the time of first construction, and under his
management it has been a success from the beginning. In 1908 the com-
pany planted 11,116 acres in beets, besides what they purchased. The year
1913 was the banner season for production, the yield reaching the enormous
amount of one hundred fifteen thousand tons. It was claimed by many
wise ones that beets exhausted the soil, and that after a few years beet
planting would cease. But with a skilful plan of rotation of crops, the yield
is at this date equal to that of the virgin soil. For the first decade Ellis
I Nicholson was in charge of the agricultural department. He was succeeded
j by M. M. Purkiss, and to their ability much of the productive success is due.
! A line of the Pacific Coast Railway was built to the factory when con-

struction began, and later the Southern Pacific Railway built a branch of
their road to the same point. A beautiful row of cottages border the lake
and extend one block north. The company erected a commodious school-
house at its own cost, and a new school district was formed. The company
1 has deeded the schoolhouse and the site to the district. A general mer-
i chandise store, which contains almost everything, is operated by the com-
, pany. They have a non-denominational church building and a splendid club-
( house. Prior to the erection of the factory, vast swarms of 'geese and ducks
I covered the Laguna; but since that time there has been a great decrease in
j both ducks and geese. From the starting of improved culture, the land has
rapidly advanced in value and is now held at from $150 to $300 per acre.
The main crop is beans, on that part of the rancho not owned by the sugar
' company. The majority of the farmers are Portuguese, who hailed from
I the Azores. They ha\'e raised large and patriotic families in their adopted

country.
I ! Suey Rancho

The Suey rancho was granted to Ramona Carrillo de Wilson. The pat-
ent was issued in 1865, and conveyed 48,234 acres. As the larger part of the
grant is in San Luis Obispo County, and less than 2,000 acres in the Santa
Maria valley, we shall merely say that the survey of the line in the valley
was a marvel of ingenuity : instead of a straight or curving line, it right angles
a't every point where it was possible to include an extra piece of good land.
The ranch is now owned by the Newhall family and is a great stock ranch ;
but thousands of acres are culti\'atcd in grain and beans.

Rancho Tepesquet

This rancho was granted to ^^lanucl ( )li\ era in 1842. W. D. I'"oxen. who
married a daughter of Olivera, used it as a stock ranch from 1843 to 1855,
when Pacifico Ontiveros, wdio had also married a daughter of Olivera, came
from Los Angeles and took possession by virtue of gift. The occupancy by

194 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

the Foxens led to the erroneous lielief in their ownership. Tlie patent was
issued to Pacifico Ontiveros in 1868, and was for 8,900 acres extending from
the range of low hills on the south of the Sisquoc river to the approaches of
the San Rafael mountains lying to the eastward. The valley land is a rich
sandy loam and produces enormous crops of grain or vegetables. The mesa
lying between the river and the hills, called the Santa Maria Mesa, was for
many years famous for its abundant crops and high quality of wheat. Con-
stant crops of wheat, with no rest or rotation, have had the inevitable result
of lessening the yield, until wheat has ceased to be cultivated. The hill coun-
try is rugged, and some of it very steep ; but it is a fine place for stock-raising.
Tepesquet creek extends from the Sisquoc river through a narrow pass for
about thirteen miles, a never-failing stream of pure, clear water, with abund-
ant fall for irrigation or water power. The ranch passed into the possession
of fnur sons of Pacifico: Patricio, Salvador, Juan D. and Abraham. Salvador
died in 1890 and his interest was purchased by the others. Only a small
portion of the original ranclKi is now owned by the Ontiveros family.

Sisquoc Rancho

The Sisquoc rancho, containing about thirty-five thousand five hundred
acres lies just east of the valley of Santa Maria. For about two miles, it
fronts on the valley, and then strikes north and east for ten miles. The
Sisquoc river runs diagonally through it from east to west. Very little farm-
ing is done, except for hay, stock-raising being the principal industry. The
entire ranch is owned l)y the Sisquoc Land and Investment Co.

Rancho Tinaquaic

The grant of this rancho was made by the Mexican government to Victor
Linares in 1837. The patent was issued to W'm. D. Foxen. who came into
possession about 1840. It is rectangular in shape and is two and one-half
miles by five and one-half, and contains 8,875 acres. The most of the land
is hilly, and used for grazing; but both grain and beans are produced very
successfully. Like the i < -t dI' I he Spanish or Mexican grants, it has passed
into the hands of other,^ tli.ni ilic heirs of Foxen, and only a small portion now
belongs to any of his descendants.

Rancho Los Alamos

This rancho is largely the southern boundary of that part of the Santa
Maria valley where the public or government land is located. As very much
of the great Santa Maria oil field is on this grant, it is entitled to be con-
sidered in any history of the valley. The grant was made to Jose Antonio
Carrillo in 1839, and it is said to be the only Mexican grant signed by Santa
Anna. The grant was for 49,000 acres. It was patented by the United States
government on September 12, 1872. The survey called for 48,803.38 acres,
hive years before the patent was issued, Carrillo sold a large tract of land off
the grant to Thomas Bell, who put John S. Bell in possession. When the
rancho was sul)sequcntly patented to Carrillo, the title was clouded, and a
series of lawsuits, almost rivaling the great Mira Clark Gains trials, ensued,
the case keeping on intermittently for twenty-five years, until the Bell heirs
finally won. In 1882 the rancho had 500 horses, 1,600 cattle and 60,000 sheep.
Fully thirty thousand acres is adapted to agriculture: and when the Pacific

SAN LUIS OBISPO COl'XTY AXD EX\'lROXS 195

Coast Railway was built and a market for t,frain assured, the st(x-k Inisiness
rapidly declined and today no part of it is a stock ranch. The t(jwn of Los
Alamos was located in 1877, though a store and blacksmith sho]) were there
several years before. Some other portions of this rancii will l)e named in
the chapter devoted to oil production.

Todos Santos Rancho
This ranch, granted to Salvador (Jsio, originally contained twenty-
two tiiousand acres. In 1844 the grant was confirmed by Mexico to
W'ilHam Hartnell. The patent from the American government calls for only
10.722 acres. This grant contained a large amount of good farming kind and
all the remaining portion was splendid grazing land. .\t one time it con-
tained one hundred head of horses, three hundred cattle and three thousand
five hundred sheep. The widely known La Graciosa pass, which gave the
name to all the district, is on this grant. The greatest oil gusher ever struck
in the Santa Maria oil fields is also on it. This well, known as Hartnell
Xo. 2, was the wonder of the country for weeks — a mighty stream of oil
rising 150 feet into the air, spreading out and falling in torrents, starting a
veritable flood of oil down the narrow valley. A strong smell of gas per-
meating the air told what was the mighty power below that gave the won-
derful pressure. Great pools were hastily constructed into which poured
thousands of barrels of oil daily. That well was photographed from every
conceivable angle, and the pictures were sent all over the United States and
even to Europe. It was months before it was ])roperly cap])ed and brought
under control. The Hartnell heirs still own an interest in part of the rancho.

Town of Garey

In 1887, Thomas A. Garej- organized a land company to operate in the
eastern part of the valley. The large tract of land owned by Paul ISradley
was nearly all bargained for, and the town of Garey located. Those were the
days when fruit was thought to be the coming fortune-maker. Garey started
a large nursery near the town, and orchards were planted by many people.
The most extensive orchard was that of the Kaiser brothers, one hundred
sixty acres, one mile east of Garey. It was proposed to impound the water-
shed south of the town and thus secure water for the irrigation of the entire
valley. .A hotel was built ; and a blacksmith shop, a store, and the inevitable
saloon about completed the town. A school district was formed, and a post
office secured with a route from Santa Maria. As with all other parts of
the valley, the lack of irrigation and pro])er fertilization caused fruit to be
a failure. The irrigation scheme was a delusion, and the great California
hnom of 1885 having exploded, the Garey company collapsed and the land
relurncd to its original owners. The orchards ha\e been destroyed, and that
part of the valley is now devoted to the i)roduction of lieans, alfalfa and grain.

Orcutt

' Iwners of land in the near-oil regions nearly all wisely sold their land
to oil companies instead of speculating in oil chances. The town of Orcutt
was laid out by the Union Oil Co. on the Pacific Coast Railroad at the north-
east corner of the Todos Santos rancho, and was named Orcutt in honor of its
founder. It was provided in the charter that there was never to be a saloon

196 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

in the town. lUit "ihc l)cst-laid schemes c>' mice an' men gang aft agley,"
and this scheme was thwarted by a man who owned land adjoining the town,
wlio laid out an addition on the north side with no provision against the saloon.
The result was that four saloons were started the first year. The founders
of the town donated a lot for a church building, and ofifered two hundred dol-
lars to the first denomination that would organize a church and erect a
building. The Methodists quickly accepted the proposition, and established
a churdi : and the Iniilding was erected. Oil-supply companies at once moved
their headquarters from Santa Maria to Orcutt. Machine shops were also
established, and the town made rapid growth for three or four years. Then
the development of the Cat canon oil fields drew the operations to that field,
and Orcutt ceased to improve.

Orcutt has a good grammar school and a schoolhouse of two rooms,
now in use, and another room is being built for the coming school year.
There arc cement walks, and a cement tennis court. The enrollment of pupils
is about ninety. There is one large general merchandise store, two machine
shops, a post office, hotel and restaurant. The headquarters of the Standard
Oil Co. for this district are located here. The oil development is returning
to these fields, and Orcutt may take on a new start in improvement. The
L'nion, Pinal-Dome and Pennsylvania companies are all large manufacturers
of gasoline, and the natural gas for the supply of Santa Maria. Betteravia,
Guadalupe, Arroyo Grande and San Luis Obispo is produced in this field.
The gas plant is owned and managed by Santa ]\Iaria people and has proven
a good pa\ing investment.

CUYAMA VALLEY

\\'e have sketched each of the grants lying in or bordering on the public
domain, or government land lying in the valley of the Santa ^laria. This,
the most interesting and important part of the valley, covers about ninety
square miles or 75,600 acres. No history of this section of country can be
complete without a description also of the great valley of the Cuyama —
not so much because it is a part of it or connected with it, but because it is
detached and has no direct connection with any place. This valley, while
being almost entirely in Santa Barbara County, has its starting point near
the joint corner of three counties, Ventura. Santa Barbara and San Luis
Ol)ispo. Then it spreads down the Cuyama river fur thirty miles. Stretching
south from the river to the Sierra Madrc del Sur, at one point forty miles, it
embraces an area greater than many entire counties of the Eastern states.
Many people, even in this county, think the Cuyama rancho is the entire
valley. This false idea has been one of the deterrent reasons for the defeat
of a bond issue to construct a good road from the Santa ]\Iaria valley to
Cuyama. Until 1890 the only way to reach the valley was by traveling
directly up the river. Eor many miles the river nms between bluft's on either
side, furming \\hat was known as "The Narrows." Each concurrent flood in
the river threw huge boulders into the roadway and obstructed travel. In
l<S<i2, the sui>crvis()rs had a graded road built around the Narrows which
m:ide travel at all times of the year possible. Even with this improvement,
it is necessary to cross the river thirty-six times.

In 1890 Calloway Heath made his way up the river and pre-empted a
quarter section a few miles south of the Calicntc Spring. The Calicnte is a
spring of warm water, about 130 degrees Fahrenheit, that gushes out of the

SAiN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS V)7

side of a hill and winds its way to the river. During the next few years
(|uite a little setllenieiit had gathered, among whom were Jd. C Malory, C.
Richards, C. W. Clarrton, Philip Kelly and two young school teachers, Min-
nie Green and Sophia Fauntleroy. In 1894, a post office named W'asioja,
with H. C. Malory as postmaster, was established, with a stage route from
Santa Maria. The trip took two days each way, the carrier camping out at
night. There was no dwelling at which to stop. The vehicle in wdiich the
mail was carried was a cart, on the hind part of which w^as bound a bundle
of hay. The postmaster at Santa Maria was requested by the postal de-
partment to "Describe the stages and stock used on this route and principal
products." A few days before this a rattlesnake had been killed in Cuyama
that had eighteen rattles, and the rattles given to the deputy postmaster. The
postmaster, who knew about as much about Cuyama as a high-school girl
does of Sanskrit, had a picture of the cart and horse taken, and enclosing
the picture and rattles, wrote: "Route 68 miles. No settlements. Picture
shows stage and stock. Rattles show principal products."

A school district called W'asioja was formed at this settlement in 18')5.
Miss Minnie Green, teacher. James Good and some others had taken claims
about six miles south of the Cuyama ranch house, and a school district was
formed in 1895 called Cuyama. The terrible drought of 1897-98, which gave
all of California a hard blow, was excessively bad for Cuyama. Nothing was
raised, and .stock could not be sold. Several years of partial drought followed,
and nearly all the settlers left the valley. Some sold their farms for a pit-
tance, others left them unoccupied; and some who had not secured title aban-
doned them. Both school districts lapsed for want of pupils. In 1908 some
of the settlers returned. Some of the forsaken homes were purchased by
new people and new claims were filed. In 1912-13-14, fairly good crops were
obtained; but 1915 produced the banner wheat crop, the yield going in some
cases to fifty bushels per acre. One school district was established in 1915, the
old Cuyama; and this year, 1917, Wasioja is renewed and two new districts
have been built. An abundant supply of water is furnished them by the
county line down the Cuyama, intersecting the Santa Alaria \-allcv at the
mouth of Tepesquet creek. All the travel tn and from the San Joaquin val-
ley to the ocean would be by this route.

Cuyama Rancho

The grant of this immense tract of land was made to Gasper Orena and
Jose Maria Rojo in 1843. It was patented by the United States to Maria
Antonio de la (iuerra and Cesario Lataillade in 1868, and called for 71,620.75
acres. The Cuyama river divides the rancho into two about equal parts, and
about 40,000 acres are in Santa Barbara county. The rancho at one time sus-
tained three thousand cattle and six hundred horses, with twenty-five hun-
dred sheep ; but they ranged all the land to the Sierra Madre del Sur. Only a
few horses and about one thousand cattle are now kept. The old ranch house is
far up the valley on Ranch No. 2. This ])art of the rancho is being subdivided
to be sold to settlers, and a few miles south of the ranch house a site for a
town has been located. On the lower part, or Ranch No. 1, an immense
irrigating plant is being completed. There lovely homes and great barns
have been formed. A highway or good road should be built from the Kern
beautiful Caliente spring. Santa liarbara people, go and see Cuyama and
you will vote bonds for the highway to it.

198 SAN r.riS OI'.ISPO COUNTY AND ENMRONS

A TRAGEDY OF THE RANGE

By Augustus Slack

Fditor's Xote.— This sketch, iniljlishcd in the- Los Angeles Times Magazine. August
7. 1910. so grai>hically describes a thnnderstorni in the Cuyama valley, and a not un-
common tragedy in the days of the wild, long-horned Spanish cattle, that it is em-
bodied in our history. Luigi Marre later became owner of a great tract of land near
.Avila and continued in the cattle business until his death in 1903. His heirs still own
large numbers of cattle and stay with the range. To gather two thousand head of
I)cei steers in 1868 alter the awful drought meant a visit to many and many a ranch
far south of the San Luis Obispo ranges, for the cattle were gone from our hills, and
their bleaching bones whitened the floors of the valleys. Luigi Marre and other cattle-
men reaped fortunes buying cattle from the southern ranches and driving them to
the mines, where prices as high as a dollar per pound were paid for beef at retail and
si.\ty cents at wholesale, .\bont thirty yea-s ago. .Augustus Slack took up a claim in
the Cuyama.

A Heroic Act of a Young Mexican of Long Ago

On the 22nd of May. 1868. two thousand and more fat. sleek, but tired,
footsore steers were quietl_\- resting". Some stood contentedly chewing their
cuds, while many lay dozing in the rank alfilaria, on the great level mesa and
down through the mouth of the Canada Verdi out onto the broad flats that
lie along the river near the Cuyama valley. Only four days before they had
been crowded into the mouth of the narrows of the Santa Maria river less
than thirty-five miles below, with much urging had been forced through,
and had climbed o\'er the rocks of that fearful gorge.

These were beef steers, bought and owned by a noted btiyer and drover
of early California days. Luigi ]\Iarre, then of San Francisco, and were gath-
ered from the slightly replenished herds of many ranches, even below the
pueblo of Los Angeles as far south as the mission, San Juan Capistrano.
Trailing along the Camino Real, Luigi Marre and twenty trained vaqueros
had come, driving and guarding more than half a hundred saddle horses
in tlie caballada ahead, and two thousand steers, over the Conejo and
through the famous Gaviota pass, into the head of the Santa Maria valley.
Here they left the usual route that followed the old overland stage road, and
laid their course for the mining towns on the Merced, Tvtolumne and .Stanis-
laus ri\ers through the Coast range, by way of the Santa Maria river gorge
known as llie .Narrows, through tlie Cuyama \alle}- atid on o\er the San
Joaquin plains.

(-)ld Antonio, who was chief cook \or this outfit, had made ramp beneath
thv s'lade of a large white oak that still stands at the foot of the mesa bluff
where the .\gua Caliente spring pours down from the rocks and rushes to the
river iust below. It was near the noon hour, and over the coals broiled and
baked the meat and the crisp tortillas. About lounged all but three of the
va(|ueros. inhaling the jilcasant incense of the all-but-ready midday meal
with tlie ptingent smoke of their cigarettes. Three stood guard over the
quiet herd. One of these. Jose Calderon, a fair youth scarcely out of his
teens — the pride and pet of the older vaqueros — stood beside his horse on
the summit of a small knoll that rose to the height of probably thirty feet
out of the smooth mesa, and commanded a perfect view of this characteristic
Southern California pastoral scene.

Off towards the eastern horizon, where the Sierr.a San Rafael meets the
sky and crowds close in to the loftv Mt. I'inos of the Sierra Relona, there

SAN LUIS OBISPO COfXTV AXD ENVIRONS IW

rose U) \icw ill the otherwise clear sky a sniaU, <hirk chnul tiiat came mi
down the cafuin of the upper Santa Maria ri\er, and in a few niinutes liad
spread out into a great dark mass that filled the entire upper end of the
Cuyama valley,. shutting from sight the mountains above. A breeze blowing
in' from Kern valley over the low Paletta hills, drove the whole black mass
to the south, where it Iniu',; low on the mountain ridge that forms the south
wall of the Cuyama valley. A phenomenon of nature, peculiar to that section,
then took place. The atmosphere became oppressively sultry, a wind came
up from the south, and almost instantly the sky was filled with rolling,
tumbling clouds. Tliere was a barely perceptible c|uivering reflection of dis-
tant lightning.

Jose, though young in years, had learned well the arts and ways of the
range when a child watching the herds of his father down beyond the Colo-
rado desert in old Sonora. Knowing well what was due to happen within
the next few minutes, with a graceful swing he sat lightly but firmly in the
saddle, his left hand grasping the bridle reins, his right instinctively feeling
for the heavy rawhide quirt that hung at the pommel of his saddle, his bright
eyes riveted on the great quiet herd below. There was a vivid flash of light.
Some mighty power had sw-ung an unseen sword that cut a fearful zigzag
gash through the semi-twilight and left a l)urning red scar, that remained
in sight for an instant and then as instantly healed.

Jose began nervously and rapidly counting, his eyes ever on that quiet
herd. "Uno, dos, tr — ." With a crash the very heavens tore apart. .\ rum-
bling roar swung oE to the south and the mountain clifTs there passed it
back down the valley. Jose's heavy silver-mounted spurs raked the trembling
flanks of his restless mount. He heard nothing, only saw those two thousand
and more fear-crazed steers plunge forward and sweep out onto the level
plain.

Directl)^ across their course a short half-mile away, ran the small stream
of the Cuyama river between ])erpendicular banks a hundred feet apart and
forty feet down. Had that onrushing Ininch of crowding horns and hide
reached there, a fortune would have vanished in an instant. A score of proud
vaqueros would haw lost caste among their kind and been classed as (iringos,
fit only to companion with dogs and guard sheep.

At their front, crowding in closely, recklessly, rode young Jose. Me
swung far out from his saddle, lashing and beating with his quirt at the
head of a brindle longhorn giant that, as a yearling, had cropped swamp
grass and tule in the cienagas down about the mouth of the Santa .-\na and
had survived the drought of TA. Close up rode Luigi .Marre with the doubled
loop of his reata desperately lashing the long-horned heads. Closely fol-
lowing were twenty faithful, fearless vaqueros, yelling and slashing, in a
hand-to-hand struggle to swing the crazed herd and circle it ere reaching
the river bank. Within a rod of the bank Jose passed as he swung around
the moiling band, leaning far out from the saddle right over those long
pointed horns, beating and lashing more fiercely at the head of that brindle
giant; but the battle was won.

The feet of a near-winded mustang sank deejj into the soft mound that
covered a family home of cute little valley chipmunks. A fallen horse .sprang
quickly to his feet and carried an empty saddle on around with the wild
swing of the moiling band. Jose's lithe body as he fell had met the upthrust

200 SAX LUIS or;isP(j county axd exviroxs

of a stffl-like puinl. where it hung- for a moment, and then with a toss of
that brindie giant's head it was thrown heavil}- to the ground. Luigi Marre
jerked his horse to a stand, and sprang to the side of the fallen hero. The
others raced on around with the nearly conquered herd.

Within an hour of the time of that fearful crash of thunder those two
thousand and more steers were peacefully grazing among the scattered
clumps of Indian arrowwood that grew along the river flats, and the sun
shone bri.ghtly over the vast and magnificent Cuyama valley. Down near
the river bank knelt Luigi Marre, with a silken scarf pressed tightly to the
ragged wound across a dying lad's breast in a vain attempt to stanch the
crimson flow. As the sun broke through the parting clouds and decked with
glittering jewels the fair landscape freshly baptized from the heavens, Luigi
Marre, bending low his head, heard from Jose's pallid lips these barely whis-
l)ered words: "Yo le mandaria un mandaje a Anita, en Hermosillo, Adios,
Adii'isI" ("I must send a message to Anita, in Hermosillo, Good-by, Good-by!")
— and the faithful Sonoran lad was dead.

The mellow Cuyama twilight slowly merged into night, while saddened
toil-stained vaqueros carried from the river's bed the last of the boulders
to form a stone cross. It lies alone, beneath the constant vigil of the moun-
tains, amid the solitude of the Cuyama valley. On over the plains of the
valley of the San Joaquin trailed the great drove to its destination and to
its destiny, but the stone cross is there in Cuyama valley still. It lies on a
beautiful flat near the center of the valley and marks the grave of young Jose.
On the south side rises the mesa bluft'. On the other flows the river.

WHAT WAS PUBLIC DOMAIN OF SANTA MARIA VALLEY

Heretofore we ha\e spoken of Santa ^laria \-alley as a whole. The
ranchcjs, or grants, having been duly considered, because they were first
brought into use, we turn now to the body of land between the boundaries of
these grants. This embraces about 80,000 acres. Until about 1869 the valley,
at least this part of it, was considered of very small value. In 1866, a group
of men, of whom the writer was one, living near Santa Rosa, having heard of
the \alley, sent men to investigate with a view to securing homes. The inves-
tigators reported the valley as a treeless, waterless plain of very poor soil,
witli no possible outlet. All thought of coming to the valley was abandoned.
Several years later a number of these men came to the valley and secured
homes, but too late to get the choice locations. In 1867, B. F. Wiley located a
quarter section of land just north of where the town of Santa Maria was after-
ward laid out. He excavated a cave in the side of a small hill and lived in it
two years. In 18f)S he dug a well fifty-four feet deep that lasted five years
without casing.

In the fall of 1868, John G. Prell and Hiram Sibley came to the valley and
located three miles south of W'yley ; and l)oth of them erected houses, hauling
the lumber from San Luis Obispo. The house built by Prell was torn down
to make room for a better one; the Sibley house still stands and is now
owned by P. W. Jones. In August of 1868, Thomas, James, and William
ll«'ll>.\vay and their mother came to the valley and settled at Sand Spring,
three miles south of where Santa Maria now is. In the fall of that year,
James Holloway was married to Rebecca Miller; this was the first marriage
ol .Xmericans in the valley. Maria, daughter of Thomas Flollowav. was born

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EXXiROXS 201

ill Afav, 1S69; and Thomas Miller, now of Goleta. a nephew of Mrs. James
Holloway, was born in November, \Sf)9. These were the first American chil-
dren born in the valley. In the great drouoht of 1897-98, the sand spring
ceased to flow, and now is only a memory, as it has not flowed since that
date.

In February of 1869. Thomas Brookshire, Aimer Stubblefield and Col-
man Stubblefield came into the valley and settled in the La Graciosa district.
Theirs were the next houses built in the valley. Later on in 1869, W. C.
Oakley and Wm. Adam settled near where Santa Maria now is. In Sep-
tember of 1869, Benjamin Turman settled on a quarter section that is now
entirely in the city of Santa Maria. These are the only settlers oi the '60's,
and their descendants are still here.

For a few years the southern part, or the La Graciosa country, took the
lead. A store was started on that part of the Todos Santos owned by
Hartnell, and a school district was established, taking in all the ter-
ritory now occupied by Washington, Orcutt, Pine Grove, Newlove, Careaga
and Martin districts. La Graciosa had the first store, the first school, the first
post office and, incidentally, the first two homicides in the valley. Thomas
Brookshire shot and killed F. Gregoria over some trouble they had in Brook-
shire's saloon. Coleman Stubblefield killed J. A. Allen on account of Allen's
corralling some of Stubblefield's stock for trespassing. Both men were tried
for murder and both were acquitted.

The abundance of water in this locality attracted the early settlers, and
very soon all the land near the hills where the water was abundant was
taken or squatted upon, and a voting precinct was established on the Hart-
nell land with the name of La Graciosa. This name was originally applied
to the summit of the pass, but gradually spread to the entire district. Stock-
raising and small farming was for several years the chief occupation. Later
on the people became obsessed with the idea that this was the great fruit
center of the valley, and many orchards were planted, largely apricots and
prunes. Prunes proved a miserable failure and apricots only a partial suc-
cess. Fruit has been virtually abandoned, and the name "Fruitvale." which
had been given to the district, has passed out of mind. But riches uiitnld
slept in the hills, and a few of the pioneers were to realize them.

Santa Maria City and Vicinity

The early settlers of the valley met with many difficulties. The dry
seasons of 1870-71 and the ravages of grasshoppers made things very dis-
couraging, and the long distance that grain had to be hauled, requiring two
days for one trip, cut profits very small. Added to these were lack of schools
and mail facilities. The mail was carried by stage from San Luis through the
eastern part of the valley, going by way of I-'oxen canon. There was no
post office in the valley, but a place where mail could be left or picked up by
the stage driver. The establishing of the post office at La Graciosa changed
the stage route, but it still went through Foxen canon until 1873, when
stock farms built at Los Alamos caused the route to be changed to pass that
way. The stage was held up many times south of La Graciosa. and many
people believed that the postmaster stood in with the bandits. The first store
in the central part of the valley was established by William L. .'\dam aliout
two miles northeast of where the citv of Santa Maria now stands. In 1874,

202 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

a wharf was built in the old and rugged vicinity of Point Sal, and the
giain raised in the valley was delivered to steamers there. This wharf
was washed away two years later, and another was built. A stock company
was formed in 1879, and a chute landing was constructed at the Point. This
proved to be a great saving to the farmers, but the steamship Cdinpany
wished to force the delivery of grain to another point and, by means unknown
to the stockholders, induced the trustees to sell the chute to them, and it was
demolished. The sale led to hard feelings for many years.

A CHAPTER ON EDUCATION

During the Mexican contml <if Santa Iiarbara County very little atten-
tion was given to education. In the Historical and P,iographical Record of
Southern California, by J. AJ. (iuinn, we find the only records, which are
altered only in the phraseology.

The first school taught in Santa Barbara was opened in the October,
1795, by Jose Alanuel Yoco, a young Spanish sailor. This school was con-
tinued periodically for two years. In December of 1798 the school was
re-opened by Jose Medina, another Spanish sailor, who taught until June,
1799, and was succeeded for a few months by Manuel de Vargas, an ex-
Spanish soldier. No other record of schools can be found until 1829, when
one was opened at the presidio; but that lasted only a short time. In 1844
another effort was made, but failed ; the teacher's name is not given.

In 1850 American influence caused the authorities of Santa Barbara
to take over a private school that had been opened by Victor Vega, paying
part of his salary. At a meeting of the council, November 8, 1851, Jose M.
Covarrubias was appointed a committee to examine the school once a month.
In November of 1852 three school commissioners were elected, one in each
township — each township being a school district. In 1854, Joaquin Carrillo
was elected school superintendent with a salary of six hundred dollars per
year. lie refused to. qualify, and A. P. Hinchman was appointed to fill the
vacancy. Plinchman was therefore the first county superintendent of schools
in Santa Barbara County. On account of the low salary, Hinchman was not
a candidate, and George Fisher was elected in 1855 ; he resigned, and John
Kays was appointed in 1856. In 1857, J. S. Ord was elected, and he was
succeeded by John Carlton in 1860. In 1863, Pablo de la Guerra was elected
and served until 1867, when A. B. Thompson succeeded him. In 1871, J. P-
i lamer was elected and filled the office until 1875. when, the salary having
been increased to $1,000 a year, men with better qualifications sought the
office.

In 1865 there were two schools in Santa Barbara; one was taught
in Spanish, and the other, in English. The English school was conducted
by Owen Connolly. At the session of the legislature that year, a law was
made jiroviding (hat only English should be taught in schools drawing funds
from the staic. (lideon E. Thurmond was elected county superintendent in
1875 and occupied the office for twenty-four years. In 1898, W. S. Edwards
defeated Thurmond after a hotly contested election, and was re-elected in
1902, bui was defeated hv Miss Af. \'. Lehner in 1906. Aliss Lehner was

SAN LUIS OBISPO COL'NTY AND ENVIRONS 203

re-elected in 1910, defeating her opponent, L. O. Fox, by more than two to
one. In 1914. Miss Lehner was opposed by Mrs. Muriel Edwards, a very
accomplished lady from Santa Ynez, but was again re-elected by a large
majority. Short biographical sketches of both Professor Thurmond and Miss
Lehner will be found in this history.

The Schools of the Santa Maria Valley

As soon as the first settlers of each part of the valley built their homes,
they wanted schools for the children. The first district to be formed was
La Graciosa. The schoolhouse was erected in 1869. about one mile north
of the summit of the pass, and twenty years later a new building was built
one mile north of the old one. Vhen the town of Orcutt was formed and
more room needed, the present two-room building was erected about a quar-
ter of a mile east and the name w-as changed to Orcutt.

In 1870 the second district in the valley was organized and called Pine
• Grove on account of the schoolhouse being located near the pine groves that
I covered the hills. J. J. Holloway, who had been a petitioner for La Graciosa,
■ was the first clerk of Pine Grove. In 1888 the site of the schoolhouse was
' moved one mile north, and the present building was erected. Pine Grove was
; for many years the strongest country district of the valley.
j In June, 1873, two more districts were granted in the extreme west end

of the valley. Guadalupe included the town of that name north to the river,
; west to the ocean, south to Casmalia line and east two miles. The other
I district was named Laguna, because it contained that beautiful and wonder-
t fully formed lake. The schoolhouse was erected on the north side of the
t district on the road leading to La Graciosa from Guadalupe. After a few

i years, the greater number of people being much farther south, two of the
trustees decided to move the house without legal formality. They made
the necessary preparations, and on a Friday night moved the building one
I and one-half miles further south and had all things ready for school on Mon-
' day morning. The change of location was made in September, 1880. The
house still stands on the place selected by them, and the only title to the land
is forcible possession.

Pleasant Valley district was established in 1875, but lapsed in 1S79. It
was re-established in 1881 and continues at this time.

The sixth district organized in the valley is located on the Siscpioc river
and was established in June, 1884, and named the Santa Maria. In 1891 the
name was changed to Olive, as the name of Santa Maria was misleading.

Agricola district was organized in May, 1885 ; the late William L. Adam
', was the first clerk and held the ofiSce twelve years.

, In 1876, La Graciosa district was divided, and a new one was formed by

I the north half, named Washington.

Los Alamos school is misleading in name, as it is situated at Ilarris
{ Station, seven miles from the town of Los .Mamos. The district was formed
in February, 1877, largely by the Carcaga and Harris families, who owned
■ nearly all the land in the district.

' Suey district was organized in 1879, and included very little of the Suey

> ranch and none of Suey creek.

These ten schools were organized in ten years from the time the first
settler came to the valley.

204 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EXMRONS

The school district in the present city of Santa Maria was formed in
June, 1881, and named Central. Prior to that time it belonged to Pleasant
Valley and Agricola districts. In 1891 the name was changed to Santa Maria.

In 1884 the Tepesquet was organized; and a district in Cat caiion
named Oak Vale was also organized, although, after a series of years, it
lapsed. In 1886 two new districts were granted, namely Casmalia and Martin.
Garey district was formed in 1888; Bonita. in 1895, out of territory taken
from Guadalupe, Agricola and Laguna districts.

In 1898 a new district was made from parts of Agricola, Washington and
Pleasant Valley, and was named Allott. This name was changed to Lake
\"iew in 1900, and a new schoolhouse was erected al)out one mile south of the
temporary building first used.

In 1895 two districts w^ere formed in the Cuyama valley, but both of
them lapsed in 190v^. Cuyama was reorganized in 1915, and \\'asioja in 1917.

The first of the oil-field districts, named Careaga, was granted in April,
1904, and now has two teachers. Betteravia district, on land owned by the
Union Sugar Co., was formed in 1895. The Union Sugar Co. assumed all
the cost of erecting the building and furnishing it. It is a \-ery commodious
and substantial structure : and there have been no bonds or taxes of any
kind on the district.

In 1909 two more districts were formed in the oil belt : Blochman, in
the Cat caiion fields: and Xewlove, in the. Santa INlaria. The latter has a
good two-room building, and- the attendance has made such an increase
that another room is needed. This is one of the most progressi\'e schools
in the valley.

Ramona district is situated in Foxen canon, and was formed in January,
1915.

Several other districts were made at difl:'erent times, but all lapsed after
a few years. All these districts, except Careaga. are in the Santa ]\Iaria
LTnion High School district.

The high school district was formed in 1892 and has made steady but
sure progress from the beginning, until it now ranks with the best in the
entire state. The buildings are spacious and beautiful, and the grounds are
kept in most excellent condition.

The Bell district at the town of Los Alamos, while not properly -belong-
ing geographically to the Santa Maria valley, should be included. The district
was formed May 25, 1877, and received its name from the Bell ranch, which
is a part of the Los Alamos grant. The district lapsed in 1879 and was
re-established in 1881. It now has the best-arranged school building in the
fifth supervisoral district.

(Ti/Jicf/n^^v

BIOGF

MIN PINCKNEY ANDREWS.—Jii i very .

- -osentative of the Andrev> - ' iin|.. i lam .a.

al affairs, when Charles : the gfeat-gra

; Pinckney Andrews, be^ . 'nl '-r 'Ti" '

for service in the War for ■.w
: tion that framed the constitut
■ lan, was minister to Franco i
iTe tor President of the United S
^t' of the most prominent citizt
'!t.;uii ler of more than ordinary ability, i ii^ ii:ni< -
Mont.L,'omery County, N. C, May 11, 1824. He r^'
!he common schools there, and earl}' i '. li''- 'i~;i:
^(rcetul character that was to be the
During the years of bis }-oung manli
looked upon as one of the leaders of '
rimong- the prominent people of Balti'
rairchase goods for a brother who wa
\ Count^^ In 1857, hearing- :!■
; in the West, he determined t.
irrived in California that year,
about, he located in San Luis Obisj
.s^overnment claim afterwards known
is now known as the St. Raimi;
■luring; which time many change
• jf lawle=sness. when often "mig •
M- was a fearless ma i

■' disposition. On oiu

'• ' 1 v.v.'d was comii'.:

!:ig himself .»
nd thereaftc:
<levoting his yf' '
•' was a dry year,

irving and ci.iii'i
led and bo;!,
e for these.

it V,-MS -tl

•.ere killing
so that th.
an oflfer ot

dcT^,-

M(^f^'^:^\-^J^-V

BIOGRAPHICAL

JOHN PINCKNEY ANDREWS.— In a very early period of American
history a representative oi the Andrews family l)ecame an important factor
in governmental affairs, when Charles Colesvvorth Pinc.kney, the great-grand-
father of John Pinckney Andrews, became a brigadier-general in the Con-
tinental Army for service in the W'ar for Independence, and was a member
of the convention that framed the constitution of the I'nited States. He
was a statesman, was minister to France in 1796, and \\as the I'ederalist
candidate for President of the United States in 1804.

One of the most prominent citizens of San Luis ( )l)ispc) County and a
financier of more than ordinary ability, John P^inckney Andrews was born in
Montgomery County, N. C, May 11, 1824. He received his education in
the common schools there, and earl}- in life displayed the evidences of a
forceful character that was to l3e the foundation of his success in after life.
During the years of his young manhood he was fond of society and was
looked upon as one of the leaders of his section, and was well acquainted
among the prominent people of Baltimore, where he visited frequently to
purchase goc:)ds for a brother who was in the mercantile business in Mont-
gomery County. In 1857, hearing the glowing tales of the opportunities
offered in the West, he determined to avail himself of them, and accord-
ingly arrived in California that year. After spending some time in looking
about, he located in San Luis Obispo County in 1859, and settled on a
government claim afterwards known as the Hasbrook place, and which
is now known as the St. Raimie ranch. He remained there until 1869,
during which time many changes were taking place. Those were the days
of lawlessness, when often "might was right." and they were stirring times.
Mr. Andrews was a fearless man, and many stories of him are told illus-
trative of his disposition. On one occasion, after he had settled on his land,
he heard that a crowd was coming to drive him off, settlers not being desired
at that time. Arming himself and his one assistant, he successfully with-
stood the inxasion aiid thereafter was not molested.

In 1864 he was devoting his attention to the raising of cattle and hogs,
and, although this was a dry year, he found it very profitable. Cattle
everywhere were starving and could be Ixiught at almost any ])rice: so he
purchased them, killed and l)(iile(l llicni anil fed tlieni to his hogs, later
receiving a high price for these. At this time he had an arrangement with
F. Z. Branch, who owned thousands of acres of land and a great number of
cattle, to take the latter, give Air. Branch the hides as pay, and keei> the
carcasses for feed. This arrangement was carried out, and Mr. Branch
often remarked that it was "the only clean money" he received that year.
His own vaf|ueros were killing and skinning the cattle as well ; l)ut they
mutilated the hides so that they were almost worthless. .\t this period
Mr. Branch received an offer of five dollars per head for all his stock, but

208 SAX LUIS OBISPO COL'XTY AND EXVIROXS

refused it, although urged by Mr. Andrews to accept. Had he done so, he
would have sa\-ed many thousands of dollars : for his cattle nearly all
died, so that he \vas able to gather only about six hundred head out of
his thousands. The only money he got out of them was from the sale of
the hides. Mr. Andrews also purchased one hundred steers for two hun-
dred dollars, fattened them, and disposed of them for over twenty-five dol-
lars a head that saiue year, these Ijeing the only fat cattle to be had at that
time.

lie Later disposed of his ecpiity in this land, and purchased the home
near San Luis (Jbispo called the "Andrews Place," where he lived until,
a few vears before his death, he sold out and moved into town.

yir. Andrews was a pioneer dairyman of this section, for he was the first
man to devote any attention to this now most important industry. He was
also the first man to devote any attention to the bee industry, paying fifty dol-
lars each for the first stands, and continuing his interest and study until 1869.
~\lr. Andrews later became one of the largest sheep men in the county, run-
ning large bands on the Huasna for a time, later carrying on the business
nearer San Luis Obispo on the .Santa Lucia range until he sold out. In
1877, another dry year, he managed to bring about four thousand head
through in good condition, his son, George H., remaining with them and
caring for them during the entire year, with the aid of two helpers. Mr.
Andrews ac(|uired a large stock ranch, starting with six hundred forty
acres ]jurchase<l frcjm H. M. ^^■arden. and adding from time to time as he
had o]iportunity until he owned twenty-three hundred acres where he ranged
his sheep and which he sold in 1884.

In 1873 Mr. Andrews, with C. II. Phillips. R. G. Mint, John Riddle,
Phillip Riddle and H. M. Warden, organized the Rank of San Luis Obispo,
and in 1877 he became its managing director and president, continuing until
ISyO. l-"roiu 1890 to 1893 he Avas president of the County Bank. In the
latter year he organized the Andrews Banking Company and was its con-
trolling stockholder and dominating factor. In 1899, during the financial
stringency, his institution was one of the few that took care of its clients
and closed the year profitably. John Pinckney Andrews headed the banking
house l)earing his name from the date of its organization until January 21,
1913, when he was succeeded by his oldest son, George H. Andrews, who
directed the bank's affairs in the same conservative channels that estab-
lished the bank in the confidence of the entire community until its sale to
the Commercial Rank that same year. In 1883, Mr. Andrews headed a
slock company known as the San Luis Hotel Co., and erected a hotel called the
Andrews Hotel, in his honor, on the corner of Monterey and Osos streets,
which was oi^ened to the public under the management of Ned Morris, and
was later conducted by Sharp Rros. This was a frame building, and one of
the finest in the city at that time. In 1885 the building and contents were
compk-tely destroyed by fire. bAentually Mr. Andrews acquired the inter-
est- Ml the (ither stockholders in the lot, and then began a building era
winch he alone managed and financed until the whole of the property he
owned ni that block was ccjvered with brick buildings.

.Mr. Andrews, while being recognized as a capable financier, was always
known l)y his iriends to l)e charitably inclined, as well as public-spirited. He
and h.rnest (erf were the donors to the county of the present courthouse
sue, and .Mr. ,\ndrews gave the ground upon which the Court Grammar

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD EXVIROXS 209

School is located, with a clause that it could be used for no other purpose,
or it must revert to the estate. He was a man of great force and iron will.
Energy and tireless industry marked his career, and his whole life was
one of pronounced effect upon the business history of San Luis Obispo.
With the co-operation of the Steele Bros, and other public-spirited citizens,
]\lr. Andrews organized the Sixteenth Agricultural District Association, and
at once subscribed eight hundred dollars to start the fund to erect the
pavilion. When the organization failed at a later date, he was one of the
heaviest losers. Success usually followed all his undertakings and he was
ever a willing supporter of all movements for progress. For many years he
was the mainstay of the local Methodist Church South, to which he donated
the lot; and it was mainly through his efforts that the building was erected
after the organization of the congregation in San Luis Obispo. He was unos-
tentatious with his benefactions and never let his right hand know what his
left hand did. He was loyal to his friends ; and even his enemies (common
to every man who makes a success of life) respected him, some of them in
after years becoming his very warm friends.

He was a great hunter in the earlier period of settlement of the county,
when wild game of all kinds abounded ; and he was a sure shot as well.

In 1860 he was united in marriage in Lake Coimty, California, with Miss
Tennessee Amanda Cheney, a native of Arkansas, who passed away in 1900.
Her parents were farming people, natives of Tennessee, who crossed the
plains in the early fifties to California, stopped for a time in Solano, Lake and
San Luis Obispo counties, where the father engaged in farming, and finally
settled in Los Angeles county, where the parents both passed their last days.
Thirteen children came to bless this union, seven of whom are now living:
Mrs. Alice V. ^lorton, of San Gabriel; George H. Andrews and ^Irs. Mary E.
Rideout, of San Luis Obispo ; David, of Pomona ; Mrs. Martha ^ilurphy, of
San Luis Obispo; and Le Roy F. and Jerome P., both of Pismo. Another
daughter, I\Irs. Carrie Brew, grew to maturity, married, had several chil-
dren and passed away in 1900. They struggled side by side to gain a foot-
hold during the pioneer days in the county, Mrs. Andrews doing her full
share and bravely enduring the hardships and privations encountered in their
efforts t(. win success, and to rear their children to useful lives.

HORATIO MOORE WARDEN.— The late Horatio Moore Warden
was regarded as one of the most influential and public-spirited citizens of San
Luis Obispo County and is entitled to a prominent place in the annals of this
section of the state. He was born near Granville, Licking county, O., in
1828, a son of Gabriel and Mary (Seely) Warden, natives of Burlington, Vt.,
and the tenth child in a family of eleven children. He was descended from
English ancestry. A member of the family emigrated to this country at an
early period in its history, settling in Vermont ; and from that ancestor the
family in this country have sprung. Members of the Warden family have
been prominent in various branches of business and professional life for
generations. Gabriel Warden served as a captain in the War of 1812. was
a man of great valor and patriotism, and soon after the war was over settled
in Ohio, where he cleared a farm and engaged in agricultural pursuits until
his death. Both he and his wife passed away in Licking county.

In 1847, Horatio M. Warden became associated with his brother, L. M.
Warden, in the buying and selling of cattle, which he drove in large numbers
to Chicago, then a small settlement on the frontier, and the headquarters of

210 S.W LL-JS OP.ISPO COUNTY AXD EXVIROXS

a detachment of United States soldiers at Fort Sheridan. In 1850, the
Warden brothers started across the plains for California. They drove a
band of cattle and horses as far as Council Bluffs, la., where they exchanged
them for mules, which they drove to Salt Lake. En route they met and
traveled with Tom Williams, a prominent Mormon, carrying the Salt Lake
mail ; and on arrival at Salt Lake, they were entertained and shown every
courtesy, for the three weeks of their stay there, to recuperate and rest. They
left Salt Lake with a train of pack mules, crossed the desert without dififi-
cultv and in due time arrived in Hangtown — now Placerville — where they
mined with the usual results. Later they went to Michigan Bluff on the
American river and mined for a time; and there they struck it rich for
a while.

Mr. \\ arden and his brother ne.xt went to Sacramento, where he organ-
ized a stage line between Sacramento and Marysville, operating it for some
time very successfully. He next established the line between Auburn, Yankee
Jim's, Michigan Bluff, Illinois Town and Iowa Hill in Placer county, carry-
ing on the stage business until he and his brother went to Napa county in
1856. Here they engaged in the stock business, meeting with a fair degree
of success, although they had their reverses as well.

In 1867, H. M. Warden came to San Luis Obispo Count}', settled in the
Los Osos valley, and purchased about three thousand acres of land, part of
the Los Osos grant. Here he raised sheep for several years, having as many
as six thousand head. Later he worked into the cattle business ; and under
the name of the Highland Rancho, his property became well-known through-
out the entire coast section of. San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.
The large dairy interests were the leading features for some years, and were
conducted with much profit. As much as six thousand pounds of butter per
month was made irom the three dairies maintained on his ranch. Grain and
iia\- were raised in large ([uantities. Mr. W;ir(len belie\ed in high-grade
stDck, and iiis Durliams and shdrtlmrns were mostly registered. He did
much td elexate the grade of cattle throughout this section of the county:
for lithers saw that it did not cost any more to keep good stock than poor, and
in many cases followed his example. He was essentially a stockman, and
his cattle, horses and hogs were his pride and profit. He .studied the dairy
business and added many innovations as he succeeded with his enterprise.

It must not be supposed that Mr. Warden devoted his time to the ranch-
ing interests to the exclusion of other matters. He was a man of large busi-
ness acumen, was much interested in the cause of education and in the estab-
lishment of churches, and believed that these two factors fostered a better
citizenship and a higher moral standard. He served as a trustee of schools
for many years, and with two other trustees gave personal notes which
rendered i)(issii)le the erection of one of the first schoolhouses in the county,
and the establishment of a school, serving as its trustee for years. With
C. H. Phillips and others, Mr. Warden organized and started the first bank
in San Luis ( )i)ispn in 1872, under the name of Warden & Phillips, he serv-
mg as president and Mr. Phillips as cashier : and for many years they carried
on a very successful banking l)usiness. In 1898, Mr. Warden erected the War-
den block in San Luis Obispo, then the most modern block in the town, and
.still in the possession of his family. Resides this, he owned several parcels
of valuable real estate in town.

^y</

' ' - AD ENVIROXS

He v,<is a stanch Republican. ■ ■

and a factor in the councils ^•

.,->•;<,,, ir,.,n his district in 18^'

the Assembly, I'^

' ' c was a Mason ar,<;

. ~-.i:i Luis Obispo: and \va> .ui ( 'ci.!
;r. He was very public-spirited, supp.
' ij; of the county, and gave S1500 towa

ii<uiity. Of his marriage in 1882 with Mis- ihit-e children

iL-.born, Queenie M., Horatio M., Jr., and M.. iui died March

'902. Mr. Warden died on P'ebruary 14, 19i_, ,..,1 • '-

of a verv prominent citizen to the state and the i.
LUIGI MARRE.—\V hoe ver. labors t- secure V
country, striving- to bring out its latent r;
general welfare of the people, and seek -

and whoever, in the course of a long life, ;i

commercial, educational aiUl agricultural growth : tee as a

public benefactor, and is entitled to mention in - Such

was the character and such is the record of luii;. m,.;! ..ly

pioneers of California, and one to whose detcrminatitin, ;• d

energy not a little of the- state's development may be attriln'

The story of the life of Mr. Marre is one of inter,
to narrate it, the scenes which he witnessed- during hi-
fornia, the hardships that he endured and the obstacle
would make a large volume. His career dates from
he was born in Borzonasca, province of Genova, Ita.

"irre, a hotel keeper, butcher and drover in that same |.r auicc. iti- iatii' r

- a soldier under X'apoleon for eleven years, and of forty men in the

•pany who enlisted for military service and took part in t'.ic l>aM" '

terloo, he was one of but three survivors who returned.

Luigi Marre obtained a college education in Italy, after v :

^■'. 1854, then a stalwart youth, of large, fine physique, alc^i. f^i,-. ..,..

unusually intelligent, he set out for far-off California to dig for gold. His

principal ecjuipment consisted of a pick with which It'- tnther presented

him (which pick is still in the possession of Cacsi' in San

Andreas), with the instruction to rely upon it and. him, to

apply to his consul for passage back to the old honi^ ■ nts were

wealthy, and Mr. Marre obtained his father's permis.-.ioii to c<>nie to this

country solely on the condition that he would never work for wages and

that he would return home in three years. His father" having died before. the

three years were up, Luigi never returned to his native land ; but the

promise not t ■ work for wages he faithfully kept, and remained his own

time he left his father until he died. He catne to California

■^el, via New York and Panama, and landed in San Fran-

. 1854. He nnd.r :iM.(l :'.■■ .tinr language than Italian: but

Ills kt.cii sii lood him in g ■ . i^mi recounted with zest that

his firs' t_;V. n a bettering hi- rse speculation, in which In-

'■'■■'■' 1 for seventeen i.mk.i ..m.i -iiu ic for fifty-three.

r his arrival in San Francisco, with his trusty 1
t..r the mining camps in Penitta, Amador mir
i''ii"^( V -.ith great perseverance, meeting with t' ■

''^^

'T^^

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EN\'IRONS 211

He was a stanch Republican, a member of the county central commit-
tee and a factor in the councils of the party in the state. He served as
supervisor from his district in 1880, and in 1886 was the unanimous choice
of his party for the Assembly. He was also a delegate to county and state
conventions. He was a Mason and member of King David Lodge No. 209,
1". & A. M., San Luis Obispo: and was an Odd Fellow, passing all the chairs
of the order. He was very public-spirited, supporting all movements for the
upbuilding of the county, and gave $1500 towards bringing the railroad into
the county. Of his marriage in 1882 with Miss Queenie Parr, three children
were born, Queenie M., Horatio M.. Jr., and Alary Loraine, who died March
17, 1902. Mr. Warden died on February 14, 1912, and his passing meant the
loss of a very prominent citizen to the state and the county of his adoption.

LUIGI MARRE. — Whoever labors to secure the development of his
country, striving to bring out its latent resources ; whoever is devoted to the
general welfare of the people, and seeks to promote the cause of justice ;
and whoever, in the course of a long life, advances, directly or indirectly, our
commercial, educational and agricultural growth : he it is who earns a place as a
public benefactor, and is entitled to mention in the pages of history. Such
was the character and such is the record of Luigi Marre, one of the early
pioneers of California, and one to whose determination, perseverance and
energy not a little of the state's development may be attributed.

The story of the life of Mr. Marre is one of interest and, were he alive
to narrate it, the scenes which he witnessed during his active career in Cali-
fornia, the hardships that he endured and the obstacles that he surmounted,
would make a large volume. His career dates from August 7, 1840, when
he was born in Borzonasca, province of Geneva, Italy, a son of Lorenzo
Marre, a hotel keeper, butcher and drover in that same province. His father
was a soldier under Napoleon for eleven years, and of forty men in the
company who enlisted for military service and took part in the battle of
Waterloo, he was one of but three survivors who returned.

Luigi Marre obtained a college education in Italy, after which, on .March
26, 1854, then a stalwart youth, of large, fine physique, alert, active and
unusually intelligent, he set out for far-off California to dig for gold. His
principal equipment consisted of a pick with which his father presented
him (which pick is still in the possession of Cacsineli Brothers, in San
.\ndreas), with the instruction to rely upon it and, should it fail him, to
apply to his consul for passage back to the old home. His parents were
wealthy, and Mr. Marre obtained his father's permission to come to this
country solely on the condition that he would never work for wages and
that he would return home in three years. His father having died before the
three years were up, Luigi never returned to his native land ; but the
promise not to work for wages he faithfully kept, and remained hi> own
master from the time he left his father until he died, lie came to California
on a sailing vessel, via New York and Panama, and landed in San Fran-
cisco on May 26, 1854. He understood no other language than Italian : but
his keen wits stood him in good stead, and he often recounted with zest that
iiis first effort at bettering his condition was a horse speculation, in which lie
bought an animal for seventeen dollars and sold it for fifty-three.

Shortly after his arrival in San hVancisco, with his trusty i)ick, Mr.
Marre departed for the mining cam])s in Penitta, .Amador county. I"or
three years he toiled with great perseverance, meeting with the m:iny hard-

212 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EWIROXS

ships tl:en endured Iiy miners : and at tlie end of the tliree }ears, somewhat dis-
couraged witli the fruitless mining life, he decided to follow his commercial
instincts. He went to Calaverites in Calaveras county, then a small village
squatted on the desert at the very edge of a range of barren foothills. Its
principal street was not much more than a bridle trail that led past a few
cabins, derelicts of old mining days when that region knew gold. Immediately
upon his arrival there he purchased a general merchandise store, and for the
next year he devoted himself with more or less success to this business.
He then sold out and went to Calaveras, where he bought a butcher shop.
The man who sold to him at once went on the opposite side of the street
from his place of business, contrary to their agreement, and opened an
oppositiijn establishment, thereby cutting into liis trade: and during the three
years he carried on the business it took almost all of his resources to keep
above water, although his opponent failed six months before Mr. Marre
sold out and went to El Dorado, where he continued in the butcher business,
and at the same time engaged in handling cattle.

In 1861 his affairs took him to Nevada, at that time a great field for
enterprise: but the Indians were trou])lesome and dangerous, and that oli-
stacle, followed by the dry season of 1864, made his losses heavy. However,
that was only an incident. In 1870 he sold out his interests in El Dorado,
but still continued in the cattle business. He drove cattle from the [Mexican
border to San Francisco and Nevada, where his cattle were cared for, given
pasture, and protected from the other tribes by a friendly Indian chief. Mr.
Marre was almost continurmsly in the saddle, and owned some fine saddle
horses. In cirly days, when he made his long trips, he would have his own
mount and another horse, on which he packed his pro\isions, blankets and
his faithful dog. His horses and dog were well trained, and he often said
that they frequently saved his life, not making a sound when danger threat-
ened, but in other ways, as by nudgings or caresses, warning him. He
had many thrilling escapes from death at the hands of bandits and mur-
derers, for he always had to carry large sums of gold about his person to
pay f( >r the stock he bought ; and many a night he was only too glad to
take off his belt, filled with twenty-dollar gold pieces, and throw it into the
brush, after which he would lie down on his blanket and sleep. In dealing
with the ignorant stockmen, he had only to drive out an animal and pass
over a twenty-dollar gold piece, even if the beast was worth more than that
price, for the natives could count in twenties and nothing else. He was a man
of commanding appearance, over six feet tall and weighing over three hundred
pounds, and was noted for his bravery and absolute fearlessness.

I'rom El Dorado ]\Ir. !\Iarre went to Santa Clara county, where he leased
the Los .-\gelos Rancho and stocked it with cattle. Three years before his
lease in Santa Clara county expired, he rented the Le Roy property, which
was formerly the Zaca grant of thirty thousand acres. He stocked that ranch
witli fourteen thousand cattle and many sheep, having at one time as many
as thirty thousand of the latter, and there continued successfully the business
of buying and selling cattle and sheep. At one time, to diminish his stock
during one (if the dry years, he sold a thousand head of cattle for $20,000.
I his sacrifice had to Vie repeated several times during the dry seasons.

Tn 1879 he leased the Pecho Rancho in San Luis Obispo county for
eighteen years. In 1882 he bought, frrun John Harford, the San Miguelita
ranch of several tl^usand acres. Later he purchased the Pecho Rancho of

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD EX\TROXS 213

thirty-eiglit hundred acres, and still later, twenty-five hundred acres of the
Avila estate from the San Luis Lank, still retaining his property in Santa
Barbara county. He became one of the largest stockmen of Central Califor-
nia, as well as the wealthiest man in San Luis Obispo County. He was known,
in fact, as the cattle king of the central coast section. He had extensive deal-
ings with Miller & Lux, and with other large stockmen in the state, and was
known as a man whose word, when once given, Avas as good as his bond.

Mr. Marre opened the Fulton Market in San Luis Obispo, purchasing
the property from the Steele brothers; and in 1893 he also started the Nevada
Market.. In 1884 he erected the first hotel at Port Harford, now known as
Port San Luis. He was one of the most public-spirited men the county ever
had, was always an advocate of all progressive movements, gave land to
widen Chorro, Marsh and Monterey streets, when those improvements were
started, and spent almost a month of "his valuable time in convincing other
owners of property on those streets of the benefits to be derived therefrom.
When the Southern Pacific Railroad was prospected to San Luis Obispo,
he donated $10,000 towards the cause ; and later he had the distinction of
riding on the first train from San Luis Obispo to San Jose. Not a movement
that had for its object the betterment of conditions of the people or county
but receiA'ed his hearty support. He gave towards all churches, no matter
what their creed ; was a stanch advocate of good schools and did what he
could to maintain them and bring them to a high standard: and no one
ever appealed to him in \ain for any worthy charity. Lie was active up to
the time of his death, shortly before which he delivered a lot of cattle to Horn
& Sons in San Francisco, when he caught cold, took sick, and died, Februar_\'
8, 1903, mourned by rich and poor alike.

On April 28, 1881, the marriage uniting Luigi ^larre with Miss Angela L.
Alarre was celebrated. She was born in 1851, in the same part of Italy as was
her husband ; and seven children blessed this union, only three of whom are
now living: Gasper O., born iNlay 22, 1884, who married and has one son,
Norman O. ; Louis J., born September 26. 1886: and Rosa J., born April 29,
1896, the wife of S. Piuma and the mother of one son, ]\Iilton S. The widow
lives at the old home, surrounded by her children and grandchildren ; and there
she is enjoying every comfort possible. She is a most interesting conversa-
tionalist, recounting the many stories of early pioneer days as depicted by her
husband, and is one of the most generous women in the county, aiding every
worthy movement and happy in the knowledge that her husband was one
of the most popular and best-liked men in this part of the state, who left
to his descendants not only riches, but the heritage of an untarnished name.

In 1914 the holdings of the Luigi Marre estate were incorporated under
the name of the Luigi Marre Land & Cattle Co. : and the water company, that
he started in 1886 to supply with fresh water such ships as called at the port,
was also incorporated, under the name of the Fay Water Company. The
property owned by the corporation has a frontage on the ocean of twelve
miles, and comprises thousands of acres : and as the years have passed, this
property, under the able management of the sons. Gasper O. and Luis J-,
has greatly increased in value. The oil tanks, where tank ships come to load
oil, are located on the property, and the revenue derived from this enterprise
represents a handsome sum in itself. On the San Miguelita ranch, where
^fr. Marre settled years ago. he planted some chestnuts brought from his
old home place in Itah' : and seven trees grew therefrom and are in fine con-

214 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

(litidii, liein.i;- the i>nly niies (pf their kind in this part of the country. An
olil lanchnark on the I 'echo Rancho is an old adnhe hnuse, the woodwork
of which was brought around the Horn at an early day by Captain
Wilson, then the owner of the place. It is said that Air. Alarre shipped from
San Luis Obispo the largest consignment of stock e\er sent out at one time
by one man, consisting of three solid train loads.

The family are highly respected, hospitable and pul)lic-s])irited, and have
an e\er-widcning circle <if friends throughout the entire central section of
C'alifornia.

MRS. QUEENIE WARDEN.— It gives a feeling of pride to know that
one is a descendant of ancient and noble lineage, although Americans usually
glory in their own ideals. However, the satisfaction of knowing the honorable
achievements of our ancestors gives us something to live up to, and such is
the case with Mrs. Oueenie Warden, one of the most prominent, charitable,
public-spirited, energetic and i^rogressive women of San Luis Obispo, widow
of the late Hon. Horatio M. Warden, and a daughter of Airs. Loraine (Page)
Parr. Mrs. W^arden was born in Iowa, in which state her parents settled
when that was the frontier, before railroads traversed the expanse of prairie
in the Middle West. She is a descendant of English ancestry through the
Page family. One John Page, a son of Richard Page, who had lived in Lon-
don, left Yarmouth April 8, 1630, with his wife Phoebe and their three chil-
dren on the "Jewell," arriving in Salem, Alass. He moved to Charlestown,
and then to the peninsula now occupied by the city of Boston. He later
moved to Watertown, about seven miles distant, where he died December
18, 1676, aged about ninety. From this progenitor, the family in America
have originated, and they have become prominent in agricultural, professional,
financial, military, literary and social aiYairs. The motto of the Page family,
]jrinted in Latin on their coat of arms, "Spe Labor Levis," meaning "Hope
lightens labor," has been used by the family for centuries.

Mrs. Oueenie Warden was educated in a convent in Davenport, Iowa,
came to California first in 1876 as a tourist, and remained one year. In 1879
she became a permanent resident of the state, spent a short time in Grass
valley, and then came to San Luis Obispo County, where she has since
lived, and which section has been the scene of her activities. Through her
marriage in 1882 with Horatio M. Warden, she has been enabled to accom-
plish much good for the community, and has entered heartily into every
movement that has had for its object the building up of the county and
city. She is a leader in social affairs, and through her membership in the
Civic Club, as president of which she has served for two terms, she has
wielded an influence for the betterment of local conditions in San Luis
Obispo. She is also a member of the City Club in Los Angeles. In 1898
the II. AI. Warden interests were incorporated, and she became president,
a position she has held ever since, managing the company's affairs with
splendid executive and business ability. In Alay, 1916, Mrs. Warden entered
into the local business field by her purchase of the People's Pharmacy, located
in the II. Al. Warden, Jr., building: and having increased the stock, she is
gradually building up a large and successful business, which receives her
personal attention. As the "Rexall Store," this establishment has become an
important factor in the commercial life of San Luis Obispo County, and its
owner is rated as a \erv successful business woman.

^dz/u^.

iBISPO C( 217

r. and Mrs. Warden, three children were born :
-U., Jr., and Mary Loraine, who passed away at tlie
-■>. rhe first mentioned is the wife of the Hon. Thom;i<
judge of San Luis Obispo County; and they have two
•ma.s Warden and I'arr McCloud. M<)r:iii(« Ai.. Ir married
■ Liily ; and they have three children. ,111..

Id, and Frank. Of Mrs. Warden, we :. she

II., I • . , , . iiusband, children and friends an intelligent, utmh-i --Miiii'i.;, sym-
patlieiii^ companion and guide; she has controlled with a strong, but tender
hand ; ^'^i.• has been sympathetic without being weak, kind without conde-
scension—an earnest, wise and unostentatious benefactor, whose benefactions
have left no sting; and in all good works she has modestly taken an im-
portant place. ~

RAMON F. CAREAGA.— For many generations the Careaga family
has been distinguished in California not only for its participation in the grad-
ual development of the state, but because it is one of the important historical
links between Castilian Spain and the flourishing colonies which henprophetic
vision and unbounded energ}' planted in ;!- ■ <:■■■-■■ \\..ii,l The earliest
Careaga of whom we have record as a direct med family,

was a Spanish nobleman born in medieval . Mexico as a

military man by the King of Spain. A descoMar.t \\.i i i loiiel .Satornino
Careaga, also a soldier, who came from Mexico to Northern Monterey when
he was but seventeen years old. He was a member of Capvalii ^inn' .'s
command, and with all the chivalry ever characteristic of the <
risked his life and sacrificed his comfort to protect the d€pe!-

posed San Jose Mission. His son, who died on February 7, 1914, <».'^ •

F. Careaga, a handsome and splendidly preserved gentleman, wIk' or.-Ad
look back to many stirring events in which he had participated, or of v.hicli
his father, in the good old days when the Spanish Dons gathered their chil-
dren about them, had told him as a part of the cherished family tradirion.
There were personal anecdotes about Governor Portola, and the expedition
to Monterey : there were recollections of Pio Pico, Echeandia, Micheltorena,
Castro, Flores, Juan Handini, .-Vbel Stearns and finally of Fremont and Stock-
ton, with all of whom -and their contemporaries the Careagas had had much
to do, first in fighting for Spain and then for Mexico, and ultimately in helping
to build 'ir •■ 'unL- .\merica on the Coast.

^" r, Juan B. Careaga, also born in Monterey county, and

Danii .lon bought about eighteen thousand acres of the old ranch

''elon., ;uL i/e la Guerras (early Spaniards who, with thci'- ■■ ' • •-•

tory. tii.Tt'i prominently in the state history); and later, in
Harr'- ; ' -nr seven thou,sand five imndred acres, while
■':■ than ten thousand. In the final subdi\-
.ind nine hundred sevc i.;y .icrcs, :md this
•i the Santa '.\l;n,:. -: i- -i . ,. .•■..'. ,..hi ..I v, '
L'nion Oil C"
1 was first li'
ry alone form a i n:,i ; . in,,

■bing interest.

■ tiic Careasja- v,a re wai: ,,ii> ,1

;ere and tli. '

218 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

asphalt — an intruder on tiie surface of the rich soil which would have been
most unwelcome had not the experience of the intelligen.t observer recognized
in the dark substance just the coveted indications of rich oil deposits. It
was not long- before that which was assumed and hoped to be true was proven
a certainty, and then Ramon and Juan B. entered into the lease referred to,
the Western Union being a corporation of Los Angeles capitalists. On
March 14, 1900, the new promoters began to build the great rig for well
No. 1, and soon struck oil; but some insurmountable difficulty was soon
encountered, and the well had to be abandoned. A similar experience was met
in the attempt to sink well No. 2; but nothing daunted, the riggers and drillers
moved farther up the caiion and soon had, in well No. 3, such a flow of oil
that at last the precious liquid was obtained in paying quantities. The long-
waited-for event was duly celebrated by a big barbecue, for which the hos-
pitable Careagas furnished four of their choicest beeves, the meat being par-
taken of by hundreds of enthusiastic visitors.

Amid all the festivities characteristic of the social life in a family of
such ancient traditions, Ramon F. Careaga was married to Miss Maria A.
Bonevantur, the daughter of Monsieur Bernardo Bonevantur. who had come
from France and inarried Albina Boronda, a- charming member of one of the
very early pure Castilian families of ]Monterey. After her husband's death,
the wife moved to San Jose, where she is enjoying life at the comfortable age
of sixty-three. The parents had eleven children; and having been blessed
with enduring l)lood, all are still living and are useful members of the society
in which they move. Luis S. Careaga is married and resides at Santa Bar-
bara with his accomplished wife, Mercedes Orella. Ramon A. Careaga, the
representative of the Panama Realty Co., of San Jose, and one of the well-
known men on the San Jose Exchange, married INIiss Cora Riley, and resides
with her and his two children, Ramon F. and Alberto J., in a cosy home at
San Jose. John T. Careaga, who is in partnership in the real estate business
with Ramon, also resides in that town,' having married IMiss Alberta Roe, by
whom he had one child, Adelbert. i\Iiss Eleanor M. Careaga became the
wife of John Carr and the mother of two .sons, John F. and Leland : and that
happy family resides on the Careaga ranch. Another resident on the ranch
is Bernardo F. Careaga, who married ]\Iiss Gussie Hawkins, and is the proud
father of two children, William B. and Eugene F., each of whom tlisplays
some of the characteristics of the Hawkins family. Antonio F. Careaga re-
sides with his mother at San Jose ; James F. is a farmer and stockman, who
lives on a ranch, and Charles M. resides on the Northwest oil lease of the
Careaga ranch near Bicknell. and looks after the oil and gas interests of the
estate. He married Miss J. Hawkins, one of the most popular daughters of
Santa Barbara, and still one of the most beautiful women for miles around,
and a liostcss who charms with her cordiality; and by her he has a child,
named Durward. Three daughters, Rita I., Evangeline, and .\ngeline, are
residing at San Jose with the mother, and attending the famous Notre Dame-
Catholic School.

Mr. Careaga was interested in educational affairs and gave land for two
school sites on his ])roperty. He was generous, and allowed many of those
who had worked for him, and grown old in the service, to settle on some of
his land and live in comfort the remainder of their days. At this time there
IS but one .if these employes still remaining, the others having passed away.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENMRONS 219

llesides the v;Teat royaltit-s \vhicli flow into llie coffers of the Careaga
family, through the oil and the gas flowing in unlimited quantities from their
subterranean sources, the Careagas enjoy an income from leasing out their
other lands to tenants, and from other sources, such as would handsomeh'
finance many a European nobleman. Many cattle are raised by them, and
stock and farm products are supplied in large quantities to the market. In
1916, the family realized over one hundred thousand dollars through the
culti\ation and sale of beans alone.

JOHN JAMES HOLLOWAY.— Probably the oldest and one of the
best-posted settlers now living in Los Alamos, and one who enjoys a broad,
liberal education, is John James Hollowaj', the son of the man who brought
some of the first trotting horses and Durham cattle to California. His father,
a native of Kentucky, was John Holloway, a farmer, who specialized in
government contracts in connection with the improvement of rivers and
harbors and the building of roads and bridges. His mother, whose maiden
name was Nancy K. Foster, -was born in North Carolina. His parents
were married near Winchester, Scott county. 111., after which they removed
to Benton county, Alo., where the father improved a farm. About 1850, John
Holloway fitted out two wagons, each having from three to six yoke of oxen,
and, with about sixty head of cattle and a few horses, joined a train of
twenty-five wagons setting out from \\'arsaw. Alissouri, and started for the
Pacific Coast.

Arriving at Hangtown, near Placerville, he soon after made a settlement
near Wheatland, on the Bear river, in Sutter county, and there engaged in
farming and stock-raising. He became noted as a trader, and was as popular
as when he liad been made captain of Company E, of the IMissouri Mounted
\'u!unteers. in the Alexican War. Soon after he had started farming at
Wheatland, he went back to Missouri for horses and cattle; for, having been
born a Kentuckian, he was a good stockman and horseman, brought up
among the best types of shorthorn cattle and trotting horses, among which
may be mentioned the celebrated trotter, Glencoe Chief, a well-known race-
horse in California. Upon his return, his father was drowned in Green river,
in Utah, none of the family being then with him. An assistant had become
drunk, and the elder Holloway attempted to make a second trip across the
river to bring back his cattle and horses. The boat on which the horses and
cattle were loaded tipped over and the rancher was drawn under with his
stock. A notable man in his day, John Holloway counted many early pioneers
as his friends, among them Waldo, Hearst, Huntington, Fair and others.

The mother managed to keep the little family together and to increase
its herds and droves ; and in 1868 came with her son. John James Holloway
(who had been born in Benton county. Mo., two miles west of Warsaw,
January 26, 1839), to the Santa Maria valley, l^ringing the first full-blooded
Durham cattle ever seen here. After a year, they removed to Cat Canyon,
or the Canada Gato, where they pre-empted a hundred sixty acres and home-
steaded a hundred sixty more, the whole tract now owned by Jacob Williams :
and while living there they bought the La Brea ranch, which was later sold
to G. W. Goodchild. In his early years John James attended a private school
conducted by Professor Gow, an Eastern college graduate, who afterwards
conducted the private academy at Indian Springs, Nevada county, reputed
to be one of tlic best in the slate: and later he went to school at Sacra-

220 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

mentu. A memory of liis early days is that of the t^rst railway running
from Sacramento to h^olsom, which passed in front of the Holloways' door.
In 1885, John James Holloway's mother died here at the age of seventy-
five, the mother of four children. Resides John James, there was a daughter,
.Millie Ann llolloway, who was born on Washington's birthday, 1833, and
wlio married C. ( i. Heath, and died on the Blochman ranch, leaving seven
children. .\ son was Thomas Jefferson Holloway, now living in Los Angeles,
at the age of eighty ; and another son was William Houston Holloway, who
resides at Bakersfield, having passed his three score and thirteenth year.

John James was twice married. In 1870, at Santa Maria, he wedded Miss
Rebecca T. Miller, the second stepdaughter of Joel Miller, who took up the
first homestead in the Santa Maria valley; and of this union fi\e children
were born. Lucy E. resides at Pomona, Los Angeles county, the wife
of W. 1). McCroskey; Dora B. is the wife of John T. Glines, a teacher
in the I'.ell school at Los .\lamos ; Albert Johnson is a rancher living at Los
Alamos; Everett P. was drowned in an old, open well; and James W. is a
large rancher residing at Lompoc. The second marriage of Mr. Holloway, in
September, 1884, united him with Sarah, oldest daughter of Joel Miller, then
the widow of James Linebaugh, of Santa Rosa, by whom she had three
children, Eva Linebaugh, David and James. The latter married Mrs. Eliza-
beth Mirely, and resides at Los Angeles, the father of one child, Dorothy, and
the valued employee of the City Water Company. By her marriage with Mr.
Holloway she had four children : Charlotte, who is at home ; Carl, who
married Miss Alildred Wilson, and resides near Orcutt, on property occupied
by the Pinal-Dome Oil Company, their home being blessed by two children,
Keith and Doris; Cornell, who died when he was twelve years old; and
Frank, who runs the farm. .Seven years after his second marriage, Mr.
Holloway came to Los .Alamos and bought from S. T. Coiner, of Santa Maria,
his present ranch of thirty-one acres.

Knowing both his preparation for responsibility as a man of affairs, and
his actual experience in disposing of important interests entrusted to his care,
it is not surprising t<i find that Mr. Holloway has had considerable to do with
public or oflicial life, h'or twelve years he was school trustee of the Oak
\'ale school district, the sciiool having first been started in the front room
of his home, and he was also trustee of the Bell school district of Los Alamos.
He served as deputy asses.sor in 1876, under Assessor Garretson. A consistent
Democrat, he was a member of the Democratic county central committee in
1869, and on June 21 went as a delegate to the Democratic convention at Santa
Barbara. Since that time he has been a familiar figure in Democratic coun-
cils. To advance the State Highway and the cause of good roads, he went
before the board ol" supervisors years ago and advocated a trunk road through
(iaviot.-i Pass, a i)roject now being realized by the building of the State High-
way over e.xactly that course.

Notwithstanding advanced SLiciological views, Mr. Holloway is neverthe-
less decidedly an advocate of Christianity, being a member of the Christian
Cluirch. TJie first Protestant sermon preached north of Gaviota was deliv-
ered in .Mr. Holloway's home, in November. 1869, the preacher being the
Rev. .Mr. .Miller, a pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

^^ac^o/x'

ITS OBISPO cor XT'. ji,;

:TNE JACK. — Just wliat a woman can do when she in-
ihe Old World and Scotch energetic sturdiness is shown
^tory of the life of Miss Christine Jack, particularly that-
> with her contribution towards making California hi«tnrv.
ai Creiff, Perthshire, Scotland, the daughter of \^ :
\ the light of day at Strathallen. in the same shire
■■■ ood, who died where he had lived, esteemed by a i
hing, no doubt, to his daughter, some of those peiMmal ciiat-
iiich have contributed to make her so popular in Paso Robl->.
>s long been a resident. Her mother was Janet McCune. a untiv >-
ish Highlands and a woman of rare attainments and worth.
r; married twice, and had by his first wife five sons and a draiL,' i^.t^r
his second wife a son, David, and two girls: Margaret, v.
hildhood, and Christine, of this review. David was bofi
.■■<l the public school in his village, and at the age of seveni
the ocean to New York, where he secured a position as bookkeeper witn me
firm of Flood, Mackay & O'Brien. Six years later he made for California via
Panama, and at Monterey again took up bookkeeping. He acquired some
land and became a farmer and stockman, and soon owned se\ eral large tracts
in various parts of Monterey county. He settled in Monterey, where he died at
the ripe age of eighty years. Mr. Jack married and was blessed with se\ en
children, all of whom are living. In 18.57 he was able to revisit Sc"ti..iM:
and see his boyhood home. As a Presbyterian and a Republican he ni;i'io
his contribution to the bettering of both religious and political conditions in
the country of his adoption.

In 1866, her parents having both died. Miss Jack ji>'
California, travelling by way of New \' irk, from wtiicli
the steamer "Caledt^nia," bound for the Isthmus of Pan.n;:
that strip of land took the steamer ■WnzDna " for -■?iic iivcd

for a time with her brother at Monterey, when shi .ch at Jo.se-

phine, in San Luis Obispo County, operatiiii;- it for twu.i.v \^,m-. She made a
large stock ranch of her possessions, rriising shorthorn Durham cattle.
She hn.-l :; dairy of forty-five cows, and churned three times a week, turning
in a hundred pounds of butter at each churning. The milk was
-kiinmed by hand, Miss Jack doing all the work herself. Such
ality of her butter that it was rated as the best in the San Fran-
cisco market; and such, too, was the care that she gave her cows that each
knew hi ' VI lire and would come to her. A mile away from her nearest nei?h-
bor. -' ^Tcred from loneliness; for she cooked an ' ■■ ' " •' •'

re(|r; inch house, even to washing and scaM

was iisy, undertaking, in addition, to raise

; rheumatism, Miss Jack nine years a^'
Rol ;s, and there she has remained, for

■■' •<ing her ranch, some fourteen !i'- i-

^. 'She discovered a quicksilver i;
iinie Doon" ; and this mine ■'' r:
v^' in a retort am! :
lie one morning, ti:

Wed into it and fell

-seriously injured that iier trame was .shattered and m.v h ,!

-^-ve^<5^

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EXVIROXS 223

MISS CHRISTINE JACK.— Just what a woman can do when she in-
herits the thrift of the Old W'orhi and Scotch energetic sturdiness is shown
in the interesting- story of the life of Miss Christine Jack, particularly that
part which has to do with her contribution ttiwards making California history.
She was born at CreiiT, Perthshire, Scotland, the daughter of William Jack,
who first saw the light of day at Strathallen. in the same shire — a plain man,
a dealer in wood, who died where he had li\ed, esteemed by all who knew
him, bequeathing, no doubt, to his daughter, some of those personal char-
acteristics which have contril)uted to make her so popular in Paso Robles,
where she has long been a resident. Her mother was Janet McCune, a native
of the Scottish Highlands and a woman of rare attainments and worth.
\\illiam Jack married twice, and had by his first wife five sons and a daughter,
and by his second wife a son, David, and two girls : Margaret, who died in
early childhood, and Christine, of this review. David was born in 1826. at-
tended the public school in his village, and at the age of seventeen crossed
the ocean to Xew York, where he secured a position as bookkeeper with the
firm of Flood, Mackay & O'Brien. Six years later he made for California via
Panama, and at Monterey again took up bookkeeping. He acquired some
land and became a farmer and stockman, and soon owned several large tracts
in various parts of Monterey county. He settled in Monterey, wdiere he died at
the ripe age of eighty years. Mr. Jack married and was blessed with seven
children, all of whom are living. In 1857 he was able to revisit Scotland
and see his boyhood home. As a Presbyterian and a Republican he made
his contribution to the bettering of both religious and political conditions in
the country of his adoption.

In 1866, her parents having both died. Miss Jack joined her brother in
California, travelling by way of Xew York, from which city she set out on
the steamer "Caledonia," bound for the Isthmus of Panama, and after crossing
that strip of land took the steamer "Arizona" for San Francisco. She lived
for a time with her brother at Monterey, when she bought a ranch at Jose-
phine, in San Luis Obispo County, operating it for twenty years. She made a
large stock ranch of her possessions, raising shorthorn Durham cattle.
She had a dairy of forty-five cows, and churned three times a week, turning
out more than a hundred pounds of butter at each churning. The milk was
panned and skimmed by hand. Miss Jack doing all the work herself. Such
was the quality of her butter that it was rated as the liest in the San Fran-
cisco market; and such, too, was the care that she gave her cows that each
knew her voice and would come to her. .\ mile away from her nearest neigh-
bor, she never suffered from loneliness: for she cooked and did all the work
required at the ranch house, even to washing and scalding the pans. She
was in fact very busy, undertaking, in addition, to raise calves and hogs.

On account of rheumatism. Miss Jack nine years ago came to the Paso
Robles Hot Springs, and there she has remained, for the most part, ever
since. While working her ranch, some fourteen hundred acres at the head
of Santa Rosa creek, she discovered a quicksilver mine on the property which
she named the "Bonnie Doon" : and this mine of cinnabar ore she worked for
many years, putting in a retort and manufacturing quicksilver. Wliile she
was visiting the mine one morning, the shaft of which had been left carelessly
uncovered, she walked into it and fell a distance of three hundred feet to the
bottnni. and was so seriouslv injured that her frame was shattered and se\eral

224 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

boiios hnikeii. She was rescued and brought to her residence; and very
fortunately, liy good surgical attention, she fully recovered.

Miss jack once had a peculiar experience where a dog came to her assist-
ance. She had made a tri]) to Cambria, and in the meantime a hard rain-storm
had broken ; and, returning home on horseback — having declined an urgent
invitation to stay all night with some friends, thinking she must get back
home — she found Santa Rosa creek had become a raging torrent. On reaching
a certain crossing her mare, Fannie, refused to swim the flood, though urged
in every possible way : and finally, when Miss Jack was despairing of getting
across, a mysterious dog came out of the storm, ^^'hen its intelligence
grasped the situation, it looked up at Miss Jack, and then at the horse, and
]dunged into the stream ; after which the mare, evidently inspired by the
example, followed and carried her mistress safely over.

In the old days on the ranch, when she used to get up at four, and some-
limes at three o'clock in the morning, she kept things lively at the mine ;
but finally she sold the ranch and leased out the bonanza. Now, in her years of
leisure, she resides with her companion. Mrs. Mary Doling, taking a keen
interest in her I'ark Street home and in the little social world about her,
particularly in the works of charity undertaken by the Presbyterian Church ;
and not failing to follow the devious ways of politics, she shows the keenest
interest in Republican affairs. Miss Jack is a very liberal and generous-
hearted woman, and she seems never to become weary of well-doing in spite
of often being imposed upon ; she always has fed the hungry and weary
travellers who come to her door, and still she is ever ready, so far as she
is able, to assist those less fortunate than herself. She is well and favorably
known, and ex'eryone speaks of her in the highest terms of appreciation.

REUBEN HART. — One of the most prominent developers and the pio-
neer of Santa ^laria. Reuben Hart was born in Derbyshire, England, in 1843.
He received his education in England and learned the trade of carriage-maker
in the Stubbs Manufacturing Company, at Derby, where he remained for
sexeral _\^ears. He then went to Swansea, Wales, and was employed in a large
manufactory for a time, after wdiich he came to America and was engaged,
for about four years, in the Cummings Railway Contract shops in New
Jersc}-. \\'hile there, he sent for his brother Thomas, who was a machinist;
and tdL^ether, in 1866, they came to California. Mr. Hart first found employ-
ment with 1). .S. Mills, at San Jose, as manager of his manufacturing plant
fnr \vaL;i>ns and agricultural implements.

I'rcim San Jose, the two brothers went to Castro\ille when that town was
started, ;ind esiablished the firm of Hart Bros., doing general blacksmithing
and machine \v(irk until 1872. They then moved their stock and machinery
to the new town uf (iuadalupe. in Santa Barbara county. They practically
>itaried the growth of the town by establishing a large blacksmith and machine
sho]), and also bought lots and built a block of business houses ; and they
also acted as agents for the (iuadalupe ranch. In 1875, the brothers extended
their business. Reuben Hart, going to Santa Maria, then the center of a
growing farming community, bought property at the corner of Main and
liroadway, and erected a large building for an extensive blacksmith and
machme shop. Me also jiut up a feed mill, run by steam power, and later
built a store building and several residences, and carried on a large business
with the ranchers by dealing in feed and barley.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COL'XTY AXD EXVIROXS 225

In 1879, the firm of Hart Bros, dissolved : Reuben Hart retained the
Santa Maria property, and his brother continued at Guadalupe. That same
year "Sir. Hart started a lumber yard, and the next year established the
water works, piping the town and pumping the water by steam power from
an eighty-five-foot well to an elevated tank. He added to his business inter-
ests in 1882 and 1883 by forming a partnership with M. P. Nicholson in farm-
ing four thousand acres to wheat and operating a steam threshing outfit. In
1884, he built a one-story brick store building 50.\88 feet, and continued his
shop until 1888, when he sold out the business and buildings, which were
removed from their location. It was here that Mr. Hart constructed the
building now known as Hotel Bradley, then called "Hart's House" and
known far and wide as the leading hostelry of the Santa Maria valley, and
which, for seven years, was presided over in person by its owner, until he
finally sold out.

The water works system, begun in a small way in 1880, was enlarged
from time to time. The mains were extended and the service improved b}-
j\lr. Hart, and it was conducted as a private enterprise. He met and overcame
strong competition, but succeeded in the long run in giving verj- satisfactory
service. In 1912 he sold out to the Lewis Sloss Company, bond brokers of San
Francisco, for sixty thousand dollars. This company entered into speculative
enterprises in the northern part of the state, met reverses and failed. It was
then that the "Father of Santa Maria" again came to the fore and was one of
the prime movers in getting the city of Santa Maria to purchase and operate
its own water works. This was accomplished in January, 1916, thus giving
the city control of its most important public utility.

For seven years, J\Ir. Hart served as a member of the board of education,
and he has always taken an active interest in the maintenance of good schools.
No movement has been advanced for the betterment of the community and
the welfare of the citizens that has not had the co-operation and support of
Reuben Hart. When it was proposed to build the broad-gauge railroad
through the city, the company asked a bonus of eight thousand dollars. Mr.
Hart came to the front; and to stimulate interest at the meeting held to dis-
cuss the matter and to raise the money, started the list with five hundred
dollars, and aided very materially in raising the balance. This road runs
through Santa Maria, extending from Guadalupe to Leonhart in the East
Santa Alaria oil fields. When it was proposed to build the state highway
through the county, Mr. Hart spent of his time and money to secure the right
of way, and he was one of the prime movers to call a general meeting. He
also took a leading part in advocating the paving of the business streets and
j was instrumental in getting a vote passed to levy assessments for paving the
i highway in the city limits, and putting in curbs and gutters. It meant an
' expense to him of over twenty-five hundred dollars, which goes t(j show that
i his motives were not mercenary in any way.

j After Mr. Hart had conducted the hotel for seven years, he decided

j that the care of such an establishment was too much for him to attend to
I with all his other interests ; so he traded the hotel property for some on the
! opposite side of the street. This he still owns, as well as the post office block
j and some valuable residence properties other than his home on South Broad-
ji way. He owned the property at the southeast corner of the main Inisiness
I block in the town recentlv sold to the Fir.-;t National Bank for their new

226 SAX LUIS OBISPO COLWTY AND EXVIROXS

home. Of this hank he is a stockholder and director. He served on the
city board of trustees for many years, resigning in 1912. There has not been
a church erected in this valley, no matter of what denomination, that has not
recei\'ed his contribution. It would be hard to point to any worthy move-
ment that has been promoted in the valley for the betterment of conditions
generally that has not had his heartiest support, both moral and financial.
He has met with success solely thmu.L^h his own efforts, loves his fellow
men and a square deal, and nn one is more hit;iily respected by all classes of
people than Reuben Hart.

In 1879 Mr. Hart was united in marriage at Santa Maria with Mrs.
Harriett Sharp, a native of Pennsylvania. She had two daughters Ijy a for-
mer marriage, Mrs. K. T. Bryant and Mrs. \\'. A. Haslam. The only child
of this union is Harriett, now the wife of George M. Scott, who, with her
husband, resides at the Hart home on South Broadway. Mrs. Hart died in
1896. Mr. Hart is a member of long standing in the Knights of Pythias lodge
of Santa Maria. In politics he is a consistent Democrat in national affaijs,
but in local matters supports men and measures best suited, according to his
estimation, for the public good. In the evening of his days he can look back
upon a life well spent, and look forward without fear; for he has lived up to
the <liildcn Rule, and has done what he could for his fellow men.

LEWIS D. AND CARRIE GIBBONS.— The late Lewis D. Gibbons,
who passed away in 1910 at his home in Morro, was one of the well-known
citizens of the county, and in the section about Adelaida was identified with
the agricultural development of the land. He was born in Ohio and attended
tlic ])ublic sch<Hils tiiere until he accompanied his parents to Bachelor Springs, I
Kan., wlien he was a lad of si.xteen. Here he finished his public school course I
and was graduated from the L'niversity of Kansas, after which he taught j
school in Kansas for a time. On account of ill health he gave up teaching
and, in 1884, came to California; and near Adelaida, in San Luis Obispo i
County, located on government land. He also homesteaded and improved '
tile property, and finally retired to Morro, where he died. ;

The marriage of Lewis D. Gibbons united him with Carrie Ingraham. a i
native of Illinois who, at the age of ele\en years, accompanied her parents i
to Kansas, where she completed her schooling. Coming to California she
at once became identified with educational matters, and for thirty years was '
connected with the schools of San Luis Obispo and Kern counties. She '
served as principal of the grammar school in Taft for two years and held !
tlic same position in the school in Fellows for three j-ears. In San Luis
( )bispo t'ounty she taught nine years in Cayucos and Morro, and for some |
time was connected with the schools in Paso Robles. She is recognized as '
one of the pioneer teachers of the county, and none of them are more favor- '
ably known than Mrs. Gibbons. She has always entered into school work ,
with her whole heart, and man}- of the men and women who are active in the I
affairs in the county today owe to her their start in educational training. ;

Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Gibbons two children were born: Oscar,,'
a graduate of Stanford, and a prominent attorney in San Luis Obispo, who j
is married and the father of two children; and a married daughter, Mrs. Hor-]
tense Rhyne. Mrs. Rhyne was graduated from the State Xormal and taught |
in San Luis Obispo si.x years and in Riverside. Cal., one year. She is the'
mother of two children.

226 SAX LUIS ORISPO COUNTY AXD EXVIROXS

home. ()i this bank he is a stockholder and director. He served on the
city board of trustees for many years, resigning in 1912. There has not been
a church erected in this valley, no matter of what denomination, that has not
received his contribution. It would be hard to point to any worthy move-
ment that has been promoted in the valley for the betterment of conditions
generally that has not had his heartiest support, both moral and financial.
He has met with success solely through his own efforts, loves his fellow
men and a square deal, and no one is more highly respected by all classes of
people than Reuben Hart.

In 1879 ^Ir. Hart was united in marriage at Santa Maria with Mrs.
Harriett Sharp, a native of Pennsylvania. She had two daughters by a for-
mer marriage, -Mrs. E. T. Bryant and Mrs. W. A. Haslam. The only child
(if this union is Harriett, now the wife of George M. Scott, who, with her
husband, resides at the Hart home on South Broadway. Mrs. Hart died in
1896. Mr. Hart is a member of long standing in the Knights of Pythias lodge
of Santa ^laria. In politics he is a consistent Democrat in national affairs,
but in local matters supports men and measures best suited, according to his
estimation, for the public good. In the evening of his days he can look back
upon a life well spent, and look forward without fear; for he has lived up to
the (ioldcn Rule, and has done what he could for his fellow men.

LEWIS D. AND CARRIE GIBBONS.— The late Lewis D. Gibbons,
who passed away in 1910 at his home in ]\Iorro, was one of the well-known
citizens of the county, and in the section about Adelaida was identified with
the agricultural development of the land. He was born in Ohio and attended
the public schools there until he accompanied his parents to Bachelor Springs,
Kan., when he was a lad of sixteen. Here he finished his public school course
and was graduated from the University of Kansas, after which he taught
.school in Kansas for a time. On account of ill health he gave up teaching
and, in 1884, came to California ; and near Adelaida, in San Luis Obispo
County, located on government land. He also homesteaded and improved
the i)roi)erty, and finally retired to ]^Iorro, where he died.

The marriage of Lewis D. Gibbons united him with Carrie Ingraham, a
nati\e of Illinois who, at the age of eleven years, accompanied her parents
to Kansas, where she completed her schooling. Coming to California she
at once became identified with educational matters, and for thirt}- years was
connected with the schools of San Luis Obispo and Kern counties. She
served as principal of the grammar school in Taft for two years and held
the same position in the sciiool in Fellows for three years. In San Luis
( )l)ispo County siie taught nine years in Cayucos and Morro, and for some
time was connected with the schools in Paso Robles. She is recognized as
one of the pioneer teachers of the county, and none of them are more favor-
al)ly known than Mrs. Gibbons. She has always entered into school work
with her whole heart, and many of the men and women who are active in the
aft'airs in the county today owe to her their start in educational training.

1)1 the union of Mr. and Mrs. Gibbons two children were born: Oscar,
a graduate of Stanford, and a prominent attorney in San Luis Obispo, w'ho
is married and the father of two children : and a married daughter, Mrs. Hor-
tense Rliyne. Mrs. Rhyne was graduated from the State Normal and taught
in San Luis Obispo si.\ years and in Riverside. Cal., one vear. She is the
mother of two children.

^Z. JQrz/l^d^^

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD EWTROXS 229

It is everywhere recognized that the educatiir is the most potent factor
in building up the moral code in any community, and to the men and women
who devote their life work to this end, great credit should be given. Mr
Gibbons spent some years as a teacher, and the daughter also won recogni-
tion in that field of endeavor; while }ilrs. Gibbons, during her long term of
active service in the schools of the county, has seen them develop from their
infancy to their present rank with the best in the state. That she has done
her part is evidenced by the esteem in which she is held in the various parts
of the county where she spent so many useful 3'ears.

FREDERICK E. DARKE.— Xo man now living in San Luis Obispo
County is more universally respected than the subject of this review. For
over forty years he taught school in the county, and served efficiently as county
superintendent of schools six years, and a like period as county recorder.
Professor Darke is a Pennsylvanian, born at Carbondale, August 22, 1845, a
son of John W. and Salina (Duncan) Darke, the former born in London,
England, and the latter also a native of that country, but of Scotch descent.
The education of Mr. Darke was obtained in the public schools of his county
until, in his seventeenth year, he enlisted for service in the Civil War, be-
coming a member of Company G, 57th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry,
under Captain Peck, Colonel Charles Campbell in command, the regiment
becoming a part of the Army of the Potomac. With his regiment Mr. Darke
participated in the battles of Big Bethel, Yorktown, \Mlliamsburg, Richmond,
and Malvern Hill, this being the last of the seven days' battle about Rich-
mond, as well as in many other minor engagements and skirmishes in the
.Army of the Potomac. He was taken prisoner at Chancellorsville, and re-
turned to his regiment in December. After a service of a little over three
years, he was honorably discharged, May 15, 1865. ( )n April 3 of that year
he veteraned by re-enlisting in the Xinth Hancock's \'eteran Volunteer
Regiment. He served till the close of the conflict, and was discharged, June
25, 1866, at the end of the war.

The great conflict over, ^Ir. Darke returned to complete his education,
entering N^orwich Academy at X'orwich, X. Y., where he finished an elective
course. In 1868 he decided to come to California ; and embarking on a vessel
for the Isthmus of Panama, he crossed that stretch of land, re-embarking on
a ship for San Francisco. He came at once to San Luis Obispo County,
secured a school and began teaching in the spring of 1869, in the San Simeon
district. He taught later in Cambria, after the organization of the district, and
continued teaching for fourteen years. In 1878 Mr. Darke was elected county
superintendent of schools, serving from 1878 to 1879, while at the same time
he was allowed to teach. Fle was becoming interested in politics; and as
he was very popular wherever he was known, he was elected county recorder
and served three consecutive terms of two years each.

He then taught school, for nineteen years, in the city of San Luis Obispo,
soon becoming principal of the grammar schools. It was while in this posi-
tion, and while teaching the Nipomo Street School, that Professor Darke
drew up plans for additional room that was badly needed for the grammar
grades. He laid out the grounds, marking spots where he wanted trees set
out and flower beds planted, laid the plans before the proper persons and was
assured that a tax would be voted for the improvements. The matter came
before the people, the tax carried, and the good work began, the plans l)eing

2M) SAX I. LIS oniSl'O CorXTY AND ENVIRONS

carried lait almost to the kttcr as he had arranged. He himself set out nearly
all the trees in the yard, and the lawn and flower beds were set out and
planted under his supervision. It was declared by many that it would be
impossible to keep the children from trespassing on the lawn and flower
beds before thev got fairly started: but I\Ir. Darke organized the boys into
squads, had a captain elected monthly to see that order was maintained, and
soon the bovs became enthusiastic over the beauty of their school yard, and
competed strongly for the honor of being captain. This plan for beautifymg
the l)are school grounds was but the beginning of civic improvements in the
county, many other schools falling into line.

In 1906 he was again elected county superintendent of schools, serving
four years. In 1911 he resumed teaching at Canil)ria, continuing three
years, and then taught one year at Nipomo. At the end of the year he had
taught over forty years, and in 1914 decided to retire. Many of the men and
women engaged in the busy aiTairs of life owe their early educational training
to Professor Darke. I\lany a discouraged teacher has received from him words
of cheer that gave heart once more to make the effort to overcome what
seemed almost insurmountable difficulties.

Professor Darke is a charter member of, and helped to organize, Fred
Steele Post, No 7(1, (i. A. K., of wdiich he is Past Commander. At the time of
organization, there were about eighty members ; at this writing, in January.
1917. there are fifteen. Professor Darke has twice been honored by his fellow
townsmen, outside of the confidence and trust reposed in him in official ca-
pacity. He was selected to provide protection for President McKinley and
his party in May, 1901, when that distinguished gentleman stopped in San
Luis Obispo on his tour of the Pacific coast; and an incident of the occasion
worth recalling follows. As Mr. Darke was about to enter the President's pri-
vate car to be introduced, Secretary Cortelyou, who was in charge of the Presi-
dent and his party, asked Mr. Darke his title, which question, for the instant,
took even the usually composed pedagogue unawares. But he replied, "Mister
is good enough for me"; and President ]\IcKinley, who at that moment was
near the door, immediately greeted him with "How do you do. Mister Darke?"
Needless to say. Professor Darke carefully protected the President from
any kind of annoyance during his stay in the city. Again, in May, 1903, when
President Roo.sevelt and party stopped in San Luis Obispo on his cam-
])aigning tour of the Coast, Mr. Darke was chosen to safeguard the popular
statesman. He selected members of tlie Crand .-Krmy as guards, and detailed
each for certain duly, again showing his careful attention to detail and having
the satislacti.m as before of knowing that, tlimugh his management, nothing
m.irred the event.

In San Luis Obispo, on April IX, 1,X7(), occurred the marriage of Professor
Darke with .\gnes Woods, a native of New York. She ])assed away on
Jniic 2(k IS'iO, leaving eight children: ]-rederick K., Ir., who died aged twenty-
seven years: Mrs. Clara C. Tilslev, of Tulare countv : |ohn W.."" of Nevada
I ity, Cal.: .Mrs. I'.mily jane Cilbcrt, ..f Winters. Yolo'countv; Mrs. Sarah
Mabel .^mitii, of Selma, [n<l. ; .Mrs. Mvra K. Conant, of the Hawaiian Islands;
Koy I-,., minuig engineer: and .Miss Helen, teacher in the high school at Mc-
Arthnr. Shasta county, who married Virgil A. Vinvard. Four of the daughters
and n,K- son gra<luate<l from the I'niversitv of California at Berkelev. In the

family circli

tliere are nmc grandchildren to brighten the fireside of Mr. Darke.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EX NT RONS 231

By virtue of the law enacted by the state legislature that teachers l)c
"iven an annuity after a certain number of years of service, Professor Darke
is enjoying the results of his many years as an educator. He likewise re-
ceives a soldier's pension ; and through these sources and his savings of many
years, he is enabled to live retired, free from the cares and tribulations of
the busy world of strife. He enjoys good health, keeps abreast of the times,
and retains the good will and res])ect of neighbc.rs and friends, among whom,
by those who know him best, he is called ■•{•'ather" Darke.

GEORGE T. GRAGG.— More than in any other state of the Union, Cali-
fornia traces her vigorous prosperity to the sturdy character and perseverance
of the hardy pioneers, many of whom risked their lives on the trackless. Indian-
infested desert, the extremely dangerous trip across the Isthmus of Panama,
where disease took its toll of human beings, or the journey, in any kind of
a vessel, around Cape Horn, with danger besetting them on everv hand dur-
ing the entire voyage, .\mong these men of sterling worth is numbered
George T. Gragg.

He was born in Milti)n, Mass., .April 29, 1820, a son of Moses and .Mary
(Alden) Gragg, of English descent. The only education he received was in
tlie common schools of his native place, and he was early set to learn the trade
of carpenter. \\'hen twenty years of age, in the spring of 1849, George T.
Gragg sailed from Boston, with a party of friends, on the ship •"Sweden," to
round the Horn.

On .August 4 of tliat year they arrived in San Francisco. Here Air. Gragg
at once outfitted for the mines at Alokelumne Hill, where he mined for about
two months, and then returned to San Francisco to spend the winter. The
next spring he went back to the mines and followed the precarious occu-
pation of miner for two years. During one of his exploring trips into the
mountains, he camped on the spot where the Donner party split up. In 1852
he located in Santa Cruz and worked, for a time, at his trade of cari)enter ;
later he engaged in the tannery business for two years, and then he opened
a planing mill which, for several years, he conducted with some success.
During this time, he became a charter member of the Independent Order of
Odd I'ellows in the lodge at .Santa Cruz, and he li;is ])assed all the chairs of
the order.

In 1880 he came to San Luis Obispo County and bought a ranch of
seven hundred acres, which he improved and farmed until 1890. when he
moved into -San Luis Obispo to give liis children the advantages of the
schools of the county-seat. He still owns the ranch, and it is devoted to
dairying and grain-raising, and is being conducted by his son.

He served on the board of supervisors from 1886 to 1890, and during his
term many needed improvements were pushed to completion in the county.
Since moving to the city, he has lived retired, enjoying a well-earned rest.
He married Ruth Root, a native of New England, and they became the
parents of six children : Cauline, Mrs. Orton of Ventura ; Hazzard, on the
home ranch; and George R., Ruth, Frances and .Alden, all of whom have
received good practical training to fit them for the responsibilities of life.
-Among the people of San Luis Obispo, Air. Gragg has a pleasant word for
every one he meets; and well he may. for his life has been well spent, and the
world has used him as he used the world.

232 SAX rXlS OBISPO COUNTY AND E.WIROXS

CHARLES BRADLEY.— The changing vicissitudes of life brought
Charles I'.radley into intimate acquaintance with various localities before he
established his perniancnt home in the Santa Maria valley in the fall of
1868. He was born at South U'inofield. Derbyshire, England, in 1839, and
had but little opportunity to secure an education ; for at the age of twelve he
began work in the coal mines at Oakerthorpe, and when he was eighteen he
commenced taking contracts in mining and breaking coal for market, con-
tinuing until 1868. Then, through the influence of his uncle, Paul Bradley,
he came to this state, to Monterey county, where his uncle was living. \\'ith
the latter, for a time, he stopped, and in the fall of that year came with him
to the Santa Maria valley, driving all their stock, and he began working for
this uncle, who had purchased considerable land here and was beginning
in the sheep business. He continued in liis employ four years, when he struck
out for himself.

In 1872 Mr. Bradley purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land,
adding to this from time to time, by pre-emption and purchase, until he
became owner of about three thousand acres, one thousand of which was
tillable and the balance suitable for pasturage. From this time on he devoted
his energies to the sheep and cattle business with success. In the earlv
period there was ample range-land, and stock roamed at will and was only
gathered in at the annual rodeos : but as settlers came in and the large ranges
were divided into smaller tracts, the stock business became unprofitable and
Mr. Bradley, like the other stockmen, turned his attention to other lines of
activity.

The Bradley ranch was well improved, and in 1873 he erected a fine
country home and suitable buildings to accommodate his farming opera-
tions. In 1880, as an experiment, he set out an orchard of various kinds of
fruit; but the business was never profitable in the valley and he went no
further with the venture. His home property was not the extent of his
interests, for he became interested in the town of Santa Maria bv the pur-
chase of the Hart Hotel, which he remodeled and renamed the Bradley Hotel.
This is favorably known by commercial men throughout the length and
breadth of the state as one of the up-to-date hostelries frequented in their
travels, and is now one of the valuable as.sets of the estate.

In South \\-ingfield, England, on April 5, 18.=;7, Mr. Bradlev was united
in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Booth, a lady of culture, bv whom he
had eleven children— two sons and nine daughters. At their beautiful countrv
home, erected in 1873. many happy reunions were held before Mrs. Bradlev's
death, and there Mr. Bradley i)assed away. He was a member of Hesperian
-|>dgc. \o. 264. 1-. & A. M., of Santa :\Iaria ; was interested in the cause of
erlucati.:,!! : and lor many years served on the school board and did much to
elevate the standard of tlie schools of the vallev. He was a stockholder and a
'iireaor in tlie Santa Maria Rank, and in 1Q04 was elected president of the

ev -r 1 '7r-"" "'' ^" *'"' '"'"^ °'' '"^ ''^^^'^ '" l'^^^- His was the largest funeral
t K-KJ in Santa Maria, and his death was mourned bv rich and poor alike.

,,.^ 'J'"" "*- - '''"'' charitable man, always readv to aid those deemed

_ } "I a.Mstance by him, and he was a potent factor in the development

I uitirc valley, and a man well and favorablv known wherever he had

i>iiMiies> dcalines.

(

S^yr^

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 235

DAVID F. NEWSOM.— Fnim the year 1853 until liis death in l'»02. an
unbroken periud of almost fifty years, David P^. Newsoni was an important
factor in the history of San Luis Obispo County; and he left behind him the
legacy of an untarnished name, more valuable and cherished more highly by
his family than the riches he had accumulated during his busy life.

Born in Petersburg, Va., September 5, 1832, a son of David and Mira
(Robinson) Ne'wsom, he was educated in jniblic and private schools and took
a two years' course at the Petersburg Classical Institute, a Presbyterian
school at Forestville, N. C. In his fifteenth year, on account of the business
failure of his father, he had to leave school and go to work to support himself.
He studied the situation carefully and decided to learn a trade. Accordingly
he went to New York City, where he apprenticed himself to Dietz
I'.rothers & Company, to learn brass finishing. One of the Dietz brothers was
the husband of his mother's sister, and he secured him the chance to learn
the business. On March 15, 1849, young Newsom boarded the schooner
"Ann," owned by Captain Bogart, who ofifered him free passage to New
York; and arriving there after a voyage of eight days, he entered at once upon
his duties at the brass works.

'Sir. and Airs. Dietz were the editors of Hulden's Magazine, and were th<^
recipients of many complimentary tickets to operas, lectures and concerts :
and these were frequently given to their nephew, who was glad to take ad-
vantage of e\ery opportunity to educate himself. He also availed himself
of his apprentice's right to draw books from the Mechanics' Library, as well
as to attend lectures frequently given there ; and here he heard many noted
men and women. He also gained much valuable information at Barnum's
.American ^luseum. From a Mrs. Taylor, another friend, ^Ir. Newsom
received invitations to attend Henry \\'ard Beecher's church, and heard that
eminent divine from the Taylor pew. Lectures and entertainments, how-
ever, were not his only form of instruction and medium of education. Be-
lieving that bookkeeping would be of great assistance to him, he arranged
to attend the Public Night School No. 5, on Duane street, where he also took
lessons in vocal and instrumental music.

Apprentices were paid $30.00 the first year, and .'^40.0<) the second: and
when young Newsom's two years were up he had due him just $20.CX3. On
March 29, 1851. David F. Newsom left New York a good mechanic, a fine
l)(>okkeeper, and with an unusually large fund of general information. Re-
turning to Petersburg, he accepted a position as clerk in a shoe store, the firm
being the one that had bought his father's business. He remained with them
two years, deciding then to come to California.

On September 15, Mr. Newsom started for New York, where he secured
passage to San Francisco via the Nicaragua route on the steamer "Star of
the West," which left the harbor September 25. and landed the passengers ten
days later in San Francisco. There ]\lr. Newsom met Oscar M. Browm. who
owned two ranches in San Lttis Obispo County and was also county judge.
He told Mr. Newsom there was a vacancy in the county clerk's office, and
that he would appoint him to fill it if the salary of $2000 a year was sufficient
inducement. He accepted the position, but the salary not being sufficient,
he opened a feed stable (which business became very remunerative), mean-
while continuing his position in the county office, and finding his task a
<lifficult one, as the books were in a chaotic condition. .As cx-officio county
superintendent of schools, Afr. Newsoni employed a teacher and opened the

'3(.

AX I.LJS OBISPO COUNTY AXD ENVIRONS

tir>t i)iil)lic sclii"il ill llic ciiuiily. in a room in the nld missicui. Air. Newsom '
was al>n diilv elected to the office of county clerk and held the office until j

1857. wiien he went to Washington to try his fortunes. j

In the early fifties, Air. Newsom, with a partner, ran a hog ranch, part
of the C'lirral de Piedra grant, leasing the land from the X'illa family. i
The hogs were driven to the mining section in the vicinity of Washo, |
New. and it took from six to eight weeks to make the trip. He also ran a |

vegetable ami truck garden, and when he would go to San Luis to his <iffice in |

the courthouse, he would haul all he could carry to the markets there.

Rev. I'V. Gomez gave Air. Newsom, to whom he had taken a great liking, I

one half of the \'an Gorden ranch and .stock, selling the other half to a Mr. i

Leinos. l-"ather Gomez had to leave for San Bias, Mexico, before the papers I

were made out for the transfer. Air. Newsom made out the papers, he being |

county clerk at the time, and they were given to Lemos to have W. J. Graves I

turn o\-er to Newsom his portion. In the meantime Lemos had sold the •

stock and pocketed the money, and said about the transfer of the land, "Do |

you thiidv 1 am a fool to turn <;i\er the land?" He held the deeds. When j

leather (kimez came back to California to collect his $4,000 from Lemos he !

refused to pay, and holding the deeds, could not be made to do so. Thus i

he and Air. Newsom got nothing. Father Gomez then came to Air. Newsom ■

and told him of the wonderful opportunities in mahogany timber in Alexico, '•

and that lu- would see that Air. Newsom profited well if he would go down j

there; hut he told the ]3riest that he had had enough of Alexico as it was, and ',

coidd not agree to leave California. i

He opened the first general store at (Jlympia, sold out, and in .\pril, 1858, i

started the first general store in Bellingham, both successful ventures. He ;

disposed of the latter store, and in December moved to Fort Hope, B. C, i

opened a store on Eraser river, and remained there six months. Selling
out at the end of that time, he started towards California once more. Ar-
riving at San juan Island, Air. Newsom found General Pickett with a detach-
ment,of United States soldiers trying to prevent his arrest by the British;
when Air. Newsom organized a company of sharpshooters to assist him, a
compromise was agreed upon, and Air. Newsom was chosen to represent
the different factions. He remaineil on the island until 1861, having charge
ol the sutler'-, store ;ind assisting in the establishment iif the San Juan lime
works.

Alter his return to .San Luis ( )liispo county. Air. Newsom again becanie
|)rominent in local affairs. I U- was an ardent Democrat for rears, although
later more indei^en.Ient in his \ lews, and filled various offices, including justice
ol the peace and .leputy cuntx clerk. In 1864 he went to Arrovo Grande and
taught lite first school there. In the fall of 18r.4, he moved onto the Santa
Manuela ranch, where lie had ].urch;ised twelve hundred acres of land con-
tannng the .\rroyo Grande Warm Springs. Here he improved a valuable
ranch i)roperty. set out orchards of various kinds of fruits, raised Angora
jjoais ni large numbers, and other stock. He was interested in the Newsom
^.uinery, and l>ecanie better known, perhaps, in the development of New.som
• pnntrs. lo demonstrate the curative powers of the water. Air. Newsom
took- patients Inun the oumty hospitals to his resort and gave them free
treatment tor the ailment, they were heir to, curing them, and thus giving

le nniiroxeil the surroundings of his resort and

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD ENVIRONS 237

efLCted suitable buildings for the baths and cottages for tourists, and to thusc
who came and wished to camp, he furnished free camping grounds. He had
fuurteen cottages, modern in appointments for the locality, and a good bath
house with tubs and attendants. He would not allow au}^ kind of liquor sold on
the grounds at any time ; and by his personal attention to the details of his
resort, he built up a large patronage and derived a good revenue therefrom.

In 1863 ]\Ir. Newsom and Anita Branch were united in marriage. Mrs.
Newsom was a daughter of F. Z. Branch, of whom an extended mention
is made in this history. For forty years this worthy couple prospered, mean-
while rearing a family of twelve children: David Z. ; Edward F., who married
Evelyn Cochran and, dying, left one son ; Mary M. ; Eliza, wife of J. E. Wier of
Bakersfield and the mother of one son ; Anna ; Alexander D. ; Louisa, the
wife of John Janette of Los Angeles : IMichael A., who married ]\Irs. Margie
(Lingo)" Crag-hill; Ruth L. ; Belle Lee; William H. : and Robert P. David
and Alexander are carrying on the ranch and Newsom Springs resort with
success. The waters of these springs have great curative powers, and the
place is equipped with a large plunge as well as with i)ri\ate Ijaths. There is
a dairy of twenty-five cows on the ranch.

David F. Newsom was made a Mason on his twenty-first birthday, Sep-
tember 5, 1853, when he received the first and second degrees ; and on Septem-
ber 10 he received the third degree, it being conferred upon him by the Lieu-
tenant Governor, who was Grand ]^Iaster of the State of Virginia. With the
exception of George Washington, Mr. Newsom was younger at the time of
initiation than any other Master Mason that had then been received into the
order in \'irginia. He was also a member of the Knights of Pythias. He
died January 1, 1902. His wife passed away March 30, 1912.

ANALYSIS OF THE WATERS OF NEWSOM SPRINGS

(Temperature, 100.50 desi. 1" >

Sodium Chloride 4.10

Sodium Carbonate 1.75

Sodium Sulphate - 3.92

Silica 2.03

Potassium Carbonate .15

Potassium Sulphate 2.90

Magnesium Carbonate 6.41

Magnesium Sulphate 2.47

Organic matter - .27

Calcium Carbonate 3.25

Calcium Sulphate -75

Ferrous Carbonate 3.99

.Alumina -33

Total ..._ 32.32

BERNARD EXLINE.— .\ pioneer of this state, I'.ernard Exline came
across the plains with ox teams from Indiana to California and went to El-
dorado county, where for some years he was engaged in mining. In 1868 he
settled in San Luis Obispo County, locating on a ranch on the Salinas river,
three miles north of what is now the city of I'aso Rol^les, a town not dreamed
of at that time. Lie had tired of the iniccrtainties of mining and decided to
take up farming; so he located a homestead of one hundred sixty acres, and
his place was the first homestead proved up in this section.

He succeeded in ranching and later moved in to San Luis Obispo when
it was taking on new life, and engaged in contracting and building in the

238 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EN\'IROXS

nv tiiwn lie .-iImi Iii.u-ht nmrc land adjoining his homestead, and owned
an entire seeliuii in mie liMdy. all under cuhivation to grain and stock.

Mr l--xline was one of the early pioneer American settlers in the county
and experienced many hardships. He owned eighty acres in Iowa that he
never disixised of; and having leased his California ranch, he went back to
Iowa, laid out his land as an addition to Newton, with building restrictions
fixed at three thousand dollars, and rapidly sold off the property.

He also owned lour hundred eighty acres at Rich Hill, -Mo.; and three
years after leaving California, he moved to this farm and built a home and
operated the place until his death, of cholera morbus, four years later. His
wife was Elizabeth Huey, a native of Indiana. She died in San Luis Obispo.
They had four children.

After the death oi his first wife, Bernard Exline married a second time.
His bride was Belle Johnson, who died at Newton, Iowa, leaving no issue.
DAVID FINLEY STOCKDALE.— No object lesson could be presented
by the student of history more striking than the transformation wrought in
California during the past half century. David F. Stockdale well remembers
the appearance of the country fifty-eight years ago wdien, after a tedious
trip across the ])lains. he arri\efl in what is ntjw the greatest commonwealth
in America. As proprietor of the I'ark \'iew Ranch, Mr. Stockdale has been
a participant in the upbuilding of San Luis Obispo County since 1868. His
father, Seneca Stockdale, was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and his
grandfather, John Stockdale, brought the family to Ohio and settled on
Jones creek near Zanesville, where he cleared and improved a farm and
where he died. They were members of the Society of Friends. The mother
of !Mr. Stockdale was Elizabeth Barker, born in Delaware, and she became
the mother of eight children, two of whom are living.

David F. Stockdale was born in Zanesville, }iluskingum county, O.,
October 1.^, 1835, attended the subscription schools of that period, and was
reared on the farm of his father until he was eighteen. In 1853, he went
to Shelby, 111., and hired out for ten dollars per month as a farm hand, remain-
ing one season. Witli the money he managed to save, he went to ^^■inneshiek
county, la., located a tract uf land, and remained there engaging in farming
two years. He next went to Minnesota, and in Freeborn county bought out
a settler ; and when his father went to that state in 1857, he located him on
the land, and the following year started for California. In 1856, Indians killed
all tlie settlers at Spirit Lake, la., eighty miles from Mr. Stockdale"s home;
and he helped bury the dead. It was bitter cold, forty below zero, and he
froze his fingers, which still show the marks. In 1857 the same band of
Indians came to Minnesota, but the settlers went after them and gave battle
at Mud Lake. Mr. Stockdale was wounded in the left arm during the fight,
m which David gave a good account of himself, for he was an expert with the
rifle. During the battle the soldiers appeared and stopped the fight, and
took the Indians to the reservation and fed them, and looked after them to
keei) them from further <lepredations.

In 18-18, Mr. Stcckd.ale started for California, joining a large train of
nnmigrants, all having ,,x and horse teams. The party journeyed by easy
stages to this state, where the settlers arrived in the fall after an uneventful
trii>, there benig sutficient numbers to insure against Indians. Stopping in
Eldorado couiuy, he began mining, meeting with the usual luck attending

Mjt^^^kicdb^

y?h^, u^^Ce^Mvci. ^pfe:^v£^j^i2^

SAX LUIS OBISPO COL'.XTY AND EWIROXS 243

that i)recarious occupation. In 1865. lor instance, he found a bar on the C"on-
.sumnes river where the water broke: and after getting out tiu' wattT. lie put
in sluice boxes and mined one hunth-ed doUars in half an liour; following
which, he worked over tw(3 acres, Init did ncit make two dollars ami a half
a day.

In 1868 he located in San Luis 01)ispo County, tlicn a wihl country
just being surveyed. I\Ir. Stockdale located a pre-emption i m ( me hundred
sixty acres, built a cabin and began improving the land. Lumber was five
cents a foot, and it was all hauled from Port Harford. Mr. Stockdale began
raising cattle, his brand being DS with a half circle above. He later home-
steaded eighty acres, thus adding to his original holdings.

Mr. Stockdale was married here to ^Irs. Rebecca ( F-xline i Middleton,
a native of Indiana and a sister of Levi Exline. She had come liere witii
her brother, P)ernard Exline, in the fall of 1868. Before her marriage, Mrs.
Stockdale had homesteaded one hundred sixty acres on what is now the
state highway, three miles north of Paso Robles, proving up on the property,
which added to his holdings and made, them four hundred acres in one body,
where he continued stock- and grain-raising. He was one of the first to set out
an orchard, having prunes, pears and various kinds of fruit, all producing large
crops ; but there was no market for the fruit on account of lack of shipping
facilities, and he grubbed out the trees and went back to grain, which is liis
staple crop. On this place he has made all the improvements with tlic aid of
his late wife, who did her share in enduring the hardships and rearing the
family.

Three children were born to them. Charles F. is in Lemoore : Wilham
L. resides in the Adelaida district ; and Claude is carrying on the home i)lacc.
By the first marriage of Mrs. Stockdale there was a daughter, now ^Irs.
Catherine Linn, living on an adjoining ranch. Mr. Stockdale was one of the
organizers of the Farmers' Alliance Business Association that erected the
farmers' warehouse at Paso Robles, and which did so much to advance the
grain-growers' interests and establish a higher price, as it encouraged com-
petition ; and Mr. Stockdale was a member of the first board of directors.

DWIGHT REYNOLDS.— More than any other state in the Union, Cali-
fornia traces her vigorous prosperity directly to the sturdy characters and
untiring perseverance of the pioneers, many of whom risked their lives on the
trackless, Indian-infested plains, bringing hither eastern conservatism and
practical experience to the aid of western chaos and impetuosity. Enrolled
among these men is the name of Dwight Reynolds. He was born in Xew
Auburn, Cayuga county, X. Y., March 8. 1837, a st>n of Robert and .\nnie
(Draper) Reynolds, both of whom were born, lived ;ind died theri'. I'hey
had eight sons and one daughter, only two of \vliom .ire living ,ii this tune.
There were four of the Reynolds brothers in the Civil W ar. and two nf them
were killed in battle.

Dwight Reynolds was educated in the common schools of his native
county and reared to manhood on his father's farm; and he there early
learned the rudiments of farming and lessons of thrift. When he was 1)ut
ten years old his father died, and he remained at home for a few years, after
which, until he came to California, he went out to work for wages, for the
farmers in that part of the county. He left Xew ^■^rk City. .May, 1860, on the
■'Xorth Star," Ijound for .Vspinwall. and cmsscd the Isthnnis to Panama.

2A4 SAX i.ris or.ispo corxTv axd exviroxs

I'n.in tlicri.- he pmcec.lcd on l)oar<l the "jolui L. Stevens" to San Francisco,
iirrivitii^ after an entire viiya.i;e of twenty-one days. He went to the Santa
t lara vallev and foinid work at threshing on the farms of that section, and
aK,, at riinnini,' slieej). in the San Joaquin and Santa Clara valleys.

In 1X74. -Mr. Reynolds came to San I-uis Obispo County and engaged in
raisinjj sheep for him.self. He was later superintendent of the Eureka ranch
two vears and for a few years of the Santa Ysabel ranch. He purchased two
ranches of one hundred si.xty acres each on the Huer-Huero river about
three miles from I'aso Robles. and began improving them with good build-
in,i;s and !,'etting the land under cultivation ; and from time to time he added
t'l iheni until he owns about four hundred acres in one body. Here he en-
};a!,'ed in the sheep business for a number of years and met with success. He
also did general farming. He also owns one hiuidred sixty acres adjoining
Paso Robles, where the golf links are located, a place that promises to becotne
one of the finest residential sections of the city.

Mr. Reynolds was united in marriage at San Luis Obispo in 1875, with
Miss Mary Johnson, who was born in Guelph, Ontario. Can., where she was
reared and attended the public schools. She came to this state in the sev-
enties and from San Francisco came to San Luis Obispo. They have had
five children: Isabel, Mrs. Walter Rhyne of this vicinity: Ross and Charles,
who are farming on the Huntington ranch: William, of Alberta, Canada: and
\'ine, .Mrs. Coates, who resides in San Francisco.

Mr. Reynolds has served as trustee of schools for many years, was a
member of the first board of the Dry creek district and helped build the
schunlhouse. He is a Republican in politics, although he has never sought
public office. With his wife he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. Both Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds have a host of warm friends through-
out the county, where he is recognized as one ni the nldest living settlers.
Me has accumulated a competence, and is now li\ing in the quiet enjoyment
of his home and its surroundings.

CASSIUS H. GLINES. — Tliere is probably no better-known citizen in
Sama i;;irl)ara cuunty. in particular, and the Santa .Maria valley, where he is a
pioneer, than Cassius 11. Glines, now living retired in his comfortable home
at (a? South Broadway, Santa Maria. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah,
Xoveniber 5. 18.50, while his parents were coming across the plains to Cali-
lornia fn.m Missouri. His father, J,,hn H. (.lines, was born in the vicinitv
<-l I hurchville. near Ouebec. Canada. February U>. 1S31, and was married in
Missouri tn .Miss Mary Ann l-Aaiis. who was born September 2, 1832, in Rich-
"I'-nd. ( )hi,,. lie started overland for California with his wife, and when they
Uj't JM Sail Lake City they stopped for a time; and while there their eldest
• hdd was born. In lS.s2 Mr. Glines came on to California and w^as engaged in
iir.chlin- irom San I'.ernardino to Salt Lake City, and was also in the stock
•ti-niess. He Kit his lamily in the latter city until thev finallv joined him in
■•I'lorma. wiiere he was running a ranch near San Bernardino. W hile ranch-
mi;, he r,ni ,. ]..„ k tram In,- ;. year into the Bear valley mines.

.Mr <.lmrs „„,v,.,l about in this state considerably in pursuit of a fortune,
ni » nil no driMuu- nncntion I,, make it his permanent home. In 1862 thev
i\..i 1.1 \\..t>onMlie. and m ISo-l i„ Sacramento, where he was freighting to
JiH ..lines ,„ X .ri^ui.a (_,ty. Xev.da. In 1876 he came to the Santa Maria val-
"■ " """ '"^ ""■ "'"' ''-■' ^"'iH' douii hei-e the jirevious vear: but 1877

SAX LUIS OBISPO COrXTV AND EX\IROXS 245

being a dry year and the prospects iininvitin.t;, the family went down to what
is now Orange county, then a part of Los Angeles count}-. There they made
their home, and there he and his wife died — she in 1884 and he in 1897.

They were the parents of twelve children. Five sons and five daughters
grew to maturity : Cassius H. : I\Irs. Mary A. Johnson, of Covina ; David, who
died in Santa Ana : Perry L., living in Santa Ana ; Joseph, of this state : Dow,
in Arizona ; Mrs. Ella Boyd, in California ; Mrs. Olive King, deceased ; Anner,
of this state; and Mrs. Etta \"eigley, deceased. The experiences of this
worthy couple in pioneering in the great, unlimited West were full of hard-
ships and privations, but rich in historical associations.

Cassius H. Glines attended school in California in the \arous places where
the family lived. He was but twenty years younger than his father, and was
always associated with him in business affairs until the family moved to
Santa Ana, when he remained in the Santa Maria valley. He looked upon
his parent more as a companion than a father, and was always so treated by
him. He grew up in the stock business, assisting on the farm, and doing a
man's work from early manhood, and helped to settle up a new country and
to make it a pleasant place in w^hich to live. He distinctly remembers that
his father was otTered thirteen acres of land, now within the borders of the
city of Sacramento, in exchange for a mule — which ofifer was refused, as he
was freighting between that city and Virginia City, Xev., and a mule was
valuable, for they were hard to get and he had to make his li\ing with them.
He also relates that his uncle, Israel Evans, at one time worked for Tom
.Marshall, the discoverer of gold in 1848, at Sutter's mill. He recalls the first
public school, which he attended a short time, later finishing in the inter-
mediate school at Sacramento.

For a while Cassius lived on Sutter's creek in Amador countw mining
for gold and quartz. When his parents came to the Santa ^laria valley, the
outlook was discouraging; but father and son set to work, and by dint of hard
labor developed a valuable property, doing a very successful business in gen-
eral farming. After his father went to Santa Ana, the son remained on the
ranch and has always been a valued resident of the Santa Maria valley.

He has improved several'ranches in the intervening years, and ni)w owns
one hundred twenty good acres near ( )rcutt. and also a tliirteen-hundredacre
stock ranch; and is half owner, with his eldest son. in two hundred head of
cattle. Besides this, he owns his comfortable home in .^ania .Maria, which
he ])urchased in 1908. At one time he had a government claim of one hundred
sixty acres right where oil is being ])roduced, and could ha\e ])ro\ed uj)
on it 1)\- paying $2.50 per acre to the go\ernment : hut it was unsuilcd for
agricidtural purposes and he let it go.

When he first caxne to the valley in 1875. what is now Santa Maria was
known as Central City and comprised four blocks at Main and Broadvva}'.
There were only a few trees in the valley in the early days. A pepper tree
planted in his yard is now forty-five 3^ears old and three feet in diameter, lie
set out one of the first family orchards in the valley in the winter of 1883, and
a vineyard of some two hundred vines: all grew and thrived, and about five
years later he Inok a premium at a fair in Santa Barbara for his apples. ^Lr.
(Ilines ser\ed as trustee in the I'ine ( ,rM\ e district for twenty years, part of
the time being clerk of the board; he also assisted in organizing the \\'ash-
inL;tun district, .-ind \\as clerk and trustee while he li\ed there. He was one

24(1 SAX I.riS OBTSrO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

of the organizers, and is a Past Grand, of Santa Maria Lodge No. 302,
I. O. O. F. Politically he is a Democrat.

In 1872, at Summit Flat. Sha.sta county. Mr. Glines was united in mar-
riage with ^liss Sarah B. Martin, a daughter of Thomas J. and Sarah Jane
(Goatley) Martin. She was born in Missouri and died in Santa Maria, Feb.
22. 1913. Of this union several children were born. Charles H. is a partner .
with his father in the stock on Glines' ranch on the Alamo ; he married Annie
Purvis and they have one child. John T. married Dora Holloway, whose
parents were early settlers and were the first couple married here. He is a
stockman and the father of five children. Robert, in business in Orcutt, mar-
ried Cora ^ilcCroskey and has four children. Belle is the wife of William Mc-
Donald of Santa Maria. Huldah, the wife of M. I\I. Purkiss, field manager for
the Union Sugar Co. at Betteravia, is the mother of two children. Eva is at
home. James L. married Ethel Dempster and has one son He is cashier of
the First National Bank of Santa Maria, and is city treasurer of Santa Maria.
Phoebe lives at home. Air. < ilines is highly respected by all with whom
he is acquainted, and has always made his influence felt for the good of the
ciimnumit}-.

JOHN P. BLACK.— A worthy son of his father, John P. Black has taken
an acti\'e part in the development of the agricultural interests of San Luis
Obispo County, where the greater part of his life has been spent. He was
born in British Columbia, Alarch 17, 1862, a son of Patrick J. and Maria
(Morris) Black. His early schooling was obtained in the schools in San
Francisco, where he also studied to become a civil engineer and surveyor, a
profession that he has followed for many years, throughout .San Luis Obispo
and adjoining counties.

Air. Black assisted his father in the sheep business and proved up on a
government claim near Huasna : and to this small beginning he has added,
from time to time, until he now owns twelve hundred acres of good land on
the Huasna plain which is devoted to the stock business. Besides the above
ranch, he is also the owner of considerable land in other sections. Since
1888 he has done surveying in almost every part of this county, and has
become a very well-known man.

Air. Black held an appointment as United .States De])uty Surveyor for a
number of years, during which time every survey made was accepted. Like
his father, he always enjoys a hunt ; and twent3"-five years after his father had
hunted in the Tulares, he and a friend hunted antelope on the Cuyama, run-
ning onto ahdUt three hundred head, of which they shot seven. He also shot
hundreds of deer and California lions.

Mr. Black was united in marriage with Alary Alahurin, who was born
in California; and they have six children: William J., who owns a govern-
ment claim in this county : Walter L., owner of a claim in Santa Barbara
county: and Herbert F,., Lilli.-m A,, L.iura Al., and John R. Black. Since Mr.
Black attained his majorit\-. In- has been self-supporting, and since becoming
a resident of San Luis Obispo County he has been identified with every move-
ment for the advancement of the welfare of the citizens and the improvement
of the county. He is a friend of education and has done much to improve
the standard of the schools. He is a member of the B. P. O. Elks and of
the Catholic Church.

U(^,

€J^i-^

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EXVIRONS 249

WILLIAM T. LUCAS, M. D. — Among professional men in the Santa
Maria valley, none is more in touch with the general spirit of progress in the
West than Dr. William T. Lucas, senior member of the firm of Lucas &
Coblentz and widely known as a proficient expounder of the best principles
of medical science. A native of Missouri, he was born near St. Joseph,
Buchanan county, ^larch 18, 1850, a son of George J. and Sally (Thomas)
Lucas. George J. Lucas was a farmer in Missouri, who emigrated with his
family to Montana in 1864, crossing the plains by prairie schooner, his son,
William T., riding a mule and assisting in driving the thousand or more
head of cattle brought by the company, of which the Lucas family were
members. Besides the stock, the company had several loads of freight. The
Lucas family stopped in Deer Lodge valley, ]Mr. Lucas taking up land and
engaging in dairying, making cheese and butter until 1868, when he sold out
and again started westward with California as his goal. On arrival he settled
in Yolo county near Woodland, where for several years he followed farming
and stock-raising. Finally retiring to \\'oodland, he lived there until his
death, at the age of seventy-seven years. His widow, now in her eighty-
ninth year and in the full possession of all her mental faculties, still resides
in that city.

\\\ T. Lucas received his education by pri\"ate tutor in [Montana, and
from the time he was old enough had to work hard to assist in the support
of the family. Later he attended Hesperian College at Woodland, and also
taught school, oft' and on, for six years in Yolo and Solano counties. His
ambition after he had reached manhood's estate was to become a physician ;
and accordingly, after he had saved enough money to defray his expenses,
he entered the University of the Pacific in San Francisco, Dr. Lane being-
professor of surgery and Dr. Plummer instructor on diseases of women and
children. During three years of that time. Dr. Lucas was clerk of the Chil-
dren's Clinic, and it was while he was instructor here that George Pardee,
later governor of California, was a student. In November, 1876, Dr. Lucas
was graduated, and the following February he opened an office in Wood-
land, where he practiced medicine, became county physician and had charge of
the Woodland hospital until 1879, when he came to Guadalupe, Santa Barbara
county. There he practiced until June, 1884; and then he located permanently
in Santa Maria, where he is the pioneer physician. In 1882 he obtained an
honorary degree from Cooper ^Medical College, now the medical department
of Stanford University. Locating in Santa Maria, he bought property in town
and one hundred sixty acres of farming land. He leases out eighty acres of the
latter, and is improving the balance with orchards, including deciduous fruits.
He already has about twenty-two acres set out. Dr. Lucas, who is one of the
owners and proprietors of the Lucas Sanitarium on South Broadway and was
the first surgeon in charge, has an extensive and successful practice through-
out the Santa Maria valley. He is a great reader, and has a large private
library.

Dr. Lucas was married in Sacramento to Miss Lulu Maupin, a lady of
I-rench descent, although born in Missouri. Her father, a Southerner, was
one of the "Midnight Raiders," and was assassinated during the Civil War.
Her mother is also deceased. Mrs. Lucas came to California with an uncle,
James M: Stephenson, who lived in Franklin, Sacramento county. To Dr.
and Mrs. Lucas two children have been born: Lee P.. regimental quarter-
master in the 5th Regiment, N. G. C. is married and lives in Berkeley : while

250 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Ora is he wife of (I. B. Blankenburg. a prominent attorne}' witli tiffices in
San Francisco.

To Dr. Lucas, more than to any other citizen, is due the credit of organ-
izing the Santa Maria High School, having the building erected in Santa
Alaria, and making it one of the best schools in the state. He was the first
president of the Agricultural Association of the Santa Maria Valley, and is
fond of horses and a patron of the race-track, not for gambling purposes but for
the pure love of the sport and of fine horses. He is a York rite Mason, a mem-
ber of the Blue Lodge of Guadalupe, of which he was Master several years.
He was elected Grand Master by the Grand Lodge of Masons of the state in !
1896. He is a member and Past High Priest of Fidelity Chapter, R. A. M., of I
Santa Maria, and a member of San Luis Obispo Commandery, No. 17 , K. T. '
For eight years. Dr. Lucas was one of the most active workers on the griev- '
ance committee of the Grand Lodge of Masons, of which he was a member for (
about twelve years. He has the most complete Masonic library in Southern
California. He has been a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge since May, '
1877, and is a member of the San Luis Obispo lodge of Elks. In line with his j
profession, he belongs to the County Medical Society, and the State ^Medical \
Society, having served as its vice-president in 1904-03, and is a member of the |
American Medical Association. j

The Doctor is a consistent Democrat, and has taken an acti\-e part in !
campaigns ever since he was old enough to vote, and even before that time, i
In 1884 he was defeated for the state legislature; in 1904 he was defeated for j
Congress ; and in 1916 he refused to become a candidate for the last-named ]
post. He is a member of the State Democratic Central Committee, and for i
years has been a member of the Democratic County Central Committee. i

Dr. Lucas is noted as an orator, and delivered the address at the laying j
of the corner-stone of the Santa Maria Carnegie Library, as well as the |
speech of the day at the laying of the corner-stone of the Masonic building i
in Santa I\Iaria. Of his addresses may be mentioned the "Historical and ,
Philosophical" lecture on Masonry, delivered before various Masonic meetings !
throughout the state; "History of Masonry''; and "In Memoriam" — all elo-
quent discourses. He is an enthusiastic booster for California and his section ,
of the state, a progressive citizen, a noted surgeon and a prominent Mason, j
He is hale and hearty, comes from a long-lived family, is companionable and j
popular and very highly respected. i

ARCHER CATRON JESSEE.— There are but few persons whose j
records arei obtainalde at this time who represent those men who were j
members of that brave band of pioneer plainsmen, soldiers and farmers who |
took part in the early movements that won California for the Union and there- '
after were active participants in the later-day movements that placed this '
glorious state in the front rank of all the commonwealths of our country.
Such a man was the late Archer Catron Jessee, progenitor of the family in |
California. He was a native of Virginia, born December 25, 1821, in Russell ;
county, moved to Missouri with his parents, and remained with them until j
1842, when he married, in Atchison county, Va., Miss Mary Ilarbin, a native j
of Tennessee and a daughter of James M. Harbin, the discoverer of the j
famous Harbin Springs in Lake county, California. She was likewise a sister i
of Matt Harbin, pioneer of this state, who migrated to the West in 1842, and ;
became California's first millionaire. ;

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 231

A. C. Jessee was an own cousin of Gen. Robert E. Lee, of ancestry
traceable back to English royalty. In England the Jessee family were
militar}' men, and a ]Major Jessee became known in the history of Virginia
and married a sister of Lord Tennyson. The expression frequently used by
General Lee in the heat of an engagement, "Give them Jessee, boys," alludes
to the prowess of that family.

After the marriage of A. C. Jessee, he farmed in Arissouri until lS4(i, when
with his wife he joined a party coming to California. Outfitting with sup-
plies, oxen, mules and horses, the party set out under the leadership of Lil-
burn H. Boggs, later governor of California ; and after an eventful journey of
five months, arrived in California. \lr. Boggs had incurred the hatred of the
Mormons on account of the part he took in expelling them from Missouri ;
and when they heard he was guiding a party westward, they sent him word
not to stop at Salt Lake or trouble would follow. He armed his company,
secured two brass cannons which he had had cast in New Orleans, and with
his band of fifty fearless men, among whom was Archer Catron Jessee, took
up the long journey to the new Eldorado. The party had many skirmishes
with Indians en route, and when they neared Salt Lake, took a circuitous
route to avert trouble, and arrived safely at their destination.

During all this time Air. Jessee was one of the most trusted and cour-
ageous men in the company, and later figured prominently in the history of
the state. He settled on the present site of Sacramento, soon after enlisted
under John C. Fremont, and was made First Lieutenant under Captain John
Grigsby, in Company E, 1st California Battalion. He took part in the battle
on the Salinas plains, where Captain Byrns Foster and others were killed,
and in the skirmish at San Fernando. He was a member of the Bear Flag
party, served through the Mexican War, and was discharged in 1847 ; after
which he returned to Sacramento county, and later went to Napa county,
where he resided fourteen years and engaged in farming, stock-raising and
; dealing in land and livestock. He was the first sherifif of Napa county, served
i two terms and in 1864 moved wath his family to Lake county. There he con-
tinued his chosen vocation until 1869, when he came south to San Luis Obispo
County and took charge of the Alurphy ranch. In 1873 Mr. Jessee went to
San Bernardino county and undertook the management of a large dairy ranch ;
and while there he was induced to invest in a gold-mining proposition. He
had been successful as a farmer and stockman and had accumulated land in
various parts of the state where he had lived : these he sold, to invest in the
mining enterprise at Florence, Arizona, in 1876. The following year he was
taken ill and died on August 19, 1877. After much litigation over the mining
property, all was lost and the family was left almost destitute ; but with the
frontier spirit of determination, the widow, with her children, came back to
Santa Barbara county and settled in the Santa Maria valley in 1878.
■ To Mr. and Mrs. Archer Catron Jessee the following children were born :

' Anna, who married F. M. Grady of Sebastopol and had one son. Jefferson,
both she and her son being now deceased; James Lee, a rancher in Yolo
' county; Parlee,'the wife of J. R. Wilkinson of Riverside county; John \ .. a
civil engineer and surveyor in San Benito county; Archer Catron, who <Hed
at the age of five years ; Willard, a rancher near Arroyo Grande ; Aurelia, who
married C. B. Dutcher and lives at Sisquoc; and Madison, Perry D.. Francis
I Marion, Henry Haight, and Virginia, all residents of Santa Maria.

252 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EXMROXS

JOHN F. BECKETT. — Few names are more inseparably associated
with the history of San Luis Obispo County during nearly a half century
than that of John F. Beckett of Arroyo Grande, who, as a teacher, public
official, farmer, business man and promoter of important enterprises for the
betterment of general conditions, has proven the value of his citizenship and
the integrity of his character. He was born in Polk county, Iowa, February
19, 1847, and when five years old, in 1852, was brought across the plains by
his parents, who located in Oregon, remained there seven years, and in 1859
came to California. It was in Z^Iarch, 1869, that Mr. Beckett arrived in San
Luis Obispo. He began teaching in the pubHc schools soon after, and about
two years later established the first commercial nursery in the county. Later
he moved it to Arroyo Grande, with which city he has ever since been closely
identified. For fourteen years he taught school in various parts of the county;
for seven years he taught in Arroyo Grande : and one term the gifted writer,
Charles Edwin Markham, who was a personal friend of his, taught in an out-
lying portion of the same district. In May, 1879, a new state constitution was
adopted in San Luis Obispo County by over four hundred majority. This
changed the school law in such form as to create a county instead of a state
system. In the political campaign following its adoption, the four political par-
ties favoring it went into convention and nominated a county ticket, saying
that, as they had won the constitution, so they would control the politics of the
county. The other two parties. Democrat and Republican, later did an un-
heard-of thing for them : they convened the same day and nominated a joint
ticket, i\Ir. Beckett being the candidate chosen for county superintendent of
schools. In the campaign following. Beckett won in all the precincts except
those two in which the opposing candidate and his sister held positions.

For thirty-two years Mr. Beckett has been dealing in real estate in
Arroyo Grande and other parts of San Luis Obispo County, and has handled
over $3,000,000 worth of property in the county without a foreclosure of
mortgage to a single settler, a most wonderful record. He has put on as
many subdivisions as any other man in the county, is a large landowner,
and has farmed more or less ever since he has been in the county. Among
the large tracts handled have been the following ranches : Oso Flaco, Chi-
meneas. Tar Springs and Tally-ho ; the Verde Colonies (One, Two and Three) :
the Crown. Hill addition ; the Corbett tract ; E. W. Steele's re-subdivision of
the Corral de Piedra ranch ; Beckett Park and Beckett Park subdivision
tract, which he considers the crowning work of his career and which is
deserving of inention. This tract is situated at Pismo Beach, and comprises
1,500 acres (of which he now owns about 1,200 acres), with six avenues one
hundred to one hundred twenty feet wide, running three miles east from
the ocean, and with as many wide boulevards crossing north and south:
the whole, with the beautiful setting of the beach, and with 4.000 feet of
water frontage where the beach stretches away five hundred feet wide at
lowest tide, being destined to become the heart of a most beautiful ocean
beach city. He gave twenty-four acres for a park for Arroyo Grande and a
site for the ]\Iethodist camp grounds.

Mr. Beckett was a member of the Russian River Rifles of Healdsburs:
while a resident of that city during the closing years of the Civil War, and
later of the Woodland Guards, of which he was orderly sergeant and in line
for i)rnmotion when he left there. He has been prominent, also, in fraternal
circk'S. He is a member, and for lour vears was Chancellor Commander, of the

l^X^ ^(Hz-^^ZiS^

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EN\"IRONS 255

Knights of Pythias; he helped organize the I'nifcirm Rank, was Captain three
\cars, aiui later ^lajor of the battalion, and fiiUciwing this was Major on the
staff of Brigadier General James Drififil, commanding the California P.rigadc.
lie has taken a very active part in politics, is a pronounced Repui)lican, was
elected and served in the state Assembly one term (1912-13), and was a
member of the following legislative committees : \\'ays and means, baidvs
and banking, labor and capital, live stock, dairies and dairy products, and
roads and highways. He led the Progressive vote during the session, favored
female suft'rage, and addressed the Assembly on that issue, having his speech
printed in the Assembly Journal. His campaign for this state office was a
memorable one in San Luis Obispo County. With fifteen other candidates
for the Assembly, and eight candidates for the Senate, he had been black-
listed by the Beer Bottlers' Association, acting for the State Brewers' Asso-
ciation, the California Wine Growers' Association and the Royal Arch. The
net result of the liquor campaign as waged by those forces was to defeat all
iuit one candidate for the Senate, and five candidates for the Assembly. In
his count}- the liquor forces spent three tlK.msand dollars to defeat liim, l.)ut
lie won at the polls by a good majority.

During the session of the legislature several interesting occurrences took
])lace which won for Mr. Beckett especial mention. A bill was referred to
the committee on labor and capital for the purpose of reforming abuses of
telephone, telegraph and power line conditions ; and committees of linemen
and representatives of the telephone, telegraph and power companies from all
over the state met in conferences, adjourning from day to day, for three days.
On the third day extended discussions took place in which it was shown that
in many instances the companies had done much better work for the line-
men than the bill called for. Changes were asked for that would mean an'
immediate expense of $500,000 to the companies ; and when these were put
to the linemen, they admitted that it would be unfair to make the expenditure
all at once when it could be made by degrees. Air. Beckett thereupon
offered the suggestion that, inasmuch as this was a bill affecting only
private capital, the linemen and representatives of the power companies go
into private conference, settle their own dift'erences and then submit a l)ill that
would be suited to all. This was done, and the bill passed unanimously.

Another bill provided that the City of Los Angeles take over the tide
lands in the vicinity of San Pedro and administer them. After an hour's
argument on the floor of the Assembly, Beckett said, "Inasmuch as the
City of Los Angeles has been able to wrest the seeming title of these lands
from the Southern Pacific Company and restore it to the state, it follows as
a logical sequence that the City of Los Angeles is the proper custodian to
take over and administer those tide lands in the interest and for the benefit
of the whole people." This was carried. An amusing incident is nar-
rated. The member from San Joaquin county introduced a l)ill to exter-
minate mcadowlarks. A Miss Libby, secretary of the Audubon Society of
Southern California, in the course of a lecturing tour arrived in Sacramento
and did some work to prevent the destruction of the "meadowlark song-
birds." In a closing address, before a vote was taken, the member from San
Joaquin made this statement: "Two years ago the person who lied about
mcadowlarks wore pantaloons; this year the person wears female clothes."
Mr. Beckett arose and, after being recognized by the speaker, said: "Mr.
Speaker. I arise to a question of ])rivilege.'" The Speaker replied. "Mr.

256 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Eeckett, you cannut arise to a question of privilege wlien a vdte is pending."
Beckett knew that and sat down; he simply wanted to accentuate the situ-
ation. ( )n roll call, he voiced a vigorous "No." The bill was defeated, its
proponent \dting almost alone. After the vote was taken the Speaker called,
•'.Mr. Beckett." He replied, "^Ir. Speaker and Gentlemen of the Assembly,
I arfse to voice my indignation against the language used by the member of
this Assembly who dares to call a woman a liar." Next morning the Sacra-
mento papers complimented Beckett as a defender of women. On the desks
of all members appeared cartoons by Hartman showing Beckett on one side
of a picture pointing to the member from San Joaquin county; and under-
neath Beckett's picture were the words, "A near Socialist." On the opposite
side was a caricature in the form of a jay bird with a long beak, between the
two a brook filled with lilies of the valley, the flower of each representing a
woman's face, and under the jay bird was the legend "Stuck in the brook"
(Stuckenbruk). Later Mr. Beckett received a note from the president of the
Audubon Society, thanking him for his action in defending I\Iiss Libby.

John F. Beckett was commissioner for San Luis Obispo county at the
^lid-Winter Fair in San Francisco. He served as delegate to many state and
Congressional conventions, and attended as a delegate a state mining con-
vention in San Francisco. He is well informed on the geology of the oil
fields, and is an authority on other mineral lands. He served a term of three
years, from January 1, 1880, to January I. 1883, as county superintendent of
schools of San Luis Obispo county, the first term under the new constitution;
during which he, with the members of the cotmty board of education, drafted
a new school manual including a course of study which was mentioned by
the state superintendent of schools as one of the best in the state. Mr.
Beckett was for many years a member of the county board of education.
Although in part a self-educated man, he received his start in the public
schools of Oregon and California, and at Sotyome Institute in Healdsburg.
\\'hen he began teaching school at the age of twenty-two, he took up
text-book study by himself, passed successful examinations, and finally re-
ceived a diploma entitling him to teach as princi]:)al in any of the pul)lic schools
of the state during life.

Mr. Beckett was united in marriage with Miss Isouria Archer, a native
of Iowa, and they have two sons, Clarence P.. and John A., both living at
Oceano. Mrs. Beckett passed away in 1909 after a useful life, and her demise
was mourned by a wide circle of friends. I\Ir. Beckett is as public-spirited
as he is successful, and every movement for the upbuilding of the county
has his hearty co-operation. He is a live correspondent for local papers,
is well and favorably known throughout the county and state, and seems to
have many years of usefulness yet before him.

PATRICK JAMES BLACK.— A pioneer of California and a man of more
than local prominence, Patrick James Black was born in Ireland, April 3,
1830. He was reared and educated in a Catholic seminary in France and later
attended St. Servan College. His studies were taken with the intention of
entering the priesthood, but he never did so. In 1851, when he was twenty-
one years of age, he came from England to the United States on a sailing ves-
sel. He had a fine voyage, alhough he encountered severe storms which neces-
sitated putting in at Talcahuaiio, Chile, for repairs, and remaining several
week-. Arri\ ing in California in )ul\-, he came at once to the mines in Tuo-

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 237

lunine county: and after a time spent in minin;;-, lie went to San Francisco
and tau,^ht one of the first schools, which was held in the Catholic IMission
there.

For two years ^Ir. Black was bookkeeper in the office of Allen. Lowe
& Co., agents for the famous Hudson Bay Company. He likewise traveled
all over the state in the interests of the Botanical Society of Scotland, gath-
ering: data and studying trees, vines, shrubs and flowers. He made a trip into
the Yosemite before the discovery of the big trees had attracted much atten-
tion, making a collection of cones and seeds; and became well acquainted
with Galen Clark, the pioneer of that valley. Nine years were spent in mining
at Vancouver Island, in the Frazer river district, and in the Caribou district
in British Columbia.

Locating in San Luis Obispo County in September, 1868, Mr. Black
engaged in the sheep business for many years, and for a time was manager of
the Suey rancho, in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, which con-
tained forty-five thousand acres. Patrick James Black was married in British
Columbia to Maria Morris, a native of Australia, and they have eight sons :
John P., James G., Edward W., Charles F., Albert F., Ernest C, William V.
and George. These sons and their father are all members of the B. P. O. Elks.

For a man of his years, Mr. Black is ver}^ well preserved and keeps abreast
of the times by continued reading. He has been very active during his life,
and in the early days was fond of hunting. At one time, with a party of
friends, he spent six weeks on a hunting trip into the Kern river district and
shot bears, antelopes (of which there were thousands), and deer on the
present site of Bakersfield. He has been an interested witness of the mar-
velous growth of California, and is familiar with almost every section of the
state. He is now living, retired, wnth his son, John P., who is mentioned
elsewhere in this volume.

, HON. T. R. FINLEY.— The bench ami bar of Central California have
many able representatives, men who stand liii^li in their profession because of
their profound knowledge of the law, and men who stand high in their com-
munities as leaders in forward movements for the best interests of their sec-
tion of the country. None of these men are more elevated in the confidence of
the people than is Hon. T. R. Finley of Santa ?*faria, whose twenty years of
l)ractice at the bar in California have given him a wide knowledge of the needs
of his constituents — a matter of the highest import reflected in the culmina-
tion of a successful campaign wherein, in Xdxcniher, l''U), he was elected to
the assembly from the fifty-ninth district.

Mr. I'inley is a native son of the state, l)orn in Santa Rosa, June 3, 1854,
a son of William H. and Ann J. (Maze) h'inley. The former was born in
Kentucky and died in California, at the a.ge of seventy-two years ; the latter
was a native of Tennessee and passed away at the same age. Her ancestry
dates back to England, whence the first of the name to settle in the United
States came to make their home in \'irginia, moving from there to Tennessee,
and then to Missouri. The paternal side represent the sturdy Scotch whose
settlement in this country was made in North Carolina, whence they moved
into Kentucky .ind thence to Missouri. They were married in December,
18.^_', and in April of 18.S3 they started on their wedding journey across
the ])lains. with ox teams, for the new Eldorado of California, to hunt for
fortune in the gold fields. On arrixal here. Mr. ImiiIcv mined for a time, and

25H SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD EXVIROXS

then cml)arkc(l in tlie raising of cattle ; and later he followed farming with
success, until he retired from active life. There were three children in the
family. Charles Howard, a realty broker in Los Angeles; Alice, now Mrs.
A. 11. Lewis, of Los Angeles: and T. R. Finley, the subject of this review.

T. R. Finley was reared on a farm and early became familiar with the
duties necessary to the conduct of a successful farming industr3^ He was
sent to the public schools in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties, later at-
tended Christian College in Santa Rosa, and then took a course at Hastings
Law .School, from which he graduated in 1884 with the degree of B. L. and
l)cgan the practice of his profession in Modesto. \'ery soon after, he went to
Redding. Shasta county, and successfully followed his chosen profession until
1896, when he settled in Santa :\Iaria. where he felt that a wider field
was open to him : and from the start he was successful in building up a large
clientage.

The comfortable home at 309 East Chapel street, Santa ^laria. is pre-
sided o\-er by Mrs. Finley. who in maidenhood was Miss ^largaret ^learns, a
native of Bowmanville, Canada, and a daughter of George and Eliza A.
(Smart ) ^learns. Her father was a searcher of records for land titles for the
old Clay Street Bank of San Francisco, and as such had a wide acquaintance
among the pioneers of that city. She was united in marriage with Mr. Finley
in San Francisco, in 1888. Of the union of ~\Ir. and ]Mrs. Finley, three chil-
dren have been born ; William Howard, who is engaged with his father in
the oil and gasoline business, is a graduate of Belmont College, and also took
a special course at the University of California; George ]\Iearns, a graduate
of Belmont and of the L'niversity of California, is now in charge of the gaso-
line distributing station near Santa ]\Iaria ; and Theodore, who graduated from
Belmont, is now a senior at the University of California.

Mr. Finle}- has been keenly alive to the opportunities of this section oi
the state, and has invested wisely in real estate and in the oil industry. He
purchased the Hall and Hall lease and compressor plant in the Santa Maria
oil fields in 1915. The retail plant is located one mile soutii of Santa Maria
on the state highway, while the manufacturing plant, with a capacitv of five
hundred gallons daily, is in the oil fields near Orcutt.

In 1902 Mr. Finley was a candidate for district attorney of Santa Bar-
bara CMunty. but was defeated by thirty-six votes. In 1916 he became a
candidate for the assembly from the fifty-ninth district and made a very
successful cam])aign, clean and free from the personalities that usually spring
up in the heat of a campaign. Mr. Finle}- won by a good majority. Because of
his experience in public affairs, he holds the confidence of the people of his
district; for, since he is outspoken in all matters, and is an exponent of good
mads and every improvement that will bring settlers to the count.v, they
always know "where Finley stands."

Mr. Finley is a Royal Arch ^lason and a member of the Knights of
Pythias. \\'ith his wife, he favors the Christian Science belief. He is in
every wiiy well qualified for the important office to which he has been
elected by the people of his district, and will without doubt ably and wor-
thily represent them in the legislature in its forty-second session. He is a
member of the following important committees: agriculture, medical and
dental laws, elections, oil industries, ways and means, and roads and high-
ways, having been chosen chairman of the latter; and having made a partic-

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 261

ular study of the good roads question, he is the right man for that ini])ortant
position. Early in the session. Air. Einley introduced a bill, carrying an ap-
propriation of $250,000, which provides for a road from the western boundary
line of Kern county near Maricopa, to a point on the state highway near
Santa Maria, passing through the Cuyama valley.

MARION SHIMMIN.— The possibilities of San Luis Obispo eCunty
have called forth the most creditable ambitions of a few men who are destined
to make their way in the commercial world, and whose strength of character
and conservative judgment have been fundamental to the growth of the
commonwealth. This has been emphatically true of Marion Shimmin, whose
well-directed energies have placed him among men of standing in the city
of Paso Robles and have invested him with an enviable reputation for busi-
ness sagacity and integrity, tested during the passing of many years. Those
who come in contact with him are in accord in believing that so long as the
destjny of this great state is committed to such citizenship as he represents,
no one need fear for the future of California.

Mr. Shimmin's father was William Edward Shimmin, a native of the
Isle of yinn who, in 1850, joined one of the great ox-team trains crossing the
desert wastes, came to and mined in Nevada, and finally reached California.
\\'hile he was in Esmeralda county, Nevada, he discovered, with Brawley,
the Aurora mines, and was one of the men first to put a pick into the famous
CTaribaldi. lie made and lost several fortunes, went back and forth between
tlie West and the East, and in the end sent for his family, who arrived in San
Francisco, via Panama, April 19, 1863.

Marion Shimmin was then four years old, having been born in \\'isconsin
-April 20, 1859. His father and his household resided in Nevada until the
fall of 1864, when they removed to Grass Valley. Later they returned to
Nevada, and still later, in 1868, settled in Alendocino county, California. .\
great stock of cattle, horses and wagons had to be transported overland, and
Marion, not yet ten years old, rode horseback from Nevada to Mendocino
county and assisted in driving and guiding the stock, so often inclined to stray
away. They located in Sherwood valley, where Air. Shimmin became a large
stock-raiser. In 1874, they again moved, this time to Tulare county, and in
1881 he came to San Luis Obispo County, where the father, invalided through
a sunstroke, died in 1882. The wife of William Edward Shimmin was ^\■ealthy
Paul Farwell, a daughter of Isaac Farwell, a well-known resident of Wis-
consin, where she was born. After a life filled with her share of frontier ex-
periences, she died in Fresno county, aged eighty-five years and the mother
of eight children.

Fifth among these in the order of their birth. Alarion early became used
to the rounding up of cattle, riding after stock in Sherwood valley and cov-
ering the very ground w-here, so soon afterward, the terrible Little Lake
tragedy occurred. His schooling was limited to frontier facilities, and in
the middle seventies he was in charge of a band of horses, going from Mendo-
cino to Tulare county. The next year or two he was with the family at
Fresno; Init Alendocino and an uncle there drew him back in 1876, and for
some time he again rode the open range. His uncle offered him a partnership
in his great ranch : but owing to the condition of his father, young Shimmin
felt that he ought to care for hi'^ parent's interest, and so continued farming
and cattle-raisint;- in I'resno cnunt\-.

2G2 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND E.WIROXS

In 1.^81. he bought part of the Corral de Piedra Rancho at San Luis
( )ljis])(i. and there he remained two years, conducting the farm in as advanced
manner as his circumstances would permit. Then he sold out and went to
Adelaida. and was there engaged in farming and stock-raising on the Ed.
Smith ])lace, a tract of sixteen hundred acres. His next serious venture
was in homesteading and pre-empting in the Eagle district, near Shandon.
at the same time that his mother and brother, \\'illiam E., also homesteaded
and |)re-empted. In the beginning they had some eight hundred acres ad-
joining, and this they increased to sixteen hundred, when Mr. Shimniin and
his relations divided their interests. The brother continued to farm in that
vicinity, but on January 12, 1899, Alarion Shimmin came to Paso Roliles and
for the next four years worked for George E. ?jell.

He then formed a partnership with Thomas Stevens in a general mer-
chandise business known as Shimmin & Stevens' Emporium, the proprietors
commencing with a capital each of $2,500; and in that business he continued
eleven and a half years, at 12th Street near Spring. So great was their
prosperity that the business increased to over $100,000 a year, the firm at
the same time, and for some years, having a branch at Shandon with a five
thousand dollar stock, while the main store carried goods to the value of
$35,000. When Mr. Stevens became paralyzed in June, 1914, the store was
ofTered for sale, and in December of that year it was disposed of to the
Eleisig brothers. Since that time Mr. Shimmin has given himself largely to
settling up the business affairs and collecting the old accounts of the firm, as
well as to managing his own business interests, lands and properties. He is,
indeed, a man of afifairs, having become a large stockholder and a director of
the Citizens Bank of Paso Robles, as also one of the organizers and a large
stockholder of the First National Bank of King City and a stockholder in
the States Consolidated Oil Co. He still owns an office building on Spring
street, near the corner of 12th.

In May, 1889, in the pretty town of W'illits. Mr. Shimmin had married
Miss I'rankie Upp, a nati\'e of Little Lake \"alle_\-. a district in which her
sister. Sarah, was the first white child born. She is the daughter of Phillip
Upp, who was born March 21, 1827, in York county, Pennsylvania, where he
learned the carpenter's trade. He removed to St. Louis in 1849. and followed
car])entering there until 1856, when he returned to his old home. On March
2.3, 1856, he was married at Lewistown, Mifflin county, to Susan Hawker, a
native of Mercersburg, Pa., where she was born CJctolier 26. 1833; and soon
after the festivities. the\- set dUt for California by way of the Nicaragua
route. The_\- traveled from .\'e\v ^'ork to (ireytown on the steamer "Orizaba":
but owing to the \\'alker tilil)ustering expedition, the jMoneers were delayed
several weeks. Reaching the Pacific, they took the steamer "Sierra Nevada"
to San I-rancisco ; and after s])ending two years in the Sierra region, Air. Upi>
kicated, in June, 1858, in Afendocino count}', becoming one of the first settlers
in Little Lake valley, where he homesteaded. He built a house, and began
pioneering in true Western fashion. He also followed contracting and liuild-
ing in \arious jilaces in California ; and as he was a good mechanic, his talent
as a l)uil<ler was much sought after. As a farmer and stockman, too. he was
successful, and accumulated a large tract of land. -At their old home near
\\'illits. Mr. and Mrs. L'pj) lived in comfort; and there they finally died. They
had had seven children, two of whom, besides Mrs. Shimmin, are still living:
Mrs. Irja Smith, of Pas<. R.ibles, and C.eorge W". Upi). who resides at Willits.

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 263

Mrs. Shimmin was educated under Professor King at the Conservatory of
Music, of the L'niversity of the Paciiic, San Jose, and her pronounced natural
talent, together with her superior training, has made her one of the best-
known musicians in this section. A son, Marion Francis, reflects most
creditably upon his father, as a Standard Oil Co. representative here; while
two other children, Cleora and IMildred Inez, are at home.

A Republican in politics and a foremost worker in the Chamber of Com-
merce, I\Ir. Shimmin was for nine years a trustee for the schools in Paso
Robles, and for seven years a school trustee in the Eagle district. He is a
member of Santa Lucia Lodge, No. 250, I. O. O. F., of Paso Robles, and is a
Past Chief Ranger of the Independent ( )r<ler of I'oresters. He also takes an
active interest in religious matters, being a trustee and dean of the Con-
gregational Church.

RICHARD M. SHACKELFORD.— Born in Washington county, near
the town of Mackvillc. Ky., January 17, 1834, the late Richard AI. Shackelford
of Paso Robles was the son of James and Sarah (Dickerson) Shackelford,
who were natives of the Blue Grass State. \\'hen he was eight years old his
parents took him to Missouri ; and as he was one of a family of eleven chil-
dren, it became necessary for him to make an early start to support himself.
His opportunities for attending school were limited, but later in life he made
up for lost time by going to night school. At the age of eighteen he started
across the plains, driving an ox team; and the journey that began March 14.
1852, ended in Sacramento on September 23, of that year.

Young Shackelford was variously employed until 1857, in which year he
became identified with a milling enterprise in ^larysville. He later estab-
lished the Merchants' Forwarding Company; but after sustaining severe
losses during the floods of 1862, he began freighting across the country to
Virginia City, Nev., and while in the latter state was elected to the Assembly
whicli convened immediatelv after Nevada was admitted to statehood in the
Union.

In 1866 Mr. Shackelford located in Los Gatos, Cal., wliere he ct)uductcd
a general merchandise store and a lumber yard ; and in 1869 he sold out and
went to Salinas, purchased the Lorenzo ranch and farmed until 1873, when
he sold and moved to Hollister, and engaged in the milling business. The
mill he then owned is now one of the many belonging to the Sperry Flour
Company. Since 1886, Mr. Shackelford has Ijeen identified with Paso Robles.
I"or many years lie was connected with tlie Soutlu-rn P.-icific Milling Company
as manager of their w;irehouses. and later was president of the Salinas \';illey
Lumber Co.

When he first landed in California. .Mr. Shackelford was a Democrat; but
he was converted by reading Horace (ireeleyV articles in the New York
Tribune, and he cast his first presidential vote for John C. Fremont. Two
weeks after he arrived in Paso Robles, he was appointed a trustee of the
school, and for thirty years served continuously on the school board. He
was a friend of education and did much to raise the standard of the schools.
Mr. Shackelford was often affectionately called the "Father of Paso Robles."
He was a Mason and a man of splendid character. In 1880 he was united in
marriage with Miss L. McQuestin, who was born in Galena, 111., and died
about 1900, and four children were born of that union. In 1907 he was mar-
ried the second lime, to -Mrs. .Mice luigenia I''ollansbee, a native of ( »gk-

264 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EXMROXS

county. Illinois, who still survives him. j\lr. Shackelford passed away Jan-
uary 12, 1915, and his death Avas a severe loss to both San Luis Obispo County
and the state.

JOHN G. PRELL.— The distinction uf liein- the (.hlest livin- American
settler in the Santa .Maria valley is held by John G. I'rell. wlm now resides,
retired, in Santa ;\laria. where he still takes an active interest in all move-
ments tor the betterment of the community, being a director in the X'alley
Savings Bank, a large landowner and, above all, a high-minded man. Of
German birth and parentage, he was born in Leipsic, April 3, 1837, a son of
(iottfried and Maria (A\'ittenbecher ) Prell. The father owned a small
tract of nineteen acres of land, was a stone mason by trade and was about
forty-three years old when his son John G. was born, the youngest of
four ciiildren. The grandfather, also named Gottfried, was a stone mason
by trade, lived and died in Saxony, and was an only son of another Gottfried
Prell, also a stone mason, w-ho came from the ProAince of the Palatinate, on
the west side of the Rhine.

After the death <if the father, his widow, in 1S34. brought her four
children to America and settled on a heavily timbered farm in Indiana, near
South Bend. Only one and one half acre-- of this tract of land was cleared,
and it was there that their log house was 1)uilt and the little farming opera-
tions were begun.

John G. Prell went to school in (iermany until he was fourteen, and
was confirmed in the Evangelical Lutheran Church, .\fter the arrival of the
little family in America, the young lad had to go to work for wages, receiving
seven dollars per month in winter and fourteen in summer for work done
in a brickyard. He never had an opportunity to go to school after coming
to this country, but he has been a student nevertheless all his life, and is a
well-informed man. For many years he has been a diligent reader of
the newspapers, and has always kept alireast of the times. lie worked
for wages until 1860, then went to Pikes Peak, Colo., at that time in Kansas,
mined for gold there, and was in (iolden City from April 1 to June 12, 1860.
His money was nearly gone, he having but thirty-five dollars to his name ; and
gold at that time was uncertain. He was too proud to go back home and be
counted a failure ; so he determined to go ^^'est. and was fortunate in meeting
two brothers named Hull, from Iowa, who were on their way to California.
He asked about coming with them, and when they said that they wanted
seventy-five dollars to take him through, Mr. Prell replied, "I have only
thirty-five dollars."' riiey then said, "You seem t(j be a good, honest boy,
and you can work out the balance when you get to California" ; and after
parting with his thirty-five dollars, he had but ten cents in his pocket. He
worked <luring the passage to pay for his meals, but walked all the way
from Denver, except al)out ten miles and when he was fording the streams and
rivers, in order to save the horses.

.\rri\-ing in California, Mr. Prell met a man wdio hired him to do some
placer mini* g on shares, his share to be one third of the amount washed out.
This he continued for six weeks, \vhen he drew his share, .'^144. He went to
the Hull Ijrothcrs. who had gone lo the \'aca valley, in Solano county, and
paid them the balance due; and then going to Santa Clara count\ . he worked
on a farm, plowing with a three-mule team and a walking ph.w all winter,
for thirtv riollars a month.

/H-

^, (^-e^^.

I)/U^ O/all

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 269

In 18(il .Mr. I'rell, with a cmnpany of six men, .started for Mexico to
seek .some cheap land ; hut when they got to a point opposite Yuma, .\riz.,
on the Colorado river, they found that the water was very high ; and as there
were no boats, these having been destroyed during war time, they could not
cross the stream ; so they turned back to Los Angeles. Mr. Prell intended
to return to San Jose, when he met a Frenchman who was looking for a man
who could mould bricks. \Mien he was informed by Mr. Prell that he coulddo
the work, he was hired on the spot for five dollars per day, and went to work.

Saving the money he thus earned, after paying expenses, this energetic
German-American went back to San Jose, bought a lease from a rancher and
began for himself. 1 le put in his crop; but the winter was so wet, with sixty-
six inches of rain, and the mustard so thick and high, that it pro\-ed too ex-
pensive to harvest, and he gave the crop, good though it was, to the owner of
the land to cancel his rent, losing $200 thereby. He was then that amount
worse off than nothing; so he went to work in the brickyards again. The fol-
lowing year he returned to farming and succeeded, continuing until 1866,
when, in October, he sold out and, having $2,200 in gold, decided to go back to
Indiana and visit his folks at South Bend. I\Ir. Prell, however, had had a taste
of California climate, as a result of which he did not like the cold winters of the
East. He also had become acquainted with his present w'ife, and they had
arranged to get married when he should get some land of his own. So he
went to southwestern Missouri, and in Jasper county bought three hundred
twenty acres for six dollars an acre, a farm Incated aI)Out sixty miles west
from Springfield.

.\t Raleigh, Mo., therefore. Air. Prell was united in marriage with
Miss ]-:iiza Bower, who was born September 16, 1846, at Massillon, O., a
(laughter of Hugh and Mary (Shook) Bower, of Scotch and German descent.
She had three brothers and two sisters ; but only herself and a brother, John J.
of Michigan, are living. Mrs. Prell had come from her home in South Bend,
Ind., to meet Air. Prell, and they were married on June 8, 1867. Her grand-
father, David Shook, w^as an officer in the War of 1812, and settled in Ohio
when there were but four houses in the town of Canton, Air. Shook was a
cabinet-maker by trade, and was often called upon to make coffins in those
early pioneer days, for which he received the sum of two dollars. Airs. Prell
remembers when they were made for two dollars and a half. Then under-
takers charged but fuc dnllars f(ir tlu-ir M,-rvices. Mrs. Prell left her home
and friends, where siic was surnauKkil with ni.my comforts. u< join the
man of her choice in tlie wilderness, and to her is due a great deal of credit f(5r
the part taken by them in the development of the resources of the \\ est.

During the Civil War, Jasper county as well as otiier sections had been
devastated by the contending armies, and houses and buildings iiad In-en
burned: Mr. Prell, tiierefore. ])lanted only seventy acres to grain, lie was
taken sick with malaria, fe\er ami ague, and being discouraged, lie solil out,
determining to get back to California, his land of opportunity. He and his
wife went to .\ew York and took a steamer to Panama, crossed the isthmus
and boarded the steamer "Golden Gate" for San {•"rancisco, going direct on
their arrival to Santa Clara county and to the same farm he had worked ])cfi;ire.
This land he leased and put in a croj) in 1868. He was still looking for a
location where he might settle down and get .some land very cheap ; so he
came down into the Santa Alaria \alley to prospect, and finally pre-empted one

270 SAX LUIS OlilSPO COUNTY AND EW'IROXS

liuiidred sixt\- acres, three miles soutlieast fnim what is now Santa Maria, j
made his Incatiim, went l)aci< to Santa Clara count}", settled his affairs and I
returned to his pre-emption about Xovember 1. 1868. He bought lumber for |
his house in San Luis Obispo, hauled it to his ranch with a six-horse team, j
mired down eight times, and had to unload three times before he finally got i
to his destination, lie erected a house, this lieing the first house built in j
the. settlement nutside of Guadalupe, \^"hat was often demanded of pioneers j
nia\ he judged from the fact that Mr. Lrell, having one more year to go j
with liis lease in the north, went back and put in twenty acres of barley for <
the 18(j'> crop, harvested it, and then, with his wife and baby, came to the j
valley in September, 1869, and moved into his house, which he had enlarged. j
In this section he has lived and prospered ever since. j

Ha^•ing■ saved some money, in 1882 he bought three hundred twenty |
acres of school land, and later added eighty acres more. In the year 1880 Mr. |
Prell raised over nineteen thousand centals of grain, two thirds wheat and j
the rest liarley. He plowed and sowed the land all alone, averaging twelve !
acres per day. This was his first real financial success. He began leasing \
land and for years was a large farmer, succeeding, as the time passed, in ]
getting together a snug fortune, so that now. in his old age, he has no !
worries to harass him, for he is independent. i

The four children in the family are John S.. a ci\il engineer of San Fran- j
CISCO ; Lillian, who married \\'. S. Cook and lives in Los Angeles with her |
four children, John A., Harry, Dewey D., and Dorothy : I^Irs. Blanche \'incent, !
a widow. wdTo. with one son, Eric \ ., lives with her parents and assists her |
mother in keeping house; and Laura, who died aged six }ears. I

In ]'>10 Mr. Prell retired from the ranch, bought a lot and erected his ,
pre->cnt tine bungalow home at the corner of Mill and Thornburg streets in I
.S.mta Maria, where he and his wife live, surrounded by every comfort. It '
was about this time that Mr. Prell made an extended trip back to Germany |
to see the country, where he found many changes since he lived there as a j
lad. He returned to California, more pleased than ever with the possibilities i
of his adopted state, for here he made his success.

Mr Prell cast his first vote at the election in Indiana when ."^chuyler ■
Lolfax was sent to Congress, thus having the satisfaction of seeing a man ;
elected for whom he cast his first ballot, and who later became \'ice-President \
when U. S. Grant was first elected. ;\Ir. Prell joined the Odd Fellows in ■
Indiana at this time, the degrees being cunferred upon him by Mr. Colfax, and j
he has been a member of the order fur fifty-nine _\ear>, nou- belonging to the
-Santa ^laria Lodge, Xo. 302. which he helped to organize and of which he is a i
charter member. He is also a charter member of Hesperian Lodge, Xo. 264, ',
1'. & .\. -M. He has always been interested in the cause of education, and for !
many years served as a trustee of Pleasant N'alley district, of which he was ;
one nf the organizers: and he did much by his influence to raise the standard ;
of the schools in the valley. I

Mr. Prell has accmnulated a com])etence through his oun efforts and by |
strictly honest deaiinvs uitli everybody. He has ever had a kindlv word ;
for tile discouraged and unfortunate, and has given towards all worthy causes
for those in tiire distress. He is as bright and alert as a man of fifty, makes
and retains friends, and with his wife, who has ever been a willing assistant,
can look back upon |>ioneer davs in this state and trulv sav that thev have

SAX I,UIS OBISPO COL'XTV AND l':X\l R( >\S 271

(idiu- their (lutw as tlicy ha\-e seen it, and may now enjoy a well-earned leisure,
surrounded hy a le^iim nf friends and well-wishers.

MARIA ZORADA KING.— To the women who have taken an active
interest in the upbuilding of the various interests nf the state, threat credit
should he given, especially to those women who. through famih' lies, repre-
sent the native Californian, and jjossess that grace- and ease of manner so
characteristic of the true Castilian. Among these is numbered .Mrs. Maria
Zorada King, a native of California, born in Santa liarbara, a daughter of Juan
P. and Benina (Xeito) Olivera. The former was Ijorn in Los Angeles, was
the owner of the Te])esquet rancho of nine thousand .acres, and died in Los
.\ngeles, aged ninety-three y-ears. His father. Thonias ( Hivera, was a native
(if Spain and was the first owner of the Tepesciuet rancho. which he afterwards
sold to Pacifico Ontiveros. He died at an advanced age.

Maria Z. Olivera, daughter of a proud Spanish family, receixed her edu-
cation in the grammar school and in the Sisters' College at Santa Barbara.
She was twice married, first in 1877, when she was wedded to Salvador
Ontiveros, who was born in Los Angeles in 1842. a brother of .Abraham
( )nti\eros, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. At one time he
i)eeame owner of fourteen thousantl acres of the Tepesquet rancho. by in-
heritance from his father and by purchase from his brothers and sisters.
Through the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Ontiveros, five children were born:
Sinicio L., who married, and died without children : Zorada G., wife of L. F.
Ifuglies, of Santa iXIaria : Fulgincio S.. rancher on the Tepesquet: Mona Ero-
linda, wife of Jack Portenstein of Los Angeles: and Ernest L., of Santa
.Maria. Mr. Onti\eros died in 1891. The second marriage united Mrs.
Onti\eros with Dr. .\rthur Morgan King, who w;is born in Missouri, prac-
ticed medicine and osteopathv for some vears. and died in .Santa Maria,
January 7. l''l.i.

Mrs. King has been a lifelong resident of S.mt.i l'.arh;ir,-i county, and
through her own family and by marriage with .Mr. ( )nti\ero^. reproents two
of the very oldest Spanish families in California. She has dexoted her life to
rearing her children and maintaining her home, is public-spirited t(j a marked
degree, and has a wide circle of friends in the count_\-. ."she .sold her interest
in the fourteen-thousanl-acre ranch and retired to a home in .Santa Maria at
-M.T l'"ast Main street, where she dispenses that gracious hospitality so char-
acteristic of the .Spanisli people.

LEVI EXLINE.— Xot every man is so happy in tiie selection of his
life-motto as Levi Exline, the ui)right, honest and reliable farmer and horli-
cnltnrist. and oldest settler of Oak Plat, whose motto is, "Do right, and it
will be right." Born in Coshocton county, not far from Zanesville, O., on
January 15, 1844. he was the son ..f Adam iCxline. a native of Pennsylvania,
born in the year 179.?, and a nienilur of an old \irginia family that removed
to Pennsylvania, and then to Indi.ina in 1845. .-\dam Exline settled in
a new and wild countr\ near w hcrt' Bloomfield, Greene county, Indiana, later
was founded. There he took up heavy timber land and became a wagon
maker, running a wagon and carriage shop: and in good, old-fashioned style
he cut his material from the hickory forest on his place and so successfully
seasoned the timber that his wagons seemed as if they never would wear out.
^ et he remained a ])oor man and died in modest circumstances, in 1862.
Levi's mother was Miss Christene Sauccrman, of Pennsvlvania German

272 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EWIROXS

parcntas-'c : she died in 1S78. She had nine children, but only two are living,
and Le\i i£xline is the only one in California; a brother, \\'illiam. lives in
Texas. The oldest brother, George A. Exline, served in the 85th Indiana
Regiment during the Ci\'il War. He was taken prisoner, and was confined
in Lil)by I 'rise m. He died at the did Hoosier home in (Irecne county, in
December. l''l(i.

Le\i Avas reared on the Indiana farm, from which in winters he attended
the local school with its log house, slab benches, and similar crude furnish-
ings, or lack of them. He was handy with tools, his father having a good set
of the necessary implements, and got such a helpful start in life that in
August, 1868, he left New York for California, then, as now, regarded by so
many Easterners as the Land of Promise. From New York he took the boat
to Aspinwall, and from there crossed the Isthmus by rail, proceeding north
along the coast on the steamship "Golden Age'' and arriving in San Francisco
in September, 1868, at the end of a twenty-five days' trip. He next went to
Sacramento and then to Eldorado county, where he remained two months;
and from there he journeyed to Paso Robles Hot Springs. After a year he
returned to Eldorado county, and spent the summer in mining; but having
a brother at Pasn Roldes, he came liack in 187.^ and pitched his tent along the
Salinas river.

Two years later he located on his present homestead, where he devel-
oped water: in Gallinas (Chicken) creek there seemed to be a sort of clay that
kept the water from ccmiing to the surface. When he located in this place it
was railroad land : but as the railroad had not done its part in the development
of the country, the land went back to the government. He was therefore eight
years proving up on his place three miles west from Paso Robles, at Oak
Plat. He made improvements on the one-hundred-sixty-acre claim, and then
he purchased another one hundred sixty acres. He cleared the land and
plowed it, raised hay and set out fruit, and now he has an orchard thirty-
five years old, still 1 tearing. He has had gardens, and has been a leader in
raising vcgetal)les and fruit, for his place is well adapted for apples, pears,
peaches and figs, and so well adapted that he has produced excellent fruit
without irrigatiiin. The. fig trees he once set out have grown to enormous
size, and now make a complete bower in front of his residence. The grape
vines, also, have grown to almost fabulous size, and he is now setting out
P>artlett pears and an almond orchard of forty acres.

In August. 1878, Levi Exline was married to Miss I'"ninia Stcme, who was
born at Lake Gene\a, in Wisconsin, the daughter of Samuel and Addie
(^larshall) Stone, natives of Long Island and Connecticut respectively, who
had moved west. The father was a moulder by trade. Mrs. Exline attended
school at X'isalia, and taught school, from fifteen until her marriage, ^^'ell-
]iosted on soil ;ind climate, ;is well as on \alucs, she started in the real estate
l>u-iiies-: and with her son-in-law, Mr. Woolm.in, she organized the Paso
Kohles Realty Co. lioth partners are conservative and conscientious, buying,
subdividing and selling lands, and doing an insurance business. They pur-
cliased, lor examjile, a three-ihousand-acre ranch in Monterey, and they have
also, aside fr(}ni the home ]ilace, a two-hundred-acre ranch at Paso Robles.
r.esides. tlity ha\ e ni.ide some good real estate deals. In 1913. alone, INIrs.
ICxline .sold lands to the value of $180,000. Four children bless this excellent
coui)!e: X'erne, a farmer on land adjoining the old home: Clyde, now Mrs.

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENMRONS 2~h

Louis Woolman, of Paso Robles ; Hazel, the pride of her husband, Mr.
Young, the Southern Pacific agent at Templeton ; and Bernice, who lives
at home. For twenty years Mr. ExHne has been a trustee of the school in
the Oakfield district.

WARREN C. BENNETT.— A man of wide business experience, with
a well-stored mind, and an agreeable conversationalist who wins you more
and more as you come to know him, is Warren C. Bennett, president of the
Citizens Bank of Paso Robles, a native of Waverly, ]Mich., whose father,
George H., was born in Devonshire, England, and came to the United States
in 1855, first locating in Hillside county, Mich. He had been a wheelwright
b\- trade, but on coming to Michigan began contracting and building flour
mills, residing at Waverly, Van Buren county, and later in Allegan. At first
he built the old buhr mills, but wdien the new roller process came into vogue,
he became agent for the Nordyke and Marmian roller process, as well as
for the La Felle water-wheel, and built the improved form of mill all over
tlie Southern Peninsula of Michigan. On Washington's birthday, 1859, he
was married at Jonesville, ]\Iich., to Miss Jane Brain, a native of Birming-
liam. England, and the daughter of Richard Brain, a brick-mason, who was
a noted builder of the very tall chimneys abounding in the manufacturing
ci^'uters of England. He brought his family to Michigan and settled on a
farm near Jonesville. Six of their seven children are still living.

During the Civil War, Warren's father, with true patriotism, volun-
teered to join a Alichigan regiment, but was rejected. He then volunteered
his services for construction work, and was long engaged by the Federal
Government to build liridges in the South. In 1886, he joined his son, War-
ren, who had located in Tulare county, California, and a year later he came
to Paso Robles, where he busied himself as a builder until he retired. In
1916, he removed to San Jose, and there he and Mrs. Bennett now make their
residence.

The fourth eldest of the children born to this worthy couple, and one
of five who have come to California, Warren Bennett was born July 7, 1864,
and was reared in Allegan, where he received a high school education.
He selected the moulder's trade, and completed an apprenticeship in the Alle-
gan Foundry, where he became the foreman. A year later, however, desiring
another field of activity, he began the study of pharmacy, taking a clerkship
in a drug store of that town, where he continued until 1885. Then he located
at Traver, Tulare county. The place at that time was a live city and an
important shi]jping point with large warehouses; and ho soon enjoyed consid-
erable prosperity as the manager of a drug store and as an assistant under
Postmaster Rockwell.

In the fall of 1888, he came to Paso Robles to engage in the apothecary
line: and leasing the corner at Twelfth and Park streets, he erected there a
handsume building. On January 1, 1889, he opened the drug store long so
favorably identified with his name, and from the first met with exceptional
success. Se\en years later, finding that he could not buy the lot, he moved
the building andstore to the middle of the block on Twelfth street between
Park and Pine, and there continued business. The People's Drug Store
was popular, and his expert knowledge of medicine and drugs was fully
appreciated by his fellow-townsmen, as a result of which Mr. Bennett hail a
large and lucrative patronage.

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EXVIROXS

In June, 1910. he completed a new brick block on the same site — a two- i

story btiilding, 50x80 in size, with provision for stores and offices. The old \

store was moved again, this time to Pine street, between Twelfth and Thir- j

teenth, and there, still a good strticture, it is used for business purposes. ]

On December 14. 1914, ]\Ir. Bennett sold his drug trade and good-will— j

and seldom did that old-fashioned phrase mean more to a successor — and i

since then he has been devoting all of his time to his other varied interests, i

Always a promoter of business enterprises, he was one of the organizers, i

in 1S"2. (if the Citizens Bank of Paso Robles. in 1893 becoming a director I
and still later vice-president. Since 1904 he has been popular as the bank's

\ery progressive president, for under his wise supervision and that of the '

cashier, Al. Pfister, the bank has been made the strongest financial institu- I

tion in northern San Luis Obispo County, as also one of the strongest in |

the county. Alden Anderson had come to them when the Bank of Paso [

Roliles was in sore straits and implored them to take it over. Mr. Bennett I

said that he did imt want his stockholders to lose twenty thousand dollars i

or more, much as he desired to save them, and told him that he and his asso- ;

ciates would liquidate the bank free of charge. Finally, through Anderson's j

persuasion, the bank examiners took it over with a guarantee against a loss i

not greater than ten thousand dollars. This was done, and in due time the I

depositors of the liank of Paso Robles were paid one hundred cents on the i

dollar. It is needless to say that the bank enjoys the confidence of the people j

for its conservative policy and its consequent substantiality. For many years i

the Citizens Bank has maintained a branch at San Miguel, and the increase |

in business there has necessitated the erection of a new concrete mission- 1

style bank building, which was begun early in 1''17. Air. Ijcnnett. with two '

or three others, organized the First Xational Bank of King City, with a •

capital of sixty thousand dollars, he becoming a director and vice-president. ;

So well has the bank been established that there are already over one hundred i

thirty stockholders in southern ^^lonterey county, and a modern concrete ■

building has been erected at a cost of twenty thousand dollars. '■

For years ;\Ir. Bennett has been engaged in farming, and he is the owner i

of several desirable tracts of land. One is a grain ranch near Estrella, and •

two ranches near Paso Robles are devoted to raising fruit. He is subdividing ;

two hundred sixty-seven acres adjoining the city and is setting out almond '

trees. A large ranch devoted to raising cattle, located fifty miles from ;
Klamath Falls, Ore., and a farm near Aberdeen, Bingham county, Ida., are
also owned by him.

At r-'ort Klamath. Mr. Bennett was united in marriage with }ilrs. Anna '

Randolph (Wrightj Sillsliy, a native of Edwardsvillc, 111., and a daughter \
of Dr. J. S. Wright, who practiced his profession there and at Xewton, la.,

dying at the latter place. Her mother was ]\Iary Isabelle Randolph, a native '>

of Illinois and a descendant of the \"irginia Randolphs. ^Irs. Bennett re- i

ceived a liberal education, specializing in music under Professor Biichel, a ,

Leijisic graduate, after which she taught music. In 1889 she removed to '

Oregon, and in 1897 to California, still teaching voice and piano most of the ■
time. Becoming interested in library work, she accepted the position of

librarian at the Carnegie library in Paso Robles and later in San Luis Obispo. ;
Mr. I'.ennett lias served as trustee of Paso Robles and also as mayor, and

durnig liis term ijic new lil)rarv building was erected. Fraternallv he is a ,

SAX LUIS OBISPO COLXTY VXD EXVIROXS 277

:\Iason, and is a member of Paso Robles Lodge Xo. 2SS, F. & A. .\1., and
has served as master two terms. Mrs. Bennett is a member of the Daughters
of the American Revolution.

CHRISTIAN KORTNER.— From the picturesque mountains of Xorway
have come many of the best citizens of this section of California, and the
Santa Maria \alley has its quota of these admirable Scandinavian men and
women, whose special field has ever been the sea and soil. They have a
native spirit of honesty, and love of home and fellow men, traits of character
that enable them, when they are transplanted to America, to rank among the
most desirable citizens.

Such a man is Christian Kortner, now li\ing retired, with his son James,
on a part of the Arellanes ranch, three miles west of Orcutt. He was born
at Porsgrund, Xorway, January 14, 1845, and while a youth went to sea, as
did his father before him. For seven years Christian Kortner w-as a sailor ;
and having touched at the port of Xew York, he shipped on the "Twilight,"
an American vessel, around the Horn for San Francisco, arriving there in
1868. Leaving the ship, he went to work in Alameda county on a ranch and
remained there for two years; and then he mnvcd to the San Joaquin valley,
where he stayed for a like period.

Four years were spent in Monterey county, ranching, after which he i)Ut
in the years 1877-78 in Colusa county. Nine more years were spent in San
Luis Obispo County in the vicinity of Nipomo, where finally he located on the
Tepesquet in the Santa !Maria valley, settling on a ranch in the fall of 1891.
lie first farmed two hundred fifteen acres, then leased land wherever he could
do so with profit, and soon became one of the largest grain ranchers in the
valley, locating on his present ranch in 1913.

In Alay, 1887, ^Ir. Kortner was united in marriage with Mrs. Maria
(Hanson) Petersen, a native of Denmark who, by a former husband, had four
children : Ellen, who is Mrs. George Tunnell of Santa ^laria ; Rasmus, who
died in 1910; and Maria and James. (Jf tlie union with Mr. Kortner, the fol-
lowing children were born: Olga, wife nf Walter I'.llinu of Hrcutt ; and
Laura, Christian, and Henry.

In politics, Mr. Kortner votes the Democratic ticket: in religion, he is a
member of the Lutheran Church ; as a friend of education, he has always
supported the iniblic schools ; and he is interested in exery movement for the
uplift of humanity.

JAMES KORTNER.— An up-to-date, aggressive, progressive rancher
and a native son of the state, James Kortner was born on his father's ranch
in San Luis Obispo County, near Nipomo, October 27, 1885, a son of Chris-
tian Kortner (whose sketch appears on this page) and his wife, IMaria.
He has under lease about sixteen hundred acres of the Arellanes ranch,
tiiree hundred fifty acres of which he farms, while he sub-leases three hun-
dred acres, and on the balance, which is hill and pasture land, he runs cattle,
Mr. Kortner is a large bean and stock raiser, being very successful with both.

-After leaving the pul)lic school, James Kortner at once went to work for
his lather, and at an early age became familiar with the various branches of
farm work. Being also naturally of a mechanical turn of mind, he acquired
inucji skill in the running of farm machinery, which has come into good use
111 the later years.

278 SAX LUIS OlilSPO COUXTY AXI) EX\'IROXS

Besides ranch interests, he runs a bean-threshing outfit consisting of a
\'entura 26-32 separator, Mogul gasoline tractor engine of the 8-16 class, and
six wagons with beds especially built for harvesting beans — the whole repre-
senting an inxestnient of about $2,600. In the threshing season he employs
twenty men.

During the 3'ears Air. Kortner has been operating his threshing outfit
and ranch, he has built up a reputation for square dealing and efficient service.
He is a booster for Santa Maria valley and environs, supports all uplifting
movements and has won a large circle of friends, who admire his many ad-
mirable characteristics.

SAMUEL GRAY. — Beginning life a poor boy, with but little to look for-
ward to in the way of more than the ordinary comforts of life, Samuel Gray
has grown rich far beyond his expectations when he settled on a ranch of
one hundred sixty acres in the Santa Maria valley. He has also grown in the
esteem of his fellow men, and with an untarnished record for integrity and
square dealing is living in the enjoyment of a well-earned rest. Samuel Gray
was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1861, a son of James and Alary Ann
(Boyd) Gray, both of whom were born, lived and died in their native land,
the father passing away in his sixty-fifth year. The grandfather, Robert
Gray, a farmer, reached the age of four score ere he answered the final call.
Besides Samuel, two brothers — Robert, a farmer near Belfast, Ireland, and
Michael, in Xew York state — and a sister, Alary Jane Bryson, also in New
A'ork state, comprised the household of James Gray and his wife.

Samuel Gray attended the sub»iiption schools in Ireland, was reared on
a farm, and at the age of t\\cnty-t\\. . w as united in marriage with Aliss Jennie
McKeen. Soon after, the yming people sailed for America on their wedding
journey, in search of a location where they might settle down and make a
home and enjoy privileges that were not offered in their native land. Arrivin.s:
in the United States, they settled in Allegheny, Penn., where Air. Gray got
work in the harvest fields, binding wheat at a salary of nineteen dollars a
month. His next place of employment was in the Allegheny rolling mills,
and later he was employed in a pottery, and in 1881 in marble works.

With the able assistance of his good wife, he saved some money from
his earnings, antl in 1882 they started for California, the land of promise, in-
tending td get a little farm and take up agriculture as a more satisfactory
wa3' ol making a li\-ing and laying aside for a "rainy" day. Arriving in San
Luis C)bisi)o County, Air. Gray worked for wages on various ranches in order
to become familiar with the farm methods used by Californians ; and the pay
being good and expenses only nominal, he was able in time to purchase one
hundred sixty acres of cheap land where the town of Orcutt now stands,
little (h-eaming that underneath the sml la}- wealth that in a few years would
net him a fcirtune.

Alter the discovery of dil, Air. Gray laid mit what is known as Gray's
a<lditi(in, at ( )rcutt, an(i finally he snld out. This was but the beginning of his
pros])erity. brum time to time he bought land, and now he owns two valuable
ranches in SaiUa ilarliara county, and one large ranch of 2960 acres in San
Luis 01)is])ii L'ouiUy. On one of the former, he has a fine artesian well which
.greatly eiilianees the \alue of the iirojierty. Air. Gray has speculated in oil
to some extent, and the proceeds from this source have netted him a small
fortune.

'^^^ ^ W B'^vd'f^'

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 281

Notwithstanding- his activities in oil and real estate, he has given of his
time and means to further the upbuilding of Santa Barbara and San Luis
Obispo Counties. He is a friend of education ; and by his service as trustee
of the Agricola district, he has done much to elevate the standard of the
school, serving in 1916 as president of the board. I\Ir. and Mrs. Gray are
members of tlie Presbyterian Church in Santa Maria and are liberal con-
tributors towards all worthy charities. Mr. Gray is a firm believer in the
future greatness of the state. He is a kindly, agreeable, large-hearted man ;
and during his long residence in the county he has won a large circle of
friends.

From the union of Mr. and Mrs. Gray, several children have been born:
Robert married Miss Marian Reed and is ranching in Santa Barbara county ;
Annie married Jack Shannon and lives in Oakland ; David is at home, assist-
ing his father on the ranch ; Sadie married Ale.x Fee, and lives in San Fran-
cisco; Thomas and John are on the hrmie ranch; and Jeanie, Airs. Merritt,
lives in Santa Maria.

MRS. HARRIET ESTHER EXLINE.— During the long association of
the E.xline family with San Luis Obispo County no name has been more famil-
iar in the section about Paso Robles than that of Mrs. Harriet Esther Exline.
She was born in Will county. 111., a daughter of Elvin Kendrick W^arner, a
native of Vermont, born at the foot of the Green Mountains, and descended
from Col. Seth AVarner of Revolutionary fame. The father moved to ^\■is-
consin and located in Fond du Lac, where he commanded a three-master on
the Fox river. He served in the 5th Wisconsin Regiment during the Civil
War, after which he removed to Iowa and farmed near Newton, Jasper
county, until he died. His wife was Adeline Garrett, born in New York and
descended from the Howlands, a prominent old York State family. She
died in Newton, la., leaving four children, three now living. Milton C.
makes his home with Mrs. Exline ; Harriet Esther is the subject of this
review; Archibald G. is auditor for a railroad and resides in Des Aloines, la.;
and Elvin died in Watsonville, Cal.

Mrs. Exline was educated in the public schools and Hazeldell Academy,
from which she was graduated; and soon after, September 27, 1881, she mar-
ried William H. Exline. He was born in Eldorado county, Cal., in 1859, the
son of Bernard Exline, also represented in this w<Trk. and was educated
in the public schools of California and Iowa, later attending the ila/.eldell
Academy.

After their marriage the young ])eo])le came to California in 1882, and
settled on the ranch that is now the home of Mrs. Exline, where they
engaged in ranching, successfully raising stock and grain until .Mr. Exline
died, June 7, 1886, near Paso Robles. Mr. Exline took an active interest in
public matters, serving his community both as road overseer and as constable.
Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Exline has carried on the ranch work
herself, with business ability and tact, and lias been very successful.
She has devoted her entire time and attention to the details of the
ranch and to bringing up her four cliildren. l-"or many years she
conducted a dairy and had a milk route in Paso Robles. but gave her
attention chiefly to hay, grain and cattle. She has sold ofT some of the
land and now retains one hundred sixty acres, devoted to farming, be-
sides which she owns residence property in Paso Robles on Park street.

282 SAX Ll'IS OniSPO COL'XTY AXD EXMROXS

She is a Republican and much interested in the prosperity of the country.
She has had to make her own way in the world since the death of her husband,
and that she has succeeded financially is well evidenced. Her four children
are Ada Belle, now Mrs. Riley of Long Beach ; William T., the cattle buyer
in Paso Robles : Vesta lona, wife of Ray Benadon ; and Alice Henrietta, wife of
Joseph Brown, the latter couple both residents of Paso Robles.

Much credit should be given to women who, like Mrs. Exline, when
the mantle of grave responsibility falls upon them, take up their task bravely
and unflinchingly. She not only succeeded in keeping her property intact
and making a success of her farming enterprise, but she also reared and
educated her family of four children. She is liberal and charitable to a
marked degree : and by her kindly ([ualities, coupled with her amiable manner,
she has endeared herself to her many friends, who admire her for her sterling
worth.

An excellent idea of ]\Irs. Kxline's literary work, and evidence of her
patriotic sentiment^, may be had from her poem entitled "California."

CALIFORNIA.

It may not be ringing through song and through story.
What magic would hasten the world to our fold;

But nature's own queen in her temple of glory
Has written the secret on tablets of gold.

She tells to the world of a land where December

Is garish with flowers and dainty with ferns.
Where summer dies not with the dying Sei^tember,

But garlands with roses our holiday urns.

^^■hen nature baptizes anew from her fountains,

(lur summer is ended and springtime begun,
While winter's white plumes lie asleep on the mountains,

Unmarked 1)y a footstep, unmoved by the sun.

The pink and white blossoms of springtime keep shifting,
.\nd summer's soft smiles greater riches unfold,

.And the languorous poppy, her yellow crown lifting.
Sees all the green valleys changed slowly to gold.

Tile air is so pure that a weary de Leon

-Might dream that his fountain was spraying <^ur clime,

\\'hile silver-voiced liirds trill a musical paeon.
And nature re-echoes the chorus sublime.

^ praises keep ringing.

-torv shall tell,

the font of the singing:
-, and thou shalt be well.

ly. their nature enchained them,
he won fr(ini each breast;
■n through love has proclaimed them
, of the fair Golden West.

And louder, stil

Till ocean Ir,

What new Me.-<

1 Ion

Drink thou ol

its

When gold calL
And willini; a
While pride in

I'd til
lle-i;
her <

SAX LL'IS UlJISro COL-.XTY AXU EX\'IROXS 283

HIRAM TAYLOR. — It does not take some men long to move, especially
when a matter of public welfare is up fur consideration, as was shown some
years ago when Hiram Taylor concluded that the old street car line, which
had been operated by horse-power from the Mud Baths at Paso Robles
to the Hot Springs Hotel and on to the depot, two miles and more, had
become an eye-sore which should be removed for the l)eauty of the town.
The rails stood above or below the level of the street, as the case might be,
and yet the citizens had tried in vain to get rid of the oljstruction. While
performing civic duties, as a member of the town board, Mr. Taylor found that
a quarter interest in the railway was owned by a man in Paso Robles, who
would not consent to the rails being removed, as he hoped therel^y to keep the
franchise alive and so to facilitate its sale to advantage. He also found that
the other three-cjuarter interest was held in Los Angeles, but for the very
small sum of five hundred dollars. Without delay or ado, Air. Taylor went
south and purchased a majority of the stock, returned and announced his
possession, at the same time declaring that he would refuse to operate the
road; whereupon the holder of the minor interest agreed to let the city tear
up the car tracks -and to place the rails and ties on a vacant lot. The pro-
gressive citizen, through whose enterprise and generosity Paso Robles thus
rid itself of a standing annoyance, was born in Santa Rosa, Sonoma county,
on September 29, 1854, the son of Alexander Taylor, a native of Illinois,
who had come to Kno.x county, ]\Io., and from there, al:)out 1849, had crossed
the plains with ox teams to the gold diggings in California. Two years later
.\lexander Taylor returned East, by way of Panama, to his wife, formerly
Miss Keziah Snellon, a nati\e of Kentucky, and their three small children.
In 1853, he once more traversed the plains, stopping only when he reached
the new settlement of Santa Rosa, where he hauled rails for the first fence
in the town. For four years he ranched there, and then moved on to Oat
Valley, north of Cloverdale. The place had become a station for freighters,
and Mr. Taylor saw his opportunity to start a hotel. .\ few years after-
ward he went to Point Arena, in Mendocino county, where he engaged in
getting out trees for posts, ties, shingles, shakes and lumber, much of which
was shipped by boat to San Francisco. On his return to Cloverdale, he con-
tinued farming until 1869, when he removed to San Miguel, where he pre-
empted a hundred sixty acres of land and homesteaded another parcel of the
same amount on the ^Monterey and San Luis Obispo County line, which he
sold at the end of about ten years. His next location was in Slack's Canon,
now Stone Canon, iii Monterey county, and there he took up the work of
i stock-raising until he retired. His wife died at the age of sixty-seven : and
1 thereafter he resided with his daughter, Mrs. R. S. Cruess, at Indian Valley,
I until his death, at the age of seventy-one. Xine children were born to them,
, and of this number two are living: the subject of our sketch and a l)rother.
: James, who is serving his fifth term as county treasurer of Monterey counly.
' Hiram Taylor, or "Hi'' Taylor, as he is familiarly called, was brought

"P on a farm. His education was confined to six months in all, school ad-
vantages in those days being limited. He still remembers the school near
I his father's homestead, on the present site of McKay Station, and the
[ description of it is full of interest today. It was the first school built there.
and was constructed through the elevation of a top rail placed around in a
■ circle in accordance with the size n( tiie room desired, and the stacking up

284 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD EXVIROXS

against it of brush, (ni all sides, instead of a wooden or other wall. Boxes
were used instead of benches and seats ; and there was no roof over the struc-
ture. \\'hen the hastily improvised room was not wanted for school purposes,
it was called into requisition as a meeting place for divine worship. Lucretia
Morehouse, now jMrs. Finle}^ of Paso Robles, was the first teacher.

His father having lost practically all he possessed, Hiram worked out to
help the family along, mostly in the saddle, riding the range. In April, 1876,
he drove a bunch of cattle through for J. C. Austin, from Parkfield to Arizona,
and there ran them on the range on shares until he sold them in Septemljer,
1877, and returned to his home. In the following year Hiram and his two
brothers, James and W'iseman, started a cattle-raising enterprise, putting
their stock out to graze in Stone Canon. There W'iseman was accidentally
killed, and then Hiram and James continued the business until 1898, when
they dissolved partnership. Until August 13, 1904, Hiram raised stock in
Stone Canon. During this time he accumulated a ranch of eighteen hundred
acres in one body in Stone Cafion, stocking it w^ith cattle, of which he some-
times had as many as fifteen hundred head, and raising droves of hogs. He
extended his range until it took in some three thousand acres.

About 1890, he set up in the butcher business in Salinas. He chose the
design of a window sash for his brand ; and under this unicpie symbol his
cattle became famous. His place was known as the old Smith Ranch, because
it had been bought from a man named Smith. In 1904 he leased out the
ranch, and sold the stock ; and two years later he sold the ranch. In 1904,
also, he located in Paso Robles and engaged in the liver}' and feed stable
business. He built a large stable on Pine street l^etween Thirteenth and
Fourteenth, and remained proprietor of the establishment until 1911, when
he sold the investment.

Since then he has been in the cattle business as raiser, dealer and shipper,
in partnership with H. S. Cahill ; and together they leased the Sargent Ranch
at Bradley, in ]\Ionterey county, conducting the same under the name of
Taylor & Cahill. This ranch comprises fifteen thousand acres on the Salinas
river ; and in order to secure sufficient stock for their range, they brought
cattle from other parts of the county when drought or other conditions
enabled them to buy to advantage. From Alexico, for example, they brought
train load after train load, some trains containing fifty or more cars; and
when they had fattened the cattle on the range, they sold them in the mar-
kets of San Francisco and Los Angeles. In 1915. they brought a train load
of cattle from Nevada, and again two shipments from that state in 1916.

Air. Taylor has owned various properties in Paso Robles, but most of
these he has finally disposed of. Several years ago he was one of the organ-
izers of the Paso Robles Pharmacy, and the company erected a building
for their drug store ; later they sold the business and in 1917 disposed of
the building. He was a member of the board of trustees, for one term, of
the cit}- of Paso Robles, and previously served as a school trustee in Slack's
Canon. lie was a prime mover in building the Athletic Park in Paso Robles,
which adds much to the attraction of the town. With three others, he laid
out the grounds, built the grand stand and graded the diamond; and when
the park was opened in 1911, as one of the finest in the state, it was dedicated
with a genuine "Wild West" show, of which he was master of ceremonies.
.•\ free barbecue, for which half a dozen sriant steers wore slaU2:htered, added

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUXTV AND EXAIROXS 287

to the popularity of the occasion and completed the success. Four years
later, wheil Mr. Taylor desired to retire from the management, the Chamber
of Commerce was glad to assume responsibility for the pleasure grounds.

In the old mission town of San Luis Obispo, March 8, 1895, Hiram Tay-
lor was married to Miss Alicia Alay Azbell, who was born at San Emidio,
Kern county. She was a daughter of Newton Azbell, a pioneer of California
who crossed the plains with his parents in 1850. Grandfather Azbell died of
cholera en route, and his widow brought the family through to California.
Xewton Azbell was married at Cambria to Eliza Davis, a native of Oregon,
a daughter of George and Alicia (Sumnerj Davis, who are represented else-
where in this work. Xewton Azbell was a pioneer farmer in San Luis Obispo
and later in Monterey county. He died in July, 1903, and his wife, Xovember
11, 1912. .Mrs. Taylor was educated in the public schools of Indian Valley and
at San Miguel. Two children, Grace Helen and Carl Hiram, have been born
tLi Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, and have contributed to the proud parents' popu-
larity both in the town with which he has been so long identified, and in the
inner circles of the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, of which he is
an honored and valued member.

ALDEN BRADFORD SPOONER.— The sterling personal character-
istics, accompanied by unquestioned executi\e ability, which have placed
Alden Bradford Spooner among the foremost citizens of San Luis Obispo
County, have been correspondingly exemplified in a worthy and enviable
ancestry, variously represented among the history-makers of the world. He
was born in Lorain, O., September 9, 1851, a son of Alden Bradford Spooner,
Sr., who was a native of ^Maine, having been born at Bangor on June 6, 1824.

The elder Spooner attended school but a short time, and at the age of
fourteen joined the U. S. Xavy and sailed around the globe in the old ship
"Constitution,'' taking three and one half years to make the trip. Upon his
return to the home port, he left the salt water and sailed the Great Lakes ;
and while engaged there, on July 11, 1848, he was united in marriage with
Kuxanna Gilmore, who was born in the town of Lorain, November 29,
1S31. She came from a distinguished family. Her oldest brother, Gen.
Ouincy A. Gilmore, for example, a teacher at West Point, published a book
on cement that is today a standard work. He also constructed the first
ritled cannon invented, called the "Swamp Angel," which could carry a shell
seven miles. ^Irs. Spooner died December 19, 1898. at an advanced age, and
was mourned by her family and a wide circle of friends who esteemed her
fur her fine character and her kindly acts.

•After his marriage, Mr. Spooner left the sea and started business for
himself at rigging up vessels. He also began, at Lorain, Ohio, to study fur
tlie ministry of the ]\lethodist Church. After his ordination he came W est
and landed in San Francisco, where he remained but a short time, after which
he was sent to Crescent City, Del Norte county, where he preached the
Gospel for a time. From there he went to Portland, Oregon, and thence to
( >regon City, once more returning to Crescent City in California. His next
charge was at Rohnerville. Humboldt county. I'rom there he came south to
Chico, Butte county, and one year later, on account of the ill health of his
youngest daughter, who was suffering with malaria, he came to San Luis
Obispo County. He was the first preacher sent by tlie Metluulist Conference
to preach in this countv, and held services in Cambria and in .\rroyo Grande

288 SAX Ll'IS OlUSl'O COUNTY AXl) F.WIROXS

fill- two years, lie had pre-empted land on 1'i)r<) creek, and here he began
dexelopment tu make a lidme tor his family. During- the rest of his life he
was a local preacher.

He also assisted in ])ilotini^- \-essels into Aiorro Hay. and it was while he
was thus engaged that he lost his life. He had gone out to meet a vessel, the
"Alary Taylor," when a big swell upset the small boat he was in and he was
drowned. T'ehruary 3, 1877. His death was a severe loss to the family and to
the cnunty. where he had made his influence felt for the advancement of gen-
eral conditiiins. lie was a charter member of Chorro Lodge, No. 168, I. O.
( ). I-"., which he assisted in organizing. He and his wife had seven children
horn til them, five of whom are now living. The oldest daughter, Roxanna.
died at the age of five years in Ohio; Alden B., Jr., of this review, was the
ne.xt in order of birth; X'ettie is the wife of James Jordan; David R. lives
in San Jose: Elizabeth married (.'apt. Jdhn Ross of San Francisco; Cornelius
(i. is of Aiorro; and Edmund L. died July 17, 1908, leaving three children.
l"rom the date of his arrival in California in 1858 until the time of his death
in 1877. Reverend Spooner was one of the best-known citizens of the coast
section. He was unselfish in his zeal to help mankind and counted n(] jcjurney
too long to visit and comfort the afiflicted.

.■\lden B. Spooner, Jr., a worth}- son of his father, was iirought to Cali-
fornia by his parents wdien a lad of se\en, and he attended the public
schools in the various places where the family lived during the years his
father preached the C.ospel under direction of the Conference. In 1868
he accompanied them tn San Luis Obispo County and attended the first
public schiiol held in the comity, in a log house built on San Simeon creek.
At the age of nineteen, his school days over, he rented his father's ranch on
Toro creek and for the following two years was engaged in farming.

PVom the ranch, he went to San F"rancisco, where he hired out to A. H.
Rockwell, the celebrated horse trainer of Xew York, and traveled o\"er the
state with him, after which he was engaged with Rockwell & Hulbert to
go to I'ortland. Oregon. He boarded the steamer "Pacific." but could not
agree on the salary he was to receixe, and went ashore. It seemed that
S(.ime kind Providence had intervened to save the young man. for on the
trip the steamer was sunk with all on board. Air. Spooner went into the
livery business in San Francisco on Alission street, near the Palace Hotel,
remained a short time, and then sold out and came back to San Luis Obispo
County and ti " ik up farming near Aiorro. whicii he folUiwed for several
years with success. Wdiile he was living in that section he served six years
as ro.-id master, his term expiring in \S')2.

It was at that date that he leased sixty-five hundred acres of the Pecho
ranch, lacing the ocean, and engaged in dairying and raising stock. So
successful was he that in I'Oi he was able to buy the land; and he has added
on from time tn time unid he w\\ owns eight thousand acres, with six miles
of ocean frduta^e, which he c>iierates with the aid of liis three sons under the
name of the I'echo Ranch and Stock C"o., an inc( irp<iration with himself as
president. .Mden 11. . Jr.. vice-iiresident. and Ouincy (1.. secretary, h'or the
])ast twent\-five years Air. Spooner has been raising, buying, selling and
dealing in stock, running about five hundred head of cattle and large num-
bers of hogs, lie began on a small scale, about fifteen years ago, to breed
U]) tu a high sl.-mdard <<i llolsteins. and now has scime of the finest cattle
to be seen in the counlx. W here he has led. others have foll,nved. and the

SAX LUIS OlilSl'O CULXTV AXD EXVIROXS 289

tirade of stock has been improving for years. He has been a horse fancier
ami has raised some fine animals during the past years. The dairy house on
the ranch is modern in equipment, the machinery is operated by steam power,
and the most sanitary methods are in use. The building is of concrete and the
dair\- includes about fifty high-grade Holstein cows. The two silos on the
place ha\e demonstrated their worth and have a capacity of one hundred
ei.uiity tons each. The ranch is nicely located in a cove where it is ])ro-
tected from the winds off the ocean: and buihiinns and surroundings are Uejit
in fine shape.

Since becoming a permanent resident of San Luis Obispo County, Mr.
Spooner has entered into the spirit of progress of the western country, has
witnessed the development of the Pacific Coast country from Portland to
San Diego, and has often had a part in the upward trend. He is a Re-
publican in politics, a friend of education and a believer in a high standard
of schools, and served as trustee of Morro district and as clerk of the board
for years. He is a charter memi)er (jf Cayucos Lodge, 1. O. ( ). V., and has
passed all the chairs.

Mr. Spooner was united in marriage, .\|)ril LS, 1881, witii Miss Alary
I'lnrcnce White, a native daughter; and they became parents of three sons:
Quincy Gilmore, Carleton Ross, and Alden liradford, Jr. Mrs. Spooner died in
February, 1898, mourned by all who knew her. Mr. Spooner is a man of
l)road education, is an intelligent tra\eler. and is familiar with the state his-
tory, in which he is much interested. He has been a lil)eral su])i)orter of .all
moxements for the benefit of the iienplc and state, and is known as a man
whose word is as good as his bond.

FRED WICKENDEN.— One nf the .ddest men now living in the Santa
Maria valley, both in point of years and in length of residence in this section
of the state, is Fred \\'ickenden of Foxen cafuin in the vicinity of Los Ala-
nins. He was born at Portsmouth, England, Xovemljer 18, 1825, and was
reared at Chicliester, where he received hi>- sclumling. after which he was
iiffered a pMsitiou a-- a draughtsman to assist in hnildiug the lir>i .South
.\nierican railway running from Lima ti' Cill.io. IV-ru. lie u.is also offered
a position as secretary to ..m' of tlic capCiin^ of ;i sailing \-essel that was
going on an exploring expedition with Sir John I'ranklin — which expedition
later came to grief when the vessels were wrecked, .\fter considering both
propositions, Mr. W'ickenden decided that he did not have the (pialifications
to hold the latter position, and so went to Peru. He left {•England, March 17,
I8.1O, arri\ed at Ciorgona in due time, then took a canoe up the Chagres
river as far as they could go and from there rode on the ])ack of a native to
Panama. On reaching his destination he entered into the work with zest, and
was made manager with five hundred nun inider him. l-"or a time he em-
Iilnyed an inter])reter, but after a few months he could speak Spanish as well
as the natives, and thereafter dispensed with his services.

When, at the end of two years, the road was completed, Mr. W'ickenden
left I'eru for California, induced to make the trip on account of the gold
excitenieiu that had spread to all |)arts of tlie world: and he arrived in this
state in 18.^2.

' 'n his arri\al in San I'rancisco. he went at once to tiie mines along the
^ "ha ri\er. but staved onh a short time, as the heavv rains had caused

290 SAX LUIS DBISPO COLXTV AXD EXXIROXS

floods that washed out the sluice l:)oxes. thereby renderini; niiniiiL;' impossible.
He therefore found himself once more in San i-"rancisco, and some time later
he came down to San Luis Obispo County, where he engaged in the sheep
business.

It was while at that place that he became acquainted with William
Foxen, also an Englishman, who had settled in Santa Barbara county at an
early date and was engaged in raising stock, and after whom Foxen canon
was named. Mr. W'ickenden became interested in one of Mr. Foxen's
daughters, Ramona, and on July 16, 1860, they were married, at the old
mission at San Luis Obispo. It was her father, known after he had embraced
the Catholic religion as A\ illiam Domingo, who came to California as master
of a sailing vessel, and left his ship when he saw opportunities for trading
with the natives. Building a sailing boat known as the "Goleta,'" at a place
that now bears that name in Santa Barbara county, he did a coastwise business
from San Diego to San Francisco, buving an<l exchanging goods for hides and
tallow, which were stored until the -liip- from aero..-, the ocean called for
them. Soon after his arrival, he married Senorita I'duarda Osuna, w^hose
grandmother came from the city of that name in Spain. 'Mr. Foxen estab-
lished a general inerchandise store on the rancho he had come to own. con-
sisting of some eight thousand acres. He began the stock business, and in
time his herds numbered thousands, and he became a wealthy man for his day.
At the time of his death he left each of his children over eight hundred acres
of land as their share of the estate. IMore complete mention of him is made
in the sketch of T. F. Foxen on another page of this w'ork.

In 1862 Fred W ickenden and his wife became residents of Santa Barbara
county ; and since that time he has carried on an extensive stock-raising busi-
ness with good financial success. Residing in Foxen caiion all these years,
he has grown to be one of the best-known men in this part of the state.
To Mr. and ]\Irs. AX'ickenden nine children were born. X\'. F. \\ ickenden, who
died in 1915 at the age of fifty-four, was the oldest. He was engaged in the
grocery business in San Luis Obispo, until his retirement to private life.
He married Maggie Sauer, and with her six children she survives him at
San Luis Obispo. The second son, James D., died in 1899, aged thirty-five.
.\lbert I', married Emma Castro, and has four children. He is now president
of the X\' ickenden Corporation, and resides in Los Alamos. Sarah married
John H. Conway, a realty dealer of San Francisco and Santa Maria. They
have four children and dwell in San Francisco. Ernest X\' ickenden is next in
order of birth, and lives on part of the \Mckenden ranch with his wife, for-
merly Josie Carteri, and their two children. Ida married P. .\. H. Arata
of San Luis Obisjjo, and died in 1899, leaving two children. Robert .A. is
connected with the C. H. Reed Company of San Luis Obispo. He married
Ida Merritt of Santa Maria. Xellie is the wife of Howard Dill, who is con-
nected with a large ])rinting establishment in San Francisco, and she is the
mother of six children. The ninth, and youngest, is John R., superintendent of
the ranch, where he resides with his wife, formerly I'lora Kriegel, and tlieir
two children.

I'red W'ickenden is now (1917) in his ninet\--second year and is seem-
ingly hale and hearty, and as active physically and mentally as many men
of sixty and less, lie and his good wife, now in her seventy-eighth year,
live in peace and contentment at their old home place, honored and re-

SAX LUIS OBISrO COL-XTY AND EXVTROXS 291

si)i,'Ctc(l 1>\- all wlui know them, .Mr. W ickcnden \\as imc nf the prime movers
in organizing the Wickenden Corporation, that now owns some five thousand
acres of land devoted to the stock business, and has from four hundred to six
hundred head of stock all the time. One thousand acres arc under the
plow, and large cmps of beans, hay and grain each year make up much of the
harvest.

In l'>17 the corporation sold to the Associated Oil Company the oil rights
on twenty-three hundred seventy-five acres tributary to the Los Alamos
valley, and there is now one producing well and others in contemplation.
Half the purchase price was paid in cash, and the l)alance is payable when
oil is struck in such quantities as will warrant the transformation of the
property into an immense oil field. The officers of the \\'ickenden Corpo-
ration are .Albert P., president ; Robert .\., secretary and treasurer ; Fred,
vice-president ; John R., superintendent. The directors are .Albert P.. Robert
\., |i)lin R,, Fred, the father, and Ramona, the mother.

MR. AND MRS. JOHN E. CHILDS.— Though a considerable period
lia> il.ipsed since the death of John E. Childs. he is not forgotten by those
with whimi the last years of his busy life were passed. Of English ancestry,
he was born either on the ])lantation outside of Rockville, ^lontgomery
county, Md., or in the mountains of Allegany county. His father was Enos
Childs, born in England. .April 7, 1794, and a captain in the navy in the
War of 1812. He married Eleanor \''irginia Goss in Charleston, S. C, De-
cember 14. 1819. She was born on July 6, 1804, a daughter of Captain Goss,
a native of \'ermont, and Jane van Ryerson, a native of New Jersey, who
ran away from home, and was married in New York. This so enraged her
father that he disinherited her, cutting her off with one shilling. The father
of Enos Childs was William Childs. He was married in 1781 and died in
August, 1818; and his wife died the following year in the month of May.
William Childs lived on a plantation near Rockville, one hundred twenty acres
of which later became the property of his son Enos. Enos Childs died in
Baltimore, Xovembcr 23, 1852. Eleanor, his wife, died in 1865, in George-
town, D. C.

The progenitor of the name in the United States was Henry Child, as
the name was then spelled. He and his wife, Jamima, lived at Portland
Manor, on property known as \\'ickham and Pottenger's discovery, part
of which was willed to their Sdu William Childs. There Flenry died, Decem-
ber 12, 1767, and liis wife in 1784, in Anne Arundel county, Maryland, The
maternal ancestors of John \i. Childs were of (lerman and Holland Dutch
extraction. Enos Childs was a large planter in Maryland and at one time
was the owner of over five hundred slaves, I^ach of his children had a per-
sonal scr\;int.

John i;. Childs was e.lucatcl in I '..illininrc. came across the plains in 18,^0,
when a youu;; man, with Colonel I lolli>ter and twenty men, and on his .irriv.al
here located near San Jose, and worked in tlie .Xew .\lmadcn (|uicksil\er
mines, later becoming superintendent. In 1862 he was sent to San Luis
Obispo county l)y the owners of the Josepliine mine, I'.arron and I'.ell, to take
charge of that mine, and he carried on oi)erations until they closed down three
years later. He then engaged in farming near Chorro for a time, and also, in
partnership with S.iinuel Pollard, operated a flouring mill there, this l)cing
one of tlie lirsi mills in the countx, lie was active in jjoliiics and served one

292 SA\ lAlS OBISPO COL'XTV AND EWIROXS

term as county tax ccJlector. When John E. Childs left Maryland, he deeded
to his mother his share of the property there, so she would not he denied the
comft^rts of life while she lived.

On October 18, 1864. occurred the marriage of John E. Childs with Miss
Refugio Esquer. who was born in Monterey, January 29, 1844, a daughter of
Enos Esquer, a representative of the old Spanish regime in California, who
served as judge under both Mexican and American rule. Her mother. Josefa
Pico, was a daughter of Presentacion (Ruiz) Pico, and granddaughter of
Maria Ignacio Lugo, wdio married Jose Ruiz She was also a niece of Pio
Pico, the last go\'ernor of California under Me.xican rule, and an aunt of Gen.
M. J. \'alleio. ( )f the union of 'Sir. and Mrs. Childs were born these children:
Mrs. Richard Leland, Harry P.. John W., Charlotta P.. and Mrs. E. R.
PVazier, all of San Luis Obispo. During his lifetime Mr. Childs was very
public-spirited and supported all worthy projects. His widow, a talented
lady, has her residence in San Luis ( )bispo.

CHARLES O. KING.— l->.im the time when he settled in San Luis
Obispo County, in 1877. until his death, which occurred February 4, 1916,
Mr. King was associated with the development and progress of the coast
country. He was born in Brooklyn, X. Y., February 5, 1847, a son of Charles
M. and Frances (Briggs) King. The father came to California in 1860, via
the Isthmus of Panama, and engaged in mining at Placerville and later in
Aljiine county.

Charles O. King lived in Placerville, lildorado county, Cal., until he was
twenty years of age. Mining wa:3 the leading industry of that section, and
after leaving school he took up that enterprise, working in the mines in
X'irginia City. Xev.. and Alpine county with varie<l success until 1877, when
he came tc i San Luis Obispo County. He found employment in the onyx
mines here, working for George ^Mock for a number of years. He began his
puldic-ser\ ice career as chief office deputy under A. M. Hardie, county as-
sessor, filling that position for seven years, after which he became manager
for four years of the San Luis Abstract & Title Bureau. In 1892 he was
elected county assessor and served continuously for twelve years. In 1910,
he moved to Palo Alto and the following year was appointed corporation
expert in the office of the late L. .\. Spitzer. who was assessor of Santa Clara
county. He was re-appointed by C. Y. I'itman. who succeeded Mr. Spitzer.
and held the position until his death, in 1916. His thorough knowledge of
the I)uilding and loan business made Mr. King an invaluable member of the
committee on rehabilitation of the Palo Alto Building and Loan Association.
He was considered to be the best-posted man on the land laws in the state,
was an expert on taxation and land values, and well known all over Cali-
fornia. He was an Odd F'ellow from the age of twenty-one, a member of the
I'Oresters and formerly of the Elks.

In 1873 ^Ir. King was united in marriage with Mrs. Emma A. (Smith)
.Mcl'arlin. Her father, Edwin PL Smith, a native of Massachusetts, crossed
the plains with ox teams in 1850, mined for a time and then returned to the
h,ast : and with his wife and four children he came back to California, across
tile plains, in 18.^2. settling in Placerville. where he mined. Then he came to
San Luis (
count \' thr

id eng

iged i

1 farmi

ig.

He was l)est

kno\

in tliis

ugh his assoc

ation \

villi t

le Met

10(

ist Church, ai

d w

a gen-

\^ man.

SAX LUIS OP.ISPO COUXTV AND EXVIRONS 293

To .Mr. and Mrs. King were born several children; Harlan C. is a con-
tractor in Palo .Alto ; Mabel L. is a teacher in Berkeley ; Preston Wallace is
a civil engineer in San Francisco; and .Alfred T. is an orchardist in Santa
Clara county. By her first marriage with Mr. .Mcl-'arlin, .Mrs. King had a
daughter, Mrs. Minnie J., wife of H. .M. Ront of San Luis ( )bis|H>. 'flic fol-
lowing are the grandchildren: (luy. Ivirl and Lenore, children of Harlan C:
John Bennett, son of Preston W .. and Mrs. luiima C Logwood, and i-'.dna I.,
(laughters of Mrs. Minnie j. Root.

No name in San Luis Obispo and einirons commanded more hearty
respect than the name of Charles O. King, whose honesty and square dealing
were widely known and ap]ireciated : and his loss was more keenly felt in .^an
Luis Obispo than in any other place, for it was here that he had endeared
himself to his constituents and friends, who were legion.

JERRY DONOVAN.— \o small place in the story of our country's
progress must be accorded to the history of the Irish in -Americ;i, to which
the life story of Jerry Dono\an, the extensive landowner near Santa .Maria,
would pro\e an important contrilnition. He first saw the light of day at
Skibhereen, County Cork, but is such an early settler of the Santa Maria
\'alle\- that he might well be called a California pioneer, \\hen about nine-
tei'u years of age he came to America, and -.oon after reached Watson-
villc, where he worked l)y the month on a larm, milking onvs. He next
started for himself in the dairy business, in a small \\;iy, his idea being
to gel hold of some land; and this led him to in\e>.t in a hundred eighty
acres, which he still owns and which he at once de\i)ted to the ])urposes of a
dair\- farm.

.As early as 1875 he came to Guadalupe, and there he bought six hundred
acres of the Guadalupe rancho, iJaying twenty dollars an acre. Some of this
acreage is lowland and some lies on the mesa. This jjroperty is still in the
possession of .Mr. Donovan, lie next ]nn-chased .a ranch of three hundred
acres of mesa land at .Xiponio, and ihi.s was followed by the ac(|uisilion
of five hundred acres at Guadalui)e, also of the tiuadalui)e rancho. all o'
it tirst-class bean land. .Another investment was three hundred twenty
acres, one mile tn the northwest of Santa Maria — a town called Central Citv,

when .Mr. l),,n..van fir^t came thet

e: and although he was now carrying

considerable land for a small invest

ii'. he nevertheless greatly improved his

last imrchasr. Me keeps ,ill his lai

ds rented out, and has been more than

successful in the dairy busines>.

While at W .-itsomille. and whei

.about forty-one. he married .Miss .Mary

.MeC.irthv, by who,,, he had seven

children, all strong, healthy and bright.

Their names are: .\gnes, i lertie, ( oi

nelius. M.iry. Leo, Gerald and Margaret.

i'.ach has been properly trained in

the Catliolic faith. lie himself enjoyed

but few educational ad\antages : but

he has afforded his children high .scliool

and college training.

for ;i m:in of his ve;irs, .Mr. Do

lovan is still active and ixwverful. lie is

keenly alixe to the polities of the day

and especially to all that upholds Demo-

cr.'itic standards, .\lways interested

in the cause of educ;iiion. he served for

> e;irs as a member of the school boar

1 of Santa Maria, of which .Mrs. Donovan

is now a member.

294 SAX LUIS (JBISPO COUNTY AXD ENVIRONS

ANTONIO J. SOUZA.— Enjoying the entire confidence of his fellow
Portiiguesc-Aniericans. among whom he is regarded as a sviccessful leader,
capable of guiding others to success, and both meriting and receiving the
esteem and good-will of Californians generally, A. J. Souza occupies an
enviable position among the developers^ of the Santa Maria valley. Born at
Elores. in the delightful Azores, on June 10, 1862, the son of Manuel J.
Souza. who reached his seventy-second year, and Alar}' (Urcela) Souza, who
died w hen he was five years old — both father and mother having come orig-
inally fr(im Portugal — young Souza was one of eight children, four of whom
are living. He attended the public school at Elores, where he was brought up.
There he laid the foundation, in good health and industrious habits, for his
later career, in which he has advanced to such a prominent and influential
place in the community.

\\'hen seventeen years old he came to the United States and to California,
and almost from the first day when he worked as a farm hand in or near Santa
Maria, he showed commendable progress. After seven or eight years he
had saved enough money to buy an attractive ranch of some two hundred
seventy acres, and before long he was the owner of three hundred fifty acres
farmed with the most up-to-date and labor-saving devices. Two hundred
thirty-five acres are under cultivation ; one hundred seventy acres are in beans;
seventy in hay. corn, and produce : and the lialance is pasture. Practicing econ-
omy and wiirking steadily, Mr. ."^nuza in time took a very respectable place
among his competitors, and is now li\ing retiretl in the enjoyment of a well-
earned rest, surrounded by his children and grandchildren, in all of whom
he is greatly interested.

t )n November 29, 1888, the marriage of Antonio J. Souza and Aliss Maria
Ciincicao, a native of the Azores and a devout member of the Catholic
Church, was solemnized, and of this happy union nine children have been
born. Mary is the wife of Erank L. Novo, a blacksmith in Santa Maria, and
is the mother of a son, Angelo ; Joseph E. married Pearl Reel, and with their
two children, Harriet and Albert, they live on part of the Souza home ranch,
as does also Manuel E., who married Edith Tracy ; Annie became the wife of
George Sargenti, a promising young rancher of the valley, and has a daughter.
Amy; two daughters are Isabella and Ida; Anton and Angelo are at home;
and Rutli. the youngest child, is deceased.

As might be expected of one who has been interested in every movement
for the good of. the community, Mr. Souza is prominent in fraternal circles,
being a member of the Alasons. Guadalupe Lodge No. 237. Santa Maria
Chapter, R. A. M., and the Eastern Star Chapter; the Odd Eellows and
Rebekahs of Santa Maria; the Knights of Pythias and the Portuguese Lodge,
I. D. E. S., of which he has served as master and secretary. Mrs. Souza is
a prominent member of the Eastern Star and the Rebekahs. Progressive in
his attitude toward pul)lic afi^airs, Mr. Souza has been active, as a Republican,
in local politics. He served for fifteen years as a member and as secretary
of the school board in his district, until he refused to accept the position any
longer. ITc has been a resident on the ranch where he now lives for over
twenty-two years, and has watched with interest the rapid growth of the
county, and assisted many less fortunate than himself to get a start in life,
lie is large-hearted, jovi.il in manner and an interesting conversationalist,
and has a large circle of friends throughout this section of the state.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 297

HENRY HOLT.— The interest which attaches to the life story of Cali-
fornia pioneers is a visible expression of the gratitude which all men feel
towards the forerunners of civilization in the Far W'est. The life history of
Henry Holt is one of unusual interest; it possesses, in fact, that fascination
which attaches to all lives that present the spectacle of small beginnings and
large achievements, and of success wrested from adverse circumstances. By
birth and descent a German, he has yet spent so many years in the \\'est that
he is a typical Westerner, a grand representative of' the pioneers of Cali-
fornia. Henry Holt was born in Hanover, October 24, 1833, was educated
in the common schools of his native land, and in 1852 came to the United
States. Arriving at New Orleans, he traveled to Cincinnati, O., and thence
to New York, where he went to work on a pilot boat in the harbor. Soon
after, he began a seafaring life, sailing to Holland, where he learned naviga-
tion, and then to the East Indies, final!)- coming again to Ne^\' York and in
1858 around the Horn to San Francisco.

His object in coming to California was to seek his fortune in the
mines, and immediately on his arrival he went to Oroville and Marysville,
where he engaged in mining; but not meeting with the success he anticipated,
he went back to San Francisco and again became a sailor, sailing to the ports
of China, the East Indies, Boston and Nova Scotia, and again coming around
Cape Horn to California. In San Francisco he went to work in a livery
stable, and then went to Point Reyes and became a cheese-maker on a dairy
ranch. Once more in San Francisco, I\Ir. Holt was employed in road-
building for a time, then journeyed to Alonterey county, and soon after
arrived in San Luis Obispo County. Through his knowledge of cheese-making
he secured a position with Steele Bros, as a cheese-maker on their Corral de
Piedra ranch near San Luis Obispo, did his work well, and gave good satisfac-
tion. Mr. Holt had a thorough knowledge of the dairy business and, realizing
that money could be made by proper management, bought fifty cows, drove
them to Guadalupe, leased land and started a dairy of his own. Later he
increased his interests by leasing land on the Huasna and carrying on a dairy
on shares with Mr. Porter, the owner of the land.

In 1877 came the dry year, and his cattle suffered and I)egan to die;
so he drove the balance across the mountains into Kern county. He leased
three ranches near Bakersfield and held his cattle there for a time, and in that
way saved about half of them. That fall he sold two hundred twenty two-
and three-year-old steers for five dollars a head in San Francisco, but later
got twelve dollars a head in Bakersfield. He once more returned to the
Huasna, practically "broke," remained for a couple of years, and then located
on the Todos Santos in Santa Barbara county, where he was dairying and
raising cattle and hogs for the following six years, having about fifteen hun-
dred head of the former and about two thousand of the latter, and making
about $75,000 through his venture. One sale of stock alone netted him $20,000.
From almost every venture in which Mr. Holt has been engaged he has
netted good returns, and he has become an authority on live stock.

In Guadalupe he has erected three l)rick residences, improving the prop-
erty at a cost of $10,000, so that it will l)ring him an income. He also owns
two business houses in Santa Maria. He Iselieves in improving the proper-
ties in which he is interested, and in keeping them in repair. He now owns
seven liundrcd acres near Guadaluiic. one Iiundred fiftv-five acres in liis lionie

298 SAX LL'IS ULilSPO COUNTY AND EX\-IROXS

place at Los Alamos, twenty-three hundred sixteen acres in Foxen Canon,
three hundred twenty acres in Long Canon, and se\en hundred twenty-five
acres at Santa Rita, near Lompoc. all of which property is leased to tenants
and from which Air. Holt derives a handsome income.

lie has retired from active work, although he still superintends the large
interests he cnntrols, and keeps himself heartily in accord with every move-
ment that has for its object the upbuilding of the state. He has made friends
where\ er he has done business, for he believes in square dealing at all times;
and he is numbered among the most progressive and prosperous citizens
of Santa liarbara county. He is reliable and upright, and his integrity never
has been (luestioned. He tries to li\e by the Golden Rule, and it is the con-
sensus of opinion that his word is as good as his bond. He is generous and
kind-hearted, a gentleman of the old scIukjI who dispenses his charities in an
unostentatious manner.

MICHAEL J. MEHERIN.— Ireland has contributed her quota of sons
and daughters to help Iniild up the L'niteil .States, and none of those who have
become citizens of this country are more loyal than M. J. Meherin, pioneer
of San Luis Obispo County by reason of residence, and also by the ties
of marriage that bind him to the famil}- of that prominent pioneer, John !\L
Price, who is mentionccl elsewdiere in this \(ilume. Mr. ]\Ieherin was born
in Ireland (in December 15, 1842, and was reared on the farm owned by his
father, who was engaged in stock-raising in his native land. With four broth-
ers, Michael came to the United States, having California as his objective
point. He came by way of Panama and arrived at Cave Landing, in San
Luis ( )bispo County, in 1868. He found work for five months on the dairy
ranch of l\ (J'Connor : and later, for six years, with his brother, Dennis
Meherin, he was engaged in sheep-raising. Then, with the same partner, he
opened a store, the second one at Arroyo Grande, and for eight years carried
on a general merchandise business, selling out at the end of that time. la
1881. he and his brother built a wharf at Pismo costing $16,000, and they also
had the steamer "Santa Maria,'" built in San Francisco in 1883, at a cost of
$40,000, which was operated in the coast trade for a time. They also owned
the lumijer yard at Pismo, managing that in connection with the wharf and
steamer. Still later, in 1884, they built a wharf at Loinpoc, costing $23,000.
Afterwards, Mr. .Meherin farmed on one hundred five acres of land, near
Pisnio, owned by his wife, where he has lived for the past twenty-five years.

lie was united in marriage with Mary Ann IVice, a daughter of John M.
I'rice. and a native of Califurnia: and they have had four children to bless
their hduie: .\ daughter, Mrs. Mary Manderscheld ; another daughter. Mrs.
.\nn R.-imona iHiltmi; Mark F., the only son; and a third daughter. Andrea
Margaret.

-Mr Meherin has seen many changes take place in this county, and well
reinemliers the tales tcld hy those earlier settlers who were here when there
were l)ut few white men and the country was infested by Indians and crim-
inals, and by wild animals of all kinds. He himself has had many thrilling
adxentures, and recounts many experiences that were encountered b}' the
jtioneer l)uilders of this commonwealth who have laid the foundation for
future generations.

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 299

JOHN M. PRICE.— The life history of John M. Price is one of unusual
interest. Full of incidents, stirring and adventurous, it possesses that fascina-
tion which attaches to all lives presenting the spectacle of small beginnings
and large achievements, and a success wrested from adverse circumstances.
.\ native of England, born in the old seaport town of Bristol, September 29,
1810, he was early taught the lessons of thrift and right li\-ing. His education
was limited, for at the age of fifteen he went tn sea on a whaler in the
Southern ocean. After a three years' cruise uii tlie "Cadmus." at the age of
eighteen, he landed on the coast of California in the barque "Kent." a wiialer
commanded by Captain Lawton. Mr. Price and a companion name<l I'.lack
left the ship at Manzanillo, a Mexican port, where they had been treated with
the utmost consideration and courtesy by the natives, who wanted them to
remain. In order to get away, they boarded another whaler and were landed
at Monterey, where they again deserted the ship; and with the aid of friendly
Indians, they made their way into the timber in Monterey County. They
cut timber with a whipsaw, and followed lumbering for a time ; and after-
wards they worked as vaqueros about the Castrc>\illc section, hefnrc there was
any place of tliat name.

In 1836 Air. Price came to San Luis ( )I)ispo L'ounty, where he worked
for W. G. Dana on the Nipomo ranch. L.iter he was employed on the
Huasna ranch for Isaac Sparks, and in 1840 he was living in an old log
cabin on a ranch about twenty miles from what is now Arro3'o Grande. He
was surprised, one day, by the appearance of John C. Fremont and his troop-
ers, who wanted him and his men — the Indians who were working for
him — to surrender. He went as far as Santa Barbara and later returned to
his place of abode. When gold was discovered Mr. Price and F. '/.. Branch
went to the mines and were engaged in mining for a time, meeting with good
success, but afterwards came back to San Luis (Obispo County.

Mr. Price worked on the Pismo ranch with Mr. Sparks, and later he
purchased seven thousand acres of land near the beach and engaged in raising
cattle, sheep and horses on a •"."ge scale, meeting with prosperity for almost
fifty years.

He was one of the best-known men in the county, lie served as alcalde
under Mexican rule, and later was justice of the peace, county judge, and super-
visor of the county. Under the alcalde there was no defined justice, the
official meting out justice as he saw fit and as it suited his humor; needless
to say, Mr. Price was just in all his decisions, and held the respect of all.
During the pioneer daj's in the county there were but few white men, and the
country was overrun with Indians and bandits. Those were the days when
ranching tried men's mettle ; they had to be on the watch continually to keep
the cattle and horse thieves from running off their stock, and many were the
trials endured by Mr. Price.

In 1844, Mr. Price was united in marriage with Miss Dona .Andrea Carlon,
a native of California, born in Santa Barbara County. They became the
parents of fifteen children, eleven of whom are living: Mrs. M. Walker, Mrs.
Victoria Thompson, John S., Mrs. Ellen Bushnell, George, Mrs. Carlotta \idal,
Mrs. Mary Meherin, Sister Angelica Price, William B., Mrs. William Hamil-
ton, and Michael. Two sons and two daughters are decea.sed. Mr. Price lived
at his home in Pismo for many years, and died there June 4. 1902. at the age
of ninetv-two years.

300 SAX LUIS Or.ISI'O COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

MAT. IVERSEN.— It is an old saying, and une \vith almost kinder-
garten simplicity, that if you do not succeed at first, you should try again;
and how well Mat. Iversen, the progressive secretary of the Farmers' Alliance
Business Association and the advocate of good roads, has applied the motto
will be seen in his winning out for supervisor after he had been defeated in a
candidacy for that honorable office. In fresh, green Ballum, Schleswig, Den-
mark, ^lat. was born, on December 10, 1860, his father being none other than
the esteemed pioneer, Hans Iversen, elsewhere described in this book. He
was reared at Ballum, and was educated in the public schools ; but from
his tenth year he was compelled to divide his time between the task of get-
ting a book education and the equally formidable job of working on a farm.
As a very young boy, indeed, he shouldered considerable responsibility, one
commission being to drive his father's cattle all the way to the coast.

When he reached his seventeenth year a crisis arose in iXIat.'s affairs,
but he met it with a brave heart, and with much of the foresight which has
characterized his operations ever since. About that time his native country
came under the rule of Germany; and the Iversens objecting to what they
looked upon as little short of military oppression, Mat. concluded to come to
the United States. The first of April, therefore, in the j^ear 1878, we find the
lad as far west as ^lonmouth, 111. ; and there he tarried for half a year work-
ing for the first time on an American farm. His next stage on the journey
toward his western goal was Omaha, where he secured work with the Union
Pacific Railroad, and for a while at tilling the soil ; but in 1882 he had reached
San Francisco and had taken up an altogether new occupation, as a con-
ductor on the Third and Montgomery street car line, which at that time
was propelled by horse-power. It was not a very inviting occupation, but
it gave ^lat. a considerable boost, and, for the time being, such assistance
was all that was desired by the youth, who was fleeing from Old World
autocracy.

In March. 1883, Mat. Iversen came to San Luis Osbispo County, and
homesteaded in the Union district, harvesting his first crop the following
year. At that time he had to haul all the water that was needed in barrels
for a distance of three or four miles ; and taking some of this, he mixed it with
the clay about him and made adobe bricks, which were dried in the sun.
With these he built tw^o houses, the one for his father and the other for him-
self; and having somewhat comfortably fixed himself up, he set to work in
dead earnest to see what he could get from the soil. In 1886, a well-rig came
in and sunk wells in the neighborhood, and as soon as he was able to make
arrangements, ^lat., too, had a four-inch bore running to the depth of three
iuindred seventy-two feet. On a still larger scale he engaged in grain-raising,
buying a header and all the other equipment, and in the same year began to
haul his wheat, first to San Luis Obispo, then to San Miguel, and afterwards
to Paso Robles.

On account, however, of the methods employed by the S. P. IM. Co. of
Paso Robles. who at that time had no opposition and seemed to discourage
rather than help the ranch folks, some of the farmers, in 1891, organ-
ized the I'"armers' Alliance Business Association, which was incorporated
with ^lat. as secretary: and in that influential capacity our friend has
served ever since. In the beginning they used part of a large warehouse
built in Pas<i Rubles, and this has been so enlarged and added to that today

JIR

^ :

/i(d^. SsxAA^e^iA.

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD EWIRONS 303

it boasts of a very pretentious viilume of Itusiness. in T'ld dniuL;- an ag<>Tcgate
business of $200,000. But iMat. has not only been secretary: he has been a
director in the Association, as also in the Paso Robles Mercantile Co.. bis
up-to-date tendencies having been everywhere quickly recognized, and tbi^
recognition has served as an encouragement to him in the introduction of the
most modern appliances and tlie most efficient means for the transaction of
tlie day's business.

Besides participating in this venture of the Farmers' AUiance and pur-
ciiasing lands. Mat. has also leased certain tracts and engaged in grain-raising
cm a large scale elsewhere, managing these holdings until lately, when he
sold most of his lands, retaining only the two-hundred-eighty-acrc ranch
upon wliich he li\es. His decision to do this was made with no little regret,
since he is fond of agriculture: but he found the operation of a thousand or
more acres a little too strenuous, and decided to quit in order to dexote his
surplus time and energy to the care of his own home place.

Mr. Iversen has been twice married. By his first marriage he was
joined to Miss Jensine Christensen, a native of Schleswig, Germany, who
died in the Union district. His second wife was Mrs. Alma Hager, a native
of Sweden. By her first marriage she had had one son, (ieorge Hager, whom
Mr. Iversen adopted. The young man is a graduate of the Paso Robles High
School, and is now attending the College of Agriculture in the I'nixersity of
California, as a member of the class of 1917.

Mr. Iversen took a very active part in the organization of the San Luis
Obispo County Farm Bureau, and is a meml)er of the Union Center. In 1917
he was elected a delegate to the Farm Bureau Conference held at the College
of Agriculture, University of California : and with other delegates he trav-
eled more than a thousand miles through fourteen difl'erent counties, to
study, see and report what farm bureaus and farm advisors can accomplish.
A trustee of the Union school district for fifteen years, Mr. Iversen has
always responded to the calls for public service. In one instance, however,
he did so with a slight embarrassment for his pains. This was in 1912, when
he consented to become a candidate ior supervi.sor, and lost out by only five
votes. Four years later he was again a candidate — of the h'irst Supervisoral
District — and at the primary election he received a majority over his two
opponents. No election result could have been more satisfactory to his
constituents; for having come to this district when there were no well-built
thoroughfares, and no fences to separate one proj^erty from another, and when
many of the conveniences of life, including the means of intercommuni-
cation, were lacking. Supervisor Iversen is well known to favor the construc-
tion of good roads, and in his hands that most imporiant feature of California's
development may well be regarded as absolutely safe.

THOMAS F. ABBEY.— .\mong the old-time families of Oak hlat. San
Luis ()l)is]io County, mention may be made of the Al)bey family, whose head,
on their arrival iiere, was Thomas F. Abl)ey. He was a native of Driffield.
F.ngland, who married Eleanor .Xichelson, also a native of that place. He
was a miller by trade, and had the management of a large mill in England
until March, 1874, when he came to America, bringing with him his wife and
four children and settling in Sullivan, Ind.. where for si.K years he engaged in
farming. Going then to Kansas City, he was head miller in a large flouring
mill: and there lie remained until lie came to California, in July. 18SC). Local-

MM SAX Ll'IS OIIISI'O COl'XTY AND ENVIRONS

ing in San I.nis ( )l)is|HJ L'ounty. he luimesteaded sixty-eight acres oi land, two
miles from I'aso ivuhles, inijM-cjved it and farmed until his death. Ilis wife
also died in this locality. All four of the children came to California. These
are Thomas I'Tancis, employed by the Globe Mills in San Francisco; Eleanor,
Mrs. John Jardine of Estrella Plains; Mary E., Mrs. John F. Botts of Oak
I'lat ; and ]"".lizal)Cth M., who was born at Stockton-on-Tees, England, came
with her iiarents tn America, and accompanied them in their removals from
place Im i)lare, recei\ing her education in the public schools of Kansas City
and Oak Mat, t ';dif. irnia. i )n September 23. 1900, at Morgan Hill, she mar-
ried William Jardine, a nati\e of Kentucky, who died in :\Iarch, 1912. She
is the mother of four children, Eleanor, William, John and Grace, She owns
the old Al)bey ranch, where she is engaged in general farming and horticul-
ture, successful!}' rai>ing fruits and nuts; and while enjoying repute as a
successful woman, she takes an active interest in all that tends to build up
the county.

ALVA PAUL. — It is possible that there is no better-known man through-
eiut the greater part oi .San Luis ( )bispo County than Alva Paul, now living
retired in San Luis (Jbispo after many 3'ears of activity in ranching and
running a threshing outfit, and after serving in some official capacity or other
for several years. He was Ijorn in Croydon, Sullivan county, N. H., October
26. 18.^6. As his father died when he was quite young, he had to make his
own way in the world fmm the early age of nine.

He left his home county when he was but fifteen, with only twenty-five
cents in his pocket, went to Iowa and for six months worked on a farm near
Cedar i'iapids ; then, in 1,S72, he came to California and, locating in San Luis
Obispo, found work in the harness shop owned l)y his uncle. S. B. Call. Later
he was in the employ of John Slack, on the Los Osos. ^ileanwhile, he was
learning how to get on. Me rented land of H. J. Beck, and from 1876 until
IS/'J farmed on his own account. Lie made several moves during the next
few years, farming rented land, and in 1880 we find him on a ranch of five
hundred fifty acres owned l)y S. P. Stowe at Chorro. On this ranch he
remained tor six years, ;in<I he was the first man to turn a furn.iw in that
virgin soil.

He next went to .Morn., Ixmght three hundred fifty acres of land, and
began to imjjrove it; and for the next twenty-three years he was engaged
ni general farm work and in ruiuiing a threshing outfit. Through the latter
enterprise he became well known, for he carried it on successfully for many
years, and was l)rought in touch with the leading men of the county. His was
the best machine in the county; and with his partner, A. F. Bagley, he pros-
I'cred accordingly. He retired from business and built a comfortable home in
^lorro. where he lived until September 22, 1911. Then he came to San Luis
'i^]|". and has smce resided here, in the quiet enjoyment of a well-earned
rpt,^ lie liel]H-(l to tear down the idd stone wall through wdiich was hauled
tlie lirst load of lumber that came to San Luis Obispo for the first frame
'""I'l'ng on the east side of the creek.

^^ <•" April 20. 18S0, ..ccurred the marriage of Alva Paul with Miss Ella

■•il; .-y. wh., was^born ami raised in Mis.souri, and came to California with

•niVTl'l''' ^^\^^"- "'■'' '^"'it''', Alason Bagley, died soon after in San Jose.

H'^< 11 (iren of Mr. and Mrs. Paul are: Stephen A,, who was in the employ of

'<• ■ "niliern < alif.,rnia lulism, C,,.. and is now deceased; Geortre W. ; Archie

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 305

B., who is secretary of the Corralitos Apple Growers' Association at \\'atsoii-
ville; Ray A., a rancher of Lemoore, Kings county; and Nedom A.

While actively engaged in the numerous enterprises that have given J\Ir.
Paul the necessary means to live retired from all business pursuits, he was
always interested in every movement that was promoted for the upbuilding
of the county, and furthered those movements as his means would permit.
He is a self-made man in every sense of the word, and has a host of friends
throughout the county. He has seen many changes, as from stock to grain,
and from grain to dairying and beans, when it was predicted that agricultural
products could not possibly be grown in the country. He also recalls the road
conditions in early days, when he got stuck between San Luis and Alorro with
six horses and an empty wagon, with but two sacks of flour. In contrast to
such trying experiences. ^Ir. and ^Irs. Paul last year traveled over seven thou-
sand miles in a Ford, and have seen a great deal of the country throughout
California.

Mr. Paul is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the En-
campment and the Rebekahs. He has passed all the chairs of the lodge, has
served as district deputy three terms, and has been ]irominently identified with
the order. He served as deputy sheriff in the Morro district for a numljcr of
years while residing there, and was trusfee of the iMorro school for several
terms.

SWAN PETERSON.— Noteworthy am.-ng the citizens of California
who came from the thrifty little country of S\veden, is Swan Peterson. He
was born, August 24. 1866, in Alvestad, Kroneborslan, Sweden, was brought
up on the home farm, and attended the public schools. Remaining at home
and helping his parents until April, 1890. he then came to the United States
and located in Denver, Colorado, where he obtained employment at the Grant
smelter, working there until 1894. Then he came to California, where his
brother, John A. Peterson, was living, and finally settled at Templeton, en-
gaging in farm work.

In 1896, at Templeton, Mr. Peterson was united in marriage with Mrs.
Mathilda C. (Sjogren) Peterson, a native of Oland, Sweden, who came to
Chicago in 1872, where her father, Gustav Sjogren, had located two years
before. He was a carpenter: and after the great fire of 1871 he helped in the
rebuilding of that metropolitan city. Mrs. Peterson was educated in the
Franklin school in Chicago. The family remo\ed to Minneapolis in 1883. and
there she was married to Andrew W. Peterson, a jihotographer. On account
of his ill health they came still further west, to California, in 1887, and she
has the distinction of being the first woman of her nationality to locate in the
town of Templeton. They purchased a farm at Willow Creek, where her
husband died in 1893, and where she continued to reside until her second
marriage, which united her with Swan Peterson.

Mr. and Mrs. Peterson engaged in grain-raising on the Willow Creek
place, which they sold after a time. Then they bought the present home place
of one hundred twelve acres, two and one half miles west of Templeton,
where Mr. Peterson devotes his time to grain and stock-raising, having cleared
the land for cultivation himself. He has made good improvements, among
them a pumping plant ; and he intends to put some of the land in to alfalfa.
Four acres of it are in apple orchards. He also leases land and farms it.
Having been reared a farmer's boy at home, he brought the knowledge thus

MX >

or.lSI'O COUNTY AND EX\TROXS

• '■aiiiccl Id l>i-ar <>u lii> work in his adopted country, and ha? met with deserved

Of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Peterson four children were born.
Mildred was graduated from the Mission High School of San P'rancisco and
now attends the State Normal School of that city: Christene attends the
Mission High Sc1kh)1 of San Francisco, class of 1917: and Elsie and Edith,
twins, are in attendance at the Templeton High School. By her first mar-
ria"-e. Mrs. Peterson lia<l two children: Esther. ]\Irs. Wolf, residing in Sau
Francisco: and h'.lmer. who married Bertie Donelson and is residing in Santa
Barbara.

r.oth Mr. i'eterson and his wife are much respected by their many friends,
and thev and their a.^reeable family are highly esteemed in the community.
Mr. i'eterson is a school trustee of Bethel district and is serving his seventh
year as clerk of tlie board. In politics he is a Republican. The family are
members of the Swedish Lutheran Church : and he is a deacon, and vice-presi-
dent of the Sund.iy sciiool. He was a delegate to the California Conference in
N'ineland in 1'*!.^. .Mrs. Peterson was one of the charter members at the
organization of the Swedish Lutheran Church at Templeton, and has been an
active member e\er since.

HORACE G. WRIGHT.— rhe editor and owner of the Paso Robles
Leader has been a resident of Paso Robles since 1886. He w-as born in
Preemption. .Mercer county. 111.. January .il, 1848. a son of George W. and
.Maria (.Moreyi Wri.ght, natives' respectively of New York and Ohio. The
father, a farmer in Illinois for a time, embarked in the mercantile business in
Preemption and later was in the wholesale grocery business in Rock Island,
111. In isro. he came witli members of his family to California and settled in
Santa Clara, and tlierc he ami his wife died.

The eldest of two children, Horace G. \\right received his education in
the inddic schools in Preem])tion and grew to manhood there and in Rock
Island. 111. In 1870 he came to California, settled in Santa Clara and estab-
lished the Santa Clara Messenger: and later he purchased the Santa Clara
.journal and edited and published it until he sold out to the present owners.

He purposed to retire fnnn newspaper work, but inside of two weeks he
had bought a new press and fonts of type and brought the outfit to the new
town of Paso Robles, then being laid out. There he started the Paso Robles
Leader, issuing tiie first edition two days before the sale of lots took place in
the town: and ever since he has published the paper as a weekly, without
nu<<ui- a single issue. The news])a])er is a six-column folio and a very newsy
siuet. lie built the corner now occui)ied by his plant at the corner of Park
and Thirteenth streets.

Mr Wright was married in Sacramento, .August 15, 1872, to :\Iiss Chris-
tm.i .\luirson. a native of St. L,)uis. Mo.: and she ably assists her husband as
Mil eduori.il and descriptive writer for the Leader. They have had four chil-
dren: t >liv,-. .Mrs. Clark S. Smith: Lillie. .Mrs. Tom Henry; Harry, deceased;
••md Mal.le. who was married to William Street, but is nmv deceased.

Mr. W rigiit is a member of the Fraternal Brotherhood. He was one of

I be iMinidcrs of the local Methodist Church, has been on its official board

•-nice \>ix, . and was for twenty years superintendent of the Sunday school.

L 1- ;i member oi the Cliaiuber of Commerce. In politics, he aligns him-

^'•b unii tile kepnldicrni n-irtv

'oL^^^I^'Ut.'l"'-''"''^

<axa)^^^Y--T-t--<-

SAN LUIS OBISPO COl'XTY AND ENVIRONS 309

ERCOLE BIAGGINI.— Great credit is due those sturdy sons of Switz-
erland wliu enilured privations and hardships to win positions of trust and
honor in the various communities where they have become an integral factor
in the liusiness and social life. Such a man is Ercole Biaggini, who was
i)orn in (liubiasco. canton Ticino, Switzerland, on April 25, 1857. He at-
tended the public schools there until he was fourteen years old, worked for
his father on the farm, learned the trade of butcher, and lived at home until
he was twenty-one.

In 1877 he served two months in the army, and the same year decided
to come to the L'nited States. W itii California as his objective point, he
l)orrowed one hundred forty dollars of his father and embarked for the
.\'ew ^^'orld, arriving in San Francisco on December 23, 1878. He had no
friends or relatives to look to for any advice, nor could he speak the English
language. It was necessary for him to find employment, and he set out with
that object in view and soon found someone -who told him that a man iii
San Luis Obispo County wanted a man to milk cows : and although he had
had no previous experience in that line of work, he decided he could quickly
learn, and on Januar}- 10, 1879, he arrived in the county and went to the
ranch of .\. Tognazzini, where he was to receive twenty-five, and later thirty,
dollars per month if he would remain one year. This was agreed upon and
during the first eight months he paid his father two hundred dollars, the
extra amount being an evidence of his appreciation. He gradually became
acquainted with the English language, and learned how business was car-
ried on in this countr}-. .\t the end of the year he had sa\-ed a small sum
of money, and then he decided to start a butcher business in Cayucos. There
was competition, but during twenty-three years there were fifty-three different
men in the other shop. His fair dealing and courteous manner won him cus-
tomers and friends, and he carried on the business with profit until 1903.
' 'In 1883, after he had acj:|uired capital, he rented four hundred eighty

acres of land, stocked it witli se\enty-five cows, and started in the dairy
' business. He retained the lease on this land for eleven years and met with
,L,'ratifying results from his dairy, wdiich he soon increased so that he had one
Inuuired twenty-five cows, mostly Durhams. In 1884, he began buying and
selling cattle and hogs, and he continued that line of business until 1913.
In 1888 he bought 1,000 acres of land near Cayucos, and from time to time has
. added to his holdings until he now owns 7,400 acres in three different ranches,
I all lying near Cayucos, and divided into six dairy ranches, on two of which
I he owns the stock. In all, they maintain over 700 milch cow.s.
: During these years Mr. Biaggini has devoted his time and attention to

, the improvement of his properties, keeping abreast of the times in the dairy-
; ing industry, besides taking an active part in building up the community.
] He has always favored good schools and has served iwenty-one years as trus-
I tee of Cayucos district, most of that time as clerk of ihe board. He is a stock-
. holder in the Anglo-California Bank and Trust Co. in San Francisco, and also
in the Swiss-.\merican Bank in Locarno, Switzerland. In 1909 he built his
. beautiful httme in Cayucos, and five l)ig liarns: and not being able to get the
I rate on lumber he thouglit he ought to ha\e. Mr. liiaggini went to San Fran-
! Cisco and purchased what he needed, shiiiped it to his place, and thereby

saved $.^,ti)0.

310 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD EWTROXS

In San Luis Obispo. January 3, 1885, Mr. Bia^.L^ini was united in marriage [
\\-ith Josephine IMozzini, a native of Giubiasco. canton Ticino. who was born i
January 28, 1866, into the home of Charles and Antonia (Biaggini) Mozzini. i
She arrived in San Luis Obispo County on December 2L 1884. They have i
had twelve children born to them : and of these seven are living. To his ;
children Mr. Biaggini has given the best possible educational advantages, j
assisting them to become self-supporting men and women. They are : Esther, |
a graduate of California Hospital in Los Angeles, and proprietor of the Pacific :
Llospital in San Luis Obispo ; Lena, a graduate from King's Conservatory of |
Music in San Jose, who is teaching music in Cayucos ; Eddie, a graduate from '
Heald's Business College in San Jose, who runs a dairy on one of his father's j
ranches ; Laura, a graduate of the San Luis Obispo High School ; Charles, i
who graduated at the State Polytechnic School, and who is employed by his I
brother: Mar\-, wlm is attending the San Luis Obispo High School; and |
Meda. ' ' I

In 1889 ]Mr. Biaggini took a trip back to Switzerland to visit his parents, |
whcj were both living at that time, though they have .since died, his father 1
in 1891, and his mother in 1900. ^M^en he returned to California he was
more than satisfied that he had cast in his lot with this state of "golden oppor-
tunity." In 1910, with his wife, he made a second trip back to his native
country, spending four months traveling through Switzerland, Italy, France. -
Germany and England ; and on their return to this country, they took an |
extensive trip through the Xorthwest, enjoying e\'ery minute of it, both agree- j
ing it was the best time of their lives. '

Mr. Biaggini is an example of what can be accomplished by a young i
man who has ambition and perseverance. He began in this country with a
debt hanging over him. The first thing he did was to pay his debts, and he ij
then started in to accumulate. He w-as handicapped by not being able to talk 1
English ; and to learn, he bought a Swiss-English lexicon, which he studied j
into the late hours of night after his day's work was done, so that in time |
he became proficient, and was able to read and write and transact business in ,
the English tongue. It is needless to say that the old lexicon is a prized
relic in the family, who look upon it as a priceless heirloom. He gives ;
due credit to his wife, who has l)een his aide helpmate; for through their |
C(_inil)ineil management and sacrifices thev ha\e reaped their reward of wealth.
Young ])e()ple of today would do well t<i emulate their example.

THORNTON 'WASHINGTON CARR.— One might write volumes ,
about many of the men who ha\"e made names for themselves in various
places where they may ha\e lived for various periods of time, and finall}'
settled in California to make a financial success, and there would l)e no vari- ^
;itiiin in the story of Thornton Washington Carr of this review except to sum |
up, in a few words, and call it "Sixty Years of Hustling."

lie was Ijorn in the Buckeye State, near Columbus, on June 30, 1840, the '
tiiird chihl in a family of six; his parents were Jonathan and Jane (Weather- j
ingtnn) Carr, the former born in Virginia and the latter in Ohio. From Vir- j
g-inia Jonathan Carr moved to r)hio, and then to a farm near .\lton. 111., ,
where he died. In tlie year following the death of her husband, Mrs. Carr
took her children and returned to Ohio, and there she lived until the death ■
of her father. Then she removed to \"an lUiren countv. la., in 1833, and '

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 311

bought a farm: and there she died at a ripe old age. Of the children, four
are living, two of them in California. These are Thornton W. Carr and
Mrs. Elizabeth Briggs, the latter of Fulton, Sonoma county.

Reared on a farm in Iowa from the age of thirteen, in 1853, and used to
hard, manual labor with but little opportunity to get an education, young
Carr early learned the lessons of thrift and strict integrity, and became ac-
quainted with many privations, for he had to help his mother in the support
and care of the younger children. At the breaking out of the Civil War, he
volunteered to fight for the preservation of his country ; but he was rejected
on account of his physical condition, and so he remained on the home farm
until he was twenty-two years old. Then, when the mother died and the
children scattered, he bought a farm and began for himself, raising grain and
stock with a fair degree of success.

He was married to Miss Helen AlcCloskey, a native of Pennsylvania, on
December 15, 1863, and they trod the pathway of life together until the Grim
Reaper called her to her last home in February, 1906, while they were living
on a ranch near Dinuba, Tulare county. The little farm in Iowa was carried
on until 1876, when Mr. Carr sold out and came to this state; and locating
near Fresno, he was among the pioneers of Selma where he assisted in
building the first Kings river irrigation ditches, continuing in that location
until 1884, when he sold out.

Then he tried another venture by purchasing an old burr flouring mill in
Selma, but it was not a success and he lost all he had made up ti> tliis time
and had to begin over again. Nothing daunted he stuck to California, the
land of opporunity, homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres near Terra
Bella, Tulare county, proved up on it and later traded it for stock : after
which, in 1897, he came to Cholame. San I.uis ( )l)isp(i County, and raised
wheat on the Cholame grant, running three l)ig teams and tilling fifteen
hundred acres of land. The last crop, raised in 1901. yielded fifteen thousand
sacks of wheat. He hauled grain for months and hired others to haul to get
it to the warehouse in Paso Robles. The i)rice was low, only seventy-six cents ;
so he sold his outfit and removed to Dinulia. I Ic Iniught thirty-five acres and
set out a vineyard and raised grapes until he traded for some fifteen hundred
twenty acres in Echo or Hog canon. Alcmurcy county. This he devoted
to raising stock, cattle and horses, until I'lll. when lie leased the property
and located in San Miguel, where he purchased his present residence and lives
retired in the enjoyment of his accumulations nf "sixty years cf Inisiling."

Mr. Carr was married a second time at Milton, la.. .Mi-- Xina W eather-
ington, a native of that state, becoming his bride. I'.y the union with liis first
wife, he had eight children— Robert, in Dinuba: Sojihia. Mrs. Salladay, of
Terra Bella: lambie, Mrs. Russell, of Sanger: Oscar, in ^fonterey county:
Benjamin, a farmer in Cholame valley: Maggie. Mrs. Reese of Kermaii.
Fresno county; Bertha, I\lrs. Gilstrap of Gridley : and John, of Or.ixille.

Always an advocate of the Democratic party's principles. Mr. L'arr was
active politically in his earlier life, in the sections of country where he was a
resident, serving as a school trustee for many years, doing all he could to
maintain good schools. Fie is highly resjiected in Selma, Dinuba and San
i^Iiguel, the sections of this state where he lias resided, and where he is looked
upon as a sturdy pioneer.

312 SAX LL"1S OIIISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

THOMAS ALLEN JONES AND MRS. SOPHIE BUTLER JONES.—

That a munupuly, nv e\cn the greater part, nf the credit for the pioneer devel-
M])nient of California is due the male part of the population has never been con-
ceded bv even the most prejudiced. That women were the abiding inspiration
of those upnxjtcd from their original surroundings, and practically cast
adrift amid new .■iml untried conditions, is a glory which must forever over-
shadow .inything that man may have accomplished. .Xniong these noble and
self-sacriticing wnnien the name of Mrs. Sophie I',. Jones is entitled to more
than passing mention, and now, in the evening of her life, her friends, and
all who are familiar with her career, insist that she is entitled to unstinted
praise and all possil)le honor.

A nati\-e of Indiana, .Mrs. Jc.mes was born in Wayne county, January 24,
1.S42, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Hunt) Thornlnirg. She attended
the public schools ,,i Indiana and joined her parents in Iowa in 1862, they
having settled in Redfield, where she was united in marriage, in March, 1865,
with Thomas Allen Jones. Mr. Jones was born in Crawfordsville, Alont-
gomery count \, hid.. ]'ebru;iry 12. 1831, resided there until he was twenty-
two, fidlowing the carpenter trade, and there married his first wife. Miss Mary
iiunt. wiio passed away in 18.^'', leaving one son, Jeff Jones, n(.)w a member
of the Sant.i .Maria firm of T. .\. Jones & Son.

In 1S71, -Mr. and .Mrs. Jones came to California, settled in Santa Cruz
county at So(piel, where he worked in the redwoods one year, and then came
down to the Santa .Maria \alley, in which Mrs. Jones' father had settled.
Here -Mr. Jones farmed a claim of one hundred si.xty acres two seasons, and
then went back t(.i Iowa and remained two years. Mis health failing him, he
moved back to California: and in Santa Maria he started a carpenter slinp
on the site of the ilurdette building. By good management and fair dealins.;,
this little shop grew year by year : and as necessity demanded he began
making furniture. Later, caskets and cot¥ins, and still more furniture, were
manufactured at his place until the sJio]) grew into a l.)usiness <if considerable
proportions.

In 1883 the building <ind most of the contents were destroyed by fire, but,
nothing daunted, .Mr. Jones at once Ijegan to rebuild better than ever, and
once again started his business, lie branched out, and each year saw him
more ])nisperous and gaining in prestige; and thus that little carpenter shop
was the f<iundation of the present large store doing business under the name
<if T. .\. Jones & .Son, which is now one of the largest establishments of its
kind in the central coast counties. Mr. Jones died in 1902, since which time
the business has been carried on by Mrs. Jones and her sons.

.Mrs. Jones became the mother of three children : Emma, wife of William
Abels of Santa .Maria; ( leorge Washington, who died at the age of four years;
an.l ,\lbert K.. of the firm of T. A. Jones & Son.

Mrs. Jones is ;i member of the Christian Church, is a Rejiublican, and
one of the most liberal and most beloved women of the city. She was the
<irganizer of the Minerva Literary Club, named by her in honor of her step-
mother, .Mrs. .\liiier\a Thornburg, who was one of the noblest women that
e\er li\ed in S,int,-i .M;iria valley. Mrs. Jones donated two lots for the club
building .Mid is a life member. She is hospitable, charitable, progressive and
ever willing to lend aid to all worthy projects for the u])building of her city

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND KN\]R()NS 317

and U) uplift humanity in general. In the evenint; of her days she kioks haek
upon a life well spent and forward withnut fear, for she has been a strict
follower of the Golden Rule.

MR. AND MRS. JOHN D. BIGGS.— The pioneers of the early fifties are
fast passinj^- away, and l)ut few of them are left to recount the experiences
of tlic early time, that to the present generation seem so mxthical. One of the
pioneers of San Luis Obispo County associated with the romantic past is
John Biggs, who was born near Little Rock, Ark., January 17 . 1841, a son of
David Biggs, a descendant of an old Southern family, a pioneer of Texas and
(.'alifornia, and a prominent Mason of the early period. When John was a
baby his parents moved to Texas ; and after remaining there a few years
started overland for California with ox teams, coming over the southern route
I)y way of San Antonio, El Paso and Rio Grande, and landing in 18.^4 in Cali-
fornia-. They settled for a time at El Monte, then one of the first sto|)ping-
l)laces for emigrants this side of the mountains. In 1856 the family moved to
Tulare county, where, for the next five years, the father was engaged in the
stock business. Father and son drove a band of live hundred cattle over the
mountains into San Luis Obispo Count}- in ISol, when they settled here,
and were the first white men to run cattle in this county. Those were stirring-
times: Indians were numerous and not any too friendly, and would steal
cattle at the first opportunity; grizzly bears were plentiful, and .Mr. Biggs,
then a young man of eighteen, killed many of them. He passed through
the trying times of frontier life ; and while he had many narrow escapes
from bears and Indians, was fortunate in not meeting with any accidents.
After remaining with his father a few years, he struck out on his own account.
He engaged in farming in the Creston district, took up a government claim
and bought two others, engaged in dairying and the raising of cattle, and
for sixteen years was in the grain business. He became owner of five hun-
<lred fifty acres of land which he improved with buildings and fences, and
made productive. In 1910 Mr. Biggs sold his ranch and moved into San Luis
Obispo, where he has since lived retired.

CJn August 2, 1864, ;\Ir. Biggs was united in marriage with Miss Louisa
See. who was born on August 12, 184.i, in M(pnroe count\. hid., a daughter
of Joseph See, a native of Kentuckx , who uimmM to Indiana ami from there
to Texas, and thence to California, coming with ox teams o\er the southern
route, and settling first in San Bernardino county. In 1860, he came with his
family to San Luis Obispo county and bought land, which was named See
Canon after him. He farmed here for many years. Me lived to be eighty-
eisrht years of age, and was .i very inlluential and ])ul)lic-spirited man. Mr.
and Mrs. Biggs became the parents of the following children : Josejih. of I'aso
Robles: Mrs. Pernicia Duffy, of .San Luis Obis)!..: .Mrs. .Martha .\ich..|son.
at home; John C. in Los .Angeles: Mrs. Ida Sinikins, ..i Colusa; .Mrs. I.ilii;in
Kinny, residing in San I'rancisco; Mrs. Caroline Snyder, of ();ikland : :nid
Mrv Leah l'err\. ..f S.alinas. There are eiglit grandciiil.lren to l)righten the
i;nnily circle.

in the early days in this county thousands of head ..f cattle could he
counted from the tops of the hills, grazing in the valleys below. Thousands
<|f sheep were herded on the plains and wild horses roamed the deserts and
mesas. P.ull tights were of frequent occurrence in the streets of San Luis
Obispo, and many Indians were shot.- Those pioneer times were indeed stir-

31S SAX LUIS (JJ'.ISPO COUXTY AXD EXVIROXS

rin.L;-. Mrs. l''iggs slept with her husliand's six-shooter at the head of her bed
wlieii lie was away on business ; and she tells of once walking a desperate
cliaracter ahead of her horse fur three miles, his hands in the air. She was
known as a good shot; and Ijeing ileaill}" in earnest, she succeeded in deliv-
ering her prisoner over to others.

.\t the time of the settlement of Mr. Biggs on his ranch there were no
scIiiMils outside of San Luis Obispo. So the few families that lived in that
sci-iii>n gi)t together and hired an Englishman for a teacher; and Mrs. Biggs
gave up her kitchen, that had been built as a lean-to on their log house, for
a schuol-ruom until a suitable building could be erected. Mr. Biggs was a
friend of education, and served al)out twenty-h\e years as a director of the old
Santa Fe district.

HERMAN BUDAN. — .\mong the prominent German-Americans who
contributed to the development of San Luis Obispo County, Herman Budan
occu|)ie(l a conspicuous place, for he possessed to a large degree the traits of
character upon which material success is founded. He was born in 1842, in
Germany, and died December 7, 1907, in San Luis Obispo County. He at-
tended school in his native coimtr\-, where he remained for a short time there-
after. He then came to the United States, when he was (luite a _\(iung man,
and drifted westward.

lie stopped for a time in Ctali, and happening tc discuxer the Ontario
mine, he finllowed prospecting and niinin;.; in Utah and .Xevada for many
years. Mr. Budan was associated with the late L'nited States Senator George
Hearst in his mining interests in those two states, and after severing his
relations with Mr. Hearst, lie took a trip back to visit his old home in Ger-
many. At the conclusion of a pleasant stay there, he again came to California,
ami settleil in Sonoma county, near Santa Rosa, where he engaged in ranching
and the dairy business until 1886, when he came to San Luis Obispo County,

1, ]nirchasing two hundred acres nt

Ian

1 in the .V\ila district, began farming

1 dairying, continuing that occupa

til 111

until his death.

He married Hanna Christensen.

a n;

tive of Denmark, wlm died in lOlO,

1 they became parents of six chi

drei

; Mrs. Annie Gorh;ini, in .\laska:

s. Lnlu Jeffreys, residing in Lns
ith .and Herman.

.\i

geles; Mary, Clara, deceased; and

Mr. Iludan hecaiue a \ery proinii

ent

citizen, was a Republican in pedities,

1 served f..r years as a memlter (.1

the

C'lunty central coiumittee. He was

a ;

riend of education, and sup]H>rted

and

adxiicated the maintenance of good

Scll..nls.

EDITH B. BUDAN, the y..nngest daughter of Herman lUi.lan. is fol-
lowiiiL; ill the femtsteps lit her father in trying to benefit mankind wherever
it is possible. She is conducting and is the owner of Ontario Hot Springs,
located on the state highway between San Luis Obispo and Pismo, on a part
of the ranch owned by her father. These springs have been tested and show
many \alualile mediein.-il (|ualilies. The temperature of the water as it comes
Iroiii the spring is I2.S . The water is impregnated with sulphur, and is a
cure lor rhenmaiism. Here Miss I'.udan has erected suitable buildings, and a
bath house with v\<^\\i tubs. The accommodations are modern, and suitable
attendants :ire pro\ ide<l t'< >r lier ]i,itrons. She has built up a fine Inisiness and
a !.;reat in;in\ ]ieople h;i\e been benefited bv treatment at the Ontario Hot

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AXD EXVIROXS 319

MANUEL J. SOUZA, SR.— One of the well-to-do Portuguese citizens of
the Santa Maria valley is Manuel J. Souza, Sr.. now the owner of four valuable
ranches. His home place is well impro^'ed with a modern bungalow, and with
b;irns and outbuildings, all kept in good repair. He is a veteran bean grower,
and has made money by personal supervision of his ranch operations and
careful attention to details.

Manual J. Souza was born January I?, 1850. in the Azores islands, from
which, at the age of twenty, he went to sea and fur four years was on a
whaler, out of New Bedford, Mass., returning home in 1874. The next year
he came to California and began working as a farm hand for small wages.
He soon became acquainted with the methods of doing l)usiness, and with
the English language, and when he had saved money, he was united in mar-
riage, in 1878, with Miss Maria Lawrence Bello. Soon after this Mr. Souza
began leasing land and working for himself, year by year strengthening his
position in the community. His first purchase of land was of eighty acres,
and from time to time he has added to that nucleus until now he is the owner
of four hundred acres of valuable land. He has never cared for politics,
although he votes the Republican ticket. Mr. Souza and his family attend
the Catholic Church ; and he is a member of the I. .D. E. S. Lodge of
Santa Maria.

Mr. and Mrs. Souza are the parents of eight children : ;\Iary L., Joe J.,
Manuel J., Frank E., Annie J., Antone J., John L., and Maria de Gloria, the
wife of Manuel C. Grace. Joe and Frank are ranchers in the valley, Antone
conducts a store in Guadalupe, and John is employed in a bank at Santa
Maria.

Manuel T. Souza. Jr., was born on the Oso Flaco, attended the public
school, and commenced work on the ranch for his father after he was twelve
years of age. He is now a successful rancher and one of the progressive
Portuguese in the valley. He was united in marriage with Rosa Garcia, who
was born at Arroyo Grande ; and they have three children, Alice, Bernice and
Henry. In 1916 Mr. Souza erected his present home, where he and his family
are comfortably located. He and his wife are Socialists. He is a member
of the I. D. E. S., of Santa :Maria, and is one of the trustees of the lodge.

ALBERT PFISTER.— In the life of this successful banker of Paso Roliles
are illustrated the results of perseverance and energy. He is a citizen of
whom any community might well feel proud, and the people of San Luis
Obispo County, fully appreciating his ability, accord him a place in the
foremost ranks of representative business men. Identified with the history
of Paso Robles since 1887, he has witnessed its gradual growth and the
development of its commercial interests as well as the gradual increase of
its population by the removal hither of men of enterprise, intelligence and
high standing. His parents. Joseph and Margaret (Stable) Pfister, l)oth
natives of Germany, were living in Colusa County. California, at the time
he was born, November 6, 1859. His father was born in W'urttemberg, came
to Pittsburg, Penn., when a mere lad and was emiihiyed in the steel mills
until 1852. when he outfitted with provisions and nuile learns, and crossed
the plains to California from St. Joseph, .M<'. I'lie tir.-^l two years were
spent in mining: then he returned to I'ittsliurg and married, the newly
wedded couple soon coming to California, via Nicaragua. There were some
three hundred in the party that landed at Xicaragua, but it was at the time

320 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EXVIROXS

of the \\'alker filibuster expedition and they were held six weeks before being
allowed to cross. In the meantime yellow^ fever broke out among the immi-
Lirants and all died but eighty, a sister of Mrs. Pfister being among the
numlxT who perished.

\rri\-ing in San I'rancisco. Joseph Pfister engaged in teaming to the
mines in Washoe, Xevada, his wife residing on land entered from the govern-
ment, in Colusa County. On account of dry years, they abandoned the land
and moved to Napa county, near Suscol, and farmed there until 1868, when
he removed to Contra Costa County, and bought a tract of land at Pinole, and
improved it with a house and suitable outbuildings. This property of two
hundred twenty-seven acres adjoining Pinole is still in possession of the
family. There .Mr. Pfister died in 1892, aged sixty-eight years; and his wife
died in 1885. They were parents of seven children: Albert; Rose, of Suisun ;
Minnie, Mrs. Xudd of Dixon; Paul, of Paso Robles ; John, in Los Angeles
Count}- : Joseph, a dentist in San Francisco: and Augusta. Mrs. Harper, of
."^uisun.

Albert Pfister accompanied his parents to Contra Costa County when
nine years old, attended the public schools in Pinole and later in San Fran-
cisco, at South Cosmopolitan grammar school and the old high school on
Clay street, and graduated in 1876. lie then learned the trade of machinist
and mechanical engineer and followed it ten years, part of the time being
employed in the powder works at Pinole as a machinist. He then went to
Dixon and engaged in ranching for two years; and again going back to his
trade, he spent one year as master mechanic at the Mahoney mine in Amador
County.

In 1887 he came to Paso Robles, bought land nearby, and followed grain-
and stock-raising on part of the Santa Ysabel ranch. Latec he purchased
nine hundred sixty acres, continuing the grain and stock business until selling
out. In the meantime he had formed other interests in the growing city
of Paso Robles. in 1893 being elected a director of the Citizens Bank, of
which institution he was chosen cashier in 1899, a position he has since
occupied. In 1909, the Bank of Paso Robles met with reverses and was closed;
the Citizens Bank took over the afifairs of the defunct institution ; and in due
time all depositors were paid one hundred cents on the dollar. The Citizens
Bank was organized in 1892 with 8100,000 capital, of which $60,000 was
paid up. The deposits now exceed $700,000. This bank has made an excep-
tional record and is one of the leading financial institutions in the county.
As manager and cashier, Mr. Pfister has the confidence of the people through-
out the northern part of San Luis Obispo County ; and it is the consensus
of opinion that the success of the Citizens Bank is due largely to Mr. Pfister's
excellent judgment and careful and conservative management, and under his
wise supervision the depositors of the bank know that the money they have
intrusted to its care is in safe keeping.

Another enterprise of Mr. Pfister's was the organization of the firm of
Pfister, Ladd & Co., dealers in hardware and farm implements, at the corner
of Twelfth and Pine streets. In 1912 this was incorporated by Albert and
Paul I'fister as the Paso Robles Mercantile Company, and at that time they
branched out and established the present large department store. Albert
Pfister is the manager and gives it. his close supervision; and it is remarkable
to note his physical and mental capacity for work, which seemingly ne\er

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD EXMROXS 323

tires him. A Republican, he has served as a member of the county central
committee, and as city trustee, and is a member and active worker in the
Chamber of Commerce. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of
Pythias. He is prominent among the bankers of the county, very conservative
and successful, and is an excellent judge of land values as well as of securities.
The Citizens Bank enjoys the largest business in this section of the state, and
its cashier is recognized as a leader in financial circles.

WILLIAM C. STOKES.— The state of California has among its citizen-
ship the representatives of almost every nation of the globe. Alany of those
who played a most important part have been of Spanish blood, and their
descendants have exemplified true western spirit and have entered heartily
into every branch of industry, and the professions, and are today among
the most highly respected men and women of the state. In Guadalupe,
William C. Stokes is a worthy representative of an English and Spanish
family. He was born in old ^lonterey, August 1, 1846. His father, Dr. James
Stokes, was a native of England, who came to California in 1839, on a sailing
\essel via Cape Horn. He practiced medicine in San Jose, kept a general
merchandise store and owned about one thousand acres of land in various
places. He later lived in Monterey, where he had large landholdings, raised
sheep and cattle, served as postmaster and was a very prominent citizen
of the early period. By his marriage with ^liss Josephine Soto he allied
himself with an old Spanish family of San Jose and Monterey, also a family
of large landowners and stock-raisers. Five children were born of this
union: William C, Airs. Josephine W'interburn, Mrs. Louisa Gonzales, Airs.

1 Kate Sherwood, and Henry.

j William C. Stokes, the eldest of the family, was educated in the schools

of San Jose, assisted his father in the care of his sheep and cattle, and when
still quite young, with assistants, drove stock from the ranch into X'evada,
where he sold them. In 1867, when twenty-one, with seventeen other men,
he drove eleven hundred head of horses across the plains to Omaha, Xeb.

• Disposing of them, he returned to California \ ia Panama, and engaged in
dairying in Monterey county two years.

In 1870 he came to Santa Barbara count}', and bought property on Main
street, Guadalupe, which included an old adobe ranch house, one of the
historic landmarks of the county, in which Mr. Stokes now resides. Here
he ran a dair}' of one hundred cows, making cheese and butter until 1877, when
the dry season caused the loss of all his cattle. Mr. Stokes then took up a

. government claim of one hundred sixty acres near town, proved u]) on it.
added to the same from time to time, and now has three hundred thirty acres
which he is farming to grain and beans, with some stock. Since the dis-
covery of oil in this section of the state, this land has become very valuable

i and is now leased to an oil company, from which Mr. Stokes derives a good

j revenue.

1 William Stokes was married to Mis.s .Matilda \'. iMshcr, a native of

Ohio, near Zanesville. She was the daughter of Abraham and Rhoda
( Rogers) Fisher, both born in Ohio and merchants till they removed to
Illinois about 1857, locating near Rochelle. Ogle county. The father engaged

: in farming until he died. The mother afterwards married J. fl. ( Ircutt and

^ came tu San Luis Obispo County. California: she now makes her home with

i Air. and .Mrs. Stokes. She is eighty-tivo ye;irs old. Of iicr l,)ur children. Mrs.

324 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS !

Stokes is the only one now living. After coming to California, Miss Fisher I
was educated in a private scliool near (iuadalupe : and here she resided I
till her marriage, April 25, 1874, to Judge Stokes. Mr. and IMrs. Stokes have j
nine children : Mrs. Josephine Colbath, Ronald, Walter, Mrs. Evelyn Ber- I
trand, Alfred, Leland, Mrs. Elouise Livingston, Paul, and Carl. There are ',
fi lur grandchildren to brighten the life of their fond grandparents. I

Mr. Stokes has been a faithful servant of the people ; and having been •
elected to the office of Justice of the Peace of his township, he is now serving j
his fourth consecutive term. There is no man in the Santa Maria valley who '
believes more strongly in progression, or advocates more heartily all meas- j
ures til uplift humanity, than does Judge Stokes. His success has been the I
result of his own efforts, and he is now living practically retired with the ]
exception of his judicial duties. He is une of the oldest native sons living |
in Santa Barbara county today, and wherever he is known he is highly j
esteemed and respected. ;

CHRESTEN A. IVERSEN.— California's rapid strides an<l improvement '
are in large measure due to the countries of the Old World, among them '
the minor kingdom of Denmark, whose naturally capable sons and daughters
have gone forth into other lands to influence modern civilization. An illus- '■
tration of Denmark's friendly and highly appreciated contribution to the de- !
velopment of the Golden State is found in such a career as that of Chresten ]
A. h-ersen, the picmeer of Union district, who located there when there was |
neither a country road nor a windmill east of the Salinas river. Mr. Iversen '
was born near Ballum, Denmark, on Christmas Day, 1861. His father was 1
Hans Iversen, an interesting sketch of whose life is given on a separate page I
in this work. Chresten was the third eldest child and was given every educa- |
tional advantage that the public schools could afford. |

When he was seventeen years of age, however, he broke away from the j
schools and determined to leave for America and California, two brothers, i
I\er and Mat., having preceded him to the New World. Having crossed |
the American continent, Chresten was the first of the family to reach the \
Pacific coast. He arrived in San Francisco with three dollars in his purse,
engaged himself for a year at ten dollars a month, and faithfully carried out '
his part of the agreement. Later he ran a restaurant on East street in San :
Francisco, but hearing of government lands in San Luis Obispo County, and
of their distribution to the public, he came with his father and his brother
Mat. and three friends, and located a homestead of one hundred sixty acres '
on Dry Creek in Union district, after which, for a short time, he returned
to San Francisco, to work.

In San Francisco, June 21, 1884, he married Miss Annie Lena Christensen,
who was also born near Ballum. Her father was Andreas Christensen, a !
veteran of the Wars of 1848 and 1864, in which he fought, against Germany, r
and he now lives in California, aged ninety-two, with his daughter. Her j
mother was Louise Christensen, who is now deceased. In 1908, Mr. and Mrs. i
Christensen celebrated their golden wedding at Union. After their marriage, j
Mr. and Mrs. Iversen located on their homestead, and continued the improve- i
men Is already begun there. They built an adobe house and cleared and broke
the land ; and just what agriculture in those days and in that section meant
may be gathered from a tact or two in the development of this steadily pro-
gressing ranchman. In 188,\ his father had sown some wheat on their three

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 325

homesteads, which he harvested with a scythe in 1884; and from his portion
he obtained three hundred twelve sacks of first-class grain, a sample of which,
sent to the immigration offices in San Francisco, was pronounced the best
among a hundred or more varieties. In 1885, too, the Iversens harvested
with a header, but in 1901 they bought and operated a combined harvester.
Mr. Iversen then rented some adjoining land, and bought other acreage, and
engaged in raising" wheat, moving about, also, onto dilTerent places which he
farmed. In one year he raised five thousand five hundred sacks, and for three
years he farmed near San jMiguel.

In 1904, he bought a part of his present place, moving onto it in 1906, and
later purchased more land adjoining; so that today he has eight hundred
acres in a body. He also still owns the old homestead of one hundred sixty
acres. With his son, Andrew, and a brother, C. F., he owns one hundred
sixty acres near Union, forty-five acres of which he has set out to almonds.
He superintends the operations of the farm himself, which he accomplishes
with the latest and most improved machinery. A result of his indefatigable
labor is that he has wrung a fortune from Mother Earth. Mr. Iversen hauled
his first three crops to San Luis Obispo, taking three days for the round trip.
The fourth crop was delivered in Paso Robles, the railroad, then completed,
having provided a much more rapid means of transit. Already a leader among
ranchers, it was natural that, in 1891, he should become one of the organizers
of the Farmers' Alliance Business Association, that built the large ware-
houses of Paso Robles, of which he is a director. He was also one of the
organizers of the Good-Will mining syndicate, engaged in operating and de-
veloping a copper and iron mine in Los Osos valley near Morro Bay. It has
already made a valuable showing, and he has thus established a precedent for
which he deserves much credit. He is liberal and enterprising, and believes
that a man who has been successful should be willing to devote a percentage
(if his profits to the development of the natural resources of the county in
which he lives.

-Mr. and -Nfrs. Iversen have had seven children: Mary, the wife of Mr.
H. Lund, who farms in the Union District : Andrew, who married Margaret
Paulus, and is a farmer on the Estrella ranch : Louise, who died at the age of
seventeen ; Jenny, Mrs. Chris Jespersen, who lives on the Estrella ranch ;
Hetty, who died at two years of age : Alice, a clerk in the Emporium at Paso
Robles; and Harry, who attends the local high school. Inspired with the
socially helpful spirit, Air. Iversen is a member of the Free and Accepted
Masons, being affiliated with Paso Robles Lodge No. 286; while in matters
of religion he prefers both the theological tenets and the form of government
of the Lutherans. In every respect Mr. Ivcrscm is enterprising and pro-
gressive, a man of native ability and acquired knowledge, and a citizen
esteemed and well liked.

LAURA WHITE WOLF. — The influence wielded by women in business
affairs is dcnidnstrated by the success achieved by Mrs. Laura White Wolf
of San Luis Obispo, lessee of the Elks Theater for the past two years, and a
resident of the city for twenty years. She was born in Salt Lake City, June
2, 1866. a daughter of Richard Cullen White, of English birth and ancestry.
He was a descendant of the "House of White," and a man of superior intelli-
gence and education. He migrated to Canada with an uncle when a very
young man. Soon leaving his uncle, he came to the United States, where he

326 SAX LL'IS (JBISPC) COUXTY AXD EXVIROXS

engaged in newspaper work, fought in the Civil War, followed a literary
career and became a playwright of prominence. As an author and a linguist,
he was equalled by few. On his arrival in California, he embarked in the
theatrical business, writing and producing his own plays. He went to yion-
tana for a time, but finally came back to this state. He was the first one to
dramatize "She," as well as many of the very best dramas and operas; and
none of his productions were failures. He made and expended several for-
tunes, lived his life to its full, and spent his last years at the home of his
daughter in San Luis Obispo. When he was about eighty-five years old, he
decided to master Spanish, and one winter spent in study enabled him to
speak the language fluently. He died in 1916 at the age of eighty-nine Axars.
His was a wonderful life, blessed with the rewards that come to those whose
lives are directed in the right channels. His good wife, INlary Lash, was born
in Richmond, \'a., a daughter of Elizabeth Bryan, a member of the same
family as the "Peerless Orator." She was highly educated, a leader in society,
and besides her daughter Laura, had one son, Richard Cullen White, and
another daughter, Lenor \\'hite Barnett, both of whom became famous.

When she was three months old, Laura \Miite was brought to California
by her parents. Her education was obtained in a convent in Portland,
Oregon. She became her father's companion, and it was but natural that
she should participate in his theatrical ventures, later taking a prominent
])art in his productions; and from that time she followed the profession until
she came to San Luis Obispo. Through her professional career she met the
man she later married, and in Paterson, New Jersey. Daniel Woli and Laura
White were made husband and wife. Later they had their own company
on the road, consisting of eighty persons. Arriving in San Luis Obispo, ^Ir.
and Mrs. \\'o\i located for a time, and here her daughter, Violet Alerc)' Wolf,
was born ; she also had a son named after her father, that died in infancy.
Mrs. Wi>lf ga\e to her baby girl her entire time and loving care, intending,
when the latter was old enough, once more to take up her profession ; hut this
resolution was never carried out, for her whole life was bound up in her child.
She saw her pass through the grammar school and graduate from the high
school in this city, and finally take a finishing course in Notre Dame convent
in San Jose. This daughter is now living with her mother, at home.

]\lr. \\'olf was born in New York City, of German-Jewish extraction, was
educated in the public schools and later became associated as a master elec-
trician in the theatrical business. After his marriage, he traveled together
with his wife in their own company. Since locating in San Luis Obispo, he
has engaged in various theatrical ventures. For a time he had a show house
in the old pa^■ilion, then >for five years was superintendent of the county
iiosi)ita1, and then ran the Elks Theater for about two years. He is public-
spirited, well liked by all, and is familiarly known as "Dan" W'oU by those

l*'iir the past twenty years Mrs. Wolf has been a valued citizen of San
Luis Obispo. She has always willingly given of her time and talents to help
church and charity, and has liberally given of her means to promote the wel-
fare of the city, which she has grown to love for its early associations. She
has a wide acquaintance among theatrical people throughout the country, has
enjoyed her life to its full capacity, and is living in the quiet contentment of
her luiine and the enjoyment of an ever widening circle of friends.

O'^n/^ y?c

yy^eyi<^

^^U4^1^

'z:^^

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EXATROXS 320

JAMES H. RUCKER. — In improving the western opportunities that
have come his way, James H. Rucker, one of the substantial citizens of Paso
Robles, has displayed characteristic enterprise. He was born in Blooming--
ton. 111., December 24, 1849, a son of Ambrose Rucker, who was a natix'e
of Virginia, from the Rappahannock, and of Scotch descent. He was married
near ^^'oodstock, \'a., to Catherine Ruth Carran. a native of that vicinity.
After their marriage, Mr. Rucker migrated to (.)hio, thence to illMoni-
ingtun. 111., and thence to Mt. Pleasant, la., where he worked at his trade
of blacksmith, opening a shop and doing a good business until 1849, when he
was seized with the gold fever and came across the plains in the spring of
that year. He mined at Placerville, then known as Hangtown. with success,
and then returned home via Panama. During his trip to California, his wife
had gone to the home of her parents in Illinois, and it was while tliere tliat her
son, James H., was born. After the return of Mr. Rucker. they located again
near Mt. Pleasant, Henry county, la., and here he engaged in farming and
blacksmithing, six miles from town.

He continued to farm and work at his trade with success until 1864,
when he determined to come again to California to live. He outfitted with
four big wagons, each having four yoke of o.xen, and a carryall drawn by
horses. He loaded in a complete blacksmith outfit and goods, intending to
stop at East Bannock, Idaho, but on arrival there, he decided to continue his
journey. He therefore took the Landers cut-oiT and, acting as captain of the
train, went from the North Platte to Oregon. They spent that winter at
Albany, Mr. Rucker working in the logging camps until spring, when they
continued over the mountains to California, and arrived at San Jose in
August, 1865. He leased a ranch at Los Gatos for two years and engaged
in ranching : then he bought a place on New Almaden road in Union district,
cleared the land, erected buildings and set out a vineyard of sixty acres,
opened a blacksmith shop and lived there until 1878. when he moved into
San Jose and retired. He died in August, 1880, aged seventy-three. His
wife passed her last days in San Jose and died in 1898 at the age of .seventy-
seven. They had twelve children, nine of whom grew up and five of whom
are living.

The oldest of the living children, James H. Rucker, was bn night uj) on
the Iowa farm until he was fourteen, and then came across the plains with his
parents, who made the trip without incident. He and a brother drove one
team all the way, taking six months for the journey to Oregon. He attended
school in the L'nion district, Santa Clara county, and remained at home until
he was eighteen : then he worked for wages on the ranches about Santa
Clara, being in the employ of "Old Joe" Rucker for many years, and attend-
ing, for a short time, the Cambria school of that county.

Five years were spent in railroad work on the San Joa(|uin valley
division for the Southern Pacific, when he quit and went to Monterey county,
and in April, 1875, bought a farm of one hundred sixty acres and began
raising stock and grain. During 1888 he came to this county, and at San
Miguel leased twelve hundred eighty acres of the Corriente Land Company,
on which he raised grain on an extensive scale. First he had a header, and
tlien a combined harvester; and he al.so cut on contract until 1908. In the
meantime, he had bought several ranches, one of four hundred eighty acres
in Slack's canvon. another of two hundred fortv acres in Ranchita canvon.

330 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

and another of one hundred sixty acres in \'ine\'ard canyon ; and on these he
engaged in stock-raising until I'308, when he leased the properties and located
in Paso Robles. Here he purchased his residence at 2005 Oak street, where
he is very comfortably located with his family. Since moving to the city
he has sold his ranches and purchased a fruit farm of nine and one half
acres adjoining Paso Kobles. He has peaches, almonds, cherries and pears,
and is engaged biitli in the cultivation of this land and in the loaning of
money.

Mr. Kucker has been twice married. (Jn the first occasion, in San Luis
Obisjio, his bride was Mrs. Alice (Brock) Wren, who was Ijorn in Texas and
died in San Miguel, leaving one daughter, Alta IMay, now Mrs. Bates of Paso
Robles. The second marriage united him with Mrs. Martha (Gillespie)
Cushing, who was born near Petaluma, Sonoma county. Her father William
crossed the plains in 1849, and was married in Sonoma county to Caroline
Leffingwell, and in 1862 they came to San Luis Obispo County. Mrs. Rucker
was educated in the Cambria schools of this county and is Past Noble
Grand of Natalia Lodge, No. 216, Rebekahs, of San Miguel. Politically, Mr.
Rucker is a Democrat.

SAMUEL T. COINER. — Prominent among the Southern States that
long contributed both to the number and to the cjuality of the pioneers
who transformed California from a wilderness to the Golden State, is Virginia,
the birthplace of Samuel T. Coiner, land contractor for the Union Sugar Co.
Mr. Coiner was born on December 23, 1857, the son of Daniel Coiner, one
of the first white men (excepting, of course, the early Spaniards) to take
up residence in the Santa Maria valley. His great-great-grandfather was
born in Germany, and came to Virginia as the master of a merchant ship.
He traded with New Orleans, and in Pennsylvania he won the heart and
hand of Margaret Diller. They reared a large family; and so numerous
were the descendants of this sturdy old seafarer that when a reunion of the
Coiners was held in Augusta county, A'irginia, in 1881, not less than two
thousand two hundred persons were present, and among these were a hun-
dred thirty-six voters in that county.

Daniel Coiner came to Salinas in 1867. \Mien he t(X)k up his residence
in the valley he bought a quarter interest in the Punta de la Laguna Rancho,
near Guadalupe ; but owing to a dispute as to boundary lines and unfortunate
litigation, he lost all of his equity, and had to begin over again. A year after
his arrival in Salinas, he sent for his family; and it was then that SamUel
Coiner came across the Isthmus with his mother, whose maiden name was
Isabelle .\nderson, and who was of Scotch descent. While the Coiners
originally belonged to the Pennsylvania Germans, her family was numbered
among the early \'irginia farmers. Twelve children were born to Daniel
Coiner and his devoted helpmeet. The oldest, Mary Fann}% died when she
was thirteen years old at Salinas; and only two, Samuel Coiner and Mrs.
W. H. Rice, of Santa Maria, remained in the Santa Maria valley.

From 1868 to 1872, Samuel resided with his family in IMonterey county,
where he continued the public school course begun in Virginia, and event-
ually finished in the first public school of Guadalupe. In 1875, or a year
after he came into the Santa Maria valley, Samuel Coiner was married in
Los Alamos to Miss Catherine Fields, a daughter of Edmund and Lucy
Fields, the latter a charming lady still residing Avith the subject of this

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 331

sketch at Betteravia; and six children blessed the union. Arthur married
Birdie ^IcCann, and lived at Los Alamos, dying in 1915. Lucy became
the wife of George P. Merritt, secretary and auditor for the Pinal-Dome
Oil Co. at Santa Alaria. Lulu is the wife of Arthur Froom, a prominent
business man of Santa Alaria. Frances married J. P. de I'Eau. the civil engi-
neer of the Union .Sugar Co. Nora was joined in wedlock to Ralph Dyer, a
city salesman for Chanslor-Lyon in Los Angeles. Ethel is a trained nurse in
the first-aid department of the hospital at Betteravia.

A strong, manly man with forceful character, and a good judge of
human nature, cordial and liked by ever3'body, Samuel Coiner was able to
take up the responsibilities of a land contractor for the Union Sugar Co., and
successfully to lease about ten thousand acres devoted to sugar beet culture
and supplying the factory with over one hundred thousand tons of beets per
annum. He owns a residence at Santa Maria, but lives at Betteravia. He is a
Presbyterian in his church affiliations, and a Democrat by political convic-
tion. Fraternally, he is associated with the ]\Iasons. the Elks of San Luis
(Jbispo, and the Knights of Pythias of Santa Maria.

JOHN CALHOUN PREWITT.— As migh.t he surmised from the illus-
trious given name borne by John Calhoun Prewitt, the popular leader of
Santa Margarita, he is an offspring from a Southern family proud of its social
and political affiliations, although he himself is a native son, Paraiso Springs,
Monterey county, claiming his birth. J lis father, ( ireen Lemuel Prewitt, was
a Southern gentleman of the old schdi.I. in whom California so appealed
that he was willing, as a young man, in 1849, to travel on the laborious
and tedious journey across the great plains with no better motor service than
that of a yoke or two of oxen. This sturdy pioneer settled near Salinas, and
farmed there, after which he removed to Paraiso Springs and eventually died
at Soledad. He married Theresa Ripley, a noble native daughter, and attrac-
tive from her childhood. She was born in Monterey, a daughter of Captain
Ripley, one of those early navigators who were educated especially in sur-
veying, and who were bound to become, once they abandoned the sea, promi-
nent as men of affairs. He was sheriff' and later treasurer of Monterey
county, and left behind him an enviable record both as a private citizen and as
a public official. Theresa (Ripley) Prewitt died at Soledad, and was buried
there beside her honored husband.

John was the second youngest of four children, brougiit up on a farm ;
and having attended the public school, he went to work at the early age of
fourteen on one ranch or another, putting in two summers of hard work with
an uncle. An agreeable change came when, for three years, he clerked in a
store in King City, obtaining there a most valuable insight into human
nature and invalualjle preparation for the responsibilities of later years. In
that same town, in 1902, he was in the employ of the Southern Pacific Milling
Co. ; and there, as elsewhere, both before and since, he proved his efficiency.
Particularly was he valuable as foreman of the warehouse and lumber yard.
Near King City he married ]\Iiss .Sally M. Mansfield, a native of Gorda, and
now the mother of two beautiful chiklren, Dorothy and Herschel. After
serving as foreman cjf the warehouse, he went to Metz, Monterey county, as
the agent of the same company, and in 1911 he came to Santa Margarita
still as agent for the company, having charge n\ their warehouse and lumber
vard.

332 SAX LllS (JBISPO COUNTY AND EXMROXS

Mr. Pre\\itt is prominent politically, as a Republican. In religious circles,
lie is an active member of the Presbyterian Church. He is serving as clerk,
for the second term, of the board of school trustees of the Santa Margarita
school district. Just what the value of public services by private citizens
with business experience and common sense may mean is shown from the
work accomplished by this board, which in January, 1916, began to build
the new schoolhouse, whose completion was celebrated on May 13. For such
a district as this the school building is large, being one hundred twenty-three
l)y one hundred twenty-four feet in size. The whole structure is of mission
style with reinforced concrete, and cost fully $15,000 — an outlay attesting
the generous and advanced spirit of the people of Santa Margarita.

A Mason and a Senior A\'arden in Lodge X'o. 302, F. & A. M.. at King
City, and a member of San Luis Obispo Lodge X'o. 322. B. P. O. E., Mr.
I'rewitt is able to communicate his kindly spirit of good-fellowship to many
others in the local circles in which he moves : and few persons in modest
position in this neighborhood enjoy a greater influence for good and for the
general uplift of the community.

MRS. LULU TERRILL GARKEE.— A native daughter of the golden
West, and one who has been very much interested in the preservation of the
landmarks of historical interest left by the forerunners of civilization, is
Mrs. Lulu Terrill Garkee, whose father was Richard Terrill, born in Mexico,
where his parents had gone to look after the numerous mining interests of
his father. Dr. Able Terrill, in the vicinity of Guadalupe. Dr. Terrill was
born in Pennsylvania of Scotch-Irish descent, and soon after Richard was
1)1 irn the family went back to Pennsylvania and, in 1849, crossed the plains
with horse teams to California and settled in the mining region in Calaveras
county, where the father passed away.

Richard Terrill was reared in this state. In San Francisco, he was united
in marriage with Miss Ramona Botellio. a native of Spain. -She had come
to this country with her parents and here met and married Mr. Terrill ; and
after the happy event, they moved to Half Moon Bay, San Mateo covmty, and
engaged in the raising of fine horses for market, receiving good prices for
them. He became a large landowner at Half Moon Bay, eventually selling
out and retiring to Los Angeles, where he died. His wife passed away in
San Luis Obispo.

Of the five children born to this worthy couple, three are living. Mrs.
Lulu Garkee being the second in order of birth. She was born in lialf Moon
Bay. and attended the public schools there, and also the San Mateo Academy.
The marriage uniting her with Charles Garkee, who was a native of Mil-
waukee, "Wis., of French descent, w^as solemnized in San Luis Obispo. Mr.
Garkee came to California a young man. He was a civil engineer and sur-
veyor. After marriage they settled in San Francisco, where, with different
companies, he followed his profession until his death, after which his widow
remained in that city until 1907. On account of ill health, she came to Paso
Robles and has since made it her home.

She is a member of San INliguel Parlor. X. D. G. W. In pulitics she is a
Republican. She is public-spirited and supports all public movements for
the benefit of the community. Since taking up her residence here she has
surrounded herself with a host of friends, who respect her for her strength
of character and integritv.

(^/^^^

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD EXMROXS 535

S. CAMPODONICO.— A prominent business man of Cuadalniie and
one of its leadini;" citizens, S. Campodonico was born at Carasco. Circuit of
Chiavari, Italy, January 10, 1840. His father, John Campodonico, was a
cobbler by trade, a handy man with all kinds of tools ; and being' a man of
intelligence and considerable learning, he attained to some prominence in
ofificial circles in his native circuit, filling various petty offices and clerkships,
such as assistant tax collector, and clerk of the board of supervisors. He
was a man of good, hard common sense, who attained an age of more than
seventy, when he was injured by an accidental fall, from which he died. His
entire life was passed in Italy. His wife was also a person of great vitality,
living to be over ninety.

S. Campodonico's early life was passed in the home of his parents in
Italy, where his father, being a man of scholarly attainments, taught his son
the common branches in the Italian language. A lad of precocious mind,
he was sent to a boys' seminary, .\pril 4. 18.^,\ where he immediately went
into the class of the second grade, and at the end ijf the first month stood
second in a class of more than ninety ; at the end of the second month
he held first rank, and maintained this supremacy until the end of the semester.
His ambition was to take a classical course and to enter one of the learned
professions ; but his father's financial circumstances precluded this, and he
made up his mind that he would go to America to seek a business career.
He was considering Buenos Ayres, but his father influenced him to come
to the United States, particularly as he had a few relatives here.

At the age of seventeen, Alay 14, 1857, he took passage in a sailing \essel
from Genoa to Xew York; and on July 18 of that year he landed, after a
journey of about sixty days. He found work in a toy factory at 123 \\'liite
street. New York City, at $l.?0 per week, and there worked steadily and
with an ambition to rise : but the panic of 1857, one of the most severe America
has ever seen, came on. and the factory had to close down. It looked gloomy
for the young man, but he finally went to the owner of the factory and was
trusted for five or six dollars' worth of toys : and it being holiday time, he
sold the toys on the streets, and to his own and everyone else's surprise, he
cleared up twenty-five dollars on his week's Inisiness. This was his first
comniercial \enture.

After that he apprenticed himself to the proprietor of certain marble
works, and served his apprenticeship of two and one half years, securing com-
pensation of board, lodging and twenty-five dollars per year. During all this
time he practiced the strictest economy, confining himself to the barest neces-
sities. One purchase he did make, however, during this time was an Italian-
English and English-Italian dictionary, which he bought from a second-hand
store for fifty cents. This he studied, and it is still in his possession. The
Civil War then broke out, putting business everywhere in strained con-
dition; and inasmuch as Mr. Cam])odonico's em])loyer, a memlicr of the
National Guard, who later took part in the I'-attle of Hull Run, was requisi-
tioned into service, he was once more out of employment. About this time
ho wrote his father, in Italy, that he would like to go to California; and his
f;ither answered that he had his iicrmission to do so. To this the young man
replied with some sarcasm, "The fare to San l-'rancisco will cost .$100, and if
you will advance that sum, your permission may be sent right along with the
money; otherwise, if I must pay it myself. I'll take the permission."

336 SAX r.l'IS OlilSPO COL'XTV AXD RXNTROXS

A family ])\- the name of Dacit^alupi was living at the mines in California,
and young Lampodonico made up his mind to come out and join them.
Leaving Xew Yori< City, September 2, li%l, Ijy steamer "North Star" for
Panama, he came across the Isthmus and arrived in San Francisco, by the
"Uncle Sam." September 26. There he found a job at his trade, and became
a marble engraver and an artist in his line, which is attested by some of the
work from his hands still standing in Lone Mountain cemetery in San Fran-
cisco— notably the bust of Senator Broderick. chiseled in white marble and
mounted on a high shaft in a prominent place in the cemetery; as well as the
capitals on the marble columns of the Nicolas Lunning colonnade. In 1868,
after having worked as a journeyman for several years, and accumulated some
money, with another young man he started in the marble business for himself
at 1130 Market street, near the junction of Sixth and Taylor streets, in San
Francisco, under the firm name of Campodonico & Co. This business was
conducted successfully from 1868 until 1881. when he sold out. Owing to the
hard times caused by the Dennis Kearney agitation, business in San Francisco
came to a practical standstill, and the years 1877 to 1881 were anything l)ut
satisfactory in the marble line.

Having .sold out in 1881, he next engaged with Mark J. l-'ontana & Co.,
now the As.sociated Canneries ; and there -Mr. Campodonico rose to the posi-
tion of su])erintendent in the extensive fish and fruit canneries, holding
his position there until 1884. Mark J. Fontana & Co., as creditors of an
insolvent business in (;uadalui)e. had to take over a small stock of merchan-
dise: and they having offered this business to their superintendent, he came
down in July. 1884. to look over the situation, and in November made arrange-
ments to buy the stock. On December 3, of that year, he brought his family
to Guadalupe to live, and has been in business here ever since. As a business
man and merchant he has l)een eminently successful, through square dealing,
wide-awake business methods, strict attention to business and al)ility to
accommodate his customers, and has built up one of the largest general mer-
chandising establishments in the Santa Maria valley.

l"c>r two years, from 1864 to 1866. Mr. Campodonico was in Rear \'alley.
Mariposa county, and there became acquainted with Miss Elizabeth Biglar,
born in .'^t. Louis. Mo., who crossed the plains to California with her
parents, as a child, in 18.^2. They were married in San Francisco in 1869.
Of this union fourteen children have been l)orn. five dying in infancy. The
nine who grew to maturity are Lottie, wife of J. B. Acquistapace of Guada-
lupe : Silvia, who married Martin Luther Smith of Santa Cruz; Frank, who
runs his father's ranch at Los Berros in San Luis Obispo County: Stephen,
who married Florence Baumgartner. and is his father's chief assistant in
running the merchandise store in Guadalupe: Joseph, who is with his brother
Frank, on the ranch : !\Iargarite. clerk and bookkeeper in the store : Charles,
proprietor of the Commercial Hotel in Guadalupe : Alma, who married Harry
Anderson, secretary of the Union Sugar Company at Betteravia : and \'ic-
toria. who is the wife of Richard Maretti of Guadalupe, ^fr. and ^frs. Cam-
podonico have nine grandchildren and one great-grandcliild.

^Ir. Campodonico cast his first vote for U. S. Grant in 1868. and has
l)een a Republican ever since. He is a member of the County Central Com-
mittee of Santa Barbara county, and although adhering closely to party
principles, lie has found it consistent to vote a mixed ticket at times. He

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AXD EXVIROXS 337

helped to organize the Bank of Santa Maria, and is still a stockholder. For
years he has been the U. S. correspondent of statistics from this section, and
for many years, including the time of the building of the two-story frame
high school building here in 1896, he has been identified with the school
board, but has declined to become a candidate for county office. He has
done more for Guadalupe than an}' other person alive. When Mr. Campo-
donico came here in 1884, he had for his active competitor H. J. Laughlin,
formerly a prominent merchant of the place; now Mr. Campodonico is the
veteran business man of the town, and the Campodonico Block, a substantial
two-story and basement structure, stands as a monument to its owner. This
was the first brick business block erected in the town : and from the clay dug
out of the basement were made the bricks of which the walls are constructed.
A beautiful residence has also been erected Ijy Mr. Campodonico, and it is
complete in all appointments. He is a member of (juadalupe Lodge, X^o. 2i7 .
F. & A. M., is Past iMaster and the treasurer of the lodge, and served on the
building committee during the erection of the ■Masonic and Odd Fellows
hall, a brick structure erected in 1913-14 at a cost of 815,000.

The career of this veneral)le merchant is linked inseparably, in fact, with
the building up of Guadalupe. During the time he has lived here he has
prospered, and besides his town properties he is the owner of a ranch near
Orcutt and one near Los Berros in San Luis Obispo County. The new Com-
mercial Hotel building was erected by four of his sons on land donated by
their father. During his residence here the railroad has been constructed
through from San Francisco to Los Angeles, reaching this town in 18'>4 :
the permanent bridge was built in 1895 and the road completed to Santa
Barbara in 1898. Prior to that, all supplies were hauled from Port Harford.

Today a gentleman of seventy-seven, looking back dver a busy life, Mr.
Campodonico is happy in good health, and in the conscii aisness of a life well
spent, and might easily be taken for a man ten years younger. His numerous
friends are of one accord in wisliing liim many additional years in which to
enjoy the fruits of a useful life.

SPENCER C- RECORDS.— One of the representative citizens and an
"old-timer" hi the Arroyo (Grande valley, Spencer I'. Records is a worthy
son of his parents, Thomas B. and ?^Iary (Short) Records, of whom extended
mention is made on another page of this volume. He was born in Hender-
son county, 111., on December 21, 1864, and came west with his parents to
this state, settling in the then wilderness along Arroyo Grande creek. He at-
tended the public schools, supplementing this with an elective course in the
University of the Pacific and a business course at the Garden City Business
College, both in San Jose.

He worked with his father until he was eighteen, and then started out
for himself, although he practically lived at home until his parents died.
They always encouraged him in every way to get ahead and do for him-
self, and he has been self-supporting ever since he was a young man. He
was reared to the stock business and has followed that line of farming until
the present time. He farmed, raised stock, bought and sold cattle, horses
and mules, and has prospered.

He made his first purchase of land of one hundred sixty acres, and with
that as a nucleus he has added from time to time until he now is the owner

338 SAX Ll'IS oniSPO COl'XTV AXll F.X\1R()XS

of three thousand acres in the Iluasna country, principally grazing land on
which he runs beef cattle. He lived on the ranch until 1905, when he bought
])r(ipertv in .Vrroyo (irande and erected a very cnmfortalile residence, where
he li\i-s idgether with his family, althmigh he is still managing his stock inter-
ests himself.

I lis wife, whom he married in March, 1904, was M'ss Lucy Jones, a
native dangliter born and educated in San Luis Obispo County. Her parents,
\\ , .S. and l-'duarda ( I'.ranch) Jc)nes, were farmers, and Mrs. Records is the
next to the oldest in a family of ten children. Mr. and Mrs. Records have
three danglUers, Mary I-:.. VAna L.. and .\gnes C. Like his father. Mr. Rec-
nrds is a developer and a i^romoler of the best interests of the county, and
takes an acti\ e ])art in the advancement of his section of the county, wdiicli
he h.is seen grew from a sparsely settled region tn one of great ])ro(hictiveness
and wealth.

MR. AND MRS. ELIAS P. BRUBAKER. .\lmost unbelievable is the
romance, when one sto])s to consider it, of many such lives as that of Klias
I'. Ilrubaker, spanning, as they do, the marvelous transition periods in the
nation when society emerged from the cruder and well-nigh primeval state
into adsanced conditions of comfort and even lu.xury. His father was George
Ilrubaker. a native of rennsylvania. who removed with his family to .Ash-
land. (),. built a log house there, and pursued farming until his death, in his
si.xty-fifth year. EVuis lirubaker was born on I'ebruary 21, 1830, in Pennsyl-
\ania, came with his ]iarents, in 1833, to Ohio, and grew up on an Ohio farm,
attending scho(d in a pi(ineer log schoolhouse, with rough slab benclu-
Mrs. ("icorge Ilrubaker was Miss Elizabeth llurkhardt before her marriaL;i
She was also a native of I'ennsylvania and, like her husband, passed away in
Ohio. Ten children were born to this hardy cou|)le : but tjnly one. the fifth
eldest — tiie subject of our sketch — has survived until the present.

Ma\ ing finished with the local school. Elias went to the Hayesville
Academy, and later attended the State L'niversity at Delaware, O., after
which he began to teach. He belonged, however, to just that adventurous
class to whom the great California gold excitement made its strongest appeal,
and it was not long, therefore, before he was traveling to the Coast, by way
of Panama. He reached the Isthmus in .April, 1856, during the "I'anama
Riots,'" and landed from the "lohn L. Stevens" at San I^rancisco in May of
that year, .\rrived in California, he made his way to Placerville and the
Indian Diggings: but perceiving the demand for other than miners, he soon
ga\ e u]) his search for .gold, and commenced teaching school instead.

Three years later, on .\pril 2, 1859. Elias Brubaker was married at the
Indian Diggings to .Miss Diantha Rodgers, and was thereby connected with
a i)ioneer family of more than ordinary interest. Miss Rodgers was born
on Pictou Island. .\ova Scotia, the daughter of Benjamin and Jessie (Cam;)-
l»ell I l\o<lgers. the former a native of Wales, and the latter of the Island
of Mull, ott' the coast of Scotland. Her father was originally a blacksmith
who emigrated to .\merica and Xova Scotia, where he married, and then re-
moved to (ialena. 111. — destined to be famous as the town in which Ulysses S.
(irant clerked in a ccjuntry store — where he Iniilt and for three years ran a
horse ferry across the .Mississijiiji. In 1852 he sold out his business, and the
following year, with his wife and four children, crossed the plains to Cali-
forni.i in ,i train of oxen and wagons. The party traveled by way of Des

^BA^Oy^Jtv^O^ /L,ny\^^*^'U~oyKfy^-

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENMRONS 343

Moines, at that time a very small place; and here was a rope ferry that had
become broken, thus causing great inconvenience. Being a clever mechanic,
Benjamin Rodgers quickly repaired the damage by splicing the cable. Up
the River I'latte and on to Laramie and Salt Lake the pioneers proceeded;
and from there they traveled over the Sierras to California, arriving in Hang-
town, October 15, 18.53, just six months tu a day from the time when tliey
set out.

On the way, an accident occurred which threatened for a while dire
disaster to ISenjamin Rodgers and his family. He was of a ner\ous tem-
perament, and when crossing a ford or similar place, was always inclined to
rush ahead. Once he drove into a river, intending to make for the other side ;
but owing to the heavy current, his wagon upset, and all the hard-tack and
most of the flour loaded upon the vehicle were washed away. The family,
therefore, ran short, a situation the more serious because the emigrants were
without much cash ; but a stranger passing that way tendered the unfortu-
nates twenty dollars, suggesting that the money could be returned when
the borrower had reached his destination and had begun to earn. Needless
to say, the promise thus evoked, through an incident that well shows how
generally men trusted each other in those days, was sacredly kept.

For two years Benjamin Rodgers mined at Hangtown, and then In- and
his family moved to Indian Diggings, and in 1858 located near l*'irebaugh,
Merced county. He found the district too sparsely settled, however, and
so removed to a ranch near Stockton, where he lost his wife. Finally, in 1862,
on account of the big flood, he left that swampy country for Redwood City,
where he died.

To return to the fortunes of \dung Miss Rodgers, we find her attending
school in various places, and finally re-opening her books, with probably
more interest and liking for study, in the school at Indian Diggings, kept
by Air. Brubaker; and there, after a year's acquaintance, the friendship be-
tween her and the schoolmaster ripened into love and — "so they were mar-
ried." This did not prex'cnt Mr. llrubaker from teaching another eight years-
at the diggings, and in Fiddletown, now Coleta, after which he went to
Walnut Grove, where he taught si.\ years more. During the time of his
pedagogical work he bought acreage on Staten Island, where he attem])ted,
with others, to reclaim land ; but the same flood, that of 1862, washed away
all levees, and the work of the enterprising settlers was lost.

In 1867, Mr. and .Mrs. llruliakcr remo\ed to Lower Lake. Lake county.
where he engaged for five years in cattle-raising; and then he left the state
to farm in Washingt<in Territory, from which he returned to California at
his first opportunitx' to sell. A winter was passed at Pleasanton, then a
sojourn was made in Sonoma county and the great forests of Mendocino,
and after that Mr. f'.rubaker bought a ranch near C'loverdale, which he so
improved that the Swiss-Italian colony was glad to secure it lor their head-
.quarters at a handsome figure. iMuancially reinf.irced, .Mr. and Mrs. I'.ru-
baker and family made a trip to Florida, looked in at the .Vew ( )rlcans l-'.xixi-
sition, and visited many other points of interest in the South: and on their
return to California they spent a year at Santa Clara, and then, in 1887.
came to San Luis Obispo County, where they located on the ranch they at
present own, being among the first settlers in the district now known as
Shandon. They liked the place s<i well that the\- paid two thousand dollars

3-U SAX l.riS Ol'.ISPO COl'XTV AXl) KXNIROXS

for (Hie lumdred lucniy acres of school land, later i)re-empting one hundred
sixty acres a mile and a half away, and taking a hundred sixty acres of
timber culture at the hack of their ranch. As a result, they now own four
hundred forty acres of splendid land, on which they have made all needed im-
l^rovemcnts, building Iiarns, sinking wells, and (Jtiierwise equi])ping every-
thing in a tirst-class manner. Their holdings include one hundred twenty
acres of bottom land, suita1)le for alfalfa cultivation, and a fine family orcliaril.
'They raise grain and stock: and having accomi)lished all by means of their
own labor and sacrifice, they owe no man a dollar. They have two children:
Lloyd, a blacksmith, but now f.irming in llumboldt county; and Ray P., a
merchant at Uollister.

.\ stockiiolder, from its organization, in the I'armers' Alliance Business
-Association, which has done so much for grain-raisers in this vicinity, Mr.
Brubaker, with true public-si)iritedness. also helped build the mill at San
Miguel; but as it later did not ])rovc a financial success, he surrendered his
stock to the company. Once a de\oted Republican, antl still ha\ ing a lively
interest in all pulitical affairs, he is now an ecpially Inyal adherent of the
Democratic ])arty.

.Mr. and Mrs. Brubaker are (lc\t)tedly interested in religious activities.
They helped to establish and build the Methodist Kpiscopal Church at Shan-
don, and Mr. lirubaker has been a trustee (if the congregation ever since;
while at ditierent times both husband and wife have been superintendent of
the Sunday school. In fraternal circles, .Mr. Brubaker has long been popular
as a member of the ( )dd I'ellows.

TAYLOR S. MELCHIOR.— W hat tJK.se >>\ a previous generation in
.\merica ha\e sulfered in order that we might enjoy the good things of today
in the most glorious country u])on the earth, is told again in the annals of the
family of Taylor S. .Melchior, one of the substantial farmers living near Paso
Koliles. The second eldest of three children born tci Mr. and Mrs. Jacob
-Melchior near l)e Kali), Crawford county, ( )hio, he came to California in the
late nineties, ilis father was l)orn in Pcnnsyhania, and had settled in Ohio
as a cari)enter and builder wlien the Civil War and the defense of his countr}-
called him from his ])eaceful vocation.

.\t the first tap in 1861, Jacob .Melchior joined Company H, ()4th Ohio
X'olunleer Infantry, and served with honor for three years until, in 1864, he
was cajitured and sent to .\nderson\ille, where he died. A souvenir of this
heart-sickening experience Taylor Melchior possesses in that precious legac\ .
his father's h(jnorable discharge. His mother, who, before her marriage, wa>
Miss Margaret Pensinger, was born in Pennsylvania and died in 1<S86 in Ohio.
( )ne of the sons, named Charles, is at Toledo, Ohio, where he is proprietor of
the Tri-State I'.usiness College; another son. Jacob, is a horticulturist at Red-
lands.

After attending the pul)lic school, Tayl"i- .Melchior took a course of
stuil\- at the I'osioria .Xormal. He learned drain-tile making and built a
factory near Tiro. ( )hio. From 1883 to 1899 he was engaged in the manu-
facture ()f drain-tile in sizes from 2^ to 12 inches, and for his necessary output
he l)uilt a large factory. .\t Shelby, Ohio, he married an Ohioan, Miss Emma
Champion. Three children — A'inton, who is in the automobile business at
Paso Robles: Hazel, nov/ .Mrs. Crove, residing at Seattle; and Orville. living
at home— came to liless their union.

SAX LUIS OBISPO COL'XTV AND F.WIROXS 345

In IS9'J. Mr. Melchior sold out. and. like su many others, turned his face
westward; nor did he stop until he had reached Santa Paula, California.
Afterwards, ^Ir. Melchior was at Oxnard for a year, employed in the beet
sugar factory ; and then he went into the service of the \'entura County Power
Co. as foreman of the gas and water department of the O.xnard district. This
engagement lasted cle\en years and encouraged Mr. Melchior to build a resi-
dence there. Another fair e'alifdniia town, however, was to make a still
stronger appeal, and in l'>12 he sold c\erythiiig and nio\ed to Paso Robles.
Here he bought forty acres, splendidly situated on the state highway, three
and a half miles north of Paso Robles ; and these he has since devoted to
horticulture and the raising of poultry. Incubators, brooders and other scien-
tific and modern apparatus needed in the conduct nf the business lia\e been
installed on his ranch by Mr. Melchior. In this enterprise he h.is been suc-
cessful, and ships large quantities of eggs.

Mr. Melchior has served for three years as a schdcd trustee in San Marcos
district. Politicallv, he is a Republican : fraternalh', he is a member of the
Knights of Pythias.

JAMES LERTORA.— James Lertora is one of the sons of Italy who has
made good in the New World, and who has the confidence and respect of
lousiness men both in San Francisco and in San Jose, where he worked at his
trade from 1876 to 1880, and in the Santa Alaria valley, where he has been
engaged in business ever since. He first came to Guadalupe, as the manager
of a mercantile establishment for ]\i. J. Fontana. He remained in this position
three and one-half years, resigning his position, in 1884, for the purpose of
coming to Santa Maria and engaging in business for himself. He has met
with well-merited success here, has accumulated a competency and has given
support to all matters pertaining to the improvement and adxancenicnt of his
home city.

But it is as a man and fellow citizen that Mr. Lertora has ingratiated
himself with the community, and he numbers among his friends hundreds of
the best citizens of the Santa Maria valley. His pride in the upbuilding of
the community is very real, while his broad and sympathetic humanitarian
instincts cannot fail to cement strong friendships among his fellow citizens.
He was born in Italy, December 15, 1850, and came from an old Genoese
family. Owing to the prolonged illness which finally resulted in the death
of the father, the family was left in very straitened circumstances. The
mother, witk five children, of whom James was the youngest, then a child of
but three years, nobly set about to make the best of what to those less
determined might ha\e seemed an imjjossible situation. She determined to
come to .America. The three oldest children were left liehiiid in Italy, while
the mother, with her youngest girl and boy, set sail for .\'ew York, where
they landed in 1854.

Through self-denial and hard work, they managed to live, and in about
three years were joined by the three older brothers and sisters. They all
struggled together for an existence. Tiie mother's frugality and wise manage-
ment served to keep the family together, while James laid the foundation for
his subsequent successful business career by selling newspapers and peddling
on the streets of New York City. This bitter experience has no doubt served to
broaden his sympathies for mankind. As he grew older, he entered upon
life's work with a zest, and he was soon a hopeful and self-respecting young

346 SAX I.LIS OBISPO COUXTY AXD EXMROXS

man. ITc tried his hand at various occupations, but tor sixteen years put in
most of his time in ^un and chair factories, in 187(i. he came to California,
where he has made a success.

Mr. l.ertora is the father of two children, both of whom reside in Xew
\ork. I lis wife died se\eral years ago. Socially, .Mr. Lertora is prominent,
being a member of several lodges in Santa Maria. He enjoys the friendship
of a large number of citizens of the Santa Maria valley, as well as of San
I'rancisco. and is regarded as a man of strict business integrity.

JOHN THORNBURG.— The record of the Thornburg family in Santa
.Maria \alley is typical of the county's growth and development, lieftjre any
attempt had been made to cultivate the la'.ul or build up villages, this family
settled here. John 'riiornburg and a twin brother, llenry. were natives of
Xew Market, jetVerson county. Tenn.. born in 180'', sons of Henry Thorn-
burgh, of Scotch-Irish birth. John received his education in the public schools
and at L'nion College in Randolph county, Ind., and was married there to
I'.lizabeth Hunt, a native of Ohio. He was a saddler by trade and built
a tannerv on his farm in Indiana, blis wife died at the age of thirty-two, the
mother of ten children. Wilson, a merchant, lived and died in Hagerstown,
Ind.: James Madison, a \eteran of the Civil War. jjioneer citizen of the Santa
.Maria valley and a director of the Santa Maria Hank, died July 22, 1*J16. aged
eighty-one years, having been married three times: Henry, a saddler by trade,
was a member of the Thirty-ninth Regiment, Indiana X'olunteer Infantry,
and died while in the army: Sophie I'.utler, the widow of '! homas .Mien Jones,
is li\ing in .'^anta .Maria; Jesse II., a Civil War veteran, farmed in Wayne
county, Ind., and died in Santa Maria; Josei)h, al-so a Civil War veteran and
a farmer, died unmarried in the Santa Maria valley: Larkin died in Indiana,
at the a.^e of fifteen years; Emma died in girlhood; and two children died
ill infancy.

John Thornburg was descended from Irish and (ierman forefathers. The
original Irish si)elling of the name ended with an "h.'" lie married the second
time, in Indiana. Mrs. Minerva Maulsby. daughter of Marshall Maulsby, but
had no children by this marriage. In 1862. Mr. Thornburg came west to
Iowa, settled in Redfield and erected a large woolen mill, and engaged ex-
tcnsi\ely in manufacturing woolen goods until 1869, when he came to Cali-
fornia, lie was a great sufferer with asthma and found that the climate of
the valley in the northern part of Santa Barbara county agreed with him
better than in |)arts of \"entura county, where he was looking about in search
of relief.

\\'hen he left Iowa he had an idea that he had but a few years yet to live,
and concluded he would spend them in a climate where he might get relief
from his disease, lie (|uit his trade of saddler and manufacturer, bought a
l^re-emption claim of one hundred sixty acres, and began farming in Cali-
fornia. He was a man of broad and liberal ideas, and it was he who proposed
the 12()-foot width of the two streets now called Main and Broadway in
Santa Maria, then known as Central City. He laid out Thornburg's addition
to the city, and all his deeds carried a clause against the sale of alcoholic
li<|Uors. He was a leading spirit in the (jrange mo\-ement, and was one of
the four men who started the Grange store. He donated the lot for the
first Methodist Church erected in the town, which was erected as a union
church, he being a memlter of the Christian denomination here, although he

!^.

SAX LUIS OBISPO COIXTY AXD EXMROXS 349

was born a Quaker, and was reared in tliat l)elief and had a liirtliright in the
Quaker Church in the East.

Mr. Thornbury and four others laid out Central City, and it was he who
g-a\'e to the town its present name, when they sought to have a post-office
established and it was learned that there was already another place of the
name proposeil. He was familiarly called "Uncle John" by many of the
older ]5eople, and "Grandpa Thornburg" by the younger element. He was
generous to a fault, popular, kind-hearted and public-spirited. He died
December 12, 1892, and at his passing, after having lived to enjoy to the full
a well-rounded life, Santa Barbara county and the Santa Maria valley list
one of their most prominent and enterprising men and leading spirits, and a
loyal and progressive citizen.

JOSEPH BENJAMIN DAVIS.— The interest which attaches to the
biograpliy uf Califurnia picmeers is not that of mere curiosity: it is, rather, an
expression of gratitude which their fellow-citizens feel towards those fore-
runners of civilization who have done so much to make both habitable and
attractive this glorious section of the Far ^^'est. Xot only as a pioneer of
the state, but also as one of the early residents of San Miguel and vicinity,
Joseph Benjamin Davis, the well-known farmer and stockman, enjoys a
high position among the people of his town and county. In the twilight of
his busy and eventful life, he can review a varied past without remorse, and
look confidently forward toward the future. His grandfather was Charles
Davis, a native of England, while his grandmother was born in Scotland.
His father, George Davis, on the other hand, first saw the light of day in
Xew York City, in the remote year of 1816. He came West later as a
trapper in the employ of the Hudson Bay Company, for whom he served
under Kit Carson, obtaining from the famous veteran most valuable insight
into Indian character and frontier life. In one of his expeditions which won
for himself some reputation as a good scout, he came to California in the still
dormant period of 1838.

Four years later George Davis made a trip through Oregon, completing
the latter part of his journey on horseback ; and there he met Elecia Sumner,
who was born on February 25, 1830, in Mississippi, came as a child to Arkan-
sas, and then crossed the plains to Oregon in 1842 with her parents, Owen and
Lucy (Preston) Sumner. An attachment sprang up between the young
people, and George Davis journeyed with the Sumner family south in 1843,
proceeding through Oregon and northern California, and arriving at Fort
Sutter in July ; and there, on the seventeenth of the month, George Davis and
Elecia Sumner were married by Captain Sutter himself. General John Bidwell.
who used to be in charge of Bodega and Fort Ross, and also of General
Sutter's Feather River possessions, was a witness to the marriage. It is
stated on good authority that they were the first American couple married
in California. About three months after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Davis
moved to Verba Buena, now San Francisco, where they took up their resi-
dence at the foot of Telegraph Hill, owning the lot on wdiich the Bell Union
Theater once stood. Seven months later they returned to Sacramento Valle\'.
and for three years resided in difTercnt localities.

.\t the Ijreaking out of the Mexican War in Califtirnia, George Davis
bniught his family to San Francisco, where he left them in erder that he
might be free to hurry south with a company of volunteers who had armed

350 SAX LUIS or.lSPO COL'XTY AND ENVIRONS

themselves for the great struggle. At Rinconada, however, thirteen of the
baud were captured and held as prisoners for two weeks ; and as he was one
of those who were paroled, he returned to San Francisco. This nerve-testing
experience did not prevent him from later serving as a scout; and in that
capacity he did good service for General Fremont himself, piloting the intrepid
explorer through many a dangerous pass. A nephew of (ieorge Davis, John
Hames, was also in the war, and helped raise the first American flag that
rlew t(i the breeze at Abintcrey.

In 1847, the family mu\ed to Dregon and resided there until the gold
excitement in California, when they returned to Sacramento county, and lived
for a time on the Cosumnes river, after which they went to Rio Seco, probably
in the vicinity of what is now Gait, halfway between Sacramento and Stock-
tern : and there they kept a liotel for fi;)ur years. In 1854, tliey removed to Santa
Cruz, remaining until 1860.

In the spring of 1860 George Davis moved into Monterey county, located
iin San .\ntonio creek, and went into the sheep business. He owned a
ranch, which he subsequently sold to R. G. Flint. In 1870, he shifted to the
neighborhood of San Miguel, and continued the raising of sheep, ranching
partly in southern ^Monterey county and partly in the northern section of San
Luis ()l)ispo. He picked out a homestead and pre-empted land, having three
hundred twenty acres. He also bought more land at other places for his
sheep cam])s, distributing his flocks on the different ranges, running them
intii the San Jiiai|uin N'alley and ])asturing them (in the side of the Sierra
XcNadas. 1 li'^ lldck^ were large, embracing, all in all, nut less than eleven
to twehe thnusand head: and to care for these he had half a dozen or more
ex])erienced lierders. In the dry year of 1877, when it was almost impos-
sible to get water or satisfactory pasture for animals, George Davis was hard
hit : but he pegged away pluckily at the sheep-raising enterprise, and in
the end enjoyed considerable success. In January, 1891, at the age of seventy-
five years, and at the completion of a life of more than ordinary ups and
downs, this worthy pioneer passed to his rest and reward. Not the least
interesting item to his credit was his encouragement of education, for he
helped build the first schoolhouse at San Miguel. In 1913, at tlie age of
eighty-three, Mrs. George Davis followed her husband to the grave.

Thirteen children were born in the Davis family, and eight of these grew
til maturity. David was born in Oregon in 1847, but was brought up in Cali-
fornia. He pre-empted land in the Indian Valley, had a flourishing stock
business, and now lives retired, making his home with the Davis Bros. Eliza,
who became Mrs. Azbell, died in the same vale. Joseph, farmer and member
of the firm of Davis Bros., lives at San Aliguel ; and Buchanan is his partner.
Mary, Airs. Still, is a stock-raiser near the old Davis home. Annie has become
Mrs. R, G. Flint, of San Luis Obispo. Charles resides at San Miguel ; and
Elecia makes her home with her brothers, Joseph and Buchanan.

Joseph B. Davis was born in Sacramento on March 15, 1852, liut from
his eighth year he was reared in the vicinity of San Miguel. At that time
there were no public schools in that neighborhood, and what formal instruc-
tion Joseph enjoyed was imparted to him by private teachers. One of these,
he recalls, was Prof. Frank Seymour, an Englishman, while another teacher
will nil he remembers was an Irishm;in liy the name of Frank AIcKay, a
■graduate nf Duldin. While yet a lad, Jr.seph was initiated into the stock

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD EWIROXS 351

and cattle business, and with his siqieriurs rode the range: and well it \vas
that he had such a practical experience with life in the open, for in
the dry year of 1877 he was given an opportunity to show the stuff that
was in him. Then Joseph and Buchanan Davis took a band of three thousand
sheep into the San Joaquin valley and over the Sierra Mountains in
search of green feed, nor did they stop until they reached the Inyo district
and had crossed into Mono county. Again they crossed the mountains on
their return to San Joaquin, and in January. 1878. they returned to the coast.
Up to this time several of the Davis brothers were in the sheep business
together.

In 1880, Joseph and Buchanan started in the sheep and cattle business
for themselves, on a claim that had been pre-empted about 1874, the rights of
the original claimant having been purchased. They did the usual cleaning up
and made the needed improvements, and Davis Bros., as the new firm was
called, soon came to have a very substantial standing. Joseph took a home-
stead on the adjoining hills, and so did Buchanan, and soon they had some
six hundred forty acres, including their pre-emption claims. They did more
than this, however, for they laid hold of some favorable land east of San
Miguel, where there were good springs, and before many months they had
four to five thousand sheep feeding on the range. Drought bothered them,
too, but quick, decisive moves prevented catastrophe. They had about a
hundred fifty head of cattle on the home ranch, and their brand was and is the
square and compass. Later, they disposed of tliis ranch, and for some years
they farmed on the Nacimiento, and there raised horses and mules.

In 1909, the brothers leased the present place, the Corriente Rancho, of
twelve hundred eighty acres, and engaged in the raising of grain, cattle and
horses. They found it profitable to add to this area, and continued their
expansion until they were leasing twenty-two hundred acres. Somewhat
more than a third of this great area was given to grain, to farm which
they employed three eight-horse teams. Then they went in for breeding
Durham cattle and Percheron-Xorman horses. In the meantime, ^Ir. Davis
has found time to keep in touch with the social world. He is a past presi-
dent, and now treasurer, of San Miguel Parlor, Xo. 150, Xative Sons of
the Golden West. For ten years he has been trustee of the San Miguel
school district, and part of the time served as its clerk. As a Democrat, he
is a member of the county central committee, and has been a delegate to both
county and congressional conventions. At times he has been a member of the
grand jury.

His partner in his farming operations, Buchanan Davis, was born near
Santa Cruz in 1857, was reared on the ranch near San Miguel, and was early
associated with his brother Joseph in farming and stock-raising. He, too, is a
member of the same parlor of Xative Sons, and a past president.

Charles Davis, another brother, who resides in San Miguel, was born near
what is now Bradley, on February 21, 1864, and from his thirteenth year has
had more or less to do wuth sheep and cattle. In the middle eighties, he
located at San Miguel, and there he has been in business ever since. He owns
a business building and a podl hail, lie was married to Mrs. Ella Chalmers,
a native uf W ats.nn illc, and by her he has had three children: Irvin, Irma
and Zoe. He belongs to the ICagles, the Redmen and the Xative Sons.

352 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EXATROXS

GEORGE H. ANDREWS.— A worthy son of a worthy father, George
H. Andrews was born in San Luis Obispo on April 6, 1862. He received his
early education in the public schools of this city, and when but a boy lent
most valuable assistance to his father in the management of his cattle and
sheep interests. When only fifteen years old he spent the entire dry year
in looking after the sheep on the Santa Lucia range; and by his good man-
agement he brought through in safety some four thousand head, which com-
manded a good price in the market when there were no others fit for sale.
He continued to look after the stock interests until early manhood, gradually
acquiring the experience so valuable to him in later life. He later purchased
some three hundred and fifteen acres of fine land near San Luis Obispo, and
farmed it for a while himself. Afterwards, he leased uut the place, which
he is gradually improving by planting it to fruit.

When his father retired from business, George H. Andrews took the
position (jf cashier of the Andrews Banking Company and remained in that-
responsible position until the bank was sold to the Commercial P.ank in
1913. Upon the death of his father in 1914, in January, he became cxecutur
of the large estate, gave the business his entire attention and faithfully
performed every duty without favor to any individual.

He is a man of quiet force, respected by his fellow citizens, by whom he
was elected a member of the city council in 1913, for a term of four years.
He is a firm believer in the future of San Luis Obispo. He believes that she
now oft'ers greater opportunities than ever before in her history, and that it is
the duty of every public-spirited citizen to aid in all movements that have for
their object the advancement of the community. Mr. .\ndrews is also a stanch
friend of education and favors all endea\i)rs that will raise the standard of
the schools oi the city and county. He has grown with the county, has been a
part of its growth and development, and both makes and retains friends
wherever he is known.

In August, 1891, George H. .Andrew.^ was united in marriage with ;\Iiss
Mary .Methia Graves, a native of Louisiana ; and five children have blessed
their union. John Pinckney, who is employed by the Standard Oil Company,
married Miss Doddy Jensen, of Idaho, and they have one son, John Pinckney
Andrews. Ill; G. W'infield attends the Agricultural College at Corvallis,
Ore. ; Marvin and Ewart are students in the State Polytechnic School at
.San Luis Obispo ; and a daughter, Marjorie, is now attending the public
school.

Mr. Andrews is a Mason and a Woodman of the World.

DAVID THALER.— Whatever of success has been achieved by :\Ir.
Thaler during his residence in California may be attributed to his own capable
judgment and industry. He was born in Germany, ]\Iarch 10, 1840, and-
received but a few years of schooling, as Iiis parents l)oth died when he was
quite small. In 1857, he started for the New \\urld, seeking to l^etter his
condition and to win a fortune. His first employment, after arriving in the
United States, was in a butcher shop in Cleveland, O. There he stayed two
years, going from there to Cincinnati, where he was working when the Civil
\\'ar broke out. Like many of his countrymen who sought homes in the
United .States, he enlisted for ser\ice, being enrolled on April 22. 1861, in
Comi)any K. X'inth Ohio Infantry. Third Brigade, Second Division of the
Fourteentli Armv Corps, under General McClellan. and was one of the famous

SAX LUIS OBISrO COL'XTY AXD EXVIROXS 355

"minute men." He was discharged im Ma_\- 26, 1861, and at once was
sworn in again for three years in the same company and regiment : and
after his term of service expired he veteranized, and his company was
attached to the Fourth Ohio Cavalry, under General Thomas. After a ser-
vice of four years, Mr. Thaler was mustered nut at Camp Dennison, Ohio.
During his service in the army he participated in the battles of Shiloh, Mur-
freesboro, Xashville, Franklin, Mills Springs, Peach Mountain, Chickamauga,
Mission Ridge, and in many skirmishes. After being mustered out, he
joined the regular army by enlisting in Company L, Fifth U. S. Cavalry,
Colonel Emery commanding, and served five years, being stationed at Forts
Hays, McDowell and McPherson, and one year at Camp Grant, Ariz. He
was discharged in 1872. While in the regular service he took part in the
famous Indian battle at Summit Springs, Wyo. "Buffalo Bill" f\\'illiam
Cody) was a scout in Mr. Thaler's regiment, and they became very warm
friends.

In 1873, having traveled about the country for a time, Mr. Thaler arrived
in San Luis Obispo County, where he has since resided. He was engaged in
various enterprises. He drove a freight team from the city to Port San Luis in
early days, was employed by the Sandercock Transfer Company for a time,
conducted the Fulton Meat Market, was steward at the county hospital,
served on the police force for eight years, and then was janitor of the Court
school for six v-ears. when he retired to private life to enjoy a well-earned
rest. On his retirement, the teachers presentd him with a beautiful Odd
Fellows gold watch charm. He joined that organization in 1879, and has
passed all the chairs of the order, serving as Warden for twenty-six years.
He is a member and for the past eight years has been Commander o{ Fred
Steele Post, N^o. 70, G. A. R. After becoming a resident of California. Mr.
Thaler was united in marriage with Hannah Blake, who was a nati\-e of this
state, born in Napa. Mr. and Mrs. Thaler are the parents of three chil-
dren: a daughter. ]\[rs. Josejihine M. Johnson; and two sons, Frank A. and
Frederick.

JAMES M. BROWN.— The ranks of the brave defenders of the Union
are rapidly thinning. Among those who, after the war, bore the "brunt of the
battle" in commercial circles, and have left their imprint on the community,
no one was more favorably known than J. M. Brown, more familiarly known
as "Brown, the Bee Man," of San Luis Obispo. He was born near iMiddle-
bury, in Addison county, Vermont, on February 14, 1835. When he was
but eighteen months old, his parents moved to Licking County, Ohio, and
from there, in 1851, to Cumberland County, Illinois. Young Brown attended
the common schools in pursuit of an education, and worked on his father's
farm. Shortly after the breaking out of the Civil War, in 1861, he enlisted
in Company B, Seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He participated in the
iiattles of Fort Henry, Fort Donclson, Shiloh. Corinth, and many skirmishes.
He was appointed Second Lieutenant, Company F, 111th U. S. Colored
Infantry, and was later promoted to First Lieutenant. Company D. serving
until the close of the war. The captain of the company lieing on the sick
hst. Lieutenant Brown took command as acting Captain, and ])articipale(l in
the Battle of Sulphur Trestle, Alabama. He was taken prisoner by General
rorrest on the surrender of the regiment, and was later exchanged. He was
later made Brigade Quartermaster under General Thomas, and served three

356 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

months at Nashville; then he was detailed to special duty in Alabama, gather-
ing up government property.

He refused a captain's commission in the regular army after the close
of the war, and returned to his old home in Carlisle, 111. He farmed for a
time there; then returned to Licking County, O. ; from there went back to
Crawford County. 111.; thence to southwestern .Missouri; and, in 1893, to
San Luis Obispo County. Cal., where he purchased one hundred sixty acres
of land in See canon. He set out fifty acres of orchard, having the be.st in
the county. Here, for eighteen years, he lived in the enjoyment of the climate
of the golden West, and then, in 1909. retired to San Luis Obispo.

From boyhood Mr. Brown was interested in the bee industry, watching
the bees gather honey from the flowers, and gradually becoming an expert
as an apiarist. While living in Ohio he owned one hundred stands, which
he shipped to Crawford County, 111., when he removed to that place. He
\isited some of the largest bee farms in this countrj'- and acquired many
valuable ideas, and likewise attended the Bee Growers' Convention that was
held in Chicago, and various other gatherings of tJTC kind, and eventually
became an authority on bee culture. He carried on a very successful apiary
in See caiion, and from a hundred seventy-three stands he gathered and
marketed in one year fourteen tons of honey. 1 le later increased his colony to
two hundred stands.

Mr. Brown was united in marriage wuth Annetta Sharp, a native of
Illinois. She died in 1873, leaving one daughter, Mrs. Rose Kahl, who passed
away September 9, 1916. mourned by two daughters, by a former marriage —
Gertrude, the wife of Fred Johnson, and Miss Mabel Mann. Mr. Brown was
a member of Fred Steele Post No. 70, G. A. R., in San Luis Obispo. After
becoming a resident of San Luis Obispo County no man ever had the interests
of the county more at heart than Mr. Brown ; and he liberally supported, as
far as he was able, all movements that had for their object the betterment
of the community.

-Mr. Brown answered the final roll call January 10, 1917. He laid his
glasses and book on a ta1)le and put his coat on a chair, and was found lying
on his bed, with a peaceful smile on his face, where he had passed quietly away.

JUDGE GORDON G. WALKER.— Born at Marshall, Saline County,
Mo., on December 4, 18.=;6. Judge Gordon G. Walker was the grandson of
Samuel Walker, a ])lanter, and the s(/n of Hiram S. Walker, who was inter-
ested in agriculture. The grandfather, born in Tennessee, had removed to
Missouri, first to Lafayette County and then to Saline County, adjoining.
From .Missouri, in 1856, Hiram Walker made his first trip to Texas. After
returning to Missouri for a time, he again took up his residence in the Lone
Star State, where he died. The mother, ;\Iiss ]\]ary M. Gordon before her
marriage, was horn in Kentucky, her mother having been a Miss Boyd, a
sister of Speaker Boyd of the Kentucky State Assembly. The Walkers
had four boys and four girls. tw(j of the latter being now deceased. Gordon
\\'alker was fourth in order of birth. He was educated in the public schools
of Missouri, and was reared on a Missouri farm; and by 1875 he was ready
lor emigration to San Saba County, Texas, where he became the owner
of a ranch on Buffalo Creek and began to engage in the cattle business,
in time acquiring the J. E. Spring Ranch, whose cattle and sheep were famous
under the L'-bar brand.

SAX LUIS OBISPO COL'XTY AND ENVIRONS 357

In 1903, he sold liis Texas ranch and stock and mo\ed to California. He
lived for a while at Richmond ; and then came to Santa Margarita. He
engaged in mining and came to own some fine mining property in the Huasna
country, San Luis Obispo County, and elsewhere. Quartz and placer mines
were located by him. He prospected in Death \'alley, and while there, amid
the burning sands, found no less than three skeletons of those who had
perished. After a wide experience with localities, the Judge believes emphat-
ically in San Luis Obispo Count)', contending that it is one of the best sec-
tions in California for minerals, and that its mining and agricultural resources
have as yet scarcely been touched.

AMiile he was a resident in Texas. Judge Walker, as an oiticer of the
law, did much to rid the young state of lawless bandits, and to establish
order and security. First he was a constable, then a deputy sheriff, and
finally a deputy United States marshal, as well as a member of the Texas
Rangers. Some of the worst desperadoes with whom he had to do were the
Pitts-Yeager gang of counterfeiters. He arrested Pitts and his compan-
ion at Baby Head, just across the Llano County line, and turned them
over to an officer. The counterfeiters escaped, however, and A\'alker led
the chase which resulted in their recapture. They were then tried and
sentenced to ninety-nine years at Chester, Illinois. Walker told Hal Goslin
(the United States marshal), who was taking- the two north to Chester,
to watch out or they would kill him and again escape; and sure enough,
the events of the next few hours showed how clear was the Judge's fore-
sight Pitts and Yeager were handcufifed together, and were in charge of
the marshal and his deputy, ?ilanning; but Pitts' wife and grandmother, and
Yeager's sister, were allowed to make the journey with them in the same
coach. The women managed to pass each one a revolver, and in less time
than it takes to tell it, Goslin was shot dead and the deputy was wounded.
The latter, however, fought back and woimded both Pitts and Yeager, though
both escaped from the train. Pitts was found dead fifty yards from the
railroad. Yeager tore the handcufi' from the dead man's hand and made
his escape. As soon as word reached Judge Walker, he started immediately
in pursuit ; and by nine o'clock the next morning he had the wounded
desperado.

So plucky and so persistent was Walker in his running down evil-doers
that he soon became a terror to them, especially to horse and catties thieves.
Pie was naturally a good shot from boyhood; and in the great open, where
the man who drew first was king, he became still more expert. He knew, too,
as a progressive citizen, that the bad element must first be conquered before
the country could be made habitable, so as to attract outsiders; and this
spurred him forward even at much personal risk. On one occasion, he
and a comrade, C. D. Farris, pursued fifteen outlaws, and they captured or
killed a dozen of them. In the end he came to feel, whenever he read or heard
of a criminal loose in the neighborhood, that he must do his part in apprehend-
ing the undesirable. This devotion to what he considered a paramount duty
is shown in his conduct after becoming a resident of California. Alberto
Pena, the slayer of Patrolman Rouse, of Fresno, with several others, had
escaped and was supposed to be headed toward the coast : but it so happened
that when he alighted from the train at Santa Margarita and started up the
track. Judge ^^^alker's son, Clinton, recognized him from portraits published

358 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EXVIROXS

in the newspapers, and hurried home to tell his father. Tliis was quite enough
for the indignant and doughty Judge, who grabbed his gun,, said good-bye
to his wife, and hurried out of the house. A neighbor was passing in his
automobile, and learning that the Judge intended to get a locomotive to take
him up the track, he placed his car at the Judge's disposal. It was not long
before they overtook the fugitive, who was also being pursued by Police
Detective Castner, from Fresno: and just as Pena drew his revolver against
the officers, the Judge, with the quickness that characterized his fiirmer years,
shot him dead.

While in Alissouri, Gordon Walker was married to Aliss .Vmanda B.
CliiitMn. a native of \"ernon County, Missouri. Through her he became the
fatlu-r of eight children: Shelby, a cattleman of Texas; Beula, now I\Irs.
Hall of that state; Nellie, who became :Mrs. Deevers. of Tehachapi ; Mary,
now Mrs. Degman, of Taft ; Hiram, with an oil company at Coalinga ; Walter,
representing the Standard Oil Company at Taft: Leonard, a driller in the
Coalinga oil fields ; and Clinton, baggage agent for the S. P. R. R. at Santa
Margarita. Each of these promising children has been trained according to
the teachings of the Christian Church. Always active in social life, the Judge
and his wife participate in the programs of the Knights of Pythias and the
I. O. O. F. ;\Irs. ^^'alke^ was appointed postmaster of Santa Margarita in
1913. A county commissioner in Texas, Judge Walker was also appointed,
in 1915, by the San Luis Obispo County supervisors, a member of the ad-
visory board having in charge the readjustment of land values for county
assessments. A personal and lifelong friend of the present Postmaster-Gen-
eral, Albert Sidney Burleson, he has had much to do with the administration
appointments in this section of the state.

JOSEPH MAINO. — Many of the sons of Italy who have emigrated to
the United States have won recognition for themsehes in their chosen fields
of endeavor, and among them is Joseph Maino, one of the leading contractors
and builders of San Luis Obispo and vicinity.

He was born in Domodossola, province of Novara, Italy, on April 3,
1850. He received his schooling in his native place, and there learned the car-
penter and builder's trade, working up from one position of responsibility to
another until he became for a number of years superintendent of government
construction. During this time he travelled all over Europe and Africa. In
1877 he came to the United States, where he thought better opportunity for
advancement was oftered energetic young men. He first located in Eureka,
Nev., and there, for two years, was employed in timbering the Newark Valley
mine. In 187<i he came to the Coast and stopped in San Francisco, but being
in ill liealth he decided to take a sea voyage, and journeyed to China, Japan,
South America and back to San Francisco, extending his voyage over a period
of six months. During this time he recovered his health, and worked as ship
carpenter. He was then employed by Mr. Clair to go to Santa Barbara and
remodel a schooner at Santa Cruz island. The work completed, he went to
Los Alamos, and thence to San Luis Obispo, where he arrived in 1881 ; and
here he has since resided, making this city the scene of his activities. He is the
city's pioneer builder, having erected nearly one-third of the buildings in the
town, and has paid the lumber companies over $500,000 for building material.
Among some of the more important buildings erected by Mr. Maino are the
county hospital, the public library, the polytechnic school, and various busi-

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 361

ness blocks and residences. He erected the first school building in Santa
Margarita, the church at Cayucos and otlier structures in various parts of the
county.

Mr. Maino h;is Jjcen twice married. His first wife was Mary I-'emminis,
a native of Italy. Their children are: Mrs. Mary Bizzini; James J., a con-
tractor in San Luis Obispo; Mrs. Lucy Kern; Charles, of San Luis Obispo;
Theodore, also a contractor; and Mrs. Julia des Grange. Wr. Maino has nine
grandchildren. Hjs present wife was Mrs. Angela .Vngellini, also a native of
Italv. but for more than forty years a resident of California.

AMOS RILEY HATHWAY.— The name Hathway is of English origin,
but Amos R. Hathway's life found its beginning in the blue grass region of
Kentucky, Owensboro being the place of his birth, which occurred on Sep-
tember 26, 1829. There, under the spiritual guidance of a wonderful mother,
he laid the foundation of a sterling character, and his life was an inspira-
tion to those who knew him best. His father, John Hathway, was a native
of Maine, born in the year 1795. When John Hathaway's father passed
away, the boy John swam the Ohio river with his clothes on his head, deter-
mined to aid his widowed mother. John Hathway married Martha Riley,
a Kentuckian by birth. His ambition led him to l)eci)me a man ot education,
and his natural ability won for him a fortune.

Amos R., the second child of a family of seven, inherited rare qualities.
He was dubbed "Luck" by his young friends, who claimed that Dame For-
tune always smiled upon him ; but it was through determination and perse-
verance that he succeeded. He was an apt and industrious student, retiring
at 10 P. ^I. and rising at three o'clock the ne.xt morning to study. He mas-
tered Latin so thoroughly that he became able to converse in that tongue.
After leaving school, he taught for a time in his home county. He also
served as a deputy in the ofifice of county clerk. Later, under Dr. Wilson of
Kentucky, he took up the study of medicine. Too close application to study,
however, impaired his health, and he was advised by his physician to seek
another climate ; whereupon he and his younger brother John decided to
make the long journey to California.

In 1852, therefore, the two young men hitched up a mule team and left
family and friends behind. The journey was a perilous one. Mr. Hathway
suiifered from cholera, and his brother John was later taken with mountain
fever and was hauled for eight hundred miles upon his bed, but finally
recovered.

They made their first stop at Marysville, where they entered into busi-
ness. Mr. Hathway was given charge of a ranch belonging to Dr. \\'ilkins,
who became his lifelong friend. Dr. Wilkins saw and appreciated Mr.
Hathway 's rare qualities of mind and endeavored to persuade the latter to
enter into partnership with him in San Francisco, and together with him
establish a sanitarium ; but for his health's sake ^Ir. Hathway could not
consider the proposition, and so he went to \\'atsonville and farmed success-
fully there. He was made school superintendent and also Sunday school
superintendent. He was later tendered a county office; but this he declined.
He had promised his mother that at the expiration of four years he would
return to her, and he could not disappoint her.

He returned to Kentucky via Panama and New Orleans, and was mar-
ried, on June 16, 1857, to Miss Ellen Riley, the daughter of Judge .\mos

362 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AXD EXMROXS

Riley oi Xew .Madrid, Mo., a man famed for his benevolence. That same
year the \oun^ couple went to Hathway, Tenn., named for Mr. Hathway,
and there he followed farming, practiced medicine and conducted a wood-
y:ird, supplying the steamers that plied the river with several thousand cords
of wood per year until the close of the Civil War, in which he himself served
two years as a Confederate soldier. He was first lieutenant of his company,
but ill health gained for him his discharge.

In 1874 he returned to California, coming to San Luis Obispo. Me en- '
gaged in the sheep business, in which he made a success until the Cleveland
tariff rendered it unprofitable. Although he had full knowledge of what the j
Cleveland administration would mean, unswerved by apprehension of his
individual loss, he stumped the county for Cleveland, for he was a believer
in free wool for the nation. This is only one of the many instances in
which Mr. Mathway proved his superior worth. He took a very prominent t
part in the development of the county, and during his term as supervisor j
he was active in systematizing the records of the board, and decisive in his !
determined demands to know how and where the people's money was being i
spent. I

Dr. Hathway was a man of culture and personal magnetism, and soon I
after his arrival in San Luis Obispo, in 1879, was a candidate for the assembly j
on the \\"orkingman"s and New Constitution tickets, but he was defeated 1
by a small majority by H. Y. Stanley. In 1880. Mr. Hathway was again j
placed on the W'orkingman's ticket for assemblyman, but was defeated by i
P. W". Mur|)hy. .\n influential politician approached Mr. Hathway and of- I
fcred tn thmw votes his way if he would run on the Republican ticket against ,
George Steele, or at least oppose him in the convention. His reply was, ]
"You insult me." for he well knew that his election would mean toadyism j
to the "bosses." Had they seen beneath his culture and magnetic manner ]
the stainless soul that lay hidden there, they would never have thus ap- ',
proached him. He preferred political oblivion to the faintest moral stain, |
since he cared nothing for self-aggrandizement. j

Through keen business sagacity, Mr. Hathway accumulated considerable !
means. He was a philosopher, a good speaker, able to discourse on any ;
subject, and a man of strong convictions who both made friends by his
courteous manner and retained them by his steadfast adherence to the prin- ;
ciples he deemed to be right and by his good citizenship. Many years ago
he organized tlie Local Government League for the purpose of electing
good men to office, regardless of their political affiliations or religious con-
victions. I

THOMAS BOYD.— The influences which tended to mould the character ;
of Thomas Boyd in his youth were such as clustered around the locality of j
Tnneskillen. Ireland, where he was born in county Fermanaugh, June 25. j
1850, a son of Edward and Mary Ann (Stephenson) Boyd. Edward Boyd
was a freeholder of his native county Fermanaugh. Grandfather Boyd lived j
to reach the age of ninety, was for years jailer in that county, was twice
married, the second time at the age of seventy-four, and by that union had
four children. ]Mary Ann Boyd was born in county Lcitrum. near Manner- |
hanulton ; and she died in 1863. Her father and mother had eighteen chil-
dren, and all grew to years of maturity. Edward and Mary Ann Boyd had j
seven sons and two daughters, and after her death, Mr. Boyd married again i

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EX\'IROXS 3h3

and became the father of six children by that marriage. Of the family we
may mention John, of Santa Maria ; Edward, employed by the Santa Fe in
Los Angeles; Thomas; a half brother David, an employe of the Southern
Pacific Milling Company at Santa Maria : Fred, a half brother now in Port-
land, Ore. ; and a half sister, Phoebe McKee, who was well known in Santa
Maria and San Jose, and moved to Indiana, where she died.

The eldest child of the family by the first marriage of his father, Thomas
Boyd was educated in the common schools in his native country, lived there
until he was twenty-one, and then, on May 1, 1871, bade good-bye to home
and friends, and embarked for the United States, landing at Castle Garden
in due time. For the first year he was variously employed in New York
City. In 1872 he struck out for the West, and arrived in San Jose, Cali-
fornia, where he hired out as a farm hand, working two years for wages,
and gaining an insight into the customs of the westerners. In the fall of
1874, he came to the Santa Maria valley and found John Thornburg, R. D.
Cook, Isaac Miller and Mr. Fesler, each with a house on the four half sections
centering on what is now Main and Broadway streets. That was the begin-
ning of what has become one of the liveliest towns between San Francisco
and Los Angeles.

Mr. Boyd started out to rent land, and with a partner, John Fremont
Edwards, leased four hundred and eighty acres from the Kifer estate. This
was the first independent venture he had undertaken. He had his reverses,
dry years, pests, and all such interferences, but went about his work with a
cheery smile, realizing that he was accomplishing something for himself. So
well did he prosper that in 1880 he ventured to buy three hundred and twenty
acres six miles southeast of the little town ; and with that as an anchor, he has
met with well-deserved success and has given his influence towards helping
to build up the community, and his hard work and management ha\-e made
his own success assured. While engrossed in his own affairs, it must not be
inferred that Mr. Boyd has neglected the duties of a citizen, for he has aided
every worthy enterprise for the good of the city and county. He has served
on trial and grand juries, and is a member of the Republican count}- central
committee, but has never been a seeker after office.

In 1884 occurred the marriage of Thomas Boyd and Emma Grifiith, a
native of Santa Clara county and daughter of William and Cordelia (Swick-
erd) Griffith; and they have four children living: Edna: Elmer, who married
Gertrude Rice, December 12, 1916, and who is on the home ranch : Ruth, a
graduate of the Santa Maria high school and the San Francisco Normal, who
is teaching at Betteravia ; and Bernice, who attends the grammar school.

In 1912 Mr. and Mrs. Boyd retired from the ranch to a comfortal)le home
at the corner of Thornburg and Church streets, Santa Maria, where, with true
hospitality, they entertain their many friends. i\[rs. Boyd is a member of
the Presbyterian Church and president of the Ladies' Aid Society, and she
also belongs to the Minerva Club and Eastern Star, and (1916) served as
District Deputy Grand Matron for the Fifteenth District of California. She is
very charitable, and is actively interested in all uplifting movements. Mr.
Boyd is a member of Hesperian Lodge No. 264. F. & A. M., and of the Eastern
Star. He is a good farmer, large landowner, worthy citizen, and sympathetic
neighbor and friend.

364 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EWIROXS

JUAN PACIFICO AND ABRAHAM ONTIVEROS.— Ihe Ontiveros
family is of Castilian blood, early members of whom were militar}- men under
the Spanish regime. The progenitor of the family in California was Gen.
I'atricio Onti\eros, born in Spain, a man of high military rank, who was sent
by his government to do service in ^Mexico and was stationed at Los Angeles.
Juan Pacifico Ontiveros, who was born in Los Angeles county in 1782,
inherited the qualities of his ancestors and in early life joined the Spanish
soldiery, was made a corporal of San Gabriel ^fission and aided in the efforts
to subdue the Indians and to protect the Spanish interests in Southern Cali-
fornia. As a reward for his services, he was given a tract of land known as
the Cajon de San Juan rancho in Los Angeles county, now in Orange county,
upon which Anaheim is located, and which he sold in those early days
for what was considered a large fortune. He then came to Santa Barbara
count)' and in 1855 bought the Tepesquet rancho of nine thousand acres in
the Santa Maria valley. The following year he brought about twelve thousand
head of cattle from his southern rancho, and in 1857 began the construction
of an adobe house that was completed the following year, where he lived
until his death at the age of ninety-five years, the possessor to the last of
gracious qualities of mind and heart, and of the respect and good will of
all with whom he had ever been associated. In early manhood he had married
j\Iartina Carmen Ozona, who was born in Santa Barbara and became the
mother of his twelve children. She died at the age of eighty-nine years,
beloved by all who knew her. It is with a great deal of satisfaction that
the portraits of this worthy couple are reprodttced in this volume through the
courtesy of their youngest son, Abraham Ontiveros of Santa ]\Iaria.

Abraham C)ntiveros was born on the San Juan Cajon rancho, then in Los
Angeles county, April 5, 1852, and was given the best advantages of an educa-
tion in Spanish, his father procuring private teachers for his children prior
to the advent of the public schools. He grew to maturity on the Tepesquet
rancho, where he had been brought by his parents when a lad of three years;
early learned the rudiments of farming and the stock business from his father;
and upon his death inherited two thousand acres of valuable land. From boy-
hood he was of an inquiring disposition, and observed carefully the changing
of the times and people, noticed the modern methods being introduced by new
settlers in the county, and made up his mind that he would adopt them as far
as he was able to do so. As a lad he traveled about the country with his father,
and remembers when this part of the county was a desert waste, with bands of
elk, deer, bears, wolves, wild hogs and other animals that roamed the land
from coast to mountain across the site of what is now Santa Maria. He
early learned to throw a lasso and once caught a wild hog that, when dressed,
weighed some four hundred pounds. There were no trees except on the hills
on either side of the valley, and the wind blew continuously and very hard.
He well remembers the stories told by his father of the trials of the early
stockmen when they would have to guard well their herds to keep them from
being run off by thieves. He has kejH records of the weather and rainfall
in the valley for many years, and without doubt is the best-posted man on
conditions during the transition of the state from stock to grain and dairying,
and to hay and beans, wherelw ranchers have made millions of dollars.

I'or many years .Mr. Ontiveros was engaged in farming his two thousand
acres, and met with well-deserved success in raising grain and stock, giving

SAN LL'IS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 369

es]5ecial attention to lireeding fine Iicirscs and cattle, and raising lart^e ([nan-
tities of grain, grapes, olives and walnnts. His horses were his pride and
likewise the envy of many; for he was satisfied with nothing but the best.
To irrigate his land, he built a reservoir with a capacity of two hundred thou-
sand gallons, on an elevation one hundred fifty feet high, bringing the water to
the ranch from the springs in the mountains, and piping it to the buildings,
where it may be had for domestic use. After a residence of more than fifty
years on the ranch, Mr. Ontiveros moved to Santa ]\Iaria. where he has a
comfortable home at 525 East Main street, and where he owns. In-side^ this,
other valuable residence and business properties.

-Mr. ( )ntiveros has been twice married, first in 1879, to Miss Doraliza
\'i(lal, a native of Santa Barbara county and. the mother of his six children:
Blanche, Mrs. Contreras, living in I\lexico ; Ozell A., formerly proprietor of
the auto stage between Santa Barbara and Santa Maria, but now living on
the home ranch with his wife and son ; Erasmus A., also living on the ranch ;
P'dmund F., who lives with his wife and daughter in Santa Maria, where
he is proprietor of the California Garage, and who is also interested in ranch-
ing near .-Vrroyo Grande as well as on the home ranch on the Tepesquet,
of which he is general manager; Alesandro Evanoy, who is assistant manager
of the home ranch, where he is living with his wife, formerly Katie De la
Torre, and who is a corporal in the Fifth Regiment, U. S. Cavalry; and Ida, the
.vife of Dr. Charles Fowler of Sacramento and the mother of one daughter.
The second marriage of Mr. Ontiveros united him with Miss Petra Arellanes,
and was celebrated in 1903. She was born in Santa Barbara, a daughter of
Jose Guadalupe and Leonore (Davis) Arellanes, both now deceased, the
father dying in ISXM, at the age of eighty, and the mother on March 27, 1917,
at the age of eighty-two. The Arellanes family are of old Spanish descent,
and still own large landed interests in California, where they have flourished
for many years, and they are connected with many of the protninent Spanish
and Mexican families of the early days. Mrs. Ontiveros is a woman of fine
character and is a worthy helpmate to her husband, and both have a wide
circle of friends throughout the entire state of California.

Mr. ( )ntiveros has been liberal in his support of all projects that have
had for their object the upbuilding of the valley, county and state. Ix-ing
particularly active in furthering the best interests of the Santa Maria Agricul-
tural -Association. His stock and fruit exhibits at various fairs have attracted
wide attention. He has in his possession a sword used by his grandfather,
and other family heirlooms, among which is a beautifully embroidered silk
bedspread valued at two thousand dollars, which was made in China over
two hundred years ago, and was used in his father's wedding cliamber. These
two relics were a part of the California exhibit at the World's Centennial
I'xposition at Philadelphia in 1876, and their owner considers them priceless.

Mr. Ontiveros had always enjoyed good health until 1911, when he
met with an accident on the streets of Los Angeles, where he was run over
and sufi'ered se\ ere injuries and a fracture of his skull. His iron constitution
stood him in hand and he recovered. In the summer of 1916 he suffered from
liver trouble, and in a Santa Barbara hospital had one hundred eighty-one
.gall stones removed by an operation. .\t this writing he is fully recovered
and in possession of his full, vigorous manhood, and is living in contentment
with his good wife, surrounded by lii-^ children and grandchiMren. Mr.

370 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS \

Ontiveros is repairing the old adolje erected l)y his father in 1857, and making |
of it a very comfortable home and a landmark <:)n tlie Santa ]\Iaria ranch. ]

CAREY C. AND WILLIAM C. OAKLEY.— The son of a California |
pioneer and himself born in the state, William C. (3akley is justly proud of i
his connection with the varied interests nf Santa ^Nlaria and the surrounding j
community. He was born in Sacramento count}', ( )ctober 31, 1866, a son of
Carev Calvin and Elizabeth (\\'haley) ( )akley. The father was born in .
Tennessee, crossed the plains -with ox-teams to California in 1851, and worked I
for a time in the gold mines in the northern i)art of the state. He later was in ;
the employ of the late Leiand Stanford, and then went to the Sacramento !
valley, where for a time he engaged in farming and stockraising with good |
results. I

In 1869 the family left Sacramento and came to the Santa Alaria valley,
liomesteaded a quarter section of land, located opposite the site where the i
depot now stands, and there settled and carried on a general farming enter- j
prise for years. Carey C. Oakley brought one of the lirst threshing outfits to
this section, and for some years operated it with success. He was married
near Sacramento to Miss Elizabeth ^^'haley, a representative of an old pioneer
family in Sonoma county, and they became parents of eleven children, all but
two of whom reached maturity, and six of whom are now living: Francis D. ;
Mary E.. Mrs. G. J. Trott ; Nancy E., deceased: Emma C, :\Irs. E. H. Stowell,
who (lied, lea\ing five ciiildren : Charles, who died in childhood; ^^'illiam C. :
James .A. ; Harry Lee, who died at the age i^f nineteen : Anna .Adeline. Mrs.
b. R. Daniels: Alinnie Belle, Airs. G. L. Cook; and John, who died in early
childhood. The wife and mother died in 1880. after which Mr. Oakley was
again married, Miss Alargaret Robertson becoming his wife : and from this
union one son was born, Lewis M. Mr. Oakley died in 1890: and his second
wife passed away that same year, one week after his death.

W. C. Oakley w^as but three years of age when his parents came to this
valley, and here he attended school and grew to manhood on the farm, early
learning the details of a successful farming enterprise. He supplemented his
education with a year's course in the University of Southern California, and
then returned to take charge of the home place. The father and sons were
engaged on ;i l.-irge scale in raising stock and grain, and this business, after
the retirement of the former, was carried on l)y William C. and his brother,
James A. Oakle>. They bought land from time to time, and now have thirty-
five hundred acres on the Alamo, giving their time and energies to raising
cattle, horses and hogs. Besides their own land they lease one thousand
acres which they operate in connection with their stock business.

While Mr. Oakley has devoted his time to his own interests, to attain
the degree of success which he now enjoys, he has never neglected the duties
of a citizen and has taken an active part in the aft'airs of the Democratic party
and served as a member of the board of supervisors for his district in Santa
Barliara county, from 1907 to 1911. In local city aft'airs he supports men and
measures that in his judgment will further the interests of the people, regard-
less of party lines. He was elected a member of the board of trustees of
Santa Alaria and has served as its president with gratification to nearly every
citizen. It has been during his incumbency in office that most important
])rojects ha\e been promoted and consummated, placing his city in the front
rank of those of its size in the state. The sewer system has been installed.

SAX LLIS OIUSPO COLXTV AXl) KXXIROXS 371

the streets liave been i)ave(l and joined witli the slate InLjlnvay that jiasses
throuijli tlie eit}', and the ninnicipal system (.f water wurks and supply has
been perfected by the ptirchase of the plant that was started many vears ago
and conducted as a private enterprise. The city has a solid financial footing,
its bonds commanding a high rate of interest as well as a premium, having
a readv sale. It is largely due to such men as Mr. ( )aklev. who have been
conscrvatixe in all projects for the city's wcll'.ire. that Santa .Maria has at-
tained the standing it boasts of today.

In 18')1, Mr. Oakley was united in marriage with Miss Bertha Ilclle Rice,
who was born in Arroyo Grande, a daughter nl Daniel and Isabella ( lonesi
Rice, pioneer settlers of San Luis Obispo county. Mr. and Mrs. Oakley have
seven children in their family. Isabelle is the wife of John DuBois, who
is an engineer for the Pinal-Dome Refinery Co.; Elizabeth is a teacher in
the grammar school in Santa Maria; Marion is a student in the ."^an I'ran-
cisco State Normal School; and Helen, Lois. Harry R.. and Paul M, are
attending school in Santa Maria. In 1903 Mr. Oakley erected his present
home on Mill street.

Mrs. Oakley is a member of the Presbyterian Church and is active in
the various societies therein, while Mr. Oakley is an attendant at the Meth-
odist church, and is a member of the Knights of Pythias of Santa Maria. He
and his wife have a wide circle of friends throughout Santa Barbara and San
Luis Obispo counties, and are known as cjuict. honie-lnving penplc. always
ready to lend a helping hand to those worthy of aid.

PAUL O. TIETZEN.— The sterling i)ersonal characteristics, accom-
panied 1)\- unciuestinned financial and executive abilit\-, which have placed
Paul O. Tietzen among the foremost developers nf northern Santa P>arbara
county have been correspondingly exemplified in a worthy and envial)le an-
cestry, variously represented among the history-makers of the world, prom-
inent in commerce, in military circles, and in finance. He was born on the
family estate. Kleefelde, near Thorm, Prussian Poland. March 20. \8,^2. a son
of Julius and .\delaide (Eisner) Tietzen, who became parents of twelve chil-
dren, .ill of whom received good educational advantages, and who all remained
in their n.itivc land except Paul. His father was a university graduate and an
iifticer in the Prussian army, and was a descendant of a long line of merchants
and manufacturers. The grandfather of Paul O. Tietzen was a wholesale
merchant in Berlin, and the first of the family to settle in Prussian Poland.
The great-grandfather was one of the first members of the ]>erlin Board of
Trade, at that time being formed, and was the organizer of several of the
larger commercial establishments in that citv. The origin of the family is
traced to Saxony, where for many generations they were connected with
manufacturing enterprises.

The education of Paul O. Tietzen was received in jn-ivaie schools and
in the Royal Gymnasium. He was reared in a home of culture 1)y well-
to-do i)arents, who were also strict disciplinarians. As a youth he read stories
of ad\enture, such as J. Fenimore Cooper's works and others, which created
in him a desire to see America. Although his parents did not positively
disapjjrove, they would rather have had him remain at home. In 186S he
embarked for the L'nited States, and came around the Morn on the shi])
"Davy Crockett," landing in San Francisco in o\ eralls, a stranger in a strange
land, lie went from that city to the Sandwich Islands and to Cliina. spent

i72 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD EW'IROXS

several months travelini; alxnit. and then returned to San Francisco, where he
secured a position as a ckrk in a grocery store, picked up bookkeeping and
later was employed as a bookkeeper by various firms in that city. Several
years later, in casting up accounts, Mr. Tietzen discovered that it took all he
earned to pay his living expenses in the city; and then and there he decided
to look about for a new field of endeavor.

He came to the Santa .Maria valley in 1879, became connected as book-
keeper with the firm of I!k)chman & Company, and spent several years be-
tween tiuadalupe and San Luis Obispo in that capacity. In 1889 he was sent
t(i the new town of Santa .Maria, which then had only about three hundred
inhabitants, as agent for the Commercial Bank of San Luis Obispo. The
iiutlook was anything but encouraging to start a bank; but he grasped the
situation, and it was largely through his influence and energy that the Bank
of Santa jMaria was opened for business on May 1, 1890, with a capital of
825,000. He was elected one of the directors, and the officers were: L. M.
Kaiser, president: .\ntone Pezzoni, vice-president; F. B. Jack, manager; Paul
O. Tietzen, cashier and treasurer. He is now president of the bank, and
its capital and surplus are above $500,000. INIr. Tietzen was one of the organ-
izers of the \"alley Savings Bank, which opened for business on September 1,
1901. with a capital of 325,000, and was also the organizer of the First Na-
tional Bank of Santa Maria, with a capital of $50,000; both institutions have
more than doubled their capital since their organization. He was one of the
incorporators of the Pinal-Dome Oil Co., a $4,000,000 concern, of which he is
treasurer: and he is also connected with the Home Telephone Company of
Santa Barbara, the Santa Maria .\bstract Company, the Santa ^laria Realty
Company, and other business interests in this city and elsewhere. He was one
of the prime movers in organizing the Santa ]\laria Gas Company, that fur-
nishes gas to Santa Maria valley and San Luis Obispo.

-Mr. Tietzen took an active interest in .securing the Carnegie Free Library
fciv Santa Maria, and he and ]^Irs. Tietzen donated the half block of ground
t(ir the lawn and building site. ^Ir. Tietzen has always been intensely in-
terested in the good-roads movement ; he assisted in the building up of the
town by the erection of modern, substantial buildings; and in fact every
movement for the advancement of the city, the county and the state has had
his hearty co-operation and support. For many years he has been one of the
most progressive leaders in this part of the county ; he is a many-sided man, a
lover of his fellow-men and of all good works for moral ujilift. Fraternally,
he is a Mason, a Knight of Pythias and a Forester, holding membership in
the lodges of Santa ^laria.

At the home of Dr. and Mrs. \V. T. Lucas, who were then living in the
old adobe — one of the oldest landmarks in the county — in Guadalupe, on
November 14. 1883. jiccurred the marriage of Paul CX Tietzen with Miss
.Margaret McHenry. born in Santa Rosa, reared in Stanislaus county, and
educated in public and private schools and in Hesperian College, at Wood-
land. N'<ilo county. She taught school in that county for a time, and in 1880
came lo San Luis r)bispo, where she continued teaching until her marriage.
During the many years of her residence in Santa Maria. Mrs. Tietzen was
a social leader, a worker for the good of the community, and interested in all
reform mo\ements. csi)ecially in temperance and equal sufTrage. Four chil-
dren blessed this union, three of whom are now living. Ida, educated at Mill's

^f fl^rJla^c^

SAN LL'IS OBISPO COUXTY AXD EWIROXS :^7'-

College in Oakland, is the wife of \Villiam Howard Haynes, of Houston,
Texas. Hazel, a graduate from Aliss Head's school and the University of
California at Berkeley, became the wife of Charles S. Dodge, an extensive
lumberman of the state, with offices in San Francisco. James Herbert is
also a graduate from the University of California, and is about to take a grad-
uate course in Harvard College.

To give their children the advantages of the colleges and universities.
Mr. and Mrs. Tietzen took up their residence in Berkeley in 1909, where he
erected a beautiful modern residence at Claremont Court. There Mrs. Tietzen's
fine social qualities, his children's accomplishments, and his own family's
hospitality, make of it an ideal home. Although residing in Berkeley, Mr.
Tietzen's interests are still with Santa Maria, and he is still one of the dom-
inating factors in the banking circles of Central California. It may have been
luck or chance that led him to this state, but he surely feels well repaid, by
the success he has won, for all the hardships he has had to endure and the ob-
stacles he has had to overcome ; and there is no more loyal citizen of the state
of California than Paul O. Tietzen.

THOMAS JEFFERSON BALLARD.— A native son of California and
a representative of the class of pioneers who liraxed every danger to cross
the plains and try to win a fortune from the mines, but who. not finding
wealth as C]uickly as they expected, turned their attention to developing that
richer resource, agriculture, and thereby won a competence, Thomas I.
Callard was born four miles from San Jose in Santa Clara county, August
21. 1858. He was a son of William Ballard, a native of Indiana, who crossed
the plains with ox teams in 1850 and engaged in mining for a time. Returning
to his Eastern home and claiming his bride. Lovina Elizabeth Bailey,
who was born in North Carolina, Mr. Ballard again crossed the plains in
1853, and was followed by his wife, who came by way of Panama in 1855.
On his second arrival in this state he settled on a farm in Santa Clara count\-
and undertook the dairy business, which he followed until 1862. He sold out
and removed to what is now Grangeville, Kings county, and bought a ranch
there, improved it, and followed the stock business for a time. His next
move was to a place near Visalia, where he remained until 1883, when he
settled on a ranch three miles from Paso Robles and followed his chosen
occupation until 1906, when he removed to Paso Robles and lived retired
until his death, on January 2, 1913, at the age of eighty-seven. His widow
sur\ived him until March 10, 1916, when she passed away at the age of
ciidity-one years. They became the parents of seven children, six sons and one
daughter, of whom three sons and one daughter are living. Mr. Ballard was a
|)rominent citizen of this state and did his share in developing the resources
that have made it one of the best-known agricultural states in the Union.
He enlisted for service in the California Home Guards during the War of
the Rebellion.

Thomas J. T.allard was roared on the home farm and went to school in
Tulare county. When he was twenty-four years old he came to Parkfield,
Monterey county, and pre-empted one hundred sixty acres of land; and
later he added another quarter section, developed it, and raised grain and
stock, making a specialty of cattle, horses and hogs, and meeting with very
good success in this undertaking. His brand was the number 12. In 1910, <-in
account of his jiarents" age. he located in Paso Robles to care for them in

376 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

their declining years, leasing his land, and while living here engaged in the
poultry business. Meeting with success in this venture, he sold his ranch
and branched out in his new industrj^ now owning two blocks at Seventeenth
and Riverside avenue, and also two acres on the Salinas river. He specializes
in white Leghorns, has his own incubator and brooders, and ships eggs and
poultry to the San I-"rancisco markets. He has about five hundred hens, kept
in three different yards, with nesting houses. He raises alfalfa and has
erected two pumping plants to supply water for the irrigation of alfalfa and
kale for his poultry. He is an active member of the ]\Iethodist Church and
a member of the ofiicial board. In politics he is a Republican and a warm
supporter of all movements for the betterment of the people and the develop-
ment of the county's resources.

WILLIAM W. GULP. — One of the oldest and best-known of the tenants
on the great Sue)' ranch, five miles northeast from Santa Maria, is William
\\'. Culp, a native son, born June 14, 1864, in Grass Valley, Nevada county, a
son of Rev. ^Yilliam and IMargaret Elizabeth (Woods) Culp. Rev. Mr. Culp
was born in Kentucky, whence he went to Missouri, and later to Oregon. In
the early fifties he came down to California. He was a Methodist preacher,
and his first charge in California was in Grass Valley, where he met and later
married Miss Woods, a native of Missouri. Her father, William D. Woods,
crossed the plains in 1848 from Missouri, driving a cow and a mule, hitched
together, and arrived in Grass Valley with his wife and children, Mrs. Culp
then being but seven jears old. He was a member of the Pacific Confer-
ence and helped to organize many Methodist churches in northern and cen-
tral California, where he became well known. He moved from place to
place, as is the custom with ministers of that faith, and finally died in
:Merced in 1870, after a very useful career.

Four children of this worthy couple grew to maturity: I-'annie married
S. (). Fesler and lives in Modesto; William W. is the subject of this review;
Margaret became the wife of John Whaley and lives in Bakersfield ; Lucy is
Mrs. Henrj- Morris of Santa Maria. Mrs. Margaret Culp died at the home of
her son, \Mlliam A\'., on the Suey ranch in 1906, aged sixty-three years.

The only son of his parents, William W. Culp obtained his education in
the iniblic schools of Merced and Kern counties. His father died in Merced
county, and some few years later his mother took her children and moved to
\\'oody, Kern county, where she remained until 1882, when the little family
came to the Santa ^laria valley. The town was small, and there was not
much work to be had by a lad of seventeen; besides, the family were poor, so
he had to find some kind of employment to help toward their support. Farm-
ing and stockraising were the principal industries in the section, and he
sought a job and was offered one as a farm hand on the Suey ranch and cheer-
fully went to work, eager to earn a few dollars with which to aid his mother
and sisters.

lie soon became acquainted with hTlis Nicholson, then superintendent of
the .Suey ranch, and that acquaintance leading to a lasting friendship, young
Cul]) became a trusted employe and later one of the foremen. Still later, when
Mr. Xichdlsim was appointed agriculturist for the Union Sugar Co. at Bet-
tera\ia, .Mr. Culp liecame superintendent of Mr. Nicholson's fifteen hundred
acre raiuli, wliicli he had leased from the Newhall company, and remained
i\Ir. Xichdlson's trusted superintendent until 1905. .\t that time Mr. Culp

SAX LUIS OBISPO C(JIXTY AND ILWIROXS 377

leased six hundred thirty acres of the Suey ranch and since tlien has met
with success.

In 1911 Mr. Culp was united in marriage with Mrs. Cora (Scott) Shep-
pard, a native of Massachusetts and a daughter of Henry and Sarah E. (Birl)
Scott; and they have one daughter. Cora. By a former marriage with I'red-
erick Sheppard, two children were born, and one, Laura Shcppard, is living.
Mr. Culp is prominent in fraternal circles as a Mason, a Knight of
Pythias, and an Odd Fellow. Mr. and Mrs. Culp are members of the Meth-
odist church. They reside in a very comfortable bungalow that he erected in
1910 at 418 West Chapel street in Santa Maria. Mr. Culp has never shirked
a duty. He is public-spirited and charitable, and is honest and upright in all
his dealings.

J. FRED BRANCH.— The interest which attaches to the biography of
California pioneers is not that of curiosity, but a \ isible expression of the
gratitude which all men feel towards those forerunners of civilization in the
far west. The youngest son of that grand pioneer, Francis Z. Branch, of whom
mention is made in detail in this work by the editor on another page, J. Fred
Branch was born in the Arroyo Grande valle}^ March 15, 1853, upon a
ranch that numbered thousands of acres. Here he grew to manhood and
received his education in the public schools and also by private teacher, his
father hiring a lady from Xfew York to teach in his district ; after which he
completed his education in a college in San Francisco.

Returning to the ranch he engaged in farming on ]iart of his father's
property on his own account, raising great numbers of sheep and cattle ; and
during the dry years of 1877-78 he lost thousands of them, as he had no feed,
nor could feed be bought. At this writing, Mr. Branch is owner of a fine
tract of land of four hundred acres wdiich he has stocked with a fine dairy
of sixty cows. He is very successful in the conduct nf liis ranch and dairy.
Mr. Branch is a member of the Knights of Pythias.

J. Fred Branch was united in marriage March 5, 18S1, with Miss Iler-

linda Bonilla, born in California and a daughter of Judge Jose Mariano

Bonilla, who was the first Judge of San Luis Obispo County. He was born in

Mexico, educated at the National College of San Yldefonso and graduated

with the degree of B. L. ; and he became a prominent member of the bar

of the City of Mexico. He was sent to California in 1834 with one of the

colonies as secretary to Governor Figueroa, and later w-as promoted Judge

of the First Instance. He married a daughter of Don Inocente Garcia in 1837,

that gentleman then being administrator of the Mission of San Miguel. Don

Jose Mariano Bonilla became the secretary to his fatlier-in-law, and later was

I appointed by Governor Juan B. Alvarado administrator of the Mission at

I San Luis Obispo, where he then made his home. After the annexation of

j California to the Union, and before the constitution of the state was adopted,

Don Jose Bonilla held the position of subprefect and alcalde under the military

government; and after the adoption of the constitution, he became the first

judge of this county. He also served at different times as supervisor. In

i 1866, he retired from puljlic life. He erected the Cuesta flouring mill and was

[ one of the ])ioneers in that business. He died March 19, 1878.

'; Thus it will be seen that Mr. Branch, through his birth, is numbered with

j the prominent pioneer family wh(j have been so important a factor in the

I development nf this county and in the preservation of law and order, and

378 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUXTV AND EXVIROXS

that through his marriage he is connected with the Spanish Dons who
held swaj' in California before there was any thought of American occupation
to develop the land and bring to the country sources of wealth other than stock
interests.

ANDREW NELSON.— A resident of Paso Roblcs from 1888 until his
death, August 'J. 1915, at the age of sixty-nine years, Andrew Nelson did
much to promote the prosperity of this section of San Luis Obispo county. He
was born in Helsingborg, Skane, Sweden, February 28, 1846, and was educated
in the public schools of his home place and raised on the home farm. \\'hen
eighteen years of age, he went to sea and for the following twelve years
followed the life of a sailor. During this time he was twice shipwrecked.
He sailed around the Horn several times, and was employed in both coast-
ing and foreign trade. \\'hen he finally left the sea, he came to San Fran-
cisco ; and two years later he was in charge, as foreman, of the construction
of a large business block, and demonstrated that he was able to handle men.
He next went to Seattle and bought a small farm four miles from town on
Salmon bay; ancV this he de\"eloped and improved and set out to fruit and
berries, and met with good success. In 188b he came to California, and to
Paso RoI)les, for his health, and was so well pleased with the conditions
as he found them in this section that he returned to Seattle and sold out
his holdings there. Returning to Paso Roliles, in 1888, he located on a
ranch of one hundred sixty acres four and one-half miles from the city. In
order that his children might have the advantage of good schools there, he
also bought one hundred nine acres, one and one-half miles out of town,
erected suitable buildings and improved the place with an orchard of twenty-
five acres of several varieties of berries, and began raising poultry and con-
ducting a dairy. He was thrifty and a good manager, and accumulated a
com])etency. He retired from the busy cares of the ranch two years before
he died, and gave over the management to his sons, who carried it on with
success.

Mr Xclsoii was married in San Francisco, on March 2, 1876, to Miss
Aimie Ekl)16m, who was born in ^^ennersborg, Sweden, where she was reared
and educated. She came to New York and remained there a little over six
years, then came west to San Francisco and eight months later married Mr.
Nelson. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson had live children: Robert, who is a business
man in San Francisco ; Ernest and Frederick, partners in grain raising on the
Nelson ranch, near Paso Robles ; Albert, who conducts the home place ; and
Mabel.

Mr. Xclsnn l)uilt se\eral residences in town, where he owned property
and was always in favor of progress in every way. lie was a member of
tiu- Mcthnclist church, to which congregation his wife belongs. He was a
I'iepuljlican. but never an aspirant ior office; and he was a member of Paso
Rol)lcs ],odgc Xo. 286, F. & A. 'SI. His widow owns a valuable piece of
property at tlic corner of A'ine and Twelfth streets. Mr. Xelson passed away at
his lie line at the aL;e of sixty-nine years, and between the date of his birth and
his death saw and aided many movements that were ])romoted to build up
the various sections where he had made his home. .\s was most natural,
therefore, he was mourned at his passini; by a large circle of friends who
valued him for his worth as a citizen.

oMOm/^'-

}.-£yLfff

SAX lA'lS OIIISI'O COL'XTV AXD KXX'IROXS .Wl

JOSE DOLORES ONTIVEROS and MRS. AUGUSTA ONTIVEROS.

— When death called Jose Dolores (Jntivcnis, the Santa .Maria valley lost one
of its most piililic-spirited citizens, and one whci had gniwii ii]) trcmi early
boyhood within its limits; for his father, the late Jnan I'aciheo ( )nti\-er. is,
became a resident of this section in 1856, when he purchased the 'l'epcsc|uet
rancho of nine thousand acres and brought his family there to reside, this
son then being but five years old. Under stress of circumstances, wtnnen have
often shown marked business ability: and after the death nf Jose (Jnti\eros
his widow, Mrs. Augusta Ontiveros, took up the managenieiit nf his extensive
affairs, and in the passing of the years has shown ca])acity f(ir interests com-
monly supposed to be outside of woman's sphere.

Mr. Ontiveros was born on the Cajon San Juan ranchcj in Los Angeles
county, in that part now set aside and known as Orange county, March 19.
1851 ; and when he was but fi\-e years old, his parents moved to Santa Barbara
county and ever after made it their home. He was educated in the Spanish
language by teachers hired by his father, that being the custom before there
were any public schools established in this section of the county. He grew
to manhood on the Tepesquet, learned the details of successful farming, and
was engaged in that vocation during his lifetime. He inherited considerable
land from his father's estate, and by good management succeeded in retaining
possession of it and operating it with success.

On March 11, 1881, occurred the marriage that united Jose D. Ontiveros
with Miss Augusta Flores, a native daughter of Santa Barbara, whose father,
Juan Flores, was born in Chile, South America, while her mother, Seiiora
Isodora Valenzuela, was born in Santa Barbara. She was one of the children
born to Jose Maria and Josefa (Cota) Valenzuela, native Californians, the
former descending from Spanish blood and being married in this state. Both
families were remarkable for longevity, and were among the highly respected
representative people of the early days in California.

After the marriage of this worthy couple they came to the old homestead
on the Tepesquet and farmed, later removing to the place where the widow
now lives, although for a time they were residents of Santa Maria. Of this
marriage four children were born. Abdon, who is fanning part of the
Tepesquet ranch, married Grace Bacon of Los Angeles; Abner, also living
on a part of the old ranch, married Carolee Butts, who was born in San
Diego; Hortensia is the wife of Ramon Goodchild, a promising young rancher
living near Sisquoc, and has one son, Ramon William Goodchild ; while
Delila became the wife of Patrick E. Hourihan and lives on the Tepesquet.
.All the children have been given the advantages of good schools, and have
been enabled to take their places in the business and social world with credit
to themselves and to their early training. The family are consistent members
of the Catholic Church, Mrs. Ontiveros being a member and liberal supporter
of the Fo.xen canon church. She owns the home ranch of three hundred sixty
acres near Sisquoc and three hundred fifty more on the Huasna in San Luis
Obispo County, which is devoted to the raising of stock ; and she has given her
personal attention to her business aflfairs and is known as a shrewd business
woman. The residence occupied by her is the old adobe, remodeled at con-
siderable exi)ense and having grounds beautified with lawn, flowers and
cement walks and stairwav leading to the building, which has a fine setting

382 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EXMROXS

on a hillside overlooking the canon and valley. Here Mrs. Ontiveros dispenses
a oracitnis hospitality to all.

Mr. (Jntiveros passed away March 4, 1909, after having lived a useful
and busy life, and left to his descendants the heritage of an untarnished
name, h'or more detailed mention of the family "of Ontiveros, the reader is
referred to the bingrajihical sketch of .-\braham Ontiveros on another page
of this work.

PETER AND INA JOHNSON.— It is a far cry from Sweden to Cali-
fornia, Init many ui the men who are responsible for the upbuilding of this
commonwealth have come from that distant country and fulfilled their am-
bitions in this state of opportunity. Such a man was the late Peter Johnson,
who came to San Luis Obispo County in 1888 and thereafter made his home
amid the surroundings conducive to long life and happiness. His untimely
death was a loss to the county, fi.ir his progressi\e spirit encouraged many
to success.

I'eter Johnson was born in Sweden, near Osterlund. February 2, 1847,
reared to hard work on the farm, and had such school advantages as the
country afforded to one in his station in life. Left orphaned at the tender
age of thirteen, he lived with his sister until 1867, when he came to America.
In Lansing, la., he worked for wages on a farm, then went to Caledonia,
JMinn., and there, in 1872, was married, in Houston county, to Miss Ina
Gamberg. She was also a native of Sweden, born in 1850. in Gnarpsoken,
Helsingland. Her parents, Lars P. and Ingri Gretta (Frenel) Gamberg,
brought their family to Houston county, i\Iinn., in 1866, bought a farm and
improved it, and later removed to South Dakota; and in Clay county they
homesteaded a (|uarter section and farmed with success, until they retired
to Sioux Falls, where they both died, twelve months apart, each aged ninety-
one years.

After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Johnson went to South Dakota and home-
steaded a quarter section of land adjoining her father's farm, made improve-
ments and raised grain and stock until they came to California, in 1888,
arriving in San Luis Obispo County, May 14. ]\Ir. Johnson first bought a farm
near Linne, but remained only two months, as it was not what he wanted.
He then bought eighty acres, three miles from Paso Robles, improved it and,
being a handy man with tools and a sort of mechanical genius (for he could
do carpenter work, lay brick and stone and make shoes), soon had his ranch
in a well-imj^roved condition. At the same time, he worked for others at
building, and also at manufacturing brick, which found ready sale in the
building-u]) of the new city of Paso Robles. He set out an orchard which
did well : but there was no sale for the fruit, and he dug up the trees. .\s
his means permitted, he added to his holdings, first eighty acres and again
one hundred and twenty-five more, working hard t(i impro\e the land and
make a success with his grain and stock raising industry.

.\s a result of injuries received in an accident in which he was cruslied by
a falling roof, the death of Mr. Johnson occurred in 191,^. He was a Christian,
a member of the Swedish Baptist Church at Linne, and a deacon. In South
Dakota he was one of the men who advocated and helped to maintain good
schools in his <listrict, and served on the board of directors for years. He voted
the Republican ticket at the elections and believed in its party princi])les. Since
his death his widow has maintained the jiosition he built up for the family.

SAX LUIS ODISro CcjrXTV AND E.WIROXS 38.>

and i-Diulucts tlie rancli with succcs-. She devotes cdiisiderable attention
t(i the raisint;- of horses, hein.n the owner of lUack 'l"om, half Percherun-
Norman, wliose weight is 1400 ponnds, and which took a premium at the
L'pper Salinas Valley Fair. She also raises Jersey cattle, and has twenty-ti\e
acres in alfalfa, and a good well with a twenty-five horse-power pumping
plant, with a six inch pump.

Mrs. Johnson is the mother of nine childrc
three in C'alifornia. .Martha, .Mrs. Samuelson, is

^ horn

in Dakota and

irl,.ci<

Ciiristine, .Mrs.

ar (_'o

ton; Klwood is

Hans.:

n. lives in .Min-

l.nKlstrom, lues at >an jose; ( ,eorL;e is a ranclier n
a dairyman in the \icinity of Tindock ; .\manda, .Mrs.
nesota ; Oscar is employed as a stenogTa])her in .Modesto; William is with
his mother, running the home place ; Lillian, a twin sister of William, mar-
ried L M. Phillips and resides in San Luis Obispo; and Xina became the wife
of .Arthur Hansen of Oakland. ]\Irs. Johnson and her children are members
of the iJaptist church. To this woman is due great credit for the manner in
which she is carrving to success the enterprise undertaken bv her worthv
husband.

JOHN BONHAM KESTER.— ( )nc of the best-known of the jnonecrs
who have wrested success from the stored fertility of two states is J. B.
Kester, now living retired in San Luis Obispo after many years of activity
in farming in Iowa and California. He was born in I\Iontgomery county,
Ind., September 19, 1829, and when three years of age was taken by his
parents to Illinois, where they lived two years. Then, in 1836, they turned
their steps once more towards the \\'est and located in Cedar county, Iowa,
then a territory, and recognized as the frontier.

Here J. B. Kester was educated in the primitive schools of the time
and place, and was reared to young manhood on his father's farm, or imtil he
was old enough to strike out for himself. I fc was trained to farm duties
by his father, who had made a success of that work, and when starting out
for himself, engaged in general farming and the raising of cattle and horses,
making a specialty of heavy draft horses, which took first prizes at the Iowa
state and county fairs. He was active in the upbuilding of his section of
the state and supported men and measures that would best advance the
interests of the people.

In 1863, like his father, he heard the call of the West, and with his
family he drove across the plains to California, where he felt that better
"pportimities awaited him; and settling in Xapa county, near St. Helena, he
-;ain took up farming, and for the following four years he again met with
-access. In 1867, he came to San Luis Obispo County, took up one hun-
dred and sixty acres of government land on Old creek near Cayucos, and
began improving a new home under pioneer conditions. As fast as he could,
lie added to his holdings, until he became owner of five hundred twenty
acres of land. Here he made all desirable improvements, and with decided
~ucccss for the next thirty-three years carried on dairying and the raising of
hogs, cattle and grain. In 1911, after a long period of activity, .Mr. Kester
disposed of his ranch, and then nio\ed to San Luis Obispo antl retired from
active life.

It is safe to s,iy that there is not a better known man in San Luis Obispo
County than J. 1'.. Kester, who has a wide acquaintance, and, as a Repub-
licrui, has been supervisor of his district ei.ght years, during which term in

384 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXU EXVIROXS

office mam' needed improvements were made throughout the county. He
served his constituents impartially and well. In 1900 he was deputy United
States census marshal for the count}-. For twenty-five years he was one
of the trustees of the Cayucos district school, and did nnich to bring the
school to its present high standard.

Mr. Kester was united in marriage in 1854. in Iowa, with ]\Iiss Sarah
Jane Chord, by whom he has had eight children, six of whom are living:
John C, living in Kings county ; Willard W., of Paso Robles ; Mrs. Mar-
garet M. Archer, in Los Angeles; Frank U., near Shandon ; Edwin, de-
ceased ; Charles D., working on the state highway in Sonoma county ; Felix,
residing in Oregon ; and one child that died in infancy. Mrs. Kester passed
away January 13, 1881, and on August 5, 1882, ]\Ir. Kester was again married,
Mrs. Elizabeth (Brown) Hill becoming his wife. By this second marriage
one daughter, Julia, now the wife of Abram B. Green of San Luis Obispo,
was born. Mrs. Elizabeth Kester died October 2, 1912.

LEO P. SCARONI. — A citizen of Santa Maria whose success has been
builded iipon determination and the gift of application, as well as upon
strict honesty and integrity, so that he merits the confidence of all with
wdiom he has business or social relations, is Leo P. Scaroni, cashier of the
Bank of Santa Maria and a native son of California. He was born in Santa
Cruz county. May 1'"', 1877, a son of Pio and Filicita (Gianoni) Scaroni. The
grandfather, G. .\. Scaroni, was a dairyman and mayor for many years of
Gordola, Switzerland. Pio Scaroni was born July 11, 1851, on a farm in the
sheltering Swiss mountains, arrived in the United States December 28, 1869,
and since then has become one of the prominent and successful ranchers
of Santa Cruz county, wdiere he still li\-es. The eight children born to Pio
Scaroni and his wife are Leo P.. Mary. Adeline. Lilly, Joseph. Anna, Harry
and John.

The oldest son and child of his parents, Leo P. Scaroni graduated from
the grammar school at the age of fourteen, then attended Chestnutvvoods (now
Heald's) Business College six months, and afterwards continued at the home
ranch six years. When he was twenty, he left home and went to San Luis
Obispo, where he was employed in the Commercial Bank two years. He was
sent by that institution to Santa Maria, after the organization of the Bank of
Santa Maria by Paul O. Tietzen, who had been the representative of that
bank in Santa Maria for some months. He was employed from 1899 until
1905 as clerk, then promoted to be cashier; and this position he still holds,
enjoying the confidence of the officers of the bank as well as of its customers,
among whom a large majority of the Swiss and Portuguese patrons seek his
advice on many of their business matters. He has long been one of the men
who have materiallv assisted in the development of the valley.

Mr. Scaroni was united in marriage in March, 1905, with Flora McXcil,
and they have two children, Margaret and Catherine. Mr. Scaroni erected
his residence at 508 South Broadway in 1905, and here he and his
family live in comfort and entertain in their hospitable manner. Mr. Scaroni
is now one of the men who stand at the front in the conduct of the bank ; and
by his accurate methods, strict attention to business, clear-headed, rigid hon-
esty and courteous manner, he has aided very materially in bringing the insti-
tution to its present sound financial standing in tlie state.

<S:>^ ;:;>^,^^,u,-.>^

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND J-:.\\"IR().\S 387

OLIVER PERRY MOORE.— A most interesting early pioneer, .\laskau
giihl miner, and sturdy old .soldier, who. while seeing much of the world,
has left a record for worthy living and honest dealing, is Oliver Perry ^iloore,
a native of the Iloosier State, although a grandson of Irish forebears and the
son of Buckeye parents. His grandfather Avas a native Irishman named
Moore, while his maternal grandmother came of a German family named
Garner. His father was David Moore, an early settler of Ohio, while his
mother was Patsy Garner, wlmse family Mrii;inally came fr>im Germany.

Born at Kokomo, Ind., July 20, 184''. .air subject enlisted, when only
fourteen, in Company E, 9th Indiana \'olunteer Infantry ; but a-s he was too
small to meet the physical requirements demanded, he was transferred to
Company E. of the 126th Indiana Cavalry. In November, 1863, he was mus-
tered in at his birthplace. He did \aliant service under General Hancock, and
remained a loyal soldier supporter of the Union until 1865, when, at Jefifer-
sonville, in his native state, he was honorably discharged. During the time
when he thus e.xposed life and limb for the sake of the great cause for which
his country was fighting, he served at the battle of Franklin, in Tennessee,
as well as at the battles of Mammoth Cave and Nashville, fighting the rebels
all the w^ay to Atlanta, as he is wont to express it with spirit but with no
unkindliness. One result of this honorable record of unselfish service and
distinguished bravery is that veteran Moore today sits high in the councils
of the Grand Army of the Republic, in their headquarters at Santa Maria.

When eighteen years of age, O. P. Moore set out for the Pacific Coast
by way of Aspinwall and Panama, and landed at San Francisco about the
first of May, 1868. After a brief sojourn there, he went to Salinas, where he
worked on a farm by the month for his brother, ^lilton Moore, who now
lives at Castroville. He then leased land there and farmed for eight or nine
years, after which, in 1874, he came to Guadalupe. He bought land from
Daniel Coiner, but sold it back to him, went to L<is .\lamos to start afresh,
and farmed there with varying success.

In 1898 ^Ir. Moore went to Alaska, dnrin- the mining excitement, stopped
at Dyea and Skagway, and cmssed the ChiKnt ;uul the White passes, return-
ing to Santa ]\Iaria in 1900, where he tilled in the neighboring valley. Six
years ago he bought the pi;esent ranch of nineteen acres.

At the beginning of this eventful century, Mr. Moore was married to
Mrs. Rettie Saulsbury, the widow of George Saulsbury, a conscientious
woman and a motherly wife. She was the daughter of Daniel Davidson,
and was born in Indiana, irom which state she migrated to Kansas when
twelve years old. There she grew uji until she was married to Mr. Saulsbury,
a rancher, who came with her to California in 1894, dying here four years later.

Five children, whom Mr. Moore large-heartedly regards as his own,
blessed the union of .\lr. and Mrs. Saulsbury. George Leonard became a
rancher and teamster, residing near Los Alamos, and married Minnie Granas,
"f Los Olivos: James .-Vlbert is al.so a rancher, living near his brother, and
lie married Virgie Stowe, of Girard, Kansas, by whom he has had three
children, George. Elizabeth and Isabelle: John Clyde is a farmer, and
married Sadie Ralph, of Sisquoc. by whom he has one child. McClellan Clyde;
Pearl is the wife of James Easter, assistant mechanic residing on the Folsom
lease: and Lillian is the wife of Harry Coles, a carpenter and builder.

3S8 SAX LUIS OBISPO COL'XTY AND EXXIROXS

A wide-awake citizen with Democratic ])references, proud of his record
as one of the youngest boys in the Ci\il War. Air. Moore is a ])ioneer who is
most loyal to the valley in which he has settled.

WILLIAM H. RICE.— Gifted with the force of character, business
capacity and unswerving integrity which characterize the progressive and
successful men of the West, William H. Rice has won large returns
from the virgin soil. One of the Native Sons of the Golden West, he was
born in Healdsburg, Sonoma county, October 11, 1856, a son of John H.
and Mary A. (Long) Rice. His father, of Welsh extraction, was born in
Tennessee, the son of a planter who died in Arkansas at the age of eighty,
and whose widow came to California, spent one year visiting and returned to
her Arkansas home, where she died at the age of eighty-one. Grandfather
Isaac Rice, a slave owner, was an influential man. He wrote considerably
for publication, was well-informed and became wealthy. During the war
he lost his slaves and became greatly reduced in finances. On the maternal
side, the Longs are of English descent. Mary A. Long was born in Ohio,
and came overland to California in 1853 with her parents, William and
Mary Long, who were natives of South Carolina and Ohio respectively, in
which state they were married. Grandfather \\'illiam Long met his death
as the result of a runaway at the age of seventy. His wife lived to reach
the age of eighty-four. John H. Rice and wife had seven children; one died
young and the others grew up. He owned the Rice ranch of about seven-
teen hundred acres lying west of Santa Maria. His widow^ still lives in .Santa
Maria, and is aged eighty-one.

William H. Rice attended the public schools in Healdsburg until he was
eleven, and then went with his parents to Monterey county in IS(j7, where he
continued his studies and grew up on the ranch, working with his father
at farming and stock raising. He later attended Christian College at Santa
Rosa. In 1873 his parents moved to the Santa Maria valle}-, and here William
H. received his first experience in business. With his father he operated the
Rice ranch west of town, it being one of the most valuable places in the
vicinity. In 1880, he married and went to work on the Arellanes ranch,
which he leased. His first purchase was eighty acres east of town ; later
he bought one hundred and sixty acres south of town, adding to these from
time to time until he is owner of about thirteeu thousand acres, including
his share of the original Rice ranch. In 1908 Mr. Rice leased out his ranches,
and bought a place in town where he is living, practically retired, although
a man of large affairs. He once owned a ranch in Cat canon, which he sold
to the Old Mission Oil Company. The sale of this property netted him a
snug fortune.

On .April 14, 1880, in Los Alamos, W. H. Rice and Miss Florence Coiner,
daughter of Daniel Coiner, one of the pioneers of the valley, were united in
marriage. Mrs. Rice has been a true helpmate to her husband, and dispenses
the hospitality of their home at 401 West Cypress street with grace and
charming simplicity. They are the jjarcnts of seven children. Elmer C, a
rancher of the valley, married Edna LUosser; Owen T., a rancher, married
Viola Cook of Des Aloincs, Iowa, and two children, Owen S. and William,
grace the home; Alarion, a rancher, married Clara Stringfield, member of a
San Luis Obispo pioneer family, and they have three children. Florence A.,
Leland and Lindal; \\'illiam T., assistant cashier in the Bank of Santa Alaria,

SAX LUIS OIJISPO COUXTY AXD EXMROXS 389

married Teresa jNlcDonald, and two children, Rodger and Catherine, have
lilessed their home; Gertrude married 1-Lhner Doyd, November 12, 1916, and
resides in Santa Maria ; Edith, a graduate of the Santa Aiaria high school
and the Oakland Polytechnic, is a stenographer for the Pinal-Dome Oil Co.
and lives at home ; and Ellis H., a graduate of the Santa Maria high school and
the Oakland Polytechnic, is employed in the Bank of Santa Maria. The
sons, who are all hard workers, have been of valuable assistance tn their
father, and are now making a name for themselves.

William If. Rice was a delegate in 1908, from Santa I'.arbara county,
to the Irrigation Congress at Albuquerque, X. M. He was one of the jirime
movers in the organization of Reclamation District X^o. 798, for the protec-
tion of the Santa Maria, valley, and served as president until the work was
finished, when he resigned. He served as trustee of the Santa Maria high
school from its organization, and was president of the board several terms,
being on the building committee when the building was erected. Outside of
his ranching operations, he fills a responsible position as the i)resident
of the Valley Savings Bank, a position he has held from its organization ; and
he is also a director in the Bank of Santa Maria. Conservatism is one of
Mr. Rice's dominating characteristics. He is public-s])irited. heartily favors
and supports all progressive movements, and is one of the most kindly dis-
posed men in Santa Maria.

BANK OF SANTA MARIA.— Since its ,>r-anizali<in. this institution has
grown rapidly, althdugh at first it did not ha\e clear sailing, as the country was
sparsely settled and the people did not realize the adxaniages of a banking
system as they do today, in addition to which money was not so plentiful.
During the dry years of 1893-1897. the panics and the financial difficulties
ot I'JOo and 1908, the bank had its discouragements: but under the active
management of Paul O. Tietzen, to whom tlie bank owes much of its steady
rise to pros.perit)'. it succeeded in weathering the conditions. When he
made a step, it was always one forward : and the results are written into
the history of the bank and of the town of Santa Maria. Today the bank's
capital, surplus and profits are $500,000, and it is one of the most substantial
and prosperous institutions in Central California, with branches at (htadalupe
and Los .\lamos.

Twenty-si.x years have jiassed : and the i)ank has grown in cajiital and
lias extended is sco|)e all over northern Santa liarbara county. The credit I'or
this growth and success is principally due to the management of its aflfairs
l>y I'aul ( ). Tietzen, |. 1". Coodwan and Leo P. Scaroni, supported by its ever
efticient officers and board of directors. These now are: Paul O. Tietzen,
president: J. F. Goodwin and S. .A. Dana. vice-])residents : Leo P. Scaroni,
cashier; B. E. Jessee and William T. Rice, assistant cashiers: and F. C.
Twitchell, J. F. Goodwin, G. Muscio, P. ( ). Tietzen. William II. Rice, S. .\.
Dana. 1". J. Pezzoni and John Long, directors.

I he bank erected its splendid new building on .Main and llroadway,
wuh rooms equijjped with the most modern and complete of furnishings,
including vaults, safes and safe-deposit boxes of the finest types invented.
the whole being an ornament to the town. It was o|)ened for business May
1. 18<)0. with a cajjital of 825,000, its i>lVicers then being L. M. Kaiser, presi-
dent: .\. Pezzoni, vice-iiresident : F. P.. Tack, manager: and Paul O. Tietzen,

3*XD SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

cashier and secretary. R. K. Jack. J. F. Goudwin, Henry Brunner, L. M.
Kaiser, ]\[cD. R. \'enable. 1'". B. Jack. Antune Pezzoni and F\aul O. Tietzen
made up its board of directors.

Plans liave Jjeen prepared tor enlarginii;- the hank huihlini;' hy remodel-
ing the front and interior and occupying the entire frontage, including that of
the Valley Savings Bank building, thus making this institution one of the most
modern and up-to-date banks in the coast section of California.

DAWSON LOWE.— The late Dawson Lowe was a pioneer of Cali-
fornia in the early sixties. He was a native of England, born in Lincolnshire,
September 1, 1S42, a son of Richard and Elizabeth (Tisdale) Lowe. Daw-
son Lowe came with his parents from England to the United States, when
nine years of age, and was reared in Wisconsin. From a lad he had a long-
ing for the Golden West and often told how he would stand on the hill at
his home at Cross Plains, Wisconsin, gazing at the sun going down with a
desire that he might some day live on the Pacific Coast. So he worked
the harder on farms at eight dollars per month, until he had accumulated
enough to take him to New York and thence across the Isthmus of Panama
to San F'rancisco.

On his arrival here, at the age of twent\--one, he at once struck into the
country, and at Benicia obtained emplo}-ment with a blacksmith, by whom
he was cheated out of his pay after he had worked some time. Then he
made his way to Sonoma county, and in the vicinity or Petaluma worked
for wages until he settled on a rented ranch and began farming for himself;
and ever since that time he was successful, from a financial standpoint, and
his early boyhood wish was realized.

He continued farming in Sonoma county until in 1880 he sold out and
located in San Luis Obispo County. Settling near Morro, he farmed two
years and then moved near San Luis Obispo, where he purchased one hun-
dred sixty acres of land, which he cultivated, raising large quantities of hay
that commanded high prices in the local trade. Later he acquired ranches
in different parts of the county, the largest being the Filmore ranch. When
the state located the polytechnic school in San Luis Obispo County, Air.
Lowe sold two hundred eighty acres, which comprises the present polytechnic
school farm. He also owned valuable business property in San Luis Obispo,
and was at one time a director in the San Luis Obispo Bank.

Mr. Lowe was united in marriage with Mary Linebaugh, who was born
in Sonoma county, a daughter of John and Katherine (Fruits) Linebaugh,
both natives of Missouri. They crossed the plains to California with ox
teams in 1852 and settled in Sonoma count}-, where they became well-known
pioneers.

Of the union of Mr. and i\Irs. Dawson Lowe three children were born-
Robert, deceased; S. Jackson; and Mrs. Clara Brooks. Mr. Lowe died May
14, 1908. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Lowe erected the beautiful
Monterey Theatre bluck in San Luis C)bispo on Monterey street, on one of the
properties left by her husband. Mr. Lowe was always a liberal supporter
of any worthy movement for the betterment of the citizens and the upbuild-
ing of the county with which he was for so many years actively and prom-
inently connected, but all that he did was accomplished in an unostentatious
manner.

SAX LLIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD EWIROXS .Wl

THOMAS B. RECORDS.— A Californian after 1875, the year of his ar-
rival in the Golden State, the late Thomas B. Records of Arroyo Grande
valley was an example of that sturdy type of frontiersmen who laid the
foundation of the present-day prosperity of the state. He was born in Brown
county, Ohio, August 29, 1821, a son of James and Elizabeth (Heaton) Rec-
ords, who were pioneers of that state, settling there when the country was
covered with timber, and Indians and wild game were much in evidence.
This worthy couple were married in Ohio in 1820. where they resided for
several years and entlured tlie jjrivatinns and hardships dt the times. In
1824, with that spirit of Wanderhist that pmmptcd him to settle in Ohio,
James Records took his wife and children and located in Indiana, where he
passed away. Mrs. Records here married Robert Pence ; and once more
the family started westward, settling in Henderson county. III., in 1828,
near Ocjuawka, in the midst of a heavily timbered section, and took up
the task of clearing a farm. There was no habitation in that ])art of the
country, and the first winter was spent in an Indian wigwam owned by the
great chieftain, Blackhaw^k, wdio himself gave Mr. Pence permission to occupy
it. This was at a time when nearly all of the Indians were fricndl}^ and
willingly aided the "pale-faces."

It was in this environment that Thomas B. Records grew to manhood,
got what little schooling the community afforded, and became inured to hard
work, grubbing timber and tilling the soil. Here also he met Miss Mary
Short, of Scotch-Irish descent, whom he married on April 1, 1847. She
was born in Perry county, Ind., January 15, 1828. Her parents, Stephen
Short, a Virginian, born in 1805. and Agnes Prunty, born in Kentucky in
1808, were married in 1827. They moved to Indiana in 1828. and that same
year continued westward to Oquawka, Henderson cimnty. 111., where they
settled. There were three sons and five daughters in tlu- family, all cif whom
lived to a ripe age.

.^fter their marriage Thomas B. Records and his wife settled on a farm
that he cleared from the timber, where they endured hardships with a fortitude
worthy of emulation by the younger generations. There they developed a
fine farm from the wilderness; and there twelve children were born, seven of
them dying prior to 1874. Mr. Records was anxious that the young folks
should have the advantages of schools, and he assisted in building up the
schools of that locality, serving as a director for years. He and his wife were
strict Cumberland Presbyterians in their religious belief.

He remained in Henderson county on his farm until in ihr spring of
1875, when he brought his wife and children to California — moved, no doubt
by that same .spirit that prompted his father and mother to leave homes of
comfort and pioneer the Middle West. The family slopped in Watsonville
from May until August, as Mrs. Records had relatives living in Santa Cruz
county. The Short family, consisting of her father, mother, three brothers
and three sisters, had crossed the plains in an ox-team train from Illinois to
California in 1852, arriving in Santa Cruz on October 18, of that year.

Leaving his family in Watsonville, Mr. Records traveled about the
country looking for a location and finally decided on the wilderness section
in the Arroyo Grande valley near what is now the thriving town of .Vrroyo
Grande. At that time there was but one road or trail over to the coast, and
the land was covered with scrub timber, liea\v undergrowtli and a tliick mat

392 SAX lA'IS OBISPO COUNTY AND EX\'IROXS

of vines : but he Jjought ijiie humlred acres, set ti i work and cleared a farm,
raised grain and stock, set out an orchard and later raised beans, and in the
long run met with fair success, although he had many discouragements in
dry years and in low prices for his products. Here, as in Illinois, he took
a decided interest in educational afifairs, served as a school trustee and did
all that he could to raise the standard of education. I\Ir. Records died March
21. 1<«0. and his good wife passed away March 10. 1910.

Their children, who reached maturity, are Laura I., who was married in
llliii.>is. Ai)ril 1. 1874. to W. H. Findley,'and had twd children. Flora M. and
Mayme 1'..; Susan E.. who became the wife of \\". A. \\'alker. October 31,
1878; Spencer C, of Arroyo Grande; and L. Agnes, who married J. \\'. Gil-
liam, September 25, 1890, and had one son. Jack T. All of the children who
came with the family to California are now dead except S. C. Records and
Mrs. Gilliam.

DAVID TERRIS, SR.— ( )ne of the best-known and most highly respected
old settlers in the \icinity of Paso Robles, and one wIkj has won the respect
of everyone wlm kiKiws him, David Terris is rounding out his scores of
years well spent and. with his good wife, is enjoying the evening of life at
their comfortable home near Paso Robles. He was born near Dunfermline,
iMfeshire, Scotland. Xovember 1. 1842. a son of John and Isabella (\\Tight)
Terris, l^oth of whom were reared and passed their days in Fifeshire. Of
their fi\-e children born. David is the only one living and the only one who
came to California. He had just the ad\'antage of the common schools for
his education, grew to manliMdd im the Imme farm and in 1870 came to
Can:ida in charge of smne full-l)loi uled shorthurn Durham cattle. Landing
in (Juebec, he remained there about eighteen months, when he went to
the blue grass region at Lexington, Kentucky, and there engaged in farming.
In October, 1874, he came to California, having heard a great deal about
this state while he was in Canada.

Settling in.Salinas, he stayed one year there, and then came to his present
])lace near Paso Robles. at that time raw ])re-empticin land. He built a house,
hauling the lumber from L'ayucos. dug a well, cleared and plowed the
land and ])Ut in a crop of gr;iin. While he was ]iaying out on his own
place, Mr. Terris worked at chopping wood for different people to make
money to li\e on ;ind to meet expenses. Tie was industrious, and with the
Iielp of iiis wife, now owns a \aluable farm of one hundred and sixty acres,
well im])ro\e(l with house. Ijarns and outbuildings. He has an orchard, where
he r.iises fruit for family use. as well as for sale. The homestead is situated
in the almond district, and here Mr. Terris has set out thirty-five acres to
almond trees.

In .\pril. 1872. at Lexington, Ky.. occurred the wedding of David Ter-
ris and Miss Janet Mack. She was born in Carnock, Fifeshire, Scotland, a
daughter of James and Margaret Mack, lifelong residents of Scotland. To
Mr. and Mrs. Terris six children have been born. ^laggie died at the age
of twentv-one; M;irv Ann died when but two vears ol.l ; David is on the
Ix.me place; Jane ha> l)ecome .Mrs. Doughertx . and lives in Paso Rol)les;
James married Jane Kester, and lives in Paso Robles; 'I'homas married
I'.erlha Pierce, and lives near Los Angeles.

Mr. Terris .served as a school trustee and helped to build the Oak
I'lat schoolhouse. He is a member of the 0<ld I'ellow lodge at .San Miguel.

I SAX LUIS OUISPO COL-XTV AXl) KX\"1R()XS 3'>3

I Past Grand and ex-representative of the Grand Lodge, and served as district
i deputy. He is also a member of Paso Roljles Encampment, and a ])ast
officer and ex-representative to the grand encampment. Both he and his wife
arc members of the Rebekahs and of the Presbyterian church. In politics
he is a Democrat in national affairs. Self-made in the fullest sense of the
\viir<l, belo\-ed l)y all wlin know them. Mr. and .Mrs. 'Ferris ha\e a host of
friends throughout this part (if tiic Cdiinty.

JOHN BOYD.— ihe largest dealer and shipper of cattle, sheep and hogs
ill the Santa Maria \alley and one of the organizers and a director of the
I'irst Xational I'.ank of Santa Maria, as well as one of the public-spirited,

, progressive citizens of Santa Barbara county, is John Boyd, who was born
on February 15, 1854, near Enniskillen, Ireland. His mother died when he
was but seven years old. He attended the public schools and was reared on
the home place until he reached the age of nineteen, when he left home,

I September 12, 1873, and arrived at Castle Garden on the steamship "Citv of

' Montreal."

I'rom Xew \'ork he journeyed to San I*"rancisc(>. arri\ing in the Pacific
metropolis twenty-eight days after leaving home. Going into Santa Clara

j) county he worked on a ranch by the month, remaining in the vicinity of San

i Jose nine years and being in the employ of one man four years, eight months.

, twenty-three days, lie then became a renter. i)eginning on a small scale;
an<l as his horses increased, he began doing teaming, hauling lumber to
San Jose and to the .\lmaden quicksiher mines from sawmills in the Santa

; Cruz mountains.

'■ In 1876 he came to Santa Maria valley on

returned to San Jose, but in 1881 again came, a
hundred twenty acres, eight miles east of S.i
owns. In the spring of 1883, he erected a hoii>
land. Lie began buying and shipping stock as scjoi
pleted to (iuadaluiJC ; and since then he has had
packing houses of Los Angeles, with Simon Meiers and Schwarzchild & Suls-
berger. He also did the buying for WooiKv.ird I'.ennett. of San Jose, for
twelve years, this being his first experience as a buyer of stock; and he still
supplies that firm. It is safe to say that Mr. i'xwd has bought and shipped
more stock out of Santa Alaria valle\' than any other one man. He has
become known all over the central coast section of the state as a good judge
of stock and a shrewd buyer.

As Mr. Boyd prospered he became interested in various \entures. He
hel])ed organize the First National Bank, and has been cjue of the directors
for years. He is a number of Hesperian Lodge, Xo. 264, F. & A. M., and he
and his wife belong to the Eastern Star, 'i'hey are members of tiic Presby-
terian Church ;md in politics are Republicans.

.\t Los Ciatos, Mr. Boyd and Miss Jane Grif^hli were united in marriage;
and they have three children : Mrs. Phoebe .Vtkins, a widow, and a teaciier in
the grammar school at Santa Maria; {'"dward W .. who manages the home
ranch; and .Mrs. Cora Croskey of Chino. Mr. and Mrs. Boyd reside in their
comfortable home on the corner of Sontii P.roadway and I'.oone streets. Santa
Maria, wjiere they enjoy every comfort and are surrounded by their many
friends.

tour of in

sped

on. lie

)ought a r

anch

of three

ta
a

.Maria, u
1.1 moved

hich
into

lie still
his own

the valley

line \

vas com-

xt<

jnsive deal

ings

with the

394 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

FRANCIS ZIBA BRANCH.— To the permanent settlement of the West
the citizenshi]j of the East lias made heavy contributions. From densely pop-
ulated rciiions of the Atlantic coast settlers have been drawn to the promise
and fertility of the I'acific coast en\ironments. One of these was this pio-
neer, wliose life story can ne-\-er be fully told, so intricately is it interwoven
witli the early history of the state and particularly of this county. Francis
Z. liranch wa> horn in Scipi<i, Cayu,<;a c()unty. \. Y., on July 24, 1802. Both
(if his grandtaiherv >er\cd in the War of the Revolution. At the age of
hfteen he left home and went to Buffalo, and for five years found work on
sailing vessels of the lakes. Using his experience as a capital with which to
hcsjin, he then went to St. Louis, at that time on the western frontier. From
there he went with a trading party commanded by Captain Savory, to Santa
Fe, N. j\l., their party consisting of one hundred fifty men, with eighty-two
wagons, by which they reached Santa Fe in July, 1830.

That same year Mr. Branch joined a party of trappers under the leader-
shi]:) of \Mlliani WVilfskill, making the journey from New Mexico by Great
Salt lake, across the headwaters of the Red river, which they followed until
it emptied into Little .Salt lake near the California mountains. It being
November, the country was co\ere<l with snow, and they found it impossible
to cross the Sierras and consec|uently struck south for the Red river, and
through Cajon ]5ass. They were nine days crossing and had to break a path
through the snow: tJiey found Init few beaver and no game, and soon their
provisions gave out, and they were obliged to eat their horses and mules.
Finally, reaching the Mojave country, they arrived eventually in San Ber-
nardino, February, IS.il. from which point they went on to Los Angeles;
and after hunting in tlie mountains three years, Mr. Branch bought a general
merchandise store in Santa L.arbara, later selling to Alpheus B. Thompson.

In 1835 he married Doha ^lanuela Carlona, who was born January 1,
181."^, in Santa Barliara, and they settled in San Luis Obispo County in 1839.
It was here that he obtained a v.iluable Spani-^li grant in 1837. of many
thousands of acres located in the Arroyo ( irandc valley. Later he added to
his holdings the Pismo and Huer Huero tracts and raised vast herds of
cattle and horses. The dry years of 1862-3-4 caused the loss of some 70,000
head. He held many public offices in the county and died on the Santa
Manuela rancho. May 8, 1874. The children born of this marriage were:
Ramon, born in 1836: Leandro R.. born in 1838: Maria Josefa, born in 1840;
-Anna L., born in 1842, who married D. F. Newsom ; Francisco, born in 1844;
Josefa, born in 1846: Alanuela, born in 1848; Eduarda, born in 1850, Mrs. £.
W. Jones of Arroyo (irande; Jose Frederico, owner of part of the home ranch:
Loisa, born in 1856, who married H. .A. Sperry ; and A'sabela, born in 1857.
.Ml are deceased e-xce]it Ramon, Mrs. F.. W. Jones and J. Fred.

^Ir. Branch established the first school in Arroyo Crrande, lie gave one
acre of land, erected llie building, secured the teacher, and ]iaid all the ex-
penses himself the first ye;ir. after which he turned the school over to
the county. Part of tlie old adobe where he lived and raised his children is
still standing, being ..ne of ilu- old landmarks ,,| tbe \ alley. He was a self-
made man, and at one lime was one of the wialthiest men in San Luis Obispo
county. Fur additional data regarding his early aciixities. see the mention
made of him in the narrative history.

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUXTV AXD KX\"IROXS 397

GERONIMO CARRANZA.— A prominent citizen and rancher of the
Santa Maria valley who has performed his part towards the development
of the farming resources of Santa Barbara count}- is Geronimo Carranza, now
living in the enjoyment of his hard-earned means in a new and comfortable
modern home he completed in 1917 about three miles south of Santa Maria
on the lower Orcutt road. He is a native son of California, having been born
in San Bernardino county, in that part now included in Riverside county,
September 31, 1850, a son of Joseph Carranza, who was born in Mexico near
the home of General V. Carranza, of Mexican fame. He was educated in
Mexico and there was married to Agapite Tores ; and soon afterwards the
( young couple came to California to carve out their fortunes. They settled in
i San Bernardino county and farmed for a time, but later moved to San Luis
Obispo County and continued raising stock, meeting with a fair degree of
success. From there the family went to Lower California, where Mr. Car-
ranza bought a large ranch and engaged in the stock business on a large
scale, and where their five children — Saturnina, Geronimo, Feliz. Miguel and
Dolores — were educated.

Saturnina married Felisciano Ruiz D'Esparza, who liecame secretary to

General Castro, governor of Lower California, and when, later, the governor

was killed, succeeded to the governorship. Affairs were progressing nicely

when a revolution set in ; the governor was banished to Mexico, and Mr, Car-

ranza's property was confiscated and he and his family were also banished.

They all embarked on a vessel and left port, but when three days out on

I the Pacific they set out for the island of Guadalupe, where they concluded

I to land and await developments The island was uninhabited by people except

' Mr. Carranza and his family, and was a desert waste with thousands of wild

goats roaming over its expanse.

There began a Robinson Crusoe life whicii continued for one year and
eleven months before they were rescued. They subsisted on goat's flesh
and milk, a native date and the pulp of a species of palm out of which they
made bread. After a time their clothes wore out, and the father fashioned
clothing for his children, his wife and himself, out of the hides of the goats
that they would trap by building a stockade with runways up to the top,
where the goats would go in search of date fruit placed inside of the stockade
as bait. Once they would jump inside, it was impossible for them to get
out. Many i>\ the hides were spotted with black and white and made very
beautiful cliitiiing. Shoes were also made out of the hides and tied on with
thongs. In the end they sighted a passing schooner, and started a big fire.
The smoke attracted the attention of the sailors ; and they were rescued and
taken to the port of San Quentin, and from there came back to San Diego.
I There the father died, and after his death his widow and the rest of the
I family came to the northern part of Santa Barbara county, where the mother
I passed away at the home of her son on the Suey ranch at the age of eighty-
eight years.

After their Robinson Crusoe experience on Guadalupe island, Geronimo
Carranza came to the Santa Maria valley and settled in 1873, and since that
time has done his part to help build up the country round about. His first ex-
perience was in taking horses over into Nevada to dispose of them. Then he
l)egan ranching ; and as the years passed he gradually widened his acquaint-
ance and circle of friends until todav he is one of the best-known men in the

398 SAX lAIS OllISPO COUNTY AND EXVIROXS

valley, where he has garnered his share of wealth from the soil. In HXX) he
leased land on the Suey ranch, and in 1916 his yield of products included seven
thousand sacks of barley, eight hundred sacks of beans and one hundred fifty
tons of hay, for which he received good prices. He began buying land some
time agii. as fast as he could do so, and secured forty acres, where he recently
erected his house. This property he has been improving from time to time;
and when he is ready to retire, he will have a place to live in comfort the
balance of his days.

In 1885 Mr. Carranza was united in marriage with Miss Delphina Onti-
veros, a daughter of Patricio Ontiveros, another representative pioneer of the
Tepesquet rancho, which his father bought in 1855. Of this union were
bom Angelina, Riccardo. Amelia, ^laria, Erminia, now the wife of Joe Car-
ranza. and Patricio. Mr. Carranza and his family are members of the Catholic
Church, and have a -wide circle of friends throughout the valley. In 1916 he
cast his vote for ^^'oodrow ^^'ilson for President, but in local matters he
aims to support the men and measures he considers best suited for the existing
conditions near his home. In the Santa Maria valley, where he is known
and has lived fnr so man\' years, he is highl}- respected as a true tyjie of
manhood.

JOHN HOUK. — ^.\ self-made man in the truest sense is John Houk of Los
Alamos owner of several ranches, director of the First National Bank of
Santa ^Maria, and stockholder in the Bank of Santa Maria and in the Valley
Savings Bank. He has been a resident of the state since 1874, and since the
fall of 1899 a tenant on the Todos Santos rancho, owned by the Xewhall Land
and Farming Co. of San Francisco, where he has twelve hundred acres under
plow. .A native of Germany, he was born at Billigheim, Bavaria, May 22,
1852. a son of George and Margarite Houk. both natives there, where also they
were married. The father came to America, leaving his family behind, and
for two years worked in Cincinnati, Ohio, at his trade of horseshoe-nail
maker. -After he had established himself, he sent for his family, consist-
ing of his wife, three sons, one baby daughter and a stepson: and tiiey
sailed via Ilaxre to Xew Orleans. Arriving at the latter jilace, in the sunuiier
of 1855, the little family embarked on a steamer up the Mississippi river, and
while en route to Cincinnati the mother was taken with cholera and died at
Cairo. 111., where she was buried. The daughter also died en route, but the
other children cuntinued their journey. On their arrival at Cincinnati they
were all, including the half-brother, who was fourteen years old, placed
in a < icrnian Protestant orphanage, John being then but three A'ears of age.
The children remained there until 1859, when the father, who was engaged in
nail making in Dayton, O., married again. By this wife he had one son,
William, now a banker in joplin, Mo. The father, aged sixtv, died in Mnn-
ticello, Kan.

Jnhn remained under his father's roof until he was fourteen, attending
scIkh.I at the orphan house, where he was taught English and German, and
going for a short time to the public schools; but when he was fourteen, he
struck i.ul for himself, going to Preble county, Ohio. There he found work
on a larm eighteen miles from Dayton. Two years later, in the spring of
18()8. he went In .Missouri, but eighteen months later moved to Round Rock,
Texas. In the fall of 1S71 he enlisted with the Texas rangers, and served six
months. I le continued riding the range and trailing cattle until 1873, when he

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUXTV AND E.WIKOXS .Y/)

went to Kansas. While tliere he met the ^i;irl who later became his wife;
and he also became acquainted, in 1873, with Rutifald IJill (William Cody),
while he was sheriff of Abilene county, Kansas.

In 1874 Mr. Houk came to California and settled for a time at Kose\ilk-,
north of Sacramento. He had kept up a correspondence with his lady friend
in Kansas, and she came to Sacramentu, where they were married, Sc])tember
28, 1875. The bride was Angeline Howerton, who was born in Johnson
county. 111. Her father, William P. Howerton, a native of Tennessee, came
to Illinois with his parents, Benjamin and Elizabeth (Barnum) Howerton, the
former being a minister in the ^lethodist Church as well as a farmer. William
P. Howerton married Candace X. Groves: and in 1867 they removed with
their children to Johnson county, Kansas, where the father died. The mother
came to California and died in Santa Clara county.

In the fall of 1876 the young couple came to the Santa .Maria valley.
settling first on land that is now a part of the Pinal-Dome property, oil
not being dreamed of at that time. He was offered a one hundred sixty acre
claim for one hundred dollars, in what is now the heart of Orcutt oil field,
then known as the Stubblefield settlement : but coming from the middle west
he could not see that it was desiralile as he was looking for plow land. He
later bought one hundred sixty acres in that settlement on section 9, having
a partner, S. J. Graves. At another time he purchased a quarter section
near Garey. In 1880. he traded his interest in the land owned with Air.
Graves for one hundred sixty acres near Garey and soon after added a like
amount, which he still owns. He has bought land from time to time, as he
has been able, and among the various properties he owns is a tract of one
hundred thirty-seven acres located three and one half miles west of Lompoc,
and thirteen hundred forty acres in Glenn and Butte counties, between Butte
creek and Sacramento river, and located in the rice belt. He built the Cali-
fornia (jaragc building in Santa Maria ; and this building he owns, together
with its site, as well as a block of ground near the depot. In addition, he has
other interests scattered about the state. For seventeen years he has operated
the Todos Santos ranch, making a specialty of raising grain and beans. He
runs five big teams, and has from three hundred to three hundred fifty acres
in beans.

-Mr. and .Mrs. Houk have had eleven children of their own and have
reared a niece, Sarah Hazelrig, an orphan child of Mrs. Houk's sister, now
the wife of William I'ennett of San Benito county. Dora was attending the
Los Angeles high school, when she was taken ill and passed away in 1899,
aged eighteen ; Volney met an accidental death in 1904, aged sixteen. Those
livmg are : Eva, who married Porter Buchanan of Lompoc ; Candace,
wife of A. E. Dooley, an employe of the Pinal-Dome Oil Co. ; Georgia, who
became the wife of John Day, an employe of the Pioneer Warehouse Co, at
Lompoc; John, who married .Vmelia Xichols and resides at Lompoc; Fred E.,
who married \'ina Boring, and is farming near Lompoc; ^\'illiam, who
operates the home ranch; Burton, who is in partnership with Fred E. Houk:
and Weaver and the youngest son Ruby, who are at home.

Air. Houk is a member of Hesperian Lodge, No. 264, F. & .\. .M., in
Santa Maria, and lives up to the jirecepts of the order. He is a man of strung
character, a deej) thinker, unostentatious, kind and considerate of others,
and genenms in his benefactinns. His father cast his vote for .\braham

400 SAX Ll'IS OBISPO COUNTY AXD EXVIROXS

Lincoln in Dayton, Ohio, though under threat of \iolence to his hfe. for feel-
ing ran high over the slavery question. In politics a refcjrmer. Mr. Houk
aligns himself with the Progressive Republicans. In religious matters Mr.
and Mrs. Houk are firm believers in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints. As a man and citizen, no one stands higher in the
esteem of the people than does John Houk.

CHARLES ALBERT CASS.— The oldest son of Captain James Cass,
and a native son of the state, Charles Albert Cass was born July 17, 1856, on
Lagoon creek, twenty-five miles east of Sacramento, and there for a while
attended the public schools. In 1867, he came to San Luis Obispo county
with his parents ; and they being poor at the time, the lad had to go to work,
driving a team that was hauling piles from Cambria during the building of
the wharf at Cayucos. The balance of his education, therefore, was acquired in
the school of adversity; and that he took advantage of his practical experience,
he has ably demonstrated.

When he was past twenty-two, in December, 1878, he began working for
wages in the vicinity of Cayucos ; later he went to Sonoma county and fol-
lowed a threshing machine a season ; and then he came back home and for
over three years worked for his father and others. From 1881 to 1883, he
operated a dairy and a farm on shares ; and later he engaged in the livery
business in Cayucos and "went broke."

In 1885 he settled on the place where he now lives, then unimproved
land, and erected buildings and fences, and in other ways improved the place.
On the Glenn Brook Ranch, on the summit, he set out the apple orchard that
was the pride of his father, and he worked for him for sixteen years. Mr.
Cass bought five hundred twenty acres of hill land, and for three years
engaged in raising stock; but in 1912 he came back to his father's ranch,
leased it on shares and at the present time is successfully operating a dairy
and farm of three hundred eighty acres, of which one hundred forty acres
is bottom plow land.

On October 20, 1881, Mr. Cass was united in marriage at Guadalupe, this
county, with Miss Melissa Ellen Matthews, who was born in Newburgh,
Ind., and came to California with her parents in 1875. They had three
children : James, deceased, \'iolet and Henry. Mrs. Cass passed away in
July, 1917. Mr. Cass is a Republican in politics, and fraternally is a member
of the Cayucos Lodge of Odd Fellows. Like all native sons, he is interested
in the upbuilding of the state and county, and in the preservation of the
history of the pioneers, who are fast passing away. By his own efforts, he
has risen in the world and become one of the prosperous citizens of the
county.

HARRY D. DRAPER.— A former railroad man. and a pioneer con-
ductor of the coa.st division of the Southern Pacific Railroad, Harry D. Draper
is now living in the enjoyment of a competence won by hard work and
close attention to business. He was born in Jackson, Mich., May 17, 1842,
a son of Alfred D. Dra])er, a native of Erie county, X. Y.. who was born near
BufTalo. and was one of the early settlers in that part of Alichigan. He
shipped his goods across the lake ;uul thence by ox teams and wagons,
fording streams and rivers, to Jackson, near where he bought land from the
government and carrietl on general farming, improving a farm of three hun-
dred acres, and building a log house, in which the family lived. The coun-

^ =-1?

^'^'S

^^Vf

^ • w

■

W m

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 403

try was wild and unsettled, wolves howled about their cabin, and the father
would shoot deer from his doorway. He helped drive the Chippewa Indians
out of his section. Finally retiring from active work, he moved to the town,
where he passed away at the age of seventy years. He married Eliza Doncy,
who was born in Clarence Hollow, near Bufifalo, N. Y., and died in Jackson,
Mich. They had eleven children, nine of whom grew to maturity, and seven
of whom are still living.

Harry D. Draper, the third oldest child in his father's family, was
reared to young manhood on his father's farm, educated in the public schools
and early became accustomed to the rude conditions of pioneer life. When
he was sixteen, he went out to work for wages on the farms in the locality,
and then worked in the timber at Saginaw, and Bay City salt wells, and for
two years on flat-boats, and in 1860 went to St. Paul, Minn., and for another
two years worked on the jMississippi river boats at night. He then took up
railroad work for the Illinois Central at Amboy, 111., as a brakeman, and three
years later entered the employ of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, run-
ning a train from Clinton, la., to Chicago as conductor: and this he followed
for. the next eighteen years. In 1882, Mr. Draper went to Dakota and took
up a homestead, remaining for eighteen months; and in 1884, we find him in
California in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad as freight con-
ductor on the coast division from Castroville to the end of the line. He later
became a passenger conductor running to Santa ^largarita, and still later from
San Luis Obispo to the end of the line, which was at Surf, and on down as
■ the building progressed.

In July, 1896. ]\Ir. Drajjer resigned from the railroad and located on his
present ranch, which he had purchased some years previously and upon
which he has made all the improvements, erecting residence, barns and out-
buildings. His forty acres is located across the Salinas river from Paso
j Robles. He was formerly owner of three hundred twenty acres which he
' devoted to the raising of thoroughbred Guernsey cattle, having a dairy of
thirty-fi\e head of high-grade cows. He made a success of his operations
ami did much to induce men to work into a higher grade of cows than they
formerly had. He devoted his entire time to his stock, enjoying his work
and making it profitable.

Mr. Draper was united in marriage in San Luis Obispo with Mrs.

I Leonora (Lemon) Livingston, who was born in Woodland, Yolo county.

j Her father, John Lemon, was a native of Kentucky, who crossed the plains in

' 1847 to California, engaged in stock-raising in Yolo county, and then went to

Pendleton, Ore., where he continued his business until his death there. His

wife, Mary Hufif, was born in Georgia, came to California in 1850, married in

; Woodland and now is living in San Jose, hale and hearty at the age of seventy-

I seven years. She had seven children, Mrs. Draper being the second oldest.

I The latter attended school in Yolo county and there married Mr. Livingston,

who was a wholesale butcher. They resided in San Francisco, where she

conducted a hotel ; and after moving to San Luis Obispo she managed the

Cosmopolitan Hotel.

Mr. Draper was made a Mason in Emulation Lodge in Clinton, la., was
transferred to Castroville Lodge and is now demitted. He is a Republican in
politics, but ne\er has asjiired to office. He is a self-made man who has
seen much of the world, and is decided in his opinion that the Golden State

404 SAX Ll-TS Ol'.ISl'O COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

offers hotter imhu-enuMits u< energetic men and Avomen than any other place
in the country. At the organization of the Republican party in 1854. Mr.
Draper's father was a delegate to the convention that was held under the
old oak at Jackson. Mich.

ARCHIBALD McNEIL. — Conspicuous among the residents of Santa
Mari.i. to whose energy and perseverance in the midst of obstacles and innu-
merable hardshijjs may be attributed much of the advance made by the cen-
tral coast regions, is the name of Archibald McNeil, owner of the Santa
Maria IHouring ]\Iill, president of the First National Bank, and president of
the Iil)rarv board of Santa IVfaria. He was born near London, Middlesex
county, Canada, January 12, 1846, a son of Peter McNeil, born in Argyleshire,
Scotland, who. as a sailor for some years along the coast of Norway and
Sweden, often beheld the "midnight sun." He also sailed the coast of Great
Britain. He was a farmer also, as were his forebears in Scotland, and in 1832
came with his wife and one child to Canada, bought one hundred acres
of heavily timbered land, cleared it and farmed there. Wild game aboimded
in that wilderness and he kept the larder filled with meat, often shooting deer
from the window of their cabin; wolves would come into his clearing
after the sheep, and it required constant vigil in order to raise stock. He
married Henrietta Beaton, who was likewise born in Argyleshire ; and they
had ten children, all of whom grew to maturity. They were: Flora, John,
Catherine, Mary, Hugh, Duncan, Janet, Archibald, Isabelle, and Peter. The
family were all Presbyterians.

The eighth child born to his parents. .Xrchibald McNeil, received but
little regular schooling in the wilds where their little Canadian farm was
located, his mother being his only teacher. When he was old enough to
swing an axe, he was set to work cutting timber in the effort to clear the
land, and continued hard at work there until he was twenty. Then he was
ap])renticed, at Napier, Canada, to learn the miller's trade, and served three
years under James G. Sutherland, one of the finest men in the country, and
his good wife, a most excellent lady. They took this rough timber lad into
their own home and hearts, and became much interested in his welfare, and
gave him his start in life.

After serving his apprenticeship, Mr. ^McNeil went to Indiana, where
he S])ent the years 1868-69: and in 1870 he came to California, arriving on May
12 in Sacramento. He went to Chico and worked two seasons for General
John Bidwell in his mill, and in 1873 went to :Marysville and was employed
as miller in the .Marysville Houring Mills. That same year he went to
Orox'ille and took charge of the mill owned by George Perkins and Max
Brooks, the former of whom was afterwards governor of the state, and still
later served as a United States senator from California. Mr. McNeil re-
mained as head miller until 1882. The original mill burned down in 1879,
and Mr. McNeil planned the new mills, looked after their construction and
assumed his position after they were finished. Resigning in 1882, he came
soutii to look for an opening for himself.

He arrived at Santa Maria, found an opening in the vallev, as it was
the center of a rich grain section, and with John Adams established the Santa
Maria Mour Mills. They erected the building; and for about nineteen years
the hrm of Adams & McNeil continued without a change except in the enlarge-
ment of their estal)lishment and the addition of modern machinery as it

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY .\ND ENVIRONS 405

came on the market. In 1900 ]\Ir. ]\IcNeil bought out his partner and has
since remained sole proprietor. He lias large warehouses in Santa Maria,
and buys and stores grain for his mill at different places along the Pacific
Coast Railway.

Mr. McNeil was one of the prime movers in organizing the First National
Bank, was elected its president at the beginning and has since held that
responsible position ; and by his conservative methods he has become a bul-
wark in the institution in which he is so deeply interested. He has been
extensively interested in the oil business, and has been an officer in various
oil companies ; but as a whole the oil venture has been a disappointment to
him. First of all, he is a first-class miller, and the mills have been the basis
of his wealth and the center of his pride : and next in his attention and interest
comes the banking business.

He has always been interested in all good movements for the better-
ment of the community, was one of the men who were largely instrumental
in securing the Carnegie library, and has been president of the library board
for years. He has always been a- devoted friend of education and has served
for many years as a member of the boards of trustees of the grammar and
high schools, and for a number of years was secretary of the board of trustees
of the high school. ^Ir. ?klcNeil was appointed a member of the board of
trustees of the California Polytechnic School at San Luis Obispo by Governor
Gillette, and held the position through both administrations of Governor
Johnson, and for over six years he has been president of the board. He is a
trustee of the Presbyterian Church, of which he and his wife are regular
attendants. He is a stand-pat Republican, hut has always refused public
office, although serving on the Republican County Central Committee for
years. Mr. McNeil is prominent in fraternal matters. He belongs to San
Luis Obispo Lodge No. 322, B. P. O. Elks, and is a member of the Knights
of Pythias and the Independent Order of Foresters of Santa Maria.

February 21, 1876, Mr. McNeil was united in marriage with Margaret
Morrison, daughter of Warren and Nancy (Tobin) Morrison, and they have
four children : Flora, the wife of L. P. Scaroni ; Edwina, who is employed
in the Santa Maria Bank ; Warren, superintendent of the flouring mills, who
married Blanche Schwabacher; and Margaret, who is married to L. C.
I'.ilmtag of Santa Maria. The happiest moments of Mr. McNiel's life are
s])cnt in the home, where he has the companionship of his good wife and
the society of their many friends.

WILLIAM TYLER EDDY.— A veteran of the Civil War and a worth-
while citizen of San Luis Obispo County in Templcton, where he is now liv-
ing, retired, after many years of activity in various parts of our L'nion, William
T. Eddy is spending his last years in the enjoj-ment of a competence and the
association of many friends. He was born at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., August
31, 1840, a son of David Eddy, also born there, and a grandson of James
Fddy, a native of Rhode Island, of Quaker belief, who settled in New York
and engaged in farming on Parmerton mountain range. David Eddy was a
stone mason and plasterer by trade, and also a farmer in Saratoga Springs,
and he moved thence to Mt. Morris, Livingston county, N. Y., in 1852. He
followed farming and his trades, and died there at the age of forty-six. He
had married Susan \\'hite, who was born in Saratoga Springs, a daughter
"t Joseph White, a native of New Hampshire of English descent who settled

406 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

ill Saratosja Springs, engaged in Iniilding and contracting, and the manufacture
of brick, and died at an ailvanced age. Susan Eddy died in Michigan, and of
her seven chihh-en three are living — William Tyler being the second oldest
of all.

.After completing his studies in the public schools at Mt. Morris and in
the Mt. Morris Academy, William Eddy took up the trade of plasterer, and
of stone and brick mason; and while thus peacefully engaged in his
vocation, in 1861 he heard and responded to the call to arms. In October
he enlisted in Company C, 89th New York A'olunteer Infantry, and was
mustered into the service at Elmira, November 6, 1861. He took part in
the battles of Antietam, South Mountain, and Fredericksburg; in the siege of
Fort Sumter; and in the battles of Cold Harbor and Fair Oaks; and saw
five months' service in front of Petersburg. At the expiration of his term of
enlistment he was mustered out at Chapins Farm, Va., November 6, 1864.
He had been in thirteen distinct engagements, was corporal, then sergeant,
then first orderly sergeant, and March 23, 1863, was promoted and commis-
sioned first lieutenant of his company for meritorious service. After he had
been honorably discharged he went back to Mt. JMorris and later engaged
in operating in the oil fields in Warren and Franklin counties, Penn., until,
in 1867, he went to Savannah, Andrew county, J\Io., and was employed at
his trade.

Mr. Eddy was united in marriage in Savannah, Mo., February 25, 1869,
with Miss Achsah A. Ely. She was born in Batavia, Ohio, and traces the
Ely family back to the Island of Ely, of? the coast of England, in the tenth
century. The name is also among the early settlers of New Jersey. Mrs.
Ely is the daughter of ^Villiam and Mary Ann (Robinson) Ely, natives
of New Jersey and England respectively. They emigrated with their family
to Shelby county, Ind., and thence to Missouri, and in March, 1865, settled
two miles from Savannah, where Mrs. Ely passed away in November, 1871.
Mr. Ely afterwards moved to the vicinity of Macon, Mo., and there died,
in January, 1881, at the age of seventy-eight years. Mrs. Eddy had two
brothers, Daniel J. and John Ely, who served in the Civil War, the former
in the Third Indiana and the latter in the Sixteenth Indiana regiment.

After the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Eddy, they bought a farm six miles
north of what became Maitland, Holt county. Mo.; and Mr. Eddy followed
agriculture until 1886, when he moved to Pueblo, Colo., and engaged in
market gardening until 1889. He then decided to come to California, and
on his arrival in the state settled in San Jo.se. Soon, however, he took
up his chosen occupation and farmed near that city until July 16, 1891, when
he bought one hundred three acres near Templeton, San Luis Obispo County,
and here engaged in raising grain and stock. In 1910 he sold the ranch
and purchased his present home in Templeton, where he and his wife live
in the enjoyment of the competency won through their labors of many years.

They became parents of four children. David M. is a bookkeeper for a
copper mining company at Kennett ; James A. was a successful farmer and
stockman of Templeton, until his death in 1911; Samuel W., farmer and
stockman, is also a realty operator in Paso Robles ; and Joseph W., following
the same lines of activity, resides in Templeton. Mr. Eddy has always been
interested in the cause of education in the various localities in which he has
lived. In ITolt county. Mo., he was a member and president of the town-

SAN LL'IS oniSPO COUNTY AXI) KWIROXS 409

ship board of education for many years ; and he was for seven years a member
of the board of trustees of Bethel school district, serving six years as clerk
of the board. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He was
an active Republican for years, but now supports the Prohibition ticket.
Both he and his good wife have a large circle of friends in their locality
who enjoy their companionship and who highly prize their friendship.

MICHAEL GERST.— What Michael Gerst can tell you about pioneer
days when there were more trees and bushes than clearings upon the land,
and coyotes and perhaps mountain lions and bears jumped around and howled
about the windows of one's shack — and for a while there wasn't even any
shack — while you stirred your coffee with sugar that made the cofTee still
blacker (and very frequently there wasn't any sugar, and perhaps you didn't
always pack up enough coffee, either) and you had to do things yourself in-
stead of having them done, and it cost two prices for everything and espe-
cially for all the modern comforts you may now enjoy on your well-cultivated
ranch — well,' just what Michael can tell you, you must learn for yourself
by sitting down with him and letting him talk; for he is an interesting con-
versationalist and you will get a very instructive story.

A native of the even then great city of New York, Michael was born
January 1, 1850, the .son of John and Theresa (Hooker) Gerst. His father
was a carpenter who followed the builders' trade in New York up until
twenty years ago, when he died there. He enjoyed an enviable reputation
l)0th as an honorable, plain citizen and as a boss pattern maker in one of
the large foundries. Theresa Gerst bore three children, of whom Michael
was the youngest. His mother died when he was a baby ; and his father
later married Miss Gertrude Hooker, a sister of his first wife, from which
union there was born one daughter. Michael was brought up in the metrop-
olis, was educated in its public schools, that is until he was ten years did, and
then was put to work in a factory.

Seven years later, in 1867, he journeyed west to Norwalk, O., and lived
there with a farmer until he was twenty-one, resuming his schooling in the
winters. This farm work in Ohio he continued until 1873. when, as the only
member of his family to come to the Coast, he pushed on still further west-
ward and arrived in California in April, 1873. I''or a while he was employed
in Tulare county by the railroad company ; and then he went to San Jose,
where he worked on a farm for nearly two years.

Coming to Paso Robles in May, 1875, he entered the employ of J. H.
Blackburn at the Paso Robles grant, and was made, first a foreman and
then superintendent of farming. At that time there was very little in the
country but vast ranches devoted to stock-raising. Nine years later he
homesteaded for himself, taking up a hundred twenty acres in the Oak Flat
district, five and a half miles west of what is now Paso Robles. He moved
onto the wild land, cleared it up ;ind improved it; and with the same heroic
effort which has contributed sd much to develop California from a wild
into a highly cultivated state, he brought his land under profitable cultiva-
tion, adding to the original purchase until he had a ranch of three hundred
seventy-five acres. One of the pioneer fruit growers of this district, he soon
had thirty acres of orchard devoted to almonds, peaches, prunes, figs and
vineyard, making one of the first commercially successful orchards in the
district, and such a show orchard for real estate men that they brought pros-

410 SAX lA'lS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

pectivc l)uycrs froin miles away to demonstrate the resuurces of the upper
Salinas valley for fruit raising. As the product of his labor and ranch,
Mr. Gerst in 1903 exhibited almonds at the St. Louis Exposition, and received
a medal and di])loma for the finest almonds shown from this or any other
country.

It was verv natural that with such experience and proficiency, Mr. Gerst
.sliiiuld become one of the organizers of the Upper Salinas Valley Fair, serv-
ing as its first president and bringing large crowds to Paso Robles to see
fine stock, farm products and fruit. He has ever since been an exhibitor,
at least until he sold his ranch in 1913, and so has given practical demonstra-
tion of his method of boosting. For several years he was road master in
his district and from 1894 to 1904 was deputy county assessor, and was
deputy government census enumerator in 1900. In 1913, after selling his
ranch, Mr. Gerst moved to a very comfortable residence at the corner of
Fifteenth and Spring streets, Paso Robles.

On June 2, 1882, at Paso Robles, Mr. Gerst was united in marriage with
Miss Catherine Janet Botts, a native of Missouri and a sister of John Botts,
whose biographical sketch will be found elsewhere in this volume. Mrs.
Gerst was reared and educated in Greene county, Ind.. and came to Cali-
fornia in 1881. Six children resulted from this happy marriage: Zorada
Belle, now ]\lrs. Patterson of San Francisco; Michael Edgar, in charge of
I'air Oaks ranch as foreman of the orchard; Mildred Dorothy, residing with
her parents; Althea Irene, Mrs. Fred Nelson of Oak Flat; Fredus Elwood,
one of the proprietors of the Paso Robles Garage : and John Burton, who
is also at home.

Mr. Gerst is a i^Iason, being a member of Paso Robles Lodge No. 286,
and the first man made a Mason in that lodge. A Republican whose ad-
vice is often sought, Mr. Gerst has served with honor for twenty years as
a school trustee of the Oak Flat district. Sad enough is it to relate of such
a worthy pioneer that some years ago his eyesight failed, and ever since
he has been denied much pleasure accorded to others. The silver lining of
the dark cloud, however, is that his faithful wife never tires of reading to
him the daily papers and current literature, thereby enabling him to keep
himself unusually well-informed and abreast of the times, and to maintain his
part in almost any conversation, both to the delight and to the instruction of
the visitor.

CHARLOTTE M. (ASHBAUGH) THOMPSON.— Conspicuous among
the transformations wrought during the latter part nf the nineteenth century
and the opening years of the twentieth has been the entrance of women into
commercial alTairs. There are now few occupations and few professions in
whidi at least a few women have not gained distinctive success, and more
and more it is being recognized that the mental capacities of the sex are far
broader than former ages supposed. Scattered through California are women
who alone and unaided have gained success in their chosen callings. In the
list of business women of San Luis Obispo and environs appears the name of
Mrs. Charlotte M. Thompson, who for almost twenty years has carried on a
successful millinery business in Paso Robles.

She was born in Hamilton, Ontario, a daughter of John and Mathilda
TForsythe) Ashbaugh, the former born in Alabama, of a fine old Southern
family. He went to Ontario and engaged in farming. Their daughter Char-

SAX LUIS OIUSPO COUXTV AXU EX\'IROXS 411

jdtto was reared in Ontario and attended the public and high schools, com-
pleting" her education in .Mount Pleasant Academy, near Hamilton; and
there she was married to William Thompson, a native of Ontario.

In 1868, they came to Santa Cruz, California, where Mr. Thompson
was proprietor of a hotel for many years. In 1898, they arrived in Paso
Robles, and the following year Mrs. Thompson started her present millinery
l)usiness here. By personal application to the minutest details, and by the
exercise of native tact and ability, she has built up the best trade of that
kind in the city, drawing her patrons from all over the valley within a
radius of more than fifty miles. At one time she had branch stores in King
("nv and San Lucas, but discontinued them to give all her attention to
building up her business in Paso Robles, where she is centrally located on
Park street. ,\t the local fairs, she has had exhibits that have always received
favcirahle comment as being the most Ix-autiful dis])layed: and she takes a
just ])ride in her success, as it has been the result of her own efTorts and
talents.

Outside her own business she is interested in lodge work, being a member
and Xoble Grand of Ysabel Rebekah Lodge, No. 217, and Past Matron of
Idlewild Chapter, No. 19, O. E. S., in Santa Cruz. Mrs. Thompson bought the
lot and erected her home, "The Pines," on Pine street. She is public-spirited
and charitable, and supports all enterprises that she thinks will advance the
county in the commercial world, and help to bring in settlers to develop its
resources.

Mrs. Thompson's son, Charles Sydney, is a graduate of Stanford Uni-
versity, class of 1905, with the degree of A. B., his major subject having been
ornithology. After a year as principal of schools in Colorado, he came to
Los Angeles, since which time he has been a teacher of sciences in that city.
In early boyhood, he began making a collection of birds and birds' eggs,
and is now the possessor of one of the finest collections in the Southwest
Museum, Los .\ngeles, and for that matter in California. He was united
in marriage in .\lameda with Miss Alma Hand of .Mameda, and they have
one child — a daughter, Charlotte V. — who is the pride of the home circle,
and particularly of her grandmother.

JONAH HOUGHTON.— The late Jonah rU)Ughton was a pioneer of the
state of California who, in the days of the gold excitement, made a trip from
his native town of .\nson. Maine, where he was born on May 15, 1839. After
he had tried his luck at mining with the varied success usually attached
to that precarious calling, he went back to his eastern home and remained
until 1862, when he came once more to the Coast, via Panama. From that
date he remained an earnest advocate of the Golden State.

For the first twelve years of his residence here, he was superintendent of
the Flint & Bixby ranch at Creston, and with the proceeds of his labors he
made a purchase, in 1876, of six hundred acres of land near Los Berros and
began for himself, devoting his land to the raising of hogs. He built a hog-
tight fence around his ranch, and raised grain and hay. He became owner,
too, of other valuable properties in the \\'est. He had seventy-seven acres of
bottom land in Los Berros and another ranch of one hundred sixty acres
near by, and also owned land near Tacoma, Wash., and three lots in San
Francisco as well as lots in Arroyo Grande and San Luis Obispo. This
property was obtained by purchase, with the returns from careful management

412 SAX LUIS OP.ISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

of liis ranch prdpcrtN'. wliich rect-ived his undividetl attention. He was called
a very successful farmer, and when he passed away, December 23, 1896, the
county lost one of its progressive pioneer citizens.

In 1870 Air. Houghton made a trip back to his boyhood home and on
August 5 of that same year married Miss Maria Remick, who was born in
Stark, Maine, December 30, 1852. They had five children: Mrs. Ollie
Ketchum, of Arroyo Grande: Mts. Mamie Ware, of Berkeley; Mrs. Gertrude
Johnson, of Oakland ; 1 lattie, (if I'.erkeley ; and George A., who is carrying on
the home ranch. The mother is living in Berkeley.

GEORGE A. HOUGHTON.— A worthy son of his father, George A.
Houghton was born in Creston in 1873, and was educated in the public
schools of the county. At an early age he became associated with his father
in farming, and continued with him until his death, when he became manager
of his father's properties. On the six-hundred-acre ranch he had a dairy of
one hundred and ten cows that yielded good returns. Mr. Houghton manu-
factured cheese, and also raised cattle and hogs. In 1913 he sold his cows
and now makes a specialty of hogs, having Berkshire and Poland China
strains. Tlse ranch is valued at seventy dollars per acre, and in 1915 pro-
duced four hundred sacks of beans, three thousand sacks of barley, one
hundred tons of hay, seventy head of cattle, twenty-five head of liorses and
five hundred hogs.

From his early association with his father, George A. Houghton became
an expert on the raising of hogs; and with this knowledge he has devoted
his time and attention to the industry that has meant so profitable a business.
Like his father he has been a progressive citizen and has made a name for
himself in the county, where he spent his entire life, and where he has
made a host of friends by his sound business judgment and fair dealings with
his fellow men. He keeps tlie ranch and buildings in the best of repair, and
under his able management the value of the property is increasing each year.
CHARLES FINK.— Besides an honored name, Charles Fink left a
legacy of a well-directed life to those nearest and dearest to him. He was a
pioneer of 1849 in California, having crossed the plains with his step-father,
who was a Mr. Miller, his mother, whose maiden name was Mary Wagner, her
son John Pink, and her three daughters. There was a large train of ox-
teams that left the east for the long and dangerous trip over desert, mountain
and i)lain ; and in due time they arrived at their destination, stopping for a
time in the Placerville section where Charles and his brother John mined
and ran a butcher shop for a number of years with good success.

The young man wanted to see his native country, Germany, where he was
born in 1835, in Baden : so after he had made some money, he went back
for a visit. I hit he >. "in returned to California, and in Sacramento he was
united in marriage with Miss Sarah Holmes, wdiose parents were pioneers of
Pddorado county, they having settled in Pleasant A'alley upon their arrival
in the state in the days of the early mining excitement. Soon after his mar-
riage, Mr. P'ink secured cm])loyment with the parties who had the contract
to build the telegraph line fmrn Sacramento to Salt Lake City, remaining
with them until the work was d(inc.

It was about 1868 or 1869 wlicn he came to San Luis Obispo; and in that
city, which was then a small handct with a few houses of adobe and wood

SAN LLMS OIUSPO COUXTV AXl) ICWIROXS 413

clustered about the old mission, he started a restaurant, but soon turned it
into a hotel that was known as Hotel Fink, one of the first hotels in the place.

In 1876 he went to the Arroyo Grande valley and purchased some land,
addinij to it until he owned, at one time, two hundred seventy acres. This
lie improved with buildings, grubbed out the brush and vines, and began
farming, continuing until his death in May, 1907. He and his wife left five
children: Mrs. Mamie McNeil; Mrs. Maude Haskins ; Mrs. Flora Clevenger;
Carl ; and Mrs. Sadie Pruitt. Mrs. Fink died in March, 1907, aged about
fifty-nine years.

' CARL FINK.— Carl Fink, the only son of Charles and Sarah ( Holmes)
Fink, was born September 3, 1883, on the old home ranch, from which he at-
tended the public school. He worked on the farm, being accustomed from a
lad to hard work, and also worked for wages. Finally he bought from his
grandmother sixty-five acres of the old home place, leased other land, and
here carries on a dairy, raising beans, alfalfa and general farm produce, and
is making a name for himself in the county where his entire life has been
passed. He is a stockholder and a director of the Arroyo Grande Commer-
cial Company. He was united in marriage with Miss Dora Stevens, a native
of the county and a daughter of Charles Stevens; and thev have two children,
Charles S. and Fvelyn M.

ROBERT WESLEY EARL.— Active in movements for the uplift of
humanity and the development of the county, Robert W. Earl is counted a
popular and progressive citizen. A native of Canada, he was born in Mon-
treal, December 19, 1859, a son of fairly well-to-do parents, Duncan and
Esther (Reilley) Earl, natives of Canada, of Scotch and Irish extraction,
respectively. The former was a farmer and well-driller, who moved to Lee
county 111., in 1860, where he farmed until 1872, when he came to California.
He stopped in Placer county fur a short tinu- and tlien spent two years in
Gilroy

In the fall of 187() the family settled in the Santa Maria valley, where
Mr. Earl took up a homestead of one hundred sixty acres, proved up on it
and farmed, and lived to be eighty-three. His wife passed away at the age
of seventy-.six. Their children are: Robert W., of this review; Mary, one
of the trustees of the Union high school, president of the Minerva Literary
Club and widow of John Winter; Lizzie, the wife of Matt Jessee; Lulu, who
married Piert Ward of San Jose; and Chancey, on iJie Suey ranch. Grand-
father Reilley was born in. Ireland and settled in Lee county. 111., at an early
day, and lived to be an aged man.

The eldest of five children. Robert W. Earl was a babe in arms when his
parents left Canada and settled in Illinois. He attended the public school
of Lee county until fourteen, and then accompanied the family to California
and grew up to man's estate in the Santa Maria valley. Upon leaving home,
he farmed the G. Muscio ranch twenty-one years, and the Fugler ranch for
ten years, and in 1916 moved into Santa Maria. In 1904, Mr. Earl was ap-
pointed by the board of supervisors as road supervisor of this district, and
he has held the position ever since. Fie is an experienced road builder, who
has under his direction road-making machinery to the value of over $15,000.
and employs many men and several road overseers. His roads compare favor-
ably with those in other sections of the county. He is conscientious in the dis-
charge of his duties and is well liked bv all who know him.

414 SAX I.riS UHISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Mr. Earl was married in Santa Maria to Miss Nettie Norris, a daughter
of John Richard and Mary (Mattingly) Norris. The former was born in
N'irginia, hater went to Missouri, and in 1849 crossed the plains to California,
lie mined for a time in Mlariposa county and after that settled in Sonoma
county, where he married. His wife was a native of Missouri. They came
to the Santa Maria valley in 1878, lived for a time in Guadalupe, and later
moved to the vicinity of the present site of Orcutt. In their family were ten
rhildren: Robert, of Orcutt; Alex, who died at the age of sixteen; Mary,
tiic widow of Calvin Drumm, who lives at Orcutt; Emma, living with her
brother John; Nettie, now Mrs. Earl; Eliza, the widow of George Klink,
who resides in Santa Maria; Edward, of Mariposa county; Mattie, Mrs. A.
J. Downs, of Santa Maria ; Jesse, who died aged four years ; and John M.,
a rancher in the Orcutt district.

Mr. and Mrs. Earl have five children : Fred ; Mable, the wife of Frank
II. Gates of Santa Maria; Alice, who married William Grant of Santa Alaria;
John Robert; and Lottie, who married Aden Johnston of Santa ]\Iaria.

Mr. Earl is prominent in fraternal circles, is a member of Hesperian
Lodge No. 264, F. & A. M., and was master the year preceding that in which
the union with the old Santa Maria Lodge was consummated. He has passed
all the chairs in the Knights of Pythias, and is a member of the Independent
Order of Foresters. With Mrs. Earl he is a member and past patron of the
local chapter. Eastern Star, of which she is past matron, and both belong to
the Pythian Sisters. Mr. Earl is an old-line Republican and upholds the
tenets of the party at all times. He is a self-made man, has succeeded as a
rancher and is now able to retire to enjoy a well-earned rest, although looking
after the roads of the district, which keeps him fairly busy.

ABRAM MUSCIO. — The success and standing in the community that
have come to Mr. Muscio since he landed in San Luis Obispo County speak
\olumes for his sterling traits of character. He was unfamiliar with the
luiglish language, and for a time had to send his savings back to his parents
in Switzerland. In spite of these and many other hindrances, he has become
one of the largest property owners and substantial citizens of the county.

He was born in .Someo, canton Ticino, Switzerland, March 12, 1849, the
youngest of nine children of his parents, who were poor people. For this
reason he received but a limited education, and when he was seventeen he
left home, in November, 1866, and came to the United States, the land
of "golden opportunity." California was his objective point, and he at once
proceeded to this state by way of Panama, crossing the isthmus by rail and
arriving in San Francisco on January 12, 1867. The boat on which he was a
passenger took twenty-two days to come up the coast from Panama. Abram
Muscio went at once to Marin county, where many of his countrymen had
already located ; and his first year was spent on a dairy ranch where he
became acquainted with the business and in the meantime learned to speak
some English.

In 1869, with his brother David, he engaged in dairying near Petaluma,
the ranch being located about on the line of Sonoma and Marin counties.
The next year, with P>. Tomasini, he leased land, bought one hundred ten
milch cows, and until 1876 ran a dairy near Point Reyes station. Then
he disposed of liis holdings and came to San Luis Obispo County. On
his arrival, he leased land north <if Cayucos, stocking the twelve hundred

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND IiWlRONS 415

eighty-six acres with about one hundred scveiity-five head of dairy stock, and
; so successful was he with the business that in 1884 he was able to buy the
entire ranch, which he still owns.

As soon as he became a landowner he began needed improvements by
adding to the house, and building barns and a modern dairy house. He set
(Ut an orchard and ornamental trees, and made of his place a first-class dairy
aiKJ home ranch. From time to time he has added to his holdings and now
owns si.x hundred seventy-two acres on Toro creek, six hundred seventy acres
i-n Villa creek, eleven hundred thirty acres near Cayucos, and about fourteen
hundred acres near Morro. All of this land is devoted to the stock and
dairy business, and to grain raising. With three partners, Mr. Muscio
bought a ranch of seventeen hundred acres near Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara
county, which was improved and carried on as a dairy and stock ranch until
they sold it several years ago. Today he is the owner of five thousand one
hundred fifty-eight acres of land, all acquired by his own efforts.

But the management of his landed interests does not represent the extent
of Mr. Muscio's activities; he is a stockholder and a director in the
Commercial Bank of San Luis Obispo, and was connected with the Dairy-
men's Union of San Francisco and, for a time, with the banking interests of
that city. He was one of the organizers and one of the first directors of the
Bank of Cambria; but when he moved to town he resigned from the board.
As a trustee of his school district he aided materially in building up the
Someo school, giving it the name of his native town ; he assisted with the
building of the CathoHc church of Cayucos, and in every way has shown his
interest in the upbuilding of the county. He has been a Mason for the past
thirty-five years, holding membership in San Simeon Lodge No. 196, F. &
.\. M. He is a member of San Luis Chapter No. 62, R. A. M.. and of San
Luis Obispo Lodge No. 322, B. P. O. Elks.

In San I'Vancisco, June 25, 1871, Abram Muscio was married to Assonta
Righetti, who, Hke himself, is a native of Switzerland and born in the
same town. Of this union six children have been born. They have been given
every educational advantage to make them useful men and women. Dante is
! cashier of the Calaveras County Bank; and Romilio R. is vice-president of the
, Commercial Bank of San Luis Obispo. Both these young men were sent
to Europe for four years, to complete their education ; and they can speak
Italian, French and German fluently. Both are graduates of Heald's Busi-
ness College of San Francisco. Sila, a graduate of King's Conservatory of
.Music of San Jose, is the wife of J. Maino ; Lillian graduated from the State
.Xormal, and is teaching in the public schools of San Luis Obispo; Adina
is a graduate of the .San Luis Obispo lUisiness College, and Florence is a
graduate of the same institution and of .Mills College, at Oakland, and both
reside at home.

After a long and useful career, Mr. Muscio retired from active partici-
pation in business in 1907 and is enjoying the fruits of his labors in his beau-
tiful home — one of the finest in the city — purchased from J. J. Crocker and
located at 793 Bushon street. He is respected as a self-made man by all who
; Icnow him. He attends to his own business, making frequent trips to his
pru|HTties. and spends such time as he can at the old home, to which he is
niiuh attached, and ho is much interested in stock and land. Mr. Muscio is a
Kepuhlican.

416 SAX Ll'IS OBISPO COUNTY AND EXVIROXS

MRS. LUCY GILLIS.— It is interesting to chronicle the life history of a
woman wlio has made a success of farming and stock-raising, in spite of the
odds against her at times, and who, by her energy and foresight, has be-
come well-to-do and prominent. Such a woman is Mrs. Lucy Gillis, who
has been a resident of San Luis Obispo County since 1879. She was born
near Kahoka, Clark county, Mo., a daughter of James and Louisa (Lucas)
McKenzie, natives of Kentucky and Indiana respectively, who became farm-
ers in Missouri, where the father died. Her mother was again married, her
second husband being Peter Gillis, who had returned from a trip to Cali-
fornia, where he was a cattle-raiser and dairyman near San Simeon, in San
Luis Obispo County. He had been a pioneer of this state, having crossed the
plains with ox teams in 1855, locating first near what is now Dixon, Solano
county, where he remained until about 1868, when he moved to San Luis
Obispo County and engaged in dairying and raising stock. There his first
wife, Nancy Emily Webb, passed away. Having married again, Peter Gillis
returned to California and resumed his vocation on his ranch ; and there his
second wife passed away when she was about sixty-five years old. Mr.
Gillis died at tlie home of Mrs. Lucy Gillis, in the Red Hills, at the age of
eighty-two.

Mrs. Gillis was the youngest of the McKenzie children, the others being
Frank, who lives on the old farm in Clark county, Mo.; Wilbur, who is in
Blackton, la. ; Mrs. Lizzie Pullins, who died in Missouri and one of whose
seven children, Polk Pullin, came to California and is now engaged as a
partner with Mrs. Gillis; 'Sirs. Jane Lucas, who died in Missouri; Nancy,
Mrs. Rowe, who resides in Portland ; and Albert, who is a resident of
Lompoc, Cal. Mrs. Gillis was brought up in Missouri and was educated in
the public schools of her time. Though having limited advantages, she has
acquired a liberal education by private reading and study. She was united in
marriage at San Simeon, in 1887, to Polk Gillis, a native of Iowa, who was a
California pioneer of 1854, when he, with other members of his family, came
across the plains with ox teams and wagons. He settled in Solano county,
where he began general farming and raising stock. Coming to San Simeon,
he engaged in the dairy business, and is recognized as one of the pioneers in
that special department of agriculture in this section of the county.

After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Gillis continued ranching and dairy-
ing for five years, milking about one hundred fifty cows, panning the milk,
skimming by hand and churning with horse power, and then making tlic
butter into rolls, and packing and shipping it to San Francisco. The water
for scalding the pans was heated in a large boiler, and all the work that is
now done by machinery was done by hand. In 1885 they sold out their dairy
and moved to the Red Hills section above Shandon, the headquarters for their
operations since that time, where they pre-empted one hundred sixty acres
and also homesteadcd a like amount. It was here that :Mr. Gillis died, June 7,
1906, aged sixty-four years.

During the years that :\Irs. Gillis has lived here, she has been at the
helm in the management of attairs ; land has been added from time to time,
and the prairie has been broken up and sown to grain, usually netting good
returns. The ranch now comprises about twenty-five hundred sixty acres, and
IS located in what is known as Gillis canon, about nine miles from Shandon in
the Rod Ihlls. The ])lace is well fenced and is watered by numerous springs

/hy^ ^(ru(u^ "^X^IJ^^^

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 419

and creeks; and the stock that is raised here is of the best grade. One
thousand acres is under the plow, and three hundred fifty acres is sown
to wheat each season. The cattle are Herefords and Durhams, and the
■well-known brand, bar LP, is her personal mark of ownership. In her farming-
operations, she is associated with her nephew, Polk Pullins, who gives his
personal attention to the stock and to the farm.

One child was born to Mrs. Gillis — Elbert, a farmer and stockman in
■Gillis canon. She has always been interested in the cause of education and
is serving as a member of the school board of the Alliance district. Since
becoming a citizen of the county, more than thirty-eight years ago, she has
witnessed many changes and improvements in farming, besides changes in
the citizenry of the county, where she is well and favorably known.

CHARLES A. CHEADLE.— The leading poultry ranch of San Luis
Obispo and Santa I'.arl:>ara counties is owned by Charles A. Cheadle,
founder of the 13erros Cove Poultry Ranch, the largest of its kind in the
two counties. Mr. Cheadle was born in Pike county, 111., Novcmljer 21,
1857, a son of George L. and Sarah Jane Cheadle, both of whom are now
living retired in Santa Maria at the ages of eighty-three and seventy-nine
respectively. Their six living children are Mrs. Zella Connor, of Nebraska;
Mrs. Nettie Griffin, of Tucson, Ariz. ; Mrs. Annie Abies, of Orange county,
Cal. ; George W., of Santa Maria; Charles A.; and William.

Tiie father crossed the plains to California with ox-teams in 1863, and
settled at Danville, Contra Costa county, where he started blacksmithing
and built up a fine business, running three forges. He was the pioneer of his
trade in that town, and in 1870 sold out and began farming at the Cotton-
woods, fifteen miles southwest of Hill's Ferry, Merced county; and from
there he went to Tulare county, and in that part now embraced in Kings
■county took up a government claim of one hundred and sixty acres near
ITanford. This he proved up on and improved, farming successfully until
he sold out in 1881 in order to locate in Santa P>arbara county. In 1883 he
located in San Luis Obispo County, and, with Nelson Archibald, bought
seven hundred acres near Los Bcrros, and it became known as the Archilsald
&- Cheadle tract. Here he farmed until he retired to private life in Santa
Maria.

(.harles A. Cheadle was but six years old when the family crossed
the ])lains and he well remembers events of the journey. He attended the
public schools, and when he had completed the courses he assisted his father
to get the ranch near lianford under cultivation, dug irrigating ditches and
built fences and otherwise made himself useful about the place. On coming
to this county, he continued to assist his father, and later began independent
operations by renting two hundred acres which he farmed successfully for
two years. He is now the owner of fifty-five acres at Los Berros, which
he farms to grain and corn.

Mr. Cheadle started his poultry business on this ranch in 1909, witli
seventy-five laying hens which he bought of the IModel Poultry Farm, and
from that small beginning he has 4,000 laying hens, and one of the most
modern chicken ranches in this section. He is breeding up to the McFar-
lanc strain. In 1916 he bought 1,100 one-day-old chicks and one hundred of
the best breeders. The incubator house contains six modern machines witli a

422 SAX r.UIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

considerable source of revenue. A bookkeeper and two lady clerks and a
janitor complete the list of employes of the corporation. A complete stock of
drugs and medicines of all kinds is carried, and courteous treatment, prompt
service and a square deal are the aim of the Gardner-Wheaton Company.

Airs. Gardner is a charter member of the Improvement Club and the
Minerva Literary Club. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church
and sang in its choir for years. She has an excellent ear for music, and her
work as a chorister in the church will not soon be forgotten. This posi-
tion has descended to her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Charles V. Gardner, who
is endowed with more than ordinary musical ability. Politically, Mrs. Helen
L. Gardner supports the men, women, and measures that, in her estimation,
are best suited for the prevailing conditions. She is president of the Gard-
ner-Wheaton Drug Company, and is interested in every forward movement.
She resides in her cozy home at 419 South Broadway, where she is sur-
rounded by all the comforts of life, and by the society of her many friends.

WILLIAM JOHE.— It is to the German Empire that the United States
has become indebted for some of her best and most progressive citizens.
They are to be found everywhere and engaged in every line of work, and
almost all of them have made good in their chosen vocations. Of this number
mention may be made of William Johe, one of. the men who have seen the city
of San Luis Obispo grow from a mission town to its present proportions, and
have seen the country develop into prosperous ranches and dairy farms. He
was born in Grossherzogtum, Hessen, Germany, June 15, 1842, a son of
Adam and Katherina (Heilman) Johe, both born and raised in the same part
of the country. William attended the public schools in Germany until he
was fourteen years old, and then began working for wages. From the age
of seventeen until he was twenty-six, he worked on the home farm ; then he
came to the United States, arriving in May, 1868, in Santa Clara county,
where he had two brothers, Leonard and George M. Johe. The first five
years were spent in Santa Clara working for wages. At the end of this time,
in 1873, he came to San Luis Obispo County, thinking he could better his
condition ; and he has always considered it a wise move, for he has pros-
pered in his adopted home, and has won a host of friends.

Arriving in this county, he leased from Goldtree Bros, one hundred sixty
acres of land lying next to where the county hospital now stands, and for five
years remained there, wdien he moved to another of the Goldtree ranches four
miles south of the town, where he continued for two years. His brother,
George M. Johe, was a partner with him in the enterprise. At the end
of two years, Mr. Johe moved to the Los Osos and bought a place of nine
hundred acres; and there he embarked in dairying and stock-raising on
a larger scale, being joined one year later by his brother. Two years after-
ward they divided the property, William Johe remaining on his portion for the
following eighteen years. In 1897, he bought his home place of cue hundred
eleven acres on the Laguna. Here he has thirty-five acres of alfalfa and
carries on a very successful farming enterprise.

Mr. Johe was married in San Luis Obispo to Annie Elizabeth ll(nnl)ach,
l)orn ill- Germany; and they have five children: Leon; George; W illiani U.,
deceased; Henry; and Elizabeth. .\lr. jdhc served fifteen years as school
trustee in the Los Osos district, and did nuich to maintain good schools there.
When he moved to his present place and became a member of the board

SAX LUIS OBISPO C()L"XTV AND EW'IROXS 425

of trustees of the Laguna school district, tlicrc was nn fence around tiie
school yard and the building was in need ni repair. The district was out
of funds, and he at once inaugurated an economical regime, in consequence of
which there was soon enough money to buy lumber ; and he and the other
trustees built a fence about the yard and put the Iniilding in repair. lie
served as one of the trustees for about seven years and did much to further
the cause of maintaining a good school. Ever since he became a citizen of
the county Mr. Johe has been a supporter of the churches and the schools,
and an advocate of good roads and of movements for uplifting liumanity and
bettering conditions generally.

CATANO JOSEPH SOUZA AND MARIA DOROTHY SOUZA.—
How much California, as well as many other parts of .\merica, owes to
the Portuguese who, while leaving their beautiful island country to find more
promising conditions in the New World, yet brought with them those homely
virtues and that industry and persistence which beautify life and make for
success, is shown in the story of Catano J. Souza and his wife and widow
Maria, long honored and esteemed in this part of the state. The late Catano
J. Souza was a very successful man, one w^ho could foresee the growing
greatness of his locality. After he had been living here about two years
he made his first purchase of land, ninety acres on the Oso Flaco, although
at the time he possessed but eighty dollars and one horse ; but he went into
debt for $2,000 to become a landowner. He worked hard and saved his
money, and in three years had his place free of debt, and in fourteen years
he sold it for $9,000.'

With this to start on, he again bargained for two hundred seventy acres
in the same locality and went into debt for $36,000. After owning his land
for twenty-five years, he made an exchange with the Union Sugar Co. in
December, 1909, for the valuable ranch he left to his. heirs, which is now
l>eing successfully farmed to beans. This is known as the Sherman
ranch, located near Santa Maria on the Guadalupe road. The record of
his career in the management of these eight hundred splendid acres, together
with that of his widow who took up the responsibility when he died, should
be inspiring, especially to the newcomer with both the future and fortune
ahead.

Mrs. Souza was born in the Azores, the daughter of Jose|.)h I'.rass, whose
sketch we give elsewhere, and she was a sister of Anton \'. l!ras, the first
of that family to come to California. When Anton had enjoyed the invigor-
ating climate of California for a couple of years, he sent for Maria and
another sister, who married Anton J. Souza, and they came together, arriving
here when Maria was but eighteen years of age. In 1886, the latter was
married to Catano J. Souza, and until Mr. Souza's death they lived in un-
alloyed hai)piness. Catano Joseph Souza, or as he was called in Portuguese.
Caetano Jose de Souza, was born in the island of Flores, one if the .Azores
group, September 24, 1863, and came to America when he was seventeen years
of age. His father was Manuel J. and his mother Mary Souza : and both ]Kir-
ents were born, lived and died in the Azores.

Leaving his native island in 1880, Catano Souza sailed the ocean for two
years, and finally settled in the Santa Maria valley. He and his wife proved
hard M-orkers and soon made money, especially when they came to devote
tlieir land to the growing of beans: so that for some time he was a prominent

4_V, SAX LllS OP.ISPO CoLXTY AXD IlXVIROXS

rancher and landowner in that part of the state. Eight children were born
to the Souzas: Mary, the wife of John P. Domingues. a rancher in the
Santa .Maria \alle_v : Annie, who died, aged eighteen: Frank C, a rancher who
married Miss Julia Lewis, and whose sketch will be found elsewhere in the
xnlumo ; lohn P.. another rancher whose sketch is also given, and who married
Miss .\ncilla Zanetti ; Catano, who died when he was fifteen; Manuel C,
single, a rancher in partnership wath John P. Souza ; Isabella, who passed
away on March 23. 1917, at the age of seventeen years and eleven months;
and Blanche, who attends the high school.

C. J. Souza was an Elk. and lived in a comfortable residence at 503 East
Main street, Santa Maria. From there he easily reached the three hundred
forty-seven acres of upland and a little piece on the north side of Santa Maria
river, now held by his widow. When he died, the funeral took place from the
Catholic church, under the auspices of the I. D. E. S. and the U. P. E. C.
Societies and the B. P. O. Elks, of which he was a member; and there was
the largest cortege known in that \icinity. the procession slowly winding to
Santa Maria Cemetery.

MARTIN LUTHER TUNNELL.— The life history of Mr. Tunnell is
one of unusual interest, full of incidents and possessing that fascination which
attaches to all lives of our pioneers. Through a career that covered the
greater part of the nineteenth century and the opening years of the twen-
tieth, he welcomed all advancement and w^itnessed the remarkable develop-
ment of the United States, and saw the trans-^Iississippi desert transformed
into one of the most fertile regions of the world, and the remarkable growth
in population of this rich western country. By birth and descent a South-
erner, and for many years identified with the South, he spent so large a
portion of his life in the ^^"est that he was a typical \\'esterner, a grand rep-
resentative of the pathfinders, so few of whom remain to enjoy the comforts
of the ])resent day.

In Xashville, Tenn., Martin Luthcrn Tunnell first saw the light, Febru-
ary 24. 1824, a son of John and Nancy (Worthington) Tunnell, who were
born, the former on February 23, 1773, and the latter on June 11, 1784, and
whose marriage took place, December 16, 1800, in Tennessee. ^Martin Tun-
nell s])ent his summers on the home farm, and his winters in attending the
district school, until he struck out for himself. Then he entered the service
of the government and took part in the Mexican War, serving three years.
Tie was married, ]\Iay 11, 1848, in Nashville, Tenn., to Salina Haskins,
daughter of John and Margaret Haskins; and three years later, in 1851, out-
fitted for the long trip across the plains with ox teams and prairie schooners.
The usual experiences were met and overcome on the long journey, and no
mishaps out of the ordinary are recorded. On arriving in California, Mr.
Tunnell went at once into Sonoma county and engaged in farming and rais-
ing st(Kk to supply the men w-ho were working in the mines, believing that
;ili'iut as sure a way to success as to dig for gold on his own account. He
nut \\ iih good success and in September, 1868, came on down to Santa Bar-
bara county and secured and farmed a quarter section cornering on the north-
wc-i of what is now Main and Broadway, where stands the Bradley Hotel.
I hat same year .Mr. Tunnell located a homestead of one hundred sixty acres
about one and one-half miles southeast of his first location, and continued
tin- ojierations that had brought him success further north. The ranch has

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AND KWIROXS 427

since been known as the Tunnell ranch and is still in the possession of the
family, as is part of the land that cornered on the main business streets of
what is now Santa Maria, but which, long after he settled there, was- called
Central City. The name was changed in order to have a post office in the
settlement. He engaged in raising stock, his brand being MT, which was
registered in Santa Barbara county in 1869, and was among the very first to
be registered there, and which was known far and wide to Indians, cowboys
and all stockmen.

Several children were born to this worthy couple. John L. married Ella
M. Cook, and died May 6, 1914, leaving three children ; Francis M. married
Emma Hopper, has eight children and lives at Los Olives; EUza J. married
\\'. K. Ilobson of Santa Maria and has one child; Thomas J. married Mary
Bradley, and they have five children and reside in the Santa Maria valley ;
James M. died January 2, 1904, from the effects of a horse kick in San Fran-
cisco; William H., of this city, married Fannie Davis, and they have three
children;- Martin L., of Kernville, Cal, married, and his wife died some years
ago, leaving a son ; George R., of Santa Maria, married Ellen Kortner and has
two children ; Henry C. married Fannie Stowell and lives south of the city ;
and Xellie A., w-ife of Charles Shattuck of San h'rancisco, has one son, Xeal
Sedgwick, by a former marriage. These children were all reared to be useful
men and women and have taken their places in the busy affairs of life; and
like their parents, they make and hold their friends by their sterling qualities
of manhood and womanhood.

All enterprises having for their object the good of the community found
Mr. Tunnell an advocate and friend, ready to give substantial aid. Xo
worthy object of charity ever appealed to him in vain. Though never a
seeker for office himself, he gave his support to his friends. He voted the Pro-
hibition ticket at national elections. He was an active supporter of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. He and his wife were happy in the society of
their children and grandchildren. Mr. Tunnell passed away on September 9,
1Q03, and his wife passed to her reward on February 5, that same year.

GEORGE R. TUNNELL.— It is but natural that a native son of the
-late should be interested in the welfare of his own section of country and,
as far as is possible, assist all worthy projects that have for their object
the preservation of data relative to the comings and goings of the pioneers,
the betterment of the community at large and the moral uplift of the people.
Such a man is George R. Tunnell, who was born at Ukiah, Mendocino county,
and when a child of two years was brought by his parents, Martin Luther
and Salina ( Haskins) Tunnell, who crossed the plains with ox-teams in 1851
and settled first in Sonoma county, later lived in Mendocino county and in
1868 came down to Santa Barbara county and settled on a tract of land that
cornered on the main streets of what is now Santa Maria, then known as
Central City.

It was in this pioneer environment that George grew to manhood, and
attended the first school established in this section, called the Pleasant Valley
school, in the building erected on land donated by his father for that purpose.
In those days the young folks would have the old-ti'me dances and other
festivities to break the monotony of frontier life and farm work; and there
were other interesting affairs, such as the annual rodeos, when the cowboys
and stockmen would gather to cut out and brand their stuck. Mr. Tunnell

428 SAX MIS ORISPU COfXTV AND ICWIROXS

uses the hraiid his fallicr had registered in the county in IXh'). MT. one of
the first to lie recorded in the county, and a brand well kncjun by Indians.
Spaniards, ranchmen and riders of the range. In due time he became a cow-
boy, his father liaving given him a pony when he was a small lad, hardly
able to sit astride of it, and he learned to ride and throw a lasso with the best
of the riders.

As boys, George and his Ijrother Menry were much together, and in later
life became partners in the cattle business, ranging their stock in the Sisquoc
from 1881 until October, 1916, when they dissolved partnership. During the
years passed they owned several ranches as well as leased large tracts of land
for grazing purposes. In 1900 they sold their cattle, but still carried on
farming on the Suey ranch, where they had farmed since 1897. In 1902 the
brothers bought subdix'ision No. 10 of the Tejjesquet, containing eight hun-
dred eighteen acres, and carried on their business until George sold to his
brother his interest in the land, while the brother deeded over his interest in
the eighty acres of the old homestead to our subject, where he now resides.
For eight years Mr. Tunnell farmed on the Suey ranch, with success as his
reward.

In 1905, Mr. Tunnell was united in marriage with Miss Ellen Kortner,
who was born in Denmark and was but four years old when she was brought
to this country by her parents, who settled in San Luis Obispo count}- on
the Nipomo, later moving to the Tepescjuet. Two children have blessed this
union — Teressa S. and George Curtis. Mrs. Tunnell is a member of the
Presbyterian Church. Since 1893. Mr. Tunnell has been an active member
in the Santa Maria Lodge of Odd Fellows, in which he has passed all the
chairs. He and his wife belong to the Rebekahs, and he is a member of the
Encampment as well. He belongs, also, to Hesperian Lodge No. 264, F. &
A. M. As a man and citizen Mr. Tunnell has an ever widening circle of
friends, by whom he is respected for liis integrit}' and sterling traits of char-
acter, and, like his father, is counted one of the upbuilders of the valley of
the later generation.

HAMILTON BROWN MORRISON.— F.orn at Campsie. Stirling
county, Scotland, < )ctober 27, 1S3.3, Hamilton ISrown Morrison was the son
of Roliert Morrison, a native of Stirling county, who is buried in the old
churchyard at Campsie beside his wife, whose maiden name was IMargaret
Ijrown. Robert Morriso-n was a man of parts in his day. He was a black-
smith by trade, but became quite celebrated in his locality as a veterinarian,
and received a testimonial from the government, for services he performed,
along with a beautiful silver pen and tiny scales, also a fine set of instru-
ments to use in treating stock, especially horses. The family moved to Glas-
gow when II. B. Morrison was a child, and at twelve years of age he had
finished the jjublic school and then went to work in Todd & McGregor's (now
Henderson's) shipvards. His first work was on a yacht, the "Fridzafar," for
the Khedive of Egypt, when he was sent into the boilers to shove the bolts into
the holes. In the Fairfield shipyards he worked on the fast steamers "Alaska"'
and ".\rizona," five hundred feet long, the largest steamers then afloat.
This was in 1878. These ships had propellers, and were built for Elder & Co.
He also worked on the "City of Richmond," the fastest steamer that sailed in
1878. Her time was seven days and fourteen hours from Queenstown to
Sandv Hook.

ij^^rzU^^^

SAX Ll'IS OlilSPO COL-XTV AM) i:X\[ROXS 431

Mr. .Murrison decided to come to Calilornia. and sailed from (Hasgow,
January 10, 1879, arriving in Xew York on the "Dcvonia.'" January 22; and
that night he left by rail for the West, and reached Sacramento on February
2, 1879 — twenty-four days of what was then considered fast traveling. He
went to Berryessa valley, Xapa county, and engaged in blacksmithing with
his brother, Robert Morrison. In 1882 they moved to Winters, Yolo county,
and continued their business there until November, 1886, when H. B. ]\Iorrison
left to go into business at Templeton. He owned a blacksmith shop there
and sold farm machinery until 1899, when sickness and loss of property
combined to break his health for many years, h'or the last seven years he
has been an engineer, for four years of this time at the sugar factory in Bet-
teravia, and for over a year with the Pinal Oil C'o.. where he is still, with health
restored, and the Templeton episode put 1i\ .

W. S. WHITAKER AND IRA RAY WHITAKER.— It is but natural
that the son of a pioneer of the county should take pride in the achie\-ements
of his father and try to carry out some of the plans made by him; and no
one is more enthusiastic about the future of our great state than Ira R.
Whitaker, who was born in ^^'inchester, \'an Buren county, la., September
10, 1859. He was the son of Wintield Scott Whitaker, who was born in
Indiana, on February 18, 1832, himself a son of J. M. Whitaker. born Feb-
ruary 11, 1801, a member of the Iowa legislature lor twenty years, who had
the honor of selecting the State University lands. He married Jane Phillips,
a native of Ohio and a daughter of William Phillips, a pioneer of that state.

W. S. Whitaker was reared in Van Buren county, la., worked on the
home farm, and attended the frontier schools of his neighborhood. In 1853
he crossed the plains to California, during the gold excitement, and engaged
in niiining at Dry Town, Calaveras county, but met with disappointment in
his search for the shiny metal. He then moved to Grizzly Flats in Eldorado
county, and continued his search ; and in two years he had saved $2,000.

In 1856, Mr. Whitaker sold out his mining interests there for $600,
and, on account of poor health, caused from exposure and hardships he had
to undergo, left in the dead of winter and walked through three feet of
snow to the Sacramento valley, returned to Iowa via Panama and engaged
in the general merchandise business in his home county until 1862. In 1858 he
was married in Iowa to Mary Gross, who had come to Iowa with her par-
ents when a little girl. The call to return to California was too strong to
be resisted, and Mr. \\hitaker soon brought his family across the plains
with him, settling in Marin county for a time. But as he had mined in
early days in the state and the experience had secured a hold on him, he
tiiought he would try his luck once more and went to Nevada, where he
remained for six months. Then he concluded that he had had enough of
that kind of adventure and would settle down to the life of a farmer.

On October 7, 1863, he landed in San Luis Obispo County, when it was
a comparatively desolate country, and ])urchased land at the mouth of San
Simeon creek, where he lived through the winter. The next spring he helped
organize the firm of Grant, Lull and Co. and built a store at the mouth of
San Simeon creek, .\fter carrying on a general merchandise business for six
months, he moved to Cambria and erected the first store building in that
town, and put in a stock valued at $8,000. From that beginning, tiie town
has grown until it has become a jjrosperous trading center.

432 SAX LlIS OBISI'O COIXTV AND I-:X\TR( )\S

J II 1869. Mr. W'hitaker sold liis iiiteresl in the estahlislimciu and moved
to San Simeon to assume charge of the wharf as agent for the Pacific Steam-
ship Co. During the mining excitement at the ciuicksilver mines, he engaged
in mining once more with George \'an Gordon and others, meeting with
ordinary success. He also engaged in the dairy business under the name of
W'liitaker & Son, on their four hundred twenty acre ranch at the mouth of
San .Simeon creek, which joins the San Simeon grant. There he died, De-
cember 31, 1894, and his wife survived him till February, 191. t, dying at the
age of se\cnty-seven years. They were parents of three children: Ira Ray;
Alice C. Mrs. William Bordine, who lives on the home jilace : and Lottie,
Mrs. L. A. McCabe of San Luis Obispo.

There was scarcely any line of activity that Mr. \\ hitaker was not in-
tensely interested in. He always was to be counted upon to support every
mo\ement that in his mind would further the interests of the county and
bring in settlers. He was hospitable and ever ready to lend a helping hand
to those worthy of his assistance. He held various offices in the county
and was held in high esteem by all with whom he came in contact.

Ira K. W'hitaker attended school at the first schoolhouse built on San
Simeon creek and assisted with the work on the home ranch. At the age
of twenty he took up the burden of life, and for eighteen years, up to 1899,
engaged in stock-raising ^nd dairying. Since that time he has devoted
his energies principally to the stock business and has met with more than
ordinary success. He put out the first fruit orchard in his section of the
county. He raised several varieties of fruits, and showed what can be accom-
plished in the fruit industry under the soil conditions there. He is one of
the few members of the pioneer families still to be found in the county, and,
like his father Ijcfore him, is progressive, public-spirited and influential. In
his poliiical views he is a Democrat.

ALEXANDER McMILLAN.— The marvelous transformation wrought
in California during the past forty or fifty years is largely due to the energy
and patient perseverance of pioneers who, having left comfortable homes in
the East or even in foreign countries, identified themselves with the newer
West, and here evolved a commonwealth out of a barren waste ; and it is a
pleasure to put somewhat definitely on record the story of their achievements.
Such a pioneer, for example, as Alexander AIcMillan, with whom and with
whose family ]\[cMillan"s Canon will be forever associated, has a siory to
tell both highly interesting and deeply instructive. C)n December 7, 1861.
he was born in Restigouche. county. Xew I'.runswick. His father was James
McMillan, a most worthy citizen of the tlourisiiing pnnince, the details of
whose life are noted elsewhere in another sketch.

.•\lexander was the third youngest of nine children, and so. perhaps,
enjoyed more schooling than some of the others who had a harder tussle with
farm work. He took his turn, howexcr. following agriculture as the Xew
r.runswick farmers practiced it. until he was twenty-three years of age:
then, in 1884. with his brother James, he came first to San Francisco. Tliey
traveled along the coast by steamer and stopped for a time at Caj^ucos. San
Luis ()bis])r) County. WHien they arrived, the brothers had only about
lour hundred dollars together: but the\- set to work, located a pre-emption
and timljcr culture claim, and later homesteaded another quarter section,
so that in time they had four hundred eighty acres each in McMillan's Can. mi.

SAX LUIS OBISPO COl■^"'l"^■ WD K.WIROXS 4.U

I'or seven years they engaged in stdck-raisini:;, wliicli re<|uirc(l nuicli labor
and a great deal of oversight, as the county was an open range with no fence
Intween Tulare lake and the coast.

After a while the brothers dissolved partnership, and each began raising
grain separately. They produced the first crops of wheat in this section. The
first crop they produced in common yielded twenty-two sacks to the acre,
and was of such extreme importance to the agriculturists that they camped
l)v the growing grain, riding around it in relays each night to keep the
cattle out. Mr. McMillan used a header to harvest his wheat, and with char-
acteristic enterprise got a thresher to come sixty miles to thresh it; and he
then hauled the wheat to Cayucos, fifty-five miles away, receiving for his
harvest from $1.30 to $1.40 per hundred. It was quite a trip, too, four days
being required for the journey; but this did not dissuade Alexander from
raising wheat. The next year the railroad reached Paso Roblcs and the
grain was delivered to that point. Then McMillan rented one hundred sixty
acres and ran two teams, in this way operating a section. iJe usually had
two hundred fifty acres a year, and in addition he raised some cattle and
horses. This year he sold wheat at from $2.15 to $2.68.

Among the settlers of McMillan's Canon, Alexander is the oldest pioneer
in the vicinity. The McMillan family own some two thousand seven hundred
acres. He was married in Los Angeles to Miss Frances Plarte, a native of
Chicago, and is now the father of seven children: Gordon, who assists him
on the farm ; Laura, now Mrs. Le Roy Hopper, residing at Shandon ; Donald,
who attends the San Luis Obispo Polytechnic; and Ian, Eben, Milton and
Dorothy, who are at home. When the Presbyterian Church flourished at
Shandon Alexander McMillan was very projjerly chosen an elder, as one to
whom his fellow-worshipers might look with confidence ; but the church hav-
ing disbanded, he affiliated himself with the Mcthoflists. lie is a member of the
board of trustees of Eagle school district oi McMillan's Canon. In politics,
he is known as a fearless Democrat.

LEWIS DREW WEEKS.— It was while whacking bulls on the plains
in Dakota territory out of Dead wood that Lewis Drew Weeks had some
mighty stirring times, showing the I'iedskins a pointer or two and coming
desperately near to allowing the pesky Indians to show him something also:
and if you don't believe it you have only to talk to Lewis and he will con-
\ince you in short order. You will find him, also, a most interesting talker
and a rare, good story-teller: on which account, and a dozen otliers. every-
body likes Lewis Weeks, and no one begrudges him, with his large-hearted-
ness and capacity as a kind and sympathetic neighbor, the degree of success
he enjoys as the pioneer merchant of Santa Margarita. Coming from a
grandfather, Jeremiah, who was born and who died in New Hampshire, he
is the son of Mitchell S. Weeks, a native of St. Johnsbury Plain, \'t.

Mitchell Weeks was a tanner by trade, and followed that occupation
until the spring of 1849, when he migrated to California. Having purchased
nuilc-teams in St. Louis, he crossed the plains, along the overland trail, and
on July 4. 1849, they were at Independence Rock. The following winter he
was engaged in chopping wood on the present site of Oakland. .Afterwards
he did teaming at Hangtown fnow Placerville ). wlien he was a miner. It
was while there that he had the pleasure of voting for the application of
California for admission into the I'nion.

434 SAX LnS OlilSro COL'XTY AXl) ]-:X\IR()XS

He hunted in the \icinity of Yosemite \"alley, and so ])rimcval were the
conditions tliat he made candles, in moulds he carried with him, out of the
tallow obtained from deer. After tasting somewhat of Western life, he
returned to \'crmont, and afterward settled as a merchant in Winona. Minn.
A few rears later, that is in 1859, he opened a store at St. Charles, a town not
far awav, and there he remained until 1871, when he sold out and started in
the niillin.u: business, building the first flour mill in that locality.

In 1879, he removed to Goodwin, Dakota Territor}', taking the mill with
him and making flour from Dakota wheat. Ten years later he located in
San Luis Obispo, but did not remain in the old Mission town. Instead, with
his son he moved over to Santa Margarita in March, and on the day of the
first sale of lots they bought a corner lot, and the next daj' began erecting
the store building now occupied by his son. Mitchell Weeks continued there
in business until he died, in 1901. Lewis's mother, who was born in Michigan
City, Ind., and died in 1869 in St. Francisville, La., was Miss Mary J. Stuart.
She had four children, but Lewis is the only one living.

Lewis Weeks was Iiorn on Octo!)er 1, 1862. in St. Charles; and when his
father moved South. fi\e years later, he resided for a while in Louisiana.
Yellow fever took the mother and sister in 1869. and the father and son
then returned to St. Charles. There the ben- attended the public school;
but in 1878. when only sixteen, he struck out for the Black Hills. For two
sunmuTs he drove a bull team, between Fort Pierre and Deadwood, drawing
ti\-e tons to the load, and during the winters he went to school at Winona.
He was graduated from Stewart and Lambert's Business College, Winona,
and then for two summers he ran the river as second mate for Imperial
excursions on the Diamond Joe Line. He was then in the service of the
Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, west of Winona, doing duty in various
capacities from brakeman to conductor and later acting as engineer. He
s])ent three years in their machine shop, and for seven years continued with
them. He next passed to the service of the Sioux Line running out to Turtle
Lake with a track to Gladstone on Lake Michigan, and he was also employed
on the A\'isconsin Central between St. Paul and Chippewa Falls and .Abbots-
ford and Eau Claire.

In the fall of 1885 he came to Los .\ngcles, and then in 18So to San Luis
Obispo, and was employe<l as a carpenter for I. L. Wilson about one year.
In December, 1888, he first came to Santa Margarita, where he settled : and
since his father's death he has continued alone the well-known general mer-
chandise business there. For eighteen years his father served as postmaster.
ha\ing been appointed under President Harrison: and as the office was in
the store, Lewis often acted as postmaster.

Lewis ^^'eeks has been twice married. His first marriage took place at
San Luis Obispo, where he was united to Miss Rose Comport, a native of
Kent, F.ngland. who died at Santa Margarita five months after her marriage,
and was buried with the first funeral rites observed in the new town. Tlis
second marriage also took place at San Luis Obispo, when he made Miss
Katherine Cavanagh, a native of San Jose, his wife.

Mr. Weeks is popular as a Mason. He was made a Mason in King
Da\ id Lodge Xo. 209, San Luis Obispo, and is a member of Chapter No. 62 in
the same town ; and he is equally acceptable with the San Luis Obispo Lodge

SAN LUTS OinsrO COUXTV A.Xl) I-:.\"\" IRONS 4.^5

Xo. i22. B. I'. O. Elks. A Uepublican— "iriic blue"— Mr. Weeks has done yeo-
man service as a member cif the cnunty central committee.

CAPTAIN JAMES CASS.— There was no better-known pioneer in San
Luis Obispo county than Capt. James Cass of Cayucos. He was born in
Bristol, England, Nov. 24, 1824. At the age of eleven he sailed on the full-
rigged ship "Bristol" for New York as a passenger, but before the boat landed
he was made a sailor-boy. He was engaged in the Hudson river trade for
sume time and later with enterprises in the \\'cst Indies. During the y^cars
in which he followed the sea, he encountered many dangers and had many
narrow escapes from death — once when the schooner "Convoy" capsized in a
squall, on July 11. 1841, while running between Mobile, Ala., and Franklin,
La. It was about this time that Mr. Cass decided to make a visit to his old
home in England and joined the ship "Bengal" of New York, landing at
Liverpool and going directly home. There he attended the Brockly Elm
Academy for a time, and then went back to sea.

( )n January S, 1849, he shipped before the mast for California on the
"( )rpheus" of New York, and arrived in San Francisco Sunday, July 8, 1849.
( )n Monday, the 9th, he was added to the crew of the schooner "Olivia"
(in the Sacramento run, at SI 50 per month. The pilot, named William
Burger, put the sounding line in young Cass's hands and said, "Take this and
stay with it; I'll make a man of you," and he remained in the river service
until he knew the river as well as any of the pilots. He grew to be a pilot
cm his own responsibility and later became acquainted with James Woods
of Cambria, who was bouiid with an ox-team for Dry Town, Eldorado
county, to prospect for gold. Mr. Cass went to Amador creek, where he spent
the winter, until February, in mining, then went north to the American river
camps and mined until spring opened, when he went to Sacrainento and
started piloting on the river. He piloted the scliddiier "Gazelle" to San Fran-
cisco, and continued at the work until June. With a former shipmate, he
then returned to Dry Town and again engaged in mining until November,
when, with other partners, he opened the I'.oston Store on Dry Creek near
lone valley. The following spring he sold his interest and purchased land in
lone valley and began farming. In the fall he sold the land and opened the
Syracuse Store at Muletown, later selling out and again taking up mining.

Next he took up land in Sacramento county, in 1854, and engaged in
larming. W bile there, he was married, on July 8 of that year, to Miss Mary
Stone, a native of England, who had come with her father across the plains
with ox teams in 1852. Mr. Cass followed farming there until 1867. when he
sold out and caine to San Luis Obispo, arriving in November of that year. He
immediately located in Cayucos, took up a government claim of three hun-
dred twenty acres one mile back from the ocean, and there he farmed two
years. At that time there was no shipping point at Cayucos, and owing to
his sea-faring experiences he conceived the idea of a seaport. With that end
in view he made investigation and compiled the necessary statistics and
found the amount of grain and produce was sufficient to justify him in
endeavoring to get in touch with those interested in the shipping business
on the coast. He made the acquaintance of Captain J. Ingalls. then running
a schooner between Port Harford and San Francisco. He was interested
and Mr. Cass piloted him and his vessel from the port to Cayucos. .\s every-
thing was satisfactory, his company induced Mr. Cass to go to San Simeon

436 SAX I.IIS OP.TSPO COUNTY AND EXVIROXS j

and pilot another vessel to Cayucos. This being satisfactory, he then made \
arranffcments to get cargoes for the vessels and at once let it become known |
that he could forward grain and produce. At first the grain was piled on the '
beach until a warehouse could be erected, and the vessels were loaded by i
surfing boats. That winter he bought a house and hauled it to Caj'ucos and |
made a tcmporar}' warehouse of it; and the next year he put in a stock of j
merchandise, having sold his ranch in the meantime. j

January 1. 1872, he started to build a jetty to low water mark, and it i
was two years before he commenced to build the wharf. In this undertaking j
it was necessary for him to have aid, so he interested the firm of Schartz- 1
Harford & Co. to take a half interest, and then built the wharf and ware- j
house ; and in 1875 they began a wharf and general w-arehouse business. The |
wharf was about 1000 feet long, and steamers and ships could land alongside I
practically the same as at present. In 1875 the new store was an ell on the |
warehouse. In eight or ten years both of Mr. Cass's partners died and he I
bought their interests. In 1875 the rancho j\Iorro y Cayucos was subdivided |
and he bought three blocks of water frontage for his company, and also took j
up considerable tide lands. At various times and from different owners, |
Captain Cass purchased land ; and he owned several stock ranches, among |
them the Glenbrook ranch across the summit, where he himself set out a j
forty-acre apple orchard. He also owned a four-hundred-acre ranch adjoining .
Cayucos, which gave him a mile of ocean frontage : and with his son he en- j
gaged in cattle-raising and dairying. The store is still run under the cor- |
porate title James Cass & Co. ' j

As the years passed Mr. Cass prospered and several changes were made j
in the jie'rsonnel of the firm ; but his personality was the dominating factor I
through it all. Prior to going into the merchandising business, JMr. Cass
had started the first lumber yard at Cayucos ; and safe to say, almost all
lumber used in the building of houses, barns and fences passed over his
wharf. Ocean-going steamers can land ; and he it was who piloted the "Joseph
Wooly," the first vessel to enter the harbor. His handsome home in Cayu-
cos was purchased by him when he decided to make the place his home. As
has been said, he owned the Glenbrook ranch of five hundred acres between
Cayucos and Templeton ; and it is noted for its fine apples, including the fol-
lowing varieties: Xewtown Pippins, white and red Pearmains, Jonathan.
Winesap, Bellefleur, and Spitzenburgh. It is one of the show places in that
})art of the county, and it was developed under the personal su]ier\ ision of
Captain Cass.

Ca])tain Cass was a man of great ingenuit}-. and h;i\ ing had much expe-
rience with the teredo, he invented and patented a pile-preserver which has
since been ado])ted by many wharves along the Coast. He was a Knight Tem-
plar Ma.son and a Shriner, passed all the chairs in the Odd Fellows lodge.
was justice of the peace and notary, and w-as a man of great public s|iirit.
Always interested in the cause of education, he was a meml)er nf ilie first
sdiool board and helped to build the first schoolhouse at Cayucos. .Mrs.
Mary Stone Cass died in Sacramento in 1858. leaving four children: Sarah,
now deceased: Charles A., engaged in farming; Emily J., wife of A. L. lUir-
roughs ; and Henry K., who was associated with his father in business. In
I8C)0 Mr. Cass married his second wife, Mary McMurry. who was born in
i\ew York and died in Cayucos, leaving one daughter. Rosa M. On March

SAN LUIS OBISPO COL-XTV AXl) I':X\IRO.\S 437

13, 1917, Captain Cass passed awa}- peacefully, after a Inn:,; and useful life,
being over ninety-two years old.

ABRAM A. STILL.— How delighted you would be if all tbroui^h life
you would have only to press your little finger gently on the latch or fastening
of a door or window and it would fly open for you, and you could pass
through doorway and gateway without troubling to close anything behind
you, and would know that the door or gate would shut and fasten of its own
accord ! Or, imagine that you were running that automobile you have long
dreamed about, and that you were placed in a position where using the reverse
accidentally meant going over the grade with your car : Would it not be
some satisfaction to have yourself safeguarded against the application of
the wrong lever and so avoid the possibility of your smashing up body and
machine? Inventions to provide such conveniences and safeguards are the
product of the fertile brain of Abram A. Still, one of the oldest settlers in
the region around Annette, Kern county, who came here a pioneer farmer
in 1872. His grandfather was the Reverend Ahram Still, a .Methodist who
preached in Kansas and Missouri for fifty years. His father, Thomas C. Still,
born in Tennessee in 1833, and reared in Kansas and Missouri, was a physi-
cian who often had to blaze his own trail to the house of a patient, and who
studied medicine before the great Civil War. In 1863 he brought his wife
and three children across the plains with oxen and horses ; the next year he
pre-empted a claim near Mt. Diablo, and while there he taught school, lie
then moved to Sebastopol, Sonoma count}-, and found employment in a saw-
mill; and while there he met with a painful accident to the fingers o( his
right hand, which were saved by having his wife wrap them together with
pine oil. In 1867 he came to San Luis Obispo and resumed his practice, and
in 1872 located in what is now Annette, then called Palo Prieto. In 1879
he removed to La Panza, a lively town in the time of the mining excite-
ment, and, retiring from medicine, tocjk up farming and stock-raising. A
brother of Thomas C. Still was Dr. A. T. Still, of Kirksville, INIissouri, the
originator of the School of Osteopathy, a new science studied by Abram's
father and practiced more or less at home. Abram's mother was Martha A.
Still, a native of old Virvinia, who suffered forty-five years from an annual
hemorrhage of the lungs, brought about through exposure in a peculiar way.
She had just had measles, and was left alone ; and to keep a mule from killing
a calf, she arose from her bed and went down barefoot into the field and led
the calf away. A congestion set her back, and the doctor returned only in
time to save'her life. As a result she had, each year after that awful night,
a recurrence of the hemorrhage. .\t sixty-five years of age. this kind old lady
died at La Panza.

,\bram Still was born in Centropolis. Kan., on December 13, 1858, and
when but five years of age came across the plains, wintering at Honey Lake
in Lassen county. Four years later he came to San Luis Obispo, where, for
a year and a half, he attended school. He also settled here, and in 1882
started in the sheep business, having by 1893 some six thousand head.
When the Cleveland administration placed wo,, I on the free list, Mr. Still lost
all he had, and started over again .it one dollar a day, herding sheep for
Miller & Lux.

He homesteaded a hundred eighty acres, his present place at .\nnette.
which he devoted to the raising of grain. Success smiling upon him once

438 SAX Ll'IS oniSPO COUXTY AXD EX\-lROXS I

more, he rented parcel after parcel of land, and in 1914 raised ten thousand j
sacks of wheat and barley — his banner year — all of which he hauled to Paso i
Robles. He now runs three big teams, using a combined harvester, and oper- 1
atcs from one thousand to twelve hundred acres a year, sowing from six J
hundred to seven hundred to grain. i

Abram Still married Miss ^linnie Wolf, who was born in Holland and (
was raised in San I'rancisco. For twenty-two years Abram Still was post- i
master of Annette, and recently his gifted wife has succeeded him in this j
office. His experience as a postmaster, when he saw how the public trooped j
through his gateway and left the gate open, prompted him to invent the con- i
trivance already alluded to, and this was followed by the safety device for ;
locking the reverse position of the automobile, while all forward positions i
are in use — a great boon to the automobilist. i

AMADOR NEVADA RUDE.— A native son of California and a man j
well known thnnighout his section of the county by reason of his prominence 1
in political matters. A. X. Rude was born at Volcano, Amador county, Cali- |
fornia, Xovember 12, 1856. His father was Thomas G. Rude, a native of I
Hardin county, Ky., who had removed to Knox county. 111., where he married |
Mary Louisa Metcalf. She was a native of Allegany county, Xew York |
state, came with her parents to Illinois, and was orphaned when but twelve |
years old. When sixteen, she married; and about five or six years later, \
with her husband, she started across the plains. The party set out in 1852 '
with t)x teams, and took six months to make the trip; and Air. Rude and !
his wife met with many thrilling experiences during that long and danger- ;
ous journey. They had their teams stolen by the Indians, suffered hard- I
ships that to the young men and women of today would seem unendur- ;
able, and were glad when at last they knew they were in California. They i
stopped at Hangtown, now Placerville, and there Mr. Rude engaged in min- |
ing. From there he went to \'olcano, and thence to San Francisco. He !
was by trade a bricklayer, and worked in that city on the construction of j
the old Palace Hotel, the old hall of records and other buildings then in I
course of construction : and for a time he was in the employ of Claus ;
Si)reckels. His next move was in 1860, to Rincon valley, in Sonoma count-y, ;
where he took up government land and improved a home, doing general i
farming and stock-raising, and in the meantime following his trade to make
both ends meet. He sold his ranch in 1878, and about October 15 of that
year arrived in San Luis Obispo County, where he lived until his death,
in 1882, when he was dragged by a horse and killed. His widow passed
away on July 2, 1911. Besides the subject of our sketch, their children were:
William, who runs the Paso Robles feed yard; Arabella, later Mrs. Mc-
.\aughton. who died in San Jose; Paulina, who was born and died during the
trij) across the plains: Grayson, who died in Lake county. Ore., in 1878;
l-:i Roy. now of San Jose: and George, of Imperial county.

.•\mador X. Rude was reared on the farm in Rincon valley and attended
the public schools there, later studying in Santa Rosa at the Pacific Meth-
odist College. He remained at home assisting with the farm work until
1878. when he and his mother came south to Santa Barbara county to visit
a brother living there. So well pleased were they with the appearance
of the country, its conditions and its prospects, that they returned home
and induced tlie father to sell out and come south to live. The trip was

oloy

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AXD EWIRoXS 441

made overland, as the railroad did not extend at that time any further along-
the coast than Soledad. They camped back of Paso Robles and were told
by Patsey Dunn, the storekeeper, that there was some government land ti;)
be had on Estrella plains, whereupon Mr. Rude went to look at it and de-
cided he would remain there. He bought a quarter section of H. H. Barton
and started to improve it by erecting buildings and breaking the land; and
the first year he seeded seventy-five acres to grain. When he had his house
finished, he gave a dance and house-warming on January 1, 1879, and people
came from forty miles around to attend, and enjoy the festivities. An
interesting incident occurred during the dance. The grain that season
was badly in need of rain, for up to that time there had been barely
enough moisture to sprout it, and about midnight the set for the supper
dance had just formed when the patter of drops on the new shakes was
heard. The set was broken up and all rushed outside to see and feel the
welcome rain, which proved to be but a passing shower. His crop was short,
and he went to work in the Santa Maria valley with his teams ; and when
he returned home he brought seed back with him, and has ever since raised
grain and stock. He took up a homestead timber claim in Sunflower valley,
Kern county, afterwards known as Devil's Den country, but later sold it.

In 1881 he bought one hundred sixty acres of railroad land from Joseph
Muddy, making him three hundred twenty acres in one body, which he farmed
to grain. Mr. Rude wore out two headers, and then bought a combined
harvester. He deeded the old homestead to his mother to make sure that
she would have the comforts of life if anything should happen to him. How-
ever, as was right on her part, she deeded it back to him six years before she
died. After her death, there was an effort made by his brother William
and his attorney to set aside the deed. The resulting contest caused Mr.
Rude considerable annoyance and expense ; but he \von his case. He rents
two hundred sixty acres of land to his nephew, and reserves sixty acres
for his own use. He has a fine vineyard of six acres and an orchard of
four acres, and has sold a great deal of fruit from his orchard at times.
He cares for the fruit himself. For a time he had a dairy, but he .snon dis-
posed of it, for his other interests paid him a liandsonie pmlii and he was well
satisfied.

In his philanthropic way he has reared and educated several children.
He and his mother brought up a niece and nephew — Dettie Rude, now Mrs.
Lima of Kern county, in the vicinity of Maricopa; and William H. Rude,
whd is renting land from his uncle. He also reared two sons of his cousin.
Mrs. Etta Coulter, who died in 1897: Forest, then aged five, and Alroy X.,
aged two years. They remained with him until tliey were grown, and went
through the grammar school. The Inrnier li\cs in San Luis Obispo, and the
latter is a grain farmer on the Estrella.

l"nr a number of years Mr. Rude was an active member of Paso Robles
Parlor. X. S. C. W. He was prominently connected with the Farmers' Al-
liance, served as trustee of the ]-:strella school district for twenty years, and
was clerk part of the tiine. Lie was formerly a Populist and was a candidate
for the Assembly on that ticket in 1894, and was also a member of the County
Central Committee and was well known politically. Of late years he has l)cen
in accord with the principles of the Socialist party. He is well-read and
abreast of the times, has a retentive memory, and is an interesting conversa-

442 SAX LLIS Ol'.ISPO COUXTY AXD EX\"IR(JXS

tituialist. 1 k- l)elie\ es in the doctrines advanced by the Xew Thought Alliance,
lie is liberal and willingly lends a helping hand to the unfortunate, has a
kindlv. agreeable manner and has drawn about him a large circle of friends.
Fortunate indeed is he who has the opportunity of his hospitality.

A. B. BIGLER. — The bench and bar of Central California have many
able representatives, who stand high in their profession because of deep study
of the best authorities on law ; and among them none has a higher rank than
A. P.. Bigler of Santa Maria. His record is that of a skilled lawyer and an
able business man. His fine legal ability places him in the front rank of his
profession, not only in Santa Maria, but in the whole of Santa Barbara
county. He is noted for his lucid and practical expositions, and for the skill
and justice with which he disposes of the many important cases which have
come to him for defense. A man of extended experience in various walks of
life, he is also a financier of no mean ability, and a politician whose disinter-
ested devotion to the public welfare has never been questioned.

A. B. Bigler was born in Clearfield, Penn., April 10, 1870, the oldest of
three sons and two daughters of William D. and Alice (Barrett) Bigler, both
natives of Clearfield count)' and coming from old Pennsylvania-Dutch stock.
The grandfather, William Bigler, was governor of Pennsylvania from 1852 to
1856, and served in the United States Senate from 1856 to 1862, being a per-
sonal friend of President Buchanan. On the maternal side, grandfather
George R. Barrett was district judge in Pennsylvania. On the paternal side
his great-uncle, John Bigler, brother of Governor William Bigler, was a
California pioneer of 1849, and a noted lawyer, and became the second gover-
nor of this state after it was admitted to the Union. His own father, William
D. Bigler, was a prominent attorney and served, during Grover Cleveland's
second administration, as assistant United States treasurer at the sub-
treasury in Philadelphia: and while the father was in that position, his son,
A P.. Bigler. served as vault clerk.

Mr. Bigler was educated in the puljlic schools of Pennsylvania and at-
tended Peekskill Military Academy from 1886 to 1889, after which he matricu-
lated at La Fayette College, taking the civil engineering course. Not liking
it there, he went to Princeton and pursued that course for the junior and
siiphomnre years, leaving there in 1892 with rank of senior. He then entered
the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in the engineering depart-
ment, and remained with them until the panic of 1893, when he was laid off.
l><ini 1894 to 1898, he served under his father as vault clerk in the sub-
treasury in Philadelphia.

In 1898 Mr. Bigler visited California in the interest of the Producers and
CoiLsumers' Oil Company, in which he and other Pennsylvanians were inter-
ested at Coalinga, remaining one year, when he assisted in putting down some
wells at Parkfield, Monterey county. During this time he had studied law.
He took the regular examination before the Supreme Court of California, and
nn .\ugust 31. 1899. was admitted to practice. Going to P.akersfield. he
iijiened an dflice with a partner, as the firm of Bigler & Platz ; and after about
tour years, he came to Santa Maria and at once began to build up a clientele.
Ii'day he is recognized as the leading attorney in the valley. He is attorney
i"r the Pinal-Dome Oil Comjiany. and, while engaging in general practice,
<|iecializes in corporation law. He is also deputy district attorney for Santa
I'arbara county, having received the appdintment on January 1. 1914.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND FAA'IRONS 44,^

Mr. Bigler was united in marriage in IQOl, in San Jose, with Miss Harriet
Wilcox, a native of that city; and they are the parents of three children:
William ; A. B., Jr. ; and John. Mr. Bigler is a consistent Democrat. He
belongs to the old school of lawyers with whom scholarship, legal lore,
integrity and honor are the guiding principles.

THOMAS WHITELEY.— The life which this narrative sketches began
in England in 1824 and closed in Arroyo Grande, Cal., in 1899, and within
these years is a record of much accomplished for the benefit of his fellow
citizens. Thomas Whiteley was a shoemaker and followed that trade in his
native country until the early fifties, when he came to the United States and,
locating in Taunton, Mass., conducted a large shoe store until I860. Leaving
Taunton, he came by the way of the Isthmus of Panama to San Francisco
and there engaged in the shoe business.

After the breaking out of the war, he sold out, and in 1862 returned
East and enlisted in the Fourth ^Massachusetts Regiment for three months.
At the expiration of his term of enlistment he re-enlisted, and for six months
was detailed as a recruiting officer. He returned to California in 1863, via
Panama, and again engaged in the shoe business, in San Francisco, selling
nut in 1868, and locating in San Luis Obispo, where he opened the first shoe
store and repair shop in the town, located on Higuera street.

In 1874, he settled in Arroyo Grande and opened a shoe shop. He pur-
chased a tract of land in the town, thus giving his name to Whiteley street.
He farmed for a time, and passed away at his home.

He married Margaret Ann Longshire, a native of Manchester. England,
born in 1829; and of this union three children are living: Mrs. Priscilla
Ganoung of Arroyo Grande ; Thomas Whiteley of San Francisco ; and Walter,
located on Carissa plains in San Luis Obispo County. Mrs. Whiteley died in
.\rroyo Grande in 1902. Mr. Whiteley was a member of the Grand Army
post of Arroyo -Grande and was a prominent man in the upbuilding of the

MRS. PRISCILLA GANOUNG.— A native of Afanchester, England.
Mrs. Ganuung was born January 19, 1847, a daughter of Thomas and Mar-
garet Ann (Longshire) Whiteley, who brought her to the United States
when she was a girl of eight. She was reared in San Luis Obispo County,
and on February 14, 1871, was united in marriage with Edward E. Cianoung.
who was born June 22, 1837, in the state of Michigan.

He crossed the plains to California in 1860, stopped for a time in San
r.ernardino county,- and from there the same year came on to San Luis
< )bispo County, where he leased land and engaged in farming, until he was
able to buy land of his own on the lluasna. For years he successfully
farmed and raised stock; and he finally bought a small tract of twenty-two
acres in the Oak Park district near Arroyo Grande, and followed bean-raising
until his death, July 15, 1911.

Of the six children born from the uniuii of Mr. and Mrs. Ganoung, three
are now living— Albert, Oliver and William H. During the many years of
his residence here, Mr. Ganoung was a well-to-do man. I'or years he was
affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Since his death his
widow has made her home in Arroyo Grande. Her home is graced by con-
tentment and hospitality, and her neighbors and friends thn.ughcut the county
fnid in her a cheerful hostess on every occasion.

444 SAX LllS OBISPO fOL'XTV AXD i:X\IROXS

JOHN FRANCIS WRIGHT.— .\ native son who is at the head of large
alTairs, John I'rancis Wright was liorn in Adelaida. San Luis Obispo County.
July 20, 18/0, the son of John and Sarah (Burden) Wright, who were born in
Iowa and .Sebastopol, California, respectively. His father crossed the plains
with his i)arents, when a lad. The grandfather was also named John, and
brought his family to California, locating first at Santa Cruz, and after-
wards in the .Adelaida country, San Luis Obispo County, where he resided
until he retired. He then returned to Santa Cruz, where he died. His
maternal grandfather, Alfred Burden, crossed the plains to California in
1849, and was in San Francisco when lots sold on Market street for fifty
dollars each. After mining for a while, he engaged in ranching in Sonoma
county, and later was an early settler of San Luis Obispo County, where he
"died. '

John 1'". Wright's father was a stockman in Santa Cruz county until
I8i'S, when he came to San Luis Obispo County. Here he was married, and
became a prominent stockman and rancher in the Adelaida country. He was
for many years road overseer. He is now a horticulturist in San Fernando
valley, at present a part of Los Angeles city. The six children of John and
Sarah (Burden) Wrig-ht are as follows: Annie, Avife of Charles J. Taylor,
sheriff of San Luis Obispo County; Hallie (Mrs. J. W. Lemen), of Adelaida;.
John F., of this review; Bertha (Mrs. Ray D. Pelton), of San Diego; Myrtle
(Mrs. Jno. Lynch), of Madera; and Gertrude, who resides with her parents.

John Francis received his education in the public schools in Adelaida.
From a boy he assisted on the ranch and made himself generally useful,
learning grain- and stock-growing, until nineteen years of age. He then served
three years as a fireman in the boiler room at the Betteravia Sugar Factor}-.
After that he spent one 3'ear with the Risdon Iron Works in San PVan-
cisco, and then for a short time held a position with the Lnion Oil Co. He
then removed to the San Fernando valley, where he was employed at ranch-
ing. In 1906 we find him in Fairbanks, Alaska, where he put in three years
prospecting and mining, making good strikes, but losing again while huntings:
for more of the yellow metal.

On his return to the San Fernando \allcy, he began grain f;irming on a
large scale with Messrs. Hubbard and \N'right as partners. Two years
later he bought them out, and continued the business alone. Believing in the
use of the latest and most modern machinery, he was the first to use a cater-
pillar for farming in the San Fernando valley, where he operated 3,000 acres,
sowing all to grain each year, and using, besides the caterpillar, six to eight
big teams to get in the crop, as well as two combined harvesters for gath-
ering the grain. He was successful, raising big crops of hay and grain, (hie
year alone he raised 3,200 tons of hay, besides a large amount of grain, .\fter
four successful seasons, he sold the entire plant and purchased a rancii of
two hundred forty acres at Madera, devoted to raising alfalf.i ;nul fruits,
and having a full-bearing peach orchard of thirty-five acres.

Mr. Wright was married in San Fernando, being united wiih .Miss Flla
Grove, who was born in Iowa, a daughter of J. W. Grove; and tiiey have one
son, Francis John.

In 1916 he returned to San Luis Obispo County and associated himself
with his father-in-law, J. \\'. (irove. and his sons under the firm name of
J. 1'. Wright t1- Co., leasing the greater part of the grain land of the Sacra-

^l;^ ^A^L^^--^^

SAX LUIS OBISPO COL■^•T^• AXD ]:X\IROXS 447

inento ranch and also a part of the EstreUa ranch, which he operates by the
use of two caterpillars and four to eight horse teams; and on the 10,000
acres he leases, he is doing 4,500 acres of summer fallowing for this season.

Fraternally, he is a member of the Arroyo Grande Lodge of Odd Fellows,
as well as the Encampment in San Luis Obispo. Always interested in
the cause of education, he served as school trustee in Los Angeles county,
and was a member of the board during the building of the Zelzah school-
house. Mr. Wright is alive to the great oiiportuniiies in San Luis Obispo
County, and is very optimistic for its future de\elopment and greatness.

JOHN THOMAS GOODCHILD.— By common consent, the be.st-posted
pioneer in all the Santa Maria valley is John Thomas Goodchild, who was
born at East Tilbury, England, February 12, 1846, the second son and child
of the Rev. WiUiam George Goodchild, a vicar of the Church of England,
near what was once historic Tilbury Fort, where Queen Elizabeth assembled
her troops to resist a possible Spanish invasion, which was prevented by the
sinking of the Spanish Armada. His grandfather was Thomas Goodchild,
also a clergyman, while his great-grandfather was a lawyer descended from
a line of notable London merchants. The mother of John Thomas was Faith
(Shilleto) Goodchild, of Dutch extraction ; and to this worthy couple were
born ten children — seven boys and three girls.

As might be expected, John Thomas was educated at private schools
and confirmed in the Church of England ; and a precious and interesting-
souvenir of his boyhood days is a drawing-book filled by his childish industry,
which has recently been sent to him from the old country. In 1860, however,
at the age of fifteen, he left school and went to work on his father's farm of
two hundred or more choice acres. The oldest brother, William George,
had gone to Australia, and the management of the farm devolved largely upon
him; and for six or se\en years he continued ;it hunic. tlie mainstay of the
family.

November 27, 1867, he left his home with his face set toward the New
\\ orld, and a few days later sailed from Liverpool on the "Old Virginia" of
the National Line, arriving in Xew York after a sixteen days' voyage. He
then went by steamer to Colon, or Aspinwall, and on Christmas day crossed
the Isthmus of Panama bound for California. The train was so slow that he
was able to pluck wild flowers along the way, and these he later sent back to
English friends. From Panama he continued north on the water to San Fran-
cisco, and the day he entered the Golden tiate, in the early part of January,
1868, the city was white with snow. The picture thus presented was so very
different from what he had anticipated through his reading about California,
iliat he was not a little disappointed; but he soon forgot his astonishment
;ind regret in the pleasure of again meeting his father, who was returning
from a lour of the world, made by way of Australia, where he visiteil his
eldest son; and when they had seen all the sights of the coast town, he accom-
panied his father to Salinas, from which point he left for Niagara Falls and
Quebec. Little did he think that their farewell to each other was their last.
Once out at sea, the reverend and revered parent was taken ill and died, and
there his body was committed to the deep.

When his father left for the East, John Thomas remained for about a
year and a half on a ranch where Salinas City now stands, when with his
brother, the late Cecil Rav Goodchild, he set out to drive a herd of seventeen

448 SAX I.LIS ORISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

hundred shcc]) into the Santa Maria valley, as far as the present Abraham
Onti\t'n)s ranch. The hrcither started from King City and crossed the Santa
Maria ri\er at the mouth of Suey creek, November 6, 1869. The winter was
so dry, and there was so much drought during the spring, summer and autumn
following, not a drop of rain falling until February 12, 1870, that much of
the Hock perished irum thirst, and they were able to raise only three hundred
of the lambs.

Joined by another lirother, Harry Goodchild, John and Cecil rented the
Tepesquet ranch, then owned bj- Juan P. Ontiveros, and continued to lease
it until 1876. That and the following year were also characterized by drought,
and so severely were the^^ afflicted that, of a herd of five thousand head pos-
sessed by them, only four hundred fifty survived. This led the young ranchers
to abandon the sheep business, after which Cecil went to Nevada for a while,
but returned to practice law in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, and
there he died in his brother John's arms.

When the subject of our sketch came to the Santa Maria valley, not only
were there no automobiles or telephones, nor even the telegraph, but there
were no railroads or fences; there was nothing, one might almost say, bijt
sheep, cattle, horses, Spanairds and half-breeds. Then the overland route,
that is the old stage road from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara, had been
laid out practically on the same lines as it is today. He used to be a thresher,
and as such he worked both at the machine and as bookkeeper and roust-
about, going from north of Paso Robles to the south of Santa Ynez, and
can fairly claim that he has threshed grain in every field of the north end of
Santa Barbara county.

Those early days, however, were not devoid of enjoyment and pleasures
to alleviate the pressure and strain of hard labor. The rifle and the hunt were
pastimes with Mr. Goodchild. although he found the greatest sport in captur-
ing wild horses and cattle. L'ntil very recently, when his eyesight began to
fail, he got his annual legal allotment of deer, and he has shot nearly every
kind of game known to the Coast Range. Dances, rodeos and enormous
liarbecues were common ; and reference to these recalls a particularly delight-
ful story of a s])ecial feast arranged in honor of nine men named Juan or John.
On June 24, 1872. St. John's Day was to be observed as usual, and in antici-
])ation of the exent Juan Pacifico Ontiveros said to the subject of this sketch:
■■^■ou have sheep, 1 ha\e cattle: you kill sheep, I kill cattle, and we get
the nine Johns together; then we will celebrate St. John's Day properly."
Thereupon invitations were sent out to Juan Ontiveros, Juan Ruiz, Juan
(le la Cruz Ruiz. Juan Olivera, Juan Pedro Olivera, Juan Hores, Juan Pacifico
OntiA-eros, and one other whose name is not now recalled, together with
John Cioodchild, the latter the only one now ali\o. General invitations were
also sent broadcast to everyone from far and near. The sheep and cattle were
slaughtered : a ramada or arbor was made for the ladies, and for three days
and three nights the feasting, dancing and other merrymaking of the festivity
continued unabated.

Having thus traveled over much of the country, and being blessed with
good ]>owers of observation, Mr. Goodchild has amassed an amount of first-
hand knowledge of great value to the historian. Occasionally he has con-
tributed of his experience to the growing historical records of the state, as
when some years ago he wrote a descriptifm of the Painted Rock in the Carisfea

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD EXVIRO.XS 449

Plains, which is still considered, by many who have access to it in the early
history of Kern county, one of the best accounts of the attraction ever penned.

In 1877, John Thomas Goodchild bought his present ranch of a hundred
acres, and about the same time he married JMiss Adela Ontiveros, the daughter
of Ramon Ontiveros and a granddaughter of Juan P. Ontiveros ; and through
his association with this representative native family he has learned to speak,
read and write Spanish fluently. Eight children were born to the happy
couple, and five of them are still living: Faith Margaret is at home; Ramon
William married Miss Hortensia Ontiveros, and his sketch appears else-
where in this volume; Nellie is the wife of Clarence De \\'itt, who is interested
in the oil business, and resides at Los Alamos with her child, Nellie Alice ;
Mary Elizabeth, called Bessie, and William George both live at home. An
infant son ; John Thomas, who died when fifteen ; and Louisa, who died at
the age of twenty-one, are the three children who have passed to the great
Beyond. The lamented Mrs. Goodchild died in 1889, when the oldest of her
offspring was only twelve years of age and the youngest less than a year old,
and Mr. Goodchild has never remarried.

One of the pleasant recollections Mr. Goodchild has of his stay in .Vativi-
dad is the fact that he was present at the time of the execution and dcli\ery
of the deed to the first lot sold in Salinas City. The deed was made out by
Eugene Sherwood, who owned the Sausal ranch, where Salinas now stands ;
and the person who secured it was James Iversen, a blacksmith, who settled
there then. What is particularly interesting to Mr. Goodchild today is the
circumstance that Iversen made for him a spring-wagon costing three hun-
dred dollars, and that this very wagon, in which he and his brother Cecil
rode when they drove their seventeen hundred sheep into Santa Maria valley,
is not only in a good state of preservation, but is still in actual service on
the Goodchild ranch. Looking fondly upon this old spring vehicle in which
he has traveled for thousands of miles, and which carried threshing crews
every fall from 1887 until 1914, Mr. Goodchild says: "There will be no hearse
to carry me to my final resting place, for I shall go in my old spring-wagon.
While I live, no one except the sheriff will ever get it, and when I am gone
they may do with it as they please." Let us hope that this old relic of pio-
neer days in the Santa Maria valley will some day be accorded a fitting place
in the rooms of the State Historical Society, or in some equally appropriate
and permanent headquarters.

Naturally, in his long residence and extensive travel throughout this
western state, Mr. Goodchild has met and come to know, more or less inti-
mately, many persons of unusual interest. One of these worthies was Benja-
min Foxen, after whom Foxen Canon was named, and who, probably the
first Englishman to settle in the Santa Maria valley, came to California from
London, doubling Cape Horn June 18, 1815, the memorable day of the de-
cisive Battle of Waterloo. Foxen told him many incidents in his early
experiences, and one of them nicely illustrates the cunning of the Indians
when they set about stealing horses. Fo.xen at one time had a large number
of mares that he had bought and was taking home to his ranch ; and when
overtaken at nightfall, he put a bell on one mare, penned them up in the
corral and securely barred the gateway by means of long, strong poles. To
make doubly sure that no one could come and steal them away, he took his
blankets and lay down to sleep in the neighborhood with his rifle at his side.

450 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

All night he heard the tinkling of the bell, and rested easy, thinking his
mares were safe in the corral; and the reader may imagine Foxen's surprise
when, at daylight, he found every precious mare gone. At the point farthest
away from the entrance a hole had been made' through the side of the en-
closure, and through the opening the Indians had driven the mares away
over the mountains, stopping only when they reached the San Joaquin valley,
so that he never recovered any of them. He was sure that he had heard
the tinkling of the bell all night; and thus, calm and confident, he had not
taken the trouble to get up and confirm his belief; nor was he mistaken in
what he had heard. The redskins, however, having removed the bell, had
artfully continued to ring it while the animals were being led off, and with
such natural movements that even the experienced pioneer was deceived,
and could not believe his own eyes when he discovered that his valuable
lirupcrty was gone.

A public-spirited citizen, Mr. (iondchihl has often served on grand and
petit juries. Of Democratic preferences, he has had no ambition for con-
spicuous position or ofifice, although at one time, after declining to run as
a candidate for the office of county clerk, he acceded to the wishes of friends
and stood for election as supervisor, when he was defeated by only eleven
votes. Of a retiring disposition, he has been content to remain quietly in
the rear, more or less unnoticed by the passing show. All these years,
however, he has watched- the development of the country with intense interest
and even joy, ready to help along every enterprise likely to make for the
common welfare. Should some enterprising moving picture producer, there-
fore, interview him, he could get a correct idea of what has actually passed
in the development of the great Santa Maria valley from the time when Mr.
Goodchild settled here, and found it a waste of wilderness, to the present day.
and it is safe to say that no more inspiring panorama of California, of historic
merit, could be devised than that which might be produced under the guidance
of this highly-favored pioneer.

CAPTAIN ABNER CLARK.— Captain Abner Clark was born at San-
ford. York ciiunty. Me., rm January 24, 1834, the second youngest of seven
children, of whom c.nly two are living. He was the son of Abner Clark, a
farmer, and the grandson of David Clark, also a farmer, who was bom of
English and Irish ancestry. His mother was a native of Maine, a Miss
Betsy Wakefield ; and while the lad worked about the farm, the good mother
saw to it that he was sent to school. ] Taxing finished with tlie grammar
school, Abner was entered at the Alford Academy, and tlicre he remained
until he had nearly attained to manhood.

When about twenty, he set out into the xvorld for himself, first trying
his hand at the trade of ship carpenter in old Kennehunk Pttrt, Me., where
he followed shipbuilding for four years. He next shipped as a sailor and shij)
carpenter on Atlantic vessels. He made a vo3-agc across the Atlantic and
back on the "Lizzie Thompson," and coursed over much the same route and
l)ack on the "Sea Belle," and also on the "Regulus." He then went around
Cape Horn, and returned again to the British Isles. As first mate on the
barc|ue "Union" he ran from Mobile to Boston, and then went from Afobilc
to Havre and returned. This ended his sailing on the Atlantic. Port Huron,
Mich., then attracted him. and he started there a ship yard for the building of

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 453

vessels for the lake trade. He liuilt twenty-four large and small \essels in
about twelve years.

In 1SS5, he sold out ever^-thing and came to California, living about a vcar
at ]\lodesto, and in 1886 came to Creston. Here he engaged in the stock busi-
ness, and began to operate the Cressy Ranch, which he continued until lu-
retired. He now resides at Creston, and divides his hours between his Avcjrk
as a real estate agent and his official duties as Justice of the Peace. At Cle\'e-
land, Ohio, he married ^liss Emma Cressy, by whom he had one son, Frank,
foreman of the Cammatti Ranch.

RICHARD BROWN,— Sloping gently back into the hills, lies the cele-
brated Brown ranch, ^vhere, nestling in a cove in the horseshoe bend of a ridge,
are the spacious and hospitable farm residence and outbuildings, to which
cool spring water is piped, the site affording a beautiful view of the Cholame
and Estrella valleys. It is, indeed, one of the most charming home places in
the neighborhood, and one does not wonder that Mr. and Mrs. Brown love it
dearly, for their children were born there, and there they grew to maturity —
all large, sturdy, handsome men. Richard Brown, the proprietor of the
ranch, was born in Leigh, Stafifordshire, England, April 12, 1858, the grand-
son of Charles Brown, of Parkhall, Staffordshire, and the son of Joseph
Brown, a native of the same place. His father was a farmer, and for twenty-
one years the income-tax collector of that district. His mother, who was
born near Cheadle, Staffordshire, was Miss Lydia Turner, the daughter
of William Turner, once a farmer at Cheadle and later a resident of Broad-
gate, where he died. Of Joseph Brown's three children, Richard was the
second oldest and the only one to come to the United States.

Educated at the national school at Leigh, Richard began, at the age of
twenty-one, to farm for himself, renting land and operating a farm and dairy
of thirty cows. He also raised thoroughbred Shropshire Down sheep and
full-blooded, high-grade Shorthorn Durham cattle. On March 15, 1883, he
was married, at Leigh, to Miss Lucy Collier, who was born at Stowe, Staf-
fordshire, the daughter of John and :\Iary (Cottrell) Collier, both natives
of that section. Mr. Collier owned a farm in Staffordshire, where he also
conducted a dairy and made cheese ; but he later moved to Fenton, and there
he and his wife died. Grandfather Collier, also named John, was a farmer
at Caton Hall, -Staffordshire. Grandfather Clement Cottrell was one of the
largest farmers in those parts ; he had seventeen children, twelve daughters,
all married to farmers, and five sons, who also followed agriculture, Mrs.
Brown is the oldest of six children, and the only one in the United States.

After their marriage, Air. and Mrs. Brown immediately came to America,
reaching Portage county, Ohio, in April, 1883, and in May of the following
year arriving in Oakland. At that time 'Sir. Brown took out his first pa])ers
preparatory to securing American citizenship. Soon after, he went to work
on the Maxwell ranch near Sonoma, and then, for eighteen months, on
the Emerson stock ranch in San Mateo county, whence he went to the farm of
Levi Jones in Stanislaus county. August 4, 1886, he located on the nucleus
of his present ranch, and he still likes to tell of the journey thither. They
came by stage from the end of the railroad to San Miguel, and then by teams,
and took a took at the Cholame country with the idea of selecting a home-
stead : and having decided on what they now possess as the best anywhere to
i)c had, thev later brought out their trunks and few belongings. They first

434 SAX LUIS ODISPO COUNTY AND i:X\"TRO\S

located a pre-emption of a hundred sixty acres, and when that was proved up
they located a homestead, and also a tree culture adjoining, creating a ranch
of four hundred eighty acres, and one that not a few neighbors and visitors
greatly admire. He bought a team and turned the first furrow tni the land;
but as the crop was light the next summer, he went to the ."^an Joaquin
Valley and worked there with his team through the harvest.

In the beginning, the hill land he purchased was considered too rough to
cultivate, and good only for stock ; and in 1887 he leased seventy acres from
the R. B. Turner place, and in his harvest obtained eight hundred twenty-five
sacks of wheat. \\'hat he did not use for seed he hauled to San Luis Obispo
and sold in the market. He raised more and more each year, and stuck to
cattle and grain in spite of financial failures and various ups and downs,
with the result, as might be expected, that in the end he enjoyed success.
\\'hen the combined harvester came into vogue, Richard Brown, with his
usual enterprise, bought one, and since then he has always used one kind
or another of improved machinery. For some years he rented from the West
Coast Land Co., and then he began buying lands adjoining his own. He also
began to farm upon the hills, and found to his agreeable surprise that, as
the soil is heavy and strong, he could easily obtain good crops there. Part of
his success, it is interesting to observe, is due to his having invested in a
combined harvester capable of adjustment to upland grades.

For many years Mr. Brown was engaged in dairying, but now he devotes
himself mainly to the raising of grain, Durham cattle and draft horses of the
Percheron-Xorman strain. His brand, now so well and favorably known,
consists of the two figures 3 3, connected at the bottom. The Brown ranch
has over four thousand acres of land, and is well watered by springs ; it has
si.x hundred acres so situated that they can be plowed, while half of the
area is yearly sown to grain. In the operation of this extensi\e ranch, two
big teams are employed, and these teams assist in cutting the grain both of
this ranch and of others near by.

Decidedly a man of public spirit and of vision, Richard Brown went in
for improvements both upon and near to his property. Me built, for exam-
ple, the road from the Cholame thoroughfare for the distance of a mile to
the beginning of his ranch; and in 1886 he hauled the lumber from San Luis
Obispo for his first house of two rooms, and for a small shed riiade of boards,
for his horses. He was fortunate when he dug his first well, striking water at
eighteen feet. Since then he has piped water to his residence and barns
from a spring some distance from his residence, which furnishes excellent
water for all purposes. All this has been accomplished by ceaseless energy
and close application, in which he has been ably assisted by his wife, who is
endowed by nature with much l)usiness acumen.

While they lived at Freedom Station. Portage county, O., on December 28.
1883, their first baby, a beloved little daughter, was born, of whom they
were bereaved on April 2, 1884. She is now buried in the Charlestown
cemetery. Since coming to California, however, they have been blessed with
four children, all born on the Brown ranch : Evan, who owns a farm on the
Cholame ; and F.rnald, Horace, and Stanley, who are all at home. Ernald
and Horace are operating the home ranch and also own the Coyote Springs
ranch of nine hundred sixty acres adjoining.

SAX LUIS OLilSPO COUNTY AND I':X\'1R()XS 455

A Progressive Republican in politics, and always lnuked to for counsel
and leadership, Mr. Brown was a trustee and clerk of the board for the
school district of Cholame for several years. In matters of religious worship,
he and his family- are Episcopalians.

PETER TAYLOR.— One of the most highly-resijected citizens of San
Luis Obispo County, and one who left his impress upon the community where.
for many years, he made his home, was the late Peter Taylor. He was born
in Perthshire, Scotland, December 7, 1837, and attended the public schools
of his vicinity until he was thirteen years old. when, with his father, John
Taylor, he came to America in 1851. There were six children in the family.
They settled in Delaware county, N. Y., where the father engaged in farm-
ing. Peter lived at home until he was twenty-one years of age, and then
followed carpentering until 1863. Then he left for California, coming by w^ay
of Panama to San Francisco ; from which place he went to Marysville, where
he was engaged in ranching for a year. On account of the climate he was
unable to remain there ; and removing to Sonoma county, he resumed his
occupation tintil 1869, coming in that year as a pioneer to San Luis Obispo
County. Locating in Green valley-, he purchased two hundred acres of land,
and was one of the first settlers in that section. He engaged in grain farming,
and the grain was shipped to San Francisco by boat. He gradually worked
into dairying, and added to his holdings from time to time until, at the time
of his death, he was owner of eleven hundred acres of fine land, considerable
of which he had improved with liuildings and fences. There are three sets of
farm buildings on the property.

He was a member and trustee of the Presbyterian Church at Cambria,
and a man whose word was considered as good as his bond. On a visit to
Hamden, Delaware county, N. Y., after an absence of many years, he was
married, December 30, 1874, to Jane M. McDougall, a native of that county,
who was born on February 28, 1844. They were blessed with the following
children : John A., Agnes J.. .-Mexander and Peter J.

The parents of Mrs. Taylor were Archibald and Agnes (Salton) Mc-
Dougall, both born in Scotland — the former in Glasgow in 1810, and the latter
in 1811. Mr. McDougall was a blacksmith by trade in Scotland, accompanied
his parents to America in 1832, and settled in Delaware county, N. Y., and
there he followed farming until his death. His wife came to this country with
her parents in 1830 and settled in Delaw^are county, where she was married
in 1840. She becaine the. worthy mother of seven children.

John A. and Peter J. Taylor are dairying on Santa Rosa creek : Alexander
and Agnes J. reside with their mother on the old home ranch— the former hav-
ing the management of the estate since the death of his father.

ASA W. ABLES.— To have been connected with the pioneer develop-
ment of the Santa Maria valley is an honor accorded few families, and one
of these is represented by Asa W. Abies of Santa Maria, owner of fifteen
acres in the residential district, a ranch of one hundred twenty acres cast
of Orcutt, five houses in the district he platted as an addition of five acres
to the city, besides the Abies brick building in the business district. A native
of the state, he was born in Tomales. Marin county. January 12, 1868, a son
of Thomas B. Abies, who was born in Guernsey. O.. and who wvis married
in Iowa, in 1854, to Elizabeth Shuman, a native of that state. In 1857 they
outfitted for the trip across the plains with ox-teams and prairie schooners.

456 SAX I. LIS olUSI'O COl'XTV AXT) i:X\]R()NS I

taking five months and ten days to complete the journey to I lumboldt county, ]
and having settled there for a time, they then came to .Marin county and >
located on a rancji near Toniales, engaging in ranching with success.

In 1874 the family came down to Guadalupe and lived for a short time; |
and then moved to a place im the Mesa between Santa Maria and Los Alamos, i
where they bought and impro\ed some land. The hard times of 1893 caused |
him serious financial loss, although he had retired to" a home in town in i
1887. He was favorably known to the citizens of the valley, though he rarely j
mixed in public affairs: and he was honest, upright and generous. He passed l
away December 16, 1905, aged seventy-one. His wife survived him until |
Sei:)tember 3, 1''13. when she passed away at the age of eighty years. Their :
se\en children were: Mrs. -Alice Bassett, deceased; J. \\".. or Will, as he is |
familiarly known, a carpenter and builder of Santa Maria: Walter, the beet 1
raiser, near .Santa Ana; Josie, who lives in Butte county: Asa \\'.. of this |
review; Dora, the wife of A. F. Fugler of Santa Maria: and Kittle, who mar- i
ricd George Lucas and lives at Biggs, Butte county. j

Asa W. Abies was but six years old when he accompanied his parents i
to Santa Barbara county. He had just learned his ABC's in Tomales, and ]
now he went to school under pioneer conditions in the Agricola district, 1
which was among the first schools to be organized in the valley, his father
ha\ing erected the school building. The balance of his education has been '
obtained in the rough school of exacting experience. He learned to drive a '
team and turn a furrow on the home place, and later became a teamster, ■
hauling goods and supplies from Port Harford, then the nearest shipping ;
])oint. Mr. Abies well remembers the building of the Pacific Coast Railway I
and the rapid development of the country after its completion. His principal ;
work has been as an agriculturist, and he is accounted a good farmer. Under I
the firm name of Abies & Smith he is engaged in raising grain and beans on >
rented land belonging to different parties, and gets the best of results. j
Coming to this valley when a small boy, Mr. .\bles has had a rich ])ioneer !
experience, and what success has come to him has been the result of his I
own individual efforts, assisted bv' his wife. '

On January 30, 1893, Mr. Abies and Louie Johnson, a native of Pike ;
county, Illinois, were united in marriage. They have had no children of their '
own, but have reared and educated two of her sister's daughters, Elsie <
Fesler, who became Mrs. Thole of Santa Maria, and Ida Fesler, now ilrs.
Kessell of San Diego.

Both Mr. and :\lrs. .\bles stand high in fraternal circles in Santa M^ria, ';

being members of the Eastern Star and the Rebekahs; while Mr. .\bles is an '

Odd Fellow and a member of San Luis Obispo Lodge Xo. 32J, B. P. O. Elks. ;

They are both members of the Christian Church antl in politics support 1

Republican principles.

ALBERT JONES.— In the per.son of this successful cattle raiser and ,
business man. wiio died at Ortega Springs, near Annette, in January, 1909,
and his esteemed daughter. Miss Sophia F. Jones, a woman of prominence,
and the successful manager of her own ranch, California numbered among
her energetic citizens representatives of a good old American family — that
of John Paul Jones, the doughty founder of the .\mcrican Xavy — a family
noted not only in Rev.ilutionary times, but also in the War of 1812 and the
^Texican War, and in whose possession is the Jones farm in Maine, which

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ]-X\lROXS 457

dates back to Colonial times. The Jones family alscj took an active part in
the Civil War, Harrison Jones, a brother of Albert, havini;- served in a Massa-
chusetts regiment as captain from start to finish.

Born in Augusta, Me., Albert was the son of Michael Jones, a farmer,
but also a tanner by trade. Albert Jones was an expert log-driver on the
Kennebec. By way of Panama he came to California, landing in san I'"ran-
cisco in 1852; and having worked for a year in the mines, he went to
Santa Cruz county, where he built and operated several saw-mills, most of
the time having a partner. In the early sixties he was twice sheriff of Santa
Cruz county; then, with J. W. Scott, he engaged in the livery business in
Santa Cruz. About this time the Indian wars in Arizona and New Mexico
enabled the savages to burn railroads; and for a number of years Albert
Jones bought and inspected railroad ties for the government, which he
shipped to Arizona. From Santa Cruz, in 1881, he came to San Luis Obispo
for the Loma Prieta Lumber Co., serving as manager of their yard; and
when it was consolidated with Swartz & Beebee, he became a third partner
in the new firm of Swartz, Beebee & Co., continuing in that enterprise until
the railroad put in its own yard, and the firm sold out to the new competitors.
Over ten years ago he retired from business ; and he spent the rest of his days
at his Ortega Springs ranch, in Cholame valley, managing it until he died
in Januar}^, 1909, at nearly eighty years of age. Highly esteemed, both as a
citizen and as a Mason, he was buried in Santa Cruz with all ?iIasonic honors.
His younger brother. Captain Harrison Jones, located in Los Angeles and
died in the early seventies.

The wife of Albert Jones, who was Miss Mary Elizabeth Wilson before
her marriage, was born in Tatmagouche, N. S., the daughter of William
Wilson, a farmer, who was accidentally killed by the fall of a tree when
she was only eighteen months old. On November 24, 1907, she died on
their home ranch in California, mourned by many and especially, outside
her family circle, by her Episcopalian friends. Two years previously she
had laid to rest her son, Charles Albert. The only other child, Miss Sophia
Frances Jcfties, survived her. Charles Albert was born in Santa Cruz, where
he was educated, and later became a cattle raiser at Ortega Springs ranch
until 1899, when an unfortunate accident (a. fall from his horse) caused
partial paralysis, which resulted in his death in May, 1905.

SOPHIA F. JONES.^Born in Santa Cruz, Sophia F. Jones was educated
at the public and high schools of that city and, in 1881, entered the University
of California, matriculating in the College of Letters. There she remained
until, while a senior, she was called home on account of the illness of her
mother. She then engaged in educational work, teaching for twenty-three
years in Kern and San Luis Obispo counties. In October, 1886, she came
to Cholame valley to teach, and she and her brother each pre-empted one
hundred sixty acres, filling the requirements of the law and proving up.

After the death of her brother, she devoted all her attention to the care
of her mother and father until they died, and after that to the management
of her estate. Her father had bought the Ortega Springs ranch in 1887. At
first tile ranch included three hundred twenty acres, to which Miss Jones
later added twice that amount ; and as there was an abundance of spring
water, she was able to irrigate the land and to successfully engage in the
cattle-raising business. More recently, she has rented five hundred sixty

458 SAX lAlS UDISPO COUNTY AXD EXVIROXS

acres of the estate for the raising of grain and the remainder for the raising
of cattle. The land is very fertile; and her gardens are the wmider of visitors
to the ranch, her vegetables grow in such abundance and luxuriance.

Miss Jones, always a .social favorite, is a member of Santa Lucia Parlor,
Native Daughters of the Golden West of San Luis Obispo, and of Bethlehem
Chapter, O. E. S., at Paso Robles. During the many years she engaged
in educational work, she gave her best efforts to instruct the students in
the most advanced methods, keeping in touch with the leading educators
of the state, and specializing along her particular line of teaching. She is
a member of the Episcopalian church.

JOSEPH AND JOSEPH CLARKE WELSH.— A native son of the
Golden West and a representative of one of the pioneer families of San Luis
Obispo County, J. C. Welsh was born in the Los Osos valley, Deceml^er 29,
1869. His father, Joseph Welsh, was a native of Ireland, born in Monaghan
county in 1836, and his grandfather. Thomas Welsh, was born there also,
and was a farmer. Joseph Welsh was reared in his native county until a
young man, when he made up his mind that he could better his condition
by coming to this country ; and according!}', in 1860, he arrived in California
by way of Panama and went to work near the town of Bloomfield, Sonoma
county. After four or five years he went to Tomales, Marin count}', and
leased land and farmed for several years, meeting with fair success.

Learning that acreage could be bought very cheaply in San Luis Obispo
County, as one of the large grants was being subdivided, he came here in
1869, and with a partner, Lex'i Young, bought from W. \\'. Stowe 2,120 acre?
on the Los Osos and began farming, raising sheep and cattle, continuing
this four years. The partners agreed then to divide their property and Mr.
Welsh continued alone until 1876, when he made a trip back to Ireland and
took charge of the home place, which had been farmed by his father for
many years. He remained there until 1884. when he sold out. settled his
business affairs and returned to California ; and once again he engaged in
ranching on a place in Clark valley until 1912, when he retired to San Luis
Obispo, living here until his death, July 20, 1913.

Mr. Welsh had made a trip back to Ireland to claim his bride. Charlotte
McCullagh. of Scotch descent, but a native of county McMiaghan, where she
was born May 30, 1838; and they were married on June 3. 1865, returning
at once to California. They had two children, one of whom was Thomas M..
who married Miss .\gnes Lewis an<l had three daughters, Floride, Lois and
Jean, residing in this county ; and the other and younger was Joseph C. Welsh.

Joseph Clarke Welsh was educated in the schools of San Luis Obispo
County and of Ireland, whither he had been taken by his parents. Return-
ing to California, he lived at home until he was of age, assisting his
father with the work on the farm. Later, with his brother Thomas M., as a
l)artner, he leased the home place and for nearly six years was engaged in
dairying and general farming. In 1897. he purchased his brother's interest
and continued alone. In the meantime, he liad benight four hundred acres of
land. He farmed on a large scale until l'>13. when he retired to San Luis
Obispo.

On Xovember 10. 1897. Mr. Welsh was united in marria-e with Miss
Lyda Findlcy. who was born in Wasiiington. D. C., i)ecem1)er 12. 1876.
They have one child, a daughter, Marv Lucille. In l'>14. Mr. Welsh secured

SAX LUIS OBISPO COl■^•'|•^' AXD I'IWIROXS 459

the cdiUract to carry mail from San Luis ( Jhispo to San Simeon, and is
still engaged in that occupation. He represents that sturdy type of manhood
everywhere discernible in the uphuilders of this cduntry. and wherever he
is known he is respected.

CHARLES CARSON.— A charming instance of filial devotion and the
happy union of two representative families furm tlie high-lights in the inter-
esting story of Charles Carson and his estimable wife, well-known resi-
dents in the pleasant district of Adelaida. Mr. Carson is a native of Xew
Brunswick, where he was born at Norton Station, on Xo\-ember 27, 1867. His
father was James Carson, a farmer and carpenter in that district, who, on
leaving his native place, moved to Holton. Me., and later to Roston, where he
spent his last days. His mother, wdio died in Maine, was Miss .\nnie Britton
before her marriage. She was born in Dublin, Ireland.

The seventh eldest of ten children, and the only one li\ing in California.
Charles Carson was brought up in New Brunswick, where he attended the
public schools, and then, from his fourteenth year, in Maine, where he worked
as a painter and later was employed in a hotel. In the great boom year of
1887, he first came to California, stopping for a while in Los Angeles, where he
drove a wagon for the wholesale butchers. Adamson & Stevens, a firm later
known as Burbridge & Adamson. At the end of three years he entered the
service of Grant Bros., railroad contractors, working for seven or eight j'ears
as their foreman in California and Arizona; after which he resigned to come
to Fresno, where he was busy for another year.

The next camping ground of* Charles Carson was in the great northern
State of Washington, and there fate smiled upon him ; for at Aberdeen he
met and married Miss Maud Harris, a daughter of Dr. .\ndrew Harris, who
was a skilled and successful veterinar}' surgeon, well and favorably known
along the coast. Andrew Harris was married in Indiana in 1847 to Sarah
McClellan, a native of Ohio, who was an own cousin of General George B.
I\IcClellan of Civil War fame. She was a daughter of William and Mary
Likens, and was born on February 29, 1828, in Wayne county, O. From
Indiana Dr. Harris moved to Wisconsin and then to Missouri; and about
1859 or 1860 he drove his ox teams acro.ss the great plains and located at Salt
Springs, and then in the San Joaquin \'alley, not far from Stockton. In
1870, he took up his residence at Cayucos. where he had a dairy of seventy
cows ; and three years later he homesteaded a hundred sixty acres at Adelaida,
which he improved and made into a first-class farm, meanwhile following his
profession as a practical veterinary surgeon. In 1890, he settled down in
San Luis Obispo, and there, on March 22. 1905, he died. Mrs. Harris, who
was always a most faithful wife, made her home with Mrs. Carson, dying on
December 9, 1915. Her daughter found great pleasure in administering to
her mother's comfort in the Matter's declining years. Four children besides
Mrs. Carson made up the Harris family: Samuel, David and Mrs. R. .\.
Clink, of San Luis Obispo ; and Mrs. Mary McMurry, of Oregon.

Mrs. Carson was a babe in her mother's arms when she crossed the plains.
She was reared and educated in California, and after her marriage removed
to San Luis Obispo County, about VX)2. First the Carsons went to Teniplelon,
and then they settled at Adelaida, where they soon bought a ranch which
they conducted for three years. This they finally sold, whereupon they
bought two raiulies. one of which they disposed of later, while the other, of

4f)0 SAX LIMS 015ISP0 COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

one lui'ulrcd sixiy acres devoted to the raising of grain, liay and stock, con-
stitutes their i)resent phice.

Few rancli folk know l)etter how to farm than Mr. and Mrs. Carson, who
have gone into poultry as a specialty. In partnership with James Whitsitt,
they rent seven hundred forty acres in the neighborhood. Together they
engage in the raising of cattle, buying calves and letting them run upon the
range. In this latter enterj^rise they have enjoyed handsome returns, while
they ha\e been particularly fortunate in their poultry business. Their success
must be largely attributed to their own experience and enterprise; but doubt-
less some of it is due to their erection here of large and sanitary chicken-
houses, on the Corning plan. Wherever you go you may search, and search
widely, before you tinil a more attractive poultry ranch than theirs.

WILLIAM HENRY TULEY.— The distinction of being the oldest set-
tler on the Estrella plains belongs to W. H. Tulcy and his wife. He was
born in Howard county, Mo., January 23, 1843, a son of Nathaniel Tuley, who
came from Virginia, where he was born, a son of Charles Tuley, likewise a
X'irginian, who moved to Lewis county. Mo., with his family and engaged in
farming. Nathaniel Tuley married in Howard county, \lo., and then moved
to Lewis county, and two years later to Randolph county, the same state,
where he farmed antl passed his last days. His wife was Eliza Towles,
a native of Kentucky, who died in Missouri. They had three sons and one
daughter, three of whom are living.

William H. Tulej' was brought up on a farm in Randolph county, near
Huntsville, attended the public school there and worked on the home farm
until his enlistment in the Confederate Army in 1862. He served in a ^^lissouri
caxalry regiment, under General Joseph Shelby, in ^Missouri and Arkansas.
He then went with Price's army as an infantryman to the first Battle of
Corinth. On their return to Missouri his time was out, and he re-enlisted for
three years or during the war. He furnished his own horse, saddle and arms
and took part in the various battles of his command until the close of the
war. He then returned home and was married in P>oone count}', 'Mo., in Sep-
tember, 1865, to Miss Nancy Tule}', who was born near Monticello, Lewis
county, in that state. Her parents were Henry and Margaret (lienton) Tuley,
and were natives, respectively, of Virginia and Kentucky. They farmed in
Lewis county, moved from there to Kansas, settling near Osawatomie, and
from there went to St. Clair county. Mo., and in 1870 came to California. The
father died in San Luis Obispo and the mother on the Tuley farm on Estrella
plains. Mrs. Tule}^ was educated in the public schools of Kansas and Mis-
souri, and was reared on the farm of her parents.

In the fall of 1871. Mr. Tuley brought his family to San Luis Obispo,
av.d two years later, in 1873, came to this location, where he has since resided,
and which has been tiie scene of his activities for forty-four years. He
l)re-cmpted one hundred sixty acres, and homesteaded a like number, adding
to his holdings until he has six hundred forty acres five miles northeast of
Paso Robles. On this land he has made all the improvements, put up sub-
stantial buildings and plowed the land, raising grain from year to ' year,
and has met with most gratif\'ing results. He long has had all the modern
appliances and machinery necessary to carry on his large operations. To
get started, however, Mr. Tuley worked on the coast for the first two years,
and during this time Mrs. Tuley took care of the cows, raised chickens, sold

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND l^XMROXS 463

butter and eggs and earned the money to pay on the pre-emption. In early
days all the grain had to be hauled over the mountains to San Luis Obispo.
He was one of the original incorporators of the Farmers' Alliance Business
Association that built the larger Alliance warehouse in Paso Robles, which
has been of great benefit to the grain-growers of this section. He paid in the
first money, and had stock certificate No. 1, and was one of the original
directors, serving until he resigned.

For many years Mr. Tuley also served as school trustee of the Estrella
district, and took an interest in all movements for the upbuilding of the
county. In political matters, he still votes the Democratic ticket on national
issues, but in local matters selects the men lie considers best qualified to
fill the position, regardless of party lines. He and his wife arc members of
the Church of Christ.

To Mr. and Mrs. Tuley nine children have been born : William Edgar
is mining in Arizona ; Joseph S. farms in Arizona ; Lucy J. has become Mrs.
Clark of San Luis Obispo County ; Jacob Thomas is farming in the Pleasant
X'alley district; Nancy Mildred is Mrs. W'immer of Paso Robles; John B.
is a farmer on adjoining property; Elbert S. resides in Sacramento; Lillie B.
remains at home ; and Dovie Ethel is now Mrs. Bayer of Estrella.

ANNIE L. MORRISON.— A native of Illinois, Mrs. Morrison was born
in Sycamore, November 12. 1860, a daughter of Benjamin Franklin String-
fellow, born in Penn.sylvania, November 7, 1828, and of English extraction
on the paternal side, while the mother, whose maiden name was Annie
-Archer, was of French descent. Her grandfather was sent from France by
his family with valuable papers, jewels and money, to escape the terrors of
the French Revolution, and he came to Philadelphia. Her mother was
.Mary Jane Barton, born in Ireland but brought to Philadelphia by her
parents when she was an infant. Mary Barton was the daughter of William
and Rebecca (Smith) Barton. The Barton family were from the north of
Ireland. They were Protestants, originally from Scotland, where the name
was Dumbarton. Mrs. Morrison's father and mother were married in Phila-
delphia, November 4, 1852, by Rev. Charles Demmi, and began married life
at Darby, Delaware county, Penn. There her father was badly hurt by one
of his horses, bein,g kicked on the knee : and as a consequence he was in a
hospital in Philadelphia for more than a year. He came out very lame and
unable to work, and his wife supported him and herself by sewing, the hos-
pital having absorbed all their money. At last her father decided he would
"'..;(i \\ est," and in the late fifties went to Sycamore, 111.

I br parents had a large family, eight of whom lived to be men and
women, and one of her earliest memories is that of seeing her mother with a
little bundle of baby's clothes which she would caress and cry over, telling the
children they belonged to their little brother Willie, her first son, who died
when he was six months old. Her parents never amassed much jsroperty.
" rimes" during the Civil War were hard, the children many, and they early
learned to help themselves. However, her mother, on the little she had to do
with, kept her children neat, in school, and at Sunday school, and instilled into
them the principles of decent, honorable living. Her father had a very good
mentality, and his children inherited brains. Mrs. Morrison also inherited her
father's near-sighted eyes, and says she has lost, in consequence, half the joy
of livin.g; for even with glasses, she has never been able to see much of the

464 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

beauty in nature tliat man\^ others, blessed with good eyesight, do not properly
value. With her brothers and sisters, she attended school in Sycamore. Her
oldest brother, llennie. was a fine boy, very good to them all, and very devoted
to his mother. He became a fine mechanic and at twenty was pattern-maker
in a big foundry. The other brothers, Harry and John, are w^ell-to-do farmers
— Harry in Iowa and John near Sycamore, 111. Three sisters, Mary, Caroline
and Mabel, arc married to farmers. One sister, Elizabeth, has never married;
and she keeps house for her bachelor brother, John.

In spite of her near-sighted eyes, Mrs. Morrison was a sort of wonder
in school. She learned marvelously easy, could sing and "speak pieces," and
soon acquired the ability to do well a few things all the others couldn't
do. She liked to lead, and could get a following, and says, "I smile as I think
of the joy of the little girl whose best dress was a clean calico, w^hen she
reached the place where girls in pretty dresses asked 'Annie' if they could
play with her crowd. I had been sneered at because of coarse shoes and
sunbonnets by these same girls ; so it was only getting m\^ innings, for it had
cost my little soul hours of bitterness when they had twitted me of my lack
of finery." She early learned to pit brains and character against mere money-
bags, and has never found it worth while to change their relation. At the
age of thirteen sh.e went to town and worked for a Mrs. Pitcher for five
months, at one dollar a week, to earn money for books and clothes so as to
go on into high school. She worked for her board until fifteen and went to
school, working vacations to earn money for books and clothes.

At Mrs. Pitcher's, she met Duane J. Carnes, a law student, who became a
power in her life. He is now a Judge of the Appellate Court of Illinois. He
directed her reading and to him and his parents she owes much. By the
time she was fifteen, she had read all of Scott, Shakespeare. Dickens, ^lacaulay,
Thackeray, and George Eliot, then published: and the American poets were
bosom friends. At the age of fifteen and one-half she taught her first school.
The county superintendent of schools, H. P. Hall, went to their little farm
for her on June 3, 1876, and told her he had a school for her at Hogridge ; the
name sounded Shakespearean to that girl just then. "I had to wear my short
skirts for a month, until I drew my first salary check, $25.00; then I bought
lots of goods, and as trains were in style, my best dress swept the floor in a
beautiful cur\ing train. Also my curls disappeared, I bought a jute switch
and managed a fine "chignon.' " She taught at Hogridge three terms, and at
Charter Grove, Prairie, and the Casey school.

The summer I^efore she was eighteen she went to Michigan, where she
taught three years, near South Haven, at Covert and at Glenn. She then
returned to Illinois and taught at Hinckley, in the town school, and then was
vice-]irincipal at De Kalb. She had always dreamed of coming to California ;
and in April, 1884, she arrived in Los Angeles. She passed the teacher's exam-
ination in July, and was fourth best out of forty-three who entered for cer-
tificates, of whom only eight won them. In September she went to A\'inters.
"V'olo cmuity, and taught there three years — one year at Apricot school, and
two as primary teacher in the town. On April 19, 1887, she was married to
Hamilton I'.rown Morrison, a native of Stirling county. Scotland, who came
to California when twenty-five years of age. They had a very beautiful
wedding in the Christian Church, the Rev. Philip Rruton, pastor and friend.
performing the ccremonv. As thcv both had many friends who united in

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 465

decorating the church, it was a liuwer of bloom; and six little girls, her pupils,
were the dainty bridesmaids.

Alter the wedding they came at once to Templeton, where Mr. Mor-
rison was in business, as will be seen by the article on Templeton. They
had a little four-room house, and were trying to "grow up with the country"
and win a fortune. In November, 1892, they moved into their new home
just erected on an orchard tract, and that orchard was a thing of beauty to
them. The time came, in 1900, when it spelled ruin instead, as the story of
Templeton explains. They had two girls, Mabel Conise, born December 12,
1888. and ^larian Cecile, born ]\Iay 29, 1892, when they moved to their pretty
home. Marjorie Helen was born there, August 17, 1894, and Robert Duane
came early on the morning of July 17, 1896.

Mr. Morrison had trusted out his work and sold machinery on credit for
thirteen years. The result was inevitable. The dry year of 1898-99 came,
and at least $5,000 worth of property and outstanding bills were a total loss.
"What was worse, the best thirteen years of life went into the hole along
\vith all his earnings and mine. His health broke completely, and it was up
to me to be father and mother both to those helpless little children. I tackled
the job, and my worst enemy would hardly say I made a bad end of it."
She earned money writing and reporting for the San Luis Obispo Breeze
and Tribune, collected for these papers, and finalh- got work reporting for
the Los Angeles Times, and the San Francisco Examiner, Call and Chronicle.
She wrote for the Sunday papers, and for Sunset and Overland. Sunset gave
her a trip in 1905 to the Portland Exposition, and to Shasta Springs in 1907.

In August, 1901, she again went to teaching, going into the mountains and
staying there four years at Alamo and Huasna. "I had to watch out for rattle-
snakes and mountain lions. Once when I was belated, onl}- torches made of
twisted newspapers and carried in my hands, while my trembling horse walked
with his head over my right shoulder for two miles through a cation, saved one
or both of us from a mountain lion that was following us in the brush beside
the road. The lion was shot a few da3's later near our cabin. Again I had
to swim good Nero across the Huasna with a buggy load of provisions when
the rain was falling in torrents and the stream was a foam-capped yellow
flood ; but God takes care of fools and children, so we landed about a quarter
of a mile below the ford. I think God takes care of mothers, too, when they
need it as badly as I did then." She taught straight through for thirteen
years. ;\Ieanwhile, she had gotten the three girls ready for teaching, and her
son was in his last year at high school. They had a little home clear of debt.
It had cost every cent of $3,000. The children, the three younger ones,
proudly paid off the last $200 in June, 1913.

By then she was a physical wreck, ready for the hospital, and there
she went. A great surgeon — great because he can take a poor wretch all gone
to wreck, use his skill, and turn his patient out almost as good as new — did
this wonder for Mrs. Morrison. Meantime the school powers had retired her
on part retirement salary in June, 1914. ".\ bad sickness extending over
three months in 1916 left me thinking I was on the junk pile, for sure. In
August I was employed by H. A. Preston to write a history of our county
for the Historic Record Company of Los Angeles. I had lived in the county
for thirty years, and had surely lost out, and in a measure won out. within its
borders. I had driven all over its mountain roads ; I knew its beauty and its

466 SAX Ll'IS OBISPO LOVXTV AND I".\\"IR().\S

|)ossil)i!itie.s : J knew many of its inhalMlanis, lia\ing taught in the county j
o\er ten years : and 1 went to work. I got intensely interested in its won-. 1
derful liistory ; I walked and rode miles and miles; I haunted the courthouse !
(officials for data, and I think I have written a truthful history. The work 1
fascinated me. and 1 have gotten much valuable information during the time. |
I once thought I hated San Luis Obispo County, but that was during my hard |
times, 1 want to slay witli it now until I get my final summons to another j
country." I

LEWIS C. ROUTZAHN.— It is to the credit of such men as L. C. ]
Routzahn that the flower-seed industry has been made a paying proposition |
in San Luis (Jbisjjo County, for since he settled in this state on account of ill j
health, he has risen from a very small beginning, in 1893, to one of the I
largest flower growers in the United States. Mr. Routzahn is a native of i
Illinois, having been born in Mt. Morris, a son of John and Kathcrin (Har-
baugh) Routzahn, pioneer settlers in northern Illinois. |

Lewis C. Routzahn was reared amid the pioneer conditions in the north- |
ern part of Illinois, and received his primary education in the public schools,
afterwards attending Wittenberg College and the Theological Seminary at
Springfield, 111. He was ordained in the English Lutheran Church, and for i
over eight years was located at Three Rivers, Mich., and two years at Salina, t
Kan. It was on account of ill health that he came to California; and after !
looking about for a location, he selected the section about Arroyo Grande as a I
desirable one. Here he took up the study of flower seed growing and began i
on a small scale, possibly with no thought at the time of the influence he |
would wield in the near future. By degrees the business has been expanded, j
Mr. Routzahn giving it his constant attention ; and during the past twenty- |
four years he has originated over one hundred varieties of flower and vege- I
table species, many of them standards, and on the markets today in various \
parts of the world. j

Notwithstanding heavy losses by a fire in 1913. and since that by severe j
floods which washed away considerable of the land that was devoted to the |
growing of flower seeds, Mr. Routzahn is well pleased with the success he has '
made since embarking on his present career. He keeps abreast of the times
in all things that pertain to his chosen vocation and is an authority on seed i
growing and preparation. During the passing of the years he has made his
influence felt in various spheres, notably as one of the organizers and
as a director of the San Luis Savings Bank, and also as a director of the
Arroyo Grande Bank, He has served as a director of Wittenberg College;
and as is but natural with one who is so partial to good schools, he has
served as a trustee for many years of the high school of Arroyo Grande. He
has supported Democratic policies and at one time was a candidate for the
state assembly on a reformed platform, but failed of election. He is a Mason
of the Knights Templar degree, and in religious afliliation is an English
Lutheran,

Mr. Routzalin was united in marriage at Polo, 111., .August 12, 1885, with
Lillian McClure, daughter of Thomas McClure. She was educated in Mt.
Morris College and in Chicago. Of this union there have been born, Warren
\\'illits, who married Florence Merrill ; Paul Richard, who married Janet
Ilazzard; and Louis Webb, who married Nola Hazzard. During the years
of his residence in San Luis Obispo County, Mr. Routzahn has been widening

SAX LUIS OBISPO COl"X'|-V AXl) I'.XXlkoXS 469

his circle of close friends, and by all with wlmm he has had business or
social relations he is highly respected as one who lias doni.' much for the
county of his adoption.

JOHNSON M. KALAR.— Born near KL-rns. Randolph county, W. \'a.,
September 15, 1864, Johnson M. Kalar came of a line of agricultural pio-
neers, among whom was his grandfather. Jacob Kalar, who owned a farm on
the Cheat river. His father was George W. Kalar, who was born on
Cheat river at the mouth of Pleasant run. on the site of the Battle of the
Wilderness, and who died near the place where he lived. His father and his
uncle had a narrow escape during the Civil \\'ar that is little less than thrill-
ing. It happened that they were hemmed in by both L"nion soldiers and
Confederates, and before they got beyond harm's reach such a hail of bullets
passed above and around them that the tops of trees were taken off as if they
were so much grass before a mower. Johnson's mother, who was born near
Kerns, and who now makes her home in California, was Miss Sarah E.
Phares before her marriage. She became the mother of ten ciiildren, of
whom seven are living.

Johnson Kalar worked industriously nn a farm until he was about se\-en-
tecii, meanwhile attending the public school. On July 21, ISSl, he bought his
time from his father, promising him that if he would let him go into the
world and do for himself he would send back home each year the sum of
one hundred dollars until he had reached the age of twenty-one. The father
needing his services, but also having a thought for the son's future, made
no serious objection to his going, and not many months passed before young
Kalar found himself at Chualar, Monterey count}^, California, with just five
cents left in his pocket. Even this balance he expended for postage to write
to his mother, and having borrowed twenty-five dollars, he set out with obli-
gations to the extent of four hundred and twentj-five dollars staring him in
the face. In three weeks, however, he had earned, by very hard work on the
hay press, the round sum of forty dollars, and thereafter he applied himself
til one kind of work after another, driving a header or a plow, or filling sacks.
but always getting somewhat ahead. He farmed for a while with his uncle.
and then sold out certain interests and removed to Butte county, where he
l)()th farmed and engaged in mining.

Somewhat successful, he came to Soledad with the intention of selling
teams he had left there and returning home to his parents; but unable to
dispose of them to advantage, he w-as forced to remain in California. Thomas
Fall, who owned a well-known San Luis Obispo County ranch, sought the
services of the young colonist and induced him to rent some land and strike
out in agriculture for himself. The first year he lost everything, and in order
to keep going was compelled to give R. M. Shackelford a crop mortgage ; and
from that time on he began to succeed. The first season or two he was able
to pay of? his obligations and to lay aside some money through his raising of
grain and stock, and in 1898 he began to buy land, adding from time to time
until he has seventeen hundred eleven acres in the home place cast of the
Salinas river and four hundred forty acres west of the state highway about a
mile from San Miguel. These ranches would extend for five miles, were it
not for a break of half a mile owned by another party. It was with much
labor and expense that this land has been brought under cultivation, some
|>t it costing twenty dollars per acre to clear from brush and to break.

470 SAX LL'IS OBISPO COUNTY AXD l-:XVlROXS

Mr. Kalar has become greatly interested in horticulture, making a spe-
cialty of almond culture, and on his home ranch has set- out eighty-six and
une-half acres in four varieties of almonds, IXL, Texas Pacific, Nonpareil
and Ne Plus Ultra. The four hundred forty acres west of the river has
heen subdivided into tracts ranging from six to twenty-five acres; one-fifth of
the area has been set to almonds and the balance will be planted in the near
future and sold to homeseefcers. The whole tract lies sufficiently elevated
to make it most excellent for almond raising. Over one hundred acres has
been checked and sown to alfalfa, and to irrigate these lands he has laid over
eleven thousand feet of cement pipe, made under his direction and from
sixteen to eighteen inches in diameter. Five different sets of buildings, seven
large barns and a concrete structure, 54x20x13 ceiling, for a cheese factory,
but now a separator room, attest to the scope of Mr. Kalar's operations. He
has sunk wells, and has installed pumps and gas, water and electrical appara-
tus to operate the machinery on the place. He rents out his dairy, which in-
cludes sixty to seventy cows.

On February 3, 1895, at San Miguel, Mr. Kalar was married to Miss
Picrtha Dake, wdio was born in Oregon, a daughter of John and Harriett
(Bixby) Dake, natives, respectively, of New York and Wisconsin. They
were married in the latter state, and in the pioneer days crossed the plains
with ox teams and wagons to Oregon, where ^Ir. Dake engaged in lumber-
ing and burning charcoal. In 1880 the family moved to San Jose, thence
to Santa Cruz and later to San ]\Iiguel, where the father died. The mother
passed away in Santa Rosa. Mrs. Kalar is the fourth child in a family of
nine children and was reared and educated in Santa Cruz. Mr. and Mrs.
Kalar have had nine children, seven of them living; George is attending
Ileald's Business College at Santa Cruz; Carl is at the Paso Robles high
school ; Marion, Douglas, Hiram, John and Woodrow complete the family
circle. In every sense of the word, Mrs. Kalar has proven a good helpmate,
and a large share of the credit for what they have attained is certainly due
to her. Both are members of the Methodist Church of San Miguel, of which
Mr. Kalar is also a trustee. In political affairs he is an ardent Democrat.

STEPHEN HENRY TOBEY.— Xot every Californian can trace back hi.-
ancestry with the same ease and pride as Stephen Henry Tobey. long a leader
in the enterprising community of Shandon. His great-great-grandfather,
Silas Tobey, was born on November 4, 1704, and died on December 14, 1790.
His great-great-grandmother, Mary Tobey, was born on October 22, 1705,
and died on April 21, two years after the demise of her husband. It may be
guessed that the Tobeys are of English descent, and it goes without saying
that the family tree had its root in the old Puritan stock of historic Plymouth.
Mr. Tobey's great-grandfather was Captain Stephen Tobey, of Sandwich,
Barnstable county, Mass.; and Stephen Henry Tobey possesses the old cap-
tain's log, written while he was master of the ship "Suwarrow," on a trip from
the Orient to New York City. This Captain Tobey was married on Thanks-
giving Day in 1771 to Rebecca Ellis, who died on April 14, 1822; and he died
'■n .March '». ISiS. The grandfather of our subject was Ellis Tobey, who was
Imrii in Maine, on January 6, 1791, and who owned, at one time, the farm now
constituting the site of the State of IMaine Insane Asylum at Augusta. He
married .Mary F,lla Yeaton, a daughter of Phineas and' Phoete (Wentworth)
Yeaton, the latter being a daughter of Timothy and .\niy (Hodgdon) Went-

SAN LUIS or.ispo C()l■XT^■ .\.\n i-.x\[R()xs 471

worth, of Berwick, Me., who settled in Ilallowcll, the same State, in January,
1778. Phineas Yeaton descended from PhiHp and Ducas (Smith) Yeaton,
also of Berwick. The father of Stephen Henry Tobey was Charles E. Tobey,
who was born at Augusta. He was a cabinet-maker and followed that trade
in different States. Drifting South, he settled in Arkansas, where he married
Angelina Poplin, who was born in Georgia of an old Southern family. After
his marriage he took to farming, and owned a farm in the river bottom ne;;r
Little Rock. With his adopted State he served in the Civil War, having
charge of the commissary in his regiment. Later he removed to California
and took up a homestead ; but tiring of this, he went to Texas, where he died
at Nocona, at the age of ninety-six years. The mother died at Dallas, aged
eighty-four. Of their eleven children, eight are still living — one, the subject
of our sketch, being in California. A son, George Tobey, w-as a pioneer in
the Shandon district, where he pre-empted one hundred sixty acres and home-
steaded another block of the same size ; but while farming, he sustained such
serious injury to his ankle through a runaway team that it caused his death.

After the usual farm experience and a taste of the public schools such
as was common to most boys in Arkansas at that time, Stephen Henry, at
the age of sixteen, began to learn the marble cutter's trade, to accomplish
which he was apprenticed to his brother-in-law, T. J. Smith, at Fort Smith,
.\rk. : and at that trade he worked ten years. When, however, in the spring
of 1884. his brother George died in California, he came to the Coast and in
partnership with a brother, Charles E. Tobey, took charge of George's ranch.
In a short time they had paid ofif all the debts. Soon after, they bought out
the other heirs, and together they continued for several years. They also
bought out their father's estate in Shandon. They had now eight hundred
forty acres in a body ; and there, when the brothers dissolved partnership in
1895, Mr. Tobey continued with his proverlnal success. Today he owns six
hundred twenty acres just east of Shandon and two hundred acres of this is
bottom land. He has a flowing artesian well and also a large spring, so that
the entire land can be placed under irrigation. There grain and Durham
cattle are raised, together with the finest of draught horses.

On October 8. 1868, at Charleston in Arkansas, Mr. Tobey led to the altar
Miss Olivia Parks, a belle of the town, and the daughter of Captain William
James Parks, who was born in Mobile, Ala., and who was a farmer in
I'ranklin county, Ark., where he died at the age of fifty-eight. Lie served
as a Confederate Captain in the Ci\il War. and was particularly active as a
Master Mason. Her mother was .\manda Dovety Llouse, who was born in
Alabama and died in Arkansas at the age of fifty-four, the mother of fifteen
ciiildren, of whom seven are still living. Two children ha\e been born to
hless Mr. and Mrs. Tobey's union: Irene, who is now the wife of Clifford
Harnes. a hustling fariuer two miles from Shandon. and who has one child,
Mace; and Katldeen, wIkp is at home. As a trustee and clerk of the Shandon
Scluuil District for the past fifteen years. Mr. Tobey has manifested a pro-
nounced interest in the cause of education ; and it is largely through his efforts
that the very creditable new schoolhouse at Shandon. com])leted in 1914-15
with every modern convenience, was built. Mr. Tobey is a Democrat in
politics, and decidedly progressixe. He finds in his excellent wile a worthy
and sympathetic companion.

472 SAX LTIS OIUSPO forXTY AXI) I'.WIROXS

COL. WILLIAM V. POWELL.— The name of Powell has been a
familiar one in the .Santa Maria \alley since 1881, when Col. William V.
Powell took up a liomestead of eighty acres south of the river on the main
hit^hway Icadiny to the north, now the state highway, and improved a ranch
with l)iiil(lings and fences, living there until the final roll call. He was born on
May 22. 1826, in Pirown county, Ohio, under pioneer conditions: for that was
then considered the frontier. His education was secured in subscription
schools. He early learned the details of farming. From 1830 to 183.T, he lived
in Indianapolis, Ind., going from there to Shawnee Prairie, Tippecanoe county,
where he remained until 1847, when the next move carried him to Miami
county, the same state.

In 1850, we find him a member of a train making the trip to California
with ox teams and ])rairie schooners, a ditficult ;ui(l hazardous journey at that
time. It is supposed that he came with the hope that he might wrest a
fortune from the mines ; however that may be, he remained three years, and
then returned to Indiana. On September 11, 18.S3, he was united in marriage
\vuli Miss .Mary .\. Smith, youngest daughter of John .Smith, a direct descend-
ant of the Pilgrims, whose uncle, Caleb B. Smith, was a member of Lincoln's
cabinet. .\ great-aunt of John Smith was Abigail Adams, wife of President
Adams. This Smith family lived in Virginia during the ^^'ar of the Revolu-
ticHi, and members married into the house of Randolph. The father of John
Smith fought at (hiilford Court House. The Powells are of English descent.
Thomas W., grandfather of Col. Powell, was educated in London and at the
age of seventeen sailed for America, bearing a lieutenant's commission in the
King's Light Horse Cavalry. Twelve years later he deserted the English to
offer his services to General Washington, for what he thought to be a
more just cause. He fought through the Revolution and also under General
Jackson, at New^ Orleans, where he was wounded in his left hand. He died
in Boone county, fnd.. in 183.5. regretting that he could not live long enough
to "lick 'em again."

Colonel Powell was engaged in the peaceful xncation of farming, near
Xenia, now Converse, Ind., when llie Ci\ii War broke out. Tie put aside
tJie plow, turned his teams out to pasture. an<l enlisted in the service of his
country, iieliiing to organize Company I, '>'>t]i Indiana \01unteers. He was
elected captain and served with his command during tiie war, under (General
Sherman. On .May 20, 1865, he was promoted to major; and on being mus-
tered out. was commissioned lieutenant colonel.

.\fter the war, he resumed his farming operations near Remington, Jas-
per county, Ind. In 1871, with his wife and two sons, .\ddison M. and Wil-
liam r,.. and his daughter Eldora, he again came to California, and settled in
Mendocino county, where he engaged in farming and raising stock, and intro-
duced the first Poland-China hogs into that part of the state. It was while
living there that their daughter Ida was born, in 1874. In 1881 he moved to
the northern part of Santa Barbara county, as mentioned, and took up his
homestead, and there he lived until his death. I lis wife had pa.ssed away in
18S5. and after her death he made his home with his daughters. Eldora
became the wife of James Means of Hollister, Ca!.. and has one son. Walter
is now an employe of the Union Sugar Co.. at Bctteravia. Ida M. is Mrs.
11. < i. llitT, and with her family of three daughters and one son lives with her
Inisii.ind .111 the old liomestead. While not a recorded member of the Daugh-

SAX LL"1S OBISPO COTXTY AXL) I'-.XNI R( )XS 475

ters 111' the Revdlution, she is one in fact. Addison .M. Powell was a scout
and i^uide for the L'nited States Military Expedition that e.\|)lore(l the Cop-
per river country in Alaska during 1899-1900. lie wrote "'Trailini,' and
Camping in Alaska." "Echoes From the Frontier," and other stories. He
makes his home with his sister when in Santa Maria \alle\-.

^^'hile a resident of this valley. Colonel Powell was interested in every
good work that came to his notice that had for its object the upbuilding of
this section of the state. He was an advocate of good roads, good schools,
churches, transportation facilities and the establishment of good markets,
and with other pioneers laid the foundation for the present prosperous con-
dition of the A'alley. When he answered the final call he was mourned by a
large circle of friends who valued him for his upright character and his
sterling w^orth.

ALLEN LLOYD THOMAS.— It is no insignificant matter for a man,
trained to a profession and invited by a smiling world whose honors he had
expected to enjoy, to turn aside into other paths and there endeavor to make
his way ; but this is what Allen Lloyd Thomas, by adoption a Californian,
and long an esteemed American citizen and successful rancher, did. his
bold example suggesting more than one valuable lesson to the youth of today.
In historic old Shropshire, England, he was born, in 18.54, the grandson of
John Thomas, who passed his entire life in that country as a farmer, and the
.son of John and Margaret Thomas. The father w^as a tiller of the soil in
Shropshire, but later removed to ^Montgomeryshire, wdiere he followed agri-
culture on a larger scale until his death on July 5. 1903, in his seventy-fifth
year. An uncle. Professor Gethin Davis, was a noted educator and clergy-
man in I'-ngland. for many years the head of the College Llangollen in Shroji-
shire.

.\llcn Lloyd Thomas \vas educated for the bar; but he chose farming
instead, and until his marriage followed that occupation in Montgomeryshire.
His marriage occurred at St. Nicholas Church, Liverpool, on June 22, 1883,
when he was joined in wedlock to Miss Annie Williams, a native of Mont-
gomeryshire and the daughter of Evan W'illiams, wdio was born there, and who
farmed on a large scale. After a most exemplary life, during which he was
for sixty years or more clerk of the parish of Llanfihangel — a position his
father, John Williams, had held before him most of his life— he died at the
fine old age of eighty-one. Her mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Brom-
ley, and she was born and died in Montgomeryshire. Of the eight children
horn in the family, and of the five wdio are living, Mrs. Thomas was the
youngest; and she is the only rejiresentative of her family in California. .She
received her education in England.

After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas came to the L'nited States,
arriving in New York City on July 4, 1883; soon after which they crossed the
continent to California. They settled in Alameda county, where he event-
ually became superintendent of the \\atkin \\'illiams Wynne ranch at Liver-
more, continuing there for five years. Then, with his family, he made a trip
back to England to see his relatives and friends, remaining for two years ;
hut the call of the West was too strong to be resisted any longer and ho
returned to California, and soon afterwards, in 1892, they came south to San
I.uis Obispo County, where he had accepted the management of the Eureka
ranch of six thousand acres.

476 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AXD EX\"IROXS

After he had given several years to the responsibilities of that position,
Mr. Thomas decided to become a landowner and purchased forty acres on !
the Salinas river, which he cleared and improved, setting out an orchard 1
which is now in full bearing condition. This was accomplished in face of |
the trouble made them by jack-rabbits and squirrels, whose depredations I
necessitated, in some cases, replanting a couple of times. Such, however, I
is the (luality of the rich bottom land of their ranch, that their orchard of |
prune trees has come to be regarded as one of the best in the country. In |
advertising their fruit, too, they have been very successful, the B. P. O. E. •
prunes, as they are called, having come to be a commodity in regular demand \
in all the stores. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas also lease other lands where they
engage in stock-raising, making a specialty of breeding fine Shropshire
Smithdown rams, and bringing into California thoroughbred rams and ewes.

When .Allen Lloyd Thomas and his accomplished wife came to Ijuild the |
residence so appropriately named Mount Pleasant, they exercised judgment I
and taste that was soon apparent. There, at least once a year, they used to ]
entertain their friends at a great barbecue and dinner, features of which were j
the toasts and responses, music and the dance, maliing up a program of i
varied pleasure. On all occasions, Mr. Thomas' charm as a conversationalist,
the result of extensive and solid reading, contributed to the happiness of the j
guests. Another source of attraction at the home of this hospitable couple |
was the children, of whom there are five. Marguerite .\nn has become [
Mrs. J. C. Spillman, of Atascadero; while Trevor Lloyd. Florence Genevieve, j
Helen Laurine and Archibald Lincoln assist the mother in her present horti- j
cultural enterprise. \

In King Solomon Lodge, F. & A. M.. of San Francisco, ;\Ir. Thomas was |
made a Mason, and he was also a member of San Luis Obispo Lodge. No. j
322. B. P. O. Elks. lie was one of the founders of the Eureka school district^ j
helped build the first schoolhouse and served as one of the trustees. I'olitically, I
Mr. Thomas was decidedly a Republican. Throughout the county he enjoyed j
a wide acquaintance; but particularly in the county se;it lie was known and
appreciated for his legal knowledge. Esteemed hy all and mourned by many,
he died February 28, 1910.

Since that time Mrs. Thomas, assisted by her sons and daughters, has
continued to operate the ranch with such success that at the L'pper Salinas
Valley Fair, at Paso Robles in 1916, the Thomas prunes and other fruit took '
prizes and medals. In San Francisco, at the Panama-Pacific International
Exhibition, their exhibit received very favorable comment. Mrs. Thomas
and her family are hospitable and generous to a marked degree. They are ad-
herents to the teachings of the ]-~.i)isc(ipal t'liurcli. j

JAMES WILSON GOODCHILD.— A second and tlie only mhcr roprc- j
sentative in California of his generation of the distinguished Goodchild family
of clergymen, lawyers and substantial merchants, which may be traced hack
to the year 1420 and was associated with English gentry, is James Wilson .
Goodchild, the brother of John Thomas Goodchild, who, after having circum- ■
navigated the globe, has settled down to the quiet, but by no means humdrum I
life of a i)rosperous and enterprising Santa Maria X'alley farmer. Born
on .\pril 30, 1855, at East Tilbury, England, where his father, Rev. William
(ieorge Goodchild, was vicar, the grandson of Thomas Goodchild. a clergy-
man of the Church of England, and tlie great-grandson of William Tiionias

SAX LUIS OBISPO COL'XTV AXl) EX\IR()XS 477

j Goodchild, a noted lawyer of his time, James left home, the eighth child in
f his family, at the age of eleven, when his father died at sea on his return from
1 a tour of the world, and embarking at Plymouth went to Port Jackson, or
I Sydney, Australia, with his uncle, Charles Codrington, a stockman with
whom he had been invited to live. To reach there, he sailed around the Cape
I of Good Hope, and on that journey s])cnt diu' hundred se\en days on the
ocean.

He attended St. John's grammar school at Newcastle, Australia; but
[ deciding, when he became fifteen, that he would join his brothers, John, Cecil
f and Harry, in California, he returned to England, travelling alone, via Cape
[ Horn. He thus encircled the globe at a remarkably early age, the return trip
; consuming one hundred days ; during which, from the time the vessel left
Port Jackson until it reached London, it entered no port and made no stops.
I Happily, he found his mother, three sisters and two brothers at the familiar
home place; and with them he remained until 1872.

In his sixteenth year, and when accompanied by his mother as far as
Southampton, he left England again, this time shipping on the steamer
"Tasus" for America and Aspinwall, from which place he crossed the Isthmus
of Panama. A bloody revolution was going on there, and delayed him and
his fellow-passengers for several days ; but he finally reached the steamshij)
"Mahongo," formerly a United States gun-boat, and sailed north to San Eran-
cisco. The voyage on the Pacific took twenty-eight days, and the vessel
stopped at several Mexican ports and San Diego, reaching San Erancisco in
June, 1872. After a few days in that busy city, young Mr. Goodchild came
to Salinas by rail, and thence by stage to the mouth of the Tepesquet, where
his brothers were engaged in sheep ranching. One of these brothers, Harry
Goodchild, became deputy county clerk of Santa Barbara county and diod
in Michigan ; and Cecil practiced law at San Luis Obispo, and died there.

In the fall and winter of 1876-77, James Goodchild started in the cattle
business ; but the terrible drought of the period brought him, as well as thou-
sands of others, adversity, and within a short time he lost hundreds of cattle
His stock was marked with a brand that lie purchased fr. mi his hmtiier. Cecil
— a figure six laid down.

In the more prosperous year, 1887, j\Ir. Goodchild bought his home ranch,

consisting of eighty-seven and a half acres, then a mere stretch of desert, near

the head of the Santa Maria Valley on the bank of the Sisquoc, upon which

he has made all the improvements, creating an area of decided value. '!"o this

I tract he has added some fourteen hundred acres of deeded lands lying in the

I Santa Barbara National Eorest.

j In 1881, James Goodchild was married to Miss Mariantonia Ontiveros,

daughter of Ramon Ontiveros, and a granddaughter of Juan Pacifico Onti-
' veros. a charming lady and devoted wife, who has since died, leaving him with
j seven children : James William, Alexander Ralph, Francis Ramon, Edward
, Alego, Allen Christopher, Eaith, and a son. Thomas Harry, who died at the
I age of seventeen.

1 A gentleman by instinct and culture, and in all his intercourse witii his

i fellow men, and a iiatriotic citizen of independent views in politics, Mr. (umkI-
I child, since he came to the Santa Maria valley, has led a life remarkably quiet
I if contrasted with his early rovings by sea and land. He has not been out
■ of the state since he came here in 1872. and has visited San Francisco onlv a

478 SAX f^riS OBISPO COUXTY VXD EXN'IROXS

few times. He has also never been south of Santa Barbara since pushing into
the interior of California. He has no grandchildren ; but his sons assist him
ably in the management of the little home ranch, seeded largely to alfalfa,
and in his extensive and important cattle business, for which some seventeen
hundred acres are set aside. His intellect keen and his mind well stored,
Mr. Goodchikl has the jiower both of entertaining himself profitably and
interesting others.

JOHN H. POND. — The student of biography cannot help being im-
]jressed with the fact that in all too many cases in life one or another ambitious
and very deserving man or woman has been compelled to tread a pathway
not only such as the)- would not willingly have chosen, but which, as far as
our human ken permits us to judge, they never should have entered upon.
In other words, one who is conversant with human aft'airs must admit that
many persons who are eminently fitted for this or that line of activity or
resijonsible undertaking have been prevented by untoward circumstances from
entering into their reward, at least in this imperfect world. The life of John
11. I'ond, one of the most intelligent citizens of recent years in San Luis
Obispo County, and a man who was always conspicuously active in move-
ments for the uplifting of society, well illustrates these propositions: fur
he had a mind, a studious temperament and a well-balanced judgment,
which should have enabled him to become a jurist of ability and influence,
whereas he was compelled to exert his power as a man of ideals while pursu-
ing plainer vocations, though ])erhaps just as essential as those of the law
and of letters.

F.ut six years before the death of his father, he was born on March 27.
18.M, in Macoupin county, Illinois, of parents who originally came from
Tennessee. He thus had to shift for himself very early; but he took for his
motto "Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well," and so from the very
beginning in school and at work, he stood high among his fellows. Kven
after having finished his formal schooling he continued his studies and wide
reading, with the result that he was generally conceded to be a man of ^\\\k-
rior intelligence and unusual information.

Leaving school he was apprenticed to a saddler and harness-maker: and
so well did he do his work there that it is said that a farmer, on one occasion,
remarked to his master: "I'll buy the harness if you'll let John make it."
Finishing his trade, he made for the great West, crossing the prairies as the
most reliable of several assistants to a man who was leading westward an
immense flock of sheep. Thoroughly surfeited, however, with the work of a
shee])-herder. he left the train at Salt Lake City : nor could he afterwards
bear to have anything to do with sheep. Moving about on his own account
at Salt Lake for a year, he mended harnesses and saddles, and also worked
fur the Cnited States Army forces stationed there.

About 1852 or 1853 he arrived in California, and at Sacramento he plied
his trade as a saddler, maintaining a large shop. He next yielded to the gold
ft\ er and engaged in mining, experiencing there the same alternate success
ami failures as have buoyed and depressed thousands of others. Quitting
the mines he located at Rio \'ista, Solano county, and again opened a harness
shop ami business.

On May 2, 1872, he was married to Mrs. Mary (Lowe) Robinson, who
was burn in Sussex county, X. I., on Sejjtember 17, 1835. Her father

SAX LL'is onispo corx'i'v axd i-:x\'iroxs 479

was the Rev. Benjamin J. Lcnve, wlm was horn near Princeton, the son
of a well-to-do farmer and the .grandson of a Ilolhind cmiL;Tant of the same
name. Benjamin Lowe was educated at Princeton, and was ordained a
i'resbyterian clergyman, after which he preached in New Jersey and Ohio.
On retiring, he migrated to California, and eventually died in San Francisco.
Ilcr mother was Mary (Linn) Lowe, whose birthplace was Harmony Vale, in
Sussex county, N. J., and who was educated at the Moravian Seminary at
I'.cthlehem, Penn., made famous through one of the early poems of Long-
fellow. Mary Linn's father, John Linn, was born in New Jersey. He became
first an attorney and then a Judge of Sussex county, and was finally elected
and re-elected to Congress, dying at Washington during his second term. A
fitting monument has been erected to him in the Congressional Piurial
(iround. Mrs. Lowe died in Ohio, the mother of seven children, only one of
whom, the fourth eldest, is now living. This daughter, Mary, was educated
at Grandeville Seminary, Ohio, and in that town married Charles Robinson,
a native of the same state. He was a merchant, and died in the same town
in which he had his business. After his death, in 1865, Mrs. Robinson came
West to San Francisco, having here a sister, Mrs. ^L C. Hillyer; and six
weeks after her arrival she was married to John II. Pond: and in time she
became the mother of a second son, Harry Fry Pund — the popular under-
sheriff of San Luis Obispo County. She already had one child, Louis, by Mr.
kohinsnn, and he resides in San Francisco.

Air. and Mrs. Pond removed to Ventura, bought some land and farmed
there, but about nine years later transferred their residence to San Luis
( ibispo County, locating at Shandon, where they ])re-empted a hundred sixty
acres, A year later they took up the homestead, now the residence of Mrs.
Pond. It consisted of one hundred sixty acres about ten miles east of Crea-
te m, cm Indian Creek, in the Highland district, and there they went in still
HKire extensively for farming and stock raising. They bought the adjoining
l>ruperty until they owned a ranch of nine hundred sixty acres, a flourishing
center of grain- and stock-rai.sing. Lately some six hundred forty-five acres
<if this property has been sold.

Amid his books and pa])ers, and cnjuying the Cdmjjaninnship nt his de-
voted wife, Mr. Pond spent his last days contented and hapi)y. maintaining
to the end a live interest in public afifairs. lie served as school trustee, and
helped to build the schoolhouse in his district. He died on October 4, 1916,
leaving behind him an enviable reputation as a private citizen.

Having rented much of her property, Mrs. Pond continues to reside on
the home place since her lamented husband's death, devoting her spare time to
works of charity, and participating in the activities of the Presbyterian Church.
.\s a Democrat, she maintains a live interest in politics. No one who meets
and converses with this charming lady will fail to recognize in her a bond
between the present a,ge and a periml in which many of the gentler graces
were particularly cultivated.

CAPTAIN MARCUS HARLOE.— A race of shipbuilders for genera-
tions has been the record of the llarloe family, and that San Luis Obispo
County should profit by the long residence within her borders of Captain
Marcus Harloe augurs well for the possibilities that held him here when he
had traveled much and had met so many opportunities in his earlier life.
Captain Harloe was of English and Scotch ancestry, but was born in Ireland

480 SAX l.riS (JBlSro COL'.XTV AXl) ]:X\lk()XS

near Dublin, March 17, 1833, a son of Alatthew Harloe, for many years a
British revenue officer. Matthew Harloe married a daughter of William H.
Taylor, a Scotch shipmaster of Campbellstovvn, Argyleshirc. whose ship, on
one occasion, was seized by some French pirates ; when he was put to torture
to make him disclose the whereabouts of the ship's treasure, it was discovered
that he was a Mason, and he was at once released and restored to his ship.

In 1847 Captain Marcus Harloe came to the United States, and in 1848
shipped on the "New World" for Liverpool. In 1850 he rounded Cape Horn
oil the "Wisconsin." a sailing vessel from X'ew York bound for San Fran-
cisco; and from the latter point he shipped on another vessel. In 1851 he
was first mate on the river schooner "Fagle," running between Sacramento
and San Francisco, and in 1852 was first officer of the brig "Walcott." Hav-
ing attained his majority, in 1854, Mr. Harloe became master of the schooner
"Louise," in the coasting trade, owning a quarter interest in the vessel, which
he sold in IH^d. Tic then l)ecame half owner in the schooner "r.lack
Prince," which he built, and of which he remained master until the fall of
1859.

On December 20, 1859, Captain Harloe went east and bought the schooner
"V\'il(l Pigeon," in F'ro\idence. R. I., chartered a cargo from Xew York and
sailed for San Francisco, March 20, 1860, via the straits of Magellan. In the
cargo was the material for the steamer "Salinas," the first vessel constructed
by the Pacific Coast Steamship Company. After discharging the cargo at
the foot of Third street in San Francisco, Captain Harloe put the vessel in
the Mexican trade. When the Civil War broke out, he sold the "\\'ild Pigeon"
and took charge of the tugboats "Merrimac" and "Monitor" in San Fran-
cisco bay. Tie was elected harbor master of San I-"rancisco in 1865, and
served efficiently two years and nine months, when he resumed tugboating.

In 1867 Captain Harloe became identified with Santa Barbara county,
when he came to settle up the affairs of the estate of his father-in-law. Isaac
J. Sparks, whose daughter Flora married Mr. Harloe, Aug. 12, 1866. In
1864 he shipped as master of the steam schooner "Gussie," plying between
Carpinteria and San Francisco : later, for three years, from 1870, he was
master of the "Commander" of the HoUaday and Burnham line, and master
of the Pacific I\Iail line from San Diego to Seattle. He was next connected
with the Pacific Coast Steamship Co., as master of the "Ventura" and the
"Constantine." In 1880, Gov. George Perkins appointed Captain Harloe
chief wharfinger at San Francisco, and he filled the position for three years,
after which for some time, until he retired from service, he commanded the
steamer "Santa Maria." running along the coast and to the Sandwich Islands.

In 1875, Captain Marcus Harloe brought his family to San Luis Obi.spo
County and settled them on the Huasna rancho, on a tract that comprised
nine thousand acres of land which he utilized for stock and general farming
purposes. Since that time the Harloe family has been identified with this
county. This rancho was a part of a Mexican grant secured b}' Isaac J.
Sparks and bequeathed to his daughter. Mrs. Harloe. Mrs. Harloe's mother
was .Mary I Ayresi Sparks. Of the union of Captain and Mrs. Harloe eight
eliiJdreii were born : I'annie F,.. deceased ; Rosa S.. who died, aged five : Marcus
•S. : .Archie M. : William George: John D., ;in attorney- in San I'rancisco:
Charles Lew, decease.! : and Flori(a"l., the wife of IVed W ood.

SAX LUIS OBISPO COrXTY AXD KX\IROXS 481

Active in the councils of the Republican party. Captain llarloe was elected
to the State Legislature from his district in 1889; and during his term he
was a member of the committee on commerce and navigation. He served as
supervisor of San Luis Obispo County for two years. During the exciting
campaigns he did excellent work for his party, many times turning defeat into
victory when the contests were close. He was a friend of education and
one of his hobbies was the establishment of tlie union liigh school: and he
aided greatly in securing the passage of a l)ill lo render this plan i)ossil)le.
He served as a school trustee for many years.

It was a matter of pride with Captain Harloe that he held the highest
license ever granted any master of vessels by the United States government.
This permitted him to act as inspector or commander of ships in any ocean
and was added proof of his ability in the management of ships. He was a
Mason and was a charter member of the oldest lodge in San Francisco but
was later transferred to Arroyo Grande Lodge Xo. 171 . V . !k A. M. He was
also a member of San Luis Obispo Chapter Xo. 62, R. .\. M.. and San Luis
Obispo Commandery No. 27, K. T.

After landing in California Captain Harloe became a thorough advocate
of western progress and maintained close connection with maritime and civic
matters until his death, June 28, 1908. at which time the nation and state,
as well as the county of San Luis ( )bisp(), lost one of their most iutluential
citizens.

DONALD C. McMillan.— Few, if any persons familiar with the recent
history of San Luis Obispo and the inner workings of this developing town,
will question the enviable position attained there by Donald C. McMillan, a
native of Delhousie. Restigouche county. New Brunswick, where he was
born on June 29, 1849, the son of James McMillan, who hailed from .Arran,
Scotland. Mr. McMillan's grandfather Donald brought the family from
Scotland to Restigouche county, where he ])ecame a farmer on the shores
of Bale de Chaleurs. James McMillan also had a farm there and eventually
came to California, largely as the guest of his son Donald, dying here some
twenty years ago in McMillan's Caiion. The mother, also a native of Arran.
was Helen Cook before her marriage, and her father was John Cook, who
had made his way to the same country in Xew Brunswick. The mother is
still living, with her two daughters, in San Luis Oliispo, having celebrated her
ninetieth birthday on the 27th of October. 1916.

Nine children were born to James McMillan and his wile. Arnold died
in infancy: James owns a farm in McMillan's Canon, -and resides in San Luis
Obispo ; John is in Wisconsin ; Alexander is a farmer in McMillan's Canon
near Shandon ; Peter owns a farm near the same place, and resides in San
Luis Obispo: while Donald and his sisters Helen, Barbara and Catherine
all reside in the old Mission town. Donald was brought up on a farm
on the Baie de Chaleurs at Delhousie, enjoyed such training as the public
school of that section afforded, and as a lad learned the business of a merchant.

In 1872 he came for a while to San Francisco, and the same fall, for a
few months, to Cayucos, from which place he went to Carson City. Nev..
where he contracted to get out logs and timbers for the mines. Continuing
in this enterprise for two years, he returned to Cayucos, and in 1875 started
a general merchandise store there, the firm being known as Dunn, McMil-
lan & Co. In less than a year he bought out Dunn, and continued the busi-

482 SAX LLIS OClSrO COUNTY AXl) IvWIROXS

ness himself, finally selling a half interest to Grant. Lull & Co. at Cambria,
after which he managed the Cayucos store, as a half-partner, for five years.
Meeting with an accident, and being badly injured, he sold out and went
to Washington Territor}-. where he spent the winter. In the spring he
returned to Cayucos again and once more started, this time on his own
account, in the general merchandise business. He built a store building and
residence, in which he lived and did business until a }ear after the railroad
came to Paso Robles.

In 18S7 he sold liis store: and having previously ])urchased from the
Atlantic & Pacific Railroad Co. 640 acres of land located in a canon (after-
ward named McMillan's Caiion by Colonel Bingham, who surveyed the land
there), he added improxements, and made it an exceedingly promising in-
vestment, only to find that the company could not deliver a clear title, and
that the land must go back to the Government. Then he located a pre-
emption and timber claim of 320 acres ; and settling temporarily on it, made
improvements there, raising grain and cattle and also engaging in dairying.
In those days, the milk was placed in pans and skimmed by hand, and yet
he made good butter and plenty of it. which he shipped to San Francisco,
finding there a ready market. He also bought 160 acres of land adjoining,
and now he has 480 acres, all tillable, and in a body. Grain raising occu-
l)ied him for vears, and he was one of the first to gather his crops with a
cnmhined harvester after it had come into use.

About 1S94 he met with a second accident, and finding himself unable
to do heavy farm work, he became a commercial traveler, representing E. J.
Bowen & Company, the big seed-house in San Francisco, in whose service
he traveled for ten years through most of the Southern States from Georgia
westward, his address and conversational ability easily ingratiating him with
strangers, and making him invaluable to his firm.

In the fall of 1904, on account of Mrs. McMillan's health, he rented his
ranch and moved to San Luis Obispo, where he built a comfortable resi-
dence.- still occupied by them. From here he looks after his varied interests.
Soon after settling in San Luis Obispo he became interested, with sixty to sev-
enty other representative citizens from difierent parts of the county, in the
Daily Telegram Company, publishers of the Daily Telegram, and was induced
to give his time for three years to the financial management of the paper.
He served as president of the company ten years, or until they sold out. The
Telegram was started to advance all good causes, in particular that of
good government and temperance : and it stood for progress and purity.
In 1914 Mr. McMillan again took charge of his farm, and he is still oper-
ating and su|)erintending it, ready at any time to get into harness if it is
necessary, lie runs two teams and puts in about 260 acres of wheat every
year.

While in Cambria Mr. McMillan was married to M^ss Elizabeth Cook,
who was born in Xew Brunswick, a daughter of the late Alexander Cook,
and ;i sister of .Alexander Sterling Cook, who is also represented in this
work. .\ daughter Helen came to brighten their lives; but at the age of
twenty-three years, while attending the San Jose State Normal School, she
Ijecame ill and died, .\lier her untimely death, the bereaved parents adopted
an orphan girl— Miss Ruth l-'onner. now a student at the San Luis Obispo
Hi.gh ."school — upon wlinm they are showering their affections.

-^•^t^^^^

i*^?*-

SAX LL"IS (JlilSPO COUXTV AXI) i:X\lR()XS 485

For years ^Fr. .^^cMillan was a school trustee, first in the Cavucos ami
then in the Shandon district; and in both communities he iiel|)e(i to origan-
ize the Presbyterian Church, long serving as Sunday school superintendent,
and now rendering good service as an elder in the Presbyterian Church at
San Luis Obispo. An active Republican in matters of national politics, Mr.
McMillan has ever proven a public-spirited citizen, while in matters of busi-
ness his word, always as good as his bond, has been a valuable contribution
to forwarding the best interests of the ambitious town.

HERBERT CHARLES SUTTON.— The town of Paso Robles. with
its various lines of activity, has drawm within its hospitable and ambitious
limits many men whose business capacity and fine traits of citizenship would
be a credit to any community in the country. Foremost among these is
Herbert Charles Sutton, dairyman, auctioneer, grain buyer, liveryman and
jironioter of the city's most substantial interests. A nati\-e of Xew Zealand,
he was born in Thornberry, March 6, 1882, a son of Thomas Sutton, w-ho
came from south Lincolnshire, England, and removed to New Zealand at
the time of the first gold excitement. He landed at Auckland from a sailing
vessel in 1859, followed mining for a time and then turned his attention to
farming and stock-raising. Air. Sutton was an importer of fine horses and
cattle from England and Scotland, and in the early days took many prizes
and medals. He died • when his son, Herbert C, was only six months
old. His wife, Jessie Reed, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, a direct
desccndent of Rob Roy. Her grandfather was William Abercrombie. Mr.
Reed started with his family to New Zealand, but before he reached there,
his destination being Auckland, he died in 1849, a few days before landing.
Mrs. Sutton was reared in that country and lived there until her death in
1893, when her son was but eleven years old. Of the union of Mr. and Airs.
Sutton seven children were born, five of wliom are now living. Of these, only
Herbert C. and Miss .-Mice Catherine Sutton, of I'aso Rohlcs, are resitlents'of
I alifornia.

Herbert C. Sutton was the youngest member of the family and was
reared in Xew Zealand, attended the public schools of that place, and after
the death of his mother made his home with his sister Alice. Then he went
to live with an uncle, George Sutton, a farmer. When he was seventeen,
with two brothers he purchased a farm of three hundred acres in Winton
district, and began raising cattle and sheep. Two years later, after a suc-
lessful business, they sold out and returned to the home farm, which they
ran until 1908, selling out after Herbert C. had decided to come to California.

In May, 1908, Mr. Sutton landed in San Francisco and a few weeks
later came to Paso Robles and purchased four hundred eighty acres in the
Adelaida district, where he raised grain and stock until 1910, when he sold
"lit and bought the Paso Robles Livery Stable, which he conducted in connec-
tion with the auctioneering business. He later bought out the other livery
-tables and managed a big force of men, and for three years was very suc-
essful; then he traded his livery business for a fine orange grove in River-
side county, and went there to live and further improve his property. Eight-
>en months later he sold his grove at a good profit, and returned to Paso
Kobles and opened a livery stable. He ran this until July, 1915, when he sold
"t and started in the dairy business. While in the livery business, he begar.
Inning grain and has since carried on that line of industry. He represents

4S6 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

r,ali'<iur-(iutliric & Co. and the Sinsheimer Co., and for them m I'Jlb he
bought a hundred thousand sacks of grain. In Februar}^ of 1910 he opened
Sutt'on's Dairy, two miles south of the city on the state highway, on the
old Hogg ranch, and there he has a fine herd of seventy milch cows of the
Durhanfand Holstein breeds. For delivery, he uses a Ford truck. He does
a wholesale and retail business, covering his territory morning and evening.
His milk is handled in the most sanitary and up-to-date manner, and always
passes the highest test.

In Paso Robles occurred the marriage of Herbert C. Sutton and Miss
Bessie Moncks, a native of Salem, Mass. They have two children, a son,
Ernest Walter, and a daughter, Elizabeth Alice. Mr. Sutton is a member
of the Chamber of Commerce, and in 1916 was vice-president of the Upper
Salinas Valley Fair Association. He was made a Mason in Paso Robles
Lodge No. 286, F. & A. M., and is Senior Warden of the lodge. He is a
member of the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Sutton belongs to the Christian
Church. In politics he is a Republican.

MARY VIGNETTE LEHNER.— Since January 1, 1907, the office of
superintendent of schools of Santa Barbara county has been filled most satis-
factorily by Miss Mary Vignette Lehner, who was selected solely on her
merits as a teacher with progressive ideas. She was not a candidate for the
office, nor did she know that her name had been mentioned at the county con-
vention held by the Democratic committeemen until notified of her selection
by some of the members, and she accepted only with the understanding that
she need not "do politics" — further proof of her fitness for the position. Dur-
ing her incumbency the office has been most economically conducted; great
advancement has been made by all the schools in the county, all of which
have been placed on a strictly business basis and raised to a higher standard
of efficiency. She works hand in hand with the trustees and teachers, and is
greatly admired by the pupils of all ages. On assuming the duties of the
position. Miss Lehner at once began systematizing the detail work of the
office She esta1)lished rules, and insisted on their enforcement. The efficiency
of her administration is evidenced by her re-election for a third term.

Mary V. Lehner was born in Galena, 111., a daughter of Samuel and Mar-
garetha (Burke) Lehner, of German-Swiss descent. Her education was re-
ceived in the public schools of Santa Barbara, where she graduated from the
higli school in 1888. Her public schooling was supplemented by three uni-
versity extension courses under Prof. Morse Stephens of the University
oi California, and summer school work there from time to time. She taught
her tirst school in the Ballard district in 1889, where she remained four
years. This was followed by one year as principal of the Goleta school, after
wliK-li she taught in the grammar schools of Santa Barbara, and then as
tc:i,-hcr of history in the sixth and seventh grades, and of Batavia work in the
ihird and fourth grades one year. She taught two years in the eighth grade,
afu-r which she was principal of the Webster and Garfield schools of that city.
.Hie serxed as supervisor of drawing in all the grades of the city schools for
SIX niunths, until her election to her present office, when she carried the county
by a gniiil majority over her opponent. She is a member of the W'oman's
Club in Santa I'.arbara and the Time-to-Time Club of Los Angeles. She
belongs to the Church of Christ. Scientist. In politics Miss Lehner is a
Denioerat. altliougli in her school work she recognizes no party line.

SAX LUIS OP,ISr(l CilUXTY AND EXVIROXS 487

MRS. LELIA PENWELL STILL.— Mrs. Lclia Penwell Still, of An-
nette, is a cultured and eminently practical woman. She was born at Placer-
ville, Eldorado county. Her father was Samuel A. Penwell, who was born in
Ohio in 1832. He graduated from an Ohio college and started, at the
age of eighteen, in 1850, to cross the plains to California. Arriving on the
Coast, he mined for a short time, and then took up teaching. While thus
employed he married Miss Lelia Lane, a native of Illinois, who was also a
teacher, and who had come to California with her friends, when nineteen
years of age. crossing the plains in 1866. After his marriage, Mr. Penwell
taught school and also served as county superintendent of schools in Eldorado
county. He then came to Oakland and to Berkeley ; and as secretary of the
Berkeley Land Improvement Co. he laid out West Berkeley, now a part of
the university city. Still later, he served as justice of the peace; but his
health failing him, he came to live with Mrs. Still, at whose home he died,
in 1914, in his eighty-second year. Her mother died at Oakland, in 1872,
in her twenty-ninth year. Of their four children, three grew to maturity :
Lelia E. (Penwell) Still; Mrs. Grace Burdick, of Ohio; and Mrs. Mary Rose-
brugh. of Xew York.

As a child Mrs. Still was educated in the Berkeley public schools, and
after graduating from the high school of that city, she taught school at La
Panza in 1887. and then at Annette. On August 26, 1896, she was married
at Berkeley to E. I\I. Still, a native of Blue River, Neb., who was born in
May, 1863, while his parents were crossing the plains. He Avas a son of Dr.
Thomas A. Still, of La Panza. and a brother of A. A. Still, of Annette. E. M.
Still was associated with his brothers, A. A. and William Still, as a pioneer
sheepman of Annette, until 1895. when they dissolved partnership. The low
price of sheep in the year 1893 caused such a loss that it practically deprived
them of their holdings. Thereupon Mr. Still returned to the old homestead
at Annette, and established there his headquarters, farming initil ill health
forced him to give up. In October, 1915, he died.

For the last twelve years Mrs. Still has operated the ranch, raising
grain and stock, on a farm comprising nineteen hundred acre.s. well adapted
for wheat and barley. She raises Durham and Holstein cattle, her brand being
a connected L-P. She leases out some of her land, and the tenant sows about
three hundred fifty acres a year to grain, while she puts in about four hun-
dred acres. In the fall of 1916, she was fortunate in getting $2.67>4 per cen-
tal for her wheat, that being then the highest price known here since the Civil
War. Mrs. Still attributes no small degree of her success to the able assist-
ance of her ranch manager, Percy J. Catling, who is a close observer of agri-
cultural conditions. Mr. Catling is a native of England, but has been a resi-
dent of the vicinity of Annette since 1894. The ranch is watered by springs
aiifording an ample supply for the stock in different fields ; and from a spring,
water is piped to the house and barns.

Three children are the joy and the promise of Mrs. Still's life: Grace,
who is attending the San Luis Obispo Polytechnic ; Ernest, who is in the Syra-
cuse, N. Y., high school, majoring in chemistry ; and Ellen, who is in the
hrst year of the high school at home. A trustee of the Annette school dis-
trict, :\Irs. Still has been clerk of the board for over six years. In politics,
she is a Republican. Mrs. Still is a member of the Episcopal Church.

488 .SAX LLIS OP.ISIT) COUXTV AXD l-:X\IROXS

HON. JONATHAN VINTON WEBSTER.— It is an old saying that
a good man never dies, and there is another sentiment, equally interesting
and true, that no energy or power in the universe is ever lost. Both aphorisms
arc admirably illustrated in the life of Jonathan \'inton Webster, the far-
seeing citizen, so long one of the most prominent men in his county and a
thinker now recognized as having been far ahead of his times. A native of
ColTee county. Tennessee, where he was born in July, 1830, Jonathan was the
grandson of Jonathan Webster, a colonel in the War of 1812, who was later
a member of the state legislature. The father was Joel H. W'ebster, a Ten-
nessee educator, and the mother was Lucretia Smith, the daughter of a black-
smith of Coffee county. While Jonathan was yet a child his father died.
The lad was reared on a farm and educated at the local public schools. \\'hen
a yi)Uiu' man he came to Missouri, and then to Arkansas, and from that state,
in 185v^, with nineteen other young men, he set out for California. There
were ox te;'.ms and wagons to haul the provisions, but there was no motor-
power to carry the passengers, and so the young fellows walked all the way.

Arriving in California, young Webster mined for a while, after which
he bciught some redwood land near Oakland and made shingles and shakes,
and in that way got his start. He attended college at Alameda, paying his
way; and when he had completed his education, he became editor of the
California Patron, published in San Francisco, and in its day the leading
farm journal of the state. He also took a part in the directorship of the
Grange Bank at Oakland, and in addition handled more or less real estate.
He purchased a farm at Fruitvale, where he built a residence, set out a cherry
orchard, and raised other fruits and stock.

Ills health becoming poor, however, he sought a change of climate,
and this led him to come to San Luis Obispo County, where, with Messrs.
Phillips, Cressy, Ambrose and Adams, he bought the Huer-Huero ranch,
which was soon subdivided to suit the wants of incoming settlers. Mr.
Webster kept his home ranch, improved it and farmed there, selling his
lancN and interests in Alameda.

In 1882, he moved to Creston from Oakland, where he continued farm-
ing and stock-raising, and built a large, beautiful residence in the style of
Southern architecture, with a wide porch running around it. For a while he
also engaged in the nursery business here. W'hat particularly interested him,
however, was all that pertained to the building up of the locality around him.
to attain which he was willing to help along all worthy movements. He was
an organizer, for example, of the Citizens Bank of Paso Robles, and became
one of its directors, and at one time he was president of the State Grange.
He was a prominent Populist, and rose to such distinction in that party's
ranks that he was their candidate for governor when James Budd was
elected. He was super\isor of the county for two terms, and in the admin-
i.stratiun of that office evinced clear-sighted and advanced views. These
views pertained to ])olitics, sociological conditions, and even to farming; and
he was wide-awake to anything that would really improve the condition of
the jK-nple. I'hi.s was si)eeifically illustrated a few years ago when he advo-
catf<| state highways, and put forth the contention that California never
wiiuld develop as it should until it had great thoroughfares stretching from
north to south and through the interior valleys. His most extreme step, per-
liaps, was in the advocacy of state ownership of public utilities, and not merely
St.ite ownership, Init municipal as well.

SAX LUIS OBISPO COLXTV AX I) l-.XNIROXS 491

.Mr. Webster was a many-sided man— a fact evidenced by his ability as
a writer. He penned one or two dramas, and wrote a couple of true Cali-
fornia stories, as well as poems. One of these tales was called "The Hermit's
Home." but nearly the whole edition of this, as well as others of his writings,
was destroyed in the great San Francisco fire. He even had two books under
way when he died, the one being entitled "The King's Last Consort," and
the other, "The Message from Stellar World." At one time he served in the
State Senate from Alameda county, and in 1879 he was a member of the state
constitutional convention.

Jonathan A\'ebster was twice married. His first wife was Sarah .\.
Howard, by whom he had four children, three of whom are living: \\'. H.
Webster, of Hawthorne, Nev. ; E. C. Webster, of Oakland ; and Nellie, now
Mrs. Clark, of Los Angeles, to each of whom Air. W'ebster gave the best edu-
cational advantages possible. His second marriage occurred in San Luis
Obispo in 1908, when he was joined to Mrs. Rosa E. (Scott) Keyser, a
native of Wilson county, Kansas, and a daughter of Johnston Scott of Iowa.
Her grandfather was a Dr. Scott, of Scotland, who was a graduate in medi-
cine from that country and became a practicing physician in Iowa, after
which he returned to Scotland, where he died. Her father, naturally a thor-
ough mechanic, became a machinist and an engineer, as w-ell as a farmer,
and was one of the few early ranchmen, in Wilsdii county, who had a black-
smith shop and machine shop. He alsn ran mie of ilic first threshing
machines in Kansas. In 1883 he came with his family to California, stopped
for a time in Santa Cruz county and then moved to San Luis Obispo Count_v
and located at Creston in 1885, where he worked as machinist and engineer.
llcr mother was Elizabeth Brown, a native of Missouri and a granddaughter
of a pioneer of that state who traced his ancestry back to Plymouth Rock
and the landing of the Pilgrims. She died when Mrs. Webster was twelve
years old. In a family of nine children, eight of whom are still living, Mrs.
Webster was the fifth in order of birth, and with most of the others she was
educated in the public schools in Kansas; at Seattle, Wash.; and at San Jose,
California.

By her first marriage with A. Keyser, Mrs. Webster became the inoliier
of three children. Augustus Keyser, who assists her with the ranch and is a
clever mechanic; Elza, a blacksmith at Chino; and Oscar, who died at the
age of sex-enteen. By her marriage with .Mr. Webster she was lilessed with
one child, Jonathan Vinton Webster,- Jr.

In October, 1912, after a life of singular usefulness, Mr. Webster was
stricken with paralysis, although he retained his mental faculties and his
speech and was able to walk again. The second afifliction seized him on .\pril
29, 1913; and on May 2, he passed away. In later years Mr. Webster became
an active member of the Progressive Republican party. He was a charter
member of Brooklyn Lodge, F. & A. M. of Oakland, served the lodge as its
-second Master and become prominent in Masonic circles of the state; and
he was therefore buried with all Masonic honors, being laid beside his
mother in Mountain View Cemetery. Since the death of her husband, Mrs.
Webster resides on the home ranch, and she never tires of singing the
praises of the man whom state and county also were pleased to honor. She.
too, is a ReiHiblican and strives t(j do Iier public duty at all limes.

4<;_' SAX l.riS (tl'.ISI'O COUNTY AND HXVIRONS

AUGUSTE DUBOST.— I'.Mth Roljinson Crusoe and the Xa])r>Ieons of
finance miglil well he excused if, on meeting Auguste Dubost, and learning
the very interesting story of his life, they had felt a sudden call to look to
their laurels : for the well-known resident of Adelaida, when thrown upon
his own resources, showed no little ingenuity in adjusting himself to fate,
and when finally given a chance to invest his native tact, brain and muscle,
produced for himself a competence which would be a credit to almost any
man. I'.orn in Cherbourg, Normandy, France, on August 4, 1848, Auguste
Duhnst was the son of Jean Duhost, a contractor and builder, who later took
to farming and continued to till the soil until his death. His mother was
.\nnie (Etasse) Dubost, a native of the same town, in which she also died,
'i'wo children, a boy and a girl, were born to this worthy couple, but Auguste is
the only one of the family now living. He was reared in his native place,
attended school there, and learned the trade of a wheelwright ; and when the
Franco-Prussian War commenced, he joined the Army of the Loire, and
served as a corporal under General Chanzy, receiving the Legion of Honor
medal as a reward for distinguished service in battle. He was wounded in the
right hand through the bursting of a shell.

In 1872, young Dubost emigrated to the United States, locating at St.
Louis, where he worked at his trade, afterwards establishing himself in a
blacksmith's shop at Kahoka. Four years later he took a trip to the Black
Hills, but in a short time he went to Cheyenne. The same year he reached
San Francisco, and a few months later took passage on a sailing vessel for
the Sandwich Islands. There, for five years, he labored as a smith, but at
the beginning of the eighties returned to France by way of San Francisco
and .New York.

On July 12, 1880, ^Ir. Dubost was married in the old town of Cherbourg
to Miss Pauline Duquesne, who was born near his birthplace, the daughter
of Louis and Jane (Rouxel) Duquesne. They were farmers, and the parents
of six children, among whom she was the youngest and is now the only one
in America.

Six months after their marriage. Air. Dubost and his bride sailed for
Honolulu, where he once more hung up his sign as a blacksmith. In 1882
however, he came back to California, and almost immediately located at
-Adelaida, where he began farming, having bought out a claimant and pre-
emjjted a hundred sixty acres in the heart of the district. He paid six hun-
dred dollars for the right of possession, and then purchased a colt; and by
these two transactions he almost exhausted his means. He put up a black-
smith's shop, however, the first of its kind in Adelaida, and was busy from the
start: but inasmuch as people around him had no money and were unablc
to pay for his work, he often received nothing for all the labor, and is still
waiting, in some instances, to be paid. In one case, he received a colt in
li'iuidation of his claim. Cnder these conditions, he decided to quit the forge.
and took up farming.

i>iibost had now two colts but no harness, and to help himself under
this difticulty he bought a raw hide, which had been hanging up for five or
six > ears, and set to work to make the gear. There was some difference be-
tween the working of metal and the manipulation of leather, but he per-
sisted in the experiment and in time had an outfit, substantial and practical,
ii nut \ery ornate. .Mr. Dubnst then went to Cavucos. .-md there called

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND KWIRONS 493

upon W. Watson, who kept the local store; but when he asked him for
credit to the extent of two sacks of flour, the latter's reply was anything but
inspiriting. "I have flour enough, and to sell," said Watson, "but not exactly
at that price." Su Mr. Dubost returned home without the flour, a sadder
and a wiser man. He hated to meet his waiting wife, but when he did so he
pluckily told her that he had no intention to allow her to starve : he would
get together the few turkeys and chickens he had bought with the ranch,
and while she was disposing of the same to neighbors, he would go back to
the Islands where he had left a wlmle Int of friends and a position was await-
ing him.

But something better was reserved for so doughty a man, and the next
day he- had an experience that turned the tide of his depressing afifairs. While
Auguste was tinkering at the blacksmith shop, a man named Ed Smith
passed that way; and looking in, he asked the young Frenchman how he
liked the country. "To the Devil with it!"' said Dubost, and added a few
words of indignant explanation. Ed replied that the country was good
enough, and that just such fellows as Auguste should remain in it, conclud-
ing his statement with the encouragement that he was going to Cayucos next
day and would see to it that the storekeeper Watson afforded the w-ould-be
rancher all the credit that he needed. Dubost w-as scarcely in the mood to
entertain the prospect of relief, but his more sensible wife, who had been
reared on a farm in sunny l*"rance. advised him to avail himself of Ed's back-
ing, saying that she would like to try the experiment for a year at least. The
industrious couple, as a result, set to work day and night, and while by no
means rich at the end of the first year, they did have something definite to
show for their effort and sacrifice. The real reward and inner satisfaction
came within less than a decade ; for in 1901 Dubost bought out the very store
in Cayucos w^here, to his embarrassment and pain, he had once been refuse(l
a few shillings of credit, paying for the stock and building no less than six-
teen thousand five hundred dollars.

In 1889, Auguste Dubost started the first store at Adelaida. soon bring-
ing the post office within the establishment. He resigned office as post-
master in 1904. Meanwhile he had homesteaded and improved a hundred
sixty acres in Cholame valley, which he sold in 1914. In 1897 he bought out
the claimant of the old Sunderland mine which had been abandoned. It
had been opened up originally about 1872. In the early days a Frenchman
owned and operated the mine, and it is stated that lie sold the mine for
fifteen thousand or twenty thousand dollars and, having a snug fortune, set
out for France to enjoy the rest of his days with his old friends. However,
on not reaching France, his friends traced him from California to Now York
City; and there all clue to his whereabouts disappeared, although it was sup-
posed at the time he was accompinied by an acquaintance. On obtaining
possession of the quicksilver mine, Mr. Dubost opened it u]) an<l with ciiarac-
teristic enterprise he built two retorts, and so handled the paying ore that it
showed good returns. He operated the Dubost mine successfully until 1900,
when he sold it to the Klau Company for a very neat sum. He next bought a
store in Cayucos, which he managed for a year; but in the fall of 1902 he
returned to Adelaida and engaged in farming and stock-raising, which he
has continued ever since. He makes his headquarters at the Bellevuc Ranch,
about five miles west of .Adelaida, amid some four thousand two hundred

494 SAX LI- IS oniSFO COUXTV AXD EXMROXS

acres of well stocked farm land; while he also owns a couple of ranches at
Adelaida, embracing six hundred acres devoted to grain and stock, in the
management of which he is assisted by his son, Frank. Two other children
blessed the union of this deserving couple : Nathalie, who died at the age of
twentv-scvcn, and Alfred, the merchant at .Adelaida. who is also i)ostmaster at
that place.

In 1903. ^Ir. and Mrs. Dubost made a trip to France, and a few j^ears
later thev repeated the delightful experience. In 1911, Mrs. Dubost also
returned alone to her native country on a brief trip, on account of business
matters connected with the Duquesne estate. While in Honolulu, Mr. Dubost
was made a Mason ; and he is also a member of the Odd Fellows. A Demo-
crat in politics, he has refused local office. His sun. Frank, is school trustee
of the Sunderlaiid district.

.\11 in all, Auguste Dubost and his excellent wife have lived and toiled
in such a manner as to entitle them to both the respect and the good-will of
their neighbors, which is assuredly theirs. The writer of this article had the
pleasure of visiting the Dubost home, at Bellevue ranch, and saw where the
house and farm buildings nestle beautifully in the foothills of the Santa
Lucia mountains, on a ridge sloping gently to the north, giving a picturesque
view of the surrounding country of .-Vdelaida which induced the owner to give
it the name of Bellevue.

-Mr. and Mrs. Dub(jst are \ery entertaining and kind-hearted; their place
is apparently surrounded with a charm, and fortunate is the individual who
has the privilege of enjoying their hospitality.

CALVIN R. DRUMM. — .An employee uf the county of Santa Barbara
in the fifth supervisoral district, Calvin R. Druinm. of Orcutt, is engaged in
the care of waste oil in the Orcutt field, in the Santa ^Maria valley. This
oil is used for road purposes, and its salvage is a considerable factor in the
furtherance of public economy. Calvin R. Drumm was born near Indepen-
dence, Jackson county. Mo., December 30, 1848, a son of Benjamin H. and Jane
M. (Smith) Drumm, both natives of Kentucky, who farmed in Missouri, and
later became pioneers of California, crossing the plains with ox teams in 1852,
and settling in Sonoma county, where the following nine years were spent in
raising grain and stock. In 1861, the father went to Texas, but returned to
California, after four years, through ]\Iexico. coming back to Sonoma county,
and farming there three years. The next six years were spent in Monterey
county; and in 1874 the family became residents of the Santa Maria valley,
in Santa Barbara county, where the father died at the age of eighty-four and
the mother at eighty-two years.

Calvin R. Drumm followed the movements of his parents from place
to place and gave what aid he could from year to year until he struck out
for himself. He received but a common school education ; but the principles
of industry and thrift were inherited from his parents, and he took advantage
of opportunities that came his way to get a start in life. He has lived in the
\\ est irom a child of two years of age. has undergone hardships and disap-
I)ointments. and is today respected by all who know him. He has been engaged
in farming and stock-raising for years, and is now employed by the board
of supervisors in the Orcutt oil fields in pumping the waste oil into tanks;
nn.l this is used for road-making. Over thirteen thousand pounds were thus
applied during the year 1915.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 497

Mr. Drumm was married on Deceml:)er 9, 1876, to Miss iNIary Norris. Ten
children were born to them. Louis S. is with the Orcutt Mercantile Company ;
Susie B. is the wife of W'yatt Wiley of Fillmore; Grace is now Mrs. Brown of
Santa Paula; Evalina is married to Walter Hughes of Fullerton ; Albert L. is a
teamster in Orcutt ; Henry and Eugene are with the Orcutt Mercantile Com-
pany: and Ellen. Bennie and Edith reside in Orcutt with their mother.

MR. AND MRS. MYRON H. BROOKS.— The life which this narrative
sketches began in Lebanon, Linn count}'. Ore., May 30, 1853. and closed in
Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo County, April 29, 1914. Within these years
is a record of much accomplished for the benefit of his fellow men, many
improvements introduced of lasting value to his locality, and substantial inter-
ests established that left his family in comfortable circumstances at his death.
Myron H. Brooks was a westerner by birth and from boyhood was in accord
with western methods. His father. Rev. Joshua Brooks, was born in Huron
county, O., and from there went to Iowa and later to Texas ; from which
state, in 1850, he crossed the plains and mountains to Linn county, Ore.,
remaining there for some years and then coming to California and locating
in Sutter county. In 1881, he came to San Luis Obispo County. In 1890 he
died near Modesto, aged seventy years. Pie was a Baptist preacher and was
ordained at the Ecclesiastical Council of the Baptist Church at Nicolaus,
Sutter county, California, in August, 1867. He married Mary Hackley, who
was born in Indiana, a daughter of George Hackley, who moved from Ken-
tucky to Indiana and thence, with ox-teams, to Oregon.

The families on both sides of his house were typical pioneers, and it
was but natural that Myron H. Brooks should inherit those traits so familiar
to western civilization. He was the oldest of seven children, and received
his education in the schools of the pioneer days in Sutter county, whither
he was brought by his parents in 1860. He grew up to farm work and helped
his father in the raising of grain and stock on the three hundred twenty acres
he had leased.

In 1881, his health being pour, M. 11. I'.rouks came to Paso Robles and
engaged in the real estate business; he also located a homestead of one hun-
dred sixty acres and pre-empted one hundred sixty acres near Union, while he
bought eighty acres adjoining and Mrs. Brooks bought one hundred sixty
acres, making a total ownership of five hundred sixty acres of fine land as
well as some lots in the Bay cities. He became a factor in the development
of the various interests in this section, and was a stockholder and a director
in the Farmers' Alliance Business .Association. Lie was a prominent and well-
posted Mason and Past Master of Paso Robles Lodge No. 286. F. & A. M..
and a member of the Royal .Arch Chapter in San Luis Obispo. He also
served as inspector of the forty-ninth Masonic district of this jurisdiction.
lie was a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In
IHilitics. he w.is a 1 )emocrat, but with no aspirations for office. When a
vdung man he joined the Baptist Cluirch. and always lield to that religious
belief.

On Januarv 1. ISS'', in the Cniuu district, this county, occurred the mar-
riage of .Myron II. I'.moks with X'lrginia \i. Sawyer, born near the Natural
llridge, Rockbridge county, Old \irginia, a daughter of John Sawyer. The
latter was also born in Rockbridge county. A'irginia. and was a blacksmith
ilure. Later he reinoved to the Ohio river region, where he continued his

498 SAX LLIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EX\"1R()XS

trade: thence to llartford City. \\'. \'a. ; and finally to the >>\] region of
Volcano, where he made the lieavy oil well tools and did a large Ijusiness.
He came to San Luis Obispo County, Cal., in 1885, settled on a ranch in
the Union district, and ran a blacksmith shop at Estrella. He died on his
ranch in l'X)l. His father, also named John Sawyer, was a blacksmith, and
was of Holland-Dutch ancestry. John Saw^yer, Jr., married Hannah Fulwider,
born in Au.gusta county, Va., a daughter of John Fulwider, a miller by trade,
who made the trip to California in the fifties by way of Cape Horn during the
gold excitement. Afterwards he was engaged in stock-raising in Mendocino
county, when he disappeared ; the only clue found was a hat pierced with
bullet holes, left <in the Eel river. Mrs. Brooks' mother still lives in Paso
Robles, aged eighty-six years. Six of her children grew to maturity: \'irginia
E., wdio became Mrs. M. H. Brooks; Mary Alice, Mrs. Hanson ^^'. True:
(jeorge M., who died in 1911 ; Isaac, who resides in Paso Robles: Charles E.,
who died in 1882. aged twenty years: and Kate, of Paso Robles.

Virginia E. Sawyer was reared in \\'est \'irginia, attended the public
schools and Belpre Academy at Belpre, O., and in 1885 came to Union, this
county, where she was married to Mr. Brooks. Since the death of her husband.
Airs. Brooks leases her ranch and makes her home in Paso Robles, where she
owns a comfortable residence on Twelfth and Chestnut streets. She has two
sons, John Clinton of San Francisco and Charles Elbert, who resides with his
mother. Mrs. Brooks is a member of the Congregational Church. She is
liberal and kind-hearted, as was also her husband, and is a typical western
woman. In politics, she favors the Democratic party.

WILLIAM B. PRICE.— A pioneer who reached California only after
much privation and personal sacrifice, and one who really had something to
do with the very foundation of things here, especially in the early develop-
ment of San Luis Obispo county, was John M. Price, popularly and affec-
tionately known as I'ncle John Price, a sketch of whose life is given else-
where in this work. He was the father of William P.. I'rice, the enterprising
rancher of Paso Robles.

William B. Price, the fourth youn,gest of the family, was born at Pizmo.
A])ril 19, 1866. He was brought up on the Pizmo ranch and attended the
local public school. He learned the stock business under his father's guid-
ance, and for several years remained at home to give a helping hand. When
he finally pushed out into the world, it was to go to San Francisco in the
employ of the Humane Society.

In 1898, at the outbreak of the Spanish-American W'ar. William volun-
teered as a member of Company L, of the 14th United States Infantry ; and
June 10, 1898, he was commissioned a corporal, and was soon despatched for
service in the Philippine Islands. He participated in the battle with the in-
surgents at the Manila outposts February 5, 1899, and took part in the assault
on and capture of Santa Cruz, April 10. i899. He was also in the thick of the
fight at Pagsanjan. .\pril 11. 1899. and was in the Battle of Zapote River, June
13, 1899. \\'hen he was finally mustered out, August 16, 1899, his discharge
testified to "excellent service" and to his being "honest and faithful."

After his return to California, Mr. Price went to the Pizmo ranch to
recuperate, and there remained for eight months. Then he went to Cananea,
Sonora. Mexico, and entered the emplov of I. B. Brethett. serving as assistant
mana.ger of the h.nel there. .\t the end of seven vcars he resigned, and then

SAX LUIS OBISPO COl'XTV AXI) 1-.X\'1R()XS 400

eiicfaged in prospecting in the Yaqui river country. He had a good gold pros-
pect, and also one for silver and copper in the Panama mine, which had al-
ready been worked and which he now owns; but the Yaqui Indians were so
hostile that he was compelled to abandon everything there.

He then went to Douglas, Ariz., where he worked for the smelter com-
pany, and while there married Mrs. Mary (Clark) Oaks, who was born in
Corralville, Johnson county, la. By her first marriage Mrs. Oaks had had
one child, John C, who is now a junior at the University of California. Pro-
ceeding to San Diego, Mr. Price was for three years in the employ of Carl
Leonardt, the contractor, at the end of which time he resigned and came home
to take charge of his mother's ranch. This responsibility he' fulfilled until
her death in the fall of 1912.

In January, 1913, Mr. Price removed to Paso Robles, where he engaged
in the raising of alfalfa and stock on seventeen and a half acres, along the
Salinas river, on Riverside avenue, within the city limits. He sunk a well
four hundred feet deep, and soon had a wide area of finely irrigated alfalfa,
and there he may be found today in the center of an agricultural equipment
modern and first-class in every respect, a genial host and a patriotic citizen.
with many things to be proud of, yet enjoying nothing more than the mem-
ory of his father's service as a pioneer.

CON DONOVAN. — Cornelius Donovan, more familiarly known as Con
Donovan, is an extensive landowner and enterprising capitalist who, because
he was never afraid of hard work and was always ready to adopt the most
progressive methods, and thus keep fully abreast of the times, is today enjoy-
ing both leisure and comfort as a retired farmer. He is a native of county
Cork, Ireland, where he was born nearly seventy years ago, a member of a
longlived family. His father, Daniel Donovan, was a farmer in the same
county, who lived to be past eighty: while his grandfather, Con Donovan,
also a farmer of that district, attained an equal age. Plis mother, too. formerly
Miss Fallen McCarty, reached more than her ninetieth year.

The first child among eight in the order of birth. Con Donovan grew up
nil his father's farm and remained with the old folks until he was twenty-six-.
Immigrating to America, in 1875, he came direct to California, and spent a
summer harvesting near Salinas. In the fall he removed to the Santa Maria
valley, where a cousin, Jerry Donovan (the story of whose life is given else-
where ill these pages), was renting land and dairying. Con Donovan followed
his example in leasing acreage, and so successful has he been, by hard work
and frugality, that he now owns a ranch of six hundred acres on the county
road between Santa Maria and Guadalupe. In the beginning, ^I^. Donovan
raised wheat and barley, and later became (|uite as extensive a raiser of hogs.
Before the days of the railroad, he hauled all grain and stock to Point Sal.
in wagons drawn by six horses. While raising hogs, he usually had seven
luiiidred head or more, the care of which was no small undertaking in addition
to his regular farming. During hard times, he was glad to sell good hogs as
Inw as two cents a pound and fresh eggs at from eight to ten cents per dozen.
In time, he acc|uire.l aimilur ranch, on a hundred sixty acres, located this side
of Garey.

In 1897, Con l)on..\an was married to Miss Katie Hourihan. a native
of County Cork, bv wii.im he has had three children: Daniel, a student at
Santa Clara College: Eugene, who is attending the Santa Maria high school:

500 SAX Ll'IS or.ISI'O CurXTV AXl) J<:XVIROXS

and -Mcillie. in tlu- i^raminar >clninl. With his wile and family he resides in a
liandsonie hungalnw. which he l)uilt in 1912. Tiesides this residence, he owns
twd other houses, wliich he is accustomed to rent out. Devoted to the Cath-
olic faith. -Mrs. Donovan takes an especially active part in church affairs, and
is a member of the Altar Society. As a citizen, Mr. Donovan is alive to all
civic duties and ])roblems, and while leaning towards Democratic standards,
he always votes according to reason and for the "best man."'

WILLIAM AND WILLIAM J. LEFFINGWELL.— This is a country
where the men in business aftairs are the true type of vigorous, healthy man-
hood, many of them being the descendants of the pioneers who blazed the
trails over mountain, desert and plain to this state and here laid the founda-
tion of our present prosperity. Xo more worthy representative of these
pioneers is to be found in San Luis Obispo County than W. J. Leffingwell
of Cambria, where he was born, October 2, 1873, a son of \\'illiam Lefifingwell,
a fort_y-niner, who crossed the plains with ox teams to California, via Salt Lake
and the .Sink of the Humboldt. The father was one of a family of three sons
and four daughters, who, with their father (also named \\'illiam) and mother,
took the long and hazardous journey from their eastern home. William
Leffingwell, the grandfather of ^^^ J. Lefifingwell, went to the mines for a
short time, and then moved to Sonoma countv and began lumbering with
his sons, Adam and William. They built a sawmill and had the first
circular saw e\cr brought into the state. They cijnlinucd the business
tlicre until they located in San Luis CMjispo County in 1859, settling on
land that became known as the old Leffingw-ell place, two miles north of
Cambria. The land purchased was covered with timber, and here they put
up a sawmill, ran it by steam power, logged the timber and manufactured
it into lumber. This was the first sawmill in this county and it was oper-
ated several years, ilany of the early houses, as well as other buildings in
this section of the county, were constructed from, lumber turned out from
this mill. They also built a flour mill with a run of burrs and made flour
from the wheat brought to them from various parts of the county. This
was the first flour mill in this part of the county, and it was operated until it
was completely demolished by an explosion of the boiler. Only the two burr-
stones were left to mark the site of the mill. Mr. Lefifingwell and his sons
cleared the land of timber, and began farming. They also built the Leffing-
well wharf, about half-way between Santa Rosa creek and San Simeon creek,
where they owned a large tract of land.

Grandfather William Leffingwell died on the old home ranch ; Adam
was accidentally killed while head sawyer at the mill, and William, the father
of William J., continued to farm the old ranch until he retired to his resi-
dence in Cambria, where he died, October 11, 1913, aged seventy-one years.
He was married near Cambria to Miss May Woods, a native of Waldo,
Ore., a daughter of James and Anna (Jones) Woods, of Mercer county,
Pcnn. They crossed the plains to Oregon in 1849, and later located in Cali-
fornia, near Visalia, where they engaged in cattle raising. In the spring of
1SC6, Mr. Woods moved with his family to the coast and settled near
Canil)ria, bought a ranch on Santa Rosa creek, farmed, dairied and raised
siMck until his deatli. They had three sons and five daughters, all of whom,
exec])! one son. are living. Mrs. Leffingwell is the oldest, and has been a resi-
dent of Cambria since she was twelve vears old. She attended the first

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUXTV AND F.WIROXS 501

school they had in this section, kept in an old log house on Santa Rosa creek.
She had two children, Anna, ^Mrs. Bergagnin, of Cambria, and William
James, of this review.

W. J. Leffingwell attended the school on San Simeon creek, lived at
homie and helped his father until he was twenty-one, when he took charge
of the old place comprising six hundred acres, and for a time ran a dairy
and raised stock. He later sold three hundred twenty acres at a good price,
retaining two hundred eighty acres. Since the death of his father, he has
carried on the stock business with more than ordinary success. In 1916 he
was appointed road master of his district, and he is discharging the duties
of the office with efficiency. He is a member and past president of Cambria
Parlor, N. S. G. W., and is highly esteemed for his many good qualities and
for his sterling traits of character.

OLE NELSON.— A valued resident of Santa Maria valley since 1876,
iJk- Xflson is one of the few pioneers who have been spared to witness the
growth of the country and to recount the experiences of the early days,
when game abounded in this section and cattle roamed at will, and when
few trees could be seen except on the sides of the mountains on either side of
the valley. He remembers when Central City, as the thriving town of Santa
Maria was first known, was but a settlement at the four corners where Main
and Broadway intersect, with a few straggling houses scattered here and
there. He is the owner of three hundred twenty-six acres, which he bought
from Dana Brothers in the fall of 1885. The ranch is located three miles north
of Santa Maria, where Xipomo creek flows into the Santa Maria river. A
native of Denmark, Mr. Nelson was born on February 12, 1854, in the north-
ern part of Jutland, a son of James and Elsie Nelson. The father died when
Ole was six months old, leaving his wife with three children, two sons and a
daughter. Mrs. Nelson was married a second time, Andrew Jensen becoming
her husband; and one child was born to them. She died in Denmark at the
age of seventy-four.

Ole Nelson was educated in the public schools, and was confirmed in the
Lutheran Church when he was fourteen. He then began to work out for
wages, but the pay was very small. He had read about America, and had
talked with some of his countrymen who had returned from this country;
and learning that better opportunities were offered for young men of energy
than his own country afforded, he decided that he would seek them for him-
self. He made arrangements for money to pay his expenses, bade good-bye
to his home and friends, and sailed from Copenhagen, March 17, 1873, on
the old Allan line, landing at Castle Garden in .April. The first two years in
this country were rather lonesome ones for the young man from Denmark. He
knew nothing of the customs of the country, nor could he speak our language ;
but he had to make a living and welcomed any honest work that came his way,
He worked on a farm in Connecticut the first summer, and then spent two
years in the copper mines on the upper peninsula of Michigan.

He saved his money, and after he had earned enough to pay his fare, he
started for the Coast, visiting Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. In
the spring of 1875 he arrived in San Francisco, where he worked about a
year. This experience of travel and mixing with various people contributed
much to Mr. Nelson's education, and fitted him to cope with conditions as he
found them later on. \\hile in San IVancisco lie met a man who owned the

502 SAX I-IIS OI'.lSl'O COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Sisquoc ranch and wlio wanted workmen; whereiqjon Mr. Nelson hired out,
took the steamer to Avila, and from there went by horse stage to ( niadalupe
and the ranch. I'\)r several years he remained there, giving his best efforts to
his employer and meanwhile saving his money, until he felt justified in l)ranch-
ing out for himself. He then bought land and raised grain. He now has a
small dairy of twelve cows, raises beans, and keeps about 1,000 white Leg-
horn cliickens. .Ml the improvements seen on the ranch have been placed
there by its owner ; ornamental and fruit trees have been set out, fences have
been built, and other things necessary to make of it a comfortable home place
have been done.

Mr. Nelson was married, October 24, 1883, in San Luis Obispo County to
Margaret Christensen, who was born in Schleswig, January 30, 1860, a
daughter of Hans C. and Ingeborg (Hansen) Christensen, who never left
their native land. The father died there in 1912, aged seventy-five; the
mother, now aged seventy-nine, is still living. They had eight children, seven
of whom are living; and four of these are in California : John Christensen, who
lives near Edna; Hans, of Nipomo ; Maria, who married John Nelson, and
resides in Lompoc ; and Mrs. Ole Nelson. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson had twelve
children. Elsie, who married Andrew Ditlefsen, has four children and resides
near Biggs, Butte county ; Ingeborg is at home with her parents ; Oline is the
wife of H. P. Schmidt, residing in Healdsburg; Cecelia, w^ho became the wife
of Ernest Wineman, has three children and lives at Nipomo ; Ninnie, who
married Ernest Jacobsen, lives in Petaluma and has two children; Nils died
in infancy; James lives in Penngrove, Sonoma county; Annie died at the age
of eighteen; Margaret died when she was eight; ( )li\er, Hans and Raymond
are all at home. Mr. Nelson is a member of Santa Maria Lodge No. 613, I. O.
O. v., and in politics is a Democrat. He is a self-made man, and is known as
a man of dependable word. In the evening of their days, he and his good
wife live in the enjoyment of the well-earned reward of their y"ears of toil,
surrounded by their children and grandchildren, and by a host of friends.

ERNEST H. GIBSON.— Competent and efficient as cashier of the First
National Bank of Santa Maria, E. H. Gibson has grown up in the banking
business, in which he has always been found reliable and accurate. He was
born on January 29, 1885, a son of Joseph B. Gibson, who was born in the
north of Ireland in 1859. After a creditable record in Belfast, Ireland, the
father settled in Chicago, in 1883. He was closely associated with Lyman
Gage, ex-secretary of the treasury, and former president of the First National
Bank of Chicago. In 1890 Joseph B. Gibson left Chicago and spent about ten
months in the state of \\'ashington, after which he came down to San Luis
Obispo County, and settled at .\rroyo Grande, where he is now employed in
the ISank of Arroyo Grande. He married Annie Hamilton, and they became
the parents of five children.

The eldest of these, E. H. Gibson, was but five years old when his parents
left Chicago, and his education was obtained in the schools in Arroyo Grande.
Owing to the fact that his father had met with reverses by purchasing some
poor land, the son had to go to work before finishing the high school. He
entered the Bank of Arroyo Grande in 1904, as a clerk, and seven months
later was made cashier of the Bank of Cambria, which was organized in
l'X)5. lie remained with the Bank of Cambria until VMS. when he accepted
Ins i.resent i)..sition with the First National Ikuik ..1 Santa Maria.

SAN LUIS OBISPO C()L-\TV AXI) KWIROXS 303

Mr. Gibson was united in marriage with Miss Ruth Maulsby, a well-
known lady of Santa Maria and a graduate of the Santa Maria high school.
She was residing in Whittier at the time of their marriage in 1913. Both
Mr. and Mrs. Gibson are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and
he is a member of the board of trustees of the church and is now superin-
tendent of the Sunday school. In 1914 he was elected a member of the board
of city trustees of Santa Maria. He and his wife are prominent in church
circles, both being deeply interested in religious work.

BENJAMIN BROOKS.— Ever since the year 1635 the Brooks family has
been idcniiticd with American historj^ at which time they settled in Xew
York. Many of the early representatives of the name were shipmasters and
owned merchantmen engaged in trade with the \\ est Indies. Benjamin S.
Brooks was the son of a wealthy shipowner: hut at an early age his tal-
ents seemed to point in the direction of the law, and he entered that profession.
In 1849 he joined the throngs that sought the far West. He went, not to
search for gold, but to follow his profession. Fie settled in San Francisco
and liegan practice, becoming in that city an honored member of the bar and
a successful attorney. He was connected uitli almost all of the important
land cases of his time throughout the state, lie was a successful business
man, as well as an attorney, and had accumulated considerable wealth when,
in 1883, he died in San Francisco, aged about sixty years. He was twice
married. By his first wife, who was a Xew York lad_\-, he had one son, Benja-
min; and by the second wife, another son, William, who became prominent in
San Francisco.

Benjamin Brooks was born in Xew \'ork City, ( )ctol)er 25, 1842, and was
educated in the noted academy at Fairlield. Conn., until he was thirteen, after
which he came to California and attended the public schools in San Fran-
cisco. Intending to enter the profession of the law, he studied in his father's
office and elsewhere and was admitted to the bar. About this time Gen.
John C. Fremont, who was a warm friend of his father, offered him a position
with the Union Pacific Railroad. Returning to San Francisco in 1865. he
resumed the practice of law, and later accepted a position in the custom
house there. For five years afterwards he was connected with the freight
department of the Southern Pacific Railroad.

It was during 1885 that Mr. Brooks came to San Luis ()i)ispo. where he
became owner and proprietor of the Tribune, which under his able manage-
ment has become the leading paper in the county and one of the leading Re-
publican organs of Central California. The paper was conducted as a weekly
until 1893, when it became a daily. Not only through his pajjer, but also
personally, Mr. Brooks gives his influence to the Republican party; and as a
member of the county and state central committees, he has filled every trust
reposed in him. He is a Mason, a member of the lodge chapter and com-
mandery in San Luis Obispo, and of the Eastern Star: while the Independent
Order of Foresters, the B. P. O. Elks and the Royal .\rcanum number him
among their active members and their past officers. He assisted in organiz-
ing the San Luis C)l)ispo lUiilding and Loan .Association and for years served
as its president.

In 1867 Mr. Brooks was united in marriage with Miss Ella Steele, daugh-
ter of Hon. John B. Steele, who was a member of Congress from Xew York.
She is a niece of Judge George Steele, a leading citizen of San Luis Obispo

=04 SAX LLIS or.ISI'O COUNTY AXD EXVIROXS

County, and also ui (Sen. I'red Steele, an officer in the L'nion arm\- in the Civil
>\"ar. for whom tiie Grand Army post in San Luis Obispo is named. ^Ir.
Brooks is a man of sjenial manner, possessing tact, intelligence and good-
fell, .wsliip. and a personality that impresses and charms, the whole combin-
ing to make him one of the influential and popular men of the county.

REGA DENT FREEMAN.— That nothing succeeds like success is
demonstrated in the life history of Rega Dent Freeman, successful farmer
and stockman in the Ranchita district of San Luis Obispo county. .A native
of Georgia, born at Indian Springs, Butts count}^ December 24, 1874, the
eldest son of T. F. Freeman (who is represented on another page in this
history), Re.ga Dent was reared on a stock ranch in Young county, Texas,
where he learned to ride the range and to care for cattle, attending mean-
while the public schools in his locality.

lie was married in Palo Pinto county, Tex., on September 26. 1897, to
Miss l)o\ie Xickless. a native of that county, whose father. David Xickless.
was liorn in .Mabama. but was reared in Louisiana, afterwards becoming a
farmer in Palo Pinto county. Tex. Her mother, Epsey Melton, was born in
Lfiuisiana. Both are still living in Texas. After their marriage, the Free-
mans farmed in Texas until 1902. removing thence to Arizona, where ^Ir.
Freeman followed farming above the Roosevelt dam and also hauled con-
crete and cement for the construction of the canal.

In 1905, he located at Bradley, Monterey county, Cal, and with his
brother Joe leased the H. .\. Fallman ranch of 1,560 acres. A couple of years
later he bought his brother out, and continued farming alone until, in
1910. he purchased the present place of 1.120 acres, nine miles east of San
Miguel in the Ranchita school district. He immediately set about improv-
ing the place, building an addition to his residence, and new barns, and
fencing in the place : and since then he has purchased land adjoining until he
now owns 1,740 acres in a l)ody, which he devotes to grain and stock-
raisin.g. About 1,200 acres is tillable land, and each year about three hundred
fifty acres is sown to barley and wheat, and one hundred acres is planted to
corn, .\side from raising cattle and hogs, he is making a specialty of raising
mules, of which iie has some tine specimens, which he sells for as hi,gh a
jjrice at S250 each.

Mr. and Mrs. I'reeinan have seven children : Ona, Thelma. Richard,
iuigene, Ralph, h'.rnest, and May.

I icing greatly interested in the cause of education and in providing good
-chools. Mr. Freeman is serving as a trustee of Ranchita district. Fraternally,
.Mr, ireeman is a Mason, a member of San Miguel Lodge, No. 285, and in
]>"litics he is a Democrat. Mr. Freeinan and his estimable wife are very hos-
]ntable. and ever ready to give of their time and means toward any move-
ment for the betterment of the community.

MATHIAS R. SW ALL.— The town of Arroyo Grande has drawn within
its hospitable limits many men whose business capacity and fine traits of
citizenship would be a credit to any community, and foremost among these
is ^L-lthias R. Swall. business man, banker and promoter of the best interests
■■I the f.wn. He was born in La Salle county. 111., March 19, 1862. a son of
M.iihias and l-'.li/.abeth (Haines) Swall, the former a native of Germany. Of
this union twelve children were born. Mr. Swall brought his family to Cali-
fornia and temporarily settled in San lose in 1865; then he moved to the

SAX LUIS OBISPO COrXTV AXD KXXIROXS 507

San Joaquin valley and until 1871 farmed near what is now 'I'racv. lie next
went to Monterey county, where he followed the same work until he moved
to Ventura county in 1875, and engaged in raising beans. In 1881, he moved
to that part of Los Angeles county now known as Sherman : and there he
lived retired until his death, in 1896.

Mathias R. Swall attended the public schools of California. In 1880 he
started in to learn the butcher trade in San Jose: and after three years he was
competent to carry on business for himself and was thus engaged until 1888,
when he sold out and started to look for a good location for an energetic
business man desiring to grow up with the community. Finally arriving in
.\rroyo Grande, he found his opportunity and bought out a shop ; and there,
during the following eighteen years, he conducted a growing business, in the
meantime buying and selling stock on a large scale. He disposed of tlie
shop in 1906, and relinquished the cattle business in 1908.

In 1901, the Commercial Bank of San Luis Obispo established a branch
of their institution in Arroyo Grande. ^Ir. Swall became one of the local
stockholders ; and in 1903, when the branch bank was purchased by local
capitalists, he became a director of the new organization, known as the
Bank of Arroyo Grande. In 1908 he was elected vice-president, and in 1910
became president of the concern. It has been largely through his efforts that
the bank has grown to its present prosperous condition and is so firmly estab-
lished in the community. It has grown from a modest business to a bank
of considerable importance in the coast region, and holds the confidence of
a large number of depositors.

Mr. Swall was united in marriage at Los Gatos, April 25, 1885, with
Miss Mary Mullen, who was born in San Mateo county, a member of a ])ioneer
family, and of this union there are the following children : Mabel, now Mrs.
L. R. Parsons, and William, Raymond, Romie, Francis, Earl, Lester, Edith,
Malcolm, Elwin, Marian and Eva. Mr. Swall is a Republican in politics. He
is a member of the Knights of Pythias, has passed through all the chairs, and
has been a delegate to the Grand Lodge : and he is a meml)er and past officer
in the Modern \\'oodmen of America. He is an acti\c mcnihor in the I-'pis-
copal Church.

HENRY SANFORD WILLSON.— Prominent among those who.se
longevity attests to tiie wonderful climatic advantages of Creston, and equally
eminent among those whose own personal recollections reach back into the
earliest annals of the region, Henry Sanford \\'illson is a native son. so
long identified with San Luis Obispo County that he is the oldest settler in the
Highlands, and the second oldest in the vicinity of Creston. He was born in
San Juan, Monterey county, July 16, 1855, the son of Dan Willson, a brick-
layer and a member of an old Yankee family, who first saw the light op
January 22, 1827. His father worked at his trade in New England until, im-
pelled by the gold fever of 1849, he came to the Pacific Coast. With his brother.
Dor.son, he went to Boston and joined a company of fifty-four adventurers,
who purchased the sailing vessel "Emma Isadora," under Captain McTTenry.
and sailed her around Cape Horn. Quite one hundred si.\ty-four days out. the
party arrived at San Francisco, September 12, 1849. Continuing on to' Stock-
ton, they sold the vessel, divided the proceeds, and dissolved the company:
after which each went his way into the mines, to seek for gold and fortune.
One of this partv was lames ^I)tclK•ll. a Scotchman, who in later years located

508 SAX i.ns or.ispo county and environs

a iKiiiKsicad in 1 li,L;lilaiKls. San Luis Obispo County, adjoinins the place
now lu-l(l l)v iiur subject, and resided here until he died.

Wiicn ",i;Tub" was twenty-five cents a pound, Dan and Dorson Willson
walked a hundred fifty miles to the Mariposa mines. The brothers afterward
came over to Gilroy, where they had a store, and cut the first hay in that
vicinity. They traded over a wide region, doing business with the Spanish
families in the Soap Lake country; and it was there that Dan Willson met
-Miss Decente Sanchez who, in 1854, became his wife. She was born on the
Sanchez ranch between Sargent Station and San Juan, a daughter of Don
Jose IMaria Sanchez, a native of Mexico, who owned a ranch of several leagues
and was a large stockman, raising a large number of cattle and horses. Having
a great quantity of tallow and other cattle products, he manufactured much
soap : and from the industry thus created arose the name of the lake. Death
overtook him in a tragic way, for he was accidentally drowned one night while
crossing the Pajaro river, and his body was never found. The property was
divided between Don Jose"s four children. Becente received a large share;
and she and her husband moved onto the ranches. Some of the land lay at
San Juan, and some of it within the city limits. Dan Willson served twenty
years as a trustee of the San Juan school district. In his last illness, he went
to Ilollister ; and there, in 1906, at the age of seventy-eight, he died, and was
buried with full Masonic honors.

Besides Henry S. Willson, four children were the issue of this union:
Ceorgc S.. deceased : Emma, now Mrs. McElwee, of San Luis Obispo ; Elbridge
D., of San Jose; and Alma S., who is in Hollister. Henry was brought up at
San Juan and Gilroy, where he attended the public schools and worked on a
farm. In 1875, he came to Carissa Plains, San Luis Obispo County, and
engaged in sheep-raising, partly with his father, and was among the first to
t;Taze sheep in that section. In the dry year of 1877, he drove a flock of
fifteen hundred sheep to Watson\ille. and the following year brought what
was left of tliem to Palo Prieto.

In Sei)tember, 1878, he came t.. Highlands with his father's old friend,
James .Mitchell, and engaged with him in tlie cattle business on .Mitchell's
homestead. In 1879 he tc">k a llock (if sheep to Los Alamos, Santa Barbara
■■nimty, .-iiid in the fall brought them back here, maintaining them until he sold
nut in order to engage again in the cattle business. At the end of five
years, he dissolved partnership with Mitchell, but continued to raise stock.

l!y July. 188,1, he had located his homestead and hauled the lumber from
."-^an Luis Obisim with which to build the necessary house and barns. He
then began to raise hay and fudder. and about that time established his
brand -a W with an S at the top, lying flat. He is still in the sheep and
cattle business, making a si)ecialty of the Durham strain, and also raises thor-
'■ajhhred horses. He is also engaged in the raising of grain. He has bought
cnnsulerable land, at different times, adjoining his own, commencing with a
three-hundred-twenty-acre purchase. He now possesses twelve hundred
<.ii;nty acres all in one body on Indian creek. The Willson ranch is well
watered by numerous sjjrings and creeks, and lies ten miles east of Creston.

\\ hen Henry Willson first came here, he was made a trustee of the
liner lluern school district, and helped build there the first schnolhouse of
l"i;s and shakes. Later, he helped organize the Highland sciiool district,

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 509

and was a trustee for many years, and ior sonie time clerk, a position lie
still holds. He is also serving as roadinaster of his district.

On January 7, 1877, at Soledad, Henry Sanford Willson was married to
Miss Sarah Shepherd. She was born in what is now Hollister (then in
Monterey county), and was a daughter of Dr. William N. Shepherd, a native
of the vicinity of Bowling Green, Ky. Her grandfather, a farmer, was a
Virginian, who settled in the Blue Grass State, where he died. Her father
studied medicine and began practice as a homeopathic physician. He also
learned the trade of stone and brick mason. He came to California in 1852,
crossing the plains with an ox team. He stopped for a while in Alameda
county, and then, in 1854, located on the grant now called Hollister. He
thought it was Government land, and made improvements, but after several
years found that it was still a grant, and that he must lose everything. He
then moved to the Penoche country, where he took up land; but this he soon
gave up. He returned to San Juan, where he remained for several years, and
then in succession moved to Gilroy and San Jose, farming and raising cattle.
Finally reaching the Highlands, he homesteaded and proved up on a tract,
which he later sold. He then retired to San Juan, where he died at the age of
seventy-nine. His wife was Miss Elizabeth Clark, before her marriage. She
was a native of Illinois, who crossed the plains with friends in a party that
included Dr. Shepherd, to whom she was married on her arrival in California.
At Gilroy she breathed her last, the mother of nine children, five of whom are
still living. Mrs. \\'illson, who passed her childhood in the San Juan district
and was educated at the public schools there, was the eldest of all ; while the
others are Mrs. Mary Beckwith, of Gilroy; Mrs. Martha Blackwell, of Stanis-
laus county ; Mrs. Laura Prather, of Kings county ; and Eugene N. Shepherd,
of Arizona. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Henry S. Willson are Lillie. other-
wise known as Mrs. Lyman Willson, of Gilroy; Edith, who married Mike
Rarba, of Creston ; Hazel, who is Mrs. Ramon Barba, of the same place:
Harry, who lives at Carissa Plains ; Edward, who is in Carpinteria ; Dan,
who is a rancher at Templor Mountain, Kern county ; and A\'inifred and Ma-
bel, who live at home with their parents.

Never wantin.g in the matter of a response to ci\ic duty, and always willing
to participate actively in any movement for the expansion and uplift of iiis
community, Mr. Willson takes a keen interest in politics, generally voting
according to Republican standards. In the service of that party he has been
a menilier of the County Central Committee.

CHARLES H. PEARSON.— ^\•hoever has reveled in an ..Id New Eng-
land country store — the one store, if you please, in a small, but wide-awake
community, and one, perhaps, cut off more or less from the great outside
world — where a little of everything, so to speak, and sometimes an astonish-
ing assortment and quantity, considering the population, is sold, could not
fail to enjoy a visit to just such an unpretentious, but important, e^ablish-
ment as that of Charles H. Pearson, the veteran leading merchant and pio-
neer of Los Alamos. His father was Richard Pearson, a native of the north
of Ireland, who died when Charles was two years old. His mother was
Elizabeth Whitcher, a native of England. The ])arents migrated to Canada ;
and in 1872, seventeen years after her husl)and"s death, the mother came with
her only boy to California, where she lived until her death at the ripe age of
eighty.

510 SAX LL-I6 OBISPO COUNTY AXD EW'IROXS

Born at Coinpton, in the |irovince of Quebec, December 5. 1832, Charles
II. Pearson was nineteen when he came to California. He came from Mon-
treal to San Francisco, \-ia the Union Pacific Railway, and continued south to
Montere_v county. He stopped at Castroville for a while with an uncle, Charles
Whitcher, worked in Salinas and San Juan, and then, in 1876, removed
to Guadalupe, -where he began clerking for H. J. Laughlin & Co.

In 1879 he came to Los Alamos, which then had only a half dozen houses
scattered around. He had learned the blacksmith's trade in Canada: and now
he opened a blacksmith shop, with a cousin. When, at the end of three
years. H. J. Laughlin established a branch store here, IMr. Pearson became his
confidential clerk, and stayed with him until 1886. Here he bought the lot on
the corner long owned by him, the sale of which had been deferred because
of a minor, and for which he had waited two years, and built the store now
long famous under the firm name of C. H. Pearson. He commenced with
a half dozen lines of goods, and gradually enlarged his stock of general
merchandise until it included staple and fancy groceries, dry goods, boots
and shoes, hardware, agricultural implements, crockery, hats, caps and mil-
linery— the goods of late easily totalling a round twenty-five thousand dol-
lars in value. Thirty years ago, too, he laid in a stock of coffins and caskets,
and so. in a measure, has facilitated the work of the undertaker.

.'\bout that time Charles Pearson went back to Canada. In the days of his
childhood at school he had known Miss Jeanette Spafford, and now he jour-
neyed across the continent to claim her heart and hand. Their marriage
is blessed by two children, Xettie Elizabeth and Agnes Marian, who con-
tribute to the attractiveness of his home and to the high esteem in which his
family is everywhere held.

But Air. Pearson is not only a merchant — he is a farmer as well. He
owns three ranches; one of fifty acres, another of a hundred, and a third of
sixty-five, all of which lie in the Los Alamos valley. In addition, he rents
2,500 acres on the Bell ranch, for which estate he was agent for many years.
Tiiis is devoted mainly to stock-raising. Ever since he came here, in 1879,
he has liked the country, and these successful ventures in lands and stock
have made him a most optimistic supporter and booster of Los Alamo.s.
Particularly has he been impressed by the operations of Mr. E. L. Doheny,
of Los .\ngeles, who bought the Bell ranch in 1916 for $1,800,000— a sale con-
summated by T. C. Blakeman, a San Francisco attorney. ]\Ir. Doheny
has already brought in one five-hundred-barrel well on the tract, while two
more are ready to come in.

Mr. Pearson is a Re])ublican. He voted for Grant, in 1872, in :\Ionterey
county. He has always been a public-spirited citizen, taking a commendable
interest in politics, and he has had something to do with public office himself.
He has cheerfully performed such ordinary duties as that of jury service, and
has acted for years as clerk of the board of school trustees. At the present
tniK' he is deputy .■-^Iicrift' under Sheriff Stewart, by whom he was appointed
ni tlic hitter's first term. He has taken an active part in every project for the
betterment of the communit}-. He has welcomed the Pacific Coast Railway
and tlie oil industry; and he has aided in the development of farming, stock-
raistng and dairying, and in the erection of good schools and churches. The
gi-eat v.'ork of his later years, however, has been the advocacy of the State
Highway. He is a devoted apostle of good roads, and was somewhat respon-

^^^v. ^^^^^^^-ll,^-^^^

SAX LUIS OBISPO COLXTV AXI) KXXJROXS 513

sible for having the route of the Stale llitjhway so laid out that it runs
through Los Alamos.

Brought up in the Episcopal Churcli and always a supporter of cliurches.
Mr. Pearson, together with his wife and daughters, has in recent years been a
member of the Presbyterian Church at Los Alamos.

MORTEN PETER HANSEN.— What may be done by any loyal citizen
in enthusiastically setting forth the true conditions in and advantages of
California, and so attracting the outsiders to the Golden .State, ma.v be seen
in the chance circumstances through which Morten Peter Hansen, a member
of the good old family of Jens Peter Hansen, came to the Coast and eventually
cast in his lot with the community of Shandon. His mother was Petrenella
Madsen, and she is still living at the old home where Morten passed his boy-
hood days, although her husband, an ardent Lutheran like herself, died at the
age of seventy-six.

Morten Hansen was l)orn at Stcge, .Moeii. Deiunark. Xoxember 17 , 1X()3,
the son of a farmer, and so grew up on a farm, while he attended the ])ublic
school of his district. When lie had finished with teachers and l^ooks he
worked out on other farms, and then, for a year, learned the shoemaker's
trade. In 1881, he came to the United States and to Cedar Falls. la., where
he put in four years on a farm and nurser}-. His thoughts had already been
turned westward, and he planned to push on to Dakota; Init just then he
ran across a man, Hans Hansen, wiio had l)een in San Luis Obispo County
and wlio told .Morten in such terms oi enthusiasm and confidence of the
many atlvantages of climate and soil, and opportunities in the undeveloped
state, that the young Dane determined to give up all thought of Dakota and
make for California instead.

In 188.5, therefore, he crossed the great plains, nor did he stop until he
reached San Luis Obispo County, where he set to work in dead earnest to
get a foothold and make good. In the beginning he was compelled to work
out, to chop wood, to engage himself with a thresher, to dig wells and to
drive big teams. Disappointed with his experiences, he was inclined to re-
turn East at the end of the first year. He stayed, however, and the longer
lie remained the more he liked the new country. In the first few months
lie received but eighteen dollars per month, but when he had saved forty
(lollars he filed on his homestead, although that one act alone took half his
capital. On his arrival in the vicinity of Creston and Shandon, lie found
raw conditions indeed. There were no fences, wild cattle roamed over the
hills, anil tlir only safe way to travel was on horseback instead of on foot.

lor a tiiiu' Mr. Hansen resided at San Luis Obispo and at Morro ; but in
1886, believing that he would like the mountains better, he came to Cres-
ton and Shandon, and there homesteaded a hundred sixty acres and pre-
empted another hundred sixty, four miles south of Shandon. He built a
cabin, broke the land, improved the farm, and built nei.ghboring roads. To
him, as a pioneer, it was also reserved to see the first furrow turned at
Creston and, as the years went by, to note the wonderful transformation from
wild nature to improved farms and pastures.

His first crop was obtained in the second year, when he cut hay : and
by the third year he had sixty acres all sown by hand. He traded Iiis grain
for three head of horses, and the fourth year he rai.sed twenty-one hundred
sacks on aliout two hundred acres of land. He at last got on his leet : and

514 SAX LUIS olUSro COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

se\-eii years later he h<iU.L;iit a (|uartcr section of land, which i;a\-e him fmir
hundred eii,ditv acres in nne IxkIv. He leased land and farmed sixteen hun-
dred acres, six luuKlred t\vent_\- beiny in grain. In one year he harvested o\er
five thousand sacks.

In 1911 he bought his present ranch of one hundred sixty acres from the
original homestead of George Post, one and a half miles from Shandon, on
which the old town oi Starkey and post office were located before the town
of Shandon was started. There was but the beginning of a settlement, and
both general store and drug store were on his ranch. Mr. Hansen built a new
residence, made improvements, and raised grain with success. He added to
his holdings by purchasing two lots in Richmond, and has since acquired
valual)le lots and buildings in Shandon. He also owns sixty acres of bottom
land at the forks of the San Juan. Cholame and Estrella rivers. On one of
his properties he has sunk two artesian- wells, one to the depth of two hun-
dred seventy-eight feet, and the other three hundred fifteen feet, both flowing
wells, out cif which he is able to irrigate seventeen acres without a reservoir,
which gi\cs him six cri.ips of alfalfa annually. All of his land is suitable for
the raising of that product, and he is rapidly seeding the entire acreage. He
has a dair}- also, with twelve Ibilstein and Jersey cows; and he raises cattle,
draft horses and hogs.

As a man of business affairs, Mr. Hansen is a member and a director
of the Farmers' Alliance Business Association of Paso Robles. and he is also
interested in the Paso Robles }tlercantile Co., of which he is a director.
He also has stock in the Co-operative Oil Co., which is located on the "Jim"
Hughes ranch in Red Hills on the San Juan river. He is also a stockholder
in the \'ulcan Fire Insurance Co., of Oakland. Cal.

At old Starkey. December 30, 1897, Morten Hansen was married to Miss
Flizalieth Boring, who came from Mill Creek, Huntington county, Penn.,
the daughter of Michael T. and Rebecca (Sloan) Boring, farmers in that
state. Mrs. Hansen was educated in that vicinity and came to San Luis
( )bisi}o County in 1897. Six children have been born of this marriage: James
T., Edgar M., .\rma Marie, Bessie M., Harry \\'., and David S., all at home.

Mr. Hansen has seen much of the world, crossing the Atlantic and the
.American continent three times, revisiting old home scenes in Denmark, and
touring England. On one of his trips he sailed from England to New York
nn the "Lusilania," and on his journeys between the Atlantic and the Pacific
he has visited the majority of important .American cities. He is independent
in jjolitics, with progressive principles.

GEORGE WINFIELD GILLESPIE.— The proprietor of the only black-
smith slii>|) in Caml)ria. an efficient and painstaking mechanic, George A\'.
Gillespie has l)een a witness of the rapid growth of San Luis Obispo County,
where he was born on the old Gillespie ranch, two and one-half miles west of
wliai is n.iw Cambria. Sei)tember 6, 1867, a son of William AI. and Caroline
('. ( Leffingwell) Gilk-si)ie. The father lived in various states until 1849. when
111 cnm))any with thirty-one others he set out to cross the plains with mule
teams tu California. Abinths later, however, when he arrived at his jour-
'if\'s end, there were but nine of the original members with the party, some
Ikinuil; die<l and sonu- having been killed by the Indians. On arriving here,
.Mr. (;ille<pic went at once to the mines: but he did not "strike it rich,"
^'> he lurncil his auenti(,n and talents to otlier lines of activitv. Going to

SAN LUIS OBISPO COfXTY AXD I-.WIROXS 315

Sonoma county, with a partner, he built a sawmill. n;ot out lumber and found
a ready sale for it. The methods at that time were primitive. Init these pio-
neers made the best of conditions as they found them and usually got better
results than they anticipated. In 1862 he came to San Luis Obispo County
and bought timber land on Santa Rosa creek. Here he erected a sawinill and
cut down the timber, manufacturing it into lumber. This was the second saw-
mill built in this county. .A.fter the timber had been cleared, .Mr. Gillespie
began farming and stock-raising. In 1891 he went to Pine Mountain, and
there put up a sawmill. He also engaged in mining quicksilver, owning
the Pine Mountain and the Ocean View (|uicksilver mines. During his resi-
lience in the count}-. Mr. (iillespie was road master of his district for several
years. He and his wife, who was a native tti .Xew \(irk state, had eight chil-
dren, seven of whimi are living, ( lenrge W. (lilles])ie being the fifth in order
of I'irth.

George W. Gillespie attended the public school of Camliria and the schools
on San Simeon creek and San .Simemi b.iy until he was si.xteen. He worked
with his father until he was twenty-four, and then apprenticed himself to learn
the trade of blacksmith with Mr. Eubanks of his home town. Two years later,
he went to Alameda county, where he was employed at ranching for one year
near Pleasanton. He then rcltirnrd {•< I'ayucos and embarked in the black-
smith business in bS'M. and a slicirt time later formed a partnership with
James Pedrotta, which continued until 1903, when Mr. Gillespie sold out to
his i)artner. He then located in Cambria and started in the blacksmith's
business. In 1903 he bought out the old Eubanks shop. He has built up
a large trade and has been successful financially. He does general black-
smithing and re])airs all kinds of machinery. His sho]3 is equipped with the
most modern and ui)-to-date machinery: and the genial proprietor has won a
host of friends by his courteous treatment and fair dealings.

On I-'cbruary 11, 1903, Mr. Gilles])ie was united in marriage, at ."^an Luis
Obis])o. with .Miss llertha L.velyn Wittenberg, who was born in .Xrmyo
Grande, .md they ha\e two children, .Muriel and l-lvelyn. Mrs. (iillesjiie
instituted E\ Pinal Parlor, Xative Daughters of the Golden West, at Cambria;
while Mr. Gillespie is a charter member of Cambria Parlor, Xative .Sons of
the Golden West, organized Xovember 9, 1889, with twenty-one members,
of whom only five are left. The parlor now has si.xty members. .Mr. Gillespie
is a past president and has served as a delegate to the Grand Parlor two times,
and is a very active member of the order. His political preferences are with
the Republican i)arly. l-Vom 18')4 until PX)3 he served as constable of C'ayu-
cos: and he has in many other ways <lemonslrated his executixe ability, and
is looked u]Hm as one of the leading citizens of the coast section nf the cnunly.

JENS BENNEDSEN.— A progressive. patri<.lic citizen nl the Liiiled
Slates and a successful business man nl San Luis Obisj).. is foun<l in Jens
I'.ennedsen, dealer in paints and wall paper, and a contracting painter, lie
was born in Schlcswig-IIolstein, (lerniany, May 4, 1884. His parents died
when he was (|uite small, and he was brought uj) by an uncle and aunt. He
was apprenticed to learn the painter's trade and served four years.

From 1900 until 1910 he followed that trade in his native country, and
in the latter year came to the United States and direct to San Luis Obispo,
reaching here with but five dollars in his pockets and unable to speak any
English. He worked hard during the day at his trade as a journeyman

516 SAX Ll'lS OBISPO COUNTY AXD EXVIROXS

l)aiiitiT. and whon la- had hccome familiar with our customs, he Ijegan taking
contracts on his nwn account and was \-ery successful : for he was thoroughh'
familiar with every detail of his trade. Starting in a small way, he gradually
built up a good business, and in January, 1915, opened a store at 680 Higuera
street, where he carries a full line of paints, oils, varnishes and wall paper.
He is meeting with deserved success in this venture, and still contracts for
business at his trade and has done considerable fine work for the leading
building contractors in San Luis Obispo, as well as in the surrounding
country.

Mr. Bennedsen owns his own home at 1426 Marsh street. He is an
actively interested member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Merchants'
Association, and also of the Lutheran Church of his adopted city. In June,
1916, he became a citizen of this country at San Luis Obispo.

When it is taken into consideration that Air. Bennedsen was depri\ed of
his parents in early childhood, and since that time has been thrown practically
on his own resources, and that he is now embarked in an enterprise of impor-
tance and stands high as a citizen who has made his own way to his present
jx.isition in San Luis fjbispo, it is clear that his is an example worthy of
emulation,

FRANK COSTA. — A much-respected resident of Arroyo Grande, Frank
Costa was born in the Azores Islands, December 9, 1850, the son of a poor
farmer who had to have the help of his children in the support of the family
as soon as they became old enough to work. Under these conditions, there
was not much of an opportunity for obtaining an education except in the
school of adversit}-. Frank Costa lived at home and helped his father until
he was twenty-three years old.

Arriving in New "S'ork on May 20, 1873, his first work was in a brick-
yard at Taunton, ]^Iass., where he remained about eighteen months. During
this lime he had become accustomed to the ways of the country, and having
heard about California, he decided that he would come West. He found
employment in California City, near San Francisco, and from there he went
to Marin county and worked in a dairy and, in 1882, had a dairy of his own.

With the experience obtained in farming, Mr. Costa came to San Luis
Obispo County, in 1883, and for the following ten years leased part of the
Hearst ranch at San Simeon, and ran a dairy of one hundred ten cows with
success. His ni'xt move was to the Riddle ranch, six miles from Arroyo
Grande, where he pastured one hundred cows on seven hundred sixty acres.

.■\fter twenty years of successful labor, during which, in 1893, he became
a citizen of the Ihiited States, Mr. Costa came to his present place, where
he owns one hundred fifty-seven acres, devoted to the raising of beans,
and still keeps a few cows in his dairy. There, in l')13, he erected a comfort-
able home. He is practically retired from acti^•e life, and has turned his
randiing over to his .sons. In 1906, Mr. Costa bought a fine ranch of four
hundred forty-five acres on Morro creek, which is devoted to dairy purposes.
He is a member of the Catholic Church and of the U. P. E. C.

Mr. Costa was united in marriage with Felicia Rosa ; and they have the
following children : Frank, at Los Alamos ; Manuel ; Mrs. Mary Silva ; Joseph,
on the Morro ranch : and George, Antone, John, Andre, .\lfred. and Rosie. Mr.
Costa is a self-made man. and an h<mest and unselfish citizen.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EWIRONS 519

DAVID WAITE.— riie tnwn i,\ Paso Robles, with its various lines oi
activity, has drawn within its liospitablc and ambitiotis hniits many men
whose business capacity and line traits of citizenship would be a credit to
any community. Foremost among these is David Waite, farmer, stockman,
official and merchant, and promoter of the city's most substantial interests.
A native of England, he was born in Sheffield, October 4, 1844. His father,
William Waite, born in Lincolnshire, was a merchant in Sheffield, who mar-
ried Ann Fotheringham, a native of Nottinghamshire: and they became the
parents of five children.

David \\'aite was reared in Sheffield, attended the pul)lic schools and
assisted his father in his store. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed
to a silversmith, and served seven and one half years ; and he followed that
trade until coming to America in 1866. On his arrival in New York City, he
went to Taunton, Mass., and was employed by the firm of Read & Barton,
the largest manufacturing silversmiths in that cit}- : and he remained with
them until 1871, when he arrived in California.

He first went to Tulare county and located near what is now llanfcird.
Kings county, took up one hundred sixty acres of government land and
engaged in raising grain and stock. Two years later he located on a ranch
in the southeastern part of Fresno county and remained until 1878. when
he settled in San Luis Obispo County and homesteaded one hundred sixty
acres nine miles northwest of Cholame. He devoted his time to the stock
business, making a specialty- of Durham cattle, and using the brand DW'.
Tie successfully carried on this ranch until 1908, when he sold his stock and
the next year disposed of the ranch ; then he located in Paso Robles and
bought forty acres for a home on Salinas river, expecting to retire.

In 1909, he entered mercantile life by jjurchasing the newspaper agen-
cies, and established his present business on Twelfth street. He is a dealer
in books, stationery, and magazines, and has the agencies for the San Fran-
cisco. Oakland and Los Angeles papers, and has built up a fine business
throughout the city and his section of the county. He is a thorough-going
business man and gives his personal attention to conducting and develo|)ing
the business.

In Taunton, Alass., was celebrated the marriage of D?vid Waite with
Miss Elizabeth Hill, who, like himself, was born in Sheffield, England. Her
father, Benjamin Hill, brought his family to Taunton, where he engaged
in his business of manufacturing files. Into the family of Mr. and Mrs.
Waite six children have been born. .Arthur is employed in the oil fields:
Herbert lives near Salinas: Theresa has become Mrs. George Hopper, and
resides near San :Miguel : .\nnie is Mrs. Tolle, a dealer in art goods in I'aso
Robles: and Lawrence and Alice are at home in Paso Robles.

Mr. Waite has served as a member, and was (mayor) president of the
board of trustees of Paso Robles: was elected in 1892 a member of the
board of supervisors from the first supervisoral district and served one term ;
and was trustee of the school board in Eagle school district for years, and
helped to build the first schoolhouse. While in national aflfairs he favors the
policies of the Democratic party, in local matters he votes for the men best
qualified for the office regardless of party lines, believing that the best results
are obtained by so doing. He is a member of and at present (1916) is Noble
Grand in Santa Lucia Lodge Xo. 250. I. O. O. F.. and a member of the I'.n-

520 SAX lAIS OBISPO COL'XTY AND EWIROXS

campnu'iit and a past officer, and also belongs to the Rebekalis. He is a
member of and lias served as \-estryman in the Episc(.)])al Church.

THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF SANTA MARIA.— The First
Xational I'.ank of Santa Maria was organized in 1904. and the institution
ui)ened for business on August 5, 1905. Its original capitalization was $50,000,
and the officers were as follows: Archibald McXeil, president; Reuben Hart,
vice-president ; and John E. Walker, cashier. The directors were : John E.
\\'alkcr. John Boyd, Reuben Hart, Archibald McNeil, and John Houk.

In l'-'08 E. H. Gibson succeeded John E. Walker as cashier, and on Jan-
uary 1. 1910. J. L. Glines became assistant cashier. Wm. T. Laughlin is clerk.
From the first the bank enjoyed the confidence of the community, for its of-
ficers and directors were men of unquestioned integrity and honor ; and the
business grew year by year until now it ranks with the solid financial insti-
tutions of the central coast section. Besides paying dividends, the bank, ac-
cording to the statement of Xovember 17, 1916. has a surplus and undivided
profits of $55,000. with resources of all kinds of $621,000. The presiding offi-
cers and directors are all men of resources, and the progressive institution is
practically a "home" bank.

WILLIS H. TRUESDALE.— W illis II. Truesdale, a successful farmer
and stockman of the Shandon district, was born in Litna, Ohio, the son of
George K. Truesdale. also a native Ohioan, and a stone-mason, plasterer and
car])entcr. The elder Truesdale belonged to Company G, 81st Ohio Volunteer
Infantry, in the Civil War, was wounded at the Battle of Corinth, re-enlisted
at the close of his term of enlistment, and served until the close of the great
struggle : and few things give the son greater satisfaction today than the
honorable record of his father, who became a first lieutenant, and as such
led in many a brilliant attack. After the war. G. K. Truesdale resided
at Lima ; but in 1875 he came to Ventura, and there plied his trade. He
wished to secure some good land, and came on an exploration trip to San
Luis Obispo in 1883. with C. A. Barlow, afterwards member of Congress:
and that year found him tl
near what is n.)w Sliandoi
To these two hundred lor
Miss .Martha I". Smith, who
ber 20, 1912.

One of twin brothers, the third birth in a family of nine children (of
whom eight are still living), Willis Truesdale was born with his brother,
11. H., on January 19, 1872, and when only three years of age was brought to
( alifornia. His education was obtained in the local schools. From a lad
he was obliged to helj) on the farm, and so he early learned the rudiments of
agriculture. When twenty-one years of age he and two brothers, J. C. and
11. H.. rented land and engaged in raising grain and hay. Two j^ears later,
on October 24. 1895. Willis was married, at Shandon, to Miss Zora Grainger,
who<c bu-ihplace was Topeka, Kansas. Her father was C. Baxter Grainger,
a iiative of .Missouri, of F.nglish descent, who achieved some distinction in the
I Hion .\rniy. As a Kansas farmer, Baxter Grainger came to California in
18/ r-. making for \"cntura county, where he farmed for eight years. In 1884
ill- homcsteadei! two miles south of what is now Shandon, and later he was one
of the early merchants in that town. He now resides at I'.erros. this county.
1- wile, whose ni;iidcn name was Jennie (Gardner, was a native of Kan-

rst homesteader, with

a hundred sixty acres

ml in addition an eigl

ity-acre timber claim.

icres he added thirty

more. His wife was

s born at Poland. Ohio

. She died on Decern-

SAN LUIS OI'.ISPO COUNTY AXl) i:.\\I RONS 321

sas. She died in X'entura county. Three children arc still living-. Zona and
Nora, the eldest, and twins (the latter now Mrs. 11. 11. Truesdale of Shandon),
Avere married the same evening. In time, Willis and his hrother. H. H.. en-
gaged in grain- and stock-raising. They hegan by leasing three hundred twent\-
acres, and afterwards leased other lands and eidarged their farming o])eration.'5
until they finally farmed a thousand acres. In 1897, they leased eight hun-
dred eighty acres of the old Roseli]) place, two miles .south of Shandon,
which they operated for ten years and then ])urchased the place; and still
later they bought the Baxter Grainger place of one hundred sixty acres, so
that now they have 1,040 acres in a body on San Juan creek, nearly all grain
land, which they operate together. In addition, they also leased about nine
hundred acres of stock land, raising cattle and horses, their brand being a
goblet placed upright on the left hijx In one year they raised 6.000 sacks of
grain. It required fifteen days to harvest the crop with the harvester, and six
weeks, with two eight-horse teams, to haul the crop to Paso Robles. They
usually sow from four hundred to four hundred fifty acres to grain, mostly
wheat.

In November. 1''14. tlic brothers bought tiie store at Shandon. from
Shimmin & Stevens, and also the stage line between Shandon and Paso
Robles. The stage makes a round trip, twenty-one miles, each day. In winter,
horses are used on the route : but for the rest of the year a truck is used,
carrying a ton or more of freight and mail to Paso Robles via Union. In
1916. they sold their store: but they still ojierate the stage line.

In 1914, Willis Truesdale brought his family, including seven children,
to Paso Robles. where he owns a residence on Pine street, between 16th and
17th streets. A child Edwin had died in its first year: the others are P.ertha.
attending San Jose State Normal School; P.ernice. a student in the Paso
Robles High School; and Thomas. Orville. Clarence. George and Ruth.

Mr. Truesdale has been prominent in the councils of the Republican
party. Mrs. Truesdale is a valued member of the Methodist Church. They
were school children when their parents settled on the upper Estrella Plains.
They remember the early happenings in tiieir section, and can relate many
interesting incidents of ])ioneer days.

GEORGE M. DOANE, SR.— Among the pioneers of Santa Maria wliose
association with California began in 1880. mention is due to George .M.
Doane, one of the leading contractors and business men of Santa P.arbara
county and senior member of the firm of (fcorge M. Doane & Sons of Santa
Maria, Cal. He was born near Rockford, Winnebago county, 111.. September
27, 1849, a son of M. M. and Jane (.Albright) Doane, natives of Cana<la an.l
Pennsylvania respectively. ^Vhen a young man. M. M. Doane came to the
United States from Canada, residing for a time in Michigan, where he mar-
ried, and thence moving to Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa, in turn. He died
in the last-named state at an advanced age. He was a Re])ublican in iiolitics.
and active in the councils of the party, although he never was an office-
seeker. His wife died in Iowa, aged fifty-two >ears. They were members of
the Methodist Episcopal Church and became the parents of ten children.

.\s a boy, George M. Doane was self-reliant and energetic. From the age
of eleven, he was reared in Fayette county, la., attended the public schools,
and at an early age began to work at the trade of cari)enter. serving an a])-
prenticeshii) at l-'lgin. la.; after which he folI,.wed the trade and dealt in

-:^22 SAX I.riS OBISPO COUNTY AND E.W'IROXS

real estate until ecnniii,;; tc.i LalilVirnia in 1880. Locating at once in Santa
.Maria, he began taking contracts, displaying an active interest in the devel-
opment of the community. As fast as his sons became old enough to aid in
the conduct of his business affairs, he took them into partnership ; and the
tirni of (ieorge M. Doane & Sons is one of the best-known in the central coast
section. For several years the firm dealt in paints, oils, varnishes and wall-
paper, luitil they sold out in 1917. They still deal in builders' hardware, and
do a general contracting and building business. Mr. Doane is prominent in
other business ventures also, and acts as president of the Santa Maria Planing
Mill Co., a corporation doing a general planing mill business, and dealing in
all kinds of building material.

As a contractor, Mr. Doane has built all of the school buildings in Santa
Maria, the Hotel Bradley, the three bank buildings, and all the business blocks
excej>t the Odd Fellows Hall and the Masonic building. The firm employ
twenty mechanics on an average, and do business throughout the Santa ]\laria
valley and in a part of San Luis Obispo County. They have erected about
seventy per cent, of the residences in Santa Maria.

In Elgin, la., in 1869, occurred the marriage of George M. Doane and
Miss Mary M. Hatfield, a native of Pennsylvania ; and they have had seven
children born to them: George M., Jr., a dealer in grain and beans in Santa
Maria; Mary G., the widow of W. A. Mattocks; Clarence M., a member of
the firm of George M. Doane «&; Sons; Milford L., manager of a lumber com-
pany in Santa Cruz, Cal. ; Perry P. ; Oscar M., also a member of the firm and
an architect ; and Richard V.

Mr. Doane is still active in supervising the work of Iniilding. He is
prominent in politics as a Republican, though not aspiring to any ofhce, having
in fact repeatedly refused to permit his name to be presented for any office.
He is a member of long standing in Hesperian Lodge No. 264, F. & A. M.,
in Santa Maria, and has ser\-e(l therein both as Junior \\'arden and as Senior
Deacon.

FRANK A. AND MANUEL F. LIMA.— A respected citizen and pros-
pemus rancher. Manuel V . Lima has spent practically his entire life in San
Luis < )!)ispo and Santa Barbara counties. He was born on the Laguna ranch,
Janu.-iry 12. 1870, the second child of Frank A. and Frances G. (Enos) Lima,
l)ritli natixes ol the .\zores Islands. Frank A. Lima was born on Fial island,
March 14, 182,\ the .son of a sawyer. He learned the cooper's trade, and fol-
lowed it a short time in the old country. Then he took up a seafaring life,
for twenty years sailing into many ports of the world, and even encircling
tlie glolje. He made one trip into the Arctic regions on a whaling voyage,
and worked for dif^'erent companies in the whaling trade. He landed in Cali-
lornia, coming via Cape Horn, in 1852. as mate of a vessel, and first went into
the mines on Sutter creek, where for three years he had success.

Mr. Lima then became connected with the freighting business up and
<lii\vn the coast, and in the si.xties was captain of a whaler and manager of the
I'liriuguese Wiialing Company in California with headquarters at San Simeon,
where the present lighthouse .stands. They had landings at Monterey Bay,
San Snneon. I'nrt Harford (now San Luis) and San Diego. He was con-
necteil wuh the industry ten years, when it declined.

Mr. Lima had married in Fial. and left his wife on the island until, after
makin- three trips hack, lie jiermanentlv located in California. She was born

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND E.WIROXS 523

January 12. 1830, and died May 28, 1910. He came to San Luis Obispo
County, settled on the Laguna ranch and in 1879 bought one hundred sixty
acres, half of which he later sold ; and after he had farmed for some years,
he bought thirteen acres near the town and lived practically retired until liis
death. February 16, 1908, aged eighty-five years.

Manuel F. Lima attended school in the Laguna district and at the San
Luis Obispo High School, and lived at home on the ranch until he was
twenty-one. He learned the trade of blacksmith with E. J. Kay, serving
three years as apprentice, and then worked as a journeyman for J. Cooper
and A. Peterson. Three years later, in 1896, he opened a shop of his own in
Guadalupe ; and for eight years his was the busiest shop in the town, and
he made plenty of money. He then became a rancher, and in 1902 leased two
hundred forty acres, part of the J. H. Tompson ranch, near Edna, San Luis
Obispo County, and began raising beans and grain. He eventually bought
sixty-four acres and still leased land, thereby enlarging his operations and
his income.

'I'he nu-ninry of Mr. Lima takes him back to liis boyhood days, in 1876,
when the town of San Luis ( )l)ispu consisted of a cluster of adobe houses
about the mission, and the lowlands along the creek were covered with tule.
Many vineyards were growing where the prosperous homes are now built.
He was married in San Luis Obispo, in 1902. to Miss Ellen Villa, who was
born in Castroville in 1876, her parents being pioneers of this state. Their
three children are Alister, Frank and Arthur.

Mr. Lima is a Republican in politics and wields an influence in his section.
He is a member of the U. P. E. C and a charter member of Edna Lodge,
was president, in 1916, of the I. D. E. S., and is a Blue Lodge Mason. He is
a self-made man, a citizen whose word is thoroughly reliable, and who, by
fair dealings and intelligent service, has won a reputation for public-spirited-
ness throughout his native county.

WILLIAM H. SCHULZE.— One of the substantial citizens and a
retired merchant of San Luis Obispo is William II. Schulze. a native of Ratze-
burg, Schleswig-Iiolstein, Germany, who was born October 11, 1844, a son of
Carl and Dorothy (Kuhlmann) Schulze, both natives of that country. William
received his education in the schools of his native country and at the age of
fifteen was apprenticed to a merchant in Liibeck, for a period of four years.
In 1865, when twenty-one years of age, he came to the United States well
e(iuipped, through a business training, for a good position. Going to Cin-
cinnati. O., he was employed as assistant bookkeeper and accountant with the
firm of Duhme & Co., manufacturing jewelers and silversmiths, and held this
responsible position four years.

In the meantime he had heard and read considerable of the Golden
West, and in 1869 came to California. He remained in San Francisco one
month, and then, with two friends, started for San Luis Obispo County, taking
the train to Gilroy, then the end of the road. There they hired mounts, and
rode horseback the rest of the way. Upon investigating conditions, Mr.
Schulze decided to cast in his lot here, and engaged in farming for a time, and
also in the bee business, purchasing from J. P. Andrews one hundred thirty-
five stands of bees. In 1872 he went back to Cincinnati, and his t.ld friend
Herman Duhme advanced him $5,000 : and with this money he came West to
(V,1,,rad.i and for tlie following eight years enga.ged in the sheep bn<ine« in

E.W'IROXS

mam

,- hardshiiis fn

vere

S, NVh.

) in that sectic

111 (

lid

not

524 SAX l.riS OP.ISPO COL'XTV .'

HiicrtaiiD cuiintN. During this time he suffered
storms and had considerable trouljle with Indian
take kindly to the white men.

Mr. .Sehulze later conducted a general merchandise business at Aguilar,
Las .Animas county, Colo., until 1897, when he disposed of his store and trade,
and with the proceeds of his years of hard labor again returned to California.
This time he settled in San Luis Obispo and engaged in the clothing and
gents' furnishing goods business with Julius Loewenstein. They conducted
the i)usiness together one year, when his partner died and Mr. Schulze bought
out his interest; and since that time, with the aid of his sons, he has success-
fully carried on the business.

During the time that he was engaged in tra<le at Aguilar, he served as
postmaster for a number of years, and one term as assessor of Las Animas
county, moving his family into Trinidad. While in that county he became a
])ersonal and lifelong friend of Judge Julius C. ( iunter, the present governor
of Colorado.

In 1880 lie was united in marriage with .Adelia Dra])er. who was beirn
in Illinois, and wlm was a school teacher fiir several years. They have had
nine ehildreii : Ctrl L. ; William H.. Jr.: Jewett ; Carrie: Claudius: Otto F. ;
ilertlia. w Im is teaching school; Ciira ; aufl John H., who is employed in the
Comnureial I'.ank.

Mr. Schulze is a member of the Ix P. ( ). Elks, Lodge No. 322, of San Luis
Obis])o. He is a trustee and one of the founders of the German Lutheran
Church in San Luis Obispo. In 1912 Mr. Schulze gave the management of
the clothing business over to his sons, Carl L., manager, William H., Jr., and
jewett. .\fter an active career covering almost fifty years of business, there-
fore, Mr. Schulze is now living retired with his wife and family, enjoying
to the full the fruits of his labors. He is a progressive citizen, supporting all
nioveineiUs th;it in his estimation will Iniild up the cduiity and promote the

HARRY E. LYMAN. — ( )f the energetic and ambitious men who have
sought opportunities in San Luis Obis])o, none liave done more to promote the
general welfare of the city than Harry E. Lyman, one of the leading contract-
ors and builders. He was born in Reno, Nev., August 3, 1878. a son of Albert
l\. ;iiid Laura (Rugg) Lyman, natives respectively of Montpelier, Vt., and
Can.ida. The year 1853 marked the date of the arrival, via Panama, of
Albert I'".. Lyman in San Erancisco, with his entire capital of ten cents,
but with a willingness to undertake any honest employment to defray imme-
diate e.\|)eiises, and to car\e for himself a name among California pioneers,
lie w,-i^ a e;diiiiet maker by trade, and as nearly e\eryone was going to the
mines to hunt for gold, he engaged in building cabins for the miners, and
later ran a sawmill in the Sierras for a time. In 1865, he went to Reno, Nev.,
and eniered the employ of the Central Pacific Railway as an engineer, and
hauled the first load of lumber tli.it was used to build the snowsheds. He
reiuained in the em])loy of tlie eoiiipany for twenty-three years, running an
engine from Sacramento to Reno nearly all of that time. In 1888, he came to
San Luis ( )i)ispo County, jnirchased a ranch of one hundred twenty-three
aerev near the oit\ of .San Luis Obispo and engaged in raising hay, grain and
fruit: aiul ,.n ihis ranch, in March. 1<)()1, he died, survived b'v hi.s three chil-
dren: Albert I'., Ilarrv l-,., the suliject of this review: and Mrs. l-,dith M.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COl'X'l^' AM) K.WIROXS 525

Clevenger. Another sun, I-'rank (i. Lyman, is dect-asecl. Albert Lyman was
an Odd l'"ellu\v for forty-five years, a charter member of Trnck-ee Lodge, and
one of the original members of the H. of L. !■".. of the state.

Harry E. Lyman was educated in the pnblic schools of Nevada and
California, and when nine years of a.^e was brought to San Luis Obisiio
County, and was reared on the farm until 1900, when he decided to enter
the em])lo_v of the railroad and went to work in the engine department of the
machine shops at W'adsworth, Xe\-., where he stayed eighteen months. .\t
tiie time of his father's death he came back to his old home town, and for
two years was firing an engine on the Southern Pacific.

In 1903, he went to work at the carpenter's trade in San Luis Obisjjo,
and continued as a journeyman imtil 1908, when he began taking contracts on
his own account. He has met with deserved success and has erected many
fine homes, pretty bungalows and substantial business blocks in the city,
among wdiich mention may be mafle of the residences of F. ]. Rodriguez, S.
Si)encer, E. Elberg, E. Vollmer, C. H. Kamm, E. Freeman, and Anita Hath-
way. He also erected the Carissa building, the San Luis and (i. W. McCabe
garages, and many smaller houses, cottages and barns throughout the county.
So satisfactorily does he fulfil his contracts that many of his patrons do not
seek bids from other contractors. In his planing mill in the rear of his home,
he prepares all the furnishings for his contracts.

While Mr. Lyman has given his time to the contracting business, he has
not neglected the duties of a citizen and has supported every movement con-
sidered by him of importance for the general welfare of the city and county.
Some years ago he married Miss Maggie Sresovich, a native of Lompoc,
Santa Barbara county, and they have two children, Mabel and Elmer. Mr.
Lyman is a member of the Independent ( )r(ler of Odd Fellows.

STANLEY L. NICHOLS.— In these United "States it is a matter of pride
that a large number of the best and most prominent citizens in different walks
of life have risen to distinction solely through their own efforts. A notable
instance of the sterling worth which overcomes obstacles and creates its own
opportunities is presented in the career of Stanley L. Nichols, now living re-
tired in San Luis Obispo.

He was born near Rochester, \. Y.. June 16, 1837, and there he reside.l
until eighteen vears of age, attending the public school and working on the
home farm. In 1855 the family moved to Adrian. Mich. In 1862 he enlisted
for service in the Civil War, joining Company F, Michigan Cavalry, under
Colonel R J. Minty. The company proceeded to Louisville, Ky., and was
attached to the ,\rrny of the Cumberland and took i)art in many important
battles, including those of Chattanooga and Chickamauga, with its three days
of bloodv fighting; and it is worthy of mention that his regiment fired the
first shot in the last-named contest. He was also in the Battle of Atlanta.

Later his regiment was under General Wilson in the P.attle of Selma,
where 3,000 prisoners were taken within three days. Mr. Nichols was on
the spot and took part in the capture of "Jeff Davis," and heard the soldiers
sing the famous song. "We'll hang Jeff Davis to the sour apple tree." Ik-
was mustered out at Nashville, Tenn., August 9, 1865. He had three brothers
in the same company with him, and they all came out uninjured.

After the war, 'Mr. Nichols farmed for many years near Lansing and
Ma.son, .Mich. In 1889 he arrived in California and settleil in San Luis Obispo,

526 SAX LriS ()RISPO COUNTY AND EXX'IROXS

where for cisht years he was in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad,
and for a time followed the trade of carpenter. In 1866 he was united in mar-
riage with Ellen E. Harrison, a native of Michigan, and they have two chil-
dren : Almon, of Fresno, who has a son, Robert; and Mrs. Ardie Leona Tajes,
(if Santa Barbara, who has two children, Leona and Leslie. Mrs. Nichols
died in July, 1915. Mr. Nichols is a member of Fred Steele Post No. 70,
G. .A. R., in which he is acting adjutant.

OTTO WYSS.— .Xo nne will ever discount the enormous debt of Cali-
fornia tu Cerman abilit}' and culture, least of all those wdio have met and
come to know genial (Jttt) ^^'yss, the pioneer of Klau, wdio was so long post-
master there, and for years was Justice of the Peace, until he refused longer
to serve in that honorable capacity. All the homely virtues of the Germans,
so long e.xtolled by those who have lived in the comfortable old I'atherland,
are reflected in this scientifically trained but easy-going Teuton, and it is little
wonder that Otto's capital begins with his friends.

l.iorn at Otelfingen. Zurich, in Switzerland, on Xo\ember 10, 1846, he
came of parents now dead, but whn in their lifetime enjoyed high social
standing. His father was Dr. John \'. \\'yss, a practicing physician, and his
mother, before her marria.ge, was Frl. Anna Schneebeli, a native of his home
district. He himself was the fourth of si.x children, and the only one to come
to California. He began with the primary school of his district, then attended
the secondary school at Regensdorf, and next entered the Zurich Techno-
logical Academy. Following the death of his mother, he went to England,
having finished his course as a machinist in Paris. In the British Isles he
spent a year in study at Manchester, taking practical work in one of the lead-
ing machine shops: and in the fall df 1871 became to the United States. He
was unfortunate, howexer. in being unable to obtain employment in the field
in which he had been drilled ; and this led to his turning to dairying work
in Xew Jersey.

< )n the first nf January, 1872. he crossed the continent and reached San
■■rancisco, where again he took up dairying; and having an acquaintance
in the person of Ernest \'on Jensen, wdio was later superintendent of the
Mahoncy mine in Adelaida mining district, he was encouraged to make for
him some drawings, and in that way secured employ-ment which brought
hnn to San f.uis Obisjjo County. In April. 1875. he became engineer at the
-Mahoney mine: and while helping to repair the tools, he kept the books at
night and made new drawings of the shafts and tunnels. There he remained
until the mine .shut down in 1877. although he was left in charge of the prop-
erty and still has charge of the mine. He then located his present homestead
"t a liundred sixty acres adjnining the mine, which he improved and added
'" ^'y l>re-emi)ting eighty acres mi .re. and later bv iiurchase. until he now has
i"ur hundred acres.

'■or a long time, or until tiie post office, about 1870, was moved farther
up. ( )tto Wyss was ])ostmaster of Adelaida; and when Mr. Klau, who owned
tiu- klau mine at the ])lace named after him, and who was postmaster there,
;-:ave un his jxisition. Wyss was appointed postmaster in his stead. At San
l-rancisco Mr. \\ yss had married Miss Emily Meier, a native of Switzerland,
whom he had known in the Old World. When she died in 1888, he gave up his
^^tnre and retained nnly the post office. iMnallv. he resigned his positi.m as
po.stmaster, and his daut^hter. .Mrs. Pauline Dodd. was ajiix.inted in his place.

m'A

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD ICWTKOXS 529

Six children were born of his first marriage: Emily, now Mrs. \'an Horn,
of this vicinity: Alice, Mrs. Witcosky, of San Luis Obispo; Otto, Oscar and
Henry, all of whom died of diphtheria within three days ; and Anna, who died
in infatuy. In 1889, Mrs. Wyss was married a second time, to Miss Selina
Strcul, alsd a native of Switzerland, and by her he has had four children,
three of whom are still living. Miss Selina is a Red Cross nurse in Los
Angeles; Miss Mattie is bookkeeper for the Salinas Valley Lumber Co., at
San JMiguel; and Pauline, now Mrs. Dodd, is at home, her chief responsibility
being the postmastership. Her husband, by the way, is J. E. Dodd. who
operates the Wyss ranch of four hundred acres, which is well stocked, and is
devoted to raising hay and grain. Mr. Wyss owns a dairy, usually milking
from eighteen to twenty cows.

A Democrat in politics, Mr. Wyss has stooti high in the councils of his
party; and as has been remarked, he has long served the community in the
bothersome office of Justice of the Peace. lie is a genial neighbor, and as a
citizen has for many years been conspicuous for his liberality, hospitality and
large-hearted ])ublic spirit.

JOHN PETERSEN.— r,> the hardy pioneers who braved innumerable
dangers and suffered indescribable hardships that they might make the path-
way of their children smoother than they found it themselves, this country is
indebted in a way that should in some manner be recognized. Among these
pioneers, John Petersen, late of San Luis Obispo, is a worthy representative.
He was born in Denmark, February 28, 1839. When a boy he went to sea.
following it until he rounded Cape Horn and arrived in California, in 1858.
Then he ran away from his ship, became a landsman, and was willing to
accept any honest employment that came to his attention. Going to Ala-
meda, he was employed in a warehouse for some time: and later removing to
Watsonville, he engaged in ranching, raising l)eans and grain for alxnil ten
years, and meeting with fair results.

lie next spent three years in the vicinity of Salinas. In 1876 he came
to San Luis Obispo County, where he purchased one hundred fifty acres of
land in the Los Osos valley, which is still known by his family as the home
ranch. Me acquired and improved other properties until he owned four hun-
dred acres. He engaged in the dairy business and did general farming.
lie was strictly a self-made man, for he started in as a poor boy and by the
time when he passed away, November 30, 1906, he had become one of tlie
wealthy men of the county, and one who held the respect of everyone witii
whom he came in contact. I!y all his business associates his word was as
good as his bond.

In Wat.sonville, in 1869, occurred the marriage of John Petersen and
Miss Frances Elizabeth Petersen, daughter of Lewis H. and Elizabeth (Goad I
Petersen, natives, respectively, of Denmark and .\lsace. Germany. Lewis H.
Petersen followed the sea for many years and made his first trip to Cali-
fornia in 1836. He was engaged in trading with the Indians, took part in tlio
Mexican W^^r and became familiar with conditions existing in the western
country. During the Mexican War he served in a Tennessee cavalry regi-
ment. He went back to New Orleans, where he married, and going to Mis-
souri, farmed until 1853, when he outfitted with i)rovisions, supplies and ox
teams and prairie schooners, and started on the long and dangerous triji back
across the plains to the wonderful state of California.

530 SAX l.nS ol'.ISPO COUXTY AND EWIROXS

l-e;i\iii,L;' St. Lmiis, Mci., in 1853, they began the long journey which, ere
it had reaeiu-d its end. was one ne\er tu be forgotten by members ol the party.
Tlie discomforts were many, more especially to the brave wife and mother,
who gave birth t(j twin sons while the party were near Salt Lake. The
ne.xt winter they arrived in California and stopped in the bay section until
1S55 wjun they settled near \\'inters, Yolo county, where Wr. Petersen took
up goverinnent land. In 1862 they went to Watsonville, and here he engaged
in general farming until 1883, wdien he came to San Luis Obispo County,
where he died, having met with well-merited success duting his lifetime.

To |()hn and Frances Petersen the following children were born: ]\Irs.
.\nna Miller, of Stratford: Peter, of \'allejo : Mrs. Ella Montague, of Los
.\ngeles: Leuis H.. of ^Modesto : Mrs. K. M. Payne, of San Luis Obispo ; John,
of Los Angeles: Mrs. May Murphy, of San I'rancisco : Mrs. Edith O'Sullivan,
a graduate of the l'ni\-ersity of California and now a public school teacher in
Manila: and Henry, in the garage business with his brother, in Modesto.
.\ltogether there are fourteen grandchildren and three great-grandchildren in
the famih-. Mr. Petersen was a stanch Kepublican. but never an office-
seeker.

MICHAEL AND CARLOS SERRANO.— It is a far cry to the days when
swarming Indians and a handful of padres were the only residents of Cali-
fornia, but there are still a few sons and daughters of those hardy and adven-
turous spirits who braved every danger and made trips of exploration into the
then wilderness of California. The first visit made by Michael Serrano, a
native of New Mexico, w^as in 1816. Just one hundred years ago he crossed
the country on horseback and went as far north as San Francisco bay, one of
the first to \-isit that place, which was known only to Mission history. He
returned to New Mexico: but twelve years later the longing for the West
again came over him, and in 1828 he made his second trip and thereafter re-
mained in California territory. He rode the ranges as a cowboy, later coming
to San Luis Obispo County when the only persons here were Indians and a
tew priests at the Mission.

lie married here Prudence Quintana, whose father, Stephen Quintana,
came to San Luis Obispo County in the very early days, and was a large cattle
and sheep raiser. He accjnired two thousand acres of land near what is now
Serrano Station. He died in 1880. The ranch was managed by Michael Ser-
rano for many years, and was known as the Potrero ranch. He had about
five hundred mules and thousands of cattle and sheep. Michael Serrano died
on December Z^. 1899. aged ninety-six. Their children were Mrs. Antonio
Munoz. .Mrs. Jennie Stanley, Mrs. R. Williams, Hippolyte, and Carlos.

Carlos Serrano, the youngest of the five children born to his parents, was
l>orn in .San Luis Obispo, March 31, 1872. He attended school until twelve
years of age. then began herding sheep for his father, and later worked for
wage- : and lie rode the range as a cowboy and did teaming until he was
iwenty-one. Me then engaged in business on his own account, buying and
celling cattle an<l horses. He also dialt in real estate, purchasing small
ranches, improxing them, and selling tliem to advantage, and has become
well informed on land values. He owns a dairy and cattle ranch on San Ber-
n.irdo creek. .Mr. Serrano s])ent many years in the saddle, and became an
expert and fearless rider. He married Rliss Cleo Quintana, a native of New
Mexico; .uid thev have two children, Peter and l-ra7ices.

SAX LriS OBISPO CnrXTV AXl) F.X\IR(^XS 5.M

P. A. H. ARATA. — A direct descendant of an old Spanish family, and
himself a native son of California. 1'. A. H. Arata is recognized as one of the
leading real estate dealers in San Lnis Obispo. lie was born in Santa Harbara
county, January 26, 1868, a son of Juan and Maria A. (Jimeno) Arata. Juan
Arata, a man of fine education and business ability, was born in Spain. He
came to California in 1849 and became a merchant in Monterey. Later settling
in Santa Barbara, he was prominently identified with the public afTairs of
both city and county, serving as city treasurer of Santa Barbara and as
treasurer of the county. He was also an extensive cattle and sheep raiser,
and had a wide acquaintance throughout the central coast section. Mis
wife was a daughter of Manuel Jimeno, one time acting governor of California
under Mexican rule, and a very prominent and highly educated man. He
married into the family of Jose de la Cuerra, a very prominent military man
who was born in Santander, S])ain, in 1776, and whose coat-of-arms carries
their record back to the Moors. Jose de la Guerra was appointed ensign and
left Spain to join his company at Monterey, California. He rose gradually
until, in 1810, he was General to the \'ice-Royal Government in Mexico, fh
181 1 lir was commander of the troo])s at San Diego, and in 1817 was appointed
Captain and Comandante of trot)ps at .Santa P.arbara. In 1804 he married
Dona Maria Antonia Carillo, daughter of Kaxinundo Carillo, then coman-
dante of the presidio at Santa Barbara. In fad, in reading the state history
the names of Spanish and Mexican men who took an active part in govcrn-
nuntal afTairs from an early period to the time of the American occupation are
interwoven with names that are traced to Mr. Arata"s maternal forefathers,
■all of wh(ini ii;i\e long since ])asscd away.

Mr. Arata was educated in tlie sch.mls of Santa I'.arhara and l)ccame
especially jjroficient in bookkeeping. .\t an early age he displayed a fondness
for politics, and served in various capacities. He was deputy assessor under
Charles O. King, has been a meiiiber of the Democratic county central com-
mittee for years, and was chairman and also secretary. For three years he
served as a member of the city council of San Luis Obispo, and installed
a system of accounting, in connection with the city government, which gives
any taxpayer, at a glance, a complete insight into the city's financial affairs.
l"or over ten years, too, he has been a director of the local Chamber of Com-
merce, and has been always active in all movements coming before the Cham-
ber that have had fur their object tile beiterment of conditions in the city or
county.

TVdnnnent in fraternal circles. Mr. .\rata is a member and Past Fxaltcd
Ruler of .'^an Luis Obispo Lodge Xo. 322. B. P. O. Llks: is Past Chancellor
Commander of the Knights of Pythias: and a member and past president of
the .Xative Sons of the Golden \\est. He is a certified accountant, and has
followed his vocation in San Luis Obispo for a number of years. In 1906
Mr. .\rata embarked in the real estate business and has met with the best of
success. With W. C. H. Dibble, he is interested in mining, their holdings
being in San Luis Obispo County, and from these gratifying results have been
obtained.

Mr, .\rat,i has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Ida Wicken-
den, a daughter of IVederick Wickenden. a pioneer of California and now a
resident of Sisquoc, Santa Barbara county, who. at over ninety years of
age, is hale and hearty. Two children were born of this union: Helen F...

532 SAX LLMS OBISPO COUNTY AXI) EWIROXS

a student in tlie University of California at Berkeley; and Winheld H.. wIkj is
attendins? Stanford University. Mrs. Ida Arata passed away in 1899. His
second marriage united Mr. Arata with Miss Grace Richardson, a lady of cul-
ture and refinement, who was born in Oregon of eastern parents. Mr. Arata is
an affable and popular citizen, and a firm believer in the possibilities of this
count V, where he has made many friends and a financial success. He has
manv matters occupying his time and attention, but is never too busy to join
with others in promoting the best interests of the people and of the county
and state.

THOMAS STEVENS.—Social life, including the almost numberless de-
partments of the business world, has become so confusingly complex that
the modern man is apt to forget the very important place once occupied by
the all-around merchant, and indeed the important participation by him in
the great machinery of affairs today. A splendid representative of the old
school of merchants, who remained, however, decidedly up-to-date with his
latest contemporaries, was Thomas Stevens, long prominent in Paso Robles
business and social circles, but who was denied, through broken health brought
on by overwork, the full enjoyment of a success he had certainly earned. It
was in the comfortable and rather fashionable old spa-town of Cheltenham,
Gloucestershire. England, that Mr. Stevens was born on December 23, 1865.
the second youngest of six children and the son of William Stevens, an
engraver who owned "The Rocken,\" a large country home, and who
once visited Mr. Stevens at Paso Robles. His mother was Miss Emily Page,
before her marriage ; and he had a brother, Major William Stevens of the
English army. Thomas was educated at Corpus Christi, a preparatory school
for Eaton, and one of the thorough schools of his native country, after which
he decided to come to the I'nited States, it having been his ambition and
desire from a lad.

In 1883 he left England and came to X'ebraska, where he remained for
two years, after which he made a six months' visit to his native place. About
1886, he arrived in California, and soon entered on a mercantile career at
Sacramento with the firm of Weinstock, Lubin & Co. His health failing
after several years, he was advised to remove nearer the coast, and this led
him to come to Oakland, where he changed to the livery business in order
to get outdoor work, later taking up mercantile life with Abrahamson Bros. ;
but after three years he sold his interests on the Bay and removed to Paso
Robles, and there he was employed by Herman Eppinger, an old-time mer-
chant In time he became Eppinger's local manager, resigning only when
Go'jrge Bell offered him greater inducements. A still larger increase of
salary drew him back to Eppinger. but once more he was with Bell at the
iiead of his dry-goods department. In 1903. he formed the well-known part-
nership with Mr. Shimmin and helped to start the mercantile concern at
Twelfth and Spring streets. Phenomenal success attended the partners'
efforts, and the "Emporium" became quite famous, so that the returns justified
'he rebuilding and enlarging of their store. The firm also started a branch
estalihshmcnt at Shandon ; and they became the owners and operators of
several ranches.

Continued application to business and overwork once more told on this
energetic man, and in July, 1014, he was stricken ill with such serious phases
that he was compelled to give up active supervision. The following Xo-

"^jrjri ^^-^

SAN LUIS OBISPO COfXTV AND ENVIRONS 535

vember, when the Shandon store had been disposed of, they also sold the
Einporium in Paso Robles, and soon thereafter Mr. Stevens removed to San
Leandro, Alameda county, where, in March, 1915, he purchased a small
farm, gaining recreation in outdoor work until the following spring, when,
in May, he suffered a second stroke, lie ilieu built a handsome residence at
Berkeley, and in this quiet retreat he was living when, on October 29, of that
year, he died.

As far back as October 26, 1893, Mr. Stevens was married at Paso Robles
to ]\Iiss Grace Stanage, a native of Lafayette, Contra Costa county, and the
daughter of Hiram McCarty Stanage. Her father was born at West Liberty,
Ohio, on April 28, 1832; he was left an orphan and became a farmer.
About 1853, he crossed the plains in an nx train and settled as a farmer
in Contra Costa, in time marrying Miss Lutberia Hodges, a native of Wis-
consin, and a daughter of the New Yorker. David Hodges, who brought
his family from Wisconsin to California, dying on the Coast on September
6, 1890, at the age of fifty-eight, from injuries received in a runaway.

The youngest of five children, Mrs. Stevens was educated at the public
schools in Contra Costa County and in Oakland. She has two daughters:
Miriam, a graduate of the California Polytechnic School at San Luis Obispo,
who is now Mrs. Hall Either, of Berkeley, and the mother of a promising
child, Thomas Stevens, named for its grandfather, and the idol of Mrs.
Stevens' heart ; and Bernice, a graduate of the Paso Robles high school,
who is now the wife of Dr. John A. Lesoine of Oakland.

In politics, Air. Stevens was a Progressive Republican. He was very
active in public enterprises, and was a stockholder in the Citizens Bank of
Paso Robles, and a member of the Chamber of Commerce at that place.
Fraternally, he was a member of the Odd I-'ellows and of the Independent
Order of Foresters. Mr. Stevens was an Episcopalian, and a liberal contrib-
utor to benevolent enterprises. Mrs. Stevens attends the College Avenue
Methodist Church at Berkeley.

GOTTLIEB W. KIRCHNER.— Tlu' changing vicissitudes of life brought
the late Mr. Kirchner into close touch with various localities before, in
1911, he established his home in San Luis Obispo County. He was born in
Saxony, Germany, May 2, 1839. His jKircnts died when he was a child, and
he was reared under the guidance of a brother and sister and came with
them, in 1853, to the United States. They settled in the woods in Adams
county, Ind.. cleared the land and began to farm. Here he was reared to
manho.id among pioneer conditions when wild game abounded in that sec-
tion, and f(]r the first seven years received one hundred twenty-five dollars
as payment of wages for his labor. It was hard work clearing the timber
from the land, Indians were numerous and not any ton Irieudly, and the
settlers were always armed.

At the breaking out of the war, he was fired with cnthu.siasni to defend
liis country's honor and flag, and enlisted, December 17, 1861, in the Eleventh
Indiana Battery. Captain Sutermeister, and was assigned to the First Brigade,
Third Division, of Sheridan's Twentieth Army Corps, in the Army of the
Cumberland. During his term of service he participated in many battles
and skirmishes, among which may be mentioned four weeks' bombardment
of Atlanta, the battles of Corinth^ Nashville. Murfrecsboro. Franklin. Tulla-
homa, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Tunncll Hill, Buz-

536 SAX LL'TS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

zard's Koost, Rcsaca, New Hope Church, Kenesaw Mountain, ^Marietta and
Jonesboro. He served under Generals Sheridan, Buell, Lytle and McCook,
and was wounded at Pittsburg Landing and Chickamauga. Mr. Kirchner was
cannoneer of his battery, and his family have in their possession a letter of
recommendation stating his faithful services and gallantry in battle, signed by
his captain and officers of his company, dated March 1, 1865. The state of
Indiana erected a monument at Lytle Hill for the Eleventh Battery, in honor
of General Lytle, who was killed there.

The war over, Mr. Kirchner was honorably discharged, and returning
home was engaged with Congressman A. P. Edgerton for five years, receiving
one dollar per day and his board. In the meantime he bought and cleared
some land and later undertook farming for a time. He was employed at a
subsequent date by Captain Sutermeister in the stone and marble works at
Fort Wayne. Fifteen years were spent as salesman for the A. D. Prentiff
Hardware Company of Fort \Vayne, and he served as a letter carrier in the
])ostoffice at Fort Wayne for five years, under Postmaster Kyle. After finish-
ing his work there, he was made caretaker of Cedar Park at F"ort Wayne and
remained in that position until he came to San Luis Obispo, in 1911. Mr.
Kirchner came from a family of landscape gardeners, and he has worked at
that trade occasionally. He always had employment from the time he left
the army, and never was forced to be idle.

Air. Kirchner was twice married. Plis first wife was Caroline Waisbrod,
to whom he was married in Indiana, and by whom he had three children,
William G., Mary E., and Mrs. Kate Hetcher, all living in Indiana. His sec-
ond wife was Mary Spigal, a native of Indiana, by whom he had a son, Gustav
E., who studied for the ministry in Fort Wayne and St. Louis colleges, and is
now the popular pastor of the Lutheran Church in San Luis Obispo.

In the month of June, 1917, Gottlieb W'. Kirchner passed to his reward;
and his burial took place in Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, Cal. Mr.
Kirchner was a charter member of Fort A\'ayne Post, G. A. R., and later
joined the Union \'eteran League. He was a member of Fred Steele Post,
No. 70, G. A. R., of San Luis Obispo.

ALONZO H. SEEBER.— Various industries engage the attention of the
residents of San Luis Obispo County, many of whom have been called to this
part of the United States on account of advantages of climate and business
possibilities. .Among these citizens who have made their influence felt since
casting in their lot with the Golden State is Alonzo H. Seeber. He was born
in Jcft'erson county. New York, August 13, 1842. a son of William and Ann
Eliza Seeber. both natives of that state and farmers by occupation.

Mr. Seeber followed farming until he was seventeen years of age, attend-
ing the public schools as conditions permitted. He learned the trade of
carpenter in Brownville and Dexter, N. Y., and when the Civil War broke
"ut. enlisted, August 7, 1862. in Company I, Tenth New A'ork Heavy Artil-
hry. Sixth .Army Corps, and served with valor until his discharge, June 25,
lSi).-i. Tie saw service under Colonel Place and General Burnside, in the .\nny
of the Potomac, for the first eighteen months, doing guard duty in the line
of forts near Washingtou, D. C, on the Maryland side. He was under fire
HI the trenches five months at the siege of Petersburg, took part in the Battle
<ii CoM Harbor and in many skirmishes, and had manv narrow and thrilling
escaj.es during his three years of service.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 537

Mr. Seeber had one brother, Nelson, who enhstcd December 26, 1863,
in Company I, Tenth New York Heavy Artillery, and served until the
close of the war; also three uncles, Frank, George H., and Walter Seeber,
all also in Company I. George H. died of disease in 1862, but the others
came out unscathed. Two uncles on the maternal side, William P. Groat
and Harrison Groat, were in the same company. Company I, Tenth New
York Heavy Artillery; and one uncle on the father's side, Robert R. Bell, was
first lieutenant of the same company. All of these men lived to be old men.

After the war was over, Mr. Seeber went back to his trade of carpenter
at Dexter, N. Y., and later located in Philadelphia, that same state, where he
engaged in contracting and building, erecting many fine dwellings. For a
number of years he even did his own manufacturing of interior furnishings.
Later he removed to Carthage, N. Y., and for six years was employed in a
chair factory. At the end of that time, in 1911, he came to San Luis Obispo,
Cal., where he has lived practically retired from active pursuits.

While a resident of New York state, January 1, 1866, Mr. Seeber married
Miss Caroline Remore, a native New Yorker and daughter of Peter and
Mercy (Lasher) Remore, both born and raised in the. Empire State. Her
father fought in the War of 1812, and was orderl}- to General Brown. He was
in the battle of Sacket's Harbor, on Lake Ontario. Her grandfather Remore
saw military service in the Revolutionary War. To Mr. and Mrs. Seeber two
children were born. W. Fred, a rancher located near the tank farm, is mar-
ried and has three children, Gaylord R., Laurence F., and Doris M. .Vdaugh-
ter, Anna Belle, married F. H. Cooper; she died, leaving one son, Herbert O.

Mr. Seeber was a charter member of the Dexter, N. Y., Post, G. A. R.,
and passed through the various offices therein. He is now a member of Fred
Steele Post, No. 70, G. A. R., of San Luis Obispo. He and his wife always
have been workers in the cause of temperance. Both ^Mr. and Mrs. Seeber
have grown old gracefully, and have seen the bright as well as the dark side
of life.

JESSE E. LEWIS. — 'Vhv efficient superinlcndent of the county hospital
of San Luis Obispo County, Jesse E. Lewis, has given many years of public
service. From 1885 until 1896 he was superintendent of the institution of
which he is now the head ; then he served for eight years as city treasurer of
San Luis Obis])o; and in 1909 he was again appointed superintendent of the
county hospital. His administration is marked by efficiency, and merits the
commendation of the public regardless of party affiliations. He was born
near Cedar Mountain in the vicinity of Salt Lake City, Utah, June 5. 1854. a
son of Jesse B. Lewis, a California pioneer of the early fifties. The lather
was a blacksmith, and followed his trade in San Bernardino until 18f)2. when
he came to San Luis Obispo County and was employed by Dick Byer. Later
he leased the Pico ranch near San Simeon; and soon after, in 1863. he moved
to Bakersfield.

Jesse E. Lewis lived near San Simeon until 1864, and then in Morro. and
attended the public schools of these places. In 1871 he began working for
J. H. llollister on the Chorro ranch, and for eleven years remained at that
place. In 1883 he moved to San Luis Obispo, where he has since resided.
He engaged first in the livery business, and later in real estate and insurance.
For a time he was employed on the TriJKme. then a weekly, conducted by
Myron Angel and Charles Maxwell. He was then appointed to his present

538 SAX LL'IS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

position ; and (luring liis terms of service he has won a place for himself in the
hearts of the citizens of the county by his efticient discharge of every duty
imjioscd upon him.

lie married intn ime nf the pioneer families of the county, his wife being
Miss Celestia Osgood, daughter of Henry AI. Osgood, one of the pioneer
ranchers of the Arroyo Grande section and a jeweler in San Luis Obispo
for years. They became the parents of two children, Elmer I\I., wdio married
Agnes -McCarran. and Jessie AL. the wife of George Crawford, both residents
of San I'raficiscii,

Air. Lewis is prominent in fraternal circles, being a member of the
Lodge, Chapter and Commandery in Alasonry ; a Past Grand of the local
lodge of Odd Fellows ; a member, since 1877, of Park Lodge, No. 40, Knights
of Pythias; and a member of the B. P. O. Elks. He is public-spirited, and is
a supporter of all movements that upbuild the county of his adoption and pro-
mote the welfare of its citizens.

RICHARD H. DANA. — A descendant of one of the early families long
famous for its great landholdings, and for its part in laying the foundations
of the great state of California, Richard H. Dana is a successful ranchman
residing on the John Carr place. His great-grandfather was William Dana,
who was born in 1767, married a Aliss Davis, a daughter of an artillery officer
in the American Revolution, and died at the end of the century, a little past
thirty years of age. His grandfather was Captain William Goodwin Dana,
whose life began in 1797, and who, at the age of eighteen, was sent by his
uncle, a merchant, to Canton, China, for two years, and after that to Calcutta
and the Sandwich Islands. So successful was he in his mission that in 1820 he
opened a good-sized branch house in Oahu, erecting a warehouse on the
island ; and this venture led him, as captain of a sailing ship, to run back and
forth between California and Honolulu, and to the South American coast.

About 1825, Captain Dana settled at Santa Barbara and there built a
schooner, declared to have been the first seaworthy craft ever committed to
the waters of the Pacific. Ten years later, as a naturalized citizen of the
Mexican Republic, he was granted the Nipomb Rancho, a superb tract of
37,000 acres. In the meantime, at Santa Barbara, on August 10, 1828, he
married Aliss Maria Josefa Carillo, the eldest daughter of Don Carlos Antonio
Carillo, governor of Alta California ; and by this estimable woman he had
twenty-one children. Some of those who latest survived are William C,
Charles \V., John F., Henry Carillo, Ramon H., Francis, Edward Goodwin,
Adeline I'Jiza, Frederick A.,' David A., Elizabeth C, and Sarah A. Dana.

Frederick A. Dana was the father of the subject of our sketch, and was
born on June 12, 1849, dying in 1900. His wife was Aliss Manuela AlunOz, a
native of San Luis Obispo, and she is still living at Nipomo, honored by all
who ha\e the good fortune to know her. Thirteen children were born to
Frederick and Alanuela Dana : and seven are still alive.

Educated at the Nipomo public school, Richard Dana worked out on
neighboring ranches, and then was employed in the oil fields at Orcutt, in
the Santa Alaria valley, and the California Canon and elsewhere, becoming
in time an expert tool dresser; but when the opportunity presented itself,
he took up ranching, which he likes much better and in which, assisted by
his l)rotlKr, Gerard .'^. Dana, he is making a pronounced success. He rents
forty-five acres of the lohn Carr farm, where he lives, and another fortv-

SAN LUIS ULIISPO C()i;X'rV AXI) EXX'IROXS 541

five acres of A. F. Careaga, and thirty acres of the U. S. Careaga estate.
He plants the one hundred twenty acres largely to beans, though devoting
some of the land to hay. Both brothers are deservedly popular, and feu-
young men in or near Los Alamos give greater promise than Richard H. Dana.

HENRY B. SMITH.— During his long connection with the vicinity of
Paso Robles, Henry 15. Smith has been associated with many enterprises
for the benefit and ad\anccmcnt of the general welfare. He was born July 9,
1841, in Carey, Wyandot county, O., a son of William, and grandson of Eri
Smith, the latter a native of Connecticut and a farmer by occupation, who
had served in the Revolutionary War. He moved to Sacketts Harbor. X. Y.,
where he died. He married Phoebe Mills. William Smith walked all the way
to Wyandot county, bought land at Elyria and got started, and then went
back to New York state and married Lucy Turner. The grandfather, Samuel
Turner, was born in New York, was a shoemaker by trade, and also served
in the Revolutionary ^\ ar. The father, William Smith, served in the War
of 1812, and when the Battle of Sacketts Harbor was fought, was seventeen
years old. He farmed at Elyria, O., later moved to Carey, and was acci-
dentallv drowned in 1849. His widow moved to Nebraska, where she died
in 1884.

Henry B. Smith is the ninth in order ui birtii in a family of eleven chil-
dren, three of whom arc now living. A brother, Daniel Smith, served in the
Civil War, in the lOOtli Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Henry B. Smith was
reared on the farm at Carey until he was twelve year-s of age. Then he
went with his parents to Princeton, Bureau county. 111., helped improve
the farm near there, attended the public school, and studied at Lt)mbard
University at Galesburg. He taught school for eleven winters, working on
the farm in summer. When able, he purchased a place on the edge of Lee
county, north of Princeton. He l)ecanic prominent in that section, and served
as supervisor of his township and as justice of the peace. In 1874, he re-,
moved to Thayer county. Neb., bought land one mile from Carlton and
improved it, and successfully engaged in farming his three hundred twenty
acres. While there, he also served a term as justice of the peace.

In 1885, we find Mr. Smith in California, where he purchased land in
San Luis Obispo County near Creston, and devoted his three hundred six
acres to grain and stock-raising, specializing in hogs. In 1892, he sold out
at a good profit and purchased his present place of thirty-five acres on the
Adelaida road, three miles from Paso Robles. He cleared it of brush and
trees, for it was raw land and had never been culti\ated, and set out walnut
trees, forty feet apart. He now has seventy large trees, from which he has
had seventy sacks of nuts. His almonds, peaches, cherries and nectarines have
never missed yielding a very satisfactory crop. He erected his residence
and other buildings on the place and has a very comfortable ranch home,
accessible to market and schools. Since coming to this state and settling in
San Luis Obispo County, -Mr. Smith has taken an active interest in the
maintenance of good schools, has served as trustee of tlie Creston school for
several years and was clerk of the board, and has again served as justice of
llie peace. He is a self-made man in every sense of the word, optimistic
and of a humorous vein, always seeing the pleasant side of things as they
happen. He has done his share in pioneering in the various places in whidi
he has lived, and has taken a very active interest in the upi)uildiiig of each

542 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

section. In jjolitics he is a Republican on national issues, while in local
matters he selects the man, regardless of party lines, best qualified, in his
judsnicnt, for the office.

Air. Smith was united in marriage in Illinois with Miss Emma Stone,
a native of New York. To them were born nine children, five of whom grew
to maturity. Bertha is J\Irs. Dodson of Palo Alto ; Clark S. is a prominent
business man in Paso Robles ; Fred is a business man in Palo Alto ; Paul is
a graduate, M. E., of Leland Stanford University, and a farmer on Estrella
plains ; Lillie is now Airs. Corbaley of Palo Alto. Mrs. Emma Smith died
in Nebraska. The second wife of Air. Smith, to whom he was married in
Illinois, was formerly Aliss Elizabeth Nesmith, a native of Pittsburg, Pa.

S. JACKSON LOWE.— A worthy son of California and one of the
progressive citizens of San Luis Obispo County, S. Jackson Lowe was born
in Sonoma county, January 23, 1878. When he was a child of two years, his
parents brought him to this county; and here he has remained ever since,
carving a name for himself by his own efforts. He attended the grammar
and high schools in San Luis Obispo until he was eighteen years old, and
worked on his father's farm near town, whither they had removed from their
first location near Morro, until the death of his parent in 1908. He was
engaged in stock-raising and dairying and met with a fair degree of success.

After his father's death, Jackson Lr)we and his linitlur tcxik charge of
the estate and carried on the business until the death of the brother, Alay 1,
1912; and after the settlement of the estate by Mr. Lowe he moved to his
present place, which is known as the West Slope Ranch. This comprises
3,815 acres of land, where he engages in dairying and stock-raising with
merited success. Besides his own property, he owns a half interest in the old
home ranch, which he himself aided in improving to its present condition.
On his ranch he has erected modern concrete barns and dairy houses, up-to-
date in every detail. He has a herd of registered Shorthorn cattle, numbering
thirty-eight, the largest herd in the county.

When he began Ijreeding Shorthorns, he had but five cows. He added to
this number from time to time by purchasing registered stock, males and
females, from the East as well as from the best California herds, and he is
well satisfied with the results of his investment. Besides caring for his regis-
tered cattle, he is quite extensively engaged in cattle raising, having about
four hundred head of stock on the place, for which he has ample range. He
is also raising from one hundred fifty to two hundred Duroc and Poland-
China hogs annually. Mr. Lowe also raises grain and hay in sufificient quan-
tities for his stock. West Slope Ranch adjoins Reservoir cafion, the site
of San Luis OI)ispo's water supply, situated about three miles east of the
city. The ranch is watered by Reservoir canon, by the head waters of the
west branch of Corral de Piedra creek, San Luis creek and numerous springs.
Tt lias been well named by Mr. Lowe, as it slopes westerly from the crest of
the^ Santa Lucia range to the state highway and Reservoir canon. Because
of its abundant water supjdy and its rich fields, it is one of the best stock
ranches in the county.

Air. Lowe was united in marriage with Annie Jane Potter, who was born
m San Luis Obispo County; and they have four children, Jack L., Edward D.,
Annie J., and George A. In political matters, ATr. Lowe supports the men
whom he considers best qualified fnr public (office, regardless of party lines.

SAN LUIS OBISPO C()L-\TV AND FAAIROXS 543

He is a memljer of the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce, and is a liberal
supporter of all jjublic movements for the building- up of the county ; and bv
all with whom he comes in contact, cither in business or in a social way, he is
highly respected and honored.

THOMAS FRANK FOXEN.— Thomas Frank Foxen, the popular and
best-known representative today of w hat has been happily termed the pioneer
of pioneer families in the vicinity of J,(is Alamos, is the son of William Do-
mingo, formerly Benjamin Foxen, a native of Norwich, England, where he
was born in 1798. When only a lad, Renjamin Foxen left Norwich and went
forth to follow the life of an English mariner in the merchant service. lie
later became the first officer of a sailing ship, and navigated between many
of the most distant ports and among the numerous islands of the Pacific.
By the famous Captain Thompson, afterw^ard a resident of Santa Barbara, he
was advised to enter the shipping business ; and coming to the Mission town
about 1818, or soon thereafter, he entered into an engagement with Captain
Noriega. In a short time he built the boat known as the "Goleta" (or
schooner), from which circumstance Goleta, a town near by on the coast, was
named. With that vessel, he carried on a coastwise trade between San
Diego and San Francisco, dealing particularly in tallow and hides.

Benjamin Foxen was united in marriage with Seiiorita Eduarda Ozuna,
who became the mother of eleven children. She outlived her husband, dying
about twenty-three years ago at the hale old age of eighty. At his marriage,
yielding to the custom of the Roman Catholic Church, vj-hich he now joined,
Benjamin Foxen changed his name to William Domingo.

About 1832, Benjamin Foxen ac(|uircd some two leagues, or 8.800 acres,
of land in a canon called by the Indians Tinaquaic, and laid out a farm,
since known as Foxen's ranch, fmm which the district has come to be named
Foxen's Canon. General John C. IVenmnt and his soldiers pitched their
tents in the canon for a couple of weeks, at the place known today as Fre-
mont's Camp ; and before Fremont left to take Santa Barbara, occurred those
historic exchanges- between the general and the rancher which have ever since
made the name Foxen one of peculiar interest in American history. The
Mexican government learned of General Fremont's plan to descend upon the
city ; and believing that the only pass by which he and his four hundred sol-
diers could travel would be the Gaviota, the native authorities enlisted all the
men of military age to aid in the defense of the threatened city. This move
Mr. Foxen found out; and convinced that Santa Barbara could never with-
stand the sea.soned soldiers of the Pathfinder, and that much bloodshed might
result if the tw^o forces came into violent conflict, he led the Americans nver
the poor and almost unknown San Marcos trail, and thus enabled Fremont to
enter Santa Barbara on Christmas Day while the good people were at mass,
and to surprise the town. For that really humane act, Benjamin Foxen was
long unforgiven : and yet it is claimed that General Fremont withheld the
recognition due the sturdv pioneer. If that be true, it may be possible that
the explanation for what is .so unnatural to the famous American explorer is to
be found in the fact that the second volume of his travels and conquests, the
first part of wdiich would deal with this i)eriod. was never published, or at
least never reached the i)ul)lic.

Benjamin I'oxcn died ..n February 19, 1874. .\fter his death, each of
his eleven children received eight hundred seven and a half acres of the estate.

544 SAX LUIS OIUSPO COUNTY AND EXVIROXS

These children arc as lolldws: L John William, who married Stefana Ortega,
was the father of nine children and is now deceased. 2. Martina married
Dr. Freeman, of Santa Barbara, and became the mother of eight children. She
is also deceased. 3. Ramona i.s the wife of Frederick Wickenden, both hus-
band and wife being alive, with their eight children. 4. Francesca married
Cecil Goodchild, an attorney at San Luis Obispo, now deceased; and there she
lives with her six children. 5. Juana is the widow of Frederick Roth, and
lives in \'entura with her six children. 6. Alexander Albert married Miss
Adelaida Botiller, and five years after his marriage he died, the father of one
child. 7. Marie Antoine married John Richard Stone, ex-sheriflf of Ventura
count_v, and later a farmer at the Foxen ranch. He died and left eight chil-
dren. She was again married, this time to Joel Cooper, a lawyer of Santa
Barbara, who died without children. She now lives in Los Angeles. 8. Fred-
erick Romaldo married Miss Louisa Botiller, of Santa Barbara. He died and
left eight children. The widow lives in Los Alamos. 9. Thomas Frank is
the subject of this sketch. 10. John Charles, who resides in Watsonville,
married Leonora \illa, and became the father of nine children. IL Alatilda
married Leon Cartcri, who li\ed at San J(ise at the time when he died, the
father of nine children. She married a second time, her husband being Lo-
renzo Marre, and now lives at Santa Barbara.

Thomas F. Foxen married the ^yidow of his brother, Alexander Albert,
whose maiden name, as has been stated, was Adelaida Botiller. She was
born in Santa Barbara, a daughter of Thomas Botiller, one of the pioneer
jewelers of Los Angeles, a gentleman of French descent, and Maria (Olivas)
Botiller, whose mother was Clara Pico, a cousin of Pio Pico, and the daughter
of Miguel Pico, the first administrator of Ventura county, and a very ex-
tensive landowner, numbering among his fine possessions the Simi rancho of
eUn-en leagues, or 40,000 acres. Mrs. Foxen was educated at St. \'incent's
School at Siuita Barbara, being, like her husband, a devout Roman Catholic;
and with Mr. Foxen she has taken her place as a leader in local social circles.
Their marriage has been blessed with seven children. Gerald, the oldest,
married Katherina IMcCartney, and is the father of four children. He is a
paperhanger, [painter and carpenter, residing at Los Alamos. Helen married
Joe SeiHilveda, ex-sherift" of Los Angeles county, and has one child. Annie
is the wife of Joseph McCartney, a farmer at Santa Ynez. Leonard
lives at Los Angeles. Clara married Leonard Simons and resides at Fresno.
Margaret has remained at home. Edmund, who married Rebecca Rojes, is an
emi)loyee of the l'an-.\merican Petroleum Improvement Corporation.

-Always responsive to the call of civic' duty, Mr. Foxen has sought to ad-
vance the best interests ni the community. In matters of national politics, he
takes a definite stand as a Kepublican.

HANS N. HANSEN.— An example of what perseverance and industry
can accomplish is demonstrated in the life of Flans N. Hansen, now living
retired at 1190 Buslion street, San Luis Obispo. He was born on a farm in
Denmark, July o. 1846, was educated in the schools of his home place.
and worked on the farm until he was twenty-one years of age. He then de-
cided that he would make his way in the world by changing his location, and
acconhngly came lo the United States, with California as his objective point.
Me came via Panama, being thirteen days on the water on the Atlantic, and
eleven da\s on the Pacific: and arriving in San Francisco in 1868, he went

SAX LUIS OBISPO C■OUN'^^' AXn F.WIROXS 545

direct to Petaluma, where he secured ein])l«ymeiit for a time on a dairy
ranch. He later removed to Tomales bay and there continued his occupation,
meanwhile learning the English language and the dairy business. His next
work was in Alameda county, in the harvest fields, and from there he went
to Salinas, leased land in the valley and began farming on his own account.
He made a success of his work, saved his money and branched out from time
to time. In 1879 he came to San Luis Obispo County and rented a ranch
near the town; and later he leased a part of the Murphy ranch near Santa
Margarita, which he farmed for eleven years.

At the end of that time he had saved enough to purchase land of his
own, and he accordingly bought three hundred sixty acres in the Morro dis-
trict; and out of this property he has made one of the best ranches in the
section. He developed water and has a fine system of distribution for irri-
gation. He has forty acres in alfalfa and keeps a herd of fifty high-grade
Jersey cows, raising his own calves and thereby increasing his herd j^car by
year. His barns are sanitary, and he separates the cream on the ranch and
sells it to the creamery in San Luis Obispo. He is a sturdy type of a self-
made man, for he came to the country a poor boy and by dint of perseverance
he is now able to retire and enjoy his well-earned rest in the evening of his life.

•In- 1877, Mr. Hansen was married to Lena Petersen, a native of California,
and they have four children. Nelson is married to Lillian Ghiringelli ; John
marriedMiss Gladys (lladstnnc and has .me daughter; Elizabeth is married to
Albert Nelson and has three s.ms; and Carrie is a teacher of music in San
Luis Obispo.

GEORGE F. DEISS. — A leading citizen and i)rominent business man
of San Luis Obispo, George E. Deiss was born in (lermany. February 11.
1862, and arrived in this country at the age of nineteen years with no money
or friends, and unable to speak the language of the country. He had only a
limited education ; but he was willing to work at any honest employment that
was offered. He got as far west as Nebraska and there, in Thayer county,
worked on a farm one year. He then Went to St. Louis and learned the trade
of baker, following it 'three years. He did not like that kind of work, and
found an opportun'ity t<. learn the Initcher's tra<le : and in that line he lias since
been engaged.

He worked in St. I-i.uis until 1886, when he decided to come to Cali-
fornia; and arriving in San Irancisco, he worked at his trade there, and later
also in Oakland. In July, 1890, he came to San Luis Obispo, where he at
once found work in the butcher shop operated by L. Marre; and here he
remained until December, 1892. lie had saved enough from his earnings to
embark in business on a small scale, and opened a shop on Higuera street.
This small beginning meant hard work and long hours : but he could sec that
it also meant prosperity, for he began to build up a fine trade, which in-
creased to such proportions that in 1899 he formed a partnership with his
brother-in-law, J. 13. P.erkemeyer, under the firm name of Deiss & Berke-
meyer, and they have continued together up to the present time. Their shoi>
is located at 1019 Chorro street, and is known as the I'ulton Market, l>eing
the market he worked in wdien he arrived here. They own and operate an
up-to-date slaughter house west of the city, and kill all their own beef and
■logs, averaging two cattle and eighteen head of hogs weekly. Their shop is
modern in equipment and cleanliness is every wlvr.- <)'.."ii I'.otli partners

546 SAX LL'IS OBISPO COUNTY AXI) EXVIROXS

gi\e their personal supervision to the conduct of the business, and hence
have built up a splendid trade. j\Ir. Deiss is the owner of a block on ;Marsh
street, and with liis partner he is a one-half owner of a business block on
Higuera street.

Mr. Deiss is one of the most prominent Odd Fellows in the state. He is
a member of the Lodge, Encampment, Canton and the Rebekahs. He has
passed all the chairs of the order and several times served as a delegate to
the Grand Encampment, and is a Past Grand of the Grand Lodge of the
state. He was one of the organizers of the German Lutheran Church of San
Luis Obispo and served as trustee many years, and for a time was secretary of
the board. For ten years he was a member of the volunteer fire department,
Hand Engine No. 3.

Mr. Deiss was united in marriage in St. Louis with ]\Iary Berkemeyer,
who, like himself, is a native of Germany. They have two sons : Henry G.,
born in 1886; and Clarence, born in 1897. Mrs. Deiss is a prominent worker
in the local lodge of Rebekahs, and is active in various charitable organizations
of the city. Some years ago Mr. and Mrs. Deiss took a trip back to their
old home in Germany, and returned more than ever pleased with their Cali-
fornia home. In business circles Mr. Deiss is highly respected, and wherever
known he has a host of friends.

EGBERT D. BRAY.— One of the prominent builders of San Luis
(.)l>i>pri. and formerly of Santa Barbara county. Egbert D. Bray has had a
\aried experience and has won a name for himself. He was born in Craw-
ford county. Mo., January 21, 1878, a son of Ferdinand and Anna E. (Patten)
Bray, both natives of Missouri and now residents of Los Gatos, California,
which place is also the home of their three married daughters, JNIrs. Meta
Estelle McGlashen, Mrs. IMary Finley and Mrs. Annie Mullen.

When seven years of age. Egbert was brought to California by his
parents, his father thereafter for many years carrying on a blacksmith shop
at Cambria. His school days over, Egbert D. Bray worked on dairy ranches
milking cows, and later went to Los Angeles and learned the carpenter's trade,
which he followed there and in Pasadena. He then became salesman for the
Western Meat Company of San Jose, and held that position for three j-ears.
Coming tlien to Santa Barbara county he was in the employ of several of the
leading butcher shops in Santa Maria as sales.man.

Going back to his trade of carpentering, he began contracting, and for
seven years carried on a fine business, erecting fifty-seven buildings, among
which mention may be made of the jMasonic Temple, Christian Church, four
business blocks, and the residences of N. Porter. F. Martin, George Trott,
L. P. Scaroni, P. W. Jones, Charles Smith. A. P. Silvaro. F. \\hitmore. Dick
Holland. Frank Silver, and many others.

In 1911, Mr. Bray came to San Luis Obispo and continued his business
with success; and while here he has executed many contracts. Among the
buildmgs erected by him are two houses for E. M. Merryfield ; homes for John
Norton. Frank Barccllos. E. M. Payne, Easton Mills, L." Defosset, and others;
and the new Kamm (kirage. It is needless to say that his work gives satis-
faction to his many ])atrons. who depend upon him entirelv for first-class
results in every detail.

Mr. liray was united in marriage with Bertie B. Baniett. a native of
this county, who is active in the temperance cause and a writer of ability.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY A.\D EXVIROXS 547

They have five children. Leola j\I. is employed by the Pacific States Tele-
plioiie Conipain- ; Pauline and Edith M. are students in the high school; and
Raymond and Edna attend the grammar school.

KARL STEINER. — Europe has contributed greatly to the population
of this country and California has benefited by the migration of a portion of
those people who have thought to better their condition financially by seek-
ing the "far West" to make a home. Among these is Karl Steiner, who was
born November 7, 1863, in Linden, Switzerland, of German-Swiss parents.
His father, Christian Steiner, was a very prominent man in his county, a
member of the school commission for many years, who also served as a
county official and was postmaster of Linden. The grandfather of Karl was
a man of high education and taught school in his native country for forty-
five years, during which time thirteen difl'erent members of his own family
went to school to him.

Karl was reared on a ranch, and after his school days were over he
assisted his father for three years at farming, and then for a time was em-
ployed in the State Insane Asylum in Switzerland. He served for seven
weeks in the Swiss army, after which he went to Haute-Saone, northern
France, and for two years was employed in a dairy. In 1888, with his
brother Christ, he came to America, settling with an uncle in Yutan, Neb.,
where he worked for two years on a farm, and learned considerable of the
ways of the country. He then went to Omaha, Neb., working at various
occupations for a time; and after that, with the money he had saved, he
engaged in the dairy business for himself in Omaha.

His next move was to Pender, Neb., where, with his brother, he pur-
chased two hundred seventy acres of land and farmed ; but they had two
bad years of drought and hailstorms, which destroyed their crops, and so
they sold out and dissolved partnership. Karl leased a farm on an Indian
reservation in that state, and farmed until he came to California, in 1901, and
settled in San Luis Obispo County. AVith John Giidel as a partner, he here
leased 1,600 acres of the Cole ranch and engaged in dairying and the stock
business, and met with success. With the proceeds of his years of labor
here, he purchased his present ranch of one hundred forty acres in the
Independence district near Edna. He improved the land from its raw state,
cleared some of it and planted a family orchard and other trees, also setting
out roses and shrubbery, and now possesses a well-imi)roved ranch and a
comfortable home.

He is engaged in dairying, and in raising beans, grain and liay ; and be-
sides his home place he rents another tract of one hundred sixty acres
near by in partnership with his oldest son Fritz, and this is devoted to grain
and beans. At his home place, he has fitted up a fine tennis court which is
a source of pleasure to the children, and to those of their friends who enjoy
that sport.

Mr. Steiner married Anna Giidel, a native of Switzerland: and they
are parents of six children: Mrs. Emma Rhigetti, Fritz. Clara, Marie, Lil-
lian and Robert. They have two grandchildren to brighten the home circle.
Fred and Harold Rhigetti. Mr. Steiner has served as clerk of the Inde-
pendence school district since its organization. He and his family are mem-
bers of the Lutheran Church.

548 SAX r.UIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

ISAAC S. VAN MATRE.— Success is an indefinite, indefinable some-
thing fur wliicli nian\- a man strives, and the attainment of which is supposed
to give hap])iness to the lucky ; but whatever reward is granted in return for
the struggle, it is certain that no one enjoys reaching the goal more than
sucli a pioneer as Isaac S. \'an Matre, who, by his own hard labors, self-denial
and consistent application to duty, has created all that he possesses.

IJorn in Hempstead county, Ark., December 20, 18-M-, Isaac was the son
of Abraham j. \'an Matre. a native of Illinois, who settled in Hempstead
county, where he l^ecame both a merchant and a farmer. The elder \'an
Matre later remo^■ed to Red River county, Tex., where he was engaged as a
stockman and a farmer, and in 1868 he came overland to California with the
subject of our sketch. He homesteaded land in San Luis Rey valley, and
later removed to W'atsonville. There he was a merchant until he retired,
and after that he lived with his son, Isaac, dying in 1911 at the age of eighty-
se\'en. ?^[any were the stirring memories of his life, and not the least those
which carried him back to Civil War days and his service, for a year, in the
cause of the Confederacy. Isaac Van Matre's mother was Melinda Clampit,
a native of Tennessee, who died in 1868, in San Diego, the mother of four
children, three of whom are living. Mr. Van ]\Iatre"s maternal grandfather,
Colonel Logan, served as an officer in the Revolutionary War.

The oldest child was Isaac, who was brought up in Arkansas until
he was three years of age, when he went to Texas with his parents, and
there attended the public school. He also learned to help farm, and while
riding the range he got his first insight into the stock business, which en-
gaged him for eight or ten years. In 1868,. he crossed the plains with mule
teams, making for San Diego just when the new town was started. There
he helped haul luml)er for the Horton House, and then he went to farming
on the ranch in San Luis Rey valley. At the beginning of the eighties he
came to Santa Barbara county; and finding attractive ranch work at Los
Alamos, he farmed there for four years.

In 1884. Mr. \'an Alatre located in San Luis Obispo County, btiying the
ranch of two Imndred fifty-eight acres, one mile from Creston, that he still
owns. In addition to regular tilling of the soil, he took up stock-raising,
and for ni.iny \ears ran a dairy in addition, milking from twenty to thirty of
the finest Dnrliani cattle. He shipped the cream to Los Angeles, and there
soon won ])ositive recognition for his farm products. Having also installed a
pum])ing ])Iant from the natural wells on his estate, he was able to raise
allalfa on a large scale. Not content with this important venture, he home-
steaded a hundred si.xty acres on the Carissa Plains, and later he bought
three hundred twenty acres more. He now has four hundred eighty acres
given to grain and stock, which he leases to his sons.

W hdc in San Diego county, Isaac Van Matre was married on October
20. lS/0, to .^[iss I'ermelia J. Hickey, a native of Titus county, Tex., and
i>y her he has had five children. Joseph is married to Sadie Barnes and has
"lie child, Vclma M. ; Jennings married Barbara Glenn; Henry married Dosie
l>enny. and they have three children, Esther. Wesley and Virgil. The three
ab.iye-named sons are farming some four thousand acres, using caterpillar
engines, on Carissa Plains. Mary. Mrs. Scott, lives at Porterville and has
-diildren: Ida, .\rline. liarveV and Henry. Leslie was married to Lucy
itive daugiiler of San JM-ancisco. who tlied at Creston on August

I'nckc

?
^

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 551

23, 1916, leaving two children, Vincent and Margaret. Leslie is engaged
in stock-raising on Carissa Plains.

Mr. and Mrs. Van Matre own and occupy a residence in Creston. Mrs.
Van Matre's parents, Isaac and Melinda (Marshall) Hickey, were natives of
Tennessee. They removed to Texas, where they resided until 1865, when they
came by ox teams to California. Isaac Hickey was a minister of the Baptist
Church for over forty-three years. lie was a clear and forceful speaker, and
was a conscientious Christian man who lived up to his teachings. They spent
their last days in Creston, and died at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Van Matre,
the father aged seventy-three, and the mother eighty-six years of age. Mrs.
\an Matre is also descended from okl Revolutionary stock. In politics,
^fr. Van Matre is a Democrat. He has devoted much time and attention to
school affairs as trustee for the San Juan district. Like his wife, he is an
active participant in the religious life of the community, being a charter mem-
ber of the Church of God in Paso Robles.

JOHN F. CONKEY. — Optimism is the keynote of the success achieved
by John F. Conkey, lawyer, journalist, business man and postmaster of Santa
Maria. Mr. Conkey was born in New York City, April 17, 1852, a son of
Ithamar Conkey, a native of Massachusetts who went to New York and
was married in Troy to Miss Elizabeth Billings, a native of Northumberland,
Saratoga county. They became the parents of five children — two born in
Troy and three in New York City.

Ithamar Conkey was a basso-profundo. He sang a duet with Jenny Lind.
the Swedish Nightingale, at the Castle Garden concert under the auspices
of P. T. Barnum in New Y'ork City. He was a professional bass singer, and
for several years sang in Trinity Church, New York City. It was said of
him that he had the best bass voice in New York City in his time. He could
go down to B flat with ease, producing a full, round organ tone in that register.

Between professional work as a singer, and his duties as representative of
the Metropolitan Fire Insurance Company as surveyor, he accumulated a com-
petency. He surveyed nearly every building in Manhattan and cstablisiied
the rate of fire insurance, and was an authority on fire insurance rates. He
became the owner of a farm at Roscllc, N. J., and died at Elizabeth, in the
same state, at the age of fifty-two.

'ihe childhood, youth and young manhood of John F. Conkey were
spent in nuich the same manner as were those of the average child of parents
of moderate means in New York and New Jersey. He laid the foundation of
his education in the grammar and high schools of New York City, and later
took a course at the Peddy Military Institute at Hightstown. N. J. He
clerked in dry goods and grocery stores in the city until 1876, and then began
reading law at Saratoga Springs, where he was admitted to the bar in 1880.
He followed the profession in the East until 1892. He then came to Calif<ir-
nia, locating at San Jacinto, Riverside county, and continued his profession.
He became a resident of Santa Barbara county in 1905, and settled in Santa
Maria, where he opened an office and practiced law. He is a member of the
bar of Santa Barbara county and has been admitted to practice in tlic I'nitcd
States Circuit Court.

While studying law in New York, ^fr. Conkey added to his income l)y
reporting for the Saratoga Eagle. The lure of journalism prompted him,
in 1907, to buy the Graphic of Santa Maria, of which he was proprietor and

552

A-\ LL'IS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

editor until June 8, 1916, when President Wilson appointed him postmaster
of that citv. He has always been an ardent Democrat, active in party affairs
and a deleo-ate to conventions. Mr. Conkey received the hearty endorsement
of the citizens of the valley for his present position, and upon taking charge
of the office instituted needed reforms for the systematic handling of its
increasing business.

Air. Conkey was married ii: 1874, ]\liss Blanche Moscrip becoming his
wife. She was born at Port 3ililler, Washington county, N. Y., On the banks
of the Hudson. Fort Miller was used during the Revolutionary War, in
which her great-grandfather Livermore was a soldier. Her maternal grand-
father served in the War of 1812. The late Mary A. Livermore, pioneer
woman's rights advocate, came of the same family. Three children were
born to Mr. and Mrs. Conkey. Robert M. succeeded his father as editor of
the Graphic; Mary E. married Bruce McBride of Santa Maria; and Marie
Louise is the wife of S. S. Stephenson of the same city. J. F. Conkey is well
liked by all who know him. He is sixty-four years "young," and is hale,
hearty and genial, and as active as a man of twenty-five.

The genealogy of the Conkey family is traced to Scotch ancestry and
the name was known as Conkey and McConkey. The progenitor of the
family in America was John McConkey, a Scotchman, who settled with a
colony, all bearing that name but one (a minister named Abercrombie), in
Pelham, ]\Iass., about two hundred years ago. This John I\IcConkey dropped
the "Ale" from the name, and it has ever since remained Conkey. The first
record of the family in this cnuntry is found in the old Presbyterian Church
at \\'orcester, Mass., where John Conkey owned a pew. Records at Pelham
show the Conkeys to have been landowners and taxpayers. Strange to say,
though the entire colony who settled at Pelham were named McConkey,
there is not a person by that name there today. In direct line of descent John
V. Conkey of Santa Alaria is the fifth John. His grandfather John was a
soldier in the Revolutionary War.

BELA CLINTON IDE. — In the life of this successful citizen of Arroyo
Grande are illustrated the results of perseverance and energy, coupled with
judicious management and strict integrity. He is a citizen of whom any
community might well be proud. As a pioneer of this city, he has made his
influence felt for the general good. Bela Clinton Ide was born in Catta-
raugus county, N. Y., May 5, 1842. At the age of thirteen he came with
his parents to Grand Rapids, Mich., where he attended school. He learned
the trade of blacksmith at Plymouth, Mich., which he followed until his
enlistment for service in the Civil War. He was mustered in at Detroit,
.\ugust 15, 1862, and assigned to Company C, 24th Alichigan Infantry. For
three years he was with the Army of the Potomac, First Army Corps, and in
1864 was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps. During his term of ser-
vice he was under three difierent captains — C. B. Crosby, Charles A. Hoyt,
and Jolm \\'eathersi)oon — and was also under various generals. He partici-
pated in tlie l)attles of i'redericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. He
w;is taken prisoner <hn-ing the last-named battle, and was later released. He
also took ])art in several skirmishes. He was mustered out at Cincinnati,
Ohio, on July 5, 1865.

Returning to Michigan. Air. Ide worked in a sawmill at Grand Rapids,
and also followed his trade, until 1868, when he went to Dodge county. Wis.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 553

There he farmed until 1872. His next move was to Rice county, Kan.;
and after two years spent in farming- there, he came to California and settled
in Arroyo Grande, then a very small village, or rather a stage station, with
few settlers in the country round about and large ranches stretching over
the plains. He first worked on a threshing machine for R. S. Brown, then
for Steele Bros, as a teamster on their large ranch, and later as superintendent
of their large dairy. He was employed later by Schwartz, Harford & Co.
in their lumber yards located at a point one mile east of Port Harford.

Returning to Arroyo Grande, he served as postmaster from 1902 to 1910,
was a member of the school board for several years and did much to promote
the cause of education. He was a member of Fred Steele Post No. 70, G. A.
R., at San Luis Obispo, and later of Colonel Harper Post, in Arroyo Grande,
of which he is the present commander. When he joined, there were fort)'
members, and now there are but seven of the number left.

Mr. Ide is a prominent Mason, belonging to the lodge and chapter, and
has held the offices of Master, Senior Deacon and Senior Warden. He was
one of the first men to build a house down near the railroad tracks, a site
now valuable property. He has built three houses in the town, and Ide
street was named in his honor.

Mr. Ide was married in \\'isconsin to Mrs. Adelaide (Wood) Hawkins,
a native of Pennsylvania, and they had one son, George P. Ide, formerly post-
master of Arroyo Grande. Mrs. Ide passed away in 1906.

MRS. EMMA KEARNEY RUDE.— A representative of a pioneer family
in California and herself a native of the state, born in Watsonville, Mrs.
Emma Kearney Rude is the daughter of James Kearney, a native of Ohio, who
was married in Kentucky to Nancy Green, a native of that state. They moved
to Missouri, and then to Ohio, and from there came across the plains with ox
teams, experiencing the usual trials and hardships encountered by the pio-
neers. Arriving in California, Mr. Kearney settled on some land near Wat-
sonville that was supposed to be government land ; but as it was claimed b)-
another, the settlers were driven ofif in 1869, one woman being killed in the
fight. Mr. Kearney gave up his claim, though afterwards the property proved
to be government land. He then moved to Watsonville and engaged in team-
ing from there to Salinas until 1870, when he took up a homestead on the Huer
Huero, proved up on it, and there raised grain and stock until his death in
1892. While on a visit to his son. J. A. Kearney, in Santa Ynez, he was
kicked by a horse, and died two days later. His wife passed away in 1870,
leaving three children, of whom Mrs. Rude is the youngest, and the only
one now living.

Emma Kearney was reared on her father's ranch on the Huer Hucru,
attended school in the first schooIhou.se erected on Estrclla ])lains, and one
year in Paso Robles, walking four miles from the ranch and wading the
river, in order to get to school. She was married, in 1885, in Bakcrstield to
William L. Rude, a son of pioneers who came across the ])lains, and a l)r(>tiuT
of A. N. Rude, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this work, .\fter their
marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Rude took u\> a homestead in Hog canon. Monte-
rey county, proved up on it and sold it three years later, when they moved
to Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara county, and farmed one year. They then
moved onto the old Kearney place on the Huer Huero and ran that three years.
Their next move was to a government tree claim on Bitter Water, on which

554 SAX LLMS OBISPO COUNTY AND EXMROXS

they ])nnc(l up. and which they later sold. They moved to Paso Robles in
189.5. where they opened a feed yard and started a transfer business, now man-
aged by Mrs. Rude. Mr. Rude has continued to do freighting and teaming to
some extent, as well as farming in the vicinity of Paso Robles. They own
barns, corrals, and a residence, and also five acres on Salinas bottoms, devoted
to raising vegetables.

Mr. and Mrs. Rude have fi\e children living. John is in Taft ; and Charles,
Tames, Leo and Mildred are at home. J\Irs. Rude recalls many incidents of
early days when liears. deer, quail, rabbits and other game were very plentiful.
One night in 1877 she and her brother were at her father's place at Sand
Springs, when a bear killed a steer in the corral adjoining the shack in which
they were sleei>ing. The next day their bed was moved farther up the hill
on top of a stack of wild oat hay ! Other interesting reminiscences of pioneer
times that are fast passing away are pleasingly told by Mrs. Rude, some of
them relating to the great hardships endured by the settlers and the many
sacrifices they had to make.

HANS PETER MATHIESON.— A prominent citizen of San Luis
Obispo County, and one who has for many years been active in business
and social life, Hans Peter Mathieson commands the respect of all who
know him. He was born in Schleswig. Germany, April 8, 1866, a son of
Peter Mathfeson, who was a native of Denmark, and a farmer by occupa-
tion, and who served in the War of 1864, and also in the \\'ar of 1870, in
the cavalry division of the service.

Hans attended school at Vernaes until he was fifteen years old and
made his home with his uncle from the age of nine until twenty, working
on the farm and early learning the rudiments of that calling. March 9,
1886, he was drafted into the army, and was assigned to the heavy artillery.
This did not suit the young man, who had his own ideas of independence,
and on October 31, 1886, he left Germany and came to the United States to
be a free man. He stopped in Jackson county, Kans., and near the town of
Whiting worked on a farm until 1889, when the call of the West was too
strong to be resisted ; and that year he arrived in San Luis Obispo County.

His first employment Avas on a dairy ranch, in the Los Osos valley,
owned b}- T. Reed, and later he learned the trade of blacksmith and wagon
maker, which he followed successfully for nine years. In 1901 he was
selected to take charge of the cemetery and held that position for two years.
In 1903 he bought the farming implements of P. M. Petersen and John
Hansen for $3,204.00, rented land two miles west of San Luis Obispo and
engaged in ranching and raising beans. As he succeeded, he purchased his
present home of twenty-six acres in 1907, and has improved the place to its
present condition and is making a success of his undertaking. He is resi-
dent agent for the Santa Barbara Mutual Insurance Co.

Mr. Mathieson was married in San Luis Obispo, January 30, 1897. to
Miss Christine Kohler, who was also born in Schleswig, Germany, on De-
cember 12, 1867, and they have the following children : Raymond', Wilfred,
Annie and Ralph. Mr. Mathieson is a Republican in politics. ' He is a member
of the Modern Woodmen of America, has passed the chairs, and served
as Con.sul in 190S and 1914-15. He is prominent in the local lodge of Odd
Fellows, having passed the chairs of the order, and in 1899 served as Noble
Grand. In 1902 he represented his lodge in the Grand Lodge. He was

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD EWIROXS 557

elected Grand President of the Danish Society of California in 1911 and
served one year. He served as chief of the fire department of San Luis
Obispo at one time. As a citizen Mr. Mathicson is well known and highly
respected throughout his county. He has made this reputation for himself,
and has built up a prosperous farming enterprise solely by his own efforts.

MR. AND MRS. ANDREW PAUL BORKEY.— The Borkey family
trace their ancestry for generations hack to Cerman forebears, with William
Borkey as the progenitor of the family in America, who settled in Pennsvl-
vania, where he died. He had a son, George I-"., who was born in Pennsylvania,
farmed there and died at the age of one hundred four. In direct line of descent
comes Solomon Borkey, also born in that state near Johnstown, who followed
the trade of carpenter and cabinet-maker and is still active at it. He married
Cecelia Wildebrandt, a nati\e of that state and a daughter of Henry, born in
Germany, and Mary i Afyers) \\'il(lcbran(lt, a native of i'"rance, who settled in
Pennsylvania.

Andrew Paul Borkey comes next in line, and was born in Johnstown,
June 16, 1875, the youngest of ten children of Solomon and Cecelia Borkey,
and the only one in California. On account of his father's small salary and
large family, Andrew went West at the age of seven to Cedar county, Xeb.,
with an uncle, who promised to educate and care for him ; but his uncle
proved unworthy of his trust and set him right to work on a farm, compel-
ling him to get out at six o'clock every morning. He worked for three months;
and one Sunday evening, while they were practicing Sunday hymns in the
yard with a crowd of young children, his uncle abused and whipped him
severely. That night he ran away, ha\ing only five cents in his pocket.
When he left home, he had promised his mother that he would never drink,
smoke or chew, and that promise has been lived up to faithfully. In his
travels from the home of his uncle he met with an old freighter named John
Ross, at Norfolk, and with him he rode to Chadron, Xeb.. about five hundred
miles from Cedar cnunty. .\ir. Ross knew I', l'. Coffee of Harrison, Xe-
liraska, a large cattleman in W ycmiing and .Wbraska, and asked him if he
didn't "want a gooil boy." .Mr. Coffee replied. ■■\'es, if he is good: if not, 1
wouldn't have him at all." The freighter vouched for the lad and he was
taken into their home. .\t the age of eight he started to ride the range,
learned to ride and rope, and soon became a full-Hedged cowboy.

I'cir eighteen years he made his home with Mr. and Mrs. C<ifree, who
gave him his education and made him one of their family. He thought he
was working for his board and clothes, but faithfully performed every duty
imposed upon him. When he was fifteen he wanted to go liack home and
pay a visit to his parents, with whom he had had no correspondence since
leaving, on account of a fear that if he did write them his uncle would dis-
cover his whereabouts and bring him back. Mr. Cofi'ee gave him a check
for $4,000 for his services, and also transportation round trip, thus showing
their appreciation of his faithfulness ; and all this he in turn gave to his father,
and so started him in business and enabled him to buy ])roperly that is now
worth $75,000, His arrival at hcime surprised his parents, but he did not
stay long, as he found things different from the freedom of the plains, his
Western friends and the enjoyment of the Coflfee home, .\fter ten days, he
returned to Xei)raska, taking with him his sisters. Martha and Mary, who
made their home with him until their marriage. The former became Mrs.

558 SAX LLIS OiUSPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

IIul)ert Peters, and Alary married Leo Roderick and is now deceased. Mr.
Bork-c}' spent tlic next ten years with Air. Coffee as superintendent, and re-
ceived $1,500 and found, per year. He rode the ranges, which extended over
two hundred miles, and looked after about 40,000 head of stock. He leased
a ranch and carried on an independent stock business during part of this
time, selling out in three years some three hundred head of stock. He was
active as a cowboy, riding the range for twenty-three years, eighteen of which
were spent in the employ of C. F. Coft'ee. During his stay in Nebraska, he
had his parents come to visit him eight dift'erent times, and each time he paid
all, their expenses.

AMien he was seventeen years old he won the champion roping contest
at Cheyenne, W'yo., on Frontier Day. where he roped and tied three steers
in three minutes and thirty-five seconds, a record that has never been broken.
The horse he used was given him afterwards by its owner, E. R. Alason, and
Mr. Borkey brought it to California with him and still owns it. It is now
twenty-four years old. During his experiences on the ranges he had collected
a large number of relics and pictures. These he let his sister take with her
when she went to Dakota after her marriage, to keep for him, and they were
burned when her home was destroyed in Edgemont, entailing him an irrep-
arable loss.

j\lr. Borkey contracted rheumatism while riding the ranges, and had to
seek a milder climate, and so came to California. In 1907 he started, on
crutches, and when he reached Flagstaiif, Ariz., he was in such pain that he
had to stop over. Four da\-s later the pains left him as quickly as they had
come, and he threw his crutches away and has never had a recurrence of
the disease.

Arriving in Pasadena, he went to work for Humphrey's Feed & Fuel Co.
and remained three years, when he left to accept a position in Los Angeles
as car-checker for the Globe Milling Company. From there he went to Puente
as foreman for F. C. Macy on his alfalfa ranch. His next move was to Paso
Robles, which place he had visited at one time and liked. Here he bought
twenty-seven acres about two miles west of town and located on it, improving
it and setting out fruit and nuts. Half the land is in orchard. Within
less than a year he purchased ninety-two acres of alfalfa land located across
the Salinas river about one mile from Paso Robles, on which he now has
sixty acres seeded. He has developed a good supply of water, and has two
pumping plants, une run by a gasoline engine, pumping from the well, and
the other operated l)y electricity, pumping from the river. He cuts seven
crops each year and markets the product. He has succeeded from the start
and is well satisfied with his choice of location for his home.

Mr. Borkey was married in Pasadena, July 26, 1911, to Anna Kent, a
native of Linden, Iowa county, Wisconsin, the daughter of Thomas O. and
I'.IIen (Crougy) Kent, born respectively in England and Wisconsin. The
latlier was a Methodist minister in Iowa until he retired to Pasadena, Cal.,
where he died ; his wife still makes her home there. Mrs. Borkey was grad-
uated at Cornell College, at Mt. Vernon, la., and followed teaching in Iowa,
and ui i'asadena on coming to California, until her marriage. Air. and Mrs.
I'.orkey have three children : Paul Kent, Wilfred Raymond, and Ellen Lucile.

Air. and Airs, liorkey are both members of the Alethodist Church in Paso
Ki.bles, n| wliich he is a trustee. While in Nebraska he was superintendent

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 559

of the Sunday school and a teacher in the same. To attend, he had to ride sixty-
four miles round trip each Sunday, which he did, rain or shine. The member-
ship of the church grew rapidly, and inside of nine months there were over two
hundred in attendance. They raised two thousand dollars for a church, and
he was one of eight men who paid the preacher's salary four years in advance
at one thousand dollars per year. Three stockmen, he l>eing one of them,
paid for and erected a parsonage. The attendance now numbers over four
hundred, and a new church has been built. In national politics, Mr. Borkcy
is a Republican, and is a strong and active advocate of temperance. He is
a liberal supporter of all movements for the uplift of the people, has made
a success of his own labors, and always lends a helping hand to those less
fortunate than himself. In every sense of the word he is a self-made man,
and highly respected by all who know him.

GEORGE W. HEARST. — An industrious and enterprising citizen and
a pioneer of San Luis Obispo County of 1873, George W. Hearst has done
much towards the development of the dairy interests of this section. He
was born in Stanton, Franklin county, Mo., December 12, 1850, a son of
Joseph and Hannah (Armistead) Hearst, natives of North Carolina and
Tennessee. The father settled in Missouri and engaged in farming; and
there he died in 1856. the father of four children. George W. being the
only one now living. Mrs. Hearst married after the death of her husband,
and became the mother of two sons, one of whom is yet living. She died
in 1892.

George W. Hearst was reared on a farm and attended the public schools
of his neighborhood, and the Newport high school. After completing his
studies, he came to California in 1873, with his younger brother, Richard S. ;
and after a short stay in San Francisco, he located near Cambria, San Luis
Obispo County, and leased the Santa Rosa ranch, one of the ranches owned
by his cousin, George Hearst, and engaged in farming. Later he took up
dairying, adding to his herd until he hail Iwo hundred cows and utilized 1.340
acres of land in Green valley.

When first he started a dairy here he had only the wild cows that he
would bring up and try to break in so they could be milked ; they would bring
up about a hundred head at a time, and it took patience and careful handling
to do anything with them. Some would not give down their milk. Often
they had to be thrown to be milked : and he soon found that they were unfit for
the dairy business. Even some of the wild cows, however, seemed to enjoy
the care bestowed upon them and, after three or four ropings. would become
docile: while others would fight, and never became tractable, .^ome of
them became good milkers in time, and the calves raised from them were
easily handled. The milk was panned, and in such a quantity, from so many
cows', that 1200 pans were required. It was a task to take the ])roper care of
the pans. These were washed and scalded, and put out in the sun to dry. At
times they had to churn twice daily. The butter was formed into rolls or
squares and packed in boxes for shipment liy boat to Los .Angeles and San
Francisco markets. After he had succeeded in taming the wild cows and had
built up a dairy, his neighbors and others began doing likewise. His cousin.
George Hearst, who owned so many thousand acres and so many cattle,
established several fine dairy ranches on liis holdings, and made large sums
of money by the enterprise.

560 SAX T.riS OBISPO COUXTY AND ENVIRONS

Diirins' this time, Mr. Mearst had a ])artner in his brother, Richard S.
Hearst, .\fter his lirother's death in 1875. he formed a partnership with his
half-brother, Eli Park, who had come to California with his mother, and was
with him also. His mother and brother went East, later on ; and then Mr.
Hearst liought a place of three hundred seventy-two and one-half acres on
Toro creek, near Cayucos, and there estal)lished a dairy of tifty cows, which
he ran for some years.

In 1890 he located in Paso Robles, purchasing his present place and
erecting the residence. Now he leases out the ranch for dairy purposes.
Besides this place, Mr. Hearst has bought, improved and sold several pieces
of property at a good profit, and owns a ranch of four hundred eighty acres
in the Asuncion district, which he devotes to dairying and fruit-raising, making
a specialty of apples. He is a man of sterling worth and integrity, and liberal
in his support of public movements for the upbuilding of the county. While
he lives in town, he looks after his country estates and enjoys life in the
land of sunshine and gold, although he has had to work hard to gain the
latter. He is a stockholder and a director of the First National Bank of
Paso Robles, and was one of the original stockholders in the Commercial
Bank of San Luis Obispo when it was established in 1888.

George W. Hearst was united in marriage in San Luis Obispo, Decem-
ber 12, 1883, with Miss Susan Hendrix, who was born in Franklin county,
Mo., the daughter of Wilburn and Phoebe (Armistead) Hendrix, farmers
of that section of the country. One child was born of this union — a daugh-
ter, Mabel, now the wife of Lewis Terra, who is operating the Hearst ranch
in Asuncion. Mrs. Hearst and her daughter are members of the Christian
Church in Paso Robles.

WILLIAM ARTHUR CONRAD, JR.— The name which ^^'. A. Con-
rad bears is one which has long been associated with California, for his
father, William Alexander Conrad, came with his parents to California and
to San Luis Obispo County, with his brothers, and they engaged in farm-
ing in the vicinity of Arroyo Grande, where he is now living, practically re-
tired from active pursuits.

William Arthur Conrad was reared to the age of seven years in Tuo-
lumne county, where he was born, October 18, 1870. Seven years later
he was brought to this county, and with his parents he settled on a ranch
six miles north of Arroyo Grande, attending the public schools and growing
to manhood on the home place.

When he was twenty-eight, he desired to embark in some mercan-
tile business and came to Arroyo Grande and bought out a drug store.
Having no previous knowledge of the business, he gave it his entire time
and attention, and now has one of the best-equipped stores of its kind, for
a city of the size of Arroyo Grande, in this part of the state. The business
was limited when he took charge, but by persistent efifort he has built up a
good paying trade, handling only the best and purest drugs to be found.

Mr. Conrad is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the blue lodge and
chapter in Masonry, and has been a director in the Bank of Arroyo Grande
since 1909. He was married in December, 1900, to Miss Lydia C. Kinney,
a native of Illinois.

Mr. Conrad is one of the live, wide-awake business men of the town
and associated with all movements for its upbuilding.

SAX LUIS onisro COL-XTV and EXVIROXS 563

CHARLES L. GRUWELL.— M,„v than any other state in the Tnion,
California traces its vigorous orowtli an<i prosperity directly to the sturdy
character and untiring perseverance of its i)ioneers, many of whom risked their
lives on the trackless, Indian-infested plains, bringing- hither eastern con-
servatism and practical experience to the aid of western chaos and im-
petuosity. Enrolled among these noble and self-sacrificing men are the
Gruwells, four of whom crossed the plains with Laban, the father of Charles
L. Gruwcll of Paso Robles. Laban (iruwell was born in Iowa in .March,
181(). and was married there to Eliza Wilson, a native of Kentucky who had
come to Iowa, where she taught school. 'i"lu-y outfitted for the long trip
across the plains with ox teams and such necessary supplies as they could
carry, and began the journey, which at that time was a hazardous one, for
the Indians were troublesome and other dangers beset them on every side.

Arriving here they located in .Alviso, Santa Clara county, where Mr.
Gruwell did teaming with oxen to San Jose, and then farmed on a ranch on the
Saratoga road. From there he went to Lake county, and at Lakcport settled
for a time on a farm ; but not liking it there, he returned to Santa Clara
county, and in 1874 came down into San Luis Obispo. He soon went back to
Contra Costa county, where he lived until his death near Concord, at the age of
eighty-seven years and two months. His wife died in Santa Clara county in
188L Grandfather Gruwell was a farmer in Iowa, where he was one of the
pioneers on the frontier. Five of his sons came across the plains to Cali-
fornia in 1849. They reared large families here, and did much towards the
development of the various interests of the state. One, Jacob Gruwell, was a
prominent preacher in the Methodist Church South, and died at the age of
ninety-five }ears.

Of the family of Laban (Iruwell and wife there were eleven children,
namely: Amanda, who was Airs. S. .M. .\la/c, and who died in Gilroy ; Jacob
()., who was a farmer in Summit, and later removed to near Chico, where
he died; Anne, who was the wife of the Rev. James Lovell, and passed away
at Lompoc; Mary Janet, who was Mrs. F. Rice, and died in Lakeport ; Ruth,
who was the wife of John Fox, and who after the death of John Fox married
C. S. Hofif, and died at Huntington Beach ; Joseph, who died when ten years
old; Minerva J., who died in infancy; George, who was married to Mary
jane Tayor. b. ah of wlioni are now deceased; Charles L. ; liettie, who
was the wife of John James and died at Concord, California: and Laura.
who was Mrs. James Wilson and who died at Santa Ynez.

Charles L., the subject of this review, is the only living member of this
family. He is a resident of Paso Robles, and was born in San Jose, July
30, 1856. He followed his parents from place to place as they moved about.
He attended the pulilic schools and the Pacific University, now the University
of the Pacific, until 1874. when he came to this county with his father, and
followed farming and stock-raising five years. .\t Josephine, this county,
on March 19, 1879, he w^as united in marriage with Alice Fowler, born in
Napa county, a daughter of Henry and Sarah (Morris) Fowler, who crossed
the plains and .settled in XajKi county, where they were married. There
they farmed until 18(16. when, coming to San Luis Obispo County, they were
aninng the first settlers at C avucos, and farmed in the Rincon district, and then
in Jciseiihine district, until tluv retired to San Luis Obispo, where the father

564 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EXMROXS

died at tlic asje of seventy-three years, and where the mother is still living,
aged seventy-live.

The family of Henry Fowler consisted of seven children: Margaret,
Mrs. Ferlin of San Diego; Alice, Mrs. Gruwell ; Theodore, who died in San
Diego; Fred, who resides in Santa Maria; Lizzie, Mrs. John Bagby of Paso
Robles : Laura, the wife of V. A. Lindner of Watsonville ; and ^lary, who
died at the age of seven years. Mrs. Gruwell was educated in San Luis
Obispo County. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Gruwell located on a
stock ranch in Summit district, fourteen miles west of Paso Robles, where
he engaged in the stock business and also had a dairy business at the head-
waters of Jack creek. There he bought a ranch, and later homesteaded and
bought until he had si.x hundred acres, and carried on the stock and dairy busi-
ness on a large scale and with success. His brand was 97. In their dairy
they panned the milk, skimmed by hand and used horse power for churn-
ing, and had a furnace and boiler at the milk house for washing and scald-
ing the pans. Nearly all their butter was sold in Paso Robles and San Luis
Obispo, and was put up in squares. The name of the creamery was known
far and wide as the "Live Oak Creamery." His stock was of the short-horned
Durham breed, which he considers best adapted for dairy and beef cattle. In
1911, Mr. Gruwell sold his ranch and stock and located in Paso Robles, where
he is now living, retired, enjoying the comforts of the present day and looking
back on pioneer times when the luxuries of today were not even thought
of. He and his wife attend the Congregational Church, and in politics he
supports Democratic policies.

The name of Charles L. Gruwell is worthy of enrollment among the
pioneer residents of California, who foresaw the great possibilities .of the
state, and put their shoulders to the wheel to develop the opportunities by
which they were surrounded.

GIDEON EDWARD THURMOND.— A history of the Santa :\Iaria
valley, with S])ecial attention to the schools of the section, wouUl be incom-
plete without mention of Gideon Edward Thurmond, who served for twenty-
four years as superintendent of the schools of Santa Barbara county, and
did so much to bring them to their present condition. He was born near
Saulsbury, Tenn., November 27, 1843, the son of a farmer, and he spent his
boyhood and young manhood in tilling the soil. He was educated at the
University of North Carolina, and from there joined the Confederate army
at the age of nineteen, and was assigned to the Seventeenth Mississippi
Regiment, Featherstone's Brigade, Army of the Potomac. He made a gal-
lant soldier through all the series of battles and marches in which this grand
army engaged, and was honorably mentioned for coolness and gallant con-
duct in one of the last battles before Richmond, where he received a wound
that made him a cri])])le for life.

Mr. Thurmond came to California in 1868 and settled first in Monticito,
moving a few years later to Carpinteria, where he resided until his death
on January 25, 1911. He was elected county school superintendent for
Santa Barbara county in 1874, and in that field he found his life work,
holding that responsible office for twenty-four years. He was capable, ener-
getic, always pleasant, and was both popular with the teachers and beloved
by the children. It was often said of him that he knew every school child
in the cnunty b\ name. lie was energetic in forming districts where they

SAN LUIS ODISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 565

were needed, and discouraged a])])lirati(ms under contrary circumstances.
His motto was "Better strain tlie law a link- than injure the schools." After
a busy and useful life he passed away U< his reward mourned by every school
child in the county, as well as liy llu'ir ])arents, with whom lie was always on
the best of terms.

Mr. Thurmond was united in marriage with Ellen Dickerson of Wash-
ington county, Va., who still lives at Carpinteria. At the time of his death,
he left two sons and two daughters: Hunter, a teacher in CarjMnteria ;
Ciwinn, ;i farmer in \"entura county: Mary, the wife of r)enjamin I'.ail-
lard ol Carpinteria valley; and Mildred.

JOHN H. HAYDON. — To the man who possesses the characteristics
of patience and determination, united with absolute honor and consideration
for the rights of others, life yields both success and happiness. Distinctly
of this class is John H. Haydon of Santa Maria, surveyor, educator, politi-
cian and historian. He was born August 3, 1837, at Warsaw, Ky., on the
bank of the Ohio river, and is thus eighty years "young." He has more than
attained the goal of biblical times. He is active, resourceful, and interesting,
and for a man of his years physically strong. "Haydon" is an Americaniza-
tion of the German "Elaydn." Many James Haydns or Haydons ajipear in
the early records at Albemarle Court House, Va. His grandfather. James
Haydon, was a Revolutionary soldier and a cavalryman in "Light Horse
Harry Lee's" command. It was he who changed the spelling of Haydon.

On both sides the forebears have been revolutionists and fighters. The
progenitor of the family in America immigrated from England to the Vir-
ginia Colonies in the latter part of the seventeenth century. Grandfather
James Haydon settled in Boonesborough, Ky., in 1787, and became asso-
ciated with Daniel Boone, Weitzel and others of the pioneers in those early
days when the soil of Kentucky was the dark and bloody ground. The
father was married in Kentucky, in 1820, to IMiss Madeline Houston, niece of
Gen. Sam Houston of Texas, a distinguished representative of a family that
came from Scotland to the Colonics about the same time as did the Haydons.
After living long in Kentucky, they moved to Missouri, where they re-
mained many years. They had six sons and three daughters. Five of tlic
sons, including John II. Haydon, and one son-in-law, were in the Confed-
erate army ; and two sons were killed in service. Of these children two are
living: Mrs. Mary McGrew, of Sheldon, Mo., and John H.. of this review.

John Haydon was educated in public and private schools and in the
University of Missouri, where he also ]>roved his jihysical ])owers as an ath-
lete. He' was a wrestler and a one-hundred-yard runner, and held the record
for three standing jumps, thirty-three feet. He came across the idains to
California in 1865, when he showed his prowess as an Indian lighter, the
Indians being on the war-path; and as captain of the train, Mr. Haydon led
the fighting to protect his outfit at Bitter Cottonwood— now Cottonwood
Springs— Cook's Ranch, and Medicine Bow. At the latter place. William
Shearin, an uncle of Mark I.. Shearin of Santa Maria, a member of his party,
was killed.

On arriving in California, Mr. Haydon stopi.ed for a while in Santa
Rosa, and in 1868 returned East via Panama and New York, settling in
Mexico, Mo., where he served as county surveyor and road and bridge com-
missioner for a term of years, and built the first iron and steel bridge m hi-

566 SAX l.nS OIUSPO COL'XTY AND E.WIROXS

county. IJcin.i; stricken with pen paralysis, which made drafting impossible,
he began teaching school : and in this work he continued until he again came to
California in 1888.

Arriving in the Santa ]\Iaria valley, he continued teaching about six
years, settling on a small ranch five miles south of Santa Maria, where he set
out an orchard of jjrunes and apricots, and went "broke" because the fruit
was a failure for want of irrigation. He then moved into the town and
sefved as postmaster from 1895 to 1899 ; and after that he became connected
with the telephone company and did much to extend their system in the
valley. He has done reportorial work for newspapers, and has written a his-
tory of the Santa Alaria \alley for the Historic Record Company of Los
Angeles.

Mr. Haydon was united in marriage in ^Mexico, ]\lo.. in 1860, with ]\Iiss
Phoebe Eleanor Martin, a nati\e of that place, a noble woman and a true
jielpmate for her husband. She was the mother of three children : James W .. of
Taft, who is married and has one son, Albert Lucas ; Mrs. Annie Lee Jones,
of [Mexico, ilo. ; and Mrs. Dora M. Miscall, of Tulare, Cal. [Mrs. Haydon
l)assed away January 3, 1913, mourned by all who knew- her.

Mr. Haydon has been a lifelong Democrat, has ahva\'s taken an active
interest in politics, and has rendered valiant service during campaigns, often
carrying his section of the county to victory. He favors and fights for good
schools and good roads, considering them a prime necessity to build up any
conmiunity. For years he has been connected with the Presbyterian Church,
has always been a great advocate of Sunday- schools, and dearly loves the
children ; and this feeling is returned by them. He has served as superin-
tendent of the Sunday school for many years, and has exerted a beneficent
influence on the younger generation. He is thoroughly progressive and ad-
vocates e\-ery ini])rovement for the public good. He is a iMason, and a man
who counts e\'er}- man his friend.

AMOS SMITHERS.— P.orn in Woodstock, Canada, on October 31, 1851,
Amos Smithers is the son of William Smithers, a farmer of Sussex, England,
who migrated to Canada, where he engaged in farming until his death. The
father died when Amos was but three years of age. The lad attended school
until he was twelve years of age. after which he w^orked on the farm.

In N(ivend)er, 1874, at twenty-three years of age, Amos Smithers pushed
out bravely across the wide continent to California. He settled in San Luis
Obispo County in Alay, 1875, choosing this district in preference to Tulare
county, in which for a while he had tarried after his arrival in the state. On
coining to this county he found employment at farming around Cambria. At
abnut this time Mr. Smithers was married to Miss Ida M. Terrill, who was
born in Sonoma county of a family of pioneers who came to that section in
1849. This hap|n- event occurred in December, 1878, and probably had much
to (t(j with Mr. Smithers' rapid steps forward in dairy ranching. He first
rented land and then ])urchased the nucleus of his present property, a nice
home of three hundred fifteen acres. This he stocked with handsome Jerseys,
and in a short time made himself famous for miles around for the quality of
his dairy i)roducts. His ranching operations brought him into commercial
I>r.jmmence, and he was soon sought as both stockholder and director of the
Hank of Cambria, a live and substantial institution that is a credit to the
comnnniity, wliich well sujiports it. He became an Odd Fellow in 1886. in

SAX LUIS oiusi'o C()L■^'•^^• axd ['..wiroxs 3(.7

Hesperian Lodge No. 18L Cambria, of whicli he is Past Grand and an cx-
representative to the Grand Lodge.

Several boys and girls have come to brighten Amos Smithers' life, among
them Warren, Ernest T., Mabel L, Shelby W., Lloyd and Lester, all of whom
are living. Two daughters, Mary and Charlotte, are deceased. On Sep-
tember 5, 1914, the excellent wife of Mr. Smithers, a mother whose devotion
was felt beyond her cosy home, also passed U< the Si)irit Land. This be-
reavement, however, lias not embittered the life of Amos Smithers, on whom
Cambria looks as one of her most smiling and optimistic citizens.

LOUIS Z. HAUN. — A native son of Arroyo Grande and prominently
identified with the commercial interests of that town, Louis Z. Haun comes
from a well-known family in the county. He was born on June 18, 1893,
the son of William A. and Ida A. (Forsting) Haun, both natives of the
East, who came to the West, were here married, and are now residents of
Arroyo Grande. They have three children : Nancy, wife of Jesse Burns of
San Luis Obispo, Mae and Louis Z. Mrs. Haun's parents were among the
earliest settlers in Arroyo Grande valley. The family were prominent in
an early day, and now all are deceased except Mrs. Haun.

Louis attended the public schools in the town until he was sixteen,
then spent one year in high school, and after that became a clerk in a store
here. He worked eighteen months for the railroad at the station in Arroyo
Grande then accepted a clerkship willi .'~^. .Mexanfier and held the position
for eighteen months.

With his savings he wished to enter upon a business career for himself;
and, resigning his position, he bought out the meat market known as Langcn-
beck & Ketchum, purchasing Mr. Ketchum's interest. Thereafter the firm
was known as Langenbeck & Haun. As the buMness prospered, this com-
pany purchased the shop conducted by Morgan & Gilliam, moving their
business to the new location, and now having the only shop in the town,
and doing a good business because of the fine country surrounding them. Mr.
Haun is in charge of the market, while his partner looks after the outside
work and buys cattle.

He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of .\merica and of the I'ortu-
guese lodge, L'. P. E. C. He is a self-made man. and while young in years,
has a liright future.

CARMI ELLISON MOSHER.— The county of San Luis Obispo is the
abode of a large number of men who were thrown on their own resources
at an early age, and whose natural abilities were strengthened by contact
with the worid, thus gaining for them the esteem of associates, as well as
financial success. To these men Carmi I'.llison Mosher, hardware merchant
of Arroyo Grande, is no exception. He was born in Ontario, Canada, Xo-
vember'24, 185.3. and had school privileges until he was twelve years old.
ever since which time he has been self-supporting, lentil he was twenty-
eight years old, he worked for wages as a farm hand ; then he was emiiloyed
as a driller by Gilbert Bros., when they were widening the St. Lawrence
channel, and worked for them five years.

On January 1, 1888, Mr. Mosher started for California ami arrived in
San Luis Obispo County on January 21. He went to work for the liitumi-
nous Rock Company for three years, then took up farm work on a ranch
adjoining Pismo, and carried tliat on for three years, lie then moved to

568 SAX UTS OBISPO COUXTV AND EWIROXS

Edna on the Bituminous ranch and stayed there three years ; and thence in
1898, to Ilnasna ranch, and farmed four years to wheat and barley, when
he "went broke," and had to begin all over again. This he courageoush'
did, farming on shares the T. J. Steele ranch ; and four years were spent
raising grain and hogs on 1,000 acres. He w^as successful, but sold out
and moved to Arroyo Grande and in November, 1907, bought the hardware
business of C. S. Kinney, where he has been gradually building up a good
business as a dealer in general hardware, farming implements and ma-
chinery, and plumbing.

Mr. Mosher was married at Edna, February 17, 1890, to Jessie M. Cor-
mack, a native of Delhi, N. Y., born in 1862. They were parents of four chil-
dren : James C. ; Carrie L., who married G. Hampton ; Frank ; and Charles,
now deceased. Mrs. Mosher passed away in December, 1895. MV. ^losher
is a member of the Woodmen of the World and of the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, and also the Women of Woodcraft. He has had reverses,
but is optimistic as to the future, public-spirited as far as his means will
permit, and honest and industrious — in short, a good exampe of a self-
made man.

WILLIAM H. DOWELL.— Through his connection with important
interests in Arroyo Grande William H. Dowell has become a factor in the
commercial life of the county. He has been a resident of the county since
1888. He was born in Farley, Platte county. Mo.. July 26, 1863, a son of
James A. Dowell, who was a farmer all his life. At the age of seven years
young Dowell accompanied his parents to Butler county, Kan., where for five
years they settled on a farm. In 1875 they moved to Iowa, and there he grew to
maturity and attended the common schools. Reaching the age of nineteen
years, he started out for himself. He went to Chase county, rented land and
began farming ; but after two years, he returned home and for a time was em-
ployed on the railroad. Then he went to farming once more and met with
success. Selling out, he next moved to Indian Territory ; then, coming West
to California, he located in Arroyo Grande, arriving September 20, 1888.

His first work was as a wood chopper, clearing land, and this occupied
him one year, when he bought seven and one half acres in Carpenter canon.
Five years later he sold the land and went to the Edna district, where he
rented one hundred forty acres which he farmed until 1897. He had married
and decided to return to Kansas and live; but in January, 1898, he returned
to Arroyo (irande and bought ten and one half acres set out to a walnut
orchard, now in fine condition. This place Mr. Dowell has improved and
makes his home.

In 1900 he liought an interest in the Arroyo Grande Commercial Com-
pany, and from 1913 to 1915 he served on the board of directors. In politics
he is a Democrat and has always been active in the party councils. He also
scrxed live years as trustee of the high school, and was elected Justice of the
Peace in 1914. He is a member of and has passed all the chairs in Arroyo
tlrandf l.Dclge. No. 265, I. O. ( ). F.. was delegate to the Grand Lodge twice,
served as district deputy, and is a member of the Rebekahs. He is also a
member , .i the U. P. ]•:.' C.

Mr. Dowell was united in marriage with Mina A. Carpenter, a native of
Kansas, who was born in Chase county. May 15, 1S71, and came with her
I-arents to Arroyo Grande in Mav, 1888;' and t'hev had tlu- following children:

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXU KXVTROXS 569

Lorena L., Claudia L., Clinton W., Andre C, Nellie F., Lee C, Freda M.,
Wilma A., Cliffie A., and Raleigh C. Mrs. Dowell passed away December 21,
1905. Mr. Dowell is a self-made man and highly respected for his sterling
traits of character l)y all wlio kimw liiui.

JOHN CHAPEK.— One cf ihc foremost citizens of San Luis Obispo,
and a man of sterling worth, is John Chapek, a leading contractor and builder
of the city and county, and a member of the city council, to which he was
elected on April 2, 1917. He was born in Bohemia, under Austrian rule,
September 2, 1872 ; and after he had received such schooling as was accorded
the youth of that section, he went to Vienna and learned the trade of carpen-
ter, serving a three years' apprenticeship. At the age of eighteen he came to
the United States to find here better opportunities than were offered young
and energetic men in his own country. He worked at his trade in Prairie du
Chien, Wis., for six months, from which place he went to Clayton county, la.,
where he was engaged as a carpenter until 1893.

In 1893 Mr. Chapek came to San Luis Obispo County. He was engaged
in farming near Arroyo Grande until 1899, when he came to the city of San
Luis Obispo and began working at his trade. He was so successful that after
six months he began contracting and decided to remain in that occupation.
In 1907, he formed a partnership with F. H. Johnson and they organized the
Union Hardware Co., and continued the business three years. At the expira-
tion of this time, Mr. Chapek sold out his interest in the business to his part-
ner, still retaining ownership of the building.

Mr. Chapek was united in marriage, September 15, 1903, with Mary S.
Anderson, a native of California, a daughter of John and I^len (Donovan)
Anderson, pioneers of California; and they have four children: Carl J., John
R., Eleanor, and Frederick, all of whom were born in San Luis Obispo County.

Mr. Chapek has been a big factor in the upbuilding of San Luis Obispo
and surrounding country, and has built and sold many cottages, besides doing
work for others. He is now owner of a number of houses from wliicli he
receives good rent. An addition to the city known as Fremont Heights, one of
the choice residence sections, has been put on the market by Mr. Chapek;
and on this he has erected many fine houses. Some of the buildings put up
by him are the Miles Station schoolhouse, the Charles Brewer block, and
the old Masonic block; while among the first buildings he erected was the
Reedy Hotel, one of the earliest three-story buildings built in the town.
From his first contract to the present time he has made good ; and his work,
scattered throughout the county, has given perfect satisfaction to his patrons.
He is a member of the Odd Fellows and a life member of the B. P. O. Flks.

WILLIAM WALLACE.— The State of New York has contributed many
citizens to help swell the population of the Golden State, each county getting
its share of these re])resentative Americans : and ihey are engaged in every
calling. The proprietor of the El Mar cafe at Pismo. which was opened in
1906 bv William Wallace, has added to the enterprise of the beach town.

He was born in New York City. October 15. 1875. was educated in the
public schools and was variously employed until coming to California, m 1901.
He was engaged in the liquor business in San Francisco for two years, then
sold out and came to Arroyo Grande, where he began business as jiroprietor
of Ryan's Hotel, carrying on that hostelry until he opened his present place,
two and one-half years later.

570 SAX i.ris oinsro county axd exviroxs

Mr. Wallace was unitetl in marriage, in l'*02, witli [Miss IClla Lang,
who is a nali\e daughter of California, having been horn in San h'rancisco,
where her marriage aK" ti lok (ilace.

Air. Wallace is a lioMsier fi >r the county, and supports every mo\-ement
for the upliuilding of the Ix-ach resort, which is his home.

WILLIAM HEMPHILL. — Great have been the advances made in the
science and jiractice of horticulture, particularly in the knowledge of the
soil and Imw it must be treated, as will be seen by even a brief visit to those
well-culti\ated lands in charge of William Hemphill, one of the most ener-
getic, painstaking and progressive cultivators of orchard trees, in San Luis
Obispo County. A native of Bally Kelly, County Derry, Ireland, William's
father, a farmer of Scotch descent, was also surnamed W^illiam ; wdiile a
brother. l\e\-. lohn llenijdiill, is now a retired Presbyterian minister li\-ing at
Los (]atos W illiani, whose boyhood was spent on a farm and at the local
public school, was the sixth eldest of eight children.

When fifteen years of age, that is, in 1S70, the lad came to the I'nited
States and to San Francisco, where he obtained employment in a business
office and attended, in spare hours, the Pacific Business College. Three
years later he came to San Luis Obispo County, and was made bookkeeper
for the several Steele ranches. He next rented a dairy, for the first season at
Arroyo Grande ; after which he went to Contra Costa county, where he en-
gaged in stock-raising at the base of Alt. Diablo. Another move brought
him to Danville and set him up in the butcher business.

hi I'HJO. Mr. Hemphill was back in San Luis Obispo County, \vhere his
brother had a l^ge farm of some sixteen hundred acres, mostly in the Oak
Flat district, and along the Encinal. This he ran as a stock farm, while for
eight or nine years he also rented other ranches. He put in four }'ears
at Santa Margarita in the raising of grain, after which he was foreman and
then manager of the Santa Margarita ranch, one year raising 20,000 sacks of
barley. In 1912, he returned to Paso Robles to clear the land on the Talbot
ranch, and three years later he assumed his present responsibility, that of
superintending the San Ignacio and Santa Helena ranches, owned by the
world-famed pianist, Paderewski, and Madame Paderewski, to which he has
added the care of extensive improvements being made upon these properties.
.Mready two hundred forty acres have been set out to almonds, walnuts and
pears, princii)ally almonds. The summit of the ]\Ierritt Springs tract is
frostless on tlie southern and eastern slopes, and there they have set out
oranges and lemons as an experiment.

William Hemphill has twice been married. On the first occasion the
ceremony took place in Sonoma county, where he was wedded to Miss Eliz-
abeth Gordon, a nati\ e of the district, who died at Danville. Eleven children
were born from this union, and the following seven attained maturity: Delia
Elizabeth, who is a trained nurse in San Francisco; William Gordon, a ma-
cliinist there; h^stella Gertrude and Lillias Margarita, both bookkeepers and
stenographers in the northern metropolis; Chester Arthur, who also re-
it tendance at the San Luis Obispo high
inxille. His second marriage took place
loined to Miss Sallie Findley, wdio was
is ( )bispo, leaving one child, Laurence,
eh school.

sides in San h'rancis

o; [oil

1 1'.,

school ; aH<l Jennie. \

■ho resi

les ii

at San Luis < )l,i.spo,

where

le w

born in Illinois and

<lied at

San

who attends the San

Luis (

)bispi

^^^ ^^Uc/)^-^

SAN LUIS OP.ISPO COUNTY AND FAXIROXS 573

A great world tragedy threw a deep shadow across Mr. IlemphilFs oth-
erwise happy life. His sister, .Airs. Martha Moody, owner of a large country
estate near Londonderry, Ireland, after a visit to her brothers in California,
accompanied by her daughter, Mcta, during which the ladies also enjoyed
the Exposition at San Francisco, was returning to Europe on the "Lusitaiiia"
when that ship was torpedoed and sent to the watery abyss. With so many
other victims, Mrs. Moody was lost; but her daughter was saved, and re-
turned to Londonderry to tell the story of the sinking and of her 'mother's
lamented death.

Mr. Hemphill is a Republican in national jxilitical attains, lie has served
as a school trustee in both the Encinal and the Sunimit districts.

ERASTUS FOUCH.— Among those who walk the streets of Arroyo
Grande with head erect and looking every man in the face, is Erastus Fouch,
the well-known farmer of veteran military experience to whom some of the
educational and other problems of the district have been committed. Horn
in the country districts near Creole, Vinton county, Ohio, on Septeinber 7,
18-14, the son of James Fouch, Erastus attended school and did the chores
about a farm until he was seventeen or eighteen years old, having in the
meantime learned the ins and outs of agriculture, from A to Z.

When the great W'ar for the Union broke out, Mr. Fouch was among the
first to enlist as a volunteer in the famous 75th Ohio Infantry, and from
that date until 1865 he served his country faithfully as a private soldier, and
underwent both the dangers of action and the privations incident to such a
career. He served under Captain George Fry, and in May of 1862 was with
the intrepid Irving McDowell, then General and later park commissioner at
San Francisco, who laid out the beautiful drives known as the Golden Gate
Park. Mr. Fouch saw service at Manassas, Chancellorsville, Bull Run, and
the P.attle of Gettysburg, incidental to which he was for fi-fty-one days a
prisoner of war. The long conflict passed, .Mr. I'ouch migrated to Carver
county, Minnesota, and later for some time farmed in Hennc))in county,
near Excelsior, where he bought land and raised wheat on a large scale.

Attracted by the wonderful climate of California, he .sold out and came
West, coming almost immediately to San Luis ObisjK) County ; and in the
vicinity of Arroyo Grande he bought a home surrounded by thirty-three and
a half acres. This land he has improved, devoting part of it to farming and
part to the raising of fruit and alfalfa: and in addition he has rented con-
siderable land and carried on general farming.

In practically every way Mr. Fouch has been successful as a farmer,
and while enjoying domestic life to the full, he has never failed to give his
support to civic aflfairs in which helpers are needed, but are often wanting.
One instance of this is his relation to the local high school, for the establish-
ing of which Mr. I'oucli worked so hard. He has been a very active member
of CoK)ncl ll.irper I'ost No. 126, (;. A. R. A Rei)ublican in national politics,
he nevertheless is an independent in local matters, and always works for
the best man and the best issue.

On June 19, 1866, in Ohio, Erastus Fouch was married to Miss Mary
Emily ]\icClannahan. She was born in Ohio, July 25. 1850. 'S\r. and Mrs.
Fouch are the parents of nine children : .Anthony V.. Lilly. Frank J.. Pearlie
D,. Arthur, Charles \V. D., Edwin, Ilarlev 11., and Elby A.

574 SAX lA-IS OCISrO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

JOHN C. HANSEN. — Many of our best citizens have come from foreign
shores, and in tiie New World have overcome obstacles and made a name and
place for themselves, as well as promoted the welfare of the country at large.
In the vicinity of San Luis Obispo, where he has lived since 1879, John C.
Hansen is no exception to the rule. He was born in Denmark, Schleswig-
Holstein. October 15, 1862. and attended the common schools until he was
fifteen years of age. He lived at home with his parents, Peter and Anna
Marie Hansen, both now deceased (the father died in 1915, aged eighty-three
years, and the mother passed away in 1914, also eighty-three years of age),
and assisted with the usual duties about the place until 1879, when he decided
he could better his condition by coming to a new country.

With an aunt, Mrs. Margaret Beck, he came direct to San Luis Obispo
County ; and in the Santa Fe district he worked for wages for the first two
years. He then started out for himself with a partner, P. M. Petersen, where
the tank farm is now located, and continued farming in that locality until
1903, when they sold their lease, stock and tools to Hans P. Mathieson. Mr.
Hansen then moved to the Laguna district and there farmed until 1911. He
also engaged in dairying; and meeting with good results, he then traded his
interest, and came to his present home place, where he is raising hay and
doing general farming.

Through all these changes, Mr. Hansen has never neglected his duties
as a citizen, but has supported those movements that have had for their
object the upbuilding of the county. He married, in San Luis Obispo in
1911, Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth (Clausen) Morland, who was born in Tennessee.
In politics he is a Democrat, but has never aspired to office. By hard work
and good management, Mr. Hansen has acquired a fine ranch of one hundred
sixty-four acres, which he has improved to its present fine condition. He is
a worthy citizen of the ccjunl\- and holds the respect of all with whom he
comes in contact.

JOHANNES R. HEINRICH.— Among the various industries that have
taken root in San Luis Obispo county, and arc rapidly becoming a valuable
asset among the many and varied lines of enterprises, is the raising of poultry.
One of the largest plants of its kind in the county is owned and operated
b}' Johannes R. Heinrich of Arroyo Grande. Mr. Heinrich is a native of
Germany, born in Dresden. October 20, 1877, where he attended the grammar
and high schools, and supplemented these by a course in college, from which
he was graduated in 18').^. He then went to work in the store his father
owned at Dresden, and l)eginning at the bottom, learned the business thor-
oughly, and with the experience thus gained was able to secure lucrative
employ incut elsewhere. In 1903, Mr. Heinrich came to America, worked
for twi.. years in the great establishment of John Wanamaker in New York,
and tiien came to California.

\\ iili liie money he possessed, he came direct to San Luis Obispo County,
determnied to engage in the poultry business, which he had studied thor-
oughly. I'urchasing land where he is now located, with no improvements
ol any kmd u]>on it. he began ])utting things in shape and erected buildings
suuable t.ira In-giiining: and purchasing four hundred white Leghorn chickens,
lie llel,^•l^ hi-; business. l-"rom the start he succeeded in creating a market in
San l-ranci-co fur his eggs, receiving the highest market prices.

SAN LUIS Or.TSPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 575

As he prospered, he enlarged liis poultry houses and built brooder-houses,
and started hatching with one small incubator, which has been increased to
twelve, with an output of from 20,000 to 25,000 baby chicks annually, all
of which are shipped as day-old chicks to points in Oregon, Arizona and
California. He now has fifteen hundred laying hens, carefully selected
thoroughbred single-comb white Leghorns. His entire plant, brooder-house,
incubator house and chicken houses, is most modern in design and appoint-
ment, and year by year Mr. Heinrich has gained in prestige and popularity,
and has established himself in the confidence of the people. He believes in
satisfied customers and has increased his business by honorable dealings.

On .Vugust 3, 1904, Miss Helen Thiele, a native of Chemnitz, Germany,
and Mr. Heinrich were united in marriage, and his wife has been a most
capable helpmate to her husband. He is a member and past master of the
.\rroyo Grande Lodge of Masons, and both Mr. and Mrs. Heinrich belong
to the Eastern Star. He is also a member of the Hermannsoehne Lodge.
He has been successful, and is a staunch advocate of all movements to build up
the county. Both he and his wife are highly respected by all who know them.

RUDOLPH VASQUEZ.— A native son of San Luis Obispo County, and
one of the representative men of the Coast section, Rudolph Vasqucz first saw
the light of day on July 4, 1858, on the Chorro ranch. His father, Jose Antonio
Vasquez, was born in Monterey about 1805, and his grandfather came to
Monterey among the first Spanish settlers there, arriving by way of Cape
Horn. After reaching their destination, they engaged in the stock business,
that being the only industry known to the settlers at that time, and their
cattle had an extensive range uixm which to feed. He was the owner of a
large grant of land.

Jose Antonio Vasquez was reared in Monterey, and spent his early life
at home assisting with the extensive stock interests carried on by his father.
Later he served in the Mexican War. Governor Pio Pico gave him the Chorro
grant of land close to San Luis Obispo and extending towards the northwest,
and there Mr. Vasquez embarked in the stock business with more than ordi-
nary success. Finally, he lost this land by going on another man's note.

Rudolph Vasquez is the only son left of a large family of ten boys and
eleven girls. Two of his sisters are also living. He attended school but a
few days, for he was only three years old when his father lost his land, and
he had to go to work when he was very small to assist in the support of the
family. He lived at home until the death of his father, and cared for stock
on the ranch of one hundred and sixty acres of government land that his
father had taken up. The dry years came, and his father lost this, also,
together with his stock.

Rudolph Vasquez worked among stock for twelve years, and then
learned the barber's trade in San Luis Obisi)o. after which he came to
Cambria, in 1889, and opened a barber shop, and has since followed the trade.

Mr. Vasquez was married in Cayucos to Mrs. Modesta (Castro) Martin,
a native of San Luis Obispo County, the daughter of P.las and Refugio Castro,
born in Spain and California respectively.

Mr. and Mrs. Vasquez are very charitable and Uiml-hearted, and besides
a stepdaughter they have raised and educated four orphaned girls. .Mr. \'as-
quez is well liked by all who know him and takes a pride in the fact that the
success he has achieved has been of his own making; and as far as his finances

576 SAN LLfIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENMRONS

will permit, hi- supports all public movements that will build up the county,
lie is a mcinher uf the I-'oresters of America, ami in matters of politics
helicxes that the ])rinci|)lcs of the Republican party are for the best interests
of the tjreatest number.

NORMAN F. FRICK.— The son of a pioneer of 1849, and himself a pio-
neer of 1<S7(), Norman F. Frick has played an important part in the upbuilding
of this ])art of the state of California. He has been successful as a rancher,
and as a brick and stone mason. He was the first man to burn lime for com-
mercial purposes in this part of the county, and it: many other ways has be-
come one of the well-known citizens of this county. He was born in Bufifalo,
Frie cnunty. \. Y.. November 6, 1841, a son of Abraham and Mary (Cowell)
h'rick, both natives of the state of Pennsylvania. The father went to Erie
county at the a^e of ei,s;hteen. and in 1842 removed to Rockford, 111., and lo-
cated on a farm on the Kishwaukee river. There he carried on general farm-
ino- until 1849. when he outfitted with ox teams and came across the plains in
search of gold. .After following mining for a time, he turned his attention to
farming in Santa Cruz county, afterwards remcning to San Luis Obispo
County. He located at Oak Flat and died there at the age of eighty-three
years. His wife died in Dakota. They became parents of seven children,
three of whom are now living.

The fourth child in the family of seven children, Norman F. Frick was
reared in Illinois and there attended the common schools. In August, 1861,
he enlisted in Company D, 11th Illinois \'olunteer Infantry, was mustered in
at Birds Pt., I\Io., campaigned in Alissouri, and afterwards took part in the
engagements at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, and the siege of Vicksburg.
He was in the charge on May 22, 1863, w-as wounded in the right arm, and
then for three months was in the hospital at Millikens Bend and for twelve
months in the hospital at Keokuk, la. In August, 1864, he was mustered out
at the expiration of his term of service. After the war, he was for a year at
the Rockford high school, and in 1865 he went to Butler county, la., where, on
September 11, 1866. he was married to Miss Martha A. Butcher, a native of
Burlington. N. J. She was a daughter of Morris and Sarah (Morris) Butcher,
born, respectively, in Burlington, N. J., and Philadelphia. The former was a
member of the Society of Friends. They were pioneers of Butler county,
la., where the father was a carpenter and builder, as well as a farmer. He
later moved to Kansas, and there he farmed in Labette county until he died.
Six children were born to them, Mrs. Frick being the eldest. She received
her education in New Jersey and Iowa, and taught school in Iowa for two
years, until her marriage.

After his marriage, Mr. l-'rick farmed in I'.ntler county. He also ran
a lime-kiln and made the lime for his vicinity. Later, aljout 1871, he re-
moved to Osceola county and took up a homestead of one hundred sixt)«
acres, which he imjiroved. For two sviccessive years, however, he was eaten
out by grasshoppers, and in 1876 he sold out and came to California. His
father resided on the Huer-Huero. three miles east of what is now Paso
Robles. Mr. Frick bought a ranch in Oak Flat and improved it, clearing it
of lirush, trees and poison oak, and broke the land and raised grain and stock.
Me found a ledge of lime.stone on the ranch, built a kiln and burned lime,
furnishing it for eight years to San Luis Obispo and also to the building
trade of Paso Robles, This business he contimie.l until 1896. when he

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUXTV AND EWIRONS 579

bought his present place and built his residence on Spring street, Paso Robles.
At times he works at the trade of brick and stone mason, and althougii well
along in years, is able to do a good day's work. Since 1876, Mr. Frick has
been "water-witching" in this part of the county, and has had wonderful
success in locating water wells. He is the owner of several lots and two
residences in Paso Robles.

Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Frick the following children were born:
Nettie, Mrs. Leonard, of Hoquiani, Wash.; Mattie, .Airs. Rowland, of Pres-
cott, Ariz. ; Alary, Mrs. Zwinge, of San Andreas, Cal. ; Eber, who died, aged
twenty years; Reu, in Golconda. Ariz.; and Etta, Mrs. Porter, of Hoquiam.
Wash. Mr. and Mrs. Frick are meml)ers of the Christian Church, and he is
an elder and member of the board of trustees. On September 11, 1916, this
worthy couple celebrated, with their children, the anniversary of their mar-
riage fifty years ago. On this occasion a brother of Mr. Frick who had
witnessed the marriage in Iowa was present. .V most pleasant time was
enjoyed by all. Mr. and Mrs. Frick are well known throughout this part
of the county; and they have a host of friends, who respect them for their
strength of character and for their kindliness of heart. They try to live
by the Cnlden Rule.

FRANK E. BENNETT.— The present effuient mayor and prominent
business man of Arroyo Grande, Frank E. Bennett, has won his own way
to success, for he started out at an early age and has been self-supporting
ever since. He was born in Detroit, Wayne county, Mich., August 17,
1861, a son of Joseph J. and Mary (Hopkins) Bennett, both born and reared
in that state. The father was a farmer, and served with honor in the Civil
War with the 27th Volunteer Michigan Infantry.

I'Vank Bennett attended school in his home town until fourteen, when
he went to Coffey county, Kan., with his parents, and assisted with the
farm work until he came to California in 1883. Stopping in Arroyo Grande,
he found work on the ranches in this section for four years ; and having
made a little start, he leased land in the Oak Park district and farmed a few
years.

Then he moved to Arroyo Grande, and was employed in the Labor
Exchange General Mercantile Store as a clerk for two years. In 1900 he
became the store manager and held that position three years, when he re-
signed and on October 5, 1903, started in a small way for himself. .\s his
business increased, he found that he needed larger quarters; and sn he moved
to his present location in 1909, where he has modern equipment and has
greatly increased his trade. He is obliging and courteous, and endeavors
to supply the wants of the most fastidious.

On November 30, 1887, Mr. Bennett was united in marriage with Miss
Effie L. Stevenson, a native of Illinois, who came to Arroyo Grande with
her parents in 1884. They have had four children: Cora, the wife of P. S.
Clcvenger; Ralph M. ; Esther May ; and Edwin S.

Mr. Bennett is a Democrat. He served as constable eight years, and at
the time the town was incorporated, in 1911, he was elected mayor, in which
"fifice he is serving at the present time. He is vice-president of the Mohawk
Crude Oil Company of Arroyo Grande, is a member of and has passed all the
chairs in Arroyo Grande Lodge No. 160, Knights of Pythias, and is clerk
of Camp 675, Woodmen of the World.

580 SAX LlIS (Ji;iSPO COUNTY AXD EXVIROXS

MATTHEW THOMAS PEPPARD.— Xova Scotia has furnished many
good citizens to California, and among them mention may be made of Matthew
T. Peppard of Cambria. He was born on the Bay of Fundy, October 9, 1873,
a son of George and I\Iary Ellen (Yuill) Peppard, both born and reared on
that bay, the latter having been born in Jantiary, 1843. The Peppard family
are traced back to X'ormandy, France, while the Yuill family are of Scotch
descent. George Peppard was a man of fine physique, six feet seven inches
tall, and very strong. He had been known to lift six hundred pounds with
case. He was a machinist by trade. He came to California in an early day
and tra\'eled over the country with a view to finding a location that appealed
to him better tlian his own locality.

He soon returned home, and in the town known by the names Grate
\"illage and Londonderry he opened a machine shop, where he employed a
large force of experienced men. He was likewise a pattern-maker, and in
one year's time had made all the castings for eighteen ships besides all other
work that came to his shop. He was a successful man and built up a very
profitable business. His death occurred from an accident in the machine
shop in 1877. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Peppard continued to
manage the business with the aid of a competent foreman until the build-
ing and contents were destroyed by fire, causing an almost total loss. In 1884,
Mrs. Peppard decided to come to California, and with her three children lo-
cated in Cambria. San Luis Obispo County ; and here she spent her last days
with her sons, dying here in 1909.

i\Iatthew T. Peppard received a public school education in Xova Scotia
and Cambria, where he attended school for a short time after coming here
with his mother. He went to work on a dairy ranch that was located on the
present site of the Oceanic Mine, and remained there two years. For the
next few years he w^as employed for wages on various ranches in this sec-
tion of the county, and after he had saved enough from his earnings, he
leased land and tried dairying for himself with good success.

In 1900, he bought six hundred and eighty acres of land on the headwaters
of Santa Rosa creek eleven miles above Cambria, the nucleus of his present
ranch, and continued dairying and raising stock ; and from time to time he
added to his holdings until he is now the owner of thirteen hundred ninety-two
acres of land, a part of which he. has improved and has under cultivation. At
one time tlie showing of oil was thought to be favorable, and Mr. Peppard
sunk a well ; but not realizing his expectations, he abandoned the project.
He is now engaged in raising cattle. The place will keep about two hundred
head of slock. It is well watered by numerous springs and creeks, and is
considered an excellent stock ranch.

On August 17. 1910. near Campbell, Santa Clara county, occurred the
marriage of Mr. Peppard with Miss Lela OHver, who was born in Lima,
Adams county, 111., and came to California with her parents, David Ross and
Stacy Oliver, now horticulturists near San Jose. Mrs. Peppard is a graduate
of Campbell high school and the San Jose State Xlormal, and was engaged in
teaching at Mammoth Rock school in San Luis Obispo County until her
marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Peppard have one daughter, Maristacia.

Mr. Peppard is a man of striking appearance and of large physique, and
like his father is noted for his strength. He takes a very active interest in all
things coming to his notice that have for their object the promotion of the

SAN LUIS OBISPO COl-NTV AXl) KWIROXS 581

welfare of the county in which he has prospered. He has given his personal
attention to his affairs, and is recognized as a man of integrity and thrift, and
has a host of friends.

JOHN CHRISTENSEN.— .\ native of Ccrniany, born in Schlcswig,
Sattru]), November 4, 1863, John Christcnscn, a much respected citizen of San
Luis Obispo County, has experienced many hardships during his years of
farming in this country. He was the son of Christ and Ingebourg (Hansen)
Christensen, both natives of that part of the country. The father was a sol-
dier in the Danish army, fought in the war with Germany, and served in the
J'rench and German war in 1870. He li\ed through both wars and died in Tulv,
1913, aged 73 years. His widow is still living at their home in Germany, aged
about 77 years.

John Christensen was the third child in the family of eight, and had only
a limited schooling, as the family were poor and each had to go to work as
soon as old enough to aid in supporting the family. At the age of nineteen, in
1883, he left home and made the journey to California and San Luis Obispo
County, where he had relatives. Arriving in June of that 3-ear he went to
work at once and continued working for wages for various people until 1888,
when he had saved up enough money to start in for himself. He rented land
and raised beans the first year; then worked a season for Mr. Sandercock; and
in the fall of 1889, he rented land again and raised beans.

But the rent was too high, and he moved to Laguna and leased ninety
acres, which he farmed five years, lie branched out to one hundred eighty
acres, which he farmed for the next nine years, when the dry year came on
and he lost all his crop and the money he had saved. He had purchased sixty-
eight acres of land from McAllister while he was renting, and again in 1907
he added eighty acres. On his present home place, he owns two hundred
twenty-two acres which he devotes to dairying, beans and poultry, and where
he has been uniformly successful.

Tn San Luis Obispo. June 30. 1890, Mr. Christensen was united in mar-
riage with Mary Neilsen, born in Schleswig, October 10, 1872; and they have
five children : Christ, George, John, Christine and Arthur. Mr. Christensen
is a member of the Lutheran Church and the Dania lodge. He and his family
have the good-will and respect of all who know them.

HOWARD A. GALLUP, M. D.— Among professional iiien in .\rroyo
Grande none is more in touch with the general spirit of progress than Ur.
Howard A. (iallup. who is well known as a proficient expounder of tiie
principles of medical science. A native son. he was born in Santa Clara.
l'"el)ruary 19, 1884. He attended the grammar and high schools : and going
afterwards to San Francisco, he secured a position as manager with the
Building Supplv Co., retaining it until 1907, when he entered Cooper Col-
lege (now the 'Medical Department of Stanford University), from which
he graduated in 1911. Then he entered Santa Clara hospital as house physi-
cian and remained there one year.

In 1912 Dr. Gallup went to El Segundo, Los Angeles county, as physi-
cian for the Standard Oil Co., and was also engaged in a general practice
during 1912 and 1914.

In seeking an opening for himself, the Doctor came to Arroyo Grande;
and being alive from the start to the ojiportunities offered, he at ..nee opened
an office.^ind began l)uilding u]) a splen.li.l practice, so that he has becme an

5R2 SAX LIIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD ENVIRONS

ititci^ral part of the progressive town. At the present time he is acting as
health officer of the city.

He is a Republican in politics, although never aspiring to ofifice. He is
a Z^Iason, being a member and (1917) Master of the Arroyo Lodge, No. 274,
F. & A. i\I., at Arroyo Grande. He is a member of the California State
Medical Society, of the American Medical Association, and of the Los Angeles
County Medical Society.

On June 11, 1911, in Santa Clara, Dr. Gallup married Miss Maude Chase,
a native of that city, and a lady of refinement. She and her husband are
highly esteemed in the social circles of Arroyo Grande.

ELERY BICKMORE. — A citizen of the Morro district in San Luis
Obispo County who commands the respect of all who know him, and who
has made a success of his undertakings, is Elery Bickmore, a native of Morgan
county, 111., where he was born on March 7, 1836. When he was ten years
old, his parents moved to Iowa, and on the frontier he received what little
education he was privileged to obtain. Settlers were few and schools were
widely scattered and very primitive.

When he was sixteen, in 1852, his parents decided that they would
come to California, and outfitting for the long and dangerous journey with
oxen and prairie schooner, they crossed desert, mountain and plain via the
Platte river to Utah, and thence by the southern route into San Bernardino
county. They settled in the part now within the borders of Riverside
county, on the Rubidoux ranch just back of Mount Rubidoux, and engaged
in farming. His father, Samuel Bickmore, was a native of Maine ; his mother,
Jane Hamilton Bickmore, was born in Indiana. Their marriage took place in
Illinois. Samuel Bickmore died in 1862.

Klery Bickmore moved to Los Angeles County and farmed for a short
time, and then went back to San Bernardino and engaged in teaming into the
mountains. In that enterprise he continued until 1865, when he went to
W'atsonville and remained for two years. Again returning to San Ber-
nardino county, in 1867, he bought seventy acres of land on the Santa Ana
river and farmed until 1880, when he sold out and came to San Luis Obispo
County, bought a ranch on Toro creek, farmed that for a time and then sold
it. He then took up his residence in Oak Park, and for twenty-two years
was engaged in ranching with good success. Once more disposing of his
place, he returned to the Morro section and bought one hundred sixty-three
acres on JMorro creek, which he improved, erecting a good house, barns and
outbuildings. He stocked the place, and engaged in dairying and farming.
Now he and his sons are successfully maintaining there a dairy of fifty cows.
In 1916 they completed a large silo, this being the second one to be built in this
section of the countv. Thev have erected a jnimping plant and are raising
alfalfa.

Mr. Bickmore was married in San Bernardino county, now Riverside, in
November, 1876, Miss Sarah Jane Casteel, a native of San Bernardino county,
becoming his wife. She is the daughter of James and Marinda (Weaver)
Casteel, both l^astern people. Eight children have blessed the union of
Air. and .Mrs. Bickmore: James, Marinda, Lucinda, Harry, Emil, Sadie,
Sylvester, and Leonard. Mr. Bickmore cast his first Republican ballot for
.'\i)raham Lincoln in 1860. He is highly respected in his community, and his
word is as good as his bond.

yk^.

-^f<^'^-r'

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 585

JAMES POULSEN NIELSEN.— A very enterprising and public-spir-
ited yuuns^- mail wIki is en^a.^cd in grain farming in the Shandon district,
on a farm of four hundred eighty acres, is James Poulsen Nielsen. He was
born in Borbjerg, Jutland, Denmark, February 2, 1886, the son of Niels N.
and Kirstine (Jensen) Nielsen, both natives and well-to-do farmers and dairy
folks of that country, and both now deceased.

James was brought up on the home farm, attended the ]Hil)!ic schools,
where he received a good education in his own language, and after completing
his school course, remained at home for a while assisting with the work. Then,
having heard glowing reports of America, especially of California, he decided
that he would come to this country. He knew that success comes to those
who are not afraid of hard work, and finally, in 1908, he cast in his ka
with the Pacific Coast.

Arriving here, he came to San Luis Obispo County, and in the vicinity
of Union secured his first employment with Iver Iversen, after which lie
worked for Mat. Iversen, the present supervisor from this district. Two
years were spent in learning the ways of the country and the language :
then, in 1911, having saved some money, young Nielsen determined to start
out for himself.

He bought an outfit and leased land from L. Lauridsen. and began
raising grain: and from the start he was successful. In 1915 he removed
to his present place, where he leases from .M. 1'. Hansen and is farming in the
most improved manner, raising about two lumdred fifty acres of grain yearly.
mostly wheat.

Mr. Nielsen has already acquired a permanent place with the people of
this section as a steady, painstaking and reliable farmer. He is a Lutheran
in his religious belief; and his political i)reference is for the policies of the
Democrats. He became a citizen of this country in 1916.

FRANK J. LYNCH, D. O.— Those who have profited by his skill and
know his many admirable characteristics, predict for Frank J. Lynch,
Doctor of Osteopathy and nerve specialist, a continuance of the success and
prestige he already enjoys in a professional career which has been far-reach-
ing in its usefulness, bright with distinguished friendships and of more than
passing interest. Dr. Lynch was liorn in Xorlhampton, Mass.. and educated
in the public schools of his native town.

He first came to the Pacific Coast in 1878, sjjending si.xtecn years in Cali-
fornia, Oregon and \\ a^liington. He then returned to the b'ast, where he
remained until P'Ol. In the meantime, he had graduated from the Little-
john College of Osteopathy in Chicago and practiced for a time: but the call
to California was once more too strong to be ignored, and we find him prac-
ticing his profession in Contra Costa County, at Danville, and later at Liver-
more, in Alameda County. Wishing to perfect himself in the profession, he
went to Los Angeles to take a postgraduate course, which he comi)leted in
1907. While in Los .\ngeles. he opened an oflfice. and made some remark-
able cures.

Then he came to San Luis Obispo, opened an office in the Commercial
Bank building, and from the start was successful in the treatment of difficult
cases. Since that time the doctor has been busily engaged, and although ha\ -
ing many obstacles to overcome, he has built up a lucrative practice here.

586 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EXMROXS

lie lias prcpart'tl articles on osteopathy for publication; and is considered an
expert. His tluirough knowledge of diseases ranks him as a leader, and his
ability is widely known throughout the county and environs. He has gained
distinction in the treatment of paralysis and chronic and acute diseases, and
numbers among his cures some very remarkable cases. Dr. Lynch is ex-
I)crt in i)hysical diagnosis, anatomy and physiology. Osteopathy does not
harass the ill body of the patient with drugs, but goes for practical develop-
ment and for the correction of misadjustments that obstruct \ital fiirces, and
builds up the system of the patient.

Since coming to San Luis Obispo, Dr. L}'nch has entered heartily into the
social and civic afi'airs of the community, and is a valued member of the
Chamber of Commerce and of the Merchants' Association. He was the
organizer of the Municipal League and served as president ; he was also
president of the Good Government League and one of the organizers of the
Civic Club of this city.

Dr. Lynch married ]\liss ^Nlary Campbell, a native of Colorado; and
they have two daughters, Genevieve and Elizabeth. Airs. Lynch is very
active in club life ; she served as president of the ^\'oman's Republic, and is a
leader in social affairs in San Luis Obispo. Dr. Lynch owns a ten-acre pear
orchard and some lots in the Atascadero Colony. He is always interested
in every mo\ement for the de\"elopment of the county, and is a "lii.ioster"
for the city of his adoption, where he is widely known.

EDWIN S. WHITLOCK.— In improving the western opportunities
which have come his way, Edwin S. Whitlock, one of the substantial citizens
of Arroyo Grande, has displayed characteristic enterprise. He was born in
1877 and came with his parents to San Luis Obispo when eleven years of
age, locating in the Eldorado district between Pozo and Creston, wdiere he
attended the public schools and grew to manhood on his father's ranch.
When he was twenty-one, he went to Kern county and was in the employ
of Miller & Lux as teamster one year. Returning home, he and his brother
farmed in partnership one year, but were not successful; and in 1901, Mr.
Whitlock was employed for six months liy I. B. Gibson, a contractor fiir
preparing land ready for seeding. lie then worked for L. C. Routzahn on
his seed-farm six years, and learned that line of business.

But farming did not appeal to him, and he sought an opening in some
commercial line. He therefore entered the employ of the Arroyo Grande
Commercial Company, buying an interest in the business in 1907, and be-
coming treasurer and manager, succeeding A. M. Rayl. Under the effi-
cient management of Mr. Whitlock, the business has expanded and now
the establishment has a flourishing and constantly increasing trade, draw-
nig custom fri)m a radius of many miles in the surrounding country.

During 1917, it is expected that a suitable concrete building will be
completed, 60x65 feet, to house the company's business. The present offi-
cers and directors of the corporation are: George Grieb, president; H, M.
Adams, vice-president; W. E. Hixon, secretary; E. S. Whitlock, treasurer
and manager; B. E. Patchett, auditor; Carl Fink and W. L. Edmonds, com-
pleting the directorate.

Mr. Whitlock was married in Oceano, October 10, 1911, to Annie Jose-
phiiio Everett, who was born in C;ini])ria. this cmntv. and tliev have one
son, Pliilip Edwin. Air. Whitlock is a memlier and an elder in the Presby-

SAX LUIS OBISPO fOUXTV AXD EXMROXS 587

terian Church. He *is a member of the U. P. E. C. and the Modern Woodmen
of America. In all matters pertaining to the upbuilding of his home city, Mr.
Whitlock has been a liberal supporter; and he is keenly alive to the possibili-
ties of jiis section of the county.

WILLIAM G. BURKE.— .\inong the representative business men of San
Luis Obispo County is ^\'illiam G. Burke, proprietor of the general merchan-
dise store in Xipomo. He has been a resident since February, 1913, when he
came to this place and purchased the general store conducted by W. A. Baum-
gartner at Nipomo. Besides the merchandise business, Mr. Burke buys and
sells beans, grain-bags and barley. He has been meeting with deserved suc-
cess since he came to this locality, where he enjoys the confidence of a wide
circle of patrons and friends.

Mr. Burke is a native of Kansas, born in Burlingamc, Osage county, Octo-
ber 8, 1868, and attended the public and high schools of that county until he
was sixteen years old. His father, James H. Burke, was a merchant in Burlin-
game and it w^as but natural that the son should select a business career when
he started independently. At the age of twenty Young Burke went to Yakima,
Wash., and worked as a clerk for some time ; then for eight years he was
comiected with the Northern Alaska Commercial Compan\'. and was in
Alaska in the interest of that concern.

While in that territory, on Se])tem])er 16, 1911, at h^irt (iibbon, he was
united in marriage with Miss Margaret Johnson, who was born in Pilair,
Neb., in February, 1885. Besides his commercial interests in this county,
Mr. Burke has investments in the Iditarod telephone company of .\laska,
and has mining interests in .Kmador County. He is deeply interested in the
welfare of his adopted county, where he has been uniformly successful and
where he has aided every movement for its upbuilding in various localities.
He is affable and courteous, is a man of strict integrity and by square dealing
has built up a good trade since becoming owner of his present business.

PHILIP AND JOHN BIDDLE.— One of the old and prominent resi-
dents of the Pacific Coast, as well as an upbnilder of San Luis Obispo County,
Philip liiddle was well known through his accomplishments in financial and
other activities, and was an important factor in the upbuilding of the
state. He was a native of Pennsylvania, where his early lioyhood was
spent. At an early age he was orphaned, and his foster parents took him to
France, where he attended school a short time and lived a few years : but
not liking the country, he ran away and returned to the land of his birth,
locating in Indiana, where he grew up. He married Rebecca \'(>tau, a lady
of French parentage. Of their union five children were Iiorn ; Rebecca, who
married and is now deceased: Mrs. Mary K. Plummer. who resided in San
Francisco until her demise in 1901, and who was the first woman lawyer in
California: Jonas, also deceased: John, deceased, who was a partner with
his father in many of his financial "ventures, as well as in manufacturing and
in his stock interests; and Washington, now an aged man living in Ten-
nessee.

After the death of his wife in Indiana, in 184'), Mr. Biddlc bnnight his
children to California l)y way of tlie plains in wagons drawn by oxen: and
after a long and dangerous journey, in wliich many hardships were endured,
tlicy finally arrived in the state of "golden o|)porlunity." l"or a time father
and sons mined. Tlien thcv came to San iVancisco. but, not finding con-

588 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

(litions to tlieir likiny, the_\- wtnt to San Jose and took np their ab^ide in a
rude log cabin. Here Air. Liiddle and his sons erected a lime kiln of brick,
on the outskirts of the town, and began burning lime, much of which was
used in the construction of pioneer buildings in San Francisco, as well as in
other sections. The kiln is still standing and is pointed out to tourists as
one of the landmarks of that section.

From this business Mr. Biddle became Avealthy. He came to San Luis
Obispo County in 1884 and invested in land, then selling cheap. His first
purchase was of twenty-five thousand acres, to which he added ten thousand
at a later date. Fie began raising cattle, and in time w'as one of the largest
cattle men in this section. He met with reverses through dry years and by
the depredations of cattle rustlers, but became wealthy and prominent, as
well as a large holder of land. Eight thousand acres of the laud is still in
the possession of the heirs of Air. Biddle. He lived on the ranch in the
vicinity of Arroyo Grande until he moved to San Francisco, where his last
days were spent in the enjoyment of a well-earned rest. After he left the
ranch, his son John, with whom he was in partnership for years, remained on
the ranch about one year and then moved with his family into San Luis
Obispo, looking after the ranching interests from that place. He and his
father carried on a private banking business, and loaned money. l)Ut never
foreclosed a mortgage on a deserving man. After Mr. Biddle had become
firmly established in the stock business, he became a partner with Mr. New-
hall and raised large numbers of cattle on the California ranch belonging to
Mr. Biddle. Those were the days when cattle were delivered to the markets
on hoof, and it required diligent care to get a drove of stock to San Fran-
cisco without having the cattle thieves make raids on it.

Philip and John Biddle also engaged in the dairy business and raised,
besides, many fine horses that brought good prices. Wild horses roamed
the broad expanse of range before the fence laws went into effect, and there
were many of them captured on their land and properly trained. Philip
Itiddlc was a financier of more than ordinary ability, and it seems that
all iiis operations were fairly successful. After he removed to San Francisco
In- still engaged iii loaning money and became a prominent factor in the life
of that metropolis, where he died. He was a Alason and a member of the
California Society of Pioneers in that city. At his passing the state lost one
of her most representative citizens, who had watched and taken a most im-
portant part in lier upbuilding.

A wnrtliy S..11 of iiis lather, John Biddle looked after the interests of
tluir company and ga\e it his undivided attention. He was born in Indiana,
and educated in the subscription schools of that period there on the frontier;
and when his father came to California, he accompanied him and later was
associated with him in almost all of his business enterprises. He remained
in .San Luis ()bisi)o County caring for their large interests until he, too,
passed away in 1892, aged fifty-two years. He was a member of the Odd
lellnws and of the California Society of Pioneers.

Jojni Biddle was united in marriage at San Luis Obispo witli Aliss Eliza-
belii Motz, also a native of the Hoosier State, who passed away in February,
P'l.^ alter a busy and useful life. They had four children— Philip, George.
Alnmie and John. T!ic latter married Ruth Wilson and is now living on the
ranch, wliile the other members of the familv arc living at the old home

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 589

place in San Luis Obispo, and are joint owners in the estate of some eisj;ht
thousand acres of valuable range and agricultural land in the Arroyo Grande
section.

Both father and son were men of note in San Luis Obispo County and
\ery much interested in the welfare of the county and the people. They
favored and assisted every movement that had for its ultimate object the
bettering of conditions in general, and especially' good roads, good schools
and good government ; though neither Philip nor John were aspirants for
any political office, preferring to give their time to the stock interests in
which they had made their financial success. They counted such men as
John P. .\ndrews, H. M. ^^'arden. Luigi Marre, the Steeles, Fred Wickenden
and others as their intimates, all of wlicni helped to lay the foundation of our
great state, and particularly of San Luis (Jbispo County.

G. CONRAD GINGG. — As might he expected of one who has spent
his entire life in California, Mr. G. C. Gingg is a patriotic son of the Golden
State and ardently champions all measures looking towards the development
of the commonwealth. He was born in San Francisco, June 25, 1873, a
worthy son of Swiss parents. His father, Jacob Gingg, came from his native
canton in Switzerland at an early age and settled in Newark, N. J., where he
followed his trade of butcher, which he had learned in his native country
after his school days were over.

In 1868, having saved enough money to enable him to come to the
Pacific Coast, he settled for a while in San Francisco, and there continued his
vocation of butcher. Meeting with success, he embarked in business on his
own account, and gradually branched out from the retail business into an
extensive wholesale trade, buying and shipping. By giving close attention to
details, he won success and a sound financial standing in that city.

In 1892, with his family he came to San Luis Obispo and here started tlie
nucleus of the present prosperous wdiolesale and retail meat business known
as the Gingg Brothers and Co. Market. Mr. Gingg was a man of enter-
prise, as is shown by his success, and made and kept his friends. He is a
prominent member of the A. O. I'. \V. and of the I'raternal Brotherhood, and
in politics is a Republican. He was united in marriage with Johanna Gcrken,
now deceased, and they became the parents of two sons and one daughter:
G. Conrad, Herman II., and Mrs. Anita Bergk. As the sons grew to man-
hood their father took them into the business and taught them the details
with a thoroughness characteristic of the thrifty Swiss, so that in time he
was able to retire. Now he is living in Gilroy. having turned over the busi-
ness to his sons.

G. C. Gingg was educated in the i)ul)lic schools of San I'rancisco. and
while going to school would spend his spare time in the shop with his father,
and in this way became familiar at an early age with almost all the details
of the butcher trade, as well as the conduct of the business end of their
extensive and lucrative concern. .\s soon as he was old enough, he t<»ik
a very active part in the management and aided to a great extent ni the
uiiluiilding of the business.

In 1892, with the family, he settled in San Luis Obispo, and it is largely
due to his executive ability that the business has grown to its present propor-
tions. The family have always worked in harmony, and all have aided in
making the business a pronounced success. In time they branched out from

590 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EX\"IRONS

the retail trade into a large wholesale trade, which is given every attention by
G. U. Gingg. As manager of the business in San Luis Obispo, he is recog-
nized as one of the most progressive citizens of the city, is popular with all
classes of people, and gives personal attention to building up and holding
their trade. In connection with their market, they conduct a large slaugh-
ter house located near the city, and all nnulern conveniences have been
installed to make the handling of their product sanitary in every way, and
to lighten manual labor.

Mr. Gingg is a member of the Fraternal Brotherhood, and is an Elk.
Besides these fraternal organizations, he belongs to the various civic bodies
in San Luis Obispo and is a supporter of all movements that have been
promoted to build up the county and tq make it a desirable place to live.
His strict integrity and fair dealing have won for him many stanch friends,
an.d have contributed to the liuilding up of their business from year to year.

J. H. FRANKLIN, M. D.— During his residence in Santa Barbara
county. J. H. Franklin, M. D., has become known as one of its able and
skilful jdiysicians, and by his genial manners and kindly courtesy has endeared
himself to all classes of people. While devoted to his life work, the doctor
takes great interest in the progressive movements of the day and his sym-
pathies are as broad as humanity. He was born in Gilroy, the son of Warham
Easley and Marion (Fife) Franklin.

Dr. Franklin was united in marriage with a nati\e daughter, in 1916,
Miss Claire Dolcini becoming his wife. He is a Mason, a member of the Blue
Lodge and Chapter, and is also a member of the San Luis Obispo Lodge, No.
322, B. P. O. Elks.

HANS MEHLSCHAU.— The Danish element in American life, which
has done much to make this nation worthy the friendship and sympathy of
all other countries, has especially worthy representatives among the upbuild-
ers of San Luis Obispo County. This is noticeable in the successful career
of Hans Mehlschau, who was born in Apenrade, in the province of Schleswig-
Holstein, Germany, January 21, 1866, where he attended the public school
until he was fourteen. He was the youngest of five brothers, and his mother
being dead, he had, as a lad, to make his own way in the world. He selected
the United States as the scene of his efforts, and having relati\-es in San
Luis Obispo County, California, immediately came here.

On his arrival in 1880, he joined his relatives at Nipomo and found work
on the near-by ranches for about six years, acquiring rapidly a working knowl-
edge of Spanish, English and German and thus becoming useful to his em-
ployers. When he was twenty, he had learned to speak English and had
become familiar with the methods of the ranchers in this section of the
country: sci with the money he had saved, he was enabled, in 1886, to join
his l)r()ther .\ndrew in a ranching enterprise. They leased land near Nipomo
and engaged in raising grain and stock. This partnership lasted for twenty-
two years, and as tliey succeeded financially, thev bought land from time to
lime, until thev had al.out 1000 acres of fine land suitable for raising grain
and stock.

On September 24, 1908, they divided their property, stock and implements,
Hans .getting five hundred acres where he now lives. Since then he has
ai.dcd hity acres and greatly improved his holdings, erecting a modern country
residence, barns and other buildings. He raises grain, beans and stock, making

SAN LUIS OBISPO C()l-.\TY AND ]':.WIRONS 591

a specialty of heavy draft horses. Besides his own land, Mr. Jilchlschau
leases additional property and farms on a large scale.

On July 6, 1891, at San Luis Obispo, Mr. Mehlschau was united in mar-
riage with Miss Maria Jensen, a native of the same province as himself, born
in the town of Loit, November 17, 1867. She came to this country, with iicr
uncle, in 1888. Mr. and Mrs. Mehlschau have had three children : Mattie C. ;
Flora H., who died aged sixteen; and Ilans C, Jr.

Politically Mr. Rfehlschau is a Democrat, and fraternally he belongs to
the Knights of Pythias. He and his brother are the only charter members
left of Nipomo Lodge No. 164, that was organized in 1889, with about thirty-
ti\ c memlKTs. Mr. Mehlschau is public-spirited, and is highly esteemed by all
who know him. He has made his own way in the world since he was fourteen,
and has been a resident of the Nipomo district since that time, and is counted
among the pioneers of the county.

JOHN HENRY BRADHOFF.— .\ representative of the best type of
citizenship, J. H. Bradholt, banker and farmer, was born in Contra Costa
county on September 17, 1869, a son of Henrj^ Bradhofif, a farmer and pioneer
of California of about 1859, who died on his ranch on San Pablo creek, Contra
Costa county, in 1894. J. H. Bradhoff lived at home and attended the
schools of Bay View and Alameda until 1887. Having learned the stock
business, he came to San Luis Obispo County and secured employment with
J. C. Baker, remaining six years ; and with the savings of those years he
leased the Baker ranch of two hundred eighty-seven acres, purchased live-
stock from time to time, and for two years was engaged in dairying and
stock-raising.

In 1895, he bought the Graves ])lace of one hundred acres on Santa Rosa
creek, a mile and a half above Caml)ria, fifteen acres of which was bottom
land, arid here he erected a comfortable home and moved his family. October
16, 1895. At first he did a general farming, but later worked into the dairy
business. For some years he engaged in breeding cattle of the Jersey strain.
but of late he is breeding shorthorn Uurhams.

In 1909 he bought from J. D. Campbell one hundred acres adjoining his
ranch, and moved his residence onto the latter place, it being more central
and on the county road. He has piped water from the springs on the (Iravcs
place, 2,500 feet. The water is very soft and as cool as the best moun-
tain water. Besides raising stock, he has a dairy of twenty-five cows, and
on thirty acres of fine bottom land he raises beans and is getting most excel-
lent crops. ( )n these ranches he has managed a successful business; and he
has greatly improved his home place, until it is one of the best in this part
of the county.

Mr. Bradhoff was united in marriage on September 16. 1891. to Miss
Annie Baker, a native of Sacramento county, and they have two children.
Harry C". and I'.thel. In politics he is a Democrat, and while never aspiring
to office, has taken an interest in local politics. For .several years he has
served as a member and clerk of the school lioard of his district. He is a
Stockholder of the Bank of Cambria and has acted as its president since
July 12. 1913. It is safe to say that there has been no enterprise, having
for its aim the advancement of the county or the welfare of the people, but
that he has given it his co-operation. He has a host of friends thnmghout
tlie entire countv. where he is well and favorably known.

592 SAX IA"IS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

KNUD NIELSEN.-The town of Paso Robles, with its various lines
of activity, has drawn within its hospitable limits many men whose business
capacity and fine traits of citizenship would be a credit to any community in
the countr}^ Among these men special attention is called to Knud Nielsen,
a native of Denmark, where he was born on the island of Fyen, in the town
of Oure, July 20, 1843, but who has been a valued citizen of the Golden
State since 1874. and numbered among the successful men of San Luis
Obispo County. His father, Niels Knudsen. was a farmer, and the son was
reared on the home place and sent to the public schools of his vicinity.

In the spring of 1870, Knud Nielsen made up his mind that the United
States held better opportunities, and he left home and finally arrived in
Clinton county, la., in April of that year. There, he was engaged at farm
work until in the spring of 1874, when he went to Nevada and was employed
in a quartz mill until October of that year. He became salivated while work-
ing in the mill, and came to California for his health. He was in Sacra-
mento for a short time, and then secured employment on a ranch in Yolo
county near Davis. Air. Nielsen saved his money and was soon able to pur-
ch.ase a team and engage as a contractor in hauling and teaming. This he
continued for the following eighteen years, meeting with good success.

A\"ith his savings he finally came to San Luis Obispo County in the fall
of 1892, and four and one-half miles west and north from Paso Robles pur-
chased seventy-three acres of land, which he began clearing and putting in
shape for grain. He continued in farm work until 1913, when he sold out
and moved into Paso Robles. Here he bought three large lots, put up
buildings and went into the poultry business. He has a small pumping plant
with an engine, and raises alfalfa and kale by irrigation for his chickens,
which are of the White Leghorn variety. Mr. Nielsen is busily employed
witli his new undertaking and has thus far made a success, increasing his
number of chickens from year to year.

He is a great reader and keeps well posted on current events and general
topics, but particularly on the raising of chickens and their care. His build-
ings are modern and sanitary. In politics he votes the Republican ticket.
Aside from the places mentioned Mr. Nielsen has traveled into other states
North and South, and his experience leads him to the conclusion that the soil
and climate of California are most to his liking.

JAMES C. AND NORA E. TANNER.— A pioneer of the Morro section
and one of the few original settlers left there, James C. Tanner has been
successfully engaged in dairying and farming for many years. He was born
at Richfield Sjjrings. Otsego county, N. Y., March 3. 1851, attended the pub-
lic schools and West ^^'infield Academy until he was twenty-one years old
and then came to California and located in the Sierra valley for two years.

In 1874, .Mr. Tanner settled in San Luis Obispo County on Old Creek,
leased tlio Creening ranch and ran a dairy and farmed. In 1881. he bought
five hundred sixty acres of land, it being part of the "Motto and Cayucos
grants, on Monro creek three miles from Alorro, and here he raised stock, ran
a dairy witli success, and made every improvement seen on the ranch today.
He built one of the first silos erected in this section of the county and
demonstrated it a success. He has erected a pumping plant and is raising
ajtajfa. Mr. 'i'anncr has given his personal attention to his interests, each
year seeing hnn more prosperous and gaining in pojuilarity in the county.

^k^riu/9i4di^-

\^^/r\^

SAX LUIS OBISPO COrXTV .WD EXNIROXS 505

On November 27, 1884, ]\Ir. Tanner and Miss Nora E. Corey were united
in marriage at Bloomfield, Sonoma county, and tliey have seven children :
Isabella, Ella, George, Clifford, Rudolph, Chester and Ervin, all living and
enjoying educations that well fit them for positions in life. Mr. and Mrs.
Tanner are among the best-known pioneers of the county. They are much
interested in public and social affairs.

Mrs. Tanner, who was born in San Rafael, Marin countv, on lune 28.
1858, is the daughter of a California pioneer, Xoah Corey, who was born in
Canada on November 14, 1828, and was reared on a farm until January 1. 1852,
when, with a brother, he set out for California via Panama, arriving at Clark's
Point on February 26. The brothers engaged in contracting for supplies and
logs for a sawmill, and later leased a ranch and went into dairving.
In 1853, they removed to San Francisco and borrowed an old schooner to
go south for provisions ; but a storm arose and they had to abandon the
craft, narrowly escaping drowning, from which they were rescued by a
surveying party who happened to be near. They landed at Point Reyes,
and made their way to their ranch much poorer financially. Thev ran the
first dairy of American cows in Marin county till 1861.

Noah Corey sold out and settled on a ten-acre orchard he bought in '
r.loomfield, Sonoma county. In 1885, he located in Monterey county, bought
one hundred acres near Salinas and there resided until a short time before his
death, on November 5, 1909. He was married in Essex, Vt., to Miss Sarah
Potter, who died in San Luis Obispo County in May, 1904. Noah Corey
was a son of Captain Reuben Corey, a native of Nev.' Hampshire, who re-
moved to Canada, when a young man, and won there the rank of captain in
Her Majesty's service. Eventually he came to California and settled in
Sonoma county in 1856.

Mr. and ]\Irs. Tanner are mcmljers of tlie Presliyterian Church at Morro,
being among the founders and builders of the church. He is one of the ruling
elders of the church. Both have been members of the board of trustees of
Excelsior school district, Mrs. Tanner being the present clerk of the board.

ANDREW MEHLSCHAU.— The substantial and well-to-do citizens
of tile \ieinity- of the town of Nipomo have no better representative than
Andrew Mehlschau, who is actively identified with the agricultural develop-
ment of this part of the county, and stands high among the keen. i)rogressive
ranchers of the locality. A man of strong individuality and excellent busi-
ness ability, he has been identified with this section for many years. .\ native
of Schleswig-llolstein. Germany, he was born on January 1. 1863, at .\pen-
rade. He attended school there until he was fifteen, and then went to sea,
where he began at the bottom of the ladder. As a sailor before the mast he
visited many of the important ports of the world during the six years that he
followed the sea, after which time he came to America, and soon after t.i
San Luis Obispo County.

Arriving here in 1883, he worked for wages on a dairy ranch near lulna
until 1884, and then went to Nipomo and for three years engaged in farm
work. Then, with a brother, Hans Mehlschau, he began a partnership busi-
ness on leased land near Nipomo and for the next twenty-two years farmed
eight hundred acres to grain and general products. In 1896 this partnership
was welded closer by the purchase of land, which was added to from time to
time. In I'^OS a division of property was made by tiie brothers, and they

596 SAX LLIS ()CISP(J COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

now each lia\c achk'd to the iniprdxcnients on their in<li\idual holdings.
Andrew Mciilschau erected his fine country residence in 1909 and is con-
ducting a dairy equipped witli all modern appliances and doing a general
farming business with a merited share of success.

Tn San Luis Obispo, on August 6, 1892, the marriage of Andrew
Mehlschau and Miss Lizzie Lorensen was celebrated. She was born in
Schleswig-Holstein at the same place as her husband on May 21, 1872, and
came alone to San Luis Obispo, where she had a sister living. They have
eight children: Dora, Mary, Peter, George, Andrew, Christian, Aleta and
Elmer, all educated in the public schools of the county, where Mr. Mehlschau
has served as trustee of Nipomo district for twelve years and as clerk of
the board part of the time. Supplementing their public school course,
Dora and Peter are attending the California Polytechnic at San Luis Obispo.
}ilr. Mehlschau is a charter member of Nipomo Lodge No. 164, Knights of
Pythias, has passed through the chairs of the order, served as a delegate to
the grand lodge in 1900, and for the past twenty years has been master of
finance of the local lodge. He is public-spirited, generous, successful, and
progressive, and has a host of friends throughout the county.

FRED D. CROSSETT.— In the life of this successful citizen of San
Luis Ubispo are illustrated the results of perseverance and energy, coupled
with judicious management and integrity; for he began his independent career
at an early age, and by close application to business has reached the envi-
able position of manager of the San Luis Obispo branch of the Channel
Commercial Co. Mr. Crossett was born in Cedar Falls, la., January 8, 1870,
a son of Andrew C. Crossett, who was engaged in the farming implement
business in Cedar Falls. Fred attended the public school in his home town
until he was twelve, completing his studies at the age of fifteen in Racine,
Wis., and then went to Benzie county, Mich., where he was employed in
the lumber business and in a merchandise store at Otter Creek, working his
way from the bottom of the ladder to the position of manager of the store.

There he remained until 1897, when he came to Los Angeles and em-
.barked in tlic confectionery business ; and after one year he sold out and
went to Santa Uarbara. Here he bought out another confectionery business
and under the lirni name of Crossett & Miles carried on a successful business
twd jears, and then, disposing of his interest, went into the chicken-raising
l)usiness. This lasted only eighteen months, however, when he sold out.

In 1904. with the money he had saved from his various investments, ^Ir.
Crossett bought an interest in the Channel Commercial Co. and started in as
bookkcejier, two years later being made manager of the Santa Barbara
branch and continuing for three years. In 1907 he became manager of the
branch in San Luis Obispo. He has given his time and attention to the
l)uilding u]) nt tiie business here and by exercise of his executive ability lias
materiallx- increased the Inisiness for the company in this section.

1896, the Channel Commercial Co. was organized in \'cn-
)f that city, who is now the president of the company,
if Santa Barbara, secretary and treasurer. Their
14x14; but since that small beginning the business
md now has a far-reaching effect on the commercial
lifiirnia. They operate successful branches in San
ara, \entura and Los Angeles, and have a floor

In 1

ninar\

-. 1896,

lura liv (

;. S. '

'.arnes o

md \V.

k. 11

Wcldoi

(|uarler>

oceui.

ed a s]).-

las made

a rap

<1 urowl

lelivitv (

>i thi^

l>an ..f

Luis ()1)

spo,

■^anta B

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 597

space of over seventy-five thousand square feet. The business has grown to
very large proportions, and ranks high in the business circles of the state.

Since becoming a citizen of San Luis Obispo, Mr. Crossett has given his
time and attention to the betterment of local conditions, has allied himself
with the local commercial bodies for the promotion of the welfare of the busi-
ness interests, and has won a place for himself as well.

In Empire, Alich., on April 13, 1896, Mr. Crossett was united in marriage
with Mary A. Nichols, who was born in Ohio.

(Since the above writing, Mr. Crossett has been transferred to Los Ange-
les, where he will occupy a higher position with the Channel Commercial Co.)

JOSEPH B. F. LEE. — The representative of a prominent old family
of Virginia, and the present manager of the Hearst ranch, Joseph R. F. Lee
has made his influence felt in the county he has selected for his home. He
was born at Wide Water, Stafford county, Va., December 6, 1878, and attended
the public school of Fredericksburg, supplementing this with a college course
preparatory to entering upon his self-supporting career.

-\t the age of seventeen he came to California, and in 1896 arrived in
San Simeon and found employment on the Hearst ranch ; and he soon
became an assistant of Captain Murray Taylor, and later of A. Moncure,
until 1908, when he succeeded A. Moncuro, who had resigned, as manager.
This position Mr. Lee has since held.

Mr. Lee is a member of San Luis Obispo Lodge No. 322, B. P. O. Elks.
He is a man of public spirit and a supporter of all movements that have for
their object the building up of the county and the advancement of the
welfare of its citizens. By his marriage with Julia Estrada, herself a native
daughter, he allied himself with one of the oldest families in California.

JOHN B. BERKEMEYER.— rhe junior partner in the firm of Deiss &
Berkemcyer has l)cen a resident of this county since 1895, during which time
he has identified himself closely with the commercial life of the city. He was
born in Prussia, April 12, 1871, and when he was ten years old his parents
brought him to this country and settled on a farm in Conway county, .Arkansas.
He was there reared, attended school and, until he reached manhood, helped
with the work on the farm. It was in .Arkansas that he married Lizzie Weber,
who was also born in Germany. They have five children. Joseph, a sales-
man in the Fulton Market, was born in Arkansas; and Marie, Charles. Bern-
hardt and Francis were all born in San Luis Obispo.

In 1895, Mr. Berkemcyer came to California and, under his present part-
ner, learned the trade of butcher; and in 189') he ])ought an interest in the
I'ulton .Market, where they carry on business under the name of Deiss &
Berkemcyer. This shoji, ilu' oldest market in the city of San Luis Obispo,
was established liy a .Mr. I'ulton in 1872 and is located at 101'' Chorn. street.
Since tlie formation nf the present parlnershi]) the firm have built up a
splendid liusiness. more e.\ten<led menlii>n of which ai»|)ears in tlie sketch
of Mr. Deiss.

Mr. Berkemcyer is prominent in lodge matters, and has ])asscd all the
chairs in tiie local lodge of the Knights of Columbus; he is a member of the
Portuguese lodge, I. D. E. S., and of Hermann Sons. I'rom 1895 until
1906, Mr. Berkemcyer also belonged to the volunteer fire department. Hose
Cart No. 3. Since 1914 he has been treasurer of the Democratic county cen-
tral committee. He is a member of the Catholic Church.

508 SAX l.L"IS OBISPO COUXTY AND ENVIRONS

ANTHONY F. McCABE.— The late Anthony F. McCabe of tlie vicinity
of Aniivi) (jiauile was one of the upbuilders of San Luis Obispo County and
alsci one of the pioneers of the state. He was born in Nova Scotia in 1828.
and (lied in Arroyo Grande in 1902.' His wife was born in the same place in
lS.ll. and is livin.^' in Arroyo Grande at the age of eighty-five.

A c-ar|)enter by trade, Mr. McCabe followed his occupation in the East,
and in the early sixties came to California via Panama and worked in the
same line in San Francisco. He returned to his eastern home in 1870, and
closed up his affairs; and with his wife and four children, he came back
to this state and again took up his trade in San Francisco.

In 1871, in partnership with Mr. Murdock, he ran the Sulphur Dank
Mines located on the banks of Clear Lake, between Lakeport and Lower
Lake, Lake county. He later settled in San Luis Obispo County, where he
again took up carpentering, and here he died at the age of seventy-four. He
and his wife had four children: George W. ; Linas A.; Mrs. Bertha Howard;
and Bessie, wIki married Dr. Bynum, of Lake county.

HARRY H. HOWARD.— A native son of the state and one of the repre-
sentative business men of Arroyo Grande, where he conducts a livery and
transfer business, Harry H. Howard was born in Sonoma county, October
30, 1873, a son of Martin and Nancy (Boneej Howard, the former a native of
Kansas and the latter of Missouri. Both parents crossed the plains to this
state, Martin Howard locating in Cloverdale, Sonoma county, after he had
tried his hand at mining. There he followed farming, and later moved into
Ttlendocino county, where he continued his vocation, and where he died. The
mother crossed the plains when she was but five years old, and in this state
was married to JNIr. Howard. She is still hving.

Harry H. Howard was reared on the ranch and attended the common
schools of the state for a time, but had to go to work at an early age. In
1886, when thirteen years old, he assisted his grandfather, Hiram Bonee, to
drive cattle, horses and goats from Mendocino county down into San Luis
Obispo County, taking a month to make the journey. Mr. Bonee purchased
one hundred acres of land from Steele Bros, near the station of Edna, and
for ten years farmed with success.

Young Howard learned the trade of blacksmith, and in 1897 settled
in Arroyo Grande, where for eight years he conducted a blacksmith shop in
conjunction with a livery business. In 1905 he bought out the transfer busi-
ness of Schow Bros, and has carried on the same ever since. He has thirty
head of stock, and does general teaming and hauling throughout this section
ol tlie county, and has been meeting with success.

Mr. Howard married Miss Bertha McCabe, a daughter of a pioneer of
San Luis Obisjjo County. She was born in Lake county. They have one son,
Harold, attending the high school.

Mr. Howard is very much interested in the preservation of the data relat-
ing to the olden times in the state, for he realizes that, as the old-timers pass
away, much valuable data passes with them from mortal ken. He is a mem-
ber of the Odd Fellows and of the Native Sons of the Golden West. In the
former lodge, he has passed all the chairs of the order. By his genial nature
and business ability. Mr. Howard has built up a good business. He is highly
respected in his section of this county, where lie has many friends and is
meeting with well-deserved success.

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUXTV AXD ICXXIROXS 601

JOHN S. ANDERSON.— S,.nKh,,w ,,r other, wlienever you happen
anywhere upon a Swede, there you will Generally find a high degree of indus-
try ; and, in most cases at least, and particularly in such as that of John S. An-
derson, you will discover certain decidedly tangible evidences of reward for
hard work and thrift. As an old settler who had much to do with making
things as they are today, IMr. .Vnderson has toiled for vears, and now in
his later life he has the quiet, Init deej) satisfaction of having something to
show for what he has attempted.

He began life on September 18, 1859, in delightful central Sweden, in the
vicinity of the ancient town of Skara, and he had the good fortune to have as
his mainstays and guides his father, Sven .Anderson, a substantial farmer,
and his mother, JMaria Anderson, who are both now dead. Ten children were
lK)rn to this Swedish couple; and four boys and one girl came to California.
These are John S. ; Charles, a farmer at Willow Creek; Herman, a farmer at
Bethel; and J(jhnnie and Emma, who are with the subject of our sketch.

Born and raised on a farm, after attending the native school John S.
Anderson ser\ed the regular time in the Swedish .Army, and in the spring
of 1883 came to America, to Minneapolis, where he found employment in
I'illsbury's Flour Alills. Four years later he came to California, and soon after
his arrival bought a farm of thirty acres in the Bethel district, on which he
hnilt himself a residence. With A. Johnson and J. Peterson he made brick
in their own kiln, which they erected by the roadside on Peterson's place;
and with these he built three houses, and helped construct the Swedish
Lutheran Church at Templeton.

He cleared up his farm thoroughly. ])lowed it dee]), and raised the finest
of grain; and later he laid out tweh e acres of orchard, where he grew
the most luscious fruit. To his disappointment, however, he found no sale
for the i)runes at that time; and so he afterwards grubbed out the trees,
and raised grain instead. Little by little he bought more land, until he
came to own a hundred eighty-two acres, and today he rents other lands,
planting the same to l>arley and wheat. J lis ranch is lieautifully located,
overlooking the Salinas valley, and is one of the most fertile and well-tilled
farms in this section. For fourteen years he ran a steam thresher, but
recently he disposed of his interest in the machine.

Mr. .\nderson finds permanent satisfaction in the work of tiie Swedish
Lutheran Church at Templeton, where he has I)een a trustee for several
terms, the treasurer for the last si.K years and secretary in former years. On
national issues, he is a Republican of the progressive type.

ANDREW C. PETERSON.— .Among our foremost and jirogrcssivc citi-
zens, Andrew C. Peterson holds the respect of all with whom he has ever
been associated. Fie is a native of Denmark, born on the island of Loiland.
i\farch 12, 1846, the son of Christen Peterson, who owned and operated a grist
mill in his native land: .Andrew attended the ])ul)lic school until he was
fourteen years of a.ge, and then learned the miller's trade, .serving an appren-
ticeship of three years, after which he worked in a mill in the town of
Maribo. When twenty years of age. he decided to try his fortunes in the
United States; and with iiis brother, left home and in due time arrived at his
destination in Racine, Wis. His first work was on a farm, and then he was em-
ployed for a few months in a \va,gon shop ownetl by iMske Mrotliers. Ik-
went to Oconto, XVis.. and for a time was employe<I in a saw mill. C.oing

602 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD ENVIRONS

to (irccii Hay. he \vi>rked in a hotel tVir one year, and tlien moved to Xee-
i^aiuK-e. .Mich., remaining for five years, three of which were spent working
in a hotel. He then opened a boarding house with the money he had saved
from his earnings, erected the building and for a short time prospered ; but the
panic of 187,i put him out of business and he lost all his money. He next
went to Ashland. Wis., and then to St. Paul, Minn., working as a laborer at
anything he could find to do.

Mr. Peterson tired of the strenuous life in the middle \\'est and came to
San Francisco in the hope of finding more lucrative employment. He landed
there in March, 1875, and in July of the same year he arrived in San Luis
Obispo County. His first work here was for J. H. Orcutt, near Avila. In
1(S76. he thought he would try farming for himself and bought three hundred
sixty-four acres of hill land in the Belleview district, and for the following ten
years conducted a dairy. Moving to Irish Hill he leased land and for seven
y-ears continued his dairy business there. In 1895, he came to See Canyon
and bought thirty-three acres of orchard and farm land, and remained there
until 1907. In the meantime, by^ purchase, he added to his holdings one hun-
dred forty-two acres of the Hampton place. Renting out his land in 1907, he
moved to ( )akland and lived retired for a time ; but the call of the farm
brought him back to his ranch in See Canyon in 1910, where he is now living
among his pioneer friends, among whom he is highly respected.

Mr. Peterson was married to Annie K. Holtze, a native of the island of
Lolland, who had come to ^Milwaukee, Wis., where their marriage occurred.
They have two children, Albert James and Ella. In politics he is a Democrat,
but he has never cared to hold office, although, while living in this county, he
consented to serve as a trustee of Irish Hill and Santa Fe school districts,
and lias done much to maintain a high standard in those schools.

JOHN H. BRAINARD. — Many of the successful men in California have
come from the East when very y^oung, and have grown up with the spirit
of development here and so have become a part of the ever-changing West.
No better example is offered than in the life of J. H. Brainard of San Luis
01)ispo. He was born in Lake county. III, March 7, 1856, and in 1864, when
but eight years of age, was brought by his mother to this state, coming by
way of Panama. They lived in San Francisco, where for three years the
son attended school, and then went to Watsonville, where he completed his
education.

His school days over, he went to work for wages. In 1875 he arrived
in San Luis Obispo County, and the first three years he worked in a dairy,
later farming for liimself. In 1886 he went to the Estrella country and pio-
neered that section Itetween Hog and Keys canons. Plere he owned six
hundred forty acres, one hundred sixty of which was government land. This
was in i)rinicval condition when he arrived, and from time to time he added
tn the improvements until he got the land under cultivation. He raised grain
and cattle for twenty-three y-ears, meeting generally with gratifying success.
Many }cars he gfit only fifty cents for barley and eighty-five cents for wheat,
altlmugh there were some good years when he got $1.47, $1.50 and $1.90 per
cwt. lie was one of the organizers of the Keys Caiion district school, and
-er\eil as a trustee during the entire time of his residence there.

In l''(W, Mr. I'.rainard leased out the ranch and went to ^Mountain ^'iew,
Santa Clara cnunty, to make his home, and there he engaged in raising fruit.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUXTV AND ENVIRONS 603

He later traded his fruit ranch for i)ni|)crty in San Luis Obispo, and now
owns some valual)le lots in town. He erected tiirce modern bungalows on
part of his property and has his own home near by. a fine two-story residence.
Since his return to San Luis Obispo he has sold his Keys Cation ranch.

•Mr. Brainard married Miss Julia M. liagley, a native of Missouri, and
I they have three daughters: Mrs. Laura Wilhite of .\rmona, Cal., Mrs. Mira
j Mauerhan and Mrs. Ina Tucker, l)oth of San Miijucl. They have two grand-
! children to brighten the family circle. lAer since becoming a propertv-
owner here, Mr. Brainard has been very much interested in the development
of the county, and has co-operated with all movements to further that ambi-
tion. He has made a success of his labors, and is much respected by all
with whom he has come in contact, both in a business and a social way. He
is Hving retired, except that he gives some time to looking after his per-
i sonal interests. He is a Rejniblican in politics, but never has sought office.
; CHARLES W. PALMER.— A well-known and successful man of afTairs,

who takes an active interest in and is prominently identified with the com-
mercial, political and social life of San Luis Obispo County, C. \\'. Palmer,
, county coroner, funeral director and embalmcr, is a native of California, hav-
i ing been born in Marin county, May 10, 1872. Ilis father, Wesley Palmer,
was a native of New Jersey and a California ])ioneer of 1857. He settled in
1 Marin County, where he engaged in the dairy business until 1874, when he
i located in San Luis Obispo County, near Cambria, and continued ranching
! successfully. He also has ranch interests at Templeton, and is now en-
gaged in the undertaking business at Paso Robles. His wife, Clara (Tuttle)
Palmer, was born in New York.

The education of C. W. Palmer was received in the public schools of San
I.iiis ( )bispo County and Heald's Busine.ss College in San Francisco, after
which lie was employed in Oakland with a grocery concern. Going to San
Miguel, Mr. Palmer became manager of the Farmers" .Mliance Warehouse
Company in 1894, and held the position until the fall of 1898. when he re-
turned to San Francisco and was engaged with N. (iray & Co., where he
learned undertaking and embalming. Ma.stcring the details of the business,
Mr. Palmer found an engagement in the I'nited States Army transport serv-
ice as embalmer, traveling between San Francisco and Manila during the
Spanish-American W ar, after which he returned to San Luis Obispo County
and, in partnershi]) with his father, on March. 1, PWO, opened funeral parlors
in San Luis Obispo, in the .\ndrews Bank building, where he has continued
successfully ever since. The parlors are ecpiipped with every facility and
convenience for the sacred care of the dead, and his exceptional courtesy
and thorough professional knowledge have won for him substantial recog-
nition in both city and county, where he is looked upon as one of the
leading citizens, a prestige which has grown from year to year. He was
elected county coroner in IW,") ; and during the ten years in that oflice has
performed the duties in a most satisfactory manner, and has shown hue
executive abilitv in handling county affairs.

A Republican, Mr. Palmer has been i>rMminent in the councils of the
party, while also active as a member of the Chamber of Commerce and
Merchants' Association of San Luis Obispo, and a strong advocate of all
public improvements. He is an active member of King David Lo<lge of
Masons, Park Lodge No. 40. Knights of Pythias, the W. P. < >. KIks, ( )rder

604 SAX LL'IS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

of tlic I'.astcrii Star, Woodmen of the \\'orld, and the Modern Woodmen of
Amerii.-a. in all nf which his participation is \-alued.

In 1S'>8. -Mr. I'almcr was married to Aliss Ilattie Wayland of Gilroy.
California. wlinsL- parents, Mr. and Airs. F. ^^■. Wayland, were among the
early ])ioneers of that section, and later moved to the southern part of Mon-
terey Count}-, \vhere they acquired a \aluable stock ranch near the Stone
Canon coal mine. Mr. and Mrs. ]"'almer have one daughter. Miss Helen
Palmer.

JOHN LINCOLN OILAR.— ( )ne of the earliest settlers in San Luis
Obispo County was John Lincoln Oilar, bora Octoljer 17. 1814, at Dayton,
( ). His mother, liathsheba (McCdamery) Oilar, was born in \'irginia, No-
vember 9, 1770, and died on Jnly 28, 1862, at Lafayette, Ind., being over
ninety-two years of age. His father, Henry Oilar, was born in Baltimore in
1776. He was frozen to death near Lafayette in 1839, while on his way to
visit his son. Col. Henry Oilar, of the Blackhawk War.

John Lincoln Oilar married Katherine Wiggins, December 24, 1851, at
Beardstown, 111., she being his second wife. She was born in Kentucky, June
13, 1824, her father being Thomas Wiggins, a native of Charleston, S. C.
When John L. Oilar w^as a boy of fifteen, he helped his father haul the lum-
ber to Imild the first weather-boarded house in Chicago, in 1829. On his
father's farm at Lafayette is now built Perdue University. In 1840 he was
elected to the Indiana legislature and served one term. On April 28, 1854,
he started across the plains with an ox team, bound for California, and
reached Suisun on .\u.L;ust 25. 1854. In 1856 he returned for his wife and
infant son. Marion, and the same year came back to California, making the
trip both ways via Panama. It was probably at Panama that Mr. Oilar met
John Slack, who had lost his gold when the "Yankee Pdade" was run ashore,
to which Mr. Slack refers in his own story.

In 1863 Mr. Oilar went to \'irginia City, Nev., and for two years en-
gaged in freighting for the mines, after which he returned to Chico. The
son, Marion, died on November 7, 1865; and the youngest son, Henry Davis
Oilar, was born at Chico, January 11, 1866. In 1867 Mr, Oilar settled on
one hundred sixty acres of government land on San Bernardo creek, and for
nineteen years resided there, building a fine house and carrying on a prosper-
ous dairy and ranch business. There he helped organize Mountain \"ie\v
school, of which he was a trustee for six years. J. L. Rains was the first
teacher employed.

In 18Sf) Mr. ( )il;ir sold the ranch to George Freeman, and his son Henry
Davis Oilar jjurchased the old Roxana Spooner place in the town of Alorm,
where his parents lived until their death. Mr. Oilar was always "Uncle
John," and Mrs. Oilar "Aunt Kate," to the younger generation, their home
being known to all for its kindly, open hospitality.

Mrs. Oilar died on June 3, 1897, at Morro, and :\lr. Oilar on January 2,
1002. Both are buried in a beautiful mausoleum erected by their son, Henry
V). Oilar. in the Odd I'ellovvs Cemetery at Cayucos.

There were six children by the first marriage, three sons and three
daughters, who grew up with relatives in the East. The Oilars are a long-
lived race, coming from sturdy pioneer stock. John Lincoln Oilar's graml-
niother. ;i Miss .Montgomery, born in Scotland, lived one hundred fifteen
years, seven months and fifteen days. She married an Irishman, named
-Met ilamery. and was a sister of Abraham Lincoln's grandmother.

^g'27;^-^ Gt^CP^^jUtyiJ^^

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 607

GEORGE LESLIE ANDREWS.- That it makes little or no diftcrcnce
under what conditions a man labors, pnividcd he be master of his handicraft
and rich in the particular experience needed for success in his chosen field, is
shown in the career of George Leslie Andrews, once a prosperous farmer and
stockman in Monterey county, and of recent years ec|ually fortunate in the
same undertaking in Cholame. Born in Nebraska City. Xeb.. on l-'ebruary
20, 1865, George was the son of Nathan David Andrews, a New Yorker,
who was reared in Pennsylvania and who later came to Nebraska as a farmer.
In 1868, the father crossed the plains with teams of horses; and the same fall
his family joined him by rail. The following year he settled in San Luis
( )bispo County, near Morro, wdiere he engaged in general farming. He then
came to what is now Stone Canon, ^Monterey county, in 1878, antl bought
there a homestead. He was interested in stock-raising until he retired,
about fifteen years ago, to Paso Robles. In September, 191.^, he died in his
eighty-seventh year. His mother was Amanda Covert, a native of Ohio,
where she married. Afterwards she removed to Iowa and Missouri, then to
Nebraska, and back to Morse City, Iowa. She died near Stockton, the mother
of fi\e children, four of whom grew- up. The only one li\in,g is the subject
of our sketch.

Coming to California in the fall (if 18()8, George was educated at the
public school near ^lorro. and in San Luis Obispo, and finally in Slack < 'anon,
in Monterey county. ]\Ieanwdiile, from a lad, he was learning the stock
l)usiness and farming. In the capacity of a young rancher, he traveled
tiirough various parts of the state, and when twenty-one took charge <if the
home place of six hundred forty acres. He also rented other land, and
went in for cattle- and hog-raising. As the years passed, he became owner
of the old home of three hundred twenty acres, and still owns the place,
although he has sold ofif six hundred forty acres of other land he owned.

In 1911, having sold out much of what he possessed, he bought, in the
Cholame country, a ranch of thirteen hundred fifty acres, which he devoted
to the raising of grain, cattle, mules, sheep and hogs. Five hundred acres is
till.ible. and he puts in about four hundred acres to wheat and barley.

In Gilroy, George Andrews was married to Miss Isabclle I-"ast(>n. a
l)cilc uf the town, by whom he has had four children: Charlotte .\my, who
has graduated from the San Jose State Normal and is a teacher at Cholame ;
Sherman A., wdio assists his father on the farm; Jemima, who attends the
San Jose State Normal ; and Sibyl A., who is in the high school at San Jose.
Made a Mason in the San :\Iiguel Lodge. No. 28.=;, F. & .X. M., Mr. .\ndrews
was Master for three years in succession. He also belongs to the O. F. S. and
to the Knights of Pythias, of Paso Robles. hi politics he is a Democrat. aii<l
has been a member of the County Central Committee.

CARMI W. REYNOLDS.— It is to the native sons that the future
prestige of the state is intrusted, and there are hardly any who have been
interested in the ])resent development who cannot see the possibilities of the
future. To these Carmi W. Reynolds is no exception, lie was hnrn in ^.m
Luis Obispo County. March 1, 1878, near the site of the tank farm, liis
father was Henry Clay Reynolds, a native of New York, born in Chenang<;'.
Broome county. December 27, 1846. He worked on the home place until
seventeen year's of a.ge ; and then, in 186.^. enlisted for service in the Civil W ar
ill Co. ]'..'2nd Wisconsin Cavalry, and served fifteen months, s.i.m after

(,08 SAX LUIS OBISrO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

his dischari;c he came to California, to Monterey county, where he engaged
in farm work until 1869. Then he came to San Luis Obispo county and
farmed for himself near town until his death, June 9, 1884. On November
1, 1874, in San Luis Obispo, he had married Rebecca J. Love, who wa% bom
in Napa county, December 6, 1854, a daughter of ^^'illiam Love, a pionf cr who
crossed the plains in 1854, settled in Napa county and was engaged in tarming
successfully until his death, on September 13. 1860.

Carmi W. Reynolds is the second child in the family of four (lorn to
his parents, and he had the advantages of the public schools until he was
fifteen, when he went to work for William Sandercock as driver of a transfer
wagon, in which position he remained for six years. He then worked a short
time for the Southern Pacific Railroad, and later was employed by the
Southern Pacific Milling Co. The first year he worked in the yards, and then
he entered the office as bookkeeper and remained until 1907, when he was
promoted to the position of manager, which he has since held with credit to
himself and satisfaction to his superiors. Besides attending to that business,
he has interested himself in local affairs. He is a member of Chorro Lodge
No. 168, I. O. O. F., and of the Rebekah Lodge, San Luis No. 210.

On September 24, 1905, in San Luis Obispo, occurred the marriage of
Carmi W. Reynolds with Aliss Lovis S. ^\'hitledge, who was born in Ken-
tucky and came to this city with her parents iii 1902.

HORATIO M. WARDEN, JR.— The extensive enterprises in which
Mr. Warden successfully engages have been rendered possible b}- his own
keen business talents, as well as by the shrewd foresight and wise invest-
ments of his father, the late Horatio Moore Warden, who is remembered as
(ine of the capable pioneers of San Luis Obispo County and is mentioned at
length in another part of this history. In this county, where he was born
July 3, 1886, on the Highland Ranch, the Warden home place, Horatio M.
Warden, Jr., received the rudiments of his education in the public schools,
and the knowledge thus acquired was supplemented by attendance at Santa
Clara College near San Jose. He also spent one year as a student in the
San Luis Obispo Business College.

After leaving school, he became associated with his father in business
in 1906, familiarized himself with the details of his extensive farming inter-
ests, and assisted in bringing to a high state of development the High-
land Ranch, of which he is now proprietor, and which is known as one of the
show ])laces of the county. Mr. ^^'arden has continued the stock business
carried on by his father with up-to-date methods and is enjoying a high
degree of success.

In .Xugust, 1908, I\lr. Warden was united in marriage with Miss Georgie
Lilly of San Jose : and they have three sons : Horatio M., Ill ; Robert Donald :
and I'Vank. ^Ir. Warden is an active member of San Luis Obispo Lodge,
B. P. O. F.Iks, and of the Woodmen of the World. After the death of
his lather, he became vice-president and manager of the II. M. Warden Co.,
and is directing its operations with fine business ability. No citizen of the
county is more solicitous for its welfare than is Mr. Warden, who has won
recogiuiioii f(,r himself and is building wisely and well. Like his parents,
the l;ite 11 M. Warden and Airs. Oueenie Warden, he is interested in every-
thing that tends to i)romotc the welfare of the county and the people, and
lie has a host of friends who a])preciate his sterling qualities of manhood.

SAX LlIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 609

MICHAEL W. PHELAN.— 'Ihc smi of one of the pioneer families of
San Luis Obispo County, and a man uli.) has entered into the active affairs
of his native section, as well as maintained the most helpful participation in
the progress of the state, Michael W. I'helan, of Los Berros, was horn on
the old home place two miles north of Cambria, October 12, 1864. lie at-
tended school in the building that had been erected by his father for use
as a sclioiilhnuse, one of the first common schools started in the county;
and after finishing the course, he went to Oakland and took supplementar}*
work in St. Mary's college, graduating in 188.^.

After that he returned to his father's ranch and. under his direction,
learned the details of a successful farmer's life. Dairying and stock-raising
were the principal industries, and in 1894, with a brother-in-law, A. Mc.\l-
ister, he engaged in the stock business on Carissa plains, renting property
consisting of 5,500 acres, on which the "painted rocks" are located. There
for sixteen years he did business on a large scale, when he and his partner
sold the lease to the Miller & Lux corporation.

In 1906, Mr. Phelan bought five hundred acres near Los Berros, settled
on his purchase and, leasing one thousand acres of the Dana tract and three
thousand acres from Mrs. Kate Bosse, engaged in the stock business with
growing success. Besides doing well financially, he has built up a reputation
for fair dealing and good management, and today is one of the well-known
stockmen of the county, being an ex])ert judge of cattle who is often sought
to pass judgment on stock. Mr. Phelan is interested in the home estate and
in other tracts in various parts of the county.

.'\t Los Berros, April 18, 1900. occurred the marriage of Michael W.
Phelan and Miss Mary C. Donovan, a native of Monterey county, and they
have three chiMren— Dan J., Donald W. and Cyril A. M. Phelan.

ALEX STIRLING COOK.— In the life of this successful citizen of San
Luis Obisjio County are illustrated the results of perseverance and energy,
coupled with judicious management and strict integrity. He is a citizen of
whom any community might well feel jjroud. He was born March 20, 1861.
in New Mills, N. B.. a son of Alex Cook, who was born in the Island of
Arran, Scotland, and with his father, John, migrated to St. Johns river,
N. B. John Cook was a sea captain and master of vessels plying between the
British Isles and diflferent ports of the world in the merchant marine service.
He was an officer in the British navy and lost a leg in an engagement, and
died in New York after his retirement. Alex Cook was a lumberman in
New Brunswick and manager of a large mill at New Mills. He sailed from
there in 1867 for San Francisco; and coming to Cambria. San Luis Ol)is|)o
County, engaged in the cattle business with two of his sons, later retiring ti^
San Luis Ohis|)o. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church and in New
Brunswick jiad been supervisor for years. He married Mary I-^rguson, a
native of .\rran, Scotland, whose father brought the family to New Brunswick,
where he died on his farm. She died in San Luis Obispo, and was the
mother of nine children, seven now living.

Alex Stirling Cook was reared in New Mills until \\\<: years of age. In
1867 he was brought by his parents to Cambria. Cal.. by way of Panama.
He grew up on the stock ranch, and was educated in the public schools, aiid
also attended the Lvtton Springs College in Sonoma county, graduating in

610 SAX lA'lS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENX'IRONS

18S1. Me llu-n rt-turned to the ranch and wdrkcil with his l)rother Neil: and
with him lie later tuok over the home place and continued the stock business.
They ran a dairy of seventy-five cows on the seven hundred eighty acres in
Harmony \alley. The herd were shorthorns, mixed with Jerseys. They
panned the milk, skimmed it by hand, did their churning by horse power and
worked the butter into rolls, shipping it to the San Francisco and Los Angeles
markets. In 1898, Alex Cook sold out to his brother and started business inde-
[jendently in Green valley, renting the James Taylor ranch of six hundred
acres and running a dairy of one hundred cows, with improved facilities.
He had a separator, and churned by steam. He shaped the butter in squares
and cubes, averaging therefrom nine hundred dollars income a month for
nine months of the year. He raised beef cattle and hogs, and ran the dairy
very successfully. In 1911, he sold out and located near Paso Robles; where he
bought ninety acres on the state highway four miles south of town. There he
is raising alfalfa, and has an orchard, and one of the best-ec|uipped pumping
plants in the county, with nine hundred gallons capacity per minute, lifting
water only sixty feet from an eight hundred twenty-five foot well. All of
these improvements he has made since he purchased the place. He also has
a new residence, with all modern conveniences. Twenty-two acres of the
place are set out to Bartlett pears, and the balance is seeded to alfalfa.

Mr. Cook was united in marriage in San Luis Obispo, in 1912, with Miss
Belle Gage Walker, who was born in Michigan ; and they have one son,
John Stirling AIcDonald Cook. Mr. Cook was made a Mason in San Simeon
Lodge No. 196, F. & A. M., the pioneer Masonic lodge in this county, and he
is also a member of the Eastern Star chapter. He served as school trustee
in the Harmony district for several years. The family are members of the
Presbyterian Church, of which he is an elder. In politics Mr. Cook is a
Republican. He is alive to the needs of the community and is a supporter of
all movements that will build up the county.

WILLIAM HENRY AWALT.— Statistics show that California has
drawn a very great share of her population from the Middle States, and Iowa
has her share of representatives here. One of the prosperous citizens who
have made their success in San Luis Obispo County and claim Iowa as their
birthplace, is William II. Await, born in Bloomfield, Davis county, on Feb-
ruary 22. 18.^,1. llis fatlier, W illiam, a native of Tennessee, and his mother,
Maria (Nichols) Await, a native of Indiana, were married in the latter state
on Alarch 28. 1841. The father came to California in 1884, settled in San
Diego for a time, and then went back East to Missouri, and in 1888, after
four years on the farm there, again came to California on account ol ill
health, and died on August 8 of that year. His wife had died on January 19,
188.^. 'ilu y were parents of nine children.

William II. Aw.ilt attended the public schools in Alissouri until he was
si.xteen years old, worked for his father on the home farm until 1877, and
then started out I'or himself, moving west to Trinidad, Colo., working on the
railroad and doing teaming for a year from Trinidad to Santa Fe, N. M.
Returning to Missouri in 1878, he engaged in farming and stock-raising on
land he had i)urchased, and continued until 1883, when he sold out and took
charge of his father's farm and carried on the work until 1888.

He then disp.wd of what he had and came to California, and in the
spring of the ye;ir located ne;ir I'ismo, San Luis Obispo County, in the Oak

SAX LUIS OBISl'O COLXTV AND I-.WIROXS 611

Park district, purchasing forty acres of land that was covered with brush
and scrub timber. He cleared this and also engaged in teaming for eight
years. In 1906 he leased his liome place and went to McKittrick, Kern
county, where he teamed in the oil fields for three years. Returning to San
Luis Obispo, he retired from participation in active business to the enjoy-
ment of his well-earned rest.

Mr. .Await was married on June 1''. 18S4. to Miss Frances Ellen T.rown,
who was born in Illinois on May 10, 1868. They became the parents of seven
children, all of whom are still living: Thomas H., Mary E., Xellie, Albert,
Minnie, Elsa and Edith. .Xcit having visited his old home in twenty-six
years, JMr. Await took a tri]) back to Iowa, Illinois and Colorado, starting
on June 12. 1916. and returning to his home on September 12. He had a very
enjoyable time, during which he took notice of the growth and development
of that part of the country since he left it for California, an observation, how-
ever, that left him more than ever imjjressed with his adopted home.

OTHELLO CHARLES CONTERNO.— Descended from a long line of
military and musically inclined families, and himself a veteran bandmaster
and musician, Othello Charles Conterno was Ixirn in Hoboken. X. J., June 10.
1868, a son of Octavio 1). Conterno, a native of France but of Italian
parentage, who brought him to Xew York, where he was educated in the
public schools, and as a -musician. 'Ihe paternal grandfather of our subject
was bandmaster in the U. S. Navy on the S. S. "Constitution" and on the
frigate "Mississippi." The father served in the Seminole War and was
wounded in the Everglades of Florida. When the war in which Garibaldi
figured broke out in Italy, he went to that country and fought with that hero's
army until the breaking out of the Civil War in this country, when he left Italy
and returned to the United States, and took ])art in that struggle from
1861 to 1865, once being slightly wounded in action. After the war. he
was mustered out and received his honorable discharge. At a later jieriod,
he enlisted and was bandmaster of the Third and later of the Si.\th L'. S.
Cavalry, serving through the Indian campaigns, when he left the service
on account of his wife's health. He resigned at Tucson, .Ariz., and then came
overland to Los Angeles with wagons and on horseback, taking forty-seven
days to make the journey. Mr. Conterno settled in L'>s .\ngeles and was
manager nf Agricultural Park several years.

in 187(.. at the Centennial exercises in Los Angeles, he led the orchestra
and a large chorus of voices. He was jjrofessor of music in St. \ hiccnt's
College for years. At one time he was mining in Arizona, where he was cap-
tured by the Apaches; but being familiar with their habits— for an .\pache
won't kill his jirisoner l)etween sunset and sunrise— he stole out and made his
escape in the night, finallv returning to Los Angeles, where he again look up
his work as professor of music at the college. In 1882 he went to Oakland as
teacher and leader, and later moved to San Jose, where he died in 1903. at the
age of sixty-seven years. He was a Mason, past post commander of the
G. A. R., lieutenant-colonel Union Ilattlelield A'eterans. and past great sachem
of the I. O. R. M. of California, and was connected with other orders. His wife
was Janette Beese, who was born in Xew Jersey of C.erman descent. Mrs.
Octavio D. Conterno now resides in Los Angeles and is seventy years of ago.
There were seven children in the family: Julius I'... mining engineer, in
Invo countv: Oiludio C, of this review: Xorma, Mrs. Muriatta. (.f Inyn

612 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EXVIROXS

county; Zola, Mrs. Santos, now with the Red Cross in Paris; Stella D.. Mrs.
Williams of Los Angeles ; Eugene O., mining foreman in Inyo county ; and
Garfield James, a grocer in Santa Barbara.

(Jthello C. Conterno was brought up in different army posts until he was
ele\en years old, when he accompanied his parents to Los Angeles and was
educated at St. Aincent's College, receiving his first lessons in music under
liis father, and then under various band leaders. Finally he went to San
Francisco and entered the employ of W. W. Montague, in his stove house ;
and there he remained four years learning the dift'erent branches. In 1890,
when twenty-two, he enlisted as a musician in the Second U. S. Cavalry,
joined his regiment at Ft. Walla Walla, AA'ash., was then transferred to
Ft. Lowell, Ariz., and in 1891 to Ft. W'ingate, N. M., where he remained four
years, and was then mustered out of service and honorably discharged.

Mr. Conterno then joined his uncle, Luciano Conterno, in Xew York
City, filling an engagement of thirteen weeks as a musician, and then went
on a concert tour with Conterno's Concert Band until the breaking out of the
Spanish-American A\"ar in 1898. He enlisted as bandmaster of the First
V. S. A'olunteer Engineers under Eugene Griffin, and was sent to Porto Rico.
Ik- was mustered out, January 25, 1899. On March 19, 1899, he again enlisted
in the 8th U. S. Infantry Regiment, was appointed bandmaster and on his
arrival in Cuba served until July 19, 1900, when the. regiment was ordered to
proceed to China for the Boxer War. The regiment was sent to Ft. Snelling,
Minn., to be recruited, and then proceeded via San Francisco to Nagasaki,
Japan, where it awaited orders eight days. Meantime the situation cleared,
and they proceeded to the Philippine Islands instead, serving from October
26, 1900, until July, 1902, when they were sent back to the United States
at the close of the insurrection.

After returning to this country, he was sent to Seattle and a part of the
regiment went to Alaska : but the remainder were at their headquarters in
Ft. Lawton, Wash., and six weeks later they were sent to Governors Island,
N. Y.. and remained until February, 1906. They were then transported across
the continent and again embarked on transports for the Islands. They were,
stationed on the Island of Guimaras, remaining two years, when they came
back to the United States. He was stationed at Angel Island until 1908, and
while there the regiment hiked to Atascadero to attend military maneuvers,
taking the train back to San Francisco. In 1908, he went to Monterey, and in
1^10 marched U> Atascadero again ; and on arrival back in Monterey he had
orders to ]>rticeod to the Philippines, in i^Iarch, 1911. Meanwhile the
revolution in Mexico started and they were sent to the border instead, and
remained there until June, when they returned to ]\Ionterey. On February
12, 1912, they started back to the Islands, and remained on the Island of
Mindano, among the savage IMoros, for three years. On .\ugust 16, 1913, he
was retired from active service, being given credit for thirty years' service
on account >.f foreign assignments.

Mr. and Mrs. Conterno, in 1908, had i)urchased a ranch near Paso
Kobk-s, and they settled on it after his retirement and began raising stock
and gr.iin : and in the meantime he organized the Paso Robles Band, which
now has twenty members, and is a splendid organization. It gives concerts in
the city park. In 1916, Mrs. Conterno became proprietor of the Bon Air in
I'aso Robles, where they make their residence, while their son operates the

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AXD F.W IRONS 613

ranch, as he has done for the past seven years. During the Spanish-American
War, Mr. Conterno's colonel wanted him to be mustered out with a recom-
mendation for appointment to a commissioned office; but he declined.

In New York City occurred the marriage of Mr. Conterno with Miss
Annie Wilderson, a native of Denver, Colo., who made the various trips to the
Philippines with her husband. While at the post of Camp Jossman, Island
of Guimaras, Mrs. Conterno was appointed and served as postmaster for
two years at the request of Col. F. A. Smith, now P)rigadier General, U. S. A.,
retired. They have one son, Herman ?>. Air. Conterno was made a Mason in
Hill Grove Lodge No. 540, F. & A. M., in lirooklyn, X. Y. He is a Republican.

VERNON EXLINE.— The environs of Paso Robles and portions of the
town itself present many a pleasing and instructive picture, and nowhere
will one be better rewarded for visiting this section and tarrying awhile
than in the horticultural establishment of the enterprising young farmer
\*ernon Exline, where the orderly arrangement of everything suggests the
orderly, well-trained man. It was on Levi Exline's well-managed place at
Paso Robles, on July 4, 1879, that his son Verne, as he is familiarly called,
was born. The public schools cared for the lad's education, and the environ-
ments of home were added to cdiitrihutc to his development until he had
reached his twenty-fifth year.

For nine years he raised grain hereabouts; then he bought t\v<i hundred
acres adjoining his father's place and engaged in farming, horticulture, and
grain- and stock-raising. Adjoining his father's three hundred twenty acres
of land, he owns two hundred acres, about four miles northwest of Paso
Roliles on Gallinas (Chicken ) creek. He has set out si.xteen acres to almonds,
and thirteen acres to Bartlett pears, and devotes the balance to the raising
'<i grain and stock.

Iiidei)endent in politics, he has been unusually serviceable as a trustee
and clerk of the Oak Flat school district, while in the circles of the Knights
of Pythias at Paso Robles, amid the more familiar exchanges of true and
tried friends, are displayed to the best advantage the likable qualities of this
well-liked gentleman and sturdy pioneer.

JAMES F. CAREAGA.— Among Californians who may feel a particular
pride, both because of their participation in the present development of the
Golden State and because of their a.ssociation. through family ties, with the
historic past, is James F. Careaga, a farmer and stockman residing nine
miles west of Los Alamos. His father was Ramon F. Careaga. of whom
mention is made elsewhere in this history. Mr. Careaga descends from an
early Spanish nobleman, a native of ancient Castile, who came out to Mex-
ico as a military officer in the service of the King of Spain. The grand-
father was Colonel Satornino Careaga, wlio led a detachment of Spanisii sol-
diers from Mexico on an expedition to Monterey. He served under Captain
Munoz, and from him and the Spanish government received special recogni-
tion for bravery in protecting the endangered Mission San Jose.

Born May 1, 1889, one of eleven children, all of whom have grown to
maturity or at least to promising youth, and most of wiiom have had a good
measure of success, James Careaga farms witli his Imither, Bernardo 1-..
some two hundred acres, and besides rents out and supervises seven tliousand
acres belonging to the Careaga estate. James I'. Careaga maintains an en\i-
able position as an up-to-date rancher of the coast section.

614 SAX l.riS OIUSPO COL'XTV AND J-:X\IR( ).\S

J. THOMAS JONES.— 1 low affability, as well as experience and enter-
prise, niav he made an asset even in business, is daily demonstrated by J.
Thomas Jones, the extensive farmer and successful merchant of Shandon.
lie was born at licrryville, near Eureka Springs, Ark., December 10, 1869;
and since the middle eighties he has been contributing no little to making
Shandon and its neighborhood one of the most desirable places of residence in
any of the agricultural sections of the state. His father was James L. Jones,
a native of tlie same district, who abandoned his farm during the Civil War to
tight on the side of his state in the Confederacy, as a sergeant of a company.
He first came to California in 1856, crossing the plains with ox teams; but
in 1859. anticii)ating the clash between the North and the South, he rushed
back East again. In 1873, however, he brought his family to California and
settled on a ranch near Cambria, later removing to Adelaida. where, in 1877,
he l)ought annilier ranch. Seven years afterward he moved to the Cholame
valley and ht)mesteaded a hundred sixty acres, upon which he made exten-
sive improvements. In 1909. he died at Paso Robles. ^Irs. Jones, who died
on the first of January, 1895, was born in Arkansas, grew U]) as Miss Cath-
erine Emily Smith, and was married in Arkansas about 1853 or 1854. Of the
five children born of this union, four grew up and are still living: James H.,
who is in Arkansas; A\'. H.. who is at Parkfield, Monterey county; Molly,
now Mrs. Rutherford, wlio is farming near Shandon : and John Thomas
Jones, the subject of our sketch.

In 1873, J. T. Jones came with his parents to Cambria, and four years
later he accompanied them to Adelaida. He attended the public school first
under Prof. Phelps, of Cambria, and then under Prof. Parsons, of Adelaida.
Having completed his studies, he worked one j'ear for Mr. Burnett. In 1884 he
came to the Shandon country and began riding after the stock and driving big
teams. With his brothers, in a firm known as Jones Bros., he was interested in
a threshing machine — the first steam thresher, as a matter of fact, in San Luis
( )bis])o County ; and the work of threshing he has followed ever since. In
time he secured a combined harvester, and the last few years he has used two
such machines, with which he has gathered the crops for his neighbors as well
as for liimself.

When twent_\-une, Mr. Jones homesteaded a hundred sixty acres of land
in the Cholame 1 1 ills in McMillan's Canon, which he soon improved and
Viuilt up, later selling the same. He then bought his father's place, improved
it. and added to it, sinking a fine artesian well, and planting some eight
hundred eighty acres to grain. He also raised horses and cattle. .An inci-
dent indicating the quality of Mr. Jones' enterprise is found in an under-
taking ni the l)rothers rather out of the ordinary. When he and his brothers
were threshing at San Miguel, and they noted the want of a hotel there,
they built a hostelry and ran it for two years while the railroad was being
cn^tructed. Having rented and farmed still other land, Mr. Jones, in 1909,
siilil hi- raiu-li to Hopper I'.ros.. and then bought a hundred ten acres adjoin-
ing Shandon. where he now makes his home and head(|uarters. and where
he set t.ut -^ix acres of almonds, the first in this vicinity.

l""r some time Mr. Jones was interested in th€ Rochdale store, and when
the Rochdale Cn. disbanded, in 1913, he took over the business. With the
aid .if h\< wife and daughter, he has since conducted the popular estab-
lishment—the largest general merchandise store here. He continues renting

. J^^ThT^^,

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EN\IRONS 617

lands, farming- to grain and raising stuck extensively, and he gi\es ])art df his
attention to the Farmers' Alliance ISusiness Association, of which lie is a
stockholder.

On November 11, 1892, John Thomas Jones was joined in wedlock to
Miss Nancy C Tomlin, a native of Cherokee county, Kan., and the daughter
of George Tomlin, who brought his family to California in 1887, when
she was seventeen years of age. He was a broom-maker and, locating in
Bakersfield, he established a broom factory there. He now resides in Florida,
(leorge Tomlin served as a soldier in the Union Army during the Civil War.
Her mother, who resides with the subject of our sketch, on account of her
health, was Miss Mary J. Stockton, a native of Illinois. There were ele\-en
children in the family. The children of Mr. and Mrs. J. Thomas Jones
are : Ethel, now Mrs. Hagerman, who is assisting in his store ; Clara May,
wlio is in the Paso Robles high school; and Stillman Edwin.

Mr. Jones has served as school trustee of the Shandon district. Politically,
he aligns himself with the Democratic party. I'raternally, he is a member
of the Santa Lucia Lodge, I. O. O. !•'., at Pasn Rubles, and of tlie ilrother-
hood of American Yeomen.

JOHN CARROLL.— A representative citizen nf San Luis Obisi-o and
environs, and a progressive man of his locality, John Carroll was born in
Tipperary, Ireland, October 25, 1867, and until he was sixteen received his
education in the common schools. He lived at home assisting his father uj) to
the time he left for America in 1884. He' had a brother and sister in Cali-
fornia, located at Lompoc, Santa Barbara county, and that place was liis
destination when he and another sister left their native land. The oppor-
tunities offered in the New World tor liettering his ciin(Hti(in appealed to the
young man, and lie did n(.)t linger in his lidine cnuiitr\- very Imig after making
his decision.

Me had im iiiniiey on his arri\al here, and so was cmiipelled to go to
work at an\ honest employment that offered, and he >pent the tirst three
years in this country working on his brother's dairy ranch near Lompoc.
lie learned the dairy business and became acijuainted with the ways of the
country, and .soon took up work on the wharf, loading and unloading the
vessels that docked there. This was continued lor three \ears, and lie then
spent a year making cheese for his brother. In IS'L', we find him a resident
of San Luis Obispo County and employed on the ranch owned by his aunt.
Mrs. Kate Donohue. He saved his money and rented a place of one hundred
eighty acres, which he now owns; and there he planted barley and farmed.
Ill \'k)i, he boUL'ht the old Kelly i)lace of five hundred acres. I'rom time to
tiiiie he has added land, until he is the owner of six hundred eighty fine
acres, ujion which he raises Iteans and barley with great success.

Mr. Carroll was united in marriage with Miss Frances T. Roseiip. a
native of San Luis Obispo County, and they have five children: John Jr..
Dennis, ICmmett, Catlierina and Evelyn. In jjolilics, Mr, Carroll supports
the candidates of the Democratic party. He has served ;is a trustee of the
I'.dna school district for six years. He is a mem])er of the Knights of Colum-
bus and of the Young Men's Institute, and a communicant in the Catholic
Church, .\niong those with whom he has business relations, his word is con-
sidered as good as his bond.

618 SAX I. ITS OP.ISrO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

L. D. WALLER.—! )ne of the must lucrative and important industries
that have conu- into existence on the Pacific coast during the last twenty
years lias been that of raising seeds of all varieties, and it has attracted men
who are students of nature as well as strong business characters. Of the
successful seed men of Santa Barbara county, L. D. Waller is among the
best-known. He was born in London, England, and received a liberal educa-
tion there, where he also took up the seed business and continued it until he
came to this country to extend his operations if possible. He first stopped
in New Brunswick, and soon after went to Boston, where, in 1906, he began
a retail seed business.

Desiring to start a sced-farni for liimself, Mr. Waller came to California
in 1*X)8 and looked about for a location for a time until he decided that the
section about Cniadalupe ofifered the proper advantages. He worked for
others for three years in various places, and in 1912 interested other parties
and under the copartnership of L. D. \Valler & Co. leased fifty acres of
land adjoining Cuadalupe to grow sweet-pea seed, besides cultivating numer-
ous other varieties of flower seeds. The next year their business doubled and
from time to time they increased their acreage until they now have about
three hundred acres under a high state of cultivation, and grow almost every
kind of (lower seed.

The Waller Seed Company do a whoksale business and have over six
hundred diflferent varieties of flowers on their ranch, specializing in sweet-
pea growing. Jt is interesting to -note the recognition given the firm's enter-
prize when tliey were awarded the silver gilt medal of the National Sweet Pea
Society of (Ireat I'.ritain at the exhibition of the American Sweet Pea Society
held at the I'anama Pacific Exhibition, San Francisco. June 11, 191.S, for their
display of Spencer sweet peas. Mr. Waller is a public-spirited citizen and a
sui^porter of all movements for the upbuilding of the country surrounding his
home section. He keeps abreast of the times, and is one of the best-posted
men in his line of business in this section of the state.

JEFFREY PHELAN AND JEFFREY WILLIAM PHELAN.— .\1-
thougji during the period of the early fifties California attracted many men
of doulnful reputation, it has been the glory of the state that it also attracted
thousands of young men. sturdy of frame, upright in life and honest in every
transaction. I'o this latter class belonged Jeffrey Phelan, who v.-as born in
County \\aterf..rd, Ireland. August 13,1824. He' left Ireland in 1851, landed
in -New \'ork. tlien went to Covington, Ky., where he stayed five months,
and from tliere went to Salem. 111.; and for three vears he found work in the
le.id mines.

In ( )ctober. 1,X.^4, he landed in San b'rancisco and went at once to Sutter's
t reek. .Xniador county, and mined for another three years. In 1858 he took
a iri]i liack to Ireland, renewed home acquaintances for four months and
returned to San IVaiicisco in .August, 1858; and coming to San Luis Obispo
I ounty. lie located on a ranch two miles north of Cambria.

Jeffrey I'helan was married, in 1858, to Miss Alice Hearn. a native of
< ouniy W ateriord. Ireland, and they had three sons and three daughters,
.im.ing whom was Jeffrey \\illiam Phelan. He and his wife were the first
settler- in thai coast section. l)efore Cambria was started, and their olde.st
daui.:liier was the first white cliild l)orn there. Mr. Phelan helped build the
hr-.t -lore and -choolhou-e. \\\< ranch contains seventeen hundred acres.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 619

and he had a dairy of two hundred cows, besides owning about four thousand
acres of mountain land. His death occurred on February 5, 1908.

Jeffrey William Phelan was born February 12, 1870, on San Simeon
creek, and attended the public school at Cambria and also St. Mary's College
in Oakland. When he returned home, in 1893, he went to work on the ranch
with his father, and after the latter's death, in 1908, he and his brother,
Ricliard. took charge of the home place and have since managed it for the
I'liclan Land and Cattle Co., incorporated after his father's death. They have
engaged extensively in dairying and the stock business and have met with
good financial success.

On November 24, 1899, Mr. Phelan was married to Miss Irene Dodson,
who was born on Santa Rosa creek. In politics Mr. Phelan supports the
candidates of the Democratic party.

ERNEST F. CESMAT.— The repuljlic of France has given to the United
States man\- <.if her best citizens, men who have become very successful
and influential in the various localities in which they have elected to reside.
California has had her share of these thrifty men, and they have adapted
themselves to their surroundings and have aided every movement for the
ujibuilding of the state. In Ernest F. Cesmat, San Luis Obispo County has a
solid, substantial citizen. He was born in Eastern France, near the Alpine
mountains, December 11, 1862, and was reared to farm work on the place
owned by his father. He attended the public schools of his native place
until he struck out for himself.

In 1884, at the age of twenty-two, he came to California to seek his
fortune in the land of opportunity. Locating in San Ardo, in Monterey
county, -Mr. Cesmat worked on a sheep ranch for the first eighteen months,
and then at harvesting in the grain fields, and later on threshing machines,
until he had saved enough to begin for himself. He bought the San Ardo
hotel property, rented it out, and later disposed of it at a profit. He also
leased one hundred sixty acres of land on shares for two years, and later
increased it to three hundred acres, farming to grain.

In 1892 he disposed of all his interests in Monterey county and came to
Los Berros, San Luis Obispo County, where he purchased twelve acres of
land, and with a team of ponies cleared it of the brush. This he sold, and later
rented a place near the depot. Going back to Monterey county, he worked
in tlie harvest fields until he had saved three hundred fifty dollars ; and with
that money he came to Los Berros and bought the land he had rented. From
time to time he has added to this until he now owns forty acres, which he
farms to grain and beans; he also farms rented land near by, and is the
owner of a cattle ranch of one hundred sixty acres in the hills, where he raises
stock. In addition to this, he and his wife conduct a grocery store, and
Mrs. Cesmat was postmaster of Los Berros for eleven years. On his hill
ranch he cuts wood for market, and since coming to the county to make liis
home he has made a success of his operations.

F.rnest F. Cesmat was married to Miss Emma Rodriguez, a natixe of Iowa,
and they have two sons: Victor, of Modesto, who is married and has two
children : and Raymond, wdio lives at home.

Landing in San Francisco with just ten dollars in his pocket, Mr.
Cesmat has worked hard and is now one of the respected and prosijcrous
men of his localitv. He is a Democrat.

620 SAX I.L'IS OP.ISrC) CDUNTY AND KXVIROXS

RAFAEL A. MORA.— A nalivL- son and a representative of an old
Si)anish family, Rafael A. Mora was burn in Watsonville, Cal, April 27, 1870.
Me was a son of Rafael A. Mora, born in (Juadalajara, State of Jalisco, Mexico,
whose father came from Spain to Mexico in the pioneer days of the territory
of California. Rafael Mora, senior, went to San Francisco as early as 1850, at
a time when that place was small and little more than a tent city. He en-
gaged in raising hogs on the present site of the town, and when the gold
excitement took so many men to Mariposa county, Mr. I\Iora disposed of his
hog business and tried his luck in the mines. But he did not meet with the
success he had hoped for, and soon after opened up a meat market in the
mining district, where he remained until about 1860. His next move was to
Santa Cruz county, where he located at Whiskey Hill; and in 1874, he came to
Cambria, San Luis Obispo County, and settled at the old Keystone quick-
silver mine. There he engaged in the stock business and made butter, and
met with fair success. He had taken up government land, but did not prove
up on it, as he found that part of it was included in the Hearst ranch. He
was married, in 1865, to Mrs. Francisca (Cole) Garcia, a daughter-in-law of
the late (General Inocente Garcia. Mr. Alora passed away in Cambria at a
ri])e old age. and was much respected by all who knew him.

The subject of this review was educated in the public schools of Cam-
bria, completing the grammar school course at San Simeon. He worked
in a general merchandise store during the years he was attending school,
when it did not interfere w-ith his studies, in order to assist with the support
of his mother, lie also worked four years on a ranch at Pozo for his half-
brother. His first move for himself was when he formed a partnership with
Albert Juarez, and leased three hundred twenty acres of land, of which
they cultivated one hundred forty acres to grain, while the balance was
devoted to the stock business. After one year, Mr. Mora sold out to his
partner and for a time traveled over various part of the state working for
wages and gaining a varied experience.

In the fall of 1897 he came back to San Simeon and for a period of six
months took charge of the Ba}- View Hotel. Following this venture, he
bought and sold stock throughout San Luis Obispo County and part of Mon-
terev county until July, 1899. He had taken up a homestead claim and proved
up on it when he became of age; and this he sold for three hundred fifty
dollars. He then o])ened a butcher slioj) at Cambria, where he carried on a
successful business until l')14.

Tn 1909, Mr. Mora, with two others, had i.urch.ised the J. C. McFer.son
ranch of three hundred seventy acres, as well as the Jack ranch at the head
of Santa J^osa creek, consisting of nine hundred ten acres, both located in
the vicinity of Cambria. Here they engaged in dairying and stock-raising.
In 1914 they dissolved partnership, Mr. Mora becoming sole owner of the
Jack ranch, which he still holds and where he is engaged in raising cattle,
as also in buying and shijjping stock, a business he has followed actively
since 1898. He is considered the largest individual stock-buyer in his local-
ity. He also owns a ranch of two hundred eighteen acres at Goldtree station
in ( hnrro valley, four miles west of San Luis Obispo, where he resides with
his laniily. This ranch is given over to dairying and raising beans and
alfalfa, and is well improved with fine residence, barns and other buildings.

On January 16, 1900. Mr. Mora was united in marriage with Miss Jose-
I'hinc Cantua, a native of Cambria, the daughter of Joaquin and Tomassa

SAN LUIS OBISPO COl'XTV AXD F.XX'I RONS 623

(Vasquez) Cantua, also of old SpanisJi families and pioneers of the state.
Mr. and Airs. Mora have had eight children: Ralph A.; .Klfonso R.; Frances,
now deceased; another daughter also named h'rances, deceased; and Ru-
dolph, Lawrence, Lewis and Ramona.

Mr. Mora is a member of Cambria Parlor No. 152, N. S, (i. \V., belongs
til the l-'oresters of America, and is Past Chief Ranger and now ( l')17) treas-
urer of Court Pride of the Forest No. 231 at Camliria. Mrs. Mora is a
charter member of El Pinal Parlor No. 162, N. D. (1. W., at Cambria. Mr.
Mora is a Republican and is a liberal supporter of all pul)lic movements that
will build up the county and advance the interests of the residents. He is a
self-made man, well and favorably known in his communit}-, where he and his
wife have a wide circle of accjuaintances and friends.

E. E. LONG. — I'he organizer of the E. E. Long Piano Company, whole-
sale and retail dealers in pianos, piano players and talking machines in San
Luis Obispo, and the dominating factor in one of the largest establishments
of its kind, E. E. Long has made his influence felt in many ways, especially
throughout the central coast counties. .\ nati\e of ( )hio. he was born in
Cincinnati, in 1864, and was educated in the juiblic scIuimIs of that city and
in Belmont College. He later took up the study of law and in IS'X) was
admitted to the bar ; but he never availed himself of the o])portunity to prac-
tice the profession. He then took up the study of medicine, but not finding
it to his liking, decided to go into the mercantile business. F"or seven years
Mr. Long had charge of the wholesale department of the McPhail Piano
Company's business in Boston, Mass., and later was idejitified with the
Winter Manufacturing Co. of New York, makers of ])ianns and i)iano play-
ers, where he had charge of their wholesale department.

Mr. Long was making two trips to California eacii year in the interests
of the factory, and knowing the territory and climate, decided to open a busi-
ness of his own. Finding in San Luis Obispo a fine outlook, he started in
nil a small scale, branching out each year until the territory of the lower half
I if the state is covered by his traveling salesmen, and a large Nolume of
business is carried on. His stock is valued at $,=>0,(X)0, and includes the
standard makes of instruments. The local store is in charge of his son, R. R.
Long, who is also a partner in the business. J. H. Slocum is another member
iif the firm. In San Luis ( )bisi)o County Mr. Long has identified himself
with the best interests of both city and cnnnly. and is a nieml)er of the
Chamber of Commerce and nf the Merchants' Assnciatinn. I'raternall v, he
is a Mason.

The marriage ni E. !•".. Lung with Miss Dora Carrington, also a native
of Oliio. united him to a lady of much talent. .Mrs. Long is a graduate of
Syracuse University and of the Cincinnati College of Music, in both vocal
and instrumental courses. She studied with Madam Lund of Sweden, as well
as with the best teachers of New York and Boston, and is recognized as a
musician of more than ordinary talent. Mr. and Mrs. Long are the parents of
one son, R. R. Long.

In the places where they have lived, both Mr. and -Mrs. Long have been
leaders in social affairs. Their beautiful suburban home and grounds, of
eight acres, are located in the .Arroyo Grande valley. There Mr. Long
iias erected a magnificent country residence, modern in e\ery detail and one
of the show jilaces of the county.

624 SAX MIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD EXXIROXS

HENRY TANNER.— That spirit of unselfishness which leads men and
wnnu-n 1(1 \(iliuiteer U> gn into remote corners of the earth and to face untold
dansjers and disease to succor their fellow men, without giving thought to
sell, is sure in liring its reward; and this spirit is exemplified in the life
of this successful citizen of Arroyo Grande. Henry Tanner is a native of
(iermanw horn on the Rhine. He was reared and educated in his native
land, and there learned the baker's trade. At the age of eighteen, he left home
and friends and came to the United States. In 1888 he opened the first bak-
ery in .\rroyo Grande, where for the following ten years he carried on an
increasing business.

In 1898, when the war between America and Spain was imminent, he
enlisted as a member of the California Red Cross Society, and saw service
in Manila for one year as a ^■olunteer nurse in the Red Cross Hospital.
To pre])are himself for this vocation, Mr. Tanner studied and took training
in San Francisco at different hospitals, observing operations and learning
the details of first aid to the wounded, and also attended lectures at Cooper
Medical Hospital. As he looks back upon those months, spent in IManila,
Mr. Tanner counts them as the most interesting of his career.

Returning to his usual duties after the Spanish-American X\"ar, he con-
tinued to build uj) a name for himself in Arroyo Grande, and is now owner
of the 'J'anner Opera House and Tanner Hall. For the last six years, he has
conducted a moving picture show in the town, and has otherwise contributed
to the well-being of the community. He has been in the van of all forward
nidxements, and supports all public enterprises for the development of the
ciiunty. lie has thus made a success, and has prepared well for the future.

HERBERT E. BROOKS.— The proprietor of the oldest commercial
almond orchard in the section about Paso Robles and one of the well-posted
men on the care and planting of almonds is Herbert E. Brooks. He is well
and favorably known, and is a man who lives by the Golden Rule and whose
word is as good as his bond. He was born at Delta, near Rome, Oneida
county, X. Y., in 1861, and was reared there and went to the public school
until fourteen. I lis father was Joseph Brooks, who enlisted at the first tap of
the drum for service in the Civil War, served three months and re-enlisted
fi)r three years, but was killed in battle soon after. Joseph Brooks also had
two brothers in the service, lie married Sarah Kingsbury, who was born in
( )nei(la county, and died in Xew York in 191.^, Grandfather Brooks was in the
W'nT of 1812, and on the maternal side great-grandfather Xewsom was in the
Ivnglish navy.

-At the age of sixteen, in 1S77. Merliert I",. Brooks went with an uncle,
J. C. Ufford, to Rawlins county, Kan., and settled on the plains near where the
city (if Oberlin is located. There his uncle engaged in the cattle business,
and he worked for him, riding the range and trailing cattle into Nebraska,
Ciili.rado and Wyoming for years. In 1878, he. was in an Indian raid, when
seventeen men were killed on the neighboring claims, and he himself had a
tiarmw escape from a running fight, when he nearly rode into the sava.ges'
midst. In 1881. Mr. Brooks' mother joined him in Kansas; and they home-
-leark-d and entered land on the north fork of the Sappa. and he started in
the caitle business for himself, acc|uiring four hundred eighty acres. Later
he began U, raise c( .rn and wheat. The C(mntv-seat was established at .Vtwood
} ears afterwards.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 625

Having: heard such good rci-xjrts of Cahfornia in Nebraska, Kansas,
I'olorado and \\}-oming, he decided to locate here; and in 1893 he came to
San Luis Obispo County, where he had a brother-in-law, George Alex-
ander, living in Paso Robles. Coming here, Mr. Brooks bought his present
place of thirty acres, planted to almonds in 1890, settled on it and has made
a study of the business ; and on rented land he raises hay and grain. He has
had some very fine crops from his trees, and they bring good prices, llie
orchard is in the best of condition and \ery thrifty. Mr. Brooks gives it his
L-ntire attention ; and his brands, I N L, Ne Plus Ultra, and Nonpareil, are
well known.

.Mr. Brooks was united in marriage in Kansas with Miss Ermina .\lex-
ander, who was born in Missouri. They have had ten children, as follows:
Ora, Mrs. Spooner of Morro ; Gordon, in .San Francisco; Floy, Mrs. Miller
of Oak Flat; Julian, at Arbuckle, Cal. ; George Alexander and Oscar J., at
home: Paul, who died at the age of seven, and Janice, at the age of four;
and Charles Russell and Bernice, who are at home.

Mr Brooks is a member of the California Almond Growers' Exchange and
a director in the local exchange. Pie is a member of the International Bible
Students' Association and a leader of the class here. For the jiast twenty-
five years he has been a close student of the doctrine of the association, and
he organized the local congregation. Air. Brooks is a man of splendid attain-
ments, liberal and public-spirited, and successful.

GILES N. TALBOT.— Prominent among the horticulturists who, by
their science and enterprise, have done much to extend the fame of San
Luis Obispo County, and particularly of Paso Robles, Giles N. Talbot has set
out the most extensive almond orchards in this vicinity. He was born in
Beatrice, Gage county, Nebr. His father, George Talbot, was born near
Detroit, Mich., and crossed the plains in 1852, in an old-fashioned overland
"x-train. On the way their small company was attacked by Indians near
I'lum Creek, and one of his three comrades was killed. The others luckily
escaped, and after much privation and delay made their way to California,
where they engaged with more or less success in the mining ventures of the
time. George Talbot, however, became something more than a mere pros-
pector, and found a fair degree of [jrotit in the titling out of miners and the
sale of mining supplies.

-Xfter twelve years in California, he returned to .Michigan, and while
there married Miss Mildred Lapliam. a native of that state. The couple then
removed to Nebraska, and took up a homestead near lieatrice, not far from
the Big Blue river. But exposure and hardshii)s endured during his mining
experiences so undermined his health that, after years of pain, he died, in 1887.
Those who knew him will never forget how interesting were his conversa-
tions in hours of semi-relief from suffering, when he was induced to talk of
pioneer days in the mines of California. His wife also passed awav in
Nebraska. I'n 1800.

Two chililrm remain of their family: the subject of our sketch and Mrs.
i.. W . llunt. wliii resides near Syracuse, in .\ebraska. Giles worked on a
farm near Beatrice and attended the public sclmnl until, on his mother's
death, he was compelled to paddle his own cancH. I le tluii made his way to
Holdredge, where he found employment in the lunilier Imsiness, in which
he continued t'or twelve vears.. Tie became interested in a lumber vard, as a

626 SAX LLIS OlilSI'O COUNTY AND ENMRONS {

meinlier ui ihc firm uf Curnell & Talbot. So well did this concern prosper that \
it started other yards in Atlanta, Oxford, Woodrow, Farnam and May wood, |
thus having five yards besides the headquarters at Holdredge. The firm I
also acquired farming lands of value in that section. j

In 1"X)8. he sold out his interest in the lumber business and located in )
Los .Ani^ek's. where he became an investor in citrus fruit enterprises. He i
l)urchasecl, for cxam])le, land on Lemon Heights, northeast of Santa Ana, !
and set out t\vent_\- acres of lemons and \'alencia oranges. Five years later he \
came to I'aso Kobles and cleared up some five hundred acres in the Encinal j
district. se\en miles from Paso Robles, which he laid out to almonds, special- ;
izing in three different varieties : the I X L, the Nonpareil, and the Drake. I

.\t ( ).\i'i>rd. in Nebraska, Mr. Talbot was married to Miss Bernice Hamil- '
ton, a iiati\f of Somerset, Iowa, and the daughter of William T. Hamilton, :
wlio was born in Guernsey county. Ohio, a member of the same family as the |
great American statesman, Alexander Hamilton. The family is of Scotch- j
Irish descent. The maiden name of William T. Hamilton's mother was Lind- ■
sav. In'early days Mr. Hamilton came to Iowa as a merchant, where he mar- i
ricd Miss Emma J. McClintic, who was born in Lee county, Iowa, the daughter i
of .\. D. McClintic, a native of Virginia, and Amanda (Hart) McClintic, who |
came fnmi New York. This couple, also, was of Scotch-Irish descent. Mr. |
;ind Mrs. William T. I lamiltnn reninved to l-'urnas county. Nel)r. : and at 0\- ;
ford, where Mr. Hamilton died in 1893, he Ijecame a very successful dry goods i
merchant. His widow is now a beloved member uf the household uf Mr. and '
Mrs. Talbot at Paso Robles. '

Mr. and Mrs. Talbot ha^•e two children, Pauline and John. Mrs. Talbot j
is a member of the Presbj'terian Church at Hollywood. ;

JOHN R. FROOM. — .\ successful rancher and well-known citizen of |
I-^an Luis Obispo (nunty. John R. Froom was born in Prescott, Granville ]
county. Canada. I'chruary 2^). 1864. a son of Erastus Froom. a native of the ;
same section and a farmer, who came to California and settled in Sonoma
county in 18S2. There he was engaged in farming, but he finally returned ;
to Canada, where he lived up to the time of his death. John R. Froom was
educated in the public schools of his nati\e ])lacc until he was sixteen year? i
old. and lived at home with his n
to Iowa to seek his fortune.

He worked on a farm for six
arriving in Sonoma county in the
on a ranch near Santa Rosa and v
to San Luis Obispo County, and ir
work on the ranch owned by Mr
by Mrs. Froom. This consisted of five hundred acres, which ]\Ir. Froom
leased in IRW, beginning dairying and meeting with good results. In I'XM
the ]iroperty was gi\en to .Mrs. Froom. Many of the impro\ements on the
|)l;Ke are the result of Mr. !•' room's labor, and here he conducts a dairy of
fitly cows. ;i business which he has consistentlv followed since coming to
the valley.

Mr. i'room was united in marriage with Harriett IV-rry. a native of Ire-
lati.l. who came to Illinois with her brother and later to California and San
Luis ( Ibispo County, and settled on the ranch which is now her property.
Mr. and Mrs. Froom were married on December 14. 1904. and seven children

other in Canada until 1884.

when he came

months and tlien journc^'ec

1 to California.

fall of 1S84. Here he four

id enqiloyment

■orked tlicre one year, after

which he came

1886 seltle.l in the i.;iguna .

listrict. finding

L. Nelson, owner of the r;

inch now held

yy^. y^Y H^c^\.iu>oot_

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUXTV AND ENVIRONS 629

Iia\o Messed their union: Harry, Annie. Minnie, Willie, Robert, Bunny and
Icihii. All were born in this county, and all have been sent to the local school.
^Ir. and .Mrs. Froom are well-known and highly respected. He takes an
active interest in the upbuildini;- of the county, and with his wife sujijiorts
all movements that lune fnr their oliject the welfare of the community.

MICHAEL McDonald.— A resident of California since 1868. and a
man wlm. b\- cneri;\' and application, has accomplished much since first he
Icicaied in the frontier country along the Estrella, "Murdoch" McDonald, as
Michael McDonald is familiarly known by everyone, enjoys to an exceptional
douree, as the oldest settler of that region, the esteem and good will of his
fellows. Born in Sydney, Cape Breton county, N. S., March 15, 1844, Murdoch
McDonald is descended from the McDonalds of Inverness-shire, Scotland, the
famous and doughty Lords of the Isle, the mention of whose name and deeds
makes the blood of the patriotic Scotchman tingle. The McDonalds are, in
fact, a part of the royal line from Somhairle Mor MacGille Bride, a brave
warrior who ruled the greater part of Argyleshire and the western part of
ln\erness-shire. There is a statement that Somhairle was descended from
C'onu Cued-Chatbach, a king of Ireland, who is said to have reigned about
the year 125 ; but this has not been authenticated, and it may be an unfounded
fable. What seems to be certain is that Somhairle was slain in battle at
Renfrew in 1164, and that his eldest son, Dougall, was a progenitor of the
McDougalls, (if Lome, whose fourth son, Ronald, had a son, Donald, who
became a very distinguished person, so much so that from him the surname
of McDonald was adopted. His grandson, .Angus, fought with Bruce at the
r.attle of liannockburn. It was one of his sons, Ronald, who was the ancestor
nf the clan Ronald McDonald, and he was succeeded by his eldest .son. .Allan:
anil his soiv Donald, had two sons. Prom .Alexander, the youngest, the
.McDonalds of Clengarry are descended: and as Murdoch McDonald is a
lineal descendant of this clan, it is ncit surprising that he has named his ranch
the (dengarrw

Murdoch's fatlier was D..nal(l .McDonald, of Inverness, Scotland, who
migrated to .Sydney, N. S., where he became a prosperous farmer. His
mother, on the other hand, was a native of Nova Scotia, whose maiden name
was Theresa (Jillis. Both father and mother died in that maritime province.
A brother of Munloch is Laughlin McDonald, now living at Hanford.

r.rought up on a farm near the Atlantic seaboard, Murdoch McDonald
was educated at one of the subscription schools of his day, and was thus
limited to the most elementary courses: but by wide reading and close ob-
servation he has become well posted, and is a versatile and entertaining
conversationalist. He has studied and read much Gaelic literature, too, and
s|)caks with fluency the (iaelic language. In the fall of 1868 he came to Cali-
fornia, sailing on the "Ocean Queen" from New York to Panama; and after'
crossing the Isthmus, proceeded north on the steamer "Colorado." On
November 8. he came in through the Golden Gate, and wintered at Menln
I'ark, San Mateo county.

In the spring of 18fi'', .Mr. .McDonald rc|);iirod t< i the ]-:strella river. S.m
l.iiis Obispo County, in which \ icinity. for nearly half a century, he has
liccn residing. He ])re-empted one hundred sixty acres one mile west of his
present homestead, which he al.so located as soon afterward as he could.
and there he began the usual difficult 1)ut necessary improvements. Like the

630 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND UWTROXS

thorough pioiK-cr tlial lie was, he Iniilt a small adcjhe h.iuse, dug a well,
and began breaking and plowing the ground and putting in crops. He was
soon engaged, also, in sheep-raising, at which he was more than success-
ful. Having some five thousand sheep on hand in 1877, the terribly dry
year, he sent half of them to the coast and carried them through the hills
there, while he drove the other half through the San Joaquin \"alley and
over the Sierras into Bishop valley, Inyo county. Having saved a good part
of his flocks in this way, he continued the sheep business, in time possessing
from five to six thousand head ; although, when the railroad came through,
and the country was being settled up rapidly, he found it more profitable to
turn to grain and stock-raising. As he prospered, he purchased more land, and
so acquired a large acreage, some of which he later sold. He has now six
hundred forty acres on the Estrella river, fourteen miles east from Paso
Robles — a splendid farm with considerable bottom land, which can easily be
]>ut under irrigation bj- pumping water from the neighboring river.

As .soon as he was able to do so. Mr. McDonald replaced the old adobe
house by a large, fine residence, near which he also erected suitable barns;
and as the group of buildings is situated at the head of a cove, the beautiful
location of Glengarry ranch headquarters could not fail to contribute much to
the attractiveness of the estate. He also set out a promising orchard and
built extensive fences. Mr. McDonald and his sons are now engaged in
farming on a large scale, renting and operating land adjoining, in addition
to that which they own. They devote large areas to wheat and barley, for
which they require four big teams; and they use a combined harvester for
gathering the crop. They are also engaged in raising Durham and Hereford
cattle, and Percheron horses.

Mr. McDonald has actively participated in public and official life. For
years he has been, as he still is, postmaster at Bern, where he has the office
located in his residence. He was instrumental in establishing the Phillips
school district, and in building the schoolhouse there ; and he has been school
trustee for the district several years.

In 1874. Mr. McDonald made a trip liack to Xova Scotia, and while
there he was married to ^liss Elizabeth McLean, a native of Cape Breton
County, who died more than twenty-five v-ears ago. Six children were born
from this union: Donald, who is deceased; Isabelle, James, Alice and Ronald,
who are at home assisting in the operation of the farms ; and Florence,
now Mrs. Smith, who resides in Oroville. .-\ Democrat who has frequently
been a delegate to county conventions, Mr. McDonald has also done his duty
as a citizen in serving on the grand jury.

WILLIAM E. SMITH.— Prominently identified with the best interests
of Arroyo ( irande and one of the best-informed men on property values in
this section of San Luis Obispo County, \\illiam E. Smith is actively en-
gai^ed in a general real estate business at .-\rroyo Grande. He was born in
Syracuse. X. Y.. May 7, 1840, was educated in the public schools, and in 1862,
soon after war was declared between the Xorth and the South, enlisted in
Company I. 24tli .\ew York Cavalry, and served with the Army of the Po-
tomac, taking ]iart in nineteen general engagements. On the surrender of
(leneraj I.oe. Mr. Smith t<iok part in the Grand Review at Washington at
tlie close '<i the war. During his teriu of service he was twice wounded,
"1 the Ici; .md hi]i. at Cold Harbor, and was taken prisiiner, but escajicd.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENXTRONS 631

After heint;- mustered out, he returned to Pennsyhania and for seven
_\ears worked in tlie oil fields; later he eii<ia<;ed in tlie mercantile business
at Manistique, Mich., on Lake Superior, and continued in business there
until coming- to the Pacific Coast.

Mr. Smitii was a pioneer of Aljerdeen, \\ ash., where he settled and en-
g:aged in contracting and building, erecting the first business block in that
place. He carried on building there for many years and was a factor in the
development of the place. Leaving Aberdeen in 1894, he came south to the
Rogue river district in Oregon and for two years engaged in mining.

He then came on to California and stopped in Crescent City a year;
and later went to the Mojave desert and prospected and mined for two years.
He then was employed in the oil fields of Kern county, and afterwards went
to the Santa Maria oil fields district. Then for a time he helped boom Pismo
Beach, and still later was in Santa Margarita dealing in real estate. On
January 1, 1916. he located in Arroyo Grande, and here he has succeeded
in realty dealing. He is a member of Hancock Post, G. A. R., in Crescent
City, Cal. Mr. .Smith is the father of two children, Mrs. Lennie Peterson of
Oakland, and Perless, a son, in Arroyo Grande. Mr. Smith is a self-made,
public-spirited man, and one who makes and keeps friends.

STEPHEN P. DILLE.— It would be difficult to find a man more em-
phatically in accord with the true western spirit of ]3rogress, or more keenly
alive to the opportunities awaiting the industrious and intelligent man of
afTairs in San Luis Obispo County, than Stephen P. Dille, of the vicinity of
Paso Robles. He was born at IMount \ictory, Hardin county, O., April 25,
1846, a son of .\braham and grandson of Isaac Dille, both born in Pennsyl-
vania. Isaac Dille went to Ohio, where he died. Abraham Dille was a
farmer, who settled in Hardin county, in 1833, in a forest, in which he cleared
and improved a farm, burning the logs on the place. He died there at the age
of eighty-two years. He married Deborah Post, a native of Pennsylvania,
who also died in Ohio. Of their family of ten children, nine grew to maturity,
Ste[)hen P. being now the only survivor. They were : Cyrus, who served
in tlie Civil War with the 121st Ohio regiment, and died in Ohio ; Munson. who
was in the Civil War with the 135th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and died in
Ohio; .\sher, and Wade, who both died before the war; Emil}- .\nn, Mrs.
\\'inder, who died in Monterey, Cal.; Isaac N., who served in the Civil War.
tirst with the 4th Illinois Cavalry, and then as first lieutenant in a company
with the 135th Ohio and the 192nd Ohio regiments, and who died at Lompoc,
Cal., leaving three children; Francis Marion, and Phoebe, who both died be-
fore the war; and Stephen P., the subject of this review. Munson Dille was
married and had nine children. One of these, Mary F.fifie, married W. M.
Eddy and resides in Ohio. She has six children, one of whom, Lloyd Eddy,
is a farmer near Paso Robles.

Mr. Dille was reared in Ohio and attended the public schools. On May
1. 1864, he volunteered for service in Company H, 135th Ohio \'olunteer In-
fantry. He was mustered in at Columbus, and was detailed to guard the B. &
O. Railway with his comi)any, in Virginia. He was mustered out in Septem-
ber, 1864. He again volunteered, but was rejected. His father volunteered,
but was rejected by the recruiting officer on account of his age, he being
sixty-three. After Mr. Dille was mustered out of the service, he took up the
trade of carpenter and worked in Ohio until 1871. when he went to Filmore

632 SAX Ll'lS OBISPO COUXTY AND KX\ IROXS

Cdiinty. Xcbr.. located a homestead of one hundred sixty acres, improved it
and remained there ten years, farming and doing carpenter work. He sold
out in 1881, and came to California, and at Lompoc worked at his trade. The
following year he went to Monterey county, where he pre-empted one hundred
sixty acres in Jolon Flats, and set to work improving the place. He also
worked at his trade for nearly thirty years. In 1910, he located in San Luis
Oliisjio County and bought eighty acres on the Huer-Huero, three and one-
half miles from Paso Robles, and there he engaged in raising hay and stock,
meeting with the success that has characterized his efforts through life.

Mr. Dille was married in Ventura county to Mrs. Mollie (Allen) Edson,
a native of Ohio. She died in Ohio while on a trip for her health, with her
husband. Mr. Dille was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic as
long as a post was near, which he could attend. He served as school
trustee for many years. In politics he is a Republican.

JOHN FRANKLIN BOTTS.— Decidedly in the front rank of those who
have contril)uted to making California what it is today, are the sturdy Hoosiers
who, bidding good-l)ye to more settled conditions and greater conveniences,
cast in their lot on the shores of the Pacific at a period when and in places
where to do so meant to invite years of hardship if not permanent disappoint-
ment. Such a worthy native of Indiana, of whom his fellow Californians are
justly proud, is John Franklin Botts, the well-known rancher of Paso Robles,
who was born near Bateham, Sullivan county, Indiana, on August 22, 1857.
His grandfather, George W. Botts, moved to Indiana from Ohio, after first
migrating from his native state of Pennsylvania, and died in Illinois. His
father, (ieorge W. Botts. was born near Coshocton, Ohio, and settled as a
farmer in Sullivan county. Ind. Afterward, he removed with his family to
Carroll ci)unty. ^lo.. where he bought a farm and operated it until 1865, in
which year he returned to Indiana, this time to Greene county. Perhaps he
was glad to get out of Missouri, for he had a hard experience there during the
Civil War, when guerrilla bands came and went, and his life was at times in
jeopardy. The mother of John F. Botts was Catherine Exline, a sister of
Levi Fxline, the pioneer of Paso Robles (whose life the reader will al.so find
sketched in this work) ; and she also was born in the county of Coshocton.
She and her hu.-^band died near Sullivan, Ind. Of their marriage eight children
were born, six of whom, as follows, reached maturity: John Franklin and
his twin brother. 1!. N. Botts, of Paso Robles: Flora' J., Mrs. T. F. Abbey,
who died at I'aso Robles : Catherine J., who became the wife of Michael
dersl. of Paso Robles, who also receives special mention in this volume;
Rosetta P.., Mrs. Pierce, who died at Pas.i Robles: and Silva. Mrs. Fortney,
who ])assed ;iway in the same town.

John Botts lived in Missouri u]) to his seventh or eighth year, and then
went to (jreene county, Ind., with his parents, and grew up on a farm, attend-
ing the i)ul)lic schools for several months in the year; but owing to his
lather's ill health, he had to shorten his schooling and undertake more hard
labor than is the lot of most lads. At the age of eighteen, he took the greater
part of sixty-nine dollars he had saved and bought a ticket for San Franci.^co.

I he hall-turbulent city still so largely in the making interested him, but the
tact that he had relatives at Paso Robles induced him to continue his journey
to the latter plarv, where he arrived with just a dollar and a half in his pocket.

He parted with almost his last cent ti> buy an axe, and began chopping wood

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 633

and clearing land; and with that ciccnpatinn he has since then always had
mure or less to do.

In 1877, in partnerslii|) with l.e\i ICxline. he located a claim in Oak
Flat : l)nt with brotherly generosity he afterwards gave over the title to his
sister. The next year, he homesteaded one hundred sixty acres farther up
the Mat. and improved the place, clearing one hundred acres. At first he set
out an orchard of twenty acres in peaches, for he was always greatly inter-
ested in horticultural development, and sjiared no study to learn the best
methods and the most economical means; and he succeeded in getting ten
acres into bearing. Strange to say, however, there was then no sale for the
fruit: and not finding his investment profitable, he in time sold the place.
He also cleared for others about one hundred acres. A summer was jiassed in
Fresno; and then he returned to Paso Robles and began all over again, en-
gaging in contracting. His next move was to Arroyo Oirande, and there he
owned two diflferent places, clearing some twenty acres and raising vegetables.

( )nce more returning to Paso Robles, he bought a hundred seventy-three
acres in the Summit district, which he now devotes to grain and stock-raising,
and to horticulture, lie set aside twenty-five acres for an orchard, which
is \\ell named the ".\ppIew(jod Home," because there is an old ajjple orchard
on the place which bears fruit of a splendid quality, large, well-formed and
of a fine flavor. The soil and altitude, together with the climate, make it
fine for growing ajiples, in which he is specializing. In 1911, Mr. Botts took
charge of the Coflfin place at Paso Robles, and there he ])lanted an orchard
of sixty-five acres to ahiKmds and twelve acres to Bartlett pears. His expe-
rience and knowledge of horticulture ha\e enabled him to accomplish favorable
results. The orchard is now ti\e years old; and it is the consensus of opinion
of people who have traveled through the almond districts that it is the finest
almond orchard in this section. It is show-n b}- real estate men as a prize
orchard when they wish to demonstrate the advantages of this locality for
the growing of almonds. He superintends this place, and at tlie same time
his family operate the home place at Summit.

During his residence in Paso Robles, on J'ebruary 16, 1887, Mr. Botts
married Miss Mary E. .\bbey, born at Stockton-on-Tees, England, the daugh-
ter of Thomas E. Abbey, who is mentioned elsewhere in this work. Mrs.
iSotts received her education in Indiana and in Kansas City, coming to Paso
Robles in 1886. Nine children have been born of this union : Flora, Mrs. J. J.
Thomi)son of .Arroyo Cirande ; Ethel, at home; John II., in charge of the home
ranch at Suunnit ; ( ieorge M., who died at the age of eight years; and William.
Milton, I'rank, luigene and \ictor, at home. Mr. Botts gives no small
decree of credit for his success in iiorticulturc to his faithful wife, who ha.s
always been ready to hel]) him with advice and encouragement. l"or the jiast
twenty years Mr. Botts has been a Socialist. He has served his community
as a trustee of the Oak I-"lat school district.

ROBERT M. PLYMPTON.— .\ resident of San Luis Obis|)o County
since l')04. coining here for the benefit of his wife's health. Robert ^L
I'lympton is now an extensive truck gardener of Arroyo Grande and vicinity.
lie was born near Nebraska City, Otoe county. Neb., October 12. 1871,
attended the i)ui)lic schools until he was eighteen years old. and lived at home
on the farm until he was twenty-one. Then, starting out for himself, he went
to western Nebraska, farming for two vear- in Redwillow countv.

634 SAX I.UIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

'l"ho last year being a dry (jne. he lost everything and returned home and
began working for wages as a farm hand, receiving twelve dollars a month
and board, until 1808. During this time he had saved enough to make another
start and rented a place near the old home farm, which he carried on for
three years with success. \\'ith his savings he went to Knox county,
Missouri, and bought one hundred eighty acres of land. He remained there
but six months, when he came to California.

^Ir. Plympton located in Santa Barbara county for a short time, then
came to Arroyo Grande and bought one and three quarters acres of land, and
for two years raised garden truck. Selling out in 1906, he entered into
])artncrship with J. E. Parrish in raising garden truck on twenty-eight acres
near .Xrrnyo ( irande. Six months later, howe\er, the partnership \vas dis-
solved and Mr. Plympton bought a small place and continued business alone,
ruiming a vegetable wagon to San Luis Obispo during the summer of 1908.
Meeting with success in this ^■enture, he sold out and bought his present place
of fifteen acres, one mile east of town, where he has five acres in garden
truck, an orchard of five acres and the balance in alfalfa and berries, carrying
on a wholesale business — the largest acreage devoted to this kind of business
in the valley.

Mr. PlymjJton is a member and past master of the Arn_)yo Lodge, No.
274, F. & A. ;M., and was a delegate to the Grand Lodge in San Francisco in
1915. He is president of the Farmers' Educational Co-operative Union, and
was a delegate to the State L'nion in 1914. He is a prominent member of the
Methodist Church, being a trustee and steward.

On March 10. 180<), Mr. Plympton was united in marriage with ^fary
P.rown, who was born in Knox county, Mo., and they are the parents of two
children : Harold and Eunice. Mr. Plympton is a man of public spirit and
strong character, honest and industrious, and one who has made a success
of his life work.

REV. F. M. LACK.— The history of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic
Church of Arroyo Grande dates back to 1881, when church services were held
in an old adobe house, but it was not until 1886 that the present church was.
I)uilt by Rev. Father Michael Lynch, a native of Ireland, who also erected
the church at Nipomo. He died in 1903. Rev. Father F. M. Lack, the
l)ricst now in charge, was born in France in 1861, educated in France and in
England, ordained to the priesthood in London and, in 1889, came to the
United States.

.\rri\ing in this country, he came to California and for about a year was
assistant to Re\-. I'ather MacXamce in the parish in Santa Cruz. The follow-
ing year he came to San Luis Obispo as assistant at the Mission and re-
mained there three years, during which time he ministered to the churches
at Cambria and Cayucos, and all of the coast section and at Poso. His next
charge was at Santa Ynez Mi>si(in. While stationed there he held church
in Lumpoc. Sis(|uoc chapel, ( iaviota (Las Cruces"), Los Alamos and Guad.v
hi|ie lor about fcuirteen years. .\t that time the Indian reservation numbered
over one hundred souls at Santa Ynez. In parts of the county where there
were no church cdilices, he held services in empty store rooms, hotels and
such places as he could find where there were accommodations.

In 190,^. he came to St. Patrick's Church in .\rroyo Grande, also serving
St. JMseph's Church in Xip,.mo and Guadalupe. The i)arishes of St. Patrick's

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 635

and St. Joseph's number about 2,000 adult memljers. It is greatly to the
credit of Father Lack that at present their condition is so prosperous. His
mission territory is limited to the boundary lines of Santa Alaria on the
•south, Edna and Oil Port on the north, the Kern county boundary on the
east, and the ocean on the west, including Pismo, Oceano, Hadley and Oso
Flaco. He has been most zealous in his work and is beloved by his con-
gregations. He is now in point of service the oldest priest in the county.
The experience gained while at the Mission and in Santa Cruz enables him
to meet almost any emergency that ftiay arise in his line of duty. Father
Lack is public-spirited and willingly co-operates with all movements for the
uplift of the people and the betterment of the countx .

JOHN C. FREEMAN.— The entire life uf .Mr. 1-recnian has l)een passed
within the borders of California. He was born in Rocklin, Placer county,
CJctober 11, 1888, the son of a pioneer of the state, who was a business man
of Rocklin for many years. The education of J. C. Freeman was received in
Oakland, where his father had moved to establish himself in business. He
graduated from St. Mary's College in 1905, and then entered the mercantile
business, engaging in diliferent vocations until 1907, when he returned to
Rocklin to take charge of his father's undertaking business, established many
years before. The four years from 1907 to 1910 were spent in Rocklin. In the
latter year a fire which practically wiped out the town, destroyed the estab-
lishment conducted by Mr. Freeman, and he then decided tu branch out for
himself in a wider field.

Coming to San Luis Obispo, in l')10, he purchased an undertaking busi-
ness which had been established many years before. His early training had
given him the advantage of modern and scientific methods ; and through
these, together with his painstaking care and courteous treatment, Mr.
Freeman soon made his influence felt in San Luis Obispo and environs; so
that today the establishment, of which he is owner and proprietor, known
as P. J. Freeman & Co., Funeral Directors, and long located at '>i^2 Monterey
streeet, is well and fa\-orably known throughout a wide area.

On June 4, 1<)1,\ Mr. I'Veeman was united in marriage with .Miss X'iolet
Mitchell, who was bcirn in Oaklanil, and of this unimi two daughters,
.Catherine and Jean, have l)een burn.

Since coming to San Luis Obispo. Mr. Freeman has taken a \ery acti\e
part in the civic and social life of the city.

ORRIN E. MILLER.— Through his connection with the interests of
Arroyo Grande as the leading blacksmith of this section, Mr. Miller has
become one of the well-known men of the county. He was born in Johnson
county, Iowa, July 6. 1870. the son of Isaac D. and Cadace r.Xndrews) Miller,
natives of Iowa and Pennsylvania respectively. The father served in the
Civil War, enlisting in Company D, Twenty-fourth Iowa Regiment, X'olun-
teer Infantry, and during an engagement was shot in the leg and made a
cripple for life. In 1872 he came to California, and the following year settled
in Morro and engaged in farming until 1877, when he moved to .\rroyo
Grande and bought a tract of six and a quarter acres north of the town,
where he is engaged in raising fruit and general produce. He is a member
of the Grand .\rmy Post and the I. O. O. F.

Orrin !•:. Miller attended school at Morro and Chojame valley, began
tin- trade (,l blacksmith with Joseph ]".ul)anks ..f Arroy. Grande in 1SS8.

636 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EWIROXS

worked for liini three years and then went to Hollister. where he worked two
years at the same trade : and from there he went to luwa, and followed his
trade three years. He returned to California at the end of this period and,
in partnership with his brother Walter, erected a shop near the creek, in
Arroyo Grande, where he has since been located and carries on a thriving
business. Mr. Miller also owns six and one-half acres north of the town
which is set to fruit and nuts, and etpiippefl with an electric pumping plant
for irrigating.

The marriage of Orrin E. Miller united him with Sarah Startzer. a native
of Iowa. They have four children: Hazel, teaching school in .Arizona, Ida,
Arline. and Harold. Mr. Miller is a member of the Odd Fellows and has
passed through all the chairs, and is also a member of the Modern Woodmen
of .-Xmerica. He is well liked in his community, where he is recognized for his
integrity and industry.

NIELS JOHNSON. — Xiels Johnson is a representative citizen of Tem-
pleton, and the pioneer of the wood business that has meant so much to every
farmer in this section of the county: for when crops were poor or there were
no crops at all, the timber could always be depended upon to yield a living
and pay taxes, and it was through Mr. Johnson that a market was found and
ready money was forthcoming. He was born in Naskoo, Denmark, March
21, 1850, a son of Johan and Maren Rasmussen. His father, a farmer and
blacksmith, was twice married, and Niels Johnson of this review is the
youngest of four children born of the first marriage.

Xiels Johnson was reared in his native land until he was nineteen, when
he set out for himself and came to America, locating in Oshkosh, Wis.,
where he was employed in the lumber mills on Wolf river for one year.
Then he went to Green Bay. and in 1871 came to California. He went to the
lumber section in ^lendocino county and worked one winter, and then came
back to San Jose and followed farm pursuits. In 1876 he was united in
marriage at San Jose to Miss Mary Jane Dunbar, a native of New York
.State, ."^he came to California with her sister. Mrs. Maria Carr, and lived in
.Mameda county.

.\fter their marriage Mr. Johnson went to ."^alinas. where he followed
ranching, purchased and improved a place near there, and then sold out and
moved to Castrovillc. He was one of the first men to ship wood from that
town to San Jose, where he found a market; he also bought land and farmed
for a time, but sold and moved to AVatsonville. In the early days in that
section the fruit business was a fiasco, for there was no sale for the fruit. The
best of land was selling for $250 per acre, which was thought the limit; but
it has quadrui)led since. In 1889, Mr. John.son sold out and moved to Temple-
ton and bought one thousand acres adjoining the town on the south. He
cleared some of the land. ])lowed it and put in grain, and carried on general
farming and stock-raising, with fine results.

.\ great deal of timber was on Mr. Johnson's land, and he cut a certain
amount lor wood each year and figured on a certain income from that source,
lie has also engaged in jjuying wood on a large scale and has found a
ready market in San Jose and San l-Vancisco. handling about one thousand
Cords annually. .\t lirst the market for wood was poor, but by dint of perse-
verance he has built up and maintained a regular demand, and this 5-ields a
steady income to those who are clearing their land and cutting wood. For

^ /^^^^A^^M^^n^

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EN\IRONS 639

ten years Mr. Johnsdii has supplied the Western .Meat Co., in San l-'rancisco
and Oakland, with white oak wood for sniokint;- their meats, lie considers
that the wood business at Templeton iias l)een the backbone of the cuni-
numity's prosperit}-.

Besides his home place Mr. Johnson farmed twelve hundred acres on the
Santa Margarita ranch about six years, and at another time had twenty-five
hundred acres leased on the Carissa plains, from 1898 to 1900, using a
combined liarvester for gathering his crop, and a cater])illar engine for haul-
ing and for plowing, besides using other modern machinery in the conduct
of his ranch work. In 1913 he sold his ranch and at once made another pur-
chase of nine hundred acres near Templeton ; then he sold si.x hundred of this
and still retains three hundred acres. He also bought his present block in
Templeton, where he has his residence and also a li\ery and feed stable.

To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson nine children were born. Ernest runs the
li\ery stable: Lulu, Mrs. Fritz Clausen, li\es in Templeton; Maria, Mrs.
I'.dward Anderson, lives near Templeton ; Emma, Mrs. \\'essel, is at Santa
liarbara; Edward stays on the home ranch; Harry is ranching east of the
town ; and Grace is at home with her father. Mrs. Johnson passed away in
April, 1913, and seven weeks later a son, Clayton, died at the age of twenty.
Maud died at the age of twelve years. Mr. Johnson has served as a school
trustee for many years. He is a member of the San Luis Obispo Lodge, No.
322, V). P. O. E. In his political affiliations a Republican, he was the nominee
of his party for sujjervisor of District No. .t two different limes; but while he
carried his own town, the greater po])ulation was in the other end of the di>-
trict and so defeated him.

Mr. Johnson is an enterprising man. He was one i>i the organizers of
the Templeton Mour .Mills Co., and a director from the starting of the build-
ing, for which the lumber was hauled from Pisnio. The mill was erected as a
full roller-process mill. It was expected that this enterjirise would build up
the community; but after operating for a few years, the company ran behind
and became seriously involved, and Mr. Johnson with two others, Thos. Pe-
tersen and Owen O'Neil, liquidated it. In all of his business dealings Mr.
Johnson has endeavored to follow the Ciolden Rule, and the result is that his
integrity and honesty of ])urpose are unquestioned.

ABRAHAM CHRISTENSEN.— A man of excellent character, well and
fa\-orably known b\- a wide circle of friends throughout the section of San
Luis Obispo County where he makes his home, .\braham Christensen was
horn at Bjellandsogn, near Christiansand, Norway, on November 29, 1850.
His parents. Christen and Anna (Olsen) Christensen, were both bom there,
and the father was a well-to-do farmer and the owner of a large pine forest
that was of great \alue. They had five children, two of whom are now-
living. Ingeborg, Mrs. .\nderson, died in Paso Robles ; Ole died in Temple-
ton: Kiddel lives in Minnesota: Nils died in that state, being killed by a
falling tree at St. I'eter.

.\brahani C luisUnsen. the youngest of the family, was educated in the
public schools at his home town, and learned farming as it was carrieil nn
there. At the age of twenty-one he went to sea, sailing from England to
St. Petersburg on the "Triton": and from that time his life was one of much
travel, leading tn almost e\ery im])ortant port in the world. Returning to
Christiansand, the "Triton" loaded rve for Bordeaux; then she cleared with a

640 SAX LITS OI'.ISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

cargo (if lumber, and again with wine for Germany. 'The ship was once frozen
in for four weeks, when all got sick from using river water, but recovered
after getting back home. He made two trips to Scotland on a coasting
schooner, and was with the barque "Callisto" for two years. At Buenos
Avres he left the "Callisto," and worked in that city until the breaking out oi
a revolution, when he left on a Norwegian ship for Antwerp. He then shipped
l)ack home and was in the coasting trade until 1878, when he went to London,
joined the "Jeanette" and went to Havre. This was the ship that James Gor-
(km Bennett bought for his Arctic explorations. On her Mr. Christensen came
through the Straits of Magellan to San Francisco, and on to ]\Iare Island,
where, in December, 1878, he resigned.

.\11 the coasters were laid up, and Air. Christensen went to work in the
Livernmre valley till trade started once more, when he sailed on the "Ivanhoe"
with lumber for San Pedro, and then back to San Francisco. Nearly all coast-
ers were laid up on account of the slack times, but he soon joined the schooner
"Alfred," making two trips to Mendocino City after lumber. He next made a
tri]) to Seattle on the barkentine "Modoc" and back, with coal. The times
were hard : and he then went to work on the Sutter street cable cars as a con-
<lucior. In the spring he was made mate of a coasting vessel and later was'
on the Merchants tugboat "Holyoke." While he was in San Francisco, he at-
tended night school, perfecting his English and preparing himself to take an
examination, which he passed successfully, and was licensed as a master and
pilot of tugboats. He was in the Merchants and Shipowners service until
18S6. when times became very slack and among others his boat was laid up.

I la\ in- been raised on the farm, he had always had a longing to get back
to the cciuntr\': so in the '-prin- cf 1886, with a comrade, Christian Tellefsen,
he came to Monterey and San Luis ( )bispo County on a recreation trip. They
were so ])leased with the soil and climate of the country and became so inter-
ested that they determined to locate land. Securing the services of Mr.
Minnctt. a surveyor of San Miguel, they located on pre-emption claims of
one hundred sixty acres each in \'ineyard caiion, about fourteen miles from
San .Miguel. About a year later, having proved up, he located a homestead
of one hundred sixty acres in the same vicinity. After placing his first claim,
Mr. Christensen returned to San Francisco and bought horses and machinery,
and then came back to the ranch, erected a house, dug wells, cleared the land,
and began farming and stockraising. He proved up on the land and cultivated
it many years, having a three hundred twenty acre ranch, and then sold and
located on the Nacimiento. Here he farmed three years, and then \vent to
I'aso Robles in 1902, where he engaged in farming and stockraising, and the
dairy business, and has made a success. He was faithful to his duties on sea
and worked his way to a master and pilot's license; and on land he has been
e(|ually faithful to his duties, for he has made a success of his labors and is
highly res])ecte(l by all who know him. He has served as trustee of Orange
^eliocil district in Monterey county, is a member of the Lutheran Church,

Mr. ( hristensen was married in San Francisco on January 5, 1889, by
Rev. ( ). Gp.nsberg. to Miss Grethe A. Andersen, born at Egeland, neat
Lilhsand. Her mother died in December, 1874, and her father was married a
.-eennd time, to Ingeborg Christensen. and in September of 1888 they came
with the dau;.iliter. Grethe. to San .Miguel. Mrs. Christensen has been a

SAN LUIS OBISr(3 COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 641

laitliful helpmate to her husband, always assisting and encouraging him
(hiring their early struggles and hardships caused by the dry years.

To Air. and Mrs. Christensen the following children have been born:
Anna Andrea, Mrs. Ritter of Paso Robles, the mother of one daughter,
Eugenia E. ; Emma Frederika, wife of Mr. Joe Freeman, a farmer of Paso
Robles, who has one son ; Christopher Albert, proprietor of Spring City
Dairy of Paso Robles; Laura Nicoline, Mrs. Rasmussen, of Paso Robles;
Crethe .\malia, at home, a graduate of the high school; and C)scar Frederick
johan, at home.

JOHN STUMPF. — A prominent and wide-awake business man, and the
owner of the Star Garage building in Templeton, John Stumpf has been
actively engaged in business and farming in this section for many years.
He was born in Bavaria, Germany, September 13, 1855, a son of J. A. Stumpf,
who was a well-to-do farmer and owner of three hundred fifty-six acres of
land in Bavaria. Two uncles of our subject were pioneers in 1849 of the
section now the site of Detroit, Mich., owning land there and becoming very
wealthy.

John Stumpf was educated in the' public schools and also by private
tutor in his native province. The family has produced some prominent
Bavarian educators. In 1877 he came to America, and in Philadelphia was
employed at railroad work until 1882. wlien he finally reached San Francisco
and there was variously occupied until he went to the mines in Tuolumne
county, where he followed mining for a time. Then he came back to San
Francisco and found work on some vessels plying about the bay. and later
for seven years became proprietor of a boarding house.

In 1894 he came to Templeton, where he has since been located. Tie was
interested in a dairy ranch of thirty-two acres in town and installed a pump-
ing plant, improved the place, sowing alfalfa, and continued dairying
until, .selling out lately, he built the structure occupied by the Star Garage.
Besides this property, Mr. Stumpf owns other business and residence prop-
erty in the town, and is also a stockholder in the First National Bank
of Paso RoI)les, and in the Paso Robles Mercantile Co. He is still interested
in mines in Tuolumne county. Always helpful, too. in building up industries,
he was one of the stockholders of the Templeton Milling Co. and was on its
board of directors for three years. He is a member of the Eagles, and in
politics is a Republican. He is well satisfied with his choice of a home, as
lie has made a success of his labors, and has won a host of friends and ad-
mirers through his strict integrity and honesty of purpose.

FRANK WITCOSKY. — .\ native son of California, and one who always
lias the interests of the community uppermost in his mind when it comes
to |)romoting every movement for developing its resources and bettering the
condition of its citizens, is Frank Witcosky, now twenty-nine years old, the
youngest cattle buyer in the state. He was born in San Francisco, July
24, 1888, a son of Adoljjh Witcosky, a native of Germany who came to Cali-
fornia in the early eighties, and followed his trade as a blacksmith in San
I'rancisco, where he now lives and is similarly engaged.

Althiiiigh born in San l-'rancisco, j-'rank Witcosky was brought to San
l.uis ()hispii when tlireo years old and received his education here in llu-
IHihlic sciiools. l-'or eight years.lie drt)ve a liutclicr wagon for (lingg l5ros.
Since he was ten vears old, however, he has been familiar with cattle in one

about 4.(J00

cattl

:ni(l VLTirlii'

i-s t

tlic linpcri:i

'.\ \a

San Luis (

)llisp

for the .un\

ernni

dairy cattle

wlii

cattle in th

e stci

wi-le acqua

intai

642 SAX Ll'IS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

\va\- "r anotlier, and it was but natural that he should turn t(_i buxing' and
seliin- stiick when he started for himself. Since 1913, therefore. Mr. Wit-
cosky has been ImyiuL; cattle on commission, handling large contracts and
making considerable money. At the age of eighteen he turned some big
deals that represented considerable capital.

He ships from 200 to 300 head at one time, and in l'U3 shipped in all

e. In the spring of 1916, he consigned ten car Icjads of calves

1 King City, and that same spring from ten to twelve to

lle_\- and Arizona, lie also acts as buyer for the butchers of

I. I'.esides stock cattle. Air. Witcosky has purchased horses

ent for use in war maneux'ers, and handles large numbers of

■h are shipped to Arizona. There is no better judge of beef

te than IVank Witcnsky nf San Luis ( )bispo. and he has a

ce tlin.ugh..ut tlic West, wliere he is well and favorably

cpert on stock and a con.ser\ati\e bu\er.

.Mr. W itcosky's marriage united him with Miss W'yss, who was born in

San Luis ( )])ispo County, and they have four children: E\elyn, I'rank, Alma,

and (lertrude. He is a member of the I'. P. E. C. Lodge of San Luis, and is a

l)o]3ular and public-spirited citizen.

GEORGE LAING. — A jirosperous fruit raiser and citizen of the northern
part 111" San Luis < )bis|)o Cnunty, George Laing is located about four miles
northwest (if I'aso Ivibles cm a fine sixty-six acre ranch. He is a native of
New r.runswick, born in Campbelltown, October 15. 1875, a son of Robert,
who was a farmer and grandson of Alex, a native of Scotland who settled
in Campbelltown at an early day and farmed. In 1883, Robert Laing located
in South Dakdla, where he bought a farm and operated it until 1891, when he
lioniesteaile<l mie hundred sixty acres in the Sisseton and Wahpeton Indian
reser\ali(in, where he and his wife (who was, in maidenhood. Catherine
Atkinson) still live. Mrs. Laing is a descentlant of English ])arcnts. whu
settled in Xew I'>runswick.

The third nf a family of eleven children, nine of whom are living, George
Lain- was reared, from the age of eight years, in South Dakota, attended
tile public sch.Hils ;ind when sixteen started out to work for wages on the
farms ne.ir hi^ himie when not engaged on the home farm. At the age of
twenty-one he took u|i a homestead of one hundred sixty acres on the Indian
reserxation, erected a house, broke the land and raised wheat, and al.w
rented adjoining land for that purpose. He was successful; and selling out
in 1907, he came to California and l)ought a prune orchard of thirteen acres
near Los Gatos. Santa Clara County, a jiroperty he traded, in DO'), for the
sixty-six acres he now owns.

Here Mr. Laing im])roved the land, cleared it and set out olives and
almonds, ten acres, and T'artlett pears, eight acres, while he reserves two acres
for loganberries and has the balance in grain and hay. On this land he has suc-
ceeded beyond his exj^ectations and finds a ready market for his crops. He
is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and is a Republican.

In .South Dakota occurred the marriage of George Laing with Miss Ella
Coburn. a native of Minnesota, whose father George was a native of Ontario,
and whose gr;indfather Coburn came from Scotland and married Eliza Bowl.
an luiglish lady. 1 le was a merchant tailor, in Ontario. ( leorge Coburn even-
tually settled in Ortonville. Minn., and later in Poi)e counlv. where he and

aykt^

(^ZA2^^

SAN LUIS OBISPO COL'X'J'V AND EWIROXS 645

his wife are now living. 'Sirs. Laing was a teacher before her marriage and
now substitutes occasionally in the schools. They have six children : Elma,
Ethel, Bertie, Dayton, Clayton and lulson. Mr. I.aing has served as schciol
trustee and clerk of the board here as well as when in Dakota. Mrs. Laiiig
is a member of the Episcopal Church.

MRS. JANE KILER. — Perhaps there is no resident of this county more
familiar with i)iuneer conditions than Mrs. Jane Kiler of Paso Robles. She is
the daughter of Lott II. Smith, who was a native of Pennsylvania, w^here
he farmed, and who later located in the lironx, now a part of Xew York City.
In IHCA he brought his wife and two children to California via Panama, and
settling in San Rafael, followed painting and contracting for many years,
after which he retired and died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Kiler, in
Paso Robles. One of his brothers, Sidney Smith, was a noted singer in New
^'ork Cit\-, where their father. Jnhn Smith, was a taxidermist and an expert
in dyes. The wife of Lott Smith a\ as Alice I lall. a native of New York, whose
father, John Hall, came from England and settled in the Bronx district. He
was an artist and painter in oil, and by trade was a stone mason. He died
in Xew York. One of his sons, Robert Hall, was a capitalist in Xcw ^'ork
City. Mrs. Lott Smith died in San Rafael.

( )1 the union of Lott H. Smith and Alice Hall six children were Ijorn,
among wiiom Jane was the third in order of birth. She was Ijorn in the Bronx,
Xew York City, and was educated in San Rafael, attending school and
church in the old Mission, where court was also held for a time. The site of
the Mission is now occupied by the I-'irst National Bank of San Rafael. In
1876, Jane Smith was united in marriage with Samuel H. Kiler, a native of St.
Joseph, Mich. He was a carpenter and builder, and was also engaged in the
insurance business, as well as in the sale of agricultural iinplements, until
1887, when they came to San Luis ( Jbispo County and located in Paso
Robl(;s, building a comfortable home and settling down in the new town.
Soon afterwards he homesteaded a tract of one hundred sixty acres five
miles west of the town, in the Encinal district, adding later by purchase
another ranch of like amount; so that they had three hundred twenty acres,
upon which they made improvements in buildings and fencing, and in the
setting out of orchards of various kinds of fruit, specializing in apples. At
the apple show in Watsonville in 1912, their exhibit of Northwestern Green-
ings took the medal against exhibits from twenty-eight counties. At the
Paso Robles fair, the same year, their exhibit was in the shape of a pen-
nant, reading "Paso Robles," the letters being formed with differently col-
ored apples. Here they took the prize on Black Ben, Arkansas Black, and
Northwestern Greenings. In l'M(>, Mrs. Kiler took the blue rilihon at the
Upper Salinas Valley fair on her Xorlhwestern Greenings.

The Kilers resided on their ranch until 1905, when they moved to their
home in Paso Robles, superintending the ranch work from their city home.
Here Mr. Kiler passed away, March 26, 1914. He was prominent in horti-
cultural affairs, was an honorary member of the Luther Burbank Society and
a member and official of the State Realty Eederation, and was engaged
for some years in the real estate and insurance business in Paso Robles. He
was long trustee and clerk of the school board, was a member of the Era-
ternal Brotherhood and the Congregational Church, and was a Republican.
It was ihrmigli his efforts that tiie fence was built around the citv i)ark as

646 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

it stands today, lie was always in the van in whatever tended to the building
u]> of liis liome citv or count}-.

-Mr. and .Mrs. Kiler had eight children. Harry served in Company D,
27tli U. S \'olunieer Infantry, in the Spanish-American War, and died in
the Philippines. .Mice, .Mrs. O. H. Brians, resides at Dinuba. Maud is the
wife of I'red Royse, of Washington, D. C, where he is employed in the pen-
sion bureau. ^lamie is the wife of Adolph Claassen, in business in American
I'alls, Ida. W illiam Justice resides in the same place. Benjamin F. is a
real estate dealer in Paso Robles, where he carries on the business established
by his father. He is specializing in almond-raising in the Encinal district west
of Paso Robles at an elevation of 1,900 feet in the frostless belt, where he has
about eight hundred acres set out. He is taking a course in agriculture at
the University of California College of Agriculture, to perfect himself in
the industry. He is also agent for the Pacific Nursery Co. of Oregon. Nettie
\"iola is bookkeeper in the Southern Pacific Hospital at San Francisco. ^lin-
nie Margaret is the wife of M. N. Yocum of Bellota, Cal.

Mrs. Kiler has been a member of the Episcopal Church for fort3-two
years, and in politics supports the Republican party. She is a w-oman of
much native ability, cultured and refined, and socially much sought after.
She is a member of various clubs and fraternal societies in Paso Robles, in
all of which she is a jjrominent and acti\e worker. She was president of
the Woman's Club, in which she has always been very active, particularly
in civic matters. She took the first steps towards securing aid for the State
Horticultural Commission in the exterminating of the pine weevil, and was
the prime mover in planting the state flow^er. the California poppy, along
the state highway in Paso Robles and its environs. Being public-spirited,
she gives of her time and means as far as she is able towards the upbuilding
and beautifying of her adopted city.

JOHN HARRIS OOLEY.— ( )ne of the best-posted horticulturists in
San Luis ( )hisi)o County and at this writing the superintendent of the
McL'hail almond ranch and the Dr. Akin almond orchard, John H. Ooley has
won a name and place for himself in this county and also in the state. He is
a native of Indiana, born in Claj" county, August 16, 1871, a son of Robert
and Eliza Jane (Letsinger) Ooley, natives of Indiana of Scotch-Irish and
German descent respectively. Robert Ooley was a soldier during the Civil
W'ar. After the war, he engaged in farming, and died in Indiana. He had two
brothers wh(j served through the war; and his wife had six brothers in the ser-
vice, two being killed in action and one afterwards dying from wounds.

The third- of five children born to his parents, John H. Ooley had the
advantages of the public schools of his home and the high school at Worthing-
ton, living at home and growing to manhood on the farm. In 1891, he
came to Paso Robles, California. He worked for Levi Exline one year on
his ranch, and then for the Blackburns as landscape gardener nearly four
years in I'aso Robles. after which he was with the University of California
i'.xperimcnt Station at Paso Robles for six years, the last tw^o years having
charge of the station. During this time Mr. Ooley experimented in the
growing and care of all kinds of nuts and fruits, and became recognized as
an exjierl on horticulture.

When the station was discontinued, he went to Chico as state forester
one year and was in charge of the station; but on account of malaria he re-

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 647

signed and returned U< Pasci Rohles. and lor two years was clerk in Mr.
Bell's store. I'Voni there he went to Salinas and was in the employ of the
Sperry Flour Co. five years, where he became bolterman ; and when the mills
closed down, he took up ranching near this city. Here he was in charge of
James McMillan's ranch at Shandon, where he had 1,600 acres devoted to grain
and stock-raising.

After three years he resi,L;ned to accept a position with the S. P. .Milling
Co., in Paso Robles, which he filled se\en months; then was with the Taylor
orchard one year, and in 1915 took charge of the .McPhail ranch of three
hundred twenty acres, where he has set one hundred acres to almonds and is
caring for them.

Mr. Ooley was luiited in marriage in Paso Rolilcs uiih Miss I'.ninia
Garran, who was Ijorn in .Missouri and came with her parents. James and
Eliza (Hodge) Garran, to Paso Robk-s. The father was a bridge car])enter
and worked on the building of the Pacific railroad in this region. Mrs. ( )oley
was educated in the grammar and high schools of Paso Roljles. Mr. and
Mrs. Ooley have three children : Bessie Gertrude, Elwood Harris, and ITances
Hell. Mr. Ooley is a strong supjiorter of the Republican party, and is a
Knight of Pythias.

MRS. DOVE EMERSON.— In all the varied vocabulary cined, nothin-
is more expressi\e of the enler])rise shown i)y Mrs. l)o\e Bennett h.merson
than the word "hustler." Her grandfather was Jo.seph McCubbin, a native
Kentuckian, who was one of the first settlers near Carthage, 111., and who
broke the wild prairie with ox teams. He married Kllen Lipsey, whose father,
John Li])sey, was a Revolutionary soldier and suffered the loss of a leg: he
lived to be one hundred three years of age. Mrs. Emerson's father was
Thomas Benton McCubbin, who was born near Carthage and became a
farmer and cattleman. He also was a manufacturer of hard-wood lumber,
operating three sawmills, and made a specialty of manufacturing coffins. In
the eighties he brought his family to California, afterwards making no less
than twenty-four trips back and forth across the continent, and now resides
at Fresno, at the good old age of seventy-seven. Her mother was Martha
(Cameron) McCubbin, also a native of Illinois, and the daughter of John
Cameron, who was born in Tennessee, of Scotch descent, and Elizabeth.
(Lee) Cameron, a sister of the famous "White Horse Harry Lee," father of
the illustrious (leneral Robert E. Lee. The mother was, therefore, a cousin
of the great Confederate leader, and she looked back with satisfaction to
many interesting events in the annals of her family. She died in l-"resno
county some twenty .years ago. Mrs. Emerson's uncle was James Cameron,
a member of the Home Guards in Illinois, serving at Carthage at the time
when Joseph and Hiram Smith were killed, .\ftcrwards. in 1830. he crossed
the great i)lains to reach the Land of Gold, and died two years later in Ilang-
town, now Placerville.

Three of the six children born to the .McCubbins are still living. .Mrs.
Emerson being the youngest. She was cradled at Carthage, and while yet
a little girl came to California with her parents, resichng for a while at
.Acampo, in San Joacpiin county, then moving to Shasta county, and later to
Red r.hifi', and Fresno. At Selma. Miss McCubbin was married to W. C.
I'enneti. with whom she came to Paso Robles, where she has since made
her home. Three children were born of this union: Clifl'ord Cameron, who

64S SAX LTIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIROXS

(lied at the age (if eleven; Lorena, who dietl when t\v(j miinths old; and
the baby, who died in infancy. In a railroad accident at Fresno, on October
1, 1909, Mrs. Emerson was injured, her left side being paralyzed, and she
seemed unable to obtain medical relief. In the end, when all other means had
failed, she was healed through prayer ; as a result of this cure, she has since
professed the religious faith of a Divine Scientist. An estrangement led to a
divorce, after which she began business on her own account, and bought her
])resent house, at the corner of Si.xteenth and Spring streets, -which she re-
modeled and improved by the introduction of hot and cold water and private
l^aths. and naiued it Casa de la Palonia. or "House of the Dove," making it
one of the finest and most attractixe rooming houses in Paso Robles. In
linkersficld, Xo\eniber 1, 1916, Mrs. Uennett was married to Zaza Emerson,
who is a native of Santa Rosa, California. His father, E. S. Emerson, was
l)orn in Alissouri, served in the Mexican War as a teamster, and came to So-
noma county, California, in 1851, and in 1868 to San Luis Obispo. He died in
Kern county. His wife was Julia A. Dunbar, also a native of Missouri. She
also came across the plains in an ox-team train in 1849.

Mr. Emerson was reared in this county, but since 1889 he has been en-
gaged in cattle-raising in Kern county, where, with his brothers and a
sister, he owns Poleta rancho of six thousand acres, located twelve miles south
of Maricopa. Mrs. Emerson is a member of Bethlehem Chapter, No. 95, of
the ( ). E. S.. in which she is Past Matron ; and she also belongs to the Re-
bekahs. In politics she is a Democrat ; but this party preference never pre-
vents her from lining up with local movements that have for their object the
development of Paso Robles into the splendid, up-todate town it is assuredly
destincfl to become.

JOHN B. TULEY. — A native son oi this county, and one who com-
menced his career on his father's ranch on the Estrella plains, John B. Tuley
was born September 27, 1875, a son of W. H. Tuley, of whom mention is
made elsewhere. He was reared on the ranch and attended the public school
in the Estrella district. He worked for his father until he was eighteen years
old, and then leased part of his father's land and. with his brother J. T.
Tuley, began raising grain, continuing the partnership for two years. Later
the brothers purchased a combined harvester to facilitate the harvesting of
their cro])s and added other labor-saving machinery to their stock on hand.

.After J. T. ']\dey left, John B. continued to operate the ranch; and as he
succeeded, he bought land of his own, partially improved it, and sold this
and again jnirchased, now owning one hundred twenty acres across the road
from his father's old home place and one hundred fifty-two acres near by, all
devoted to grain and stock. He leases eight hundred acres near his ranch,
which he devotes to grain-raising, having four hundred acres seeded to grain,
mostly wheat.

Mr. Tuley is a prominent rancher and citizen, and is public-spirited and
enterprising. lie l)clongs to Santa Lucia Lodge of Odd Fellows in Paso
Robles. lie is a trustee of the Estrella school district, the saine district in
which he went to school. He is a member of the Paso Robles Christian Church.

He was married in San Luis Obispo to Miss .Annette L. Skinner, a
native of California, who was born in Fresno county, a daughter of James W.
."^kmner. The latter came across the plains with his father, when nine years of
age. in the late forties, to Oregon, and in 1853 to Napa county. California. In

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENX'IROXS 651

1868, he :irri\e(l in Cambria, and later he removed to Fresnu eiuiiuv, remain-
ing until 1879. He returned to San l.uis Obispo County and became a
prominent farmer and stockman, and died on the Estrella plains. (Jf the union
of John R. Tuley and Annette L. Skinner four children were born: Williatn
Lloyd, Charles Ward, George, and John Beebe. Mr. Tuley is followini; in the
footsteps of his father and is making a name for himself in his community.
He is well known throughout the county, believes in progression, and has made
a success of his own undertakings. In jjolitics, he is an independent.

MR. AND MRS. HOWARD MALCOLM LINN.— A resident of t ali-
lornia since 1884, and of f'aso Robles two years later, Howard M. Linn has
been actively interested in the development of San Luis C)bispo Comity. He
was born at Chandlersxille. near Zanesville, Muskingum county. Ohio. Feb-
ruary 24, 1837, a son of Robert and Mary (Brown) Linn, the former born
in X'irginia and the latter a native of ]\Tuskingum county, Ohio, where the pa-
ternal grandfather settled, and where his son Robert grew to manhood and
was engaged in farming all his life. There were eight children in the family,
although only two are now living: Lucretia Linn, who li\es on the old
homestead in Ohio, and Howard Malcolm, of this review.

Reared on the home farm, Howard attended the public schools of his
]iK;ility and finished at the high school in Zanesville. He remained at home
until 1884, and then decided to try his fortunes in California. On his arrival
here, he went to Colusa count}^ and farmed for two years. In 1886 he
came to Paso Robles and entered the employ of the Southern Pacific Milling
Company in their planing mill here : he operated a planer about a year, and
then, with his wife, located on their present place, which was owned by
her, and here he has been successfully engaged in ranching since.

On October 6. 1887, at Park View ranch, the Stockdale home. Mr. Linn
and Catherine C. Middleton were united in marriage. Mrs. Linn is a native
of Indiana, born near Jasonville, Greene county, January 20, 1862. Her father.
Thos. Middleton, a native of Coshocton, Ohio, was a farmer in Indiana. Her
mother was Mrs. Rebecca (Exline) Middleton Stcjckdale, who came to Cali-
fornia via Panama in the fall of 1868, bringing her daughter Catherine and
accompanied by her brothers, Bernard and Levi Exline. For six weeks they
stopped in Eldorado county; and then they came on to San Luis Obispo
County, where Mrs. ^liddleton later homesteaded one hundred sixty acres,
the present Stockdale home, where she and her brothers camped the first
night they landed in this county. She afterwards married D. F. Stockdale,
and died .-\ugust 21, 1916, at the age of seventy-seven years.

Mrs. Linn was reared on the Stockdale ranch and received her education
in the jjublic schools in San Luis C^bispo. Estrella and Paso Robles. In those
ilays there were but crude buildings, and they were few in number; and
many who attended the schools did so under trying conditions. Mrs. Linn
entered the State Normal at San Jose and remained a short time; then, on
account of her health, she returned to Paso Robles. She afterwards pur-
chased tile (|uarter section where the Linn family reside, from Norvel Butch-
ard. who had homesteaded it; and here they have erected a new and modern
house, and are engaged in the raising of grain and stock. Later one hun-
dred si.xty acres were added to the original tract. In 1899. Mr. and Mrs.
Finn leased the ranch and moved to .\rroyo Grande, and bought six acres
adjoining the town, where they engaged in raising vegetables lor the following

652 SAX LnS OBISPO COUNTY AND EWIROXS

ten years with renuirkal)le success. They then returned to their own home
ranch, where they now reside.

Mrs. Linn has seen this county develop from an ahnost wild and unin-
habited region to its present productiveness and wealth — from the large,
fenceless cattle ranches, where the animals ran over a wide range, and only
the rodeo, or round-up, once a year to sort over and divide up the stock,
broke the monotony of life. Sheep were also scattered everywhere in large
bands. Finally came the transition from the large ranges to grain, and now
to orchards and fruit of all descriptions, making of the county a veritable
garden spot, where once people were led to believe that the land was worth-
less except for sheep ranges. Paso Robles has grown under her eyes from
a place with one store and a couple of houses to its present size, and to its
present importance as a commercial and educational center in the central
Coast section. She is keenly alive to its future, and with her husband sup-
ports all movements that ha\-e for their ultimate end tiie upbuilding (if the
Paso Robles section.

]\Ir. and Mrs. Linn have had four children, and three of them are living.
Edward O. and Othello C. are lioth graduates from the State Polytechnic
School at San Luis Obispo ; and Howard F. is a graduate from the Paso Robles
high school. All are at home assisting with the farm work. I\Ir. Linn has
served as school trustee for years in the San Marcos district. He was made
a Mason in Chandlersville Lodge in Ohio and now holds his membership
in Arroyo Lodge, at Arroyo Grande. Roth himself and wife are well and
favorably known in the Paso Robles and Arroyo Grande sections of the county,
and ha\e hosts of friends.

KARL BEVAN GLASS.— Every community is fortunate in having a
number of young and enterprising men wh(_ise lil^eral ^■iews and warm-
hearted action form an attractive bond of contact with strangers who come
within the community gates. Such a man of winning personality is Karl P..
Glass, whose grandfather, the late Dr. D. Glass, who died in 1913, was a
prominent physician and surgeon and distinguished himself during the Civil
War in the medical department of the service. Karl's father was Dr. James
IL Glass, born in Kentucky, where he grew up and was married. He grad-
uated from Haltimore Aledical College, practiced medicine in Kentucky,
I'lorida and Kansas, and in 1885 came to California, following his calling in
Saratoga, Santa Clara county. When the town of Paso Robles was laid nut,
he came here and, concluding that it was the most desirable place he could
find, settled here and ])racticed his profession and helped to build up the city.
He died in December, 1914, at the age of fifty-seven years. He was always
interested in the city of his adoption, and served as a member of the board of
trustees, and at one lime was ])resident of the board. He was also a stock-
holder and a director in the Citizens P.ank of Paso Robles, and for some
years was president of that institution. His wife, before her marriage, was
Miss Mettie Hogg, a native of Kentucky and a daughter of Stephen Hogg, a
prominent attorney. Siie was an only child and was reared amid the refine-
ment of a typically Southern environment. She still resides in Paso Robles.

\\ liile Dr. Glass was li\ing at Saratoga, their son Karl B. was born, on
.Xjird 2.\ 1886. an<l wiu-n his parents moved to Paso Robles and he attained
sciiool a^c. he was -cut to the public schools in that town, supplementing his
course witli an attendance at Saint Matthew's Militarv .Academv in San

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 65.^

Mateo for three years, tinally finishing;- at tlie I'aso l';ol)les Ili^li Seliool. l-'or
a time he was in the eini)h)y of the I'aso Rol)les I.ii;lit and \\ ater Co.. where
he learned considerable about electricity ; and having matriculated at Heald's
Engineering College, he became proficient as an electrical engineer. He
worked at various places in California and finally returned to his home town
and was made manager of the Pacific Telephone & Telegrapli Co.. which
position he held for two and one-half years, when he resigned.

He again undertook electrical work in various towns, and soon was
placed in charge of the Midland Company at Paso Robles, where he remained
one year. He again toured California and Nevada: but in July, 1915, he
returned to Paso Robles and bought out Sutton's livery business, changing
the name to the Glass Livery and making it one of the best in this section of
the country. He also inaugurated a first-class truck and transfer system in
which the automobile plays an important part. This was found to be so satis-
factory that he closed out his livery and established an exclusively automo-
bile service under the name of the Glass Transportation Co., of which he is
manager, and which operates two trucks and several touring cars with head-
quarters in a remodeled building opposite the site of his former business.

Mr. Glass was united in marriage at Redwood City with Miss Mabel
Pate, who was born near Paso Robles, a daughter of Robert Pate; and they
have been blessed with three children: Dorothy, Martha, and James Robert.
In social circles Mr. and ]\Irs. Glass are deserxedly poj^ular. He is a member
of the Knights of Pythias and of the Chamber of Commerce.

FRANK J. LUNDBECK.— The senior nu-mber of the firm known as the
I'aso Robles Agricultural Works has l>ecn one of the upbuilders of tlie town
of Paso Robles, where for many years he has been connected with the leading
business interests. Frank J. Lundbeck was born in Kalmar, Sweden, Eeb-
ruary 17, 1859, a son of Nils and Ingri Lundbeck. His father was a black-
smith by trade and followed that occupation during his ;ictivc career. Three
of his sons came to the United States, I-Vank J. and i'eter, his twin brother,
and John : the latter, a carpenter, died in .\ustin, Texas.

Frank J. Lundbeck attended the public schools of his native town : and
when he was old enough he went into his father's shop to learn the trade,
which he followed until he was twenty-one years old. Then he came to
America and, locating in Austin, Texas, for about three years was employed
in the International railroad shops as a blacksmith. For four years there-
after he worked as blacksmith in the service of the contractor that erected the
state capitol building at Austin, resigning then to enter into partnership with
his brother Peter in the general blacksmithing business under the firm name of
Lundbeck P.ros. This partnership continued until 1887. when the brothers
sold out and came to California, and for one year carried on a general black-
smithing business at Fresno, meeting with success.

In October, 1888, they came to San Luis Obisi)o County, and in Paso
Robles bought out the old Erdman shop on Twelfth and Railroad streets,
where from a very small beginning they built up a large and profitalile trade.
Hy 1892. they had outgrown the little shop, and so they erected a large brick
building suitable for their needs, in which they installed the most modern
machinery. At the time of his brother's death, in 1898. Mr. Lundbeck took in
Carl E. Hansen, and the firm then was known as Lundbeck & Hansen : this
association continued mitil Mr. Hansen sold out and retired. Then C. \V.

654 SAX I. lis olUSPO COUNTY AND KN\IR()NS

Ainlerson and I'ctcr Larscn Ixiught an interest in the business, which had
grown to goodly ])ro]>(irti<>ns, and the firm became known as the Paso Robles
Agricultural Works.

The firm ha\c built u]) the largest business of its kind between San Jose
and Los Angeles, and draw their trade from a wide territory surrounding,
having work sent them by rail from sixty miles away. The business increased
to such proportions that the brick building could not accommodate the
machinery, and they erected their present large, commodious structure and
installed the latest and most modern machinery to handle every kind of work
that might come to them. The plant is run by electric power. They do all
kinds of repairing on all kinds of machinery, and also do wood work; and
during the busy season they employ fifteen experienced men. The old brick
sho|) was reniiidcled into a garage service station, fully equipped with mod-
ern machinery for the re|iairing of automobiles, and they have the agency for
the ( )verland and ^\"illys-I\night automobiles.

Mr. Lundbeck was united in marriage in Austin. Texas, with Aliss Hattie
Mathilda Rosengren, and they have had four children liorn to brighten their
home Walter is engaged in the plumbing business ; Arthur is manager of the
Pioneer (Parage; Lawrence is an office man with his father's company; and
Lottie is the wife of C. ^^'. Anderson, junior member of the firm. Air.
Lundbeck is a prominent member of the Independent Order of Foresters, and
has ])assed through the chairs. He is also a member of the Yeomen and the
Knights of Pythias, and a communicant of the Swedish Methodist Church, of
whose board of trustees he is chairman. It is safe to say that no one has a
wider circle of friends and associates in his community than Mr. Lundbeck,
wlio is respected for his ]>ublic s])irit and upright business principles.

VICTOR ANDERSON.— It would be difficult to find a man more em-
phatically in accord with the true western spirit of progress, or more keenly
ali\e to the opportunities awaiting the' industrious and intelligent man of
afl'airs in San Luis ( )bis])o County, than is Victor Anderson, who has here
built up a far-reaching stock business, and identified himself with the best
uiKk-rtakings in his district. C )ut of his own varied experiences he has evolved
the theory that any young man with ambition and correct ideas of life may
reach his goal, providing his diversions do not include gambling, drinking
or kindred destroyers of success and happiness.

A native of Sweden, \'ictor Anderson was born at Linkoping, Oster-
joiland, a son of .\ndrew J. and Inga Lovisa Anderson, natives and lifelong
residents ol Sweden, where the father was a large landowner and farmer.
Me owned s, ,inc eiglin-en hundred acres, and ran a water-power sawmill,
and niarki'teil hi-. Inmber in Linkojiing. After logging most of it. the i^lace
was inirchasfd hy tlie gcjxiTnment and trees were planted in rows, and today
it is again a forest reserxr.

as the third child in a family of seven. He was born
is brouohi uji at home, and went to the juiblic schools
ition until May, 18S3, when lie came to the United
nion county, la., where he worked on a farm for two
i^ola, Polk county. Neb., and worked one year; and then
county, Kan., and remained two years, when he de-
iii.-i. In 1S89 he located in Paso Robles. He purchased
ilier;itcd it with success for nearlv eight vears, when he

icto

r All

i.lers

. ni w

jai

mar

y 18

, 1,X(,

.^ w;

■-uit

, <.f

an >.

■due;

St;

aiK

1 set

lied

in L'

ars.

e \\ei

lit to

Osc

in-

led

>ved

.me

Sher
to C;

man

llifol

;uu-

•ar t.

iwn

and ,

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 655

SLilcl it at a good profit. In the meantime, he had bought his present place of
line hundred eight acres. He moved onto it and began clearing the place and
erecting buildings suitable for his stock. Here he built a comfortable resi-
dence. The place is located on a hill overlooking the Salinas valley, making
a splendid view ; hence its name — Fair \'ie%v Farm.

Since locating on his ranch. Mr. .Anderson has made a specialty of breed-
ing fine blooded horses for draft ; and with this idea in mind, he went East
and purchased'from the importers, in 1909, the stallion Lampion, a beautiful
Percheron, weighing two thousand one hundred ixnmds, which was a prize-
winner in France as well as here, antl is ami mi.; the finest horses ever brought
to the coast. Soon afterwards, .Mr. .\nderson bought the imported mare
Cocodette, weighing two thousand pounds, which was also a prize-winner.
The bringing of this pure Ijreed has been of much im])ortance to the farmers
I if this section, and has resulted in imiiri:i\ing the stock very materially. Tie
owns the pure-bred mares Marietta and \'iiilet, each weighing idxnU nineteen
hundred pounds.

Mr. Andersnn \\as married in Paso Robles to Miss Emma C. Nelson,
who came with her jiarents from Iowa to Paso Kobles. Her father and
mother, Henry and Johanna Nelson, nati\es of Sweden, settled in Iowa, and
came to California in 1887. Her father died, and her mother still owns her
home ranch in this county. Mr. and ^frs. .\nderson are members of the
Methodist Church, and he is a member of the official board. Mr. .\ndcrs<in
is also a member of the California Horse P>reeders' Association and is much
interested in every detail of the stock business that may contribute tn its bet-
terment. In ])olitics he is a Kejiublican.

CHARLES W. ANDERSON.— The junior member of the company
known as the Paso Robles Agricultural \\'orks and an energetic and thrifty
man of business. Charles W. .\nderson has won a ])lace in the commercial
life of .San Luis Obispo County, where he is well and favorably known. He
was born on .April 6, 1874, in Laholm Ilalland, Sweden, a son of N. P. .\n-
derson. a contractor and builder, and owner of a planing mill in his home
town, where he successfully carried on a prosperous business for many years.
Charles W. was educated in the jiublic schools of his home city and early-
showed an aptitude in handling tools. At the age of fourteen he concluded
he could start out for himself, and decided that he would come to .America.
He went to Minneapolis, Minn., in October, 1888, and there worked at the
carpenter's trade two years ; then he came to San Francisco and took up the
blacksmith's trade, following it there and in San Jose. He followed black-
smithing, the machinist's trade and horseshoeing in San Jose until 1910,
when he came to Paso Robles and purchased the interest of Mr. Hansen in
the firm of Lundbeck & Hansen, the name being changed to its present title
f)f the Paso Robles .Agricultural A\'orks, with Mr. .Anderson as manager.
The business increased ra])idly, and their cpiarters becoming too cram])cd,
they erected, in 1913. their present commodious building. Air. .Anderson plan-
ning the construction of it. It is 5O.\110 ft., with a wing 20.x30. and occujnes
two floors. Modern machinery, operated by electric ]iower. is installed, and
every convenience to facilitate the conduct of the business has been carefully
attended to. They can make repairs on any kind of machinery, no matter
how complicited ; and they draw custom from a wide area. The old building is
e(|nip]ied with machinery suited to rei)airing automobiles, and is used as a

656 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS I

modern garage and service station, knnwn as the "Service Garage." Their
horseshoeing department has become popular, and for three months in the \

year they shoe on an average forty-two horses a day, and have shod as many \

as fifty-two in one day. The company carries supplies of all kinds for farming j

machinery, as well as implements of every description.

With Hiram Taylor and John Van \\'ormer. Mr. Anderson built the j

I'aso Robles Athletic Park, with a standard track and l:)aseball diamond; on :

the latter the Chicago White Sox trained for two seasons, and the Seals of i

San I'rancisco, one season. It is said to be the finest athletic park in the i

county and a credit to the coast country. The park has lately been taken |

o\er by the Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce. I

.Mr. Anderson has been twice married. ( )n the first occasion the cere- j

mony took place in San Jose, the bride being IVIiss Selma Olsen, who was born I

in Nebraska : and by this marriage Mr. Anderson had one son, Carl Cliftord. j

Mrs. Selma Anderson died in San Jose. The second marriage occurred in j

Paso Robles, when he was united with Lottie L. Lundbeck, daughter of Frank i

J. Lmidbeck. mentioned elsewhere in this work. Mr. Anderson is a member 1

of the Knights of Pythias ; Fraternal Brotherhood, of which he served as 1

treasurer for several years ; Modern Woodmen of America ; and the Pythian ;

Sisters. He is a prominent worker in the Chamber of Commerce, of which !

he served as \'ice-president two years, and as director four years. Mr. An- j

derson and his wife have a wide circle of friends, among' whom they are |

lio])ular. He is a progressive citizen, a supporter of all public movements j

and a booster for Paso Robles. \

ANTON MADER.— It may be that the desire to maintain the tra- j

ditions of an enviable ancestry has influenced the life of Anton Mader, for |

hi-, family were among the oldest of canton Schaffhausen, Switzerland, where ]

he was horn in the village of Schleitheim, November 14. 1858. His father, j

.\mon .Mader, who died in 1861. was a forester and had been reared on the ]

farm. Anton Mader, Jr., attended the public school until he was fourteen; )

tlu-n he was a])prenticed to learn the tailor's trade, and served three years j

under instruction. He then worked at his trade in France, Germany and j

S\\ it/crland, for six years, and finally drifted back home, where he was j

employed as a tailor in Basel for three years. :

In .Mar.li. 1SX4, .Mr. Mader came to this country and located in South !

( liicai^o; ihen went ti> lUoomington, where he took out his first citizenship :

papers ; and then drifted westward into Little Rock and Fort Smith, Ark. '

i'or thirteen years thereafter he ran a shop of his own at Hot Springs, Ark.,
selling out in 1897 to go to Alaska. j

Leaving Taconia, January 20, 1898, on the S. S. "Corona," with a year's j

supplies and a stork of clothing, he was shipwrecked off Louis Island, near '

I'"t. Wrangle, when three days out, and lost everything, although all the j

l)assengers were safely landed. Mr. Mader gave up his trip and returned to j

Taconia. From there he came on down to San Francisco in February, 1898, j

where he was employed at his trade on Montgomery street for three years. j

In February, 1901, he came to Paso Robles and opened a tailor shop. Within |

eighteen months he enlarged his sho]) and ojiened a clothing and gents' fur-
nishing store; and for fifteen years be has continued in the same location, i
building up ;i i;Mod business in this section of the county and becoming well '

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 657

llcsiiles his store. Mr. .Mader is interested in horticulture and lias twenty-
eight acres set to almonds, two miles north of the town, in which he takes
a great deal of pride. He was married in Hot Springs, Ark., to Hattie
Trimble, a native of Texas, who died two years later. He is a memljer of
the Knights of Pythias, and was for some years in the Uniformed Rank,
K. of P. He took out his final papers of citizenshi]) in San Luis ( )bis])o
Countv, and votes the Republican ticket. He is a tine e.xample of the self-
made man and his success is worthy of record.

LYMAN BREWER.— The keen and far-seeing judgment which led .Mr.
Brewer to cast in his lot with the far West, also led him to make investments
in property here, and to become a factor in the upbuilding of Paso Robles.
He was born in Buffalo, N. Y., July 31, 1859. a son of Frederick H. and Re-
becca (Holmes) Brewer, natives of Norwich, Conn., and Troy, N. Y., re-
spectively. The father was for many years a general merchandise broker
and insurance agent at Buffalo, -who later retired to ]\Iystic, Conn., where
he and his wife now live in the enjo}-ment of a well-earned rest. They had
four daughters and one son.

Lyman Brewer, when a lad of se\en, settled with his parents in .Mystic.
Conn., and there attended the public schools, graduating finally from the
high schiHil. In 1.S76, he came to California and stopped witii an uncle.
A. L. Brewer, who was proprietor of the St. Alatthews iMilitary School in
San Mateo, and here young Brewer finished his education in 187''. when lie
graduated.

After his graduation from the military school, Lyman Brewer entered the
employ of the Southern Pacific Railway Co. as assistant agent at San Mateo,
and while there he learned telegraphy. He was soon transferred to San Fran-
cisco and made freight bill clerk for the Coast division in the offices at Fifth
and Townsend. When the railroad was completed to Templeton, in 1886,
Mr. Brewer was sent there as agent for the comjiany. and also l)ccanie agent
for Wells-Fargo Express Company. The station was located in a box-car
until the building was completed for that jiurpose.

In 1892, he resigned from the Southern Pacific Co. and came to Paso
Robles and accepted a position as assistant cashier in the Citizens Bank. At
the end of seven years he resigned, to become agent for \\'ells- Fargo Express
Co. in that city, which position he has held ever since, while he has built up a
large and paying business for the company. Besides attending to the express
l)U-ines,s, .Mr. j'.rewer acts as agent for several insurance companies, and is a

Since becoming a resident of Paso Robles he has taken a very active part
in public affairs and served two terms as city trustee, and for four years as
president of the board. He also servetl as a member of the board of school
trustees for thirteen years: and in 1900 he was appointed Justice of the Peace
to fill a vacancy and has been re-elected to the office each successive election
since. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Paso Robles.

Mr. Brewer is prominent in lodge circles. He was made a Mason in Paso
Robles Lodge, No. 286, F. & .\. M.; is a member of Santa Lucia Lodge No.
350, T. O. O. F., of which he is Past Grand, and represented the lodge at the
Grand Lodge several times; is a charter member and past Chancellor Com-
mander of Paso Robles Lodge No. 14, K. of P.: and is a charter member and
past officer of the Modern Woodmen of .\nierica.

658 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD ENVIRONS

Mr. i'.rcwcr was married in San Francisco to Miss Eva Cross, a native
of that city, and a daughter of Thomas Cross, a pioneer mining man of this
slate. Mr. and Mrs. Brewer have had four children born to them: Irene,
Mrs. McConnell of Parkfield : Ruth. Mrs. Homer Hatch of Paso Robles;
Frederick ; and Lyman, who died in 1913, and who was his father's assistant
for six years. Mr. Brewer has worked his own way to the position he now
occupies by perse^•erance and by giving close attention to details. He is very
jniblic-spirited. ])cppular and progressive, has a wide acquaintance throughout
the coast section, and is one of the most highly respected citizens of Paso
Rribles. He is a member (_>f the Episcopal Church. In politics he favors the
Republican part\-.

BERNARDO F. CAREAGA.— A native son of Santa Barbara county,
Bernardo F. Careaga was born on the old Careaga home place in Los
Alamos valley. January 14, 1886, the son of Ramon F. and Antonia Careaga,
natives of San Benito county of Spanish and French descent, respectively.
Ramon F. Careaga settled in the Los Alamos valley, where, in partnership
with his brother, John B. Careaga, and a Captain Harris, he became a suc-
cessful stockman and a large landowner. When they dissolved partnership.
Ramon became owner of over seven thousand acres, now the Careaga estate,
where he followed stock-raising and farming. He also leased land to the
Western L'nion Oil Co.. who were successful in boring for oil and now have
over forty wells.

Ramon and his wife leased their ranch and retired to San Jose, where he
died in 1915, and where the widow now resides. Their family numbers
eleven children. Louis S. resides in Santa Barbara; Ramon, John F., and
Mrs. Eleanor Carr are of San Jose; Bernardo F. is the subject of this review;
Charles resides on the ^^'estern Union lease ; and Antonio, James, Rita, Evan-
geline and Angela are all of San Jose.

Ben Careaga, as he is familiarly known, was educated in the public
schools and at the Santa Barbara Business College. From a lad he learned
to ride after stock and to care for cattle, remaining with and assisting his
lather until eighteen years of age. Then he and his brother, J. F. Careaga,
ran their father's ranch on shares until his death, when they leased the whole
ranch and continued farming and stock-raising.

He is now specializing in raising beans, as well as in stock-raising, and
the breeding of horses and Durham and Hereford cattle. He has a splendid
herd on the place, his brand being the combination HS. He puts in about
two hundred acres of beans each year, and in 1916 he raised over fourteen
hundred sacks. He has demonstrated his ability as a successful farmer,
and keeps the land well cultivated and in good condition.

Mr. Careaga was married at Santa Ynez on December 20, 1911, to Miss
Augusta l-.mma Hawkins, who was born near Galveston, Tex., and came
when a l)abc with her parents to the Pacific Coast. She is the daughter
of James l.conid.is and Eloise (Booth) Hawkins, natives of Georgia and
Alabama, respectively, who came of old Virginia stock. They were married
in lexas, wjurc Mr. Hawkins was a cattle raiser until he removed to eastern
< Jregon. and thence to Santa Barbara county. He is now proprietor of an
"il station in Santa Barbara. His wife passed away in 1908. Of this
union tlure were light children: Pearl, Mrs. \'ance of Santa Barbara: Dr.
Jame- L,. a physician in Chicago; Homer L., of Santa Barbara; Augusta

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EN\TRONS 661

Emma, Mrs. 11. F. Careaga ; Susan. Mrs. \'aiu-e of Santa i'.arbara: ^^yrt!e,
Mrs. Charles -M. Careaga of this valley: Hoke .M. and Theme, who are en-
gaged in the auto-livery business in Sanla I'.arbara.

Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Careaga ha\e Iwm .•iiiidren, William Bernard and
Eugene Francis.

Mr. Careaga is highly esteemed b\' e\ery<ine for his integrity and hon-
esty of purpose; and both he and his estimable wife arc well recei\ed and
well and favorably knc^wn throughout tiie central Coast region.

HIRAM S. CAHILL. — Doubtless his quick, keen judgment nf men and
afifairs has had much to do both with the business success and with the per-
sonal popularity of Hiram S. Cahill, the extensive dealer in cattle. However
that may be, there is no denying that everyone who makes the acquaintance of
this native son is impressed with his geniality and magnetism. He was born
in San Jose on October 7, 1871. His father was John Cahill, a native of Indiana
and a "forty-niner." The elder Cahill crossed the plains to California when
he was only seventeen years old, in the usual ox train, and exposed to all the
dangers and privations of the time ; and after mining a while in the northern
part of the state, he took to stock-raising. On a trip back to Missouri he was
married, at St. Louis, to Miss Dora Spratt, a native of that state, and by
way of Panama they came to their California ranches, finally establishing a
residence in what was then a part of Fresno county, but now belonging to
Kings. As a cattleman John Cahill became quite successful, driving his herds
to San Jose and San Francisco markets. About 1872, he removed his head-
quarters and residence to Monterey county, ten miles east of Parkfield. where
he conducted a cattle business until his demise, which occurred in 1890, when
he was fifty-six years old. He was a member of the Masonic lodge in San
Jose. After his death his widow continued to manage his estate with the aid
of her two sons until she moved to San Jose, where she still resides. Her sons
then took charge of the estate. Four sons and three daughters, all living, are
children of this family: Hiram S., the subject of this sketch; Harry and
ITank, who are in Arizona; Cora and .-\da, who are at San Jose: \\'illiam,
will I is a f.irnier in Kings county ; and Clara, who teaches at Oakland.

While a lad on the ranch Hiram Cahill attended the public school, after
which he entered Chestnutwood Business College at Santa Cruz, from which
he was graduated on February 20, 1891. He had learned the cattle business
w hile at home ; and his father dying when he was nineteen, he returned to the
ranch and until 1896 assisted the rest of the family on the farm. In that
year he started a stock business for himself, leasing the old home ranch and
managing as many as five thousand acres, besides a large range where he had
about eight hundred head of cattle. At the sale of the old Cahill jilace, in
1906, he accejited a |)osition as foreman of the Topo ranch, near King City,
where he had charge of thirteen thousand acres, the property of James F.
Dunne; and this ranch he continued to su])ervise for three years.

When he resigned, he engaged in the cattle business in Kings county,
leasing a ranch niuil 1915, wdien he formed his j)resent partnership witli H.
Taylor in the tirm df Taylor & Cahill. Thereupon they leased the Sargent
randi of fourteen thousand acres at P.radley, Monterey county, wliicii they
have stocked with cattle, bringing train loads from Mexico and Nevada.
This ranch is equip])ed with a shipping corral and siding, and is up to date
ill every respect.

662 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

In 1''13. Air. Uahill ]iurchase(l his elegant residence at the corner of
iMiurtecnili and i'ine streets, I'aso Robles, and there he resides with his good
wife, will' \va^ in maidenhood Idonia Ogden, born at Cambria, San Luis
Ol)ispo Cniintv, the daughter of William and Melissa (Vaughan) Ogden,
natives of Pennsylvania and Mississippi respectively. They crossed the plains
in the early fifties, separately, and were married in Visalia. Mr. Ogden was
a ])ioneer cattle grower and dairyman near Cambria. He was a member of
Cambria Lodge of Masons, and died in 1890, while the mother now resides near
Bakersfield. Mrs. Cahill is the fourth oldest of eight children, of whom
seven are living, and was reared and educated in San Luis Obispo County
until her marriage at Parkfield, on November 11, 1896. Mr. Cahill is a life
member of Salinas Ludge No. 614, B. P. O. E., in the circles of which he is
highly esteemed.

AMBERT C. MOREHOUSE.— The pnpular manager of the Farmers'
Alliance Business Association, Ambert C. Morehouse, is the son of the late
Charles D. Morehouse, of Paso Robles. Charles D. Morehouse was born ni
Broome county, N. Y. He removed to Michigan, and in that state he was
married. From Michigan he went to Iowa, whence he crossed the plains in
1852, with his wife and three children, in a prairie schooner drawn by ox
teams, locating at Diamond Spring. There reasonable success attended his
efforts as a miner, but he soon went to Sacramento to farm. In 1854 the
family located on a farm near Healdsburg, Sonoma county, where they re-
sided for fourteen years, eventually settling, in October, 1868, at the southern
end of Monterey county, where they remained over winter. Mr. Morehouse
then moved to Indian \alley, where he resided for a time ; but 1871 found him
taking u]) a homestead of a hundred sixty acres in the Summit district, and
here he remained for thirty years. When he retired, a wonderful old man at
the age of eighty, he prepared to enjoy himself at Paso Robles, and twelve
years more were granted him among his friends. Ambert's mother was born
in Indiana and ])assed away here in 1914 at the age of eighty-seven. Nine
Ijoys and two girls were born to this pioneer couple, their names and locations
being as fdllous: Harvey B., of Watsonville ; William L., of Parkfield;
Clara, nciw Mrs. C. S. (irove, who lives in Summit district; Franz, who is in
King City: Jnhn, nf Santa Maria: Frank, who re>i(les at Whittier; and
Lucretia (ii..\v Mrs. Findlev), Charles D.. |r., D. N., lul. S., and Ambert C,
ni i'aso Robles.

Ambert .M.ireh.mse \va< burn on January 16, 1877, twelve miles west of
Paso l\ol)les, in the Summit school district, and grew up on the farm. He
attended the iniblic scIkimI and even com])leted the first year of a high school
course: but he >(jnn ji.ined his brother in the purchase of .some eighty acres
adjoining the old iKinie, and planted the same to grain. The brothers worked
together until l''(Jl. when they sold the improved farm and moved to Paso
koliles, where tlicy opened a harness shop, which they conducted for two
years. When they dissolved partnership, Ambert Morehouse went into the
employ of the h^armers' .Alliance Warehouse, where he remained for about a
year, after which he was engaged as a clerk in Bell's store. Two years later
he was back in the warehouse, and after another two years he was clerking
in the i^mporiuni.

Something better was in store for Mr. Morehouse, however. At the end of
twelve months he was made foreman, and l)v March, l')l.^i, manager of the

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 663

l-armers' Alliance Business Association, wliich had been established in June,
1891, and is justly regarded as one of the ])illars in the commercial stability
of Paso Robles. In preparation for this responsible position, Mr. Alorehouse
for some time worked under the former manager, and also pursued and suc-
cessfully completed a business course in the International Correspondence
School of Scranton, Pa.

At the old Mission town, San Luis Obispo, in l'XJ6, Anibert Murelmuse
led to the altar Miss Florence M. Heaton, a nati\-e of Indiana, and a daughter
of the well-known citizen, P. A. Heaton ; and today their children, Lawrence,
Elmer, Evelyn, Marion, Raymond and David, give brightness to the home,
which is in their own residence, built by Mr. Morehouse, at the corner of
Seventeenth and Park streets. Their religious affiliation is with the
Christian Church. In fraternal life, Ambert Morehouse joins with the
Knights of Pythias, of which he is a past chancellor commander, and district
deputy grand chancellor. He sits in the high councils of the Republicans,
having ser\-ed as a member of the executive committee of the county central
committee.

MICHAEL SHINNERS.— A native of good old Tipperary, Michael
Shinners was educated in the schools of Ireland. Coming to the United
States as a young man, he made his way to the state of Michigan, where he
had a brother. His first employment was with the railroad; but hearing of
still more golden opportunities in California, he came to the Coast in 1877,
getting sidetracked, temporarih", in Oregon, where he put in seven years as
foreman for the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Co., staying with them until
the completion of their road. Thereupon he returned to California and
entered the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Co. ; and the superin-
tendent being quick to see both native talent and experience, Michael was
made road-master of the division having Paso Robles for its headquarters.

In this position he remained many years, when he was transferred to
the San Joaquin district, of the same railroad, and for nearly three years
had his headquarters at Tulare. From there he was transferred to Ventura,
still working in the same capacity, and he was road-master of the Bakers-
field division when he resigned in 1906. About 1900, before being transferred
from the Paso Robles division, he received a gold medal from the Southern
Pacific Railroad Co. for the best section on the entire Coast.

Having always kept a home at Paso Robles, he returned here to live,
and never having lost his confidence in the town's future, he purchased more
property and developed his realty interests. He built his handsome resi-
dence, and he also built the Opera House building, at the corner of Thirteenth
and Park streets, still a part of his estate. He died at Paso Robles, on May /,
1910, in the fifty-eighth year of his age, and was mourned as a good citizen.
a stanch Democrat, a wise family man and a kind neighbor.

On February 9, 1886, at San Francisco, Michael Shinners was mar-
ried to ^liss B. W. Tracy, a native of Kildare, Ireland, who came to San Jose
with her brother in 1873. In addition to the town realty just referred to,
•Mrs. Shinners owns a good grain farm of four hundred acres on the Estrella
plains. With her at the old home resides her niece, Mary Bergin. A member
of the Catholic Church and of its ladies' societies, Mrs. Shinners is a hos-
pitable, affable and kind-hearted woman of recognized business acumen,
strict integrity, and good, common sense.

664 SAX lAIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

KNEPPEL BROS.— Whoever has knocked about a little on the Con-
tinent in Europe cannot have failed to be impressed with the gigantic stature,
the superb and comely muscular form, and the marvelous strength of the
Uelgian horses, so extensively used in other countries than the little
kin.i^dom from which the breed takes its famous name. That this perhaps
unc<|ualled breed of horse-flesh has at last, and successfully, found a place
in the natural history of California, is due in no sinall degree to the bold
enterprise and high ideals of the Kneppel brothers, of Adelaida, who some
years ago determined to raise the standard of draft horses here and, in pur-
suance of that resolution, \-entured a good deal in the risk that has been so
well rewarded. Born near Hamburg, Germany, the sons of Peter and Cath-
erina (Zornig) Kneppel, farmers still residing in. the vicinity of the old Han-
seatic city, William and Peter Kneppel came of a family of eleven children,
some of whom have emigrated to America. John, for example, is a dairyman
at Clarksbtirg: Jacob, Alartin and Henry are engaged in the same line near
Franklin, Sacramento county ; Marcus is serving in the German Army in
front of X'erdun : Hermann, who was in the German Army, is now among
,the physically disabled soldiers ; Anna and Elsa are both married to husbands
who are in the German Army on the Russian front, while Claus was acci-
dentally drowned when very young. Like all German youth, the Kneppel
children attended and profited by the superior schools in the vicinity of their
home, tluis recei\ing at the outset of their careers the foundation of an excel-
lent education.

In 1886. William Knei)pel came to America. He was followed, two years
later, l)y his brother Peter, after which the other brothers found their way
across the ocean. I'or a while \\ illiam and Peter worked for their uncle,
jacol:) Schultz, an extensive dairyman at Franklin, Sacramento county, but
in 1890 they came to San Luis Obispo County, where they took up dairying
near the coast. They soon afterward located homesteads on the top of the
.Santa Lucia range of mountains, on the Adelaida side, but they found that
tiiis was not what they wanted, and so sold out.

in l''(J4, the brothers formed their jiresent partnership, buying the old
■'i)oc" i I arris ])lace of a hundred sixty acres, on the east fork of Las Tablas
Creek, where they began farming and stock-raising. Little by little they
added to this property by additional purchases, until now they own three
lumdred twelve acres alongside of a running stream. There are numerous
si)rin,gs upon the land, and the finest mountain water is piped from one of
tile springs to Ijoth house and barns. Not satisfied with this undertaking,
tliey ha\e rented ;inotiier ranch, and now o]5erate in all some four hundred
se\enty-two acres.

.\1I tliis land is stocked with horses and cattle: but the specialty through
which the Knei)pels have made themselves famous is their Belgian horses,
of which they ha\e the finest specimens in the county, and there is no finer
breed of draft horses in the state. Starting with the great advantages in
climate and in their rich adobe land, with its water facilities, Messrs. Kneppel
wisely selected the Belgian strain of horses as the best, and the visitor to
their ranch is astonished at the magnificent display made there of draft
Iiorsys. 'I'lu-ir first importation, at a cost of $2500, was the big Garrett
I'.clgian stallion. F.clectant. which weighed one thousand nine hundred twenty
I>ound<. and whicii has hoc. , me the sire of some of the finest horses in the

SAK LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND I-:NV]R0XS 667

country. After a lew years they dispdsed of him and Ixnii^lit the big- bay
Belgian stallion. I'axario ("Favdrite" i. whieh weighed one thousand eight
hundred fifty pounds, and also cost S2500. Kred to high-grade mares, Favario
became the sire of some splendid three-(|uarter Belgian horses. This horse
was sold in 1915, whereupon they purchased, at a cost of $3000, the big bay
Belgian stallion .Michel, with the imposing weight of two thousand two hun-
dred fifty pounds, ^\■ithout question, this is the finest Belgian horse, not
only in the San Luis 01)ispo district, but in the wide area of the state.

As a result, Kneppel Bros, now have some of the finest draft horses
in California, one half, three quarters, and seven eighths Belgian, for which.
of course, they receive the highest of prices. The only time, however, that
they have exhibited their horse-flesh at any public show was when they en-
tered some of their horses at the Upper Salinas \'alley Fair in Paso Robles,
jmd it need hardly be said tliat, as a reward, they were given the blue ribbon.

It is to men like William and Peter Kncpjjel that .'^an Luis Obispo County
owes much of its present substantial development : for by the nerve they
displayed, they siiowed that they were not afraid to venture in an enterprise
new and untried in these parts. As a result, they have established a prece-
dent which others are now following, and whicli means so much added
valuation to the horse-flesh in the couniy. to s;iy noiiiing of tiie additional
beauty of the animals. The Kneppel Ijrothers are very enterprising, liberal
and progressive along all lines, and both have always shown their willing-
ness to give of their time and means towards any movement that has for its
aim the upbuilding of the communit}- and the uplift of its citizens. In relig-
ious faith and preference, they are Lutherans : and in political afiiliation they
are true-blue Republicans, at all times leaders in jirogress and examples of
loyal and intelligent citizenshi]).

MR. AND MRS. ALFRED R. BOOTH.— Xot many years ago the civil-
ized and deeply humane world was thrilled at the news, flashed far and wide,
of a heroic rescue of shipwrecked sailors in the bleak .Arctic North, made
possible only by almost superhuman energ\- and almost unexampled bravery
on the part of those who went after the supposedly lost. Among those who
especially distinguished themselves, and to whom Congress gave a medal for
extraordinary performance, was Dr. Samuel J. Call, whose sacred dust now
mingles with the historic soil of Hollister. Dr. Call was surgeon to the
American Revenue Cutter Service, and was made a member of the Overland
Relief Expedition, sent out to rescue the whalers in the .\rctic Ocean, stranded
at Point Barrow, lie was a brother of Mrs. A. R. Booth, the esteemed resi-
dent of Paso Robles.

For eight long months, from tlie time when the revenue cutter left Cape
Vancouver, on December 16, 1S'>~. until the sturdy vessel returned to Seattle
on August 16, 1898, Dr. Call and his associates were exposed to painful priva-
tions and the most imminent dangers, and yet were able to minister botli to
those found sick and distressed along the route, and to the shipwrecked
crews of the whalers "Rosario," "Fearless," "Newport" and "Joan of .\rc."
Before he again set foot upon dry and safe land, Dr. Call had to travel over
snows and through rains and blizzards, on dog sleds and over great floes of
ice; and it is but natural that those of his kith and kin who have the honor
of claiming a blood relationship should be proud of what this intrepid man of
science thus accomplished. Dr. Call was a graduate of the Cooper Medical

66.S SAX l.riS OBISPf) COL'NTY AND ENVIKOXS

College in San i'ranciscci, and as an officer of the Overland Relief Expedition
was associated in the rescne work with Jarvis and Berthoff.

The late Alfred R. Booth was the second youngest of ten children, and
a native of iMount Clements, Alich., where he was born on July 28, 1835.
llis grandfatiner was an Englishman of a very old English family, boasting
its ctiat of arni>. who brought his family to Philadelphia and who died in the
Quaker cit.\' on September 8, 1816, at the age of nearly sixty-eight years. His
grandmother was Miss Elizabeth Benge, whose demise took place in the
Quaker city. .Mfred's father was the Rev. John Jiooth, of Chatham, England,
wdio was born on August 6, 1796, became a Baptist clergyman, and preached
in Michigan, where he died on July 18, 1869, his good wife preceding him
to the spirit abode on September 21, seven years previously. This wife, before
her marriage, was Miss Jane Ann Wisdom, a daughter of William Wisdom,
a native of Ireland. She was born in Philadelphia on December 7, 1798, and
died, as did her husband, at Fenton, Genesee county, Mich.

Alfred was educated at Kalamazoo College, and soon after finishing his
studies opened the first drug store at Fenton. In 1857, he came to the Pacific
Coast, via the Isthmus of Panama, and with John Booth, a brother, engaged
in the sheep business at Dallas, in ( )regon. Ten years were spent in the
state of Washington and in British Columbia in mining and business enter-
]5riscs. after which Mr. Booth went to Idaho and Nevada. Again he engaged
in the drug Inisiness, this time at Tuscarora, Elko county, Nev., and in 1878
he came to San Luis Obispo and bought out the Eagle Drug Store. This was
continued as Booth & Latimer's, and about the same time he started the
first drug store in Paso Robles, in reality before the town was laid out.

.\t first he opened his ap(jthecary shoj) in Patsy Dunn's store near the
hotel, and later he removed to the corner of Twelfth and Spring streets.
Eventually he sold his San Luis Ol)ispo interests, and in 1888 confined him-
self to the Paso Robles establishment. This, howe\er, was disposeil t)f in
tiiTie, and then Mr. Booth turned to real estate.

At IClko, in .\'e\ada, on Ala}' 7. 1878, he had married Mrs. Susanna (Call)
Ra\ ner, who was horn at Carpenterville, near Terre Haute, Ind., the daughter
of ("icorgc W. and hllizabeth (Johnson) Call, natives of Kentucky. Her
faiJK-r had come to Indiana as a farmer, later moving to Missouri, and in
18(4 had crossed the plains with a large company, joining Andrews and Hnrd,
the train being in charge of John llurd. ( )n the way they were suddenly
attacked by Indians, but the company was large enough to take care of itself,
and the sa\ages were repulsed. A ^mailer train, following just behind, how-
ever, and also soon after attacked li\ the -.anie h.-inds of redskins, was unable
to offer the necessary resistance, and e\ery nuMuber of the party, to the last
man, woman and child, was massacred. Coming to Boise City, Ida., Ceorge
W. Call engaged in farming and freighting: and while in Idaho, Mrs. Booth
]>nr^ued her education. Mr. Call spent his last days in San Benito county,
dymg at the age of seventy-three years; while the mother now resides there
at the viTv advanced age of ninety-eight. Of nine children, Mrs. Booth wa.s
the tliird yoiuigest.

.Mr. Bo(.th was ].rominently identified with real estate interests in Paso
kohUs and g;ue nincli lime and means to the building uj) of the town: and
there on March 16, 1906, he <lied, res])ected and lamented bv evervone. Mr.
Booth vas for f(,ur vears postmaster of Paso Robles, and' held 'that of^ce

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUXTV AND ENXIRONS 669

at the time of his death. A member and Past Master of Paso Robles Lodge
No. 286. F. & A. :\1., he also belonged t.. the Royal Arch Chapter and Com-
mandery at San Luis Obispo. He was a Re])ul)lican, and a member of the
Baptist Church. Four children survive, and are an honor to their parents :
Fred G. Booth, proprietor of the Eagle Pharmacy in Paso' Robles ; Frank J.
Booth, a mining engineer for ten years in Mexico; Eugene L. Booth, the
popular automobile manager here; and Clara J. Booth, who resides at home.

Since Alfred Booth's death his witlovv has resided in Paso Robles, super-
vising certain, business interests, and also contributing in whatever way she
can to the building up of the city. She worships at the Episcopal Church and
participates in its charitable undertakings.

EMANUEL DAVID KUHNLE.— Among those prominent citizens who
were interested in the de\ elopment of tlie resources of the section alxnit Paso
Robles in San Luis Obispo County, mention should be made of the late
Emanuel l)a\id Kuhnle. who came to tliis section in 1890 and made it the
scene of his activities the rest of his life. He was born in Schandorf, Ger-
many, June 23, 1863, in which country his parents, Frederick and Rosine
Kuhnle, spent their entire lives. Of their five children, all boys, four came
to the United States and two are living, Mr. Kuhnle being the second youngest
of all. He was educated in the pu])!ic schools and learned the trade of baker,
which he followed until he was eighteen, when he decided to see what the new
world was like, and what opportunities it held.

In 1881, he left home and friends, came to America and located near
Detroit. Mich., where he went to work on a farm. Desiring to make a home
for himself and go where he could get government land, in 1884 he home-
steaded one hundred sixty acres near Lyle, Klickitat county. Wash., and at
once began clearing and ini[)roving it. It was during the si.\ years of his
residence there that Mr. Kuhnle was married, the event being celebrated at
The Dalles, Ore., August 14, 188.^, when he was united with .Miss Sarah
Denney, a native of Platte county. .Mo.

Mrs. Kuhnle was the daughter of JetiVrson and Rhoda ( Burnett I Den-
ney, natives of Kentuckx' and X'irginia, resi)ecti\ely. Her father farmed in
Missouri nntd he went to Washington and bought a ])lace at Lyle. Return-
ing to Missouri again, he lived there until his death. There were eleven
children in the Denney family, nine of whom are now living. ^Irs. Denney
is still living at the old home in .Missouri. The daughter, Sarah, was brought
up in Platte county. Mo., was educated in tiie schools of that jilace, and was
married in Oregon, as stated.

In 1890, with his family, Mr. Kuhide came to San Luis Obispo County,
bought a ranch on Estrella i)lains. and improved it for raising grain. The
six hundred sixty-six acres that lie purchased is still owned by the famliy
and is ])eing sown to grain each year, and large crops are Ijcing raised. Mr.
Kuhnle i)assed away June 8, 1910. He was a Re]niblican in politics. He was a
friend of education and served as a trustee of the Estrella district for several
years, and was a member of the P>a])tist Church. After the death of her hus-
band, Mrs. Kuhnle continued to run the ranch until the fall of 1915, when she
leased it to her sons and moved to Paso Robles.

Into the home of Mr. Kuhnle and his wife six children were born. Fred-
erick J. is on the home place: Lottie B.. Mrs. Maloney, resides in the Estrella
district; l-'rank I. assists with the conduct of the home place; Dena D.. Mrs.

670 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Wulhall, is in San Jose ; Mary E. and H. Dwight are at home with their mother.
Mrs. Kuhnle is a member of the Baptist Church and is a Republican : and Hke
her husband, she is public-spirited and is a supporter of all movements for
the uplifting of the people and the development of the county where she lives.

ROBERT ALEXANDER RAINEY.— A prominent rancher and fruit
grower of the Cholame section of San Luis Obispo County, and a man who
has seen the western part of the United States grow from a spar.sely settled
section to one of great wealth and productiveness, Robert A. Rainey now is
in a position to enjoy life and look back over the hardships he endured with a
feeling that his life has been well spent. He was born in County IMonaghan,
near the town of Monaghan. Ireland. September 19, 1851, a son of Robert
and Sarah (Boj'd) Rainey. Robert Raincv was born in the same county,
and owned a large estate known as Caura Maxwell, and his home was known
as ^Nla.xwell Cottage. He was a fine horseman, and for years was success-
fully engaged in buying horses for the English government and in raising fine
stock himself. His death was the result of an accident while exercising a
horse, the latter rearing, and in the fall crushing him against a wall. Mrs.
Sarah Rainey was of Scotch ancestry, born in County Armagh. Ireland,
where she passed her last days. Six children were born to this couple, of
whom three sons are in California: Robert, the subject of this sketch. John,
and \\"illiam.

Rol)ert .v. Rainey. the second from the yotfngest child in the family, was
reared on the estate of his father and attended the public school and also
Armagh College. Completing his college course, when twenty-two years old,
he entered the office of a large linen factory in Armagh and w^orked his way
to the management of the concern. He came to San Francisco on May 12,
1875. with letters from his firm to some of the leading merchants there; but
he did not present them. He went to Los Angeles instead when that town
was small, and found work on a ranch near the town. There he had a chance
to buy property for five hundred dollars that is now in the heart of the city;
Rut Air. Rainey, like many others, could not recognize his opportunity and
so let it pass.

In the fall of 1875 he went to I\Iendocino county and was employed as
head edger by the Mendocino Lumber Co. in the Big River sawmill for six
years, after which he went to Reno, Nev., attracted by the big wages offered,
but did not remain. He traveled up through Oregon, Washington and Idaho,
finding plenty of land open for location, but did not take any. He was in
Seattle when that city was a small town ; and from there he went to Uma-
tilla, worked a season, and then came back to Eureka, Cal., by boat, and then
down the coast into Mendocino county once more, and was employed at
Cuffcy's Cove, Greenwood and Westport in turn. In 1885. we find him in
San Luis Obispo County, where he has since resided.

I pon locating in San Luis Obispo County, he homesteaded and pre-
enijned three hundred twenty acres of land and began improving it with
buildings and breaking part of it for grain. Before her marriage. Mrs. Rainey
had hdniesteaded one hundred sixty acres adjoining, and later he bought
another tract of one hundred sixty acres; so his holdings now aggregate an
entire section of land in one body. Here he has continued to raise grain,
horses, cattle and hogs. Besides his own land, he leased other parcels and
raised grain on a large scale and met with most gratifying success. He has a

5):

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 673

family orchard of se\eral varieties. I)esicles almonds, apricots, figs, prunes
and grapes, showing that almost e\cry variety of fruit can be grown in this
section. He was among the very first settlers in this locality and for a time
raised horses and cattle exclusively. He owned some oil land in the Devil's
Den country, but disposed of it. From 1892 till 1894, during the dry seasons,
he took his teams to Bakersfield and was employed on the construction of the
East Side canal arid afterwards on the construction of the railroad from Bak-
ersfield to AIcKittrick.

Mr. Rainey was united in marriage in San Francisco. April 13, 1SS7, wiiii
Miss Eva Alann, a nati\e of St. John's, N. B., and a daughter of John ^lann,
who was engaged in the contracting business, supphang ties and logs
for railroad work. He came to Navarro Ridge, Cal., in 1870, and followed
his line of work ; and later the family moved to Albion, and then to Mendo-
cino City, where he died in 1903, aged ninety-seven years. His widow,
Annie J. Henderson, also a native of New Brunswick, and of Scotch descent,
now resides in Stanislaus county and is eighty-five years old. Mrs. Rainey
was educated in the public schools at Little River. To Mr. and ]\Irs. Rainey
three children have been born : Eugene A., who died in 1903, aged fifteen
years; Alice L, a graduate of the high school, and now the wife of Charles
Bush of Coalinga; and Vivian Boyd, who attends the high school. In order
to give his children better educational advantages, Mr. Rainey ]nirchased
a place in Paso Robles, to which he moved his famih- in 1890. and there they
have since resided ; but he still operates the ranch.

He is a member of the Odd Fellows and of the Presbx-terian C'hurcli.
Mrs. Rainey is a member of the liaptist Church. The family have a wide
circle of friends throughout this jiortion <if the county. Ijy whom llu-y are
highly respected.

CARL E. HANSON. — Among the foremost of the many st)ns of Sweden
who have located in California and have not only made a success of their own
work, but have taken a prominent part in the development of commercial
and social organizations of the localities where they may hiivc settled, is
worthy citizen Carl E. Hanson. He w^as born near Gottenborg, July 19,
1854, a son of Hans Inglebretsen, a farmer in Sweden, who came to ^linne-
sota and lived until his death on his farm. Carl was reared on a farm and
had the advantages of the public schools for an education.

In May, 1873, he came to the United States and located in Red Wing,
Goodhue county, Minn., and in 1874 began learning the trade of wheel-
wright, working in one shop until 1886, after which he turned his atten-
tion to farming in Grant county, purchasing a farm of two hundred forty-
eight acres. This he improved and farmed to wheat for five years, when
he sold out, and in 1891 came to California.

Locating in Paso Robles, his wife's parents having settled in W illow
Creek, he entered the employ of Lundbeck Bros, as wheelwright and con-
tinued with them until he.bought the interest of Peter Lundbeck. after which
the firm was known as Lundbeck & Hanson. There Mr. Hanson had charge
of the wagon and carriage work until 1912, when he sold out his interests
and retired to private life. In 1913 he bought his present place, a five-acre
block in Templeton with a comfortable residence, where he has a small orchard
and garden and is quietly enjoying his well-earned rest. He is a Republican
in politics and with his wife is a member of the Swedish Lutheran Church,

674 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND KW'IROXS

t)l which he is also a deacon and trustee. He has been a supporter of all
movements that have heli^ed to build up the county, and is a self-made man
in every sense of the word.

In Red Wmg, Minn., nn Xii\ember 11, 1882, occurred the marriage of
Carl E. Hanson with < lusta\'a .\nderson, a native of \ ermland, Sweden, who
came to Minnesota with her parents when she was a child of ten years. She
is a daughter of Andrew and Christina (Hendrickson) Anderson, who moved
from Minnesota in 1889, locating on a farm in Willow Creek, where they lived
until they retired and spent their last days with Mr. and Mrs. Hanson. Mr.
and Mrs. Hanson have had five children to brighten their home: Esther, a
teacher: Arthur, in San Francisco: Mabel, Mrs. Abramson, near Templeton ;
I'.ud. a Initcher at King City: and Carl, who is attending the local school.

HOWARD A. HAWKINS.— Possibly no other State in the Union has a
higher percentage than California of self-made men. A striking example of
this invaluable class is Howard A. Hawkins, who was born near Red
Wing, Goodhue county, in the vast and enterprising North Star State. His
father, Ole Hawkins, was a native of Bleking, Sweden, was reared in Skaane,
and came to the United States a young man, settling near Red Wing. For
a while he homesteaded a hundred twenty acres, and later bought the forty
acres adjoining, all of which he still possesses in his retirement at the
splendid age of eighty-three. Nature also dealt kindly with Howard's mother,
Kjersti (Nelson) Hawkins, who lived until December, 1916. Thirteen chil-
dren formed the family, of whom Howard was the fourth eldest, and twelve
are still alive. Tw<i brothers of Mr. Hawkins are in California: 1-ldward, who
resides in iModesto, and Elmer, who lives in Taft. Dividing his time as a
boy between the public schools and the life of a farmer in Minnesota, Howard
remained at home helping his father until he was twenty-four years of age.
In 1887, he came to California and located in San Luis Obispo County. With
him were a party of thirty-three, and a more promising set of pioneers never
identified themselves w^ith this section. They took u]i farming at Templeton,
and Howard remained there several years, raising grain.

I'or eleven years he rented the old Blackburn Ranch of six hundred
forty acres, south of Templeton and finally he bought three hundred seventy-
seven acres east of Templeton, in 1908. from the West Coast Land Co. In
the tall ot l'>10, Mr. Hawkins came to his present place, adjoining his other
land, C(im|)rising cnu- hundred fifty-three acres two and one-half miles east of
Tcmplelon, and rented it for a while: but the following year he bought it
and now owns in all some fi\e hundred thirty acres in one body — a fine ranch
with excellent buildings and many improvements. Cattle, horses and grain
arc a feature of the farm, on which a small combined harvester, drawn
liy twehc iinrses, is operated, being used also to do excellent service on
nciglibnring ranches. He is raising Soudan grass on his ])lace, and this he
cuts twice a year, gathering a big crop. In addition to his other ranciiing
• •I.eratiMns. lu- has a small licrd of dairy cattle, and this constitutes another
s. 'urcc .if income.

On Octol)er M. 1894. Mr. Hawkins was married at Temi)lcton to Miss
.\ni;in<la C. Larson, a native of Rysby, Sweden. She is one of three children,
Iw.. ot whom grew up, the other being Mrs. Paulson, ol San Jose. She is
a (l.-mghtcr <<] lohn L.arson, a Swedish farmer, who located in Longmont,
C ol.. ami grew grain tliere until the grasshoppers destroyed all that he had.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COrXI^- AXI) i;.\\iK( )\S 675

[n 1914. he died near Temijletnn, highly rcspeeted by his neishhcrs. lier
mother, mi the nther hand, whfi was Christine ( iiuiiersnn uf Sweden, in her
maiden days, died furty years a^o in Culnrado. Mrs. Hawkins received her
educatitm in Colorado, and later came tn the I'acilic C<iast. In his endeavor
to set a high moral standard for the commnnity in which he resides, Mr.
Hawkins has the heartiest co-operation of his i^ood wife. Three children,
Clarence Edwin, Rudolph Ernest, and Carl W illard. brighten this liapjjy
home. A fourth child, Arthur, died at the age of live years, in ])olitical
matters, Mr. Hawkins favors the principles of the Republican party, lie is
a member of the Lutheran Church.

ALBERT JOHNSON.— Albert Johnson, successful ranchman, prosper-
ous partner in a threshing enterprise, and iimniinent citizen in his locality,
is one of those California farmers who ha\e had a varied experience, and who
can do more than one thing and do it well. He was born in Minneapolis, on
October 8, 1878, his father. Andrew Johnson, of X'ermland. Sweden, having
come to that bestirring western tnwn. When he first reached the Cnited
States, .\ndrew Johnson was about twenty years of age. He began work as
a stone mason and bricklayer, soon becoming a contractor.

In 1888, he located in California, near Templeton, where he bougiit
some acreage from the West Coast Land Co., beginning with thirty acres in
the Bethel district. He worked alternately at farming and at his trade, assist-
ing to plaster the Lutheran Church, and he shouted his skill by burning
brick for his houses, lie put up. in fact, numerous buildings in different part.s
of the county, and yet became more and more proficient in grain farming.
Gradually, too. he bought more land, so that when he died, in 1910, at the
age of sixty-si.x, he possessed quite two hmidred fifty acres. He was a
devout member of the Lutheran Church.

.Andrew Johnson was tw'ice married: On the first occasion, in Minne-
sota, lie was joined to ^liss Catherine I'.erg(|uist, who died at Minneapolis
in 1SS4. and by wliom he had six children. Three of these arc still living:
Albert, the subject of our sketch: Charles, a merchant of Templeton; and
Joseiih, who was born in Minneapolis in 1880, was educated in the Bethel
school district, and since 1900 has been a ]:)artner with Albert. Andrew John-
son's second wife had been Miss .Anna F.llen Pedersen, a native of Norway,
who caiue to Minneapolis in 1886 and died in Bethel in 1895. She bore him
five children, and three are living: EKcrt and Henry, who are farming on the
home place, and .\nna Catherine, now Mrs. .Alfred Lovgren, of Bethel.

Brought up in California from his ninth year. .Albert attended the pub-
lic school at Bethel, and helped his father until he was twenty-three years of
age, when, with his brother Joseph, he commenced farming, renting a i)art
of the present place. Having been ratlier successful in the raising of grain,
they began to buy land in 1903, and now they own three different farms, com-
prising two hundred seventy acres two miles from Templeton; and there
they have built a stone residence witii material from their own {|uarries
and a frame barn, and have a well one hundred twelve feet dee]), with an
engine installed near by. The family estate is still undivided, and .MIxTt
was the administrator of his father's ])roperty. In addition to their other
po.s.sessions, they also own two lots in Thousand Oaks. I'.erkeley.

Some years ago Albert Tohnson was married at Bethel to Miss Char-
lotte Emelia h.rickson, a natiVe of Red Wing. Minn., and bv her he has had

676 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

twu (.-liildrcn, Margaret .\niclia and Paul Oscar Albert. All the family
attend the Swedish Lutlieran Church at Templetnn. nf which .\lbert John-
s(in is secretary to the board of trustees. In politics, Mr. Johnson aligns
himself with the Republican party.

GEORGE FRANCIS ROOT.— To the jjermanent settlement of the West •
the citizenship of the East has made heavy contributions; and from the
densely populated regions of the Atlantic Coast, settlers have been drawn to
the promise and fertility of the Pacific Coast environments. Among these
is George Francis Root, who came across the continent from Craftsbury, Vt.,
to California, and in this state, so remote from his early home, has spent
the active years of his life. He was born in Craftsbury, Orleans county, Vt.,
March 2, 18fil, a son of Aloses and Mary (Blanchard) Root, the former born
in Sunderland, Ma^^., and the latter in Vermont, both tracing their ancestry
back to some of the early families of the New England states. The Root
family goes back to two brothers who came from England and settled in
Massachusetts in 1682, Elihu Root being a member of the same family and
an own cousin of Moses Root, who moved to Vermont and settled on the
( iovernor Crafts farm, farmed it for a time and later bought the same, con-
tinuing his operations there until his death. He made one trip to California
and spent a season traveling about the state, and visited Yosemite valley,
which pleased him very much. His wife died in Kern county. They had
eight children. Of these, Edmund is located in Wasco, Kern county : Sidney
is a member of the firm of Keniston & Root, one of the largest dealers in
surgical instruments in Los Angeles: Luchia is now ]\lrs. Alston of Los
Angeles; and George F. is the subject of this review.

George Francis Root, the fifth child in order of birth of the eight children,
was raised on the home farm and was educated in the ])ul)lic schools and
Craftsbury Academy, graduating in 1879. After that he followed farming
on the home place until 1881, when he came to California and located in
Los Gatos. Here he was employed as a horticulturist and vineyardist, and
also learned the trade of miller in the Los Gatos Flouring Mills.

He and his brother Sidney Ixjth came to San Luis Obispo County in
1885 and located homesteads, (ieorge F. located six miles northeast of Paso
Robles. near the old adobe, and built a residence, hauling the lumber from
San Luis Obispo, to which i)lacc the grain had to be hauled in the early days
of farming here, t.'iking three days for the trip. The grain was cut with a
lieader ;ind cost fourteen cents i)er cental for threshing. He now has his
conil)ined harvester and does the wt)rk for less than half that amount, costing
one dollar and a half to cut and thresh. One year, after he had cut his own
cro]), he cut for several of his neighbors, the cutting amounting to seventeen
hundred dollars for one farmer alone. He used thirty-two horses for motive
power. He uses two fourteen-horse plows, each w'ith five ten-inch shares,
cutting fifty inches: and he j)Iows dee]i and well and summer-fallows every
other year, his ex])erience having taught him that that method pays better
and insures a larger crop.

Mr. Root bought three hundred twenty acres adjoining his land, and the
first year sold enough grain to pay for it, with a balance of four hundred dol-
lars besides. At one lime he owned 1.000 acres: but he sold jnirt. retaining
live hundred t w eni y-lhree acres in a body. In 1913 he moved into Paso
Rol)lcs and erected a bungalow at the corner of Fifteenth and \'inc streets;

SAX LUIS OBISI'O COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 677

and ill l^'Ki lit Iniilt his present tine Iwn-slory residence at l-"ilteentli and
Chestnut streets, besides which he t)\vns four other residences here and
eighty-six h)ts. which he is selhng. lie is a stockholder in the States Con-
solidated Oil Co. of Los Angeles, and a stockholder in the Goodwill Mining
Co., iron and copper, of which he is a director and one of the organizers, with
Quest, Iversen and Ayres. He is also president of the board of education of
Paso Robles, and during his term of office the new grammar school, costing
$43,000.00 was erected. He was trustee of the Estrella school district for
years ; and he has taken a very active part in many enterprises for the ])ro-
motion of the county's welfare. He has been very successful in all his
business dealings, and what he has accomplished has been through the ex-
ercise of good business judgment and fair dealing.

Mr. Root was married in Estrella to Miss h'lorence Edgar, whcj was born
in Illinois and died on the home ranch. They had seven chihlren — ( ilenn,
operating the home rancii : I'.lanche, a gratluate of tlie Los .\ngeles State
Normal and teaching at Shandon ; Ruth. Mrs. .Stewart of Wasco; Mary, a
graduate of the ^lanual Arts school in Los Angeles ; and George, Carrie, and
Frank. By his second marriage Mr. Root was united with Miss Mabel Mc-
Cord, a native of New York state, to whom one son has been born, Sidney
Root. Mr. Root is a member of the Methodist Church, and on its official
board. In politics he is a Republican on national issues, but in local matters
supports the men he considers best (|ualihe<l to fill the positions, regardless
of party lines.

JOSEPH TIDROW.— One of the pioneer ranchers of San Luis Obispo
County in tiie \ icinity of Paso Robles, and one who has seen the growth of
this state during the past sixty-five years, is Joseph Tidrow, proprietor of
Walnut Cove Ranch. He was born I"el)ruary 24. 1844. near Weaverville. Ind.,
a son of Joseph Tidrow, a native of Tennessee, who went to ( )hio and
there married Caroline Troutt, coming soon afterwards to Indiana and later
to Keokuk, la., where they settled. In 1851 he outfitted for the trip across
the plains to California, and with his wife and four children started on the
long and dangerous journey. Their ox-teams traveled slowly and when they
reached Salt Lake it was too late to proceed to California that winter. So
they remained there until spring and then made the balance of the trip,
arriving at El ^klonte, Los .\ngeles county, in the fall of 1852. There Mr.
Tidrow bought a ranch and for a time engaged in farming; later he traded
the wagon with which he had cros.sed the plains, for eighty acres of land,
which he later .sold for two hundred fifty dollars. He then bought land near
.\nahcim and farmed until his death. Plis wife died in Monterey county.

Joseph Tidrow was but six years old when the trip was made across the
plains, but there arc many incidents now fresh in his mind of happenings
along the route that were impressed indelibly on his mind at the time. He
attended a private school, and put in three months in the public school ; and
when sixteen he started out for himself working for wages on the various
ranches in the vicinity of his home, and also driving a team. In 1863 he
drove a freighting team of seven yoke of oxen to Owens river. Inyo county,
and then went to Santa Cruz and worked in the redwoods, getting out j>osts
and ties by contract, in which he was very successful, making as high as eight
dollars a day. In October. 1864, he enlisted in Co. .\, 8th California \'olun-
teers, was mustered in at San Francisco, taken by boat to Washington ter-

678 S.W LL'IS OBISPO COUNTY AND I-:NVIR0NS

ritory and siatiimed with his regiment at Cajjc Disappointment, where he
remained until the summer of 1865. when he was himorably discharged at the
close of the war.

Coming l)ack to California. Mr. Tidrow sto]>ped for a time in Los Angeles,
then took his mother to \'isalia, and bought a farm six miles east of town,
where he engaged in ranching. There he was married, on May 9, 1869,
to Miss Martha J. (Iray, who was born in Shelby county, Texas, and who had
come (i\erl;inil to California in 1863. She is a daughter of James and Alathilda
( l^nglish ) Cray. i)oth natives of Texas, where her father was a cattle man.
Her mother died in Texas in 1856. In 1863 her father came to California and
located in Tulare county, where he farmed. He died in San Diego. JNIrs.
Tidrow was efiucated in the public schools of Tulare county. In 1873, suffer-
ing from chills and fever, although his wife was in good health. Mr. Tidrow
moved to .Salinas and there recovered : but his wife was taken ill and was un-
der the care of physicians for a year. When the doctor had got all but
t)ne hundred lifty dollars of his money, Mr. Tidrow determined to change
clim.ite, and the following year came to Adelaida. in San Luis Obispo County,
llv located a place, but did not file on it; hcnvever, he built a house of shakes.
lia\'ing split them himself.

In the spring of 1875 he located on a place of one hundred sixty acres in
Oak I'lat, and built a frame house, hauling the lumber from San Luis Obispo..
After operating the ranch for a time, he gave it uj), as he found it was
held in reserve for the railroad and could not be homesteaded. In 1877 he
located on his present place of one hundred sixt\' acres, five miles from the
city limits of Paso Robles. The land was covered with Inrush and one couUl
not see fifty yards in any direction. He cleared the land, began making im-
l)rovements. erected a small house. br(jke the land, built brush fences to keep
out the sheep and cattle that roamed at will over the country, and has added
ini|jro\ enunt- from time to time until he now has one of the best ranches in
this section of the county.

Mrs. Tidrow regained her health; so he felt well repaid for his labors,
lie added fift\-ti\e acres adjoining, and has devoted himself to building up a
fine homestead. Mr. Tidrow bought one hundred thirty-eight acres near
TenipK-ton. on the Salinas ri\er. which is operated by his son. Pleasant.
One walnut ti\-e on his ranch, thirty years old, yielded two hundred fifty
])ounds of nuts in I'Md. In the early days eggs sold for eight and ten cents per
doxen. and butler from fifteen to twenty cents per pound; and at that time he
took his ])roduce to Cayucos, He kept a dairy of twenty cows; and with the
\\(irk he diil outside, he obtained a start and came out successfully. In 1877
he wi.rked in';ir ll.aki-rsfield with a four-horse team for six dollars a day,
and si)ent se\ en montiis there helping to build the Buena Vista canal.

To Mr. and Mrs. Tidrow nine children were born, eight of whom
are now li\-ing- Ida ha\ ing died at t\vent_\--four years of age. Lillie is Mrs.
Wright of San Jose; I'leasant li\es on his father's ranch near Templeton ;
Jolin is in \lmond srh..ol <li.strict ; Laura, Mrs. I'almer, is of Taft ; Oliver is
in McKiiirick ; Leonard lives in the .\lmond school district; Ora, Mrs. Baker,
is in :\lcKiitri.k : and Lena is Mrs. Russell Morgan of McKittrick. Mr.
'I idrow has ser\ rd as trustee of the Oak Flat school district many years, has
been roa.l master of District 10 for the i^ast eight years and had l)uilt many
good roads, itnder contract, before he w:is made road master, in iiolitics

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND KNXIRONS 679

Mr. Tiilrnw supports Deniijcratic candidates on national issues. He is a
Mason, a incml)er of Paso Rohlcs Lodge, No. 286, and is a member and i'ast
Grand in the ( )tld F"ello\vs, and a memlier of the Encampment and a past of-
ficer and also a member of the Rebekahs. He is truly a self-made man.

C. A. CHRISTENSEN.— One of the rising young men of the county,
and one proud to be known as a native son, is C. A. Christensen, proprietor
of the Spring- City Dairy. He was born in \'ineyard canon, Monterey county,
September 2S. 1892, a son of .-Xbraham Christensen, of whom mention is made
elsewhere in this volume. Young Christensen was reared on the ranch in
.Monterey county until ten years of age. when he came with his parents to
San Luis Obispo County and settled opposite Paso Roblcs, on a ranch devoted
to farming and the dairy business. He attended the public school, and after
completing the grammar school helped his father on the ranch.

In March, 1915, in partnership with J. C. Lawrence, he started the Sjiring
City Dairy. They bought cows, and started a milk route in June, the two
continuing together until August 1, 1916, when Mr. Christensen bought his
partner's interest and now manages the business alone.

He has twenty acres in alfalfa, with a flowing well to supply water for
irrigating, and thirty high-grade cows in his herd. His dairy is well equipped
with modern means for caring for milk, and is sanitary in every detail.
By persistence and close application to his wurk. Mr. Christensen is making a
success of his \enture.

CHARLES S. KINNEY.— As might be e.\i)ected of one who has spent
his entire life in California, ^Ir. Kinney is a patriotic son of the Golden State
and ardently champions all measures looking toward the development of the
commonwealth. His father. Samuel James Kinney, was bom in Toronto,
Canada, of Scotch descent, and niarricil i'liza .Martin, a native of Ohio. He
was a railroad engineer in ohin, and there he enlisted for service in the
Civil War. but was rejected because the condition of his teeth would not
permit liini to bite off the cartridge. He crossed the plains in the sixties
with horse tcinis and settled in San Luis Obispo, where he followed farming
for a time; then he went in Santa Rosa and was employed as engineer for
a number of years until, in 1S74, he was accidentally killed while making an
examination of a i)ridge. falling through to the bottom. His widow is still
alive and resides at Arroyo (Irande.

The voungest of eight children born to his i)arents, Charles S. Kinney
first saw 'tile light of day on I-ebruary 22, 1870, in San Luis Obispo. He at-
tended the i)uhlic schools there, l)ut at an early age had to go to work to
hel]) sujiport the family. .\t the age of twelve, he was apprenticed to learn
the plumber's trade in llanford: and completing it in three years, he went
to X'isalia. and thence to Los Angeles, working at the trade.

I'inally he arrived in Arroyo Grande and later established a plumbing
and hardwan- business, winch he ran for fifteen years, meeting with success
and iniilding u]) a large tra<ie. One year was spent in business in San Luis
Obispo, and in 1908 he came to i'aso Roi>les to take charge of the pluml)ing
department of Piell's Department Store, which business he has seen develoji
to large i>ro]K)rtions during the past eight years.

Mr. Kinney was married in Arroyo Grande to Miss Evangeline Rrock.
a native daughter of Santa I'.arbara county, born in Santa Maria. They are
parents of four children: T'.dith, Hazel, a student in the normal school at

680 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD EW'IROXS

San lose. Esther and Florine. Mrs. Kinney is a member i)f the Episcopal
Church. Mr. Kinney is a Socialist m jwlitical belief. He is a true type oi
the native sons of the West, and is a supporter of all movements that will
advance the interest of the county.

MARTIN HOLZINGER. — Xot a few of the personal associations con-
necting- America and (^iernian}' join the duchy of Baden with some American
state, as in the case of Alartin Holzinger, until lately an esteemed California
pioneer. He was born in Baden, August 17, 1842, a son of George Holzinger,
a farmer, who brought his family to the United States and settled in York-
town, Bureau county. 111., where he died. Martin attended the public schools
of that county, after which he began farming; and on ]\Iay 5, 1870, he was
married to ^liss ^vlagdalena Mathis, who was born near Selesta, Alsace.

Her father, John IMathis, was a farmer who had a large country resi-
dence with beautiful and fine gardens of fruits and flowers at Selesta. The
residence was the largest in that vicinity, with many spacious, sunny rooms.
The father naturally improved his large American farm, when he became
owner of one, and he brought his wife and ten children to this country to
enjo}' its opportunities. The mother of ]Mrs. Holzinger was Magdalena
Laufensberger, a native of Gerstheim, Alsace, who eventually visited Cali-
fornia and died at X'ewkirk, Okla., while on a visit to one of her sons. Her
brother. Christian Laufensberger, was mayor of Gerstheim for about forty
years, and his son Edward is now holding the same office.

The children of the Mathis family are : John, in Nebraska ; Ernestina,
now Mrs. John Ernst of San Luis Obispo ; Amelia, Mrs. William Ernst of
Geneseo : Jacob, I\Iary and Eugene, who are living near the old home in Illi-
nois : Albert, who resides in Idaho ; Emil, living at Apache, Okla. ; and Minna,
Mrs. Burton, who is also living in Illinois. Magdalena Mathis received
her education in both German and French, and was reared in the beautiful
countrj' about Selesta. She came to America with her parents, and studied
the English language until she became as proficient in it as in the other two.
After his marriage, ]\Iartin Holzinger settled down to farming in Illi-
nois ; but in December, 1885, he came to California and located at Geneseo
on the ranch his widow now owns, taking up a hundred acres on the
Shandon road eleven miles from Paso Robles. It was necessary to bring
all supplies from San Luis Obispo. Mr. Holzinger was a hustler and ambi-
tious, and he soon built for himself a frame house. He also set out an
orchard of apples, pears, prunes and almonds, and waited for what he ex-
pected was to be a bountiful harvest. They had a splendid orchard, which
bore well ; but he could find no market for the product, and so he grubbed
nut the trees and continued raising grain, also leasing considerable lands
adjoining. He had some twelve hundred acres in wheat. .\s he prospered,
he erected a more commodious house for his family.

On July 10, 1900. Mr. Holzinger passed to his reward after a useful career,
since w hich time Mrs. Holzinger has managed the ranch, taking that sensible
interest she has always manifested. Four children are living: Edward, a
merchant at Creston ; .Mbcrt, farming in the vicinity of the old home; and
Amelia and .\lvin. wlin arc with their mother.

Long associated with the Lutheran Church at Geneseo. Mrs. Holzinger
has made her inllucnce felt for good. In political affiliation, the family are
Republicans. .Mrs. Holzinger is a cultured and refined woman, with a taste

'i/a/^-

4^^ /// HZ^i^^^^^^^^Z^t^ yt/P^f-C^.^^yZt£:^y^

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND FAA'IRONS 683

for the l)eautiful which finds expressiim in her ujanlen ami in tiie urnamenlal,
fruit and shade trees, as well as shruhherv and fiowers. that I)eautif_v her
attractive home.

HENRY BASCOME TOLLE.— W hatever of success has come into the
life of Henry Bascome Tolle, a prominent citizen of Paso Robles, San Luis
Obispo County, has been the result entirely of his own efforts, as he was
early thrown upon his own resources with nothing but courage and industry
to presage the worth of his future. He was born at Glasgow, Ky., February
5, 1842, a son of Samuel and a grandson of William Tolle. William Tolle
was of English ancestry, a planter of Virginia, whence he came to Barron
county, Ky., where he died. He did not believe in slavery and therefore kept
no slaves. Samuel Tolle was born near Lynchburg, Va., followed farming in
Kentucky, was an old-line Whig, did not believe in slavery, and was a promin-
ent member of the Methodist Church and a class leader for years. He died in
Kentucky. His wife, Mary Ann Snoddy, was born in \Mrginia, a daughter
of Daniel Snoddy, who was a native of the north of Ireland and settled
in Kentucky in an early day. Mrs. Tolle died in Kentucky.

Henry Bascome Tolle was the sixth child in a family of twelve children,
nine of wdiom grew to maturity and three of whom are living. He was brought
up on the home farm, attended the district schools and at the age of nineteen
and one-half years enlisted in the 9th Kentucky Infantry, Co. E., in September,
1861. He was mustered into the service at Columbia, Ky., and was made
sergeant. With his regiment he participated in the battles of Shiloh. Corinth,
Perryville. Ky., Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, and Missionary
Ridge, and was then sent to Knoxville on the doul)le (|uick to relieve Burnside.
after which he served in the Georgia campaign and in the battles of Peach
Tree creek and Marietta, Atlanta, Jonesboro. (ia.. and numerous skirmishes.
He had some very narrow escapes, having several bullets pierce his hat and
graze his clothes, and nothing but the providence of God saved his life, for
which he has always been thankful. He returned to Louisville, where he was
mustered out in December, 1864. Two of his brothers, Joel L. and Peter,
riilisted in the same company with our subject for service in the Civil War,
hut were captured while en route to be mustered in, and were kept at Nash-
ville, and then at Atlanta, where Peter died. Joel returned home. Mr. Tolle
removed to Taylors ville, Ind., and, in 1866. to McPherson county. Kan., and
was the first settler to locate in that county. lie took uji a homestead of one
hundred sixtv acres in Gvpsuni Creek township, and luiill a lot;- house and
stai)le.

Then he returned to Kentucky, and on (October 9. 1867, was married in
Glasgow to Miss Sarah Frances Snoddy, who was born there, a daughter of
William and Eliza Snoddy, the fourth of nine children in their family. She
had one brother, Christopher, in the Civil War as a memlier of Co. F, 21st
Kentucky Volunteers. After their marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Tolle settled on
bis farm in Kansas, wdiere he broke the land and was successfully engaged
in farming many years, with the exception of two, wiien his crops were com-
pletely eaten up by grasshoppers. His farm was bottom land, and he raised
fine crops of wheat and corn, and some stock. In 1887. he sold out and came to
California and for a time lived in Watsonville and was engaged in horticulture,
setting out an orchard in the f^ajaro valley. In 1890, he sold it and came to
Paso Robles and engaged in car])entering and building, continuing in the trade

684 SAX LTIS r)|;iSI'() COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

for nian\- \cars, Imlli buildini;- and selling places of his own. He still owns
three residences in ilie town. In \H'J8 he erected his present two-story brick
residence on Fonrtcenth and Chestnut streets, where he is living in the
<|uiet enjovment of his well-earned rest. He retired from active work
in 1'>11.

Mr. and Mrs. ToUe are members of the Methodist Church: and for years
he was a class leader, trustee and steward, as well as superintendent of the
Sunday School. Mr. and .Mrs. Tolle have been consistent Christians; he was
converted at the age of eleven in the church in his home section, and she as a
girl of seven in her father's home. In Kansas the neighbors in their locality
organized a congregation and held services in a schoolhouse for a time, until
Mr. 'Folic and his wife deeded a parcel of land on one side of their farm to the
congregation and buili a church with their own means, where services are
now held b'or many years .Mr. 'folic supi)orted Rei)ulilican principles, but
of later vears has been indei>endent, sup])<irting the liest men and measures.
He and his wife have a wide circle ol friends and are highly esteemed liy all
who know them.

HENRY F. SCHROEDER.— It really makes a good deal of difference as
to the successful direction of civic organizations in a town, and particularly
in such a home-place as I'aso Robles, wdiether the leaders selected are men
and women of personal magnetism and at least a moderate degree of popu-
laritv ; and this is demonstrated in the life and activities of Henry F. Schroeder,
the >lurdy, straightforward business man, who has given his influence to for-
warding the interests of Paso Robles, and has never been fcnind wanting in
local nioxements where intelligent co-operation, hard work and even self-
dcn_\ing effort ha\e been reipiircd.

.\ native of lUkader. Clayton county, la., where he was born on .\ugust
-'4. ISfil, Henry was the son of Louis Schroeder, a native of Mecklenburg, in
Schwcrin. C.ermany, and came, in the early forties, as a pioneer to Iowa.
There lu- located on the frontier, and being a merchant tailor he soon opened
a lailorin- and general merchandise business in Elkader, jjrospering so well
that he was able to retire and remo\ e to La Crosse, Wis., where he ended his
days. Mis mother was Louise .Meder, also a native of Germany, and she also
rlied at La Crosse. ( )f si.\ children born to the Schroeders, ti\e are still living,
among wliom Henry was the fourth eldest.

The usual curst- at the public schools preceded his (.-mijloyment. begun
in ISSi, in the -rain w arcliousc ;,t W hitehall. Wis.; after which, the following-
year, he became mana-cr m| ilu' warehouse for W . W. C'argill, with wdiom
he remained eight \ cars, repn-senting him at \arious (xiints in W isconsin,
.Mnmesota and South l)ak..ta.

In ( )ctober. I'idL 1 lenrx Schoeder came to the Pacific Coast, almost imme-
diately locating in the town of San Luis Obispo, from which, ten months later,
i.l)les. 1 lere he entered the employ of the Southern Pacific
nu; foreman of the lundjer department, a position he has
ow successful he has been, his many acquaintances, par-
)er Salinas valley and all the way from the Santa Lucia
n county, can attest. Kind, and of a winning ]>ersonality.
de to lead while others follow. .Mr. Schroeder has the
il)any and- the employees, as well as of the i>uldic with its

he niovec
Milling (
held e\el

1 to r

'o., b

1 i'ularly
^bnnnail

m th
is int

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ICWIRONS 685

On November 2, 1884, Mr. Schroedcr married Miss Jessie Sherwood at
Whitehall, Wis., a lad}- who was a social favorite in her community in
that state, being well-known there as the daughter of Joseph and Alice (Saf-
ford) Sherwood, natives respectively of Syracuse, N. Y., and Lynn, Mass.
Her grandfather Sherwood came from an old New York state family that
originally owned a j)art of the present site of Syracuse. Her father was born
in 1835. was reared a farmer, and twenty years later removed to Springfield,
Jackson county, eventually settling at Whitehall, Trempealeau county. Wis.
Her mother came to that state when she was sixteen years old. The grand-
father, Robert Safford, was a physician as well as a sea captain, sailing from
lloston to Liverpool for many years, and during this time he was a partner
t)f Howe in the manufacture of the Howe sewing machine, and was also
interested in shoe manufacturing. However, he quit the sea and moved west-
ward, locating in Wisconsin when the country was a wilderness. He was
married to Miss Louise iioston, an own cousin of the great evangelist, Dwight
L. bloody. In the Sherwood family there were two sons and four daughters;
and one son and three daughters are still living, Mrs. Schroeder being the
third eldest. She recei\-ed her education in the ]niblic schools at AVhitehall
and in the Black River Falls high school.

Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Schroeder. Lester.
a i)hotographer, resides in Paso Robles and spenils his summers in the
Yosemite Valley, his photographs of that famous region being reproduced in
the popular magazines. Elmore, a graduate of the University of California,
from which he has the degree of Ph. G., is a druggist in Redlands. Pearl
Marie, a graduate of the Paso Robles high school, who afterwards took a
course in the L'niversity of California, has distinguished herself as a musician
and vocalist, and is a lady who. with exceptional generosity, often favors the
community in which slie li\es with an exhibition of her talent, contributing
in particular to the programs of the church wliich she attends.

The family are active members of the Methodist Church. Mr. Schroeder
being one of the board of trustees. A director of the Chamber of Commerce,
of Republican affiliations, he is also interested in popular education. At the
same time he is a well-known figure among the Knights of Pythias. He is
president of the Paso Robles .Athletic Club. Mrs. Schroeder also i)artici-
pates in civic activities as a number of the Women's Club, and of other
societies.

ALBERT CRUM.— .\ veteran of the Civil War. a prominent contractor
and Ijuilder in various ])arts of the country, a business man in San Luis
Ohispo County, wliere he settled at Templeton in 1886 and is now living
practically retired from active pursuits, .Mbert Crum looks liack on a life well
spent and to the future without fear, for he has lived by the golden rule
throughout his life. .Albert Crum was born in Haverstraw. on the Hudson,
N. Y.. on February 10, 1843, a son of Jacob Crum, likewise born there on
February 18, 1819, and grandson of John Crum. one of the early representa-
tives of the name in Haverstraw, who was also born in that place, of Scotch
ancestry. Tlie name was originally Kromc. in Scotland, and was after-
wards changed to Crum, as it was pronounced that way. Grandfather John
Crum's mother was born in Germany. Jacob was a carpenter and builder.
He worked on the old Astor House in New York, and later went to Vonkers
and followed building until 1857. when he removed to .\dams county. 111..

686 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AXD EXVIROXS

willi his family, and in JIuuston tuwnship, near Quincy, bought (me hundred
sixlv acres of land with a land warrant, located on it, and improved a home
and'died there. After his death, hi.s widow was married a second time, to a
Mr. Shannon. She died in Illinois on September 3, 1902. Of her eight chil-
dren five are living, Albert being the second in order of birth. His oldest
brother, Phillip, served in the 76th Reg. 111. Vol. Inf., and is now deceased.
Samuel served in the 84th Reg. III. Vol. Inf. and is now a resident of
Centralia, Wash. : Mathilda, born on August 9, 1846, became the wife of
R. M. O'Dell of Haines, Alaska, where he is judge of the U. S. court; Jacob,
born on Xovember 12, 1848, died in Illinois: Maria, born on August 28,
1850, died in Mendon, III.: Esther, born May 14, 1853, resides in Oklahoma;
and Htnry, born December 27, 1854, lives in Lindsay, California.

Albert Crum was reared in the state of Xew York and attended the
public schools of Yonkers until he was fourteen, when he went to Illinois.
He there attended school, worked on the farm, learned the trade of carpen-
ter with his father and worked with him for some time. On Xovember 16,
1861, at the age of seventeen, he enlisted in Co. B, 50th Reg. 111. Vol. Inf., for
service in the Civil War. Mustered in at Chillicothe, Mo., he was sent with
his command down the Mississippi, to Cairo and Paducah, Ky. He was at the .
capture of Fort Henry, and participated in the Battles of Ft. Donelson, sec-
ond Corinth, Shiloh, Resaca, and Altoona Heights. He was also one who
made the "'March to the Sea," later taking part in the battle of Bentonville
and the capture of Savannah. He was mustered out at Louisville, Ky.. on
July 19, 1865. ^Ir. Crum veteranized at Linnville, Tenn. After being mus-
teretl out, he returned to Illinois and in 1866 went to ^Minneapolis and fol-
lowed carpentering, being next employed in railroad work in Jefi'erson, Tex.,
and on the Kansas Pacific Railroad through Kansas, and thence down into
New Mexico : still later he was with the Union Pacific as a carpenter until the
road was completed to Promontory, and was building a depot at Ogden when
the golden spike was driven in 1869. From Ogden, Mr. Crum went to work
for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad and helped to build the first bridge on
that line until Colorado Springs was reached, when work was suspended.
In 1871 he came to California, remained a short time and then went to Port-
land. ]>roceeding from there to The Dalles in the employ of the Oregon
Railroad and X^avigation Co., and helping to construct the steamers "R. R.
Thompson" and "Spokane."

His next employment was as a merchant at The Dalles, where he con-
tinued for six years. He again came to California in 1886. He located in
Temideton when the town was just laid out. bought block 15. built a
store which he leased to Goldtree. and followed the building business until
Ciohitree sold out. Then he started in business in his own building vacated
by Goldtree, and for six years was successfully engaged in the general mer-
chandise business until selling out to George F. Bell. He has since lived
retired from all business cares, and in the enjoyment of a well-earned rest.

Mr. Crum was married on July 19, 1888, to Miss Eunice P. Wright, a
native of Santa Cruz and daughter of Elisha and Louisa (Hanks) \\'right.
natives of South Carolina and Alabama. ]\Ir. Wright crossed the plains in
1S52. farmed in Santa Cruz county, and later in San Benito county, and died
in Ilonistcr. as did also liis wife. Of their eight children, seven are living,
Mrs. Crum being the sixth in order of birth. The children born to Mr. and

J^ ^ i^CL^^l^.^

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 689

Mrs. Cnim are Cora, a nurse in L<:is Anijeles ; Albert, in (Oakland; Charles,
of Chicaijo; Ralph, of Oakland; and I'hilli]). in Holiister. Mr. Crum is inde-
pendent in politics and has served as school trustee for years very efficiently.
Both he and his wife are highly esteemed for their high principles of honor
and strict integrity, and have many friends throughout the county.

MANUEL C. ACEBEDO.— A man who is a successful and quite ex-
tensive cattle man, as well as a native son' of California of whom any com-
munity might well be proud, Manuel C. Acebedo was born in the city of Mon-
terey, March 3, 1869. His father, Thomas Acebedo, was one of the Argonauts
who came to California in 1849 from his native land, Mexico ; and he located
in Monterey county, where he engaged in the stock business until his death.
Ilis wife was formerly Mary Torres, a native of Spain who came with her
parents to California in 1849, and she also died in Monterey county.

Manuel was the sixth of twelve children in order of birth. He attended
the public schools of the county and assisted his father on the ranch with
the stock, working with a desire to learn all he could along those lines. He
early learned to ride a horse, to throw the lasso, and to brand cattle, and
became a good judge of stock as to quality and value. As soon as he was
twenty-one, he embarked in the stock business on his own account, pur-
chasing thirty-two head of cows at fifteen dollars per head ; and with these as
a beginning, he has risen gradually to the position he holds today.

He leased range land in Kings county, and in due time bought the old
Lowell ranch of one hundred sixty acres on the edge of that count}- ; and
this was the nucleus of his present large holdings. He branched out and
increased his herd as rapidh^ as he could, establishing his brand, AC, the C
underneath and connected with the A. He added to his land as he prospered,
and now owns about twenty-five hundred acres in a body, extending a distance
of five miles in length in Kings and Monterey counties. The land is adajited
for the stock business, as it is well watered by springs and creeks. He is
partial to the shorthorn Durhams, of which he makes a specialty.

In connection with his own ranch he leases and controls twelve thousand
acres whereon roam his herds, which number from five hundred to one thou-
sand head. Since 1905 he has been engaged as a cattle dealer, purchasing
cattle and shipping them by carloads to his ranch from ]\lexico, Arizona
and Nevada, buying them wherever he can find them at the right prices. As
fast as the cattle are brought to good condition, he makes his sales from the
ranch to the market, and has become one of the well-known and responsible
stockmen of the coast section of the state.

It was at Traver, Tulare county, June 28, 1906, that the marriage uniting
Mr. Acebedo with Miss Helen Wood, a native of Estrella, San Luis Obispo
County, and a daughter of George \V. Wood, was celebrated. Mr. Wood
was born in Connecticut, and is a graduate of Wcsleyan L'niversity of that
state, where he taught school until coming to California, in 1888. Here, also,
he has i)een engaged in educational work in San Luis Obispo County, part of
the time as assistant superintendent of schools, and in various places in the
state as a teacher, being now employed in that calling in Merced county. He
married Jean Kerr, a native of Pittsburg, Pa., who is a graduate nurse and is
matron of the Hanford Sanitarium of Ilanford, Cal. Mrs. Acebedo was edu-
cated in the grammar and high schools, and is a woman of broad information.
Two children ha\e been born to them, Narciso and Romeo.

690 SAX' LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

In 1913 Mr. Acebedcj purcliased his residence convenient to Shandon,
where he and his family reside in order to secure good school advantages
for his boys, while he superintends his large stock interests. In political
matters he supports men and measures of the Republican party ; and to
keep abreast of the times and his chosen calling he is a member of the
California State Cattle Growers' Association.

PERCY JENNINGS MARGETTS.— A representative of an old family
and hijiiself liorn in California, on San Lorenzo creek, San Benito county,
on the .Monterey county line, Percy J. ^Margetts is a son of Charles U.
Margetts, wlio was born in 1848, in Northamptonshire, England, and when
twenty-seven years old landed at New York, and after a few days in the
metropolis came to the "Far West." He settled near Hollister, in San Benito
county, and there he worked as a sheep-herder for about nineteen months,
to learn the business which was so profitable at that period. He then formed
a partnership with his brother-in-law, R. J. Rogers, under the firm name of
Rogers & IMargetts, and starting on a small scale, buying and raising sheep,
became in time one of the most extensive sheep-raisers in Monterey county.

From 1876 until 1882 IMr. Margetts gave his entire time and attention
to the business as superintendent ; and when the partnership was dissolved,
in 1882. Air. Margetts went to the Carissa plains in San Luis Obispo County
and liere also became a large sheep-raiser, both buying a ranch and leasing
some twenty-five hundred acres. Thus he continued the business until
1894, when he moved his family to Templeton and located them at what he
named the Nine Oaks Ranch, so called on account of nine oak trees growing
from one old stump. Here Air. Alargetts purchased some land and also
became interested in the Templeton Alilling Compan}- as a stockholder when
the mill was being erected, and afterwards became president and manager of
the concern. He was also interested in the maintenance of good schools and
served as one of the members of the school board of Templeton for some
time. He was prominent in the lodge of Odd Fellows, is a Republican, and
a very well known man in San Luis Obispo County.

He was twice married. On the first occasion, in 1881, he was united
with Miss Eleanor H. Jennings, a native of York, England, wlio died August
23, 1897, at Templeton, leaving four children — Amy, Mrs. Tucker of Shandon;
Percy, the subject of this review; Frances, Mrs. Cliflf -Bickell of Paso Robles;
and Ethel, Airs. Wilbur Clark of Maricopa. In 1899 Air. Alargetts was
married the second time, this union being with Airs. Josephine Alatthews,
who already liad one son, Walter Alatthews. Air. Alargetts is now living
at Shandon, where he is serving as postmaster and is also engaged in the
real estate and insurance business.

Percy J. Alargetts, born Alay 2, 1884. was educated in the public schools
of Templeton and raised in the live stock business from a lad, in which line
he has continued his interest up to the present time, while he is also engaged
in teaming. In 1912 he was appointed roadmaster of District Number Twelve
under Supervisor Black, and still maintains that position, having about one
hundred miles of road to care for. He is a trustee of the Templeton school
di'itrict.

On October 7. 1":X)9. in Santa Barbara, occurred the marriage of Percy
J. Alargetts with Aliss Flora Yancy. who was born in Red BlufT, Cal.. a
daughter of Oliver Yancy. a native of Illinois, who came across the plains

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 691

to California and settled in Trhania county; and at Red Bluff he cngajrcd
in the mercantile business and was for some time a traveling salesman. He
is now engaged in business in Chico. lie was married in Colusa county to
.Miss Bettie Cravens, a native of Missouri, and they had six children — Myrtle,
Mrs. Weeks of Red Bluff ; Kate, Mrs. EdwJirds of Sacramento ; Elora, Mrs.
Margetts ; Chester, in Shasta coimt_\- ; Glenia and N^eva, both teachers in
San Luis Obispo County. Airs. -Margetts attended the public schools and
graduated from the high school in Red Bluf¥ in 1900, and later from the
San Jose Normal in 1902. She taught in Tehama county two years and in
1904 came to Templeton and taught four years, and is now teaching at
Oak Flat.

-Mr. and Mrs. Alargetts h;i\e three children — Kathryn Frances, Percy
Jennings. Jr., and Don Usher. I'.oth Mr. and Airs. Margetts are active mem-
bers of the Presbyterian Church, and buili are musically inclined, thcrcljy
becoming popular in the social circles of Templeton and vicinity.

LEONARD LAW BILTON.— The life of Leonard Law Bilton has been
one of ;icti\ ity along various lines of business and he is an authority on values
and conditions of lands throughout this section of San Luis Obispo County.
.\ native of England, he was born on the channel at Portsmouth, January
30, 1SS5. a son of George and a grandson of William Bilton. The former,
likewise a native of England, was a dealer in oils and colors, and died in
i.iiii.|..n from the effects of a fall from a wagon. Grandfather Bilton was
liiirn in Yorkshire, was mayor of Portsmouth, and later served as Chamber-
lain of the borough, and was a successful business man, a dealer in oils
and colors. Great-grandfather Stenth and his four sons served in the English
navy with distinction and honor. George Bilton married Eliza Law, daughter
of George Law, who was an auctioneer in Portsmouth, and was a member of
the council there. \\'hile attending a launching, he was run into by a
butcher-boy carrying a tra\'. a li;indle of which ])uncturcd an eye, and he
was made blind in that eye.

Leonard L. Bilton grew to boyhood in rortsmouth. and at the age of ten
wi'nt to SMnthanii)t(jn and stayed eight months, and then attended the pay
schools in W (Ji)luich until the age of .seventeen. Then he was apprenticed
to learn the dry goods trade at Dartford, his term being four years; but
after he had been in the store two years, his employer died. Young Bilton
then worked up in different stores until he entered the employ of William
\\hilel\-, the Universal Provider in London, a place employing from four
to live thousand people, he being one of twelve employees in the furniture
department. In 1882, he resigned, with excellent recommendations, and came
to Texas; and at Taylor he engaged in carpentering, building and selling
houses, meeting with success there until 1888, when he came to California.

After sjjending three weeks in San Francisco, he settled in Paso Robles
and with his wife and four children located on a homestead four miles cast
of Santa Margarita, and erected a house and improved the property for
cultivation. Soon after that he moved into the town of Paso Robles, in order
that his children might have better educational facilities, retaining the ranch
and doing contracting and building in the town. In 1895, Mr. Bilton became
millwright for the Sperry Mour Co., remaining with them several years, at
various times doing work in Salinas at their mill there. In 1905, he bought
the alnioml r.inch of twenty-two acres on the Mountain Spring road, called

692 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Scenic Drive. He killed squirrels by the thousands. He operated the ranch
with success, setting the balance of fifteen acres to almonds. He also had
three acres of orchard and vines, which do well in this section. The resi-
dence was erected under the live oaks that abound on the place, which
Mr. Bilton named the Rill Ranch. He paid five hundred dollars for it at
time of purchase, and in 1916 sold it for $6,000. Besides the profit in money,
the ten years" experience gave him a wonderful knowledge of the almond
industry and makes him an authority on the subject. He gave the develop-
ment of the ranch all of his time and made a study of soil conditions as well
as of the care needed for the trees and vines on the place.

In Bishopsgate Church, London, England, occurred the marriage of
Leonard Law Bilton with Miss Mary Gray, the ceremony being performed
by the curate. Rev. Rogers. Mrs. Bilton was born at Bishopsgate, a daugh-
ter of John and Slaney (Richards) Gray. Of this union seven children have
been born, three of them in California. Herbert, when seventeen years of
age, was accidentally killed by a Southern Pacific train at Paso Robles;
Percy is buyer for Brown Bros. Hardware Co., in San Francisco ; Estella is
an employee of the Paso Robles Record ; Ada, a twin sister of Estella, is a
graduate of the State Normal at San Jose and teaches near Santa Mar-
garita ; Mable is a graduate of the high school at Paso Robles and is serving
as assistant postmaster; Leonard, a high school graduate, is proprietor of a
billiard hall ; and Nettie, also a graduate from the Paso Robles high school,
is a musician in piano and \'oicc, and is also with the Record. In political mat-
ters Mr. Hilton is a Socialist.

CLARK SHERWOOD SMITH.— One of the leading business men of
Paso Robles is Clark S. Smith. He was born in Lee county. 111., June 22, 1871,
a son of Henry B. Smith (whose sketch is given elsewhere in this work),
and was reared and educated in the schools at Walnut, 111. When fourteen
years old he accompanied his parents to California. They settled in San Luis
Obispo County, and he finished the grammar school at Creston. At the
age of nineteen, he went to Oakland and for three years was. employed in
the hardware store of C. B. Rice on Thirteenth avenue. East Oakland.
Later he came to Paso Robles, and to Cambria, where he had a repair shop.

In 1894, he started the nucleus of his present large enterprise on Spring
street, moving later to more commodious quarters on Park street, and in 1896
to his present location on Park street near Twelfth. He made a specialty
at first of repairing guns and bicycles, later putting in a stock of guns
for renting and a stock of sporting goods ; and has increased his stock from
year to year as occasion demanded. He handles a full line of fishing tackle
and rents bicycles, and has a warehouse for storage of surplus goods. He
also owns a twenty-three acre ranch adjoining his father's place one mile
northwest from town.

The following article, which appeared in the Sporting Goods Dealer of
St. Louis, and was reprinted in several magazines in the East, especially in
Chicago and Duluth. will show the development of business that has occu-
pied the attention of Mr. Smith for more than twenty years in Paso Robles :

"Away out in Paso Robles, Cal., C. S. Smith is conducting a sporting
goods business on a large scale. Paso Robles isn't the largest town in Cali-
fornia, neither is Smith's store the largest sporting i;-oiids store in California,
but you can wager your chances of escaping the warm hereafter that Smith

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 693

is doing a greater vulumc of liusiness, population ccjnsidered, than any other
sporting goods dealer in the state.

"He buys Red P ammunition in lots that would stagger some of the big
fellows, and some might doubt this if we didn't have the evidence.

"This business was established more than twenty years ago, and Smith
has been hammering away ever since. He doesn't let up a minute. He has
built up a wonderful trade in ammunition by giving the sportsmen what they
want. He thinks first of satisfying his customer. If they have any pet loads
they can't find anywhere else, they know Smith will have them. It is not
uncommon for orders to travel two hundred or three hundred miles to this
store for ammunition.

"But ammunition isn't all that is sold in tliis store. There is a full line
of sporting goods. Smith's gun deiiarlnient would make that of many a
dealer in large cities look jHrny and shri\-el up in comparison, because it is
'some department.'

"How does he do such a big business in such a small town? Ask Smith
and he will tell you his success is due to the fact that he makes every effort
to please his customers, and says the profits will take care of themselves.

"When C. S. Smith first opened a sporting goods store in Paso Robles
he found it necessary to have his Peters ammunition shipped direct from the
factory in Cincinnati. In those days there were no wholesale stocks on the
coast. Before handling factory shells 'Quick Shot' empties were rushed from
Cincinnati, and Smith, using a hand-loading outfit, did much of the work of
loading himself. Many sportsmen loaded their own shells, hut later hand
loading was discontinued save for the few who could not find what they
wanted in a loaded shell, and the factory-made shells were stocked.

"The business has grown like a mushroom, and prosperity has been
Smith's. When Smith started in busienss it wasn't a cut and dry propo-
sition. He knew that much game was to be found in that section, and he
immediately started a campaign for the business of the hunters. He taught
them that Peters shells were superior to all others and today it is said that
more game is killed with Peters shells in the vicinity of Paso Robles than is
killed by all other brands of shells combined.

"A study of the interior of the Smith store will readily convince you that
he is a firm believer in the helps sent out by the manufacturers. It is evi-
dent that he doesn't throw them under the counter or into the waste basket.
The hangers are put out where they can be seen.

"The interior view of the store shows its owner. A careful examination
will show that he is doing something with his right index linger. I-Viends
who have examined the picture say he is giving a pointer on the kind of
ammunition to buy and where to use it. The Smith store is clean and
orderly — every corner of it. It isn't that way only when it ])oses for a pic-
ture, but is in trim all the time.

"In addition to plaj-ing to the fancy of the iumter tlie Smith store has a
fishing tackle department that is good to look upon. There is nothing in the
tackle line that cannot be found in the Smith store."

C. S. Smith was married in Paso Robles to Miss 01i\e Wright, a native
of Santa Clara county, a daughter of H. G. Wright, editor of The Leader,
and they are the parents of five children: Harry, who died at the age of
ten, and Rosabelle, Maude, Meredith, and Clark M.

694 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Mr. Smith is a member of San Luis Obispo Lodge No. 322, B. P. O. Elks,
and of Santa Lucia Lodge No. 350, I. O. O. F., in which he served as Noble
Grand in 1899, and of which he has been treasurer for fourteen years. He is
a member and Past Chief Patriarch of the Encampment, of which he has
been treasurer for fourteen years ; and both he and his wife are members
of the Rebekahs, and of the Fraternal Brotherhood. He is a charter mem-
ber of the Knights of Pythias and is president of the I. O. O. F. Hall Asso-
ciation and Cemetery Association.

^Ir. Smith is a Republican and a charter member of the Chamber of
Commerce. He is also deputy fish and game commissioner. Both Mr. and
Mrs. Smith are members of the Methodist Church, of which he was a trustee
for ten years, and is now a member oi the official board.

BENJAMIN REED SMITH.— A life full of adventure and travel has
been the lot of B. R. Smith, the well-known liveryman of Paso Robles. Born
in Dellsboro, Dearborn county, Ind., the third child in a family of six born
to Ralph and Sarah (Reed) Smith, Mr. Smith spent his boyhood days on the
home farm, receiving his education in the public schools of that vicinity. His
mother was a native of ^Maryland ; and his father was born in Dearborn county,
Indiana.

When twenty-one years of age he decided to see other parts of the country,
and went to Missouri and from there to Iowa. After about a year in those
states, he returned to Indiana and, after a short stay there, went to Kansas
and began riding the cattle ranges, whence he drifted into Texas and drove
cattle over Chisholm trail, and the Wichita and Dodge City trail, through the
Panhandle countr}', for abovit three years, meeting with many adventures.

His next move was to New Mexico, where he took up freighting and
drove a ten-mule team out of Santa Fe to Fort W^ingate, continuing this
hard and dangerous employment for three years. The Indians, Apaches and
Chcyennes, were a danger always to be reckoned with in those days, especially
in that locality, and in one encounter they captured some of the mules, but
Mr. Smith and his men escaped.

After completing their work in New ^Mexico, he next went to Denver,
Colo., with the outfit and was employed on the Denver and New Orleans
Railway, serving as foreman of grading and construction work for one year.
From there he went to Kansas City, where occurred his marriage with
Miss Alice L. Smith, a native of Ripley county, Ind., but who was reared
near Kansas City. They came to Glendora, Cal., in February, 1882, where
Mr. Smith engaged in ranching one year. He then went to Riverside and took
up horticulture and alfalfa-raising, and bought different properties, which he
imi)rove(l and later sold. He also was interested in the cattle business, ship-
ping cattle from Arizona to Riverside and Los Angeles. In 1S)04 he located
ni Los .\ngeIos, in which city he was occupied in the real estate business and
in trading stock.

Coming to Paso Robles in 1912, Mr. Smith purchased the livery stable
he now conducts, his many years of experience in handling horses and cattle
iitiing liini inr the business and making for success. He runs a feed and sale
stable, and buys and sells horses, as well as breaking them.

Of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Smith four children have been born:
Louie, residing in Sacramento; Ralph, residing in Los Angeles; and Grace
and I'.tJicl, li\ing at home. Mr. Smith has been a memljer of the Independent

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 697

Order of Odd Fellows and Encampment since twenty-one years of age. He
is also a member of the Knights of the Maccabees. In politics he is a
Repulilican.

JESSE T. RUTHERFORD.— A native son of California, the late Jesse
T. Rutherford was born in Watsonville. September 22, 1866, a son of Aaron
and Mary (Cook) Rutherford. The father crossed the plains in an early
day from his native state, Missouri, and became interested in farming, locating
at first near San Jose, then at Watsonville, and later at Avila, San Luis
Obispo County. He sold out some years later and moved to Fresno, where
he passed the remainder of his life. Mrs. Rutherford was also a native of
Missouri and is now living in Fresno.

Jesse T. Rutherford was the fourth child in a family of nine, and was
reared principally in San Luis Obispo County, attending the schools of the
Avila section. He learned the trade of machinist and engineer, and was
employed principally in the latter capacity for different companies along the
coast until his marriage on December 24, 1901, to Miss Mollie Jones, a native
of Berryville, Ark., and a daughter of James L. and Catherine E. (Smith)
Jones, natives of i\Iissouri and Tennessee respectively, the ceremony taking
place near Shandon.

At the time of the discovery of gold in Calit\)rnia the Jones family came
across the plains with ox-teams, and in the same train was the late Mrs.
Tennessee Andrews of San Luis Obispo. Two years later they returned to
Arkansas, where Air. Jones farmed until 1873, when he once more brought
his family to this state and for a time settled at Cambria. Soon afterwards
he located in the Adelaida section, and later homesteaded in McMillan's
canon. Having improved his place, he sold it, to buy a tract on the Cholame
near Shandon, where he lived until he retired, his last days Ijcing spent with
his daughter. When he died he was sixty-six j-cars old.

Mrs. Rutherford was the third child in a family of five and was educated
in the public schools. After her marriage with her husband, they spent sev-
eral years in the San Joaquin valley, and on their return to Shandon they
began ranching. Mrs. Rutherford had pre-empted eighty acres in the Eagle
district, which she kept until 1916, when she sold it. When they came back
from the San Joaquin valley, Mr. Rutherford homesteaded near Shandon,
leasing other land besides, and carried on general farming and stock-rais-
ing, continuing to enlarge his herds until 1907, when he sold out and bought
the McNeil place of three hundred twenty acres. There he maintained the
stock industry with increasing success, until his death, on September 25,
1915, as the result of an automobile accident, .\fter his death, Mrs. Ruther-
ford ran the place; and in December, 1915. she added to her holdings by
purchase of the George Brown ranch of three hundred ninety-six acres in
Tucker canon. She moved onto this, and is carrying on a large stock business
by leasing range land and operating about fifteen hundred acres. She also
raises grain, principally wheat, putting in about two hundred seventy-five
acres each year.

The Rutherford place, located nine miles cast of Shandon, is watered by
springs, streams and wells, and is well adapted for the stock business. The
brand, an M and an R connected by a bar, is well known among stockmen
and range riders. Airs. Rutherford makes a specialty of shorthorn Durham
cattle and Poland-China hogs.

698 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Rutherford three children were born.
Belle, ^Irs. Hughes, lives on a ranch in the San Joaquin valley; Edward
LeRoy farms with his mother; and Theodore is also at home. In fraternal
circles, Mrs. Rutherford is a member of the American Yeomen. She is a
member of the Methodist Church, and in national politics is a Democrat.

JOHN HUDSON. — It may be that the desire to maintain the traditions
of an enviable ancestry has influenced the life and work of John Hudson, since
his family were represented among the pioneers of 1845 in California, in
tl'.e vanguard of that horde of immigrants that crossed the trackless desert
with teams of slow-moving oxen drawing the old prairie schooners with their
loads of precious human freight ; for many of the hardy pioneers brought
with them, to share their dangers and successes, their wives and children. He
was a son of Andrew J. Hudson, who was born in Missouri and who accom-
panied his father, William Hudson, across the plains to California in 18-14,
when he was a lad of only eight years. William Hudson wintered en route,
and arrived in this state in ]\Iay of 1845, settling near Sacramento for a time,
and then v^'ent to Sonoma county and was living there when the Bear Flag
party was organized and the flag was raised over Old Sonoma. He acted as
a scout during the troublous times when Fremont was trying to win the
territory of California for the United States. He had one brother, David
Hudson, who was First Lieutenant of the California Volunteers. A\'illiam
Hudson was a gunsmith by trade, but followed mining and stock-raising in
California, and died at Napa.

Andrew J. Hudson grew to manhood amid the trying times of the
frontier when there were lawless bands roving all over the settled and rich
portions of the state, and was educated in the primitive schools of the early
day. He was a butcher by trade, and was married in Lake county to Sarah
Burtnett, who was born in Springfield, 111., and came across the plains
in 1863 with her parents and settled in Lake county. After her marriage she
went with her husband to Napa county. They lived there until 1867, when,
with his wife and one child, he came to San Luis Obispo Count}' and settled
north of San Luis Obispo, where he was engaged in farming. In 1869
he bought a ranch north of Cayucos, where he took up butchering and stock-
raising. In 1876 he made another move, this time to a ranch that he had
purchased five miles west of Templeton ; which consisted of five hundred
twenty-five acres; and here he followed stock-raising and dairying until his
death in 1907, at the age of seventy-three years. His wife passed away
in 189^). They were parents of eight children, six of whom are now living.
These eight children are William, living near Templeton ; John, the subject
of this review; Harry, near Templeton; Tina, who lives near Paso Robles;
Carol, Mrs. J. L. Reynolds, also of Paso Robles; Emma, Mrs. Gates, who
died at Templeton in April, 1914 ; Burt, in Tehama county ; and Ernest, who
was accidentally killed by being hit with a derrick fork on a threshing ma-
chine, August 10, 1916.

John Hudson, tin- second child in his father's family, was born on
August 28, 1870, on his father's ranch near Cayucos. He attended the pub-
lic scliools of that section, where he was reared on the home place and early
learned the details of successful ranching. He also learned the trade of car-
penter. In 1894, he left home and went to San Francisco, remaining there
about one year; then he went to Los Angeles and soon after into \'entura

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 699

county, where his grandfather, Peter Burtnett, was living. He assisted him
one year and then settled for several years near Templeton as foreman on a
stock ranch. His next employment was as foreman of the warehouse for the
Templeton Milling Co. and he held this position ten years, since which time
he has followed contracting and building, meeting with success in his work.
He also served as administrator of the estates of his father, of his sister,
Mrs. Emma Gates, and of his brother Ernest Hudson, and all of these very
responsible duties he has discharged with infinite care and accuracv in
every detail. He is a man who makes and linlds friends, and has a wide
acquaintance throughout the county.

Mr. Hudson was united in marriage in Templeton with Miss Effie J.
Kemp, who was born in Maryland, and they have three children — John
Charles and Eva J., who are both attending the Paso Robles high school in
the class of 1918; and Chestina Elizabeth. The family are members of the
Presbyterian Church. In politics Mr. Hudson votes independently. He is
a fine type of self-made man, generous, just and intelligent, well-posted on all
topics of the day, and with his wife enjoys the hospitality of a host of friends.

GEORGE W. LINGO.— Pleasant it is to observe in comfortable retire-
ment those who, like George W. Lingo, the highly-respected pioneer, have
won their right to years of rest and enjoyment after years of fatiguing labor
in which they made their contribution to the growth of the State. A native
of Randolph county. Mo., where he was born on March 25, 1833, his father
was Samuel Lingo, a Carolinian who came to Missouri by way of Tennessee,
and who was thus one of the very early pioneers in Randolph county.
When he died his honored dust reposed in the soil of Macon county, of the
same state. His mother was a Miss Sarah Smith, a native of the Carolinas,
and has been for years deceased.

George was the fifth eldest of twelve children ; was brought uj) on a
farm and sent to a public school of the tyjiical old log-house pattern ; and
in 1850, when but seventeen years of age, crossed the great plains with an ox-
team with his father, and commenced mining near Coloma, which he con-
tinued until 1S54. In the meantime, in 1852, his father had returned to
Missouri, and it was not until twenty years later that George made him a
visit in the east. In 1854, the yoimg man took up farming near Stockton,
buying a ranch and raising grain and hay ; and later he traded that i)lacc for
cattle and ran them free upon the ])lains. Ten years after he set up farming
at Stockton he lost everything he possessed, but with typical courage he
commenced his business career over again.

In 1867 he caiue to San Luis Obisjjo County, and in 1868 built the
Cambria Hotel, the first hostelry seen in Cambria, which he managed for
ten years until he sold it. He then homesteadcd a hundred sixty acres near
Pozo, and ])re-empted eighty more, and when he had these two hundred
forty acres in good shape, he went into the raising of grain and general
farming. He rented more land, and ran a dairy; and those were, indeed,
days when the dairyman earned all that he received, for one had to jian and
skim the milk as well as churn by hand. He continued on his ranch mitil
1908, when he sold out and retired to Santa Margarita, where he bought
the fourteen lots on wdiich stands his residence.

At Staples Ferry, in San Joacjuin county, Mr. Lingo married Miss Patience
Epperly, who was born in Randcil])!! county. Mo., on September 9, 1833, a

700 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

daughter of Solomon and Phoebe (Gibson) Epperly, who crossed the plains
in 1852, and were natives, respectively, of North Carolina and Kentucky.
Four children blessed this union : Mary A., now Mrs. R. P. Merrill, who
lives at home; Elizabeth E., later Mrs. Cotter, who died here; Margaret A.,
now Mrs. M. A. Newsom, who lives at Holbrook, Arizona ; and George
Francis, who also resides with his parents. For forty years Mr. Lingo has
been a member of the Odd Fellows, and is now associated with the Chorro
Lodge at San Luis Obispo, of which he is a past grand. Mr. and Mrs. Lingo
are members of the Rebekahs.

JAMES PEDROTTA.— The pioneer blacksmith of Cayucos, James Pe-
drotta, w^as born in Golino, canton Ticino, Switzerland, J\Iarch 9, 1855, and
for several years attended the public schools of his village. When he was
thirteen years old he was apprenticed to a blacksmith, and for three years
served without pay while he lived at home. The next four years he worked
as a journeyman in the same shop where he had learned the trade. It was
natural that he should be an apt pupil, as his father, Louis, and grandfather,
Joseph A., had also followed the trade for many years. Louis Pedrotta, the
father, left Switzerland and came to California, settling in Napa City, where
he worked at his trade from 1866 until 1872, when he returned to Switzerland,
where he continued to make his home until his death.

It was in 1876, four years after his father's return, that James Pedrotta
concluded to come to California. Leaving home, he embarked for the United
States and, after an uneventful voyage and trip across the continent, arrived
safely in St. Helena. Instead of taking up his trade at that time he went to
work on a ranch, it being his first experience in that vocation. He did not
like the change, and after a time found work for four years at his trade in
Rutherford. After this he came to San Luis Obispo County and was em-
ployed in the shop owned by P. Sherman in Cambria from February, 1884,
until June, 1886.

On July 1, of that year, he came to Cayucos and opened a shop of his
own, where he is to be found at the present time, and where he has built up
a very profitable trade. His shop is equipped with all modern conveniences
known to the trade, and he takes pride in efificient workmanship. Besides
running the shojj he is local agent for the John Deere Plow Co. and for the
Peter Schuttler Farm Truck.

For more than twenty-five years Mr. Pedrotta has been local agent of
the Swiss Mutual Benefit Society of Cayucos. He is a member and Past
Grand of Cayucos Lodge of Odd Fellows, and is also a member and past
officer of the U. A. O. D.. of Cayucos. Since becoming a citizen of the
United States, on July 13, 1888, he has voted the Republican ticket and has
been interested in all movements for the upbuilding of the county.

On June 20, 1886, Mr. Pedrotta was united in marriage, in Cayucos,
San Luis Obispo County, with Miss Assunta Bombardieri, who was born
in Sonieo, canton Ticino, Switzerland, on September 20, 1859, and they arc
parents of the following children: Elvezia, Mrs. Garzoli, of McFarland,
California; I'-rina. Mrs. Anbrogio, of Snelling, California; Flora, Mrs. Sprea-
lico, of San Luis Obispo; Louis, who is assisting his father; Edna, deceased;
and Cleufe, Cora. Gilda, James and Frank. After Mr. Pedrotta had succeeded
m his l)usiness. ho took his familv for a trip back to his old home, and it was
while there that their daughter bidna passed away.

O'^^n^

(^-eyL^-^^:^Cir-

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND I'.N\IROXS 703

HENRY SYKES.— A resident of California since ISSo, Ik-nry Sykes has
seen a wonderful transformation in the state since that date, having himself
been interested in its agricultural development and its general prosperity. He
was born in Philadelphia, Februar\- o, 1<X3,\ a son of Joseph and Sarah (Grace)
Sykes, natives of England, who came separately to this country, where they
met and married. Mr. Sykes settled in Philadelphia long before that city
had attained any greatness, and was employed in a dye factory. They had
ten children born to them, of whom six grew up and three are now living:
and one of Henry's brothers, John Sykes, served in a Colorado regiment
during the Civil War and now resides in that state.
I When a child, the parents of Henry Sykes 'moxed to (lloucester county,

I N. J., and settled on a farm, and he remained at home until he was twenty-
three. The nearest school was three miles away ; and since his services were
needed on the farm, he had but little time for schooling. The school house
was made of logs with slabs for benches, and was a ])rimitive afTair. In 1856,
he left home and went to Illinois, worked in Shelby county, an.l then went
on In Kansas, where he spent some time. When the war broke out he
returned to Illinois and worked by the month ; and then, in October, 1861, he
enlisted in Company E, Thirty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was
mustered in at Springfield. He served in Tennessee, ^lississippi, .Mabama,
I Georgia, through the Carolinas and Virginia, and was wounded in the thigh
1 on -Vpril 6, 1862, at the battle of Shiloh. After leaving the hospital, he rejoined
his regiment. He was in the campaign leading to Atlanta and was at the
taking of Savannah. He veteranized at Bentonville, went to Natchez, was
mustered out in Fort Worth, Kan., and took part in the Grand Review at
' the close of the war. During his term of enlistment, he had many narrow
\ escapes, but fortunately came out of the struggle with only one wound. He
j was sent back to Springfield, where he was honorably discharged as corporal.
j After the war was over Mr. Sykes took a trip back to New Jersey to

I visit his parents, then went to Douglas county, Kan., and there was united
in marriage with Sarah Lucinda Kelley, a native of Indiana. He at once
engaged in farming eight miles from Baldwin City. He bought raw land,
broke the prairie and began raising corn and hogs. While living there he
! saw two crops eaten up by grasshoppers. In 1883, he sold his i)lace and
j came to California; and locating at El Monte, he purchased one hundred
I twenty acres and farmed it one year. Then he sold out and went to Pomona,
and from there to Marietta, San Diego county, where he farmed for a time.
after which he bought an apple orchard and raised apples in Soquel, Santa
Cruz county, whither he had removed. He continued that line of horticulture
i until 1912, when he sold out and retired to San Luis Obispo County, where
, he now lives in the enjoyment of a well earned rest. He is jirominent in
the Methodist Church, as he has been since the war, and liberally supports
' the various organizations in the church.

■ Of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Sykes twelve children were l)orn.

Mary A. has become Mrs. Baxter at Hcmet; Harvey .\. is at Olive; Sarah
! J., Mrs. Tower, lives at Corona; Grace P., .Mrs. North, is now in Tulare; the
[ home of Amos J. is in Marietta; Jane .\., Mrs. Preston, is in San Bernardino;
• Rose M., Mrs. Gulp, hails from Fullerton ; .Mice B. is Mrs. Haney of Los
j Angeles; Mabel B. has become Mrs. William .\Ilred of Spreckcls ; Lois M. is
! Mrs. .\. Warren .\llred, also of Spreckels ; Walter F. resides at Paso Robles :

704 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

and V.\s\c. -Mrs. Wilcox, is well known in Oxnard. The children have all
enjoyed sood educational ad\-antasies, havintj attended the pulilic schools,
and they have prepared themselves to take their places in the world of business
and s(jeietv.

GEORGE LOUIS FEIFER MICHELSON.— As might be expected of
one who has spent his entire life in California, George Louis F. Michelson is
a patriotic son of the Golden State and ardently champions all measures
looking towards the development oi the commonwealth. He was born in
Oakland, on January 18, 1S61, a son of Michael and Jensina (Feifer) Michel-
son. His father was a sailor and mate under his father-in-law. Captain
George Nielsen Feifer, who was master of a vessel that rounded Cape Horn
in 1849, bound for California. Captain Feifer had his family with him and
thej^ lived on the store ship "C'admus." \A'hile on a trip to China, Mr. and
Mrs. Michelson were married by a Swedish missionary. Michael Michelson
continued to follow the sea and. in 1850 ran the old Southern Pacific steamer
"Louise" on the bay from the foot of Ahirket street to the foot of Broadway in
Oakland. He had received his papers as master mariner and continued to fol-
low the sea until he retired on account of his health. He was always in
the best of humor when it was stormy and was a strictly temperate man,
always dependable in a crisis, and held the confidence of his men, from whom
he demanded obedience. He was wrecked once on the ocean, but all on
board were saved.

\Miile he was running vessels he made his home in East Oakland, but
after retiring from the sea, he went to Windsor, Sonoma county, and was
engaged in farming until he met his death by accidentally falling from a
low roof. He was aged sixty-eight at the time he died. His wife li\cd to be
eighty-four, dying at Windsor in June, 1911. They had three chiUlren—
Selma, Mrs. Hugh Latimer of Santa Rosa, who died in Windsor ; Augusta,
who married James Clark and died in Windsor ; and George L. F. Michel-
son. who was educated in the public schools of Oakland until he was seventeen
years old, when he moved with his parents to Windsor. Sonoma county. He
farmed and improved a place with orchard and vineyard, and continued to
reside there for thirty-three years.

After the death of his mother, he sold the place of three hundred acres
and moved to Monterey county, December, 1911, where he settled nine miles
northeast from San Miguel and bought a ranch of two hundred forty acres
and engaged in the dairy business in Lows Caiion.

Mr. Michelson now rents his ranch there and himself leases one hundred
seventeen acres three and one-half miles south of Paso Robles. where he
engages in raising grain, hay and some stock. He has been uniformly
successful in his operations both here and in his old home in Sonoma county.

Mr. ?*Iichelson was united in marriage in Sonoma count3% on September
13. 190,3, with Miss Edna Groves, who was born in Summit, San Luis Obispo
County, a daughter of lienjamin and Clara (Morehouse) Groves, pioneers
of this county, but both born in Sonoma county and married in Adelaida,
San Luis Obispo County. Mr. Groves died while on a visit to Sonoma comity
and the nKjther resides on their old home place in Summit. Charles D. More-
bouse, the grandfather, was a iiioneer of both Sonoma and San Luis Obispo
counties, and was .-i prominent citizen of the state for many years. Mrs.
Michelson is the only daughter, the third child in order of birth, in a family

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 705

of eight children. jMr. and Mrs. Miclielson arc the parents of four children.
These are Lt)is Elizabeth, Selnia Lucretia, IChvood Nielsen, and Caroline. Mrs.
Michelson has been a member of the Christian Church since she was sixteen
years of age. Mr. Michelson is a Repuldican in his political affiliations. He
and his wife have won a host of friends since the)- have become identified with
this section of the county ; and being natives of the state, they are in touch
with conditions bearing on the development and prosperity of the country
and the needs of western civilization.

VIRLIN EUGENE DONELSON.— Men possessing the fundamental
characteristics to which V. E. Donelson is heir have ever been regarded as
the bulwarks of the communities in which they have lived. He was born in
Douglas county, Ore., May 7, 1860, a son of William Thomas Donelson, a
native of Baltimore, Md., who came to the Coast country in 1851, by way of
Panama, and settled in Douglas county, Ore., where he was united in mar-
riage with Miss Martha Ennis. a native of Indiana and a daughter of John
I Ennis. The latter, born in .Scotland, stopped for a while in Indiana, but
I crossed the plains in IS.tI with ox-teams and settled in Oregon, where he
farmed six hundred acres in the \\'illamette valley, and died at the age of
ninety-one years.

After the marriage of Air. and Mrs. Donelson the\- settled ten miles
' above Portland, and there Mr. Donelson opened a blacksmith shop and farmed
I until 1868, when he came south to California and located in Santa Cruz, fol-
[ lowing his trade for two years. Still looking for a permanent place to make
; his home, he traveled to Humboldt county, and on Salmon creek built the
t first shingle mill in the county, running it for a time for Rurke & Hancock,
I until it burned down eighteen months later. Eroni there he went to Rohner-
I ville and ran a shop two years, and then to Carbervillc, Blocksburg and
! Bridgcville in turn, working at his trade in shojxs he bought or rented. He
; later came to Templeton, where his son had settled, leased land and farmed
j for a time, and then went back to Eureka, where he passed away at the age
of seventy-one years. His wife died there at the age of sixty-two.

The oldest of three sons and two daughters, Virlin E. Donelson was

educated in the jniblic schools of Humboldt county, and learned the black-

' smith's trade under his father there, working at it with him for some years,

I while at times he also farmed. He learned the jeweler's trade under Mr.

' Marshall in Blocksburg, Humboldt county, and followed that and the black-

sinithV trade in Blocksburg and Bridgeville. At the latter i)lace he was

united in marriage with Miss Nellie B. Hazard, who was born in Los

, Angeles, whither the young people moved in 1886; but nine months later, in

! 1887, he settled in Templeton, where he went to work at his trade as black-

I smith, and later bought his shop, which he ran twenty-five years to a day,

i during which time he also did watch-repairing. In October, 1913, Mr.

I Donelson sold out to start a garage business and the repairing of all kinds

! of machinery and engines.

Mr. Donelson has been a public officer almost all the time he has been a
' resident of the county. He was appointed deputy under Sheriff E. T.
' Neal, served as a constable two terms, was elected justice of the peace on the
i Democratic ticket in 1902, and has been re-elected at every election for that
1 office since, in 1906-10-14, the last time with no opposition. His term expires
[ in 1919. He has served as school trustee twelve vears. The family are mem-

706 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

hers of the Presbyterian Church. Of the marriage of J\Ir. and Mrs. Donelson
seven children have been born: DoUie, Mrs. E. W. Germain, of Templeton;
Constance, Mrs. Ehiier Petterson, of Santa Barbara; Pearl, Mrs. Anderson,
of Paso Robles ; \'ernie, a blacksmith at Atwater, Cal. ; and Chester, Dorothy
and Dorris, at homo.

SIMON HENLEY McKINZIE. — A man of the highest integrity, and a
self-made man of a fine old family, Simon H. McKinzie is the special agent
of the Standard Oil Co., of Paso Robles. He was born in Oregon in 1865!
One of his forefathers, Henley McKinzie, his grandfather, was a native of A'ir-
ginia, born of Scotch ancestry in 1792. Henley McKinzie was a colonel
in the War of 1812. From the South he came to Wisconsin, and in 1852
crossed the plains with ox teams to Oregon, whei^ he located nfar Portland,
taking up there a six hundred forty acre donation land claim. Later' lu-
moved to the vicinity of Eugene, and there, in 1868, he died.

Simon's father, Caswell McKinzie, Avas born near Lancaster, Wis., in
1842, and wdien he was ten years old he crossed the plains and later followed
farming in Oregon until 1877. He settled for a while at Walla Walla, Wash.,
where he followed teaming. He afterward lived and worked at Spokane, and
is now enjoying retirement in Seattle. Caswell's wife was Louisa Bell before
her marriage, a native of Illinois and the daughter of Nathaniel Bell, who
crossed the plains in 1853 to Oregon, located at Oregon City and spent
his last days at Walla Walla. Mrs. Caswell McKinzie died at Grangeville,
Ida., in 1909.

The third oldest of six chihlreii, Sinimi }iIcKinzie attended the country
school and helped his father on their ranch until he was twenty-one years old,
when he started in the express business at Spokane under the firm name of
the McKinzie Transfer Co. After some years he removd to Grangville, Ida.,
where he continued the same enterprise, to which he added that of freighting.
Grangeville was then a far-inland town, seventy miles from the railroad at
•Lewistown, at the head of navigation on Snake river, and there was plenty
to do in hauling goods, with fdur- and six-horse teams, through mud and
over snow heaped fifteen and twenty feet high above the usual level of the
roads, so that he frequently had thrilling adventures and many narrow- escapes.
This hazardous undertaking he continued from 1895 until 1903.

At Spokane, July 26, 1888, Simon McKinzie was married to Miss Hattie
Dittamore, who was born in Jasper county. 111., the second youngest daughter
of James Dittamore, himself a native of Gosport, Ind., and a farmer who
moved to Jasper county. 111. Her grandfather, William Dittamore, had been
born in (Germany, Imt later settled in Indiana, and still later had made his
home in Illinois. Her mother was Miss ^Minerva Lane, an Indianan, the
daughter of William Lane, of Tennessee. Both her father and mother died
in Illinois, leaving four children, all of whom are still living.

In 1903, Mr. McKinzie located with his wife and family in Paso Robles, j
once again engaging in the transfer business, which he sold out, in April,
1016. Four years previously, when the Standard Oil Co. opened a branch I
here, he became their special agent, and has since continued in that capacity. ■

Five children are among Mr. and Mrs. McKinzie's treasures. Bessie.
who has become Mrs. Thomas H. Richards, lives at Bay City, Mich.; Venona
is well known as Mrs. F. J. Murphy of Paso Rol)les ; Clara is a member of [
the Cla-ss of '17, Paso Robles High School; while Thomas and Arthur are ]

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND F.NVIRONS 707

in the ( Jrammar Schools. ( )iU.side of their family circle, this estimable couple
find much social pleasure in fraternal societies, he being a member of the
Woodmen of the World and the Knights of Pythias, while she is a member
of the AVomen of Woodcraft and Pythian Sisters. Mr. McKinzie is an active
Republican, and is a member of the local Chamber of Commerce; and Mrs.
McKinzie shows her public-spiritedness in serving, for the second term, as
member and vice-president of the board of trustees of the Paso Robles Free
Librarv, to which she gives much thought and attention.

HJALMAR HAABESLAND.— A self-made man, lljalmar Haabesland,
the assistant cashier of the Citizens Bank in San Miguel, commands the
respect and admiration of those who note his progress. Pie was born
in Lillesand, Norway, on October 23, 1884, and is a son of Swen Plaabesland,
who was born in the year 1825, and was a tanner and leather dealer, and
later a shoe manufacturer of Lillesand. Hale and hearty, the old gentleman
retired at the age of ninety-one, having served his community for years as
Tax Collector and Assessor. His mother was I^lary Theresa Swege, who
died in the same place in 1907, where she was also born. Six of the eight
children of this worthy Norwegian couple are still living, two of the boys
being in California and two of the girls residing in Brooklyn, N. Y.

Hjalmar was the third youngest, and was brought up at the grammar
and high schools at Lillesand, where he specialized in languages and com-
merce, and finished his preparation by half a year's apprenticeship with his
father. In 1900, he came to the United States and to Newberry, Mich., in
which town he was employed by a lumber company in tlie Upper Peninsula,
after which he clerked for -a while in a grocery store, thereby acquiring every-
day English.- The year 1902 smiled upon him in opening California to his
vision, and by the fall he was at San Miguel, where his brother, Nicholi,
already resided. For six months he worked for the S. P. R. R. Co., and
then worked on the Nacimiento Ranch, where he drove teams for the great
harvesters, and for five years thereafter held the reins and whipped the mules
over the rough country roads. Another clerkship in a grocery store, conducted
by Ellery Wilmar, opened to him, and then he was l>(>okkeci)er for the San
Miguel Flouring Mill Co.

Undoubtedly Mr. Haabcsland's convincing personality, as well as his
proficiency with columns of figures, led to his appointment, in 1912, as Assist-
ant Cashier of the Citizens Bank at its San Miguel branch, a position in which
he has given evidence of the qualifications necessary for the making of a
success in this line of business.

In June, 1916, wedding bells in Stockton announced the marriage of
lljalmar Haabesland to Miss May Belle Eklund, a native of Vineyard Canon,
Monterey county, the daughter of Olaf Eklund, then a farmer of that vicinity,
but now a vineyardist near Lodi. After the usual preparatory schooling,
Mrs. Haabesland had graduated from the San Jose State Normal, and
had taught school for a while before her marriage, with the result that today
she shares a lively interest with her husband in all matters pertaining to the
educational uplift of San Miguel.

Mr. Haabesland was made a Mason in San Miguel Lodge No. 285, and
is now Master of the Lodge, and he is also Past Grand of San Miguel Lodge
340, I. O. O. F. More than this, he is a member of the San Miguel Improve-
ment Club. Mrs. Haabesland was a member and Past President of the Lodi

708 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Parlor, N. D. G. W., and was Grand Delegate to the Grand Parlor in 1914;
and she is now a member of San Alit^uel Parlor Xo. 94.

MRS. MAGDALINA PINKERT.— Even travelers motoring through
Paso Robles, and making no pretense to stopping there longer than to take
a meal or two, will scarcely fail to climb to the top of Merry Hill, and there,
amid several open acres, with a magnificent valley spread out before them,
imhil)e to their heart's content of the mineral water so long famous for its
curative properties, and of particular benefit to those afflicted with rheuma-
tism, kidney and stomach troubles, insomnia and gout.

An interesting story is revived as to how these famous mineral waters
came into the possession of the present owner, Mrs. Magdalina Pinkert.
Her husband, Julius H. Pinkert, was an old settler in California, whose
birthplace was none other than the famous art center of Germany, Dresden,
from which city, as a tailor, and while yet a young man, he came to Texas.
Three years afterward he was plying his trade in San Francisco, and there,
in 1894, he married Miss Magdalina Neiderstrasse, a native of Saalfelden,
Austria. She was the daughter of Mathias and Anna (Hochweimer) Nei-
derstrasse, who were farmers. ]\Irs. Pinkert attended the Austrian public
schools, and with her sister, Crescentia, came to San Francisco in 1891,
where she resided until her marriage.

The first venture nf the ambitious couple was in the management of
a hotel at Emeryville, and this Mrs. Pinkert still owns. About ten years ago
Mrs. Pinkert suiifered so severely from rheumatism that she came to Paso
Robles for relief, and finding in the mineral waters of Merry Hill the most
astonishing cure, she persuaded her husband to purchase the entire property
of about six acres ; and while they lived there — having moved in the next day,
and having soon after built a neat home and several houses for the springs —
they put the water up in five-gallon bottles and shipped it all over the state.

On April 1, 1911, at the age of fifty-eight, Mr. Pinkert died, and was
duly buried in the Paso Robles cemetery, after which his widow leased the
place and returned to Emeryville. She is looking forward, however, to the
day when her business aflfairs will permit her to return to Paso Robles.
Her sister, Mrs. Catherine Merkel, is assisting her in the management of her

b'or the benefit of those who may be seeking such medicinal relief, it
may be interesting here to give the analysis of the ^lerry Hill Mineral ^\'ate^
made ])y the State University:

Grs. Parts

Per Gal. Per 10.000

I'otassium Sulphate } . ^g „-

Sodium Sulphate (Glauber's Salt), etc \ ^'

Sodium Chloride (Common Salt) 4.77 .81

Sodium Carbonate (Sal Soda) 1.23 .21

Calcium and Magnesium Carbonates L„ .^

C-alcium Sulphate ((Jypsum) J^^"'- -^'^

Silica 88 .15

Organic matter and chemically combi'ned water 6.13 1.05

Total 35.92 6.15

SAN LUIS Ol'.ISl'O COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 711

FRED SCHUTTE.— Sold, nil, if ever, has llu- progressive California
horticulturist lieen sn well represeiitc.l as in the iiuble exhibit at the Los
Angeles L'liamber of Coinmerce, some years ago, when berries, with a
circumference of fi^•e and six inches, won the admiration of both the layman
and the specialist. The marvelous product of Nature's bounty and the skill
of man was entered by h'red Sclnittc. nnw the well-known manager of the
Oak Ridge Orchard Co., muc ..f the hurtling citizens of Templetoii ; and
among the most optimistic l)elie\ers in the future of this town, h'red is a
nati\e cf W estjjlialia, Germany, where he was born on the same day of
the iiiDiith ,is was the poet Longfellow, February 27, 1864. His father was
ITederick Schutte, a merchant tailor, and his mother, Louise (Meier), both of
whom are now dead. There were five boys and two girls in the family, Fred
being the second eldest: and two of the brothers are in .America, while two
others, with twelve nephews, are at the front in the Cerman .\rniy. Like
himself, Henry and William Schutte are horticulturists.

Reared in the country of his birth, Fred went to work when only six
years of age in a cigar factory, and learned the cigarmaker's trade, while he
attended school at night. He next worked on a farm for three years, and
when well in his teens broke away from the I'atherland and came to more
promising America. In September. ISSl, he l.mded at New York, and not
long afterward found himself in St. Louis, near which city he obtained
em|)loymeiit for several years as a gardener on a truck farm. In 1885. he
abandoned .Missouri and passed a year in Madison county. 111.

Sometime in October of the following year, Mr. Schutte pushed on to San
Jose, Cal., where he commenced orcharding, a vocation which he has since
pursued, finally taking a course in horticulture at the Portland Correspondence
School. In February, 1887, he set out a nursery at Lompoc. After five
years, however, he moved from there to (lardena, near Los Angeles, where
he bought fifteen acres of choice land. He soon astonished the natives by^
sinking there the first Artesian well for irrigation, dropping the bore two
hundred ten feet, and securing a flow of water which rose to within five
feet of the surface. His pumping ])lant was likewise the first in Gardena, and
he was soon busy raising great fields of strawberries. \\'hen he sold out.
in 1892, and moved to Los Angeles, he had the largest strawberry patch in
all California, devoting twenty acres to the fruit, which required forty pickers
to gather, and for the delivery of which he made several trips a day to Los
Angeles. In 1900, Mr. Schutte came north to the Linden district on the
Calaveras river, in the San Joaf|uin valley, and there bought new land and
started a new orchard. This time he planted or set out almond trees, apricots
and peaches, filling sixty acres; and such success did he meet with that lie
was not only able to ship his fruit cast and to sell to the great canneries, hut
he realized consider.ible jjrofit by drying a good percentage of his products.
Having thus again establislieil his reputation as an orchardist, he siild out
in \')U.

After ,1 irip to .Mexico, when, for six months, he looked over the republic
to the south, .iiid a brief sto]) at Huntington IJeach, he came to San Luis
Obispo L'ounty in I'M 2, and organized here the Oak Ridge Orchard Co,, with
which he identified himself as manager from the start. He bou.ght the Niels
Johnson Ranch of a thousand acres, just outside of Tem])lcton. cleared and
inipro\ed considerable of it. setting out a hundred acres of pears, forty acres

712 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EW'IROXS

of prunes, thirty- acres cif apples, and twenty acres of almonds, a good part
of which he seems disposed to sell to anyone wdio may wish to try the
experiment Avith him, and here he plans to establish a packing-house with
canneries and similar business enterprises. He has given half of the site for
the new high school, and proposes to develop the undertaking on the broadest
and most attractive lines.

At Elk Grove, in Sacramento county, in 1890. Fred Schutte was married
to ;Mrs. Mary ( ( lillett ) Manthie, a native of Canada, and the daughter of J. B.
Gillett, a mason, who brought his family to Chicago when Mary was four
months old. There he farmed for a while, and in 1856 moved to Blue
Earth City, Faribault county, IMinn., where he supported his family as a
farmer and defended them as a frontier militiaman against the threatening
Indians. That there Avas need for such alertness in respect to the savages
may be seen from the fact that the little company was but forty miles from
the pkice where the terrible New Ulm massacre occurred. Mrs. Schutte's
first marriage, in 1869, also occurred in Minnesota, after which she came to
California. Mr. Manthie died in Lompoc. One child, Raymond, who attends
the Templeton high school, was born of the present union.

For years Fred Schutte was a popular Odd Fellow, a member of the
Rebekahs and the Foresters ; but he is no longer active in these orders. For
the past couple of decades both husband and wife have been Christian
Scientists, and as such have organized the church at Templeton, in which they
have both been readers. Mr. Schutte's popularity among business men is
attested by his election to the presidency of the Templeton Board of Trade.
He is a Republican.

HANSON WILLIAM TRUE.— The transformation wrought in Cali-
fornia during the past forty or fifty years is due to the energy and patient
perseverance of the pioneers, who, having left comfortable homes in the East,
identified themselves with the newer West, and out of its crudity evolved
the present-day civilization. Belonging to this class of men is Hanson W.
True. He was born in Lower Salem, Washington county, O., December 17,
1840, a son of William B. True, a farmer, who married Jane Button. The
True family trace their lineage back to Holland. Some members of the family
came to .America on the ship that followed the "Mayflower" to Plymouth
Rock, Mass.

Hanson W. True was an oil operator in West Virginia until 1884, when
he came to San Luis Obispo County. Here he pre-empted one hundred sixty
acres of land and bought eighty acres adjoining, and did a general farming
until his death, on February 'l8,'l913.

Mr. True served in the Civil War. He enlisted in Company I, 23th Ohio
\'olunteer Infantry, in June, 1861, and was mustered into service at Camp
Chase on June 28. 1861, and took part in all the eighteen battles with his
regiment until he received several w^ounds, the last time at Gettysburg, July 1,
186,\ in his right arm, when he had to have a part of the ulna bone taken out,
so that he lost the use of it thereafter. The company went out with a hun-
dred men and only twelve came l>ack. He was sent to Philadelphia and re-
mained there until he was mustered out.

Hanson W. True was luiited in marriage, on February 17, 1875. with
Miss Mary Alice Sawyer, who was born in West Columbia, Mason county,
W. \'a., on .Xjiril 5, 1854, a daughter of John Sawyer (mentioned in the sketch

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EN\TRONS 713

of M. H. Brooks). She Avas reared and educated in her home community,
and since the death of her husljand has taken charge of the home i)Uice,
where with the aid of her one son, Charles, she is making a success of ranch-
ing. Charles is married and has two children.

Mr. True, with others, hauled the lumber from San Luis Obispo for the
first schoolhouse, which was built at Union, in this section of the county.
lie was director of the Farmers" .Vlliance Business Association for many
years, and for a time was president of the board, until he resigned in 1911.
He was a Alason for over forty years, having joined the order soon after the
Civil War. He was public-spirited and won a large circle of friends during
his lifetime in the count}'.

ROYAL EUGENE BOWEN.— A pioneer in point of service with the
S. P. Milling Co., as foreman of their warehouse at Paso Robles, where he
has been since 1889, Royal Eugene Bowen has given his best efforts towards
building up and maintaining a prosperous business for his company, and is
recognized as an honored citizen of that cit>-. in which so many years of his
active life have been spent. He was l)orn in Lawrenceville, St. Lawrence
County, N. Y., August 21, 1846.

'J'he father, Rufus William Bowen, was burn in Grafton, N. IL, Tuly 5,
1S14. He was a carpenter and builder, and removed to Franklin county,
X. Y., where he was united in marriage at .Moira, May 10, 1841, with Hannah
M. Stickney, who was born there July 4, 1821. They removed to Lawrence-
ville, then to Palmyra, and again back to Moira, Mr. Bowen meanwhile fol-
lowing his trade. He was employed in the building business in Chicago, 111.,
where he was accidentally struck by a Rock Island train, from the eflfects
of which he died, July 10. 1881. His wife had passed away on May 22 of
the same year.

Next in line was the grandfather, William Bowen, who was born in
Grafton, October 23, 1786. He was a carpenter and shipbuilder and removed
to Franklin county, N. Y., and followed his trade. On September 27, 1812,
he married Catherine Cass, born in 1795, a daughter of Nason Cass, who
was born in New Hami)shirc, May 24, 1751, and who marmed Sarah Hoyt
Poplin, on October 15, 1777. They had twelve children, of whom Catherine
was the ninth in order of birth. She died at Schoolcraft, !Mich. She was of
the same family as General Cass of military fame. The Bowen family arc
of Welsh descent and were early settlers in New England, some of the
members taking part in the Revolutionary War. There are three genera-
tions of the William Bowen family living in California at present.

On the maternal side of the family Mrs. Hannah ^1. Bowen was a
daughter of Charles Stickney, born in Concord, Addison county, Vt., on
May 17, 1785. He married Betsy Pierce, who was born in New Salem, Mass.,
April 11, 17'X); they were married .\pril 11, 1809, and Hannah was the
seventh child in a family of twelve children. Charles Stickney died in
Moira, X. ^'., .Marcli 23, 1858, and his wife died there on December 29, 1860.
Tlu y were connected with the same family as President Franklin Pierce.

Kiiyal Eugene Bowen is the third child in his father's family of nine
iliildren, three of whom are now living. He was reared in Moira, N. Y.,
had the advantages of the public schools there and worked on a farm until he
came to California in 1874, locating in Monterey. He was employed by
David Jack-; until 1880, when he came to Paso Roliies. and entered the employ

714 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

of tlio S. I'. Milling Co. as warehouse foreman — a position held ever since with
credit to himself. When he took charge here their building was four hun-
dred fifty feet long; now it is nine hundred fifty. They used to hoist the grain
by horse power, but now use a steam hoist. In one year he has handled
20,000 tnns iii grain. He erected the home he now occupies, and there he
has lived 1. 'r twenty-five years.

yiv. Llowen was united in marriage in San Jose with Mrs. Catherine
( Milev) Thompson, a native of Ann Arbor, Mich. By her first marriage .she
had line daughter, Jennie, Mrs. ,\. L. Young of Oakland. The family are
members of the ]\Iethodist Church, Mr. Bowen lieing chairman of the board
of stewards. In politics he is Re])ublican.

ALFRED THEODORE LOVGREN.— A native of the Gopher State,
Alfred LcDvgren was born at Red Wing on May 24, 1879, the sixth in order
of birth of ten children. His grandfather, Oscar Lovgren, was a large farmer
in Smaalan, who brought his family to the United States, traveled up the
Mississippi river to Illinois, and then moved farther west t<i Minnesota.
There also he was a large landowner, and acquired considerable wealth be-
fore he died. Charles Lovgren, the father of Alfred, was burn in Smaalan,
Sweden, and brought his family to Moline, Illinois, and thence Iwn years
later to Minnesota, settling near Red Wing. In 1886, he made a trip to
California, and in Bethel he bought a hundred twenty acres of land from the
West Coast Land Co., after wdiich he returned to Minnesota.

Six years passed before he was ready to move nearer the Pacific ; then
he sold his Minnesota holdings, and traveled with his wife and ten children
to the liethel district. This was in 1892; and success attending his efforts at
grain-raising, he bought additional land and owned one hundred forty-three
acres. When he retired, he moved to Templeton in 1910; and there, in May,
I'd.T. his wife, formerly Miss Christene Johnson, whom he had married in
Sweden, passed away ; and in July, 1916, he also died as the result of a painful
accident. The presumjjtion is that a gasoline stove exploded, and in his
attem]3t to extinguish the flames he was fatally burned. He was a Lutheran
deacon and superintendent of the Sunday School for years, and served his
community as a school trustee of the Bethel district.

All the ten children of this union were born in the United States, and
all are living in California, though Alfred is the only one in San Luis Obispo
Cnunty. r.n.ught u|i in .Minnesota until he was thirteen, and attending the
jiublic schcinls there. Alfred came with his parents to this farm in 1892, and
from tliat date was reared here, finishing his schooling in the Bethel district,
and farming for his father. When he was eighteen he went to Oakland, where
he was employed till he was twenty, when he joined his brother, Algert
L(jvgren, in a grain and stock-raising venture on land his brother had man-
aged fnr tile ]ire\icius se\en years. They rented several thousand acres on
the Eureka Ranch, and went in for raising grain, horses, beef cattle and hogs,
'i'iiis ranch tluy (.inrated fnr seven years, and then disposed of their personal
Iiroperly at auclinii. The sale lasted two days, and included a free barbecue.
It was the biggest sale in San Luis Obispo County up to that time. His
brother now resides in I'Vcsnn county.

Alfred then took a tri]) thruugh Mexico and Arizona; and returning a
few nujnths later he rented his father's place and has run it ever since. He
is serving, in addition, as the administrator of his father's estate. He also

UyOClc^ (D/l

OL-

SAN LUIS OIUSPO COUNIV AND KXAIROXS 717

rents mher land, bringin;;- tlic tdtal np In snnu- four hundred thirty acres,
planting tu wheat and Inirlev and putting in about three hundred acres a year.

He uses two big teams and a header, and operates the |dace according to
the latest approved methods.

In the Bethel district, .\lfred Lovgren was united in marriage on Novem-
ber 1, 1911, with Miss Anna Catherine Johnson, who was born there, a
daughter of Andrew Johnson. Three children, Elden, Bernice and \Villard,
have blessed their union. Mr. Lovgren is a Progressive Republican, and a
member of the county central committee. He and his wife are members of the
Swedish Lutheran Church.

VICTOR ORTEGA. — \\'hatever meed of praise is earned by and accorded
to the American pioneer and his descendants, who have contributed so much
to develop this great commonwealth along the Pacific, the true American,
and especially the Yankee Californian, will never fail to accord the native
Californian, and those who bear his historic name, the fullest credit for his.
important part in the wonderful transformation so effected. Among such
native names, none stands higher than that of the Ortegas, in whose veins
flows some of the noblest Castilian blood. This line of Spanish descent is
worthily represented in Cholame by N'ictor Ortega, the successful farmer and
stockman. His grandfather was Manuel 1'. Ortega, a native of Spain, who
came to San I'rancisco in early days, mo\ed south to San Diego county,
niarried there and had a large family: and afterward returned to Si)ain. where
he died.

Victor's father was Emider M. Ortega, who was born at San Luis Capi-
strano, in San Diego county, and grew up to be a vaquero, dying in Ventura
county. His mother, Concepcion (Domingues) Ortega, was born at San Luis
Obispo, the daughter of Pedro Domingues, who was killed by the Indians.
When she died at Ventura, in 1911, she was ninety-eight years and eight
months old. As a cattleman, the elder Ortega did business with tiie missions
at San Miguel and San Fernando and on the big ranches, he hiinself owning a
ranch where the sugar factory at Santa Maria now stands. Later he owned
a farm on the Ortega Hill.

The youngest of a family of si.x boys and four girls, \'ictor Ortega was
l)orn at Santa liarliara on June 18, 18.i8, and was brought up in the same town,
attending the public school there. In 1882, he went to work for Mr. Clark on
the Sacramento ranch ; and in his service he remained for eighteen years as
a vaquero, never losing, in that period, a day from work.

At Shandon, Mr. Ortega was married to Miss Josephine Hughes, a lady
who was born in Los Angeles of parents who came from the East. After
their marriage, the Ortegas settled, in 1907, on the present ranch, bought a
claim, and homesteaded a hundred si.xty acres, and there engaged in stock-
and grain-raising. The Ortegas also bought land adjoining, so that now
they have four hundred eighty acres of fine ranch land given to stock- and
grain-raising. Some two hundred acres a j'ear are seeded to grain, and choice
Durham cattle are raised on the ranch. He leases range land on the Cholame
grant, where he runs his cattle. His cattle brand, VO, is known all over
this country. He has a large and fine herd.

Victor Ortega is a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West. San
Luis Obispo parlor. He is an influential Republican, whose counsel is often

718 SAX lA'JS OBISPO COUNTY AND EXATROXS

JAMES BARN HART. — Strange, indeed, must it sometimes seem to
James ISarnhart, the veteran dairjman, when the work of the day has all been
done and the last operations are completed, in which machinery and mechani-
cal devices have played such an important part, to look back and contemplate
the contrast in dairying methods of the past and the. present. From Westfield,
near Delhi, Delaware county, X. Y., he came, having been born there on
December 1, 1858. His father Avas George Barnhart, a native of that county
and a farmer of German descent who, having distinguished himself in the
Civil War as a member of the 44th X^. Y. Regiment, spent his last days at
San Luis Obispo. His mother was Elizabeth Taylor before her marriage, a
native of Scotland, who came with her father and the rest of the family from
Europe to Delaware county when she was sixteen years old. She passed away
at Cambria.

The second eldest of three children, James grew up on a X^ew York
farm, attended a country scTiool, and when the great tide of tourists in the
eigiities began to flow into California, he came to the Coast and found work
in 1886, at the dairy of a cousin, James Taylor, at Cambria. There he
remained four years, when he leased the dairy for himself, and for another
four years managed it with considerable success. There were six hundred
forty acres in the ranch and a -hundred cows to be cared for, and in those
days one had something to do. When he left that district, he did so to buy
a dairy ranch on San Simeon creek, where he had control of three hundred
thirty acres stocked with thirty choice cows. This enterprise engaged him
for another round of four years, after which he rented his ranch and returned
to that of James Taylor, where he ran the Taylor dairy for another four years.
At that time there were no separators. All of the milk had to be panned, and
the cream was skimmed by hand. The butter was made up into rolls, which
were shipped to the San Francisco and Los Angeles markets. After a while
he traded his ranch for a dairy farm of three hundred acres in Green \'alley,
near the James Taylor place ; and later he disposed of his cows and rented out
the land.

Since then lie has been interested in stock-raising in various parts of
San Luis Obispo County, in 1915 locating at Adelaida, where he bought a
hundred fifty-eight acres, one mile north of the postoffice. For some years
Mr. Barnhart had been a sufferer from asthma, but here he found great
relief. He engaged again in farming and dairying, this time having a separator
and every modern device, and shipping away his cream, famed for its richness.
The finest of HoLstein and Durham cattle were his, and when he came to sell
his coast farm recently, his reputation as a judge of quality contributed much
to a fortunate sale.

In the old Mission city of San Luis Obispo, Mr. Barnhart was married
to Miss Ella Agnes Weir, a native of Seattle, Wash., and the daughter of
John and Lizzie Murphey, who were born in Pennsylvania, and who settled
in Santa Cruz county, moving later to the Summit district in San Luis
( )l)ispo (Munty, where they farmed. The father died there, and the mother
ni:)w resides in Los Angeles. Mrs. Barnhart was educated in the Summit
schools. They have one child, a most attractive daughter named Maude
Edith. Though absorbed in business, Mr. Barnhart has still found it possible
to keep up with the trend of political events, and in the discharge of his duty
as a citizen has occupied a conspicuous position in local Republican ranks.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 719

EDWARD SHERMAN MOREHOUS. If every son of a pioneer were
as proud of his connection with tlie early days as is Edward Sherman
Morehous, the energetic rancher, horticulturist and contractor of Paso Robles,
there would be more of the pioneer spirit in evidence. He is a son of Charles
and Hulda M. (Low) Morehouse, pioneers whose biography will be found
elsewhere in this work. The records of the family back in New York state
show that the name formerly was not spelled with a final "e," although in
1877 some of the family added it, so that both si)ellint;s are used at the pres-
ent time.

Edward .S. Alorehous was born in Ileahlsburg, April 19, 1868, and when
six months old his parents moved to the section about Summit, in San
Luis Obispo County, where he attended the Summit school and began work
on his father's farm. He then went to learn the saddler's trade in San Luis
Obispo, and in 1886 located in Paso Robles and helped to manufacture some
of the first harnesses that were made in the new town. He opened a shop
on Pine street and for twelve years carried on a good business. In 1910
he sold out and became foreman of a ranch owned by the Fair Oaks Land Co.,
putting in nearly three years superintending the clearing and planting of a
tract of land to an orchard, principally almonds : and after the work was com-
pleted he returned to town and began taking contracts for erecting houses and
other buildings and met with success.

A member of the Knights of Pythias and the Fraternal Brotherhood, Mr.
Morehous has had much to do with establishing lodges of the latter fraternal
order as deputy Supreme President, in Washington, Nevada, Idaho and
Oregon. He has been ably assisted by his wife, who was formerly Miss
Susie Andrus, born in Travers City, IMich., where she received her educa-
tion. They were united in marriage in San Diego, on October 22. 1897. Mr.
Morehous is a deacon in the Christian Church. He votes the Republican
ticket at national elections ; while in local matters he aims to support the
men he considers best suited for the office regardless of party lines. Both
yiv. and Mrs. Morehous have hosts of friends in their community, and have
made many warm friendships during their travels.

MRS.' ANNIA BLAIR MORTON.— Mrs. Morton is one of those
women of keen and correct perception who very accurately estimate the
comparative advantages of the State in which they reside, and who believe
that nowhere on this rollicking, happy old globe is there anything to be
found so charming as California climate.

A native of the old Quaker city of I'hiladelphia, and the daughter of
Cicero Blair, a North Carolinian, of English descent, Mrs. Morton was Miss
Annia Blair before her marriage, and grew up in a certain environment of
beauty, her father having been a prominent architect, who followed his pro-
fession until he was able comfortalily to retire. Her mother was Miss Eliza-
beth Powell, a belle of ITavana when Mr. Blair sought her heart and hand.
In Raleigh, North Carolina, Miss Annia I'lair was married to Frederick
Morton, a native of ]\Iaine, who had been roared in Baltimore, and who,
after a successful business career, retired to Philadelphia, where he lived
until his death.

In her travels through many attractive lands, Mrs. ^Forton had her atten-
tion directed in particular to the great Connnnnwealth on the Pacific Coast,
and finding in this state those climatic conditions most favorable to liealth.

720 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

slie concluded to cast in her fortunes with California. Particularly was she
attracted, on account of the mineral waters and the mild and stable condi-
tions of climate, to the growing inland spa, Paso Robles. where she now owns,
at tile corner of Spring and Tenth streets, one of the most beautiful resi-
dences to be seen an\where. Deeply appreciative of all the salubrious qual-
ities of the climate here, ilrs. ^lorton loves to work among her flowers
and often regrets that she cannot give these almost human creatures more of
her ])ersonaI attention.

Iler elegantly furnished home is replete with the luxuries making life
worth living. She directs her religious life and governs her charities accord-
ing to the known tenets and liberal practices of the Baptist Church. She is
keenly alive to the dissemination of Republican principles and the triumph
of Republican government. Independent, liberal and hospitable in the ex-
treme, Mrs. ]\Iorton is a charming woman who contributes in a modest but
an effective way to what is most desirable in a charming town.

CHARLES WILSON.— Among the upbuilders of San Luis Obispo
County and of the State, must be mentioned Charles Wilson, who worked for
years as a carpenter and expert finisher all through California. ]Mr. Wilson is
a native of Sweden, in which land he was born at Oscarshavn, on November
19, 1847. He came to America in 1865, where his father, Hans Wilson, a
worthy farmer, brought his family. His mother, Sarah (Larson) Wilson, had
died before the family's exodus from their northern home.

The second young<-st of seven children. L'harles attended the schools in
Sweden ; but on reaching Chicago, to which city his father journeyed and
where the latter died after some years of gardening work in Lincoln Park,
the lad was apprenticed to a carpenter. He had hardly learned the trade
and begun to establish himself, however, before his very existence was
threatened by the great fire in that city, the good that the fateful wind blew
to him being that lie was on hand to help build the city after it had been
destroyed.

-\s a natur.al result, he worked as a contractor and builder in that city
until Sei)tember. 1X91. when he came to California. Three weeks after his
arrival he selected his ])resent ranch, buying a hundred six acres, four and a
half miles southwest»of Paso Robles.

.\s early as the 4th of November. 1871, Mr. Wilson was married at
Chicago to Miss Sophia Johnson, who was born near Filipstad, Sweden, a
daughter oi John and Caroline (Nelson) Johnson, who brought their family to
Chicago in 1869; and when Mr. Wilson came west his wife and four children
accompanied him to California. Mrs. Wilson's father was an iron worker in
Sweden, and became a puddler in the great steel mills. Both he and his wife
died in the Lake City.

With considerable vigor. Charles Wilson entered on his labor at farming,
Init he still followed the trade of a carpenter and builder, showing his skill in
construction work at Templeton, Paso Robles, San Jose, and even San Fran-
cisco and Los Angeles. Some thirty years ago he also bought forty-seven
acres of the luireka Ranch across the river from Temi)leton. and there he
engaged in the raising of grain.

The family of Mr. Wilson includes the following children: Frank .\..
wlio w;is lor sixteen \ears in San l-'rancisco with the .Standard Oil Co.. and

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND F.NNIRONS 721

who was present at the San I'rancisco lire, and now superintends the home
ranch; (jeurye lulwin, wdiu is witli the i'eople's Water Co. in Uerkeley ;
Charles Herbert, who works for the (iriffin & Skelly Fruit Co., San Francisco;
Harry Elmer, who is studyinti- dentistry at the College of Physicians and
Surgeons in San Francisco ; and Lillian A., who resides in Piedmont.

Mr. Wilson is a Republican in national ])olitcs, but independent in local
affairs. He is a member of the Scandia Life Insurance Co., and with his
wife belongs to the Swedish Lutheran Church at 'remjdeton.

PETER C. LAMBRECHT.— A pr.iniineut citi/en of the vicinity of Paso
Robles, in San Luis Obispo County, a snn df a ]ii(ineer of California in
1850, and himself born in San Francisco, I'eter C. Lanibrecht first saw the
light of day on ]\Iarch 20. 1872. Me was a son of Christian Hans .August
Lambrecht, a native of Schleswig. at that time a province of Denmark, who
followed the sea for a livelilmdd until the year 1850, when he landed in
the United .States and. with a companion from his native land, crossed the
plains when he was but sixteen years old, making for the Golden State. Upon
arrival here, young Lambrecht went to mining for a short time, but found
it did not pay, in the long run. and. with a jiartner, began freighting into
the mining country with a twenty-mule team. The country traversed was
infested with Indians and many narrow escapes were had by this intrepid
young man during the time he was so employed, or until the arrival of the
railroad, which put the freighters out of lousiness in 1870. He had saved his
money, and so came to Solano county and rented a ranch of Hen Rush south-
east of Suisun in the Potrero hills, and for two years was engaged in general
farming. In 1872. lie went to .San h^rancisco and remained until 1874. In the
meantime he had married Carolin.i .\nker, who was liorn in lionholm. Den-
mark, and had come to this c.nniry at an early date, .\fter the l)irth
of the son, Peter C, the ])arents made plans to return to Denmark and settle
down on some land and live quietly the balance of their lives, as Mr. Lam-
brecht had prospered and saved a nice sum of money. Accordingly, in the
year mentinned they went b.'ick tn their native land; and there he bought a
farm at r...nli..lni. and engaged in the dairy business. He and his wife are still
residents of that section, and both are enjoying the best of health. Of their
five children, four are now living. < )f these, only two are in this state.

Peter C. Lambrecht was reared in lionholm, Denmark, where, until he
reached the age of sixteen, he attended the local schools, meanwhile learning
agriculture as it was carried on in that ])art of the world. In 1888, he de-
cided to come to the land of his birth, and accordingly left home and
friends and came to this state lo take nj) tiie burden of self-support on a
ranch in Solano county, where he arrived on May 9, of that year. He worked
for an uncle, Fred Lambrecht, until he was twenty years old, and saved his
money to make an independent start. In the fall of 1892 he came to this
county, bringing with him a bunch of good mules, leased a ranch near Shandon
and farmed four hundred acres for four years with a partner, F.d Somie;
and besides this tract they rented other land and farmed on a large scale
After the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Lambrecht rented one thousand
acres for a year near Creston ; then, for eight year.s, he was on the Doyle
place. During these years he had been industrious and saving; and having
enough ahead td make a ])aynient on a ranch of his own, he purchased two

721 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

luiiulrcd acres five miles from Templeton ; he also rented property near and
did business on a large scale for two years, when the Doyle ranch was sold.
He next rented eight hundred acres four miles from Paso Robles and ran
that five years, in the meantime selling his place near Templeton at a good
advance.

By that time his children had become old enough to go to school, and
Mr. Lambrecht moved his family to Paso Robles, so the children could have
the advantages of the city schools ; while he leased eight hundred acres of
the Estrella and five hundred acres of the Sacramento ranches and raised
grain on a large scale, running three ten-mule teams, a combined harvester
and other modern machinery and implements for the successful conduct of his
ranching interests. Besides his wheat and barley, he makes a specialty of
raising mules for market.

On March 24, 1897, in Shandon, Peter C. Lambrecht and Miss Christen
Larsen were united in marriage. She was born at Oasis, jMillard county,
Utah, a daughter of Christian and Stina (Lassen) Larsen, both born in
Denmark, but early residents of Utah, where Mr. Larsen mined and farmed
until he came to this county and ranched near Shandon. He is now living in
Creston. Of the eight children living, Mrs. Lambrecht is the third in order
of birth. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Lambrecht six children were born:
Alfred, assisting his father; Goldie, who died aged two and one-half years:
and Laura, Ellery, Gladys, and Eerris. Mr. Lambrecht is a member of the
Independent Order of Foresters. Politically he is independent. He is a self-
made man, successful, well and favorably known all over this part of the
county, public-spirited, progressive and an upbuilder of the county where his
success has been made.

ELVERT ANDREW JOHNSON.— "Sweet are the uses of adversity,"
says someone in Shakespeare's As You Like It, and no one will voice the
truth of the proverb more than Elvert Andrew Johnson, who, finding himself
at an early age loaded with heavy responsibility due to his father's failing
hcaltli. sliiiuldered his burden courageously and thereby assumed not so much
a weight of discouragement as a bundle of good fortune. In the old Andrew
Johnson liouse in the Bethel district, Elvert Andrew- Johnson was born on
August 15, 1891. His father and mother were Andrew and Anna (Pedersen)
Johnson, Ijoth early settlers of that vicinity. As will be seen by the sketch
of h'lvert's l)rother Albert, his father was a farmer and also a stone mason
and ])lasterer. He gave the lad such chance as he could to get an educa-
tion, and l'"Ivert attended the public school of his district and improved the

.\l a (k'cidedly early age, he took in hantl the management of the home
larm, tn relie\e his father, who.se health was giving way. Later he rented
tlie farm, hnuglit some stock and implements, and took his younger brother,
Henry, intu i)arlnership. 'I'he latter was also born on the home place, on
June 2.S. l,S9.v Mr. Jdhnsun's exjierience in agriculture, and in the handling of
big teams, enablnl him to conduct the farming operations successfully, and he
has .-^iiux- o])(.Tated the home farm, raising both grain and stock with good
results. Xoi satisfied with this responsible undertaking, he has rented other
lands in addition, and operates in all nearly five hundred acres, putting in three
hundred acres a year to wheat, barley, grain and hay. He has also cut wood,
and either sells it in Temijleton or ships it to San Jose.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND JLWIRONS 723

Physically, Mr. Jnhnsun is well huilt. a man of stalwart figure, indicating
great muscular strength, and his frank, genial face evidences quite as much
strength of character.

A Republican, Mr. Johnson docs his own thinking. He is a member of
the Lutheran Church and is treasurer of the Young People's Society, and thus
finds opportunity along the lines of organized effort to give expression to his
large-heartedness and hospitality.

MARION FRANCIS GATES.— A farmer and dairyman of the Temple-
ton district whose position and standing are the result of hard work, energy
and foresight conscientiously and carefully applied, Marion Francis Gates is
a native son, born in Fresno county on October 12, 1879. His father was
Solomon Gates, a Canadian farmer, who came to California when he was
fourteen in company with his older brother, Thomas. The two crossed the
plains to Mendocino county, and near Willits they took up farming and
the raising of cattle. Solomon Gates, in time, married Miss Zerelda Shimmin,
who was born in Wisconsin, a daughter of William E. and Farewell Shimmin,
more details of wdiose lives will be found in the sketch of the brother, Clarion
Shimmin. In 1874, the couple went to Tulare and Fresno counties, and in
1885 they located for several months at Arroyo Grande. They resided for a
time at Adelaida, and also at Shandon. Mr. Gates located a homestead in the
Eagle district, where he took possession of a hundred sixty acres. As soon
j as he was able, he bought more land, farming the whole successfully for many
1 years, until his retirement, when he settled at Fresno. The good wife of
Solomon Gates, Marion's mother, died nearly thirty years ago, near Edna,
[ this county.

' Our subject was the third youngest of seven children, five of whom are

still living, and when the mother died he lived with grandmother Shimmin,

; the father being away, and there he w-as brought into vigorous competition

in farm work with the Shimmin bo3's. When twenty he engaged, with his

I brothers and sisters, in more extensive farming, renting lands, some of it

on the Estrella, and cultivating three hundred acres or more. This partner-

j ship was continued for six or seven years, after which it w-as dissolved, and

I Marion went back to Fresno county, where he leased a dairy at Cross Creek

I with fifty cows. At the end of a year he sold out and went to Fresno, and

I after two years of activity there he was back in San Luis Obispo County, at

! Paso Robles, where he put in a year and a half as one of the valued em-

; ployees of Shimmin & Stevens, at the Emporium.

[ Severing his connection with that institution, with a partner he bought

. his present farm of a hundred thirty acres across from Templeton, took charge
I of the ranch and made many improvements, installing a pumping plant and
I bringing twenty acres under excellent irrigation. Here they set up in market
j gardening, and also raised grain and ha\-. In addition, they have a small herd
of dair}^ cattle; and for the last se\ en or eight years they have also been
raising hogs.

^Vhile at Caml)riri, Marion Gates was married to Miss Lulu M. Phillips,

who was born near there, and who is a daughter of William Phillips, the

well-known ])ioncer ; and from this marriage have come six children — Le Roy

; Douglas, Kenneth, IMarion Roland, Meredith Eirgene, and Lloyd Maitland,

I all of whom arc still living, and Marjoric Frances, deceased. Mr. Gates is a

: member of the lnde]icn(lent Order of Foresters. He is an ehler in the Pres-

ntcri

in Chu

rcl

delega

e i

nim

t Rot

hester

v.,

724 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

iletcin, is superintendent (it the Sunday school, and
^anta Barbara Presbytery to the General Assembly
'15. lie is serving his third term as school trustee
for the Templeton tlistrict. and is now clerk of the board.

JAMES PETER NEGRANTI, SR. — The son of a miner who came from
his native canton ot Ticmo in the Swiss Alps to California, via Cape Horn,
in 1831. and ^\di(i. after landing in San Francisco, went to the mines to try his
luck in that kin<l of work, but later became a rancher and owned a ranch
near Sacramentd. now the site of the Sacramento County Hospital property-
such is the lineage of James Peter Xegranti, the son of James Negranti.
After a few years of successful ranching, the elder Negranti returned to his
native land, but in crossing the St. Gothard mountains his legs were so badly
frozen that he was laid up for months. He married Maria Stockini and located
on a farm in Ticino, but the "Wanderlust" was so strong in him that he joined
a party of voung men bound for Australia, who, after landing at Melbourne,
went to Ballarat and mined for about five years. Then Mr. Negranti was taken
sick and died, leaving a widow and an only child, the subject of this review.
The mother lived on her place in her nati\'e land until her death in 1913, at
the age of eighty years.

James Peter Xegranti went to school at ]\Iaggia until he was fourteen
years old; l)Ut sn many nf the }-oung men of his section were leaving for
California, the land of sunshine and gold, that he made up his mind that he
would try his . .\vn fortunes here. Accordingly, on December 1, 1874, we find
him just arrived in Bodega, Sonoma County, with fifteen lonely dollars in
his pocket. He obtained work, for that was what he came for, and was
on a dairy ranch two years : and during the summer he had a chance to go
to the Bodega Bay school, thus improving his English and fitting himself
for lousiness in later life. He was ambitious to get ahead, and he stuck to
his work and saved his money. In 1876, he came down to San Luis Obispo
County and worked one year on a ranch on Old creek. The year 1877 was
a dry year, and there was no work ; so he went to Napa county and stayed two
years, and then went to Sacramento county, the old stamping-ground of his
father, and worked for wages about two years.

In 1883, he went back to see his mother in Switzerland, and while there
he was married on February 26, 1884, to Miss Cora de Bernardi. She
was born in Maggia, a daughter of Peter and Ursula (Bonetti) de Ber-
nardi, who were farmers and hotel keepers, and there the young people re-
mained until April, 1886, when Mr. Negranti came back to California, leaving
his wife in Maggia. He engaged in farming and teaming for about a year
in Sacramento, and then went to Washoe county, Nev., where he teamed
to the mines for two years. He found this fairly profitable, but he wanted
to get into something more stable; so in 1889 he came back to San Luis
Obispo Count}-, rented a ranch on Toro creek, about four miles from Cayucos,
and engaged in (lair\ing.

In' 1891, jiis wi'fe and liis two children joined him there, and the next
year he moved to a r;incli on ( )ld creek and conducted a dairy until I'^OO,
when he bonglit tiu' i>lacr he now operates, which contains four hundred fifty-
eight acres, on W illow creek, two miles and a half from Cayucos. He has
about seventy niilcii cows, raises grain and hay, and is meeting with success.
The ranch is well watered I)V Willow creek and numerous springs, the water

SAN LUIS OBISPO COIXTV AX|) 1.:n\|R()XS ni

being piped to the residence and dairy lu.usc, which lias a water-power sep-
arator and churn. He used tlic ohi methods in the early days, panned the
milk and skimmed it by hand, and ran the churn by horse-power. Witji the
modern machinery since installed, the work is done in short order, and much
more satisfactorily in every way.

In 1910, :\Ir. Negranti bought the old W allace place on Toro creek, where
he first started in business. This has five hundred sixty acres of fine land
and is conducted by his oldest son, James P., Jr. The place will sustain
about seventy cows; the dairy house is equii)ped with a cheese factory,
operated during a certain season of the year, where is nianuiacturcd the finest
of California cheese.

Mr. and Mrs. Negranti have six children: James P., [r., and \irgil,
who own an alfalfa ranch near Imperial, which is conducted by the latter;
and Cora, Peter, Stella and Mario, all at home with their parents. .\lr. Xegranti
served for years as a trustee nf the Central school district. The family
belong to St. Joseph Cathnlic church in Cayucos. In politics, .Mr. .Xegranti
is a stanch Republican, and is heartily in accord with all progressiye inoye-
ments for the upbuilding of the county and the state of his ado])ti(>n. With
his wife he enjoys the esteem of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances,
and looks back through the vista of years to a life well sjient and a success
of his own making.

FREDERIC CUENDET.— IJeginning at the bntl,pm of the ladder and
working his way to a position of prominence in the community by his own
l)ersisteiuy nf purpose and strict attention to business, I'Vedefic Cuendet has
won a place for himself in the citizenship of Paso Robles. Me was born in
Saint Croix, canton Vaud, Switzerland, August 7, 1883, a son of luuil Cuendet,
who \yas born there and was a musician of ability. His grandfather was
Ulysses Cuendet, a blacksmith. The Cuendet family trace their lineage back
to France, where, as Calvinists, they were forced to llee their country i>n
account of religious persecution of the Huguenots; and going tn Switzer-
land they settled there. The mother was Louise J. Ceneux, and with her
luisband she is living in Switzerland. Of their five children. ITederic is the
second in order of birth and the only one living in .Nmerica.

Frederic Cuendet was educated in the grammar and high schools, and
after completing the high school course was apprenticed ."is a blacksmith at
St. Croix, served Inur years, and then worked in \ariniis i)arts of (iermany
and I'Vance.

Sailing from Bremen in 1905 for California, by way ..f Xew V..rk. lie
arrived in Paso Robles in February of that year, and was employed at his
trade, starting at fifteen dollars a month and board. Not being able i<> spe.ik
F.nglish, he took what was offered him until he m.istere.l ..ur language by
having a private teacher for six months, and then studymg by himself until
he could converse and read English.

His advances in salary \yere .so satislacDry that on December _'.\ 1«'I0.
he bought out his employer, J. A. Wiebe, and since then he has continue.! the
blacksmith business at the same old stand, enlarging the budding to suit his
needs, and adding new machinery. He now has an up-to-.late shop for all
kinds of repairing and blacksniitliing as well as all kinds .,| woodwork (or
carriages and wagons. Mr. Cuendei is a citizen of the United States, a Kc-
i)ublican, and a Calvinist.

728 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS |

ITc was united in marriage with Miss Christine Mohl, born in Tuebingen, i
Germany, and they have one child, Stanley Samuel. ^Irs. Cuendet is a
Lutheran. Mr. Cuendet is a member of the Knights of Pythias. He is a j
self-made man and one who has hosts of friends in this part of the county, ]
where he is well and favorably known. i

LAURITS N. AAROE.— It is always interesting to chronicle the life i
history of a truly self-made man, who, beginning at the bottom of the ladder |
with Hi'thing but his two strong hands and a strong, healthy body, has by \
industry and close application become a substantial, well-to-do man. Such j
an one is Laurits N. .\aroe, who is now a substantial and progressive farmer I
and stock raiser, living near Paso Robles. He was born at Apenrade, Schles- |
wig, Denmark, December 29, 1860, in the home of his father, Aaben Aaroe, I
a well-to-do farmer, and of his mother, Annie Lauritsen. Mr. Aaroe was the j
eldest and the first to come to California. Then three others came. The |
mother being deceased, the father could not stand the depletion of the family; j
so with the three youngest children, he came to California in 1884, where he
spent the rest of his days.

Laurits Aaroe received his cducatit)n in the schools near his home and
from a lad assisted with the work on the home farm. There he learned the
lessons of industry and thrift, which aided him greatly in acquiring a foot- i
hold and competency, after he was started in this land of opportunity, the |
Golden West, where he arrived in 1877. He first worked for wages on farms ]
and at teaming in Montere}- county until 1882, when he leased some of Dave i
Jacks' land, and harvested his first crop of grain by means of header and j
thresher. The next year he rented land at Gonzales, continuing until 1890, \
when he went to Soledad, and leased nine hundred twent3--five acres from A. !
-Mien. There he raised grain for sixteen years, using two big teams in its j
cultivation, and at times his crop yielded from nine to ten thousand sacks. ]
In 190.S, he removed to Paso Robles, purchasing his present place of four j
hundred fifty acres, later adding eighty acres to it. He now has a ranch of I
five hundred thirty acres in a body, two and a half miles cast of Paso Robles. j
Here he has made valuable improvements, building a new residence and I
barns and setting out an orchard. .Vbout three hundred acres are sown to
grain. In the operation of his farm he uses the latest improved machinery, ]
including a combined harvester by which, after his crop is cared for, he cuts
and threshes for his neighbors, averaging in a season about 1,000 acres.
Tic is also engaged in raising cattle, horses and mules. In Gonzales, Sep-
teniljcr 17. 1887. he was married to Miss Ingeborg Hansen, who was also born
in Scldeswig. and is a sister of the late 2^1rs. Thomas Petersen of Temple-
ton, a daughter of Hans J. and Ingeborg Hansen, farmers, who passed their
entire life near Apenrade. Mrs. Aaroe was educated in her native place and
came to Monterey county in May, 1886, where her brother, Matt Hansen.
and her sister. Mrs. Petersen, were living. Mr. and Mrs. Aaroe have two
children — Hans N., farming at Union, and Anna C.. who married Herman
Jespersen, a farmer near her home. Mrs. Aaroe is a thrifty and painstaking
woman and has been an al)le and valuable assistant to her husband in aiding
him and encouraging him in his ambition to succeed and become a man of
affairs. .\ Lutheran in religion and a Democrat in politics, Mr. Aaroe is an
enterprising and progressive man whose reliability and integrity arc unques-
tioned and whose word is as good as his bond.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ]':N\TK0NS 729

MATT WILLIAM ERICKSON.— Matt William Erickson is not the
first man in the history of the world \vli<i, in the language of sacred writ,
sijent all his money upon physicians, in the end only to be benefited by none
of them; and what interests us the most is the fact that his misfortune led
hini to come to California, a decision he has never had cause to regret. In
( )ravis, Vasalan, Finland, on the 3rd of June, in 1870, Matt was born, his
father and mother being plain but God-fearing farmer folk, who gave the lad
the best start they could. Particularly did his sainted mother, who died at
the age of seventy-nine, light his pathway at the threshold of life, and Matt
loves to tell how the dear old lady gave him private instruction, so that when
he was confirmed he received from his pastor a beautiful bible as a prize and
testimonial of his high standing in the class. He early assisted about the farm,
learning to handle teams, and at fifteen he went to Helsingfors, where he
was apprenticed to a carpenter to learn the carpenters' trade.

Receiving in time good wages, he had saved enough, in four years, to pay
his way to New York City; and he sailed to that port in 1880. In that great
city of marvelous architectural features, he worked as a carpenter and bridge-
builder, and in time directed gangs on the skyscrapers in New York, Phila-
delphia, Buft'alo and Albany, and on the Pennsylvania and Erie railroads.
Seven times he was taken to the hospital through injuries received in the
jirosecution of his dangerous work ; and while at New Haven or Hartford
he contracted malaria of the most jjcrsistent form. All medical aid proved
of little avail, and following the advice of physicians to come to California,
he made for the Pacific Coast ; and here he almost immediately experienced
relief. In New York he married Matilda Nylund, a native of Finland, and
she having a sister, Mrs. Sandberg, in Linne, San Luis Obispo County, the
expectant couple directed their steps to that town. There they settled, but
some years afterwards a terrible accident deprived him of his beloved wife
and cast a deep shadow over his life. .'\s she was driving along a mountain
roadway her horse shied and backed the carriage over the edge of the road.
Mrs. Erickson was killed, while her little child was injured and died three'
weeks later, although the six-year-old son, Edwin, miraculously spared,
crawled from under the debris, and was able to make his way to some work-
men near, to whom he gave the alarm.

Mr. Erickson had bought eighty acres with a house and then built a barn
and laid out a vineyard and an orchard, and soon after he added another
parcel of equal size, which he devoted to the raising of stock and grain. Five
children, four of whom are still living, were born of his first marriage:
Theodore, who is in the San Luis Obispo Polytechnic; Leo, who is raising
,t;rain; Edward, who is assisting his father on the farm; and \"ivian, who
it at home.

Some years later Mr. Erickson married a second time, at Linne, where
he was united to Miss Elizabeth Malmbcrg, a native of Iowa, the daughter of
Hev. Anders O. Malmberg, whose sketch will be found elsewhere in this
vnliime. Victor, John W. and Otto L. are the names of the three children by
tiiis second marriage. Aside from his absorbing duties as an agriculturist,
Mr. Erickson finds time to follow the political events of the day, in which he
takes an active interest, in the main supporting the Republican party and its
platforms.

730 SAX I.L'IS OP.TSPO COL'XTV AND KW'IROXS

THOMAS FRANCIS FREEMAN.— Startin- at the Inittom <.l the lad-
der, after the failure "f his father uii account of the devastating Civil War,
Thomas ]•'. Freeman has won success for himself in California, and as one of
the Vigilantes who cleaned up Texas and disposed of the undesirables there,
as did the \'igilantes here, he helped make that state a better place in which
to live. P>()rn in Indian Springs, Butts county, Ga., July 25. 1850, he is a son of
Josiah, a native of North Carolina and overseer on a plantation, who married
Sarah W. 1 learn. She was born in Putnam county, a daughter of Samuel
Francis 1 learn, a native of Scotland who came to Georgia and was a freighter
there before any railroads were built, and who became a cotton planter and
died in tieorgia. The grandfather, Thomas P. F"reeman, brought the family
to Monroe county. Ga. He served in the War of 1812, and was otherwise
prominently identified with his state till his death. He was of Scotch-Irish
descent, and of the hardiest of the pioneer class. Josiah Freeman became a
cotton planter after his marriage, and had three thousand acres in his planta-
tion when the war broke out ; but tht; war made such inroads upon his fortune
and property, destroying all that he had, that he never recovered his financial
position. He died at the age of seventy-one years.

The oldest of five living children of the ten born to his ])arents. Thomas
F'rancis Freeman was raised on the plantation and went to the subscription
schools until the war broke out. when there were no advantages at all for get-
ting an education. Afterwards he studied for a time and continued at home
assisting his father until he was twenty-four; then he was united in mar-
riage with Miss Susan ISrown, who was born in Monroe county, Ga., a
daughter of Alex and Mary S. ( Pryanl) P.rown. The ancestors of the Brown
family came from England antl were members of the Oglethorpe colony in
Georgia.

After Mr. P'reeman had married, he located on a farm in Monroe county
and engaged in cotton raising until 1880, when he removed to the Lone Star
State and near Graham, Young county, bought a large ranch and engaged
in farming and raising stock, having at one time three hundred head. His
brand was for a time SOS, later changed to S on the hip and shoulder. He
had 3,000 acres fenced and well im])roved. There Islr. Freeman made a
success of his undertaking and continued prosperously engaged until selling
out in 1905. when he came to California.

\\ hilc residing in Texas that state was terrorized by a band of reiie;
gades and cattle thieves known as the rustlers, who ran off thousands of head
of stock from the ranches. The cattlemen banded themselves together to
rid the country of these thieves ; and the "Vigilantes" elected Mr. Freeman
president of their organization. They waged relentless war on the bandits
until they were driven out of the state, co-operating with the various regularly
elected authorities in their work.

.After locating in Monterey county for two years. Mr. Freeman came
down to the vicinity of Paso Robles and bought a fine ranch of two hundred
acres four miles from town, where he engages in raising mules, having two
of the finest jacks in this part of the state. Here he has been successful and
is held in the highest esteem. He and Mrs. Freeman are very hospitable
and have many friends throughout this section of the country. They have
had eight children, and five of them are now living: Rega D., who is on
F.strella creek, ranching: Josiah, a rancher near here; Mollie Holtz, man-

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 733

asing- the home farm; Anna Ethel, Mrs. Jones of Corona; and Maude May,
Mrs. Spencer, who is at home.

Mr. Freeman was made a Mason in Georgia, and affiliated with tiie lodge
at Graham but is now demitted. He is a Democrat in politics and served as
school trustee for years in Texas. Mrs. Freeman is a member of the Bap-
tist Church.

VINCENZO BASSL— h is lar-cly due to the enterprise of the Swiss
people that San Luis Obispo County is recognized as one of the leading
dairy sections in the state. They practically pioneered that industry, which
from a small beginning has developed into large proportions. Among the
men who have taken an active part in this line of work, Yincenzo Bassi is
deserving of credit. He was born in the town of St. Antonio, canton Ticino,
December 8, 1859, a son of Andrea Bassi, who was also a native of that place.
V. Bassi spent his early boyhood attending school in his native town ; but as
he grew to young manhood he could find no avenue by which he could make
any advancement. Fie had a Ijrother, Antone. in California, who had written
encouraging letters home; and he was tired with the ambition to seek his
fortunes in the New World.

Leaving home in December, 1878, he came to New York by way of
Liverpool, and direct to San Francisco, arriving in January, 1879. He was
accompanied by a friend, Ercole Biaggini, from whom he separated in San
Franciscii, Mr. liassi going to Fort Ross, Sonoma county, where his brother
li\e(l. lie I'oinul employment almost immediately, and for the following
three years was engaged on various ranches in that county, working for
fifteen months near Duncans Mill. Fie next spent six months in Vallejo, and
from there, in 1883, came down to San Luis Obispo County, whither three of
his brothers had already preceded him. He learned that in this county
better opportunities were offered for a working man to get a start, and his
first year here was spent on a dairy ranch. He then leased five hundred
acres of land three miles from Cambria, bought stock and began an inde-
pendent enterprise of dairying; but meeting with little success on that place,
he moved to Santa Rosa creek, leased the Archer ranch of six hundred acres
and followed the stock and dairy business with a fair degree of reward for
the energy expended.

As he prospered, he saved his money, and then made his first purchase
of land, about fifteen hundred acres at the head of Green valley, upon
wjiich he immediately set to work to make improvements, engaging in
llie grain and stock business. The land was unimproved when he bought
it. and he has made all the improvements seen today. He added by
purchase four hundred sixty acres more, and on his nineteen hundred sixtj'
acres he has been l>usily and profitably employed in raising stock and grain.
lie has given his entire time and attention to his I)usiness. and while he has
met with success in his work, it was not without many almost unsurmount-
aiile discouragements.

He made and sold butter to the market for many years, and when the
Harmony Valley Creamery Association was formed, he became a stockholder
and soon afterwards a director. The Bassi ranch is watered by Green N'alley
creek, \'illa creek, and numerous mountain springs, making of it a fine ranch.
1 he land is cleared and sufficient hay and grain arc raised for the stock. The
water is piped from three different springs, about a mile and a half away,

734 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EN\"lRONS

to the residence and i>lher l)uildings, and furnishes power to run the separator,
to grind feed and to supply the laundry.

I\lr. Bassi became a citizen of this country in 1883, and is a Republican in
politics. He has always been in favor of good schools, and has served on the
board of trustees of the Mammoth Rock district six years, and is now trustee,
and has been clerk of the board, of Olmstead district. During these years
the schools have been materially improved.

On November 26, 1883, in San Luis Obispo, occurred the wedding that
united \'. Bassi and Carolina Carmine in marriage. She Avas born in Giu-
biasco, canton Ticino, June 6, 1863, and arrived in this country with her
sister in 1883. Her father was John Carmine, a stock-raiser near Bellanzana,
who now lives on his farm, at the fine old age of eighty-eight years. His
wife was Josephine Bomio, and she also was born at Giubiasco. She became
the mother of six children, four of whom are living in San Luis Obispo
County. Mrs. Bassi was educated in the public schools of her native place
and was reared on the farm of her parents until coming to California. Mr. and
Mrs. Bassi have had nine children : Andrew, in Los Angeles ; Emma, the
wife of Frank Morenzoni, of Santa Rosa creek district; Americo, a farmer
near home ; Amelio, at home ; Josie, who married IMarino Filipponi of Cambria ;
and Sylvia, Alfred, Olivia, and Mary, the last three being at home with their
parents. All the children have been born and educated in San Luis Obispo
County and are prepared for the battle of life and to enter upon its activities.
FRITZ CLAUSEN. — One of the enterprising business men of Temple-
ton, San Luis Obispo County, and one who favors the development of the
county's resources and gives his liberal support to all such enterprises, is
Fritz Clausen, a native of Denmark, wdiere he was born at Nakskov, Laaland,
August 14, 1865, a son of Sir Clausen, a native of that place who served in the
Danish Navy in 1863-64, in the war between Germany and Denmark, and
who died in 1911 at the age of eighty-six years. His wife, Christine Jor-
gensen, also born there, died two days after her husband and both were
buried in one grave. They had six children, five of whom arc living, Fritz
being the fourth in order of birth and the only one in the United States.

He was educated in the public schools and brought up on the farm owned
and operated by his parents, although he also worked for wages on the farms
in his locality. When he was twenty-one he came to America and, in 1886,
located in South Dakota, near Vermilion, Clay county, where his uncle,
Ludvig Jorgensen, was living; and there he remained with him for two
years, when he went to Seattle, w^orked at logging and took contracts for
hauling logs. In 1891 he came to California, located in Watsonville and
engaged in growing potatoes for the San Francisco markets, carrying on
thai line of work until 1895, when he went to Santa Maria and raised sugar
beets f(jr two years.

In 1897, Mr. Clausen settled in Templeton, farming until 1900, when he
eniljarked in the mercantile business. The town had burned; and he bought
a lot and, wilh a partner, erected a building and started a general store.
One year later Mr. Clausen bought out his partner's interest and since then
lie has conducted the business under the name of F. Clausen. In 1903-04 he
burned brick and, having moved his wooden store back facing on Fourth
street, where he uses it for a warehouse, erected a new two-st(5ry brick store,
75.\60 feet, with three store-rooms, each twentv-five feet in size. The .second

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 735

floor is adapted for a hcjtel and hall, and the strncturo is known as the Clausen
Building. He also has a ranch of two hundred twenty acres seven miles from
town, leased for grain-raising. Since 1900 the Pacific Telephone & Telegraph
Co.'s central office has been in his store, and he is the local manager.

Mr. Clausen was married, in 1900, to Miss Lulu Johnson, who was born
in Watsonville; and they have three children — Lester, Plarold and Thelma.
Mr. Clausen is a member of the Lutheran Church, and of the F"raternal
Brotherhood. He is agent for several fire insurance companies.

CHARLES M. CAREAGA.— Residing on the northwest oil lease of the
great, historic Careaga rancho at Bicknell, to superintend the important oil
and gas interests of the family estate, Charles M. Careaga is well known as
one of flie most progressive representatives of one of the oldest and most
notable of California families, and as one of the most aggressive citizens
in one of the newest and most flourishing parts of the state. His earliest
forefather, of whom he has definite knowledge, was a titled Spaniard who
came to the New World as the loyal devotee of the King of Spain, and
did valiant service as a soldier, particularly in Mexico. An equally valiant
Careaga of a later date was the subject's grandfather, Colonel Satornino
Careaga, one of Captain Munoz's staff, wdio left Mexico to do duty as a soldier
at Monterey, and saved the Mission at San Jose, albeit it nearly cost him his
life to do so.

Ramon F. Careaga, Charles' father, was ;i son of the colonel, and thougii
too late in the century to participate personally and proniinentl}' in the great
events marking the height and passing of Spanish dominion here, he never-
theless was the custodian of much intensely interesting reminiscence and
tradition. This pioneer, who died in 1914, was in many respects a remarkable
man. He showed his business ability when, with a brother, Juan B. Careaga,
and a friend, Daniel Harris, he bought some eighteen thousand acres of the
old De la Guerra ranch, eventually retaining for himself six thousand nine
hundred seventy acres — property that became the center of the Santa ^laria
\alley oil fields, having been leased by the Western Union people when the
first commercial well of importance was sunk there.

Seven sons blessed the marriage — celebrated with true Spanish elegance
and California hospitality — of Ramon Careaga to Senorita Maria Antonia
Bonevantur, daughter of a Frenchman who had come to Monterey and had
there wedded another charming lady of Castilian descent. Luis has set-
tled at Santa liarbara ; Ramon is at San Jose; his partner, John T., is with
him in the same city; Bernardo lives on the Careaga ranch; Antonio P.
resides with his mother; James ¥. is a stockman near Los Alamos; and
Charles M., the youngest of the boys, has assumed the trust referred to above.
There arc also four girls: Eleanor has become Mrs. John Carr, a resident on
a part of the Careaga ranch ; Rita I. attends the Notre Dame school at San
Jose ; and Evangeline and ^Vngeline are with their mother.

Some 3'ears ago, Charles M. Careaga married Miss ^lyrtle June Hawkins,
a favorite daughter of Santa Barbara, who is still famous in the district in
which she lives, both for her personality and charms, and for her qualities as
a good neighbor and a genial hostess.

Owing to the large commercial interests involved in the yield of the
Careaga ranches, much responsibility is imposed on Charles Careaga, who
nevertheless forges ahead, meeting each day's problems and labor, and bearing

736 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

modestly the honors coming his way. Oil and gas, discovered by the merest
accident, through the outcropping of asphalt, are a continual source of in-
come ; and from lands leased to tenants come handsome returns through the
sale of cattle and other stock, and of farm products, especially beans. All
in all. there is much to be looked after on the Careaga ranch, and Charles is
just the man needed to see that nothing is neglected and all is well done.

P. F. VANDERPOOL.— With what marvelous magnetic force the spell
of California has operated again and again in the history of the pioneer to
bring him back to her golden shores after he has foresworn his allegiance,
is demonstrated in the simple but inspiring story of Harding Vanderpool,
father of P. F. \'anderpool, of Paso Robles. He was a native of ?Iacken-
sack, N. J-, and a carpenter who, in 1849, when he was about twenty-four
3-ears of age, went south to Galveston and from there across the plains to
California by the old Santa Fe trail. On his way up the Coast, from Los
Angeles county to San Francisco Bay, he camped over night near the old
mission of San Miguel, and then went to the mines. He spent a month or
more as a carpenter in San Francisco, and later mined in Yreka. One winter
was spent at Astoria, Ore., in building a sawmill.

In 1853, he returned to New Jersey by way of Panama, later coming as
far west as Newton, Jaspar county, Iowa, where he hung out his sign as
a carpenter and also farmed. There he married Miss Sarah Hammack, a
native of Tennessee. In 1873, yearning again for the Pacific, he crossed
the continent to Amador county and located as a rancher at Plymouth. In
this state he spent his last days, dying at the home of his son, P. F. Vander-
pool, in Paso Robles in April. 1916, more than ninety-one years of age.
His wife had died on the 29th of the ]irc\i(nis month in the same place, at the
age of sevent\--eight. The well-mated couple had enjoyed sixty years or
more of married life.

Of six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Harding \'anderpool. four are living;
and of these P. F. \"anderpool is the eldest. He was born in Newton, Iowa,
where he first saw the light on December 4, 1857. L'ntil he was fifteen, there-
fore, he lived upon an Iowa farm, meanwhile attending the public schools,
and in the early seventies came with his parents to California, where in time
he engaged in ranching. In 1896, he took up mining in Little Indian Creek,
he and his father having first secured a ranch there adapted to alfalfa and
stock-raising, which happened to have within its confines a fairly good placer
mine. The dairy business next engrossed him, and at one time he had as
many as twenty-five cows. In that district he remained for thirty-seven
years, during which time, for thirteen years, he was school trustee.

By 1910 he had sold his ranch and located at Paso Robles, buying there
a neat little place of twenty acres known as the Ysabel Terrace, where he ,
now resides with his family in a handsome residence. He improved the prop-
erly, sinking a well, and installing a pumping plant, and laid out a fine garden-
ing place. Me was married on April 30, 1897, at San Jose, to ^liss Cynthia
Marvin, who was born at Shelrock, now Glenville, Freeborn county, Minn.
She was the daughter of Willard Marvin, a Vermonter. who married Huldah,
Wilcox, a native of New York. They were pioneers in Minnesota, where the
father died. The mother died at Paso Robles, aged eighty-four years.
Mrs. Xandcrpuol was one of the five children, the youngest of three who

£^^n^ f y/^^^^J/J^/^Z^:^'*^^^^

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 739

are living. She came to Alameda, Cal., in June, 1889, and later lived at San
Jose until she was married. Mr. and Mrs. Vanderpool have an adopted son,
James, who bears their name ; and in the kindness of their hearts they are also
raising another orphaned child, Clara.

Mr. Vanderpool is a member of the Methodist Church, and a teacher of
the Sunday school Bible class. As a Republican he seeks to discharge his
duties in civil and civic affairs.

EUGENIO BIANCHINI.— This state has been the Mecca for people of
all nationalities, for they nearly all find here a wide field of ojjportunity where
they may put forth their best efforts and win success for themselves, at the
same time that they are developing industries that mean much for the future
prosperity of the state. Of this class of men, Eugenio Bianchini is deserving
<5f mention. He was born in Gordevio, canton Ticino, Switzerland, July 20,
1861, and attended the public schools until he was fourteen years of age.
He was then apprenticed to the stonecutter's trade, and for the first three
years received one dollar a month and lived at home with his parents. The
trade did not particularly appeal to him, and he looked about for other
opportunities. In speaking with an old gentleman in his old home town of
possibilities for young men, the veteran asked, "How are you going to find
the ring, if nobody lost one?" and young Bianchini saw the point that, in
order to reap success, he must go where the opportunity was ripe.

In 1878, therefore, having decided to make a change, he sailed for the
United States and arrived in Cambria on February 17. He was not familiar
with the English language and had but very little money when he reached his
destination, but he found employment at once, and for the next four years
milked cnws on various ranches in that vicinity. He saved his money and, in
1882, leased land from Ed. Shaw in Green Valley, and in the following few
years succeeded in laying a foundation for his future success. He sold out his
stock and, in 1886, opened a butcher shop in Cayucos. and for six years carried
on a good business. His next move was to engage, for twelve months, in min-
ing for quicksilver at Oceanic, and then he returned to the butcher business,
opening a shop in Cambria and running it one year.

He then leased five hundred acres on Santa Rosa creek and began
dairying. In 1902 he purchased the ranch, and continued at dairying, with
fifty cows, besides raising stock. The ranch is located on the county road
eight miles from Cambria. Water from a spring is ])iped to the residence and
dairy house, where he has installed a water turbine which furnishes power to
run the separator. He continued dairying until 1914, when he rented the
iiome place, intending to retire from active pursuits and enjoy the fruits of
his years of arduous labors, and purchased the residence where the family
now reside in Cambria. However, the demand for quicksilver occasioned
liy the ])resent European war decided him to take up mining once more ;
and in i)artnership with A. Luchcssa and William I'agby. he purchased the
Klau mine and was given the management. He is now engaged in operating
the mine and retorting quicksilver, meeting with success and averaging a flask
a day. The mine is equipped with track and cars for hauling the ore from
the mine to the furnace, which is a sixty-ton Scott. The history of the Klau
"line is full of interest.

A young Spaniard named Felipe Vallegas came to California when
twenty-one years of age, was engaged in various occupations, and finally in

740 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

raisin.i; sheep and goats. After his marriage with Helena Rochas, he lived
on a brancli of Iluero creek. There his wife died, leaving a son, Felipe, Jr.,
whom the father was rearing at his camp. On coming home one day he
found the little lad had strayed away from home; so he at once started to
look for him in the different canons, and it was while climbing over the hills
that he discovered a cinnabar ledge. He located the mine, opened it up,
put up a retort and engaged in mining and retorting quicksilver.

The mine was first called the Santa Cruz, later the Sunderland, then the
Dubost and now the Klau. ]\Ir. Bianchini, with his two partners, organized
the Klau Alining Company, and they are now mining and retorting quicksilver
with success. New ledges are being opened up and operations extended.
Felipe Vallegas lived in these parts until his death at the age of seventy,
and the lad Felipe, Jr., is now foreman of the Klau mine, originally discov-
ered and operated by his father.

In San Luis Obispo, September 17, 1899, occurred the marriage of E.
Bianchini with Louisa Bezzini, born in Avigno, Switzerland, and who came
to California in 1897. They have had nine children, seven of whom are
living: Henry, ^^"illiam, James, ^^' alter, Elvira, Palmira and Tillie. Mr.
Bianchini has won recognition and distinction at barbecuing meats, and from
1902 until the present time he has had charge of the barbecues of importance
in the county, and has always been much sought after for that purpose. Of
late he has initiated his son William into the mysteries of the art and has
handed the palm over to him.

In politics, Mr. Bianchini supports the men and measures of the Repub-
lican party. He served as road master of district number one on Santa Rosa
creek for a number of years, and for eight j-ears was trustee of Mammoth
school district.

MIGUEL D. SANCHEZ.— A justifiable pride of birth is one of the
cherished legacies left to Miguel D. Sanchez of San Luis Obispo County.
Ho was born in \'entura county, near El Rio, on September 28, 1856, and
comes of a distinguished Castilian family. His father, Pacifico Sanchez, was
a cattleman, born in Ventura county, a son of Juan Sanchez, who came to
California from Spain. He was the owner of Punta de la Loma (Point of the
Hill) ranch, where he raised sheep and cattle on a large scale until he sold
ofT most of the land to Sciappa Pietra, keeping only a small tract for members
of his family. He was the owner of valuable property in Ventura. Pacilico
Sanchez became a well-to-do stockman, and married Concepcion \'illa, a
native of Los .\ngeles. She had five children and died at her home.

The third child in the family, Miguel D. Sanchez was reared in Ventura
count}- until thirteen, when he went to Santa Ynez, where he attended the
Santa Ynez College, in charge of the Christian Brothers, and afterwards
St. Xincent's College in Los Angeles. His college course completed, Mr.
Sanchez engaged in farming near Ventura, where he had a seventy-acre vine-
yard. He sold out and learned the trade of barber in a shop in Hueneme
under his cousin, Louis E. Carnes. Later he went to Guadalupe and ran a
barber shop until 1902, when he located in San Miguel and established his
present lonsorial establishment. He also is owner of a ranch in Vineyard
canon, Monterey county, ten miles northeast of San Miguel, called the
Deer \ alley Ranch, which contains five hundred twenty acres and is operated
Willi good results as a grain and cattle ranch. With .\. Thrall. H. Twisselman

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 741

and John ^^'o^k, he erected the Mission Warehouse with a capacity of 1500
tons ; and he is a director of the company. Mr. Sanchez is a prominent man in
his town and has made a success of his life wnrk. lie is generous, atialjle and
popular.

His first marriage in 1880, in Ventura, united him with Annie Bronty,
who died leaving three children: Fred, in Idaho; and Annie, Mrs. Ward, and
Jessie, Mrs. Waite, both in Los Angeles. The second marriage, on April 8,
1895, united him with Miss Maime \^aldez, daughter of Jose M. and Victoria
Price, the latter having been a daughter of John Price, whose interesting
sketch will be found elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez have
five children : Alfred, John, Garner, Kenneth and Leola. Mrs. Sanchez is a
member and past president of San Miguel Parlor, No. 94, N. D. G. W.,
and of the Woman's Club ; while Mr. Sanchez is past jjresident of San Miguel
Parlor, No. 150, N. S. G. W., and a member of the Eagles in San Luis Obispo,
and of the I. D. E. S. in San Miguel, and president of the local parlor, and a
member of the Druids in Guadalupe. He is a Republican.

JENKIN REESE. — One of the old homesteaders in the vicinity of
Union and now li\ing retired in Paso Robles is Jenkin Reese. Fie was born
in Aberdair, Wales, March 30, 1847, a son of David J. and Jane (Llewellyn)
Reese, natives of that country, where the father was following mining. In
1851, when Jenkin Reese was but four years old, his father came to America
and with his family settled in Salt Lake City. He crossed the plains with
ox teams, remained in Salt Lake that winter, and then pushed on to the Carson
valley, Nevada, where he stopped for one year to engage in mining. The
next year he arrived in Solano county, California, located in American canon,
three miles west of Cordelia, purchased seven hundred acres of land, and
engaged in grain- and stock-raising, as well as in running a dairy. He con-
tinued this line of industry until he retired and moved to Vallejo, where both
he and his wife passed away, the father at the age of sixty-nine and the
mother fourteen years later, \vhen she was almost eighty years old. Of tlieir
nine children, seven grew up and four are now living.

Jenkin Reese is the only member of the family in San Luis Obispo
County. He was reared on the farm in Solano county and went to the pub-
lic schools, and from a lad helped with the work about the ranch and became
familiar with stock and dairying, as well as with grain-raising, remaining
there with his parents until he was twenty-eight years old. Fie was married
in Suisun City, February 10, 1877, to Miss Emma \Vilson, who was born in
Springticld, Windsor county, Vt. She was the daughter of Luther and Susan
(Aldrich) Wilson, born in Crowns Point, N. Y., and Springfield, Vt., respec-
ti\cly. Iler maternal grandparents were of an old New England family.
Luther W il>. m was a farmer in Vermont, and both parents died there. Mrs.
Reese was educated in the public schools and at Springfield Academy. She
came to California in 1873 via Panama and landed in San Francisco. In
August, 1SS5, Mr. Reese made a trip by boat from San Francisco to Port Har-
ford, and then took stage to Paso Robles, looking for a location. He selected
a homestead of one hundred sixty acres on Dry creek, and returned to Cordelia
for his wife ; and they took up their residence at the homestead in November,
1885, bringing implements, horses and sixteen head of cattle. Flere he raised
stock until he broke the land for grain-raising. He erected a frame house
and other Iniildings. Theirs was the first frame house built in that section,

742 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

the lumber l)cin.i4 hauled from San Luis ()l)isi)ci. He had to haul water one
and one-half miles from Penman spriu-ys, until he sunk his well the following
spring and put u]j a windmill — the first in the neighborhood. \It. Reese pre-
empted one hundred sixty aeres adjoining his homestead and later bought
three hundred twenty aeres additional, which he farmed for eight years
and then sold, keeping his first three hundred twenty acres, which he still
owns and leases. He was progressive and successful in his farming opera-
tions, took an active interest in seeing that everything was kept in repair
and modern machinery installed as it was needed, and at the same time was
interested in the affairs of his neighborhood. He was one of the organizers
of the L'nion school district, a member of the board of trustees and clerk of the
first board. He hauled lumber from Port San Luis for the schoolhouse, and
with others helped erect the building, with no charge to the district.

Air. Reese and his wife are parents of three children: Juanita. wife of
Charles Reynolds, who is farming on Huntington ranch ; Jessie, wife of Al.
Birmingham, farming at the home place; and David J., in business in Santa
Barbara. Mr. and ]\Irs. Reese are members of the INIethodist Church, and in
politics he is a strong Republican. In the fall of 1915, wishing to retire to
private life, Mr. Reese bought a lot in Paso Robles, on Vine street, and
erected a modern bungalow, and in 1916 leased out his ranch and moved to
town to occup\- their new home. He is well and favorably known in this
part of the countv, and has been a liberal supporter of all public movements
for the welfare of the general public and the advancement of the county.

CARL LARSON. — An artisan of no mean ability and a man who has
made his own wav in the world since attaining young manhood is Carl Larson.
who was born in Karlskoga Bergslag, Orebrolan, Sweden, January 28, 1851.
His father. Lars Larson, went to sea when a boy and sailed for many years,
although he learned and followed the trade of shoemaker at various times
when on land. Carl Larson was reared and educated in the common schools
until he was seventeen, then went into the rolling mill and worked for four
years. .\t the age of twenty-one he began the stone-mason's trade and took
up the study of architecture, and to perfect himself in his chosen work he
went to Stockholm and entered the Sloyd technique school, where he com-
l)leted a ei 'urse in architecture. He then worked two years at his trade in
the c.ipital citv. after which he began contracting and building with Stockholm
as his headquarters, erecting large business buildings and residences. He
also built seven fire-clay furnaces where they manufactured pig iron, and the
furnaces in Kgclaud's Iron \\'orks in Norway in 1874-5. ne.xt spending a year
in Denmark as a contractor, lie ilecided to cast in his lot with the United
Stales and arrived in M iiiiu-.i|i. .lis in June. 1884. He was not able to talk
i'.nglisli. so he took ;i jilaee in the lumber yard of a sawmill until his boss
learnecl In- was a brick mason and set him at work putting in a boiler in the
mill. This he did, laying the foundations and sides from plans furnished
him. .\lter the work' was completed he had all of that kind of work he
could do, and his services were in great demand.

In 1888 he came to California, locating in Tenipleton. where he erected
a Imilding for his residence. At the same time he i-urchased fifty-four acres
of land and improved it. although he lived in town until 1894, when he
moved onto his ranch, where he raised grain, fruit, stock and poultry. Mr.
Larson has (l,.ne considerable work in building in Pa.s,. Robles. and worked

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 743

on the Paso Robles Hot Springs hotel, and the high school, besides many
schools in the country. lie drew the plans and built the Swedish Lutheran
tluirch in Templeton, as well as several stores and residences.

Carl and Mathilda Larson were married in Minneapolis, Minn., in August,
1886, she being also a native of Sweden. The good woman passed away on
February 4, 1913, lamented by many. In October, 1914, Mr. Larson sold the
farm and moved into Templeton, where he now lives, retired. In politics he
supports the Republican party, and he is a Lutheran in his religious belief,
lie is deservedly proud of his success, and the people of his community appre-
ciate and esteem him for his general good qualities and worth, while young
men of today, preparing themselves for their life work, would do well to
emulate his example.

JOSIAH FREEMAN.— lexas has produced many men who have be-
come prominent besides the "Texas Rangers," although those pioneer patriots
did for Texas what the X'igilance Committee did for California — made it a
better place to live in. A ])rosperous farmer in the vicinity of Paso Robles
who was born near Graham, Young county, in the Lone Star State, on Sep-
tember 22, 1886, Joe Freeman, as he is familiarly known, is a worthy son of
T. I'\ Freeman, who first saw the light in Cieorgia, moved to Texas when a
young man and became a prominent cattleman in Young county, lie mar-
ried Miss Susan Brown, also a nati\e of Ccorgia. who has shared his trials
and successes from then until now. In 1905 T. F". Freeman came with his
family from Texas to California, first settling at Bradley, and three years
later he arrived at Paso Robles, where he bought a ranch of two hundred
acres four miles east of the town, which his sons now operate while he is living
retired in town.

Of the eight children in this family, Josiah Freeman was the third in
order of birth, and frdin a hoy in Texas he rode the range after cattle and
farmed, attending the juiblic school in pursuit of an education. In PX)3, he
went to Globe, Ariz., and led the life of a cciwbny there until 1905, when he
came to Caliifornia and settled near Bradley with a "snug" sum of five dollars
as his total financial backing. He was able, however, to borrow money, and
with a brother, R. D. Freeman, he rented the F'allman place of 1,700 acres
and engaged in raising grain and stock combined. Three and one-half years
netted him ,i handsome profit, and he sold his interest to his brother and with
his mcnuy came and bought a three hundred twenty acre ranch in the vicinity
"f Paso Koi)les, which he conducted until 1914, since which time he has rented
it to his brother, M. II. Freeman. Going back to P>radley, he again leased
land and raised grain and stock, but sold the lease and returned to Pa.so
I\i'l)les. Here he rented the Dresser ])lace. which he is operating, having three
Inmdred fifty acres in wheat and barley, and devoting the balance of the eight
hundred acres to raising horses, mules and cattle. He has been meeting with
very good success, and gives the enteri)rise his undivided attention.

Mr. Freeman allied himself by marriage with one of the iiioneer families
of this section when he was united in wedlock to Emma Christensen, daughter
i>f Abraham Christensen (whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work).
She was born in Vineyard Canon, Monterey county, and completed
lier education in Paso Robles. They have one son, Walter Francis. Politic-
ally Mr. h'reeman believes in the principles of the Socialist party.

744 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

WILLIAM ORLANDO DRESSER.— A strain of good old English blood
manifesting itself eventually in the most creditable display of American
patriotism contributed to bring William Orlando Dresser into prominence in
the honored Grand Army of the Republic, and to render him a popular resi-
dent of Paso Robles, as he is likewise an enthusiastic advocate of everything
making for the progress of San Luis Obispo Count}-. His grandfather was a
linen draper of London, and in the great world's metropolis his father, William
Dresser, was born and educated, receiving instruction particularly in the field
of astronomy. William Dresser was among the early lecturers on the won-
ders of the solar system, appearing in public both in England and in America.
His education included technical training, also, in the art of the photog-
rapher, and this enabled him to make his own lantern slides and to devise
the most unique and instructive kind of platform entertainment. Three fires
having affected the family's fortunes, he came to the United States and in
Illinois tried his hand as a farmer, plying his trade as a photographer, and
now and then lecturing to audiences on astronomy.

In 1850, he crossed the plains, using pack horses and saddles, and for
four years sought to improve his fortunes at the mines in Hangtown, and in
Jackson, Amador county. In 1854, he returned to the East by way of Panama;
but the desire to return to California possessed him ; and in November, 1860,
he arrived at Sacramento, with his family, after another arduous trip across
the plains. He and his party had left Rockford, 111., in the fall of 1859,
driving their horses and wagons as far as the Pawnee river, Fort Scott, Kan.,
where they wintered until the following spring. They then started in reality
to cross the plains, using oxen and cows to draw their wagons, outfitting once
or twice between the Republican river and the Platte, when they lost part
of their equipment. At length they struck the overland trail, and arriving
in the Golden State, settled in Yolo county. The elder Dresser took up and
improved government lands ; and at the same time, with the aid of his magic
lantern, he lectured on his favorite theme, the stars. He later went to
Tulare county, and there acquired some land, which he worked until he
retired to Santa Ana, where he died. William's mother, whose maiden name
was Sarah Jenks, and who was an Ohioan by birth, died in Illinois in 1854.

William O. Dresser was born at Beloit, Wis., on :May 11, 1847, and
attended school near Rockford, 111., and at other places as the family moved
west and after they had reached Yolo county, for the lad was but thirteen
wlicn he crossed the wide Continent. The other four children in the family
were: Albert, who lives in Santa Ana; Charles, who resides in Hollywood;
Julia, now .Mrs. Dunning, of Ceres; and Emma, who became Mrs. Baxter,
and is now deceased. On his way across the plains, William O. Dresser,
l)()y though he was, drove the ox teams for weeks, his part in the labor com-
])aring well with that of his elders.

in California, he remained at home with his father until he was twenty-
one, and in 1.^7<) he went to Stanislaus county, where he located near Modesto,
farming to grain and alfalfa and running a first-class dairy. The latter he
-(i!<l ami llien moved to Merced county, where he purchased a ranch near
Snclling and engaged in raising grain and stock. His next removal was in
ISSJ, wlun lie iiurchased part of the Eureka ranch on the Huer-Huero, four
miles from Paso Roldes. This he did not take personal possession of at once,
but for a while rented it to others. He made a practice of renting some of

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 745

his pniperly, and even now has some three thousand acres let out. On one
of liis properties he had the first llovvint^ well; and this he made the most of,
couiiling with it many other improvements. The brick house built there
was the original Linne post oflSce, although that has now been moved across
the hill. For many years he has been a stockholder, director and vice-
])rcsident of the Citizens Bank of Paso Robles. In the middle of the eighties,
.Mr. Dresser moved to JNIodesto, and there he remained for seven years.

In 1894, he bought his residence on Spring street in Paso Robles, and
there he has resided since. With him are his family, enjoying the comfortable
and attractive home. On September 21, 1875, at Florin, in Sacramento
cnunty, he had married Miss Mary M. Rickey, a native of Gallia county,
Ohio. Her father was Brice Rickey, who married Ellen Wright, a Penn-
sylvanian, who came to Brown county. 111. From there Miss Rickey migrated
with her parents in 1870 to Florin, where she lived until she was married.
Seven children were born of this union, six of whom are still living.
Dr. Ralph O. Dresser, a graduate of the University of California, practices
medicine in Paso Robles ; Miss Bertha Dresser is a trained nurse at the Fair-
mount Hospital, in San Francisco; Nellie, Mrs. Clarence Brewster, is a
graduate nurse and resides in Portland, Ore. ; William Rollo Dresser assists
his father on the ranch; Ruby has become Mrs. Frank Cummings, of Rexall
i bights, Paso Robles; Sadie is now Mrs. Roy Warden, of the same town;
while Irvin was accidentally killed on a hunting trip when nineteen years old

For ten years, from 1896 to 1906, Mr. Dresser was a member of the
Hoard of Education, and also clerk of the board, and for the same period
he was city trustee, ceasing his connection only when he insisted on resigning.
Mr. Dresser was formerly a stanch Democrat, but is now an Independent. He
was for many years a member of Grant Post No. 9, G. A. R., Modesto, of which
he is Past Post Commander. During the Civil W'ar, W'illiam O. Dresser,
when only seventeen years of age, volunteered under the Union flag, and
joined the 4th California Volunteer Infantr}- Regiment, but he was disap-
pointed in his ambition to see service on the firing line against the Confed-
erates, for the Government sent his regiment into Northern California to
fight the Indians. Mr. and Mrs. Dresser are a delightful couple, with whom
it is a pleasure to meet.

Since this biography was written his family have lioen bereaved of i\lr.
Dresser, who ])assed away on Sunday evening, October 29, 1916, loved,
esteemed and nuiurned by his dear ones and all who knew him.

HERBERT E. LEISY. — .\mong the rising young men who are showing
tluniseKis indusirinus and capable in whatever line of business they have
entered, we find Herbert E. Leisy, a man of native ability, tact and energy.
He was linrn at Donelson, Lee county, la., October 24, 1890, the son of a
native of the (ierman Fatherland, Abraham Leisy, whose wife was Elizabeth
Gram. Both were farmers in Iowa, and now reside, retired, at Paso Robles.

The youngest of five children, Herbert was reared in Iowa, attended the
public .schools there, and came to Paso Robles first in the fall of 1912, when he
entered the employ of the Paso Robles Mercantile Co., taking a clerkship
ill their grocery department. On March 1, 1914, he resigned to engage in the
wlidlesale and retail handling of grain, flour, feed, hay and fuel. Not many
months elapsed before the enterprise and integrity of Leisy & Lovgren

746 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

were widelv and well recognized; the Paso Robles feed store on Park street,
near Twelfth and Central, of which he was manager, becoming the head-
quarters for farmers' and gardeners" needs and, as the largest business of its
kind in this vicinity, affording an exceptional variety and selection. He con-
tinued in management of that business until January 1, 1917, when he dis-
posed of his interest to his partner and accepted a position with liryan's Ex-
press Co., in charge of their automobile truck.

Independent in politics, Mr. Leisy is a man who does his own thinking
and votes according to his own ideas. He is a member of the Chamber of
Commerce, enthusiastically supporting progressive measures.

FRANK PERINONI. — The dairy industry has been followed with a
great deal of success in San Luis Obispo County, and great credit should
be given those men of foreign birth who have devoted their active lives
towards building up that industry from its infancy. To no one is more credit
due than to Frank Perinoni of Cayucos, for he has followed that line of
activity ever since he landed in California.

He was born at Someo, canton Ticino, Sw-itzerland, April 3, 18-^8, and
attended the public schools of his native district until he was fourteen years
old. He assisted his parents on their home place until seventeen years of
age, and then embarked for the United States with California as his goal.
Arrived here, he went at once to Alarin county, in April, 1865. He could
not speak the English language, nor did he know how business was carried
on in his new home ; but w-ith perseverance he set to work for his brother
James, who had come some time before, and was engaged in the dairy busi-
ness and offered him wages. He worked for various people until 1870,
when he received on offer to drive three hundred head of cattle to San Luis
Obispo County. This he accepted, and it took about twenty days to make
the trip to San Simeon. He was pleased with the country, decided to remain
and soon found employment with a dairyman. He did not remain long
there, however, but taking his savings engaged in dairying with a partner
at Guadalupe, they being the first Swiss to embark in the business at that
place. They milked about one hundred cows and continued there three
years. After this he sold out and located at Cambria, and two years later,
in 1875, moved to Cayucos.

I'nr one year Mr. Perinoni worked for Peter Tognazzini. and in 1877
went to IMorro, where he once more took up the business for liimself on
leased land. In 1882 he bought his first piece of land at Guadalupe, where
he had gone at an earlier period. This property consisted of seven hundred
fift\--three acres, well adapted to dairying. For twenty-two years he re-
mained a resident of that section, and acquired considerable means. He felt
it a duty he owed his parents to visit them again, and so he sold out and made
a third trip to his native land.

On his return to California, he located near Newman. Stanislaus county.
l)urcliasing one hundred fifty-three acres of fine land, and there he raised
alfalfa and conducted a dairy for two years, building up a fine property,
which he then sold to good advantage. Thereupon he returned to Cayucos,
where he rented eight hundred acres ; but he later sold out and went to a
ranch near Modesto, which he leased for four months. In 1913 he again
returned to .San Luis Obisjx) County and located in Cayucos, where he has
since lived, retired, enjoving the fruits of his labor. In 1909 he erected a

SAN LUIS OBLSPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 749

two-story concrete store building in Cayucos, now occupied as a general mer-
chandise store by his son-in-law, Ellis Tomasini, who is also the postmaster.
Mr. Perinoni was united in marriage in San Luis Obispo County, March
L\ 1882, with Miss Addolorata Giovanotti, who was born October 3, 1863,
in Civic, Switzerland, and who came to this county in 1881. Of this union
five children have been born. Flora resides with her parents ; Savina, Mrs.
\'aleiite Guerra, and Sila, Mrs. Ellis Tomasini, are both living in Cayucos ;
Mark and Frank are both deceased. To his children he has given edu-
cational advantages and a good start in life. From this resume of his life,
it will be seen that he started with nothing, and was handicapped by not
being able to speak English ; but that by hard work and good business man-
agement and honest dealings, he has won deserved success. Mr. Perinoni
has never cared for politics, but votes the Republican ticket at national elec-
tions, although for local offices he supports the man he considers best qual-
ified to fill the position. He is a member of the V. A. O. D.

ARTHUR C. CHURCHILL.— .\ native son nl Calil.u-nia witii the true
western spirit of hospitality inherited from his pioneer parents. Arthur C.
Churchill has won a place for himself in the business life of San Luis Obispo
County as agent for the S. P. Milling company at Tempieton. He was born
in Watson ville, March 15, 1884, a, son of Charles C. and Ellen (Gorham)
Churchill, natives of Alorristown, Vt., and Walnut Creek, Cal., respectively.
The former, a blacksmith by trade, enlisted for service in the Civil War,
hut was rejected on account of his youth, he being then but' fifteen. In 1871
he came to California and, locating at Walnut Creek, Contra Costa county,
fallowed his trade until 1875, when he took up his residence in Watsonvillc
and started a shop which in time grew to be the largest blacksmithing forge
in the city, and where he carried on his trade for thirty years, until he sold
out in 1905 and moved to San Jose. His wife was a daughter of William
Gorham, a native of Illinois, who crossed the plains to this state in 1856.
On the maternal side, Mr: Churchill is connected with the Aliens. His
grandmother, Melissa .Mien, started across the plains with her parents in
1846; her father died on the Platte river, when she was ten years old, but her
mother finished the trip to this state with lu-r small children and settled in
Walnut Creek, where she married Judge Elam Crown in that same year. Mr.
and Mrs. Gorham died in \\'atsonville.

The yiiungest of tlie two children bcrn to his parents, A. C. Churchill
grew up in Watsonvillc, allcndcil the i)ublic and high schools, graduating in
1902 from the San Jose high school, and then entered the Pacific Coast
Business College at San Jose, from which he graduated in 1903, He next
secured a position with the First National Bank for a short time, and later
with j. II. Flickinger Co. In 1904 he entered the employ of the S. P. Milling
Company as utility man, and in 1909 was made agent at this place, which
position he has filled with efficiency since June 20, 1909.

Mr. Churchill was married in Santa P.arbara to Emma l\ Doscy, who
was born in San Jose, and their four children arc Stanley. Kenneth, Raymond
and Lillian. Mr. Churchill is financial secretary of the local ]?oard of Trade,
is fire commissioner for Tempieton district, is a ])rominent member of the
I. < ). O. I"., and politicallv is a Republican. He is a self-made man, genial,
free-hearted and successful, and has manv friends.

750 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

GRACIANO CASTILLO.— How intimately the threads of California's
histor}- are interwoven with the social and political fabric of historic and
romantic old Spain is well illustrated in the biography of such families as
that of Graciano Castillo, who is proud of his American citizenship and also
proud that Spanish blood flows in his veins. Grandfather Castillo was born
in the famous town of Castile, Spain, and settled in Mexico. His son, Juan
Castillo, was born in ^Mexico and came to California in ver}' early days. Soon
after arri\-ing on the northern coast he settled near Avila beach, where he
took up a farm which he held until he died. About the same time he married,
at Los Angeles, Gargonia Ocano, who was also a native of ]\Iexico. A
family of sixteen children resulted, two of whom are still living, and Graciano
was the second eldest. He was brought up on his father's farm and educated
at the public schools ; but when he had reached the age of twelve he began
to wiirk for the P. C. Railway running between San Luis Obispo and Port
Harford. He was their water boy, and continued in this work for one year,
after which for three years he was in the service of the steamship company at
their Port Harford wharf, where better pay and more agreeable labor attracted
him. When he quit he bought an acre of land at Avila beach, near the spot
where he was born on June 1, 1865 ; and there built and entered into business
for himself. When he sold out, he removed to Paso Robles and engaged in
the wholesale liquor trade. The confinement of the place, however, was not
favorable to his health, and once more he disposed of what he had and changed
his mode of living.

On April 1. 1890, at San Luis 01)isi)(., Mr. Castillo was united in marriage
with Mrs. Lottie Margaret (Gillikin) Marshall, who was born in Placer-
ville, Cal. She was the daughter of Andrew J. Gillikin, who was sent out to
California as an official, and came across the plains in an ox-team train in
1847. He was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and was of Scotch de-
scent. He was interested in the famous Comstock Mine, in the days of
Mackay, Flood and O'Brien, and was a friend of the late "Lucky" Baldwin.
Her father thus made and lost large fortunes, although he was a wealthy
man at the time of his death in Portland on November 28, 1879. Her
mother was Margaret J. Hanson, who was born in Maine on June 14, 1829,
a daughter of Ca]itain Paul Hanson, and came tn .^-^an Francisco by way
of the Isthmus of Panama in 1852. Before lier marriage, Mrs. Castillo
was educated in difl'erent parts of the United States and on the coast, in
Saint Helen's Hall at Portland, and also in convents. One child resulted
from the j^resent union— Margarita Rose. Mrs. Castillo talks of her travels
of four years throughout the United States, and is well posted on the geog-
raphy of the countr}-. In 1898, Mr. and Mrs. Castillo moved to Santa Mar-
garita, where he established a business which he continued for sixteen years.
Here he built himself an attractive modern residence. In his sjiare time he
superintends certain properties in various parts of the State. He owns, for
example, the Intsiness building occupied l)y the local postoflice, and in addition
he lias a hundred twenty acres two miles east of the town which he de\-otes
to farming. Then there is a corner lot in San Francisco such as anyone
would be glad to have the title to, and some property in San Diego county,
which will doubtless als(i become valuable. A Republican in politics, Mr.
Castillo \<. ;in acli\e citizen ready to boost any good local project having the
endorsement of hi.s fellow-citizens.

SAN LUIS ORTSro COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 751

FRANK E. FOTHERINGHAM.— Come what may, no one will ever
usurp the position amont;- Californians of the Native Son, and a Californian
of whom Santa Margarita is proud is Frank E. Fotheringham, who was born
at Sutter Creek, Amador county, on ]\Iarch 11, 1861. His father was Dr.
George Fotheringham, a nati\e of Edinburgh, Scotland, where he was educated
for the medical profession. The name, which belongs to an old English
family, was originally Fotheringay, and it was changed by Dr. Fotheringham
on his coming to America. Dr. Fotheringham settled in Dupage county, 111.-,
and there practiced medicine until 1850, when he crossed the plains to Cali-
fornia. He had with him his wife and two children when the ox-train was
attacked by Indians, but very luckily all escaped.

Arriving at Hangtown, he started mining ; but when it was discovered
that he had brought with him his medicine case, he was so often called, and
at such fees, that he gave up the thought of digging for gold and resumed
his practice. Later he located at Sacramento, and there became a leading
physician and surgeon. When he retired, he settled in San Francisco. He
died in the bay city at the age of seventy-five years. His wife was Miss Ruth
Jaynes, who was born in Illinois, and died in San Francisco.

Four of the six children born to Dr. and Mrs. Fotheringham survived,
and among these was the subject of this review, who attended the public
schools of Sacramento and the high school of San Francisco. Later he came
to La Panza, San Luis Obispo County, when that section was a great cattle
and sheep range. He went to work to learn the cattle business on the ranch
of his brother-in-law, J. M. Jones, who owned twenty-five thousand acres
or more of land, remaining with him as foreman until he was thirty years
of age. Subsequently, he was superintendent of the ranch of Schoenfeld &
Jones, who combined two great ranches, the Carissa and the La Panza,
including quite forty-five thousand acres ; and as the no-fence law then came,
into effect, Frank had a big job on his hands, bringing the necessary wire
from San Luis Obispo, and completing the fence within six months. In
1897, he began leasing different ranches to tenants, but this was only for two
years: at the end of that time it was thought advisable to turn them back
into ranges for cattle.

Since 1886, he has had a large experience in raising herds of cattle, ship-
ping in feeders from Arizona and Mexico by the train load, to be turned out
a year later fat and fit, and bringing his Durham and Hereford breeds to the
highest standard possible. Not by any means have these things been accom-
plished without privation and considerable risk; and if ever you succeed in
getting Mr. Fotheringham to tell about the early days, you will hear some
good stories in which his friends, the coyotes, the grizzlies, the California
lions and the mountain deer play their parts. His first trip to Los Angeles,
which was then a city of only about 12,000 people, was made in 1883, when he
was compelled to chase some horse thieves who had made depredations on
his stock.

In 1916, l-"rank Fotheringham resigned his position and removed to Santa
Margarita, and built there the comfortable residence in which he now passes
his days more leisurely, looking after his varied interests in San Luis Obispo
County and in Los Angeles, in which city he has made considerable invest-
ments on account of its wonderful growth. Mr. Fotheringham was married in
San Francisco to Miss Maud Meredith, of the northern metropolis, and he has

752 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

of late given himself up somewhat more freely to social life. He is a member
of the San Luis Obispo Lodge, No. 422, B. P. O. E.. and of the Los O.sos Parlor
of the Native Sons of the Golden West. As a Democrat he has served as a
member of the County Central Committee.

VINCENT ROSSI — One of the prosperous citizens of San Luis Obispo
County and a man who has made his own way in the world, Vincent Rossi
was !)orn in Peccia, canton Ticino, Switzerland, on September 23, 1866. He
attended the public schools until he was fourteen years of age, and then
devoted his time to farm work, assisting his father, who ran a dairy and
raised sheep and goats. This w^ork did not oiifer much advancement, and
on talking with a friend who had spent some time in America and was
back on a visit to liis old home, young Rossi heard such glowing accounts
of the advantages offered on the Pacific Coast to young men of energy and
ambition that he decided to \enture into the Western country and see what
he could do.

He came direct to California, arriving in 1886, and worked for a short
time on a ranch near Duncans Mills. Sonoma county, after which he came to
San Luis Obispo county, where he has since made his home. He first worked
on the Jack ranch for one year, and then, during two years, for Nicola Tonini,
and saved enough money to start for himself. He rented three hundred acres
near Morro, bought stock and commenced on a small scale, gradually increas-
ing his stock during the five years that he remained there. He then sold out
and Hioved to the Serrano place, where he continued the dairy business for
eleven years. This has been his chosen occupation, and from the start with
thirty-five cows, he has increased his dairy to three hundred and conducts a
successful dairy and stock-raising industry on 2000 acres of the R. E. Jack
ranch, with about 1000 acres of the Fairbanks ranch. He also raises about
two hundred head of hogs, and enough grain and hay for his stock.

On February 8, 1891, Mr. Rossi was united in marriage with Miss An-
gelina Coradi, who was born in Trento, Tyrol, Austria, in 1868, and came
to California in 1890. They have five children : Gregorj'-, Vincent, Armando,
Catherina and May, all natives of this county. The three oldest boys attend
the State Polytechnic at San Luis Obispo.

At one time Mr. Rossi owned and operated the Alta Creamery, but
after five years, competition became so keen that he gave it up. Since becom-
ing a citizen of the United States, he has voted the Republican ticket. He is
serving as trustee of Hope school district, where, for the first three years, he
was clerk of the board. He is recognized as a generous, open-hearted and
enterprising man.

■ PAUL PFISTER.— A native son of California. Paul I'fister was l)orn in
Nai^a county, February 11, 1865, a member of a well known family, whose
detailed story will be found in the sketch of Al Pfister on another page
of this work. In 1868 he was brought by his parents to Pinole, Contra Costa
county, wliere he attended the public schools. \\'hen he was seventeen, his
father purchased a farm near Dixon, Solano county, and thither he removed
with other members of the family, and was there em])loyed in grain farming.

His brother, .\1 Pfister, came to San Luis Obispo County in 1888, and
m ilie fall of 1891 Paul joined him, and they purchased a ranch at Union
and engaged in raising grain. They acquired a property of nine hundred

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 755

sixty acres, leased other land and farmed on a large scale, meeting with
the usual success that attends close application to business. In 1899 he
was elected supervisor from the first supervisoral district in this county,
and then he moved into Paso Robles. He filled the office two terms and gave
his attention to the wants of his constituents. He became interested in the
Citizens I'ank and was on the dircctnrate and served as assistant cashier,
a position he was selected ti> till in l'»()S. and wiiich he continued to hold for
lour years.

He bought a ranch on the Salinas river, put twenty acres in alfalfa, sunk
wells (one of them to a depth of three hundred forty feet) and secured a good
How of Artesian water, this being the first flowing well in this section ; but
two years later he sold out and moved to (ilendora, Los Angeles county,
where he purchased thirty acres of land and set out eighteen acres in Valencia
oranges and twelve acres in lemons. lie livid in the southern part r>f the
state for a while, and (in his return tn I'a.s. . R.iMo he entered the Citizens
liank as assistant cashier.

In Paso Robles he was united in marriage witii Aliss Elizabeth Dwyer,
who was born in San Erancisco. They have four children — Joseph, John,
Elizabeth and Catherine. Air. Pfister is a memlier of San Luis Obispo Lodge,
Xo. 322, B. P. O. Elks. In politics he is a Democrat. He is a man who
l)clieves in supporting men and measures for the betterment of the general
conditions of the town, county and state.

MAX VON DOLLEN.— It can in truth be said of .Ma.x von Dollen that
he is a hustler, and a succesful one at that, lie comes of an old family in
Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where he was born on Eebruary 27, 1880. His
father was John H. von Dollen, a brother of Martin E. E. von Dollen, repre-
sented elsewdiere in this work. His father married Caroline Martensen, who
was horn in the same vicinity as he, of an old Danish family.

John H. von Dollen lirought his family to California in 1886 and, after
two years at Half Moon I'.ay, came to Keys cai'ion in 1<S88 and located on a
homestead of one hundred sixty acres, on the Monterey and San Luis
Obispo County line. As he prospered, he l)ought more land until, at the time
of his death, on Eebruary 15, 1917, he had acquired four hundred eighty
acres. The mother now resides with her son. Max, and presides over his
home. The children born to this worthy old couple are: Max, of this review ;
Henry and John, farmers in Keys caiion : I->ed, who was accidentally killed,
nil being thrown from a horse, at the age of nineteen ; Carrie (Mrs. Joimson).
of Keys canon; Elsie (Mrs. Brunson), who resides in .\rizona ; .\nnie, who
•lied when five years old; and Emma, who resides with her mother and
brother Afax.

The schools of the Ellis district furnished the advantages for Max's educa-
tion, and from a lad he displayed marked energy for work, ajjplying liimself
industriously to help his parents gain a foothold and a competency. 1 le learned
the care of stock, and how to drive the big teams in the grain fields.

In 1906 he began farming on his own account, leasing a ranch in Keys
canon; and while operating it he purchased a half section of grazing land
ill tlie vicinity. In prospecting lor water, he was fortunate in striking a
spring, obtaining an ami^le supi>ly lor his stock, and thus increasing the
value of the land very materially. The land adjoins the old place of his
i'arcnt<, which he also manages.

756 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Some years ago he leased his present place of eight hundred acres in
Hog canon, San Luis Obispo County. The place where he now lives was
originally homesteaded and improved by his uncle, M. E. E. von Dollen.
After leasing it four years, he purchased the place, knowing full well the
value of the land as a speculation during these years of rapid rise in land
values. It is a most excellent grain and stock ranch, the soil and climate
being well adapted for the purpose. It also shows strong indications of oil
in seepage, gas pressure, and shells, and will inukiubtcdly some day be de-
veloped for that purpose.

About four hundred acres of this property is under the \Ao\\\ two hun-
dred acres of which is each year sown to grain. The balance is devoted to
cattle-raising, and he has a fine strain of cattle on his ranch. He also owns
another ranch of three hundred twenty acres at the head of Keys canon.

The great work of providing good schools for the rising generation
receives his encouragement and hearty co-operation, and he has consented
to serve as a member of the board of trustees of Keys canon school district.

Liberal, open-hearted and hospitable, Mr. von Dollen occupies a very
prominent place in the cc^mmunity, where lie is highly esteemed and decidedly
popular.

NIELS G. MADSEN. — Through his connection with various important
interests, Niels G. Madseu is well known to the people of San Luis Obispo
County, and particularly to the residents in the section about Paso Robles,
where he has made his home since 1884. He was born in Ballum, Schleswig,
Germany, January 10, 1867, a son of Jorgen F. Madsen, also a native of that
vicinity, who was a maker of shoes and served in the Danish army in the War
of 1864. Jorgen jMadsen was a Lutheran and died near his brithplace. His
wife, Christiana Thygesen, was born in the same town. She was a daughter of
ilatthias Thygesen, a sailor. She is living in Ballum and was the mother
of seven children, five of whom are alive. The children are: Maria, Mrs.
Nielsen of Rio Vista ; Christene, Mrs. Hansen, in Schleswig ; Tillie, who lives
in Auburn, Cal.; Hans, in Schleswig; Martin, who died here; Inga C, who
died in Schleswig; and the oldest of the family, Niels G., the subject of this
review. He was brought up in Ballum, attended the public schools, and
worked on a farm and at odd jobs from boyhood ; but on account of militarism
in his home country, he came to the United States at the age of seventeen, in
1884, making direct for San Francisco and, in May of that year, for Rio
\^ista, where he had an aunt living. He was employed at various occupations
in that locality for three years, when he went to San Francisco and found
work in a tea and coffee house on Market street, where he remained a year.
He spent the following summer in Rio \'ista, and then returned to San Fran-
cisco to work as a waiter in a cafe run by Hans Ravn.

We next find Mr. Aladsen in the vicinity of Salinas working in the harvest
field for the season, and then back in the cafe in San Francisco. In 1893 he .
came to San Luis Obispo County, and in the vicinity of Union district rented
land from the Estrella ranch and put in a crop of grain. He remained there
five \cars and met with fair results, having three good crops out of the five, the
otiiers being failures on account of dry years. In 1899. he bought his present
ranch of three hundred twenty acres and has been successfully engaged in
raising grain, particularly the blue stem wheat. He has had a great deal of
hard work to dn to overcome the manv obstacles that confronted him in the

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 757

development of his ranch ; bnt he has persevered, and now has a very vahtable
place all accjuired through his own efforts and with the aid of his good wife.

On March 8, 1906, in Petaluma, Cal., occurred the marriage of Niels
G. Madsen with ]\Irs. Augusta (Wigerth) Franzen, a native of Falun, Dalene,
Sweden. Her father was Carl \\igerth, a painter by trade, hailing from
Dalene, and his wife was Sarah Selbcrg. They had eight children in their
family, and four of them grew up. Mrs. iSladsen and one sister, Mrs. Otto
Olsen of Birds Landing, Solano county, are the only members of the family
in America. Mrs. Madsen was educated in the public schools and at a
well-known ladies' academy, and for some years was engaged in teaching
school in her native land. She married Franz O. Franzen, born in Orebro,
Xaerke, Sweden, who was a student in the theological seminary in Orebro.
He died, however, before his ordination. They had one child, Joseph, who
has farmed on the Estrella ranch, and who married Miss Sadie Heavey ; and
their home is blessed by two children, Niels Joseph and Kenneth James,
the pride of their grandparents. In 1890, Mrs. Madsen came to Solano county,
although she made her home principally in San Francisco until her second
marriage.

Air. Madsen is a member of Dania Lodge, No. 2, in San Francisco; of
Santa Lucia Lodge, No. 350, I. O. O. F., of Paso Robles, and of the Encamp-
ment. For many years he has been a director in the Farmers' Alliance Busi-
ness Association, organized for the purpose of erecting the large warehouse
in Paso Robles which has been of such great benefit to the farmers, and since
1914 has served as president of the same. He is a member of the Lutheran
Church and is a self-made man in every sense of the word, and has a host of
friends who respect him for his integrity and strict business methods.

ARCHIBALD GILLIS. — Among the grain growers and stockmen in the
vicinity of Paso Robles who are enterprising and successful is the rancher
Archibald Gillis, born in Antigonish county, Nova Scotia, in September,
1863. His grandfather, John Gillis, was a Scottish Highlander, who settled
in Nova Scotia. His father, Ahljus (iillis, was therefore born a Nova
Scotian, and by reason of his envimnnient grew up not only a farmer and a
lumberman, but a fisherman sailing his smack in St. Lawrence Bay. His
mother, Catherine Gillis, was of Scotch descent. Both arc deceased, the
father d}'ing there thirty-four years ago ; while of nine children born, seven
arc living, of whom Archiliald is the ynungcsl and the only one on the
Pacific Coast. i

Archibald Gillis worked on a farm and at lumbering, and al.so as a ship
carpenter, until 1884, when he came West In work for the Canadian Pacific
Railroad Co. back of Lake Sujjerior. .\pril. the following year, found him in
Pnrtland and Victoria, and in May he came to San Francisco, the first of his
tamily to visit California. Fie worked in that city as a carpenter, and the fol-
lowing year took up farming near Dixon, Solano county, where he used an
eight-horse team and continued for two years. In 1888, he came to San
Luis Obispo County, and farmed for grain on the Santa Ysabel ranch, two
miles northeast of Paso Robles. He also rented for a while certain land from
llie Huntington ranch.

Having been successful in his operations and accumulated some means,
he purchased the present place of three hundred twenty acres, in 1892. It is
located about four and one-half miles southeast of Paso Robles, and on it he

758 SAX LUIS OIJISIT) COUNTY AND EWIRONS

has made iiii])n>\cnK-nls so that it has become a valuable ])ro])ert_v. He
has succeeded by wise management and judicious renting. He now farms
about six hundred acres, making use of two large teams, and sowing as much
as three hundred fifty acres of grain a year, principally wheat. The finest
stock, both horses and cattle, is ke]n on his ranch, and a small orchard fur-
ther adds to its attraction.

Mr. Gillis is a member of the Roman Catholic Church in Paso Robles.
He has a wide acquaintance throughout this section of the county, where he
is highly esteemed for his integrity and worth, and where his word is as good
as hi"^s b'ond.

FRANK NUNEZ.— It is no wonder that all of Ins friends, as well as
Frank Nunez himself, are very proud of his being a successful cattleman, and
of having" provided for himself a handsome competency, for Frank under-
stands the cattle business from A to Z, and has known more or less of it ever
since he was a lad of fifteen. 'Way back on October 14, 1859, he w-as born
in old Sonora, ^Mexico, whither his father, Augustine Nunez, had come from
Spain. His father was educated for the Bar, and having migrated to Mexico,
was a i)racticing attorney in the town of Frank's birth. He stood high there,
and was more than successful ; but one evil day he became a sympathizer with
Maximilian, and when that unfortunate adventurer fell, .Augustine Nunez had
to flee the country.

In 1868, he came to the United States and brought his family to San
Luis Obispo County. While Frank was still very young his mother died,
and then he lived with a sister, going to school but three or four months.
By 1874 he had entered the employ of R. C. Flint, the great ranchman, and
two years later was in the responsible position of foreman, having in charge
two ranches fcjrty-five miles apart and lying seventy-five miles south of Campo
on the international border. For a hundred miles he roamed over the cattle
ranges branding the stock, and he remained in charge of the herds until he
delivered the last bunch of cattle in Mexico in 1881. In those days buyers
wanted fat cattle, and there was no call for feeders ; there was a round-up in
May or June, so much was paid per head, and that was all there was to it.
When he resigned, he was four hundred dollars in debt, to balance which he
gave his note; and this was paid in 1886 — to the Flint estate, the ranchman
being dead — although the note was already outlawed. In 1882, we find Frank
Nunez in Los .\ngeles, where he remained for eighteen months, and then
he made for r.akcrsfield. assisting Tom Briggs at different times in the cattle
busines.s.

l*>om the spring of 1886. he w^as again foreman for the R. C. Flint estate
of the .S;ui Juan Ranch, in San Luis Obispo County, and later foreman of
tlie Nacimiento Ranch, for the same estate, from wdiich he resigned in the
fall of 1891. Ho then went into the cattle department of Miller & Lux, at
New Columbia, in the San Joaquin valley, but at the end of nine months he
gave that u]) to go into the cattle business for himself on Carissa Plains, his
Inoilur-in-law, J. Garcia, being in charge of the stock. In 1893 he was again
induced by R. C. Flint, Jr., to take charge of the San Juan Ranch, as foreman.
and continued ably to fill that position until 1896, when he resigned to look
aller iiis own stock business.

lie then Ijogan buying diflferent ranches, watering-places and grazing
grounds, and rented sonic large ranges, starting with three hundred he^d of

fyuz-r^''^

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND I'-WIROiMS 761

cattle; and soon he had made his brand, F-N, mean something worth while
on the market. He sold out in 1909, and seeing an opportunitj' for a quick
turn of money, he took a trip to Sonora, Mexico, and there bought a train
load of steers and shipped them north to this county, where he trebled his
money. The same year he built a livery stable and engaged in the livery
business at Santa ^Margarita; but finding that it was not what he wanted, he
disposed of it.

He sold some of his lands, and built himself a residence in Santa ?\lar-
garita, the most modern and beautiful residence in the place, where he owns
other valuable property. Some years ago, at San Luis Obispo, Frank X'unez
married Miss Frances Garcia, wdio was born and reared in this county. A
public-spirited Republican, ]\lr. Nunez has also served in the past as trustee
of Simmler School District, thereby showing his interest in the cause of
education,

FRANK VEAR.— A strong, healthy and active native sun. who is becom-
ing well-to-do anil yet who, in his increasing prosperity, maintains the good-
will and esteem of all hi^ fellow-citizens, is Frank Vear, a rancher and bean
grower, and a son of the late Joseph Vear, an early California settler who
came from the Azores islands. He was a sailor, going to sea when but ten
years old on the whaler "Jeanette," and for seven years was on that boat in the
Pacific and Arctic waters. He finally left the sea and located in Monterey
county, where he engaged in ranching and where he was united in marriage
at Castroville, in 1873, with Miss Alary English, who was born in Ireland,
brought to America when she was a child, and reared in Philadelphia, where
two brothers now reside. She left that city for San Francisco when a
young lad)-, and since that time has made this state her home.

In the dry year, 1887, Jdscph \ ear in()\c(l fmm Monterey county to
Lompoc, Santa Barbara counts ; and the fulKiwing year, compelled by the
necessit}' of his starving cattle, he sold out his dairy herd and bought forty
acres on the Oso Flaco, where he engaged in farming. He added to his
holdings as he succeeded, and in time owned one hundred eighty-three acres.
He also owned a ranch of one hundred fifty acres two miles south of San
Luis Obispo, where he was living at the time of his death in 1910. His
widow now resides with her daughter, Mrs. M. I'. Lima, near Edna.

The second eldest of six children, of wlunn but three are still living —
the subject of our sketch, Mrs. Lima, and Matthew, a farmer residing near
San Luis Obispo — Frank Vear was born on the Oso h'laco, February 2, 1881,
and began at eight years of age to help with the work on his father's farm,
driving horses and later plowing with a four-horse team. He attended
public schools in the Oso I'laco and the Xipomo scliool districts, and after-
wards pursued, with much credit, a commercial course at the well-known
Chestnutwood Business College at Santa Cruz ; but for the greater part of
his life, he has engaged in farming, as a result of which he is today one of the
best-posted men on agriculture in the O.so Flaco region.

.\t San Luis Obispo, June 5, 1907, Frank Vear was united in marriage
with Miss Mary Gertrude Cole, a native of Philadelphia, where she was edu-
cated. Her parents were .Arthur and Bridget (Leonard) Cole, the latter
dying in Philadeli)hia. The father came to San Luis Obispo County from
Philadelphia, where he had been employed as a machinist, and here took up
cattle-raising and the dairy business in the Los Osos valley; and it was here

762 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

that liis (laiitjlitcr joined him later on. Of the marriage of Mr. and Airs.
\^ear, three chil<h-en ha\e l>een born, Mary E., Joseph Thtjinas, and Arthur
Francis.

Employing; three men steadily, and e.xtra help at the harvest time, Mr.
\'ear in 1916 raised on his two large ranches in the Santa Maria vallej' a
Inmdred tons of hay and three thousand sacks of beans, worth in the neigh-
borhood of thirty thousand dollars. He keeps about thirty-six work horses
and, in addition, some seventy head of colts and mares. One of these
ranches consists of three hundred eighty acres on the Le Roy tract, two and a
half miles west of Santa Maria, in Santa Barbara county, while another farm
is made up of a hundred eighty-three acres on the Oso P'laco. This farm
really belongs to the Joseph Year estate, and was willed by the elder \'ear
to his wife; there Frank resides with his wife and family in a modest, but
pretty home, made exceedingly attractixe by lawns, cypress trees and well-
cultivated gardens.

Quiet and reserved by nature, ]\lrs. Year is a worthy companion to her
tactful and courteous husband ; and both are esteemed and valuable members
of the Catholic Church, as well as of the board of trustees of the Cuyama
school district. Mr. Year is a Woodman of the World, has long been identi-
fied \vith the Loyal Order of Moose at Santa Maria, and is a stanch Democrat
hiyli in Democratic counsels.

ROBERT LUCIAN PERRY.— Through his connection with various
important interests, Robert L. Perry is well known to the people of San
Luis Obispo County, and particularly to the residents of San Miguel, where
he has made his home since 1896, settling here in the spring of that year. He
was born in Keokuk county, la., on September 14, 1857, and raised in Fairfield,
Jefiferson county. His father, Jacob Perry, was a native of Ohio and came to
Iowa in 1854, settling on a farm in Keokuk count}-, wdiere he was married
to Elizabeth Yastine, also an Ohioan. She died in 1859, and in 1862 the
family removed to Jefferson county, wdierc the father died on his farm.

The youngest of the two children, and the only one living, R. L. Perrj-
was deprived of a mother's care wdien he was a babe of eighteen months, and
was brought up and educated in JefTerson county. He remained on the farm
until 1878, when he went to liitchcock county. Neb., and homesteaded one
hundred sixty acres adjoining Culbertson, the county seat, improved the
place and made it his home. In 1880 he went back to Iowa ; and at Fairfield,
on February 26 of that year, he was married to Ellen Brown, also a native
of Iowa, returning with his bride to his farm in Nebraska.

He clerked in a store for a time and then was appointed to fill a vacancy
as county clerk, after which he was elected to the office and was ex-officio
clerk of the court and recorder. He was re-elected and served five years.
During this time he compiled a set of abstract books. He was engaged in the
abstract title and real estate business with success, until he came to California
in 1894, when he located in Santa Rosa.

In 1896 Mr. Perry located in San Miguel and engaged in the mercantile
Ijusiness. Elected Justice of the Peace, he served until he was appointed,
liy i 'resident Taft. postmaster of San Miguel, in which office he continued
until the cliangc of atlministration, when he was again elected Justice of the
Pe.ice in l'>14 of San Miguel township, a post of responsibility which he fills
at this time. He is also a notary, and docs conveyancing. He owns his

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 763

home and the ten-acre tract adjoinini; the tdwn, and is a niemljcr of the
Methodist Church and a true-l)hie Repuldican. lie and his wife have four
children: .Mildred C. Mrs. Ment-e of Parkfield district: Lucian M., in
Coalins;a: Ruth, at hrmie: and Dewey, who was born Ma}- 1, 1898, the same
day Dewey toi>k iManila. This son is now in the coast artillery and stationed
at Honolulu.

ROSS REYNOLDS.— A comparatively young farmer who takes pride
in the science of agriculture, and who, year by year, has steadily advanced
ill his mastery of the soil, is Ross Reynolds, who was born at his father's
old home on the Huer-Huero, three miles east of Paso Robles, on January 4,
1878, the second eldest child in the family. His father is Dwight Reynolds,
a fine old gentleman, very properly represented elsewhere in this work.

Ross was brought up on the farm and educated in the public schools in
the county of his birth, and helped his father until he was of age, when, for
a year, he rented and operated the well-known Dresser place. After that,
he leased the eleven hundred acres known as the Shackelford place, planting
much of it to grain, and taking care for Mr. Shackelford of his orchards.
He grubbed out nearly everything but the olives, operating the place eight
years, until it was sold. A teaming and hauling enterprise engaged him for
the ne.xt three years, after which he rented his father's Golf Links farm near
Paso Robles. He again teamed in and out of Bakersfield, hauling commis-
sary for the Producers Transportation Co. during the construction of the
Producers Transportation pipe line, following which, for another three years,
he farmed on his father's ranch.

In 1913, he leased about sev'en hundred acres of the Huntington ])Iace,
and raised there grain and stock, becoming especially jjrolicient in the use
of ten- and twelve-horse teams and also in the raising of high-grade cattle and
horses.

Until he removed to Linne, Ross Reynolds was a school trustee of the
Dry Creek district, while in politics, and especially under the banner of the
Republicans, he has always- found time to do his duty as a patriotic citizen.

KNUTE BERGER NELSON.— Sweden has furnished many men who
have become some of the most prominent citizens in various parts of
.'\merica and who have been engaged in various callings. California has
drawn her share of these citizens, and many of the progressive farmers who
have helped to build up the sections devoted to agriculture trace their line-
age back to Sweden. In San Luis Obispo County, in the vicinity of Paso
Robles, Knute Berger Nelson is now successfully employed in grain and
stock raising. He was born in Genoa, Platte county, Neb., May 11, 1877, a
son of the late Swan and Betsy (Erikson) Nelson, both natives of Sweden.
The former w-as born at Malmo, Skane, came to America when a young
man. settling on a homestead in Nebraska, was a ]iioncer there, and became
a ver\^ prominent man in his community, l^esides his homestead of one
hundred si.xty acres he bought railroad land of an equal number of acres and
engaged in farming and stock raising, meeting with success. In 1888 he
came to California and settled in this county, where he resided until his
death, June 9, 1916. He rented out his land in Nebraska all these years,
and it was sold by his family after his death in the fall of 1916. He w^as the
owner of five hundred ninety-eight acres in one body in the Linne district.
He served as a school trustee and was one of the organizers of the Farmers'

764 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AXD EXVIROXS

Alliance W'arelnnise As.snciati<in. in which he was a director nearly all the
time until he died. His widow lives on the home place, and was the mother
of seven children, only three of whom are living. These are Nance Emil, who
lives in Los Angeles ; Knute P>., the subject of this review ; and Franz Otto, in
Los Angeles.

Living in Nehraska until he was eleven years old. Knute lierger Xelson
attended the scIuxjI in his district until he came to San Luis Obispo County,
California, where he finished his schooling in the Linne district. He lived at
home on the farm until he was twenty-one. When he had thoroughly learned
the details of farming under the watchful eye of his father until he was of age,
he was then taken into partnership with him and remained until 1908, farming
from five hundred to one thousand acres to grain.

In Februar}-, 1911, Mr. Nelson was united in marriage with Miss Jessie
C. Sandberg, born in the Linne district and educated in the public schools.
Her parents, Erik and Mamie (Nylund) Sandberg, settled in this section in
1888 and now own four hundred acres of good land. After their marriage,
Mr. Xelson rented out the home place of five hundred ninety-eight acres
and, leasing some adjoining land, started in for himself, jjutting in from
three hundred fifty to four hundred acres of grain each year, and has raised
as high as 3600 sacks a season. In 1916 he had 2600 sacks. He runs a
small combined harvester operated by two men and twelve horses and cuts
his own grain and some for others. He also has a small dairy, making about
forty pounds of butter per week. For many years Mr. Nelson has been a
stockholder in the Farmers' Alliance Warehouse Association, and since the
death of his father he has been a member of the board of directors. He is
a trustee of the Linne school district and clerk of the board. Politically he
and his wife are Republicans. Mrs. Nelson is a member of the P)ai)tist
church. They have one child. I'dlery Xelson.

REV. ANDERS O. MALM BERG.— It is not often in this world that
one finds a man doing sonietiiing for his fellow-men. and something well
worth while, and continuing to do that very thing through years and years
of labor and fatigue, without expecting some material reward ; but that is
just what the Rev. Anders O. Malmberg is noted for, and why today he has
such a circle of devoted and admiring friends. Born on .\pril 18, 1835, in
Westernorrland, Sweden, and brought up in that highly favored northern
country, he was educated for the ministry and ordained a clergyman of the
l'ai)tist Church; and for a while, as he preached there, he seemed to be
inau.gurating a work which was to be identified only with his native country.
Certain influences, however, drew him, in 1869, to the United States and
Illinois: and before long Providence had directed his path westward to Chero-
kee county, Iowa, where in 1870 he homesteaded, farmed, assisted in farming
for others, and even toi^k ])art as a day-laborer in railroad construction. It was
then that the Rev. Malmberg put into active application certain jirinciples
and ideals which he had long had in view, namely, that he should preach
the (iospel, while earning his own living, and charge nothing for his services
to those to whom he brought the bread of life, and in 1870 he organized the
Swedish Baptist Church in Meriden, Iowa, continuing as its i)astor until he
came to the Pacific Coast.

In 1886. he removed to California, having already ])urchased eightv
acres of land here: and settling at Linne. he organized the Swedish Baptist

SAN LUIS OUISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 765

Church, of which he has been pastor, with the exception of three years, ever
since. All this time, when he has been farming or otherwise laboring for a
living, the Rev. Anders Malmberg has served his parishioners without pay ;
and never perhaps have spiri'tual ministrations been more appreciated.
Later, he bought three hundred acres, but part of this he has since disposed
of to his children, retaining only the modest parcel of land embraced in his
one hundred twenty acre tract, which he rents to others.

Many years ago, in Sweden, he was married to Engla Elizabeth Ander-
son, and four of the six chililren Imrn Xn them are still living to call him
blessed. The children were: l{(hvar(l O. ; Anna, Mrs. Enokson, who died
near Linne ; Elizabeth, who died in Illinois, in infancy; Elizabeth C, Mrs.
Erickson of Linne; Lena, who remains at home ministering to her ()arents;
and Andrew E. The two boys are farmers at Linne.

j\lr. Malmberg has been postmaster at Linne for over a fjuarter oi a cen-
tury, and that fact alone speaks for the citizenship of this naturalized Ameri-
can, lie is a Democrat by conviction and preference.

CHARLEY TRUE.— There is no better evidence of the real value of a
man than the mark of approval set upon him by his discerning and just fellow-
citizens when they elect him to the office of a school trustee. This is
found in the career ot Charley True, the enterprising young rancher, for
the fact that for the past seven years he has been clerk of the board of trustees
of the Union School district in which he resides speaks for his efficiency,
liorn in Volcano, Ritchie county, W. V'a., on December 26, 1875, the
son of Hanson W. True, an oil operator and a member of the True family
which came from Holland in the next ship following the Mayflower, he began
life handica])ped through a serious accident to his father. While engaged
in the day's wcirk in the nil fields, a great log rolled upon the imfortunate
man and su crushed him that the physician who was called said that he
could nut lue until niorning. He recovered, however, and in the fall of
1884 came to Califcirnia, where he made a great success as a farmer. He was
a directiir and |)resident uf the Farmers' Alliance Business Association of
Paso Rol)les, resigning only two years before he died. The remainder of the
story of Hanson True's life will be found elsewhere in a sketch full of interest.

Charley True was l)rought up in West Virginia and came to California
with his parents, i le went to school in the Union district, and completed his
eilncation at Chestnutw( .< id Business College, Santa Cruz. On his return
home he took up farming with his father, and they began with a team of
mules, while now they use a large and improved coml^ined harvester. When
nnly twenty years of age Charley ran the ranch himself; later he bought the
stock and implements and rented the ranch from his father. Since the latter's
death he has continued to manage the farm, and now he and his mother own
and cultivate some two hundred forty acres, all in excellent shape. He also
rents land adjoining, so that together he operates about five hundred acres,
using often a team of ten horses. Charley has always been interested in
learning and in getting at the best methods of farming, and to that end has
read much of the various modes of agriculture in different countries, even
sui'scribing to journals i)ublished in widely different parts of the world, and
it is (|uitc natural that he sliould be made a stockholder and director in the
Farmers' Alliance liusiness .\ssociation. Of a naturally intelligent make-
up. :ind placing a liigh value un things historical, he is also interested in

766 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND J:N\TR0NS

prc'scrvin.q: California relics, among which he has the old plow with which his
father started farming on the homestead. Charley True was united in
marriage on June 26, 1905, at San Jose, with Miss Estella Millikin, a
native of Albany, Ore., and the only child of David Millikin, himself a
native of Iowa. Her grandfather, John, whose ancestors came over from
Scotland, was born in rennsylvania ; her grandmother, once Nancy Herron,
was born in Pennsylvania of Holland Dutch descent. The grandparents
moved to Iowa, where they remained awhile as farmers; then they crossed
the plains in the usual ox-train as early as 1852, and settled at Millikin"s
Corner in Santa Clara county, three miles from Santa Clara, where they
engaged in general farming, and where they died. Mrs. True's father
was only a child of seven years when he crossed the great plains. Mrs.
True before her marriage graduated, in 1900, from the San Jose State Normal,
and for five years engaged in educational work in San Luis Obispo County.
She is the devoted mother of two children : Mary Elva and Helen Estella.

WILLIAM CARL RADLOFF.— A successful and enterprising rancher,
lil)eral in his support of the mo\ ements for the progress of his adopted county
and one of those who have done much towards advancing the standard of
the schools in his section of San Luis Obispo County, is William Carl RadlofT,
who was born in Prussia, Germany, January 15, 1867. His father died when
the son was a babe, and afterwards his mother brought him to this country
and settled in Dodge county, Wis., in 1868. There he was raised on a farm
and went to the public schools near Hartford.

His mother was married in Wisconsin, to Jtisiah Crowfoot, a native of
ICngland, who had settled in Dodge county. He served four years in the Civil
War, first in Co. E, 10th Wis. Inf., for three years, and then one year in
Co. l*". 8th U. .S. Veteran Volunteers, when he was mustered out and returned
to his home and i-cmfinucd farming; until 1884. That year Mr. Crowfoot
brought iii- laniiK I.. Califnrnia. .ind for nne year they lived near Oakland.
In 1885, they came U, San Luis Obispn Cnnnty. located a homestead on
l':strella plains and inii. roved it. He died in l':)09. and since then his widow
continues to makt' lur home on the ranch.

.After the death of his step-father, Mr. Radloff operated the farm with
success, renting more land and using modern machinery, so that he now has
a Samson ti-actor, a combined harvester, and thirty-two head of horses.
Picsides doing his owji cutting, he works in the neighborhood, cutting for
others a thousand acres during the season. In 1903 he bought half a section
eight miles from Pa.so Robles and has a well-equipped place, and farms adjoin-
in'^ land, having about one section under cultivation to grain.

Mr. RadlolT was married in Reno. Nev.. to Mrs. Carrie (Kalar) Dake. a
nati\e of West \irginia, who was also an early settler here. V>y her first
marriage, Mrs. KadlolT has one son, Walter RadlolT. He was engaged with
hi- fallier in ranching, and was educated in the grammar and high school in
I'a^o Rolijcs. The family are members of the Methodist Church in Estrella,
of wliicli Mr. KadlolT is a trustee, lie has served for fifteen years as trustee
of llie I'.strella school district and has been clerk of the board for ten years.
and in iiobtics is a Progressive Republican. What success has come to Mr.
K.-idloff has been of his own making, and he has won a wide circle of frieiKN
since locnling in the countv.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 767

HENRY BOSSE.— The name of Bosse has been associated with the
earliest growth of Arroyo Grande and this section, where the late Henry
Bosse first arrived in 1869. He was born in Hanover, Germany, December 7,
1844, educated in the public schools and reared to the ordinary life of j'oung
men of that country. At the age of twenty-three, in 1867, he came to America.
He was without money, nor could he speak or understand English ; but
he had a willing spirit and a hardy constitution, and after arriving in Mus-
kingum county, Ohio, found employment for eighteen months on a farm.
He heard a great deal about this western country while in Ohio, and felt
that it had better opportunities ; and accordingly he went to New York in
1868 and took passage for Panama, crossed the Isthmus to the Pacific ocean,
and re-embarked for San Francisco.

His first occupation after landing was on a dairy ranch in Monterey
county, where he stayed one year. In 1869 he arrived in Arroyo Grande, and
soon after was employed by Steele Bros. He remained with them fourteen
years, being long their head cheese-maker. He was frugal and saved his
money, so that w^hen opportunity offered, he might be able to start for him-
self; and in 1884, with George Steele as a partner, he bought the Oso Flaco
ranch, and for the next six years carried on two dairies of one hundred fifty
cows, with good success. At the end of that time he was able to purchase
Mr. Steele's interest from his widow, becoming owner of four hundred ninety
acres of fine land. In the meantime, in 1890, he bought twenty-two and one-
half acres in the valley near Arroyo Grande, which he set to fruit and nuts,
and which yielded good returns. He also owned one hundred acres of land
on the Oso Flaco, upon which he raised beans, and which is now leased.

Mr. Bosse was a director in the Andrews Banking Co. of San Luis
Obispo. He was a man of keen business ability and good judgment, and an in-
defatigable worker. He was always liberal in suj^porting all good causes,
with an unselfish pioneer spirit, and believed California was the best country
on earth in which to live. Mr. Bosse was a member and Past Grand of the
Odd Fellows, in Arroyo Grande. In politics he was a Republican, though
never a seeker after office.

In 1889, Mr. Bosse was united in marriage with Katherine Grieb,
a native of Germany, and three daughters were born to them : Nellie, wife
of Charles Sanford of Oceano, May and Helen. Mr. Bosse died on Decem-
ber 6, 1915, leaving his family not only a fortune but al.so the heritage of an
untarnished name.

MARTIN THEODORE ABRAMSON.- Ilie Al)ramson family have
lung been jjrosperous fanner.s and ha\ e made names lor themselves in the
various parts of the country wherever they may have settled. Martin T.
Abramson is a fine representative of this family, and was born in Red Wing,
Goodhue county, Minn., October 2, 1883, a son of Gust, and Anna (Zacharias)
Abramson. The father was a prosperous farmer in Minnesota until 1890,
when he deemed it best to seek a less rigorous climate and came to California.
He settled near Templeton. San Luis Obispo County, bought a ranch of one
hundred forty acres on Willow creek, and cleared and improved the land,
making a valuable farm. He burned some of the finest kind of live-oak which
at this time would command a high price in the market. He sold this ]>lace
and purchased another ranch north of the town, and died there in 1913. at the
age of sixty-se\en years. His widow is living in Templeton aged sixty-seven

768 SAX I.L'IS olUSl'O COUNTY AND EXVIRON'S

years. Tlu-x liad fmir (.'hildren — William, in Oakland; luhvard. in Chicago,
ill.: .Martin 'i'licndDrc. the .suhject of this review: and luta, .Mrs. I'.randelle,

Martin T. .\hranisnn attended the public schoijls of Oakdale and Rethel
districts in this county and remained at home on the farm until the death
of his father, when he leased the home ranch of fifty-six acres adjoining
Tenii)leton on the north on the state highway, and also leased 100 acres adjoin-
ing. This is all under plnw and he has fifteen acres in alfalfa, with a pumping
])lant "i four hundred gallons cajjacity, all of which improvements he has
made since l'^13. He has a dairy of ten cows and separates the cream on the
ranch and ships it to San Luis Obispo. In partnership with two others, he
owns a steam thresher, which he runs each fall.

Mr. -Abramson was united in marriage in Templeton with Mabel Han-
son, a native of Paso Robles, and they have one daughter, Helen. The
family are members of the Swedish Lutheran Church, of which Air. Abramsoii
is a trustee. In politics he is a Republican. He is a self-made man and has
made a success of his farming enterprise and commands the respect of all
who know him for his sturdy traits of manhood.

FRANK N. VILLA. — Frank N. Villa, one of the proprietors of the auto-
truck ser\ice plying between San Luis Obispo and the coast towns, and one
of the up-to-date men of the county, was born near Cayucos. His father,
Robert \illa, a native of this state, and his grandfather Villa, were pioneer
settlers on Villa creek, which was named after the family. Robert Villa
owned a ranch at the mouth of the creek, and lived there until he sold it and
retired to Cayucos, where he now resides. He married Guadalupe Higuera,
a native daughter, as well as a descendant nf the jironiinent Spanish family
f<f the Iligueras in California; and of the nine children ixirn to them all are
living, I'Vank \. \illa being the youngest.

Frank \. \'illa attended the public schools, and then began working for
wages for his brother and K. R. Freeman, James Cass, J. L. llardie and others
until 1<)11. r.etween dairy seasons he worked six years for C. .\. Cass on
threshing ni;ichines.

In 1911 Mr. X'illa saw the opportunity for a source of revenue in organ-
izing some kind of service for the transportation of freight and dairy products
to and from the railroad into the towns along the coast; and in partner-
ship with Henry Minetti, he bought a second-hand truck for $3,300. or-
ganized the Coast Truck Company in January, 1912. and began business.
The time was oi)portune and the business expanded rapidly until at this time
they have four large trucks on the road nearly all the time, making regular
trips from San Luis Obispo to Morro. Caj'ucos. and Cambria and return,
hauling cream, butter, cheese and all kinds of freight and farm produce. This
is the only truck service out of San Luis Obispo, and the proprietors are
making a linancial success. They are courteous and obliging, and are square
in ;dl their dealings. They have lately leased the large new garage in Cay-
ucos fur their trucks, and for a freight warehouse and public garage.

I'raternally Mr. \'illa is popular in the Independent Order of Odd Fel-
lows at t'ayucos. has passed through the chairs of the lodge and has been a
delegate tn the (Irand Lodge meetings in Los Angeles, San Francisco and
.Santa Cruz. He is an enterprising and progressive young man and is highly
esteemed for his good moral character and business ability.

J^?^u^^Oa'^.^J^^^^

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND I'lNX'lRONS 771

GERD KLINTWORTH.— A Iniihier-up and cxpaiukr of San Luis
Obispo County, in which for over a third of a century he has dwelt, Gerd
Klintworth still shares the most optimistic views concerning the State of his
adoption, and all who know Gerd share the most optimistic views concern-
ing- him. A native of Hanover, Germany, in which kingdom he was born on
March 8, 1858, Gerd is the son of John Klintworth, a farmer, who provided
the boy with a valuable introduction to the science of agriculture. When he
had finished school he continued on the farm till 1883. During this time, that
is, in 1879 and 1880, he served in the German army.

In 1883 he came to the United States and settled at Orange, in Cali-
fornia. At first he was in the employ of a Boston company, and busy in
setting out some three hundred sixty acres of vineyards ; but in 1886 he came to
Linne. From the Huer-Huero Ranch .he and a partner bought eighty acres
of land, which they later divided, and still later Clerd bought his parnter's
share. The eighty acres he then set out is the first vineyard planted in
Linne, and there he made some of the first wine. Me also devoted land to
the raising of grain and stock, beginning at the l)ottum and im])roving both
his acreage and his products. Another two hundred twelve acres were added,
and now Gerd owns and operates some two hundred ninety-two acres, which
include peach, plum, pear and almond orchards, and ten acres of vineyard,
from the grapes of which he makes claret.

In Orange, in 1886, Gerd was married to Miss i-.lsaba .Meyer, who was
also l)orn in Hanover. From this marriage seven children ha\e been born — •
Henry, Emma, Fred, Christ, Mary, Minna and William, who are all at home.
.\ Republican, like so many of his fellow-countrymen, and an elder in the
(jerman Lutheran Church at Geneseo, Gerd interests himself in many of the
(|uestions of the day: and ably assisted by his children, he rents some five
hundred acres of the Huer-FIuero Ranch, which he operates by means of
two large teams.

ALBERT WOLF. — Coming from a foreign country with a good trade,
after having traveled over the main centers of Euroi)e, and settling in San
I'rancisco and establishing a business, Albert Wolf built uj) a trade extending
all over the state and finally came back to the soil and farmed with success,
showing what perseverance and strict business integrity will accomplish.
This, in the main, is the life story of our subject, who died at his home in
Union in 1910, at the age of seventy-eight years. Mr. Wolf was born in
Austria, received a fine education in his native land and learned the trade
of file maker, after which he traveled over various parts of Europe working
at the trade. He was in Austria and Germany, in the cities of Hamburg and
I'.remen, and went into France and Italy, stopping in Rome for a time, and
thence into Switzerland, and also visited Constantinople. During his travels
he learned diiiferent languages and could sjieak them fluently. On his tours,
also, Mr. Wolf kept a book, making note of important happenings, and secur-
ing the signatures of many of the important city officials in the various cities
he visited during his wanderings about luirope.

He eventually came to the United States, learned English while he
carried on business here and became a man of affairs. He worked at his
trade in i5altimore, Philadelphia and Detroit. Meeting with good returns from
his labor in the East, he decided that he would ccjme to the Pacific Coast.
Accordingly, he sold out and made the trip to California, settling in San

772 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Fraiicisci) : and there he cstablislicd the Union File Works. Starting on a small
scale at Second and ISeale streets, and later having larger quarters at Twenty-
sixth and Harrison, he gradually built up a very extensive business, at one
time having fourteen men working in his shop. He made all the files for the
Union Irt)n Works, and for different foundries and rolling mills ; supplied the
blacksmith shops and brass foundries, planing and sawmills, and box factories;
and shipped files to various parts of the state. In fact, for years he was the
sole maker of hand-made files in the western coast country, and built up a
very large and profitable enterprise.

When the machine-made files began to be shipped into the country, how-
ever, he could not compete with that trade, and decided that he would quit
the business and go to ranching and enjo}^ the last years of his life in the
open country. Accordingly, in 1887, he landed in San Luis Obispo County
and homesteaded one hundred sixty acres of land, improved the same, sunk
wells and erected windmills, built corrals and barns, fenced the land and
erected a comfortable house for his family. He also engaged in raising grain ;
and assisted by his sons, he leased adjoining land and ranched on a large scale.

He was married to Maria Phillip, another native of Austria, who sur-
vives him and still lives at the old home in Union. They had six children :
Albert, on the home farm ; August, farming near San Miguel ; Antonia, Mrs.
McNeil, who lives near L'nion ; Otto, also residing near Union ; Louis, who is
in the same district ; and ^Xlary, who died at the age of thirteen years. Mr.
Wolf was a self-made man, a public-spirited citizen and a successful manu-
facturer as well as farmer, and he retained the friendship and confidence of
all those with whom he hatl dealings, as well as social relations, and at his
death the state lost one of her most progressive citizens.

WALTER W. RHYNE.— As might be expected of one who has spent
his entire life in California, W. W. Rhyne is a patriotic son of the Golden
State and is a champion of all measures that have for their aim the develop-
ment of its resources. He was born in Monterey county, July 26, 1878, a
son of Foote Rhyne, born in Mississippi, in 1852, and grandson of Henry
W. Rhyne, who brcsught the family from Alississippi on .one of the first
trains that crossed the continent. The latter settled in the neighborhood of
Salinas, where he farmed and later homesteaded one hundred sixty acres and
pre-empted a like amount in the Estrella section in this county, improved
and farmed it for years, lie then sold out and bought in the Adelaida
country, and again disposed of what he had and retired to San Luis Obispo.

Foote Rhyne accompanied his parents to California in 1869. settled at
Salinas and there married Nellie Kitchen, who was born in Mendocino
county. In 1880 they came to San Luis Obispo County and spent two years
at Arroyo Grande ; then, in 1882, he homesteaded and pre-empted three
hundred twenty acres on the Huer-Iiuero, on the Shandon road, and oper-
ated tlie ranch for thirty years, when he sold it and located in Turlock. He
bought land there and raised alfalfa and cattle until 1915, when he had
made enough to retire to San Jose, where he is spending his declining years
in the enjoyment of a well-earned rest. There were ten children in the
family, and nine are living. The living include: Walter; Linnie, who is
Mrs. Ilenze of San Jose; Weaver F., who resides in this county; Homer F.
and Clarence L.. jiartners in a stage business at Taft ; Ernest O.. who is
mining near San Jose: Marion \'.. who is engaged in renting autos at Taft;

SAN LUIS OBISro COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 772>

Merle H., in San Jose, and Han .Id j., in San Jose. Myrtle !.. a twin, died at
two years of age.

Brought up on the home farm and attending the public school in this
county, working from a lad in the stock and farming business, Walter W.
Rhyne learned to drive eight and ten-horse teams in the fields, -and helped
at home until he was twenty-two. He was then married in San Luis
Obispo to Isabel Reynolds, a daughter of Dwight Reynolds (whose inter-
esting sketch appears elsewhere), and they have four children. These are
Ruth Juanita. Mildred Isabel, Walter ]\lax\vi-ll. and Carol May. After his
marriage Mr. Rhyne followed ranching two years there, and then leased on
the Huer-Huero for five years, afterwards running his father's place until
1910, when he leased six hundred forty acres of the Huntington ranch,
where he is engaged in grain farming. He is a stockholder in the Farmers
.Vlliance Warehouse Association at Paso Robles, and was school trustee two
terms in Dry Creek district, and clerk during the entire time. He and his
wife are members of the Baptist Church in I'aso Robles. Mr. Rhyne is a
successful rancher and grain raiser and is making a place fur himself in the
business world of San Luis Obispo County.

WILLIAM ALFRED MILLER.— A native son well known in Santa
Margarita is AVilliam Alfred Miller, who was born about a mile and a half
from San Luis Obispo, on January 3, 1862. He is a son of David Smith Miller,
an easterner, wJio came to California in the great rush of 1849 across the
plains ; and who, having mined a little, early settled in San Luis Obispo
County, for a while running a stage between Cambria and the county seat.
Then he served as deputy under Sheriff Norcross, but found it unpleasant
and resigned to engage in s"heep raising. In one way or another he lost most
of the sheep and the goats he had invested in, and when he took to horse-
raising he experienced the discouragement of having horse after horse stolen
from him. Next he took a homestead of one hundred sixty acres on Miller
Hill. As was natural for one of his industry, he greatly improved the land,
setting out orchards and woods, and adding to his property until his death
in 1904. This sad event was brought about through an accident which oc-
curred to him as he was returning from a trip to his old home in the east.
In Oakland he was run down by a train, and died at the age of seventy-
three. The mother was Prudenciana Ortega, of the well-known Santa Bar-
bara family of Ortega and Ruiz, and died in 1863.

William was the elder of two children, and is the only one living; and
as a result of his losing his mother when he was but a year old, he was
brought up by Mrs. Hill, an aunt, in Atascadero until he was three years
of age, after which he lived with Mrs. Barnes at Aptos, in Santa Cruz
county, for seven years. He then removed to Jolon, where he attended the
public school, and was soon back in San Antonio and then at school in
Cambria. Finally, he finished his instruction in San Luis Obispo, going to
work for the summer at delivering water. A livery stable in San Luis
Obispo next emjiloyed him. and after that he did some ranch work with a
header at Pozo, finishing which, he learned the barber's trade under Lawrence
Gaxiola in San Luis Obispo. Probably on account of his father he located on
Miller Hill, and improved a fifty-acre holding, and about the same time, in
1890, he started the barber shop now so well known in Santa Margarita,
which is in charge of his son. Mr. Miller bought a building and remodeled it.

774 SAN LL"1S OHISIH) COUNTY AND ENNTRONS

making two stores. In one he has the barber shop, and in the other he serves
short orders and ice cream, and has a Hue of confectionery, cigars and tobac-
cos. He owns two residences here and other desirable property elsewhere. Mr.
Miller is a Republican in national politics, has been for many years a member
of the N. S. Cj. W., and is a charter member of San Luis Obispo parlor. He
was married in San Luis Obispo to Miss Guadalupe Mendozer, who was born
in San Luis Obispo County, where she lived until her marriage. She passed
awav in 1912. Two sons who are the particular satisfaction of their father
are : I'red, who maintains the electric block signal system for the section of
the Southern Pacific, having its headquarters at Santa Margarita ; and David
W.. who is a barber and the leader of the local band. Fred has three children
— Mabel, Beatrice and the baby; and David has two — Alfred and Agnes.

JOHN T. JARDINE. — California has been good to John T. Jardine, as
his friends are glad to know, and as a result and a reward for his industry
of years, he enjoys today a comfortable competencj', which enables him to
be independent and permits him and his wife to extend a generous hospitality.
He was born in Lexington, Ky.. on November 18, 1868, and came to San
Luis Obispo County, Cal., in 1874.

Settling in Taso Robles, he attended the public schools, remaining at
home until he was twenty-one, when he began the raising of grain. He
ranched for four years on a thousand acres of land of the Santa Ysabel, and
for eight or ten years cultivated another thousand acres of the Estrella ranch,
using eight-horse teams and a combined harvester. In the meantime he
bought a part of this present ranch of three hundred twenty acres on Estrella
Plains, continuing the management of both farms.

Finally he gave up renting land, in order to run his own farm, to which
he added a new purchase of three hundred twenty acres, which is now well
imi)rovcd with good buildings. He raises wheat and barley and has harvested
some large crops. Another ranch of six hundred forty acres southwest of
Shandon also belongs to him, and is devoted to grain-raising, nearly all the
land being under cultivation.

In Paso Koblcs, he was married io Miss Nellie Al)bey. a native of
iMiglaiid, and three children, Flora, Florence and Mar}-, blessed their home.
I'or the i)ast seven years he has served as a trustee of the Estrella school
district, and is a member of the Knights of Pythias of Paso Robles; while
with his wife he is a member of the Fraternal Brotherhood.

THOMAS PETERSEN. — One of the mo.st substantial citizens in the
vicinity of Templeton, a man of retiring disposition and unostentatious in
manner as well as one whose word is as good as his bond, Thomas Petersen
was I)orn in Schleswig, near Tondern, in 1851. He was reared on the home
farm and attended the grammar and high schools in his native country. In
1871 he came to California and for three years was engaged in farming in the
San J(>a(|uin valley, and in 1874 came to Monterey county and leased land, on
\\liicli he engaged in raising grain. He began with four hundred acres and
Inter added another four hundred acres, and for thirteen years was very
successful as a grain raiser.

In 1887. Mr. Petersen located in San Luis Obispo County and bought
hi< iMcsent place of four hundred fifteen acres, one and one-quarter miles from
Templeton, chared the land and broke it, and put it in grain. He bought
adjciining land and now has four hundred fiftv-five acres, and has made of

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND I'.WIRONS 777

the entire ranch a fine humcstead All the l)uihlin.L;s nn the place he himself
has erected, ami otherwise he lias maile \aluahle im|)rn\i'ments. Ilesidcs his
ranch, Mr. I'etersen owns the largest brick husiiicss huihlins);- in Templeton.
which he rents out.

Air. Petersen was united in marriage in Montere\' with Miss Ida Hansen,
a native of Schleswig, Germany, and they became the i>arents nf two chil-
dren, Alartin, a respected rancher of this vicinity, and C'hristi.-ne, who is
at home. Airs. Petersen died at their home, leaving her husband, son and
daughter, as well as a host of warm friends and neighbors, to mourn her loss.
Mr. Petersen is a Lutheran. He is a self-made man in every sense of the
word, and is kind-hearted and public-spirited to a large degree.

JOHN PERARI WILLIAMS AND ANTONIO WILLIAMS.— An-
other pioneer family whose influence has been felt in San Luis Obispo County
is that represented by Antonio Williams, who has the distinction of being
a native son of the county, having been born in San Simeon, February 22,
1872. His father, John Perari Williams, a pioneer of California in 18.S9,
was born at Aladara, on the boundary line of Portugal, April 11, 1839.
When he was twenty years of age he started alone for the New World,
coming direct to California and locating in Santa Cruz; and being willing
to engage in any employment that would yield him a living, he went to
work on a sailing vessel that plied between Santa Cruz and Alonterey.
He had been reared on a farm, but he readily accustomed himself to his
new occupation.

Coming to San Simeon, he engaged, for about six years, in the whaling
trade, while that industry was at its height. Seeking employment on land
again, he worked for a dairy concern for a short time, and then rented
land near San Simeon, the present site of the Hearst ranch, and there he
followed general farming and stock-raising with good success until 1883. He
next moved to Rocky Butte and purchased seven hundred acres adapted to
grazing; and there also he followed stock-raising. Disposing of this jirop-
erty in 1891, he went to the San Jropo section above San Simeon, and con-
tinued the same business there for five years, removing thence to Santa Rosa
creek, and in 1900 to Cambria, where he resided with his family until his
death, September 18, 1907, aged sixty-eight years.

He was married in Santa Cruz, Cal., in 1839. to IHorina Silva, born in
1842, on Fial island, under the jurisdiction of Portugal. She came with her
sisters to the United States and located in Santa Cruz, and now makes her
home with her son Antonio. Of this marriage sixteen children were born.

Antonio Williams, the sixth in order of birth of the sixteen children
born to his parents, attended school in San Simeon for two seasons, and then
went to work to help out with the support of the family. He was employed
on the dairy ranch of F. Smith four years, and then drove a team on the
Hearst ranch for the following six years. .\t the time of his marriage, in
1899, and for two years thereafter, he worked for wages and so got a start ;
then he rented two hundred eighty acres of the Baker ranch near Cambria
and began raising beans and grain, remaining on this place until 1905.

Having prospered, he decided to branch out, and leased three hundred
acres on the Van Gordon ranch, purchased sixty cows and engaged in the
dairy business, with pronounced success. At the expiration of his lease, in
1910, he sold his stock and bought one hundred forty acres of improved land.

778 SAX LL"1S OIJISPO COUNTY AND KWIRC ).\S

his present place in the eastern part of Cambria, now the home place,
where he is meeting with success in general farming. He has improved the
place with a fine barn and dairy house, and has a good residence. He has
installed a pumping plant and is raising alfalfa. Besides this he leases
near by and is doing well in raising beans.

On December 2, 1899, Antonio Williams was united in marriage with
Miss Kosa Machado, born in San Luis Obispo, November 9, 1881. They
have three children, Edward, Antonio and John. Mrs. Williams' father,
Domingo Machado, was born in the Azores islands, came to the United
States and located in San Luis Obispo County in 1873, where, the following
year, he was united in marriage to Rosa Lima. He engaged in farming soon
after at Laguna and later in Los Osos valley, and followed that vocation until
his death, August 9, 1915. The mother is living on the ranch in Los Osos.
Of their nine children, Mrs. Williams is the fourth in order of birth.

Mr. Williams is a Republican, and the family attend the Catholic church.
He is considered one of the successful men of Cambria section, where he is
highly respected.

ALBERT RALPH HORSTMAN. — .\ wide-awake, active business man,
e\er re.uK' to take advantage of faxorable opportunities for advancing his
financial interests, A. R. Horstman is prominently identified with the important
industries of San Luis Obispo County, being proprietor of the Templeton
Meat Market. .A native of Iowa, he was born in Reinbeck, October 4, 1879, a
son of William and .\melia (Petersen) Horstman, natives of Schleswig-
Holstein and Bremen, Germany, respectively.

\\'illiani Horstman was educated in his native land and at the age of
twenty-twd years came to .America to carve out a fortune and a future. He
located in Iowa, where he began the improvement of a farm and engaged in
raising hogs on a large scale. The country was open at that time, and he had
plenty of grass on the range for his hogs and raised plenty of corn. He later
engaged in the grain business and at one time had seven elevators along the
railroad, and built up a business that was the largest in his section of Iowa.
The last elevator he built was seven stories high and equipped with a sixty-
three horsepower engine. He had a double row of corn cribs several hundred
feet long with every facility for loading and unloading. He prospered with
his business and accumulated a competency. He turned the business over to
his two oldest sons, but after two years sold out.

In 1886, he made a trip to California and, stopping at Templeton, pur-
chased about eight hundred acres in that vicinity : and in 1887 he brought
his family here to settle. He built a comfortable home in the town, and
engaged in the general merchandise business and opened a bank. He also
looked after his ranches, putting out a prune orchard of fifty acres: and on
his town i)ropcrty he had fifteen acres in orchard in the Thompson addition,
wiure he had bought additional property. He gave up the banking business
and c.irried on his merchandise business for sixteen years with good success.
Sellinii his ranches and business, he retired and located in Los Angeles, where
111 is li\ ing in the enjoyment of a well-earned rest, and in his seventy-eighth
ye.ir is iiale and hearty, and keeps abreast of the times, as he did when a
young man.

To William Horstman and his wife ten children were born: .Vdolph,
assistant secretary of the 100' v CUih of San Francisco: Minnie, Mrs. William

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 779

Grclck (if Lds Angeles ; Charles, engaged in the insurance business in Oakland :
Lena, wlm married Mr. Perkins and died in Lds Angeles, 1915; (iussie and
Mollie (twins), Mrs. Skinner of National City and Mrs. Lddy of Los Angeles;
William, who resides in Fresno, salesman for Toledo Scale Co. ; Albert R.,
the subject of this review; Louise, Mrs. Johns of Orondo, Wash.; Elsie, at
home, a graduate M.D. of the Los Angeles Medical College, who is engaged
in the practice of her profession.

A. R. Horstman was reared in Iowa until eight years of age, when he
came to California with his parents and settled in Templeton ; and here he
received his schooling, taking a business course at night school. lie learned
the carpenter's trade and followed it for a time. In 1906, he went to Richmond
and engaged in contracting and building, but returned to Templeton in 1908
and took up his present line of work, learning the trade under Eddy Brothers,
l-'or a time he had charge of their slaughter house and the buying of cattle,
and he soon became an expert. In 1912 he succeeded them in business and
still has charge of his butchering and buying and has made a wonderful suc-
cess of his work. He has a thirteen-acre prime urchard luu-half mile west of
town.

In Cayucos, Mr. Horstman was unitcil in niarri;ige with Miss Rose
Herman, a native of Ohio, who came to California when a small child, with
her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Horstman have one child, a daughter Dorothy.
Besides his business interests, Mr. Horstman gives of his time and means to
aid those enterprises that are promoted to advance the best interests of the
jieople and build up the county. He is chief of the local fire department, and a
member of the Fraternal Brothcrhool, and of the Templeton Board of Trade.
He is a Republican in national politics, while locally he sujijiorts the men best
qualified for office regardless of i)artv,

REV. THOMAS McPHERSON BULKY.— In no city of California, per-
haps, is the pulpit better rei)resented than in Paso Robles, l)y the Rev. Thomas
McPherson I'uley, the well-known pastor of the Congregational Church, a
man of much native ability, culture and refinement, who has always stood
for the moral uplift of the community. Mis father, the Rev. Thomas M.
r.uley, was also a minister, born in Kent. JMigland, educated in London, ha\--
ing come, after his ordination, to Toronto. Canada, where he was for forty
years a local pastor of the old Wesleyan Methodist Church. .\ man of deep
religious feeling, honest and earnest in endeavor, he left behind him an excel-
lent record at his death in that city. Flis wife, the mother of our subject,
whose maiden name was Caroline ISraund, was born at Bideford, Devonshire,
England, and now lives in T.os Angeles. This interesting couple had six
children, four of whom are still living; one, named Amos, has been for
some time associated with Mr. Miley in successful oil operations, in Los
Angeles, as manager of the States Consolidated Oil Co.

Born in Toronto on October 7, 1873, tlie third child in the family, Thomas
McPherson Buley completed a course at the ]iublic schools and entered the
Toronto Collegiate Institute, where he was graduated in 1892. h'rom a lad
he had desired to be a preaclier, always reading and studying to that end ;
and having made a great sensation with a sermon preached to two thousand
people in the old Toronto Church in Queen's street, when he was hut sixteen
years old, he was received on missionary probation and ap])ointed to six
mission churches in the North. Each Saturday and Sunday, thercfi>rc, found

780 SAX LUIS OP,ISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

him in the i)u!])it, while on Monday he was back in studious ai)]:)hcation to
his college duties. After com]jleting the collegiate course, he served for two
years as pastor at Orillia, Canada ; then for one year at Cooksville ; and then
as assistant pastor at the Tabernacle in Toronto, under Dr. Chown.

Afflicted with ill health, he came to Los Angeles in September, 1902.
His health improving in California, he engaged in city mission work in Los
Angeles, also devoting much time to assisting the Rev. Ryland at Trinity
Auditorium. In January, 1906, he accepted a call to the New Orleans district
of Louisiana, and there, at Covington, he worked hard for two years to build
up the church. He was transferred for three years to the Methodist Church
South, at riaquemine, during which time he was statistical secretary of the
Louisiana Conference. Returning once more to California for his health, and
being unable to subscribe to the methods of appointment of pastors in the
conference of the Methodist Church — which in the United States has a sys-
tem different from that in Canada, where pastors are called by various con-
gregations, and remain as long as it is pleasant — he entered the Congrega-
tional Church and organized under their banner a congregation at Venice.

Later he was called to Calexico as pastor of the Congregational Church
there, and after eighteen months, that is, in September, 1912, he removed to
Paso Robles and was installed as pastor of the Plymouth Congregational
Church, which was organized as a congregation twenty-six years ago, and
which celebrated the dedication of its church eight years later.

In the spring of 1902, at Harris, la., on April 2, Rev. Thomas M. Buley
was married to Miss Cora A. Young, who was born at Center Junction, Jones
county, la., the daughter of David D. Young, a native of Pennsylvania. Mrs.
Buley's mother was Miss Elvira A. McDole, a New Yorker, whose ancestry
is traced back to England, Scotland and Holland, whence they came to the
renowned Sleepy Hollow, made famous by Washington Irving; while her
maternal grandmother was a Miss Almira Storrs, a member of the same family
as that of the Rev. Dr. Richard Storrs, the cultured and eloquent preacher
of Syracuse and New York City, with whom she traces her family back
to Plymouth Rock and the "Mayflower." Mrs. Buley is a woman of excep-
tional relinenient and culture. She laid the foundation of her education in
study at Highland Park College, Des Aloines, of which she is a graduate;
and she afterwards pursued a course in graduate work at the Northern
Illinois Normal School, at Dixon. Mrs. Buley's father moved with his father
to Jackson county, la., and participated in the earh- settlement of that sec-
tion ; then he lived at Andrew, the old county seat (the county seat was
afterwards removed to Maquokcta) ; and still later he changed his residence to
Jones county, la., where he busied himself as a farmer and dairyman until he
came to Los Angeles. In that city, in June, 1905, he died. His wife, now past
eighty years of age and in the full enjoyment of her mental faculties and
]>hysicai health, resides with Mrs. Buley. Mrs. Buley is one of two children
who grew u]) out of a family of five.

Tlie Rev. and Mrs. Buley have two children. Horace M. and Chester !M..
both sturdy and studious, and gifted with much native ability. The family
reside in ihcir beautiful home at Sixteenth and Locust streets, Paso Robles.
A dee|) thinker, es])ccially in the field of psychology, and also a very literary
man. who for the ])ast eighteen years has devoted himself to a life work soon
to apjiear in print, the Rev. Mr. Buley is not only well-read and interesting as

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 781

a conversationalist, but as a speaker and a prcaclier he is clear, decisive and
emphatic. His sermons, the prodnct of niuch thdusjht and prc])arali()n, are
replete with liberal views, modified \)y the trnth as he finds it. and are models
of excellence.

At Spirit Lake, la., the Rev. Air. IJuley was made a member of .Silver
Lake Lodge, F. & A. M. ; and at Harris, la., he joined the Odd Fellows.
In each place where the pastor and his wife have lived they have been among
the most popular members of the local society.

GEORGE F. BELL. — Few names are more inseparably associated with
the history of the city of Paso Robles and northern San Luis Obispo County
than that of Cieorge F. Bell, who, as merchant and farmer, has proved the
value of his citizenship and the integrity of his character. He is best known
in Paso Robles as owner and proprietor of "The Bells," the largest commercial
establishment in the county. He came to this vicinity on Fel^ruary 20, 188^,
before the railroad was completed to Templeton from the north. When the
sale of lots was held in Paso Robles, Mr. Bell purchased one on Pine street,
.between Twelfth and Thirteenth, and in October, 1886, took up his residence
here. He erected a frame building, 18x31 in size, which he opened for busi-
ness in December; and for the following ten years he conducted a general
merchandise business. This increased to the extent that he felt justified
in moving ; and having purchased a mercantile business on Twelfth street, he
removed his stock to the new location, and a few years later bought a lot on
the same street and erected a store building and again moved his stock of
goods.

\Mien the Granger I'nion Stores became l)ankrupt. Air. P.ell l)ought the
grocery anf! dry goods stocks, leased the rooms occujiied by that concern on
Thirteenth and Pine streets and continued business from that place. Later
he bought out Doyle's stock of hardware and plumbing, and now has one
of the largest stores in the entire county; and "Bell's" is a household word
throughout the Paso Robles section. He built a store building suitable for
his needs, and has his plumbing establishment in a ])uilding in the rear of
the lot. The former horse delivery system has been supplanted by auto-
mobiles, and an increasing business is being carried on under the ])ersonal
supervision of Mr. Bell. For the past twenty years he has been engaged in
farming and stockraising, and has owned \arious ranches, and he is now
owner of one in the Isabella, and another in the .\dclaida district, both
bringing profit to their owner.

The early life of George 1". I'.cll did not indicate the career he finally
selected, for where he was born at Milton, on Lake Champlain, \'l., on
December 11, 1844, there was little promise for a future. His father, Samuel
B. Bell, was a farmer and a manufacturer of cutters, but he moved in 1854
to Lacy, DeKalb county. 111., became a farmer there, broke the wild prairie
with ox-teams, and nine years later bought horses and started across the
plains for the western country. Arriving in Carson City, Nev., he engaged
in teaming for about ten years. While living in Illinois he had I)een ordained
for the ministry in the Methodist Episcopal Church and always preaclied ;
and after he stopped teaming, he gave his whole time to the ministry. He
met an accidental death while hauling wood, dying aged forty-four years.
He married Pauline Doud, a daughter of George Doud, a well-to-do
farmer, near Poultncy, \'t. .\fter the death of her husband, Mrs. Bell spent

782 SAN LUIS OIUSPO COL'XTY AND KWIRO.XS

most (if Ikt time in Xcxatia. coimnii in I'Jll to Paso Robles. where she makes
her lionie with her son, (k'or_<;c I-"., the eldest of her lour children, (inly two
of whom survive.

The schooling' obtained by (ieorge ISell in lllionis was limited, for there
were no free schools at that time; in his part of the country. Jn 1863 he
crossed the plains with his parents to Carson City, where he and his father
later bouijht a toll road, which he managed and afterward sold. He then came
to California and in 1867 worked on a threshing machine in Santa Clara
county, and then returned to Nevada. Desiring to fit himself for some career,
he came back to San Francisco and took a course in Heald's Business College
and went back to Nevada and secured a position in a merchandise establish-
ment in Carson City. In 1872 he was married and concluded to branch out
for himself; and in consequence he engaged in merchandising in different
mining camps until he settled in Paso Robles, California.

The marriage of Mr. Bell united him with Miss Anna James, a native of
iVIissouri and a daughter of John James, an Englishman, who was an engineer
in a flouring mill in Alissouri, but who crossed the j)lains to Nevada about
1850, where he farmed. Mrs. Bell was educated in the University of the
Pacific. She became the mother of four children : .\lberta. who married A. H.
Burnell of JMartinez ; Anna, a teacher in the Jackson High School; George,
who is assisting in the store; and Bessie, a teacher in tlic Lux Domestic
Econom}- School in San Francisco.

Mr. Bell was made a Mason in Douglas Lodge, No. 12, F. & A. M.. in
Genoa, Nev. He is a self-made man, successful, and interested in the ui^build-
ing of Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo County.

WILLIAM JOSEPH MANN.— A faithful employe of the Southern
Pacific Railroad Co. as maintainer of auto-electric block signals, W. J. Mann
merits the confidence of his superior officers. He was born at Newliury,
Green county, Ind., on February 28, 1(S71, a son of Isaiah Mann, who settled
in Green county, coming from (3hio. where he was born. His wife, Harriett
Ghosner, was born in Green county. Ind., where she died in 1874, after which
Mr. Mann returned to Ohio and lived until his death in 1876. They had a
family of four children, two of wh(_)m are now living — William Joseph Mann
and Mrs. Martha E. Hoover, now of Oakland.

After the death of his parents, William J., then a lad of five years, had
to paddle his own canoe and was kicked from pillar to jiost in Mansfield, Ohio,
until, in 1881, he came to California to the home of an aunt. Mrs. Mollie
Luper, who had settled on a ranch near Downey, Los .\ngeles countj'. Here
he grew to young manhood, attended school until he was eighteen and then
began working for wages on nearb)^ ranches. In 1890 he went to Wasco, in
Sherman county. Ore., followed ranching and riding the range, and continued
that after he came back to California. He also followed well drilling in
Orange county. One year was s|)ent as longshoreman at Newport Beach;
then, for eighteen months, he was in the employ of the Russ Lumber Co.. in
San Diego, and then went back to Orange county and later to Indio. Riverside
County, where ho engaged in raising cantaloupes and farmed. Four years
were then sjient at tlie factory of the Los Alamitos Sugar Co.

\\ ill) experience of travel in various parts of the state, he then went to
Salin.is in I'X).? and entered the employ of the Sperry Flour Co.. going from
there to .Snn .\rdo in 1907 as an emi)loye of the Southern Pacific Railroad

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 783

Co. in his present capacity, and three years later he was sent to Salinas, and
in 191.5 to Paso Robles, making daily trips with a railroad motor car, his dis-
trict including the mileage from Bradley to Paso Robles.

In Orange county, Cal., on July' 1, 1893, Mr. Mann and .Miss .\])l)ie
Hollida_y were united in marriage. She was born in Kockdale, Texas, a
dauL;hter of Herbert and Luc}^ (Stephens) Holliday, natives of Illinois and
Mississijjpi, respectively. They were farmers in Texas, came to California
in 1884 and located in Norwalk, but are now residents of Watts. Grandfather
John R. Holliday was an artisan in the Civil War and is living on Ninety-first
street, Los Angeles, at the age of ninety-eight years. Of the marriage of
Mr. and ^Irs. ]\Iann the following children have been born: Grace, Mrs.
^\'alling of Paso Robles; Gladys, Mrs. Sullivan of San Francisco; Willella;
Lucile; Eugene; Esther and lone. Mr. Mann was made a ^lason in Santa
Lucia Lodge, No. 302, in King City, Monterey county. In jjolitics he is a
Republican. Mrs. Mann is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

GEORGE A. BAKEMAN.— The Civil War will always be an absorl)ing
theme not merely to those who participated in it, but to the aftercomers who
listen to the tales of veterans as if they were fairy stories, awful and some-
times realistically grand. Even when such narratives are transmitted second-
hand they frequently lose little of their charm or interest ; much depending,
of course, on the manner in which the precious side-lights of historj- have
been flashed from one soul to another, and are reflected with more or less
of their original power. George A. Bakeman has some such narratives of
thrilling and courage-testing experience, the heritage he received from his
honored father, and if you should fall in with him some day as he is jogging
comfortably along the fine highway near Paso Robles, you may dei)end ui)on
being very profitaldy entertained.

Born in Kcosau<|ua, \'an Burcn county, la., on Ma_\- 15, 1867, George
was the grandson of Henry Bakeman, who settled in that state in 1846, and
(lied soon after his arrival. His wife, George's grandmother, Mary Recaugh,
[lassed away in 1866. A son, the father of George, was Henry Bakeman, a
native of Hanover, Germany, who was born in 1839, and became a farmer
with a most honorable Civil War record. Becoming a member, in 1861, of
C^o. F, Second Iowa Vol. Inf., he served for three years and was honorably dis-
charged, after which he was back in the Government service as a bridge
builder, carpenter and teamster, and was wounded while hauling ammunition
to the front, when he was attacked and shot through the calf of the leg. He
remained until the close of the War, and left the service with the written testi-
mony, accompanying his inner conviction, that he had well performed his
duty by his adopted country. At Kecssaucpia, he was married, on January 2,
1866, to Miss Eliza Flarden, who was born near Logan, Hocking county, C,
the daughter of Evan Harden, a Pennsylvanian, who had settled first in (^hio
and then had come as a farmer to Iowa. Her mother was Miss Mary Wolf,
a native of Perr_y county, O., who died near San Luis 01)ispo, at the age of
eighty-four. After his marriage, George's father and mother liad come to
San Luis Obispo, first farming for a while in Iowa, and Mrs. Bakenian's
brother. Jacob Harden, was a farmer and stockman in this county in Ch(dame
\'alley, and died about 1899.

For five years Henry I'.akcman successfull}- engaged in stock-raising
and established the reputation of his brand, a combination of the letter 11

with an invcrtct:

j : and

ranch, in 1SS7, .

f tliirt_\

and inxcsttd in

a M.K-k

brand. W lirn lu

(lied, :

he possessed en

V Imnd

twenty acres in

in.alKT

for four years, c

cntuall

SAN LUIS OP.ISPO COUNTY AND JCNVIJ^oXS

hen lie went to Arroyo (irandc, where he boni^ht a
icres. line mile from the town. 'J'his he later sold
anch. in time disposing of both the cattle and the
h.mnrcd member of the G. A. R., on April 21, 18''5,
d twenty-six acres in one ranch, and a parcel of
Alter his death, Mrs. Bakeman managed the farm
selling it and taking up her residence with her son.
She is a member of the Wotnan's Relief Corps and of the Presbyterian Church.
Two children were born of her marriage; Simon Perry, who died at the age
of ten months, and George, who was brought up in San Luis Obispo County,
and attended the schools at Arro)-o Grande. His father being in ill-health, the
lad went to work when he was seventeen, taking entire charge of the place,
continuing the cattle business, and remaining home ; and when the ranch was
sold, another one was bought in the valley adjoining Arroyo Grande. There
he went in for the raising of beans, and now has fifty-three acres planted to
that profitable cr(j]), the land in some cases making a record-breaking yield.

In the old town of Arroyo Grande, George Bakeman was married to Miss
Rosa Jane Love, a native of Napa county, who died in Arroyo Grande in 1900,
leaving five children : Zenas Garfield, a farmer at Arroyo Grande ; Ency
Arden, the P. C. R. R. agent at Santa Maria; Verna, now Airs. Russell
Edwards, nn the iKmie ranch: Ruby lone, who is studying in Los Angeles
to be a trained mir^e : and Xina Alice, who is also at home. A Mason, Mr.
Bakeman is a memlier of the Arroyo Grande Lodge No. 274, while he is past
grand of the Odd Fellows, at the same place, past chancellor of the
Knights of Pythias, and also a member of the Rebekahs, and of the local Camp
of the Wcicidmon nf the World. In jiolitics, Mr. P.akeiuan lines u]) with the
old-guard Republicans.

PETER McCANN.— Ant.aig the men who have spent their active years
on listrella Plains is Peter McCann, who was born near Malone, Franklin
county, X. ^■. I lis parents were .\rthur aiul Margaret (Tierney) McCaini,
natives of the Pro\ince of (Juebec, Canada, and Plattsburg, N. Y., respectively.
The father made a trip to California at the time of the gold excitement on the
coast, spent a few years in mining and then returned to New York and engaged
in farming ;it Chateaugay. However, the call of the great West proved too
strong for hiiu : so in 18.XS he hrotight his family to California, homesteading
near Delancj, Kern coniU\. '\'\\>' years showed hini that the desert was not
what he wanted, .ind he canu- to San Luis Obispo County and bought three
hundred tweiUy .acres on the P.strella Plains, where he engaged in grain farm-
ing with success. As he succeeded, he added another quarter section of land
to his holdings. It was on this ranch that his beloved wife died, in 1900: he
])assed away in 1909. They had se\ en children, of whom six are now living,
the subject of our sketch being the oldest.

I'eler McCann was reared on the home fanu in .New "S'ork and near there
attended the i)ublic schools; and after coming to California, he assisted
his father for a few years with the ranch work in the various places in
wiiich they lived together. Then he was to be found at Buttonwillow, Kern
county, in the emjiloy of Miller & Lux; and there he remained for five years,
when he c.ime back to Paso Robles, where he has since been engaged in
raising L;r.iin. Here he owns a (|uarter section of land about five miles from
tile town, and lie is also leasing three hundred twentv acres adjoining: and

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 785

each VL-ar he farms ahuut twn hun(h\-(l lifty aeres to grain and eaeh year
summer fallows. Air. AlcL'ann is a natural lo\er of horses and has i:;iven much
study to their ailments, making- a sjjccial study of \eterinary dentistry; and
this fact being known, he is frequently called upon to minister to horses in
that capacity, and is very successful.

Mr. McCann was united in marriage in San Miguel with Mrs. Caroline
(Crediford) Givens, who was born in North Kona, Hawaiian Islands. Her
father, Joseph Crediford, was a native of Maine, and her grandfather, Josiah
Crediford, was born in London, came to the United States and settled in
Maine, where he died at the age of ninety-one years. An uncle of Joseph
Crediford on his mother's side, Otis Blabon. came to California by way of
Cape H(jrn as early as 1846, returning to Alaine some time later; and in 1848
he made a second trip to this state.

When a boy of seventeen, Joseph Crediford rounded the Horn for San
Francisco, where he was going in search of gold ; and innnediatel}- on arrival
in the bustling seaport town, he went to the mining section and there
took up mining, in time amassing a fortune. On account of failing health,
caused by the exposure necessary to mining, he removed to Santa Clara
county, but was not benefited ; and then he sailed for the Hawaiian Islands,
where he recovered his health and became a man of large affairs. He married
there Sarah Johnson, of English descent, but born in the Islands. They
became parents of seven children, of whom five are living. These are : Arthur
F., in Pleyto, Cal. ; Caroline, of this review; Mary E., Mrs. Coates of Han-
ford; Herbert, of llradlev; an<l Adda, who died in I'aso Robles, on December
Ml 1916.

Joseph Crediford was at dilTert'nt limes t-ngaged in i)usiness as a mer-
chant, sugar planter, tanner and leather manufacturer, lie made saddles and
harness, and had a large stock ranch, upon which he afterwards raised taro,
a native species of tuber. He met with success in his ventures, and became
a i)rominent man on the islands, where he was well and favorably known.
Ilis wife died there; and in 1886 he came to California with his oldest son,
and located a homestead of one hundred sixty acres in Indian valley, Mon-
terey county. He then returned to Hawaii, closed out his holdings there and,
in 1887, brought the rest of his children to this state. He also entered one
hundred sixty acres, set out an orchard and vineyard of thirty acres, and was
actively engaged in horticulture and farming until his death, on September
2. nX)l, after a most unusually active and useful career.

Caroline was the oldest daughter. After the death i if her mother she cared
for the home and younger children with a mother's care, aiding her father
in many ways to his sucess. She was educated in the Sacred Heart Convent
in Honolulu until she came to California in 1887, with her father. She
assisted with the household duties, continuing to preside over his home until
she herself was married in December, 1893, at San Luis Obispo, to John
Givens, a native of Ireland. He came to this country and this state, and in
San Rafael engaged in gardening, later continuing in San Jose. On settling
in San Luis Obispo County, he homesteaded eighty acres, one-half mile
from Estrella, and afterward purchased three hundred twenty acres adjoining
tlie Sacramento ranch. This he sold, in time, to the management of that
ranch. He continued farming on his homestead until his death in 1902; and
after that time Mrs. Givens operated the ranch with success until 1910. when

786 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY Ax\D EX\IROXS

she purchased a home in Paso Robles at iMfteenth street and Riverside drive,
where she resided until her marriage to Mr. McCann, having left the care
oi the ranch to her son, John E. Givens. llcr other child, Robert D. Givens,
lives at Palo Alto. Mr. and Mrs. McCann are members of the Catholic Church.
In matters political, she is a Republican, while Mr. McCann is an adherent to
Democratic doctrines and policies.

JOHN BROPHY. — Besides an honored name and the example of an
upright, well-directed life, John Brophy has done his share in the service
of his coimtry. He was born in Kells, Ireland, Ajjril 16, 1849, and came to
White Plains, X. Y., with his parents, Patrick and Mary (Mahoney) Brophy,
when he was a lad three years old, soon afterwards moving to Janesville,
Wis., where he was reared and attended the public schools. One of his
brothers, Michael, served in Troop B, 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry, in the Civil
War. and was wounded at the Battle of Pea Ridge; one other brother,
Thomas, crossed the plains to Virginia City, Xev., in 1862. After his school
days were over, John Brophy remained in the East for some years, in 1863
apprenticing himself to learn the trade of machinist in the Rock River Iron
Works at Janesville ; and there he remained until 1869. Going then to Hart-
ford, Conn., he worked in Pratt & Whitney's machine shop about six
months, and then went to Macon, Ga. The next few years were spent in
traveling about the country working in various cities in different states,
])erfecting his trade; and during this time two years were iiassed in Houston.
Tex., and a year in St. Louis.

In February, 1872, Mr. Broph}' came to California and was employed
in the machine shops of the Central Pacific, now the Southern Pacific Rail-
road, at Sacramento, after which he worked in leading shops in different
cities of the state ; and in 1887, at the sale of lands in Templeton, he bought
his present ranch, on which he has made all the improvements and where
his family have since had their home. Mr. Brophy was married near Grass
Valley, on November 26, 1874, to Miss Clara A. Ganoung, a native of Rock-
ford, 111., and a daughter of Myron Ganoung, who was born at Lima, N. Y.,
and was killed April 6, 1862, at the Battle of Shiloh, while serving as sergeant
in the 56th Illinois X'olunteer Infantry. Mrs. Ganoung was in maiden-
hi>od .Mary L. Bates, a native of Syracuse, X. Y.. and taught school from the
age of sixteen years until, at the age of nineteen, she married !\Ir. Ganoung.
After her husband's death, Mrs. Ganoung sold the farm and retnoved with her
|)arents to Illinois, locating on the Pecatonica river near Durand. Winnebago
county. Then, in 1864. with her two little girls, she accomi^anied her sister
and the latter's husband, Samuel Kincaid. across the plains, locating near
< Ir.iss \alley. California. In 1869, Mrs. Ganoung married I. X. Ritchie and
in I'ebruary. 186*>. buried her eldest daughter. I'lora. who, previous to the
time of her death, had been finishing her education in the convent at Grass
\alley. Mr. and Mrs. Ritchie left Nevada county in 1892 and came to San
Lui^ ( )hispo County with their daughter. Mrs. Brophy, locating near Teni-
|)let.in, where Mr. Ritchie passed away in 1898. Mrs. Ritchie died at the home
of her dantjhtcr eight years later, in 1906, when nearly eighty years of age.

.Mrs. I'.r.ipiiy, the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. (lanoung after the
death .if 1 Lira, their eldest <Iaughter. finished her education in the local
schools of Gr.i-^s Xalley and resided there until her marriage. Since then she
has been ;i valuable assistant to her husband, who for a while worked as

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 787

machinist and served his cuuntry in the na\v and navy yard She managed the
farm and looked to the educatiim of their six chihlren — I'lura Ma}-, Airs.
Ciihson of Los Osos ; Myron, a butcher in Fresno; Ella, the wife of W. J.
Williams of Turlock ; Benjamin, also a butcher in Fresno; Andrew S., who
operates the home farm; and Alice H., who is attending- the Paso Roldes
hi,<;h school.

In 18'>8, while emi)lo\ed in the machine shops of the Southern Pacific
railroad in Sacramento, Mr. lirophy enlisted for service in the Spanish-
American war. He was chief machinist on the cruiser "Philadelphia" for one
year, when he was honorably discharged by reason of the ex])iration of his
time. He then worked in the Mare Island Navy Yard for some time, helping
to build various vessels; but after about thirteen years s])ent there, he re-
signed, thinking that he had put in time enough at his trade, and came liome
where his family had lived all the years he was working. He also spent five
years in tlie W'aite machine shop in San Luis Obispo, since his residence in
tile ciiunty. Mr. Brophy is a member of the Spanish-American War \eter-
aiis, 11. W. I.awton Camp at Vallejo. He is an Independent Re])id)lican in
politics and is a self-made and highly respected citizen in the county.

ALEX FRANKLIN GIBSON.— In this day and age attention is being
turned towards the scientific side of farming — makiiig two blatles of grass
grow where one grew before ; and this trend in agriculture is illustrated
in the career of Alex F. Gibson, a promising rancher and dairyman in the
Templeton district. He is a native of this coimty, born on his father's ranch
(now leased by him) on November 27, 1895, a son of John C. and Flora
(Hazell) Gibson, who are residents of San Luis Obisi^o. The elder Gibson
bought land on Paso Robles creek four miles from Templeton and began
improving a home, adding acreage by purchase from time to time, until he
owned eighteen hundred acres of fine farming and grazing land, upon which
he has made such success as to enable him to retire from active labors and
enjoy with his wife all the comforts of life away from the cares attached to
ranching.

John and l-'lora Gibson became parents of five children: George .\., who
died in infancy; John, in Paso Robles; ICdna, Mrs. Pearl of Carson City, Nev. ;
Helen, Mrs. Neilsen, of San Francisco; and Alex F., who was reared on the
home ranch and attended the public school in the Oakdale district, and then
took a course in the State Polytechnic School at San Luis Obispo, and was
graduated in 1914, after which he returned to the ranch and leased the dairy
established by his father and began dairying and stockraising on his own
account.

In 1013 he bought a half interest in the cattle, numbering about one
hundred head, and carried on a dairy of twenty-five cows until 1916, when,
with (k-orge I'ruits, he leased the eighteen hundred acres, which they operate
together as a grain and dairy ranch, raising large (luantities of wheat and
barley. They have about four hundred acres in grain and hay. The business
is growing under the judicious management of Mr. Ciihson and his partner,
who have entered into the undertaking with a full knowledge of the respon-
sibilities it entails. Mr. Gibson is alive to the needs of the county and is a
booster for modern facilities in every branch of farming. He is a Repub-
lican and is an attendant of the Prcsbvterian Church.

788 SAX I.L"IS OIUSl'O COUNTY AND I'INVJRONS

H. H. COLBY, D. O. — How many men .-successful in professional work
owe what they have accomplished to persisting in their pursuit of an ideal,
although ctimpelled for the time being to follow deviating paths and meet
experiences more calculated to discourage than to inspire ! Such, at least,
was the ex])erience of H. H. Colby, osteopath and director of the golf
links at the Paso Robles Hot Springs Hotel, who was born at Great Barring-
ton, in the green Berkshires of Massachusetts, January 3, 1876. There, also,
his father, Alfred R. Colby, was born, a skilled carpenter whose brother,
George, had an honorable record in the Civil War as a member of the 46th
Pennsylvania Regiment. In April, 1888. Alfred Colby brought his family to
Los Angeles, where they remained until June, when they came to May field.
F'or five years following he was employed in assisting to build Stanford Uni-
versity, much of the time being engaged in fine finishing work, in which his
son, Albert, also took part.

Alfred Colby married Susan Redgrave, a native of London, and the
daughter of Stephen Redgrave, who married Martha Lincoln, in turn the
daughter of one of the well-known hatters of London, now advertising as
Lincoln & Bennett. Grandfather Stephen Redgrave had taken the family to
Australia ; but after mining at Ballarat he returned to England, from which
country he migrated to Norfolk, Va. There he located a farm adjoining
Norfolk which he called Redgrave Farm ; but dissatisfied with the southern
country he went to British Columbia and settled at Golden, where he became
sheriff and judge of Kootenay district, dying there at the age of eighty-eight.
At the time of his death he held the position of recorder of births and deaths.
In the same neighborhood his wife also passed away. Mr. Colby's father and
mother were married in Massachusetts. The mother died in 1895, at Berke-
le}-, Cal. .\fter the death of his wife, Alfred Colby returned east, where he
married again. He came back to Paso Robles, but now resides at Santa
Cruz, the father, by the second marriage, of four children, all of whom are
still living. Sanford is in Modesto; Herman and Raymond arc at Paso
Robles ; and Dorothy is at home.

Besides the subject of our sketch, the children by .Mr. Colby's first
marriage were Alfred, Robert and Grace, who died in their youth, and Albert
Richard, w-ho is now in Victoria, B. C. l'"rom his twelfth year, when he
completed the grammar school, H. H. Coll)y was brought up in California.
He commenced ranch work in the Cholame \ alley, in 1891, where his mother
had a farm devoted to grain and stock-raising. The following year he went
north to Victoria, and there labored at the plumber's trade, but in the fall
of 1894 he returned to the Cholame ranch.

In the middle of the nineties Mr. Colby began a business course at Har-
riman's Commercial College in San Francisco, following which he studied
osteopathy with Dr. Wilson in the metropolis, practicing, on the receipt of
his diploma, in \ictoria and Vancouver. When his mother died, however,
he returned to the home ranch and o])erated it until 1899, when he came back
to X'ictoria and entered the service of the Canadian Pacific Railway Naviga-
tion Co., serving as steward on their boats running to Alaska. In 1901,
he was transferred to the \'ancouver run, but the following year he resigned.

In .\ugust, 1902, at \'ancouver, Mr. Colby and Miss Dorothy Margaret
I'.ngic, a native of .'^t. Louis, were joined in wedlock, and after the marriage
the bridegroom went to work for the B. C. Milling, Trading & Lumber Co.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 789

In December of that year he once more returned U> the C'hulaine ranch, and
eni^a^ed in farming, taking charge also of the Wallace ranch until he went to
Ilanford, where he was emploA'cd by the J. K. Armsby Packing Co. The next
year or two found him again on the ranch, but after the San Francisco fire,
in 1906, he located in Paso Robles, where he folknvcd carriage painting, and'
in the evenings practiced osteopathy.

In 1910, Mr. Colby took charge of the Paso Kobles golf links, with
Mr. iJendelow, of Chicago; the latter laying them out and Mr. Colby putting
in the ground and completing them. Now he is in charge of the links and
gives instruction in the playing of golf to guests who come from all over the
United States, Canada and Europe.

Mr. Colby owns a residence on Spring street. The family estate still in-
cludes the ranch of a hundred sixty acres in Cholame, which is leased to
other parties. He is recording secretary of the Independent Order of Forest-
ers, is a very wide-awake Socialist and student of sociological affairs, and in
matters religious follows the faith and form of worship of the F,])iscopal
Church.

ALBERT HOLMES.^Hard work and go,,,! management bring suc-
cess. This is evidenced in the progress made l)y Albert ilolmes, a success-
ful farmer in the Paso Robles section of the county, lie was born in Cor-
dova, 111., October 28, 1884, a son of Gus Holmes, a native of Vermland,
Sweden, born in 1854. The name was originally s])elled Holm, but was
changed for convenience when Gus Holmes came to the United States in 1871
and settled in Pennsylvania. In Sweden he had worked in the mines until he
was twenty, and then was in the employ of the railroad for seven years,
becoming conductor. From Penns^•l\-ania he removed to Cordova, Illinois,
thence to Iowa, and three yt'ars later t<> l\iislyn, Wash., where he was
employed in the coal mines until 1S88. TIkii he came ti i San Luis Obispo
County and was soon engaged in farming on rented land, and now owns
forty acres at Linne, and another ranch, and is engaged in farming and rais-
ing stock. He married Christine Nelson, who now is deceased.

Brought up in San Luis Obispo County and attending the schools in
the district of Linne, Albert Ilolmes early learned to handle horses and
drive big teams. When he had reached his majority, he rented part of the
Dresser tract for three years and raised grain ; then leased four hundred
acres of the West Coast Land Co. and ran it six years, accumulating equip-
ment and stock, as well as experience, and establishing himself in the esti-
mation of his fellow citizens. In 1914 he rented six hundred seventy acres
of the Huntington place, and now oi)erates two big teams and is putting in
two hundred eighty acres of wheat and eighty of barley. He also operates,
a small twelve-horse combined harvester, and with two men cut over five
hundred acres in 1916 in less than two months' time.

In San *Luis Obispo occurred the marriage of Albert Holmes and
llaltie Jackson, who was born near Cholame, a daughter of Milton P). and
Julia (Sumner) Jackson, and a granddaughter of Andrew Jackson, who
brought the family from Georgia and is now living in this county. To Mr.
and Mrs. .Mbert Holmes, six children have been born: F.lmcr, Pearl, Ruby,
Helen, I'.lva and Lillie. Mr. and Mrs. Holmes arc Rei)ublicans, and have
won a place in the social life of the community, where they have lived for
so manv vears.

790 SAX I.LIS OBISPO COUXTY AXD EXVIROXS

MRS. EMMA KUEHL.— The wonderful executive ability sln)\vn by
women who, in America, and particularly in California, have invaded the
various de])artments of business enterprise until recently occupied almost
exclusively by men, is illustrated in the career of Mrs. Emma Kuehl. the
owner of a line large ranch and one of the most up-to-date farmers in this
section. Jjorn in Neu-Stettin, (juc of the delightful cities of Pomerania, Ger-
many, she was tlie youngest child of Julius Steffen, a merchant, whom she
scarceh saw, for her father died when she was little more than a baby. Her
mother, also hcjrn in that section of Pomerania. was Bertha Bartz, a daughter
of Gustav liartz, a large farmer owning three hundred twenty acres of land.

When Mr. StefFen died, his wife continued the mercantile business, but
turned the farm over to her eight children, three of whom are still living.
Educated in the excellent public sciiools of Germany, Eraulein StefFen, in
1890, canu- to America, and settled in Watertown, Codington county, S. D.,
where, in tiie same vear, she married Julius Kuehl, also a native of Neu-
Stcttin. They engaged in farming fifteen miles southeast of Watertown
until 1896, when they removed to Paso Robles, and afterwards to Creston.
There, for six years, they raised grain, and so well did they succeed that they
bought a ranch of five hundred twenty acres two miles northwest of Union,
which they operated until l'X)9, when it was sold and they purchased the
present ])lace of six hundred forty acres on I'istrclla Plains, ultimately selling
two hundred thirty acres of the tract.

More than four hundred acres of fine farming land devoted to grain and
stock raising are now registered under the name of Mrs. Kuehl. In the
management of her extensive farming interests Mrs. Kuehl's two sons,
William .-ind ( )tto, ably assist her, ( Jttn (i]HTating the home farm, while
William is leasing and operating live hundred eighty acres near the home
place. They both make their home with their mother. .\ daugliter. .Minnie,
is now Mrs. Crinklaw, of X'entura county.

OSCAR F. ERICKSON.— W hoever h.as once enjoyed a vacation ramble
in the \alleys and anioug tin- mountains of i)icturesque Sweden might well
be excused, despite ,ni entlnisiastic dcx^tinn to California, for wondering why
anyone sliould leave that rich, jiastoral land, even for the treasures of the
Xew World. The fact that Oscar I-'. I'.ricks.ui, a native of that part of Scan-
dinavia, not only came to America, Inii willingly remained in the Golden
State, s])eaks for itself, for Mr. Erickson knows, if anyone does, all that goes
to make up a delightful country. Born in Smaaland, Sweden, on Eebruary
2,5, 1851, the only son, of two children, he had the usual experience of a farm
boy in attendance at the public schools, and was married when he was but
twenty-one years of age. His father was Erick Erickson, and he survived his
wite for manv vcars. His mother was Karen (Monson) Erickson. and she
died in 18.=;4.

< )n the twenty-seventh day of the most delightful month in Sweden, the
month of June, Mr. F.rickson led to the altar Miss Wilhelmina Swansen. the
daughter of Carl .Swansen, a ])rosiierous farmer, and Inga Charlotta (Jacob-
sen ) Sw.-msen. I'"ollowing his marriage, he took up farming, and owned
a small acreage in Smaaland, which, in lime, he sr>ld. In 1877, he came to
Minnesota, liringing his wife and inother-in-l;iw with him, and there Mrs.
I'rick^^.m's mother died. Her father had i)assed away in Sweden in 1868.
He bongln eighty acres adai.tcd to .igricidture. but ten years later sold it

J'oiiiple

ton, and nuw

dent CI

the Sunda_\

SocieU

. In i)()litics

SAN LUIS OiilSPO COUNTY AND EN\^IRONS 791

in order to come to California, where he acquired, near the llethel School
House, a Innidred thirty acres.

On this little farm he tilled the soil for fourteen years, when he sold out
and located about three and a half miles southwest of Paso Rubles. There
he has one of the finest displays of choice stock and some of the best-kept
grain fields in the state. Four children of five born to this worthy couple —
Carl Frederick, in the hardware and implement business in Nevada; Ililma,
Mrs. A. T. Lovgren, resident of the Linne district; Emily, who married Al-
bert Johnson, living near Templeton ; Fsther, who became Mrs. I'ike, of Pascj
Robles — still live to brighten Mr. and Mrs. I'.rickson's life. .Albert U. F.rick-
son died at the age of tw-enty-nine.

Once a trustee of the Swedish Lutheran Church in
a deacon, Mr. Erickson has been for years su])erinte
School, while his wife is prominent in tlie Ladies' Aid
M. Erickson is a Republican.

CHARLES SAMUEL LEWIS.— Whoever has strolled about the shady
streets of comfortable-looking and comfortably-living Paso Robles must have
l>een agreeably impressed with the many artistically designed and well-built
residences there, particularly those of the modern bungalow pattern, some
of which are the result of the fertile brain and architectural skill of Charles
Samuel Lewis, the successful contractor and builder who has of late been
making his miark there. Born in Anamosa, Jones county, la., on November
7, 1881, Mr. Lewis is the grandson of Charles Lewis, wlio was born near
Philadelphia, a member of an old Quaker family, well-known in the Citj' of
Urotherly Love, and who became one of the earliest settlers at Anamosa.
Just what type of man he was may be deduced from his own history and
that of his descendants. .\11 his sons graduated from the Ames Agricultural
College. In time he moved to Orange City, Sioux county, la., and there he
engaged so successfully in the real estate and land business that he was able,
some eighteen years ago, to retire and make his way westward to the charm-
ing residential city of Pasadena. The father of Charles, H. P. Lewis, was
born in Iowa. He became a printer and for years edited the Sioux County
Herald, after which he, too, removed to Pasadena, where he became the
foreman of the News office. When he retired he removed to Paso Robles,
taking his wife with him — formerly Miss .\nnie IJu.xton. a native of Iowa.

Eight children were born to this couple, and Charles Lewis was the eld-
est of them all. It happened, therefore, that he was brought up in Orange
City, la., and attended the public schools there ; and he went to Plankington.
S. D., where he graduated from the high school. At Moscow, Ida., he
attended the State Agricultural College, and in 1SX)4 he removed to Pasa-
dena. There, for six years, he worked for D. M. Renton, and later he was
with R. F. Foss. In 1911, he came to Pa.so Ro])les, and as he had studied
electrical engineering, the manager of Paso Robles Hot Springs Hotel was
fortunate to secure him as its engineer. After two and a half years in that
berth he resigned to engage in contracting and building, and since 1914 the
firm of Lewis Bros, (which includes his brother, b'rank E. Lewis, who also
learned his trade in Pasadena) has been a leading force in the. advancement
of architectural taste in this vicinity. How well Charles improved under
the instruction given him in architecture by the International Correspondence
School, at Scrantfin, ma\' be seen in the handsome Steiner residence, the

792 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Sanitarium, tlie Kirkpatrick and the Arlhur Kitciien humcs, and the Carl
("arhn.i; and hrank Meissig dwellings, all of which, with other ])Iaces in
the country, iiave been designed and built by him.

A Republican who does something when it has to be done, and a mem-
ber of the C'hamber of Commerce who makes his presence felt by modest
l)ut hard work, Mr. Lewis was conspicuous in his identification with the
L'pper Salinas Valley Fair of 1916, when he had charge of the laying out of
the buildings and grounds.

Some years ago Charles was married in Los Angeles to Miss \'enila E,
Spicer, a native of Ripon, Wis., the Rev. Baker P. Lee officiating; from
this marriage two charming children, Eleanor Clare, and Henry Spicer,
have been born. While attending the Christ Episcopal Church in Los
Angeles, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis contributed much to the fame of the church's
choir, Mrs. Lewis singing soprano and her husband tenor, and quite natur-
ally since their advent at Paso Robles they have done their part toward
maintaining local musical standards. Mr. Lewis is a member of the
Modern Woodmen of America, the Foresters, and the Knights of Pythias, all
of Paso Rohk-s.

ARTHUR THRALLS.— With neither capital nor business backing be-
hind him, but enilowcil with unusual tact, tenacity of pur])ose ;ind native
ability, Arthur Thralls has had ]ilK-nomenal success as a merchant in the
town of San Miguel, lie was born in Sangamon county, HI., on October 13,
1872, the son of James C. and Mar\- (Hammond) Thralls, an interesting bio-
graphical sketch of whom is a separate feature of this work. Arthur Thralls
removed with his parents to Oswego, Labette count}-, Kan., where he at-
tended the public school, and he afterward lived at Gaylord, in the same state.
From a lad he made himself useful to his father, and worked with him at
blacksmithing; and he also learned tinning, carpentering, decorating and
painting. But he did not take to any of these occupations permanently;
merchandising was destined to be his forte. P"or a while, however, his poor
health conditioned his activity ; and going to San Miguel, where his brother,
I'". C. Thralls, was residing, he spent the winter outdoors in the hills chopping
trees and wood. His next employment was with the San Miguel Flour Mills,
and after that lie was for a while with the S. P. Warehouse Co., still later
returning to the mills.

He then ventured to invest in an ice-cream and confectionery stand,
for which he had managed to get together the modest sum of twenty dollars,
but in three months he sold out, and for the third time was back in the dusty
mill. At the end of twent_v-six months, he botight out another ice-cream
establisliment, and embarked in business for himself in what was certainly
a novel form. It was the year of the dry season and, loading the ice-cream
jilnnt on a wagon, he traveled with it into and through Mari])osa county,
stopping at hotels and ranch houses.

Returning to San Miguel, he bought out the ice-cream and confectionery
place he had originally owned and then borrowed twenty dollars of the thirty-
ti\e (loll.irs he i)aid for the jilace ; and now success rewarded his energy to
such a degree that he was able to pay ofT his debt, enlarge his business, and
little liy little add other lines of goods. He started in a mere corner, only
the half of n small store, but later he secured the other half and soon took
in a ]iartner, Fred Metzler, although he maintained the firm name of Thralls

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND KN\'IRONS 793

& Co. 'J'hev then purchased the present site, l)uilt their iron building, 32x100,
and moved into it. Two years after this, Henry Twisselniann bought out
Mr. Metzler, to remain a partner since of Thralls & Co. As their business
increased they found it necessary to erect their imposing concrete building
adjoining on Main street, 28x100 feet in size; and they have added, besides, a
rear warehouse, 50x100 feet, and also a plumbing and hardware shop, 25x150
feet in size. In the concrete building is located the brancli of the Citizens
Rank of Paso Robles.

During this time Mr. Thralls jnirchased a site and organized the Mission
Warehouse Co., building upon the ground a corrugated iron building de-
voted to storing hay. His partners in this enterprise are John Work,
who serves as president, M. D. Sanchez and Henry Twisselmann, Mr.
Thralls being director and manager. With such foresight had this under-
taking been ])lanned that the warehouse has a storage capacity of over
1.500 tons. In the store of Thralls & Co. referred to, now the largest mer-
cantile establishment in the northern part of San Luis Obispo County, and
all grown to its present proportions within the last sixteen years, there are
departments for the sale of dry goods, groceries, clothing and furnishings,
shoes, jewelry, hardware, furniture, harness, implements and plumbing. The
firm also have their own vegetable gardens of twenty-four acres on the
Salinas river, and from there they ship \-cgetables and fruit to Paso Robles
and other points in the county, not less than five acres being devoted to straw-
berries alone.

.\t Indian Valley, Monterey county, Mr. Thralls was married to Miss
Ina May Young, by whom he has had one daughter, Leah. Doubtless some
of his business success is due to this excellent woman, who has shared
his joys and his sorrows. His mother still tells how fond .\rthur was, when
a mere child, of "playing store" with the other children, an imitation stroke
of mercantile enterprise, employing currency made by her, in \vhich the
energetic lad was always more proficient than any of his playmates ; for it
was he who invariably secured the coveted money. In San Miguel Lodge
No. 2<S5, Mr. Thralls was made a Mason; he is a member of the Eastern Star
and San Miguel Lodge No. 340, I. O. O. F., and also of the Fraternal P.rother-
liood.

GUSTAV ROBERT FREDRICKSON.— Prominent among all the
clever workers of ancient times, figuring conspicuously in history, song and
fairy tales, honored for his rugged honesty and esteemed for his skill so
necessary to the comfort and welfare of his fellow-men, the shoemaker has
been the handiworker sought by kings and the powerful of the earth, and
his humble prosperity was the envy even of those who made pretense to
a higher station. All of which may suggest, perhaps, why Gustav Robert
Fredrickson, maker of shoes and harness at Templeton, and treasurer of its
Hoard of Trade, has always been and continues to be popular in the com-
munity of his adoption. Born at Stor.i-Tuna. Dalcnc. Sweden, on February
3, 1872. he was brought up as one of three children living in the family of
Fredrick Fredrickson, his father, who was a farmer, and Hcnrika Charlotte
(Holmsten) Fredrickson, who found her highest pleasure in making the old
Swedish farm-house the cosiest and most attractive home in all its district.
In 1888, when booming California was being advertised even to the Old
V.'^orld, Fredrick Fredrickson brought his family to the Coast and to Chine,

794 SAX LUIS OIUSTO COUNTY AND KNNTRONS

then to Riverside and. in 1889, to Temideton where he found employment
with the Southern Pacific Railroad. Eventually he retired and died here ;
and here were laid to rest the remains of his excellent wife. The other chil-
dren are: Albion, who resides in Los Angele.s, and Ilenrv, who is in St.
Joseph, Mo.

(iustav attended the public schools, and when ten years old was appren-
ticed to a shoemaker to learn that time-honored trade. He worked at it
winters, and when (Mily twelve years of age made his first pair of shoes, get-
ting in when he could, until he was seventeen years of age, such additional
schooling as the law required. On his arrival in California and Riverside,
however, he found that laborers in the orchards rather than shoemakers were
required, and so for nine or ten months he took to orcharding.

In August, 1889, when he arrived in Templeton, he engaged to work upon
the railroad ; but onl}' for a month. Then he established the business so long
and so favorably associated with his name, beginning on a very small scale,
and opening a shoemaker's shop in the harness store of 1'". W. Muggier.
There he learned the harness-making trade, and worked at it, and when Mr.
Muggier sold his establishment to T. F. Hood, Gustav continued in charge of
the harness store. In 1892, he bought Mr. Hood out and, making no changes
beyond a natural expansion of the business, remained at the old stand until
he moved to his present corner in 1887; for having bought the corner lot,
he moved a building onto it. He has made and repaired harness since 1892,
his familiar sign being a guarantee for tlic <|uality of the wares so artistically
displayed in his well-arranged windows.

At Los Angeles, some years ago, Gustav I'redrickson was married to Miss
Hilma Nelson, a daughter of Henry Nelson, who came from Iowa, where
she was born, and was one of the pioneers of this vicinity. One son, Melvin,
is the issue of this marriage. Having taken a very active part in the local
fire department, Gustav Fredrickson has been a member of the Board of
Fire Commissioners, now serving as its chairman ; but it is as a very active
worker in, and as treasurer of the Board of Trade, that he has perhaps con-
tributed most in civic work. Always popular socially, he has also participated
actively in the I'Vaternal r.rotlicrhood.

JOHN ALBION KIMBALL.— John Albion Kimball was l)oni in Tort-
land. Me., on March 1. 18(i.^. His ])arcnts. Willard Snell and Sarah Annie
(Philbrick) Kimball, natives of .Augusta and Cooper's Mills. Me., respectively,
were both descendants of the first Puritan Pilgrims who landed on Ply-
mouth Rock.

John Albion Kimball was but nine years of age when he was brought to
California by his parents, in 1874, and his education was olitained in the public
scliools of this county, in several private schools and at the Hesperian
-Academy, then located in San Luis Obispo. At the age of eighteen years, he
]ias.scd the teacher's examinati<Mi and taught in the jiublie schools for two
years.

He then read law with Adams & (iregg. of San Luis Obispo, for two
years, after which he attended the LIniversity of Michigan, graduating from
the law deitartment of the L^iiversity in 1889, receiving the degree of LL. B.
He was admitted to the practice of law in the State of Michigan in 1889, and
by the Supreme Court of California in the same year, after which he returned
to San Luis ( )bispo. and opened an office, later on associating himself with

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 795

his bnithcr, I'"rank \\"illard Kimball, under the lirni name of Kimball &
KimiKilI.

In 1893 he went to San I'rancisco, where for the next live years he was
again associated with his brother in the general practice of his profession.
There the firm of Kimball & Kimball built up a large and lucrative practice,
after which he returned to San Luis Obispo and retired from the profession.

^Ir. Kimball always took an active interest in fruit culture, and in 1907
purchased forty acres of land on Vachell avenue. This was raw land, and on
it he has developed one of the largest and finest commercial orchards in the
county. It is called one of the "show places'' of the county, and is absolutely
free from tree disease. Air. Kimball has been eminently successful in fruit
culture, having created several new varieties, which he contemplates propa-
gating in the near future ; 'and he is now considered one of the foremost
horticulturists in the state.

Mr. Kimball has always been an active Republican, although never an
aspirant for ofifice. He is a Mason, a member of Mount Moriah Lodge and
Mission Chapter of San Francisco. His marriage was celebrated in that city.
May 10, 1901, when he was united to Edith Nelson, a native of San Francisco,
born December 16, 1875. She is a niece of the late Frank Pixley. Her father
was George Henry Nelson, born in New York state, and her mother, Sarah
.\nn \'an Reymegon Nelson, was a native of I'ath, Me., and a descendant of
old Puritan stock.

Twn children blessed this union of John Albion and Mrs. Kimball, Roy
John Albion and Charles Nelson.

RAMON N. BARBA.— The good blood of s.. many old and honoral)le
families is so often represented in the rank and file of sturdy California
citizenship that it is particularly interesting when two well-known families of
pioneers are joined, as in the case of Ramon Barba, the enterprising young
farmer and stockman at Creston, and his excellent young wife. Born in
San Luis Obispo in 1882, Ramon's father is Refugio Barba, a native of
Sonora, Mexico, who came to San Luis Obispo County when a young man,
and followed the stock business here, riding the range in the vicinity of Paso
Kobles and eastward toward the Kern county plains. For four years he was
located in San Luis Obispo, and then he moved to Paso Robles, where he
engaged in ranching and stock-raising, finally iiuying a ranch, four miles west
of Paso Robles, in the Alanzanita country. I-'or some time he farmed one
hundred eighty acres there, and when he sold out he returned to Paso Robles
w iiere, at the age of seventy-six, he now resides.

Ramon's mother, on the other hand, had been Jacinta Sanavero, the
(laughter of a pioneer who settled at San Luis Obispo. Her father was born
in Spain, of Castilian parents, and settled in San Luis Obispo County as a
cabinet maker, and also manufactured caskets. In March, 1916, at the age of
fifty-three, she died in Paso Robles, the mcither of sixteen children, fourteen
iif whom are still living.

The third oldest of this vigorous family. Ramon Barba was educated in
the l-.ncinal and Bethel districts, and at the age of fifteen went to work on a
farm, where he learned the stock business and the raising of grain. He
pnned a reliable boy, getting up at six o'clock in the morning and riding
far after the cattle. In 1908, he began farming for himself, leasing land on
the -Vmlirose estate in the Creston country, and there raising grain and stock.

796 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

He controls about fi\c hundred acres, and puts in about half of that area each
year to grain.

On October 24, 1907, the marriage of Ramon Barba and Miss Hazel
Wiilson was celebrated in old San Luis Obispo. The fair lady had been born
in the Highland school district, the daughter of Henry Wiilson, a native of
the same section. Her mother was formerly Miss Sarah Shepherd, a native
(laughter. Mrs. Barba was educated in the public schools. Two children
have resulted from this union — Raymond and Dolly.

\\ hile not a politician in any sense of the word, Mr. Barba takes a live
interest in political aiTairs, and in the exercise of his franchise generally votes
according to Republican preferences.

THADDEUS SHERMAN.— With what pleasure Longfellow, when he
was penning his famous and sympathetic sketch of the Village Blacksmith,
would have looked upon 'ihaddeus Sherman, one of the finest old men in
San Luis Obispo county, those who know this master pioneer of Paso Robles
will readily discern. A native of Van Buren, Wayne county, Mich., where
he was born far back on February 15, 1833, he grew up in the home of a shoe-
maker, James Sherman, a New Yorker by birth, who followed the trade with
his last until he died. His mother, Mabel Sherman, was one of those rare,
old-fashioned souls whose home influence was worth far more tlian that of
the plain public schools at the disposal of j'oung Thaddeus.

Finished with his books and slates, Thaddeus was apprenticed to a wagon-
maker ; and as early as 1857, when he was but twenty-four years of age, he
underwent the rough experience of a voyage by way of Panama, and reached
San Francisco, then a very difl'erent and far more insignificant place than the
majority of readers of these notes ever found it. Pushing on after a while to
Sacramento, and then to Nevada, he maintained carriage and wagon shops
until the pesky Indians drove him out from the latter State. Once more
plying his trade in Sacramento, he remained there until the promising settle-
ment at Cambria induced him to transfer his establishment, and a few years
later, that is in 1875, he came to Paso Robles, where he bought forty acres
from Blackburn and built another shop, for which he engaged an extra black-
smith from San Francisco.

During the development that marked progressive Paso Robles, and there-
by astonished the outside worlil, he soon subdivided a good part of his
land and built himself a handsome residence, at the corner of Oak and
Twenty-third streets, where he has enjoyed life since his active participation
in business. Twice was Thaddeus Sherman married, his second wife dying
only four years ago; and but one of two children is still living to comfort him,
Wilbur J. having passed away.

As a Mason, he was a charter member of San Simeon Lodge, V. & .\. M.,
at Cambria, and he also helped to start Paso Robles Lodge, No. 286, F. & A. M.,
serving as its first Master. A Democrat, he has always displayed a live
interest in the problems and duties of good citizenship. After a life of strenu-
f>us activity and sol>cr living, it is sad to experience what has befallen
Mr. Sherman in his later years. A second stroke of paralysis has afiflicted him,
but this does not sour his geniality nor chill his enthusiasm as one who can
pruu<lly boast of having owned and platted over forty acres, and who has
such oi)timisni and confidence in the future of Paso Robles.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 797

WILLIAM THOMAS COLBECK.— It was a lucky day in 1892 when
William Thomas Colheck came to California, and a still luckier day in 1915
when he settled in San Luis Obispo County, for he is one of those ranch-
men whom any district is glad to attract, and San Luis Obispo County
and Templeton have proven the regions of all the world in which he would
willingly cast his lines. His father, Thomas Colbeck, a native of England,
was an expert stone mason and bricklayer, who contributed his labor and skill
to the completion of many buildings between New York and Chicago, and
who finally settled in Ohio, where he married Miss Mary Potter.

At Athens, O., on February 11, 1883, William Thomas was born, the
third eldest of six children, all of whom are living. His father then moved
to Kansas City, Missouri, where 'he worked at his trade, and in the early
nineties migrated still farther west until he reached California and Fillmore,
Ventura county, where he cut building stone in the brownstone quarries for
San Francisco and Los Angeles, abandoning that work when he saw the
opportunity of setting himself up as a cement-work contractor and a builder
of bridges for the railroad and the county. He next improved a farm at
Sespe, and now owns one hundred fifty acres with a fine orchard.

William Colbeck was educated near Filmore, and as a lad he worked
as a box maker in a packing-house, where he made four hundred boxes a day.
He next went into the Imperial Valley and raised a cotton crop; and in 1915
he came to San Luis Obispo County as manager of a part of the old Wight-
man Ranch, now owned by O. E. Brown. Here he operates four hundred
fourteen acres devoted to stock and to fruit-raising, and also has charge of
some forty acres of orchard planted to fine quality apples and pears.

Mr. Colbeck is a keen observer of politics, and a believer especially in
Democratic doctrine. Mr. Colbeck enjoys the pleasures of domestic life,
having married at San Luis Obispo, on October 6, 1916, Mrs. Anna (Olds)
Ness, a native of Kansas, who by a former marriage has three children —
Howard, Cailie and I'.rdic.

JOHN TAYLOR.— The name of jnhii I'aylor is inseparaldy interwoven
with liic history of the coast section of San Luis Obispo Count}-, to which
Peter Taylor, keen and far-seeing in judgment, a brother of John, came in
1863, or soon after. He was followed by James and John, and later by their
father, also named John Taylor, who was born in Perthshire, Scotland, a
weaver by trade, as was his father, Peter Taylor, who was a soldier in the
Welsh army and a ranking officer at the Battle of Waterloo. John Taylor, Sr..
married Janet Crerar in Scotland and they had six children. Peter died in
San Luis Obispo County ; Lillis became Mrs. Russell of Cambria ; James served
in the Civil War and died in San Luis Obispo County ; Ellen is Mrs. Whitaker
of Cambria; John is the subject of this review ; and Janette died in New York.
The mother died in Scotland, leaving her husband with six small children. In
1851 he brought his family to America and settled in Delaware county, N. Y.,
where he farmed and raised stock until the fall of 1869, when he sold out and
came to California, living in this county until his death in January, 1882, aged
seventy years. Pie was a strong Presbyterian.

John Taylor of this review was born in Blockford, Perthshire. Scotland,
and received his education there and in New York, whither his father had
emigrated in 1851. He was reared on the home farm in Colchester, and
in the fall of 1868 came to California with his brother James. Taking the

798 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENN'IRONS

steamer "Alaska" Id Aspiinvall and crossing- the isthmus, they boarded the
"Sacramento" for San l'"rancisco ; and on arriving there, proceeded to San
Luis Obispo Count)- to join their l)rother, Peter Taylor, who was lix-ing on
Santa Rosa creek.

Some time later, with his brother James and S. L. Whitaker, John engaged
in the stock business at the head of Villa creek until the partnership was
dissolved. He and his brother James then bought a ranch near Cambria,
began dairying and ranching, and continued together until James passed away.
They had outside interests and for years were engaged in lumbering, owning
land covered with pine timber, which they logged and sold to sawmills. They
hauled the timber to the mills with oxen and horses, and they also sold wood.
They owned several ranches which were devoted to dairying and farming,
and after the death of James the property was divided among the heirs and
the partnership dissolved.

John Taylor is the owner of the Ocean ranch of three hundred acres, and
also a ranch of 1,000 acres south of Cambria, which are leased for dairying.
He still contracts for wood, supplying the mines on the coast. For many
years he has made his home in Cambria and is known all over the county, for
he has i>articipated in all upbuilding movements hereabouts, and has won his
success by hard work and square dealing.

HERMAN ANDERSON.— Not only among those sturdy citizens of his
own nationality in his district does Herman .\nderson stand high and wield
an enviable influence, but he is also esteemed among and sought by his
neighbors and friends of other national extraction. From quaint Middle
Sweden, near Skara, he came, having been born there on February 12, 1873, the
second youngest of ten children. His father was Sven Anderson, a farmer, who
died in Sweden ten years ago. and his mother was Maria Anderson, who died
in 1882. As a lad, Herman had about as much fun on the Swedish farm as
he did at the public school, and yet when the call came in 1894 to leave his
native land, and to come to the New \\'orld, he followed the duty that pointed
the way to his future fortune, although his father was a thrifty and well-to-do
farmer in Sweden and able to give his son a start there.

On the 4th of Alay he arrived at Templeton, traveling on the first train
to come through the Santa Margarita tunnel, and for a year or so he worked
for his brother. J. S. Anderson, farming, pressing hay and threshing. The
next summer he ran a hay-baler at Ilollister, and for several seasons he
worked in the orchards and dairies near San Jose. In 1904, he bought his
first piece of land, seventy-five acres, in the Oakdale school district, and went
in for grain-raising, at which he continued for fixe years. .Since that time
he has leased the place.

.About 1909 he bought his present ranch of eighty-one acres, and after-
wards added another forty-four acres adjoining; and onto this land he moved
just seven years ago. This property he has improved until he has a splendid
and fertile ranch of one hundred twenty-five acres, which he has operated
for the raising of wheat, barley and hay, the land being splendidly watered
l)y streams and springs.

In civil afl'airs, Mr. Anderson is a Progressive Republican; while in
things thai pertain to his religious experience he follows the customs and
creed of the Swedish Lutheran Church, being affiliated as a member with
that organization at Templeton.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 799

A. AUGUST ZIMMERMAN.— The history of the development of Cali-
fornia from a primitive and unsettled state to one of the foremost and most
civilized commonwealths in the nation, is the record of thousands who have
bravely battled, as pioneers blazing the way, with adverse conditions and the
inevitable, one man perhaps in a hundred winning out because, despite the
most discouraging failures and losses, he continued to peg away in the effort
to reach the goal. Such a man is A. August Zimmerman, the well-traveled
and highly intelligent shoemaker, who has been a resident of California since
1886, and a citizen working for the upbuilding of Paso Robles since 1908.
His birthplace was the old town of Magdeburg, Germany, where his family
had lived for several generations. His grandfather Zimmerman came to
Germany from France, and his father was Andrew Zimmerman, a native of
the Fatherland, who was a foreman in a large smelting works, and was acci-
dentally killed when a mass of the ore fell upon him. His mother's maiden
name was Louise Heinecke, and her parents for generations were farming
folk. She brought up a family of nine children, making of tl-'er^i >..— f--' rten
and women; and in 1887, having well performed her duty, she passed to her
eternal reward.

The youngest child in the family, and the only one in California, .\ugust
was brought up in Magdeburg, and attended the public schools there. .\t
the age of fourteen, he was apprenticed to a shoemaker and for four years
learned the shoemaking trade ; and having worked in a real German work-
shop, it is fair to assume that he learned the trade well.

When eighteen, he concluded to come to ,'\merica, being intUienced no
doubt by the fact that he already had a brother, Andrew, who was living in
Cleveland, O. To Cleveland, then, he traveled, and in 1878 began to work
there at his trade. Rut being full of ambition, he did something more than
make or repair shoes ; he studied English, and learned to read, write and speak
our rather confusing language. Then he went to St. Louis, and next to
Texas, where he visited nearh" every coimty in the state, lie ran a shoe sho])
at Fort Worth, Richmond and Denton.

When the news of the great boom in California, in 1886, reached him in
the Lone Star. State, young Zimmerman packed up his belongings and hurried
off to Los .Angeles. He opened there another shoe shop, but, like thousands
of others, he turned aside to deal in a little real estate, overreached himself,
and lost all he had.

In 1888, Mr. Zimmerman went north to Seattle and oi)ened a shop there,
but he was soon burned out, and again he lost all that he had acquired. Then
he engaged in prospecting for mining, returned to Portland, went to Butte
City, and finally to Salt Lake, where he started another shop. In the spring
of 1890 he returned east to Chicago, but he soon found it too cold there, an<I
came back to balmier California. He fitted up another shop at Oakland, and
there, on Washington street, he managed a very successful business for ten
long years. In 1900, he went to Denver, and for seven years he had a shop
in that city.

Yielding to his longing for the Coast, he traveled westward again to
San Francisco, and in 1908, suffering terribly from »-heumatism, he came to
Paso Robles, where he both took the mud baths and drank the healing waters.
In a short time he was so much improved that he concluded to remain ; and
<leciding to cast iji his lot with the town, he again began business in the

800 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

very place where he is now located. He liked the town, and bought a lot
and business house on I'ark street between Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets.
He improved the shop, and gave such satisfaction to his patrons that his
business has continued to grow ever since. He uses electric power to run
the sewing and finishing machines, and in every way has an up-to-date equip-
ment.

Mr. Zimmerman has probably traveled more than twenty thousand miles
in his migrations. The places he has visited since he left Berlin, Germany,
April 7, 1882, are : Baltimore, Cleveland, St. Louis ; Cairo, 111. ; Marshall,
Tex. ; Little Rock, New Orleans, Houston, Richmond, Dallas, Ft. \\'orth ;
\\'eatherford and Denton, Tex.; San Francisco, Los Angeles; Seattle, Tacoma,
Mt. Vernon and Slaughter, \\'ash. ; Cascade Mountains ; Vancouver and Vic-
toria, B. C. ; Portland ; Pocatello, Idaho ; Butte City, Ogden, Salt Lake City,
Denver, Omaha, Chicago, Kansas City ; San Antonio and Alpine, Tex. ; Oak-
land, Fresno, and through the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys by team
and wagon, as well as the Santa Clara valley, visiting the principal cities.
He made a second trip into Washington and British Columbia, Utah and
Colorado, and included many of the cities not visited before : Port Angeles,
Wash., where he had a shop ; Leadville, Cripple Creek, Victor, Colorado
Springs, Pueblo and Canyon City, Colo. ; Cheyenne, Wyo. ; Galveston, Okla-
homa City; Ely, Nev., and Covina, Cal., coming to Paso Robles in KOS.
Since then he has traveled over all of the central coast counties, and he is
therefore very familiar with the Pacific Coast region.

While in Denver, Mr. Zimmerman was married to Aliss Mary Schunian,
who was born near Moscow, Russia, of German parentage, and who is now
the mother of one child. Otto. The family are now living in the handsome
Zimmerman residence.

A well-read man accustomed to refiect upon the events of the day and
the problems of daily life, including those having to do with politics. Mr.
Zimmerman is an independent thinker and voter, and endeavors every time
to vote for the right man.

HALVER PETERSON. — Colorado is a wonderful commonwealth, but
when it comes to a showdown with California, then Halver Peterson, at
least, will go for the Golden State every time, as he did in the late eighties,
after he had tried out the Centennial State and knew just what he was doing.
Born on the 3rd of I'ebruary, 1861, at Dalene, Sweden, Halver was the son of
Peter A. Peterson, a farmer, who died in his native town, and of Brita
(Erickson) I'eterson. Four of the children born grew to maturity, although
only two arc now living — Halver alone being in America. He had the usual
farm and public school experience of a Swedish lad, and at the age of nineteen,
like thousands of others, came to the United States.

In 18f~0, he was in Boone county, Iowa, where he worked for the C. & N.
A\' K. R. for eight years — the last two as foreman. His wife's health prompt-
ing him to leave the State, he removed to San Luis Valley, Colo., where be
homcsteaded, improved the land, and sold what he had.

lie then came to California, and on May 6, 1889, took up his residence at
Paso Robles, from which place he went to Templeton, where he started in
tiic employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad, with which company he con-
tinued for three years. In the fall of 1890 he bought forty acres of th.e place
he now owns, and a year and a half later located on it. making many ini-

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 801

provements, among which were the building of a residence, the clearing of
tlie land, and the planting of an orchard. Ten years later he bought the
fift3'-three acres adjoining, and since then has added enough to make a
round ninety-five acres of land wliich he de\otc-s to the raising of grain, horses
and cattle. He also has a small dairy, the cream being shipped to San Luis
Obispo.

While in Iowa, Halver Peters(jn married Miss Christene Olson, a native
of Dalene, Sweden, by whom he has had six children. These are Bessie, now
Mrs. Campbell in Berkeley ; Christene, who was married to Albert Lovgren,
of Los Angeles ; Ellen, who became Mrs. Vogue, of Berkeley ; Edna, better
known as Mrs. Essig of the same city; Harold, who helps about the farm,
and Clarence, who is clerking in Paso Robles. Mr. Peterson is a Republican
in politics. For seven years he has been clerk of the school board of Betiiel ;
and for six years he has been a deacon of the Swedish Lutheran Church at
Templcton, where he is also a trustee and treasurer.

JOHN J. FORD. — If Paso Robles is blessed in any one particular respect,
it is in the considerable number of professional men of ability who, ignoring
the attractions of larger and inore developed communities, have cast in their
lot where the future lies smiling before them. Especially well represented
here is the profession of the architect, and among those who well sustain the
artistic ideal is John J. Ford, the contractor and builder, who has also made
for himself some name as a horticulturist. Mr. Ford's native heath is old
Hereford, in England, where, on the 12th of February, 1865, he first saw the
light of day. His father was John Ford, also a contractor and builder. Com-
mencing with the public schools, John J. next attended I larlcy I Inusc College
in the East End of London, after which he went in the llulm ClilT College in
Derbyshire, where he graduated in 1886. Under the valuable instruction of
his father he learned the carpenter's trade, and with the same veteran as a
guide he worked for several years in England as a contractor. He also studied
architecture in an office in Hereford. At the same time he took a course in
the science and art of building and construction at the Hereford Science
School: and being thus equipped he set sail, in April, 1888, for America,
making his first stoppin,g place at San Francisco.

There, for a year and a half, he was in the employ of others in archi-
tectural work, and then he became a foreman of building for Ransom i"!;
Cushing, and superintended part of the construction of the Museum and the
Girls' Dormitory, or Roble Hall, at Stanford University. He also had charge
of the erection of public and private buildin.gs in many places in the adjoining
bay cities. He was next with Wetmore and John Bashford, for whom he
worked as foreman ; but the big fire having destroyed what he possessed, he
turned aside from the exercise of his professional talent, bou.ght a ten-acre
almond ranch at Acampo, in San Joaquin county, and for some years went in
fnr horticulture.

In 1909, he sold out and moved to Paso Robles, and there secured thir-
teen acres of land west of the town on which he experimented with a variety
of orchards. Within three years he sold that property, and moved to Long
Beach to engage in contracting and building, but by 19LS he had traded some
of his estate for two hundred thirty acres in the Encinal district, six miles
west of Paso Robles, convinced that in respect to elevation, soil and rainfall
he at last possessed tlic finest acreage for fruit culture. He .soon had twenty-

802 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

six acres of pears and fifteen acres of almonds, and is preparing to set out
still larger areas.

All this profitable diversion in experiments with the soil has not turned
Mr. Ford aside permanently from the main work of his life, that of a master
architect and builder, and he is still conducting his business as a contractor.
He has lately superintended the building of the new grammar school at Paso
Roblcs, and built the new school at Klau, as well as his own elegant residence,
in which he resides with his familj-.

In San Francisco Mr. Ford met and married Grace M. Ormsby, a native
of Michigan, by whom he has had two children — Dorothy, now wedded and
an occasional visitor from the East, and Albert E. Ford, of Paso Robles.
Mr. Ford is an elder in the Christian Church, in which, as a leader in singing,
he takes an active part in musical work, as he did also, years ago, in the
quartette of the First Christian Church in San Francisco.

WILLIAM C. BAGBY. — Among the citizens of the section of San Luis
Obispo County that is tributary to Paso Robles, possibly no name is better
known than that of William C. Bagby, who has demonstrated his business
ability by his association with large interests, and whose integrity and honesty
of purpose have never been questioned. A native son of the county, he was
born at Arroyo Grande, September 28, 1885, a son of John \V. Bagby, a Mis-
sourlan who crossed the plains to California at an early day, mined for a time
with indifferent success, and finallj- settled in Arroyo Grande in 1871, where
he followed farming. Some time later he pre-empted and homesteaded land
in the Adelaida section of the county and began raising cattle, increasing his
bands year by 3'ear until he became one of the large stockmen of the county.
As he prospered, he bought land until he became owner of two thousand
acres.

.Aside from his stock business, he was interested in mining as superin-
tendent of the Klau mine, and during his incumbency in that position one
hundred fifty men were employed, a Scott furnace of sixty-ton capacity was
used and great quantities of (]uicksilver were retorted and sold. When the
price of the mineral went down so that it did not pay longer to mine, the
j)roi)erty was closed up and Mr. Uagby continued the cattle business and
met with deserved success.

He married Elizabeth I-^nvler, daughter of I^. C. Fowler of Cayucos and
a sister of Mrs. C. L. Gruwell, and five children were born to them. Wesley
A. graduated from Chestnutwood Business College at Santa Cruz and from
Heald's I'usiness College in San Francisco, became an expert penman and
bookkeeper, and later bought the Armstrong Business College at San Luis
Obispo and conducted it for a time; but he applied himself so closely to the
work that his health broke and he passed away. Another son is William C. :
Maud is now Mrs. Ford Pearson of Monterey ; and two daughters are Mildred
and Alice. The father died in 1914. .

William C. completed his grammar school studies and then entered Chest-
nutwood College at Santa Cruz, from which he was graduated, and in due
time secured a clerkship with George Bell in Paso Robles. He was not
satisfied with an indoor life and decided that he would make some kind of a
change when opportunity offered. He found employment at the Klau mine
— first called the Karl mine — soon acting as bookkeeper, and then as foreman.
Wlieii his father moved to Paso Robles, he took charge of the ranch and cattle

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 803

business, and in 1909 bought the stock and leased the land and has been uni-
formly successful ever since. For a brand he uses the XL established by
his father, and as an ear mark, a swallow fork and under bit, which is known
by all stockmen in the county.

In connection with his stock business Mr. Bagby purchased, with Ed
Asebez, the Cambria market, and later A. B. Hitchcock became a member of
the firm, when the company became owners of the Central Market in Paso
Robles. Mr. Bagby turned his stock into the business, and the co-partnership
is known as the Butte Cattle Co. They have leased the Taylor ranch near
Klau and now run cattle on it. 'They have their own slaughter house, and
manufacture their own sausage and cure their own hams and bacon. They
have installed modern appliances in their plant and shops, having refrigerator
counters in the Central Market, a cold storage plant and their own ice-making
machiner\', thereby creating the finest and most up-to-date plant in the county.
Besides the four hundred forty acres that Mr. Bagby owns, the company
lease 3,400 acres, on which five hundred head of cattle are kept. They raise
cattle, sheep and hogs, and are large shippers to the markets in San Francisco,
Los Angeles and Santa Cruz.

On September 28, 1910, Mr. Bagby and Miss Alpha PemlxTton were
united in marriage in San Luis Obispo. She is a daughter of Charles and
Maggie (Compher) Pemberton, the former born in Arizona and the latter
near Cambria, Cal. Grandfather Compher was a jMoneer of Cambria, where
he was well known as a slock raiser, and also in the Adelaida district. Mr.
Pemberton was a rancher in Adelaida and is now a resident of Paso Robles.
Mr. and Mrs. Bagby have one child, a son named William Earl P.agby. In
191. T the family moved to a comfortable home in Paso Rol)lcs. where Mrs.
Bagby is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

In 1915, opportunity again knocked at Mr. Bagby's door and he purchased
the Klau mine and interested Messrs. Luchessa and Bianchini in the enter-
prise. They have opened the mine and are retorting quicksilver, have en-
larged the workings and opened up new veins and ledges ; and with the im-
petus of the new owners and the prevailing price of the mineral, the mine
bids fair to become a very important enterprise.

Mr. Bagby is a Republican in politics, although not a politician. He
superintends the ranch' and does most of the cattle buying for the company.
With all his numerous interests taking up so much of his attention, he always
finds time to participate in all progressive movements for upbuilding his
county and state, is known over a wide area, and has friends everywhere.

GEORGE A. FRUITS. — One of the interesting and instructive sights
in tlic vicinity of Templeton is the John Gibson Ranch, the high standard of
wjiiih, and its excellent products, are to be attributed largely to the expe-
rience of .\. I". Gibson and George A. Fruits, his partner, the lessees and
managers. Mr. Fruits is a native of the city of San Luis Obispo, where he was
born on theiast day of August in the year 1882. His father, Robert F., was
also a native son, while his grandfather Fruits was a pioneer in California,
and assisted in the great work of laying the foundations of the State. Having
located here while he was still a young man, Robert Fruits married Miss
Ella Swain, a native Californian, born in Petaluma, who was the daughter of
Capt. Robert C. Swain, a pioneer in San h'rancisco in 1849 after he had
crossed the plains with an ox-team and prairie schooner. He was also for

804 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

years a sea-faring man, becoming captain of a whaler, and later ran one of
the first steam-boats on the Sacramento river.

In 1868, he settled in San Luis Obispo County, near Cayucos, and
in the old days when milk was poured into flat pans and the skimming was
done by hand, he conducted a dairy ranch with as many as one hundred
cows. At the age of ninety-six he died at Santa Maria. In his seventy-fifth
year he was still as active as he was in his prime. It is interesting to note that
George Fruits' great-grandfather and great-grandmother lived to be one hun-
dred fourteen and one hundred sixteen years old, respectively. His mother
now resides in Templetiin. The three other children in the family are:
Walter, a driller in the Santa Maria oil fields ; Robert, who resides in Tem-
pleton ; and Henr}-, who is a tool-dresser in the Santa Maria oil fields.

Educated in the public schools of the county, G. A. Fruits was in the
emplo}- of George Freeman's Ranch, near Morro, when fifteen, and for five
years he worked in a dairy, milking twenty-six cows and making butter. He
next devoted two j-ears of his life to the interests of his mother's ranch, and for
several years he was in the employ of John Gibson. Then he came to Tem-
pleton; at first to run a dray and an express; but in October, 1916, he sold
the outfit and engaged in ranching. With Alexander Gibson he formed a
partnership to lease the John Gibson ranch of 1,800 acres, and these the part-
ners have successfully managed — seven hundred acres being plowed land,
while about four hundred are sown to grain each year.

Mr. Fruits takes pride in his household, which is ably presided over by his
wife, formerly Miss Zella Bierer, who was born at Templeton, of a good old
pioneer family. He is a Woodman of the World, and a Republican.

JOSEPH FLEIG. — That it pays a mechanic to equip himself for expert
work with only the best that is obtainable in instruction and actual expe-
rience, albeit the latter can be won, in the main, only by costly experiment, is
demonstrated in the successful career of Joseph Fleig. the engineer at the
Creston pumping station of the Producers Transportation Co. Born at \'il-
lingen, the ancient manufacturing town of Baden and the center of much of
the famous Black Forest clock-making industry, February 18, 1868, Joseph
was the son of a manufacturing jeweler of the same name, who died in 1913.
His mother, who was born in the same old town, and died there years ago,
was Miss Anne llirt before her marriage. Three children survive of the
eight born to this industrious couple, but Joseph is the only child in the
"United States.

Brought up at \'illingen, wliere he attended the grammar school and the
gymnasium or high school, young Fleig was apprenticed, at the age of
seventeen, to a blacksmith in Einingen, and at the end of two and a half
years, when he was recognized as a journeyman, he traveled through various
parts of Germany and Switzerland to add to his practical experience. In
1888, he came to the United States, and almost immediately to Santa Barbara;
and having an uncle. Mr. Hirt, the owner of a ranch near by, he spent three
years wilii him in farming. He then set up as a blacksmith for a couple of
years at Carpinteria. but selling out located at Creston, where he worked
for Mr. Mason, another rancher. He next started a blacksmith shop in Cres-
ton, taking in a partner and conducting the business under the firm name
of Ward & I'lcig ; and having thus continued for eight years, they dissolved
liartncrship, and Mr. I'leig started a new shop for himself. He built both a

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 805

work house and a residence, but eventually sold these buildings and his
business also.

When the Producers Transportation Co. started their great work of
constructing the huge pipe line, now famous, Joseph Fleig went to work for
them as a blacksmith, and in that capacity helped until all their stations were
completed, finally returning to Creston, where he washed and fired their
boilers. The company, always alert to secure the most expert and depend-
able assistance, made him engineer, and in that responsible position, to which
lie gives all his time, he has been engaged for the last two years. He has
charge of three giant pumps that handle no less than 2.250 barrels of oil
an hour.

With all the historic and picturesque background of old San Luis Obispo,
Joseph I'leig was married to Miss Annie Kehlenbeck, April 30, 1896. The
bride was a native of Bremen, Germany, and the daughter of Hermann and
.\ime Kehlenbeck, farmers of that region. There the mother died; but the
father brought the family of four children to Iowa, where he was laid to rest.
Afiss Kehlenbeck was reared and educated in Iowa, and came to California
first in 1892, when she visited her brother, John, who had settled at San I,uis
Obispo on the Templeton road, near Creston. Five children have resulted
from this marriage : Elsa, Robert, Freida, Rosina and P.ertha.

Although busily engaged in his responsible daily work, Mr. Fleig, as a
typical native of a country famous for its schools, has found time to advance
the cause of education in the country of his adoption, and for seven years
past has given his services as school trustee for Creston.

FRANK A. WESSMAN.— So many instances have been recorded of
pioneers who have left California, and have then returned to remain here, that
the significance of the circumstance has ceased, perhaps, to be noticed; and
yet every story such as that of Frank A. Wessman, who came to California
in 1894, hied himself away after five or six years and could not resist even-
tually making for the Coast again and settling here, is worth permanently
narrating. Various motives have aflfected the masses, but with Frank it was
the climate; and when you are in bleak Anywhere and get the climate of
California on the brain, there is only one thing for you to do: take the first
express train for California, and never alight until your foot touches the
golden sands.

Frank \\'essman is a native of Nerke, Sweden, where he was born on
the 27th of May, 1866. His father was Herman Wessman, a worthy iron
worker and a native of Vermland, who was employed in the iron works at
Svartaa until his death. His mother, who is also dead, was in maidenhood
Miss Beata .Anderson, a native of the same place, and became the mother of
four boys and two girls, of whom one son and two daughters are still living.
Frank was brought up in the village of Svartaa, where he attended the public
school, and on completion of the course at fifteen he also began work in the
iron works under his father, running the tilt hammer.

In 1890, he sailed to Melbourne, Australia, via the Suez Canal. He was
employed in a saw-mill and later worked at gardening; but having a brother,
John, already in California, he landed in San Francisco in January, 1894,
from the steamer "Mariposa," and without much delay joined his brother in
San Luis Obispo County. The two young men bought fifty acres of land
in Bethel district, which they planted to grain; but his brother dying three

806 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

years afterward, I'rank leased the ranch and went back East to the city of
Pittsburgh, where he operated a tilt-hammer in Pike Bros.' steel mill. The
recollection of sininy California, however, haunted him in the smoky, though
prosperous city, and in 1905 he abandoned the Pennsylvania furnaces and
hurried to open, free California, where he once more took up farming on his
ranch. Here he engaged in the raising of grain and planted a small orchard.
He is an enterprising, successful ranchman, and has cleared upwards of fifty
acres and more than quadrupled his money in four years.

Mr. Wessman is a stand-pat Republican, yet with breadth of political
view enough to work hard for the best man. He has been a trustee for three
years of the Swedish Lutheran Church at Tenipleton, and he enjoys the esteem
and good-will of his neighbors.

JOHN JOSEPH PALMER.— One of the steadiest and most popular
n'lcn in San Miguel is John Joseph Palmer, who was born at Oakland, on
December 4, 1871, the son of Michael, a pioneer who came to California about
185.\ In the beginning his father was employed at the lumber yards in
Oakland, and then as foreman for the Southern Pacific Railroad. He lived
thirty years or more in Niles, where he died in April, 1906, at the age of
seventy-seven years. The mother. Miss Margaret Goley before her marriage,
died in 1884, leaving two sons, having had five children.

John Joseph was reared in Niles, educated at the public schools, and
while yet a lad was set to wprk in a nursery. He had an uncle, Andrew Goley,
who was foreman for the Southern Pacific at Santa Margarita, and a cousin,
James Goley, at Templeton. To the former place he came in 1893, and went
to work in a store. In 1895 he entered the service of the Southern Pacific at
Tcm])lcton, remaining until 1897, when he was transferred to Santa Mar-
garita. Some time after this his uncle was badly injured in the wrecking of a
hand-car, so John took his place, for five months, as foreman, at the end of
which time he was transferred to San Miguel; and since 1899 he has been
foreman in charge of eight and a half miles of track stretching from San
Miguel to the Paso Robles city limits.

In San Miguel he married Miss .Margaret Curtin, a native of X'incyard
canon, and a daughter of John Curtin, who was both a jjionecr of Cali-
fornia and a pioneer resident of the vicinity of San Miguel, having resided
there over forty-five years. In early days he was engaged in sheep raising,
and homesteaded his present place in Vineyard canon, Monterey county,
about ten miles from San Miguel, where he still makes his home, lieing now
nearly eighty years of age. He was married in San Francisco to Ellen Cfir-
bctt, of whose companionship he was bereaved about six years ago. The
youngest child in a family of seven, only three of whom are living, Mrs. Palmer
received her education in the public schools of \ineyard canon and San
Miguel.

Mr. and Mrs. Palmer own a jjretty residence, in the \ard of which is a
fine live oak. He is a Democrat in national politics, and a past jiresident of
San Marcos parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West ; he is also past
grand of Nacimiento Lodge No. 340 of the Odd Fellows and an equally
popular member of the Knights of Pythias and the Fraternal Brotherhood,
being ))ast president of the latter. Mrs. Palmer is a member and past presi-
dent of San Miguel Parlor, Native Daughters of the Golden West. She is also
a member of the Fraternal Brotherhood, of which she is ex-secretary.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 807

EDWARD ASEBEZ.^A very iin.mising young administrator in local
business circles, and one wliu has risen by his own efforts, thus acquiring a
most valuable self-control, confidence and the ability both to direct and to
command, is Edward Asebez, who was born at Guadalupe, September 26,
1872, the son of Anastacio Asebez, a native of Mexico. His grandparents
came from Spain, and his father learned the butcher trade in Mexico. Later,
when the gold excitement drew so many to the Pacific slope, he came to
California and went to the mines ; but he found more profit in selling meat
than in digging for the yellow dust, and after prospering as a butcher to the
miners, he removed to the vicinity of Wat.sonville, where he also had a butcher
shop. In the sixties he came to San Luis Obispo County and dealt in cattle ;
at the same time he took up a claim of one hundred sixty acres at the Key-
stone mine, eight miles northwest of Cambria. There he died, an old and
honored settler who had reached his eightieth year. Edward's mother, Placida
Garcia, a native of California, died at Watsonville, the mother of seven chil-
dren, of whom three are now living. Besides the subject of our sketch, there
is a daughter, Mrs. Carmel Soto, who lives near Cambria, and another daugh-
ter, Mrs. Clara Jackson, of San Diego.

The eldest of these children, Edward Asebez, was brought up from the
age of eight years in San Simeon, where he attended the public school, and
even as a lad was introduced to the details of the butcher business as con-
ducted by his father, with whom he continued until the latter sold out. Then
Mdward took a clerkship in a store at San Simeon, where for four years he
was also assistant postmaster.

In 1900, he was appointed postmaster of San Simeon, and at the same
time he started a grocery there, installing the ])ostoffice in a corner of the
store. -Vt the end of three years he resigned his federal office in favor of his
sister, Mrs. Anna Russell, who was thereupon appointed as his successor,
and to her he also sold the store.

During this period of his postmastership lie had become interested with
an uncle, Rafael A. Mora, in a butcher business at Cambria, and had formed
with him the firm of Mora & Asebez; and now that he was free to actively
engage in the l)usiness, he moved to Cambria. Later, with two other partner.^,
Mora & .\sebez bought the Jack ranch of nine hundred five acres, at the head
of Santa Rosa creek, where they went in for stock-raising. They also leased
other ranches, Mr. Asebez attending mostly to the business end of the enter-
prises, acting as bookkeeper. In l'>10, lie and Mr. Furd sold their interest.s
to Messrs. Mora and Hitchcock.

The same year, at Cambria, Edward Asebez was married to Miss Louisa
Soto, a native of this county, who was born at Adelaida, the daughter of
General Soto, born in Monterey, who was a farmer and stockman, and settled
in Adelaida, but returned to Cambria, where he died. Her mother had been
Dolores (Irahalva, a native of San Francisco, and the daughter of John
(Irahalva, wdio came from Mexico as a gold seeker, and who, finding what he
.sought, bought ten acres of land near the Dolores Mission, where he engaged
in business. He later moved to Jolon, Monterey county, where he died, and
where Dolores was married. His wife was Theresa Morano, a native of
Mexico, who died in Belmont. General Soto died in Cambria m 1906. His
widow still owns the farm at Adelaida, but makes her home in Paso Robles
with her dauglUer, Mrs. Asebez. Six of their eight children arc yet living.

808 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND I-:N\'IR0NS

Mrs. Asebcz, who was reared and educated at Adelaitla, being the youngest.
One child has blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. F.dward Asebez — a boy
named Edward Frank.

After his marriage, Mr. Asebez bought, with his lirother-in-law, Cipriano
Soto, the ranch on Santa Rosa creek, which they still own and conduct under
the ]>ersonal charge of Mr. Soto. When he sold his interests in the butcher
business, he retained his interest in the building in Cambria where they had
conducted their business, and in 1913 he bought back the old butcher busi-
ness, and once more undertook its management himself. Later, William
C. liagby became his partner, and together they conducted the firm of Asebez
& Bagby.

Two years afterwards, that is, in 1915, Alvin Hitchcock was made a
partner, and from H. Nelson they bought the Central ]\Ieat Market on Park
street, in Paso Robles. They thereupon formed a co-partnership styled the
Butte Cattle Co., and went in for cattle-raising and butchering. They have
continued the meat market in Cambria, where they also have a first-class
slaughter house. As an expert bookkeeper with a particularly valuable
knowledge of the ins and outs of the cattle and butcher business, Mr. Asebez
has managed the Central Meat Market on Park street, now owned by the
Butte Cattle Co.

As an interesting feature of their uji-to-date outfit and plant, the lirm
has a large modern slaughter-house near town, and leases an extensive stock
ranch near Klau, where they raise cattle whose brand, XL, means decided!}'
sc:)mething to the buyer looking for the best of cattle. Five hundred head
and more of Ilerefords and Shorthorns are kept on this interesting ranch.
Mr. Asebez and his partners are interested in the Klau Mining Co.

Mr. Asebez is an Independent Republican when it comes to matters of
national jjolitical concern, and is a much esteemed citizen whose oj^inions and
influence are sought. He is also po]nilar as a member of the Cambria Parlor
152, Native Sons of the Golden West.

CHARLES REYNOLDS.— A chip off the old block and one that i^ts in
very handily to many a corner and dil'ticult situation, is Charles Reynolds,
the hustling farmer who, assisted by his good wife, has made a success in
agriculture and stock-raising. On the ranch of his father, Dwight Reynolds,
the well-known farmer on the Huer-Huero, three miles east of Paso Robles.
Charles Reynolds was born on June 25, 1880, the third oldest child ; and while
he was being initiated in the work of the farm, he attended the public school
of Dry creek. As a mere lad, he drove the big teams around the ranch and
vied with more seasoned farm-hands in performing the day's labor : so that
it was rather natural, after all, that he should follow where his father led,
and assist in the management of the property known for miles around.

On the threshold of manhood, however, he began to farm for himself, at
first renting the Shackelford place and then, for three years, taking into part-
nersliip his brother, Ross, in the tilling of the 1,200 acres. When this part-
ncrsliip was dissoved, he ran the Sharon place for four years alone, giving
that up to rent for three years some six hundred forty of the Huntington
acres. So well did he succeed in that venture that he branched out, leasing
first the Kuimle ]ilace, then the Bayliss ranch, and finally one of the West
Coast farms, operating in all 1,700 acres, and during the five years using
three big teams and a giant combined harvester. Naturally a good mechanic.

SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 809

he is able to do his own blacksmithing work ; so Mr. Reynolds always main-
tains a blacksmith's shop on his places, and is equipped for every kind of
smithy work that has to be done. Sometimes the horses are shod, and again
the implements repaired or sharpened; and so well is he provided for emer-
gencies, that his forge has served his neighbors when not busy for himself.
I'Vom time to time he has assisted in running a steam thresher, and thereby
ik'xcloped considerable ability as a machinist.

Mr. Re3'nolds is now operating a jnirt of the Huntington place, devoting
nine hundred acres to grain and stock-raising, for which he uses a twelve-
horse team and reaps with a combined harvester run by thirty-three horses
and mules, and gathers the crops of neighboring ranches as well as his
invn. \\ heat, barley, cattle and horses are among the products of his well-
kci)t farm. In the Union district some years ago, Charles Reynolds was
married to a po])ular )-oung lady. Miss Juanita May Reese, a native of Solano
count_v, and a daughter of Jenkin Reese, whose sketch, full of interest, will
be found in another part of our history. They have been blessed with two
children — Elmore Charles and Dorothy. Mr. Reynolds is looked upon as an
exemplary citizen and has served as a schunl trustee of Linne district, lie is
a Socialist.

JOSEPH SCHLEGEL, JR.— The pages of this work would not be com-
plete without a history of Joseph Schlegel, jr., a native son of the county
and a farmer and stockman at Creston who, by his close apiilication, energy
and honorable methods, has become a respected and successful rancher. Born
near Edna, in San Luis Obispo County, Sejjtember 4, 1874, he is the son of
Ji'seph Schlegel, Sr., who was a citizen of the German Fatherland, but who
' ame to the United States when a young man, drifting soon to the Pacific
Coast and to California, which he reached about 187.^.

The father followed farming for a time near Edna, and later at Nipomo,
and soon after, in 1884, bought land in the Geneseo district, where he im-
proved and owned one hundred eighty-seven acres, on which he built a
house and various farm buildings, together with a substantial fence. \\'hen
he finally sold the ranch, he selected San Luis 01)isii<) as his home, and here
lie still resides. Joseph's mother bore the Christian name of Rose.

The second eldest of seven children, Joseph was brought up in San Luis
( )bispo County on his father's farm, and attended the public schools in Genesee
and the Creston districts; learning much about farming while yet a lad, and
especialh' how to gratify a boy's ambition to handle a big team in the grain
fields. In 1907, after he had farmed with his father, he leased the latter's
place and other lands in the neighborhood of their home and operated them
for three years. Then for two years he was a fireman for the Producers Trans-
portation Co., first at Shandon and then at Creston.; after which he also ven-
tured for a year to manage a store. .At present he is farming on the Jones
place, where he is raising barley. lie is also raising cattle and horses.

In Creston, in 1900, Joseph Schlegel. Jr., was married to Miss \iolet
llrumley, a native of this county, who has since died, leaving two children,
1 tester and Rush. He was married the second time in San Luis Obispo,
nig then united with Miss Katherine Stemper, who was born in Tulare
cnunty, by whom he has had two children, Marvin and Dorris. .\ Republican
in national politics, he has served for years as trustee of tiie Creston school
district.

810 SAX LUIS OBlSrO COUNTY AND EWIRONS

MR. AND MRS. CHARLES T. CLAUS.— >L-iny are the remarkal)le
stories of settlers in California who have derived incalculable benefits fmm
the curative eftects of the unrivalled climate, but among the most wonderful
experiences must l)e placed that of Mrs. Charles T. Claus, one of the estimable
pro])rietors of the Eight Mile House, who was miraculously cured of inflam-
matory rheumatism through the drinking of mineral waters that flowed from
the Rinconado mine. The Kight Mile House, with its two hundred twenty acre
ranch of rich soil, abounding with springs so desirable for a stock farm, and
lying three and a half miles above Santa ^Margarita, derives its odd name from
the fact that it was once a celebrated stopping-place on the overland route,
with a large, circular hall given over to dances and sliows, now removed and
rebuilt at Santa Margarita.

Charles Claus was born in Bremen, Germany, on June 17, 1865, and was
educated in the public schools of his native country until he was fourteen
years of age, when he came to America. At Philadelphia he learned the
bricklayer's trade, and in 1884 journeyed west. He first visited Los Angeles,
then w^ent on to San Diego, and continued south until he reached the City of
Mexico, where he spent practically two years.

On returning to San Diego, he began to travel through California, plying
his trade, in summer and winter, and also prospecting on the deserts of Cali-
fornia and Arizona. He first came to San Luis Obispo in 1888; but swayed
by the excitement incidental to the gold discoveries in Alaska, he hurried
away to the north. He had built quicksilver furnaces in different places-
some at Knoxville, Etna, etc., and then at the New Idria mine in San Benito
county — and had also repaired furnaces at the Klau mine; and confident of
winning out, he went to Alaska, with thousands of others. Neither success
nor failure rewarded his etTorts, and in a couple of seasons he was back in
the States.

On his return from Alaska. Charles Claus was married at San Luis
Obispo, Seinemlier 18, 190.5, to Mrs. Cecilia (Carmine) Pedraita, a native of
Giubiasco, Ticino, Switzerland, and the daughter of John and Josephine
(Bomio) Carmine, farmer folk in the pastoral region of her birthplace. Miss
Carmine was brought up in Ticino, and there was first married, to Rufino
Pedraita, also a native of the same place. He was a wheelwright and car-
penter by trade, and came to California in 1882, settling at Cayucos, after
which, the next year, he sent for his wife. Together Mr. and Mrs. Pedraita
engaged in the hotel business at Cayucos ; and their old place, the Cosmo-
pd'itan Hotel, having been burned out, they ran the Exchange Hotel as its
successor, continuing for sixteen years in that field, and in the meantime
erecting the corner bank building in Cayucos.

Then Mr. and Mrs. Pedraita removed to San Luis Obispo, and for six
months conducted the Golden State Hotel there: but on account of Mrs.
I'edraita's se\erc suffering from inflammatory rheumatism, they left the
Mission city and went to Rinconado, where they bought from Maho Bros,
the (|uicksilver mine at which the marvelous cure of the unfortunate lady was
effected. Tlic Rinconado was an old Spanish mine known as la Mina de los
Amigos, or 'The Mine of the Eriends, or Lovers," which had not been worked
for forty or fifty years, lying ten miles from Santa ^largarita, a veritable
volcano, from the top of which one can see through Santa Maria valley into
Santa P.arl>ara countv : and a month after Mrs. Pedraita had first partaken of

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 811

the mineral water flowing from a spring in the mine, she was so completely
cured that she threw away her crutches and has never suffered from the
affliction since. For three years the thankful and confident couple managed
the mine, and then they bought the old Eight Mile House ranch and moved
here, engaging in farming and dairying with a dair\' herd of a dozen or
more cows, and also raising fruit and alfalfa, the ]ilace being well watered
i\v creeks and springs from whicii good water is piped to the residence, dairy
house and barns.

A new sorrow, however, soon overshadowed her life: on June 7, 1900,
Afr. I'edraita died, closing such a life that he is mourned alike by the com-
munity and his devoted wife and eight children. These offspring are :
Theresa, now Airs. Bell, of San Jose ; Angelina, who married Mark Vanoni,
of Geyserville; Charles, of San Jose; Ida, Mrs. Christensen, who resides at
Qucsta ; Romilda, the wife of William McCusick, the rancher, living near
Santa Margarita; Clara, who has become Mrs. Myer and also lives at Geyser-
ville ; Beatrice, who is Mrs. Tate, of Santa Margarita ; and Adeline, who is
at home.

After Mr. Pedraita's death, i\Irs. Pedraila leased the mines for several
years ; and although she still owns the property and it is equipped with two
retorts of ten pipes each, she no longer has it operated. The Rinconado ranch
has about two hundred seventy-one acres, devoted to stock-raising, besides
four mining claims. Mr. and Mrs. Claus also own a ranch of one hundred
sixty acres about two and a half miles from Santa Margarita, which is used
for a range, well stocked with the finest of cattle.

Mrs. Claus is fortunate in having two brothers and a sister in California —
Peter Carmine, a rancher in .\delaida district ; John Carmine, a dairy rancher
at Josephine; and Airs. Caroline Bassi, of Green valley. She is a member of
the Fraternal Brotherhood of San Luis Obispo, and has served as school
trustee of Rinconado. Mr. Claus, on the other hand, has twice been a school
trustee of the .\lma district. Both Mr. and Mrs. Claus are representative
Democrats.

PATRICK O'DONOVAN.— When it comes to knowing something about
t reston, its early days and its first school house, then Patrick O'Donovan will
sure!}' tell you, for he is now the oldest settler there, having come wlien there
were only two other settlers in this entire neighborhood. In County Kilkenny,
in the beautiful Emerald Isle, he was l)orn, far back in 1840, the son of
William O'Donovan, a farmer. Brought up on the home farm, he attended
the national schools. In 1865, he came to the United States, and worked for
a while in the marble quarries at Tuckahoe, N. Y.

Two years later, young O'Donovan came to California and took up his
residence, for six months, in Solano county, where he worked in a nursery.
He then hired himself out to farm at San Jose, and -while tliere married Miss
I'.ridget Taylor, a native of County Wexford, Ireland, after which he came to
San Benito county, where he farmed for four years.

In 1874, he moved still farther, taking up his ])resent i)lace in San Luis
Obispo County. The land was then claimed by the railroad company, but
he located and built upon it, and when it reverted to the government, he
homesteaded and finally proved up on what he wanted. He dug a well, built
his comfortable house — hauling the lumber necessary from Pismo — and also
erected a barn. Then he began in dead earnest to raise stock, grain and hay.

812 SAN LUIS OIUSPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

and. as mi.-jht be expected, lie had pn ipurtirmately good luck. His ranch is
located on the north fork of the lluer-lluero and is well watered with springs,
and he raises Durham cattle and hogs successfully. He bought other land
adjoining, and now owns over eighteen hundred acres, all improved and fenced,
situated five miles southeast of Creston. For some three or four years he
rented out his own ranch, and followed the raising of grain on Carissa Plains.
.\s a result of the marriage referred to, Mr. and ^Mrs. Patrick O'Donovan
have live children — four boys and one girl. William, Edward and Ambrose
are successfully ojjcrating together a large ranch, a part of the .Ambrose tract,
while John is a farmer on his own ranch at Creston. The daughter, Mary,
has become Mrs. John J. Ryan, of Creston. Air. O'Donovan was one of the
original stockholders in the Farmers Alliance Business Association, was a
director in the company and, with the late Andrew Nelson, paid in the first
monev to secure the lot for the present warehouses, which meant much to
the grain growers, as it reduced the storage charges.

.\ true-blue Republican wdio has been a member of the county central
committee, Mr. O'Donovan has served upon the grand jury, and was dcinity
assessor under Charles King. He has also been a school trustee of the Huer-
Huero district nearly all the time since the district was formed, and ])art of
this time the clerk of the board. This reminds one that when he built the
first school house it was at his own expense. It was constructed of logs to
the eaves, and tlic balance of shakes and boards. It was but 14x24 feet in
size, and the benches and desks were made at the same time. The school-
house stood only about half a mile from his place, and Patrick C3'Donovan
was among the first to build a road through the section. He is well read
and keens abreast of the times, and having a retentive memory with his genial
and witty disposition, is an interesting talker and. with his estimable wife,
is very kind hearted and hospital)le.

JACOB SILAS TWITCHELL.— One is so accustomed to read, hear
and speak of the hardships to wdiich the pioneers w'ho settled in California
were exposed, and all the privations they sufl'ered before they came out of the
wilderness and the snows into the fairest land God ever gave to man, that
there is great danger of dealing in generalities and so failing to be suitably
impressed by what these same pioneers really underwent in order to lay the
foundations' of this commonw^ealth. It is only wdien we ponder over the
almost unbelievable details of a story such as that in wdiich the ancestors of
Jacob Silas Twitchell figure and loom large that we marvel first at what
inen had to suffer in order to bring about the more improved conditions of
siicial life. and. secondlv, that those who enjoy such domestic blessings do
not, in many cases at least, appreciate what they are heir to. Jacob's grand-
father, losiah, who died at San Juan, came from Scotland, first settling in
Ohio, then ]>assing west to Illinois, and finally, in 1847, starting on a two
years' trip across the continent to California, He was accompanied by his
son. Sanford Lorenzo Twitchell, Jacob's father, who was born in Ohio and
had married, in Kentucky, Miss Irene Hopper, a native of that state, and a
<l,ingliler nf William Hopper, wdio came across the plains at the same time,
an.l wh.. died at San Juan, while Irene's mother died at Templeton.

With wagons made so that they could be easily converted into boats
and used for the crossing of streams, the elder Tw^itchell and his son set out
a coui)le of vcars before the great gold excitement, and passed their first

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 813

winter at the Alississippi river and the next at Salt Lake City. There were
five hundred wagons in the ox-team train, but notwithstanding the size of
the cavalcade, the emigrants were frequently attacked by Indians, and in two
of the engagements seven of the pioneers were killed. To add to their plight,
some of the oxen were captured by the Indians, after which the hard-pressed
pioneers had to use cows to draw some of their wagons. On July 1, 1849,
the Twitchells arrived in the tent town of Sacramento, and there, five days
later, Celesta Ann Twitchell was born as the first white child. For a while
Jacob's father worked in the mines, and so successfully that he accumulated
no less than $60,000; but one day when he had left his cabin at Angels Camp
— the same historic dug-outs forever associated with Mark Twain's story of
the Jumping Frog of Calaveras County^robljers entered his shack and robbed
him of all that his hard toil had provided.

.\fter that, Sanford Twitchell removed to San Juan, Monterey county,
and there, on May 15, 1862, Jacob S. Twitchell was born. Sanford entered
upon and improved government land, converting the wilderness into a farm,
and in 1880 he located in San Luis Obispo County, in the Asuncion district,
where he bought a farm seven miles west of Templeton. Again he entered
and improved land, taking title to three hundred twenty acres, and there,
on April 6, 1900, he died. Sanford Twitchell had nine children : Celesta
Ann, now Mrs. Peacock, who lives at Stockton; Martha, who became Mrs..
.\dkins and who lives at Oceano ; Phyllis, deceased; Marion, who resides at
the old homestead; William, who lives in San Luis Obispo County; John,
who lives in Summerhuul ; Charles, who died at the old home in 1898; Hannah,
now Mrs. Wt'lls, who lives- on Carissa Plains: and Jacob Silas, the subject of
our sketch.

\\ hile attending the Monterey public schools, Jacob grew up on a ranch,
and e\en as a lad learned to drive big teams and to ride after cattle. Em-
ployed by Flint & Bixby, in 1877, he came to San Luis Obispo County on a
trip, which consumed six weeks before he could return, and in 1880 his father's
family came to this county. Jacob remained home until he was twenty-six
years of age; then, on December 17, 1889, he married, at San Luis Obispo,
Miss Sophia Woon, a native of Nevada, and the daughter of Albert Woon, a
Canadian, whose father had come from England. Albert Woon had been a
carpenter, and later had set himself up as a wheat merchant ; and while cross-
ing the continent he had stopped for a while in Nevada. Arriving at Santa
Barbara, I\lrs. Woon died, and at San Luis Obispo the father also passed
away. The Woons had three children— the others beside Mrs. Twitchell
being Carrie, who died at the age of sixteen, and Ernest, who lives in
Carpinteria.

After marrying, Jacol) Twitchell took a trip to Humboldt county, then
returned to San Benito county and to Panociie valley, where he lioniesteaded
and farmed for fourteen years. In 1903, he removed to Oceano and engaged
in the livery business. Three years later, he came to the place where he is
at present. He bought three hundred thirty-seven acres three miles from
Creston, and there has attained the success in farming, dairying, stock-raising
and the growing of grain which has made him one of the most experienced
ranchers of the locality. He is also farming three hundred twenty acres on
Carissa Plains. Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Twitchell have five children: Maud.
better known as Mrs. Wilson, of Carpinteria; Carrie, who has become Mrs.

814 SAN LUIS OlilSIT) COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Kcndricks, of Santa Margarita: Mailie, Mrs. Suttin. df Santa P,arl)ara : and
Octavia and llcrllia, who art- at home. l!y all these he does his full duty as
a parent, and what is more, he takes a special pleasure in workinsr for the
children of other folks, having served as school trustee of his district. Me is
a Republican in |)olitics.

EDWARD BOUCHER BALLARD.— In the very interesting, half-ro-
manlic career of K. B. Hallard may l>e seen how the changes and chances of
fortune have conditioned the selection of much of the best citizenship of the
Golden State. Born at Brighton, England, September 23, 1860, Mr. Ballard
is the great-great-nephew of Rear-Admiral Volant Vashon, of the English
Navy, who was knighted Commander of the Bath, and the grandson of Volant
Ballard, born about 1774, who accompanied the expedition of Vancouver to
the northwest coast of America and who, in 1825, because of a share in the
capture of the Guadalupe, was also made Rear-Admiral, dying in 1833. He
is the son of James Ballard, a native of England, who was born at Hereford
in 1818, and who became a captain in the English Navy, serving there until
he was married, and retiring in 1868, although he lived to be ninety-eight
years old.

E. B. Ballard's mother, too, had equally interesting family and histrn-ical
associations. She was Miss Charlotte Hale before her marriage, a native of
Hambleton, Hampshire, England, and the daughter of Edward Hale, a country
gentleman, whose wife was Catherine Downman, the daughter of Admiral
Hugh Downman, who was with Nelson at Trafalgar.

Seven children were born to Captain and Mrs. James Ballard, and of
these, E. B. Ballard was the eldest, a brother, Ca])tain Caspar Ballard, being
the youngest captain in the English navy, and now commanding the super-
dreadnought, H. M. S. Hibernia. Educated at the public school at Clifton,
and at the Military school near Eton, E. B. Ballard enlisted in the English
army and was commissioned first lieutenant of the Third Battalion, Prince
of Wales' Own. Unfortunately, however, from a child of two years he had
been a sufiferer from asthma. Obtaining no relief, he was finally advised
by physicians to seek the climate of the western United States. He therefore
resigned his commission, and came to Iowa. Einding himself in no respect
improved, and discouraged ahiKJSt to despair, he was lucky to get a line from
a friend, written, perhaps, half as much in jest as in earnest. Horace .\nnesley
X'achcll. the English writer, now of established fame, having seen a pumpkin
at .Arroyo Grande weighing one hundred three pounds, wrote to Ballard to
come on to the Coast, where cabbages grew to a hundredweight; and in 1882
he hastened here to lind, to his conlintied discouragement, that the ;isthnia
still bothered him.

It was then that .Mr. I'liillips, who hail laiil out Huer-Hucro rancho and
subdivided the lands adjoining, induced Mr. Ballard to accompany a party
on a camping trip to that locality, and Mr. Ballard accepted and reached the
site of what is now Vachell ranch. He had never been able for years to sleep
\lir(iughont an entire night without getting up, generally at two or three
o'clock, to more freely breathe; and anticipating the same experience again,
he was snrjiriscd, on arising, to find that it was daylight, and that there was
no one around but the Chinese cook, who told him he was "heap lazy man."
It was after eight o'clock, and the rest of the party had gone about whatever
they wished to do. .\fter sleeping a couple of nights more at the camp. Mr.

SAN LUIS OBISI'U COUNTY AND KNX'IRONS 815

Balhinl tulil his host that he did not know whether lie could make a living
there or not, but he could certainly sleep soundly, and if Mr. Phillips would
sell him some land, he would attempt to settle near him. On going back to
Arroyo Grande after thirty days at Creston, he again had the asthma, and
that was enough to convince him as to the wisdom of his move.

On first reaching California, in 1880, with his friend, Mr. Vachell, they
purchased the Tally-Ho ranch at Arroyo Grande, which they farmed until
1886, when it was sold. It was in 1884 that Mr. Ballard, with his friends,
the Vachells, came to Creston, being among the first to settle on the new
subdivision. They bought three thousand acres, and later divided it and dis-
solved partnership. Mr. Ballard kept six hundred forty acres, his present
home site on Huer-Huero west. In 1885, he built on the place, and has since
made it his home, being engaged in general farming and stock-raising with
much success, and once more in possession of good health, enjoying life
thoroughly.

At San Luis Obispo, Mr. Ballard was married to Miss Georgiana P. Hays,
a native daughter of San Francisco, whose father was Dr. \V. \V. Hays, a
pioneer, who came to California by way of Panama, and was the first prac-
ticiiiL; ph3'sician in San Luis Obispo county, continuing to practice there
until 1901. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ballard: Volant
\"asli(in. a graduate of the Boston School of Technology, who is now with
the Interstate Commerce Commission, valuing railroads ; Helen Mabry, a
graduate of Miss Orton's Classical School at Pasadena, who has been engaged
for two years in teaching and is now doing graduate work at the University
(if California; and William Hays, who is in attendance at the same university.

A member of the Episcopal Church, Mr. Ballard finds additional social
recreation in the circKs of the Independent Order of Foresters at San Luis
Obispo.

ELLARD W. CARSON.— .\ native son of the Golden State, and one who,
since his school days were over, has been associated with mining interests,
Fllard W. Carson was born in San Jose, on September 2, 1877, a son of
George Carson, a native of Detroit, Mich., and grandson of James Carson,
a native of New York City, who was engaged in copjier mining in the
Lake Superior region, and a man who made and lost several fortunes in
mining ventures. He met an accidental death while on a mining trip
through being run over l)y a railmad train. George Carson received a good
education in the schouls of Michigan and New York, and was married in
Detroit to Eleanor Carter, a native of \'ermont. About 1874 he came
to California, locating in San Jose, where, with Charles Hensley, he installed
ilie first telephone system in that city. He later l)ecame coimceted with the
New Almaden quicksilver mines in Santa Clara county, and retained his con-
nection with the mining enterprise there for many years, becoming cashier
and chief accountant, but finally retired with his wife to jirivate life in San
Francisco. There were eight children in tlieir family. Eliard \V. being the
third in order of birth.

He attended the public schools in San Jose, graduating from the high
school in 1.^96. His father having connections with the mining company at
New Almaden. it was but natural that the son should take up that line of
work. Beginning at the bottom, he spent seven years in the various depart-
ments, ranging from mucker to assistant superintendent, resigning then to

816 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

acce])t a position with tlic Oceanic Alining Co. in San Luis Obispo County,
where he was sujjerintendent until 1908, serving also as superintendent of the
Camljria Quicksilver Mining Co. Resigning his position, he went to Los
Angeles, bouglit a residence, and for the next si.x years followed mining
engineering in California, Arizona and Nevada. In 1914 he returned to San
Luis Obispo County to reopen the Cambria mines, and continued in his posi-
tion of superintendent until they were closed. On the opening of the Oceanic,
he became manager there, where he has remained to the present time.

Mr. Carson was united in marriage in San Francisco with Miss Catherine
Miles, who was born in that city, where she graduated from a girls' high
schuul and the San I'Vancisco Normal, and was engaged in educational work
for three years. Imxc cliihiren have blessed their union — Carter, Ellard, John,
Catherine and Mary.

Air. Carson was a member of the board of education while he lived at
New Abnadcn, and part of the time was clerk; he was also trustee of Mam-
moth Rock and of San Simeon districts during his term of residence in this
county. He is a member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers,
and of the Sierra Madre Club of Los Angeles, where he also holds member-
ship in the St. Cecelia Church ; and he is a member of the San Luis Obispo
Lodge of Elks. On national issues, he is a Republican, while in local attairs
he supports the men and measures he considers best suited for the good of the
people of the section most interested. He is wide awake to the opportunities
offered in every calling in the state, and wherever he is known he has friends.

HENRY CLAY KELSEA.— Never, perhaps, in modern times has the
soldier been so often in the minds and hearts of patriotic citizens, and yet
it is not alone the warrinr who is fighting the battles of the present, and
therefore deciding the issues of the future. Such a veteran as Henry C.
Kelsea comes in for a full share of honor and good wishes, thinking people
everywhere recognizing the fact that he contributed his part in determining
many of the stable conditions of today and securing many of the blessings
we all now enjoy. The grandson of William Kelsea, a native of New Hamp-
shire, of Scotch descent, who was a captain in the War of 1812, and once
owned the town site of Lisbon, N. H., Henry's father was Benjamin Franklin
Kelsea, a farmer, who grew up in New Hampshire where he was born, became
a merchant and the postmaster under Lincoln and Johnson at Center Har-
bor, in that state, and there died. Henry's mother iiad been Miss Afartha
Merrill, who was born at LandafT, N. H., the granddaughter of Ebenezcr
Merrill, also a native of the Granite State, and a relative of the Ladd and the
Noah Webster families.

r.orn at Lisbon, September 11, 1845. the only boy in a family <<{ two
children, Henry Kelsea attended the public schools of iiis district six months
in the year, and worked on his father's farm the rest of the season. He also
attended the Aleredith high school; leaving which he clerked in his fatlier's
store. At sixteen, he started to learn the machinist's trade, entering a shop
at I.rd<e \illage. now Lakeport, N. H.; but when the bugles summoned the
youth oi ilu' land to the support of the Federal Government, the young man
leli his IxiKJi and ])laced himself at the service of his country.

On .\ugust 20, 1861. he began his notable military career b\- enlisting in
Co. K. later C... 1. of the .^Ith N.' 11. \"ol. Inl. He fought particuiarly with the

SAN LUIS OlilSI'O COUNTY AND I'.NVIRONS 817

Army of the Potomac, took part in thirty-two engagements, including sucli
notable battles as that of the Wilderness, Antietam, Cold Harbor, Deep JJot-
tom and Gettysburg, and was present at Lee's surrender and saw General
Lee and his staff paroled. During this arduous service, he was wounded in
front of Petersburg, Jul)' 19, 1854, through the exploding of a shell, which
i)roke his collar bone and ril), at a time when the bullets were so thick that
some of them cut his leather ijelt and he lost his canteen; and when he was
mustered out at Arlington Heights he was one of only one hundred sixty-one
of the heroes who remained from a regiment of two thousand eight hundred.
At Concord, N. H., on July 5, 1865, young Kelsea, who had thus proven his
right to citizenship in a repuljlic, was honorably discharged; and ever since
he has enjoyed the esteem of his fellow-men. Particularly has he received
all possible courtesy and honor in the circles of the veterans themselves, hav-
ing been a member of Phil Sheridan Post 34, at Salem, Mass., and later of
Shiloh Post, G. A. R., at Compton, and post commander for about twenty
seasons, as well as assistant inspector general under Department Commander
W . A. llarnes.

Resuming again the vocations of ])eace. Mr. Kelsea j)Ut in a summer
with the Morse Telegraph Co., and then went tij Danvers, Mass., where, for
two years, he worked at the shoemaker's trade. Believing that he could
better his condition by taking up some other line of work, he accordingly
selected the trade of carpenter and, going to Salem, Mass., worked at that
trade until he became an efficient workman. He then began taking contracts
and followed the business in Salem, Marblehead and Boston.

The 30th of August, 1870, witnessed the marriage of Henry C. Kelsea
and Miss Mary E. W'ilkins at Danvers. wiiere the bride was born, the daughter
of Frederick A. and Sarah K. (huller) W'ilkins. both members of old families
of English descent. Her grandfather W'ilkins had fought in the War of 1812
against the British, and her father was a shoe manufacturer at Danvers, and
for twenty-eight years the postmaster of the town. When ill-health overtook
him, he resigned from office; but ere the government could accept his resig-
nation he had died. Miss Mary Wilkins was brought up in Danvers, attended
the public school there, and finally graduated from the high school.

Mr. Kelsea continued in business as a well-known and successful con-
tractor and builder in Boston until 1874, when he decided to join the great
stream of pioneers still making for the Pacific Coast. Accordingly, the young
couple sailed for and crossed the Isthmus of Panama, and having arrived in
San Francisco proceeded by water to Santa Barbara. P'roni that coast town,
they came by stage to Los Angeles, and there Mr. Kelsea entered the employ
of the Southern Pacific Railroad Co., taking charge of a construction gang at
work building bridges and buildings. During this time he superintended the
putting up of tanks and stations from f.os Angeles to Mojave, and also under-
took much the same work on the N'uma di\isi(jn. I'inally, he resigned and
left the service of the railroad company.

Joined by his family in 1876, Mr. Kelsea soon afterward took up his
residence in the new town of Compton, where he contributed much toward
founding the place and directing the lines of its expansion. I'irsl he bought
twenty-eight acres of attractive ranch land, and later another forty acres, and
in the meantime resumed his work as a contraclt)r and builder in Compton
and Los .\ngeles. erecting in the former place the East Side schools, two

818 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EN\"IRONS

grammar schools, the high school and the luiterjjrise school, as well as the
farm house on the famous Dominguez ranch. At that time and for several
years, tiie community was much molested by the depredations of horse and
cattle thieves ; and when the nuisance became unbearable, Henry Kelsea,
in the true spirit of a veteran soldier, organized a vigilance committee, and
within three or four years made the horse and cattle thief a terror of the past.
The members of the committee were sworn to secrecy; they went forth into
the brush with masks over their faces, and neither communicating their
identity tn anotlur nor asking for the name of those alert and watchful at
their side; they found the lair of the thieves and, at some personal risk
and with no little display of bravery, they scattered • and overawed the
thieves who had been so long intimidating the colonist farmer. In 1907,
Mr. Kelsea and family removed to Alhambra, where he built a residence and
continued to operate as a contractor and builder.

In the spring of 1914 this sturdy pioneer took possession of his present
place, the Hill Crest ranch, four miles to the south of Creston, where he
purchased four hundred sixty acres for a stock ranch. He set out a fine
orchard, built a spacious, comfortable residence, and made numerous im-
provements such as gratify the ambition and pride of any first-class rancher.
Tn time, he constructed three sets of houses and out-buildings on the ranch,
and in these adjoining dwellings live his children, who assist in the manage-
ment of the ranch, a considerable part of which is given to grain as well as
to stock. Mr. Kelsea has made several tours of investigation, including a
journey to Central America and one to Alaska, as well as a trij) to Arizona,
New Mexico and Mexico.

I'ive children have blessed the union of Miss A\"ilkins and Henry Kelsea:
Fred, who married Miss Sarah Lothrop, is a carpenter at Long Beach : Frank
is a machinist at Los /\ngeles; Harry is a contractor in the same city; and
Chester, and Gertrude, now Mrs. Liston, are on the ranch.

A Rei)ublican in matters of national politics, but decidedly non-partisan
in local issues, Mr. Kelsea has contributed generously of his time as school
trustee; while Mrs. Kelsea has been very active in promoting the best inter-
ests of the I'arent-Teachers Association.

GEORGE WEIR.— One need not wonder at ihc reputation of George
Weir, the mechanic and engineer, for line work, which has contributed so
much to his personal popularity, for he belongs to one of the most service-
able and honorable of all ancient handworker guilds, that of the sturdy black-
smith. Born at St. Louis on June 30, 1875, he is the son of Peter Weir, a native
of Germany, who settled as a farmer some thirteen miles from the chief city
of Missouri, and who, in the fall of 1883, brought his family to Estrella,
California, following here his brother, John Weir, a settler in the year 1864.
As soon as possible, Peter Weir homesteaded and improved one hundred
twenty acres, which now, in his retirement at the age of eighty-seven, he
rents to his son, Henry. George's mother, who was Frl. Catherine Stroh
before her marriage, and was also a native of Germany, died in 1891.

One of seven boys, four of whom are now living, George Weu- w.is
brought up in St. Louis until he was nine years old, attending the public
schools there as well as in Estrella; and as a boy he learned both the black-
smith trade and how to run a thresher. Until his nineteenth year. too. he
helped his father; but a dry year having rendered agriculture un])rolitable.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EWIRONS 819

he quit the farm and went to San Francisco, entering the machine shops of
the California Street Railway. When the car strike of 1907 broke out, how-
ever, he left that city and removed to San Leandro, where he engaged with
the Best Harvester Co., and after two years he pushed on to Bakersfield.
Still later, he was with the Standard Oil Co. in the Kern River field, and in
Midway was their engineer and machinist. Then, for nearly two years, he
was the machinist in charge of the Bakersfield garage.

\\'ith a clear and valuable record for conscientious, painstaking service,
George Weir resigned the last-mentioned engagement to accept a post with
the Producers Transportation Co., going to the Junction for four months as
fireman and then putting in two years as engineer at Antelope, from which
place, in 1913, he came to Creston Station, where he was engineer in charge.
The well-being of three engines, aggregating thirteen hundred h. p., together
with pumps capable of handling 2,324 barrels an hour, and over a million
barrels a month, was entrusted to his intelligence, experience and care. On
February 9, 1917, he was promoted to be foreman in charge of the tank farm
at San Luis Obispo for the same company.

While at Bakersfield, Mr. Weir was married, un June 12, 1910, to Miss
Eda \^an Harreveld, a native of Haarlem, Holland. She is a daughter of
Bertlemes Phillips and Catherine (Weller) Van Harreveld ; the mother died ■
some years ago and the father is a business man in Haarlem. Of their six
children, four are in California, Mrs. Weir being the second oldest and
liaving come to the Coast in 1907. Mr. and Mrs. Weir have one child, a son,
Louis. Mr. Weir was made a Mason in San Miguel Lodge No. 285, F. & A.
M., and is a member of San Luis Obispo chapter. Royal Arch Masons, and of
the Woodmen of the World. In national politics, Mr. Weir is a Republican.
He gladly gives of his time and means to aid all worthy movements promoted
for the benefit of the people of the county.

JACKSON RODKEY MATNEY.— Two old, prosperous families, with
ail the interesting history usually found in annals of such successful pioneers,
are represented in Mr. and Mrs. Jackson Rodkey Matney, whom fortune
made esteemed residents of Creston, whereas Mr. Matney's grandfather, Carl
Matney. crossed the plains from the East to Oregon. There J. R. Matney's
father, Carl Sumner Matney, was born. He came to Modoc county, Cal., a
young man, and grew up in the stock business. In 1881, Carl S. Matney re-
moved to Tulare county, but after six years came to San Luis Obispo. Even
then he was not ready to settle down ; for a while he farmed west of Tem-
l)leton. in the Ascencion district, but then removed to Santa Maria, where he
bought a farm and commenced the raising of bean.s. Succeeding in the ex-
periment, he leased other lands and expanded his business steadily until,
in 1911, he died. Carl S. Matney's wife, who had been Miss Terrah Patterson,
was a native daughter of California, and died in November, 1915. Her father,
Joseph Patterson, crossed the plains to California as a pioneer and was an
early settler and stockman.

The second eldest of six children, and one who was taken about a good
deal in his childhood and youth. Jackson R. Alatney attended school more or
less irregularly until he was fourteen, when he had to push out for himself.
Then he began to work on a ranch, where he learned to raise stock and grain.
After a while, he rented some land at Creston, including a part of the Ambrose
ranch and the Commercial Bank lands: and having farmed that for a year.

820 SAN LUIS (JBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

he t(K)k the luldy place of nine luindred acres, which he operated for four
years, farming it to grain and stock.

In 1916, -Mr. ?*Iatney leased the place lie now manages, adding since then
the Mosher farm of 1,850 acres, and using the whole for general farming and
stock-raising. He has chosen for his brand, now well known, the rather
original design of a 7 and an L. so joined as one symbol that it almost resem-
bles the letter Z. I'or the raising of his wheat and barley, he keeps one big
team more than busy.

Many couples go to historic old San Luis Obispo to be joined in holy
wedlock, and so it was with Jackson Rodkey Matney, when he married Miss
Blenda Hansen, a native of San Luis Obispo County, and the daughter of
Lars O. S. Hansen, a pioneer residing at that county seat. One child — Jack-
son Elsworth Matney — has resulted from this marriage.

A good citizen of Republican political tenets, Mr. Matney is serving the
public well as school trustee of the Iron Springs district.

CLYDE WORDEN. — A young native son who is making his mark,
and one, by the way, who is likely to stick, is Clyde Worden, who has the
distinction of being the first child born — December 18, 1893 — in the town
of Shandon. His father is Solomon Truman Worden, a native of Adrian,
Mich., with a Civil War record such as any one might be proud of, who vis-
ited Northern California, then came to this county, and finally located near
San Luis Obispo. The first settler at Shandon, he built there the first house
— afterward known at the Hotel Shandon — although, in his later years, he
has removed to the Southland, and now resides in Long Reach. Mrs. Wor-
den, who was known before marriage as Miss Clara Skellcnger, has been
twice joined in wedlock. She was first wedded to a ;\Ir. .Mien, and then to
ilr. Worden.

Clyde Worden, the youngest of three children, attended the public schools
at .'^handtjn, where he grew up until, at the age of nineteen, he entered the
emidoy of the Producers Transportation Co., a concern always on the look-
out for bright young men, and then particularly desirous of the best material
for aid in constructing their great pipe-line. With pick and shovel he began
at the bottom, and walked the line, for two years, between the four stations
and the Junction, looking for leaks, and digging into the ground, calking and
hammering the pipe where trouble was detected and the source discovered.
He then became fireman, first at .Antelope, then at Coalinga, and finally at
Middle Water. For a time his labors were interrupted when an accident
nearly co.st him his life.

A bursting boiler missed his body by only four or five feet, but the shock
so bruised and incapacitated him that he was laid u]) in the hospital for a
month, and was then compelled to take a three months' vacation to fully recu-
l^erate. When he returned to work, it was to serve as ganger at Port .San
Luis, after which he washed the boilers, for three months, at Santa Margarita
in ordir to get used again to the business. Finally he was fireman at the
Junction, and once again at .\ntelopc. The third of November, 1916, saw
liini tr.insferred to Creston, where he holds the same i)osition. He is also
as'-idnoiisly studying engineering.

M old San Luis Obispo Clyde Worden was married to Miss Pearl Waite,
a native of the I'".agle district, and a daughter of .\. W. and I'.mma (lloi)per)
Waite, long highly-respected residents there.

SAN LUIS OIUSPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 821

JOHN WORK. — A resident of California for the past thirty-six years
and of his present place for thirty years, and a pioneer who has both wit-
nessed the wonderful transformations wrought in the development of the
Golden State, and has become a part of the miracle, John Work was born
at Littleness, in the Shetland Islands, in 1861, the son of Thomas Work, who
was also born there, as were his forefathers for generations. Grandfather
Captain Thomas Work was a seafaring man, and for years master of a whaler,
until he settled down on land at the age of sixty-five, lie died when ninety-
nine years old.

Thomas W^ork also fcjllowed the sea, but as a fisherman, and in addition
he was a farmer. When lie married, he chose Agnes Ro1)ertson, another
native of that section, for his wife, a young woman who came from the
mainland. The mother died when John was fifteen years old, and Thomas
Work finally came to California and spent his last days with the subject of
our sketch, dying in his sixtj'-seventh year. He was prominent in the Bap-
tist Church, and served as a local preacher, and he was therefore much inter-
ested in spreading the gospel to all men.

Mr. and -Mrs. Work had five children, 'i'lie eldest was John, of this
review. Then came Janet, later Mrs. Garrick, in San Francisco; Mary, who
died in Monterey; Agnes, Mrs. Atkins, who resides near ^yatsonville ; and
Thomas A., who lives in Pacific Grove, where he is a prominent builder and
real estate operator. Thomas A. AVork is jiresident of the First National
Bank of Monterey.

John Work was brought u\) in the Shetland islands, and was educated
in the private schools of his home region. In 187S, when he was seventeen
years old, he came to the United States and proceeded to Detroit, where he
had two aunts li\ing; and soon after he was in the employ of Pingree &
Smitli. shoe manufacturers, following which he came to Fstabrook Park, in
Colorado.

That was in 1880, and after a four montlis' sta)- there, he removed west
:-i California, arriving in the spring of 1881. lie first located in Monterey.
where he was employed on a ranch, of which he became, in time, foreman.
Tliis was the ranch that sui)plied Monterey and Pacific Grove residents with
milk, and Mr. Work was kept busy enough to meet all demands and main-
1 .in ihe high standard lie had set for his dairy products.

.\boui 1887, or during the great California boom, Mr. Work came to the
\icinity of San Miguel, and just in time to 'witness the development of the
railroad there. He purchased his first one hundred sixty acres, buying a
possession right and paying therefor one thousand dollars, lie selected the
place because it had a good spring, j)re-em])ting and proving up, and be-
,gan to farm and raise stock. He broke up the land, and soon had a hundred
twenty-five acres under the ]>low. The progress made at the start was slow
enough, and in looking back it seemed to the ambitious ranchman almost
impossible to accoinplish anything worth while with wiieat selling at sixt}'-
five cents per cental, steers at fifteen dollars per iiead, hogs at less than
three cents per pound, and work-horses at twenty-five dollars each. He saw
the necessity for larger areas of land to range his stock, and to permit him to
rest the land two or three j'ears between crops.

Having come to his conclusions and decided on a more extensive pro-
gram, Mr. \\'ork began purchasing land as soon as his means would permit.

822 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

buyiiij; quarter sections adjoining' whenever one was for sale ; and now he
has about 7,000 acres in a l:)ody, which he has fenced into fields of about a
thousand acres each. Here, by the aid of a system of summer fallowing^, he
is raising good crops.

The Work ranch is located in the old Independence precinct of the
Ranchito Canon, where over thirty families originalh- made their home. In
grain raising they sow about seven hundred acres a year, and operate with
three big teams, using a combined harvester to gather the crop. The}' have
barns in the different fields for hay and for sheltering the stock during the
work season, thus accommodating the horses without the necessity of
making trips to and from work. He is also engaged extensively in raising
cattle of the Durham and Hereford strain, carrying about three hundred
head on the place. He built a comfortable and commodious residence, and
the yard is overshadowed by a majestic oak, one of the largest in these parts.

Mr. Work is philanthropic, enterprising and public-spirited, and ever
ready to help those who have been less fortunate. He is also a stockholder
in the Mrst National Bank of Monterey, and is president of Mission Ware-
house Co. in San Miguel that built the large iron warehouse there for the
storing of hay.

In Ranchito Canon occurred the marriage of John Work and Mattie
Jones, who was born in Canton, Mo., the daughter of John T. Jones. He
settled in this vicinity about thirty years ago, was a pioneer farmer, and
died here. His widow, Mrs. Ilanna, resides at Vineyard Canon. Mr. and
Mrs. Work have four children living: Agnes is engaged in the millinery busi-
ness in Winters ; Robert, who is a graduate of Ileald's Business College of San
Jose, is now operating the ranch ; P.ellc, a graduate of Heald's Business Col-
lege, is Mr. Work's bookkeeper, and Alice is a senior at the Paso Robles high
school.

Popular in social circles, Mr. Work is particularly so among the Masons,
having i)cen made a member of that t>rder in .San Miguel Lodge. No. 285,
F. & A. M. He is al-so a member, with his wife and two eldest daughters,
of the Order of the Eastern Star. Mrs. Work and the children are members
of the Christian Church. In matters of national politics, Mr. Work is an
ardent Rc])ul)lican.

JOHN J. RYAN. — Whoever has enjoyed the comfortable hospitality
of the Creston House, and realized how much its successful management re-
flects tlie attraction and prosperity of the town, must have felt that the well-
known hostelry has always reflected the progressive and sterling character
of its proprietor. Jolm J. Ryan, abso engaged in the raising of cattle and
horses. Born near Kilmccdy, County Limerick, Ireland, June 12, 1882. the
son of a farmer, he attended the public schools of his locality, and at the age
of eighteen went to London, where he secured work as a baggage-man on the
London & North Western Railway. After six months of that service, he put
in a year with a contractor who transformed the street railways, equipping
them v.itli electric instead of horse-power.

Ilaxing concluded another year there as check-man in control of the
building materials, John Ryan came to Canada in 1903, and went to work in
Ontario for half a year's farming. He then started for Oregon, but on ac-
count of luavy snows at Salt Lake City he changed his course and his des-
tination, and made for California, arriving in San Francisco in October, 1904.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 823

For six months he was with a cement contractor; but having a cousin,
M. II. .\nibrose, residing in Crcston — whom, by the way, he ran across acci-
dentally in the northern metropolis, by noting his name on a hotel register —
Mr. Ryan came to Creston, where he has since made his home. He began to
A-ork at driving big teams for John McDonald, and after a year started in
farming for himself on the Ambrose ranch.

At the end of twelve months, Mr. Ryan married, at the old Mission
church in San Luis Obispo, Miss Mary Ann O'Donovan, a native Californian
and a daughter of the pioneer, Patrick O'Donovan, whose interesting history
is found elsewhere in this work. She grew up at Creston. After his mar-
riage, Mr. Ryan still continued farming, on a different part of the Ambrose
ranch, managing from four hundred to six hundred acres, a part of which was
devoted to stock-raising. So successful was he that he maintained two big
teams ; but tiring of farming, at least for a time, he sold his outfit and, in
October, 1915, ventured into the hotel business, buying out the SchlegclHotel,
and making of it the favorite Creston hotel and livery. About the same
period, he became interested in other enterprises, continuing to raise stock,
for which he leased a range, placing there a hundred head or more of cattle,
horses and hogs, bearing his registered brand, the se])arate letters, J R.

Five children, Mary, Isabelle, Patrick, John and Joseph, give unbounded
happiness to Mr. and Mrs. Ryan, and attend with them the Saint Rose Cath-
olic church at Paso Robles. Mr. R}an is a member of the Knights of Colum-
bus at San Luis Obispo. In ]3olitics he is a Democrat

ALFRED AUGUSTE DUBOST.— Somewhere else in our remarkable
colkxtion of biographical studies appears the interesting story of Auguste
Dubost, the pioneer who made good despite the heavy odds once against him;
])ut nowhere in that story will be found a single fact of which that gentle-
man is more proud than he is of the success of his son, Alfred Auguste Dubost,
till- well-known merchant and popular postmaster of Adelaida, who was born
in that favored place on December 4, 1882, the oldest of three children.
Spending his boyhood and youth at home and in attendance at the ])ublic
scliool and at St. Mary's College, in Oakland, he helped his father on the
ranch, and then clerked in the store at Adelaida, as well as at Cayucos, dur-
ing the three years when the Dubosts owned that establishment.

In 1910, Alfred began farming on his own account, taking his father's
ranch, for a while, and then bought out the merchants, McKeon Bros. As a
result, he has since continued the general merchandise business at Adelaida,
where, since 1910, he has also been postmaster; in which office he is ably
assisted, as in the management of his store, by his energetic wife. On the
farm that he controls, he raises grain, hay and choice cattle, and in the main
has met with satisfactory returns.

In Paso Robles Alfred Dubost was married t<i Miss Alexanderine Lejuez,
a native of Cherbourg, France, from which country, in 1911, she came to
California; and two children, Frankie and Raymond, have blessed this mar-
riage.

.\ loval citizen and an enthusiastic native .son, with Republican prefer-
ences in matters pertaining to national politics, Mr. Dubost has for six years
been a member of the Republican County Central Committee, often doing in
that field and under that banner yeoman service making for better govern-
ment and greater business prosperity.

824 SAN LUIS OlSISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

HANS I. JESPERSEN.— How an enterprising- man, with confidence
l)otli in liiniself and in the coinniunity in which he cast his fortune, found it
possible, by studying that community's needs, to rise to commercial anrl
financial leadership, is shown in the interesting storj' of Hans I. Jespersen, a
native of Kirkeby, Schleswig, Denmark, where he was born in August, 1863.
His father was Christian Hansen Jespersen, a native of that district, and a
ship's carpenter, who had married there Anna Botella Iversen, also a native
of Schleswig. About 1867, they came to the United States and to Watson-
ville, California, where they engaged in grain and stock-raising; but in 1871
or '72 they located in San Luis Obispo County. There Mr. Jespersen bought
a farm of eighty-five acres in Los Osos Valley, four miles from San Luis
Obisj)o, and to this he added until he has about four hundred acres there —
all good farming land — which he rents out, wliilc he lives retired in San
Luis Obispo.

Of five boys and two girls, six of whom are living. Hans was the oldest
child. He was brought up in California, attending the public school at Los
Osos and at Laguna. From a lad he was initiated into the vigorous work of
the farm, and learned in particular, while he rode the range, how to care for
stock. Until his seventeenth year he remained at home, when he began to
work out on other farms. .Some of his first ranch work was in dairying, and
for thirteen j'ears he conducted a dairy, supervising the milking of forty
cows, and dcjing things more or less by the old-fashioned methods of the
time. He had a milk business at .San Luis Obispo, and supplied it from the
same dairy. y\ll went well until 1898, when the lack of I'ecd was so great that
he had to quit the business.

Thereupon he started again in farming near Edna, and devoted himself
to the raising of grain and stock. In 1904, he came to Creston, and leased a
l)art of the Sacramento ranch. There he ran about a thousand acres, and for
three years put in about four hundred acres a year to grain. He then bought
a ranch near Creston, and conducted his own place of a hundred seventy
acres, managing a dairy and raising stock. He leased six hundred forty acres,
and [jlanted that to grain.

In 1913, he sold the place, and straightway formed a partnership with
(iustav W. I'"ast, with whom he farmed on Estrella ranch. Together they
operated 1,240 acres, and raised nearly six hundred acres of wheat and
barley a year. This necessitated the use of three large teams ; but they were
e(|ual to the demands and continued there until the 1st of September. 1916.
They then bought the old Russell place at Cholame, which included about
three hundred thirty acres, at the same time that they leased another nine-
teen hundred acres adjoining, where they raised cattle, horses and hogs. They
made a specialty of Percheron draft horses, and became interested in the
ownersliip of the stallion Nelaton. Seeing the need of a general merchandise
store and blacksmith .shop, Messrs. Jespersen & Fast opened their well-known
store, in which Mr. Jespersen, who is postmaster, has the ])ost office. They
also lia\c a hotel and a feed store there.

In ."-^aii Luis (Obispo of many festival memories, Hans I. Jespersen was
married, on April 21, 1886, to Lizzie K. Stone, a daughter of Leonard and
Mary ( b'redericks) Stone, born in Maine and Ciermany respectively. The
father came to California about 1849, while the mother reached here in 1865.
They became farmers in San Luis Obispo County as early as 1875. Her

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ICNVIRONS 825

mother was a well-known nurse, and followed that profession until she re-
tired. She died at the age of eighty-one. The father passed away when he
was fifty-seven. They had five children : Eva Botella, now Mrs. Laurence
Hansen, who conducts a dairy near San Luis Obispo; Irma L., who has be-
come the wife of Harry Pond, the undcr-sherifT at the count)- seat ; Elva Stone,
who is Mrs. Gustav W. Fast; Rena, who is at the San Luis Obispo high
school ; and Allen, who is with his father.

Mr. Jespersen is a Democrat. He served for two years as clerk of the
board of trustees of the Phillips school district, and is now clerk of the board
of the Cholame district. He is a member of the Sulphur Springs Camp of the
Woodmen of the World, at Paso Roblcs, and is also a member of the Dania
Society No. 16, in San Luis Obispo.

JAMES J. MAHONEY.— The title of pioneer was justly merited by J. J.
Mahoney, for in boyhood he came to this county with his father in 1868, vvhen
this section was but sparsely settled, and later became identified with its busi-
ness and farming interests. James J. Mahoney was born near Whiskey Town,
Shasta count}'. May 10, 1863, a son of James Mahoney, who was born and
raised in Boston, and was clerking in a store there when the gold fever seized
him. He came to California via Panama in 1850, and mined in the vicinit_\- of
.Shasta county, where he was reasonably successful.

In 1867, he engaged in the hotel business in Whiskey Town, and in
1868 went to San Francisco; and soon afterward came to San Luis Obispo
looking for a location. In the spring he pre-empted land, and having
returned for his family, he settled on the place. There were no improvemenis
of any kind, and he went to work with a will and made a fine home ranch,
built his house, fenced, broke the ground and engaged in raising stock,
cattle and sheep, using the brand JM, which was later used also by his son.
He raised grain and had a dairy of thirty cows, panning and skimming the
milk, and churning by hand, and sold the butter at the ranch for one dollar a
roll. He was the first to make butter in this section. He bought more land
and at the time of his death had a large acreage.

He built the first school house here; it was made of adobe brought from
the mission, and was the only one between Salinas and San Luis Obispo,
and he was trustee for jxars. He married Hannah Wade in Boston, in No-
vember, 1847, and they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1897.
He died in 1903, aged eighty-four, and his wife died in 1908, also aged eighty-
four. They had five children, three growing to maturity — Mrs. Mary Murray,
of Marin county ; D. F., recorder of San Luis Obispo County, and James J.

James J. Mahoney was raised in this county, attending the public school
held in the old adobe and working on his father's ranch, which he helped to
clear and improve. In 1907, he went to Nevada and at Battle Mountain
bought a mine which he began developing. He put in six years there, and in-
corporated the Pittsburg Red Top Mining Co., of which he was manager. He
also developed and managed the Pittsburg Gold Hill Mining Co. In 1912 he
returned to the home ranch and thereafter operated it with good success until
his death in July, 1917. In politics Mr. Mahoney was an Independent Progres-
sive. He was a charter member of San Miguel Parlor No. 150, Native Sons of
the Golden West, of which he was a past president. His property included
3,300 acres in one body, fenced and improved; and here the family arc raising
Durham cattle, grain, and hay.

826 SAN LUIS OIJISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

ALBERT MENG. — An honest, straightforward, enterprising and suc-
cessful man, who has risen by indomitable energy from modest circumstances
to comfortable affluence and who, therefore, is a credit to himself and to the
community in which he resides, is Albert Meng, the well-known and popular
grain and stock farmer in the Cholame valley. Born in Cincinnati, O., in
18(6, he was the son of Sebastian Meng, a native of Kuhr, Graubunden,
Switzerland. Tratlitional history, as handed down from one generation to
another, tells us that the Meng family goes back to England, where there
were five brothers of that name who came to Switzerland a.s Engli.sh knights,
during a religious war, and fought for the Swiss Republic. Three of the
knights were slain in battle, but two survived and settled in the country,
and so became the ancestors of the now celebrated Swiss Meng family.
Albert's father was a carpenter by trade, but he also followed farming. He
was married there to Miss Anne Wilhelm, a native of that section. Together
they came to the United States and settled in Ohio, after w-hich they re-
moved to Kansas City, Mo. Ten years later they w^ent to I'.axter Springs,
Kan., and then to the Indian Territory, where Sebastian Meng continued
farming. In the fall of 1886 he brought his family to California, and located
in San Luis Obispo County. The elder Meng had already made a trip to San
Erancisco as early as 1871, working at the carpenter's trade there for two
years, after which he returned l^ast ; and linding that railroad lands had
reverted to the government, he determined t" o >nu- here again and seek a
homestead.

Me first pre-empted a hundred sixt}
and which includes tlie present site o
steaded land adjoining and across tlu
twenty acres in ;dl. He hauled lunil)er
and built a comfortable and attractive home there. The next year he began
breaking the ground with a two-horse team, and he followed general farm-
ing until his death in 1903, at the age of eighty-two. LTis wife had died
two years previously, eighty-three years old.

Of the six children who grew to maturity, four are living, and .Mbert
is the youngest, and the only son. Wlirn 1u- was two years old. his ])arents
removed from Ohio to Kansas City, and in due time he was attending the
schools there, continuing his schooling in Ilaxter Springs. He, too, began
farming as a lad in Kansas and in the Indian Territory: and on the removal
of the family to Cholame, he was able to make himself more than use-
ful on a ranch. When of age he pre-empted ninety acres, and later he
secured a homestead of a hundred sixty acres convenient to his father's place.
As soon as he could do so, he l)egan raising grain, cattle and horses. ;ind in
this business he has made a real success.

Striving I'or a specialty in Durham cattle and l'".nglish shire horses,
Albert Meng's brand — an M with a quarter circle above it— has been recog-
nized as a symi)ol of merit, b'or some years, too, he raised mules, but he is
now breeding, for the most part, English shire horses. Success having
favored him on all sides, he bought his father's place, and has added to the
ranch until he now owns two thousand two hundred acres. This is all well
fenced in, and finely located in Cholame valley, three miles above the Cho-
lame pnst office. .\l)ont five hundred acres of this ranch is ]ilowed land,
and there he nsnallv raises about three hundred acres of grain a year. When

res

Inch h

n Albc

i\\

(

wns

s r

lence.

an(

1 after

ime-

.ad

1 that

had tl

Ired

n Lui

, O

)ispo 1

luse.

SAN LUIS OBISl'O COU.NTY AND ]-:N\1R0NS 827

the combined harvester appeared and proved itself a success, Albert Meng,
ill partnership with a neighbor, bought one, and managed the same for many
\ ears. Now, however, although he uses two big teams on the ranch, he hires
tlie harvester out.

In December, 1906, Mr. Meng was married at San Luis Obispo to Mrs.
Julia (Railing) Truesdale, a native of Lima, O., and a daughter of Isaac
Railing, who saw honorable service in the Civil War as a member of an Ohio
regiment. Her mother had been Miss Susan Cochrane. She was first married
in (_)hio to Mr. Truesdale, and in 1875 they came to \'entura county and
afterward to Los .\ngeles. In 1892, they remo\ed to .Shandon and there
she became a widow. By her first marriage she had five children: John A.,
who died in San Luis Obispo ; Daisy D., now Mrs. Tinnin, of Newman ;
William Elmer, who resides in Sacramento; James Alfred, who is in Shan-
don, and Lulu, who has become Mrs. Perry McDowell, of (justine, Merced
county.

Albert Meng, always willing to serve his fellow-citizens, was fur si.x years
trustee of the Cholame school district. He is a Democrat and conspicuous in
the councils of his party.

DOUGLAS A. TUCKER.— It would be difficult to find a man more
emphatically in accord with the true western sjiirit of progress, or more
keenly alive to the opportunities awaiting the industrious and intelligent man
of affairs in the section about San Miguel than in Douglas A. Tucker, who
has built uj) a successful stock business and identified himself with the best
undertakings in his district. He was born near Booneville, Cooper county.
Mo., ^lay 8, 1847, a son of Douglas A. Tucker, a native of Virginia who was
orphaned at an early age. He went to Missouri a young man, farmed and
tlierc married Maria Rronaugh, a X'irginian.

In 1849, he left home with a team of o.xen and started across the plains
to make his fortune in the mines fif California, made a successful "strike"
here, and returned to his home, intending to bring his family back to this
state ; but his wife refused to leave her home and he settled down to farm-
ing there. In 1858 ho entered government land in Henry countjs paying one
dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. It was located seventeen miles from
Clinton, and here he developed a valuable farm. When the War broke out he
was in the path of the conflict, and he lost his crops and stock and was
"broke"; but going back to Coo])cr county, he tried to retrieve his fortunes.
He never got on his feet again, however, and died there at the age of eighty-
eight years, his wife also dying there. They had six children, five of whom arc
now living.

The fourth child in the family, Douglas A., Jr., was reared in Henry and
Cooper counties, .Missouri, and attended tiie common schools there until he
was a young man, when he was married to Mollie J. White, a native of
Missouri, whose parents had come from \'irginia to that state and settled in
an early day. Our subject farmed in Cooper and adjoining counties in
Mis.souri until 1888, when he decided he would try his luck in California:
so he left his eastern home and brought his wife and children liere, stopping
the first year in Riverside.

He then came to San Luis Obispo County and located a homestead in
1889. He built a small house, and worked out for wages in order to make a
living \\hilc he was improving the ranch. He did anything that came his

828 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND K.WIRONS

way, 11(1 mailer lunv long the hours were or how liard the work, or how low
the wages, reeeiving only one dollar a day for plowing with an eight- or ten-
mule team. In time he had his place so he could use it for a stock ranch,
and gradually he imjirovcd it and now has one hundred seventy acres under
fence. He raised hogs of the Poland-China breed, and cattle, and his brand,
the letter T, is well known. His range was dotted with mountain springs
furnishing water for his stock, and he usually turned out two droves of hogs
a }'ear.

In 1914, in October, j\Ir. Tucker rented his ranch and located in San
Miguel on account of his wife's health, bought the fine residence on the
mesa where he now lives, and built large barns for his stock. He and his
son Rrnest lease a ranch of nine hundred acres eight miles from town. They
have a ten-mule and a ten-horse team for their ranch work. In addition J\lr.
Tucker docs teaming and hauling. He has worked behind horses since he
was eight years of age, and can handle anything that he can draw the lines
over.

Mr. Tucker considers California his best friend, for here he has made his
success in life and gained a competence for his family. He has always been
much interested in school work and served as trustee for many years. In
politics he is a Democrat, but has never sought office. Mr. and Mrs. Tucker
are the parents of five children: Hattie, Mrs. Jacob Doty, resides in San
Miguel; Mildred, Mrs. Ernest Bergeman, is at San Miguel; Florence, Mrs.
Scow, died in 1904; Ernest farms with his father; and Everet died in early
childhood.

WILLIAM ELLIS.— William Ellis was born in King township, York
county. Ontario, Canada, March 15, 1843, the son of Henry and Syrena
(Ilambley) Ellis, natives of England and Nova Scotia respectively. They were
farmers in Wellington county, Ontario, and had a family of six children as
follows; ^lary Ann. who died in Ontario; James, wdio resides near Pacific
Grove; William, the subject of this review; Ellen and Enoch C, wdio died
in (Jiitario; and Mrs. Lydia Patterson, who resides in Oregon.

\\ illiam I'lllis spent his early years working on his father's farm and
attending the public schools in his vicinity. In 1863 his father died, and
William then assisted his mother on the farm until he reached his majority,
aftir which he farmed for himself until 1886. He then decided to remove to
California, and in April, 1886, located a pre-emption of one hundred sixty
acres, his jiresent home in Hog canon, or Pleasant Valley, Monterey county.
He I^roke the first furrow, and improved the jilace with residence and build-
ings, later adding a quarter section to it. Here he is raising gr.iin and stock,
and has met with good success.

On March 11, 1884, Mr. Ellis was married in Ontario to Miss Sarah Ann
Hunsinger, wlu) was born near Toronto, but was reared in Wellington
c lunty, Ontario, tiie daughter of James and Jane (Mathews) Honsinger. To
Mr. and Mrs. ICllis three children have been born. Ruby May, now Mrs.
Daman, resides near Morgan Hill ; Wilbert J. is assisting his father on the
farm; and Bella J. also resides at home. The family are members of the
M. i;. Church at E,strella.

Mr. Ellis has made three trips Ijack to (Ontario. The last tri]i was taken
in ]'>07. .\fter visiting Ontario, the family, on their return to California,
were more satisfied than c\-er with their atloiited home.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND F.NXIRONS 829

THOMAS P. GORHAM.— Among the successful business men of San
Miguel who have contributed both to the building up and the beautifying
of this attractive town, is Thomas P. Gorham, who was born in Atlanta,
111., on June 13, 1863, and came to California in 1885, settling the next year
at San Miguel. Thomas' great-grandfather, Hezekiah, a New England
farmer, traced his ancestors back to the celebrated Mayflower, his folks
drifting afterward into Vermont at the time of its early settlement. His
grandfather, David Gorham, married Rachael Stiles, also of an old New
England family, and in 1850 came to Racine, Wis., the couple eventui;Ily
spending their last days in Nebraska. Mr. Gorham's great-uncle, George C.
Gorham, was candidate for Governor of California and ran against Governor
Haight, the Democratic nominee. Thomas' father was A. F. Gorham, a
Vermonter born in Rutland. He settled in ^Visconsin and then in Chicago,
where he became a dealer in coal, prospering until he was burned out by
the great fire. Following this catastrophe, he took up a homestead and w^ent
to farming in Harlan county. Neb. ; but new disaster in the form of drought
and grasshoppers beset him. The year 1885 found him in Pomona, California,
and in 1886 he came to San Miguel, where fur a while he engaged in the furni-
ture business.

After a life of unusual activity A. F. Gorham. retired, still resides here,
at the age of eighty. His wife, nee Helen E. King, who was Ijorn at Joliel,
111., and whose grandfather had a well-known sash and door manufactory,
died in 1896. Three children were born of. their union: A. M. Gorham, who
resides in Stockton ; R. E. Gorham, wdio lives at Monterey, and Thomas, the
subject of our sketch. The latter w-as brought up on farms in Illinois and
Nebraska, attending there the public schools, and was early employed in the
furniture business, into which his father had ventured. Next he learned the
carpenter's trade, and when he removed to San Miguel he followed that occu-
pation, soon becoming a contractor and builder. F^or j'ears he was the prin-
cipal contractor of this place, putting up residences, business houses, schools,
and churches, both frame and brick ; and in this field his ability was acknowl-
edged. In 1908, however, he quit this field to devote all his time to mercan-
tile business. Five years before he had bought out his brother's interest,
and he is now engaged in general merchandising under the firm name of Gor-
ham & Sonnenberg.

In 1892, Mr. Gorham bought the water works of San Miguel; and during
the past twenty-four years he has introduced such improvements, and so
added to the equipment, that the plant, with its reservoir on the hill —
cemented, and having a capacity of 163,000 gallon.s — its steam pumps and
electric motors, all distributing water with a thirty-five pound pressure,
may well be considered equal to any in a town of similar size in the State.
Rather naturally, Mr. Gorham has served for many years as chief of the fire
department, which has a chemical cart, a hook-and-ladder truck, and some
450 feet of hose. This enterprising man has also engaged, as owner, in the
real estate business, building and selling the houses he has constructed.
Among others he owns several business buildings, as well as his fine resi-
dence and garage, the latter with cement floors ; and all of these he built.

Mrs. Gorham, who was married at San Miguel, was known in childhood
as Elizabeth Sonnenberg, the daughter of George Sonnenberg, a poultry
dealer of Mountain View, Santa Clara county, where she was raised. Mr.

830 SAX l.riS OliTSPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

and Mrs. (Idrliain lia\c four children — Hck-n I-"., ncnv ^[rs. Ramsey, of San
Miguel : Edna 1'.., who is one of the clever young ladies in the class of '17
at the Paso Robles high school ; Lucile and Thomas Albert. Mr. Gorham is a
Republican and he belongs to the Woodmen of the World. Mrs. Gorham has
served as school trustee, is past president of San ^Miguel Parlor No. 94, N. D.
G. W., and is district (le]nUy for this county. Pioth belong to the Fraternal
P)rotherhood.

WILLIAM HENRY KITCHEN.— It may be that neither William
Henry Kitchen nor his worthy wife have much time nowadays to talk
about the remote past, engrossed as they are in the still more absorbing
afi'airs of a progressive present, such as they themselves have helped to
bring about ; but if Mr. Kitchen can be persuaded to chat about the days
long gone, he will tell many a good story in which Oak Flat and Dry
Creek figure, and none perhaps more likely to stir your imagination than
the tale of how the Daltons started on their mad career of bloody crime
after they had been for some years his peaceful and apjiarently decent and
amiable neighbors and fellow citizens.

Born at Castroville, Monterey county, February 3. 1866, he grew up
under the ruder conditions of a civilization that was in the making, and
early learned to hustle for himself. His father was George Kitchen, a
native of Arkansas, who crossed the plains to California when the buffalo
and the Indian disputed his right of passage and when a man had to toe
the chalk-line mighty carefully after his arrival in the land of gold not to
run up against some of the precepts of the gold digger, a violation of which
usually cost the offender his life. After mining awhile for gold. George
Kitchen settled in Mendocino county, and near Ukiah he was married to
Matilda Eubank, whose father had crossed the plains with ox-teams and
become a pioneer of that county. George Kitchen engaged in the lumber-
ing and logging business at ]\Iendocino City, and it was there that his wife
died when her son, William H., was but five years old. Mr. Kitchen went
from Mendocino county to Castroville, whcns he engaged in raising stock
until 1879, when he moved to San Luis Obisjjo County and spent a year on
the Estrella ranch. He next spent three years near Arroyo Grande and
then came to Dry creek, where he homesteaded one hundred sixty acres
seven miles from what is now P.iso Robles: and in due time he added an-
other (juarter section to his holdings. He died at Gonzales.

There were three other children in the family of George Kitchen : Nellie,
who married Foote Rhyne of San Jose; .\nnie, now Mrs. Houghton of San
Miguel : and George, wdio is with his brother, William H.

\\'illiam Henry Kitchen was educated in the jniblic schools of his day
and in boyhood began to work as a driver of a team ; and as he grew
older he drove a header wagon on land that is now a part of Paso Robles.
.\ stranger visiting the James family and a com])aratively young man with
\ery pleasing address seemed to enjoy spending considerable of his time
riding with Mr. Kitchen on the header wagon. \\'eeks afterwards he
liarncd that the affable young man w^as none other than Frank James, who
\s;is st.iying there incog. ^Vhen William Kitchen was of age, he located
a hipuustc.iil of a hundred sixty acres, and pre-empted a like number of
acres near his father's ]ilace on Dry creek alxnit seven miles from Paso
Rubles. l-"or fifteen years he raised stock and grain on this ranch: but in

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ICXX" IRONS 831

1902 he sold it and moved into Paso Robles, and soon started the P'ashion
Stables on Park street. In 1909 he sold out to W. H. Evans to engage in
other business. After Mr. Evans sold the stables, he became a partner with
Mr. Kitchen in a cigar store. They are also engaged in farming on the
Iluer-Huero river, owning a ranch four miles east of Paso Robles. With
his sons, Arthur and Roy, Mr. Kitchen owns sixty acres on the 1 Iuer-1 lucro,
where he has installed a inimpiiig |)lant and is raising alfalfa and <h)ing a good
dairy business.

On November I, 1887, Mr. Kitchen was united in marriage, at San
Luis Obispo, with Miss Gertrude Jones, who was born at Buffalo, N. Y.,
the daughter of Watson and Marian (Halifax) Jones, natives of New York
state and of England, respectively. The niotlKT died when Mrs. Kitchen
was a baby, and she was reared l)y an aunt, .Mrs. I'.lK'n Jones, and came
with her to California in 1882, and in March, lcS84, to San Luis Obispo
County. She was the youngest of five children and is the only one resid-
ing in this state. Four chilcjren have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs.
Kitchen : Elmer, who conducts a ])ool hall at Santa Barbara ; Otto, who
runs a like establishment at Ventura ; Arthur, who is also in that same
business at Paso Robles, and Roy, a barber in the latter city. The fine
home occupied by Mr. and IMrs. Kitchen was erected by them at I'ine
and ■ Sixteenth streets. He is a Democrat in politics and in fraternal con-
nections is a Forester.

ED. HOLZINGER.— An entcrjirising and progressive citizen who is
making a success of more than one undertaking, and yet finds time within the
round of twenty-four hours to advance educational work and so advance the
interests of the youth of his community, Ed. liolzinger is a man of afl^airs at
Creston, where he is engaged in general merchandising. He is a son of Mar-
tin liolzinger, a sketch of whose life is given elsewhere in these pages. Born
near Rock Island, Henry county, 111., May 29, 1875, the oldest of four chil-
dren, he came with his parents to California in 1884, having thus spent the
first nine years of his boyhood in the Prairie State, .'\fter coming to Cali-
fornia, he attended the public schools at Geneseo and Creston, and then went
to Ramsey's Business College at Stockton, where he was graduated in 1896.
After clerking six months in a store, he returned to his father's farm, and he
and his father and a brother, Albert, engaged together in agriculture. They
made the old home their headquarters until their father died, operating
some eigiit huiulred acres and emjiloying two or three large teams.

After his father's death, he began farming for himself, leasing a ranch
of some eight hundred acres, half of which lie sowed to wdieat and barley
each year. To till the soil and handle the crops, he used a couple of large
teams, and he also became interested in a ccmibined harvester that not only
met their own. requirements, but served .some of their neighboring ranchers
as well. More than this, he has raisefl draft horses. He has exjierienced
such good results that he has continued farming ever since, and still operates
the same i)lace, superintending it and committing to otliers the responsibility
of details.

In November, 1915, he entered the mercantile 'field, buying out !■". G.
Gilson & Co., at Creston, and becoming |)roi)rietor of the general merchandise
store there. Besides a varied stock of general merchandise, including hard-
ware, hay and grain, he had the post office located in his store, and was made

832 SAX LUIS OBISTO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

assistant ]>oslinastcr. l^'or some years he owned a liundred ten acres adjoin-
iiiii C'reston, but lately lie has disposed of this land.

In the same town with which he has thus become so prominently and
so honorably identified, h'.d. Ilolzinger married Miss Augusta Hansen, a
native of Salinas and the daughter of Ilans Hansen, an early settler and a
farmer in that section who, in 1884, located near Creston. Herself an only
child, she lias had one son, Harold.

A Republican in matters of national politics, and more than once a
nieniher (}f the grand jury, Ed. liolzinger has been deputy county assessor
for the past ten years. He was a school trustee at Creston for many years,
serving as clerk of the board until two years ago, but after resigning lie was
re-elected to that responsible office. Fraternally he is a member of the
\\"oodmen of the ^^'orld.

GUNDER GUNDERSON.— A resident of San Miguel since 1889 and one
of the well-known and highly respected citizens of San Luis Obispo County,
G. (umderson was born on June 10, 1860, in Arndal, Norway. His father,
Gtmder Gunderson, was a professional diver and successfully followed that
vocation. He married Gunhild Aanensen and both are now deceased. G.
Gunderson was reared in Arndal and attended school until he was fifteen,
when he went to sea, sailing on deep water on the "Viga," "Landboe," "Hans
Nielsen Hauge" and "Mississippi"; and on the latter he came to New York.
At that port he left the sea and arrived in San Francisco, on May 17, 1881.
Next he went to Antioch and worked on the boats running on the bay, and
the coasting schooners, after which he worked at the carpenter trade in
the cities around the bay.

Desiring to become an owner of land, he came to San Luis Obispo
County in 1889, and in the vicinity of San Miguel hunted up some govern-
ment land and located a homestead of one hundred sixty acres sixteen miles
northeast of the town and n\ir the' line in Monterey county. Here he
erected a log house, fenced and Ijroke the land, and began in the stock busi-
ness. He also set out a family orchard, and while improving his ranch he
began working in the Southern Pacific Milling Company's warehouse in San
Miguel, continuing for eighteen years, when he resigned to give all his atten-
tion to his alfalfa ranch. He located four springs on his ranch, and piped the
water into troughs for the stock. Fifteen years later he sold out and located
in San Miguel, purchasing a tract of fourteen acres adjoining town. This he
leveled and checked, and planted alfalfa on eight acres. He has a pumping
jjlaiu to sui>])ly water for irrigation, and raises alfalfa, hogs, cattle and poultry
with success.

Mr. Gunderson was married in San Miguel to Miss Jessie J. Rader.
who was born in Cambria on June 1.^, 1873, and whose parents crossed the
plains in 1849 with ox-teams. They had one daughter, Evadne. Mrs. Gun-
(Krsdu ])assed away on Xovemljcr 9, 1914, leaving to mourn her loss a
devoted husband and little daughter, besides a host of life-long friends.
Since her death Mr. Gunderson has showered his love on his little daughter
and his thought is for her future and comfort. He is a member of the
Odd I'ellows and of the Methodist Church, although he was reared a Lutheran,
and he is a trustee of the San Miguel church. He is a Republican in politics
and a strong advocate of the temperance cause. He is strictly a self-made
man, and has a host of friends here in the county.

SAX LUIS OIUSPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 833

GUSTAV W. FAST. — So long as the spirit of community enterprise is
foil and fostered by the energy and intelligence of such j^oung men as Gust
W. I'nst, so long will California never be wanting in her lead as a favored
agricultural state, or as a commonwealth for unlimited commercial develop-
ment. Born near De Witt, Jefferson county, Neb., Gustav was the .son of
Nicholas and Elise (Tiahrt) Fast, natives of West Prussia, who emigrated to
Nebraska while they were young and single, and were married in the Black
Water State. After that they farmed in Jefterson county. Neb. In 1898. they
brought their family to San Luis Obispo County, and there Mr. Fast engaged
in farming; but in 1909 they removed to Idaho, where they have since resided.

The second eldest of two boys and three girls. Gust was educated largely
in San Luis Obispo County, from a youth aiding his parents in their farming
operations, and choosing agriculture for his own occupation.

In 1913, he was married in Creston to Miss Elva Stone Jcspersen, a
native of this county, and a daughter of lians I. Jespersen, who is elsewhere
represented in this work; and after his marriage he entered into partnership
with Mr. Jespersen, since which time they have been farming on a large
scale. They operated 1,260 acres of the I'^strella ranch until the fall of 1916,
when the}^ bought the present farm at Cholame. A description of their recent
enterprises will be found in the sketch of Mr. Jespersen already referred to.

Two children — Gertrude and Elenor — brighten the home of Mr. and Mrs.
I'ast. and help make their hearth a center of hospitality to friend and stranger.

JAMES CONSTANTINE THRALLS.— If there be one class of per-
sons in .America whom everyone, high or low, and from the Government
to the plainest citizen, loves to honor, it is such a veteran of the great Civil
War as James Constantine Thralls, a fine old gentleman, every inch of him,
with a lovely and splendid lady as his wife. The fourth youngest child, he
first saw the light of day on Deccmlier 1, 1843, at Saint Marys, Ind. His
father, Jacob Thralls, was a Virginian by birth, who moved to Kentucky,
where he married, and thence to Indiana to engage in farming. His mother
was Mathilda Rhoades, one of the strikingly-fair daughters of far-famed Ken-
tucky. The Thralls removed to Knox county, Mo., in 1857, and there the
parents died. The mother, Mathilda Thralls, saw Abraham Lincoln on sev-
eral occasions, and very interesting were some of her descriptions of the noted
.\bolitionist.

Of the twelve children, thnc are still living, two being in California:
J. C. Thralls and Mrs. \'irginia Hanes, who now makes her home with the
subject of this review. A brother, George, was a member of the 3rd Mis-
souri Cavalry from 1861 to 1863, when he died at Little Rock, Ark. James
C. went to the public school at Edina, Knox county. Mo., and when only
seventeen, at the first tap of the drum, in .April, 1861, he entered the Miss<niri
Home Guards as an enthusiastic vohmteer. There he served for three
months, when he enlisted in Co. V> of the 3rd Missouri Cavalry and served
for three years, in both Missouri and .Arkansas, taking part in the engage-
ments of his regiment. At the Piattle of Mt. Zion he was wounded through
the right hand ; and what pluck and valor he displayed maj' be seen from the
fact that he tied up the wound and went on fighting as before.

In 1864, he was mustered out, and returned to his home. For two years
he farmed in Kno.x county, and at the end of that time moved to Loama, in
Sangamon county, 111. There he bought a residence and opened a carpen-

834 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENXIRONS

tcr's sliop; and he also ran a l)lacksniith shop. In 1883. the call of Kansas
drew Iiini to Oswcsjjo, l,:d)ette county, wlicre he was active as a carpenter,
plasterer and blacksmith, and from there he went to (iaylord. in Smitli
county, where he opened a genera! Ijlacksniith business and asj;ain bou_<,rht a
nice home.

With the ilood of tourists to California in 1896. James C. Thralls moved
what was left of his effects, after he had sold his home and business ; and
fascinated by the smiling aspect of old San Miguel, he located there and once
more established himself in the blacksmithing business, in which he con-
tinued many years. In 1910, he disposed of his shop and business and retired
to private life.

On September 25, 1865. Mr. Thralls had married, at an old Missouri home-
stead in Knox county. Miss Mary Helen Hammond, who was born in Spring-
field, III, a daughter of William and Emeline (Underwood) Hammond,
natives of Kentucky and Tennessee, who had located in Sangamon county.
Mr. Hammond was a carpenter and builder, and also a farmer, and finally he
removed to Kansas with the Thralls; and there, at Gaylord, he died. In the
Civil War, Mrs. Thralls' brother. Arthur C. Hammond, was a member of
Company P., 30th 111. Reg., serving three years, when he re-enlisted until
the close of the war.

Mr. and Mrs. James C. Thralls have been blessed with six children:
Owen G., who is employed in the Southern Pacific car shop in San Francisco:
I'Yed C, who is manager of the Hardwood Floor Co., of Oakland, and resides
at .Mameda; Arthur, founder of Thralls & Co.. merchants, San Miguel:
Albert \V., a clerk with Thralls & Co.; Bessie .\.. now .Mrs. L. F. Jones, of
Alameda's social circles; and l-'.thel L., who. as Mrs. A. L. Andrews, ])residcs
over a charming liome at Cuadalupe.

MILTON STEWART STEVENSON.— Although a newcomer to San
Luis Obispo County, Milton S. .Stevenson is not lacking in enthusiasm as to
the county's possibilities, and particularly as to the section about San Miguel,
where he owns a ranch of eight hundred acres of fine farming land. He was
born in I)es Moines, la., on July 23, 1892, a son of T. F. Stevenson, who was
a native of Kentucky and went to Iowa, where he became a prominent attor-
ney and judge in Des Moines. I'"inally retiring to private life, he located in
Los Angeles, where he and his wife, who was in maidenhood Miss Janet
.Stewart, a native of Illinois, are living in the enjoyment of their surround-
ings and in a climate that lengthens life materially.

Milton S. Stevenson was educated in the public schools of Des Monies
and look a two years' course at Drake University in Des Moines, after which
he came to California and took a two years' course in the University .it Red-
lands, next spending a year in Los Angeles. In 1915 he came to ."-ian Luis
Obispo County and purchased eight hundred acres of ranch land near ."^an
Miguel and began to improve it. He has sixty acres planted to alfalfa. :uu\
has a i)umping jilant with a twenty horse power engine to pump the water for
irrigating the land. He is here engaged in raising hogs, keeping the Poland-
China breed exclusively, and is meeting with deserved success, being alive to
the opportunities of his location.

Mr. .Stevenson was united in marriage in San Diego with Miss Marian
Roach, who was born in Riverside. On national political issues. Mr. Steven-
son aligns liimself with the Republican party.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 835

O. P. WAHLGREN. — From time immemorial the poet has sung of the
pleasures of country life, <lei)icting the charm of nature and the still greater
satisfaction of the man who, having conquered the earth about him and
made it subservient to his will, retires perhaps in the heat of the day or the
quiet cool of the evening to his own meditations, or the society of friends
or books. Just this delightful life, apportioned between the demands of the
day's labor and the pursuit of study and literary tastes, no one knows better
how to appreciate than O. P. Wahlgren, who owns a valuable farm adjoin-
ing the town of Templeton, and never wants for agreeable mental occupation
when the last stroke of farm work for the day has been done. A native of
Elsborg, Sweden, where he was born on December 9, 1852, Mr. Wahlgren is
the son of Anders and Brita (Larson) Wahlgren, farmer folks, who died in
their native land. He was brought up on a farm, given a good educa-
tion in the public schools, and at sixteen was apprenticed to a stone-cutter,
where he learned the trade, together with masonry.

When he first came to the United States in 1880, O. P. Wahlgren ex-
pected to make but a flying trip and to return to the Old World. He went
to New Orleans and from there made his way to' San Antonio, Tex., where
he was employed for a year in railroad construction. He next turned up at
Albion, la., from which place he drifted to Sioux City, where he followed
the same railroad occupation, adding, after a while, street grading and farm-
ing. To acquire the English language, he attended evening school and in
this manner liecame proficient in its use.

In 1894, Mr. Wahlgren came to Tcmijleton and purchased some land, to
which he added from time to time, so that now he owns two hundred twenty
acres adjoining the town on the west. These he has improved, fenced in
and tilled, reserving a portion of the projjerty for stock-raising and the grow-
ing of grain, as well as some poultry.

Mr. Wahlgren while in Iowa was a member of the Independent Order of
f'lood Templars. In politics he is a Reinihlican.

FRED A. DEAN.— .\nothcr of the native sons who have made good
with their chosen occupation is Fred A. Dean, who was born in Stockton
on October 4, 1872. His father, Louis Dean, was born in Gottenberg,
Sweden, was the son of a ship chandler there and followed the sea for
years. Louis Dean went to sea at the age of thirteen, traveled all over the
world and into the most famous ports, rounded the Horn in 1850, and left
his ship at San Francisco, when he went to the mines in Calaveras county.
There he mined for a time and then moved to IMendocino county ; and at
Cuffey's Cove he teamed and got out lumber until March, 1886, when he
drove overland to San Luis Obispo County.

He had married, in Calaveras county, Mrs. Sarah Elizaljcth (I'lllis)
Cottle, who was a native of Illinois, and had come to California across the
plains with her first husband in 1850, traveling by ox-teams to Calaveras
county, where Mr. Cottle died. She had five children by her first marriage.
From the second union only one child, a son, Fred .\. Dean, was born.
Mrs. Dean being an invalid when the family arrived here, her husband
settled on a ranch two miles south of San Miguel,- where he farmed and
raised vegetables, and set out an orchard and vineyard : but as there was then
no market, he let the vines and trees go back. He died here in December,
1902, his wife having passed away in March. 1900.

836 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Frod A. Dean was but one year old when his parents went to Mendo-
cino county, where they remained until 1886, when they came to this
county ; and after completing the usual course at the San Miguel schools, he
attended the San Francisco Business College in 1893. Returning to the
ranch, he helped run it, and before the death of his father became its
owner. The fine property consists of sixty acres located on the state high-
way devoted to alfalfa and the raising of Berkshire hogs, about two hun-
dred being turned off yearly. The farm has a pumping plant run by elec-
tricity, to pump water from the river for irrigation.

Mr. Dean was united in marriage in San Miguel, on A])ril 27, 1903,
with Miss Myrtle Crow, a native of Johnson county, Texas, and they have
one child, a daughter, Bertha Elizabeth. He has been prominently identi-
fied in ])olitics in this section of the county, working for the interests of the
Republican party, and for seven years served as deputy under Assessor
John H. Hollister. or until the death of Mr. Hollister. He was appor-
tioned the territory from the Monterey county line to six miles south of
Templeton, and from the coast to Shandon district, in all a territory nearly
thirty bv thirty miles. In 1912, Mr. Dean was a candidate' for the of^ce of
supervisor.

He is a member of the B. P. O. Elks, San Luis Obispo Lodge No. 322,
and of the Fraternal Brotherhood. He has served as a school trustee of the
San Marcos district for years and has taken an interest in advancing the
standard of the schools of the county. Mr. Dean is much ip<-prestcd, as
are all the natives of the state, in the preservation of the stories of the
lives of the pioneers who blazed the trail from primitive conditions to our
jjresent day prosperity.

JOSEPH EDWARD PALLA.— Modest in the extreme, and far from
inclined to boast of all that he has accom]jlished since first he \m\. his
shoulder to the wheel, Joseph Edward Palla is nevertheless a splendid
example of what a man may do through enterprise, hard work and perse-
verance. Born in Pennsylvania on May 11, 1854, the son of John Palla, a
very industrious native of Germany, and of Mary Palla, a typical Pennsyl-
vania housewife, Josei)h was fortunate in commencing his struggle with the
world with an outfit of personal example, the force and value of which have
never ceased to influence him in a marked degree. The second eldest of two
boys and a girl, little Joseph came with his parents to Pleasanton, Linn
county, Kan., where eventually they both died. As a boy he divided his
time between the public schools and a farm, and in 1868, when only fourteen
years of age, he set out to shift for himself on a trip to California by way
of the Isthmus of Panama. Passing through San Francisco, he found work
at dair\ing near Pctaluma, and in that vicinity continued until 1888, in
Sonoma and Marin counties.

At the height of the Southern California boom, Mr. Palla came to
Orange county and bought a ranch of forty acres, five miles w^est of Santa
Ana. There he sunk a well, put in a pumping plant, started a dairy, and
planted the surjdus land to alfalfa. His next undertaking was the manage-
ment of the Robb skimming station, which he continued to superintend for
five years. He found, however, that he could not well attend to another's
interest while trying to develop his own ; so he gave up the management
of the station and devoted his whole time to his own ranch. He sold hay,

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EN\]RONS 837

cultivated sugar beets for the Huntington Beach Sugar Factory, and took
the best possible care of the ten cows in his dairy.

In 1911, Mr. Palla sold out and came to San Luis Obisj^o County,
where he located at Geneseo, buying there two hundred twenty-seven acres,
nearly all of which was tillable soil. Once more he put in a pumping plant,
dug a pit near the Huer-Huero river, and installed a system of irrigation,
which soon enabled him to view thirty flourishing acres well seeded to alfalfa.
Now he has a dairy of thirty-two Holstein cows, all high grade cattle; and
an abundance of water (distributed through fifteen hundred feet of cement
jjipe sunk two feet under ground and continued from the end of the cement
line with galvanized pipe) is forced to the house, twelve hundred feet
away, at an elevation of nine feet above the source. He has also had an
Artesian well bored four hundred sixty-five feet deep near his house which
yields a flow of twenty-five gallons of \\atcr ])er minute, while in the
dairy the most improved separator gathers ihe cream, which is ship])ed to
Soledad.

Some years ago at Tulare, Jose])h Palla was married to Miss Alice
Craync, a native of Ohio, b}' whom he has had three .girls and one boy.
Tootsie is Mrs. Francis Shimmin, of Paso Robles ; Helen is attending school
in Berkeley ; and Georgia and Brady are at home. These share with him,
from time to time, his social life. He is an active member of Pixley Lodge
No. 53, 1. O. O. F., and nf the Encampment. Mr. Palla has always been g.ad
to serve his comnuuiity : and his services, particularly as school trustee in
Orange county, are deeply appreciated. He is a Republican.

JAMES WIGHTMAN MARTIN.— The owner of one of the finest
stock ranches on Paso Robles creek in the Templeton district, James
Wightman Martin has added the most modern improvements to his estab-
lishment and has thereby placed it among the most creditable of San
Luis Obispo County farms. In the manufacturing city of Belfast, Ireland,
in the year 1862, James was born, the son of John Martin, a merchant, and
of Eleanor (Wightman), a native also of that city. The father died when
James was only three or four years old, leaving also a little daughter,
I'^lcanor, now Mrs. McLennan of Monrovia. The lad was educated in the
famous national schools of Belfast, and when fifteen years of age began to
clerk in a local store.

Two years later the plucky mother with her two children set sail for
America and California, and located at Los Osos, where she had a sister,
Mrs. Gibson, who afterwards became Mrs. White. Here it may be re-
marked that two uncles of James, John and James Wightman. were luonecr
merchants of San Francisco. John having come to the bustling town in
1S49, and lames following a couple of years later. His mother si>ent her
last days with him, and died at his present h..me near Templetnn, t.. which
he had' come in 1887, purchasing a ranch of nine hundred acres from the
West Coast Land Company.

With characteristic energy and good judgment, Mr. Martin imi)rovcd the
land, making there, in fact, a veritable transformation ; he broke the untillcd
ground, built a handsome residence, surrounded it with well-made fences,
farmed to grain and hay, and introduced thoroughbred cattle, whose brand—
JM, with a bar over the letters— came to be well known, .\fler a while he
sold three hundred acres, so that now he has six hundred acres, in jnirt de-

838 SAN l.UIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

voted t(i _<ir,iin-raisin,i>, while on the balance is raised the finest of Durham
stock.

At the nearby count)- scat. James was married to Miss Sarah S'trahl,
a native of Idaho, who was reared and educated in her native state, and
who became the mother of four children — Jileanor, Mary. James and John
Kenneth. These, with their ])arents, are members of the Presbyterian
Church at Templeton.

OTTO WOLF.— The subject whom this narrative sketches was born,
in San Francisco, hence all his ideas are typically western and he has im-
bibed that generous, liberal spirit so conspicuous in all' Westerners. A son
of Albert W olf, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this work, Otto Wolf
was born on October 28, 1877, attended the public schools in San Francisco
for a time and, after moving to San Luis Obispo County, went to the public
school in Union district for eight or nine years, growing up On the home farm
and learning the details so necessary for a successtul career along those
lines. He also learned blacksmithing in his father's shop on the ranch, work-
ing there and at farming together with his father until 1909, when he became
owner of his present place of one hundred sixty acres, besides which he has
one hundred sixty acres adjtiining, all located on Dry creek, about ten miles
east of Paso Robles.

These he has well improved and stocked with teams and implements
for a grain raising enterprise on a large scale. He leased and operated
2,000 acres of the Sacramento ranch for three years, and ran 1,200 acres of the
Estrella ranch for a time, besides operating his own land, using three ten-
horse teams, while he owns a combined harvester. Mr. Wolf makes a
specialty of breeding high grade Norman draft-horses, having a very fine
herd, and has done much to improve horses throughout this part of the
county, where lie has been actively engaged in the horse business for many
years.

The ranch 's equipped with line large barns and modern residence, and
a wind mill and gasoline engine for supplying water for the house and barns,
all suitable for 'Conducting his business ; and every improvement seen on the
])lace has been placed there by its owner, who takes pride in its well-kept
appearance. He also raises many hogs, finding that a very profitable enter-
jirise. While his own interests recjuire most of his time, Mr. Wolf never
neglects the duties of a citizen, but co-operates willi all niovenunts that have
for their aim and ultimate end the welfare of the i)C(ii)le and the upbuilding
of the county. Politically he is a Democrat

JOHN McCULLOCH.— A resident ..f Californi.i since 188.^ and of this
criunty since 1S''2. John McCulloch has been identified with commercial
interests of San Miguel and has become well known and influential. He
was born in New York City, a son of John McCuIloch, a Scotchman, who
came to .\nierica and settled in New York, where he passed his last days.

Left an orphan when a child, John McCulloch was reared in Erie. Penn..
where he attended ]niblic school while living on a farm and making himself
.generally useful. He remained in that vicinity until 1884; then, making u]'
h\'^ mind that he would come West where he felt opportunities were much
lietter than in the congested East, he first stopped at Hillsboro, Tex., a year,
and ill liic f.ili ,,| bSS.S came nii to California. At Salinas he found employ-
ment (111 ,1 dairy r,-mcii and later was engaged in that business on his own

SAN LUIS OJUSPO COUNTY AND I'.NVIRONS 839

account in the (lavalcm ccmntrv. Sellins;- out, Mr. McCulloch came to San
Miguel and was eniiilnyed in tlio Campliell livery stable for a time, and then
he was enfjaged in the butcher business under the firm name of Forbes and
McCulloch. During the association with Mr. I-'orbes, Mr. McCulloch bought
and butchered the stock used in the market, while his partner had charge of
the retail department. After some time he sold his interest to engage in the
li(|uor business, but after a short time in that field, he sold out.

Meantime Mr. McCulloch had bought a lot and building in the central
part of the business district of the town, and leased it out for two years ; and
when his tenant's lease expired, he fitted out his present fine billiard parlor,
to which he gives his attention. He conducts a very orderly and popular
place, and as such it is well patronized, for its owner is well and favorably
known throughout this part of the county, and has many friends. He is a
successful business man and is self-made in every sense of the term. Start-
ing in life with no guiding hand of father or mother, he has had to battle
with the world on his own responsibility, and what he possesses has been
matle thrdugh his own endeavors.

EDWARD JOSEPH WICKSTROM.— .\s manager of the San Miguel
Mouring Mill Co. at San Miguel, and (inc of the prominent citizens of the
town, l''d. W'ickstrom has made his intluence felt for the good of his
adopted home. lie was burn in Stmnishurg, Neb., (mi May 15. 1880, the
fifth oldest of ten children, and at the age of eight years he was brought to
California. Here he was educated in the schools at Templeton, and from a
lad rode after stock and helped his father with the farm work until he was
twenty-one. Then he went to work on the Sacramento ranch, and in 1904
came to San Miguel and entered the employ of the Farmers Alliance P'lour
Mill, where he was apprenticed to learn the millers' trade. He continued
with that mill until 1913, when he took charge and is now the miller and
manager of the San Miguel Flouring Mill Co.

This is a full roller-process mill, with full-swing sifters and a capacity
of one hundred barrels per day. I'he flour is made from local wheat, mostly
of the blue-stem, and the "California's Best Flour" is the result. There is
a barley mill with three tons capacity per hour, also a storage warehouse
business which is very large. The flour is shi])pcd to San Jose and inter-
mediate local points.

Mr. Wickstrom was married .August 19. 1908, in San Miguel, to Miss
Nellie Houghton, a native of this county, and they have one child, Uetha
F.dwina. .Mrs. W'ickstrom is the daughter of h'red Houghton and grand- .
daughter of Samuel Houghton, who cros.sed the plains in 1852. settled in
Oakland and engaged in the butcher business until 1873, when he came to
San Miguel and took up the stock business. He died in Oakland. Her
father, Fred Houghton, was born in Oakland, came to San Miguel in 1873,
married here Anna Kitchen, of Monterey county, and engaged in the stock
business. He still resides here and is interested in horses.

The father of Ed. Wickstrom, .Andrew F. Wick.strom, by trade a black-
smith, was born in Sweden, came to Illinois, and then to Nebraska, where he
farmed. In 1888 he bought a ranch in the Templeton .section, farming four
years. Then he homesteaded and engaged at his calling in Shandon, having
about eight hundred acres, until he .sold and located near San Miguel and
raised grain. Tie later moved to hVesno. where he died in -April, 1915. aged

840 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENMRONS

seventy-seven. lie married Sophia Lin(iuist, and she resides in Fresno and
was the mother of ten children, eight of whom are living.

Ed. Wickstrom was made a Mason in San !\Iiguel Lodge No. 285.
F. & A. M.., and is junior warden. He is a member of Nacimiento Lodge No.
340, I. O. (). 1'., and is past grand, and with his wife is a member of the
Rebckahs.

CHARLES L. NYBERG.— A man who is adding to the general beauty
and natural wealth of the neighborhood is Charles L. Nyberg, a native of
Vermland, Sweden, and the son of a carjienter and farmer who brought his
family to Cokato, Wright county, JNlinn., where he plied his trade for seven or
eight years. Charles came with his father and mother. His mother, before
her marriage, was Elizabeth Peterson, of the same Swedish locality.

Six of the eight children are still living, and all are under the Stars and
Stripes. Peter A. Nyberg is in Templeton as the manager of the grocery
department of Charles Johnson ; Oscar J. is a contractor and builder ; Emily,
now Mrs. Charles Uhte, is a resident of San Francisco; Richard is a carpen-
ter in that city ; while Fred H. is in Templeton.

Coming here in the late eighties, Charles Nyberg was educated in the
Templeton public schools, and from a boy learned, under his father's in-
struction, the carpenter's trade, as well as agriculture. He soon bought a
ranch of two hundred twenty-five acres in the Willow Creek district, six
miles from Templeton, and having cleared and otherwise improved it, he put
a hundred acres under the plow and set aside the balance for orchards and
stock-raising. He went in for an apple orchard, for example, of ten or
twelve acres, and thereon he set out all \arieties.

Having sold this desirable property, he afterwards bought sixty acres a
mile west of Templeton, a tract which he soon improved, building there
barns and stables, and sowing the tillable ground to grain. He also had an
orchard of six acres, together with rose and flower gardens, and when he is
not busy keeping his projjcrty in good condition, he is engaged in contracting
and building in Templeton and vicinity.

A Democrat and a member of the County Central Committee, Mr. Ny-
berg has also served as the Oakdale school district trustee, and being of a
religious temperament he is a supporter of the church, choosing, as is per-
fectly natural, the Swedish Lutheran as his spiritual incentive.

SHERMAN L. DOTY. — Not everybody can make a success at mining,
and the more that one knows about the problems associated with discover-
ing and securing the vast treasures deep in the earth, the more must one be
convinced that, notwithstanding the occasional accidental stroke of luck, the
really successful miners are and ever will be those who have a natural in-
sight into what lies beneath their feet or above them on the mountain sides,
or in other words, those who from early years have shown a bent toward
such adventurous work. Such a person to whom mining was always full of
interest is Sherman L. Doty, who has followed prospecting and locating ever
since lie began it, and wdio has been, in the face of untold difficulties, rea-
sonably successful. A native of whom San Luis Obispo County is jiroud,
he was born on May 28, 1876, at Cambria, the son of Benjamin Doty, an
early settler, successful farmer and dairyman there.

]\cared on a farm and started in the great world through the guidance
of the public schools, Sherman took to mining, at first swinging a pick in

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 841

the Cambria, the Hamilton and the Kigchm mines. In s])are hours he found
time to work on his own account, and while prospectino- located a mine
above the Catnbria mine in the Pine mountain district.

On July 2, 1904, in Union county, Ore., he married Miss Lena Roberts,
a native of that district, and a daughter of Lindsey and Carrie (Moore)
Roberts, natives of Washington and Indiana, resi)ectively. The father was
a surveyor and later a local railroad agent ; but he is now proprietor of a
hotel at M}'rtle Point, Oregon. Three children resulted from this union —
Marjorie, Glenn and Kenneth.

After Mr. and Mrs. Doty's marriage the couple removed to San Luis
Obispo County; and since coming to the Klau ]\Iine, Mrs. Doty has had
charge of the boarding-house there, giving the wants of her patrons her
])ersonal attention. In politics Mr. Doty is a Democrat; but his many Re-
publican friends have never yet found a law interfering with their liking for
him, and Sherman Doty, with his good wife, are well known and highly
esteemed throughout the coast country.

PROF. JOSEPH A. REMBUSCH.— A leader in musical circles in the
central coast counties, and a man of national reputation, Prof. Joseph .\. Rem-
busch, of Santa Maria, was born in Batesville, Ind., July 27, 1869, his father,
Peter Rembusch, coming from Metz, France, after having been a cuirassier
and fought under Napoleon. He married Frances Snyder, native of Peters-
burg, and both Mr. and Mrs. Rembusch had French and German blood
flowing through their veins. Peter Rembusch was a fine trombone and
violin pla3'er, while his wife was a singer of note, who at times took leading
roles in operatic performances. They came to America and settled in Indiana,
and their nine children all had pronounced musical tastes and ability. Mrs.
Rembusch died in 1883, and her husband passed aw.ay in 1898, aged eighty
years.

Joseph A. Rembusch attended the public schools at P.atesvilie and Shel-
byville, Ind., and at a very early age showed signs of ab'ility in music, joining
local bands and orchestras. He was a student of the trombone, voice and har-
mony for years, and later took up instrumentation and orchestration. He
studied under such masters as Cooney, Schelschmidt, and F.rnestenaufe of
Indianapolis: Madame Millspaugh, and Eilenberg of Montgomery. Ind.;
voice under Prof. Curson of Indiana, and instrumentation under Walter
Dahlby. of Des Moines, la. Mr. Rembusch was a director of the Indiana
State Band, of sixty men, at Frankfort, Ind., for four years, after which, with
a brother, he embarked in the music business at Zancsvillc, Ohio, where he
also was director of the city band, and later had the leadership of the Mili-
tary band of Montgomery, Ala. While residing in that city, he filled an
engagement as trombone soloist in the Bijou theater of the Klaw & Erlanger
circuit. He has played with the celebrated "Hi Henry Minstrels," and held
other positions of importance.

As showing the esteem in which Mr. Rembusch was held in Zancsvillc, we
quote the following from the Zancsvillc, Ohio, News, published when he
moved to Montgomery, .\la. : "Since coming to Zancsvillc, about a year ago.
Mr, Rembusch has won a host of friends. He has the happy faculty of
weaving a close chain of friendship with everybody with whom he comes
in contact. What Zancsvillc loses, a sterling citizen, will be Montgomery's
gain. Always pleasant, dependable and of good nature, he is honest, truth-

842 SAX LUIS OlSlSPO COUXTV AND ]-:X\IR().\S

fill, and the sort of a man thai it is always a pleasure to meet, lie has
plaved with many of the best bands in the country and was at one time
director of the J-liks band at Loganport, and at another time director of the
Indiana Stale Hand. While in Zanesville, .Mr. Kembusch gained an enviable
reputation as a vocalist, holding the position of director in the St. Thomas'
church choir. He was also a valuable member of the Weller Orchestra. Xo
musical event was thought of in Zanesville without the name of Joseph .\.
l\einl)usch on the program. -Mr. Rembusch is both an Eagle and an Elk,
and these organizations sadly regret his leaving."

Professor Rembusch came to Santa Maria, in May, 1907, to take the lead-
ership of the Santa Maria Hand, and remained in that position until he
resigned, April 1, 1914. During the intervening years the band, under his
management, became known far and wide as the Santa Maria Concert Band,
one of the best in the state. In 1907, when the White Squadron appeared
in Santa F.arbara, Professor Rembusch was there with his band and took
first rank for musical interpretation. He organized and was conductor of the
Santa .Maria Concert Orchestra, his concert work entitling him to a high
place among the musicians of the state. Tie is one of the proprietors of the
Gaiety Theater of Santa Maria, and plays the trombone in the orchestra,
lie is also an expert piano tuner, and has written a pamphlet, full of valuable
suggestions, on the care and use of the piano, the subject being treated
mainly from the point of sanitation.

I'rnft'ssor Remliusch was united in marriage, in .^anta ^laria. December
3. \')\2. with Miss Catherine Adam, daughter of William Adam, a pioneer
merchant of (uiadalupe, who carried on the first store at that place, before
Santa Maria was founded. Professor and Mrs. Rembusch erected a beau-
tiful residence, liungalow style, at the corner of Cook and McClellan streets,
Santa Maria, in which city they both are social favorites. He is popular in
fraternal circles, and -is a member of the Knights of Columbus and B. P. (~>.
Elks in San Luis ()l)is])o, and the Moose and Eagles in Santa Maria.

LOUIS WQLF. — This native son of California has grown to manhood
in San Luis Obispo County, in the northern section of which his interests
are all centered. A son of .\lbert W'nlf. of whom mention is elsewhere
made in this work, Louis Wolf w.is born in San Francisco, on March 10.
1880, attended the jjublic schools in the Union district. San Luis Obispo
County, and graduated from the Paso Robles high school in 1895. From
that time he assisted his father with the work on the home place until he was
twenty-one years old. when lie became possessor of one hundred sixty acres
on which lie built a home ami began ranching for himself, renting adjoining
land and engaging in grain and stock raising. He is now owner of a fine tract
of three hmidretl tw-enty acres in Union district, ten miles east of Paso Robles,
well imijroved, the part of it used for jjasture well-studded with live oaks,
m.iking amide shade for his stock.

Mis specialty is i'.crkshire and Dumc hogs, of thoroughbred and regis-
tered >t(ick. The sire of his herd of Berkshire hogs, Premier Champion,
took a i)ri/.e al the I'air in San Francisco in 1915. He has wells on his place
with ample pumping plant to supply water to the dwelling and barns, also
a .small dairy with sep.-irator. His cattle are of the Hereford strain. Besides
his own land, he leases other land, and is operating four hundred eighty

SAN LUIS OP.ISI'O COUNTY AND KNXIRONS 843

acres. His ranch is located on Dry creek and lie has a blacksmith shop
thereon, doing his own work. He has a combined harvester for gathering his
own crops, and does work with it for others in the locality.

Mr. \\ olf was united in marriage in Plantation, Sonoma county, October
22, 1907, with Miss Anna Kase, born in that locality, a daughter of Herman
and Louisa Kase, natives of (Germany. Mr. Kase served in a cavalry regi-
ment in the Franco-Prussian War, in 1870-71. Afterwards he traveled in for-
eign countries for some time. With his wife he migrated to the Hawaiian
Islands, and thence to California, and was engaged in farming and lumbering
near Plantation, Sonoma county. Now he resides at Petaluma. Of their
nine children, Mrs. Wolf is the third youngest, and the mother of four chil- •
dren — Harry, Lois, Edward and Herman.

Mr. WoU has traveled quite extensively over tlie slate, investigating soil,
climate and opportunities ; and after comparisons, he decided that this county
ofl'ered the greatest advantages for investment. He is an advocate of using
the latest methods in farming, and encourages the meeting together of men
who are making the earth yield the largest increase, to discuss and compare
views and thus accomjilish through practical experience the greatest results.
He is intensely interested in and encourages the farmer.s to take advantage
of the rural credits and farm loans. He has always been ready to give of
his time and means towards any object that has for its aim the forwarding
of any moNcment for the ui)l)uilding of the county and enhancing the com-
fort of the ])ec>])le. He is a mcmlier ui Linion r'arm Center of the San Luis
Ohispii County Farm Ihireau, and a director of same, and is also a member
of llie ap]jraising board of this district for the h'ederal Loan Association.
Mr. W iilf is a Rei)ub]ican in politics, is liberal, enterprising and has the
rosi)ecl of all wlio knnw and have dealings with him.

IVER IVERSEN.— rhc lure of the New Wnrld is great to thousands
beyond the seas, but never so ])owerful as in those instances where someone
near and dear has ])receded the dreamer to the land of promise, and beckons
him or her to follow. How one brave young Dane, pushing out from his
nati\e land, ])aved the way for others to follow, we shall learn in the story
of tile I versens, among whom was Iver, the son of Hans Iversen, who was
born at ISallum, Denmark, on January 22, 1859, was brought uji in the Danish
schools, an<l came to Monmouth, 111., on June 20, 1876, an experienced
farmer. He was also a stranger in a strange fand, for he was the first of a
family to come to .\merica.

lor eighteen months he worked on a farm at ten dollars a month, and
then he mo\ed on to Omaha, where he was employed in a brick yarii for
three years, ilis next engagement was in Denver and vicinity, and there he
entered the service of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, in the Gunnison
country, where he worked on the toji of Marshall Pass, at an altitude of 11,000
feet, until the construction was completed, 'i'hen he was back in a Denver
l)rick-yard, and in the fall of 1880 came to San Francisco, where he busied
himself in a restaurant and afterwards worked for the Clans Spreckels and
the .American su.gar refineries. In 1882, he went to Butte, Mont., which was
his headquarters till 1886, and while there he and four others contracted to
build a ditch for the Anaconda Smelting Co. which occupied them for about
one year. Some rough work in the forest to get out eight hundred or more
cords of wood followed, thoroughlv testing the stufT that was in the man;

844 SAX LUIS ODISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

for a gis^antic cliutc liad to Ije made down which the wood was shot a
thousand feet t(3 the valley below, where it was loaded on to wagons and
drawn to the furnaces.

On Jul}' 26, 1886, Ivcr came to San Luis Obispo County and Paso Robles,
where he was destined to join his father and other members of the family,
and he bought his present place of one hundred sixty acres, raw and unin-
viting enough, but which under his skilful plowing and subsequent culti-
vating, became as good a ranch as any of its kind around there. He engaged
in grain-raising, rented mcore land, and soon included a hundred sixty acres
adjoining his farm and an equal amount of land across the road, making a
ranch of four hundred eighty acres about eight miles east of Paso Robles.
The raising of grain and wheat, on an extensive scale, has called for the most
up-to-date means of harvesting the crops: but Tver has iirovilcd all this,
although the last two years he has rented his ranch out to others. He also
owns lots in Richmond and vicinity.

Tver Iversen was married in San Luis Obispo to Miss jMarie Sophie
Schmidt, who was born at Visby, Schleswig, a daughter of John Schmidt, the
miller of Visby, who died in 1915, at the age of eighty-eight years. Their only
child, Hayward J. Iversen, is attending Oakland Polytechnic school.

Mr. Iversen is a stockholder in the Farmers Alliance Business Associa-
tion, being a member of the board of directors. He is also interested in the
cause of education, and is serving as a member of the board of trustees of
Union school district. He is a Democrat in political views and by religious
preference a Lutheran, and altogether is one of the most progressive citizens
of the community.

JOHN SENNETH. — Had John Senneth been less favorably equipped,
when he started out in life, with the element of grit and the determination
to master the ups and downs that might beset him on his waj-, he could
not enjoy today, as one of the oldest settlers in the vicinity of Cholame, the
material prosperity he has so richly deserved, nor boast, in his modest way,
v/hat he has attained. A son of California, born in San Francisco on Feb-
ruary 19, 1865, he was the son of John Senneth, a native of Waterford,
Ireland, who came to California in the fifties, sailing around Cape Horn.
In the northern metropolis John Senneth worked as a warehouseman;
and there, when the subject of our sketch was eleven years old, he died.
Mrs. Senneth, who preceded 'her husband to the spirit land two years be-
fore, had been Miss Margaret Mahoney, a native of Cork, Ireland, and
eventually a resident of San Francisco.

Nine children were born of this union, but John Senneth is the only one
at present living. He was brought up in old Sonoma, Sonoma Valley,
where he lived with Fred Keller on a farm, and attended the public school;
and he remained with Mr. Keller until he was twenty-one, when he pushed
ont into the world for himself.

It was in 1886, therefore, that he came to San Luis Obispo County and
located a homestead of a hundred sixty acres in the Cholame valley, about
seven miles east of Cholame. He cleared the land, made many improve-
ments, dug a well fifty-six feet deep, and built a house, barns and fence;
anil there, with two horses and a plow, he turned the first furrow, putting
in a crop for hay. He then went in for raising horses, rented lands adjoin-
ing, and began to farm more extensively. As many as five hundred acres a

SAN LUIS ODISPO COUNTY AND EN\"IRONS 845

year he has put out to grain and today he owns, among- other property,
a ranch of a hundred sixty acres at Parkfield, Monterey county, devoted to
wheat, barley, horses and cattle. Tie has made a specialty of draft horses,
and uses the brand known as the \\isli-l:)onc.

On September 24, 1890, John Scnncth was married at San Miguel to
Miss Bridget Murphy, a native of Charleston, Prince lulward Island, and
a daughter of Michael Murphy of the same place. He was a shipbuilder,
working in the great shipping yard there, followed the sea as a seal fislier,
and was later a farmer. Her mother had been Miss Catherine Fitzpatrick
of St. John's, Newfoundland. She was married to Mr. Murphy while he was
interested in the seal fisheries. Seven girls and three boys were born to IMr.
and Mrs. Murphy, and Mrs. Senncth was the third youngest in the family.
She came to California in 1876.

A citizen loyal to the standards of the Democratic party, and one w:ho
enjoys the confidence of his fellow-men, John Senneth was for twelve years
an inspector of elections. In social circles he is best known as a member of
the Choiame club.

ALBERT ALLEN DUDLEY.— A native son of California and one of
the representative business men of Santa IMaria, Albert A. Dudley was born
at Petrolia, Humboldt county, November 8, 1880, a son of Jacob Allen and
Ida Jane (EUingwood) Dudley, natives of Iowa and California respectively.
Jacob Allen Dudley was born in Mitchell county, Iowa, November 22, 1859,
and when four years of ago was brought to California by his parents, James
Newton and Lucinda (Miner) Dudley. They settled in Marysville and a
few years later moved to Petrolia, Humboldt county, where Mr. Dudley
owned ami operated a sawmill, and during the Indian troubles took part
in subduing the Red Men. He met death by drowning in the Mattole river,
April, 1885, while endeavoring to save his saw-logs from being carried out
to sea; his widow died in Eureka in May, 1913, aged seventy-five years.

After the death of his father, Jacob Allen Dudley conducted the saw-
mill, and operated a threshing machine in that section of the county until his
death, August 1, 1905. He was public spirited, and served for years as deputy
sheriff and constable of Mattole township. He was married in Fcrndale,
November 21, 1879, Ida Jane EUingwood becoming his wife. She was born in
Santa Cruz, January 5, 1862, a daughter of Giles Warren and Alice Jane
EUingwood. Mr. EUingwood passed away in Oakland, March 10, 1905, aged
seventy-six, and his widow died in Eureka, November 1, 1908, at the age of
seventy-two. Mrs. Ida Jane Dudley later became the wife of J. M. \Yoodgate
in Portland, Ore., and now resides in Boise, Ida.

Albert A. Dudley, eldest of a family of twelve children, eleven of whom
are living, attended the public .schools at Petrolia, Eerndale and Port Kenyon
in Humboldt county, and on November 16, 1898, at the age of eighteen,
began working in a furniture store in Ferndale. While in this position he
assisted with the undertaking department, and having shown an aptitude
for that work, he resolved to ma1<e it his profession. For one year, from
September, 1900 to September, 1901, in jiartnership with a cousin. .\. M. Cum-
mings, Mr. Dudley engaged in the furniture business in Petrolia under the
firm name of Dudley & Cummings. He later was enii)loyed by various furni-
ture dealers and undertakers in Areata and in Healdsburg.

846 SAN LUIS OP.ISPO COL'XTY AND EN\"lRONS

On August U>. l'W4, ho came lo Santa Maria from Areata as a result of
sonic correspondence witli the firm of T. A. Jones iH: Son. lie at once
entered their employ and took charge of their undertaking de])artment, besides
doing ui)holstering, carpet laying and general work in the furniture store,
which work is now being carried on by his brother, George Lewis Dudley, who
has been with the firm since January, 1910. After coming here, Mr. Dudley
took a corresi)ondence course in embalming with the Cincinnati College of
F.mbalniing. graduating therefrom March 21, 1908. He remained with the
firm until January 27, 1914, when he purchased the undertaking business, re-
moving in March. 1915. into a commodious and up-to-date chapel erected for
him by S. J. Jones, at 107 West Church street, according to plans proposed by
Mr. Dudley. He has a combination auto-ambulance and hearse, as well as a
touring car. his entire equipment being complete and modern in every detail.

.\t Windsor. California. June 21. 1903, occurred the marriage of Albert
.A. Dudley and Miss Eliza Ellen Hembree, daughter of Andrew Jackson and
Mary (Goode) Hembree, natives of Oregon and England respectively. The
grandfather, also named Andrew Jackson Hembree. met death in the Indian
war in Oregon. To Mr. and Mrs. Dudley two children have been born:
Russell Hembree, born at Areata, April 9, 1904 ; and Verna ^largaret, who was
born May 17, 1911, in the home which he erected in the fall of 1909, at 413
South Lincoln street, of modern bungalow style of architecture, over which
his wife presides with her usual gracious hospitality.

Mr. Dudley has taken a live interest in municipal affairs in Santa Maria,
and is a member of the board of health. Tic is an active member of the
Chamljer of Commerce and of several lodges. He is a member of Santa
Maria Lodge No. 90, K. of P.. of which he was Chancellor Commander in
1911. He was Master of Hesperian Lodge No. 264. F. & A. M.. in 1910: High
Priest of Fidelity Chapter No. 96, R. A. M., 1915-16: and Worthy Patron of
•Mizpah Chapter 'Xo. 100. O. E. S.. in 1913. of which -Mrs. Dudley was Worthy
matron in 1916. He was inspector of the Fiftieth Masonic District of Cali-
fornia. 1911-12-13: and Chief Ranger. Court Sisquoc No. 9019, A. O. F., in
1908. Mr. Dudley has made a place for himself in the business and social
circles of Santa Maria, where he and wife are social favorites. Both are
attendants at the .'^anta Maria Christian Church.

HANS IVERSEN.— Not the least pleasing feature of the history of
many a family among the i)ionccrs of California is the interest attending
the embarkation of the old folks from the Old World, wherein is seen the love
and devotion of children who ha\e paved the way for their parents to follow.
Ilans Iversen. the father of the Iversen family at L'nion, and one of the
originators of the Farmers Alliance P>usiness Association, was a fine old
man. whose identification with California might never have come about
had it not been for the progressive action of his children which led uj) to his
own eventful adieu to his native land. Born at Mogeltondern, in Schleswig-
llolstein. he became a miller, and after his marriage ran a bakery and drove
c.-utle to the sea|)ort. His wife was Hannah Thygesen. a daughter of Mathi.i-
i iiyyesen. ,i sailor who for many years coursed the waters of the globe.

In the centennial year of the United States. Tver, the oldest son. came
■ III to Illinois, and two years later he was followed by the next eldest. Mat.
In \H7'>. Chresten came direct lo San Francisco, having had a desire from a
lad to come to the Pacific Coast, and l>eing the first of the family to reach

SAN LUIS OBISI'O COUN'TV AND I'.NXIRONS 847

( alifonii;!. The year following still another son, Josiah, left Denmark, for
San Francisc<i, and before the year was out Theodore had made for Omaha.
This l)n.ak in the family ranks so centered the interest of the .father and
mother in the New World that in 1882 they came with the rest of the children
to the Golden State. They came to avail themselves of homesteads in San
Luis Obispo County ; and the father, Mat. and Chresten made their way
across country to what is now Union, where they located their home places.

Hans Iversen set up shop on the property he had selected in 1883, plow-
ing some of his land and beginning ini]irovcments on the homesteads for his
two sons, sowing a wheat crop on each, which was harvested in 1884 by
means of the scythe, the crop making a very respectable showing. For
.-^ome time he lived upon his land, but while in San Francisco, under medical
treatment, he died in December, 1911, at the age of about seventy-two,
leaving his companion, who now makes her home in San Francisco. .\
Lutheran by jirofcssiiin of faith, he was of a deeply religious nature, and
was a man of high nmral courage. For years, no prettier sight was seen in
the vicinity of Union than the festivities which celebrated the golden wedding
of Mr. and Mrs. Hans Iversen at their home there eight years ago.

Ten children have grown u]) from this lirqipy marriage. Iver is a farmer
at Union; Mat. likewise tills the soil there and is serving as a member of the
county board of supervisors; Chresten .\. is also a farmer at Lhiion ; Josiah
resides in Sebastopol ; Theodore is engaged in the liardware business at Rich-
mond; Mary, now Mrs. Lausten, is pro])riel(ir ni the Kaiser Hof Cafe;
Hans, Jr., resides in San Francisco, and is in the taxi Inisiness ; C. Frederick
is proprietor of the .■Xlexander I Intel, I'aso knbU-s; Martin is proprietor of
a restaurant in San Franciscn ; wliilt- Matilda, wiio had become Mrs. Hansen,
<licd in .^an Francisco in July, 1916.

JOHN GRANT.— Whoever attempts a history of Annette and essays
to present the lives of those citizens who have well earned their way to an
en\-iable prominence, must early inscril)e the record of John Grant, the suc-
cessful sheep and cattle raiser who, by hard work and scrupulous attention
to duty and obligations, accumulated a comfortable fortune for himself and
family. Horn near Glasgow, Scotland, in 1838, and educated in that country,
he came, when a child, with his parents to the United States and Missouri,
losing his father and mother, as well as tiiree lirolhers and two sisters,
tiirough cholera soon after iiis arrival in lite .\ew World.

In 1849, he crossed the plains with an uncle and aunt, a Mr. and Mrs.
Easton, driving an ox-team when only eleven years old. On reaching Salt
Lake City, lie remained for two years, and in 1851 puslied on to San I'.er-
nardino county, where he resided for some time. He worked for liis uncle,
and with him came to Los .\ngeles.

When he was eighteen, he got a horse and saddle and a dollar, and
started for Gilroy, where he farmed, after a while reaciiing Redwood and
stopping there three or four years. Then he went into the mines, along the
Frazcr river, and then to Boise City, where he enga.ged in jjacking freight
into the mines. There he got a good financial start, and returning to Cali-
fornia he bought .some cattle, went into stock-raising, drove his herds to
Visalia, and having sold them proceeded to Mount Diablo, where he again
took to the mines. There he met the lady who l)ccame his wife.

848 SAX LUIS OlUSPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

'I'lie weddiiii;- (.-LTcinony was celebrated in San Bernardino ou October
10. 186S, when Jnim (Irani and ATiss Margaret Nish, a native of Salt Lake
City, were joined in wedlock. Miss Nish had been born in November, 1852.
the dau,t;:hter of William Nish, a Scotch miner who had come to Salt Lake
City, then to San Bernardino, and afterward to Mount Diablo, where, when
acting as superintendent of the mines, he was killed in 1872. Her mother
was Isabclle Henderson before her marriage, a native of Scotland, who
died in San Bernardino. The eldest of five children still living in a family of
nine, she was brought up in .San Bernardino, to which town she had come
with her parents by ox-teams in 1854, and was educated in the public schools.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. (irant ctmtinuerl for two years at
San liernardino, farming and raising cattle, after which they engaged in the
same occupation at Bakersfield vmtil chills and fever led them to sell out,
whereupon they returned to Gilroy, bought a herd of sheep, and ran a
sheep ranch for a A^ear in the Pechcco mountains. Later they came to Santa
Maria and, in 1882, bought a ranch which they stocked with sheep, and
operated for twelve years, the ranch comprising two hundred acres and
located one mile from the state highway. ( )n their leasing this, they located
here, and made numerous improvements, which included their house and
barns. Mr. Grant was thus in the sheep Inisincss until his death, constantly
adding to the place until Grant ranch embraced over eight thousand acres
de\-oted to sheep and cattle-raising. All of this is fenced in and well watered
with springs, and the borders of Grant lake have become famous as, pasture
grounds for sheep. On November 8, 1914, Mr. Grant passed away, and since
that date, his sons have assisted the esteemed widow to manage the farm.

Nine children were born to this union. Isabelle became Mrs. Holcomb
of San Bernardino ; Robert is a farmer at Pozo ; John and Richard are also
farmers ; Viva, now Mrs. Anderson, farms here ; Adam, who is engaged in
farming and sheep-raising, and Fred are also local farmers ; Jessie lives with
her mother ; and Archie is a farmer in partnership with Fred.

Mr. Grant was a member of the Hesperian Lodge of Masons at Santa
Maria, a happy relationship having much to do, no doubt, with the associa-
tion of Robert, Adam and Richard with the same order. Mrs. Grant, who for
years proved a hel])meet of inestimable value, is a Republican and a Presby-
terian, as was also her husband.

EVAN BROWN. — Prominent among the young ranchers of Shandon
who. l)y their intelligent enterprise, are contributing much to the science
of farming and stock-raising, while making material success, is Evan Brown,
a son of Richard and Lucy (Collier) Brown, old-time and well-known citizens
of San Luis Obispo County, who are very properly represented elsewhere in
this work. Born on the Brown ranch near Shandon, February 10, 1886,
Evan was educated at the public schools at the same time that, from a youth,
he made himself generally useful on the ranch. He learned the care of the
stock, and how to drive big teams; and he also was instructeil. in the great
school of actual ex])erience, in the best way to prepare for a grain crop and
eventually to harvest it.

After Ivvan had reached his majority, he farmed for a year with his
father: and, in 1908, located a homestead, there being a vacant one adjoinini,'
his father's ranch on the south. He filled the requirements of the law and.
in time, ])roved up on ;i hundred sixty acres, even breaking the first fiuTOW ;

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 849

but later he disposed of it and purchased his present ranch in Chnlame
valley, completing the arrangements in 1913. This ranch he has much im-
proved, and now owns five hundred twenty acres in Cholame valley, his
home being four miles above Shandon. He has built a comfortable new
modern residence there, together with barns and other out-houses ; and has
fenced in the whole in a substantial manner. He also rents another ranch
and operates, all in all, six hundred eighty acres, given to grain and stock.
He uses a big team, and puts out about two hundred acres of grain a year.

On April 26, in 1912, Evan Brown was married in Los Angeles to
Miss Sue Thornton, a native of South Dakota, who came of good old Scotch
and English stock, and migrated to California with her parents, who were
Charles and Vesta (Bell) Thornton, of New England ancestry, but born in
Iowa and Minnesota respectively, and now making their home in Artesia,
California. Mrs. Brown was graduated from the Los Angeles State Nor-
mal, in the class of 1907, and taught for a while in the Southern California
schools, among them the Fullerton high school. She came t6 San Luis
OImsjio County, teaching at Cholame and later at I'ethel, continuing there
until her marriage to Mr. Brown. Two children — James Evan and Ernest
Thornton — are the happy result of this union.

Evan Brown is i)ul)lic-s|)iritc(l to a pronounced degree, and has found
pleasure in contributing his services as school trustee of the Cholame district.
In religious belief, Mr. B.niwn is an Episcoi)alian ; and ]:>olitically he is a
Repul)lican.

JAMES M. GOULDING.— One of the interesting men of Paso Roblcs,
though still to be numbered among the youngest of its active business con-
tingent, is the subject of this sketch.

After a most agreeal^le visit to his extensive almond orchards and choice
tracts of land rapidly being converted to the same purpose, among the hills
just west of the city of Paso Robles, one realizes how each experience of life
adds to human equipment. The unusual chai)ters of J. M. Goulding's life
each tell a story of development from small beginnings, success attained
where the margin at the outset was narrow indeed. In his forty-second year
Mr. Goulding brought to his extensive land holdings in Paso Robles the
energy and far-sightedness which in a brief year transformed three hundred
twenty acres of rough-wooded hills into smooth orchards, with automobile
roads winding between, and contented owners planning their permanent
JKJmes upon their respective tracts.

Born in Rutland, Vermont, in 1874, and setting out on the long trail at
tiie age of seventeen years, provided only with a public school education, Mr.
Goulding soon became a valued employe in the vast organization of the Ver-
mont Marble Co. For eleven years he worked industriously for this con-
cern in the home office, and on the road as a salesman. During the iast
five years of that period, he was town clerk of Proctor, Vt., notary pub-
lic, informal legal adviser and all that the honorable office of town clerk
means to the populace of the old "down East" community.

Attracted to .Arizona by reports of friends interested there, he regret-
I'ullv tr.msferred his allegiance from his mother state to the then crude ter-
ritory, locating at the Grand Canyon, the wonder of all the world. Here
he became interested in copper mining, and the expansion of a tourist hotel,
investing in both these enterprises; and while devoting himself to these activ-

850 SAN LUIS OP.ISPO COUXTV AXD KWIRONS

itics, he also found liiiii.- for research until, at the age of thirty years, he
was the most widely-infornu'd man regarding the geology, geography, and
])henomena of that marveknis region of any residing in it. He developed
trails; and through his enthusiasm for the Canyon and Desert many travelers
were afTorcied the op])ortunity of dip])ing into the heart of sections hitherto
almost uiik-novvn.

After five years of this uni(|ue experience, the hotel property was sold
to William Randolph Hearst, who had been a frequent patron. Air. (joulding.
having discovered his special aptitude for the hotel business, came from
Arizona to California to accept a high position with Mr. Frank Miller, in
his Mission Inn at Riverside. Here he remained three years, resigning to
accept the assistant management of Paso Robles Hot Springs, where he
caught his vision of the great future of Paso Robles' then unapi)reciated
lands, and invested largely in the same, with a judgment since s])len(lidly
[iroven.

In 1913, Mr. Goulding purchased the Hotel Andrews at San Luis Obispo,
operating it and greatly enlarging its patronage until, in 1916, his affairs at
Paso Robles demanding all his time, he disposed of the hotel, and since then
he has resided in the latter city.

A Republican in politics, a live member of the Chamber of Commerce.
the secretary of the Republican County Central Committee, and secretary of
Paso Robles Center of the County Farm Bureau, Mr. Goulding is a man of
many friends. His home, presided over by his charming wife, is a rendezvous
for active spirits of the swiftl_\-ad\'ancing capital of the Upper Salinas X'alley,
Paso Robles.

WILLARD C. RANNEY.— As operator in charge of the San .Miguel
station iov the Midland Counties Public Service Corporation, W'illard C.
Ranney is a man of experience in this line of work. He was bt)rn near Flint,
Genesee county, Alich., October! 30, 1885. His father, Willard Ranney, was
born in Penn.sylvania and came with his parents to Genesee county. Mich.,
where he grew to maturity and farmed. He served in the Civil War in the
'i'wcnty-third Michigan Infantry, and married Flizabeth Davidson, who was
born in Adrian, Mich. They arc imw living retired in C)tisville. Tliey had
se\en children, six of whom arc still li\ ing.

The youngest of the family. W ilbird ( '. R.inncy. was reared and educated
in the grammar and high schools ;it (Uis\ille, after which he started to learn
the tailor's trade ; but a year's work led him to decide that he did not like
it, and he .sought more i)rofitable fields for his talents. He was an attendant
in the Michigan State Asylum for the Insane for eighteen months, and then
went home and ran the home-place two years. While on the farm there
he was united in marriage with Myrtle Van Wormer. After his marriage in
was emidoyed in helping to erect the plant of the Buick Motor Company
at I'^lint, being six months at work installing the machinery. In March, PX)7,
he came to C"alifornia, and at Fresno was engaged in ranching until June, 1908.

Keturniiig to Michigan, he entered the employ of the Buick Motor Com-
pany, an<l was in their factory until the sjjring of 1909, when he came back
t<i this stale and at I'resno entered the employ of the San Joaquin Light &
Power Coni]);iny, on construction work, building and installing machinery in
the \.irions i>l,ices in the valley for over two years. The station at San
Miguel was just started, and a well was being drilled. In 1912 Mr. Ranne>

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 851

assisted in putting in the machinery, and after it was installed he was given
charge of the plant, which supplies all stations north of San Luis Obispo.
Since he has had charge here he has entered into active participation in public
affairs, and is well and favorably known throughout this section.

Mr. Ranney has one child, a daughter, Hazel. He is a member of the
Methodist Church in San Miguel, and in politics votes the Prohil)ition ticket
and supports its principles at all times, lie is a truly self-made man, and is
highly respected by all \vho kmnv him.

FREDERICK NELSON.— A successful farmer and l)usiness man, as
well as one very much interested in the u]jbuilding of the educational sys-
tem of the county, himself serving as school trustee in the San Marcos dis-
trict, Frederick Nelson is a native of the Pacific Coast, having been born in
Seattle, Wash., on September 4, 1880. His father, Andrew Nelson (a sketch
of whom is given on another page of this work), was a native of Sweden.

Fred, as he is familiarly called by his many friends, was reared on the
home place in this county from the age of eight years and was educated in
the public schools. He early learned the various branches of agriculture
with his father ; and when he was twenty-one years of age and capable of
striking out for himself, leased his father's ranch of three hundred twenty
acres in the San Marcos district and, with liis father, twu liundred thirty-four
acres adjoining. In 1908 he sold his interest in the land to his father, and
leased the wdiole of five hundred sixty acres, five miles from Paso Robles ;
and there he puts in about two hundred acres to grain and raises cattle on
the balance of the land. He is interested in a combined harvester, and uses
two bi^;- teams to operate the ranch, and is succeeding nicely.

In ]')]() he tiiok in his twin brother, Ernest, as a partner, and they con-
tinue the business with success. Plis brother was in the barber business
about ten )-ears and was city trustee of Paso Robles one term. They are
interested with other members of the family in the estate left by the father,
and twenty-three acres are now in almonds and more is being set to that nut.
Mr. Nelson is very active in giving the jjrojjcr publicity to the county, and is
a "booster" for all enterprises of merit.

In September, 1909, in Salinas, occurred the marriage of Frederick Nel-
son with Miss Althea Irene Gerst, a native of Oak Flat, and a daughter of
Michael Cerst, a jjromincnt citizen ;ind pioneer of 1875 (whose interesting
sketch is included in this work) : and they have one son, Francis Frederick.

CLEMEN FREDLEFF IVERSEN.— The town of Paso Robles, with
its varied and uneciualled natural resources and business opportunities, has
drawn within its confines many men who.se capacity and fine traits of char-
Jictcr would be a credit to any community, and men who have brought with
them as wives or families others who have added materi^y to the real wealth
of the community. Foremost among such valued citizens are Clemen FredlefF
Iversen, the well-known farmer and horticulturist, and his cultured and
refined helpmate, who is also well known for her contributions to the city's
progress. On May 16th of our centennial year, Clemen Iversen was born at
r.allum, Germany, the son of Hans Iversen. the sul)stantial burgher, who.se
life is presented elsewdiere in this work ; and when he was but six years old
he came with his parents to San Francisco. The next year his father home-
steaded in San Luis Obispo County, and there the lad obtained his education
under somewhat discouraging ditiliculties. {'or two years it was necessary

852 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

for liiin to walk live miles in order to reach the school at Dry Creek, and
that was when there were no roads and the oft bare-footed boy made his
way by trails : and only when a school was established at Union was the
ambitious lad able to get his instruction nearer home. When he was eight
years of age, an aunt, Mrs. I. C. Nielsen, came from San Francisco and
located on a homestead adjoining that of his father; and then Clemen went
to live w-ith her. Already a sturdy chap, he helped to make the adobe brick
for his fathers house. When he was thirteen, Clemen quit school in order
to manage his aunt's place, and in 1902 he entered the employ of the United
States Government as a mail contractor, for four years driving a stage
between Paso Roblcs and Cholame, a distance of thirty miles. Then, or
somewhat later, he lived in the former town, near which he had bought a
small ranch. In course of time he and his brother, Martin, at the expense of
a contract, bought the leasehold of the Alexander Hotel, at the corner of
Twelfth and Pine streets, Paso Robles, and managed it a year, after which
Clemen bought his brother out and continued the business. The opening
of the hotel took place on October 10, 1906. Meanv/hilc, he wms improving
and clearing his town ranch, and in 1911 he set out four and a half acres of
almonds upon it. On June 13, 1901, Clemen w-as married at Union to Miss
Eva Carpenter, who was born at Matfield Green, Chase county, Kansas, the
daughter of C. E. and Frances (Handy) Carpenter, both natives of New York,
wdio were married in Wisconsin. Her grandfather, Chauncey Carpenter, a
farmer, who died in Wisconsin, was born in New York, of an English family
that had settled in Virginia in Colonial days, and he married Sarah Van
Atter, of good old Holland Dutch stock. Her maternal grandfather, Andrew
Handy, was born in Scotland and settled, while a young man, in New York.
In the rush for gold, he came to San Francisco by way of Cape Horn, and
when he had abandoned the mines he returned east across the Isthmus of
Panama. There he took the yellow fever and died a week after his arrival
home. He had been married to Frances Pickering, whose great-grandfather,
Timothy Pickering, was a Colonel in the Continental Army, and later Adju-
tant-General. Timothy Pickering was a member of Washington's Cabinet
during both administrations. He was also the first Postmaster-General of
the United States, and afterwards Secretary of State, and was one of the
founders of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point. Her mother was a
Champlaine and a descendant of the French explorers. The other children
in the Carpenter family are: Mrs. Addie Woods and Mrs. George Bryan.
of Paso Robles: Mr. De Wayne Carpenter, in Bandon, Oregon; Mrs. Lorena
Underwood, of Chase county, Kansas; Mrs. ^Mina Dowell, who died at Arroyo
Grande in 1905; Nellie, who died in Arroyo Grande, aged seventeen; Mrs.
lulith Laughlin, of ^anta Maria; and Mrs. Cliffie Phoenix, of Santa Barbara.
Mrs. Iversen was educated in Kansas and at Arroyo Grande; and having pur-
sued a high school course and specialized in English, she taught school for six
years in this county. Three children — Dorothy Frances, Weononah Theresa
and Clifton Fredleff— make up the young folks of Mr. and Mrs. Iversen's
family, in which also Mrs. Nielsen resides. In 1914 Mr. Iversen set out
twenty acres of almonds on Mrs. Nielsen's property, and in 1915 he and his
brother. C. .\., and his nei)hew. A. H. Iversen, bought a hundred sixty acres
adjoining Mrs. Nielsen's property and planted twenty-six acres to almonds,
as a demonstration of the value of land in that neighborhootl for almond

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY ANIJ EN\IRONS 853

culture viewed from a commercial stan(l].)iiiut. Since Julw 1915, Clemen Iver-
sen has ]nit in his time as foreman in the Warehouse <.)f the h'armers Alliance
Business Association, in which he is a stockholder. Mr. Ivcrscn is a member
of Santa Lucia Lodge, 350, I. O. O. F., and active in the Encampment. He is a
Socialist and serves on the county central committee. Mrs. Iversen is a
^voman of much culture and refinement, is well read and keeps abreast of the
times, and being of a literary turn has contributed liberally to the press of
the state.

LOUIS LAURIDSEN.— One of the hi,L;lily respected men .if the secti..n
al)out Union, San Luis Obispo County, is Louis Lauridsen, a director of the
I'"armers Alliance Business Association and an active man of affairs in his
section of the county. He was born in Hygum, Schleswig, Germany, A])ril
6, \H(>9, a son of Mads and Esther Maria (Hansen) Lauridsen, who were
natives of that country and farmers by occupation, the former still living on
the home place, which is owned by a son, Hans Lauridsen. The mother
passeil her last days there.

The eldest of the two sons, Louis Lauridsen was reareil on the farm
and attended the common schools until he was fifteen, after wdiich he farmed
inilil he was twenty-one years old. Then, in 1890, he came to the United
States and on to San Francisco, where he had some relatives living. He soon
found employment in the livery business with a stable on Washington street
and worked there for seven years, although at times he left his position and
wcni to Solano county, where he worked about three seasons driving big
teams on grain ranches near Rio \'ista. In 1898 he came to this couutv to
•work for Niels Madsen, whom he had met in San I'rancisco ; and he was in
his employ on his ranch for two years. At length, taking his savings, he
bought an outfit and engaged in ranching for himself, with a cousin, Michael
Lund, for a partner. They purchased three hundred twenty acres of land
on the edge of the Estrella ranch and leased part of the ICstrella ranch, farm-
ing one thousand acres to wheat ; and this partnership continued for eight
years. During the intervening time they had got together a fine outfit of
modern implements and had two big teams, with other requisites for a suc-
cessful farming enterprise. They dissolved partnership, as farmers, although
they still own the three hundred twenty acres together.

Mr. Lauridsen carried on the farm alone, and also ran about seven hun-
dred acres of leased land. He had three teams and raised wheat on a large
scale for three years ; then he purchased a three hundred twenty acre ranch
on Dry creek, and one hundred sixty acres about one mile southeast of Union,
living on the Dry creek ranch and farming eight hundred acres to grain until
the fall of 1912, when he leased his ranches, and in 'Ma.y. 1913, with his wife and
three children, made a tri]) to Denmark. He went to visit his old home and rela-
tives, and remained about five months. Going, he took the steamer "United
Sl:ites" to Copenhagen via Christiania, and returned by the same route on the
Miamer "Hellige Olaf" to New York, and thence to his home in California.
• w he leases most of his ranches, residing on the one near Union. He made
.iii.alur jnirchase in 1913 of one hundred sixty acres, also on Dry creek,
located between his other two parcels of land, and so lias an entire section
in one body, as well as a half interest with his cousin in the original ranch,
lie resides on one hundred acres he reserves for himself, aiid has a small dairy.

Mr. Lauridsen was united in marriage in San I-'rancisco on Septemlicr

854 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

14, 1900. with ^liss Marcn Jensen, also burn in Schlcswig, Denmark, and a
daughter of Soren Jensen, a farmer and veteran of the Prussian-Danish War
of 18-lX. Airs. Lauridsen came to California in 1888, and made her home in
l^'resno and San I'rancisco until her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Lauridsen have
three cliildren — Esther, Ingward and IMargarctha. lie is serving as a member
of the l)oard of trustees of the Union school district, and is a director in the
h'armers Alliance business Association. He is also a member of the Lutheran
Church and of Dania Lodge, No. 2. in San I-"rancisco. He is a very successful,
public-sjiirited niul enterprising citizen, and a self-made man in every sense
of the term.

ALBERTO DELEISSEGUES.— A native son who has reason to be
proud of his ancestry, Alberto Deleissegues was born in Monterey in 1847.
the son of Captain Oliver, a native of France, a seafaring man who rose to
be captain of a vessel, sailing around Cape Horn several years before the
gold excitement in California. He was shipwrecked in the Bay of Monterey
and saved his life by swimming ashore. He settled at Monterey, where he
fell in love with and married Senorita Concepcion Boronda, a member of
a fine old Spanish family that had assisted in the settling of Monterey.
Captain Deleissegue was a merchant and also became the owner of a large
ranch at Chorro, San Luis Obispo County. Pie died some years afterwards,
leaving five children. Later, at San Juan, his widow was married to J.
Munoz, a native of Mexico, and to them four children were born. After her
marriage to Mr. Munoz, she mnxi-d t^ her r.inch in San Luis Obispo County,
where Alberto was reared and educated in the public schools, finishing at
Santa Clara C(5llege. He served as collector of customs of the Port of San
Luis C^bispo, and after that, in partnershij) with his brother .Alexander,
engaged in stock raising in Kern county.

In S;in Luis Obispo occurred the marriage of .Alberto Deleissegues to
Rebecca 1 lames, who was born in ( )akland, the daughter of Benjamin and
Carmen (Laing) Haines. The father, born in New York, was a prominent
civil engineer and fine mathematician. The mother was of South .American
birth, having been born in Chile. Mr. and Mrs. Hames came to California
as "Porty-niners," moving from Oakland to Santa Cruz, where he died ; later
the mother passed away in San Luis Obispo. Grandfather Captain George
l-"oster Laing was a native of England, a ship builder and master mariner.
On one of his tri]is he was married in Chile to Francisca Jofl'ree and returned
East, afterwards coming to California in 1830. After his marriage. .Alberto
served as de|)uty county assessor of San Luis (Obispo, and later, with his
brothers, he engaged in the cattle and butcher business for many years, until
he sold out and located at Xi])omo, where he now resides. They have nine
cliildren living: Oliver, with the Western Union Oil Co.; Eleanor. Mrs.
Brown of Ni]jomo: Benjamin, farming near Orby : Winton, with the Union
Oil Cii. : Lucretia. Airs. Josejih Dana of Nipomo; .Mbert, also of Xipouio:
Kebccca, Mrs. Donovan, residing in Arizona; (leorge, with the Pinal Oil C . « :
and l-'rancis, w-ho is in the emjiloy of the Pinal Dome Oil Co.

r)liver, who attended school at San Luis Obispo and at Ni])omo, w;i<
one of a family of twelve children, nine of whom grew to maturity. I'"irst, he
larnu'd .and then he clerked ; and later he aiijilied himself to various kinds
of i)rofitable work. In P)10, he married Miss Lizzie Hammer, who ua- b.'rn
at Los .Alamos, the daughter of II. 1). and .Albertina (Schrempp) llaninier.

SAN LUIS or.lSI'O COUNTY AND I':NVIK0NS 855

natives of Germany, wlm setlKd in Santa Barbara county. One child,
(ilen Richcird, came to hri,i>liten tlic home of Oliver Deleissegues and his
wife. Mr. Deleissegues is now in the employ of the Western Union Oil
Co., and he is also engaged in farming in Los Alamos valley.

AUGUST LOOSE, JR.— The state of California is a state of great, unde-
veloped resources and a i)lace where young and energetic men find an op-
l)urtunity to show their resourcefulness. This native Californian, August
Loose, jr., was born in Cuffeys Cove, Mendocino county, February 4, 1882,
a son of August Loose, a native of (Germany, who came to California and
located in Mendocino county, where he made and shipped railroad ties from
Cuffeys Cove until 1886, when he located with his family in San Luis
Obispo County. He bought a ranch on San Marcos creek and engaged in
horticulture for a short time ; but later he followed grain raising with profit.
Me soon bought adjoining land and owned six hundred forty acres, which he
farmed until he sold it a few years ago to retire to Paso Robles to live.
He was married to Louise Hess, a native of (iermany, but who had come to
.\merica and located in Mendocino county. She had already been married to
Charles Blechen, who died in Mendocino county. There were three chil-
dren by her first marriage and two by her union with Mr. Loose.

Reared from the age of four in this county and sent to the public schools
of San Marcos, j'oung August remained at home assisting his father until he
was of age, when, with his half-brother (ieorge Blechen, he rented six hundred
forty acres of land and began raising grain and horses, prospering from the
start. They leased land adjoining and farmed 1,120 acres, having two eight-
horse teams and a header and thresher, and later added a combined harvester
and continued operations until 1910, when he and his brother bought three
hundred twenty acres adjoining the old home. In 1912, he quit ranching,
leased the land to his brother and started a draying business in San Miguel;
but two years later he sold this and started a garage, with the Studebaker
• tgency, which he continued until 1916, when he sold out.

Mr. Loose was married in San Marcos in 1908, to Miss Elsie Cushing,
who was born near San Simeon, the daughter of B. M. and Martha (Gillespie)
Cushing and granddaughter of \Vm. JNloore and Caroline (Leffingwell) Gil-
lespie, pioneers of the Cambria section, represented elsewhere in this work.
.Mrs. Loose is a graduate of the San Jose State Normal, class of February,
1902, and was actively engaged in educational work until her marriage. They
have one child, Ira Ivan. Mr. Loose is a member of San Miguel Parlor No.
150, N. S. c;. \V. ; was made a Mason in'San Miguel Lodge No. 285, and is still
a member: is a member of Nacimiento Lodge No. 340, I. O. O. I''., and past
grand; and both he and Mrs. Loose are members of Violet Chapter No. 102,
Order h^astern Star, of which he is jiast patron, while Mrs. Loose is a worthy
matron (1916). They are Reiiublicans and have ;i host of friends throughout
this section of the county.

JACOB R. DOTY. — In the days when the facilities for dairying were
not as inodirn as they are today, and other farming was carried on mainly
by hard work and long hours, Jacob Doty was growing to manhood in this
county on a ranch owned by his father, who had settled in the Cambria section
in 1871. Born in Sacramento county, Jacob Doty is a native son of the
state; and as such he has shown his interest in the devehipment of its
resources for manv years. His father was I'.enjamin 1". Doty, a native of

856 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND JLWTRONS

Indiana, where he farmed until 1858, when he crossed the ])lains with ox-
teams and prairie schooner and settled in Sacramento county. There, still
farming successfully, he continued until 1871, when he located in San Luis
Obispo County and engaged in farming and the stock business near Cambria,
also running a dairy. He succeeded and accumulated one thousand acres (jf
fine land, which was well improved by him and which occupied his attention
until he retired to San Luis Obispo, where he died in 1915. Ilis wife was
Nancy Carroll, a native of Iowa, and she had eight children, all living.

Born in 1865, the fourth child in the parental family, Jacob Doty was a
lad of about five years when his father brought him to this county. He was
reared on the home place and went to the public schools at Cambria. From a
boy he was interested in the dairy business, and when he was twenty-one
years old he pre-empted one hundred sixty acres, which he improved for a
dairv. He leased other lands, which he stocked with from seventy-five to one
hundred thirty cows, operating eight hundred acres. In those days much of
the work was done by hand ; the ranch folk panned the milk, skimmed it by
hand and churned by horse-power ; and after the butter was made into rolls
or S(]uares, it was shipped to San Francisco markets. Finally a separator was
put in and the cream was sent to the creamery.

Mr. Doty bought and sold several ranches, and made money in trading.
In 1910 he sold out and located in San Luis Obispo, where he intended to
retire, as he had won a competence; but in 1916 he leased the Kalar dairy
and again started in with fifty to one hundred cows, and the modern methods
for caring for the cream. He has large alfalfa fields that have attained a fine
growth. He is also interested in mining in the Pine Mountain district in this
county. He served as school trustee five years, and in politics is a Democrat.

Mr. Doty married, in San Miguel, Hattie Tucker, born in Missouri,
a daughter of Douglas Tpcker, whose sketch is given elsewhere in this work.
Three children have been born to this union: Stella; Mildred, Mrs. Earl Davis
of San Luis Obispo ; and Noel. All have bee_n^ reared and educated in this
section of the county.

WILLIAM H. RUDE.— -Among the hardy and venturesome Argonauts
wdio crossed the plains when thousands were drawn to California in the early
days of the mining excitement, was a man named Thomas G. Rude, a native
of Kentucky, but a resident of Illinois for some years prior to coming to this
state. He was the grandfather of William H. Rude, who was born in the
Rincon valley, near Santa Rosa, Sonoma county. May 12, 1877, and the father
of William L. Rude, who was born in Knoxville, 111., and crossed the plains
in 1852, when the ])ioneer of the family brought his family to California to
make a home and fortune. (For a more complete story of the Rude family
the reader is referred to the sketch of A. N. Rude, which ap])ears on another
page of this work.) In 1878, W. L. Rude settled in San Luis Obispo County,
farmed on Fstrclla ])lains, then engaged for some time in raising stock on
llittcrwater, and is now conducting a feed yard in Paso Roblcs. He married
\'eronica Baum, a native of Oregon; she resides in Maricopa. Kern county,
with her daughter Jessie, Mrs. Lima of that place.

The \oungest of the two children born to his i)arenls, William H.
Rude was educated in the schools of this county. Reared on the old Thomas
Rude iilace, he learned the details of farming, so that when he began with
his uncle he was callable of taking his share of the work and responsibility;

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 857

and the\- farmed together for many years and met with success. When they
dissolved partnership, W. H. Rude rented his uncle's place and adjoining
property and now carries on wheat raising with success and on a large scale.
He prefers the blue-stem variety as the most hardy. He has had to make his
own way in the world of business, and has won a place in the esteem of the
citizens that have known him all his life, as well as those of later arrival in
the section.

Mr. Rude was united in marriage in May, 1898, in Smartsville, Yuba
county, with Miss i\lary Murphy, who was l)orn there, a daughter of Morris
and Catherine (Havey) jNIurphy, pioneer miners of that section. The former
died in March, 1915, and the latter in May, 1898. Mrs. Rude is the oldest
daughter of the family of nine children. To .Mr. and Mrs. Rude one daughter
has been born, Madalene. Both Mr. Rude and his wife are members of the
Foresters and are Democrats in p<ilitics. They ha\e a wide circle of friends
throughout the county who esteem them for their whole-heartedness and
strict integrity.

ABDON T. ONTIVEROS.— A representative of one of the proudest
."^panish and Mexican families in California, Abdon T. Ontiveros is the son
of Mr. and Mrs. Jose D. Ontiveros, and grandson of Don Pacifico Ontiveros,
who joined the Spanish soldiery in the effort to subdue the Indians in South-
ern California and to protect the Spanish interests as well. He later became
identified with Santa Barbara county by purchasing the Tepesquct ranch of
nine thousand acres, upon which he lived until his death at the age of ninety-
five years. The family are descended from the old General Patricio Ontiveros,
a native of .Spain and a man of high military rank.

.•\bdon T. Ontiveros was born on his father's home ranch December 29,
1882, attended the public schools of the Santa Maria valley and early learned
the lessons -of thrift and obedience, as well as habits of industry and the
various branches of farming. He remained at home assisting his father until
the latter's death in 1905, at which time he inherited the ranch now occupied
by himself and wife, and has been enabled to win a name and place for himself
by his own industry and perseverance.

In 1915 Mr. Ontiveros was united in marriage with Mrs. Gnace Ontiveros,
widow of his cousin, Sinecio L. Ontiveros, who met death in an automobile
accident in 1914. Abdon Ontiveros erected a cement bungalow on his
property, and laid out beautiful grounds with fine lawn, trees and iron fence —
the whole overlooking the Santa Maria. Sisquoc and Te))es(|uet valleys. Here
he and his wife live in comfort. They have a host of friends and are popular
socially throughout the valley.

A. A. HOWARD.— The whole world knows the fame of Elgin, 111., as
the home of a mechanical triumph in the highest degree creditable to .\mcri-
can ingenuity and science, but not everyone has heard of Elgin, la., where,
'>n November 29, 1868, a boy was born destined to prove a mechanical genius
and one who, migrating farther west, should take a most active part in
developing the great state of California. His father was lillias G. llowaril,
and his mother was Esther i\nn Bartholomew, of the luiglish branch of the
family. When a lad of sixteen, Mr. Howard began to make a living and to help
support his mother; and in order to do this he worked in a lime kiln. Next
he labored in the Elgin Canning Factory, helping to ])ut uji corn, tomatoes
and pum])kins. and there his aptness and desire to learn brought him forward

858 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

so that, lia\iiig l)ccn made machinist to the factory, he helped install the
company's new machmery.

In 1891 Air. Howard came to California, and went to work for Ellis H.
Nicholson, who was in charge of the Suey Ranch. He developed exceptional
capability, was more than patient and willing, and took the lead in fixing up
the great harvesters and other machinery there, soon being rewarded with
an appointment as blacksmith to Nicholson's ranch. In fact, his reputation
as a mechanic who could do most difficult work traveled fast and far, and he
was soon compelled to turn from his shop much that was brought to him.

In 18yU, Air. Howard married Aliss Vena Jack, and two years later he
sent for his parents, both of whom now live at Santa Alaria. Together witii
his father he then rented a part of the Nicholson ranch, and there for eight
years the Howards raised beans. This new industry led young Howard to
apply his mechanical genius in an eftort to solve a problem very bothersome
to bean growers, the result of which was that he built a first-class bean
thresher with which he threshed all the beans raised upon his ranch.

His next move was to Santa Maria, where he became a partner in
the Howard & Wear Blacksmith Co., and ran a good-sized shop ini West
Main street for two years. This was followed by a partnership as machinist
in Oakley & Howard, a firm that rented the Roemer & Roemer shop and took
advantage nf the oil Ihkhii ju>t starting- at Santa Alaria, selling out only at
the end of twu \ery ]>ni^per()us years. .\n engagement as chief machinist for
J. F. Goodwin on the Pinal lease followed, when Mr. Howard repaired the
huge boiler and dressed the tools for Well, No. 2 and Well No. 7 ; and while
filling that jiosition he conceived the idea of i)roviding a complete machine
shop for the lease. Alxmt this time he made the first bean cutter of the style
now lieing used in California; and perhap> liecause he did not patent it, it
has turned out that the most successful bean cutters used today are made
after his design. The truth is that, being a born mechanic and a man of great
originality, -Mr. Howard has patented a number of inventions, including an
automatic ratchet for drilling cables, and this invention in j.articular bids fair
to prove very valuable.

-Mr. Howard owns his residence in Santa Maria, at 6_'0 South liroadway,
and there among steadfast friends, he resides with his wife and family,
giving such of his spare time as he can afford to club life for activities under
the aus])ices of the Knights of Pythias. Six children have been born to Mr.
and Mrs. Howard, and four — Charles S., Albert, Andrew, and Laura— are
at home, deorge, a young man of eighteen and of great promise as a develop-
ing machinist, died of diphtheria: and I'",sther. an equally lovable child, died
of the same dread disease when onl\ twelve years of age. Des])ite these
griefs, more than the average share of blessings has been accorded this highly
intelligent and hard-working man and his devoted wife, both of whom, there-
fore, face the future with more than ordinary hopefulness.

MARION BELL RICE.— How efficiently a single citizen may serve the
community in which he lives is shown by the career of Alarion P>ell Rice, for
eight years past the obliging clerk of the Pleasant \'alley school district
(situated some three miles to the southeast of Santa Maria in the most
flourishing ])art of the same valley), where he was born on I'ebruary 2, 1886.
His grandfather was J. H. Rice, the pioneer, and his father was William 11.
Rice of Santa Maria. iMiioving all the advantatics of bovhood in such a

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 859

favored part of the world, Mr. Rice attended the grammar and high schodls
and graduated with the Class of 1906.

Two years later, he married .Miss Clara Stringfield, and the result of that
union was three children — Florence E., Marion L. and Lyndall Barnett. Since
leaving school, he has engaged in ranching, and now cultivates, with excep-
tional skill, one hundred forty-eight acres of land.

As a Democrat and an active member of the l'resl)\tcrian Church, he
])erforms his civic and religious duties in an exemplary manner; while as an
Elk, in affiliation with the well-organized lodge at San Luis Obispo, and a
member of the Knights of Pythias, at Santa Maria, he jjroves his congeni-
ality as a hail-fellow well met.

As everyone who is familiar with Santa ^^laria's history knows, the school
district above referred to was settled by the sturdiest of pioneers, the Bradleys,
Tunnells and Rices being among those who either have become wealthy
or prospered most ; and it is only natural that we should find Henry Tunnell,
Fred Bradley and Marion Bell Rice constituting the present board of school
trustees, who are responsible for the excellent condition of the Pleasant
Valley school.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN EAMES.— .\ native son who carries his honors
modestly hut well is Abraham Lincoln Eames, the owner of a rich grain and
stock ranch near Orcutt, and a member of the old Yankee family in which
Emma Eames, the celebrated prima donna, is a most distinguished repre-
sentative. One of five children, 'Sir. Eames was born in Plumas county, Cal.,
on January 22, 1865. His father, born in the State of Maine, was Jonathan
A\'hitman Eames fnamed after Whitman of the Mayflower), and his mother,
also born in Maine, and married in Boston, was Angeline (Thompson)
Eames. About 1849 the father came to California by way of the Horn, then
returned for his family and afterward mined in Plumas county.

When Abraham Eames was two years old, the elder Eames moved to
Santa Barbara to homestead a hundred sixty acres of land, and this he
proved up. living upon it for some time and dying at the ripe age of seventy-
five years, his wife preceding him, at the age of fifty, into the spirit land.
Abraham thus passed his boyhood on a farm in Santa Barbara county, and it
was not until 1S<%. when he went to Los -Angeles, that he saw much of the
outside world. In the southern metropolis he engaged in teaming and in
street grading, and while there stretched the cable line for the first cable
cars used in Los Angeles and operated from the Plaza to Union avenue.
.\n offer from Porter Ashe next took him to Merced county, where he
remained a year, cleaning up his first surplus thousand dollars, which he in-
vested as an initial payment on the ranch he bought in 1891, and which he at
present owns.

There he lived as a bachelor until he married Miss l''mma Brookshire.
daughter of Thomas J. Brookshire, who died two years ago at the age of
seventy-three, leaving a wife now residing in Santa Maria. As a result of
this marriage, six children were horn — Hazel, Roscoe, Ellery, Delores, Esther
and Byron— and these young folks brighten the life of the home ranch of a
hundred twenty acres, a mile and a half east of Orcutt and seven miles south-
east of Santa Maria. ]\lrs. Eames' father owned .some two hundred acres of
land, now leased by the Brookshire Oil Co., a partnership made up of two
brothers and two sisters; and in addition to his interest in these oil lands.

860 SAX LUIS OBISrO COLWTY AXD ENVIRONS

Mr. Mamcrt owns about forty acres on the Mesa in the oil belt. On all oi
these properties he has for years been making expensive improvements, while
his intelligence and industry have provided him with a line country home
surrounded by a grove of beautiful shade trees, all grown from the seed.

Mr. Eames has long been interested in educati'on and in similar things de-
signed to upbuild and uplift, and this has led him to serve for ten years or
more in the responsible capacity of clerk of the Pine Grove school district.
He is a member of Hesperian Lodge, F. & A. M.

ARTHUR E. COX. — Aien possessing the sterling characteristics to
which Mr. A. E. Cox is heir have again and again proven bulwarks of their
communities, nor have these traits and accomplishments often failed of
recognition at the hands of their discerning fellow citizens. Mr. Cox's father
was Ahin W. Cox, the Santa Maria valley rancher and pioneer of. 1871, who
held office very creditably for several years, first as supervisor and then as
postmaster at Santa Maria, dying in June, 1915, in the seventy-third year of
his age. He was a native of Ohio and migrated, a young man, to south-
western Alissouri, where he married Miss Mary A. Powers, a daughter of
that State, tlis mother, Anna Shang, had already come to California and the
Santa Maria valley, and thither' the young couple followed. A. M. Cox, a
brother, resides at Calistoga, and C. B. Cox, another brother, is pre-empting
choice land in the Cuyama.

Arthur Cox received a grammar school education, and after that was
reared on a farm; the same farm, in fact, which had belonged to his grand-
mother, and was then purchased by his father, and upon w^hich he now lives,
after having acquired and greatly improved it. Mr. Cox's life, therefore, for
the most part has been that of a practical and far-sighted rancher, although
for some years he worked in the Pacific Coast railway office at Santa Maria,
and for three years, at another time, he was assistant postmaster. It is as a
farmer and bean raiser, however, that he has been phenomenally successful.
In 1894, Mr. Cox married Miss Edna Denise. and by her he has had four
ciiildren — Orvillc. Zetta, Roswell and Sherwood. Mrs. Cox is a daughter
of Charles and Caroline (Fine) Denise, a lineal descendant of the pioneer
I-'ine who came to California from Missouri in 1846. along with ex-Governor
Lilburn W. Boggs, who headed a great ox-team train, thus coming to know
Governor A'allcjo and the early settlements of the Bear Flag party. Very
ablv Mrs. Cox assists her husband in the management of his ranch, and in
the working of other farm lands than those which he himself owns.

l-Vatcrnallv he belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Moose and the
Modern Woodmen of .America, and politically supports Republican principles.
ED STULL.— \ pioneer driller of oil wells in the Santa :kraria oil fiells
before the town of Orcutt was laid out. and at present engaged in contract
drillincr for the New Pennsylvania Oil Co. under the firm name of McKee &
Stull. Ed .'^tull has become justly popular with the oil men of the com-
munitv, and his experience in many fields has given him a wide and varied
knowledge of the oil "game." He was born in Crawford county. Pennsvl-
vania. April 24. 186.S, a" son of J. R. and Jamima (Shorts) Stull. The father
was a i)ioneer oil man of Warren county, that state, and at one time was
woallhv: but like many others in the business, he lost his money, and after
his death the family moved onto a farm which Ed Stull managed until he
w\as twentv-four.

SAN LUIS ORISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 861

Since then he has been engaged constantly in some line of oil pro-
duction, chiefly as a driller. His first work was in the Rollerville and tiib-
sonburg-, Ohio, fields, working- as a roustabout; he applied himself diligently
to every task set for him to d.i. and after three years became a driller. In
1893 j\lr. Stall came to California and worked for Dr. Book of Los Angeles
as a driller in the Los Angeles fields. He then spent two years in the Spindle
Top fields in Texas, drilling with both rotary and cable tools. From there he
went to Tampico, Mexico, to work for the Doheny interests for nine months ;
and returning to California, he located in Coalinga and worked for the
Standard, Union, Otai and other companies until coming again to the Santa
Maria fields, where for three years he drilled wells for the Rice Ranch Oil Co.
While in Texas, Mr. Stull became acquainted with Burt Burnett and
through him met the Hon. T. R. Finley and other leading men of the New
Pennsylvania and Rice Ranch leases ; and by all who know him, he is re-
garded as a very successful man, thoroughly competent in every branch of
the oil well business, careful and considerate of those under him, and enjoy-
ing the confidence of those higher in authority.

Mr. Stull has been twice married, but both wives are deceased. By
his union with ]\Iiss Mary George he had four children, Frank and Jessie,
who live in California, and David and Lizzie, who reside in Pennsylvania.
His second marriage, in California, united him with Miss Emma Camp.

Mr. Stull is a Republican in politics and fraternally belongs to the Santa
Maria lodge of Moose. He is a straightforward, undemonstrative, whole-
hearted man, with a heart full of kindness for those less fortunate tlian him-
self; and his greatest pleasure is in the companionship of his cliildren and
grandchildren.

JACOB B. STULL. — The active superintendent of the New Pennsyl-
vania Petroleum Co., Jacob Stull was born in Crawford county, Penn., Sep-
tember 2, 1874, grew to manhood on his mother's farm and attended the
common school in their district. At the age of twenty-two he began working
in the oil fields of Rouseville, Penn., and followed the oil business there for
twelve years, being in the employ of A. B. Straub most of the time.

In 1899, Mr. Stull came to California and found work in the Los Angeles
liclds with Dr. Book, as a tool dresser, a department of the industry in
which he was an adept. Soon after, he went to the Kern River field, in
Kern county, and was in the employ of the Petroleum Development Co. for
several years. Going back to Los Angeles, Mr. Stull again entered the cm-
ploy of Dr. Book and remained five years.

.\t the end of that period he made a trip l)ack east to Pennsylvania, but
returned to California within the year and located in the Coalinga field,
remaining about four years. He again made a trip back to the state of his
l)irth and was united in marriage with Miss Clara Bussard and engaged in
farming there. After a happy married life of just one year and ten days,
Mrs. Stull passed aawv. Mr. Stull then sold the farm and came back to
Coalinga.

I'mm there he went to McKittrick and engaged with Jess Smith as a
driller until 191.^. when he came to the Santa .Maria fields and at first
engaged with the Hon. T. R. I'inley of Santa Maria. His excellent work in
fishing out tools stuck and lost in wells, rendering them practically useless,
and in succcssfullv re-drilling them, at once attracted attention to his genius

862 SAX LUIS (JHISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

and ahiiity, and his ser\ices were eagerly sought by A. F. Fugler of Santa
Maria, president of the New Pennsylvania Oil Co.. who employed Mr. Stull
as su])erinten(k-nt.

In his new and responsible position he is succeeding remarkably well,
as under his efficient management the company is being placed on a paying
Inisis : and with the passing of time Mr. Stull is winning a place in the con-
fidence of the oil men, by whom he is known as a conservative and careful
employe. In the short time he has been associated with the Santa Maria fields,
he has won a wide circle of friends.

ARZA A. WHARFF.— .\s production superintendent of the district
comprising the leases of the Union Oil Co. in the Santa Maria fields and as a
thorough-going oil man, Arza A. Wharff is ably demonstrating his efficiency
as one of the most popular and painstaking employes of the corporation he
represents. He was born near Marietta, Washington county, Ohio, June 8,
1869, a son of Amzi and Elvira (Fall) Wharfif, the former a pioneer of that
county, who died in 1898 aged sixty years. i\Irs. Wharff is a resident of
Lowell, O., and is seventy-four years old. This worthy couple had ten chil-
dren, seven now living, Arza A. being the fourth child and the only one in
California, as well as the only one in the oil business.

-Mr. Wharf? attended the country schools in Ohio, remaining on the
farm until he was sixteen, and then began working for wages, first in the
timber and in the sawmills in various sections of that state, and then in the
oil fields in Washington county, going later to West Virginia, where he
worked in the Sisterville and lielmont fields. Next going to Crawford county.
111., he continued the oil business and in 1910 came to California and the
Santa Maria fields, where he was made jjroduction man of the Union Oil Co.
He has steadily worked his way to the front until he reached his present
enviable position of district superintendent with supervision of the pro-
duction on the following leases: Newlove, Fox, Hobbs, Kaiser. Folsom,
Il.-'.rlnell, Escole, Effson, Hill. Purisima and Bell.

^\"hilc living in California, Mr. Wharff was united in marriage, in 1912,
with Miss Margaret P.ucy of Lowell, Ohio, and thej^ have one daughter,
Dorothy. The home of Mr. Wharff and his family is on the Hobbs lease.
Mr. Wharff is a Mason, is a man of public s])irit, wears a smiling countenance
and radiates good cheer and (iptiniism where\er he goes, and is highly re-
spccte<l by all who know him.

W. C. PENTZER.— iiie drilling foreman of the Union Oil Co. in the
Santa Maria field. W . C. Pentzer is a thorough, painstaking workman, pos-
sessing a perfect knowledge of the business in hand and enjoying the con-
fidence of his employers. He is a native of Ohio, known among his intimate
friends as "Webb," and was born at Dayton on July \. 1870. His father,
W. A. Pentzer, was a well-known oil man in the Bradford, Penn., oil fields in
1878. (ioing from there to iMudley, Ohio, in 1886, where he drilled the first
gas well, he became wealthy, but lost his fortune in the Wyoming fields.
The Pentzer family are of German origin, Augustus Pentzer, the grand-
father, having come to the United States and settled in Maryland.

W. C. Pentzer was educated in the common schools and when eleven
years <p|d i)cgan working for his father in the Allegheny oil fields, doing sucli
work as :i lad of his years could do. IVoni that early beginning until the
present time he has been identified with the oil business. At the age of

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND IvNVlRONS 863

twenty-one he was a driller. He has worked in the fields in Ohin, Wyoming
and California. In partnership with a brother, E. J. Pentzer, under the nanu-
of Pentzer Bros., he engaged in contract drilling in 1894-1900.

In February of the latter year, he arrived in California and his experience
soon secured him a position in the Los Angeles fields. Becoming acquainted
with Thomas Hughes of Los Angeles, he was engaged by him to begin
drilling on the Rice Ranch leases in the Santa Maria fields, and in 1904 Mr.
Pentzer began his work here. One year later he was employed by the
Union Oil Co., and from 1907 until 1908 was drilling in the Arroyo Grande
section, but without results. Li June, 1908, he returned to the Santa Maria
fields and ever since has been employed here, his jurisdiction extending to all
the leases of the Union Oil Co. in the Santa Maria field. His present work
consists of re-drilling the old wells to deeper sands, which are from five
hundred to six hundred feet below the first oil sands, thus prolonging the life
of the field.

-Mr. Pentzer is a member of San Luis CJbispo Lodge Xo. 322, B. P. O.
Elks. He married, in Findley, Ohio, Miss Wana Erickson.

Mr. Pentzer is a hail-fellow well met, and has a host of friends, who
honor him for his integrity and thorough understanding of the oil business,
and especially for the public spirit he shows on all occasions in the support
of all movements for the public good.

ROSCOE E. UPTON.— A mechanical genius, fond of machinery from
a boy and now holding the responsible position of chief engineer of compres-
sion plant number one of the Pinal Dome in the Santa Maria oil field, Roscoe
Upton is justly called a pioneer engineer of this field by reason of his assist-
ing in installmg the first compression plant for this company. A native son,
he was born in Tuolumne county, a son of Thomas Upton, a pioneer of 1852,
who lived m various parts of the state and saw much of its early growth, and
died in San Jose aged sixty-three.

Ivoscoe Upton received his education principally in San Jose; and being
of a mechanical turn of mind naturally turned his attention to machinery,
supplementing his scliooling by studying standard works pertaining to me-
chanical engineering and ever since keeping abreast of the times by reading
the best publications on kindred subjects.

In 1904 i\Ir. Upton was employed by the Western Union Oil Co., and
two years later he came to the Pinal Dome Co. Of the twelve years spent
m tile Santa Maria fields, ten have been in the employ of this company; and
for four years of this time he has filled the position of chief engineer of com-
pression plant number one, witli seven engineers under his direction. Mr.
Upton is a valued employe of the company, considerate of those under him
and highly respected by all who have come in contact with him, both in
liusiness and social circles.

RANDOLPH JOSEPH STOLTZ.— fhe gentleman in charge of the
upkeep of the pipe lines of the Union Oil Company from Orcutt to Avila. a
distance of thirty-one miles, is well and favorably known in and aiiout the
Santa Maria oil fields and has lieeii in the employ of ilic Union Oil (.'ompany
since 1909.

.A native of Missouri, R. J. Stoltz was born in St. Louis, July 12, 187.=;,
a son of Sam Houston and Mary (Mikeske) Stoltz. farmers in .Missouri and
in Texas, whither the familv moved in 1882. when R. J. was but seven years

864 SAX LUIS OIUSPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

old. In Texas he attciulcd the public schoul and grew to yoiin"- manhood.
He worked for the cotmty, btiilding roads for a time, also worked at farming,
and !.;radually drifted into mechanical lines. He was employed in a boiler
shojj, and next worked at drilling, first of water wells and then of oil wells.

At the age of twenty-four, in 1899, Mr. Stoltz enlisted in Co. M, 33d
Reg. U. S. \ol. Inf., for service in the Philippines, and served two years.
After his discharge, he came to California and remained for a short time,
then went to the Spindle 'J'op oil fields at Beaumont, Tex., and worked as a
well driller. He then went to Sour Lake and spent two years in the Humble
oil fields and then was employed as a fireman on the Texas compan3''s pipe
line running from Tulsa, Okla., to Port Arthur. Then he tired one year for
the refinery and pipe line department until 1909.

The above year Air. Stoltz came to Coalinga and engaged with the
Union Oil Company in their pipe line department, since which he has done
all kinds of work, from digging ditches to managing the department, his
present position. Mr. Stoltz is an efficient employe, enjoys the confidence
of his superior officers, and has won a place for himself by his own earnest
endeavors. He has been frugal and has saved and wisely invested his money,
and is now owner of two valuable ranches of one hundred sixty acres each.
He is a man of strong physique, active and manly, and has a wide circle of
friends. He is the sole support of a widowed sister and her four children
living in Texas.

EDWIN S. JOHNSON. — The genial proprietor of the Sanitary Steam
Laundry and the O. K. Restaurant of Santa Maria is the true type of the
Swedish-American citizen, and in Edwin S. Johnson that city has a public-
spirited, successful man. ^^Fr. Johnson was born December 3, 1882, at Halm-
stad, Sweden, the sixth child in order of birth of ten children born to his
parents, August and Sophia (Larson) Johnson, both natives of Sweden and
the latter stilMiving at Halmstad.

It was in the public schools of that town that young Johnson received an
education, attending until he was twelve. Then he went to work as a mes-
senger boy in a railroad office, and remained until he was twenty. He was
ambitious to get ahead, and had heard of the opportunities offered energetic
people in the United States. Accordingly, on March 31, 1903, he arrived in
Boston, Mass., and worked at whatever came to his hands to do.

Looking for a satisfactory location in which he might settle and begin
building a career for himself, and where he might familiarize himself with
the methods of doing business in this country, as well as become acquainted
with the English language, Mr. Johnson began traveling throughout the
United States, working at any kind of employment to pay his way, and in this
way he visited nearly forty states, reaching California in 1907.

Santa Barbara county seemed to offer what he was seeking, and in the
city of that name he opened a restaurant in 1908, being successful from the
start. In May, 1910. he was united in marriage with Miss Elise Heggen, who
was born in \^alda!, Norway, and on January 2. 1911, they came to Santa
Maria. The outlook was very good for business and he opened the O. K.
Resi.nnnnt. and has carried it on ever since with a growing patronage.

Tn July, 1911. Mr. John.son bought a lot and erected a building of cement
blocks, installed modern machinery and embarked in the laundry business
under the name of the Sanitarv Steam Laundrv. I'roni time to time he has

SAN LUIS Ol'.lSro COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 865

added modern machinery and introduced methods for the carrying on of
the business, and now has very extensive patronage. The business receives
his personal attention, every detail is carefully considered, and his patrons
are shown all possible consideration and courtesy. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson
have three children living — Edwin, Norman and Joy. Mr. Johnson is a mem-
ber of the Loyal Order of Moose and is one of the successful business men of
.'-^antn Maria in which city he and his wife are justly popular and respected.

HENRY A. STIER.— A mechanic and a valued employe of the Union
Oil Co. at Orcutt, H. A. Stier is of German descent, and was born in Dun-
kirk, N. Y., August 22, 1868. His parents, both of whom are now deceased,
came from Germany to the United States antl located in Dunkirk. Their
three children are living — August, in Dunkirk; F.lizabcth, at Silver Creek;
and Henry A., at Santa Maria.

He attended the public schools at Dunkirk and was apprenticed to learn
the trade of machinist at the Brooks Locomotive W'orks in that citv. serving
three years; after which he continued in the employ of the company four
years. He next was employed at Warren, Pa., as a machinist, later becom-
ing foreman of the shops. While living in Pennsylvania, Mr. Stier was
united in marriage with Miss Myrtle Redmond, at New Lebanon. Three
children have blessed the union: Harry and Raymond, both born in Pennsyl-
vania, and Leland, in California.

In 1909 Mr. Stier came from Pennsylvania to Orcutt, and at once entered
the employ of the Union Tool Co. as a machinist. He is a conscientious and
painstaking workman, diligent and obliging, and since taking up his resi-
dence here, he has entered heartily into the affairs of the community, where
he and Mrs. Stier have many friends.

About 1903 Mr. Stier took up Christian Science, and both he and his
wife have gone through the class of San Jose and he has been first reader in
First Societv of Christ, Scientist, which he hel])ed to organize in Santa
Maria in 1913.

EDGAR CRAIG.— As superintendent of the Rice Ranch Oil Company.
I'xigar Craig has become one of the best-known oil men in the Santa Maria
fields, where, by his painstaking efl'orts and thorough understanding of the
business, he has demonstrated his ability in many ways. A native of Penn-
sylvania, he was born in Venango county — the place where drillers are made —
January 1, 1876, a son of M. R. Craig, one of the first operators in the Bradford
district, who made and lost several fortunes in the business and who is now
a resident of Bakersficld.. He married Mary Jane Savage, a native of New
York, now deceased. Their three sons and two daughters are all living. The
i^randfather Craig was an oil man in the Pennsylvania fields, and a great-uncle.
Colonel Drake, of that state, designed and built the first practical derrick for
drilling oil wells and for pumping oil that was ever built. That same style
of derrick, with but few changes, is in use today.

The youngest son of the Craig familv, Edgar Craig grew up in Penn-
sylvania, had the advantages of the public schools and attendc<i Western
I'niversity of Penn.sylvania one year, taking a mechanical engineering course.
When he first started to work he was but twelve years old. A brother, Allen
Craig, also an oil man, had come to California and was drilling in the Fullerton
fields. Edgar had thoroughly learned drilling at Oil City and Reno, Ponn.,
and at his brother's request came to California in 1896 and went to work in

866 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

the Los Anfjck-s liclds. He later engaged as a driller with his brother, who
was doing conlraet drilling. For nearly ten years Edgar Craig drilled suc-
cessfully in the Fullerton fields, becoming foreman driller. His next move
was to Australia, where for two years he was in the employ of the British
government, drilling water wells in the state of New South Wales. In 1908
he returned to California, worked in the Fullerton district a short time, and
in 1910 came to the Santa Maria district. There he worked fir.st for the Ideal
Oil Company, then came to the Rice Ranch Oil Company as foreman, and
after two years was promoted to superintendent. He has installed a gas com-
pressor and made many other changes for the good of the company.

Mr. Craig was united in marriage in Riverside with Miss Miriam \\'cbb.
He is a thirtj'-second degree Mason, a member of the Fullerton lodge, and the
Shrine in Los Angeles. He is popular wherever known, and is generous and
public-spirited. Mrs. Craig is popular in social circles, and with her husband
enjoys a wide circle of friends.

JOHN D. BAGNELL. — The production foreman on the Rice Ranch Oil
Company's lease has made a record for himself during the past five years
in which he has held that position in the Santa Maria oil fields, and as a
popular, cheerful and optimistic citizen, John D. Bagnell has won a host of
friends. He was born March 25, 1870, in Oneida county, N. Y., a son of
William and Elizabeth (Farrell) Bagnell, both born in Ireland and now de-
ceased, the former dying in 1907, aged eighty-two years. John D. ISagnell
was reared on the farm and attended the country schools of Oneida county
until he was in his eighteenth year. Then, going to Syracuse, he became a
driver of a horse street car and followed that two j'cars. In 1890 he went to
Cripple Creek, Colo., and engaged in gold mining, there being about five
hundred men employed at the mine. In 1893 that city had a population of
eleven thousand.

In 1894, Mr. r.agnell went back to New York state and remained until
1900, after which he went to work in the oil fields at Salem, A\'. \'a., as a
general all-round man. He thus became famihar with various branches of
the oil business. In 1908 he came to California and secured a position with
the Standard Oil Ccjmpany as a pumper, and remained with them two years,
when he came to Santa Maria. He began at the bottom and from time to
time was promoted until he reached his present position. He is a painstaking
workman, has the abilitj' to get results from those under him. and knows
when orders are properly carried out.

Politically he is a Democrat, in religion a Catholic, and in his fraternal
relations belongs to the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Of the seven children
born to his parents, he is the fifth in order of birth, the others being Laurence
and William, both deceased; Daniel, of Spokane, Wash.; Christopher, of
Oklahoma; Mary J.. Mrs. Sigmond Zivi, of New York City, and Alice, Mrs.
Tom Daniels, of Syracuse. N. Y. Mr. Bagnell is unmarried.

C. P. SKINNER.— As pr<)i)rict()r of the Orcult Garage and counto.l upon
to sii|)purt all movenK-nts for the gnod of the community. C. P. Skinner has
identified himself with the best interests of the town and count}'. He was
born in Perry county. III., March 2, 1876, attended the common schools,
and learned the machinist's trade, spending five years in the contract shop
of the I'.laksley Manuf.icluring Co. .Xt the end of that time, he went to

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND I':X\lKONS 867

Montana and worked in the towns of Bozeman, Livingston and Red Lodge,
in the latter place as assistant master machinist in the Northwestern Improve-
ment Co.'s shops, then busy with makinjj and repairing machinery used in
mining- coal.

In 1909 -Mr. Skinner came to California and at Coalinga entered the
I iiiploy of the Bunting Iron Works, after which he was engaged, for one
war, at the Associated Pumping station at King City as pumper. In 1911
he came to Orcutt and for the following two years was in the employ of the
Union Tool Co. as machinist. Then, in partnership with I. L. Culp under the
firm name of Culp and Skinner, he erected a garage in Orcutt and estab-
lished the Orcutt Machine Shop and Garage. The building is a one-story
galvanized iron structure 40x56 feet, and is eciuipped with the most modern
machinery and appliances for repairing any kind of machinery and automobile
work. From a small beginning the establishment has grown to large propor-
tions and is a prosperous concern. In 1914 Mr. Skinner bought his partner's
interest, changed the name to the Orcutt Garage, and has given it its proper
place in the business world of the Santa Maria valley.

Mr. Skinner has been twice married. His first marriage with Mary Ross,
a native of Illinois, was celebrated in Perry county, and three children were
born, Cynthia, Woodward and Etta. The two daughters live in Duquoin,
111., and the sou is with his father. The second marriage, in Livingston, Mont.,
united Mr. Skinner with Mrs. Anna Osborne, a native of Minnesota. Mr.
Skinner is a representative of a pioneer family of Illinois. His father, Ben-
jamin Sprague Skinner, was born in Duquoin, and is now living in Montana
as station agent for the C. M. and P. S. railway at Camp Creek. He married
Etta Page, of New York, and they are aged sixty-seven and sixty-two,
respectively. Two sons and two daughters are living. Grandfather Skinner
came from New York in the thirties and settled in Illinois and grew up with
the country there. C. P. Skinner is a member of the Moose, and is a Reinib-
lican. He is wide-awake, progressive and courteous, each year seeing him
more firmly established in his community.

ROBERT CASSIUS GLINES.— A successful business man in Orcutt
and a member of the firm n\ Allen & Glincs, proprietors of the Orcutt Boiler
Works, R. C. Glincs was born in the Santa Alaria valley, February 1, 1S77,
a son of C. H. Glines, of whom extended mention is made elsewhere in this
work. R. C. Glines was educated in the public schools of Santa Maria and
reared on his father's ranch, of which for two years he had charge, and
carried it on with success. But wishing to embark in other lines of work,
he left the ranch and for a couple of years served as L^nited States forest
ranger at Cuyama and in the Buckhorn district. He was then employed ten
years with the Union Tool Co. at Orcutt, learned the trade of blacksmith and
machinist, and for four years served as head blacksmith.

Having mastered the business and finding an opening at Orcutt with
1 rank R. Allen, he bought out Bert Neill, who had established a boiler works
there. That business has been developed to large proportions since they pur-
chased it in 1913. The plant is fully equipped with all modern machinery,
and they do all kinds of work for all the leading oil companies in that dis-
trict and give entire satisfaction to their patrons. They employ three to five
men, Mr. .Allen doing the field work and Mr. Glincs having charge of the
shci]). Since embarking in business for himself, Mr. Glines has met with sue-

868 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

cess. He has great faith in the future of the oil business in the Orcutt
district, and hniiself holds an option on two hundred acres of oil land which
he hopes to dispose of at a handsome profit.

Air. Glines was united in marriage, m 1898, with Miss Cora AlcCraskey,
who, like hnnself. is a native of California, born in the Santa Maria valley.
They have four children: Neill C, Elza M., Ariel Roberta, and R. C, Jr.
Their first home was erected by Mr. Glines at Orcutt, it being the first house
erected in the Twitchell division of that town. He sold this and bought
their present place, located near his place of business.

Mr. Glines is a Alason and a Republican, and as such is a member of the
county central committee. He was one of the organizers of the Orcutt school
district and served on the board of education, of which, during the j^ear
1916-17, he has been president; and for six years he was clerk of the board.
Mr. Glines is a self-made man and, like his pioneer father, is intensely inter-
ested in all movements that have for their object the building up of the
county and valley. He and Mrs. Glines have a wide circle of friends and are
highly respected.

JAMES F. FORBES.— It is to the pioneers of every locality that the
burden of establishing the basis of the present da}'' prosperity falls, and
to them proper credit should be given. Among these worthy men, special
mention should be made of James F. Forbes of Orcutt, in the Santa Maria
valle\-. He erected the fourth building in the town and became one of the
upbuilders in commercial circles in the oil fields district. He was born
in Nova Scotia, April 11, 1859, a son of Captain Daniel and Rebecca
(Rogers) Forbes, both natives of Nova Scotia, born of Scotch ancestry.
Captain Forbes followed the sea for man\' years and died in 1909. aged
eighty-eight years. His father was a farmer in Canada and a native of that
country, his parents having emigrated from Scotland. Mrs. Forbes died in
1916. aged eighty-six years. She had three children: James F. ; William
D., of Lake county, and Mrs. May Spurling, of Orcutt.

James F. attended the schools in Nova Scotia, but was early put to a
practical test, going to sea when he was sixteen on his father's ship, the
Alexander, studying the while to fit himself for advancement as a seaman.
In due time he passed the examination and became first mate, and gradually
worked his way to the top, becoming master mariner. Having been reared
in the environment of shipping and shipbuilding, it was but natural that he
should be an apt student. He .sailed to many of the leading ports of the world —
going to Hamburg and Granada, passing three times around the Horn and four
times around Cape of Good Hope, and making two voyages to Calcutta. He
also sailed to Manila and, in 1885, to San Francisco, when he came with a load
of sugar for Mr. Sprcckels

In 1884, James F. Forbes was married to Miss Jessie Crow, a native of
Clifton, Colchester county. Nova Scotia, and a daughter of Thomas and Sarah
(Smith) Crow.

.After he had returned from I\Ianila he met an old friend. William C.
Am1)rose, who secured a position for him on the railroad, and he became
section foreman at Saticoy. Ventura county, being later transferred to
Coalinea. Having l)ecome acquainted with W. W. Orcutt and other promi-
nent oil men, officials of the Union Oil Co.. Mr. Forbes started in the livery
business, when oil ^\■as struck in ^vhat is now the Coalinga field, and branched

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ICNXIRONS .869

out as a tt-anii'.ig contraclor. CoiUinual applicalion to his work undermined
his health and he spent one season al I'isnio beach.

\\ hilc there, he was told that the Union Oil Co. was going to open up at
Orcutt, which was then a place just surveyed, and existing only in the imag-
ination of the officers of that company. Mr. Forbes, however, came to Orcutt,
i.ougnt two lots, and erected a wooden store building on the site of the
(Jrcutt Mercantile Co.'s store, liis was the fourth building to be erected in
t.ic new town, and he was the hrst merchant, liis stocK was of general
merchandise, principally groceries. In January, 1905, he was made post-
u'aster and served until liis resignation, in 1913. In December, 1910, the
:);iiuhng and contents were destro} ed b}' hrc, a loss of $52,0U(J to the firm
of J. F. Forbes & Co., an incorporation, with only $12,000 insurance. At least
.-.ij,OOU oi tnis fell on Air. Forbes, who owned the building and two-thirds
u, tile stock. Mr. h'orbes then organized the Orcutt Improvement Co. and
they erected the present building in 1911 at a cost of about ^10,000. It is
eighty by ninety feet, the second tloor being used for a public and dance hall
and the entire lower floor being occupied by the Orcutt Mercantile Co. and the
post oflice. The officers are : F. C. 1 witchell, president ; Bank of Santa Maria,
treasurer; C. E. Webb, secretary; and J. F. Forbes, vice-president. Mr.
I orbes is also proprietor of the Orcutt Bar, and owns, besides, three hundred
twenty acres of improved land in Kings county.

-Mr. and Airs. Forbes are parents of eight children, four of whom died in
early childhood. The others are ; .Aubrey D., an employe of the American
Oil Co.; htella, wife of J. T. Porter, of Maricopa; Edward Everett, an em-
ploye of the Associated Oil Co., and Willard, attending school at home.

It will be seen that the perseverance of Mr. h'orbes has been the domi-
nating factor in hi.s career, and thoui;!i suricring heavy losses, he is always
o;)timistic of the future.

JOHN M. NORRIS. — The name of Norris is inseparalily connected with
'.he history of the Santa Maria valley as well as with the larger possibilities
of Santa Barbara county. John .M. .\orris was born on a ranch that is now
ihe site of Orcutt and the oil field district. May 20. 1878. the youngest of
icn children born to his parents. John R. and Mary T. (Mattingly) Norris,
natives of Virginia and Missouri respectively. J. R. Norris crossed the plains
from ATissouri in 1849, and engaged in mining in Mariposa county with
considerable success. He went to Sonoma county, where he was married, his
wife having crossed the i)lains in 1852. She died in 1910. aged seventy-two
>ears. Her husband died the previous year at the age of eiglity-two years.
They became pioneers of the Santa Maria valley, and ever since then the
name has been prominently identified with Santa I'.arbara county. J. R.
.Vorris was for years trustee of the Santa Maria Union High School. He
uilisted for service in the Mexican War, and became first lieutenant, serv-
ing under General Price in the celel:)rated Missouri White Horse Mounted
volunteers, which made up a vcrv imi)ortant jiart of the United States cavalry
(luring the war. He was discharged at Santa l"e. N. M.. after the war and rode
a mule hack to Missouri.

John M. Norris attended the public schools of the Santa Maria valley
and the high school in Santa Afaria. and was reared to farm life on the home
place. From early manhood he has been interested in politics; and as a
Dtmocrat he has for years been prominently connected with county alTairs.

870 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

He follows a general farming on his sixty-acre ranch near (J)rcult. ]Mr.
Norris was ap])ointed roadmastcr of the Orcutt district and has had the over-
sight of about two hundred and fifty miles of public highway, and the super-
vision of from tiftcen to twenty men and from twentj^-five to one hundred
head of stock. It is needless to say that the roads in his district were kept
in good order, as careful inspection will show. He has studied the road
question and is authority as a road-builder. On January 1, 1917, he accepted a
position as teamster with the Union Oil Co.

Mr. Norris was united in marriage, October. 1902, with Miss Mary Harp,
a native daughter of California ; and two children have blessed this union^
Naomi Frances and Chester Eugene. Mr. Norris is a Mason and belongs to
Hesperian Lodge No. 264 in Santa Maria, and with his wife is a member of
the Order of the Eastern Star. The family are members of the Methodist
Church of Orcutt.

It is to such men as John M. Norris, a native son of California, that tiie
state is indebted for the execution of the plans laid down by their pioneer
fathers, many of whom ])redicted the wonderful expansion that would come to
this country if their plans for its development were properly carried out, thus
leaving a heritage of civic resjxinsibility to their posterit3^

LUCIUS LAMAR FARNUM.— Since November 14, 1914, L. L. Farnum
has been assistant engineer at the compressor plant of the Union Oil Co. at
Orcutt. He was born in Los Angeles, April 27, 1894, a son of the late Cook
Farnum, a pioneer oil-well driller of the Los Angeles fields. His father died
on his ranch near Orcutt, November, 1916, aged fifty-five years. Mrs. Farnum
and her daughter are living in Los Angeles : the other child, a son, Lavoisia,
resides at Orcutt.

The oldest of three children born to his ])arents. Lucius L. Farnum
attended the pul)lic schools in Los Angeles and Santa Maria, and jjursued
a two years' course in the high school at the latter place. When he was six-
teen he began working around engines and machinery, and in 1913 he secured
a i)osition with the Union Oil Co. He is a member of the Eagles and Moo.se
lodges of Santa Maria.

By the installation of the compressor plant, a great saving is made, as
the gas now converted into gasoline went to waste. The immense Snow
engines are the invention of the last four or five years, and are run on
natural gas. The}- are explosion engines on much the same principle as the
ordinary gasoline engine. Natural gas is compressed under refrigeration and
gasoline is produced, about three gallons to every 1000 cubic feet of compressed
gas. The invention of this kind of an engine makes a gas well as valuable as
an oil well and about as eagerly sought. L. L. Farnum and Robert Reid are
the engineers in charge of the compressor plant on the Newlove lease in the
Santa Maria field.

ROBERT P. REID. — The resident chief engineer of the compressor plant
of the Union Oil Co. in the Santa Maria field has grown up in the engineering
business, and beginning with a course on mechanical engineering, he has,
by years of ])ractical exj^erience, learned the business in everv detail and is
competent to hold any position in an engineering line. While practically a
stranger in the Santa Maria field, Robert Reid is typically western in his ex-
])erience and haliits. He was born in \'irginia City. Nev., March 1. 1880. grew
to young manluiod among the mining scenes of the Comstock until he was

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 871

eighteen, attended the public schools and took a special engineering course
at the Humboldt Engineering school in San Erancisco. His first work was as
a shipbuilder for the Union Iron Works, for a period of twelve years. The
following two years were spent with the shore gang, repairing engines and
ship machinery for the Pacific Coast Steamship Company.

His next engagement was under the United States civil service as ship-
builder in the navy yard at Bremmerton, Wash., for two years. Returning
to San l-'rancisco he was ein]jluyed by the Risdon Iron Works one year, then
went on the road for Chas. C. Moore and Co., installing engines, boilers,
pumps, etc., and lielped install the exhibits for that company for the Panama
Pacific Exposition. After finishing the above work he engaged with the Union
Oil Company at Oleum fur (inc year, and in I'V-bruary, 1916, accepted his
present position.

It will be interesting to the readers of this work to know a little about the
compressor plant on the Newlove lease belonging to the Union Oil Co. This
plant has two sets of Snow engines, of 450 h. j). each. Each set has one low-
l)ressure and one high-pressure engine of 500 h. p. — in all, about 2,000 h. p.
These are the largest engines in these fields, and they are used in making
gasoline from natural gas. They were installed in 1913, and are now using
gas from the Newlove, Sciuires and Hartnell leases.

Mr. Reid was united in marriage in San Francisco with Miss Christine
Cameron, born in Virginia City, Nev. ; and they have one daughter, Bessie.
He was made a Mason in .San Francisco, where he holds his membership,
and he is also connected with the Independent Order of Foresters. The
parents of Mr. Reid are Robert and Mar}' Reid, the former a pioneer of Vir-
ginia City, who was station tender on the Comstock lode. He and his wife
are living in San Francisco. At the age of seventy-five he is hale and hearty,
liesides Robert, the children are: Jennie, Mrs. Laist; Stewart, a cupper-
smith ; and Alice, now Mrs. Lewis, all of San Francisco.

ANTHONY TINSLEY DAVIS.— Enjoying today a competency gained
largely by the intelligent use of his two hands, when forced to climb from
the lowest rung on the ladder, Anthony Tinsley Davis is a highly esteemed
citizen of Shandon, in which community he has for some years been a ])ros-
l)erous grain-grower and stockman. Born in Henry county, Va., on March
.\ 1868, he is the .son of Anthony Davis, Sr., who was also a luitive of
Virginia, of an old-time family. For four years the senior Davis fought in
the Civil War on the side of the Confederacy, thereby losing his health, so
that he died when but forty-six years old. Anthony's mother was Miss
Lucy Gray, a native of Pittsylvania county, Va., and the daughter of Ben-
jamin Gray, a farmer. She slill resides in Virginia on the old farm, to
which Anthony Tinsley Davis returned fnr a visit when he had been seven-
teen years in California.

The second eldest oi eleven children, nine nf whom are still living, the
subject of our sketch grew U|) on a farm and attended the public schools,
taking charge of the ranch when only fifteen years of age, and continuing in
its management until he was twenty-one. At tliat time, when his two
youngest brothers were old enough to succeed to the rcsi)onsibility, Mr.
IXavis moved to Ray county. Mo., ami for two years farmcfl for himself.
Then, meeting with two brothers-in-law of George Post, of Shandon, who
described to him the attractions of the Golden State, he decided to abandon

872 SAN LUIS OBISrO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Missouri, and on Thanksgiving Day, 1891, he came to California as the only
member of his family to reach the Coast. Somewhat in debt on accomit of
the ex]3ense for fare, he was forced to go to work immediately ; and enter-
ing the service of a Mr. Shaw at one dollar a day, he stayed with him until
his crop was in. So clever was he with the reins, that he drove a team of
thirty-two horses, thereby establishing a reputation for skill which enal)lcd
him always to secure employment. At the end of four years he had ])aid
his debts, and had saved somewhat over one thousand dollars ; when he
bought a six-horse team, and set to work raising wheat and hay and making
improvements on rented land in the Cholame valley.

In the fall of 1895, Anthony Davis was married to Miss Alta Grainger,
a native of Santa Paula, and the daughter of Baxter Grainger, who jn early
days had come across the plains, originally from Missouri, and later from
Kansas. He was, indeed, a pioneer of Spring district, now Shandon, and
homesteaded a hundred sixty acres, eventually retiring to Arroyo Grande,
where he now resides. In Shandon, Miss Grainger went to school ; and there
she grew up a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Five children
bless the home: Lucy, Edith (Mrs. W. H. Post, of Riverside county), Alma,
Ida, and Baxter.

For two }cars Mr. Davis ran the ranch in the Cholame valley, above
referred to, and then he went in for grain farming on Shandon Flat. In the
meantime, in 1906, he had bought, first a hundred sixty acres half a mile
west of Shandon, and later two ranches of one hundred sixty acres each,
lying half a mile farther south, which he farms, while renting six hundred
forty acres near by. This he devotes to grain and stock, putting in about
four hundred forty acres a year to wheat. To accomplish his extensive work, he
raises draft-horses, and runs three big teams and uses a combined harvester
of thirty-two horse-power, with which he reaps his own crops and those of
others in the vicinity.

Mr. Davis is at present a trustrc in the Shandon school district, an office
in which he has served for several terms. He is a member of Santa Lucia
Lodge of the I. O. O. F., of Paso Robles, and is always pojuilar in social
circles. \u ])olitics, lie is a Democrat.

No oiu' will doubt Mr. Davis' success, and it is worthy of note that he
attributes this success largely to steady and close application.

GEORGE A. WHITE. — In what manner a man may inherit success,
or rather, perhaps, the genius for overcoming obstacles and ultimately suc-
ceeding, is illustrated in the family history of George A. White, whose
father, George H. White, a native of Restigouche county, New Brunswick,
was also a farmer of rei)ute and affluence. In that delightful corner of the
East, the elder White married Miss Jean McNair, who was born in that dis-
trict, of Scotch descent. Seven children resulted from this marriage. Of
these, two sons, Richard and David, came to California about 1886, Richard
settling in San Luis Obispo County, and David in Sierra county. Two years
later their parents and the other children followed them to the West.
George II. White, the father, bought three hundred twenty acres where the
subject of this sketch now resides, and there he lived until his death on
May 1. 1904. The mother still resides at San Luis Obispo.

The youngest of the four .children still living, George A. White was
born on Sejitember 1, 1876. He was brought up in New Brunswick until

SAN LUIS OBISI'O COUNTY AND KWIRONS 873

he was twelve years of age, and was sent to the public schools there and in
the Eagle district. As a lad he learned to drive the big teams used on the
ranches, and to ride far and wide after stock ; and he remained at home,
assisting on the place, until his father's death.

After his father died, he removed to San Luis Obispo and engaged in
the grocery business with Arthur Luttrell, tmder the firm name of White
& Luttrell, retaining his connection with the firm for four years, when he
sold out his interest and resumed farming. Leasing the home place, he
took up the raising of grain and cattle, and has continued in that field ever
since. The home ranch contained three hundred twenty acres. He bought
seven hundred twenty acres additional, and later sold two hundred forty.
He now owns four hundred eighty acres, and leases considerable land in
addition, managing in all about eleven hundred twenty acres. The ranch
is located in McMillan's canon, extending some two miles along the road,
and here he has about seventy head of horses and cattle. He raises about
two hundred sixty acres of grain each year.

In San Luis Obispo, September 22, 1909, George White was married to
Miss Emelie Gates, born in Fresno, by whom he has had three children,
Richard, George and Marion. Mrs. White is the daughter of Solomon and
Zerelda (Shimmin) Gates, natives of Ontario, Canada, and Wisconsin and
early settlers in Mendocino county, Cal. They moved to San Luis Obispo
County, where Mrs. White attended school in Eagle district. Mr. and Mrs.
White are Prohibitionists and devoted attendants at tlie I'resbytcrian
Church.

JOHN T. HOPPER.— Xo one can read the absorbing stnry of John T.
Hopper and his struggle to "win out," dcs])ite the fact that bad luck met all
his efforts, as a young rancher, for the first, second, third and even the
fourth year, and fail to be impressed with the heroic qualities demanded of
pioneers in the arduous task of founding such a commonwealth as Califor-
nia. A native son, John was born three miles west of San Miguel, March
15, 1870, his father being none other than John B. Hopper, the long-
esteemed pioneer of California and San Luis Obispo County, who is very
properly mentioned elsewhere in this work. The third oldest of eleven
children still living, of the twelve born to this veteran, John was brought
up in this county, either at work on a farm or in attendance at Willow
Creek, Adelaida, and Shandon public schools. When not over nine years
of age he followed the plow; and he labored at all-round farm work until
he was twenty-one, his farm wages going to the support of the home folks.

In 1897, John T. Hopper located on his present place, leasing a ranch
of such raw land that never before, perhaps, had a furrow been made there;
s(j that nne of his first struggles was to break uj) the ground and plant the
six hundred forty acres to grain. Four hundred fifty acres are now under
the i)low, and managed according to the most approved and latest methods.

When John started out for himself, he was in partnership with his
Iirother, D. L. Hopper, a combination of enthusiasm and energy from which
much might reasonably be expected. The first year, however, they not only
did not raise anything' salable or serviceable, but they paid twenty dollars a
Ion for alfalfa from the Sacramento ranch in order to feed and save their
stock. This expense alone was a burden, but John worked it out through
day labor at the Sacramento ranch, paid for at the' rate of a dollar a day,

874 SAX LUIS OEISrO COUNTY AND EN\TRONS

wliilc D. L. Tlopiier ran the team. 'Ihcy stuck to their original i)hin. and a
second time planted a cro]j ; hut it was f(jur years hefore their luck turned
and they began to get anything worth while for their toil. The year 1901,
however, proved an excellent season, and they then got such a good start
that they were soon out of debt.

In this pleasant and helpful manner the brothers continueil together until
1906, when their partnership was dissolved and John T. Hopper managed
his affairs alone. Since then he has bought two hundred forty acres adjoin-
ing his place, farmed it, and used the land for stock pasture. Each year he
puts in about two hundred fifty acres to grain. In farming his place he uses
two big- teams and a combined harvester operated by twenty-seven horses.
Four brothers, in fact, are interested in this machine, which does the harvest-
ing on from a thousand to twelve hundred acres a year. He also raises draft
horses of the Clydesdale tyjie.

A very hard worker during most of his years, and one who for a long
time performed all of his own labor, John T. Hopper has at last been re-
warded with the success which eventually should come to every one who
sticks to his last and pegs away industriously. He is a stockholder and a
director in the Farmers' Alliance Business Association of Paso Robles. and
is interested in the Imusdale Oil Co., operating at Parkfield.

Mr. Hopper is a Democrat, and for several years has been a member of the
County Central Committee and a delegate to the county and state conventions.
He has served for eight years as a trustee of the Eagle school district, and has
also done considerable grand jury duty. In social circles he is a member of
Santa Lucia Lodge No. 350, I. O. O. F.. of Paso Robles, and of the Encamp-
ment, in which he is Past Patriarch.

OLIVER AND EVERETT HOPPER.— W hat is often n(4ed in a pro-
gressive community — that where industry and consequent success have
marked the life and labors of a parent, the same qualities of attainment ana
the same reward are characteristic of the children w-ho bear an honored name
— is illustrated in the case of Oliver and Everett Hopper, the two sons of John
B. Hopper, the pioneer represented on another page of this work. Born on
the Kentucky ranch at .\delaida. the one on July 3, 1880, and the other on
December 29, 1881. the bmthers attended the district schools in the Cholame
and Eagle neighborly i, ids, ;unl early learned to make themselves useful about
their father's farm. In their great advantage, also, their father took them
with him when he farmed ui)cin the Stirling Cook ranch, and there they
ac(|uired the trick of dri\ing the team of many horses.

When able to ])ush Mut for thenisehes, they leased and operated, for four
years, the George H. White place; and in 1909 they formed a partnership
with their other brother, D. L. llojjper. under the firm name of Ho])per
r.ros. The same year they bought the James Jones ranch, of about eight
hundred acres, and the following year added to it, by j)urchase, the J. T.
Jones ranch of the same size. Since then they have bought the Marsh and
John Conroy ranches, so that now they have almost two thousand acres of
land in a body, located on the west side of the Cholame river opposite Shan-
don. ,\t suitable headquarters on this splendid estate, Oliver and Everett
manage the enter]3rise, while D. L. Hopper farms independently in McMil-
lan's cai'ion. Besides raising grain, they breed cattle and horses, their brand,
J6 (the brand of their honored father), adding to the value of their superior

SAN LUIS OBlSrO COUNTY AND F.N \' I RONS 875

Durliani cattle and fine Percheron horses. One of the products of their
stahks was the thoroughbred stalHon Carnation. Most of the time they
kcej) busy two large teams and a combined harvester pulled by twenty-seven
horses, an imposing mass of mechanism capable of gathering in the grain of
seven hundred acres or more a year. With an artesian well two hundred
eighty feet deep and flowing constantly, the young ranchers are able to
cultivate and grow alfalfa with success. The water is exceptionally good,
and the pressure forces it to the residence and barns for domestic use.

The Hopper brothers are stockholders and active participants in the
Farmers' Alliance Business Association of Paso Robles ; and they also take a
proper interest in political affairs, preferring the principles and forms of
goxernnieiit advocated l)y the Democrats.

MARTIN PETERSEN.— Not everyone puts his shoulder to the wheel
with the same confidence 'and enthusiasm as does Martin Petersen; yet if
more would-be ranchers viewed their work with the same broad attitude of
mind, success would oftener attend the labors of those to whom is com-
mitted the responsibility of getting the earth to yield its utmost for the
benefit of the sons of men. Martin Petersen is a native son, born in Gon-
zales, Monterey county. May 25, 1885. His father was the well-known pio-
neer, Thomas Petersen, an outline of whose life is printed elsewhere in this
work. He was the oldest of two children, and the only son, and from his
second year was reared at Templeton. He grew up at the homestead, played
and conned his lessons with the other boys at Templeton, and from a lad
hel]ied his father, finding the zest of driving big teams, and the attraction of
the (pther ranch work, sufficient to induce him to remain at home until 1909.

.When he began to farm for himself, Martin rented a ranch near Temple-
ton, at the same time assisting in the operation of the home lands. After
four years he leased a ranch near Creston, and planted the six hundred acres
in part to grain, reserving a ])ortion of the tract for stock. In the summer of
1916 he rented the (Jlcndora ranch on Dry creek, and there dexoted eight
hundred acres to the raising of grain, ])utting in about four hundred acres to
wheat and barley.

During September, 1914. the old bells of San Luis Obispo rang out their
.glad greeting to Martin Petersen and his fair bride, ^liss EfTie May Hodgin,
a native of Missouri. Her father, Robert Leonidas Hodgin, was born in
Cedar county, Iowa, and served four years in the Civil War as a member of
an Iowa regiment. He was married in Missouri to Miss Susan Chandler, a
native of Indiana, and later brought his wife and seven children across the
jilains by means of teams and wagons. They thus became pioneers in Idaho,
first on the Camas prairie and later at Boise City, where one of the sons
tilled the office of sheriff of Ada county at the time of the Haywood trial.
and was afterwards United States marshal under both President Roosevelt
and President Taft. One of Mrs. Petersen's sisters, Minnie, is the wife of
Willard Crippen, a pioneer farmer in the Palouse country. Wash. The
parents died in Idaho, where they were highly esteemed, Mr. Hodgin having
l)een particularly well known in Grand Army circles. Mrs. Petersen was
educated in the public schools of Idaho, and later, in 190,^. came to Califor-
nia. One child, Leonidas Thomas, blessed the marriage of Mr. and Mrs.
Petersen, and with them is a center of attraction in Presbyterian Church
and Fraternal Brotherhood circles.

876 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AXD EN\"IROXS

DAVID LE ROY HOPPER.— A fine young man, who maintains the
Hopper tradition for success, is Uavid Le Roy Hopper, a native son. who
was born at Windsor, Sonoma county, on October 31. 1876. His father was
John B. Hopper, whose life story, related elsewhere, adds materially to the
value of our work. He himself was brought here to the Shandon district
when a mere child, and passed his boyhood on a farm at Willow Creek and
in Adelaida, and in attendance at the public school of the Eagle district.
Those were happy days, for no sooner was school dismissed than David
seized the reins and drove the big team of the farm. After a while he worked
out ; and then, as was often the custom, his wages went to his parents until
he was twenty-one years of age.

Attaining his majority, David began to farm in partnership with his
brother, J. T. Hopper, and although at first they were disappointed in a
harvest, they had a good crop in 1901, and so got nicely on their feet again.
Together they farmed until the fall of 1906, when they dissolved partnership
and David went into business for himself, leasing the Alexander McMillan
ranch of four hundred eighty acres. This he continued to farm for three
years, in the meantime also renting three hundred twenty acres adjoining.
In 1909, he took charge of the Frank Mathos ranch of three hundred twenty
acres, and operated that for a couple of years.

In 1911, David Hopper rented his present place of Peter McMillan, a
tract consisting of six hundred forty acres; and when this was joined to the
Mathos ranch, he controlled not less than nine hundred sixty acres, three
hundred fifty of which he put into grain annually. The three hundred twenty
acres yielded, in 1916, four thousand sixty sacks of grain. For the operation
of the ranch, he uses two eight-horse teams. He also raises horses and
cattle, and with his brothers is a partner in the Hopper Bros.' ranch of about
two thousand acres at Shandon, which is used for farming and stock-raising.
He also owns property in Shandon improved with a flowing well.

At Lemoore, David Le Roy Hopper was married to IMiss Laura McMil-
lan, who was born in McMillan's caiion, a daughter of Alexander ^McMillan;
and they have one child, Rhoda Frances. Mr. Hopper is a Democrat. He is
a stockholder in the Farmers Alliance Business Association. Fraternally, he
is a popular member of the Odd Fellows, being affiliated with Santa Lucia
Lodge at Paso Robles : while Mrs. Hopper is equally ]iopular in Presl)yterian
Church circles.

JOHN B. HOPPER.— If John B. Hopper had done nothing more than
set in o])eration the energy and enterprise represented in his progressive and
successful family, he would have deserved the respect both of his contem-
poraries and of posterity; but he did something more: he lived the life of
an exemplary citizen, neighbor and friend, and so contributed his full share
to raising high the standard of all that is truly American and, more than
that, genuinely Californian. John Hopper was born in Lafayette county,
Mo., in 1834. His fatlier was Charles Hopper, a native of North Carolina,
who first settled in Lafayette county, and then, in 1854, five years after his
1:)rnther .\mos had crossed the plains, traveled west to California. John B.
no]iper also preceded his father by three years in the trip across the prairie.
Cliarks Hopiier's train had trouble with the Indians, but it arrived safely
in California, and the pioneers settled first in X'apa county, then in Sonoma,
and finally in Mendocino county. There Charles Hopper devoted the rest
of his life to hunting, trapping and the tanning of hides. No pioneer, per-

SAN LUIS OBISl'O COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 877

haps, ever enjoyed his life more; he loved California and had intense confi-
dence in its future; and he was hale until his death, which occurred on a deer
hunt when he was in his ninety-fourth year.

It was in 1851, when he was seventeen years of age, that John B. Hopper
crossed the plains to California with the conventional ox teams and wagons.
Ten years later, on May 14, he was married at Cloverdale to Miss Frances
Grove, a native of Trenton, Butler county, O., who crossed the plains to
California with her parents in 1853. Her parents were David and Catherine
(Richter) Grove, natives, res])ectively, of Virs^inia and (jermany. .\rriving
on the coast, they settled on Mark West creek, near Windsor, in .Sonoma
county.

jVftcr his marriage, John B. Hopper set uj) as a farmer near Windsor.
In 1868 he came to San Luis Obispo County, living one year on the Huasna,
and then near San Miguel, where he engaged in sheep-raising. In that year
of years for misfortune, the period of the 1877 drought, Mr. Hopper lost
heavily. He was compelled to sacrifice the savings of years of toil, and had
to abandon the sheep business altogether. He then spent some time in
Sonoma county, California, in Oregon, and in Yreka, California, but soon
returned to San Luis Obispo County, locating in the Adelaida country, where
he farmed until 1887. He pre-empted one hundred sixty acres of land in the
Cholame valley, about ten miles above Shandon, and soon homesteaded a
hundred sixty acres in the Eagle district, where he farmed until he retired.
Strange to say, he, too, died while on a deer hunt, passing away at San
Miguel, August 13, 1913, at the age of seventy-nine. He was popular with
all classes, and especially so among the Odd Fellows and in Baptist circles.
His good wife, hale, hearty and happy, continues to reside with her children,
all of whom reverence her and shower upon her their afTection.

Of the thirteen children born to Mr. and Mrs. Hopper, one, Elwood, died
at the age of four years. Sarah, now Mrs. Yancy McFadden, resides near
El Centro. Mr. McFadden was sheriff of San Luis Obispo County for
over four years, and dejjuty sheriff for eight years. Nancy married Mr.
Brians, of Los Angeles. Mary married Mr. Young, and died in August, 1916,
at Los Angeles. John T. is a large farmer and stockman in the Eagle dis-
trict. Lucretia, better known as Mrs. Thompson, lives in San Miguel.
George L. resides at Shandon. Emma, now Mrs. Arthur Waite, lives in
Lcmoore. D. Le Roy is a farmer and stockman of McMillan's canon. Hen-
rietta is the wife of Herbert Waitc, of King City. Oliver and Everett are
farmers at Shandon ; and .\ddie is the wife of Mr. Stanley, of the same place.

JOHN P. ESTERGREN. — The history of the Eureka school district,
famed for its enterprising residents as well as for its superior agricultural
products, must begin, almost, with the story of John P. Estcrgren and his
pioneer work as one of the oldest settlers in that region. Born near Gothen-
burg, Sweden, on February 24, 1851, Mr. Estcrgren was the son of a farmer
named John Estcrgren, who spent his last days in Martin county, Minn.,
Mrs. Estcrgren having died in Sweden when John P. was a mere child. The
.second youngest of three children — Clara, who died in Kansas, and the Rev.
Gustav Estcrgren. pastor of the Swedish Lutheran Church at St. Cloud.
Minn., being the tither two— John P. Estcrgren attended school and wtirked
on a farm until he was nearly of age.

In 1871, he came to the United States, and settled for a year at Chicago.
after whicli he moved to Brazil. Clav county, Ind., where he mined coal for

878 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

six years. About 1878 he pushed still further west, to Minnesota, and located
at Shcrburn, Martin county, where his father had taken up a farm, and owned
a small place. Nine years later, when a moderate degree of prosperity had
rewarded his efforts, he left Minnesota for San Francisco, in which city he
took to teaming.

Having had his attention directed to the many advantages of San Luis
Obispo County, ^Ir. Estergren, in 1889, moved south and bought his present
place, a tract of one hundred eight acres in the Eureka district, which he soon
greatly improved by clearing it of brush and bushes, breaking ground, and
sowing to grain. He even set out an orchard of ten acres in prunes; but
finding, four years later, that there was no market for that fruit, now so
highly prized, he grubbed the orchard out and devoted the land to farming
and stock-raising. In those days he used to rent some two hundred acres
adjoining his property, upon which he raised grain ; but now he busies him-
self more with stock, for which he requires three hundred acres, as range
land, in addition to that which he possesses. His Durham cattle guarantee
the quality of products from his small dairy; while, when it comes to an
appraisal of the cattle and poultry on his farm, neither raiser nor purchaser
need for a moment be doubtful as to results.

At San Francisco, John P. Estergren was married to Miss Mathilda
Ober, a native of Engleholm, Skaane. Their wedlock was blessed by the
birth of one child, Gustav Emanuel, a graduate of Bethanj' Academy, at
Lindsborg, Kan., and of the University of California. From the latter insti-
tution, in 1916, he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and he is now
engaged in educational work. The famil}^ are members of the Swedish
Lutheran Church at Templeton, and John P. Estergren has served therein
as both a deacon and a trustee. He has also superintended its Sunday school,
and has helped build the attractive brick church. A Republican whose special
hobby is the support of all good educational measures, this worthy pioneer
has been a trustee of the Eureka school district for many years.

GUY T. WORDEN.— Born at San Luis Obispo, June 24, 1887, the son
of Solomon Truman \\"orden, Guy T. Worden inherited, as an inspiration to
good citizenship, war memories of his father, who was a native of Adrian,
Mich., and entered the great civil conflict as a private in a ^lichigan regiment.
In 1874, Solomon Worden came to California and settled in Tehama county,
after which he came to San Luis Obispo and, in 1891, located at Shandon.
Then the country was absolutely unsettled, and Solomon, having bought
some land, built there the first house and hotel, known as the Hotel Shandon,
which he later rented to George Hopper. Later on he bought another eighty
acres across from Shandon, and there sunk artesian wells and planted the first
fields of alfalfa seen in the neighborhood. Solomon Worden and his excel-
lent wife, who before her marraigc was Clara Schelenger, a native of Illinois,
are both living, enjoying the sea breezes at Long Beach. With tlu-m is one
of their sons, Ray, while another, Clyde, lives at Creston.

I'rought up at Shandon, then known as Shandon City, until he was four
years of age, Guy Worden later attended the public school in the neighbor-
hood, and finally graduated from the San Luis Obi.spo Polytechnic School.
He then took to farming at Annette, tilling the soil on rather a large scale,
using a big team and raising superior grain. When the elder W"orden first
experimented with alfalfa, Guy was his main helper and adviser and assisted
him in sowing tlic first alfalfa seed. In time Guy's operations involved his

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 879

rental of no less than eight hundred acres, and few ranches were more attrac-
tive to the eye, or more satisfactory when it came to harvesting crops.

In 1915, Guy returned to Shandon, became proprietor of the Shandon
Hotel, and took charge of his father's farm. He went in for alfalfa and hog-
raising, as well as sowing to grain, and had some very choice Berkshire and
Duroc swine. He sunk two artesian wells, one on the north side and the
other on the south, and before long had one of the best-irrigated ranches in
the neighborhood.

In just the town for such a festal occasion, that is, in old San Luis Obispo,
Guy Worden was married to M'iss Minnie McCaudless, a native of Pleyto,
Monterey county, who had been a teacher since her graduation from the
Hollister Academy; and two children have blessed this marriage: Margaret
Catherine and Guy McCaudless.

FREDERICK WILLIAM WEIR.— There are in all communities men
who have lived a life of usefulness, using of their energy and best efforts for
the upbuilding of the community, and turning their influence towards the
moral uplift of its citizens. Such a man is l-'rederick \V. Weir, an old-timer
of Estrella, San Luis Obispo Count}'. He was born near St. Louis, in St.
Louis county. Mo., September 26, 1864, the son of Peter Weir, a native of
Germany, who came to the United States and was for a time engaged in
farming near St. Louis. In 1883 Peter Weir came to California, where he
homesteaded one hundred twenty acres at Estrella, which he still owns. He
is now retired from active life, though still hale and hearty at the age of
eighty-seven years. His wife was Catherine Stroh, who died in 1891.

IVcderick \\'cir received a good education in the public schools of St.
Louis cuunty. Mo. On coming to Estrella, San Luis Obispo County, in
August, 1S.S3, he began farming and, in 1885, as soon as he was of age, pre-
cmptiil one hundred sixty acres of his present ranch, fulfilling the require-
ments of the law and paying one dollar twenty-five cents an acre, thus
obtaining a deed. He improved it well with a residence and other buildings:
and still later he purchased one hundred si.xty acres adjoining, and now has
three hundred twenty acres in one body, all tillable land, devoted to grain-
raising.

Mr. ^\'eir was married at I'lstrella to Miss F.mma Mtirris, born in Texi..-;.
who came to this region with her parents in 1887; and five children have
been born of this union, as follows: Carl, who died at two years of age;
Frances; Vera, Mrs. Frank Kuhnle; Thomas, who died at the age of five
weeks ; and Myrtle.

Enterprising and public-spirited. Mr. Weir has served acceptably as
road-overseer of Road District No. 2, for seven years; for more than twenty
years he was school trustee in Pleasant Valley district, most of the time as
clerk of the board ; and he also served as constable from 1886 to 1890. in
Estrella, of Paso Kobles Hot Springs judicial township, under Judge William
R. Cooley. A leader in the upbuilding of all educational enterprises, he is
a true-blue Republican, and is a Lutheran in religious belief.

JOHN CHARLES M. KRUMLINDE.— An old resident of California,
and a man who is well esteemed and highly respected. Charles Krumlinde
was born in Oldenburg, llolstein. ( lerniany, June 15, 1844, the .son of Mathias
and Margaret (Schroeder) Krumlinde. Tlie father was a weaver, and died
in 1847, leaving a widow and two sons. Cliarles and Henry, of whom Charles
alone survives.

880 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EXVIROXS

diaries Kruniliiulc received his education in the public schools of Ger-
many. ^\'hen seventeen years of age, he went to sea in the brig "'Mary
Elizabeth," engaged in the coasting trade; afterwards in a Holland sailing
vessel around Cape Horn to \'alparaiso, and return ; and then in a sailer
out of Belgium, a second trip to Valparaiso, this time returning to New
York, where he joined the American ship "Dreadnaught," bound for Cali-
fornia. He landed in San Francisco on September 2, 1864, and determined to
quit the sea and remain in California. He found employment on farms in
Half Moon Bay, and later leased land until 1886, when, having heard, through
AI. E. E. Krumlinde, of government land that could be homesteaded, he
came to San Luis Obispo County and on his arrival located his present place
of one hundred sixty acres, which he improved from the first furrow. Later
on he leased other land, at one time operating one hundred sixty acres
devoted to grain- and stock-raising. Some time ago, however, he gave up
farming on a large scale, and now works only his home ranch.

Mr. Krumlinde was first married in Half ?^Ioon Bay, where he was
united with ]\Iary ]\Ieckel. She was born in Ireland, and died in Half Moon
Bay. Of this union there were four children: James, who resides in San
Francisco; John, who was accidentally killed while mining in Arizona;
Lizzie, Mrs. Olney of San Francisco ; and Nellie, Mrs. Compton of Oakland.
His second marriage also took place in Half ]\Ioon Bay, by which he was
wedded to Miss ]\Iary Kirwin, a native of Dublin, Ireland, who came to
California in 1867, and died on September 2, 1916, leaving him four children.
William is a farmer near home. Katherine attended the San Jose State
Normal School and is now teaching at Parkfield. Rose, a graduate of the
San Jose State Normal, class of 1912, is a teacher at the Estrclla school.
Isabelle, also a graduate of the San Jose State Normal, class of 1915, is
teaching the school in Keys canon.

Mr. Krumlinde was trustee of the Ellis school district for eleven years.
He is an Indci^endent Democrat in politics.

WILLIAM K. HUDSON. — An experienced dairyman, an enthusiastic
poultry raiser, and a native son who well represents San Luis Obispo, the
county of his adoption, is William K. Hudson, who was born at St. Helena,
Napa county, on September 20, 1866. the son of Andrew J. Hudson, a pioneer,
who crossed the plains in 1845, and whose sketch appears elsewhere in this
work.

William K. Hudson was less than three years old when his parents came
to this county, and about ten years old when they settled at Willow Creek.
He attended the public schools at Oakdale and Asuncion, but from a lad
worked on a farm ; and much earlier than most boys he satisfied his ambition
to drive a "big team." There he also learned stock-raising and dairying;
and with exceptional filial devotion he remained at home until he was nearly
thirty years of age. When he did start out for himself, he teamed for a
while at San Luis Obispo for the Polytechnic School, after which he was
employed by the P. I. Co. in their lumber yard. Then he returned to
Templcton.

On his father's death, in 1907, William K. Hudson and his brother, 1 larry.
conducted the home farm for a year; and when they dissolved partnership, he
undertook carpentering. He later leased a ranch three miles southwest of
the town, which he retained six years, farming and dairying. In July, 1916,
he bought the farm of twentv-ninc acres which he now owns, on the Salinas

SAN LUIS OlUSl'O COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 881

river opposite Templcton, where he has an electric pumping plant affording
an excellent irrigation system for his alfalfa lands; a dairy of fifteen cows, in
connection with which he operate a separator; and all the equipment neces-
sary for the raising of poultry, sheep and cattle. His white Leghorns and
bronze turkeys are now a widely known specialty.

In the famous old Mission town of San Luis Obispo. William K. Hudson
was married to Miss Evangeline Kemp, a native of Cecil county, Md., and a
teacher there, who later removed to California. Here Mrs. Hudson has been
active in Episcopalian circles, while Mr. Hudson is a member of the Presby-
terian Church. One child, Elcnore Evangeline, has been born to them. A
Democrat in national politics, and independent in local issues, Mr. Hudson
has shown his ]ni1)lic-spiritodness by unselfish service as a school trustee for
Oakdale district.

PATRICK FOLEY.— One of the old settlers of San Luis Obispo
County, and particularly of the vicinity where he resides, Patrick Foley
was born in county (jalway, Ireland. .Vugust 31, 1851, the son of Austin and
Margaret (Flaherty) Foley, farmers on their native heath. From a lad
Patrick was brought U]) on the farm, and was educated in the public schools
of his native place. He was the eldest of a family of seven children, and the
first to emigrate to the United States.

Coming to P)Oston, Mass., in 1869, when eighteen years of age, he was
employed there until 1874, when he migrated to the West. Making his
way to Virginia City. .\\\.. he entered the service of the Virginia and
Truckee Railroad, cimtinuing with them until September, 1877. He then
came to San Luis Obispo County, where he had an uncle, Coleman Flaherty,
a pioneer settler of Hog canon, for whom he worked three years, and then
located a pre-emption of one hundred si.xty acres in the same vicinity. This
Ik- improved, meeting the requirements of the law, and obtained a title. After
tiiis, he homesteaded one hundred sixty acres adjoining, where he built his
residence and farm buildings, and engaged in grain-growing and cattle-
raising, in which he met with deserved success. As he prospered, he bought
more land, and now owns eight hundred acres in a body, lying on the Mon-
terey and San Luis Obispo county line. Since 1898 he has also been leasing
the Coleman Flaherty place of four hundred forty acres, where he makes his
headquarters. Thus, he operates over 1200 acres in all.

The marriage of Mr. Foley occurred in San Francisco, where he was
united with Mary Clancy, a native daughter, of whom he was bereaved in
January, 1917. She left one son, .Austin, who assists his father in his farm-
ing (iijer.-ilions.

A man who has proved his wnrtli by his enterprise. Mr. h'oley is higlily
esteemed by a,ll who know him. As a trustee in the Ellis school district, he
gives his aid to the cause of education in his community. In politics he is a
Republican, and a firm believer in protection for Americans.

LAZARO SILVERS GARCIA. — .\ man who is highly esteemed for his
integrity and honesty of i)urp(ise, and who is making a success at farming
by the most modern methods, is Lazaro Silvers Garcia, a native son born in
the city of San Luis Obispo, May 11, 1873. His parents, Ciuadalu]>c and
Jasusita (Silvers) Garcia, were natives of Sonora, Mexico, and emigrated to
San Luis Obispo in 1868. In 1877 they homesteaded one hundred sixty acres
in Rocky canon, five miles above wiuit is now Santa Margarita. This prop-
erty they improved and farmed for many years, when they sold it and

882 SAN LUIS OBISPO COuNTY AND ENVIRONS

moved to Santa Alargarita. There the father died in 1910, at the age of sixty-
seven _vears ; while the mother is lixing at the old home. Of their six chil-
dren, five are living, Lazaro 1>eing the youngest. From the age of four
years, Lazaro was brought up on the farm in the vicinity of Santa Mar-
garita, obtaining his education in the public schools ; and he remained at
home, helping his parents on the farm, until he was married.

The marriage of Lazaro Silvers Garcia occurred in the old Mission city
of San Luis Obispo, December 12. 1897, when he was united with Aliss
iPolonia Flores. She was born at Pozo, San Luis Obispo County, the daugh-
ter of Ignacio and Ramona (Reyes) Flores. natives of Mexico, who mi-
grated from their native land to San Luis Obispo County, where the father
was engaged in mining at Pozo until he died. His widow now resides at
Nipomo. They were the parents of fifteen children, seven of whom are
living, Mrs. Garcia being the eldest. She attended the public schools in
her native locality, and also in San Luis Obispo.

After their marriage, the Garcias began farming. Mr. Garcia operated
his father's place as well as about six hundred acres of the Murphy ranch
for a number of years, and then moved to Santa Margarita. Here he pur-
chased his present residence, which he has since made his home. He
followed teaming for some years until he again decided to farm, for which
purpose, in 1910, he leased six hundred acres of the Santa Margarita ranch,
adjoining the town. This he operated with three big teams until he pur-
chased a thirty-horse caterpillar, with which he does his plowing, seeding,
and harrowing, harvesting the grain with a large combined harvester and
hauling the grain to the warehouse with the caterpillar engine. He finds this
method very satisfactory, and is enthusiastic in the use of the most modern
machinery. Mr. Garcia sows about five hundred acres to wheat and barley,
each year, and is making a financial success of his farming operations.

Mr. and Mrs. Garcia have nine children living. Peter and Robert are
assisting their father with the farm work. The others are Ramona, Juanita,
Cecelia, Frank, Libbie, Fermina, and Frances. Mr. Garcia has always been
interested in the cause of education, and in the establishing of good schools,
and is serving his second term as a member of the Santa Margarita board
of school trustees. During his term of ofifice, the new grammar school has
been built at a cost of $16,700; and it is one of the finest grammar-school
buildings in the county. Politically, he is an ardent supporter of the prin-
ciples of the Republican party.

JOHN GUY. — John Guy is well and fax'orably known in Santa Mar-
garita, wliere he is proprietor of the meat market and is doing a creditable
and successful business. He was born at Peoria, Polk county, la., .\ugust 8,
1873. His father, also named John, was a farmer, who died .when his two
sons, John and Albert, now residing in Los Angeles, were small children.
The mother was in maidenhood Lucy Swarms. She was married a second
time, to John Merrihew, and with him emigrated to California with the two
children in 1885, locating at F.lsinore. Here Jolin went to work on near-
by ranches, helping to support the family.

Ailev he had grown up, Mr. Guy was employed in the Gdnd Hope mine,
continuing there for seven years. He then came to Riverside, in the employ
of J. C. Stege, the old butcher of that place, and under him learned the
butchering business, after wliich he worked at his trade in various places in
Southern California.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 883

In 1905 he came to San Luis Obispo County and enga.s^ed in teaming
at (Jilport for twenty-two months, from the time it was started until it was
closed. He then purchased a ranch of three hundred twenty acres in Calf
caiion, seven miles from Santa Margarita, where he raised stock until 1916,
when he moved to Santa Margarita and started his present butcher business,
in which he is meeting with deserved success.

The marriage of John Guy occurred in Riverside, where he was united
with Miss Dolly Praster, a native of Kansas. To Mr. and Mrs. Guy six
children have been born, as follows: Marvel, Mrs. Haber-Kern of La Panza;
Lester, who is assisting his father in business; Angie, Mrs. Simpson of
Santa Margarita: and Keiuiey, Helen, and John. In ])olitics, Mr. Guy is a
true-lihu' Republican.

THOMAS H. ROUGEOT.— Amnng tlic men who have achieved suc-
cess and a competency in the business of farming and stock-raising in the
vicinity of San Miguel, we find Thomas H. Rougeot, owner of a large ranch
in Echo caiion, just north of the San Luis Obispo County line in Monterey
county. He is a York State man, having been born near Rome, Oneida
county, May 2, 1864. His father. Cadet T. Rougeot, was born in France and
came with Noel Rougeot, his father, to New York, where he became a
builder and farmer, passing away in 1876 at the age of forty-eight years.
Mr. Rougeot's mother was Sarah Cooley, who was born in Ireland and died
at Rome, aged seventy-five years.

Thomas II. Rotigeot is the second youngest oi a family of six children.
He grew up in Oneida county, where he had the advantages of the public
schiicils until eighteen years of age, when he determined to cast in his lot
wilh the Western country. So in 1882 we find him in Colorado, where he re-
mained for a period of si.x years, spending most of his time lumbering in
JefTerson county. In 1888 he came to Estrella, San Luis Obispo County,
rented land, and began farming on a very small scale, gradually obtaining a
footing and a good farming outfit. In 1895 he leased land at the head of Keys
canon, where he farmed until 1901. He then purchased his first one hundred
sixty acres of land, which is located in Echo canon and is the nucleus of his
present large ranch. He purchased land adjoining ; and soon discovering that a
large acreage was required for successful cattle-raising, he continued adding to
his holdings until now he has 2,600 acres in a body. Here he set out an orch-
ard and built a residence and suitable barns for storing hay and grain, and for
sheltering his stock. He has been raising Shorthorn Durham cattle, as well
as tine nudes, being the owner of a well-bred Kentucky jack. He has just
\)vj.i\u \hv lireeding and raising of jacks, and for the purpose has shipped
tci liis ranch thirty jennies from Missouri, all well-bred animals.

.\mong the early .settlers of Echo canon were Josephus Shuey and his
wile, who was in maidenhood Sarah Newland. They were born in .\dams
county. III., and Montgomery county. Pa., respectively, and were married in
Illinois. In 1859 they crossed the plains with ox teams to California, locating
in the San Ramon valley. Contra Costa county, where they farmed until
1885, when they homesteaded one hundred sixty acres in Echo canon, Mon-
terey ciiunty, being among the first settlers of this region. Mr. Shuey died
in IS'M. Mr. and Mrs. Shuey had six children. Their youngest daughter.
Ida M., was born in San Ramon valley. She became acquainted with
ThdMias 11. Rougeot, an acquaintance that ripened into love: and they were
ni.irricil at the Sliuev home in Echo canon, on December 14, 1801. Of this

S84 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

uiiiDii liave l:)een liurn seven children, as follows: Sarah ]\Iay, the wife of
Otto E. Dauth. a farmer and stockman of their vicinity ; Frank H., a farmer
on Turkey flat; and Ada Luella, Clarence Theodore, Ray A., Fay E. and
Wilma Adell. J\Irs. Shuey now makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Rougeot,
where she is held in loving esteem and reverence.

Mr. Rougeot made a trip back to his old home in 1898 with his wife
and their two children, visiting his relatives and old friends; and on his
return he was more than ever favorably impressed with his adopted state.
Mr. Rougeot is very enterprising and progressive. When he located
here there was no county road through to San Miguel; so Mr. Rou-
geot, with H. H. Russell, represented the project before the super-
visors and succeeded in getting them to establish the county road. They
also worked for a star-route mail service, so that now the mail is deliv-
ered to the farmers along the road. He was one of the first to start the
organization of the Interurban Telephone Co., of which he was president
for four years, and to which he ga\e much of his time until it was com-
pleted, thus placing telephones in the farmers' homes in his locality. He
has served as trustee of Ellis school district, a position Mrs. Rougeot is now
filling. Fraternally, he was made a Mason in San Miguel Lodge, No. 285,
F. & A. M., of which he is Junior Warden ; and he is also a member of Na-
cimiento Lodge, No. 340, I. O. O. F.

Mr. Rougeot and his estimable \vife are very hospitable; and they have
a host of friends, who admire them for their many good qualities and their
kindness of heart.

WILLIAM T. PIPPIN.— One of the old settlers and enterprising farmers
near Pozo, William T. Pippin was born near New Cambria, Macon county,
Mo., February 9, 1855. His father, Joseph Pippin, a farmer, died in Missouri
in January, 1861. The mother of our subject was Mary Lingo, a native of
Randolph county, Mo., and a sister of George W. Lingo, a forty-niner, now
living in Santa Margarita, who is represented on another page in this work.
After Joseph Pippin's death, his widow was married a second time, to Thomas
Epperly. The family all came to California in 1870, spending three years
at Morro, whence Air. and Mrs. Epperly removed to Arizona, where they
remained five years. They tlien spent three years in Texas, and four years
in Washington, after which they Ineated in Josephine county, Ore., where
they resided until their death.

William T. Pippin was the second eldest of the three children born of
the union of Joseph and Mary (Lingo) Pippin. He was brought up in Mis-
.souri until the age of fifteen years, when he came to California with his
father's family. IVoni a lad of se\ en years he had to drive a team on the
farm, because tlie men of the family were in the war. So he continued to
help his mother, receiving such education as the local schools afforded.

On coming to California in 1870, he worked for a time at farming and
dairying. In 1873 he drove a si.x-horse team to Prescott, Ariz., wdiere he
located his mother, and then returned to San Luis Obispo County. Soon
afterwards he leased a ranch on the Chorro, where he ran a dairy. It was
a hard winter, and a year's work found him in debt four hundred dollars. He
then went to work for wages until all his indebtedness was paid. In 1876
he became foreman of the Summers ranch at Pozo, and a year later went to
San Mateo, where he followed ranching for over a year, when he returned to
Pozo.

■ \\-as

; nu

irri(.

■d a

SCCOl

1(1 time, in

Miss

. W

ary

Clan

isen,

Ixjni near

a f;

irni

L-r i

n th

is en

iinty, now

.lanl

(if

iru^

;te(,-s

of N

'e\v sch(3ol

SAN LUIS OP.ISPO COUNTY AND I-X\1R()\S 885

In 1879, at Lodi, occurred the marriage of William T. Pippin and Miss
Lizzie L. Epperly. She was born in Chariton, Mo., and came with her
father, Solomon Epperly, across the plains to California in 1849.

In 1880, Mr. Pippin leased a ranch on the Salinas river, near Pozo ; and
in 1881 he homesteaded one hundred sixty acres, his present home ranch on
the Salinas river, one and three-quarters miles north of Pozo. He cleared the
land, broke the first furrow, and made all the improvements. He built a
rude house, and afterwards a new and larger residence. This was burned,
and lie then built the third house. He bought more land, and has now five
iuuidred eighty acres in two ranches, and two sets of farm buildings. Here
hv engages in raising cattle and in buying and dealing in stock, for which
iiis ranches prnduce sufficient grain and hay. Riverside Ranch, as his place
is kiidwii, is well named, as it lies along the Salinas river. It is an exceed-
ingly good stock ranch.

Mr. Pippin's wife died in 1886. Later,
San Luis Obispo, where he was united wi
that city, the daughter of Rasmus Clause
deceased.

Mr Pippin is an active meml)er of tin
district. Politicallv, he is a Democrat.

GEORGE A. PHILBRICK.— George A. Pliilbriek was born near Coopers
Mills, Lincoln county, Me., January 25, 1869. On b.ith the jiaternal and the
maternal side, he comes of an old and prominent New luigland family. His
father. George W'., was a shipbuilder, and also followed lumbering and farm-
ing. In the fifties he made his first trip to California, and a second trip in
ISdi. In 1874 he brought his family to .\rroyo Grande, where for a time he
farmed. Then, in partnershij) with his brother, he engaged in blacksmithing
in San Luis Obispo from 1876 to 1878. From this time on he was a farmer
near San Jose, until his death. The mother, Lydia Xoyes, died in Santa
l!arl)ara count\'. Of their nine children, four grew up. three of whom are
now living, George A. being the second oldest.

I'rom four years past, Cieorge A. Philbrick was raised in California, and
educated in its public schools. When fifteen years of age, he began learning
the blacksmith trade under his father and his uncle, Radomanthus Philbrick.
.\fter mastering his trade, he continued to work at it, coming to Pozo in
September of Mf'J.

W hilc employed at his trade in I'ozo, Mr. Philbrick met Miss Margaret
Xolil, and the acquaintance culminated in their marriage in San Luis Obispo,
in I )ecember, 1899. Miss Nohl was born in San Francisco, the daughter of
Eugene W. and Margaret (Dick) Nohl, natives of Germany and Scotland,
respectively. The father was a stationary engineer, who came out to Cali-
fornia and was employed in the mint. In December, 1882, he came to the
vicinity of Pozo, where he was a farmer, later purchasing the blacksmith
shop in Pozo. The last seven years of his life were spent as chief deputy
county assessor, under Charles King, from 1901 until his death, in Pozo,
where the mother still resides. Two children. Cora E. and (.ieorge .\., have
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Philbrick.

In 1900, Mr. Philbrick purchased a ranch of thirty acres one and a half
miles east of Orcutt and, in connection with farming, built and ran a shop
there until 1908, when he returned to Pozo and purchased the blacksmith
shop Iroin the Nohl estate. Here ho has since continued in luisiness, meeting

886 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY A\D E.WTROXS

witli >uccc>s ; and the increase in the amount of work at his shop has necessi-
tated the huihhng of a garage, so that lie is ncnv equipped to repair everything
in the line of machinery.

.Mrs. I'hilbrick, seeing an opportunity for a mercantile establishment,
jnit up a store building, and engages in general merchandising. .She is also
ser\-ing as postmistress at Pozo.

The cause of education has always received the hearty support of Mr.
Philbrick. He served about nine years as a member of the board of trustees
of the Pine Grove district, in the Santa I\Iaria valley. Fraternally, he is a
member of Santa :Maria Lodge, No. 302, I. O. O. F., of which he is Past Grand.

CAROL H. STONE. — A young man who is proving the value of prepara-
tion and the study of scientific methods for successful farming, Carol H.
Stone was born in Santa Barbara, Cal., December 25, 189L His father, Alfred
Stone, was born in Tunbridge Wells, England, a builder by trade. On coming
to San Francisco, over thirty years ago, he engaged in contracting and build-
ing, and soon afterwards came to Santa Barbara, where he also followed his
trade. He is now retired. Carol's mother, Lucy Hansard, was born in
Boston, England. Of her four children, Carol is the youngest.

Carol H. Stone was educated in the Santa Barbara grammar and high
schools, from which he graduated in 1910. Having always been interested in
farming and stock-raising, he then entered the California Polytechnic School
in San Luis Obispo, taking a special course in preparation for that occupation
For a time thereafter he was employed on the Bishop ranch, at (ioleta, and
then worked for the San Joaquin Land & Cattle Co., on the Chuwchilla rancho,
as assistant to the superintendent.

In 1915 he entered into his present partnership, under the name of Smith
& Stone, and came to Canada Verde rancho, near Pozo. since which time he
has been the manager of the ranch, devoting all of his time to making a
success of dairying and stock-raising. The ranch comprises 1,,500 acres,
located on the .Salinas ri^•er, and is a splendid stock ranch. It has seventy-
five acres of alfalfa, irrigated by tlie use of a pumping plant, .\sidc from the
dairy of sixty-five cows, the ranch is devoted to raising cattle and hogs, and
produces sufficient grain and hay for the stock.

Through his careful study, close application, and energy. Mr. Stone is
making a success. He is well and favorably known, and is a highly esteemed
young man. In national politics, he is a Progressive Republican.

ESKEL E. MEYER. — .\ very enterprising and progressive man. who is
and a success, of grain-raising, is Eskel E. Meyer, a native
in Westmanland. September 13, 1866. but reared in Dalene.
I'eter and Hedvig (Hultin) Meyer. The father migrated to
in 1SS2. with his wife and two children, Eskel and John.
in their arrival in New Jersey. Peter ^leyer was a forge-
and l;itcr at Mont .\Uo. Franklin county, Pa. After Eskel
.Meyer came to the C'oast, his parents joined their son in California, and are
now making their home with him here.

Eskel Meyer received a good education in the iniiilic schools of his na-
tive country, where he imrsued his studies until, at fifteen years of age, he
migrated to Trenton, X. J., with his parents, and there went to work in the
iron wi>rks. learning llie trade of forgeman under his father. Later, he fol-
lowed his trade at Mont .Alto, I'a.. until he came to San Francisco in 1888.

niakin

g :

udv

of Sw

ede

bom

He is

thi

• SI

Ml ol

Trenti

on.

, J..

The 1,

;ilt(

■r (

lied

man i

n ■]

I're

nton

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 887

TIktc lie found t-nipliiynn'iit im the old Sixth street car line. He was both
driver and eonductor on the old horse-ear line. After two years at this
oeeupation. desirint; to engage in farming, he purchased fifty-two acres
aeross the Salinas river from Atascadero, and immediately located on it.
;\Iaking his headquarters here, he also leased land on a part of the Patrick
Murphy ranch at Atascadero, broke new land there, and raised some of the
first crops. After nine years, the place was sold to Mr. Henry, and Eskel
leased from the latter for ten years, becoming well posted on the {juality of
land and soil on the large ranch. When the ranch was finally sold, in 1913,
he leased a part of the Santa Margarita ranch, where he raises about three
hundred acres of barley and wheat each year, using two big teams for put-
ting in the crop, and a Deering combined harvester to harvest it.

The marriage of Mr. Meyer occurred in Berkeley, uniting him with
Miss Anna Bjork, who was also born in Sweden, and who came to California
when a young lady. They are both members of the Swedish Lutiieran
Church at Templeton.

Mr. Meyer is interested in educational matters, and has served as trustee
in I'.ureka district. He is well and favorably known, and is much esteemed
h\- all who know him. for his worth and integrity of purpose.

WILLIAM DALTON WIMMER.— William Dalton Wimmer comes of
an okl and historic family in California, llis grandfather, Peter Wimmer,
crossed the plains to California in 184.^. He was working on the mill-race
at Sutter's mill and, while walking along with Mr. Marshall, in the water,
picked up the first piece of gold found in California and handed it to Mar-
shall. Grandmother Wimiuer tested it for gold, in her way, by boiling it in
a kettle of soap; and she kept it until her dying day. However, as a matter
of history, Mr. Marshall received the credit for the discovery of the nugget,
though in fact Peter Wimmer ])icked it up. For a time Peter Wimmer fol-
lowed mining, but afterwards gave it uj) to follow the more certain business
of agriculture, finally locating on Santa Rosa creek, in ."^an Luis 01)ispo
County, and afterwards retiring to San Diego, where his wife died. He then,
returned to this county, and died on Old creek.

The father of William Dalton was Franklin Wimmer, who was born in
Sutter comity, in 1846; and according to the best .obtainable records, he was
the second white child born in California. He became a cattleman in San
Luis Obispo County, residing at the head of Santa Rosa creek, where he died
in 1874. His wife was Ethella Bailey, who was born in Wisconsiti, the daugh-
ter of William Bailey, also an early settler of California. She died in 1S'»2.
The two children born of this union are William Dalton and |. \\ .. who is a
rancher on Tcmplor Mountain.

W illiani Dalton Wimmer was born in Los Osos valley, San Luis Obispo
County, July 10, 1872, and was educated in the public schools on the coast.
.\fter assisting his mother at farming until her death, he then farmed for a
year with grandfather Bailey on the l-lstrella plains.

.Mr. Wimmer was married at the home of the late William II. Tuley, on
the Estrella plains, where he was united with Miss Mildred Tuley, who was
born near San Luis Obispo. The life of her father. William II. Tuley, is
outlined elsewhere in this work.

.\fter his marriage. Mr. Wimmer leased land on the Estrella till 1901.
and then removed to the Newhall ranch near Santa Maria, where he farmed
for nine years, raising barley and beans. After this he farmed for two years

888 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND F,N\"IRONS

more in the \alle\-, and then moved to the Hiiasna. Here he ran hogs and
cattle for three years, when he sold his stock and outfit.

In November, 1915, Mr. Wimmer located at Pozo, and bought his present
dairy, leasing the place of eight hundred acres, where he milks a herd of
from fifty to seventy-five cows, separating the cream, which he ships to
San Francisco. He is also raising beef cattle and hogs, and for that purpose
leases 2,000 acres of range land six miles from his dairy, where he runs his
cattle. His dairy herd are Holsteins. at the head of which he has full-blooded
animals. His hogs are of the Berkshire and Duroc Jersey strains. Laguna
Ranch, as the place is called, is a beautiful place with a natural lake. It is
a splendid stock ranch, having alfalfa fields and a pumping plant, and ample
acreage for raising grain and hay for the stock on the place.

Mr. and Mrs. Wimmer have five children. Gladys (Mrs. Cooper), ^^'esley,
Mildred, Barrel, and Virgil, of whom the parents are justly proud, and to
whom they are giving a good education.

Mr. Wimmer has always been interested in the cause of education, and
in having good schools for the children. He has served as trustee of the
Huasna district, and is now trustee of the Pozo district. Fraternally, he is
a member of the San Luis Obispo Lodge, No. 322, B. P. O. E., and of the
Santa Maria Lodge, No. 90, K. of P. Politically, he is a Democrat.

PATRICK DOYLE. — .Among the men who achieved success in farming
and business circles was the late Patrick Doyle, born in county Wicklow,
Ireland, in 1833, who came when a child with his parents to Alton, 111., where
he was reared and educated. .\s a lad he learned farming, and followed it
after attaining his majority.

In St. Louis, Mo., January 7, 1871, Patrick Doyle was united in marriage
with Miss Margaret Keough, a native of St. Louis, where she received her
education in the public schools and convent. In November of 1872, the young
couple came to Butte county, Cal., and, being practically without funds, began
at the bottom. Leasing land on the Guerke grant, he farmed for five years.
Then, wishing to enlarge his business, he leased over 6.000 acres of the
iMnnell ranch in Tehama county, where he was very successful for a period
of six years, having accumulated a large outfit of mule teams, with a full
complement of the latest improved farm machinery. This he sold at a large
public sale, and removed to Dixon, where he purchased one hundred sixty
acres and engaged in farming. How^ever, this did not prove a success, and
he lost nearly all he had previously made. So, with the remnant, he moved
to San Luis Obispo County, about 1887, leased a part of the Huntington
ranch near Paso Robles, and again began grain-raising. As he made money,
he branched out and farmed on a larger scale. He purchased land from the
F.ureka ranch, and also the Ysobel rancho, becoming owner of five hundred
acres of the latter, and of 1,000 acres of the former. He also leased some
0,000 acres adjoining, and raised grain on an extensive scale. One year he
delivered 25,000 sacks of grain to the warehouses in Paso Robles, which he
sold for seventy-five cents per cental. In spite of the low prices, he made
money by his method of farming, for he was a first-class agriculturist, modern
and advanced in his methods. He was the first man to summer-fallow, a
method that was ridiculed by the people of the vicinity. However, he dem-
onstrated that it was a success, and it is now a universally accepted method
in grain-raising. He managed his grain-farming operations so well that in
eleven years he cleared up over $100,000. He purchased the Doyle block on

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AND ENX'IROXS 889

the corner of Pine and Thirteenth streets, in Paso Robles, and a year later
started a hardware business in the corner store. Continuing in business for
a few years, he then sold out to Mr. P>cll, after which he retired to Paso
Robles, in the enjoyment of his competence, where he kept a couple of fancy
drivers.

I\[r. Doyle died on January 23, 1907, aged seventy-four years. He was a
man uf broad ideas, large-hearted and liberal, highly esteemed and loved by
all who knew him, who, with a wealth of meaning, familiarly referred to him
as Pat Doyle. Mr. and :\[rs. Duyle bad one chUd. Georgia, Mrs. Strom of
San Francisco.

.\fter the death of her husband, ^^rs. Doyle cuiitinued to reside in Paso
l\ol)les until she moved to San Francisco, where she purchased her present
residence at 1365 Vallejo street. From her home in San P'rancisco she looks
after her varied interests in San Luis Obispo County and other ])laces. She is
intensely interested in San Luis Obispo County, and is very optimistic for its
future development and greatness. Being well posted on its soil, products,
and climate, she firmly believes that it has greater advantages to offer the
individual than any other county in California.

Mrs. Doyle is a consistent member of .St. Bridget's Catholic Church,
San Francisco, as well as of its sodalities. She is liberal, enterprising and
progressive, and believes in building up the communities where she resides;
and she is always willing to give of her time and means towards any worthy
object that has for its aim the advancement and growth of the state, and
the enhancing of the comfort and the pleasures of its people.

FRANK CLINK. — Among the native sons who are making a success
in dairying and stock-raising, is Frank Clink, who was born near Stockton,
San Joaquin county, July 6, 1870. His father was David I..ivingston Clink,
who was born in Ontario, Canada, became a pioneer of California, and died
when PVank was a lad. His mother was Rachael Tlarris, a native of Indiana,
who crossed the plains in 1852 with her parents, and now resides in San Luis
Obispo. Frank's maternal grandfather. Dr. .\. Harris, is represented in this
work in the sketch of Mrs. Charles Carson.

I'rank Clink came to San Luis Obispo County when a child, in 1872,
living near Cayucos, and later on his grandfather Harris' farm in .\delaida,
where he received his education in the public schools, meanwhile learning
farming and the care of domestic animals from Dr. Tlarris, who was a vet-
erinary surgeon of much ability. He remained with his grandfather till
seventeen years of age, when he proceeded to Los .Mamos valley, Santa
IJarbara county, where he was employed at ranching for a period of three
years. He then came to the Eagle ranch, San Luis Obispo County, and
worked at horticulture for about two years.

Having become acquainted with Miss Fidelia Langlois. an attachment
sprang up which culminated in their marriage at Morro. She was born in
Sonoma county, Cal. Her parents came from the Isle of Guernsey, and were
pioneer settlers of Sonoma county.

After his marriage, Mr. Clink followed truck farming on Morro creek for
live years; and then, on account of his health, he removed to .Arizona and,
having learned the blacksmith trade under his father-in-law. William Lang-
lois, he started a blacksmith shop at Buckeye. Ariz., and plied his trade for
a year. His health returning, he came back to San Luis Obispo County and

890 SAX LL'IS OBLsPO COUNTY AXD EWIROXS

started a hlacksniitli slioj) at Teinpleton, which he ran from the spring of
1900 until the fall of H>02. when he sold it to onsage in stock-raising. Vor
this i)ur])ose he leased the James Taylor ranch near Klau. and raised cattle
for two years, lie then leased the lower Langlois ranch, where he ran a
dairy and raised beans for six years.

In 1909 he bought the Loscano place adjoining Pozo, on which he lo-
cated with his family. This he improved, sowing twenty acres to alfalfa,
and followed dairying until he sold the property at a good big profit. Xext
he purchased eighty acres in Madera county, and for a year ran a dairy.
Then selling out. he returned to Pozo and leased the Sinsheimer Koshlau
ranch of eight hundred acres on Bear creek, whicli he is devoting to dairying.
He has fifty well-selected cows in his dairy herd, and the cream is separated
and shipped to San Francisco. Mr. Clink is one of the largest, and also
one of the most enterprising, dairymen in the Pozo country.

( )n Xovember 1, 1910, ]Mr. Clink was bereaved of his beloved wife. She
left him four children, as follows : William A., foreman of the James Goodwin
ranch ; and \\'alter L., Frances J., and Kenneth L., who are still at home.

Air. Clink has always taken an active interest in the cause of education,
and has served as trustee in diiTerent districts. He is now serving on the
Pozo school board. He is enterprising and progressive, and is deservedly
popular and highly esteemed for his integrity and moral wt]rth. Politically,
he endorses Republican principles.

CAPT. FREDERICK J. PETERSON.— Frederick J. Peterson was a de-
scendant (jf the ancient Norsemen. A man of sturdy strength and rugged
ap])earance, he made his influence felt on both land and sea. He was born
on the Danish island of Alsen, January 22). 1S38. His native home afterwards
became a part of the Kingdom of Prussia.

As a young man, Air. Peterson followed the sea. the same as his ancestors,
and continued in that vocation for many years. He came to the United
States in IS.^3; and uixm attaining his majority, he became an American
citizen.

Tn the \ear 1<S.^7, .Mr. I'eterson made a voyage to his natix'e land, re-
maining;- in Denmark for some six montiis, when he went to .\ustralia and
sailed up and down the .Australian coast for some twelve years. During the
time Air. Peterson was in .Australia, he also engaged in mining. He was
married in hSfv to Aliss Susan Adelaide Elliot.

Coming to California in 1869, he gave up seafaring and settled on a
rancli of some three hundred acres in Harmony valley, about half-way l)e-
tween Cayucos and Cambria. Here he remained until he moved to the county-
seat and purchased the Booker place on Alonlerey street, one of the finest resi-
dences in the countv, where he remained until the time of his death, on [ulv
26, 1910.

Although -Mr. I'eterson was se\enty-two ye.'.vs of age, lie was a man of
strong constitution and enjoyed the best of health until a month before his
death, when he suflered an attack of dropsy, which terminated fatally.

I'.esides a beloved widow, the following sons and daughters were left to
mourn their loss: Airs. Morence Thompson, of San Luis Obispo; Airs. Lilly
1-. Aork, of Temiileton : I^Yederick II. Peterson, of Los Angeles; Mrs. Isabelle
Bowden and Airs. Adelaide Sanders, o£ San Luis Obispo, and Elliot S. Peter-
son, of .Anaheim.

SAN LUIS OBISl'O COUNTY AND I'lNXlRONS 891

Mr. Peterson was a man amonf^ men. kindly, gentle, and fearless, and
was looked up to and respected by the peoj^le as a straightforward, honest
business man and a successful farmer.

HENRY WEIR.— lUnry Weir has been a resident of the Estrella region
since the fall of 1883, and is a man who is well posted regarding the resources
of this part of San Luis Obispo County. He was born in St. Louis county,
Mo., February 28, 1868. His father, Peter Weir, was born in Germany, and
had two brothers, John and Nicholas, who came to California in pioneer
days, afterwards locating in San Luis Obispo County, where they resided
until their death. Peter Weir located on a farm near St. Louis, Mo., where he
W41S married to Catherina Stroh, also of German birth. In tiie fall of 1883
he brought his wife and family of .six children to l-Istrella, this county, where
his brothers were living. Pie homesteaded one hundred twenty acres ad-
joining Estrella, and there his wife died over twenty-five years ago. He now
makes his home with his son, Henry. The six children of Peter and Catherina
Wen were as follows : Fred \\'., a farmer at Estrella ; John, deceased ; Henry,
the subject of this review; Christ, deceased; (Jeorge, foreman of the tank
farm for the Producers Transptjrtation Co. at San Luis Obispo ; and Casper,
a machinist in San Luis Obispo.

Henry Weir came to Estrella when fifteen years of age, and was imme-
diately apprenticed as a blacksmith under Henry !,udeke, in San Luis Obispo,
with whom he remained for eighteen months, when Ludeke sold out. Henry
then entered the employ of Tom Hennessey, at San Miguel, as a blacksmith.
lie worked for ^Ir. Hennessey for over two years, when the business became
so slack that there was nothing to do and Air. Weir decided to take up
farming. Returning to Estrella, he leased the present place of three hundred
twenty acres, which he has been farming steadily since 1898. On the place
he built a blacksmith shop, where he does his own and other work, to accom-
modate the people of the vicinity. In connection with it he has a well-
e(|ui]i|)e(l machine shop, with gas-engine power.

Sunie years after coming to California, Mr. Weir made a trip back to
his old home in Missouri, and there renewed the ac(|uainlance of an old school-
mate. Miss Louise Kleinsmidt ; and this resulted in their marriage. She
was born near St. Louis, and has made him an excellent wife. I'.oth are
well known and highly esteemed. Politically. .Mr. Weir is a Republican;
in religion he and his wife are Lutherans.

JOHN HULTQUIST.— One of the oldest settlers living in the Oakdale
district. Jwhn llultf|uist was born in Smalan, Sweden. May 28, 1834. Mis
fatlur. I>aac .\nderson, was a farmer; and from him John learned the rudi-
ments of farming on the home place, meanwhile receiving his education in
tile public schools. He remained at home, assisting his father, until 1877.
when he began for himself. Going to Stockholm, he found emi)loyment for
a year; and while there he took the name of Ilultt|uist. He then spent two
ye.irs on railroad construction in lljenetland, in northern Sweden ; but hearing
and reading of the greater advantages and better ojiportunities offered in the
.\ew World, he determied to try his fortune in the L'nited Stales. Landing
in .\ew York City on July 2, 1880. he came on west to Marquette. Mich..
where he was employed in the luiuber woods, as also, afterwards, at l-"ayotte,
nc;ir Escanaba. In 1882. he removed to Duluth. Minn., then a city of only
3,000 population, finding employment in the St. Paul and Duluth Railroad

892 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

sliops as a helper to his l)nitlier-in-hnv, who was a blacksmith; and here he
learned the blacksmith trade.

In December, 1887, he came to California: and having read in the papers
of the advantages of buying land in the vicinity of Templeton, he immedi-
ately came on, arriving at his destination on January 4, 1888, and purchased
thirty-eight acres of his present place on the Adelaida road, seven miles west
of Templeton. It was all in timber, and he began to clear the place and
improve it with a house and iDuildings. He bought land adjoining, and now
owns one hundred eighty-three and a half acres, with over one hundred acres
under cultivation. When he began clearing the land, there was no sale for
wood ; so he slashed the trees down and burned them. He is now making a
success of raising grain, hay and stock.

Mr. Hultquist was first married, in Templeton, to ]kliss i\Iary Swenson,
who was born in Sweden. .She died. leaN'ing him two children: Frank, who
resides at Orcutt; and ^lartin, who is assisting his father on the farm. He
was married a second time in Uakdale district, September 10, 1892, to Miss
Maria Ouarnstrom, born in X'erniland, Sweden, who came to Minneapolis,
Minn., in 1884, with her mother and two brothers, Henry and John. In Feb-
ruary, 1887, she came to San Francisco, and in 1892 to Templeton. The
present union has been blessed with one child, Josephine.

The family are active members of the Swedish Lutheran Church in Tem-
pleton, Mr. Hultquist having been a member of the board of deacons for
inany years. He helped to build the church, and is now one of the oldest
members of the congregation. In politics he believes in the principles of the
Republican party. ]Mr. Hultquist is of a modest and retiring disposition,
frank, kind, and open-hearted, and is very liberal and hospitable. The family
are \ery favorably known, and highly respected.

MARTIN E. E, von DOLLEN.— A very beneficent and kind-hearted
gentleman, IMartin E. E. von Dollen was born in Tonning, Schleswig-Holstein,
Germany, on February 25, 1841. His father, ^larcus, and his forefathers
were farmers in SchlesAvig. His mother was Martha Hern. Both parents
passed their days in their native land. Of their seven children, two came to
California, Alartin, the eldest, and John, the youngest. The latter died in
Ke^'s caiion, in February, 1917.

I\Iarcus von Dollen was reared on the farm until sixteen years of age,
when, having completed the local schools, he went to sea, serving on the sealer
"Geneva," on a seal-hunting voyage to Greenland. During this voyage, he
and six comj)anions were out in a small whale-boat, lost in a dense fog for
two days and three nights, when they were finally discovered by another
sealer, which brought them back to their own ship. Returning to Denmark
after six months, he followed the coasting trade in English, French and
Russian waters, afterwards sailing on the "Wilhelmina" around Cape Horn
to Valparaiso, and thence to Peru and back to Denmark. Next he was on
the "Laur Rochelle," on a trip via Good Hope to Australia and return. In
185'J he came around Cape Horn on a sailer to San Francisco; but receiving
a letter from his home that his father was ill, he returned to his old home in
Denmark. On his arrival, he found that his father had died. Next we find
him i.n the ship "Wilhelmina," sailing for Singapore, India, and for Hong
Kong, ('liina. as well as other interesting Chinese ports. He was second
mate, and studied na\igalion, and was ready to take the examination for

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ILWIRONS 893

first mate; but instead he decided to locate in California, and came on the
"New Edd" to San Francisco in the spring of 1864, where he left the vessel.
After following mining for a while, he worked on a ranch in Alameda county,
but soon started farming for himself in Half Moon I'.ay, where he afterwards
clerked in a mercantile establishment there.

In 1885 he came to San Miguel, locating a homestead of one hundred sixty
acres in Hog canon, where he broke the first furrow and began grain and
stock-raising. He leased other lands, operating 2,600 acres in all. He used
four big teams, and did a successful business for many years. In 1910 he
quit farming on a large scale and sold his place, purchasing his present place
of one hundred sixty acres in Pleasant Valley, which he has improved with
good, substantial buildings and brought to a high state of cultivation.

Mr. von Dollen was married in San Francisco, on May 25, 1873, to Annie
\\ artemborg, who was born near Hamburg, Germany, on December 26, 1844,
the daughter of Andrew and ^leta (.Maak) Wartemborg. Mrs. von Dollen
came to San Francisco in 1870. ]\Ir. and Mrs. von Dollen have three children :
Henry C, of Contra Costa county ; George A., a farmer in the Ranchita dis-
trict ; and .\nnie, Mrs. Arthur Ennis, of Contra Costa county.

P'raternally, .Mr. von Dollen is a memi:)er of the Redmen in Redwood
City. He has been road-overseer for many )-ears, as also trustee of Ranchita
school district. In national politics he is a Republican; and in religion he
is a Lutheran. He and his wife are much esteemed for their straightforward-
ness and integrity, and it is the consensus of opinion that his word is as good
as his bond.

JACOB THOMAS TULEY.— A native son of San Luis Obispo County,
Jacol) Thomas Tuley was i)orn in the old Mission city of San Luis Obispo
on March 2, 1872. He is the son of the late pioneer, William H. Tuley, of
whom an extended mention is made on another page in this history.

Jacob Tuley spent his childhood on the Tuley ranch on the Estrella
plains. He completed the courses of study in the public schools, after which
he took a course in Chestnutwood Business College, in Santa Cruz, where
he was graduated in 1892. Returning home, he assisted his father until he
readied his majority, when, in partnership with his brother Joseph, he leased
land at Bradley They put in a crop; but it proved a dry year, and the crop
was so disappointing that he did not even go back to see it, and lost all he
had. He then went to Bakersfield and found employment on the Poso ranch
for the Kern County Land Co. at ninety cents, and later one dollar, a day.
Saving his money for a year, he returned to his old home and, with his
brother, leased his father's place and other lands, and devoted all of his
energy to grain-growing.

In 1896, Mr. Tuley was married on the Estrella plains to Miss Jessie
Crowfoot, who was born in Wisconsin, the daughter of Josiah and Minnie
Crowfoot. Mr. and Mrs. Crowfoot were also early settlers on the Estrella
plains, where, as children, Jessie Crowfoot and Jacob Tuley attended the
same school together.

In 1900, Mr. Tuley leased his present place of three hundred twenty acres
in Pleasant Valley, about eight miles east of San Miguel, also leasing other
lands adjoining^ As success attended his labors, in 1902 he purchased one
hundred sixty acres of the lease, and later bought three hundred twenty-eight
acres more ; so he owns four hundred eighty-eight acres, all good farming

894 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

land and under tin- plow. He leases cither lands alsn, farminij in all aliout
1.000 acres, which lie (i[)erates with two ten-horse teams. He raises grain,
cattle, horses and mules, and is meeting with merited success.

Three children have been born to Mr. Tuley and his wife: Leona .May
and William Ray, wdio are attending the California Polytechnic .'School in
.*>an Luis Obispo, and JMerle.

At the age of seventeen, Mr. Tuley became a church member, and is
now an active member of the M. E. Church at Estrella, of which he is a
trustee and a steward, as well as superintendent of the Sunday school. He is
an energetic young man, and gives his support to any movement that helps
to build up the community. He is a strong advocate of temperance.

MRS. CLARA SUSAN GROVE.— A native daughter of California, :Mrs.
Clara Susan (Morehouse) Grove was born at Healdsburg, Sonoma county,
March 28. 1858, her parents being Charles D. and Hulda M. (Lowe) More-
house, natives of Broome county, N. Y., and Rush county, Ind., respectively.
They were married in Indiana, and in 1853 crossed the plains with ox-teams
to California. Mr. Morehouse was a stone-mason and builder at Healdsburg.
In 1868. they came to the San Luis Obispo section and were engaged in
farming in what is now the Summit district until they retired to Paso Robles,
where Mr. Morehouse died in 1911, and his wife in 1913. Of their eleven
children, Mrs. Grove is the fifth. She came to .'-ian Luis Oliispo when ten
years of age. .-Xt that time there were no ]niblic schools; so her education
\vas limited principally to study at home.

On November 22, 1871, on Jack creek, this count}-, she was married to
lienjaniin Franklin Grove, a native of Ouincy, 111., born in 1845, who came
with his parents in 1853 across the plains, locating near Windsor, Sonoma
county. Later, B. U. Grove came to San Luis Obispo County, where he
farmed, and afterwards homesteaded the one hundred sixty acres in Summit
district where Mrs. Grove now resides. This place they improved : and here
he died in 1909, having been a faithful member of the Christian Church.

Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Grove has operated the place with
the hel]) of her sons, raising hay, cattle and hogs, and running a small dairy.
They lease adjoining land and farm about 1.200 acres, their brand being a
doul'ilc I). 'I'he place is located about twelve miles west of Paso Roble.s,
and is well watered by springs.

( )f the union of Mr. and Mrs. Grove there are seven children: Walter
W'ilmer, wdio resides at Templeton ; Edna, Mrs. Michelsen, also of Templeton :
Cliester F. and Charles LX, of Paso Robles : and Orin C. Lewds E.. and Harold
()., who are with their mother.

.Mrs. Grove is one of the oldest settlers in tiicsc parts, and has seen the
county change from a wilderness to a land of beautiful farms and homes,
.^he is a de\-out and earnest member of the Christian Church.

FRED QUENZER.— Fred Quenzer was born in Dainback, Baden, Ger-
m;iny, March 18. 1879, the youngest of seven children born to Henry and
Catlierinc ( ilollenbach) Quenzcr, farmers in that country, .\fter completing
the local schools, at the age of fifteen he was apprenticed at the upholsterer's
trade; hut ;i year later, in 1895, he came to America, and followed farm w-ork
at .Mt. \ ernon. Ind.. until 1897, when he came westward to J-Ialstead, Kans.
In I'XK) he c;ime on to .Santa Clara county. Cal.. where he worked at horti-
culture until 1<«)4. lie tlicn moved to I'.strella, San Luis Obispo County, and

SAN LUIS OIUSl'O COL'Xr^' AND I-:NV1R()NS 895

:i year later leased the Joe Moody farm, which he ran for about six years.
Ilaxing met with encouraging success, he bought the Alexandre place of
tlirec- hundred twenty acres in Pleasant Valley, one mile north of Estrella,
uiiich he still owns. It is a splendid, well-improved ranch, which he devotes
to tlie raising of wheat and barley, and to stock-raising and dairying.

On October 1, 1905, at Estrella, Mr. Quenzer was married to Anna Dyck,
wiin was born in Kraffohlsdorf, West Prussia, Germany, May 29, 1885, the
(laughter of Peter and Elizabeth (\\"()elke) Dyck. The father died in Ger-
man v in 1802, and his widdw brought her children to P.eatrice, Neb., in 1893.
In 18'''» they came to .\dclaida, San Luis Obispo County, and three years
later located in Paso Ki)l)les, where Mrs. (Juenzer resided until her marriage.
The mother now makes her home witli Mr. and Mrs. (Juenzer. where she
receives the love and homage due her.

Mr. Ouenzer and his wife have five cliildriMi. .Martha. Karl, George, Albert,
and Ruth, to whom the ])arents are giving ilu- best e(hication the district
alYords.

-Mr. and Mrs. Ouenzer are liberal and kincbhearled, and are highly es-
teemed for their integrity of purpose and their moral worth.

OTTO EDGAR DAUTH.— A young man who, by his energy and close
.application, is making a success of t'arming and stock-raising. Otto Edgar
Dauth was btjrn in Lowe canon, Monterey county. March 23, 1887. His
father, Gustav Dauth, was born in Ludvigshavn, Germany, and migrated to
Newark, N. J., when he was eighteen years of age. There he afterwards
married Erancisca Streibinger, who was also born in Germany. In 1886 they
came to California, locating in Lowe canon, Monterey county, just north of
the San Luis Obispo County line, where they homesteaded one hundred sixty
acres of land. This they improved with good buildings and, making a suc-
cess, Mr. Dauth bought additional lands, until now he has about eight hundred
acres in a body. His wife died in 1892, leaving four children, whom he reared
and educated. He is still hale and hearty. The children are: Carl, of Dan-
ville, Cal. ; Otto E., of this review: Adolph, in the auto truck business in San
I'Vancisco : and Emily, who resides with her father.

Otto Edgar Dauth was brought uj) on the farm, learning the care of
cattle as well as the raising of grain and hay. His schooling was ol)tained in
the V'ineyard caiion district. In 1905 he entered the employ of Baker &
Hamilton, wholesale hardware dealers in San Erancisco, as shipping clerk.
lie continued with this firm until the great fire in 1906, when the entire plant
was destroyed. He then returned to the vicinity of San Miguel, and soon
found emi)loyment with John Work, on whose ranch he remained for a period
of four years. Eor the following two years, he worked for Thos. 11. Rougeol.
In 1913 he leased the I'.ennett ranch at the foot of Hog canon, which he
farmed for one year, when he secured the lease of his i)resent place, the
Michael Foley ranch of sixteen hundred acres in Hog canon, which he devotes
to growing grain and cattle. .\b(nit three hundred fifty acres is sown to
grain each year, and the balance is used for range. His cattle brand consists
of his initials, O. D.

In Echo canon, .\ugust 10, 1913, Mr. Dauth was married to the lady of
his choice. Miss Sarah May Rougeot, the eldest daughter of Thomas H. and
May (Shney) Rougeot. whose interesting biography also appears in this
work; and one child has blessed their union, a little daughter, \'elma Leah.

896 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

iM-aternallv. Mr. Dauth is a member of San Miguel Parlor, No. 150, N. S.
G. W. Politically, he is a true-blue Republican, being a strong believer in
the principle of protection for Americans. Mr. Dauth is very liberal and
enterprising, and has always been willing to give of his time and means, so
far as he is able, to any measure that has for its aim the upbuilding of the
community and the enhancing of the comfort of its citizens.

WALTER YORK. — One of the enterprising and progressive young men
of Templeton is Walter \'iirk, ^vhl:) was born in Nodaway county, Mo., May
13, 1871. Flis father. Andrew 'N'ljrk, was Ixjrn in Indiana and removed with
his parents to Illinois, where he grew up. \\'hen about twenty years of age,
Andrew York crossed the plains in an ox-team train to California, and fol-
lowed mining for three years. He then farmed in Napa county for about
three years, and while there was married to Elizabeth Long, who was born
in Tennessee, and accompanied her parents across the plains in the early fifties.
Returning east via Panama, Andrew A'ork and his wife were on a farm
near St. Joseph, Mo., f(jr a few years, and then moved to Texas, and after-
wards to Neljraska ; Init a year later they went to Granby, Newton county.
Mo., where the wife died. In 1873 Air. A'ork brought his five children to
Napa county; but the same year he came to San Luis Obispo city, and a year
later rented a ranch in the Pecho country for five years. He then bought a
ranch on Toro creek, near Cayucos, which he sold five years later. In 1882
he located on the present place. The ranch is beautifully located on top of
York Mountain. He cleared it of brush and trees, and set out vineyards,
the soil and climate being well adapted to viticulture. He built the Ascension
Winery, on York Mountain, wdiich was named for him; and here he resided
until his death in December, 1913.

Andrew ^'ork was married a second time to I\lrs. Hulda IMathews. who
wa.s born in Indiana ; and she died in 1916. Through his second marriage,
Mr. York had two children: Lulu, Mrs. O'Neil, who resides in Ascension
district; and Silas, who is a partner of his brother, Walter York, on the York
ranch. The five children of the first marriage of Andrew York are as follows :
Elizabeth, Mrs. Hazard, who resides on the Pecho; James, who lives in San
Luis Obispo; Ida, Airs. Nelson, of Hcaldsburg; Thomas, wdio is mining in
Arizona; and Walter, of this review.

Walter Ynrk was reared in this county and received his general educa-
tion in the ])ublic schools. He then entered Chestnutwood Business Col-
lege, from which he was graduated. From a lad he made himself generally
useful at home, helping to clear the farm and set out orchards and vineyards.
After he reaclie<l his majority, he continued in business with his father
till 1911, when his brother Silas became his partner and they bought from
their father the Ascension Winery. Later, they also bought a ranch of one
hundred fifty acres adjoining, and set out more grapes. After their father's
death they purchased the home ranch of ninety acres, and they now have
over eighty acres in vineyards, making a beautiful sight on the diflerent hills
overlooking the valley below. Besides their own vintage, they also buy
grajies from other viticulturists, the capacity of their plant being more than
100,000 gallons, the largest in the county.

In Santa Cruz, p'ebruary 1, 1897, occurred the marriage of Mr. N'ork with
Miss Lillie Peter.son, a native of California, born near C ;nnl)ria. tlie daughter
of Capt. Frederick J. Peterson, whose interesting sketch ajipears oii another

SAX LUIS OIJISPO COUNTY AND KN\IR()NS 897

page of this work. .Mrs. York was educated at Pacific College. She spent
several years in educational work, continuing in that profession up to the time
of her marriage. To Mr. and Mrs. York have l)een born five children: Miles,
attending San Luis Obispo High School; Wilfrid, attending Templeton High
School; and Lillian, Roland and Sidney.

Always interested in building up the community, and particularly in the
cause of education and good schools, Mr. York has served twelve years as a
trustee of Ascension district, most of the time as clerk of the board. He is a
believer in the principles of the Democratic party; and he and his wife are
very hospitable and liberal, and are much esteemed by all who know them.

JAMES ROBERT ANDERSON.— Liorn in Sidney, Australia, in 1852,
James Robert .\nderson is the son of Andrew and IClizabeth Anderson, early
pioneers of California, who migrated to Australia from Scotland, their native
land. In Australia, Andrew Anderson engaged in sheep-raising, in which he
made a marked success, accumulating a cash capital of $100,000. In 1853, he
embarked with his family on the "Julian," but was shipwrecked close to
Kanaka Island, where a little daughter was lost. The survivors lived on the
island for three months, subsisting on turtles and turtles' eggs. They were
taken off by a vessel from San P'rancisco. When they were landed, the father
was without a dollar, the $100,000 having lieen lost in the wreck. He went
to work in San Francisco, but later moved to a farm near San Jose. Here
he lived until he retired to i'etaluma, where he and his wife both died. At
the time of his death, he was nearly ninety years of age.

Of the six children of his parents' family, James is the youngest. He
was reared and educated in Santa Clara county, where he followed farming
and horticulture until he removed to Hollister. There he began grain-grow-
ing; but after three years of drought he gave it uj) and located in the Old
river section, south of Bakersfield, Kern county, where he was engaged in
raising alfalfa for six years, and then left on account of sickness. The doc-
tors gave him up and said he could not live ; but he determined to get well,
and did. As soon as he was able, he removed to the Palouse and Walla
WaHa country in Washington. While there, he went througii the Indian
troubles; and he guided a parly out of the country to safety, although they
had some narrow escapes.

In 1876, he returned to California and located in ."^an Luis Obis])o County.
Purchasing a farm on Toro creek from .Andrew 'S'ork, he raised grain for
three years. He then sold the place and, coming to the .Ascension district in
1879, bought his present ])lace of one hundred sixty-three and three-fourths
acres from a Mr. Dunn. He cleared the land and set out an orciiard and
vine3-ard of twenty acres. He has built a winery with a capacity of 16,000
barrels, and is making a success of farming and viticulture. His ])lace is
located on Anderson creek, about seven miles west of Templeton, at the foot
of York Mountain, and lies in a beautiful and fertile section of the county.

Mr. Anderson was married in Bakersfield to Miss Lizzie Gray, horn in
California, a lady of charming personality, and an amiable wife and loving
mother, of whom he was bereaved eighteen years ago. Siio left U> him six
children : Lizzie, Airs, llames. of Templeton ; .Maggie, Airs. Swain, of Cayucos ;
James, a farmer near Templeton ; Frank, a graduate of the Pacific Coast
Business College, who is assisting his father on the home ranch ; Clyde, who
resides in Hollister; and John, wh<i is clerking in Bell's store, in Paso Rohles.

898 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AND ENVIRONS

Mr. .Vnderson is a member of the reorganized Church of Jesus Christ,
Lattcr-Day Saints, of which denomination his father was a minister. He
has traveled all over the Pacific Coast, and is well posted on its geography
and its soil and climate. Being one of the oldest settlers in his vicinity, and
having a retentive memory, he is a very entertaining conversationalist.
Greatly interested in the cause of education, he has been for many years a
trustee of schools in the Ascension district. In political afifiliations he is a
Democrat.

HORACE GREELEY ILIFF.— One and one-half miles north of Santa
Maria, on the state highway, lie the ranch and comfortable bungalow owned
and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. H. G. IlifT. The land was inherited by Mrs.
IlifF from her father, the late Capt. William Powell, a pioneer of the Santa
Maria valley. In 1916, Mr. Ilift erected a modern residence on the property:
and there, in peace and contentment, the family reside, surrounded by the
comforts and many of the luxuries of life.

Mr. IlifT was born in Dawson. Richardson county, Nebr., fourteen miles
from h'all City, on March 5, 1871, a son of John Wesley and Nancy (Carroll)
Iliff, who lived in Missouri for a time, and later bought land in Richardson
county, Nebr., which the father farmed. John Ilifi" died at Auburn, Nebr.,
on November 8, 1901, having reared a family of nine children. Two sons
came to California, Horace G. and John ^^'.. who had a son employed in a
bank in San Francisco for a number of years. The name of IlifT was brought
to America from England about the time of the Revolutionary ^^'ar : and
two cousins, descended from the progenitor of the family, came west from
Ohio, both named John Ilit¥. One of these settled in Colorado, making
Denver his headciuarters. and was commonly kntnvn as the "Cattle King
of Colorado." The other John Iliff. born in Ohio in 1824. was the father of
Horace Greeley Ilifif.

The boyhood days of Horace G. Ilifif were passed at the home in Ne-
braska, attending the public schools during the winter months and working
on the farm in summer, until he was fifteen. At the age of about twelve
he could handle a team and plow, and thereafter made himself very tfseful
about the farm ; and after he was fifteen, he did a man's work, .\fter the
death of his parents, he made his home near Lincoln, Nebr., until he came
to California, in 1894, to see his brother, John Wesley, who was living in
Santa Barbara county, and who later went to Santa Cruz, where he died,
leaving a widow and four children. It was the intention of Mr. Iliff to stay
here but a few months : but he became so enamored of the climate and the
possibilities of the state that he decided to remain. This decision he has
never regretted, for here he has met with a .greater degree of success than
would likely have been his lot had he returned to the Middle West. He
docs nearly all the work on the ranch, and in 1916 harvested five hundred
sacks of Ijcans and one thousand sacks of potatoes.

In 189.\ Mr. Iliff was united in marriage with Miss Ida M. Powell, a
daughter of the late Col. \\'. \'. Powell, one of the pioneers of the Santa Maria
valley, of whom mention is made on another page of this work. Mrs. Iliff
was born in Mendocino county, and was brought to this vallej- by her parents
when a child of six years. She has lived here ever since, witnessing with
interest the growth and development of this part of the county. Of the
marriage with .Mr. Iliff. five children have been born: Eva Mabel. l-"lorence

SAN LUIS omSPO COUXTY AXi:) IC.WIROXS 899

i-ern, Lclia Trcssa. Claiulie Wesley (who ,lie<l. a-e,! nine I. and Addison
JVnvell.

-Mr. ilitt is a I'iei.ulilican in ix.litics. {•■raternally. he belongs to the Red
-Men. actint,^ as musician for the lodge in Santa Maria, where he is well and
favorably known. Mrs. llif¥ is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
In her political belief, she supports the lVohil)iti()nist doctrines. They both
are industrious; enjoy farm life, aim to li\e and let live, and have an ever
widening circle of friends throughout the vallev.

EDWARD HENRY FRITZINGER.— Coming from a prominent old
Pennsylvania family who were of good old Quaker stock, Edward Henry
Fritzinger was born near Doylestown, Bucks county, Pa., April 28, 1850.
The grandfather, Jacob Fritzinger, was descended from an old Pennsylvania
family, and was a member of the Society of I'riends. Edward's father was
Thomas Fritzinger, born in Rucks county, who became a police officer in
Philadelphia, where he died, as did also the mother. She was in maidenhood
Hannah Hill, also a native of Bucks county. Of their four children, Edward
is the only one living.

Mr. Fritzinger received a good educati.>n in the i>nblic schools of Phila-
delphia, after which he was apprenticed as a tin and sheet-iron worker. On
mastering his trade, he traveled as a journeyman through different Western
states, arriving in San Francisco, Cal., in 1885. He continued at his trade
there until 1888, and then located in San Luis Obispo County.

In Pleasant \'alley, in 1889, Edward H. Fritzinger was united in mar-
riage with Miss Mary Jane Sinclair, who was born near Point Rush, county
Antrim, Ireland, the daughter of William and Jennie (Thompson) Sinclair,
who came of good old Scotch Covenanter stock. The family emigrated to
Saratoga county. X. Y., where the jjarents died. Mary Sinclair, with her
brother Daniel, then removed to Philadelphia, Pa., where lived an aunt, Mrs.
Mary Dugan. Daniel Sinclair migrated to California, and located a home-
stead in Pleai^ant Valley, where, in 1885, Mary J. Sinclair joined her brother
and pre-empted eighty acres, later homesteading one hundred sixty acres
adjoining. The young people had been accjuainted with Mr. Fritzinger in
Philadelphia, and this accpiaintance culminated in his marriage with Miss
Sinclair when he came to the valley.

After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Fritzinger inijiroved their ranch of
two hundred forty acres with substantial buildings and fences. They devote
it to the raising of grain and stock, in which they have been very successful.
Both are known for their kindliness and hospitality, and are loved and
esteemed by all who know them. They are both charter members of the
Presbyterian Church at ICstrella, of which Mr. Fritzinger is a trustee and
elder. Politically, be is an out-an-out Republican.

WILLIS DODD.— A native son of tiie Pacific Coast, W illis I )odd was
born near Spokane. Wash., on February 15, 1882. His lather, John Dodd,
was born in Kentucky: and after his marriage to .Amelia Si>rings. the young
cou])le mo\ed to Tennessee, and afterwards emigrated to California, coming
on one of the first transcontinental trains. Homesteading one hundred si.xty
acres in Plato hills, he improved the land, filling the retjuirements of the law,
and after proving u|) sold it and removed to Washington, where he engaged
in farming until WX). when he brought his family liack t<) San Luis Obispo
County and made his home in Ranehita district until his death in 1895. The

900 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

mother now makes her home in San Miguel. Their three children are as
follows : S. D.. a farmer near San Miguel ; Willis, of whom we write ; and
Emma, who resides with her mother.

Willis Dodd was reared in Ranchita district from the age of eight years,
attending the local school. As a lad he learned to drive the big teams in the
grain fields as well as to care for stock. For a few years he farmed in part-
nership with his brother on the Proctor place of 1,120 acres. After his mar-
riage he bought his brother's interest in the stock and implements, and con-
tinued on the place for another year.

His marriage occurred in December, 1908, when he was united with
Miss Amelia Jensen, a native of Kansas who came in 1891 to San Luis Obispo
County with her parents, Peter and Hannah (Hansen) Jensen. Her parents
were born in Denmark. They came to Kansas when they were young peo-
ple, and were married there. In 1891 they located at the head of the Ranchita
caiion, and in 1908 bought a farm near Ranchita schoolhouse, where Peter
Jensen died on November 30, 1915. His widow resides on the farm. Their
four children are as follows: Anna, Mrs. Waugh ; Ameha, Mrs. Dodd; Clar-
ence, who died in 1907, aged twenty-four years ; and Charles.

In 1909 Mr. Dodd purchased a ranch of one hundred sixty acres near
Ranchita schoolhouse, which he operated together with other leased land
until 1916. He then sold his ranch, and leased the old Kirkpatrick place of
four hundred acres, with adjoining land to the extent of six hundred forty
acres, where he is busily engaged in raising grain and stock. He sows about
one half the land each season to grain, using a ten-horse team.

;\Ir. and Mrs. Dodd are the parents of two children, Clarence and Elmer.
Mrs. Dodd is a thoroughly domestic woman, displaying much ability as a
housewife, and is a great aid to her husband. They are both very hospitable,
and are highly esteemed by all who know them. Fraternally, they are mem-
bers of the Fraternal Brotherhood. In politics, IMr. Dodd believes the prin-
ciples of the Republican party to be for the best interests qf the greatest
number of the people.

SWAN NELSON. — A man who achieved success and became prominent
and influential in the vicinity of Paso Robles, Swan Nelson was born in
Ignaberga. Skane, Sweden, June 24, 1844. He received his education in the
local schools of his district, meanwhile assisting his father until he started
out for himself. He then fcnuid employment in building the railroad from
Stockholm to Malmo. and in time became a foreman. In 1869 he came to
America, locating in Platte count}', Neb.

In 1870, at Galva, Mr. Nelson was married to Miss Bettsy Erickson, who
was iKirn in Ballingslof, Skane, Sweden, and who, on completing her studies
in the public schools, took a course at the School of Domestic Science. After
their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson located a homestead of one hundred
sixty acres near Genoa, Platte county, and later bought an adjoining tract
at four dollars i)cr acre. Their holdings comprised two hundred eighty acres,
all rich, tillable bottom land, which they improved with substantial buildings.
This land they still kept, during all the years of their residence in California,
until the fall of 1916, when it was sold for one hundred twenty-five dollars an
acre, which shows the great rise of land values in that section.

In 1887, Mr. Nelson removed with his family to Templeton, San Luis
Obisiio Counl\-, where for two vears thev engaged in the restaurant business.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COl'XIV AND F.XA'IRoXS 901

.Meantime he had purchased his ranch, on which he located, and made the
ini|ir()vements, building his residence and barns. He began with eighty acres,
and as he prospered he purchased adjoining lands until he had about six
Jumdred acres in the Linne section, which was all devoted to grain and stock-
Mr. Nelson was very prominent in public affairs. lie was a director in
the Farmers Alliance Business Associaticni until his death, on lune 9, 1916.
He was a prominent and active member of llie Swedish :\lethodist Church
in Paso Robles, in which he was a trustee.

Airs. Nelson is the administratrix of the estate, and now resides in Paso
Robles. Her son, Knute Nelson, is in charge of the ranch.

Air. and Mrs. Nelson had seven children, three of whom are living:
Xance Emil, a business man in Los Angeles; Knute P.., who is operating the
home farm ; and Franz Otto, who is also a business man in Los Angeles. The
children are all successful and verv enterprising men. Mrs. Nelson is a
member of the .Swedish M. F. Church, of which she is a very helpful and
liberal supporter.

RALPH E. McKAY. -.\mong the successful oil men of the various fields
in Calif<jrnia, ]30ssibly no one has won more distinction as a contract driller,
or has had a wider experience, than has Ralph F. McKay, of Santa Maria,
whose operations have extended over a period of many years and into many
states. As an employe of the Union Oil Co., he it was who first successfull}'
shut off the water in the wells in the Lompoc fields, and thereby changed
the prospect of failure to one of the surest pumping propositions in the state.
Mr. McKay is proud of his Scotch ancestry. Ilis father, .\. 15. McKay, was
horn in Glasgow, and came with his father, Peter McKay, to the United
States when he was a lad of thirteen and settled with the family in Illinois.
He was large for his age ; and at the time of the Civil War, fired with patriotic
zeal, he enlisted for service in Co. I, 53rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry, serving
in the same regiment with his father. He saw twenty-two months of active
duty, was with Sherman on his march to the sea, and was honorably dis-
charged at the close of the struggle, then being only sixteen years of age.
The young veteran went back to Ottawa, 111., took up the machinist's trade,
in which he had started to serve an apprenticeship, and later married Cath-
erine Denncny. ;i native of Canada, of Irish extraction, who had moved with
lur parents lo Milwaukee, Wis., when she was a child, where she was reared
ami (duelled. Tliere were four sons and four daughters in the family of
Mr. and .Mrs. A. 11. McKay. K;i1ph K. being the only one in California and
the onlv one in ilie oil l)usiness. The parents live at Longton, Elk county,
Kans.

I';;ill)h F. .McKay was born in Pittsburg, Pa., and when eighteen months
old was taken by his parents to Kansas. Later, the family moved to Alle-
gheny county. Pa., where he was educated in the grammar and high schools
in Pittsburg. He supplemented his education with a business course in a
night school, working in the meantime in a jewelry store for one dollar and
a half iKT week. This did not appeal to him: so he went into his father's
machine shop at East Liberty, where he ran a .steam hammer and drill press,
helped in the blacksmith shop, and became acquainted with all branches of
the trade. For a time he was in the mail service, and then went into the oil
lields in i'.utler county. Pa., and finding work with a contractor by the name

902 SAX LUIS Ol'.lSPO COUNTY AND ENVTRONS

of Ed SiniilTer. hc^an as a tuol dresser when seventeen years of age. Jle soon
hes'an drillini^, at wliich he has been very successful, and has since followed
that kind nf work.

Tlir nil business has a fascination for him. and he has worked in many
places and seen a great deal of the country. From liutler county he went
to -Monroe county, O., and then to Wood county, the same state. He then
went to West \'irginia and drilled in the Parkersburg, Grafton and other
fields, and for various contractors. He worked in Kansas and Oklahoma,
having several good wells to his credit in Chautauqua and Montgomery coun-
ties. Ivans. Then he put down some wells on the Cherokee and Osage Indian
reservations. ^Ir. McKay drilled five gas wells on the Osage side of the
state line near Peru, Kans., for ex-Senator Shaw of New York. He worked
in Florence. Colo., for the Colorado Fuel & Iron Co., of Pueblo.

(_)n December 9. 1''07. he arrived in California, and has not had an idle
day since, unless of his own clujosing. He began drilling for the Salt Lake
Oil Co at Sherman, and eight months later went to work for the Union
( >il I'll. He drilled a well for oil and gas on the Jesus Maria ranch, known
as the r.urton well, 4,655 feet deep — a dry hole. He drilled Purisima No. 9,
and here encountered water that threatened the field and brought to the fore
the ingenuity of Air. McKay and the leading men of the Union Oil Co. : and
he successfully cemented a number of wells that are now among the steady
producers of California. Ta\-o _\ears and two months were spent with the
L'nion Oil Co., in the Lompiic field, when he came to the Palmer Union
Oil Co. and had charge of the tools for a time. Then he began taking con-
tracts on his own account, and since that time has been successfully employed
in the Santa Maria field.

On December 19, 1908, in Santa Maria, Mr. McKay and Miss Margaret
llobson were united in marriage. They have two children. Raljih I-".., jr.,
and Josephine Beverly Boyd McKay. Mrs. McKay is a daughter of J. W.
Hobson, a prosperous rancher and well-known pioneer of Santa Maria, now
of Santa Margarita. His parents crushed the jilains with ox teams from
Kansas when he ^\•as a l)alie. He w ,is slolcn b\- Indians; and when fmnid,
five days hiler. he was in llie amis of an Indian s.|ua\\, who liad bccme so

in liuilding a mad from .\tascadero to .Mnrro, through a scenic section of San
Luis ( )l)ispn Countv.

-Mr. an(j Mrs. .McK.iy reside in Santa Maria, at 416 East Church street.
They are interested in .ill forward movements for the upbuilding of the county
an<l state, and h;i\e a w ide actpiaintance throughout this section. .Mr. McKay
is a member of San Luis Obis]),! Lodge. Xo. 322. P.. P. O. VAks.

SIDNEY MONTGOMERY BARR.— An employee of the California Na-
tional Supply ( o. since P'l 1. and the ]5resent manager of the Ijranch at Siscjuoc,
having held th.it p,ishion since September, 1914, Sidney AI. Barr has been
keenly alive tn tin- many opportunities oft'ered by the oil business of the state.
He is a native of Pennsylvania, born in lUitler county. I'ebruary 5, IS'U. a
son of James I'.arr. His father w.is the .iwiier of two large farms in that
county, on one of which were four oil wells, two of them producing high-
grade forty-gnixity oil. His mother w;is Miss Nellie Cousins, a ti,-itive of
Penn.sylv.ani.-i. Uy her marriage with .Mr. I'.arr she had ten children, of whom
seven sons and two daughters are now living. One died after m.arriage,

SAN LUIS oi'.isrn couxtv and i-..\\ik()N> yuo

leaving two little .skirls. Mr. Barr died in 1W3. Later, .Mrs. I'.arr married
O. I. Skinner, and now lives in Emporium, Pa. Of her children, mention
may be made of John, a tool dresser for the West Coast Contracting and De-
veloping Co., at Casper, Wyo. ; George A., a salesman for l-'airbanks-Morse
Co.. at Taft; Florence, a saleslady in a Los Angeles cloak and suit house;
L. 11., an engineer for the Texas Oil Co., at Tulsa, Okla. ; C. C, a locomotive
engineer with the L. S. & ^L S., living in Cleveland, O. ; Eugene, an engineer
with the P. & L. E., living in Pittsburg; Moyd, an electrician in Cleveland, O. ;
Mary, also in Cleveland; and Sidney AL, the subject of this re\'iew.

Sidney M Barr remained at home and went to school until he was fifteen
years of age. When he was twelve, his father died, leaving him without the
paternal guiding hand s(j necessary in a boy's career ; nevertheless, he went
in Buffalo, N. Y., attended school there and at Niagara Falls, and graduated
in the class of 1908. At once taking up the battle of life, Mr. Barr found
cni])lo\-ment in Buffalo for a time, and then went to Cleveland.

On November 27, 1910, he came to California, where he worked for his
brLither. (Jeorge .A., for about one year, running a water station at Taft. Then
he entered the employ of the California National Supply Co., in their branch
at Taft, where he remained three years, giving good service, which was re-
warded by promotion to manager of their branch in Sisfiuoc. Here he gives
evidence of the qualities of a careful, considerate and successful business man,
easily making and retaining friends, who predict for him a bright future.

KENCHO SALVADOR ONTIVEROS.— Fortunate is the man who,
like Kencho Salvador Onti\eros, the young rancher, having learned the secret
of success in one field of activity, can apply the knowledge thus acquired
wliLii new and better opportunities for expansion and reward are presented.
lie inherited a fertile ranch from his father, the late Salvador Ontiveros ;
and l)clieviHg that

-lie who at llK- plow wnuhl tlirive,
llinisell must either hold or drive,"
lie abandoned cil\ counling-rooms, smiled good-naturedly at the ridicule of
his young friends who laughed when he contemplated farm work with his
soft hands, rolled up his sleeves, and went at the task. The result is, that
although the past year was the first in which he had managed a ranch, he
cleared up several thousand dollars, owing in part to the high i)rices of beans.
grain and hay.

i'.orn on the Tepesquet, on January U), 1884, and educated at the public
schools in his neighborhood, as well as at the Santa -Maria grammar school
and the Pacific Coast Business College in San Jo.se, he served for six months
as clerk in the Farmers L'nion Bank of that city. After the great earthquake,
he went to San Francisco, where for four years he worked in the "Cash House"
clothing and men's furnishing establishment. Later, he engaged with .Nathan
Dohrmann, Hayden & Co.. and still later was in the oflice of the Carrigan-
Hayden Wholesale Hardware Co. In 1908. he came to Santa Maria and
went to work as collector for the Pacific Telephone Co., putting in two and
a half years in that capacity, and then acting for six months as their manager.

.\ distressing accident, the result of playfully boxing with friends, com-
pelled him to enter a Los Angeles hospital and caused liim the loss of an eye.
Ibis somewhat conditioned his next move, which was a journey to .Arizona,
where he took up a hundred sixty acres of land near Wilcox. This he proved

904 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

up and slill owns. Having tlicrc acc|uired valuable experience, he entered
on his eiuiabk- inheritance of a hundred fifty-six acres received from his father,
who died some years ago. This property he had retained, while his widowed
mother — Mrs. King, of Santa Maria, whose biographical sketch appears else-
where— and the other children sold their holdings. Here, in 1916, he raised
six hundred five bags of beans and sixty tons of hay.

At San Francisco, Kencho Ontiveros was married to Miss Lee Lancaster,
a Jielle of Denver, and with her he lives contentedly in his modest country
home on th.e Tepesquet. There they are planning to build, the coming year,
a modern and model residence.

Mr. Ontiveros is the grandson of Juan Pacifico Ontiveros, who once
owned the entire Tepesquet rancho. He is a nephew of Abraham Ontiveros,
whose life is outlined elsewhere in these pages. An esteemed brother was
Senecio Ontiveros, who met with such injuries in an automobile accident in
Los Angeles that, after lingering for six weeks between life and death, he
died in November, 1915. Another~brother is Ernest L. Ontiveros, proprietor
of the Standard Oil Co.'s gasoline and oil station on North Broadway, in
Santa Maria. A sister is Zorida, the wife of Louis Hughes, a resident of
Santa Maria; and another sister is Erolinda, the wife of Jack Portenstein, of
Los Angeles.

PATRICK E. HOURIHAN.— A son of Erin who is one of the hardest-
working men engaged in farming on the Tepesquet, and is just as good a
manager and financier as he is a practical, laboring farmer, Patrick E. Houri-
han was born in County Cork, Ireland, ^larch 12, 1884. His father, who died
in his native land at the age of eighty, was also named Patrick; and his
mother, who reached her seventieth year and also died in Ireland, was known
before her marriage as Miss Margaret McCarty.

Growing up on his father's farm of about a hundred acres, Patrick E.
llourihan attended the public schools of his native land, and thus, when nine-
teen years of age, pushed out into the world for himself. On Alay 16, 1903,
lie sailed from Queenstown on the Cunarder "Lucania." He landed at New
York, and soon came west to San Francisco. ]\Ioving on down to the Santa
Maria valley, he worked out by the month; and although he received only
thirty dollars for a wage, he saved his money, and so got ahead. He then
went to Santa Barbara, and for some years was engaged first as a motorman
and later as a conductor, on the street railway.

In the meantime, in 1907, he had married Miss Lilly Ontiveros, a daughter
of Jose D. Ontiveros, now deceased, an outline of whose worthy life appears
elsewhere in this work. She is a niece of Abraham Ontiveros, also described
on another page. Mrs. Hourihan had inherited from her father a ranch of
two hundred twenty acres; and in 1913 Mr. Hourihan returned to the Santa
Maria valley and began farming his wife's place, giving it his personal care
and attention. By wise forethought and hard labor, Mr. Hourihan has made
this beautiful place on the Tepesquet creek a model of neatness and comfort,
and the iieadquartcrs of plenty. He has set out a family orchard, has laid
out a fine garden, and has a beautifully kept lawn and a well-built and attrac-
ti\c residence. He farms the ranch to barley and beans; and in 1916 he
cleared up al)oul twelve thousand dollars on these crops.

A wide-awake and progressive citizen, Mr. Flourihan is esteemed for
his independent \iews. He votes according to principle, and for candidates

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AND EXVIROXS 905

known and approved. AFrs. Ilourihan is a social favorite in Carey and on
the Tepes(|uet. Tliey are devoted Catholics, and attend the Foxen Canon
Catholic Church.

Mr. Hourihan has three brothers living in America. Lawrence is a
rancher at Arroyo Grande; Mike is a farmer at Madera; Tom is a policeman
at San Diego. A sister, Annie, is the widow of Peter Hourihan, deceased.
Another hrother, Cornelius C. Ilourilian, is farming on the old home place
near Ccirk, in Ireland.

EDWARD J. DANIELS.— One of the interesting men that it is a pleas-
ure to meet is Ed Daniels, trustee of the Tepes(|uet school district, who, for
several years, has been clerk of the board and filled the position with efficiency.
He is a native son, having been born in Oakland, October 22, 1864, a son of
\\'illiam and Adelia (Randall) Daniels, pioneers of that city. The father
came overland in 1850 as an employee of Ben Halliday, driving a band of
mules and about two hundred head of cattle, and in due time arrived without
mishap. He made two more trips in the same manner, long before there were
any railroads, and each time brought back stock. He eventually settled in
Fresno county, and in 1880 came to Guadalu]>c, and die<l at the home of his
daughter, in Lompoc. in h^ebruary. 1909.

Ed Daniels was reared in this state and educated in the pul)lic schools.
The most of his life since he has been old enough U< remember has been
spent on the range, and he is as much at home in the saddle as on terra firma.
Since reaching manhood he has worked his own way and has met with an
average degree of success. On November 25, 1893, he married Miss Jennie
Gibson, a native of Iowa, who has resided in California since 1888, and they
have five children, William \\'ible, Fred E., Irwin, Mary Loraine and Porter.
As Mr. Daniels has succeeded he has bought land and now ow'ns and oper-
ates four hundred acres of the Teiiesc|uet. He makes a specialty of cattle
and his brand is WD, duly recorded in the records at Santa Barbara and
known by all stockmen throughout the central coast section.

PERRY HUDSON.— A resident of the Santa Maria valley since 1873,
and thereby entitled to the honors of pioneer, Perry Hudson is a son of Cali-
fornia, having been born in Sonoma county, November 5, 1850. He grew to
manhood and attended school there, and at the college at Sonoma. He was
raised on a farm, became familiar with raising stock of all kinds, and it was
but natural that when he started out for himself he should begin raising
horses, cattle and hogs. In 1873 he was married to Miss Maria .\usser, a
native of San Jose, and they have had two children, sons: Tollie, living in
Red r.lufT, and Martin, at Point Richmond.

His father, Martin Hudson, was a N'irginian, whn moved to Missouri
when young, and wdiiie living there was united in marriage with Bessie
Mackera. Then they came overland t(j California, in 1848, at the first emi-
gration to the western coast. They settled in Sonoma county, which remained
the family home for many years.

The vear of his marriage Mr. Hudson came to the vicinity of Guadalupe
and leased land for ten years, at which time he was able to buy his present
ranch of three hundred twenty acres; and during his residence here he has
carried on a successful and growing stock business. He votes the Democratic
lioket at national elections, but in local matters selects the best men regardless
of party lines. He has served on the school board for several years.

906 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

GEORGE LESH FULLER. — George L. Fuller, the production foreman
of the Palmer Union Oil Co. in Cat canon, in the Santa Maria oil fields, is a
veteran and trusted employee of the company, who commands the respect
of those working under his direction and the confidence of his superiors. He
is justly popular for his kindly treatment of his men, is optimistic in his
views of life, and tries to live up to the Golden Rule. He was born at Kinzua,
Warren county. Pa., August 8, 1880, a son of Benjamin M. Fuller, a farmer
who also worked at the oil business for a time, and now makes his home
with his son. His people are descended from an old New York family who
went to New Jersey in an early day. His father was married in \\'arren
count}', Pa., to Mary B. Brown, who was born in Easton, the same state.

George L. Fuller grew up on the home farm, and attended the grammar
and high school, from which he graduated. At the age of twenty, he began
working in the oil fields. In September, 1911, he came to California, and in
Los Angeles met Frank Feathers, a well-known oil man, who induced him
to come up to the Santa Maria fields, where Mr. Feathers was then superin-
tendent for the Palmer Union Oil Co. Since that time Mr. Fuller has been
associated with this concern. He began at the bottom, and gradually worked
up to his present position as production foreman.

On Juile 27, 1907, at Frewsburg, N. Y., ^Ir. Fuller was united in mar-
riage with Miss Bina Williams, a resident of that town from her girlhood.
Frewsburg is located six miles from Jamestown, which is on the outlet of
Chautauqua lake, the home of Bishop Vincent and the birthplace of the
Chautauqua idea. Mrs. Fuller is a woman of education who has assimilated
much of the culture and refinement of the literary atmosphere of old Chau-
tauqua. She radiates good cheer, and does much to grace and refine the
social and home life of their community. She is a member of the Baptist
Church. Mr. Fuller is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
a Past Noble Grand of the lodge in Frewsburg, N. Y. With his wife, he
enjoys the friendship of a wide circle of acquaintances in their section of the
valley.

LOUIS WILLIAMS.— Well and favorably known throughout the oil
fields section of the Santa ^laria valley as a contract teamster, Louis Williams
is doing his work the best he knows how and is gradually creeping up the
financial ladder on his own merits. A native of California, he was born in
the Sacramento valley, at Biggs, Butte county, February 17, 1883, and was
but a babe in arms when his parents settled in the vicinity of what is now
Sisquoc. Here he grew to manhood, attended the district schools, and early
became familiar with farm work. He lives on three hundred twenty acres
of land owned by his father, and known as the home place; and another
half section of grazing land is leased from Henry Holt. In 1916 he had
eighty acres in beans, and harvested a bumper crop.

Mr. Williams' principal business, however, is heavy teaming. He owns
twelve head of fine draft horses for that purpose, with wagons and necessary
equipment for hauling lumber and heavy machinery into the oil fields; and
having given his personal attention to the work, he pleases his patrons, who
offer liim about all the work that he can attend to.

In 1908, Mr. Williams was united in marriage with Miss Anna Hanson,
who was liorn in San Luis Obispo, and is a stepdaughter of J. P. Hanson of
Santa Maria. Thev have had four children: Pearl A., Elsie L.. Louis A.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 907

(wild died in infancy), and Ruljy A. Both Mr. and Mrs. Williams are well
knuwn throughout the valley, where they are popular with their many friends.

Mr. Williams' father, Jacob Williams of Los Angeles, was one of the
pioneers of Cat caiion, and is widely known throughout the valley as the
owner of three valuable ranches. He came overland to California from Wis-
consin at the age of fifteen, located in Butte county, and began his career
by chopping wood. In 1884 he came south and settled in Cat caiion. He
married Miss Jennie Krusick, who was born near Pittsburg, Pa. ; and six
children were born to them: Joseph, in the Imperial valley; Jacob K., a
rancher near Tempe, Ariz. ; Louis, the subject of this review ; Addie, the wife
of Harold McDonald, of San Pedro; Mollic, who married A. R. Hunter, of
Tempe, Ariz., and Jennie, Mrs. Max Dunham, of Torrance, Cal. After an
active career as a rancher, Jacob Williams and his wife retired to Los Angeles,
leaving their son Louis to represent tlic name in the Santa Maria valley,
where he is living up to the example set by his worthy parents.

SANTA MARIA UNION HIGH SCHOOL, PROF. NELSON CROX-
FORD SMITH, B. L., M. L.— An educator who has a thorough grasp of the
many intricate details connected with an institution of learning that has a
wide sphere of influence, Prof. Nelson C. Smith is deserving of especial men-
tion in the history of the community that has been so greatly benefited by
the school in which he has labored. A man of lofty ideals, he is an inspiration
in the various departments of the school, where he encourages originality
and initiative in his pupils.

The Santa Maria Union High School is one of the best of its kind in
the state, and reflects the progressive spirit and high idealism of the people.
The buildings, complete in every detail, are located at the corner of South
Broadway and Morrison avenue. The main building has two stories and
basement, and is well ventilated and lighted. The first half of this building
was completed in 1894, and the second half in 1905. The manual training
and domestic science building was erected in 1912, and is a model of perfec-
tion. The physical and chemical laboratories are well equipped, and there
is a large library of well-selected books, particularly works of reference.
There are also well-organized commercial and art departments. The school
has an enrollment of fifty-six boys and eighty-one girls, with an average daily
attendance of one hundred twenty-two. All entrants must have a diploma of
graduation from the grammar schools, or must pass a satisfactory examina-
tion before the principal of the high school and the county superintendent
of schools.

The yards, lawns, jjlaygrounds, slirubl)ery, and pergolas (made liy the
bojs of the manual training department) ; the trusted caretaker, the principal,
the faculty, and the trustees; the parents, tax-payers, and an appreciative and
enlightened public sentiment: all contribute to the exceptionally high standard
of this high school. The girls and boys are encouraged in athletics, and
ample ground is set apart for out-of-door sports. There are two basket-ball
courts and two tennis courts, a splendid baseball diamond, and a fifth-mile
track. In track and field events, a handsomely engraved silver trophy cup
lias been wnn by the students of the school in competition with students of
other high schools. Everything about the premises indicates a careful atten-
tion to detail ; and the students, faculty, and board of trustees have a justi-
fiable pride in the condition of the grounds and buildings.

908 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD ENVIROXS

The board consists of T. R. Finley, president; ^^■. H. Rice, clerk; I\Irs.
T- H. \\'inters; and Messrs. F. J. McCoy and A. R. Jones. The faculty in-
cludes : Xelson C. Smith, principal — History and Spanish ; Errett Allen, vice-
principal — Science ; Miranda Ray Arms — Household Arts ; Vera Hawkins —
]\Iathematics, History, Girls' gymnasium ; Cora L. Bryson — English, Dra-
matics, Debating ; Beatrice M. Maine — Latin, German, Histor}^ Girls' basket-
ball ; Frank M. Buzick — Commercial branches ; C. M. Rogers — IManual Arts,
Drawing and Athletics ; Ormonde Paulding, librarian.

The principal of the faculty, and the recognized leader in tlie building up
of the Santa ]Maria Union High School, Prof. Xelson C. Smith was born at
Maiden, Mass., on March 4, 1881. He was graduated from the Boston L'ni-
versity in 1901. The following seven years were spent in educational work
in the Philippines. For one year thereafter he was Fellow in History in the
University of California, wdiere, in 1910, he received the degree of M. L.
He spent 1910-11 as professor in and vice-principal of the McKinley Inter-
mediate High School of Berkeley. In 1912 he came to Santa Maria, where
his labors have since been spent in building up the high school.

At Stoneham, Mass., Prof. Xelson C. Smith was married to Miss Susan
Alice Meredith, a native of that state and a graduate of Boston University.
They have one daughter, Susanna Meredith Smith. Professor Smith is a
Mason, a member of Hesperian Lodge, No. 264, F. & A. M., of Santa Maria.
He is a communicant of the Methodist Episcopal Church. A man of fine
education, broad-minded and progressive, and firm in his decisions, he has
made a name and place for himself as an educator in the annals of California.

RAMON A. CAREAGA. — Strange and striking are the contrasts sug-
gested in the life of Ramon A. Careaga, one of the best-known men on the
San Jose Exchange, and the representative of the San Jose Realty Co., and
those of his distinguished military ancestors who, by chivalrous exploits in
the service of the King of Spain, established the Careaga family in America.
A Spanish nobleman, from romantic Castile, seems to have been the first to
come, making for Mexico with his soldiers and there demanding and re-
ceiving recognition of Spanish arms. After a while. Colonel Satornino Ca-
reaga came into prominence, an aide to Captain Munoz, whom he accompanied
to Monterey and later defended and protected the isolated Mission of San
Jose — almost losing his life in the bargain. This brave officer was Ramon
F. Careaga's father and the grandfather of the subject of this sketch.

Although not of a military nature — destined, in fact, to be an equally
aggressive leader in paths of peaceful endeavor — Ramon F. Careaga, who
died I'ebruary 7, 1914 (leaving a widow, still residing at San Jose), was a
remarkable man. Born in Monterey county, he joined his brother, Juan B.,
and Daniel Harris, a friend, in buying some 18,000 acres of the old De la Guerra
ranch, a tract of vast extent that figured conspicuously in early California
historv; and when Harris took 7,500 acres, Ramon retained 6,900 as his
share. By the merest chance, the presence of oil was detected in seeing the
surface of the ground sprinkled here and there with asphalt, and thus it hap-
pened that on Ramon Careaga's ranch was fixed the center of the great Santa
Maria valley oil industry, the foundation of the later Careaga wealth.

Ataria A. Bonevantur, of French and Castilian blood, was the estimable
lad\- chosen by Ramon F. Careaga as the companion most likely to Ijecome
a helpmate to liini in his arduous wav thnnigh life; and faithfullv. nobly

SAN LUIS OBISI'O COUNTY AND ENXIRQXS 909

she performed her duties as wile and mother. F.leven children, all of whom
she has seen grow either to maturitj^ or to interesting youth, and all of whom
are still living to bless her, were born of their union. Among the four
flaughters, one, Eleanor, now Mrs. John Carr, resides on one of the ranches ;
the other three girls — Rita I., Evangeline and Angeline — are at home with
their mother and attend Notre Dame school. Ramon A. is the second eldest
of the sons, Luis S., of Santa Barbara, being his senior; and next came John
T., Ramon's partner at San Jose ; Bernardo, who lives on the Careaga ranch ;
Antonio, residing with his mother ; James F., a ranchman near Los Alamos ;
and Charles M., superintendent of part of the Careaga ranch.

While some of the children, therefore, have remained on the old farm,
iir are affording personal companionship to the widowed mother, Ramon A.
has entered the commercial and financial circles of his native state and. en-
tirely through his own ability, has become prominent in the field in which he
is an acknowledged specialist — that of realty, with all its perplexing phases.
How much his happy marriage to ^fiss Cora Riley has had. to do with his
success, those who know the attractive lady and her two wide-awake children,
Ramon F. and Alberto J., may best judge. Certain!}- they constitute in their
decidedh' home-like home, at San Jose, a contented group, each working for
the others' welfare.

Besides the realty business. Air. Careaga is extensively interested in the
«)il business in San IJenito county, where he and his two partners, L. A.
Crandall and State Mineralogist Aloran, ha\e over 20,000 acres leased, and
are beginning to develop the property, which w ill mean untold wealth to that
section of country.

THOMAS EDGAR McKEE.— A citi/in >>i whom any community might
well l)e i)roud, and in whose life are illustrated the results of energy, perse-
verance and judicious management, is Thomas Edgar McKee, a native son
born at Salinas, the oldest of five children, and the son of Richard Young
McKee, now enjoying retired life at Monterey. His father was a farmer
and stock man, having been born in Pennsylvania, and came to California
during the war ; and his grandfather, Thomas McKee, was a native of Scotland.
riie mother's maiden name was Essie Starkey, a native daughter, born in
Alameda county of Irish and German descent. Up till a few years ago, the
:.;randparents, paternal as well as maternal, were alive, thus showing the
hardihood and longevity of both the families.

Even as a boy, T. E. McKee had to battle with adversity, and so came to
assist his father very early ; and as he was clever at figuring, the foundation
for which knowledge was laid in the public school he attended, he got to
estimating by a new method for cominiting the cost of hauling, and so se-
cured numerous contracts. At seventeen, he advanced to the more technical
work of steamfitting, and entered the employ of the Union Iron Works, and
later assisted the Spreckels Sugar Co. at Salinas for a year, afterward working
for Duffy & Tay.

in 1905 he had his first experience with oil, undertaking to do some
i)lacksmith work for the Lnion Oil Co. at Lompoc ; and before he had finished
with that, he had run up against every phase of the oil problem. Now a
contract driller, during this time he helped in the process of and use in Cali-
fornia of cement to shut od the water in oil wells. He and his partner, George
M. Scott, the secretary of the Chamber of Commerce at Santa Maria, control

910 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EW'IRONS

30,000 acres of well-situated oil lands, and this alone is likely to make him
wealtliy. He also has some 5,000 acres in the Casmalia district, as well as
some in San Luis Obispo County, each parcel of land situated in an oil belt.

At the present time, as drilling contractor, he is drilling Well No. 8 for
the new Pennsylvania Petroleum Co., the well being nearly finished. His
record as an oil-well driller is excellent. With a special reputation for expert
work in cementing, he is not limited to the Santa Maria field, but cements
for anyone in the various oil fields of Santa Barbara county. The natural
result is that, in strong contrast to the somber days, of his boyhood, he is at
last on a fair road to prosperity.

At Berkeley, on September 20, 1903, Mr. McKee married Miss Daisy
Severy. a native of Stockton, and the daughter of F. A. and Elizabeth (Jones)
Severy, lioth of whom are living at Oakland. The father was born in Boston,
Mass., and in California is a well-known newspaper man. Particularly inter-
esting is the association of the Severys with this San Joaquin city, for at
one time Mrs. McKee's grandfather, Moses Severy, owned much of the land
on which Stockton stands. Her mother was a native of Stockton. Grand-
father Jones was a stockman. Mrs. McKee is the second oldest of eight chil-
dren, seven of whom are living. She was reared and educated in the pub-
lic schools of California. I'tnir children, Bernice, Loraine, Fern and Thomas,
are the result of this union, and with their parents contribute to swell the
membership of the reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Two brothers of I\lr. McKee, Louis and Robert, assist him in his responsible
work ; and there are two sisters still living, one being Mrs. J. J. Westfall of
Monterey county, and the other Mrs. C. A. Cooper, of San Francisco.

SAMUEL P. CHASE. — Joy in the great open and that love of daring
and hazard which has poured into romantic California such a number of her
adventurous and most successful pioneers, were the mainsprings which
prompted Samuel P. Chase, the chief rig-builder for the Western Union Oil
Co. at Bicknell, to choose a calling that eventually landed him on the Pacific
coast to become one of the master minds in the oil fields. Born at Johnstown,
O.. in 1880, when the bells were pealing out a happy New Year, he grew
u]) ill tlie home of his father, Solomon P. Chase, then a jeweler and watch-
maker. Init now retired, who has a Civil War record as a member of the 2nd
Ohio Heavy Artillery. For six years Samuel was under the tender care of his
mother, now deceased, who was known in her girlhood as Mary INIalissa
McClain. .V brother died in infancy, but five sisters also grew up and are
now residing at various places in their native state.

After attending the public schools at Johnstown, Samuel started to learn
the jeweler's trade in the establishment of his father, who was already some-
what well-to-do ; but finding it too tedious and confining, he pushed out, at
the beckoning age of eighteen, and began to try his luck as a rig-builder in
the oil fields at Lima, O. Two years later, learning of the oil prospects in
California, he crossed the Rockies and settled at Bakersfield; from which
place, with an enviable reputation as an expert rig-builder, he moved to the
Santa Maria fields, where he established himself as a contractor. It was
not until 1909 that he entered the service of the Western Union people, with
whom he has been ever since. In all these years of unremitting toil. Mr.
Chase has piled up experience as he has reared his rigs, until today it is safe
to say he has built a million dollars' worth or more of derricks.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 911

Shortly after coming to tlio Santa Alaria \allcy, that is, in the year 1906,
Samuel Chase married Miss Sadie J. Lane, born in Bennett, Nebr., a daughter
of Edward J. Lane, a plasterer residing on the Western Union lease, who
had come from Iowa and had spent some twelve years in Los Angeles, where
she was, as she is today, a social favorite. One child, Dorothy Eileen, wel-
comes him at eventide when he returns to his cosy home on the Union Oil
Co.'s tract, no doubt also stimulating his interest in school aft'airs, for Mr.
Chase has shown his good citizenship by acting for the past four years as a
school trustee for the Careaga school district. Both employer and employe
have learned to depend upon Samuel P. Chase ; nor does the stranger, apply-
ing to him for guidance through the maze of the oil districts, want for courtesy
or intelligent attention.

HERBERT W. GRAFFT.— A man who is making his influence felt in
agricultural circles and leasing live hundred seventy acres of the Suey ranch,
owned by the Newhall Land and Farming Co., is Herbert W. Grafi't, of the
Santa Maria valley. He was born in Hall county, Nebr., October 2, 1881,
a son of James A. and Marietta (Foreman) Graft't, both natives of Jones
county, la. The maternal grandfather, John Foreman, was the plaintiff
against Robert Johnson in the celebrated "Jones county California case,"
which was in the courts for twenty-eight years, and cost both sides approxi-
mately $1,500,000. It was fought from the Circuit court to the Iowa State
Supreme court, and it broke Mr. Foreman. Mr. and ilrs. James Grafft are
residing at Tranquility. They had thirteen children.

When Init five years old, Herbert W. (Irati't was taken by his parents
to Iowa, where he attended school, and at the age of nine began to work
on his grandfather's farm, plowing with a walking plow^ In 1902 lie came
out to California and has worked at ranching ever since.

He is one of the liiost successful of the tenants on the Suey ranch, raises
hay, grain and beans, and owns, besides, a threshing outfit operated by a 30-60
oil pull traction engine. He also has twenty-four head of horses and retains
one good man all the time; and during the threshing season he employs as
many as fifty men. Prior to 1911, when he moved to his present place, he
was leasing the Ramon Dana and the \'. S. Runnels ranches at Nipomo, and
was very successful ; but he considers his present place more profitable.

On November 15, 1905, Mr. Grafft was married to Miss Daisy Runnels,
daughter of V. S. Runnels of Nipomo, and they have three children — Eugene,
Morence and Vernon. Mr. Grafft is a member of Santa Maria Lodge, No. 90,
Knights of Pythias; and in politics he supports the men that he considers
best suited for the office regardless of party lines. He is a man of striking
appearance, active, progressive, and highly respected by all who know him.

JOHN L. HARRIS.^ — An energetic, ambitious and very promising young
scientist, whose family name is associated in a pleasant way witli tlie geog-
raphy and history of the State of California, is John L. Harris, who was born
on the Harris ranch, at Harris Station, in Santa Barbara county, the son of
Lawrence Harris, a stockholder and director of the Union Sugar Co. I lis
father now resides at Berkeley; but on account of his many interests in oil
and agricultural lands in Los Alamos valley, lie considers Santa Barbara
county his real home. Having attended the public school at Los .Mamos,
and finished a course at the Santa Maria high school. John matriculated, in
the fall of 1902. at the University of California, where he pursued a general

912 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENX'IRONS

scientific course with chemistry as his major subject, graduating in 1906.
After his graduation he went back to the university for an additional year of
graduate work in chemistry. In 1907 he went to Goklfield, Nev., and was
there engaged as a miner and assayer for six months, after which he worked
in the oil fields, beginning then and there the responsibility of looking after
liis father's interests.

While at the University of California, he was a meml)er of the ^lim Kaph
Mini, a chemistry honor society that has since become a national organiza-
tion ; and his proficiency led to his coming, in March, 1909, to the laboratories
of the Union Sugar Co. at Betteravia, as their assistant chemist. There he
remained three 3'ears, leaving them only to take up similar work for the
Spreckels Sugar Co. at Salinas, and the iA'estern Sugar Refining Co. at San
Francisco. He was one of the assistant foremen of the Spreckels plant, and
would doubtless have continued witli them had not the Union Sugar Co.,
always seeking for the highest results and the best service, offered him such
inducements that, in 1914, he returned to their field as the immediate assistant
to M. Al. Purkiss, chief agriculturist.

As an analytical chemist, with a fine knowledge of soil analysis and
fertilization, and a special proficiency in the analyzing of the sugar beet and
all its products, Mr. Harris has contributed largely to the promotion of
scientific farming. A popular member, also, of the social circles in Santa
-Maria valley and in the north, in which he moves, he is especially active
among the San Luis Obispo Elks.

MYRTON M. PURKISS.— What inspiration and poVer may often l)c
found in early making a resolution as to one's ambition and conduct in life,
and then sticking to the jilan thus formed until the wished-for goal has been
hickily reached, is shown in the interesting histor}' of M. M. Purkiss. chief
agriculturist of the Union Sugar Co. at Betteravia, and the person, in that
splendidly-organized concern, next in power to Mr. J. \\'. Atkinson. Born
a native son, at Willits, Mendocino county, December 6, 1887, the lad worked
liis way up from povert}', all the difficulties massing to impede his progress,
but contributing to a more intense desire on his part to be satisfied with
nothing short of definite and positive success. His father was John A. Pur-
kiss, a most worthy early pioneer of Santa Barbara county, who built and
ran the first flour mill at Los Alamos, dying in British Columbia at the age
of fifty-nine. His mother, Etta Eames in maidenhood, who was as devoted
to her children as she was to her husband, is still living at Santa Maria at
the enjoyable age of sixty-two. The parents had five children, three of whom
were torn from them in their tenderest years by the dread disease dipththeria.
The (ilhcr sur\i\or is \crnon jolni. a plumber of Santa Maria.

W hilc yet a mere lad nf twehe. M. .M. Purkiss began to work out for
other ])eople, getting up at four o'clock in the morning and sekkMii being per-
mitted to go to bed before eight o'clock in the evening. His first employer
was C. li. Pearson, of Los Alamos, who gave him five dollars a month, and
permitted him to go to school, at the same time that he was doing chores
about the farm .\ftcr a while lie finished the grammar school, and then he
earned fifteen dollars a month. He was ambitious, however, to obtain a
better education ; and so he went to Santa Barbara, where he attended the
high school for two years. At the same time he mastered a commercial
course at Hoover's Business College in Santa Barbara. It was there that he

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 91.5

matlc the resolution whicli so affected his after life: to connect himself, if
possible, with some large corporation and to stay with that concern for at
least twenty years.

Finishing his schooling, he started to work for the Union Sugar Co. the
first year that the factory was started. In the beginning, he was a mere
helper, and carried the chain for the civil engineers ; then he worked for a
year as an assistant in the laboratory, and in 1901 he ran the company's hotel.
The following year he went ])ack to factory work ; but having a desire to
learn agriculture, he was placed on the Betteravia ranch and made agricul-
tural foreman under E. II. Nicholson, then chief agriculturist, who was farm-
ing from 8,000 to 10,000 acres of land. For four years he remained foreman ;
and when ]\Ir. Nicholson resigned, in 1908, he was made chief agriculturist.
Just what the responsibilities of such a position involved may be inferred
from the returns of the 10,000 acres stretching from Lompoc valley to San
Luis Obispo County; from fifteen to thirty-five tons of sugar beets per acre
are generalh^ harvested, the beets containing quite 18 per cent, of sugar, and
the entire crop of a hundred thousand tons producing 16,000 tons of sugar,
while the by-products are crude molasses and beet pulp.

In June, 1904, Mr. Purkiss was married to Miss Hulda A. Glines, daughter
of C. R. Glines, the Santa Maria pioneer, whose interesting sketch is given in
this volume; and two children, Albert C. and Cassius M., are the light and life
of the Purkiss home, one of the prettiest residences on South Broadway in
Santa Maria, built in 1914. An active Republican, Mr. Purkiss has long been
a member of Santa Barbara county central committee; so that in civil as
well as in business affairs his advice and support are frequently sought. He
is an active Mason in Hesperian Lodge No. 264. F. & .\. M.. at Santa Maria,
and is also a Knight of Pythias and an Elk.

GEORGE W. MOORE.-^A native son of pioneer parents who came to
this state in the early fiities, George W. Moore has shown his progressive
spirit in many ways since he has attained manhood. As is natural with one
who has spent almost his entire life in the state, he is interested in the
growth and development of California, and more especially the Santa Maria
valK y, wluTc the most of his life has been passed. He was born in the his-
t.ifir ciM t..\vn of Monterey, a son of George W. and Brohelia (Cochran)
Moure, who hailed from Ohio, the former coming around the Horn and the
latter crossing the plains to California, where afterwards they were married.
From Monterey county the family came to Santa Barbara county and located
at Lompoc, where the fatlier carried on a general merciiandise store for some
years. Both parents are now deceased.

George W. attended the public schools of Monterey and Santa Barbara
counties and lived in Lompoc from the age of ten to twenty-two. He was
engagefi in the mercantile business in Guadalui)e wlien the advent of the
railroad gave that town a boom, later going to Los .Angeles; and after that
he spent tour years in Centcrville. South Dakota, engaged in the mercantile
business.

It was while a merchant in that town that he met and later married
.Miss Mabel D. Lowry, the daughter of William T. Lowry, a banker of that
place. Of this union two children have been born to brighten the family
circle: William, a graduate of the Los Angeles high school and now an
eini)loye of tlie Union Sugar Co. at Betteravia; and Lila. now attending the

914 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Lds Angeles high schonl while duly chaperoned by her. mother. From Cen-
terville Mr. Moore came back to California and was in l)usiness in Lompoc
awhile, and then entered the employ of the Union Sugar Co. at IJetteravia as
storekeeper in the hardware department; and during the years he was so
employed he gave good satisfaction.

Mr Moore, however, believes in working for himself; and seeing an
opening in Santa Maria, he resigned from the Union Sugar Co. and with a
partner opened a vulcanizing shop located on South Broadway, which also
carries a supply of automobile accessories under the firm name of the Lewis
Vulcanizing and Tire Co. Since their organization on January 1, 1917, the
firm have enjoyed an increasing patronage, specializing in their branches of
automobile work. Through their courteous treatment and prompt attention
to details, they are paving the way for a merited success. Mr. Moore is a
Blue Lodge j\Iason, and has passed the chairs in the Guadalupe lodge.

SEVERING FERRARI. — From the green valleys and mountain slopes
of snow-capped Switzerland, have come many of the recent settlers of Cali-
fornia who have contributed so much, both by their industry and their
knowledge of agricultural conditions such as are found here, to the rapid
and marvelous development of this State; and worthy of honorable mention
among these frugal and peaceful citizens is Severino Ferrari, the enterpris-
ing dairyman of Betteravia. Born in the Canton of Ticino on July 30, 1868,
he began work as a boy in a dairy ; and when he was only sixteen years old
he came to California and found employment at the E. Morgante ranch near
Guadalupe.

Mr. Ferrari married Miss Pia Righetti, also a native of Switzerland,
wliicli country he revisited in 1905.

One of those men who never stand still, but are always taking a front
rank in the field they have chosen, ]\Ir. Ferrari has worked along lines of
scientific and sanitary dairying and now operates the Betteravia dairy on
shares, and milks one hundred fifty or more cows owned and managed as a
special interest of the Union Sugar Co. ; and he supplies Betteravia with the
highest grade of milk, cream and butter that can be found anywhere around.

Mr. Ferrari is industrious, naturally bright, a man of strict integrity and.
personal honor, and a thoughtful citizen with a preference for the forms and
princijiles of government advocated by the Republican party. He reflects the
highest degree of credit both on his native country and on the land of his
adoption. Mr. and Mrs. Ferrari are members of the Catholic Church.

WILLIAM McELLIGOTT.— The bustling town of Betteravia is the
pleasant abode of a large number of men who were thrown upon their own
resources at an early age, but whose natural abilities were strengthened rather
than weakened b)^ a harsh contact with the exacting w^orld, thus hel])ing
them to gain in a large measure both the esteem of their associates and
financial success. Such a self-made man is William McElligott, chief engi-
neer for the San Joaquin Light & Power Co., who was born in London,
England, on August 15, 1872, of estimable and ambitious Irish parents, buth
of whom are deceased. His father had been a school teacher in the ( )ld
World, but crossed the ocean when W'illiam was only six years of age, and
settled at Eldorado, Butler county, Kan., where he was employed in a lum-
ber yard. He died at the age of forty-three years. On his death the widow,
whose Cliristian name was llannra, muxed to <.)k!ah(nna, and resided there.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 915

near Tulsa, until she died. There were three children in the family, William
being the oldest; a daughter, Hanora, died at the age of seventeen; and
Maurice is an operating engineer in power house No. 3 of the San Joaquin
Light & Power Co., at Northport.

\\'hen William reached Oklahoma in 1SS9 it was in the day of the. ter-
ritory's great boom, and he thus has a recollection not only of historic Lon-
don, but of Kansas and Oklahoma, with their Indians and cowboys, and par-
ticularly of the Cherokee Indians. Having attended school in Kansas, and
undergone the rough-riding on the cattle ranges in the southwest, he migrated
to Amarillo, Tex., where he remained from 1895 to 1906.

In 1904 he was married to Mrs. Addy Massey, a daughter of A. J- Busby,
now of Fresno, and in 1906 they located in Fresno also. The San Joaquin
Light & Power Corporation were looking for a live man about this time,
and in Mr. McEUigott they found one who has proven himself acceptable,
popular and dependable. From 1910 to February, 1916, Mr. McEUigott had
charge of the steam boilers and engines of the San Joaquin Light & Power
Plant at Bakersfield, and in this latter year he was transferred to Betteravia,
where he is responsible for the operation of the two thousand h. p. engines
which furnish power and light to the sugar company, as well as to the Pinal-
Dome Refinery.

A more skilful and thoroughgoing technician than William McEUigott
could scarcely be found in this thriving section of California, where so many
men of trained technical ability naturally congregate; and no one warmed by
his large-hearted personality, and knowing the obstacles he has overcome,
will envy him his success.

RAMON W. GOODCHILD.— i'wo notable California families are
joined in tlic uni<in of Ramon W. Goodchild, tiie son of John Thomas Good-
child, and Aliss Hortensia Ontiveros, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jose D.
Ontiveros. What the forbears of the Goodchilds did is already set forth in
the sketch of James Wilson Goodchild ; the Ontiveros, on the other hand,
continue the splendid traditions of one of the earliest Spanish families now
living in California, they having descended from intrepid soldiers sent out to
;\fexico, about two hundred fifty years ago, by the King of Spain. Even then
distinguished for their hardihood, the Ontiveros are still a vigorous and long-
lived family, some of the recent members attaining to over ninety years. Their
men are striking for handsome figures, while the Ontiveros women are famed
for their beauty.

The second son of John Thomas Goodchild, still an honored resident of
the Santa Maria valley, and of Adela (Ontiveros) Goodchild, for many years
deceased, Ramon was born on March 14, 1881, grew up on his father's ranch.
and attended the Olive public school, of which, for the past three years, lie
has been clerk of the board of trustees. When only fifteen, he drove a six-
horse team, and since then he has come ra])idly forward in a knowledge nf
rancli management and affairs.

December 14, 1907, Ramon Goodchild led his i)ride to the altar, the lady
being a graduate of the same Olive public school, and for five years a student
at the Sacred Heart Convent, Oakland. Both arc devout Catholics, and
attend the Foxen Caiion church. Their wedding was celebrated with true
California hospitality. One child, Ramon William, has resulted from this
union — a bright and sturdy lad, who will doubtless be heard from some day.

916 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EWIRONS

Through the death of her father, Airs. Goodchild, an accomplished house-
keeper, excellent wife and mother, and a most considerate hostess, inherited a
fine ranch of two hundred twenty acres, which, added to her husband's prop-
erty, constitutes a substantial estate.

A man of superb physique, Mr. Goodchild has seen considerable public
service. For eight years he was constable in the Eighth Township of Santa
rSarbara county, but when re-elected to that office for a third term he refused
to qualify. In appreciation of his fidelity to duty, however, he has since been
appointed roadmaster of the Sisquoc district, and as supervisor of the fifteen
miles or more of the highways under his care, he shows the same intelligent
administration of a public trust. An independent voter, he casts his ballot for
the best candidate.

BERT E. JESSEE.— The agreeable and obliging assistant cashier of the
firmly-established Bank of Santa Maria, Bert E. Jessee, has spent his entire
life in this [iroductive valley, where he was born November 15, 1888, a son of
Madison and Elizabeth (Earl) Jessee, and a grandson of Captain Jessee,
who was captain under ex-Governor Lilburn H. Boggs when he was ordered
to California from Missouri in 1846, to hold this territory for the Union. The
maternal ancestor of Mr. Jessee was founder of the famous Harlnn Springs
in Lake county.

The education of Bert E. Jessee was received in the grammar and high
school of Santa Maria, and he graduated from the latter in a commercial
course. He then entered the Bank of Santa Maria as a clerk, and by steady
application to business he has worked liis way up during the past twelve years
until he is now assistant cashier.

Mr. Jessee was married in 1911 to Miss Florence Bonetti. a daughter of
J. B. Bonetti of Santa Maria, acting agent for the LeRoy estate containing
several thousand acres of fine land in this valley. Mr. and Mrs. Jessee have
one son, Albert AV. Jessee.

]\Ir Jessee is a member of Santa Maria Lmlge No. 90, Knights of P3fthias.
The family reside in their lieaulilul bungalow home at tlie corner of Cook and
McCIellan streets.

JAMES M. HUGHES.— A resident of Santa Barbara county since a lad
of thirteen years, and one who does business on a large scale, for he has
grown up with the great western state of California, is James i\L Hughes,
living two and one-half miles east of Santa Maria. He was born May 16,
1876, in Pottawatomie county, Kansas, and attended the district school there
until he was about thirteen, when his parents, George and Rachel (Guthrie)
Hughes, packed up their belongings and came to Santa Barbara county in
1888. They are b..tli still li\ing, in Santa Maria. The father was born in
North Carolina and tlic nidther in Alissnuri; and their eight children were
Iiiirii in the East, three dying in early childhood. The others are: John F.,
who married Carrie Tomer ui S;m Luis Obispo County, lived in Santa Maria
miiil his death m 1912, and left twd children, Ruby and George ; and James M.,
1 bmier I'... I'loyd Lduis, and llarlcy A., all of Santa Maria.

Alter cduiiiig to California, hmies did odd jobs and later began working
on ranches by the month: and he has kept busy at that vocation ever since,
dred acres of the Suey ranch and ran that
twenty acres. He also started in threshing
ed bv a Twin Citv tractor engine, 40-70 h. p..

I-or ye;

irs he

leas,

L'<1 four

Inn

besides

his o\

\n o

ne luni

dred

l)eans, \

villi a

line 1

lUtllt o

perat

SAN LUIS OI'.ISPO COUNTY AND I-:X\-IRONS 917

and a Ventura bean thresher, 36-60 separator, 1;akin,t,r fifty-two men, four-
teen wagons anci forty-five horses to properly carry on operations duriiii;
the season. The daily average is 1,400 sacks, although he has threshed as
high as 2,000 sacks. The investment represents an expenditure of $17,000.
In 1916 Mr. Hughes farmed only his own land, formerly known as the Steling
ranch of eighty acres, and the Wolf ranch of forty acres adjoining.

In 1899 Mr. Hughes was united in marriage with Miss .\lthea A. Mc-
Henry, a native of Missouri, wlio came to California with her parents, Daniel
and Nancy (Rowe) McHenry. I>. .tli of whom are now deceased. They had
ten children, six of whom arc now living. One sister, Mrs. Mary Susan
Tapscott, died in 1916, leaving three sons and three daughters. One
brother died at sixteen. The others are: Sarah, wife of Lyman Barnard of
Lamar, Colo.; William Thomas, of Lompoc; Louisa, wife of Andrew Chap-
man, of Elk City, Kan.; Luella, wife of Carl Moeller, of Lompoc; James, of
Thayer, Kan. ; and Althea A., Mrs. Hughes, who attended the grammar and
high school of Santa Maria. She was graduated from the latter in the third
class after the organization of the school, and was valedictorian of the
class. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes have three children, Gladys, Inez and Leo. Mr.
Hughes is a Repuljb'can, and a public^spirited, self-made man.

JACOB P. HANSEN. — This much-respected rancher and public-spirited
citizen of Santa Maria began life in California with an empty pocket, but
willing hands, and now owns two fine ranches of seven hundred forty and
two hundred forty acres respectively, lying along the Santa Maria river, and
devoted to raising stock, grain, hay and Iieans, two hundred thirty-five acres
being tillable land. The proprietor of these ranches, Jacol) P., better known
as "Jack" Hansen, was born in Jutland, Denmark, February 26, 1869. His
parents were Hans M. and Lena M. (Jensen) Hansen, both born and deceased
in their native country. The former was a well-to-do farmer and was a
soldier in the war between Denmark and Germany in 1848-49-50. The parents
had eleven children, seven now living. One son, Peter, died in the Santa
Maria valley, and a daughter, Mrs. Margarita Jensen, lives at Nipomo.

Jacob P. Hansen, the other son, who is the subject of this review, was
educated in the common schools, confirmed in the Lutheran Cluirch and
reared on the home farm. His brother, Peter, had come to California, ant!
■ the glowing tales he wrote home fired his younger brother with a desire to try
his own fortunes in this land of opportunity. Hence he sailed from I'remer-
haven, Germany, on the lircmen line, and landing in New York, proceeded
at once to California, arriving at Nipomo on .April 23, 1888, where he joined
liis l)rother. When he started, he had only money enough to bring him to his
destination, and it was necessary for him to go to work; accordinglv he sought
employment, and for eighteen months worked for $23.00 ])er montli. Then,
with his l)rother Peter, he engaged in ranching on tlic Fugler rancli until the
death of his brother in 1896, since which time he has carried on business
on his own account, and has met witJi a decided success. He employs two
men the year round and si)ends a great deal of his own lime on Iiis ranches.
One ranch lies thirteen and one half miles southeast of Santa Maria, and the
other is in Foxen caiion.

Mr. Hansen was united in marriage with Mrs. Laurence lleisel — nee
(.'liristiansen — of Danish parentage, a native of Sclileswig-llolstein. Hy her
lust husband, two children were born; and after her union with Mr. Hansen
thrv were <:i\en tlie Hansen name and have been reared as his own. .\nnie

918 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

is the wife of Lmi Williams and has three children, their family residing
in Cat canon ; Alary married C. W. Uowell and resides at Arroyo Grande.
Mr. Hansen has been a very public-spirited citizen, and has served as a
school trustee for many years and is a member of the Knights of Pythias. He
is a Republican. In the fall of 1916 he bought a lot in Santa ^laria and erected
a modern bungalow home where he and his good wife reside in the enjoyment
of the comforts of city life, and where they are surrounded by a wide circle
of friends. They believe in the golden rule and are charitable towards those
less fortunate than themselves.

SANTA MARIA FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.— The nucleus of the pres-
ent library was due to the efl'orts of the Minerva Literary Club, which had
maintained a circulating library in Santa Maria for fourteen years prior to the
organization of the present institution. The ladies of the club had carefully
selected several hundred volumes during those years, and when the organiza-
tion of a library was proposed, the members of the club were untiring in
their efforts to make it a success. As soon as the liljrary was assured, the
club donated their books to start the collection.

Tlie project was launched by Miss Bertha Kumle, who was sent from the
State lil^rary to work up an interest in a library for Santa Maria ; her efforts
bore fruit, for besides the ladies of the Minerva Club, other prominent people,
including L. E. Blochman, P. O. Tietzen, J. F. Goodwin, A. McNeil, W. A.
Haslam, S. Fleisher and others, interested themselves in the project. Mr.
and Mrs. Paul O. Tietzen, always among those who are ready to help build
up the city, donated the half block of ground for the building site and fine
lawn. Negotiations were begun with Andrew Carnegie for a $15,000 dona-
tion, but word came back that the population would not warrant more than
$10,000 for a building, which he gave after the usual preliminaries had been
gone through with. The good people of the town wanted a better building
and were going to have it, so they went down into their pockets for the bal-
ance, and in a very short time, in 1908, the contract was let to Frank
Darby, and the building costing $12,000 was ready for occupancy in 1909.
In 1914 the city acquired the corner lot, which makes a lot about 300x200
feet for the library site.

In order to get the donation from Mr. Carnegie, the city entered into an
agreement to provide a sum o{ one-tenth of his donation each year for the
U])keep of the library. The amount appropriated by the city annually, there-
fore, is $1,200. The following board of trustees was appointed by the city
council : A. McNeil, J. F. Goodwin, L. E. Blochman, S. Fleisher, W. A. Has-
lam. J\Irs. Minnie Stearns was employed as librarian, and she still holds the
position, giving evidence of her administrative ability by the modern methods
introduced from time to time. There are 3,500 volumes on the shelves, and
additions arc made year by year. The library is well patronized by the people
of the city. The present board consists of A. McNeil, J. F. Goodwin, W. A.
Haslam, A. R. Jones, and M. A. Kerr.

The library is now a liranch of the Santa ISarbara County Free Library,
with six hundred volumes additional added to tiie collection of books by
mutual arrangement, which gives satisfaction to all the patrons. The Santa
Maria Library compares favorably with libraries in other cities of the same
size, and even larger than Santa Maria, and with its well-kept grounds it
adds very materially to the city's attractiveness.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 919

MARK H. WHITNEY.— To live in the midst of the unequaled fertility
of the Santa ]\Iaria \alley, is to have a broad outlook, and to aspire to great
things. Here as elsewhere there are specialties in agriculture, and he who
can so marshal his forces as to excel in the production of any desired com-
modity may be sure of an extended appreciation and an income commensurate
with the extent of his operations. Mark H. Whitney has fifty-two acres which
he cultivates to beans and grain, having besides a half interest in a threshing
outfit, with Joseph Lopez for a partner, and tries to operate both just a little
better than anyone else.

A native son, Mr. Whitney was born in Biggs, Butte county. May 20,
1886, a son of Mark and Elizabeth (Haas) Whitney. The father was born in
Litchfield, Mich., moved West when a boy, settling in Nevada, and later
became a stockman there, also following that vocation after settling in Butte
county. He married in 1884, in W'innemucca, Nev., brought his wife to
California, and after three and one-half years spent in Butte county, as a
stock-raiser, became the manager of a grain warehouse located on the Sac-
ramento river at Butte City, in Glenn county, and for eleven years held that
position, coming to Santa Maria in 1899. He died in 1905 at the age of fifty-
one. Mrs. Whitney is a daughter of Holgate and Ellen (Lee) Haas, born in
Chestnut Hill, Penn., and was seven years old when her parents settled in
Nevada in 1871, where she was reared and educated.

The only child of his parents, Mark H. Whitney attended the grammar
schools, and early began working on the farm; and after the death of his
father he took charge of the home place, and has continued to sucessfully
raise grain and stock. With his partner, Mr. Lopez, Mr. Whitney derives
a considerable income, during the season, from threshing. The outfit consists
of a Case separator, with a 32-in. grain cylinder and a 40-in. bean cylinder, a
60 h. p. Russell engine, fourteen wagons, fifty-two men, thirty-four horses, two
autos, and a cookhouse. The grain season lasts about sixty days and the bean
season about thirty days.

Mr. Whitney is a self-made man, highly esteemed for his devotion to
jjrinciple. He is a Mason, a member and past master of Hesperian Lodge No.
264, F. & A. M., and he al.so belongs to Fidelity Chapter No. 96, Royal Arch
Masons. He has a host of friends and is recognized as a public-spirited citizen.
He makes his home with his mother, who is a member of the Methodist
Church and active in tlie Ladies' Aid, in which she has been an officer.

JOHN ROBERT EARL. — The record crop of small wliite beans grown
on the Suey ranch in 1916 is credited to John Robert Earl. It excelled that of
all other tenants, bringing him, together with his crop of barley, a tidy sum.
Mr. Earl comes from the well-known Earl family and is a son of Robert W.
and Nettie (Mattingly) Earl. He was born in Santa Maria valley on the
Earl ranch, on August 20, 1889, of a family mentioned in the sketch of
Robert W. Earl, on another page of this work. He attended the iniblic school,
and from the time when he was twelve years of age he was able to drive a
twelve-horse team and plow, thus assisting his father on the home ranch
until lie was twenty-one.

Then he leased one hundred sixty acres of the Nicholson ranch and farmed
tor himself until 1913, at which time he rented three hundred seventy-five
acres of the Suey ranch, of which T. C. .\smus is superintendent. In 1016 his
yield of beans was 3,182 sacks from two hundred acres, sixteen .sacks to the
acre, forming the record production; and 1,300 sacks l)niugiit him nine cents

920 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

per pound. ^Ir. Earl has twenty head of work horses which he keeps btisy
the year around, and he himself is a hard and steady worker, knowing full well
that it insures his success.

On October 29, 1916, ^Nlr. Earl and :\Iiss Belle French, a native of this
valley, were united in marriage. She is a daughter of Charles French, who
resides south of Orcutt, and is a well-known rancher of that part of the valley.
Both Air. and Mrs. Earl are popular throughout the valley, where their entire
lives have been spent ; and they have many friends, among whom they are
social favorites. ]Mr. Earl is a member of Santa Alaria Lodge No. W, Knights
of Pythias, and is a self-made man.

T. C. ASMUS. — \A"ith the sterling qualities for which the German nation
is noted the world over, T. C. Asmus has worked his way forward to an
encouraging degree of success by his close identity with the ranching inter-
ests of the central coast counties, and especially in the Santa Maria valley, as
superintendent of the Suey rancho owned by the Newhall Land & Farming
Co. of San Francisco, consisting of George A. Newhall, president ; W. J\Iayo
Newhall, vice-president ; Aimer W. Newhall, secretary. This ranch is located
five miles northeast of Santa Maria, and contains 45,000 acres, part of which
is leased on shares to tenants who are responsible and energetic, and who
have been making a success of raising grain, hay and beans under the guid-
ance of Mr. Asmus. There are thirteen tenants on the Suey ranch, and one
tenant on the Todos Santos ranch of 11,000 acres near Casmalia, owned by
the same corporation. Forty thousand acres of the Suey and 7,000 acres of
the Todos Santos ranch are given over to grazing, and some of the finest
beef cattle and hogs sent to the market come from these properties. The home
ranch on the Suey has two hundred fifty acres under plow and employs from
nine to thirteen men. The live stock on the rancho's- broad acres is of the
highest grade, as noted by different packing companies of Los Angeles when
they assert that the best bacon hogs they get on the Pacific Coast come from
the Newhall Land & Farming Company of Santa Barbara county. The cattle
are raised from Durham cows and Hereford bulls, which, in the estimation of
the best cattle men on the Coast, yield better results than any other breeds.

The competent superintendent of these properties. T. C. Asmus, is a
native of Germany, born January 21, 1863, in the Kingdom of Prussia, on a
farm near the Harz mountains, and reared to the farm life. His father,
Frederick Asmus, died during the war of 1870 and left his widow, ]\Iarie
Tagedmeier Asmus, and their nine children, in fairly good circumstances.
She is still living in Germany, and at the age of eighty-five is hale and hearty,
licr father had charge of the government stage from Berlin to Halberstadt.
As a boy T. C. Asmus attended the common schools and the Real Schule,
a special kind of industrial high school, and matriculated at the agricultural
school at Baderslaben. from which he graduated with honors. He next be-
came an apprentice and served two years on a 4,000 acre farm to complete his
agricultural studies. The first year he received no w-ages and besides had to
pay his own board. He became a Verwalter or agent on this same farm,
wliich was named "Rittergut Hopenseen." By the time he was twenty-one,
he entered the army, serving from 1884 to 1887. He began as a private and
advanced to a member of the Lehr battalion of Potsdam, which was the Crown
Prince's body guard, virtually the pick of the German army. Having done his
military duty, he resigned from the army, after a two year's leave of absence,
which he had spent in America.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 921

During the spring of 1888, Mr. Asnuis landed at the rancho Corral de
Piedra near Edna, in San Luis Oljispo County, and for twenty-two months
worked as a farm hand in all branches of ranch work, finally becoming but-
termaker in the E. W. Steele dairy. He then accepted a position as foreman
on the Eagle ranch, and afterwards he took charge of the Nacimiento ranch
and remained for eleven years. The San Joaquin valley next claimed Mr.
Asmus as a resident when he became associated with Miller & Lux as superin-
tendent of the Santa Rita ranch, Miller's "home" ranch, at Mendota. We next
find Mr. Asmus in the livery business in San Francisco, where he conducted a
stable for five years and met with fair success.

Thereafter he accepted the position of superintendent with the Ncwhall
Land and Farming Co., and since assuming his duties, he has made the ranch
a dividend-payer. He collects the landlords' shares from the tenants, advises
the latter how to till the soil to get the best results, insisting on deep plowing
and at the proper time, and, while he is a dictator, gets results for the
tenants and owners alike. He is a man of ideas and strong will power; he
does not "guess," he "knows" ; in fact, the yields of hay, barley and beans are
greater mi the hills of the Sucy ranch than on the level valley lands south of
the rivciv In P'lii, nne hundred acres yielded 5,300 sacks of barley, one hun-
dred eleven pounds each. Since he took charge of the aiifairs of the rancho
more uniform results have been obtained than in former years. He keeps ac-
curate books ; knows the chemical composition of the soil, germinating quali-
ties of the seeds, temperature, rainfall; and distills the essence i>f truth from
statistics, and is guided accordingly.

In 1898, at San Miguel, Mr. Asmus niarrietl Miss ?*Iattie Smith, daughter
of Fred and Catherine Smith; and they ha\e two children, Rudolph and Mar-
garet. Mrs. Asmus is a member oi the Catholic Church, while he is a Lu-
theran. In politics he is independent. He is kind-hearted, generous to a fault,
just, and, Jibove all, square and prompt in dealing with his neighbors and fel-
low men, no matter what their station.

JOHN HENRY REINKE.— A pioneer of California in 1854, John Henry
Ueinkc \\as Ixirn in lianoxer. Cermany, August 7, 1835. His father, Dietrich
iveinke, was a farmer there, who married Miss Schumacher, and brought his
family to Cincinnati, O., in 1844, where the parents resided until their death.
Of their four children, John H. is the youngest; and he received his education
in the public schools of Cincinnati.

In 1854, John Henry Reiid<e came via the Nicaragua route to California.
Landing in San Francisco on May 19, he went to Coloma, and thence to
Yankee Jim, where he followed mining in the Sierras till 1857. He then
made his way to Indian creek, Del Norte county, and engaged in placer min-
ing until 1862. From 1862 to 1865, he mined on tlie Klanialii river, .\lter
wintering at Eureka, in the spring of 1866 he went to Silver City, Ida. His
next venture was made in the Lemhi valley, during the mining excitement
there. I'-Qr some years he followed mining and sawmilling in Idaho, Wash-
ington, Oregon, and Utah. One year lie hunted bulTalo in Texas, and then
mined for two years in Colorado, and for five years in Arizona. His health
being shattered, from exposure in hydraulic mining, and in damming streams
an<l bridging rivers, he was forced to quit the mines.

In 1886 he located in San Luis Obispo County and pre-empted one hun-
dred sixty acres in the Oak Flat district, with a view to taking up ranching.
lie cleared some of the land and set out an orchard of a variety of fruit

922 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

trees : and when these came into l)earing, he sold to the families in Paso
Robles. Here he Iniilt a house and barns, and had a cozy little home and
well-kept ranch.

On account of rheumatism. ;\Ir. Reinke sold his farm in 1916, and bought
a place on Olive and Twenty-first streets, in Paso Robles, where he makes
his home. One of the few now remaining of the old type of California miners,
he has been over a great portion of the West and is very familiar with the
mining geology of the country.

FRED EARL. — A man who meets and looks his fellow men squarely in
the face and parts with them on the square, as well as being a splendid type
of manhood, who is successfully farming on the Suey ranch, is Fred Earl.
He was born in the Santa Maria valley on the home ranch, November 20,
1883, into the famih' home of Robert W. and Nettie (Mattingly) Earl, a
more complete history of whom the reader may find in their sketch elsewhere
in this volume. He went to the district school and was reared to farm pur-
stiits on the home place near Garey until he was twenty-one, and then he
began for himself.

He is now in his fifth year as a tenant on the great Suey ranch, where he
leases five hundred seventy-five acres of land, raising grain, hay and beans.
He keeps twenty-five head of horses and from two to ten men busy all the
time, and has been very successful.

In September, 1";04, Mr. Earl was united in marriage with Miss Nellie
( )rand, who was born in Kansas, a daughter of Gideon and Lydia (Grimes)
Orand, who came to California when she was a child, so that in this state she
received her education. Mr. and Mrs. Earl have had three children. Leo,
Herbert and Harold, twins, the latter having died March 31, 1916, at the age
of three years.

They are members of the Eastern ."^tar and ]\lr. luirl is a member of
Plesperian Lodge No. 264, F. & A. M.. and of Santa ]\Iaria Lodge No. 90,
K. of P. Since reaching his majority, IMr. Earl has steadily made his own way
towards success and is giving his entire time and attention to building up his
fortune and career. As a result, he is already counted one of the successful
ranchers of the valle}' where he is so well and favorably known for his indus-
tr\' and strict integritv.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN NICHOLSON.— A well-to-do rancher, land-
owner and successful grain and liean grower, as well as a man of hon-
esty, industry and in^tegrit}-. Abraham Lincoln Nicholson is a descendant of
Revolutionary patriots and especially of Robert Livingston, one of the signers
of the Declaration of Independence. He was born October 30, 1864, at Ossian,
Winneshiek county, Iowa, a son of Powell and Caroline (Woodard) Nichol-
son, both natives of Pennsylvania, where they were married, later going to
Iowa in the early days. The Nicholson family is of English ancestry, the
progenitors settling in America in the early Colonial period, since which time
many have become distinguished citizens of this country. Robert Livingston
held blood- relationship with the Nicholson family.

Educated in the public schools of Iowa and reared on the farm until
1887, Mr. Nicholson then came to the Santa Maria valley, worked with his
brother Ellis Nicholson, superintendent of the Suey ranch, for two years, and
in 1889 started out for himself, leased land and in the fall of 1890 made his
first purchase of one hundred sixty acres nine miles southeast of Santa Maria,
to which he has added until he owns two hundred eightv acres there.

SAN LUIS OI'.ISPD COL'XTV AND KNXIRONS 923

His next biu" was one hundred acres one mile east of Santa Alaria, where
he hves and which land now is worth $300 per acre. Air. Nicholson has car-
ried on general farming, raising stock, grain and beans, and has been very suc-
cessful; and he has thus made a name and place for himself in the financial
circles of Santa Barbara count}-.

In September, 1892. Mr. Xicholson was united in marriage with Miss
Mary Snyder, whn was hoiMi in I Inllister, a daughter of John V. Snyder, a
carpenter and builder. I'.nth Mr. and Mrs. Snyder are now deceased. • Mr.
Nicholson is a menilier of the Inikpendent Order of Odd Fellows.

PHILIP SAMUELSON.— A farmer and horticulturist who is also en-
gaged in contracting and building, and has some of the modern residences in
Paso Robles to his credit. I'hilip Samuelson first came' to San Luis Obispo
County in 1888. Lie was born in IXalehusby, Dalene, Sweden, on January 21,
1864, the son of Rev. .Andreas .Samuelson, a minister in the Baptist Church,
wlio was an earnest and faithful preacher until his death. His wife, Carolina
( I'earson) Samuelson, is still living at the old home. Of their eleven chil-
dren, nine arc living, four of whom are in the United States, as follows:
Mrs. Williams, df Santa Cruz; Rew Samuel E., a Baptist clergyman in Michi-
!;an ; jMseph, who is engaged in the hotel business in Turlock ; and I'hilip,
of this review.

I'hilip Samuelson was brought up. and received a good educatit)n, in
his native place. When se\ entcen years of age, he began learning the cabinet-
maker's trade, but soon decided to migrate to the land of the Stars and
Stripes; so in 1881 we lind him in what is now Clay county, S. D., where he
worked at farming and also at the carpenter's trade. As soon as he was
twenty-one years of age, he homesteaded one hundred sixty acres in Faulk
county, S. D., began improvements on the property, and farmed it for three
years ; but these all proved to be dry years, and he became so discouraged
that he left it and came to San Luis Obispo County, Cal, in 1888. He began
working at his trade in Paso Robles; but finding work slack there, he went
to San I'rancisco and Santa Cruz, and found em])loymcnt in those cities until
18')0, wlun he returned to Paso Robles.

At l.inne. in 1891, Philip Samuelson was united in marriage with Miss
Abna Anderson, who was born in Westmanland, Sweden. Her father, An-
drew Anderson, was a watchmaker and jeweler, who brought his family to
Nebraska in 1878, where he worked at his trade in Stronisberg. Later he
migrated to Clearwater, Cal., and in 1887 came to San Luis Obispo County
and bought 5,000 acres of Dunning & Dresser. He laid out this tract and
sold about 2,000 acres, the rest going back to the original owners. The sale
of the subdivision was accomplished in about four years, the principal portion
sold being in and about Linne. .Afterwards he located at Compton, and later
moved to Los Angeles, where he died in .April, 191.=^. His wife was Anna C.
Pearsdatter, who died eight months after her husband. Of their thirteen
children, Mrs. Samuelson is the fourth in order of birth. She received lier
education in the public schools of Nebraska.

After his marriage. Air. Samuelson engaged in farming for two years,
wlun lie removed to Los .Angeles and for two years worked at his trade. He
then homesteaded one hundred sixty acres at Alanzanita P. O., Tehama
County. I'inding the location unsatisfactory, however, after two years he
left it and moved to Oakland. After one year there, he went to Washington.
where he engaged in contracting and building for seven years.

924 S.VX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

In 1907, jNIr. Samuelson returned to San Luis Obispo County and rented
his present place of fifty acres east of Paso Robles, and soon afterwards pur-
chased it. The land has been cleared, and a residence and barns have been
built. Tlicre is a well twenty-four feet deep on the place, with an inexhausti-
ble supply of water ; and a pumping plant has been installed for the irrigation
of the alfalfa fields. The higher ground is set to almonds and pears.

During these years, Mr. Samuelson has been engaged in contracting and
building. He has constructed many residences in Paso Robles and the
country adjacent. In his building operations he is assisted by his oldest son,
Elmer. The other children of the family are Florence, a graduate of Paso
Robles High School, now attending the University of California; ]\Iildred,
attending Paso Robles High School ; and Milton and Evelyn. ]\Irs. Samuelson
is a member of the Baptist Church in Paso Robles. Mr. Samuelson was for six
years a trustee of the Linne school district, until he resigned. Politicaly, he
is a Socialist.

HANS NISSEN AAROE. — A young man who. In' his energy and close
application, is making a success of farming, Hans Nissen Aaroe is a native
of California, born at Soledad, Monterey county, on June 10, 1890, the son
(if L. X. Aaroe, whose interesting life story appears elsewhere in this work.

Hans Nissen Aaroe was reared on the farm at Soledad, where he was
educated in the public schools until he reached the age of sixteen years, when
his parents removed to their farm near Paso Robles. Here he completed
the grammar school courses, and then turned his attention to farming, as-
sisting his father until he reached his majority, when, in partnership with
John Hansen, he leased the Dresser ranch of 3,000 acres. They operated
this property for a period of three years, when Mr. Aaroe bought his part-
ner's interest in the stock and implements, and they dissolved partnership.
He then leased the Louis Lauridsen ranch of seven hundred fifty acres, which
he devotes to grain and to stock-raising, operating it with two ten-horse teams,
and sowing about four hundred acres to wheat and barley each year.

The marriage of Mr. Aaroe occurred in San Luis Obispo, uniting him
with Miss Annie Jespersen, a native of California, born in Bakersfield, Kern
county, the daughter of John H. and Elisa (Lauger) Jespersen, who were
born in Schleswig, Denmark. They came to California when they were
young people, were married in San Luis Obispo, and engaged in farming.
The father died at Pozo in 1907, while the mother is now farming in the
Union district. Mr. and Mrs. Aaroe are the parents of one child, a little
daughter, Gladys Janet.

Fraternally, Mr. Aaroe is a nieml)cr of the Woodmen of the AVorld. In
matters of religion. l)oth he and his wife are of the Lutheran faith.

MRS. FRANCES E. LEWIS.— One of the old settlers of Paso Robles is
Mrs. Frances E. Lewis, who was born at Brownsville, Ind., on July 11, 1S36.
She is the daughter of Jeremiah II. and Elizabeth (Locket) Wilson, natives
of \'irginia, who removed to Brownsville, Ind., where they were engaged in
farming. In 1841 they located in Davis county, la., where Mr. Wilson was a
miller. Later he moved to Blackhawk, in the same vicinit)-, and there fol-
lowed farming. Still later, he was a farmer at Hamburg, la. ; and here he
and his wife died. Of their twelve children, Mrs. Lewis was the oldest. She
was raised on the farm, and was educated in the subscription schools held in
the rude pioneer log houses of those days.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 925

Her first marriage took place in Davis count}', la., on February 28, 1856,
when she was wedded to Rev. James Lambert, who was born in Lawrence
county, O., on September 25, 1830. He came out to Iowa, where for a time
he followed farming. After studying for the ministry, he was ordained in
the Baptist Church and became pastor of the congregation at Harlan, la.

In 1876 he came with his wife to Lompoc, Cal., and there engaged in
farming until 1887. Coming to Paso Robles, they homesteaded one hundred
sixty acres about three miles north of town, where they built a home and
improved the ranch. He organized the Baptist Church in Paso Robles, and
became its first pastor, continuing in the pastorate there until his health
failed and he had to give up the ministry. Having sold their ranch, they
l)uilt a residence in Paso Robles; and he died at his home, on August 10, 1899.
In early days he had been made a Mason.

Of the union with Mr. Lambert seven children were boril. as follows:
]\Ialissa Alice, Mrs. Lindner, of Paso Robles; James Albert, who resides in
Stockton ; William J., who died at the age of seventeen months : Louis A., of
Santa Maria ; Marinda J., Mrs. Morton, who died at the age of forty years ;
Hattie, Mrs. Grant, of Los Angeles ; and Carey W., of Oakland.

Al)out seven years after the death of her first husband, Mrs. Lambert
was married to I. M. Lewis, a native of Missouri and nn early settler of
California. Mrs. Lewis is a member of the Baptist Church, and of its local
Ladies' Aid Society. Politically, she is a Democrat.

GEORGE W. BRYAN.— A member of the firm of Bryan Bros., pro-
prietors of the Baden Market, and a resident of Paso Robles since 1892, George
\\'. Bryan was born in Norton county, Kans., April 1, 1884. His father,
A\ illiam N. Bryan, was born in Iowa. He was a farmer, who removed to
Norton county, Kans., where he was a pioneer and a homesteader. Coming
to the Coast, he located in Paso Robles, where he has since been proprietor
of Br^^an's Express Co., the leading transfer company of the place. George
r>ryan's mother, Belinda Alexander, was a native of Indiana.

When but a lad, George \V. Bryan came with his parents to Paso Robles,
where he grew to manhood. After completing the grammar-scliool courses,
he entered the employ of H. Nelson as a Initcher. Previous to this, when he
was only thirteen years of age, and while in the fifth grade at school, lie had
begun driving the delivery wagon for the same firm, mornings and evenings,
and on Saturdays ; and after graduating, he worked in all tiie departments,
and learned the butcher business in all of its details. Resigning his position
in 1905, he accepted an engagement with C. W. Steinbeck, tlie butciier in
Oakland, with whom he continued for a year. He was in Oakland at tlie
time of the San Francisco fire. Returning to Paso Robles in 1907, Mr. Bryan
became a partner of his former employer in the butcher business; and two
years later they also bought the Central Market at King City, and Mr. Bryan
removed to that place to manage the business. Later still, on selling his
interest in the Paso Robles Market, he became sole owner of the Central
Market in King City. There he continued in business for three years, and
tiun sold out and again removed to Oakland. .Six months afterward, lie
loft the .state and moved to Bandon, Ore., where he was employed at his
tr.ide for six months.

On his return to Paso Robles. he formed a ])artnership with his lirother.
J. I'.. Bryan, who had learned his trade under him; and they bought the
I'xulen Market on Pine street, where they have since been doing a successful

926 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

business. They have a im idern and well-equipped slaughter house, and the
market is up to date in all of its details. It is equipped with a California
cold-storage plant. They do both a wholesale and a retail business in meats,
manufacture sausage, and cure ham and bacon. Mr. Bryan, through his long
experience, has become an excellent judge of stock; and he does the buying
for the firm, making trips through this county and adjoining counties for
cattle, sheep, and hogs to supply the Baden Market.

In San Jose. George W. Bryan was united in marriage with ]\Iiss Theresa
Carpenter, a native of Kansas, who came with her parents to Arroyo Grande
when she was but a year old. They have two children. Gene and Nathalie,
who are attending school, and are being taught liy the same teacher under
whom their father received his first instruction.

Fraternally, Mr. Bryan is a member of the Knights of Pythias. He is
also an active member of the Chamber of Commerce. In politics he is a
Republican. In his spirit of local pride he is very liberal and enterprising,
assisting, as far as he can, with his time and his means, all worthy objects
that contrilnite to the upl)uilding df the community and the comfort of its
citizens.

JOHN CALVIN SPILLMAN.— A resident of California since 189L John
Calvin .Spillman was born in Montgomery City, Montgomery county. Mo.,
September 24, 1876. His father. Calvin Spillman, was born in Kentucky and
moved to Missouri as a boy. He learned the trade of the millwright, and
also of the blacksmith and the machinist, and followed these trades in I\Iis-
souri. In 1891 he brought his family to California, and for a time worked at
his trade at Honcut. Afterwards, he was engaged in erecting canneries in
Marysville and Yuba City. He died in 1908. the mother, Jennie E. (^fc-
Ilmoil) Spillman. was born in Iowa, of Scotch parentage. She now resides
in Hermosa Beach, Cal. Of her eight children, seven are living; and the
subject of this sketch is third in order of birth.

John Calvin Spillman was raised in Hannibal. Mo., and pursued his
studies in the public schools there till 1891, w^hen he came with his parents
to California. He then entered ]\Iarysville High School, from which he was
graduated. He was with George Hammersly for three years, learning the
cigar-maker's trade, but followed it for himself only about eighteen months,
not liking the' confinement nor the work. Entering the employ of the Sacra-
mento \'alley Irrigation Co. at ^^■iIlo\vs, he took up the scholarship and field
work, and two years later was made foreman of the field work. He con-
tinued with the company five years in all, until 1913, when he resigned to
accept his present position as foreman of field work and equipment for tlie
Atascadero Elolding Corporation, taking charge of his department on No-
vember S, 1913. Since then he has given it all of his attention, looking after
the entire equipment of the company, all machinery, implements, horses, etc.,
besides having charge of the field work. He took a special veterinary course
in the International School of Correspondence, in order the better to care
for the horses in his charge.

At Atascadero, on March 10. I''],;. |,,hn Calvin Spillman was united in
marriage with [Miss Margaret Thiimas, who was born at Livermgrc. Cal.,
the daughlcr of Mrs. A. I.. Tlumias. who is represented elsewhere in this
work. Mr. and Airs. Spillman have a residence in Atascadero, located in
block O. lie is a nunibcr nl San Luis Obispo Lodge, No. 322. B. P. O. E.
Politicalh'. he is an adniinistratirin democrat.

SAX LUIS oinsl'O C()UX'|-V AXD EXX'IROXS 927

CHRISTJAN N. JESPERSEN.— A native of San Luis Obispo. Christjan
N. Jespersen was born on April 5, 1890. His father, John H. Jespersen, was
a^ native of Denmark, who came with his father, Christjan H. Jespersen, to
California when he was one year old. The family located at Eureka, and
later moved to Watsonville, San Luis' Obispo County, arriving there when
John was about a dozen years of age. John Jespersen was raised at Los
Osos, and was educated in the public schools of his vicinity. He followed
blacksmithing in San Luis Obispo, and there he married Elizabeth Lager, a
native of Kolding, Denmark. They finally located on a ranch in the Cuyama
valley, Kern county, where he was a pioneer homesteader. After disposing
of his ranch, he removed to McKittrick and engaged in business as a general
contractor, and also served as constable. In 1902 he came to Paso Robles.
San Luis Obispo County, and took up cattle-raising. ITere, in 1907. he was
accidentally killed while hauling a load of hay over Rector grade: a colt in
his team caused the load to go over, and lu- was killed instantly. .After his
death the widow located at L'nion, where she engaged in grain-raising.

Mr. and Mrs. John H. Jespersen had nine children: Christjan X., of this
review : Herman, a farmer near Pa.so Robles : Clarence, a farmer near L'nion ;
Annie, Mrs. Hans N. Aaroe. of L'nion: Lester, who is assisting his mother;
and John, Marie, Llarry, and Elizal:)ctli, who are at home.

Christjan N. Jespersen completed the ])ul)lic schools in San Luis Obispo
County, and then took a course in the International Correspondence School
in bookkeeping and business law. When a lad he had learned to drive the
big teams in the grain fielids : and when his father died, he took charge of the
farm together with his mother. He was then seventeen years of age: and
he continued on the home farm, helping his mother, until 1913, when he
was married, in Union district, to Miss Jennie Iversen, a native of l'nion
and a daughter of C. .\.. Iversen, of whom also a sketch appears in this "work.

.\fter his marriage. Mr. Jespersen engaged in grain farming on the Pfister
place and three other places, operating 1,400 acres. In 1916 he leased a part
of the Estrella ranch, where he raises grain. He operates 1.300 acres, 1,100
.'icres of it being plow land. He uses two twelve-horse teams and has sown
seven hundred acres to grain, principally wheat. To reap the grain, he em-
ploys a combined harvester, with wiiich he reaps also for some of his
neighbors.

Air. and Mrs. Jespersen have two children. Lawrence and a baby. Mr.
Jespcrson was trustee and clerk of Union school district for three years. He
is a member of the Woodmen of the World, while .Mrs. Jespersen is a member
of the O. E. S. In ])olitics he is an Independent Democrat.

JOHN H. BUNCH.— A resident of California since 1873, and of San Luis
Obispo County the most of that time, John 11. Bunch was born near Berry-
ville, in Carroll county. .\rk., on Xovember 17, 1858. He is the son of Wil-
liam and Rebecca (Smith) Bunch, natives of Mis.souri and .\rkansas. re-
spectively. They were farmers, who came to California in 1873. The father
returned to Arkansas, where he died: the mother died in .\delaitia. Of
their four children, the subject of this sketch is the oldest, and the only one
now li\ing.

John H. Bunch was raised on the farm in .\rkansas, and was educated
in the local schools. In 1873 he came to California with his parents, and
worked on the home farm at Piano. In 1876 he came to .Vdclaida. San Luis

928 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUXTY AXD ]LX\IROXS

Obispo Cauiity, where he was employed at farming. He entered into part-
nership with liis brother, Stillman, and they continued farming at Adehiida
for three years, when they sold out and dissolved partnership. About 1884
he moved to the vicinity of Shandon, took up a homestead, and continued
ranching. I\Ir. Bunch was one of the early settlers of that section. After a
year at Arroyo Grande, lie returned to Shandon, where he remained until
1898. He then went to Hanford, and was there for fourteen years, when he
again returned to San Luis Obispo County, and rented on the Huntington
ranch, in partnership with J. T. Jones. They ran 1,100 acres for several years,
and then dissolved partnership. After this Mr. Bunch moved to Bradlev,
Monterey county, and there engaged in farming and stock-raising for the
following two years.

In 1916, Mr. Bunch returned to San Luis Obispo County and rented
part of the Estrella ranch, leasing about 1,200 acres there. He sows from
five hundred to six himdred acres to grain each year, using two ten-horse
teams, and employing a thirty-two horse-power combined harvester for gath-
ering his grain.

John H. Bunch was married in the Chrilame district to Miss Alary E.
Hammond, who was born near Jacksonville. 111., and came with her parents
to California when sixteen years of age. They have four children ; Bertie
Edison. Earl Ericksen, Ernest Ilollibe, and Elvin Eldred, all living at home.
In politics, he is a Democrat.

THOMAS JOHNSON. — Thomas Johnson, bookkeeper at the Sacramento
ranch, in San Luis Obispo County, is a native of England, born in Leeds,
Yorkshire, on July 25, 1886. His father, Henry Johnson, was also born there,
and was a law stationer in Leeds until his demise. His mother, Annie (Clark-
son) Johnson, is residing at their old home in Leeds. Of their four children.
Thomas is the only son, and the only one of their children who came to the
United States.

Thomas Johnson receixed his education in the grammar and high school
in Leeds. After graduating from the high school, he entered the municipal
service of his native city as an accountant, and continued so engaged until,
in the spring of 1913, he came to the United States. Arriving in Los Angeles,
in Alay of that year, and desiring outdoor employment, he found work on a
ranch in that vicinity until March, 1915, when he came to San Luis Obispo
County and took a position as bookkeeper at the Sacramento ranch. He has
since then continued in that position, assisting also in the supervision of the
place and giving all of his attention to the interests of the ranch.

In religious preference. Air. Johnson is an Episcopalian. lie is a sup-
porter of every mmement for the ui)lift of society and the jjromotion of the
public good.

ERNEST A. HAHL.— A resident of California for over twent.y-seven
years, and of San Luis Obispo County for more than twenty years, where he
is now engaged in farming and stock-raising in the Red Llills, near Shandon,
Ernest A. Ilahl was burn in Hanover, Germany, in 1871, a son of Peter and
Cathrina (Mulland) Ilahl, natives of that place, who spent their entire lives
in their native country.

lu-nest A. Ilahl w.is the youngest of five children in his jiarents' family,
and is the only one in (.alifornia. His childhood was s]ient on tlie farm at
Otterndorf. near Hanover; and he received his education in the public scliool.
AMien sexenteen vears of age, he decided to come to America. lie arrived

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 929

in New York City in 1888, and for some time was employed as clerk in a
grocery store there. In 1890 he came to San Francisco, where he was en-
gaged in clerking for a while, and then entered the employ of D. O. Mills, on
his farm at IMillbnry. Later he went to Los Angeles and worked on various
ranches in that vicinity.

?ilr. Hahl then came to San Luis Obispo County, now over twenty years
ago, and pre-empted eighty acres in the Cholame hills. He proved up on
this pre-emption, and then homesteaded one hundred sixty acres in the same
vicinity. He now had two hundred forty acres. He improved his place with
l)uildings ; and after several attempts at sinking wells, he succeeded in get-
ting sufficient water. Here he engaged in grain-raising, and also entered into
])artnership with a friend, J. C. Bors, who had a place of four hundred acres.
Mr. Bors sold his property and went to Napa; and one j'ear later ^Ir. Hahl
sold out and bought three hundred twenty acres, the nucleus of his present
ranch. He purchased quarter section after quarter section, until now he
owns over 1,200 acres, which he has cleared and broken up. The ranch is
located about ten miles east of Shandon, in the Red Hills section. It is sup-
plied with an abundance of water, from springs and wells ; and there is ample
pasturage for the live stock. Here he engages in cattle-raising, specializing
in Durham and Holstein cattle. His brand is bar H ( — H), left hip. He
has al:»out four hundred acres under plow, two hundred fifty acres in grain.
He operates his farm w^ith one big team. In 1916, Mr. Hahl completed a
new modern residence of the bungalow style, for which he hauled the lumber
from Paso Robles. He has set out orchard and shade trees, and vegetable
and berry gardens, near the house.

On December 12, 1914, Lrnesl A. Hahl \vas married, in San I'rancisco,
to Mrs. Ruby (Eggleston) Morrish, who was born in Eureka, Nev. She is
a daughter of Ruben Eggleston, a native of Auburn. X. Y. Her grandfather,
John Eggleston, also came to California, but died in Salt Lake City. The
family trace their history back to the Pilgrims who came over in the "Maj--
flnwcr." Her father crossed the plains to California in 184"^). He passed on
to Nevada, where he was one of the Avell and favorably known pioneer pros-
pectors and miners at Eureka and Virginia City. Later he came to California,
and was engaged in mining in this state until the time of the mining excite-
ment at Cripple Creek, Colo., when he went to that locality. .\ typical miner,
he was interested in the Alaska boom, and afterwards in the mining operations
at Goldfield, Nev. He now resides at .\ransas Pass, Tex. Mrs. liahl's
mother was Mary McGinley, who was born in Folsom, Cal. She was a
daughter of John McGinley, a native of northern Ireland, who came around
Cape Horn to California when a boy of seventeen, arriving at San Francisco.
For a time he worked in the mines, but later went onto a large ranch in
Sacramento county. The big flood of 1862 washed away his buildings. He
helped construct the levees. Some time after this, he engaged in the the-
atrical business. He ran an opera house in Reno, Nev., and one in Idaho,
and another in Salt Lake City : but each burned down, and he became dis-
couraged with the business. He died in Nevada.

There were two children in the family of Ruben and Mary (Mc(iinlcy)
Eggleston; and of these Mrs. Hahl is the elder. She received her education
in the public schools of San Francisco and of Humboldt county. By her
first marriage she had one daughter. Ruby Naomi (Morrish) Hall. Of her
uninii witli Mr. Ilahl a son was born, Ernest .\ugust, Jr.

930 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Mr. Ilahl has Ijcen a trustee in Choice \'alley district. ;\Irs. Hahl is a
member of the Star King Chapter of the O. E. S., in San Francisco, and a
trustee of Alliance school district.

JOHN W. McALPIN.— A resident of San Luis Obispo County since ISW,
and a highly esteemed citizen of the vicinity of Creston, John W. AIcA-lpin
was horn in London, England, in 1870. His father was also named John, ,
and w as a nati\e of Perth, Scotland. The IMcAlpin family trace their ancestry
])ack to al)out the tenth century, to Kenneth McAlpin, king of Scotland. The
grandfather. Jnlm ^iFcVlpin, was also born in Perth; and he, as well as his son
John, were country gentlemen, the latter spending many years in London.
There the subject of this review was reared and received his education in
private schools, later attending Albert Memorial College, in Suffolk.

Soon after his graduation, young John McAlpin came to California,
locating in San Luis (Hiispn Cdunty, whore he selected and purchased his
present ranch of two hundred ten acres on the Santa Margarita road, near
Creston. He has improved the i)niperty, and here he is successful!}- engaged
in farming and stock-raising.

John W. McAlpin was married in San l-'rancisco to Miss Alice lilake,
a native of that city, and the daughter of Dr. James Blake, a prominent physi-
cian on Gearv street. They have three children : Douglas Ian, .\Hce and
Elizabeth.

Mr. Mc \lpni has reason to he ])r(ind of his Scotch lineage. He is a mem-
ber of the Sons of St. Ceorge. in national politics he is a Democrat; while in
matters of religion he is an h'piscopalian.

F. J. FILOUCHEAU.— F. J. Filoucheau is a native son of California,
born in San Juan Bautista, San Benito county, November 23, 1869. His
father, Matthew Filoucheau, was a native of Bordeaux, France, and came to
San h'raiicisco in the pioneer days of California, wdien he was a young man.
After he liad clerked for a wholesale house in that city for a time, they sent
him to Mazatlan, IM'exico, and from there he came to San Juan, where he
engaged in the mercantile business for many years, .\fterwards he opened
and conducted a restaurant, and became widely known as one of the finest
chefs on the coast, his excellent menus giving him fame throughout the state.
He died in 1894, aged sixty-four years. His wife was Albina Boronda, who
was born near San Juan, the daughter of Camelo and Francisca (Castro)
Boronda, both natives of California. She died at the home of her daughter.
Mrs. K. V. Careaga. Matthew and Albina (Boronda) Filoucheau had ten
children, only two of whom are living: the oldest, Maria AntMuia, the
widow of the late Ramon F. Careaga, who resides in San Jose ; and tlic suIj-
ject of our sketch, who is the second youngest of the family.

1*". J. Filoucheau received his education in the public schools of San Jose.
.After leaving school he apprenticed himself to the tinsmith's trade, which he
followed for about five years. He then gave u|i his trade to engage in the
rcstaur.-mt business in San Juan ; and later he removed to Santa Barbara,
where he became proprietor of the St. George Restaurant. In 1912, he came
to Los .Alamos as proprietor of the Depot Hotel, and also of the St. George
Hotel, continuing here until 1913, when he sold out and opened the Hotel
Camino Real at San Juan Bautista, on the state highway between Salinas and
Gih-oy. .\ year later, however, he sold out and returned to Los Alamos, where
he remained on Mrs. Careaga's ranch for a year. In 1916, he bought the St.
George Hotel, which he improved; and since then he has been its proprietor.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 931

Being a fine chef, he is at the head of the culinary department ; and he also
directs the hotel and service. The meals at the St. (Jeorge are excellent, and
the hotel is well and favorably known.

Mr. Filpucheau was married, in San Juan Baptista, to Genevieve Ramoni,
wild was born in Hollister, the daughter of James Ramoni, a prominent pio-
neer contractor and l^uilder, who later I)ecanie a rancher. His wife was
Francisca Williams, who comes of a very prominent old family, Ijeing related
to the Carlisles and Jessuruns of Los .Angeles. Mr. and Mrs. Filoucheau
liave one child. Marguerite.

Mr. Filoucheau is a niemhor of tlie 1. 1). F.. S. In jxilitics, he is a
Democrat.

ISAAC SIMS. — One of the oldest pioneers of the Adelaida district in
San Luis Obispo County, and for many years a farmer and blacksmith there,
Isaac Sims was born in Indianapolis, Ind., .\pril 5, 1838, a son of Mathew
Sims, a native of Ohio, whose father, James Sims, was born in England and,
coming to the United States, became a pioneer in Ohio, and later in In-
dianapolis. Here, for some time, James Sims followed his trade as a hatter,
still later moving farther west and settling in Des Moines, la., where he con-
tinued at his trade. He next made his way to Springfield, Mo. ; and from
there, in 1857, he came to California. He and his wife had fourteen children,
one of whom, James Washington Sims, had come to this state in 1849.
Mathew Sims accompanied his father in 1857. The old gentleman and his
family lived in Half Moon Bay for a time, later moving to Sacramento
county, and then to Ma.son Valley, near Carson City, Nev., where he died
at the age of ninety-seven years, hale and hearty to the last.

Mathew Sims was married in Indiana to ]\Iiss Nancy Devce, who was
born in Ohio. He was a millwright and miller, and followed his trade in
Indiana, and later in Des Moines, la., and in Springfield, Mo. In 1857 he
came with liis father across the plains to California, in the train known as
the Ca]itain Derby train, consisting of one hundred men, with ox teams and
about five hundred head of cattle. Their numbers insured them from Indian
attacks and the train came through in safety. Captain Derby Iiad made four
trips across the plains and knew Indian character well. .At different times
he let the Indians take the cattle to graze over night, and they returned
them in the morning. In California, Mathew Sims engaged in farming at
Half MiH,n Bay. Later he removed to the vicinity of Sacramento, and then
to Lcidi. where he was engaged as a wagon-maker. He went from there to
.Mason \ alley, Nev., and ran a wagon shop. Here he died at the age of
seventy-six years; and his wife died the year following at the same age. Of
their eleven children, the subject of this sketch was the fourth in order of
birth, and is the only one living.

Isaac Sims attended the pioneer schools in Si>ringficld, Mo., and had an
uneventful life up to 1857, when he crossed the i)Iains with his parents,
driving an (ix team all llie way, and taking six months for the trip. After
the family had settled at Half Moon Bay, he went to school two seasons
and then learned the blacksmith's trade, working in a shop near Brighton.
Sacramento coynty. In 1866 he went to Carson City, Nev., and bought an
interest in a blacksmith shoj), where he continued in business about five years.
He then opened a blacksmith shop in Mason Valley, where the Sims families
were among the early pioneer settlers, and where Isaac remained about five
years.

932 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

In June, 1876, he came back to California and settled for a time in San
Luis Obispo County, but soon went back to Nevada and engaged in black-
smithing in Carson City. He returned to this county, however, and in October,
1878, homesteaded one hundred sixty acres of land in the Adelaida district,
the nucleus of his present ranch. Here he made a home, and subdued and
improved the land. He built a shop and did blacksmithing until 1913, when he
retired from the trade. In the meantime he was engaged in grain-growing
and stock-raising, and added to his property one hundred sixty acres, adjoin-
ing, by purchase. Cloverdale Ranch comprises three hundred twenty acres
lying in the northern part of the Adelaida district, twelve miles from Paso
Robles. It is well named for the abundance of clover grown on the place.

On November 18, 1870, in Stockton, Mr. Sims was united in marriage with
Miss Adeline Melissa Etta Stoker, a native of Iowa, born near Council Bluffs,
a daughter of Jacob and Catherine (Burcham) Stoker, who had removed from
Indiana to ^lissouri, and then to Council Bluffs, where they were pioneers.
In 1.S3'' tlu-\' came across the plains in an ox teani train as far as Salt Lake,
l>riii;^iim their li\e children with them. There they passed the- winter; and in
the spring of 18(jO they arrived at Placerville. In the fall of that year they
located on a ranch near Sacramento, going thence to Nevada. The parents
of ^Irs. Sims spent their last days with her. Of their eleven children, she is
the sixth in order of birth. She was educated in the public schools at Sheldon,
Cal. Mr. and jNIrs. Sims have raised a nephew, Arthur L. \\'ithrew, who
resides in the Adelaida district.

Mr. Sims is a charter member of Cayucos Lodge, I. O. O. F. In national
politics he is a Democrat. Always interested in the cause of education, he
has served as a school trustee of Lincoln district for over sixteen years, de-
clining to serve longer. The site for the sclioolhouse of this district was
donated by ]\lr. and Mrs. Sims.

RISDOM W. ROBERTSON.— The late proprietor of Hotel Margarita,
Risdom W. Robertson, was born near Dyersburg, Tenn., December 5, 1859,
a son of Henry and Mary (Jones) Robertson, who were born in Tennessee
and North Carolina respectively. The paternal grandfather, Risdom Robert-
son, was of Scotch descent, and migrated to Tennessee, where he became a
planter. On the maternal side, the grandfather, Humphrey Jones, came
from North Carolina to Tennessee, when his daughter Mary was eight years
old. Henry and Mary Robertson followed farming in Tennessee during their
active life, and both died there. Seven children were born into their home:
Noah and Lizzie, now Mrs. Ward, who reside in Tennessee; Risdom W.,
deceased, and Mary, now Mrs. S. P. Robertson, of Santa ^Margarita ; Nannie,
now Mrs. W. L. Robertson, of Arlington, Wash.; Sally, now Mrs. Worrel,
who lives in Tennessee: and Mattie. Mrs. Ferguson, wlm died in Seattle,
Wash.

Risdiini W. Ixiihertsnn was raised on a farm, .-md his education was
secured in the Incal schools and academies, after which he taught school for
a time. Later he engaged in the merchandise business in hViendship, Tenn.
Coming to Washington, then a territory, he homesteaded and took a pre-
emption, and a timber claim, and engaged in the lumber business. He then
built a hotel in Arlington, and carried on the business until ill health necessi-
tated his seeking a milder climate. In 1896 he sold out and came to Cali-
fiirnia, and for three years was located in San J\liguel. In IS')') he pur-
chased the hntel in Santa .Margarita, moved there and continued the business

SAN LUIS OmSPO COUNTY AND ]':N\TR0NS 933

lie had become interested in while in Washington. Mr. Robertson bought the
opposite corner, 75x150 feet in size, and built the Santa Margarita Garage, a
lire-proof structure, and the largest in town. I'urther to improve the prop-
erty, he erected a residence in the rear. Me also owned the Robertson Hall,
in the rear of the hotel. He was interested in building up the town, and to
him much credit is due for his enterprise and public spirit. He was a
]irtjminent meml)er of the Odd Fellows. In ])olitics, he supported Republican
candidates.

Near Friendship, Tenn., on November 30, 1891, occurred the marriage
of R. \V. Robertson with Miss Julia Bryant, who was born in that locality.
She was a daughter bi William Bryant, a native of South Carolina, who
moved to North Carolina. He served in the Confederate arm}' during the
Civil War. He married ]\Iiss Elmina Seapaugh, a native of North Caro-
lina, of German descent : and they moved to the vicinity of Friendship, Tenn.,
where they engaged in farming, and where he still resides. There the
mother died in 1905. They had six children, four of whom are living, Mrs.
Robertson being the oldest and the only one on the Coast.

Since the death of her husband, on February 8, 1916, Mrs. Robertson has
continued the hotel business, and has al.so looked after the other property
interests. She has two children ; Nellie, now Mrs. Walter Walker, of Taft,
Cal. ; and Callie, who resides with her mother. Both daughters were edu-
cated in the Paso Robles high school. Like her late husband, Mrs. Robert-
son is a sujjportcr of the principles of the Republican party.

ANDREW H. IVERSEN. — A progressive and energetic native son who
is making good as a grain-raiser on the Estrella ranch, Andrew H. Iversen
was born on December 26, 1886. He is a son of C. A. Iversen, who is men-
tioned elsewhere in this work. Andrew spent his childhood on the farm,
and went to the public schools in the Union district. When a lad he began
to learn the details of grain-farming under iiis father; and for years he re-
mained with him on the home farm.

.Andrew H. Iversen was married on April 14. 1909, to Miss Margartha
I'aulus, a native of Missouri, who came witii iicr jiarents to this county when
she was a child. She is a daughter of P. C. and Louisa Paulus, who were
.farmers in the Geneseo district, and who now reside in Union. Mr. and Mrs.
Iversen have four children : Edith, Howard, IClnier and Edward.

After his marriage Andrew Iversen continued with his father on the
Iversen ranch until 1911, when he leased the IVfrs. V. E. Brooks place of four
hundred eighty acres, and for the ensuing four years engagcfl in grain-
raising there. He then moved to the Estrella ranch, where he had leased
a large tract in partnership with H. B. McWilliams. They have about 1.0(X)
acres of this tract seeded to grain. One hundred acres is devoted to barley;
but wheat is their main crn|). They use two twelve-horse teams for operating
tiie ranch.

Mr. Iversen is a stockholder in the Farmers .Mliance Uusiness .Associa-
tion of Paso Robles, and also in the Paso Robles & Shandon Telephone Co.;
and he was instrumental in building the side lines. He is a jiartner with his
father, C. A. Iversen, ami C. F. Iversen, in one hundred sixty acres of land
near Union, suitable for almonds, to which they have set out twenty-six
acres. He is also interested in the Goo<l Will Mining Co., at Los Osos. He is
a member and clerk of the board of trustees of the I'liillips school district. He
was made a Mason in Paso Robles Lodge, No. 286. F. & A. M.

934 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

OSCAR E. HALLSTROM.— A native of Iowa, lx)rn near Red Oak, on
April 30, 1879. Oscar E. Hallstrom is a son of Nicholas Hallstrom, a black-
smith liy trade, who was born in Sweden, and settled in Iowa when a young
man. He followed his trade in that state and there married, later removing
to Polk covmty. Neb., where he became a farmer. In 1887 he came to Cali-
fornia and located in San Luis Obispo County, where he bought one of the
first tracts laid out by Anderson on the Dresser ranch at Linne. He had one
hundred fifty acres of fine land ; and here he built a brick house, and engaged
in farming until his death about nineteen years ago. The mother died when
Oscar was a babe of eighteen months.

Oscar Hallstrom was reared in Nebraska until he was nine years of age,
when he was brought to this state by his father and attended the public
schools in the vicinity of Linne. When a boy he became familiar with the
details of successful grain farming \vhile assisting his father on the home
place; and after his father's death, he ran the ranch for two years. He then
went to Chino and for one year worked at drilling water wells. Returning to
Linne, he farmed the old home place, and one hundred sixty acres adjoining,
for six years, ^^"ith the proceeds he bought an alfalfa ranch near Chino, and
the following four years were spent in raising hay. He liked grain farming
better; and so he again came back to San Luis Obispo County and engaged in
that vocation. He now leases the Woods place of six hundred forty acres six
miles south of Shandon, where he is successfully carrying out his ideas, and
has about three hundred fifty acres in grain, principally w-heat. In the culti-
vation of his ranch he uses a ten-horse team and the necessary modern imple-
ments. He has a blacksmith shop on the place, where he docs hiirseshoeing
and repair work on the farm machinery.

Mr. Hallstrom was reared in the Baptist Church, and still holds to that
faith. In politics he is a Democrat. He has served as a trustee of the
Linne school district for several years. Mr. Hallstrom is a self-made man
and holds the respect of all with wh(_)m he has been associated both in busi-
ness and in social circles.

ISAAC NEWTON TRUESDALE.— It is to the pioneers that the County
of San Luis Obispo is indebted for much of her pros]5erity, for they came to
this wilderness in an early ilay, blazed the trails over almost impassable sec-
tions of timbered mountains, and eventually brought order out of chaos and
established markets and systems of transportation, so that in this later day
their descendants and others may enjoy life in quiet contentment. Such a
man is Isaac Newton Truesdale, one of the oldest settlers of the Cholame
district, where he has lived since the fall of 1885, and where he owns two
hundred thirty-three acres of land at the junction of the Cholame and San
Juan valleys, about one and one-half miles above Shandon. He was born in
Rrookfield, Trumble county, ( )., on August 2, 1846, a son of Jonathan Hoover
Truesdale, a native of Mercer county. Pa., where he was born in 1806. Jona-
than Truesdale had learned the trade of a wagon-maker in Youngstown, O.,
and liecamc a carpenter in Trumble county, and later in Allen county, where
he died at the age of seventy-four years. The mother, Matilda (Keefer)
Truesdale, was a \"irginian. horn on .\]'>r\\ 5. 1817, who. after the death of her
husband, came to California and died at Shandon in 189.^, aged about sevent}'-
eight.

The fourth child in tlic family of scyen wlio grew to mature years. Isaac
N. was bniuglit uii near Lima, in Allen duntv. ().. and was educated in the

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 935

I)ublic schools. From school he volunteered for service in the Civil War, on
February 14, 1865, in Ccmipany C. 192nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, being
mustered in for one year, and was sent into the Shenandoah valley. He
served faithfully through the balance of the conflict, and was mustered out
on September 7, 1865, at the close of the war. He had two brothers in the
service : John Milton, of Co. B, 99th Ohio, who died in the service ; and George
K., of the 81st Ohio, who was promoted to First Lieutenant of Co. B, 151st
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was wounded in service.

The war over, Mr. Truesdale resumed his studies for a time, and then
learned the painter and decorator's trade in Lima, O., and engaged in business
as a contracting decorator. He was married near Beaver Dam, in Allen
county, on September 16, 1875, to Miss Aurilla D. Hollen. She was born in
that county, a daughter of Henry D. \'. and Nancy H. (Nichols) Hollen,
natives of Ohio and Pennsylvania respectively. The father died and the
mother, now Mrs. Richards, lives on a homestead on San Juan creek. Mrs.
Truesdale is the second in order of birth of eight children.

After his marriage, 'Sir. Truesdale resumed his trade, and followed con-
tracting and painting in Lima until 1885, when he decided to come to Cali-
fornia. He arrived in Los Angeles, and soon after came up into San Luis
Obispo County, where he pre-empted one hundred sixt_v acres near Cholame
and began to make improvements, erecting buildings and breaking and
clearing the land. Here, for some years, he followed farming. He came to
this state on account of his health, which he gradually recovered, although it
was ten years before he had fully regained his strength. In 1905 he went .to
the San Joaquin valley and began work again as a painter, at which he has
continued ever since. He has worked at his trade throughout San Luis
Obispo County and the adjoining counties.

Mr. Truesdale has bought land adjacent to his property, and now has two
liuiidrcd thirty-three acres in a highly cultivated condition, with fine improve-
ments— wells, windmills and tanks, and two sets of farm buildings. For
some years he has rented tiic ranch to his son Smith, while he himself follows
his trade as a painter.

Four children ha\e been l)orn to Mr. and Mrs. Truesdale: Harry .\., em-
lilDved in the post office at San Luis Obispo; Dwelle Smith, who is operating
the home ranch ; Bina U., Mrs. Lampson, of Shandon ; and Robert Lincoln,
of Shandon.

Mr. Truesdale has been a school trustee of Shandon district, and for
three years was clerk of the board. He is a member of I'red Steele Post. Xo.
70, G. A. R., of San Luis Obispo, and Iiis wife belongs to the Woman's Relief
Corps of that city. Both are members of the local Methodist Church since
its organization. They heli)ed build the church, and Mr. Truesdale has been
one of the trustees, while Mrs. Truesdale was su]ierinten(lent of the Sunday
school. They are both strong for temperance, and are Republicans.

frank' J. BOWERS.— The well-known firm of Bowers and Parneil.
i'ord agents and proprietors of the Santa Maria Garage, located on Broadway
at Church street, in Santa Maria, of which F. J. Bowers is senior member.
is one of the going concerns of the city, and since its establishment on May 1.
19W), has taken its place in the business circles of Santa Barbara county.
Mr. Bovvers was born at Camden, N. V., October 3, 18b4, a son of Conrad and
Mary Bowers. The father was of German descent, born in New York State,
and was a railroad builder. Both he and his wife are now deceased.

936 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

The fourth in a family of eight children, F. J. Bowers attended school
until he was nine, and then went to work in a factory. This kind of employ-
ment he followed in various places, until he went into business on his own
account. From the age of twenty he has held responsible positions, starting
in bjr firing the boilers in a sugar factory at Rome, N. Y., then being promoted
to the position of assistant superintendent. His next post was in the beet
sugar factory at Binghamton, N. Y., filling the same responsible position as
before. He then came West and was made assistant superintendent of the
factory of the Great Western Sugar Co. at Easton, Colo., filled the position
one year, and was then sent to Windsor, the same state.

There Mr. Bowers filled the same position for the same company until
1905, when he came to California and for one year served as assistant super-
intendent of the Betteravia Sugar Factory for the Union Sugar Co. He was
promoted to the superintendency of the factory, a position he filled with satis-
faction to the company and the employes until he resigned, to enter into his
present business. During the eleven years he was connected with this great
industry, Air. Bowers, more than any other, planned and executed nearly
every advance made towards enlarging the factory and its operations ; and he
understands every detail of making sugar from the raw product.

On May 1, 1916, with Harry Parnell, the Santa INIaria Garage was estab-
lished, and modern machinery was installed for the repairing of all kinds
of machinery and engine work, and a pattern shop was built. The firm
secured the agency for the Ford automobile and since their opening have
sold many car loads of machines. That both of the partners are hustlers
speaks for itself; they are energetic, public-spirited and heartily in accord
with the progressive movements for the upbuilding of this section of the state.

Mr. Bowers was married in Rome, N. Y., to Miss Catherine Baulig,
daughter of Anthony Baulig, a native of Rome, N. Y. Of this union five chil-
dren have been born : Genevieve, who married Oscar Doane of Betteravia ;
Loretta, the wife of Walter Stokes of Guadalupe ; Winnifred ; Leona ; and
Clifton. Mr. Bowers is a member of San Luis Obispo Lodge No. 264, B. P. O.
Elks, and of the Santa Maria Lodge No. 180, K. O. T. M. During the years
of his association with the Santa Maria valley, Mr. Bowers has gained prestige
year by year as a man of square dealing and strict integrity.

EUGENE D. RUBEL.— The ambitious nature of Eugene D. Rubel has
found an outlet in his activities as proprietor of the Crescent Garage in Santa
Maria, where he is proving the desirability of this part of California as a busi-
ness center. A native of Germany, he was born in Niedersteii'enbach, Rhine
province, October 20, 1880, a son of Daniel and Charlotte (Brill) Rubel, both
born and reared in Germany, who brought their family to the United States
in 1886. On arrival, the family settled in Rockford, 111., where the six chil-
dren attended school. Both parents and the children are now deceased, with
the exception of Eugene D.

^^'llen a lad of six years, Eugene D. came with his parents to this
country and attended the public schools in Rockford, afterwards going to
work fur Emerson Talcott & Co., manufacturers of agricultural implements
in that city. Later he worked on various farms in Winnebago county, 111.,
until coming to California in 1902.

He arrived in Santa Maria in 1905 and soon after organized the Crescent
Garage with the following officers : J. U. Stair, president : E. D. Rubel. vice-
president ; G. H. "S"oungling. secretary; C. W. Murdock, treasurer. The busi-

SAN LUIS omSPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 937

ness was begun on a small scale and gradually grew in volui^ie ; and in five
months after opening the establishment for business, Mr. Rubel began buying
up the stock owned by the other shareholders, and since March I, 1914, has
been sole proprietor. The business has grown rapidly, an extensive machine
shop for doing all kinds of automobile and auto engine repairing is main-
tained, a general garage business is carried on and every de])artment is
ii|uipped with the most modern appliances for facilitating the business.

Since its opening, too, the garage has been enlarged from time to time
by four additions; the last change made was the leasing of the A. H. Froom
building where Mr. Rubel has installed a complete line of motor car parts and
accessories, located his main office, and fitted up a modern waiting room for
ladies in the space formerly taken up by his office. He is agent for the Vim
truck. Dodge Bros, cars, Hudson and Buick, and has sold his share of motor
cars throughout the valley. He has always been square in his dealings \vith
the public, and strictly honest and just with his employes, who now number
fifteen, all experienced workmen. His garage and machine sho]) at 201 to 209
South Broadway is a busy plant, covering half a block.

In 1910 "Sir. Rubel was united in marriage with Miss Nellie Voight, a
daugiiter of the late Albert X'oight, a prominent merchant of Nelson, Neb.,
her grandfather, William Ziock, also deceased, having been a w^ealthy manu-
facturer in Rockford, 111., and one of the organizers of the Burson Knitting
Works, and the Rockford Mitten & Hosiery Co. Mrs. Rubel is a graduate
i)f the Rockford College, and supjjlemented her education by tliree years of
travel in Europe. She is a lady of many accom])lishnients and the mother of
three bright and interesting children, Edward, Catherine and Dorothy. Mr.
and Mrs. Rubel's home on Cypress street is one of comfort and cheer. He
is a member of the Knights of Pythias, is a man of unquestioned integrity,
makes and retains friends, and slinws his public spirit by giving his su])pint
:iiid cii-o'peration ti) all mo\cmcnts for the betterment of the communitv.

VALLEY SAVINGS BANK.— A subsidiary of the Bank of Santa Maria,
the \'alley Savings Bank, organized September 1, 1901, with a capital of
$25,000, is nevertheless an independent entity. The directors at that tmie
were Paul O. Tietzen, M. Thornburg. William H. Rice. L. E. Blochman, and
A. J. Souza; W. H. Rice was elected ])resident and Thcs. P.. Adam was ap-
i)ointed cashier of the institution.

The ])ank wields a great influence in the Santa Maria valley, an<l its pa-
Irons include the professional and business men and ranchers, with many
women and children who have acciuired the excellent habit of sa\ing. The
bank has paid a dividend of seven per cent annually on its original cai)ital.

The directors now serving are ^^'. II. Rice, A. J. Souza, John G. Prcll,
Paul O. Tietzen, and Guy L. Goodwin. On December 31, lOl('), the resources
of this financial institution had reached $336,476.35. It is housed in the old
bank building on ^lain street, where it has ample quarters and facilities for the
conduct of its growing l>usiness.

WILLIAM MACDONALD.— A native of Scotland. William Macd.mald
was l)orn at Glasgow, .March 1, 1882, a son of John and Margaret (Brodie)
.Macdon.ild. also natives of that country, who came to the United States and
settled in Wisconsin in 1885, one year later moving to Dell Rapids. S. Dak.,
where the lather opened a stone and granite quarry. They eventually came to
California, settling in Santa Rosa: and there the father died, in 1914, aged
seventy years. The widow is still living in that place.

938 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

^^'illiam ■\Iacdonald was but three years old when his parents came to
the United States and settled in Dell Rapids. There he graduated from the
high school with the class of 1901, and then attended the University of South
Dakota at Vermilion for two years, after which he went to Prescott, Ariz.,
and became bookkeeper for a mining company. In 1904 Mr. Macdonald en-
tered the employ of Fairbanks, Morse & Company in Los Angeles, and a
short time later was sent to Santa Maria to take charge of their work. For
ten years he Avas their general agent, with headquarters at Santa Maria and
territory extending from Paso Robles to Santa Barbara.

During these years, Mr. Macdonald became very well acquainted in the
section covered by his territory, was always square in dealing with the public
and so easily built up a good reputation. In 1914, therefore, he felt justified
in engaging in business for himself and opened his present place in Santa
Maria, where he deals in all kinds of machinery and supplies, windmills and
accessories, pumps and electrical machinery, besides having the agenc_\- fur the
Fairbanks Morse and Co.'s line of goods.

Mr. Macdonald was united in marriage with Miss Belle Glines, daughter
of Cassius H. Glines, and they reside in their beautiful bungalow home at
512 South Broadway. He is a member of Hesperian Lodge No. 264, F. &
A. M., of which he was. master in 1916, is also a member of the Knights of
Pythias, and both himself and wife are members of the Eastern Star. Mr.
Macdonald is a public-spirited, progressive citizen, interested in everything
for the good of the community, and is serving as a trustee of Reclamation
District No. 798.

SANTA MARIA VALLEY RAILROAD.— This railroad, with its
twenty-three miles of track, is one of the paying properties of the valley, do-
ing exclusively a freight business. Built by private capital in 1911, as a
feeder to the main line of the Southern Pacific, its main line ru-ns from
Guadalupe, where it connects with the Southern Pacific, to Roadamitc, in
Santa Barbara county. A branch line of two and one-half miles also runs
from Betteravia Junction to Betteravia.

The object (if ])uilding the road was to secure an outlet for the heavy
freighting out ni the valley, the oil fields. Union Sugar Company's factory at
Betteravia and the extensive warehouses of the Southern Pacific Milling
Co. at Guadalupe, Santa Maria and' Gates. The ofiicers of the railway com-
pany are Los Angeles capitalists: C. W. Gates, president; O. C. Edwards,
vice president: E. J. ^liley. secretary; Jay Spence, treasurer; M. L. Shearin,
superintendent, and J. M. Davis, auditor, both of Santa Maria.

ROBERT M. CONKEY.— The editor and general manager of the Santa
■ .Maria Graphic, an eight-page weekly, published every Saturday, is Robert
M. Conkey, son of J. F. Conkey, who owns the paper and was its editor
until June, 1916, when he assumed the duties of postmaster. He was born at
Saratoga Springs, N. Y., August 3, 1875, and attended the grammar and high
schools of the Empire State until coming to California in 1892 with his par-
ents, who settled in San Jacinto, Riverside county. Here he began working
in the office of the Register. He ran the first sheet of paper through the press
for the first paper started in Hemet. Later, he spent one year in the Govern-
ment Indian service, at the Indian agency on Tule river near San Jacinto. In
1896 he went to San Jose, and thereafter was engaged in the printing business
in San l'"rancisco and San Jose. Me then engaged in the newsi^aper lousiness

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 939

with his father on the Graphic, and lias worked his own way to his present
position in the newspaper world of California.

The Graphic is a newsy sheet, entirely set np in the ofTice in Santa Maria,
and is the leading paper of the valley. The paper, founded by John Kryder
about 1886, was formerly the Niponio News; but when Nipomo ceased to be
a "live" town, the proprietor moved his plant to Santa Maria, that place being
then in its "swaddling clothes." The paper has never missed publication of
an issue, has been the Democratic organ of the northern part of Santa Barbara
county, and in fact is the only out-and-out Democratic paper in the county.

The paper has been under several different managements and has had dif-
ferent editors, among whom ^V. E. Miscale and L. C. ^IcKenny are acknowl-
edged to have been the ablest until the management and ownership went into
the hands of J. F. Conkey in 1906. It has constantly grown in favor and
circulation under his leadership and is recognized as the "home paper"
tlir(iUL;h( ait the entire valley. To its influence is due the $10,000 public library
buililinv. the good roads movement, city street improvements, and paving,
which cost $35,000. It championed the sewer system, and the building of
the nev; steel bridge in 1912 at a cost of $80,000, two miles north on the state
highway. The Graphic stands for progress and every good thing for .Santa
Maria and its valley, and for county, state and nation.

HENRY JOHN ABELS.— The name which Henry John Abels bears is
one long known and honorably associated with the history of California. His
father, Henry Abels, born in Prussia, was educated in German schools, entered
the army and served his time, as is customary in Germany. He learned the
trade of harness and saddle maker, and came to the United States about 1856,
and to California soon after. lie was married in San Francisco to Salome
Blaze, who was born in German Switzerland. Of their children, only, two
grew up, Henry John and Sally, both oi Santa Maria. Henry Abels came to
San Luis Obispo and some years later removed to the Santa Maria valley.
In 1882 he opened a harness and saddlery shop in Santa Maria, being one of
the pioneer business men of the little town. As he prospered, he invested in
property and erected business blocks and residences; and he made this his
home until his death, in September, 1912, at the age of seventy-eight.

Henry J. Abels was born July 26. 1876, in San Luis Obispo, and was
six years old when his parents settled in Santa Maria. He attended the
San Luis Obispo and Washington schools, supplementing his public school
course by a business course in the International Correspondence School of
Scranton'. At the age of eighteen, he went to work in A. ^Va^d's harness sliop
and spent four years at the trade. He was then appointed U. S. Forest
Ranger for the Santa Barbara forest reserve, being one of the first LT. S.
rangers, and at the same time he held the position of chief deputy game
warden, becoming county game warden in 1899, in which office he served
two terms of four years. He was appointed regular State Deputy Fish and
Game Commissioner for Santa Barbara county, holding the position under
civil service, which later became District No. 4, a position Mr. Abels still
holds. In 1917, by unanimous vote of the board of supervisors, Mr. Abels
was appointed Game Warden of Santa Barbara county.

Like his father. Mr. Abels has confidence in the future of Santa Maria
and invests his surplus cash in real estate and in erecting business houses and
residences; and with his sister he is owner of valuable holdings in the city.
In the discharge of his oflk-ial duly he acts without fear or favor, and tlie

940 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

ability shown by him in the execution of his office is recognized generall3\
Though duly considerate of those with whom he has to deal, he is stern in
enforcing the law. His life has not been free from menace, for in the dis-
charge of his duties he has been threatened many times. He performs police
duty under M. J. Connell, State Fish and Game Commissioner of Los Angeles,
holding the position upon the latter's recomniendatinn. His entire time is
devoted to the discharge of his official duties.

March 2, 1907, Mr. Abels was united in marriage with [Miss Rosa Weber,
daughter of Rheinhold Weber, a pioneer jilumber and tinsmith of Santa
Maria: and they have two children: Llenry John, Jr., and Helen E. i\Irs.
.\hels is a member of the Eastern Star. Mr. Abels is a member and also
a pa<t master of Hesperian Lodge No. 264, F. & A. M., and a member of
Corinthian Chapter No. 51, R. A. M., of Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara Coun-
cil No. 19, R. & S. II. : St. Omar Commandery No. 30, K. T. ; Al Malaikah
Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. of Los Angeles; and Santa Maria Lodge No. 90,
K. of P. He and his wife reside in their pleasant home at 208 North Lincoln
Street, where they enjoy the comforts of life and the d imjianionshij) of their
many friends.

HARRY PARNELL. — A first-class engineer and mechanic, and junior
mcmljcr of the firm of Bowers & Parnell, proprietors of the Santa Maria Garage
at Broadway and Church streets, Harry Parnell stands high in business circles
of the city and throughout the valley. He was born in Devonshire, England,
October 28, 1873, educated in the common schools, and grew up there until
he was fifteen, when, with his parents, Stephen H. and Helen (Ewens) Par-
nell, he emigrated to America. The -family settled at JMount \"ernon, Ohio,
the father being employed by the C. & G. Cooper Company, manufacturers
of Corliss engines.

The eldest of five children bnrn t(;> his parents. Harr}- Parnell attended the
schools of j\lt. Vernon one term, then went into the factory of C. & G. Cooper
Company to learn the trade of machinist and engineer, served a four years'
apprenticeship and after mastering' the trade remained with the compau}- until

1909. He arrived in California in December of that year, and on January 1,

1910, entered the employ of the Union Sugar Co. at Betteravia, and for two
and one-half 3'ears held the position of engineer. Then he was made chief
overseer of pumps, water works, gas engines, etc., and continued until March
1, 1916, when he "accepted the position of assistant engineer for the Dutch Shell
Oil Co. at Martinez. Soon after starting at work he had the misfortune to
lose the end of one of his thumbs, and was laid up.

While employed at the Betteravia plant. Mr. Parnell l)ec;ime very well
accpiainted with Mr. Bowers ; a warm friendship s])rang up between the two
men. and when a proposition was made that they enter into business for them-
sehes, the}- soon reached an understanding by which their interests were
consolidated. So the firm of Bowers & Parnell came into existence : but for
more complete data of the business, see the sketch of 1". J. Bowers on another
]iage of this work.

July 4. 1896, Mr. Parnell was united in marriage with ?*Iiss Lucy Rebecca
Waldcm. daughter (jf James L. Waldon, a civil engineer of London, and they
have two children — Helen Lois, a graduate of the Santa Alaria high school.
Class of '16, and Florence Patria. In politics Mr. Parnell is a Republican.
^Vhile living in Mt. Vernon he served in the city council for two years. He
belongs to Mt. Zion Lodge, A. F. & A. ]\I., of Mt. \'ernon, and both he and

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENXIKONS 941

liis wife are members of the Ivistern Star. He is a meml^er of Timon Lodge
No. 45, K. of P., and of the J\L W. A. of that city. The family attend the
Episcopal church. In the seven years that Mr. Parnell has been a resident
of this valley he has made a host of friends who have been drawn to him by
his cheerful disposition and high moral character.

J. W. ATKINSON. — Few names in the long and illustrious roster of
native Californians have become mose inseparably associated with the history
of the development of Santa Maria valley than that of J. W. Atkinson, who,
as chemist, man of affairs, and manager of the Union Sugar Co., has not only
promoted an enterprise of enormous importance, but has proved the value,
in the highest sense, of personal character and its usefulness and influence
in relation to good citizenship. In Placer county's picturesquely-named little
communit}' of Foresthill Mr. Atkinson was born on September 28, 1861, in
the very dark and electrically-charged period when the great military and
civil leaders of the disputing and fast-separating sections were drilling,
organizing and preparing for the first American internecine conflict. This
historical circumstance is the more interesting from the fact that the dis-
tinguished Betteravian may l)oast of blood that is the result of the union of
Northern and Southern brain and sinew — the amalgamation of what is best in
the Pilgrim aiid the Cavalier.

His father, who was born in P)o\vling Green, Va., a descendant of the
Atkinsons who came from luigland to that State in 1688, was named Ji)hn
Wesley Atkinson, and was a near relation to William Yates Atkinson, the
reformed Governor of Georgia. His mother, who resides in Berkeley, was
Miss Susan Elizabeth Perkins. The Perkins family trace their lineage l)ack
to New England and the "Mayflower." Mr. and Mrs. John \Vesley Atkinson,
Sr., had two children: the subject of our sketch, and Mrs. Arthur (Iray,
who resides at A\'ashington, D. C. The father was a miner all his life, and
came to California in 1850, where he mined for gold in Placer county in the
early days of the mining excitement. He died at Bettcravia.

J. W. Atkinson, having finished with the public schools of Foresthill and
vic-inity, moved about considerably, making his way to the various gold
mining districts in California and also at Gold Hill, Nev. He went to public
school for a wdiile and then to the California Military Academy at Oakland.
He entered the University of California in 1878, and took especially a chem-
istry course. In 1882, he graduated from the University of California and
two years later he began actual work as a chemist.

His first engagement was with the .\merican Sugar Refinery at San
Francisco, and in a short time he became their superintendent. From there
he went to Alvarado and took charge of the factory of the .\lvarado Sugar
Co., then the only sugar beet concern in the United States. This made him
a co-worker with, and personal friend of, E. II. Dyer, father of the l)eet sugar
industry of the United States, and permitted him to become a pioneer in the
same industrial venture of such great significance. While at .Mvarado he
marric(i Miss Kalhrvn Ralph, bv whom he had two children— Kali)li and
l".lizal)cth.

In 1899, he came as the representative of the I'nion Sugar Co., a cor-
pnration made up of San l-"raiicisco capitalists, to the Santa Maria valley;
and having looked over the land in the vicinity of Bettcravia. he helped place
iliiir factnrv ilnre and to lay out their great irrigation system. Mc had much
til dii witli the building of tlie railroad through the valley, and with making

942 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

it an auxiliary to the activities of the sugar factory. At that time the land
was only a stretch of sheep pasture, covered everywhere with sage-brush ;
but in a short time, under the magic touch of Mr. Atkinson, there was a mar-
velous transformation, and the company now has over ten thousand acres
under irrigation and produces a hundred thousand tons of sugar beets per
year, from which about sixteen thousand tons of sugar is made. At first
the enterprise did not prosper, but when Mr. Atkinson was made superin-
tendent and given the entire management, there was an immediate change
for the better, both in the prospects of the company and in the actual output.
Now Mr. Atkinson manages everything, including the Union Commercial
Co., which is a subsidiar}' to the Union Sugar Co., and a large and well-stocked
general merchandise store.

This sugar factory is the largest sugar industr}- in Santa Barbara county,
and pays the heaviest sugar tax, expending more money than any other
similar business in that county. And it feeds with its surplus beet pulp more
than six thousand head of cattle owned by Wilson & Co. The head office of
the Union Sugar Co. is in the Alaska Commercial building at San Francisco,
and the chief officers are P. C. Drescher, president; E. R. Lillienthal, vice-
president; George E. Springer, secretary; J. \\'. Atkinson, manager; M. M.
Purkiss, agriculturist ; J. T. Avington, office manager ; J. R. Rogers, superin-
tendent of the factory; Alfred Palmer, master mechanic; W. J. Williams,
technical superintendent ; I. M. Burola, storekeeper Union Commercial Co. ;
J. P. de I'Eau, consulting engineer; John L. Harris, assistant agriculturist;
Walter Deising, assistant agriculturist at Harris Station. Directors : P. C.
Drescher, Sacramento ; E. L. Lillienthal, Lawrence Harris, H. S. Crocker, A.
Haas, Joseph Hyman, and J. K. Moftatt, Berkeley and San Francisco.

HARRY C. SAUNDERS.— The leading tailoring establishment in Santa
Maria is presided over by its clever proprietor, H. C. Saunders, better known
by all who know him well as "Harry," a native son of Santa Barbara county.
He was born in Lompoc, May 2, 1885, a son of William A. and Ella (^Ruffner)
Saunders, early settlers of Santa Cruz, who later removed to Lompoc, where
they were married. There the father became favorably known, serving in
the city council for years, and becoming the leading, grocer for many years.
He died in Lompoc in 1910, aged fifty-eight years; the widow still resides
there, as does her other child, a son, Ray B. Saunders.

His school days over, Harry Saunders started out in the clothing busi-
ness for himself and for seven years conducted a clothing and men's furnish-
ing goods store at Lompoc. After selling out, he was in the employ for a 3'ear
of iMullen & Bluett of Los Angeles. In 1913 IMr. Saunders returned to his
native county and in Santa Maria opened a tailoring establishment which has
grown from a small beginning to a business of large proportions. By square
dealing and strict attention to his customers, he has built up a verj' profitable
business. He employs the most experienced workmen known to the
trade, is courteous and obliging, and numbers among his patrons the leading
professional, Inisiness and oil men, as well as the ranchers, of the valley.
He has in stock at all times a complete line of domestic and imported goods.
and does a cleaning and repairing business.

Mr. Saunders is a member of the Moose and Reel Men of Santa
Maria. He was married at Lom])oc to Miss Grace Hobson, who was born in
Santa Cruz, a daughter of J. W . Hobson, road engineer for the Atascadero
Colony in .San Luis Obispo County. Mr. and Mrs. Saunders are parents of

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXJ) J'l.WlROXS 94.^

two unusually bright daughters. Lcthcl and Wilma. They are deservedly
popular in their social set. and ha\ e an increasing circle of friends in their
comnnniity.

MRS.' GEORGE CHAFFIN.— The inlluencc wielded by women in the
cause of education finds an illustration in the work accomplished by Mrs.
George Chaffin, nee Sarah E. Klvidge, as one of the trustees of the Wash-
ington school district. She was born in Xottinghamshire, England, a daugh-
ter of Joseph and Stella (Spencer) Elvidgc, and was brought by them to
America when a child of six years. They settled in Santa Maria and iicre she
attended the public schools and grew to maturity. Here also, on March 25,
1908. she was united in marriage with George \V. Chaffin.

A native of Ohio, he was born January 15, 1881, near Portsmcjuth, was
educated in the public schools there and came with his parents to California
when he \\as nineteen. With commendable spirit, when he has twenty-one,
he took up a homestead of one hundred sixty acres in the Cu3'ama valley.
Recently Mr. and Afrs. Chaffin purchased forty acres east of the Orcutt road
between .Santa Maria and that town. Here they have a comfortable home
which is blessed with two bright children, Lclia Vivian and George William.

Ever interested in all things making for the good of the schools and the
building up of the valley, JMrs. Chaffin permitted her name to come before the
people of her district for a member of the board of trustees of the Washing-
ton school district, and she was elected by a large majority. Since that time
she has given good satisfaction in her official capacity, devoting her best
efforts to furthering the cause of educaliim and to working in harmony with
the teacher and pupils.

ROSAMEL CASTRO AND VICENTE CASTRO.— Nothing ould
better ser\e to stimulate confidence in the U])ward trend of the human race
and the persistence of those dominant qualities characteristic of a family dis-
tinguished for progress and success, than the example daily set by Rosamel
Castro, the present-day representative of an old Spanish family renmvned for
its hospitality and proud of its contributions, first to the founding here of
a state, and secondly to the developing and expanding of the great California
commonwealth. Mr. Castro's great-grandfather was Joaquin Castro, a native
of Spain, while his great-grandmother, also an early settler, came from I'rancc.
His grandfather, Rafael Castro, on the other hand, was born at Santa Cruz,
where he was well-known both as a large landowner and as a prominent
])hysician and surgeon, who performed many difficult operations, but had for
his motto, "No cure, no pay." Rafael was also a leading politician, who held
various offices from the early thirties, having been alcalde in 183(), and
elector in 1845. Rafael's wife before her marriage was Soledad Cota, ant! the
couple had eight children. Jose Maria was the eldest; then came I'ranci.sco,
Jose Antonio and Maria, as well as Maria de los .\ngeles, and alter that
Vicente Rafaela and Agustias.

Vicente Castro was born in Santa Cruz November 25, 1835, and reared in
that city; and in June, 1866, he was married at San Jose to Miss X'icenta Pico,
a daughter of Antonio Maria Pico, whose father was Jose Dolores Pico. I'.orn
in 1808, he was a Republican elector in 1861, and appointed by President Lin-
coln United State Register of the Land Office at Los Angeles, from wliicli
post he resigned in 1862, dying in 1869. In the meantime, as an early Si)anish
Mexican, he had purchased the San Rafael Mission estate as far l)ack as 1826.
had become second alcalde in 184" and prefect in 1840, and had fount! him-

944 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EXVIROXS

self embroiled "with the Mexican authorities through having favored the cause
(if the United States. His wife was Pilar Bernal before her marriage, and she
became the mother of three sons and three daughters. Among these three
Pico sisters — one of whom, Vicenta, was chosen by Vicente Castro to be his
Avife — one became famous for having raised the first American flag unfurled
at San Jose. \^icenta Pico was also a niece of ex-Governor Pio Pico, the last
of the ^Mexican governors, and Andreas Pico, a valiant general in the Mexi-
can War. Particularly interesting is the connection of this family with one
of the notable points in the vicinity of San Francisco; for Mare Island was
formerlv owned by \*ictor Castro, an uncle of Vicente, who kept it as a
breeding place for his thoroughbred mares until he finally sold it to the
Inderal Government. In 1887, \'icente Castro removed to his present place,
where he bought eleven hundred choice acres on the Tepesquet — a name he
declares to mean, 'AVhen the fish grabs the hook"— and there, on January 10.
1915. his good wife died.

Seven children, besides the subject of our sketch, were born to this
native California couple. Audel died unmarried, while living in the Tepes-
quet valley; Rudolpho, also single, died in Mexico; Albert, never married,
rests beside his brother Audel; Catalina married Leonardo de la Cuesta, and
resides in Los Angeles with a family of eight children; Aurora resides at
Santa Maria, the wife of August Bagdons, and the mother of four children:
Emma, married Albert Wickenden of Los Alamos, and they have four chil-
dren : and Anita married Will Johnson, a rancher on the Santa Maria river.

Born at Santa Cruz. April 25, 1873, Rosamel Castro attended the Tepes-
quet public school and Heald's Business College at Santa Cruz, and on Sep-
tember 11, 1907, was married to ^liss Christene Clark, of Los Angeles, well-
known in that city as one of the assistant librarians in the Los Angeles Public
Library. She was born in Chicago, the daughter of John Clark, and when six
years old came from the East with her parents to San Francisco, removing
six years later to Los Angeles, where her father took a position in the Bur-
lington railway office. Her mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Smith,
died some A-ears ago. Two brothers survive — Harry D. Clark, with Haas.
Baruch & Co., the wholesale grocers of Los Angeles, and A. J. Clark, who
resides at Lemoore. Before her marriage, ^liss Clark attended and grad-
uated from the Los Angeles High School, after which she joined the Public
Library staff.

Managing his father's ranch, and conducting four hundred sixty-five
acres adjoining which he owns in his own name, Rosamel Castro has also
found time for public office, having served with entire satisfaction to his
fellow-citizens as trustee of the Tepesquet public school, and as roadmaster for
the same district.

ERNEST A. SATCHELL.— A young Englishman who, by making good
as the storekce[)er for the Pan-American Investment Co., on the Bell prop-
erty at Los Alamos, is adding to the contribution from his native countrymen
toward the commercial development of California, is Ernest A. Satchell. \\ ho
was born in London, November 12, 1889. His father was George W illiam
Satchel 1, a schoolmaster and the principal of a high school — a direct descend-
ant, l)y the way, of the Earl of Winchester ; while his mother, who, before her
marriage, was I\Iiss Mary Law May, was a schoolmistress and the principal
of the girls' department of a London high school. Besides Ernest, they had

SAN LUIS or.lSl'O fOL'XTY AXD 1;N\ IRONS 945

tliriH- childri-ii. ;ill nf whum fnund their way to C'oaliiii^a : ticorge E. II., iiian-
aL;ini; director <il" A. 1'. .Max. Inc., dealers in .general merchandise; May Alice,
tl-.e wile of O. W. -May. with the .Associated Pipe Line; and William IL, a
public accountant in business for himself in that tf)wn. F.rncst Satchell grew
u]) in the metropolis of the world, where he graduated Imm Dulwich College
and. pursued a commercial course.

Detween the ages of eighteen and nineteen, however, he came to the
L'nited States, and to Coalinga, where he was employed for a while with the
.\. P. May cor])oration as assistant manager of their oil licld ranch ; ami in
that capacity he became widely acquainted with oil men and their needs.
He was then engaged by the Standard Oil Co. at the same place, and rose from
roustabout to tool-dresser. He next entered the service of the Commercial
Petroleum Co. as gang-pusher, and after that he went to the Nevada Petro-
leum Co., remaining with them three years in charge of the commercial end
of their office and store. A still further venture was with the P>. V,. & E. R.
Dudley Petroleum Co., in the Lost Tlills, where he acted in the same capacity.

At the end of another year, he came to the Pan-American Petroleum
Investment Corporation, joining their forces on December 30, 1916. This
famous concern has control of a ranch of ten thousand acres five miles north-
west of Los Alamos, purchased by E. L. Doheny in 1916 for $1,800,000,
where great activity at present prevails. Six wells are being drilled ; one,
with a capacity of three hundred barrels of oil per day, is just being brought in,
and another is almost ready to come. The greatest difficulty experienced by
the corporation is not, as some might suppose, in luring the oil from the dis-
tant depths, but in getting the right kind of supplies and in sufficient (|uan-
tity for the work. Here is where the foresight and fidelity of Mr. Satchell
come in. And there arc other problems. All freight trains are now hauled to
the store of the Pan-American Investment Corporation from the Pan-.\meri-
can siding, located on the line of the Pacific Coast Railway four miles west of
Los Alamos. As a result of representations made to the railway company,
they will build a spur direct to the oil field and will have a siding near the
center of activity.

Mr. Satchell is a pojiular member of the Sons of St. (ieorge, of which he
lias also been Worthy \'ice President. He is a devoted member .pf the
ICjjiscopal Church, and enjoys the esteem of its .social circles.

MRS. ALBERT J. FREEMAN.— A woman of the Santa :\Iaria valley
whii has been interested in the schools of the section in which she lives,
and has labored for a high standard of education, is Mrs. .Mbert Freeman,
nee luiima Lenora Ilardisty, since 1911 clerk and member of the hoard of
trustees of Washington school district, which is locateti about hall-way
between Santa Alaria and Orcutt, on the Orcutt road. During the last few
years this school has made great advancement in methods and attendance,
good teachers being always sought and good salaries paid.

.Mrs. I'reeman was born in Rarilan, Henderson county. 111., in 1871. Her
latlur, t harles W'. Ilardisty, was a college graduate and taught for some
years. In 1879 the family moved to Glendale, Mont., where he was employed
as weighmaster at a silver mine until 1889, when they came to California.

When twelve years old Miss Ilardisty accompanied her parents to this
state: and in 1901 she was united in marriage, at Santa Rosa, with Albert J.
l-recman, who was born in Marin county, February 3, 1858. His father,
William D. Freeman, was a native of New York, born in Monroe county : and

946 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Ins mother, fornicrl}- Mary Ilalsted, was l)orn in Canada. He was one in a
family nf twch c children, ten of whom are living, all in California.

The year of their marriage Mr. Freeman bought eighty-three acres of
land in the Santa Maria valley, and he has been farming successfully in this
section ever since. Three children have been born of this union : Ivy Glen-
dora, \'ina Irene, and Grace Elsie, all at home. Both Mr. and Mrs. Freeman
have won recognition in this valley for their hospitality, as well as for their
progressi\e ideas and public spirit.

JAMES G. MARTIN. — Not every man can tell such interesting stories
of pioneer experiences, from which the most profitable lessons of life may be
derived, as James G. Martin, a contracting teamster of Los Alamos. His
father, a North Carolinan, was Thomas James Martin ; and his mother, a
native of Kentucky, was Miss Sarah Ann Goatley, before her marriage.
During the war they lived in Audrain county, IMo., and at the end of that
devastating period they first came West. It was in 1865 that the parents
and most of the family joined a wagon train, headed by Captain White, on a
journey destined to be marred by a raid of the Indians, whereby Mark Shearin,
an uncle of M. L. Shearin, of Santa JMaria, was killed. Captain 'White was
charged with cowardice; and this led to a split in the ranks of the company,
thirteen wagons proceeding over the prairies by themselves.

Thirteen children were the offspring of these sturdy parents. Two died
when very young, in Missouri. Eleven started to cross the plains; but Ida
May, then a child of four years, died on the way and was buried near Salt
Lake City. Only nine came through to the Coast; for the second sister
married Allan Crosswhite, and settled with him in Nevada. The ten children
are: Phoebe Ellen, who became Mrs. John H. Haydon, and is now deceased;
Louisa Elizabeth, Mrs. Crosswhite mentioned above; Martha Lavina, wdio
married W. A. Conrad, a farmer wdio, since the fall of 1876, has been at
Arroyo Grande, where she died, in 1915 ; C. W. Martin, another farmer near
Santa Maria, who married Winnie Williams, and is deceased ; Sarah Belle,
the wife of C. li. Glines, of Santa Maria, now deceased ; Huldah Goatley, Mrs.
R. V. Allen, now a widow, whose husband was a Methodist Episcopal minister
long at Petaluma; James Gideon, the subject of this review; Thomas Henry,
who married Melvina Hobbs, and resides on a farm near Lompoc ; Robert
Franklin, whose wife was Hattie Newlove, and who lives near Orcutt ; and
Josejih Lee, who married Miss Hannah Moffman, of Lompoc, and resides at
Los Alamos, where he manages the Los .Uamos Transfer.

After spending tliree years at Santa Rosa, Thomas ^lartin removed with
his family to .Stanislaus county, where he farmed for another three years.
Three years more were spent in farming in Shasta county, followed by a
winter in Lake county. In the summer of 1875, he came to the Santa Maria
\allcy ; and there he bought some school land east of Orcutt. At the age of
sixty-six he died there; and his wife passed away in the Santa jNFaria valley
at the age of sixty-seven.

I'.orn at Mexico, Mo., J.-uniary Id, 1850, James G. IMartin came with his
parents to California, and attended the public school at Santa Rosa. In 1887,
lie was married to Miss Ida May Cash, the daughter of Jerome Bonaparte
Cash, the well-known pioneer of the southern part of the Santa Maria valley.
After his marri;ige, he was engaged in farming, near Orcutt, for ten or twel\-e
years; and in l'»()J he came to Los Alamos. In l'i()7 Mr. Martin went to Lorn-

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 947

poc, where he spent five years; then renting his property, he came once more
to Los Alamos, and there remained until 1915. Going again to Lompoc, he
was bereaved by the death of his wife, in June of that year. He then sold out,
and has since resided in Los Alamos, conducting his business there.

Five children bear Mr. Martin's honored name: Thomas J., who married
the widow of Arthur Coiner, and is in charge of the Pinal-Dome Oil Co.'s lease
near Los Alamos ; Nellie, the second child, who became the wife of A. P. Smith,
a rancher in the Imperial Valley; Lester Lee, who married Miss Grace Ash,
and runs a pumping station four miles west of Los Alamos at the Pan-Ameri-
can siding, for the P. A. P. I. Corporation; and Ray Goatley and Donald
Leone, who are with their father. Like the father, all his chi'ldren are hard
workers, but workers who improve their minds if they do not always fatten
their purses. Mr. Martin himself has not grown rich ; but in the consciousness
that he has been a good citizen, he is reasonably happy and contented. In
national politics he is a Democrat.

JOHN R. WICKENDEN.— .\n example of profitable and worth-while
enterprise directed by a young man of self-confidence, and one who upholds
the traditions of an historic, progressive and prosperous family, is furnished
by I. R. Wickenden, superintendent of the ^^'ickenden Corporation, con-
trolling about 5,000 acres of land.

Born on the ranch, on February 8. 1879, Jnhn R. Wickenden. the young-
est son of Fred and Ramona (Foxen) Wickenden (of whom extended mention
is made in this work), attended the public school in the Olive district. He pur-
sued a general collegiate course at St. Mary's College, Oakland, and afterward
a business course, followed by a commercial course, under Professor Arm-
strong at the Business Institute, San Luis Obispo. He was next engaged as
clerk for his brother, the late W'. F. W'ickenden, who ran a store at Los Ala-
mos, and then moved, with his business, to San Luis Obispo. Not caring par-
ticularly for the mercantile business, he looked about for an investment, and
purchased one hundred Jerseys, which cost, in 1908, $1,200. To pay for these,
he deposited eight hundred dollars that he had saved from his wages, and
gave a chattel mortgage for the balance ; and from this small beginning he has
invested more and more in cattle until today he is one of the large cattle men
of Santa Barbara county.

In pursuit of this enterprise, and in response, i)erhaps, to his love for
travel, Mr. W'ickenden, in 1914, made an extended business trip to Magdalena,
Sonora, Mexico, where he bought two hundred head of Mexican cattle known
as feeders. He was accompanied from San Luis Obispo by other persons who
had cattle interests, and altogether the party purchased L700 head. These were
loaded, inspected and passed by the customs officers at Nogales, the vendors
paying the United States the customs duty, ^fexican cattle do not come
up to the standard quality demanded by the I'niled States authorities, neither
being as heavy in the build as the .\merican breeds, nor gaining flesh as
fast; and one needs to be a good judge, as Mr. Wickenden is, to pick out.
and (juickly, the best cattle for feeding and breeding.

.\side from serving as superintendent of the Wickenden Corporation,
1. I\ Wickenden is renting pasture lands from tiie Santa Maria Petroleum &
Pipe Line Co., and some eight hundred acres on the W'ickenden ranch.

In 1904. John R. \\ ickenden was married to Miss Flora Kriegel, the
daughter of I'Vederick Kriegel, a well-known pioneer, who had a butcher

948 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

business at Los Alamos and Lompoc, and who died on December 14, 1915, at
the age of seventy-two years. Her mother died in 1902, in her fifty-fourth year.
Tier only other child, Ida, is a graduate of Berkeley and a teacher. ]Mr. and
Mrs. \\'ickenden have two children : Winston and Marjorie. Mr. and Mrs.
Wickenden have traveled extensively. In 1909, they made an extended tour.
^■isiting Seattle, where they enjoyed the Alaska-Pacific-Yukon Exposition, and
then passed on to Canada and British Columbia; and in 1915 they visited and
enjoyed both the exposition at San Francisco and that at San Diego. They are
favorites in the social circles of their community. i\Ir. Wickenden is a mem-
l)cr of the Elks in San Luis Obispo.

JOHN T. AND DORA B. GLINES.— What good service a man of
character, and of substantial business enterprise and experience, may render
to his community, when appointed to office, is well illustrated in the case of
John T. Glines, a ranch owner and road overseer of the Los Alamos district,
who, with a brother-in-law, A. J- Holloway, owns a large stock ranch on the
Alamo, where they keep about two hundred fifty head of beef cattle. His
father was C. H. Glines, a pioneer elsewhere described in one of our sketches.

Born in Lake county, Cal., November 27. 1875. John Glines, when three
months old, Avas brought to Santa ]\Iaria in his mother's arms, and grew up
on his father's ranch near what is now Orcutt, then called Graciosa. He
obtained his education in the old Graciosa school, as well as in the public
school at Pine Grove, after which he farmed for a year in that vicinity,
removing next to Alamo, where he took up a homestead.

In 1898, he entered into a partnership with his father, and bought a
ranch of six hundred forty acres ; and soon afterward he filed on half as
many acres of school land. Prospering in this venture, he bought his father
out ; and it was after the dissolution of this partnership that he helped form
the firm of Glines & Hollo\va^^ who now own a ranch of eleven hundred
eighty acres, stocked with some two hundred fifty cattle. For eight years
^Ir. Glines lived on the farm at Alamo; but in 1904 he came to Los Alamos,
and for two years conducted a livery stable.

Appointed road overseer of the Los Alamos valley in 1908. John Glines
ci instructed and .repaired the highways for four years, meanwhile managing
the Los Alamos I\Ieat IMarket, and at the same time farming for hay and
grain. In 1912, he rented a part of the Bell ranch, and a year later he put
in four hundred acres to beans and three hundred' acres to grain. Owing
to tlie want of rain, however, and the consequent dry season, his efforts that
vear jiroved a failure, and it has taken him several years since to recover
what he lost. In December, 1916, on motion of Supervisor Presker, of Santa
Maria, he again received the appointment as road overseer of the Los
Alamos road district, and again he took charge of the public highways, at
the same time farming one hundred twenty-five acres.

John T. Glines was married on December 10, 1895, at Los .\lamos, to
Miss Dora B. Holloway, the daughter of J. J. Holloway, whose interesting
biographical sketch is elsewhere given. Mr. and Mrs. Glines have five
children; Vera Lucile. a sophomore at Pomona College; Melba V., a junior
in the Santa Maria high school; Rebecca B., a pupil in the Bell school; and
Denzcl C. and John H. Glines. In the Bell grammar school, Mrs. Glines is
a teacher; and a very successful instructor she has proven to be. -She is a
worker, too, for besides her hours of teaching at the school, where there is an

SAN LUIS OI5ISPO COUNTY AND F.WIRONS 949

average daily attendance of forty-five, out of a total enrollment of fifty, she
keeps house for her own family and takes care of her own children. Mrs. ( jlines
is a member of the Christian Church. In their beautiful home, built in 1911, a
fine house with a large campus spreading over half a block of building lots,
Mr. and Mrs. Glines and their happy family dwell, seldom venturing beyond
their own hearth. Mr. (llincs is a member of the Knights of Pythias at
Santa Maria. In national politics, he finds the Democratic policies his best
guide.

BRINTNALL EUCALYPTUS RANCH.— The infiuence of wisely
inwstccl capital upon the dcvelcipniciU of the latent resources of our state, is
fiircibl\ >linwn in the case of the celebrated I'.rintnall Eucalyptus, or Gum
'lYee, Ranch, three nnles north of ( iua<lahii>e. on the mesa land immediately
north of the Oso Flaco. I'he property is owned by William .-\. Brintnal'l,
of Los .\ngeles, a former Chicago banker and nfillionairc, and is under the
superintendency of Le Roy I-^rancis McClellan, a relative of General Mc-
Clellan, and one of the most experienced eucalyptus growers in California.
This great ranch nine years ago was nothing but a sandy waste, thought to
be well-nigh worthless, and none but a capitalist could possibly have under-
taken such a ])roject as transforming the barren mesa to a valuable timber
tract. Mr. IViiitnall has already invested a quarter of a million dollars there,
without having made his e.xpen.ses from the venture; yet the place is worth
$300,000. and it is becoming more valuable each year as the trees grow larger.
Three superintendents ha\e in turn had charge of the estate. For two years
Mr. Thompson managed the property. Then Charles Brintnall succeeded to
the sui)erintendency, which he continued for three years. Since that time.
.Mr. McClellan has held the responsibility. Besides the superintendent, six
men are regularly employed on the ranch.

Mr. McClellan came to California in 1911, and soon entered the employ
of C. II. McWilliams, of Los Angeles, coming to San Luis Obispo to take
charge of the seven hundred acres of eucalyptus for the Southern California
Eucalyptus Growers' Association, which adjoined the Brintnall ranch. He
continued there until November, 1914, when he accepted his present position.
In his capacity as superintendent, Mr. McClellan conducts two or three
ini])ortant industries on the wide ranch. Besides the growing of eucalyptus,
an important poultry business is maintained at the farm. On the ground
lloor of the poultry building, there is a brooder room, where fourteen or
fifteen hundred baby chicks may be accommodated: and in the basement is
an incubating-room in which four Jubilee incubators are installed, having a
capacity of over two thousand eggs for a hatching. I'ull-blooded white
Leghorns arc the only fowls raised here, and there is a tlock of t'rom two to
three thousand laying hens.

The poultry business, however, is but a small part uf the activity at the
ranch, the raising of the eucalyptus trees being the main industry. Nine
hundred fifty acres are planted to eucalyptus globulus, while forty-five acres
are given up to other varieties. There are twenty acres, for e-\ann.)le. planted
to rcsiniferous eucalyptus, or red gum; fifteen acres are given t.. gray gum;
and ten acres, to sugar gum. The ranch contains about a thousand acres,
and some six hundred forty trees are planted to the acre. The first thinning
occurs in the seventh vcar; and conditions of growth and other circum-
stances determine the 'time of later thinnings. Some trees were planted

950 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

from seed eight years ago, and tlie next year many were re-plantcd. Now
the a\erag-e thickness of the eucalyptus in the Brintnall groves is from six
to eight inches.

A distiUing plant, capable of distilling eucalyptus oil from one and one-
half tous of lopped-off leaves in a day, is a feature of the ranch ; and another
center of activity is the wood department, in which material for the handles
of axes and other tools is selected, while a thousand cords or more of fire-
wood are piled up annually. All in all, the Brintnall Eucalyptus ranch is
a monument to the enterprise and initiative of its large-minded owner, and a
splendid testimonial of merit to the superintendent, than whom no better
could anywhere be found.

ALBERT P. WICKENDEN.— A native son of California and the oldest
child of Fred and Ramona (Foxcn) Wickenden, pioneer citizens of Santk
Barbara county, Albert P. Wickenden was born in San Luis Obispo, March
17. 1864. He studied under the tutorship of a teacher employed to come to
the house in Foxen caiion, before the days of the public schools, and later
attended at the Olive school, built in 1875, the first school in that part of
Santa Barbara county. On closing his books, he helped in the raising of
cattle and sheep on the home ranch, and assisted in the cnuiitry store run
by his father.

December 22, 1902, witnessed the marriage of Mr. Wickenden to Miss
Emma Ca,stro, a daughter of Vicente Castro, a member of the family so
distinguished for its own exploits in the early annals of California, and for
its important associations with Pio Pico, the last of the Spanish governors,
and his regime. Mr. and Mrs. Wickenden have had four children — Albert R.,
Ida Ramona. Louise Henrietta, and Julius Emmett — all of whom are devout
members of the Catholic Church at Los Alamo.s. In 1911, Mr. Wickenden
bought twenty-three acres immediately south of Los Alamos ; and there,
besides making other improvements, he has built himself a handsome bunga-
low home.

A citizen endorsing the platforms of the Republican party, Mr. Wicken-
den takes a live interest in the larger questions of the day. He has always
been an active advocate of the state highway, and still maintains that this
should be widened to thirty feet, not merely for civic use in times of peace,
but to provide a great thoroughfare for the transportation of troops in time
of war or national peril. According to the conclusions of this experienced
student of public affairs, nothing short of a great highway stretching along
the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to Mexico will be adequate, should
ever the government need such a military artery.

WALTER HUGH DEISING.— As superintendent of the Harris ranch,
for the Union Sugar Co. of I'.etteravia, Walter Deising has made his influ-
ence felt as an expert raiser of sugar beets and as manager of large interests.
He began at the bottom of the ladder with the company, with everything to
learn in regard to the cutivation of beets ; and since 1904 he has been grad-
ually working his way to the front, until in 1913 he was placed in his pres-
ent responsible position, which he has filled with credit to himself and with
jirofit to the company.

A native of Germany, Walter Hugh Deising was burn in 1884, a son of
Henry and Elizabeth ( Leapor j Deising, natives of Prussia, who were mar-
ried there, and who came to the United States in 1891 and settled in the

SAN LUIS ol'.ISI'O H)l\\\ AXD ENVIRONS 951

nris^lilinrliood of Buffalo, Minn, 'riiero the father besan farming; and there
the son went to school, although he had attended the German schools and
ciiuld read and write in his native language.

In 1897 the family came West to California, and settled in Creston,
San Luis Obispo County. The father died in San Francisco, wdiither he had
been taken to a hospital for an operation, on February 3, 1912, aged sixty-
seven years ; the widow now lives in San Diego. There were two sons and
four daughters in their family : Lizzie, the widow of Andrew Arreado, of
Hanford; Walter H., the subject of this sketch; Emma, who married Jacob
Kawalsky, of San Francisco; and Ilattie, Olga and Arthur, who are at home
in San Diego.

Walter Deising attended school until 1898, and then hired out as a farm
hand and worked on different ranches near Creston. He finally entered the
employ of the Union Sugar Co. at Betteravia, and has since been in their
service. He was married in 1910 to Miss Emma Bontadelli, of Guadalupe, a
daughter of Amelio and Antoinetta Bontadelli, both deceased. One daughter,
Evelyn, has been born to brighten their home.

Mr. Deising is a member of the Laguna Lodge of Odd Fellows, and of
Guadalupe Lodge, No. 337, F. & A. M., at Guadalupe. He has a high sense
of civic responsibility, and has performed every duty that came his way.
He is modest, well balanced and discerning, and is justly jioinilar with all
wUh whom he comes in contact.

MARCUS KINNEBREW.— A man of pronounced force of character and
executive ability, and a jolly good fellow, in harmony with all the world, is
.Marcus, or Mark, Kinnebrew, the driller foreman for the Pan-American Petro-
leiuu Investment Corporation, operating five miles to the northwest of Los
Alamos, on the Bell property. His father is A. B. Kinnebrew, a rancher at
Amarillo, Tex., who has a record of several years' service in the United States
Department of Agriculture, where he was employed in trying to eradicate
the boll weevil, the great cotton pest of the South. A. B. Kinnebrew is a
native of Georgia. He served in the Confederate Army as a soldier in an
Alabama regiment ; and when he was twenty-five years of age, he came to the
Lone Star State. .\t the close of the war, he married Miss Blanche Edwards,
of Alabama.

Born, April 4, 1875, at Corsicana, Tex., the fourth of eight children still
living, Mark Kinnebrew grew up on a ranch at that place and attended the
excellent Texas public schools, taking later a commercial course at Chambers
Business College there, and a year or two at Professor Tom Smith's private
school at Blooming Grove. At the age of eighteen, he went into the oil fields
at Corsicana to dress tools ; and for three years following he was employed by
the American Well and Prospecting Co., acting for two-thirds of tiic time as a
.Irillcr.

In December, 1898, Mark Kinnebrew married Miss Ella Burrow, of
Corsicana, and two years later set out with her for California, full of con-
fidence in the future. He first took up his residence at Bakcrsfield, where
iu- was engaged as driller for the Associated Oil Co. in the Kern river field:
and in that responsible position he continued for three years. In 191U he
went to Coalinga. Pie remained there six months, and then returned to tiie
Associated, this time in the Santa Maria field. He left them in l')14, when he
was appointed drilling foreman for the Dohcny forces at Coalinga. In the

952 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Slimmer or fall of 1916, he started the first drilling on the new lease at Los
Alamos, lor the Pan-American Petroleum Investment Corporation. These
responsible positions have given Mr. Kinnebrew a considerable acquaintance
with important business afTairs, and a valuable knowledge of men.

Five children have blessed the union of Mr. and ]\Irs. Kinnebrew : Elise,
Edward, Lester, Ailene and Alice. A sister of Mr. Kinnebrew, Mrs. Swear-
ingen, resides at Santa Maria, and a brother is Lee Kinnebrew, of Shreveport,
Louisiana.

Of Scotch ancestry, and therefore sociable l:)y nature, Mr. Kinnebrew is a
leading spirit among his associates. Politically, he is a Democrat.

WILLIAM CALVIN OAKLEY, JR.— What can be accomplished by
l)rudence, perseverance and push, the ■'three P's of success,'" is demonstrated
in the successful management of large ranching interests by William C.
Oakley, Jr., of Los Alamos, who, as the director of the 6,000-acre Shaw
ranch, in partnership with his mother-in-law, Mrs. Sophia Bonetti, is meet-
ing with more than the ordinary degree of success, especially for a man of
his years. This is one of the largest ranches in Santa Barbara county, and
the largest in the Santa Maria valley. "Will" Oakley, as he is more familiarly
known, is a son of Francis D. Oakley, who was born in Sacramento county
about 1856, and a grandson of Carey Calvin Oakley, a native of Tennessee
who came across the plains with ox teams in 1851, mined for gold for a
time, and then turned his attention to ranching as a more stable means of
making his fortune. In 1869 he left the northern part of the state and came
to the Santa ]\Iaria valley, becoming one of the first settlers of this part
of the county. He homesteaded a quarter section of land opposite the pres-
ent site of the depot in Santa Maria, and here he farmed with very good
results. He had the distinction of bringing one of the first threshing machines
into the valley, and he operated it for years. While he was living in the
northern part of the state, he married Elizabeth Whaley, a member of a
pioneer family of Sonoma count}' : and they had eleven children l)orn to
them. He died in 1&90.

Francis D. Oakley was the oldest of the eleven children l)orn to his
])arcnts, and he had only the advantages of the pioneer schools of the state.
He early became a farmer, following in the footsteps of his father. He mar-
ried ]\Iiss Mollie Step, whose mother, now eighty-two years of age, is living
in Santa Ynez, near which place she owns a good ranch. She crossed the
jdains with her second husband. The train of which they were members
was a large one, and brought a good number of horses and cattle with them,
(irandfather Step lived to be eighty-nine, and was a man of extraordinary
strength and vitality. ]\Ir. and Mrs. Francis Oakley had six children :
r.crtlia May, who married Charles Bennett, of Lompoc ; Alice E., the wife of
P. !•". I'arker, of Los Alamos; William C, the subject of this review; Sadie
Bell, Mrs. Philippini, of Santa Barbara; Ada Pearl, who is married to Paul
Thompson, an employe of the Associated Oil Co. at Sisquoc ; and Henry
Clifford, of Santa liarbara, in wliich city the parents reside.

A native of Santa Barbara county. Will Oakley was born on June 24,
1886, at Santa Ynez." He attended the public schools of this countv, and
took a commercial course in the Lompoc high school, after which he liegan
working on his father's ranch, learning his lessons in the different branches
of farming from a competent instructor. He later went to the Harris ranch,

SAN LUIS OJUSI'O COIXTV AND ENVIRONS 953

and still later was employed by a creamery company in Guadahii)c, when he
was eighteen years of age. In 1909 he embarked in the dairy and cattle
business on part of the Todos Santos rancho, and during the next three
years got together about two hundred fifty head of cattle, when he found that
he would need more land on \\hioli to range them. He then leased what is
known as the Shaw ranch, from the IJarron heirs in France, in 1912, and
now has about five hundred head of cattle, one hundred twenty-five head of
milch-cows, and thirty head of horses with which to carry on the work on
six hundred acres of plow land, on which he raises large crops of grain and
beans. In this enterprise he has the co-operation of his partner, ^Irs. Sopliia
lionctti ; and they work in harmony, which insures success.

On July 21, 1909, while living in Guadalupe, Mr. Oakley married ?*Iiss
Leslie Bonetti, v,-ho was born and reared in that town. Her father, .Mbert
Bonetti, was a native of Someo, canton Ticino, Switzerland, and left there,
when a boy of fifteen, to come to California to make his fortune. He did
succeed, by good, hard work and business judgment. He was married here
to Sophia Guerra, a daughter of Bonifacio Gucrra, a native of Marin county.
Three children blessed their union: Leslie, now Mrs. Oakley; Albert, an
employee of the Bank of Italy in San l-'rancisco. who married May Hill, of
Oakland ; and Valento, of Guadalupe. Mr. Bonetti died in Guadalupe at the
age of forty-five. Mrs. Bonetti is a most able woman, and assists her son-in-
law with her sound advice and encouragement. Iler grandmother. Annun-
ciate (I'.etante) Guerra. came to America, and makes her home with Mrs.
i'.onctti. She is hale and hearty at the age of se\ enly-seven.

Mr. and ^Irs. Oakley have one child, a son, .Albert William. They are
b(]th very popular in their social set and have an ever widening circle of
friends. Mr. Oakley holds membership in the Odd Fellows and Elks lodges
of Santa Barbara. He is a man of high ideals, progressive, enterprising and
I)ublic-spirited, and year by year is becoming more firmly established in the
business circles of the county where his entire life has been passed.

BENJAMIN PIERRE DELEISSEGUES.— The subject of this review
has the distinction of being a son of a native son of California, and it is no
more than natural that he should be interested in the welfare of his state.
His grandfather, Oliver Deleisscgue, was captain of a French trading vessel
and was shipwrecked off the coast of Monterey some time in the late thirties.
lie came ashore, and was so well received by the inhabitants of the town
that he decided to remain, and in due time was united in marriage with a
Spanish girl, a member of the Boronda family, one of the prominent Spanish
families in California history. The Dcleisscgues all spell their name with
a final "s," biit the captain's certificate had it •'Deleissegue." Oliver Dcleis-
.segue and his wife had a number of children, one of whom, .Mbert Dcleis-
scgues, was born in Monterey in 1847. .\lbert Deleisseguos received a good
education for that period. He became a farmer and a business man, and
lived a busy and useful life; and he is now making his home at Xipomo,
assisting his son-in-law in his mercantile l)usiness. He was married to
Rebecca Hames, who was born in Oakland, in December, 1S54. a member of
a pioneer family. Her father, I'.enjamin IVanklin Hames. was a native of
New York, a civil engineer and millwright of much ability, as well as an
expert accountant. Her mother was Carmen Laing, born at \'alpnraiso.
Chile, of English parentage.

■19

954 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Benjamin Pierre Deleissegues was born in San Luis Obispo, April 11,
1880, and ^rew to manhood there. He received his education in the public
schools. After graduating from the grammar school, he went to work, as
his parents were in moderate circumstances, and the children had to become
self-supporting as soon as possible. He started in to learn the drug business
in the Greenleaf Pharmacy in San Luis Obispo ; but after eighteen months,
finding the pay unsatisfactory, he became associated with the agricultural
department of the LTnion Sugar Co., at Betteravia, as stationary engineer,
and ran the pumping plant there. In 1912 he went to the oil-field district,
where he was engaged as a well pumper, and later as a tool dresser, for a
period of two years. He then went to Arizona and raised one crop of cotton
near Yuma; but the call of his native state was too strong, and in June, 1915,
he returned to California, and was employed in the oil fields until 1916, when
he and his brother Oliver began farming in Los Alamos valley, where they
have one hundred fifty acres of the Careaga estate. There they make a
sj^ecialty of growing beans; and it is predicted that these young men will
carve out their own future and win success, for they have family tradition
to maintain and take pride in, being "to the manor born."

Mr. Deleissegues is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and of San
Luis (3bispo Lodge, No. 322, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

CLARENCE J. HOBSON.— A stirring event in the Spanish-American
War is recalled by the name of Clarence J. Hobson, who is a distant relative
of Richard Pearson Hobson, the hero of the "Alcrrimac," at Santiago Harbor.
Mr. Hobson is chief engineer of the Harris water station at Orby, seven miles
south of Orcutt, for the Union Oil Co., and is also postmaster at Orby.
Born in Ballard valley, Santa Barbara county, he was the first white child
born there of American parents. His father was the late J. J. Hobson, who
came to California in the early fifties, crossing the plains with teams and
wagons, and later went back to Illinois, where he married ^liss Alberta
Bender. After their marriage, he returned witii his wife to California, and
settled in Ballard valley.

Having attended the public schools of his district, Clarence was appren-
ticed tfi the iron works in Santa Barbara, and learned the trade of a
mechanical engineer, and especially whatever has to do with steam, gas and
other machinery. He later opened a blacksmith's shop at Los Alamos ; but
through the arduous labor of shoeing the heavy horses brought to his forge,
he injured himself permanently, so that today he still sufl^ers from the effects.

While in business in that little town, Clarence Hobson married Miss
Rena M.-mkins, who died at Los Angeles, leaving one child, Manola.

Mr. Hol)son remarried, choosing for his helpmate Miss Vera Jessee, the
daughter of John and Mary (McHenry) Jessee. Her father was a civil
engineer of San Jose, and a member of a family identified with the famous
ISear h'lag party. One child, C. J. Hobson, Jr., has blessed this vuiion.

In recognition of the exceptional mechanical genius of Mr. Hobson, he
was appointed, in Scplember, l''in, chief engineer of the Harris water station,
owned liy the Unitm ( )il Cd. W liat a responsibility was thus committed to
him may be judged from the lad that all the water used for drilling, steam,
mechanical and domestic purposes on the numerous leases and at the pump-
ing stations of the great Union Oil Co., in both the Orcutt and the Lompoc
fields, conies from there. The water is ])um])e(l from great wells at the Harris

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 955

stati5n, and is forced through underground water mains to two great tanks
located upon the most highly elevated grounds. The first is at the Newlove
lease in the Santa Maria field, from which are supplied all the compressor
works, refineries, pipe-line stations, steam engines and private houses, as
well as stock tanks, on all the Union Oil Co.'s leases in the wide Santa Maria
field, besides the city of Orcutt, the water gravitating to the different places
where it is needed. The second is at Lompoc, and this supplies all of the
Union Oil Co.'s engines, drills, pumijing plants, refineries, compressors, leases,
houses, etc., in the Lompoc oil field — a tremendous amount of water. As it
is most important that the water should be furnished in sufficient quantities,
it will be seen that this xx-teran mechanic has in charge a position of con-
siderable responsibility.

A patriotic citizen, whose devotion to his country has never been ques-
tioned, Mr. Hobson serves as postmaster at Orby, being the third postmaster
appointed to that post ofifice since its establishment in 1908. Courteous and
attentive to the wants of the public, and well informed as to the postal needs
of his district, Mr. Hobson has given efficient and satisfactory service here.

THOMAS JENSEN. — What heroic persistence may accomplish in the
great struggle of life, is shown in the case of Thomas Jensen, who, leaving
his home in the Old World to push oflf to the New and a more promising out-
look, toiled until he was enabled at last to realize his ambition. Born
at Orra, Denmark, three miles from the German boundary, on March 30,
1<%1, he was the son of Jens Hanson, a farmer and sailor, who served for
three j'cars in the great war. beginning in 1848, that raged between Germany
and Denmark, and tlun, wounded and crippled for life, returned home, his
future darkened by the awful experience he had undergone. Five uncles of
Thomas, brothers of his mother, also fought throughout the Danish-German
war a few years later, and each returned alive and unharmed. His mother
was Anna Maria Thomp.son, a native of Jutland. Both parents died when
nearly eighty years of age. and within a year of each other. Besides Thomas,
tliere was another son, Hans Jensen, who lives on the old home place in
Denmark.

Having attended tlie jiublic school in his native district, and been prop-
erly confirmed in the LutJieran Church. 'J'iiomas Jensen was married in 1888,
at Orra, to Miss Dorthia Maria Nilsen; and the following year, leaving his
wife and infant bal^y, he sailed for the United States. He had two cousins
at Nipomo, Cal., and they were the means of directing his attention to the
Golden State.

He left Denmark Xovember 14. 188'', and sailed from Hamburg on the
Handiurg-Amcrican liner "Suabia," and landed in New York at old Castle
Garden. Eventually, he reached San Francisco; but when he got as far as
San Luis Obispo, he found himself penniless, and threatened with the neces-
sity of tarrying, at least for a while, in the old Mission town. He met a
fellow-countryman, however, and borrowed three dollars from him; and with
that money he was able to complete his journey to Nipomo. It is needless
to say that he went to work at once, and that the first three dollars he culd
spare from his slender earnings he remitted to the friend wiio had seen him
through. Arriving on December 17 at Nipomo, he began work for his cousin,
Jacob JIanson, and continued for a long time to work for him by the
montli. Ihen he engaged for a while with a nursery at Nipomo, and so got
still further ahead.

956 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

At the cue! of four years he had saved enough money to be able to send
for his \\'ii<j and two children, who joined him at Xiiximo in 1894. He rented
a farm near that town, which he ran for four years. In 1898, he came down
to the Careagas and rented a part of their ranch, and this he continued to
hold for the next six years. When he bought his ranch of four hundred
eighty-two acres, a part of the historic old estate, he secured what had been
won by Sullivan and Roach, attorneys-at-law in San Francisco. He stocked it
with cattle and set to work to raise beans and hay. Today he has forty head
of cattle, twelve work horses, and eight other horses for the saddle and the
buggy. In busy seasons he gives employment to several men besides
himself.

I'ive years ago he built an ujvto-datc l)ungalow surrounded by a group
of fruit trees and English walnuts, and a yielding vineyard, and here he
shares the home comfort with his wife and seven children. A daughter, Anna
Maria, married Fred Lang, a fireman on the Pacific Coast Railway, residing
at Los Olivos, and they have one child, Alfred. Neils, James, Mattie, Chris-
tina, Charles and Mary live at home. In politics, Mr. Jensen votes for
principle, and tests the candidate by \\hat, m his opinion, the candidate
represents.

HARRY JOHN SANBORN.— So much hard, steady and patient work,
and work without dependence on "pull" or favor of any sort, is nowadays
required for one to become a master driller and to rise with the expansion
of the vast oil interests, that all the more credit is due to such brawny
machinists and engineers as Harry John Sanborn, who has risen entirely by
his own merit until now he fills the responsible position of rotary driller at
well No. 13, of the Pan-American Petroleum Investment Co., near Los
Alamos. Born at Manitowoc, Wis., September 22, 1881, he was but three
and a half years old when, on the death of his mother, he was adopted by the
family of Wellington Sanborn, a rancher at Hortonville, jn that state, who
still owns a fine farm of a hundred sixty acres there. By the Sanborns he
was recei\-ed as their own child. He attended the public grammar school,
and later he profited by a year at the local high school.

Feeling that he ought to strike out for himself, he left home at the
age of twenty-six and went in for railroading. He got a job as locomotive
fireman on a freight train of the C. & N. W. railroad, running between Green
Bay and Milwaukee, but during the great panic of 1907, wdiich brought busi-
ness practically to a standstill, and with it the railroad trains, he was among
thousands of others who were laid ofif from work. Just at that time, however,
Frank Kellogg, a friend of his school days, wrote him from Batson, Tex.,
telling him that there was plenty of work to do there in the oil fields, and
invited him to come and join him. He went there and began in the oil busi-
ness in that field, first as a roustabout and then in work at pumping.

In August, 1908, Mr. Sanborn came to California. Going to Taft, he
secured work on a lease of the Standard Oil Co. as helper to a rotary drilling
crew, lie also worked at .Sherman and \\'hittier in this state. In 1910, he
w;is back in 'I'att as a driller for the Miocene; and later he was engaged as
driller to the W. D. Head Drilling Co. at Taft.

For the seasons of 1910-11-12, he contracted as a driller for Brand «S:
Stephens, a Fullerton firm. There he made the ac(piaintance of John (lolespy,
a \'eteran rotary driller, who now has the morning tour at well No. 13 of the

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND I'AAIRONS 957

corporation, and who is widely known through the state for his expert
knowledge of the drilling of oil wells; and in October, 1916, both he and
Golespy came to the Pan-American Petroleum Investment Corporation.

On May 20, 1912, at Bakersfield, Mr. Sanborn was married to Miss Pearl
De.xter, a daughter of Franklin Dexter, one of the highh- respected citizens
of Clintonville. Wis., where she was a great favorite in social circles. One
child, Lucille, now four years of age, has come to bless the home of this
estimable couple.

CLEVELAND J. WILKINSON.— A San Luis Obispo boy who, through
the most valuable practical experience gained by his own efforts, is creating
an enviable record and reputation as a careful and expert rotary driller, is
Cleveland, or Cleve, J. \\'ilkinson, now in charge of a crew putting in well
No. 6-for the Pan-American Petroleum Investment Corporation. Mis father,
who is still living in retirement at Arroyo Grande, an old gentleman of eighty
years, and a well-known and honored settler of San Luis Obispo County, is
the rancher, John M. Wilkinson, a native Kentuckian, who crossed the plains
from Missouri, probably in 1850, and who settled as a farmer and stock-raiser
in the Santa Maria valley about 1869. His mother, on the other hand, was
a native daughter, born at Na])a, and christened lletty .\. Stubblefield ; she
is still living at Bakersficld.

Besides the subject of our sketch, .Mr. and Mrs. \\'ilkinson had nine
children: Abbie married Esmeralda Reys, a rancher in the Cuyama val-
ley; Jesse married Nora Jobe, and has a ranch nut far from his brother;
Louvina is the wife of J. II. Jones, a farmer near Maricopa; Ida is the wife
of S. Roger, a bookkeeper for the Union Oil Co., residing on the Newton
lease, in the Santa Alaria field; Ira married Miss Clara Green, and resides
with her in Alberta, Canada; Jeanie is the wife of Bell Wright, a barber at
Goldfield, Nev. ; May is at home; and Rutii and Johnnie are attending the
local school.

Born at lluasna, .'^an Luis Oliispi) County, on Christmas Day. 1886,
Cleveland J. \\ ilkinson grew up nn his father's ranch in Kern county, and
early became noted as a rider skilled in the breaking in of saddle horses. He
began working and riding for the Hon. J. I. W'agy. proprietor of the Ozeana
ranch, in the mountains west of ?^Iaricopa, and then, engaged himself as a
rider and stockman for Fuller Bros., at Los Angeles. As a result of his
cow-punching experience and his proficiency when in the saddle, Mr. Wilkin-
son was offered a lucrative position with a film companx making moving
pictures, but he had the good sense to reject the offer and to stick to more
practical and permanent occupations.

lie quit riding, and struck into the oil fields as a roustabout at Santa
Maria, and soon made up his mind that he would stay with the oil business
until he mastered it. He went to work on the New Pennsylvania, and then
went to the Union in the Santa Maria field. He was next employed by the
Radium Oil Co. in the same district; and there he learned to he a .Iriller
with standard tools.

About this time he learned of rotary drilling; and being wide-awake
enough to see that it would prove the device of the future, he went to the
I'ullerton field to learn the rotary drilling process. There he worked for
the Patterson Oil Co.. then for the Strain Oil Co.. later for the General
Petroleum Oil Co., and finally for the St. Helena Oil Co.. in whose service he

958 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

became expert as a rotary driller. In 1916, he went to Taft to drill for the
K. T. (Si O. Co. On concluding his engagement with them, he yielded to
the attraction of better money and entered the service of Maxwell & Mc-
Donald, of the same place. This put him on record as having started the
first rotary rig at Taft. He was then transferred to the Palmer Annex of
the same firm of contract drillers, and there gave the same satisfactory
service.

In October, 1916, l\Ir. A\'ilkinson took up his present responsible posi-
tion with the P. A. P. I. Corporation, setting to work energetically on wells
No. 1 and No. 6. In the case of the former, the well was drilled to a depth
of 2,448 feet, or where the water is shut off by cementing. Well No. 6 was
started on the 29th of December, 1916, and such excellent progress has been
made that by February 3, of the present year, a depth of 2,250 feet had been
reached by the drill.

On November 12, 1910, Mr. Wilkinson married Miss Lena Earl Lathrop,
a popular girl of Arroyo Grande. He built a iiouse on the lease where he
is at present employed ; and here he and his wife are enjoying the quiet and
contentment of California life. He is active in the circles of the Moose, a
member of the lodge at Santa Maria, No. 719; and he takes a live interest in
politics, indorsing the principles of the Democratic party.

JOHN H. HARRISON.— A Texas boy who, while retaining his personal
integrity and manhood, has proven his full capacity for aggressive and expert
workmanship, and has established an excellent record as a successful rotary
driller, being now engaged by the great Pan-American Petroleum Investment
Corporation, is John H. Harrison, commonly and widely known among the
boys in the oil fields as Bob Harrison, the driller. Born at Waelder, Gonzales
county, Tex., September 22, 1879, Bob is the son of W. E. Harrison, a South
Carolinan by birth, who is now conducting, as he has been for years, a well-
known hardware store at Waelder. His mother, who died when he was
thirteen years old, was a native of Texas, and was known as ]\Iiss Annie
Exzena before her marriage. There are four brothers and three sisters of
Juhn Ii: Harrison still living, all of whom except one reside in Texas, Ed
Harrisnn lieing in charge of R. E. McKee's drillers at the Palmer Union.

Educated at the Texas public schools, Bob Harrison first felt the call
to the oil field with the coming of the Spindle-Top boom; and unable to
resist the temptation, he turned aside from the carpenter's trade, to which
he had first given himself, and joined his brother, Julius, now a stockholder
of a petroleum company at Sour Lake, Tex., who had preceded him into the
oil game and urged him to follow. He started building rigs, and continued
in that work for a year and a half. After that, convinced that he was on the
right path, he took up oil-field work at Spindle Top, and later at Sour Lake,
Tex., and then removed to Batson, returning in five or six months. His next
step led him to Jennings, La. ; and there he had his first experience as a
driller, entering the service of the Crowle_y Oil & ^Mineral Co., and continuing
witli them for seven years.

In the spring of 1910, Mr. Harrison came to California, and to Taft, and
took up drilling for the Honolulu Oil Co., under the superintendency of John
Pollard. He left that concern a year and a half later to engage with the
Standard Short Line, removing still later to the Fullerton field, where he
drilled for a year. Then lie came to the Palmer Annex in the Santa Maria

SAX LUIS Or.ISPO COUNTY AXD E.WIRO.XS 959

ticld, and after that entered n|ion his present engagement with the P. A. P. I.
Corporation. As a rotary ih-ilkr he has heen exceedingly successful. He
started to drill well No. 7 im Jann.iry 1,\ 1917, and by February 3 reached a
depth of 1,420 feet.

In the southern metropolis of Los Angeles, John Harrison was married
to Miss Alice Egert, a winsome and highly esteemed daughter of that city ;
and with her he lives in his own cosy house on the company's lease.

MRS. S. R. STOMBS.— Whoever is familiar with the hard, exhausting
work and varying ups and downs of such toilers as the laborers in the great
oil fields at Coalinga and Los Alamos, will not wonder at the part played
daily in their lives by the excellent boarding-hoitse conducted b)^ the mistress
of all California boarding-house keepers, Mrs. S. R. Stombs. who, serving
the community of the Pan-American Petroleum Investment Corporation,
provides for sixty or more boarders, prepares over two hundred meals, and
both quickens and satisfies the appetites of each and every guest, sending
every mother's son away not only well-fed and contented, but with memories
of the day, perhaps long ago, when lie was a favored diner at home. Only
the liest of everything is placed upon Airs. Stombs' groaning table; all is
arranged with cleanliness and tasic. and with every consideration for the
boarder's comfort.

Rorn at Boston, Mass., Airs. Stomlis in maidenhood was Miss Sophia
Wood, and came as a child with her parents to California. She attended the
public schools at San Francisco, and in that metropolitan city she was mar-
ried to Thomas A. Stombs, becoming the mother of three children: Sadie.
Mrs. A. D. Wood, of Pasadena; Roy T. Stombs, who is in the employ of an
ice company at Los Angeles; and Jessie, Mrs. Fmmet Wilson, who lives at
F.lcctra, Tex. On account of poor health, Mr. Stombs lives at Los Angeles.

I'or se\-cn vears Mrs. Stombs managed a boarding-house at Coalinga,
where she liad tlie first eating-house on the .American property; and it was
only in the fall of 1914 that she set up her present eating-house, for which
she personally buys everything and personally superintends the preparation
and the cooking of the meals.

MARION COX.— One who, by long application and the hardest and
most ])<.rsist(nt labor, has risen to his present positiiMi as a driller in the
Santa Alaria valley, using standard tools, is Joseph Alarion Cox, popularly
known as Marion Cox. He was born on June 9, 1883. in the Santa Maria
\alley, where his father was for many years an honored and leading pioneer,
before he removed to Los Alamos, the place of his present residence. His
father, James M. Cox, came as a child from Ukiah. Mendocino county, with
his parents, Henry and Mary (Yarnell) Cox. both of whom came fmm
Missouri to California in 1852. Marion's mother, who is also living at Los
Alamos, was Miss Elizabeth Garrett before Iicr marriage.

Seven children, besides the subject of our sketch, were born to Mr. and
Mrs. James M. Cox. Cynthia Lee became the wife of W. H. Hathaway, a
tool-dresser; .Mamie Frances is the wife of George Howard, a ranciier of Los
Alamos; ICffic is the wife of William P.ailes, a teamster residing on the oil
lease; Annie L. married Laurence Franklin, a rancher in tiic Imperial X'allcy ;
Inez is still at home; Henry T. is a rider on the Zaca ranch and is well known
as a former uMvingiiicture rider with the "Flying .\" riei;^^'i<; of Santa Har-
bara: and M.irtha is the wife of Barnard Davis, of the Lo. oU^'^^ Garage.

960 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Marion Cox received his education at the local grammar and high schools
of Los Alamos and Santa Ynez. For several years he was a "cow-puncher,"
and when seventeen years old started to dress tools in the Kern river field.
At the end of four months, however, he suffered serious injury caused by
distillate poison, and was compelled to lay off. When he resumed work, he
engaged with the Eastern Consolidated, on a wild-cat well below Point Con-
cepcion, on the Santa Anita ranch, where he remained fourteen months. Then
he went to Gallagher Bros., above Los Alamos, and worked on another wild-
cat well. After that he joined the forces of the Union Oil Co., with whom he
remained for five years, laboring as a roustabout and tOol-dresser in the Lom-
poc field. After an apprenticeship of seven years, he was promoted to the
position of driller. In that ca])acity, he first served the New Pacific, this side
of Edna in San Luis Obispo County; and then he went back to Midway for
five years more of work as a driller. He drilled for the JMuscatine Oil Co. at
Maricopa ; then for the North American ; after that for the Santa Fe ; next
for the Associated ; and then for the Honolulu, near Taft, for the M. J- M-
& ^1., near IMaricopa, and for the Miocene, near the same place. Then he
returned to the Santa Maria fields and worked in the Palmer Annex, and for
B. V. Brooks in the Cat canon ; and since September, 1916, he has been
employed by the P. A. P. I. Corporation.

Some years ago, in the picturesque and historic Lild ^Mission town of
San Luis Obispo, Marion Cox led to the altar Miss Ellen Burns, of Lompoc;
and with her he has lived in marital bliss ever since, at present residing on the
oil company's lease.

CECIL H. FOWLER.— Just such a young man as everybody likes—
never afraid of hard work, always ready to give a lift and to do anyone a good
turn, and certain some day, and probably before very long, to make his mark —
is Cecil Playnes Fowler, the assistant storekeeper for the Pan-American Petro-
leum Investment Corporation, and probably one of the youngest men holding
a high position of trust for that responsible concern. His father was the late
Albert Fowler, well-known as a California pioneer, and as a ranchman, stock-
man and farmer, who, at the time of his death in 1903, in his sixtieth year,
owned six hundred acres or more of land. His mother, still living at Oceano,
was Miss Sarah Ann Henry before her marriage, which took place in the old
Mission town of San Luis Obispo. She was born in Clinton county, la., went
with her parents to Nova Scotia when she was only nine years of age, and
came seven years later, by way of Panama, to California, stopping for a
while in Lake county and then coming to San Luis Obispo. Four children
were born to this pioneer couple: Albert Henry, a justice of the peace at
Corcoran and an employe of the sugar company ; Harold ]\Ielville, a ranclicr
in the Imperial Valley; Adella May, wife of James Rutherford, of Sacramento;
and Cecil Haynes.

Tlic subject of our sketch \vas horn near Arroyo (irando, Sci)tcmlx'r 5,
1896. He attended the pu])lic schools of tliat progressive town, anil later took
the commercial and lousiness course at the Arroyo high school, from which
he graduated in 1914. His first experience in actual work after leaving school
was on a farm in the Imperial Valley, where he worked by the month, remain-
ing two-thirds of a year. Fie then returned home, and for five months was in
the employ of the Pinal-Dome Refining Co. In October, 1916, he entered on
his [irescnt eng-,|'„.^,nt'nt, putting in a month in the company's office, and after
that l)ec(.)ming ;ne coriioralion's assistant storekeeper.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 961

Tall and well-built and mentally alert, in these respects a typical California
boy, Cecil Fowler makes numerous friends, throui^li his agreeable personality,
•whose confidence he wins and holds.

NICOLA STORNI. — A ])romincnt retired rancher and progressive citi-
zen now living in San Luis Obispo, where he is well and favorably known,
Nicola Storni was born on January 21, 1847, in canton Ticino, Switzerland.
His father was a Swiss and his mother an Italian. He was educated in
the common schools and learned the trade of painter, which he followed for
fifteen years in Germany, where he had gone when thirteen years old, to join
an uncle. He worked at his trade during the day and attended night school,
in this way obtaining the greater ])art of his schooling. Afterwards he spent
five years in Holland as a painter. Mr. Storni understands and can converse in
five languages, is an interesting companion, and has been a great traveler.
He came to the United States and stopped for a time in New York; and then.
\\ith a party of friends, he journeyed l)y rail to San l'"rancisco. arrixing there
July 3, 1876, after a twelve-day trip.

He romaineil there two months, and then came to Cayucos. San Luis
C)l:iis])o County, and here he abandoned painting and went to work on a dairy
ranch. He later became a partner with his brother-in-law, l^rcole Biaggini, in
the butcher business at Caj'ucos, and for twenty years this partnership con-
tinued. They built up a fine trade during the intervening years and held
the respect of their associates tlir(JUghout the county. Having bought five
hundred twenty-three acres of land. Mr. .Storni moved to the ranch and
engaged, for fifteen years, in <!air\ing in (ircen \'alley. He was also occupied
in raising and selling stock.

As he succeeded in the dairy and stock business, he bought land from
time to time, and is now owner of one thousand acres on Cottontail creek
and of seven hundred twenty-five acres, formerly the Logan place, between
Cayucos and Cambria. These ranches are devoted to the stock business and
dairying, and have brought to their owner sjilendid returns. He gave his per-
sonal supervision to the operation of his ranches until his retirement to San
Luis Obispo on September 21, 1915, where he is now living free from' active
l)ursuits and in the enjoyment of a well-earned rest. In 1910. with some of his
relatives, he spent four months in his old home in Switzerland.

Mr. Storni was united in marriage with Miss Caroline I'.iaggini, a native
of Switzerland, and they have seven children. Mrs. Josie Locarnini resides
at Orcutt; Mrs. Dina Dickie is in Cambria; .Mrs. Livia Mayficld. of San Luis
t )bispo, is the mother of one child: Mario is in diarge of the home ranch;
Mrs. Diva Donati lives at Cayucos and is the mother of one son; .Armando is
in charge of the ranch near Cayucos, and Nicholas is with his brother at (Irccn
\alley. Mr. Storni has given his children the advantages of good schools and
they have taken their ])laccs in the business world and society.

In all matters that have come before him having as their object the up-
building of the county and the welfare of the people. Mr. Storni has given
his hearty support. He has been a friend of education, and has .sought
to bring the schools to a high standard of cfticicncy. When there was talk
of organizing a bank at Cambria, he was one of the men wh.; worked liaril to
accomplish the task; and he is now one of its directors. He is truly a self-
made man, for his success has been the result of his owi- well-directed elTorts.

962 SAN LUJS OCISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

MICHAEL TONINI.— A worthy pioneer of 1873 in San Luis Obispo
County is Michael Tonini, who was born in canton Ticino, Switzerland, Sep-
tember 1, 1850, and who brought with him to this country those sturdy traits
of character that have meant much towards the development of the resources
of San Luis Obispo County. As a boy he attended a Swiss school a short
time, meanwhile herding the family sheep and goats.

At the age of twenty, in 1870, he came to the United States, and the
same year arrived at his goal, California, with but five cents in his pocket,
and unable to speak the English language. However, he was blessed with
a courage and determination to succeed, and a willingness to work at any
honest labor that would yield a living ; and going to Marin county, he went
to work for a brother on a dairy rancli, where he remained three years. Dur-
ing this time lie had become familiar with the methods of doing lousiness in
this ciiuntry. He could speak some Englisli, and he had saved some money,
so tliat he was able to start out for himself.

He came to San Luis Obispo County in 1873, leased land and bought
some stock, and engaged in dairying near Chorro. Later he purchased land,
and for the following fifteen years had a hard struggle to gain a foothold in
his new home. He gave his entire time and attention to his affairs, and was
finally successful, and is now inde|)eiident. Me is a self-made man in every
sense of the word.

In 1889 Mr. Tonini bought his present ranch of six hundred and thirty-
seven acres on the Los Osos plains, which he has developed into one of the
finest dairy ranches in the county. His specialty is raising Durham cattle,
which he considers superior for the dairy business ; and he has given some
attention in later years to raising beans. In November, 1916, he bought a
home on Pismo street for himself and wafe.

Mr. Tonini was united in marriage, November 20, 1876, with Eliza
Schieft'arly, a native daughter of San Luis Obispo County, who was born
here on November 2, 1857, and they have had eleven children, eight of whom
are living. These. are Mrs. Annie Zanetti of Santa Maria; Mrs. Mary Wil-
liams and Mrs. Rachel Rosenthim, both in Bakersfield ; Mrs. Lizza Pinana,
living on the home ranch; Frank, at Orcutt ; Michael, Jr.; John; and Henry.
Tilda (Mrs. Gianolini), Josie, and l^lla are deceased. Mr. and Airs. Tonini
have eleven grandchildren. The family are all members of the Catholic
Church.

PETER F. MAGORIA.— A large number of the most successful citizens
of San Luis Obispo County have come from Switzerland, and here in the land
of opportunity they have worked with a will and have accumulated a com-
petency. Among these men is Peter F. Magoria of Cambria. He was born
in the town of Locarno, canton Ticino, October 28, 1881. His father, Joseph
Magoria, was born in that same locality and succeeded his father in th€
hotel business there. In an early day the grandfather Joseph had purchased
a convent building there and remodeled it, making of it a modern hotel for
that time and place. He called it the Swiss Hotel, and it was favoralily
known throughout a wide area.

After his father retired from the conduct of this hotel, Joseph assumed
charge and carried on the business until 1900, when he, too, retired to pri\ate
life. He is now iiying quietly and highly respected in his home locality. His
wife was Olymjiia Ciiicherio-Scalabrini, who was born in Ciiubiasco, canton

SAN LUIS OUiSI'O COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 963

Ticino. Her father was a colonel in the Swiss infantry, and her brother,
Richard Chicherio-Scalabrini, was judge of the supreme court of that canton.

Peter F. Magoria received his education in the public schools and at-
tended the Collegio Ponteficio d' Ascona, the Istituto Elvetico at Locarno,
and the Real Schule, Sarnen. After completing his college course, he went
to work in a hotel and served in some of the best hostelries, among them the
Urand Hotel de Berges and Grand Hotel Isotta in Geneva, the Central Hotel
at Milan, and Bertolini's Palace Hotel in Naples. While in his own country
Mr. IMagoria entered on military training, and while in that service he was
an ofilicer in the sharpshooters battalion No. 8.

With this varied experience, when twenty-five years of age he left Switz-
erland and sailed for this country, coming direct to California, where he had
a college chum living in Sonoma county. Fifteen days after arriving in Cali-
fornia, he secured a position as bookkeeper in the Italian-American Bank of
San Francisco, and there he remainctl four years, resigning his position to en-
gage in business for himself.

In 1910 he came to Cambria with the intention of embarking in the gen-
eral merchandise trade, as he was told there was a good opening; but instead,
he purchased the Hotel Cambria and began to develop a good trade. He built
an addition, remodeled the place, added new fixtures and was successfully
engaged in the line of lousiness for which his inheritance and years of training
had best fitted him ; but in 1916 he leased out the |)lace and is devoting his
time to looking after his other interests.

On December 6, 1912, he was united in marriage with JMiss Rose
Filippini, a native of Sonoma county, and a daughter of the late Charles
Filippini, a pioneer there and a prominent banker in Petaluma. Mrs. Magoria
was educated in Petaluma and Santa Rosa. She is the mother of three chil-
dren, Olympia, Carlo and Anita. Mr. Magoria is a Republican on national
issues. He is an enterprising, progressive citizen, and he and his wife are well
and favoraljly known in the community where they live, and have a wide
circle of friends.

MANUEL P. ROLITA.— Among the leading business men of San Luis
Obispo mention ma}' well be made of Manuel P. Rolita, owner and proprietor
of the monument works at 348 Iliguera street. He was born on December
1, 1880, in Sao Braz d' Alportel, Faro county, state of Aigarve, Portugal, a
son of Antonio P. and .Mary (Mandcsj Rolita, both born and reared in the
same i'ortuguese slate. At the age of twelve years Manuel P. started in to
learn the trade of stone mason, and after an apprenticeship of several years
he mastered it and at the age of seventeen worked in Portugal. Then he
went to Spain, and in 1903 helped to build three stone docks at Gibraltar.

Three years later he left there, bound for Rio de Janeiro, and arriving
tliere, he worked on a stone breakwater then being constructed in the harbor.
He next came to New York, entering that harbor on I'"ebruary 20, 1906. After
a trip to Fall River and to Boston, he took a steamer bound from the latter
place to Savannah, Ga. Here he worked for a few months in the swamps,
cutting trees and getting out lumber.

After a while, he determined to come to the Coast, ani' look a train from
Savannah for San Francisco, arriving in the fall of 1906; and his first employ-
ment was in helping to tear down some of the ruins made by the fire and
earthquake of that year. He later drove a milk wagon in Oakland for seven

964 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

months, and then went to Reno, Nev., and was emplo}-ed on the Western
Pacific Railroad in construction work.

Mr. Rolita arrived in San Luis Obispo in 1908. He worked three years
at his trade here, and then took a trip to the Hawaiian Islands, wdiere he was
engaged in street building. While there he went to Hilo and followed the
same work. In Hawaii he married Miss Adelaide Ropozo, who was born in
Hilo. In 1912, with his wife, he returned to San Luis Obispo, where he has
since resided. He has built up a successful business and owns his own home
and plant.

Three children have been Ijorn to Mr. and Mrs. Rolita: George J., born
July 30, 1913; Manuel P., Jr., born February 26, 1915; and Edward, born in
March, 1916. Mr. Rolita is a member and past president of the San Luis
Obispo Council. No. 25, I. D. E. S. He is also a member of the U. P. E. C.
Society and «.{ the A. O. L". D., Mission C.rove No. 87, as well as of the Knights
of Columbus and the Woodmen of the Wi irld. He is a self-made man in every
sense (if the wrird, and thmugh his extended travels he has become unusually
well informed on general tojiics.

SAMUEL MARTIN TOGNAZZINI.— A native of Australia, Samuel
Martin Tognazzini was born at Eganstown, on January 15, 1876, a son of
N(ie Tognazzini, who was born in Someo, canton Ticino, Switzerland, on
l'\'bruary 18, 1841, and went to Australia at the age of fourteen years. There
he ^vorked in the mines. Eventually coming to this country, he settled at Point
.Sal, Santa Barbara county, and successfully engaged in ranching till he
retired to Guadalupe, where he died.

Samuel Tognazzini went to sclim.l until he was thirteen years old.
He was reared on the farm an<l became used to the hard work necessary
to successful ranching. He went to work for wages at an early age, and was
employed in several places; and with his savings he started in for liiiuself.
He operated a hay press for a time, and later was engaged in drilling wells ;
and in 1900 he went into the Santa Maria valley, baling hay and boring wells,
and followed that work for five or six years. In 1905 he started in the liquor
business, which he is carrying on at the present time in Guadalupe.

Mr. Tognazzini is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the I'^agles, and
of the U. A. O. D., having passed all the chairs of the local order and having
served for seven years as a delegate to the state lodge. He was first married
in 1905 to Annie Bontadelli, who w-as born in Guadalupe and wdno died in
San Francisco. March 2'', 1915. He was married the second time in Salinas,
Octnlier 2(J, 1''15, to ;\lrs. M"ercedes (Ga.xiola) Nesper, who was born in
San Luis Obispo, and was a daughter of \'incent J. Gaxiola. a pioneer of this
county. Mr. Tognazzini is a progressi\e citizen and liclie\es in progress in
every branch of industry.

MANUEL SARMENTO.— Many of the valued citizens of this county
have come from foreign shores, and it is safe to say that no one has the
respect of a wider circle of friends and business associates- than Manuel Sar-
mento. He was born in the Azores Islands, November 27, 1852, and when
a little child was taken to Fial island and there reared, educated and taught
the carjienter's trade. When he was nineteen years old, he concluded he
would strike out for himself ; and having heard a great deal about the won-
derful state of California on the far western coast, he determined to avail
himself of its opportunities, lie landed in Boston harlmr on Washington's

SAN LUIS OniSPO COUNTY AND ENMRONS 965

ljinhda\ , 1873, and came on to San Francisco, .arriving with but twenty-
five cents in his pocket. He was willing to work, and any honest employ-
ment that offered a living was looked for and accepted. He worked for wages
for two years, in the northern part of the state, and reached San Luis Obispo'
County, December 8, 1875, when he went to work for William Sandercock.
He saved his money until he had enough to o[)en up a livery stable. He
started on a small scale, and gradually built up a tine and paying business,
keeping only the best stock and buggies. His courteous treatment brought
him many patrons, and for nineteen years he prospered. He invested his
money in ranch property at Center Hill and for six years followed farming.
In order to better educate his children, he moved to San Luis Obispo, where
he has since resided.

Mr. Sarmento was married to \'ir.i;inia A. Pino, a native of the island
of I'lal, and they have had eleven children, of whom eight are living: Mrs.
Leonora Hallaway, Manuel Enos, Julia, Frank E., Peter IC, John E., (jeorge,
and Thomas. They were all born in this county, and have been educated
in the public schools of San Luis Obispo. Mr. Sarmento was one of the
founders of the Portuguese Lodge, I. D. E. S., and served as president, vice-
])resident, and treasurer; and he is now one of the directors. He is the
leading citizen of his nationality in the county, and is highly respected by
all with whom he has social or business relations. What he owns has been
made by honest work and personal attention to duty. He is a progressive
man who supports all public movements that help to build up the county.

GIOACHINO LANINL — A prominent Swiss-American citizen of Santa
Barbara county in the vicinity of Guadalupe, where he has been a resident
for the past twenty years, G. Lanini was born in Frasco, canton Ticino,
Switzerland, July 20. 1864. He attended the ]Hiblic schools until he was four-
teen and then worked witli his father on the farm until 18S.\ when he left
his native country. I )n I Jecemher 15 of that \ear he arri\ed in the United
States.

Having' smiu" bniihers in California, young Lanini naturally made this
state his objective ])iiinl. and his first sto]) was at San Simeon. I'^rom tlicre he
went to Ca\ ucus, where he began work on a dairy ranch for Mr. Murphy.
One \ear later he found eini)loyment with J. and 1!. .Martella and remained
with them four vears. lie then came to Guadalujie and was employed by Joe
Tognazzi ; and there he stayetl until he had saved uj) enough money to start
in for himself.

His first independent venture was with a partner, lien Lanini, in leasing
land in the Los Alamos section, where, for three years, they ran about 1,300
acres to dairying and .general farming. Their lease expiring, they moved
to another ranch and continued together, farming (\\q years, when the
partnership was dissoLed. In the meantime, they had increased their hold-
ings to 2,000 acres and had about one hundred twenty-five cows.

.\fter sellin.g out his interests, Mr. Lanini moved into Ciuadalujie, leased
land there and devoted it to raising beans and hay. .Again he branched out
on a larger scale, when he bought the e(|uii>ment of the I'eter l\irini jilace,
ran a dairy of two hundred cows and had fi.OOO acres of th- Le Roy land.
Fourteen successful years were spent on that jilacc. when M-. Lanini sold
out in 1915. In 1911, he had houglit his present liome place of o hundred
sixty acres, and he had been improving it from time to time, and in 1913

966 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

moved onto it with his family, although they still ran the large ranch until,
selling out.

Mr. Laniiii is a member of the Swiss Society and is interested in the oil
Inisincss. I le has been very successful with ranching from the start and is
well liked by all who know him. He married Regina Lanini, born April 20,
18.^S, in the same town as himself, the marriage being celebrated in San
Luis ( )bispo on September 20, 1891; and they have three children — Alary.
Mrs. W. O. Wolf, of Guadalupe ; Silvio and Henry Lanini — all reared and
educated in the schools of the county, where their parents are well and
favorably known.

ERNEST J. PEZZONI.— Practical and altogether useful qualities are
disclosed in the results achieved by Ernest J. Pezzoni, a well-known Swiss-
American rancher of the vicinity of Guadalupe, who is the manager of the
estate of his father, consisting of about 3,000 acres, and who is actively
engaged in dairying. Mr. Pezzoni has exhibited untiring zeal in the upbuild-
ing of his section of Santa Barbara cnunty. and is following in the footsteps
of his worthy sire, Battista Pezzoni. wlio was born im ,-i farm in Someo,
canton of Ticino. Switzerland.

Battista Pezzoni was reared in his native country until 1856, when he came
to the United States, settling in Marin county as soon as he got to California.
From there he came to San Luis Obispo County, leased land on San Simeon
creek and began the dairy business, carrying it on with success until 1876.
when he came to the vicinity of Guadalupe, Santa Barbara county. In part-
nership with G. Muscid and A. Tognazzini, in 1880, he bought some 8.000
acres near Los Alanms. lie purchased what was known as the home place
near Guadalupe, of 1,500 acres, imjiroved it, and there ran a dairy. The part-
nership with his countrymen was dissolved in 1896, when Mr. Pezzoni became
owner of 1,200 acres, and this he also devoted to dairying and to stock-raising.
He was connected with the Commercial Bank of San Luis Obispo and was a
director from its organization until his death, in 191.^. His wife, formerly
Emily Kent, whom he married in San Simeon, was born in California, and
they were the parents of seven children.

The second child in his father's household, Ernest J. Pezzoni, was born
on the home ranch on June 10, 1878, attended the grammar school in the
Laguna district, and for three years the high school; after which, in 1895-96,
he took up bookkeeiiing. He then went into the Bank of Santa Maria at the
opening of that institution, and ior three years was cmplo_\-ed there. Then he
spent two years in ( luadalupc in the ser\-ice of the l)ank.

In 1902 he took charge of the ranch wdien his father gave up active
wnrk. and has since carried on a successful enterprise on the wdiole estate,
raising beans and engaging in general farming and dairying. Like his father,
he has identified himself with all pnigressi\-e m(i\-enients, and has supported
them liberally, and has gi\en df his time tn help build up the business interests
of the valley.'

In \o\ ember. I'd I, .Mr. I'ezzoni was miited in marriage with Miss Lillian
C. Skahean. win. was born in Grass \alley. Nevada county, Cal. Mrs.
Pezzoni is an e,tiinrible lady. She was principal of the ."santa .Maria school,
and taught f' sever.il years prior to her marriage.

Mr. J /.zoni is a member of the Blue Lodge and Chajiter in Masonry,
being a chapter niemlier of the Fidelity Ciiapter, Santa Maria, and belongs

SAN LUIS OBISI'O COUNTY AND EN\'IRONS 967

to the Kiii-Iits of Pytliias. In \')12 he became a director in the P.aiil< of
Santa Maria upon the retirement of his father, and he holds that position at
this time. He is conservative in judgment and his voice on the board lends
weight to its councils. ITe has a host of friends wherever lie is known, and
is strictly in favor of a square deal for everybody.

PETER PEROZZI.— The self-made men in San I,uis Obispo County
have no more worthy representative than Peter Perozzi, who was born in
Sonogno, canton Ticino, Switzerland, September 11, 1860, a son of Antonio
Perozzi, a farmer in his native canton. Peter went to school until ten years
of age and then had to help support the family, as his father was crippled
and could not do hard work. He tended the goats and cows at home, and in
winter cleaned chimneys. Pie served one year in the army, and when he
reached his majority he came to America, with California as his objective
point, as he had a brother .\tilio living in Marin county.

\\h(.n he arrived here he was unable to speak the English language and
was unfamiliar with American ways. He went to work as a ranch hand, and
the first money he saved, to the amount of $150, he had to send back home to
repay what he had borrowed to get to California. lie spent five years near
Olema, Marin county, and in 1886 came to Santa Barbara county. There
he worked with his brother as partner, conducting a dairy on shares with
the owner. Captain Sudden. He had saved his money, and in 1892 he leased
2,462 acres from Captain Robert Sudden, and bought one hundred twenty-five
cows ; and for seventeen years he continued dairying near Lompoc.

In 1903 he sold out and bought his present place, called the Tuna Dairy
Farm, after a cactus that grows on the place. His first purchase was three
hundred thirty-eight acres, to which he added forty in 1905, and five hundred
sixty-three acres in 1907. He is now milking forty-five cows. The improve-
ments seen on the ranch have been placed there by its owner, who gives his
whole attention to his dairy business.

Mr. Perozzi was married in Switzerland to Maria Sonognini. who was
Ijorn in the same town in canton Ticino, and they have had eight children.
One died, aged four months, and those living are Elvira, Hilda. Walter C,
Dennis H., Alice, Lois M., and Fred John.

Mr. Perozzi became a citizen of this country in 1890, in San Francisco,
and since that time has supported the Republican party. He served six years
as trustee of the Sudden school in the Honda district in Santa Barbara county,
and in many ways has done much to advance the cause of education.

PETER RICHINA.— A resident of the Golden State since 1881, Peter
Fxichina was liorn in Robasacco, canton Ticino, Switzerland, on April 4, 1853.
tlic son (if r.arlhdliimco and Sarafina (Leoni) Richini, both born in the same
canton and farmers there their entire lives. The father died in 1881. and the
mother in 1884. Peter attended school until he was fourteen, and lor several
years following assisted his father at home. He came to California in 1881
and stopped in San Rafael for about a year; then he went to San Francisco and
found work for six months in a dairy near Golden Gate Park. I-'roni there
he went to Stanislaus county and labored on various dairy raphes until 1886,
when he returned to Switzerland and brought his wife back^tc Calilornia the
following year. ' ' ■

He located in Santa Barbara county and near Los .\lainos vcorked six
months, then going to Guadalupe, where, with two part!\crp. he li T^n the

968 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

dairy business. They rented 1400 acres of land and bought cows, and for
the following five years prospered. At this time they divided their holdings,
and in 1900 Mr. Richina bought three hundred fifty acres in the Los Osos
valley, San Luis Obispo County, and in 1902 removed to his ranch. In 1904
he added two hundred more acres, and is leasing three hundred acres of the
Crawford ranch. He has a dairy of two hundred cows, and has been meeting
with success.

He was married in Switzerland, November 1, 1877, to ^lary Farini. who
was born in Isone, canton Ticino, in January, 1855. They have had seven
children, five of whom are living; Lucy, who married R. Turri ; Amelia, the
wife of Henry Albert ; Lizzie ; Adeline, who married B. Guerra ; and Charles.

Since becoming a citizen of the United States in 1884, at Modesto, Mr.
Richina has taken an active interest in the affairs of his adopted country.
For nine years he has served as a trustee of the Stowe school district, and
in many ways he has contributed to the welfare of the community.

FULGENZIO C. RUSCONI. — Conspicuous among the substantial citi-
zens of Santa Barbara county who have selected agriculture as their vocation
in life, and who, judging from appearances, have realized their most sanguine
expectations, is F. C. Rusconi, farmer and dairyman in the Santa Maria
valley. ^Ir. Rusconi was born in Sementina, canton Ticino, Switzerland,
February 20, 1870, a son of Frank and Liberata Rusconi, both natives of that
same canton. There the father, a laborer, was born in 1846. He served in
the militia, and in 1881 came to America and to California. In Napa county
he worked in the dairy business until 1888. He then returned to his native
land and remained for two years, when he again came to California and for
two years followed the dairy business in Napa county with success ; and
returning home with his savings, he was enabled to retire to his little .\lpine
home, where he is still living with his wife and relatives.

F. C. Rusconi was educated in the common schools of Sementina until
he was twelve years of age; then coming to America he joined his father in
Napa county and worked at dairying for a time. He saved his money and
went to \'allejo, and there established a milk business known as the Flosden
Dairy, delivering his product to the citizens of the town. He did not have
money to buy land or stock, so he leased both for four years and met with
success. Selling out, he again worked for wages until he was able to buy
some cows: and then going to Santa Rosa, he leased land and bought cattle
and established the Jersey Dairy, for the following two years delivering milk
direct to his customers in that town.

Mr. Rusconi next moved to Santa Barbara county, looking for a loca-
tion in tJie \ icinity of Guadalupe. Here he found employment as butter maker
and foreman on the M. and T. Tognazzini ranch, which comprised 2,500 acres,
and here he ran a dairy of from two hundred fifty to three hundred cows.
He remained in this position for five years, and won the esteem of his em-
ployers and of the men who worked under him.

So successful was he in the management of this place that in 1907 he had
saved enough r,,oney to lease the land and stock, "and to carry on the dairy
business for h?ij«eelf with success. He also did a general farming, and em-
ployed from teti to'fifteen men the year round. Many of the improvements
seen on thu rancli today were the result of his foresight. ^lodern equip-

ancii I'
lanc'llin

ment fo the hanc'Hing (if the milk and butter was his idea, and the ranch

SAN LUIS Or.lSrO county and environs 969

under liis able and wise nianat;enient yielded .c;Tiod financial returns. He
lul]ied to de\elop two hundred fifty acres of tine alfalfa, wcU-irrii^ated with a
sNstem installed by himself and ])artner, and he it was who plowed the first
furrow on some of the jM-operty. 1 le has devoted his time and attention to the
cultivation and improvement of this land and now sujierintends the work of
tlie ranch.

Mr. Rusconi is a friend of education and has served efficiently as trustee
of the Laguna school district for years, acting also as clerk of the board. One
year he served as a trustee oi the Santa ^faria high school. He is a Repub-
lican in ])olitics and fratern.illy is a member of the Elks and of the U. A.
O. D. : and when living in X'allejo, he belonged to the Odd Fellows. He
is a man of strong character, well educated, and has won a high standing
among the citizens of his community, where he is knowMi as a man of sterling
\\(irth. Ele is what is termed a self-made man in its truest sense.

Mr. Rusconi has been twice married. On the first occasion, in Napa
county, he was united with Miss Joses Diana, a native of Locarno, canton
licino, Switzerland. Jhcy had three children, Frank and Charles, both de-
ceased, and Mayme. The second marriage united him with Miss Josie Tog-
nazzinni, a native of Australia, their wedding being celebrated May 1, 1905.
Their children are: Theodore, Christine, Wilford, Lcola and \'ivian.

JOSEPH S. LUIS.— Ihe year 1S73 marks the date of the arrival of J. S.
Luis in California, since which time he has had varied experiences. He has
suffered losses, and met many discouragements, but has finally overcome all
obstacles, and is now living retired in the enjoyment of a well-earned rest. Mr.
Luis was born on the island of St. George, in the Azores, July 22, 1855, and his
schooling was limited, for the schools were few in number, and his parents
poor. The lad had to start working (jii the farm to help his parents, anil so
he continued until 1873, when he left home and came to the United States.
with California his objective point.

lie traveled \ia Panama to .San I'rancisco, and from there by boat to
Port Avila. He could not speak English, nor did he know the methods that
Ijrcvailcd in this country; but he could work, and took the first job that
offered, which was picking rocks oflf the land owned by Thomas P.arrctt. He
kept at this task for a few weeks and then went to work for Steele Pros.,
remaining on their ranch for five years.

The dry year came on, however, and they had no cash with which to pay
his wages; so they gave him eighty acres, and becoming a landowner, Mr.
Luis began raising beans. Put he lost everything the first year. He then
rented his land and went back to work for wages with Steele Pros.; and
having been a cheese-maker, he engaged in that work for a while. Returning
to his i)ro])erty, he made another start, and was successful.

In 1881, he married Mary T. Freitas, a native of Santa Cruz, of whom
two children were born, Emanuel R. and Josepii S., now both dairymen
in the b.dna district. Success followed the efforts of Mr. Luis for several
years on his ranch; but his wife's health failed, and hoping to benefit her,
he took a trip back to his native country where, soon after their arrival, in
1883, Mrs. Luis died. The boys were young, and to be near and help his
mother care for them, he stayed two years before he came back to California.
On his return t<. the I'nited Stales in 1887. Mr. Luis was married in
lioston. on October 10. to Maria V. Lopez, who was also born in St. George

970 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

island, nil June ->. 18(i8. I'ltr the thirteen years following his return to
.\mcrica. Mr. Luis farmed his ranch in the Arroyo Grande section with a
fair degree of success, raising beans principally ; but they were clieap at that
time and he decided he would try some other line of industry.

In partnership, therefore, with M. M. Silva, he bought fort}' cnws of
L. \\ . Steele when he went out of business, and they'embarked in dairying.
In 1900 the partners leased seven hunilred acres of the Steele ranch and
enlarged their dairy business considerably, and so well did they succeed that
Mr. Luis bought his partner's interests at the end of five years, and ran the
]ilace al(Mie until 1908. He then sold out and bought twenty acres of land
near Edna, which he calls his home place, and here, after long years of hard
work, he has settled down to enjoy a well-earned rest.

Besides his home, Mr. Luis owns five ranches in San Luis (Obispo
county, and his income from these is ample to keep him in comfort the rest
of his days. He is a member of the Catholic Church, is a Republican in poli-
tics, and fraternally belongs to the U. L. E. C. and the I. D. E. S.

AUGUSTO VILLI. — A Swiss- American citizen, but a native of Erance,
.Augusto Villi was born near Paris in 1874, a son of Carlo and Teresa Villi,
both born and reared in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland, where the father
was engaged in dairying until he moved to Paris. Here he began work at his
trade in the glass works, and soon after he commenced contracting for himself
in laying glass roofs on buildings, and was engaged in that occupation until
his death, in 1885, which occurred in Paris.

Augusto attended the public schools near Paris until he was twelve
years old, and then came to California, where a brother-in-law was living at
the time. He arrived in 1886, made his Imme with his relative and attended
school near Chorro : and then he went td work for another relative, Joe
I'.assi, remaining in his employ three years. l-"or the next three years he was
enipinycd l)y L. Tomasini, after which he went into partnership with him
and continued for one year on the R. R. Jacks ranch, renting 2,000 acres of
land.

In 1893. Mr. \'illi bnught his partner's interest, and has carried on the
business ever since. In 1908. he moved to his present place on account of the
high rent of the former, and here he has seven hundred acres which he
devotes to dairying and raising beans with good success. In 1908, with the
savings of the past years, he bought three hundred thirty acres of land near
Stafford. Kings county, which is rented.

Mr. \'illi became a citizen of this country m 189.3 in San Luis Obispo,
and since then he has voted the Republican ticket; and he has served as a
trustee of the Hope school district. He was married. May 23, 1903, to Miss
.\ngiolina Scettrini. who was bom April 5, 1869, in canton Ticino, Switzer-
land, and who came to this country in 1902.

CHARLES MONIGHETTL— The eldest son of A. Monighetti, a Cali-
forni.i pioneer of 1879, Charles Monighetti was born in Biasca, Canton
Ticino, Switzerland, on June 6, 1869. His father was born in the same place
and hilhiwed farming there until 1879, when he came to California and
located in San Luis Obisixi County. .\t Cambria he worked for wages for a
few ye;n-s. and then with his savings began renting land and dairying for
himself on San Simeon creek, continuing there for six years. Selling out,
he went to work for E. W . Steele as manager of the Steele estate, and while

SAN LUIS OiUSI'O COLWIV AND ENVIRONS 971

tilliiiL; this jjosition, was o.ircd l)y a hull and died in 1897, aged forty-six
years, lie had left his wife and ehildren in Switzerland, ex])ecting tn have
them juiu him in this state.

Charles attended scliool in his native town until he was fourteen, and then
came to America and joined his father in California. The first four years in
California were spent with his father, and for the following five years tliere-
after he worked for wages. Then he started for himself by renting land and
aliMut sixty milch cn\\>, frcjui George Ross near Edna, and lie ran a dairy
until the expirati.m of the lease, five years later. The next two years he
leased nine hundred .icro of A. .Muretii, and in l')t)3 made his first purchase of
one hundred twenty acres near Lenioore. Kings county, which he kept about
two years and then sold. .\t about the same time he bought six hundred
acres near Edna, the same being a portion of the Ilollister tract, and there
began raising beans and grain, and running a dairy. I'p to the present time
he has met with success.

Mr. Monighetti was married on January 21, liS96, in San Luis Obispo,
to Miss Dora Rodoni, a native daughter, born in San Jose, .March 31, 1875,
a daughter of M. and Constance Rodoni, natives of canton Ticino, who set-
tled in California in 1872. Mr. and Mrs. Monighetti have three children,
Leslie, Raymond and Mary.

Mr. Monighetti became a nalnrali/.ed citi/en in 1890. is inde|)eiident in
])olitics, supjiorting the men he considers liest suited for ihe offices, and is a
self-made man. With his familx he belongs to the Catholic Church. His
father, wluii killed, left a wife, .Maria Delmuve, and six children in Switzer-
land ; and Charles, being the oldest of the children, has had to aid in the sup-
port of the other members of the family, some of whom still live in the
old coiuitry. With all of his res]ionsibilities, he has W'On a name and place for
liimself in the county <if his ado])tion, and is well and favoraJjly known
tlinmghout liis !)art of the cunty.

INNOCENTI GIUMINL— Leaving home and friends at the age of fifteen
\ears and coming to a new country to make his home,' while being unfamiliar
with the foreign language and customs, was the lot of I. Giumini, wiio was
born in ( luima.glio, canton of Ticino, Switzerland, December 28, 1868. His
schooling was limited to the grammar grades in his native land, and he was
raised on tlie home farm and inured to hard work at an early age.

One <if his brothers had come to California and was in San Luis 01)ispo
county, and it was natural that the lad should come where he was. In 1884
he arrived in Cayucos and started to work on a ranch in the Los Osos
valley, and continued at Cayucos. With the money he saved from his wages,
he started out for himself, when about twenty-one years old, by renting some
lan<l on San Simeon creek and buying seventy-five cows, and for the following
eleven years he carried on the dairy l)usiness. He succeeded and then sold
out and started in again at Chorro, on the Bamiing place.

He once more went back to Los Osos and remained until he inirchased
some land of his own in the east Santa I-V district in l'>12. when he bought
two hundred sixty acres and forty-five cows: and since then he lias coiuUictcd
a successful dairy and stock l)usiness.

He became a citizen of the I'n'ited States in 1S').\ and has served on
the board of trustees of the I'.ast Santa i-'e sch.iol district four years. In
Iiolitics he is a Republican.

972 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Mr.Miiumini married Miss Pia Bassi, wlio, like himself, is a native of
cantdii Ticini). This was in 1893, and the}- lia\c four children tij brighten
their lidnie. ( iiglia, Cesare, Natalina and Krnestn. Mr. (jiumini is a member
cif the Catholic Church.

MANUEL F. AVILA.— .\ i)ractical farmer <if the Edna section of San
Luis Obis]:>o County, IManuel F. Avila started as a laborer in 1892, at twenty-
five dollars per month, and by good management and hard work is now
independent. He was born in the Azores Islands, in May, 1866, went to school
there, and was raised i in a farm and learned farming as carried on in his
native country. lie was anibitinus and could see no chance to go ahead at
home ; so when opportunity offered, he came to the United States and to
California, of which he had heard much from others who had settled here.

lie arrived in this county in 1892, found employment with Fraids: Burke,
and for twelve years worked for wages. He saved $3,000, leased 1,000
acres of land, bought eighty-five cows and launched out in the dairy busi-
3iess ; and so successful was he that in 1910 he purchased two hundred forty
acres near the tank farm, leased it to others, and that same year went out of
the dairy business, selling his cows and taking up general farming.

Mr. A\-ila became a citizen of the I'nited St.ates in 1914, and in I'llf)
\ote(l the first time, casting a ballot for Repuldican candidates. I'Vaternally,
he is a member of the V. P. E. C.

In Sept.nilier, 1' K )i ,, Mr. .Vvila and Miss Josefina Sikuria. a native of his
own countr), were united in marriage. They ha\e four children, Manuel,
Josefina, Angelina and I'rancisco. Mr. Avila is a progressive Portuguese
rancher, finds pleasure in helping others, and believes in a high standard of
education. He is broad in his views on general matters of government, and
takes an intelligent interest in all measures for the betterment of his com-
munity.

JOHN TOGNAZZINL— The dift'erent lines of industry have been tried
by many of the sons of Switzerland with varied results, but the most suc-
cessful line of endeavof is the dairy business. Among those who ha\e made
a success in this field is bilm Tognazzini, a native of Someo. where he was
born on July 20, \X?4. lie attended school until fourteen, when he had to
go to work, and the following three years were spent on the home farm in
canton Ticino.

In 1871, he made up his mind that the New World held better induce-
ments for him, and he started for California. Arriving in ]\Iarin county, he
began w'ork on various ranches until he had saved enough to start in for
himself. He first rented forty cow\s and some land, and tried dairying under
those conditions: l.uit he did not prosper, so he moved to Sonoma county
and experimented there for a year. Selling out, he again worked for wages
• for three years. In 1881 he came to Cayucos and was employed by A.
Aluscio for a year. In 1883^ he went to Santa Barbara county and again
started for himself near Guadalupe, continuing until 1892, when he sold out
and wein back to Switzerland.

\\ Iiile there he was married, on .\pril 25, 1892, to Ricilla Ferrari, who
was l)orn there December 25, 1870. Remaining in his native country two
years, he brought his wife to California, and in Santa Barbara county he
agaiji took uji dairying. He leased land, bought stock and for six years
remained there.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EN\lRONS 973

Sclliiit; ijiit in l!^')*^, Mr. 'IVigna/.zini moved to San Luis 01)ispo County,
ixiuylit twenty acres near Edna, and began raising beans. He has added
land until he now nwn.s one hundred twenty-six acres. In 1900, he opened
a general merchandise store in Edna, but soon after, in 1906, it burned down
with a loss of over five thousand dollars. He now owns the building where
the Bank of Guadalupe is located. Mr. Tognazzini is a Republican in his
political views ; and as a friend of education he has served as school trustee
of his district for several years.

To Mr. and Mrs. Tognazzini five children have been born : Griselda,
postmaster at Edna, Elsie, Guido, Lucea and Alma — all burn and raised in
California, and educated in the public schools.

BERNARDO MIOSSI.— Dairying has been the most popular and profit-
able l)usincss carried on in San Luis Obispo County and environs for many
years. The hills are tine for grazing, and the fertile valleys produce heavy
crops of grain, hay and vegetables. Among the most successful men who
have brought the dairy industry to its present remunerative condition are
the Swiss, who have found here an environment much like that of their
native land, and hence have revolutionized ranching in California. One of
the pioneers in the industry is Bernardo Miossi, of the Edna district. He
was born in Frasco, canton Ticino, Switzerland, January 15, 1848, attended
the public schools there until he was fourteen, and was reared on the home
farm and helped with the cattle, sheep and goats until he was seventeen.
In 1865 he set out for California, coming via Panama and arriving in San
Francisco in February, 1866.

Mr. Miossi was unable to speak our language and knew nothing of busi-
ness methods as employed in this country, but he did know how to work
and was willing to learn American ways at almost any price. Consequently
he took the first job that was ulTered. For two years he worked for wages
and saved his earnings, and then he saw an opportunity to start a milk route
in San Francisco. He rented land on \Vasherwoman's Bay, bought cows
and started in a small way, gradually increasing his scope of business, and for
fifteen years adding to his dairy from year to year, and gaining prestige as a
man of business acumen. In 18X1 he sold out and moved to Pigeon Point,
San Mateo county, where he remained two years and then came south to San
Luis Obispo County.

The first purchase of land by .Mr. .Miossi, in 1883, was one thousand acres,
now part of the home place, and in 18'U he added thirteen hundred acres
of the Pismo grant, purchasing it from John M. Price. In I'XX) he bought
twelve hundred acres of the Pacheco ranch on the Los Osos, adjoining .\. B.
Spooncr's ranch, making thirty-six hundred acres, all of which is devoted to
stock .and dairving. The home place nestles in a small valley and is sur-
namded by hills, which are used for grazing, while the bottom land is a sandy
liiam and will produce anything planted. It is used for grain, corn and beans.
The improvements on the ranch have all been placed there by Mr. Miossi:
Imusc, barns and outbuildings arc in good condition, having been substan-
ti.ilh built. There are buildings adapted for various uses, carpenter and
lil.icksmith simps, and the first silo built in this section of the county was
erected here. The climate here is mild and the air bracing. The owner of
tlic ranch has experimented with raising tobacco, and has liad very satis-
factory results ; he has also planted ten acres to oats, and they have grown

974 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

to be seven feet in heiglit and have yielded lurty-six sacks to the acre. Ilis
place is free from gTOunil-s(|uirrels, although it took ten years to exterminate
them. Tliis productive ranch is one of the most desirable in the county, and it
has mack- its owner independently wealthy, so that after' 3'ears of strenuous
labor he is now retired, although giving counsel to his sons, who are man-
aging the large ranch.

In 1883, in San I-"rancisco, Air. Aliossi was united in marriage with Aliss
Eliza Martella. a nati\-e of Switzerland, bLirn in cantmi Ticino, and they have
h\'e children, all natixes i>f this county: .Mary, llcrnard, Arthur, Alfred
and .\lnia. The three sons were educated in the public schools and took
a course in the State Polytechnic, and now ha\'e charge of the ranch. They
are u]i-ti >-(late \ oung men and hustlers, have introduced new ideas and
methnds intd the old-established business, and are winning out. The dairy
has abdut due hundred cows, and is modern and sanitary.

Air. Mi. issi is a Alason and Odd Fellow, belonging to lodges in San
Eranciscii. For years he was an active member of the San Luis Obispo
Chanilier of Commerce. He has shown his public spirit in supporting all
worthy measures for bringing San Luis Obispo County to the notice of the
world at l:irge. is \-ery charitable and uik istentatinus. and is, withal, a good
citizen .and Imnored 1)_\- every one who knows him.

JOSEPH C. MARETTI.— Self-made men are much in evidence in Cali-
fornia ; and. none of them have better succeeded in making a name for them-
selves than has Josejih C. Alaretti of Guadalupe, Santa Barbara county. He
was liorn ;it San .Xntonin, canton Ticino, Switzerland. March 1'', lSfi4, a son of
John and Mary Maretti, natives of Switzerland and farmer folks, both of
whom are now dead.

Joseph C. Maretti was one in a family of seven children born to his
parents. He attended the scliools of his nati\e land, grew to manhood on the
home farm and became familiar with dairying. After he had finished school
at fourteen years of age, he went to lielgium, where his brother, Frank
Maretti, had a glass factory, and there he learned the trade of a glazier, and
for two years took contracts for putting in glass windows. In 1881, with
another brother, he came to New \'ork and hired out t<i learn cooking, after
which he followed that line of work for nineteen months, at the Gilsey House
on Twenty-se\enth street, Xew ^'ork.

Having read a great de.il about cheap land in California, and wishing to
own a farm of his own, he (luit his jol) of cooking and in 1883 landed in
Cayucos, San Luis Obispo County. Having never learned to milk, the first
thing Joseph C. Maretti did was to ac(|uire that art. and for nine montlis
he worked for Peter Tognazzini. riien lie went to work for the Pacific
Coast Coal Co. in their timber camp, but ga\e up that occu])ation to work
for a year in the dairy of Antone Righetti. On January 1, 1886, he arrived
in (iuadaluiie. lie wurked for wages for three years, and then started in for
himself, with John 'i'ognazzini as a partner. They rented land and bought
seventy cows, and later he sold his share to his partner. He cleared $1,900
the first year that he was in business, and this gave him a start for himself
and enabled him to buy out .\nton Tognazzini's dairy. He became an expert
in the handling of cows and for ten years was successful.

-Mr. .Maretti purchased propiTty'in Cuadalupe in I'lOl ; in P'lO he bought
six hundred v,ixty acres in l.onipoc \alley, now dexcted to dairying and

SAN LUIS ol'.ISro COUXTV AXD E.WIROXS 975

larmiiiL;. In LS'W, haviii;^ tlireo Inindrod head of dairy cows, he was hard
liit liy tlic dry years, which alni..st ruimd tlic (hiiry business. On account
of no Iced for the stock. .Mr. .Maretli dro\ e his cattle over the mountains
to tile Ualversfiehl section .ind jiad to j^ive lialf of his nunil>er of cows to save
the balance. lie was in lUht oxer five thousand dollars, Init two successful
years cleared off the debt, and he began to lay up money from his various
investments. Since l'i()l he lias been leasing the Salisbury & Leroy place
of ai)out twenty-eigiu iumdred acres, where he is engaged in farming and
(hiirying, the rancii l>cing operated liy his two sons on shares. Mr. Maretti
;ind his wife own tln-ci' hnnih-ed fifteen acres of oil land at Casmalia.

( )ii |aiiuar\' I'', IS'M. .Mr. Aiaretti was united in marriage with Miss
Anita I'asque. who was born in Casmalia, Decemlx-r 17, 187v^, their wedding
being celebrated in Santa Barbara. They have two children, Richard and
Charles, who are farming and dairying on his ]jlacc. In 1901. Mr. .Maretti
became a citizen of the I'nited St.ites. Mr. Maretti is a Republican and has
ser\ed six years as a iiieiiiber of the County Central Committee. h"or nine
_\-ears he was school trustee of the (iuadalupe district, and for three terms
was clerk of the lioard. lie is .i meiiiber of San Luis ObisjJo Lodge No. M2.
]\. V. ( ). I'.lks. an.l of La-nna Lodge. I. O. O. L.. and is Vice Grand of the
local order.

ANTONE SILACCL— The possibilities afforded by California to those
seeking a livelihot)d within its borders liiul illustration in the life of Antone
Silacci, who left Europe a poor bo}- and by hard work has achieved success
in San Luis Obispo Countj-, where he now resides. Of Swiss birth, Antone
Silacci was born in Intragna, canton Ticino, December 18, 1862. a son of Do-
menico Silacci, who is still living in canton Ticino and busy with farming.

Antone Silacci grew to manhood on the home farm, attending public
school for a short time as his services were not needed about the farm and
dairy. At the age of fifteen he started to learn the trade of carpenter, follow-
ing it for two years, when, having recei\ed letters from a l)rother who had
been in California for some time and had prospered in the dairy business in
the neighborhood of Cambria, San Luis Obispo County, he concluded that
America and its extreme West held out better inducements for young men.
He left Switzerland for this country and arrived in October, 1880, via Xew
York and San Francisco, and came immediately to Cambria and found em-
ployment on a dairy ranch near Cayucos. Lie worked for his brother milking
cows and at times helped to build barns for the dairymen between San
Simeon and Morro. In 188.T he entered the service of .\. .Muscio. ;md the
following year was employed on another dairy.

Having a desire once more to see his parents. Mr. Silacci went back lo his
native land, ten years after coming to C"alifornia; and on his return ti>
Cayucos. he began to make butter bo.xes for the dairymen of this vicinity, in
1892 he rented the Joe Muscio ranch of six hundred seventy acres. Ixiugiit
stock and started in the dairy business himself, prospering until the dry
year in 1898. when he lost all he had made.

Xotliing daunted he continued dairying and retrieved wh;a he had lost.
lie ran llie Joe .Muscio place for twenty years, and saved enough money
to buy his present place of six hundred fifty acres on \'illa creek, where he for
four years continued operating both places as dairies. Tiien ho turned the
Muscio lease over to his sons Louis and DonaUl, sold them the stock and im-

976 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND I'INVJRONS

plenients, and they now carry on the business there. The liome ranch of Mr.
Silacci is improved with a residence, dairy house and barns. Water is piped
from a spring to the house, and the separator is run by water power. The
place yields enough feed for about eighty milch cows.

In 1902, Mr. Silacci became a naturalized citizen, and since then has
taken an active interest in politics, serving as one of the trustees of Someo
school district. In that position he has endeavored to bring the school to a
high standard during the fourteen years he has been in office. J\lr. Silacci was
imited in marriage, at Intragna, Switzerland, on December 10, 1890, with
Miss Elvezia Cavalli, a native of Sornico, canton Ticino, and they have nine
children : Louis, Nina, Donald, Romeo, Lucy, Emma, Elva, Mini and Milton,
all born in San Luis Obispo County. The family are members of St. Jose])h's
Catholic Church at Cayucos. Mr. Silacci's word once given is as good as his
bdnd : and by his honest)- he has gained the esteem of all wdio know him.

JOHN GHIGLIOTTI.— Many a traveler to the old ]\Iission town of San
Luis (Jbispo owes the pleasant impression he has carried away from that com-
fortable place to the kindly attentions of John Ghigliotti, a son of James
Ghigliotti. who was born in the splendid old seaport town of Genoa, in Italy,
about 1830. and Jtdina Paggi. who was married in Genoa, where she also was
born. John's father was a mason in a country where one needed to be right
smart to hold his own in that trade, and understanding that there was such a
call for expert workmen in the United States that he would be likely to do
better here than in Europe, he came to America, bringing his beautiftd bride
with him, and settled ftjr a while in Baltimore.

Then he moved to Pittsburgh, and it was in that city, not yet clouded
with smoke, that John Ghigliotti was born, in July, 18! id. A migration
westward led James Ghigliotti and his young family to San Francisco in
1878, and line month later to San Luis Obispo Count\'.

There he established his home, taking up the work of a carpenter, in
which he was equally proficient ; and there on July 20, 1906, he died, his de-
voted wife surviving him until November 23, 1914. Five children were the
issue of James Ghigliotti's marriaL;e.

For twenty-two years Jdhn ( Ihigliotti ser\-ed as a steward at the French
and Cosmopolitan hotels. He later became a partner with John Price in the
sale of liquor at San Luis Obispo, where he continues business.

VICTOR RICIOLI.— Another worthy son of Switzerland who has dem-
onstrated what can be done by hard work and good management is Victor
Ricioli, who was born in the town of Maggia, canton Ticino, Switzerland, No-
vember 7, 1874. His father, James Ricioli, was also a native of that canton
and came to California via Panama, to San Francisco, in 1859, seeking gold
in the mines in the Sierras. He followed mining for some time, and was em-
ployed at farming in Marin county.

In 1870 he returned to his old home in Switzerland and there married
Miss Carmela de Bernardi, who was also Imrn in Alaggia. ^Ir. Ricioli then
jnirchased land adjoining his father's, where he engaged in farming until
about 1877, when he again came to California, leaving his family on his Swiss
farm. Lie came to San Luis Obispo and followed dairying, locating on the
coast. One year he ran a dairy in Harmony valley, and one year at Casmalia
in Santa Barljara county. In 1899 he went back to Switzerland and once
more took uj) farming there: and tliere he has since remained. Prior to

SAN LL'IS UP.ISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 977

coming; to this country he had scrxcd in the Swiss army two \ears. Of the
five children, \'ictor is tlie second ohlcst.

Victor Ricioli attended the public school in his native town until he was
fifteen, and then worked at farming-. In 1891 he came to the United States,
and on his arrival in California went to Cayucos. Here he found work on a
dairy ranch on Tore creek. One year later he was in the employ of A. Muscio,
remaining on his ranch for the following five years. In 1889, having saved
enough out of his earnings to go into business for himself, he leased a small
ranch in Harmony valley and for two years w^as successfully engaged in farm-
ing. Mr. Ricioli then bought a herd of one hundred ten cows and leased nine
hundred acres of land, part of the Murphy ranch in Harmony district ; and
there he followed dairying with success.

In 1916 he sold his stock and implements and has since devoted his entire
attention to the development of his own property of three hundred sixty acres,
bought in 1912, on which he has carried on a dairy of about sixty cows and
made many improvements, converting the place into a very comfortable home.
Mr. Ricioli's ranch is located in the Harmony district, six and one-half miles
south of Cambria, and is well watered by springs and small creeks. Water is
piped from a near-by spring to his farm buildings. He uses steam power to
run his separator, and the cream is sent to Harmony Creamery.

Mr. Ricioli took out his citizenship papers in 1905, and since then he has
been active in politics as a Republican. In all enterprises, too, that have had
for their object the betterment of the community and the uplift of the citi-
zens, he has taken an active interest and given his support. He was one
of the prime movers and original organizers of the Harmony \'alley Creamery
Association and served as its first president. He is a member of the Cayucos
lodge, U. A. O. D., and is past archer.

On October 30, 1907, at Cayucos, he was united in marriage with Miss
Annie Sartori, who \vas born in Cambria, A.pril 4, 1890. They have become
the parents of four children, Ernest, Alfred, Mabel and Laura. Mrs. Ricioli
is the daughter of James and Mary (Ballestra) Sartori, natives of Gcra, canton
Ticino, who came to San Luis Obispo County and have resided in Chorro
valley ever since their arrival here.

JOHN D. FISCALINI.— .\ native of Switzerland, J. D. Eiscalini was
born October 17, 1876, in the town of Borgnone, canton Ticino. His father
was Filippo Fiscalini, a native of the same place, who was born in February,
1842, and was by trade a sawyer when all such work was done by hand, as
there were no sawmills in that country at the time. During 1870 an<l 1871
he served in the army and saw military service on the border during the
Franco-German war. In 1881, hoping to better his condition, he came alone
to this country, with California as his stopping point. He went to St. Helena,
Napa county, and was employed in a vineyard for a time; about six years
later he was taken with a severe illness, and went to San Francisco. As soon
as he had recovered he found work in a distillery, where he remained for
years. He had been very .saving of his earnings, and after a residence of
almost twelve voars in tliis state, returned to his native country, where lie
lived u]) to tile time of iiis death. In Switzerland he served as a trustee of
the school in the district in which he lived, and was likewise a trustee of the
town. He married, in 1872. Josie Madonna, who was born in canton Ticino.
in 1847, and died in 1880. There were five children born to them, two of

978 SAX LUIS OBISPO COLXTV AND ]£X\'IRONS

whom arc living, and the subject of our sketch was the third child of the
family.

John D. Fiscalini was educated in the common schools of his native coun-
try, and also took up the study of engineering there. His opportunities were
a little better than those of many other children, and he took a three years"
course in the high school. He went to work to support himself after his
school days were o\er. and found employment on a dairy farm in the Alps.

In 1894 he came to California, and arriving in San Simeon, San Luis
Obispo County, went to work on the dairy ranch conducted by his cousin.
Charles Fiscalini, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this work. He saved
his money and soon was able to embark in business for himself ; for. having
worked on a large ranch near the lighthouse, and having later had charge,
for two years, of the A. Luchessa ranch, he had confidence in his ability
to act independently in business.

In 1905 he purchased the interest held bv ]\Ir. Luchessa in the stock and
farm implements, and leased the seven hundred fifty acres of land on San
Simeon creek, for six years, where he engaged successfully in dairying and
general farming. He became owner of one hundred fifty acres, w^ith milch
cows, and was considered successful by his friends.

In ( )ctober, 1909, he formed a partnership with John I-"ilipponi and
leased three thousand acres of the lower Hearst ranch at the mouth of Green
valley. 'Jliere they engaged in farming, dairying and stock-raising, and also
raised beans. They had about four hundred head of cattle, and milked about
two hundred fifty cows. The}^ continued together four years, and then dis-
solved partnership, dividing the stock and implements : and each leased fifteen
hundred acres, since which time ^Ir. Mscalini has continued farming and
dairying here. He now has about one hundred seventy-five milch cows, and
is raising hay, grain and beans. The jilace is equipped with modern build-
ings, and he has running water in the dair}- house and operates his separator
by water power.

In San Francisco, on Xovcmbcr 9, 1903, Air. I'lscalini was united in mar-
riage with Aiiss Annie Pizzoni, a native of Intragna, canton Ticino, Switzer-
land, ;ni(l a daughter of Gothardo and Mary Pizzoni, farmers in their native
country. Her father made two trips to California. Mr. and Mrs. Fiscalini
are parents of four children: Josie, deceased, and Mary, Archie and Mabel.
In 191,1, when the Harmony Valley Creamery Association was organized, Mr.
P'iscalini became a stockholder and a director, and he has devoted considerable
attention to making it a successful enterprise.

He ])ecame a citizen of the United States in 1901 in San Luis Obisjjo, and
in politics is a Republican. He is a self-made man in every sense of the word,
and is highly resi)ccted by all wdio know him and have dealings with him.

JAMES LUCHESSA. — The qualities which bring success to a man, when
in a sir;i.ngc country and amcMig a people whose language is unfamiliar, arc
certainly of no ordinary kind. In the life of James Luchessa there were many
obstacles to be overcome, hence the success he has attained merits special con-
sideration. P.orn of Swiss parents, in Lavertezzo, canton Ticino, Switzerland,
Au.gust 8. 1863, he attended the common schools and worked with his father
on their home dairy farm, lie could see no advancement for himself under
existing cimditions there, and therefore left his home for California, arriving
in December. 1882, in Cambri;L A bn.tlicr, Antonio, had come to this

SAN I.LIS OI'.ISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 979

Ldiintry SDUie years ])rcviuusly and was engaged in dairying; so James went
to work for him, remaining six years in his employ. Having sa\'ed some
money from his wages, he formed a partnership with his brother, rented nine
hundred acres of land, bought one hundred fifty head of cows and followed
dairying until 1893, when they divided up and dissolved partnership. Moving
to Santa Rosa creek with his stock, he rented one thousand acres of land and
followed the dairy business for three years inde|)endentlv.

In 1896 he sold out and moved to Cambria, and went to work in the
quicksilver mines; and there he remained until 1900, when he again took up
dairying on a four hundred acre ranch, known as the Kaiser place. Two years
later he rented the Leffingwell ranch and bought fifty cows, continuing until
1908, when he leased a part of the Hearst ranch known as Roller Cruz, run-
ning it for six years. During this time he bought three hundred fourteen
acres in Harmony valley, conducting both places, but residing on Roller Cruz
ranch. In 1914 he sold the Harmony valley place at a good profit and bought
four hundred acres, his present home place, on San Simeon creek, four miles
from Cambria; and there he has since carried on a successful dairy ))usiness,
milking about fifty cows, and raising grain, hay and beans.

In San Luis Obispo, on September 14, 1892, Mr. Luchessa was unitt'd in
marriage with Miss X'icloria .Xntognaz/.i, who was born in Soiueo, canton
Ticinci. in lS'fi7. Their children arc h'.rminia and I'.rina. twin daughters, and
.\l(lu. Liva, Eddie and Linda.

Though devoting his attention mainly to his own business, Mr. Luchessa
has not neglected the duties of a citizen: he became naturalized in 1894; and
he has scr\od as scliool trustee for a number of years. In politics he is a Rc-
])ublican. W'liile lie is now rated one of tlie leading men and successful citi-
zens of the county, his jxisilion has been won l)y hard work, and good man-
agement.

LOUIS BETTIGA. — .Many of the sons of Italy have come to this country
and settled in California, where they have found conditions more or less simi-
lar to these in the mother country. Especially is this true of climate and
topograjjhy, which favor the same vocations that were their means of
livelihood in the Old World. .Among these men we mention Louis Bcttiga,
a native of Com,., ltal\, i)orn December 22, 1872. He attended school there
for a time, remaining on the home farm and assisting his father until the age
of twenty, when he enlisted as a private in an artillery regiment in the army
and served two years.

In November, 1895, Mr; Bcttiga left Italy for the United States, with Cal-
ifornia as his ultimate destination. He had a brother living in Santa Barbara
county, and on arriving in San Erancisc.o, immediately joined him at Guada-
lupe and there found work on a dairy ranch ; and for the following seven years
he worked for wages. In 1902, with two partners. Mr. Bettiga leased land
near duadalupe and for five years engaged in the farming and dairy business,
with satisfactory results. In 1907, he moved to \'illa creek and rented eleven
hundred acres from Ercole Biaggini, and here he is raising alfalfa and has a
dairy herd of one hundred thirty-live cows, and is meeting with decided suc-
cess in his enterprise.

On April 8, 1905, Mr. Bettiga was united in marriage, at San Luis Obispo,
with Miss Bessie Sartori. who was born in Cambria, January 1. ISS*'. a
ilaughter of [ames Sartori. a pioneer of C"anibria, now a dairvman in C'h.'rro

980 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

district. P'ive children have been born to IMr. and }ilrs. Bettiga : Albert,
Vicente. I\Iary, James and Francis. Mr. Bettiga is a Republican in politics,
but not an office seeker. While serving as a member of the school board, he
has endeavored to bring the school of Someo district to a high standard.

LOUIS FERRASCI. — The worthy sons of the Swiss republic who have
made homes for themselves in America and have devoted their energies to
the upbuilding of their adopted communities find no more representative a
man than Louis Ferrasci. He was born in Frasco, canton Ticino, June 30,
1862, a son of Agostino and Cecilia (Fratessa) Ferrasci, both natives of
that canton, the former having been born on August 18, 1823, and the latter
in 1822. They had four sons and four daughters. In the early days of
mining, the father went to Australia in search of gold, remaining there three
vears, meeting with success and finally returning to his native land, where
"his Avife died in 1874 and he is still living at the advanced age of ninety-
three years. He was town sexton for many years, and active in all public
affairs. The grandfather was also named Agostino and was born in 1760,
dying at seventy-seven years of age in his native locality.

Louis Ferrasci attended the public schools until he was fifteen years of
age, and the following four years assisted his father with the farm work.
In 1881, he decided he could better his condition in new environments, and
accordingly left for California, locating in the Chorro district in San Luis
Obispo County. The first two years were spent in the employ of L. Lesnini ;
after which, in partnership with his two brothers, Abbondio and Angelo
Ferrasci, he rented two thousand acres of the Chorro ranch and engaged in
fanning and dairying, milking three hundred cows.

In 1890, on account of ill health, ^Ir. Ferrasci sold out to his brothers
and went back to Switzerland. The change was beneficial, and one year
later he returned to California and bought a half interest from his brothers
in the Chorro ranch, six miles iv><m San Luis Obispo, and continued dairying,
gi\mg all of his time to tlic dccupation, and meeting with marked success for
nine years Tlien he sold .out and moved to Cambria. lie bought four
hundred filtv-six acres nf the Santa Rosa ranch, about one mile east of
Cambria, which is now the l)eautiful home place, and here he has a dairy
of sixty cows. About two hundred acres is bottom land, some forty acres
being devoted to bean-raising each year, while the balance is given to grain,
iiay and green feed for the dairy herd. He also owns seven hundred forty-
two ;K-rcs three miles south of Cambria, with two miles of occ;in frontage,
devoted to dairying, the place— now leased out— Jieing able to sustain about
eighty cows. His farming operations are carried on witli modern m;u'liinery,
including a Case tractor engine, 10-20 horse-power, and all other iinpro\e(l
appliances.

In November, 1892, in San lM-;incisco, occurred the marriage of Louis
I'crrasci with Miss Lucia Danini, who was biirn December 4, 1873, in Frasco.
canton 'i'icino, Switzerland, a daughter of Peter and Mary ( (iiottonini) D.Tnini.
farmer folks of that place. Mr. and Airs. Ferrasci have three ch:l(h-en : i<l:i,
now Mrs. P.adasci of Riverdale; Silva, and Ulysses.

On August 6, 1888, Mr. Ferrasci became an American citizen. lie i>
a Rei>ul)lican in politics, has taken an active interest in the ]uiblic
schools, and is serving as a trustee of the Santa Rosa school district.
He was one of the organizers of the Bank of Cambria, in ir;03, was elected

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND I'XVIRONS 981

a director and a member of the finance committee at the first meeting, and
has ever since retained an interest in the welfare of the institution. He has
Ijeen successful in his undertakins^s in this county, and is respected by all
who know him.

MARIUS G. SALMINA.— Many nun who Jiave attained |)laccs of re-
sponsibility in tiic Ini^inc.ss and ai^riciilmral life of San Luis Obispo County
are of forei,L;n birth. ( )f this nunil)er .M . (i. Salmina, one of the leading citi-
zens of Cambria, was born in cantmi Ticino, Switzerland, on May 29, 1876,
a son of Ale.x and Caterina Salmina, both natives of Switzerland. The
father was a stone mason by trade, and when this son was born was crossing
the Atlantic en route to America to seek his fortune. He came to California
and located in XajKi cnnnty, and remained eleven years, becoming an .\meri-
can citizen in the meantime, lie then returned to his native country and
remained there until his death in l''l.^.

AI. (■.. Salmina attended tiie i.uMic schools and lived at home until 1888.
Then he was apprenticed to learn the trade of blacksmitii. in a shop about
seven miles from his home; but after working two years he was paid only
fifteen cents per week for his services, and he left to go to another shop,
where he received twenly-fi\e cents per day and had to board himself, and
this arrangement continued for a year, lie was not satisfied with such small
wages, and he began to learn the mason's trade, but did not finish it.

In 1891 he left his home for California, having a brother, I'aul, living
near Cambria who was dairying on the RlcFadden ranch, on Santa Rosa
creek. He worked on this ranch three months and attended school two
weeks, and at the end of that time he could speak some English. He learned
to milk and then hired out to a Swiss on the \'an Gordon ranch.

In 1902 he took a course in the dairy school at Berkeley, a department
of the State University. He then went to Gilroy, where he accepted a
position offered him by the J. 1'. Sargent Estate Co. as manager of their
dairy and cheese factory. The dairy consisted of three hundred cows. He
became proficient in making cheese and butter, retained the position two
years and gave excellent service and satisfaction.

He later found employment in Orr's cheese factory at San Eelii)pi, and
managed it two years, wdien he made a visit to his home in Switzerland. In
the fall of 1907 he came back to California and located in Harmony valley,
San Luis C^bispo County, where he began to make cheese for his brother's
ranch on a small scale. The following year he conceived the idea of the
Diamond Creamery and Cheese Factory, and built it on the coast mad at the
mouth of Harmony valley, and on November .?0. 1908, o])ened the idace. car-
rying on a successful business until 1913. In 190<> he was the itromoter of
the CayUcos Creamery Company that erected the creamery at Cayucos.
opened in 1910 with .Mr. Salmina as manager, .\fter si.x months it was
sold to the Central Creameries Co., although he continued as manager fi>r
six months, at the end of which time he returned to his own creamery. In
August, 1913, he organized the llarnmny \alley Creamery .Xssociation,
leased the buildings to that concern, and has managed it ever since.

On June 12, 1910, occurred the marriage of .M. G. Salmina witii .Miss
Ida M. Donati, who was born in Cayucos, June 4, 1892, and is now the mother
of three children— Evelyn. Eleanor and Mirelle. .Mr. Salmina became an
American citizen on .\pril 3, 1896, in San Luis Obispo. He is a Republican

982 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENMRONS

in [jolitics, and has been a meml)er and clerk for the past five years of the
Harmony school board. Mr. Salmina has always, in fact, taken an active
part in ptiblic affairs, and in 1915 worked for the movement to have a state
highway feeder nni into this section of the county. He has made a success
of his operations in business and is highly respected by all with whom he has
had business or social relations.

CHARLES FISCALINI.— It is particularly to the Swiss people that
San Luis Obispo County is indebted for the progress that has been made in
the dairy business. They have developed practically worthless land into
very valuable tracts, and by devoting their entire time to that business have
brought wealth to the county and a competency to themselves. Today the}-
stand among the most highly respected citizens of the state. Of their num-
ber is Charles Fiscalini, a resident of the Cambria section of San Luis
Obispo County, who shows what perseverance and good management can
accomplish. He was born in liorgnone, canton Ticino, Switzerland. January
28, 1<S67, a son of Battiste and Katherina (Rizzoli) Fiscalini, both natives
and lifelong residents of that ])lace. The father was a sawyer by trade be-
fore sawmills were operated, and when all the sawing of luml:)er was by
hand. However, the greater part of his life was spent in farming and dairying
in that country, as carried on in earlier years.

. Charles Fiscalini attended the schools of his neighborhood until he was
twelve years old, and then assisted his father on the home farm until he was
nineteen. He had a brother, Mathew, who had located in California and
who wrote back glowing accounts of the opportunities that awaited his
countrymen here in the land of the setting sun. Charles decided to try his
fortunes, and accordingly left home : and in January, 1887, he arrived in San
Simeon, San Luis Obispo County. He worked in a dairy one year at Cam-
bria, and before the year was up he had saved money to pay his parents the
$200 the\- had advanced him for expenses. In 1888, he went into the lumber
camps of ilendocino county and for the following four months was employed
in logging at Coffey's Cove b}- the L. E. White Lunil;)er Co.. when he returned
to San Luis Obispo County ami worked for \ari()us dairymen on. Santa
Rosa creek until 1892.

He had sa\ed his money, and that year leased two thousand acres of
the ranch nn San Crajiojo. milking aliout one hundred fifty cows and meeting
witii success. In 1899 he removed to Santa Rosa creek, where he had a
two-hundrcd-acre ranch, bought sixty cows and continued dairying with
good results. In 1902 he branched out into other lines, purchased the old
Swiss hotel at Cambria and carried on the hotel business in connection with
his dairy for one year, when he sold out. In the meantime, Mr. Fiscalini
bought two hundred acres of land he had been leasing, and continued dairying
and general farming. In 191.T he added by purchase another tract of one
hundred sixt_\- acres, to the development of which he has devoted his time,
I)ringing it to a high state of cultivation. He is also raising alfalfa and
beans, having about forty acres each year, which yield from three to four
hundred sacks. He has fifty cows in his dairj-, and uses a power separator
of the De Laval make, selling his cream to the Cambria creamery.

( )n January 20, 1894, in San Francisco, Mr. Fiscalini was united in mar-
riage with Mary Manfrina. a native of Switzerland, who came to this country
alone. They h.ive seven children — I'red, Irene. Katie, .\nnie. Olyniphia,

SAN LUIS OI'.ISI'O COUNTY AND E.^VIRONS 983

Alexander and Charles — all natives of this county, who are being educated in
the public schools. While giving his time to his affairs, Mr. Fiscalini has
nut neglected his duties as a citizen, but has always been alive to the needs
of his community. For the past nine years he has been a school trustee
of the Santa Rosa district and is clerk of the board. In politics he is a
Republican, and he and his family are momt)ers of the Catholic Church in
Camliria. Mr. and .Mrs. l'i>caliiii lia\e many friends throughout San Luis
( )hispi) and environs, and tlu-y arc widelv esteemed for their sterling traits
of character.

BENJAMIN TOMASINL— I'he sons of Switzerland have added pres-
tige to Lalifornia as a dairy countr\-, and among them lienjamin Tomasini
deserves mention. He was born in Someo, canton Ticino, on January 1,
1879, a son of Battista Tomasini, also a native of the same canton and a dairy
farmer. The latter first came to this country in 1870, and located in Marin
county, and later he returned lo Switzerland and brought his family to
Calilorni;',.

r.enjamin was educated in the common schools of his native canton and
attended high school one year. He lived on the home farm and assisted with
the work, until he came to the United States in February, 1902. While a
resident of Switzerland, he served two years in the army and was advanced
to sergeant of the 9.^th Hattalion, 3rd Company, Infantry. After arriving in
this country, he came direct to California, and in San Luis Obispo county
found work for two years on the San Rernardo ranch. He then rented his
father's ranch of si.x hundred fifty acres in the Chorro district, about eight
est of San Luis ( )I)isi)o. l-"or a time he milked seventy cows, but
to give his attention to raising cattle; and selling his dairy outfit.
irked in the other line and has met with good results.
w as married in Someo, Switzerland, while back on a visit, on Novem-
I'MJz, to Miss Komilda Righetti, born and reared in the canton of
and they have one child, Warren. Since Mr. Tomasini became a
)f this country, in 1908, he has voted the Republican ticket. He lias
trustee of the 1 loyic school district for four years, and part of the
clerk of the board. His interests are centered in his work, and in
the welfare of the county and its citizens, and he supports all movements
to further those ends.

ROBERT TONINL — .\ self-made man in every sense of the word, and
a man who holds the respect of all with whom he has ever had business
dealings, Rol)crt Toiiini was born in canton Ticino, in the town ()l liroglio,
Switzerland, M.irch 17, 18.^7. Mis education was obtained in the sciiools
of his home place, and when he was fourteen he had to stop attending school
and assist with the work about the home farm. One year later he left home
and friends and started for California, where he liad two brothers dairying in
San Luis Obispo County.

He landed at Port Harford on December 22. 1873. and ,U once went lo
work for his brother, George Tonini, with whom he stayed one year. In
1874 he was employed by George I-'recman on his dairy ranch and remained
there two years. This gave him an insight into the methods employed in
this country, and he thereafter worked for wages until 1878. when lie leased
acreage and began for himself on land owned by John J. .^chielTerly near
Pismo. having alxnit si.xtv cows in his dairy there. In 1880 he was married

milr^ w

derided

lie i'mh;i
lle

l)er 30.

Ticino ;

citizen o

been a t

time wa

984 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

and then moved to \'illa creek, where for five years he leased part of the
A. Tognazzini ranch. In 1886 he rented seven hnndred ninety-four acres of
the Ouintana ranch and sixty acres adjoining, and remained until 1903, meet-
ing with success in dairying and stock-raising. He then sold out, and, un-
able to lease land at that time, worked for wages for three years.

In 1906 he found an opportunity to lease, and until 1915 ran a dairy.
With the savings from these years of labor well invested, he retired, and
is now living in ^Morro. On September 3, 1877, he became a citizen of the
United States, at San Luis Obispo, and since then has been a factor in the
forward movements that have brought wealth and prosperity to the county,
lie is serving as justice of the peace of j\Iorro township, ha\-ing been elected
at the primary in 1''14. He is a Republican in politics, and is a member of
the U. A. O. b. lodge.

On September 20, 1880, he was married to Miss Annie SchiefJerly. wlio
was born near San Luis Obispo, ]\Iay 22, 1862, and is a daughter of John J.
Schiefferly, one of the first settlers in this county, who was a prominent
rancher and served as county assessor. Mr. and Mrs-. Tonini have had six
children, Robert, Rosie, Benjamin, Fred, Howard and Jennie, all born and
reared in San Luis Obispo County, and all educated in the public schools
of their neighborhood. After having had many trials, and undergone many
hardships, he is now able to live retired in the enjoyment of a well-earned
rest, and among friends of many years' standing by whom he is highly
respected.

PAUL MADONNA. — The late Paul iMadonna was a native of Switzer-
land, having been born in the town of Intragna. canton Ticino, February 10,
1856, and died on his home farm, near Cayucos. February 14, 1914, aged fifty-
eight years. Between these dates he accumulated a competenc}' and made
his influence felt in the country of his adoption. His education was obtained
in the public schools of Intragna until his fifteenth year, when he went to
Italy, being employed with his father, who was a contractor, until he was
nineteen 3-ears of age. Then he started for the United States, hoping to real-
ize in California his ambition to make a place for himself in the world.

The first two years he worked for wages, and then commenced on a
small scale for himself, renting land at San Simeon ; and for the following
three years he carried on a dairy business. He then came to a ranch near
Camiiria and for the next three years continued business with success, when
lu' sdld out his interests and went back to Switzerland to visit his family
and Iricnds. While there, he was married on August 13, 1881, to Miss Bar-
bara Brunoni, who was born on March 25, 1860, in the town of Intragna.

The young married couple came back to the United States, and in San
Luis Obispo County they leased a ranch of eight hundred fifty acres, on
part of which now stands the Diamond Creamery. They lived on this place
for liftccn years and made a success of their dairy enterprise, milking one
hundred twenty cows. Selling out, they moved to their i)resent home place
on ( )ld creek, three miles from Cayucos, where Mr. Madonna had bought
two hundred seventy-six acres, l^esides leasing one hundred seventy more.
W itli eighty cows, he carried on a dairy and engaged in stock-raising, and
also put thirty-five acres of the land into alfalfa, installing a pumping
])lant tor irrigating the same. He was a stockholder in the Cambria and
the San l,uis ( )l)ispo creameries, and was counted one of the successful men

SAN LUTS OBISrO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 985

of the county at the time of his death. lie became a citizen of this country,
and thereafter took an active interest in its welfare, voting the Republican
ticket in national elections. He served as a school trustee in Harmony
X'alley school district.

Seven children were born in the family: t'lelia, .\nnie, Maggie, Paul,
Esther, Mansuetto and I'linio. After the death of .Mr. .Madonna, his good
helpmate took charge of the place, and she has since carried on the dairy and
stock business with the assistance of her children, and has been meeting
with success in her work, at the same time educating her children and enabling
them to take their places in the \v..rl(l.

JOSEPH BARLOGIO.— A native of Switzerland, born in Lavertezzo.
canton Ticino, on June 10, 1X71, Joseph Barlogio has been a resident of Cali-
fornia since he was eighteen years old. He attended the public schools in
I,a\ertezzo until he was fourteen, and then helped with the farm work at
home. Hoping to better hrs condition, he came alone to the United States
and to Cambria, arriving on November 20, 1889: and soon afterwards found
work. He worked for wages on various ranches for several years and
learned the dairy business, meanwhile becoming familiar with the English
language. In 1896, he leased the William Tell Hotel at Cambria, and con-
ducted it for sixteen months, when he sold out at a good profit. His next
venture was in the dairy l)usiness on Santa Rosa creek, where he leased nine
hundred acres of land and some sixty cows, remaining there five years and
making money. He moved to the Marks place in Green valley and, with his
brother Martin as a partner, bought cows and carried on the dairy business
in that locality until 1912, when they leased the Banning place of fifteen
hundred acres. They now have a dairy of two hundred sixt}' cows.

When it is taken into consideration that Mr. Barlogio landed in Cali-
fornia with thirty dollars in his pockets, and saved six hundred up to the
time he embarked in business for himself, and that he now carries on
an extensive enterprise, besides being half owner with his brother, Martin
Barlogio, in eleven hundred acres of land in Green valley, ten miles from
Cambria, stocked with one hundred seventy-five cattle, it will be seen what
hard work and good management will accomplish in this land of great oppor-
tunity. He became a citizen of the United States August 27, 1901, and since
then has voted the Republican ticket, and for four years served as a trustee
of the Olmstcad school district in Green valley.

At San Luis Obispo, on September 27, 1896, Mr. Barlogio married Miss
Rosie Guirra, who was born in Palanjnadra. Switzerland, in the canton of
Ticino, and they have had six children: Charles, Carrie, Elurence, Herman,
Irene and Lillian, All are being educated in the public schools of this county,
in which Mr. Barlogio takes an especial interest. Mrs. Barlogio came to
Californi.i with her mother when she was twelve years of age, joining the
father. \\h'< had settled in Caml^ria some years before.

FRANK E. TOMASINI.— .\s might be expected of one who has spent
his entire life in San Luis ( )bispo County, I-'rank Tomasini is a patriotic son
of the state and has made a success of his work thus far in the dairy and
stock business. He was born in Cambria, March 18. 1880, a son of .Mcsandro
Tomasini. Ale.sandro Tomasini was born in Switzerland. October 14, 1850,
and lived there until he was sixteen, and in 1866 left for .\nicrica. Many of
his countrymen had come to California, and sent back such glowing accounts

986 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

tliat he Avas fired with ambition to try his fortunes in the golden West. He
settled in Alarin county and for nine 3'ears worked on dair}^ ranches.
In 1875 he arrived in this county, and for six years thereafter engaged in
dairying for himself near Cambria. Later he bought three hundred sixty-
seven acres adjoining Cayucos, improved it and made a model dairy ranch,
having from fifty to seventy-five cows, and succeeded in his labors. In 1882
he purchased about one hundred ten acres adjoining, and had four hundred
eighty-six acres in one body. In 1889 he took his family back to his old
home to educate his children in his mother tongue, remaining for five years.
He became a citizen of the United States in 1871, and served as a trustee of the
Cayucos school district for several years. He was killed by a bull, April 21,
1900. Alesandro Tomasini was married in Cainbria, December 16, 1876, to
Dominica Parinoni, and they became parents of two sons and two daughters.
The two boys and one daughter are living, and the mother, with her son
Joseph and daughter Celia, resides in San Jose.

Frank E. Tomasini, one of the sons, attended the public schools of Cayu-
cos for a time, and in 1889 went back to his father's old home in Someo,
Switzerland, and there attended school for a time. In 1894 he returned to
California, and the following two years attended school ; then he went into
his father's service, and worked for him until the time of his death, in 1900.
His mother then took charge of the ranch, and he worked for her one year.
Lie then leased it on shares, and bought stock and implements, and has since
been dairying and farming with success.

At Guadalupe, on Ivlay 11, 1903, occurred the marriage of Frank E.
Tomasini with Miss Eliza S. Tognazzini, a native of Someo, of canton Ticino,
where she was born on May 11, 1885. She came to California with her par-
ents, Peter A. and Madalena (Morganti) Tognazzini. Both of her parents
were born in Someo, and are engaged in farming in this county.

Mr. and Mrs. Tomasini have two children, Alex and Isabelle. I\lr. Tom-
asini is following in his father's footsteps and is a supporter of all public
movements that are for the good of the people.

LORENZO ALBERTL— It is to the Swiss that California has opened
up an industry to which they are adapted by inheritance and early training,
and from which many have reaped considerable wealth. Lorenzo Alberti is
no exception, for he has made his own way in the world from boyhood, and
is respected by all Avho know him. He was born in Robasacco, canton Ticino,
Switzerland, February 16, 1862, and attended the public schools until his
fourteenth year, after which, for the next five years, he assisted with the care
of the lK)me .farm, where his father was in the dairy business and raised
cows, sheep and goats. He was satisfied that the State of California, of
which he had heard so much, held better advantages for him; and accordingly
in 1882 he came to San Francisco and sought employment. He had but
little money, and therefore any honest work that was ofifered he gladly
accepted. He went to Marin county and worked for two seasons, and in
the latter part of 1883 he was employed by a laundry company in San Fran-
cisco, working there about nine months. From that city he came to San
Luis Obispo County in 1884 and found work in a dairy. He learned the
ways of the country and to speak some English, and was soon employed by
John llollister for two years on his ranch on Chorro creek. In 1886 he
started for himself and bought some cows and leased land near Guadalupe,

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 987

and was successfull\' engaged in dairying for the following fifteen years.
He sold out in 1902, at a good profit, and bought his present home place of
six hundred twenty-four acres of land in Los Osos valley, two and one-half
miles from San Luis Obispo. 1 le added to his holdings in 1904 b)^ purchasing
three hundred twenty acres more, and in 1916 added ninety-two acres. He
now runs a dairy of one hundred cows and is meeting with success. Many
changes have taken place since Mr. Alberti came to this county, and the
dairy business has been revolutionized. When he came to this place, the
milk was panned and skimmed by hand as well as churned by hand. Now
he has a separator operated by water power, which is also used for cutting
up feed ; and instead of having to haul cream to the creamery, it is called for
at the ranch-house door.

Mr. Alberti married Miss Maria Dclte, a native of canton Ticino, in
1890, and they have seven childrLii ; Sylvia J., Clelia G., Americo L., Plinio J.,
Lillie U., Este L. and Henry O. Mr. Alberti is interested in the cause of
education and has served as a trustee of the Stovve district for a number of
years, and was clerk of the board for a time. He is a Republican in politics
and a member of the Catholic Church, and is a public-spirited citizen who
has the respect of a host of friends.

In 1907, Mr. Alberti made a trip back to Switzerland to see his parents,
Leonardo and Antonia (Richina) Alberti. He had made a promise to his
mother when leaving home that he would be back to visit the family in five
or six years, but once in California, events arose that made it impossible to
keep that promise ; he got into business, and necessarily in debt, and it took
him twenty-six years before he could get back home. He had a delightful
triji, but was glad to get back to his California home and friends. His father
died in 1913 at the age of seventy-nine. His mother, though in poor health,
is still living, aged seventy-eight years. In 1910 Mrs. Alberti and her daugh-
ter Lillie took a trip back to her old home, as it was not possible for her to
accompany her husband when he went, for the children were not old enougii
to be left alone, and the large interests of Mr. Alberti had to have a compe-
tent overseer; so she assumed charge and succeeded very well.

JOHN J. FRATIS. — Many Portuguese transplanted from the Kingdom
of Portugal to the Imspitable shores of the United States have found here a
haven wherein they have wt)n independence, and fortunes gained solely by
their own efforts ; for nearly all of those wdio have been successful in this free
country landed here with neither money nor knowledge of the English
language. Many of them have taken an active part in the upbuilding of
their adopted land, and of this number n<j resident of San Luis Obispo
County is deserving of more credit than John J. I'ratis. He was born in
Flores, on Santa Cruz Island, in the Azores, December 8, 1867, and when he
was eighteen years old came direct to this county, landing here, in 1SS5,
with just eight dollars in his pocket; since which time, by his own unaided
efforts, he has succeeded in every undertaking.

For. ten years he worked for wages on the Gilbert ranch at Morro;
and tlun he rented thirty-five acres there and for two years raised beans. He
next went to Arroyo Grande valley and leased six hundred eighty-three
acres of the liiddle ranch, farmed there eight years, and then added one
hundred sixty-five acres, devoting the tract to beans, barley, alfalfa. lv>gs,
and a dairy.

988 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

During the ensuing seven years, lie saved ennugh to huv his present
ranch in Kern county, where he and his partner, V. J. Antoni, have sixty acres
in alfalfa, while the rest of the eighty is devoted to general farming. The
dairy there consists of sixty cows and is conducted with profit. He also owns
a small ranch near Morro. Mr. Fratis was made a citizen in 1907, is a member
of the Catholic Church, an.l lielnn-s to the I. 1), E. S. and the U. P. E. C.
societies.

He married Rosa D. Diess, a native of Morro and daughter of Frank
Diess, a pioneer of the coast section of this county. They have three children :
Josephine, Mary and Juzunio. Interested in education, ]\Ir. Fratis is giving
his children every advantage obtainable in the inihlic schrmls, and does his
jjart to maintain a high standard of education in the ci immunity.

ANTONIO STORNETTA.— The sons of Switzerland Avho have made
g(i(i(l in I alifornia are many, and among them Antonio Stornetta holds a
prominent ])lace. He was born at Santantonino, canton Ticino, September 6,
1873, attended the public schools of his native canton until he was fifteen
years of age and then, alone, started for the Golden State to cast in his
fortunes with the western world. He was unfamiliar with English and had
hut little mniie)- when he arrixed in San Luis ( )bispo County, but he was
ready and willing tn 1)us_\- himself at any employment that a boy could find.

He worked for Dalamaria in a dairy at Cayucos for two years, and while
there learned considerable about the ways of this country. He worked for
others for a while, and then found a good opening near Santa Maria, in
.^anta I'.arl^ara countv, and the following fifteen years were spent in that
localit}'.

He saved his money, and about 1907 was able to finance a ranching
proposition for himself. He leased the Santa Fe dairy on the Pismo road,
bought twenty-five cows and made money during the ten years that he car-
ried im the dairy there, selling milk to the retail trade in San Luis Obispo
and building up a paying business. Flis present ranch is on the Edna road,
where he has five hundred acres, leased from John Carroll, and milks forty
cows and farms part of the land to beans and barley.

He became a citizen of the United States in 1889. He is a Re])ublican in
politics and a member of the Catholic Church. He married Aralia Donetti,
a native of Switzerland, and they have two sons, Silvia and Louis, who
are operating in partnership in the dairy business, leasing land for that pur-
pose, and meeting with success. Mr. Stornetta is a self-made man and
commands the respect of his associates, both in business and socially.

LAURICE FILIPPONI. — A native son of San Luis Obispo County,
wluise father was a pioneer of 1869, Laurice Filipponi was born in Morro,
March .^, 1889, a son of Dennis Filipponi, of canton Ticino, Switzerland, who
came to America in 1869, with California as his objective point. Dennis
Filipponi worked on a dairy in Marin county until 1873, wdien he settled in
San Luis Obispo County. He located on his ranch in 1889, carried on a suc-
cessful dairy business for many years, and is now living retired from active
work and in the enjoyment of his competency. He is a Mason, an active
Republican in politics, and for many ye.ars was a member of the Republican
County Central Committee.

Laurice I'lliiiiioni was educated in the pulilic schools of tliis county
and reared on his fatlier's farm, and earlv learned the details of successful

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENXIRONS 989

farming. He farmed the home ranch on shares for a time, and in 1913 pur-
eliased all the live stock and farming- implements from his father and leased
the home place for five years. Now he is busily engaged in dair)'ing, having
line hundred head of cows of the Durham and Holstein breeds. He has one
hundred eightj'-five acres in beans and barley, while the balance of the nine
hundred sixty-three acres of the ranch is given over to grazing.

j\Ir. Filipponi has met with exceptional success in his undertaking, and
is making a name for himself in the county where he has lived all his life.
He is the only son in a family of nine children, and has enjoyed every advan-
tage to gain a thorough knowledge of the various branches of agriculture.
By all who know him a bright future is predicted as his lot, for he is a pro-
gressive and worthy citizen.

He was married September 17, 1913, to Aliss Lillie I'.assi, a native of
.San Luis Obispo county, who was liorn near Morro, and is a daughter of
A. Bassi of Camljria.

BERNARDO A. MASTAGNI.— ^One of the enterprising and well-known
ranchers of the vicinity of Paso Robles is Bernardo A. Mastagni, wlio was
born near Bressia, in the province of Lombardi, Italy, August 25, 1871. His
father was Santa Mastagni, a well-to-do farmer and stockraiser of his native
country, who also gave considerable time and attention to raising grapes, olives
and other fruits, as well as to the culture of the silkworm. For spinning the
cocoons into thread, he built a factory on his farm. His wife was Eliza
Catherina Zuckelli. They both passed away in their native province.

The fifth of seven children in the family, Bernardo Mastagni was reared
on the home place and there attended the local schools. When he was seven-
teen, he decided to try his luck in a new country, where there would be
better opportunities for advancement than he could find at home; and the
spring of 1889 saw him in California. He found work in Santa Barljara
county for a time, and then came to San Luis Obispo County and worked
on a dairy ranch. This employment gave him some idea of the ways of ranch-
ing and stockraising in this country, and he began on his own account ;
and ever since he has been successfully engaged in raising stock and doing a
general farming.

He was united in marriage with Miss Attilia Bassi, in Paso Robles,
on August 2, 1896. She was born in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland, a
daughter of Don Caesar and Candida (Padewani) Bassi. Her father was
a teacher until his death, and her mother now resides in San Luis Obispo
County. Mrs. Mastagni came to San Simeon, California, in October, 1893,
and here in this county her eight children have been born. In politics Mr.
Mastagni indorses the principles of the Republican party.

CHARLES RONCONI, JR.— A young man who, by his own energy and
business ability, lias risen to a prominent place and is highly esteemed as the
efficient chief of the Paso Roldes I'ire Department, is Charles Ronconi, Jr..
who was appointed in January, 1917, liaving worked his way through every
position in the department to his present responsible place, lie is intensely
interested in the growth of Paso Robles, having lived here since he was a
lad of twelve years, in 1895, when he left his native country of Italy. He was
born January 17, 1882, in Sastagodano, Genoa, Italy, into the family of Carlo
and Francisca (Aciclade) Ronconi, natives of that country, where the f.itber
was a farmer.

990 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

The older Ronconi came to the United States in 1889 and worked at
gardening in San Juan and in Socjuel, Santa Cruz county ; and in 1891 he moved
to San Luis Obispo County and worked two years in San Luis Obispo. He
next went to the Ascencion ranch near Templeton and worked until 1895,
when he had saved enough to buy some land of his own ; and in 1896 he bought
his present place in Paso Robles and moved onto it. He began improving
it and raising vegetables, shipping to adjoining towns, and from the start
met with success. Into the family of Mr. and Mrs. Ronconi, Sr., nine chil-
dren have been born.

Charles Ronconi. Jr., was the fourth child in his father's family and was
reared in Italy until 1895, attending the public school there. After coming to
this country, he continued his studies in the schools of Paso Robles. When
nineteen, he started out on a vegetable wagon and has continued since to build
up a large trade throughout Paso Robles, where he is well known for his
honesty and for the good quality of the garden produce he grows on his well-
cultivated land.

On their tract of land they have installed a fine pumping plant with a
capacity of four hundred fifty gallons per minute, and can irrigate their entire
thirty acres. They have also drilled and developed a flowing well, and have
a reservoir with a capacity of fifty thousand gallons. They supply the stores
with green vegetables and run a team to Templeton, as well as in Paso
Robles.

Charles Ronconi, Jr., was married in San ]\Iiguel to Miss Margaret
O'Kane, a native of Ireland, and they have one child, Mar3^ With his wife,
who is a very energetic business woman, he is proprietor of the Star Rooming
Plouse on Park street, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets. In 1903
he joined the volunteer fire department in Paso Robles and has been a mem-
ber ever since. He was foreman of Hose Cart No. 2, and later first assistant
chief engineer of the department. In January, 1917, he was elected chief of
the department, a position he iiuw Imlds. He is a Republican and a ^■ery
public-siiirited man, and is well liked and highly esteemed by all with whom
he is ac(|uainted.

CHARLES OLGIATL — 'J'he owner and proprietor of one of the modern
butcher shops in San Luis Obispo, and a stanch supporter and advocate of
all progressive movements for the upbuilding of the county, Charles Olgiati
has won for himself a name and place in the business world by his own
eiiforts. He was born in Milan, Italy, October 28, 1869, and was there edu-
cated in the public schools. At an early age he learned the trade of butcher,
after which he traveled and worked in various parts of Italy and Switzerland,
acquiring new ideas that made him more proficient in his calling; and for a
time he conducted a shop of his own at Pimonte, Italy.

In 1900 he arrived in .\merica and fountl employment at his trade in the
Hotel Criterion at Forty-first street and I>road\\ay, New York. Later he
went to Chicago and was engaged as sausage-maker with Armour & Co. ; and
for a short time, also, he was employed by the Underwood Packing Co. He
had heard of the o])portunities offered young men in California, and in 1903
turned his steps towards the Coast country. The first six months were
passed in Martinez, Contra Costa county. Desiring to investigate various
localities preparatory to embarking in business for himself, he went to
Keswick, Shasta count v, and worked in the slaughter-house of the Moimtain

SAN LUIS OIUSPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 991

Copper Co. ; and the following year, 1904, he came to San Luis Obispo County
and for two years was employed by C. T. Greenfield in the old Pacific Market.

Having spent several profitable years in this state, he took a vacation and
journeyed to his old home in Milan, where he remained six months. Then
he returned to San Luis Obispo and formed a partnership with C. H. Hansen ;
and for eight years they ran the FultcMi Market on Chorro street. The i)art-
nership was then dissolved and, in 1914, Mr. Olgiati opened his present mod-
ern establishment on Monterey street, fitting it up with all modern con-
veniences and new fixtures, until now he has the best-equipped shop in the
county, and has built up an extensive trade in both city and environs.

Besides this store he owns two hundred fifty acres of land and a slaughter-
house on Los Osos road, where he keeps and fattens from one hundred fifty
to two hundred head of cattle, and from six hundred to 1,000 hogs. He also
has a fine cold-storage plant, where his meat is kept in excellent condition ;
and in 1916 alone, more than 10,000 head of live stock were sold by him
through his wholesale and retail trade. He has a secret feed that he gives
his stock, which are all stall-fed, and uses about seventy carloads of feed
annually.

Mr. Olgiati has kept abreast of the times ; and when devices have been
introduced for more sanitary methods of handling meat or stock, he has
installed them in his own departments of business. He eniidoys seven men
and two automobiles, and has prospered financially.

In 1906, Mr. Olgiati became a citizen of the United States. Some
years ago he was united in marriage with Clara W'isberg, who was born, one
of triplets, in San Luis Obispo County. Mr. and Mrs. Olgiati have two
children, Frank J. and John L., to brighten their comfortable home, which
they own and occu])y at 497 Islay street, where they are surrounded by the
comforts made possible l)y his business success.

JOHN MARZORINI. — Perhaps there is no more prominent citizen in
this section of San Luis Obispo County or one more successful than the res-
ident owner of the Paso Robles Cheese Factory, John Alarzorini, who was
born in the town of Locarno, canton Ticino, Switzerland, on October 1,
1873, a son of Malii) and Theresa (Mocettini) ]\Iarzorini, both living in the
land of their birth at the ages of seventy-nine and seventy-seven years, re-
spectively, content to remain on their dairy farm and enjoy the evening of
life. They had six children, four of whom are in California; and of these
John is the third in the order of birth.

Brought up on the dairy farm in Switzerhuul and sent to the jniblic
schools until he was sixteen, John Marzorini then came to the United
States and California, settling in Soledad, Monterey county, where he went
to work on a ranch for twenty-five dollars a month, and continued at ihat
one place for seven years with but one week's vacation. On March 17,
1898, he started for the Klondike, and at Chilcoot Pass fortunately was just
one mile behind the great snow-slide, and so helped to dig out those who
had been 'caught in the disaster. He also helped build boats at Lake Lin-
derman and arrived at Dawson on June 19, 1898, where lie located three
claims, which later proved to be worthless. He was ofl'ered fifteen thousand
dollars for one of them before he had prospected it, but refused the offer.

After a year sjient in mining, for which he was ]iaid one dolhir per hour,
he continued two more years at eighty cents per hour. In January .if the

992 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

winter (if 1902, \\hile lie was making a tri]i fnim Dnminion Creek to Daw-
son <in foot, a distance of sixty miles, he nearly froze to death bef<jre he
reached a certain roadhouse ; and had it been one mile further on, he would
have perished. He wms taken in and was under the care of a doctor, who
lanced his fingers: and by careful attention, his arms were saved from ampu-
tation, which was at first thought necessary to save his life. Being in the
verv best of health and physical condition, Mr. Marzorini recovered and was
back at work in two months at his job of miner. In September, 1902,
having been in the Klondike four years and some months, he started on
the homeward journey and arrived in Monterey county. Before resuming
work, however, he decided that he would go back to his home land and
visit his parents; and once in Switzerland again, he remained fourteen
months before returning to California.

While in Locarno he was married, in 190.\ to Miss Juditha Marzorini,
a native of that city : and the following year. 1904, they came to the L'nited
States and to California, the scene of Mr. Marzorini's first experiences in
this country. Here he worked for seven months in a dairy, and then went to
another and worked three years at Soledad. These years had enabled him
to save money and to start for himself; and he now engaged in dairying with
one hundred twenty cows and manufactured cheese. He was successful,
clearing eight thousand dollars in three years. With this money, he came
to San Luis Obispo County, November 17, 1909, bought a tract of eleven
hundred acres in partnership with M. C. Clark of Soledad, and began rais-
ing grain and hay and dairying.

The land had to be leveled and checked, buildings put up, wells sinik
and pumping plant installed, all of which has been done by the enterprising
owner. Now he has one hundred forty acres in alfalfa, seven wells with
pumping plant installed with a lift 'of seventeen feet, and all run b}' electric
power with a capacity of 1800 gallons a minute. The farm plant includes
a modern dairy house of concrete, cow barns to hold sixty head of cows,
sheds, horse-barns and the residence and bunkhouses for the men, all elec-
tric lighted. He milks about one hundred head of cows, mostly Frisian-
Holsteins, and some of them full-blooded registered stock, and he has three
registered bulls at the head of his herd. Besides his dairy stock, he also
has about one hundred fifty stock cattle and thirty head of horses. Great
care has been taken from the sanitary standpoint, and in his cheese factory
he puts out from eight to ten cheeses per day averaging twenty-two pounds,
A\-liich arc shipjied to San Francisco.

Mr. and Mrs. IMarzorini are the parents of four children — Clara, Roy,
Anierico, .'Vnnie, all born and reared in California. Mr. Marzorini is a Re-
publican and a member of the Foresters. He is an active, energetic, live
business man, successful through his own eiiforts, hospitable and intelligent,
and takes a live interest in all pertaining to the upbuilding of the county,
and jiarticularly in dairy and stock interests, which are of such \-ital im-
])ortancc to the state's prosperity.

JAMES POLETTL— For men of education ilie state of California has
always held great opportunities, as has been demonstrated in the life of
James Polctti. He was born in Pallagneta, canton Ticino, Switzerland, June
22, 1868, a son of C.iuseppe and Maria (Bettini) Poletti. both natives of that
place. The father was a man of refinement and education, and taught school

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 993

in his native country for more than fifty years. lie was the oldest teacher in
point of service in his section of the country. He came to California in 1891,
and spent the better part of that year in San Luis Obispo County, but he
returned to his home and resumed his duties as a teacher.

James l\:jletti was educated in the public .schools of his native canton and
went to hit^h school five years, and then, to fit himself for teaching, took a
two years' course in a ncjrmal school. He taught in the schools of his
locality for three years, and in 1891 came to California with his wife and
mother, a brother and two sisters. Mr. Poletti located in San Luis Obispo
County. The first three years here, he worked for wages on the dairy ranch
of Mr. Beebee in Los Osos valley, and then moved to Cambria and spent two
years as a wage-earner.

With experience gained and money saved, he eiul)arked in the dairy
business for himself with a partner, leasing four hundred acres in Green
valley. Ilis next move was to Chorro, where he leased two ranches aggre-
gating four hundred acres, and there he followed dairying for six years,
meeting with much success. In 1910 he moved tn his present place of four
hundred acres, near the tank farm, which he leases, and now he is milking
fifty cows and raising beans.

Mr. Poletti was married in his JKime tnwn on I'ebruary 9, 1891, to Miss
Annie A. Porta, a native of canton Ticino. who was born October 3. 1869.
They have four children: Achille, Mrs. Corina .M. Stornetta, Mrs. Krminia
G. Christensen, and Olimpia. Mr. Poletti is a i)ublic-spirited citizen and
gives his su^jport to all enterprises that will advance the iiiterest of the
county and j)romote the welfare of its citizens. He has a host of friends who
admire him for his manliness and integrity.

ALEX BIASOTTI.— .\ native of the town of Rio, Genoa, Italy, horn
October 27, 1866, .Alex Biasotti is the son of Dominico and .\ngela Maria
(Ferari) Biasotti. farming folks in Rio, Italy. The mother died when Alex
was a lad of four years, and the father passed away in 1893. Of their thir-
teen children, four of whom are living, Alex was the only one to come to
America. He was brought up on the farm in Italy, and educated in the
public schools; and having read of the opportunities in California for young
men who were willing to work, he determined to try his fortune on the Pacific
coast.

On June 1.^, 1886, he arrived in Santa Cruz, and went to work the next
day as a vegetable gardener, continuing tiiere for eighteen months; then he
came to San Luis ObisiX) and, with three partners, leased the Estrada gar-
dens, two miles north of town, and ran vegetable gardens there for five years.
Lie then came to the .'\sccncion ranch, at Atascadero, ;ind leased and operated
it for three years.

In 1896 he came to Paso Roblcs, bought Cwt: acres of land, and engaged
in raising vegetables, running a vegetable wagon. Since then lie has bought
adjoining property and now owns thirty acres of fine bottom land, all devoted
to gardens and alfalfa. There is a flowing artesian well that supplies an
abundance of water for irrigation, and Mr. Biasotti constructed a reservoir for
storing the water. The alfalfa is cut five times a year and vegetables of fine
quality are raised on the place, which are retailed in Paso Robles.

Mr. Biasotti was united in marriage in San Luis Obispo, in May. 18' '4,
with .Amelia Defilippi. who w;is born in Buenos .\yres. ."-^outh .Vnurica. the

994 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

daughter of John B. and Catherine Bertoni Defilippi, both natives of Italy,
who were engaged in business in Buenos Ayres for seventeen j-ears, after
which they returned to Italy, where the mother died and the father is still
living. Mrs. Biasotti came to California in 1893, and they are the parents of
thirteen children, nine of whom are living: Alex, Guadalupe (Mrs. Minini, of
Paso Robles), Mary, David, Palmyra, Jennie, John, Benjamin, and Virginia —
all under the parental roof except Mrs. Minini. Mr. Biasotti is an indus-
tridus, ambitious citizen, and his industry and ambition have been rewarded.

JOHN S. GULARTE. — A successful dairyman and a self-made man, John
S. Gularte started in as a poor young man, and by hard work and personal
application to his affairs he has gradually risen to .a place of importance in the
county of his adoption. He was born in the Azores islands in 1862, educated
in the public schools of his native country, and at the age of nineteen, in
1881, came to the United States and worked for wages, as a farm hand, near
New Bedford, ]\Iass.

In 1884, Mr. Gularte came to California and continued as a farm laliorer
on ranches in the vicinity of Cayucos and San Luis Obispo, and by saving
his money he was soon enabled to embark in farming for himself. He worked
eighteen hundred acres on shares, and managed a large dairy of one hundred
fifty cows. Meeting with success in this venture, he next ran a dairy at
Chorro for one year, and still later made his home in jMorro for a like period.

In 1905 he settled in Arroyo Grande and carried on his operations from
town. He now lives in the Tar Springs district, leases one thousand acres
of the Steele ranch and three thousand acres of the Biddle ranch, and has a
dairy of one hundred cows, and engages in the cattle business with good
results. Part of the leased land Mr. Gularte sub-leases to tenants, who farm
on shares ; and he finds this a very profitable way to carry on large tracts
of land.

In ]\Ia(lera count}-, on February 2?, 189.^, ^^fr. Gularte was united in
marriage with Isabel R. Alvcs, also a native of the Azores, and they have
four children — Mary, Nora, Violet and Manuel. Mr. Gularte is a member of
the I. D. E. S. and the U. P. E. C. lodges, and takes an active part in their
workings. He is a self-made man, and one who holds the respect of his neigh-
bors and friends.

GEROME ROTTA.— A handy and wide-awake young foreigner who is
meeting with success, partly because of his studious observation of Ameri-
can methods coupled with his application of a valuable knowledge brougin
from the Old World, is Gerome Rotta, who was born at Godo, Bellanzona,
canton Ticino, Switzerland, on November 16, 1885, the eldest of three chil-
dren of Giacamo and Adelaida Rotta. His parents were also natives of
Ticino, where the father has been and is still engaged in dairying and farm-
ing, the mother being deceased. Gerome received a good education at the
public schools, and assisted his father on the farm until 1905, when he
emigrated to San Francisco, and soon funnd cniplo\'mcnt in a dairy at
Vallejo.

Me then worked for a year in another dairy in Marin county, after which
he joined his brother, Clemente, at Saint Helena, Napa county, where to-
gether they conducted the French Bakery. After three years they sold out,
and Gerome bought his present place of a hundred twenty acres nine miles
southwest of Paso Robles, where he was soon farming and raising stock.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 995

When he took hold of the land it was covered with brush and trees, but by
the hardest kind of labor he has brought forly-tive acres under cultivation,
and from the fruits of this little farm he derives a profitable income which
is su])pleniented through teaming and hauling.

In the city of Napa on August 9, 1909, young Mr. Rotta was married to
Miss Anitta Carminetti, who was born at Godo, came to California in 1907,
and is the daughter of Serephino and Ursula Pissinti. Her father was a
business man in Godo and died in 1915. The mother is still living. Mr. and
Mrs. Rotta are the parents of four children — James, Severino, Adelaida and
Marie — who will some day doubtless inherit, through their parents' industry
and ability, a nice little homestead.

MANUEL TRIGUEIRO.— riic obliging and efficient postmaster at San
Miguel is a native of California, born in Jolon, Monterey county, October .17,
1879. His father, Frank J. Trigueiro, was born in the Azores. He was a
sailor for many years and came around the Horn to San Francisco, from which
city he went to the redwoods in Sonoma county, where he worked until he
began farming in the Jolon country. Here he took up a homestead of one
hundred sixty acres, improved it and farmed successfully until, being driven
off because it was on one of the grants, he lost all his improvements and labor.
He then rented and farmed, and in 1884 came to this county and home-
steaded one hundred sixty acres in Sec. 19, Twp. 25, range 10 east, twelve
miles northeast of San Miguel, where he made improvements and bought
adjoining land, and now has a large ranch and is farming and raising stock.
He married Miss Mary Bidel, born in Mexico, who has had twelve children.
Nine of their offspring are now living and Manuel is the second born.

Manuel Trigueiro was thus raised in San Luis Obispo County and went
to school at Bee Rock, living and working at home until 1904, when he
entered the service of the sugar factory at Betteravia. \\'hile there, how-
ever, he met with an accident that crippled him, his foot being caught in an
elevator. After his recovery, he took a correspondence course in the Scran-
ton school and, finishing in 1906, opened a confectionery store and ice cream
parlor, and also had the telephone exchange. These he continued until 1914,
when, on March 29, he received the appointment of ])ostmaster at San Miguel,
taking the office after selling his store on April 11. The office work has
grown since his incumbency, and now there are three star routes from the
San Miguel office. Pie is a supporter of Democratic princii)les and a public-
spirited citizen of San Miguel.

A. BONDIETTI.— On January 21, 18.^1. there was born in Switzerland,
in the canton of Ticino, the well known and highly respected citizen of the
Santa Maria valley, A. Bondietti. He went to school until he was about
fourteen and then learned the trade of stone mason, which he followed until
coming to the United States in 1879. when he was twenty-eight years old.
As a boy, he had worked at the dairy business for his father and mother, who
were farmers in their native canton, and who died when past .seventy years
of age.

On arriving in this country, Mr. Bondietti came direct to the Santa
Maria valley, al)andoned his trade and took up dairying. He worked for
wages as a milker and general farm hand on ranches in the vicinity of Guada-
lupe, and when he had saved enough money, he went into business for
himself. Leasing three hundred acres of land in San Luis Obispo County, he

996 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

stoi-ked it witli fifty head of dairy cows and began to build up a prosperous
dairy. As he prospered, he bought tlie land he occupied, added needed
improvements and made of it a very productive ranch, raising beans and
grain in connection with his dairy.

In 1882, Mr. Bondietti was united in marriage with Dora La Franchi, a
native of Switzerland, and they have three daughters, all of whom are
married : Adeline, Mrs. Virgil Larnotti, who has four children ; Mrs. Lillie
Larnotti, who has three children ; and Mrs. Elvezia Rhigetti, who has four
children. In 1906, Mr. Bondietti retired from active ranch work, having
accumulated sufificient to permit him to enjoy the comforts of life; and the
ranch is being conducted by his sons-in-law, who are successfully carrying
out the plans made by Mr. Bondietti.

A Republican, active in party work, Mr. Bondietti is a firm believer in
a high standard of education, and has served for years on the school board
of his district. He is a member of Guadalupe Lodge, No. 224, I. O. O. F.,
and has held offices in the lodge. He is interested in real estate in Guadalupe,
and has erected several houses on lots owned by him. He is public-spirited,
and successful, a valued citizen of the cnunty, wdio has made his own way
to his present position in the community, where he is highly respected.

MANUEL M. MARTINEZ.— If California owes a particular debt to any
class of its citizens, it is to tli(.)se who, residing beyond the limits and con-
veniences of the town, yet contribute their full share to the progress of the
State. Sucli a worthy citizen is Manuel M. Martinez, the well-known rancher,
and at present the clerk of the Bonita school district. His father, now
deceased. \\;!s A. C. Martinez, a native of the Azores, who became a rich
rancher in the Santa Maria valley, and was the owner of two ranches at Oso
Flaco and two other ranches at Edna, six miles from San Luis Obispo. A
sister, Mary R., is Mrs. M. D. Martin, a resident of Santa Alaria ; a brother,
of the same place, is A. Martinez, in charge of one of the Martinez ranches at
Oso Flaco: while another brother is J. C. Martinez, unmarried and living
with lii:^ mother at Santa IMaria.

Manuel attended the public schools and graduated as a l50(.>kkeeper from
the San Luis Obispo College, after which he worked for several comjDanies
until his impaired health compelled him to quit office work. He then ran
one of the Martinez ranches at Edna for six years, and of late has been
managing one hundred seven acres of the Red Tank Farm, three miles west
of Santa Maria. Enjoying such prosperity, he married a native daughter,
Miss Julia L. Heyd, now the mother of two children, Arthur L. and Julia
M. Martinez. A live citizen and a good neighbor, Mr. Martinez is popular
as the executive secretary of the I. D. E. S., Council 105.

JOE J. SOUZA. — A product of the great public school system of Cali-
fornia, Joe J. Souza, by Jiis services as trustee of the Bonita school district, is
helloing to maintain fur others the educational advantages he himself enjoyed.
Mr. Souza is ;i well-known rancluT, who rents a hundred fifty acres of his
father's ranch, .-diout four miles west of Santa Maria. Born in the Oso
Flaco, in San Luis Oliisjjo- County, March 12, 1881, he is the son of Manuel
J. Souza, a sketch of whose active and useful life appears elsewhere in our
V(jlume. His mother, who is still living, and wdio came to Guadalupe when
she was Init a young l;idy, was Miss Mary Lawrence I'.ello, a n;itive of the
.\zores. Mr. Souza linished the "rammar school cotn-se i)ro\idcd 1)\- his

SAN LUIS OniSPC) COUNTY AND I'lNXlKONS 997

neighborhood, and l)cin8- the eldest son Ijegan to drive a team when only
ten years of age.

At general farm work he ontinurd on his father's ranch until the age
of twenty-seven, when he married Miss Ainiie I'.ell.i, a daughter of Victor
J. Bello of Pismo. Two children, (iladys and Albert, were born to the happy
couple, who are among the faithful of the Catholic Church at Santa Maria.

A Republican in politics, an active member of the U. P. E. C, and the
efficient vice-president of the I. D. E. S., Mr. Souza still finds time, as he has
for the past two years, to attend to the duties of a school trustee, as a mem-
ber of the board of trustees of the Bonita district, of which A. V. Bras is
president and M. Martinez is secretary. Under their conscientious supervision
the Bonita school is justly regarded as one of the best elementary institutions
in the Santa Maria Valle\-.

ANTONIO P. SILVEIRA.— .\ representalive citizen and a well-to-do
rancher residing in the vicinity of (inadaluiie in the Santa Alaria valley,
Antonio P. Silveira was born on January 15, 1863, in the Azores, in one of the
most beautiful parts of the Portuguese dependency. His father was Anton
P. Silveira, who died in May, 1916, aged ninety years; his mother, before her
marriage to Mr. Silveira, was Annie \ieira. and she passed away in 1900.
Neither of them ever left the .Azores, but some of their children have found
their way to America. Among the brothers and sisters of Mr. Silveira are:
Mary, unmarried and living in the Azores; Anna, widow of Joe Mello, and
Joe, both living in Providence, R. I. ; Manuel, who died at the age of twenty-
one ; Catherina, married and living in Oakland; Mary .\nn, wife of Joe Bento
of Carey; Mary Josephine, Mrs. Anton J. Bello, of the Oso Flaco ; Isabel,
who died at the age of twenty ; John, who died in Reno, Nov., leaving one
child; Frank, a resident of Idaho; and Mary Rosalie, of Oakland.

Antonio P. Silveira attended school for a short time in his native land,
and in 1880, at the age of seventeen, came t(5 California, where he had an
uncle living at Salinas, Monterey count}'. With him he worked for wages
fur three years, doing general farm work and learning farming details as
carried on in this state. In 1883 he came to the Santa Maria valley and leased
land; and for six years he fJirmed for himself. It was about this time
that young Siheira thought that he was able to support a wife; and on
November 25, 1889, he was united in marriage, in San Francisco, with Miss
Francesca Medeiras, then of Pctaluma, but a native of the Azores. Her
parents were Joaquin J. and Leo Poldina (\'ieira) Medeiras. both of the
Azores, from which jilace her father came to C'alifornia. later sending for his
wife and children, who joined him in Petaluma in 1884, Mrs. Silveira then
being fifteen years of age. Her three sisters are: Mary .\., widow of Joe Cas-
par, residing in Petaluma; Annie, wife of Caton I'ocha, also living near that
city ; and Marian, deceased wife of .\nt()n Silveira. Jr. I kr ]>arents are both
deceased.

After their marriage, the young peo])le came ddwn to this valley and
^fr. Silveira took up ranching and followed it witii s|)lendid success, r.iising
be.ins and grain. So successful has he l)cen that in I'X)1 he was able to
purchase his present ranch of one hundred eighty-three and one-half acres,
situated about si.x and one-hall miles west of .Santa Maria, upon whicli he
has made all the improvements. Some few years ago they sulTorcd a loss
of about $10,000 when their fine home and its c(Mitents were dcstroved bv

998 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

fire ; but with characteristic energy Mr. Silveira at once rebuilt liis modern
home on the Ijungalow style of architecture. In 1916 he harvested nineteen
hundred sacks of beans, which brought him a good sum. Wherever you
may travel in California you will not find a superior among sturdy farmer
folk to A. P. Silveira. He is a member of the Santa Maria Lodge, I. D. E.
S., and the Guadalupe Lodge of I. O. O. F., and }ilrs. Silveira is a welcome
member of the S. P. R. S. I.

To this Avorthy couple thirteen children have been bo'rn, three of them
dying in infancy, while the remainder have been reared according to the
tenets of the Catholic Church. They are : ]\Iary Lucile, wife of Antonio
Gomes, living at Orcutt, where he is employed by the Pinal-Dome Oil Co. ;
Manuel, who married Carrie Bras and lives in Betteravia ; Anton, married to
Mary Nunes and living in this valley, the father of one son, Edward ; Joacjuin,
a young surveyor of promise living at home ; Al, an engineer and machinist ;
Frances, attending the Santa Maria high school ; Frank and Deolinda, attend-
ing the grammar school ; and David and Louis, also in the grammar schools.
All the children are being given the best schooling obtainable in the public
schools to fit them for their places in life. Both Mr. and Mrs. Silveira are
estimable people, and have won their own way to places of esteem in the
community where they have lived so many years.

In the spring of 1915, Mr. Silveira took a vacation of nearly four months,
and went back to see his aged father in the Azores. Fie sailed from
Boston on the White Star steamer "Canopio," and while in mid-ocean he
learned by wireless of the sinking of the "Lusifania" half an hour after that
ill-fated vessel sank. He made his visit and was more than pleased to return
to California and its wonderful opportunities.

JOHN P. DOMINGUES. — Another enterprising native of the ocean-
girdled Azores is John P. Domingues, the wide-awake rancher, who was
born in the Island of Pico on November 10, 1882, and came to America in his
nineteenth year.. His father was Frank P. Domingues, a worthy blacksmith,
who lived and died in his native land. His mother, Mary, also born in that
island, came to California, where she now resides. A brother, Manuel P.
Domingues, preceded John to America by a year, and stopped for a while
near Bedford, Mass., working on a farm, and then came to California. He sent
for John, who came in the fall of 1899, and for fifteen months worked on the
Jesus Maria Rancho, after which, in 1909, he made his way to the Santa ]\laria
valley, where he worked out by the month.

After a while he began to rent part of the Catano J. Souza ranch, and
today he farms one hundred seventy-five acres, planting the same to beans.
He has ten horses and a full complement of machinery; and having learned
the blacksmith's trade in his father's shop, he has opened a good forge for
himself on the ranch. Prior to engaging in farming, for several years he
worked as a blacksmith and tool dresser in the Santa Maria oil fields. For
the Pinal-Dome and Los Alamos Oil & Developing Co. he set up several fine
blacksmith shojjs, and in the end secured from his employers many recom-
mendations of the highest order.

.\fter coming to the Santa Alaria valley he married Miss :\Iaria G. Souza,
a daughter of Catano J. and Alary Dorothy Souza, the facts of whose lives
will be found elsewhere. She is a most excellent lady, and is justly proud of
the part played by her pioneer father in the development of this section. Three

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 999

charming children, named respectively Catano, Albert and John P., Jr., have
blessed the union. Frugal, industrious and inspired with the desire to get
ahead, a self-made man, indeed, who may well lift up his head and look the
whole world in the face, he manages with care and wisdom his well-kept
ranch, a mile and a half to the northwest of Santa Maria. In 1916, Mr.
Domingues, with his brother, Joseph, and Julius Garcia, bought a hundred
sixty acres of the Sweeny ranch near Lompoc, one of the best places in that
section. A conscientious Catholic, he is also a member of the U. P. E. C. at
Santa [Maria; while as a naturalized American citizen, he acts in political
matters with independent judgment and always votes for the best man.

GEORGE SARGENTI— An agriculturist to whom the marvelous fer-
tility of the soil of the Santa Maria valley has brought more than a comfortable
living, is George Sargcnti, a native son born at Gilroy on September 29, 1889,
who came to the valley in 1908. For five years he worked for the Union Sugar
Co. at Betteravia, for monthly wages, and then he began to farm for himself.

He rented one hundred forty acres on a four-year lease ; and a hundred
tAventy acres, near Bettcra\ia, have been added to this original parcel to be
operated in 1917.

Once well established, he married Miss Annie Souza, a daughter of Antone
J. Souza. the well-to-do teacher and large land-owner near Santa Maria, secur-
ing thereby for a wife a splendid woman and a good housekeeper, who is
particularly popular in the S. P. R. S. I. lodge of Santa Maria. lie was also
blessed through this marriage with one child, a daughter named Amy.

As a complement to his excellent farm, on which he has a dozen horses,
the best obtainable caterpillar, 45 h. p., and every other necessary agricultural
appliance, he has built for himself and his family a commodious bungalow
reflecting Mrs. Sargenti's taste. The family are members of the Catholic
Church in Santa Maria.

CLEMENT MUSCIO. — If his success is measured by his progress finan-
cially, as well as by his standing in the community where the scenes ot
his labors have been staged, Clement Muscio stands well towards the top
round of the ladder. He started with nothing but a willing spirit, strong con-
stitution and an aptitude to do whatever came to his hand, and to do it well.
His career should be an object lesson to those who have been less fortunate
and who have often despaired of getting ahead. The opportunities are here
and conditions equally as good, for the pioneering has already been done.

A native of Switzerland, Clement .Muscio was born in canton Ticino.
August 10, 1870, a son of Eustachio and Caterina (Giumini) Muscio, small
farmers in Ticino, though the father was handy with tools of all kinds, lie
died at the age of seventy-eight years in 1910. The mother, now eighty-one.
lives on the old home place in Someo. They had five boys and one girl,
Seraphino, of Casmalia : Joseph, of Gonzales; Clement: Calimorio. who died
in 1892; Victoria. Mrs. A. Iranscioni of Gonzales; and Micliele, who lives in
far-off Ticino.

When a lad of seven years Clement began working out for wages, and
they were very small, but from that age he has been self-sujiporting and has
made his own way in the world. The first pair of shoes he ever put on was
bought with money he earned. Being ambitious, he could see no way that he
could accomplish his aims in life by remaining in his native land, and he
looked to the I'nitcd Stales for a future, .\ccordingly. when he was sixteen

1000 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

he borrowed money for his passage; and leaving home, sailed from Havre,
St'ptemljer 1, 1886, on the steamer "Xormandie," his destination being San
Francisco.

On his arrival in the east he at once came to this state and reached
Cayncos in October. He was unfamiliar with our language and customs,
and took a job on a dairy ranch at twenty dollars per month. For ten
years he worked for wages, saving his money, and later, from 1896 to 1911,
engaged in the liquor business at Casmalia, and from July, 1898, to Octo]:er,
1902. he served as postmaster there.

He bought his ranch of twenty-five hundred acres, part of the Arellanes
ranch un the Punta de Laguna, incorporated the Soladino Land Company,
was made \ice-president and still holds that ofifice. This company subdivided
part of the holdings, four hundred acres of which was sold to Edward
Doheny of Los Angeles, and five hundred twenty-five acres leased for oil
development, the balance being farmed by the company. Of the balance
retained by Mr. Muscio he sold to the Doheny Pacific Petroleum Company
in 1916 four hundred acres at a handsome figure. He still owns three hundred
sixty-four' acres, upon which are located the farm buildings, and which is being
successfully operated as a bean ranch by its owner, in addition to his interest
in the land company.

]\lr. Muscio was married when he was twenty-two, in 1892, to ]\Iiss ]\Ia-
tilda Righetti, who. like himself, was a native of Ticino — a friend of his youth.
They have five children : Mabel ; Nellie, wdio married C. Bassetti and lives
on the home ranch ; and Julius, Elvira, and Wesley. Mr. Muscio erected a fine
residence on his ranch, has good barns and outbuildings, and is ranching on
a large scale.

In 1911 Mr. Muscio tonk his wife and family for an extended visit back
to his old home in Switzerland, but was glad to get back to California. Air.
Muscio is liberal and enjoys thoroughly the good things of life. He has a
wide circle of friends and by all who know him he is counted one of the suc-
cessful business men of the county. Pie is a Republican in [jolitics, though he
ne\-er sought office.

JOSEPH C. SILVA, JR.— A native son of California, born of Portu-
guese parents. Joseph C. Silva is the oldest son of Joseph Silva, senior, a
very successful rancher in the Santa Maria valley, now enjoying his sixty-
fifth year. His mother was Evangeline M. Rodrigues, who is forty-three years
of age. Young Joseph was born at Arroyo Grande on November 15, 1888,
the first of six children ; he attended the public schools and began, when twelve
years of age. to work on his father's farm.

Arriving at maturity, lie married Miss Mary G. Silva. a daughter of
.Antone Silva of Casmalia. then one of the estimable Catholic l)elles of
Santa Maria : ;ind by her he has two children — a boy named Louis and a girl
named Lucille.

Becoming thoroughly conversant with the raising of beans on a portion
of the r.onita Ranch, northwest of Santa Maria, which he rents, he harvested
in 19lCi alone 3,375 sacks of beans, an exceptional yield for one hundred
fifty -two acres. In every sense a progressive rancher, and one of the most
successful grain growers in the valley, Mr. Silva employs, in addition to
twelve horses, ;i Unit C;iteri)illar Tractor of 75 h. p., costing $5,000 and doing
the work of thirly-ei-lu head Ml horses in ploughing.

SAN LUIS OI'.ISPO COUNTY AND IvNVIRONS 1001

Mr. Silva is a Rci)ublican who does his own thinking and votes intelli-
gently. He is a member of the U. P. E. C. of Santa IMaria ; while Mrs. Silva is
always welcomed at tin- L;athcriiigs of the S. P. R. S. 1.

FRANK C. SOUZA. — A native son of California and a popular, prog-
ressive and successful rancher of the Santa Maria valley, Frank Souza has
been associated with the agricultural development of the county since boy-
hood. He was born on the Oso Flaco, in San Luis Obispo County, Decem-
ber 27, 1890, and was educated in the public schools until he was eleven.
Then, on account of the illness of his fatlur, Catano J. Souza, he had to go to
work on the ranch, being the oldest son of the family, and attended to such
duties as were ])ossible for a lad of his age. He has grown up in the bean
industry, and is an expert on the preparation of the soil, planting, cultivating,
harvesting and marketing the crop. He farms one hundred sixty-five acres,
one hundred twenty in beans and the balance in barley, gathering very satis-
factorj' crops of each.

In 1910 Frank C. Souza and Miss Julia Lewis were united in marriage ;
they have two children, Isadore and Dorothy. Mr. Souza is a member of
the Santa Maria lodge, U. P. E. C. ; and both he and his wife are members of
the Catholic Church. In 1915, Mr. Souza erected their bungalow on land
belonging to his mother, where they enjoy all comforts possible in a country
home. Mr. and Mrs. Souza arc ])opular, and are leaders in tlieir social set in
the valley.

The children of C ataiio J. and .Mary Dorothy Sou/.a are all well known
throughout the Santa Maria valley. They are Maria (]., wife of John P. Do-
mingues, Frank C, John P., Manuel C, and Blanche, all living; wiiile five girls
and one boy are deceased. This family rei)resents one of the leading families
of the Azores Islands. The father, Catano J. S(5uza, was a successful rancher,
who became the owner of several tracts of valuable land west of Santa Maria.
Frank Souza is an energetic, self-made man, who has won the respect of iiis
community.

WILLIAM L. ENOS." As engineer in charge of the gas-lreating plant
of the Union Oil Company on the Hartnell lease in the Santa Maria oil field,
W. L. Enos has made a record for himself in his chosen field; and he is well-
known also in athletic and musical circles, more especially, perhaps, in the
field of athletics, as a runner and a footl^ll star. A native of the state,
he was born in San Luis Obispo, September 14, 1883. a son of Louis and
Mary G. (Lawrence) Enos, both of the Azores Islands. The father fol-
lowed the sea from the age of twehe and came to California in 1849. After
his arrival here he mined from 1850 to 1853 in Sierra and Napa counties, and
also \vas in the silver mines in Mexico for several years, lie was married in
San Luis Obispo, and became a rancher. He died in 1913 at the age of eigiity-
seven, while his widow, now sixty-six, lives in San Luis Obispo. Their lour
children are Louis A., an attorney; .Vrcliie C. ; William L. ; and Ceorge .\.. of
Colusa count)'.

William L. Enos attended the i)ul)lic schools of San Luis Obispo: and
it was while attending the high school tliat he became interested in athletics.
He was prominent in the Southern California Inter-Collegiate Athletic As-
sociation, and for several years ( 1900-1 W3) held the one-mile running rccor.l
of five minutes flat. He also distinguisiied himself as a footl)all player witii
the San Luis Obispo high school eleven.

1002 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

AFr. Eniis started wnrk as a loconiDtive fireman for the Sciuthcrn Pacific,
and later worked in the machine shn])s at San Luis Obispo. In 1911 he began
with the L'nicn ( )il CMm])any on the Prdchicers Transportation Company's
line as fireman, in 1912 was fireman at the A\ila refinery, and in 1913 came
to the oil fields, where he has since been em]}lciyed at the gasoline ])lant, which
has a capacity of 1,000 gallons per day of t\\ent>-four hcurs, making gasoline
from natural gas.

As an amateur in music, Mr. Enos has considerable talent, and finds
in this a source of pleasure and profit. Himself a violinist, he organized the
Encjs orchestra of six pieces, in Santa Maria, which plays for dances and enter-
tainments, and at many social tunctinns.

Mr. Entis was united in marri;ige at San Luis C)l)ispo on October 24,
1908, with Miss Flo P>. Chapin, a native of Parsons, Kan. They have five
bright children — Richard, Lucile, Marjorie, Elena and Aliriam. Mr. Enos
is a member of the Moose lodge in Santa Maria and is po]>ular wherever he
is known. Both he and his wife have a large circle of friends in San Luis
Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, where they are leaders in their social set.

JOSEPH C. PIMENTEL.— To succeed in face of severe discourage-
ments, and that, too, when handicapped by not being able to speak or under-
stand English, has been the lot of Joseph C. Pimentel of the vicinity of Guad-
alupe. He was born on Pico island, in the Azores, January 10, 1877, a son of
Manuel C. and Isabel C. (Bettencourt) Pimentel, both natives of the Azores.
The father is a farmer and still lives at the age of eighty-seven, while the
mother died aged seventy-four. They had eight children: JNlanuel. a baker,
and Tony, a merchant, in Rio de Janeiro ; Maria, Airs. Alanuel Gudarte. living
on the home place on Pico island; Joseph C, of this review; John, a res-
tauranteur, in Rio de Janeiro ; August, ranching near Guadalupe ; Antonazi,
deceased; and Adelida, of Rio de Janeiro.

When seventeen years old, Joseph C. Pimentel bade goodbye to home and
friends and came to the L^nited States on the steamer Vega, arriving June
15, 1893, after a voj-age of twelve days. His destination was San Francisco;
and nine days later he arrived there, a stranger in a strange land. It was at
a time when the stress of hard times was widespread over the country, and
there were thousands out of work. This young man needed work in order
to Ii\c, and he was willing to do anything. Hearing that many of his country-
men were in Marin county, he journe}-ed there and was set to work milking
cows for his board.

In the latter part of 1894 he arrived in Arroyo Grande, hunted several
days for work and finally got a "job" at $15.00 a month as milker in a dairy;
and for three years he worked for wages. In 1897 he thought he would strike
out for himself and paid cash rent to Mrs. Kelley for part of her ranch ; but
the drouth of 1897-8 made his venture disastrous and he lost everything. He
then rented the William Adams ranch on shares, put in beans and beets, got
a good crop and made up for what he had lost. The year 1900 was a dry sea-
son, but he made up for it in 1901 and in the main he has been very successful.
He has farmed on his present place, one hundred and seventy acres of the
Gu;idalupe ranch, for six years.

On lulv 31, 1902, Mr. Pimentel was united in marriage with Maria Alen-
dos... daughter ,.f Anton P. Mendoso, a resident of IVovidence, R. I., though
both father an<l d;iughter are natives of the .\zores. Of this union four chil-

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EW IRONS 1003

dren have been born: Carlos, whu (Hrd. a.ijcd f.iur years, Virginia, Adelaide,
and Joseph M. Mr. Pimentcl is a Republican in politics and a member of
the I. O. O. F., the Independent Order Druids, U. P. E. C. and I. D. E. S.

In May, 1916, Mr. Pimentel was driving a team hitched to a 2250-pound
land roller; they became frightened and ran away, the roller passing over Mr.
Pimentel, severely injuring him. His sturdy constitution and iron will soon
had him on the road to recovery, and to the satisfaction of his many friends,
he is almost wholly recovered, lie is ]nil)!ic-spirited and generous, a man of
line character, and has a host of well-wishers who rejoice at his success.

JOHN V. BRASS — A large bean grower and a successful rancher of the
Santa Maria valley, and a .son of Joseph. Sr., and Annie L. (Hello) Brass, both
natives of the Azores islands, where he was born November 10, 1878, John
\'. Brass obtained his education in the public schools until he was eleven,
and then went with his mother, brothers and sisters to California, whither his
father had preceded them about two and one-half years before to get a start in
the New World.

Two winters in school in California C()m])lclcd the education of this wide-
awake lad, and he set to work on a ranch and has been engaged in farm work
ever since, meeting with deci<lcd success. He leases one hundred ninety-one
acres of fine land which he farms to beans; his many years of experience as
a bean raiser has made liim an authority on the subject, and no man is more
highly esteemed in the \alle_\- than is ;\Ir. Brass.

In 1904. -Mr. Brass and Miss .Annie Oliveria were united in marriage.
Mrs. Brass is a daughter of the late Manuel !•". Oliveria and his wife. Mary
Nunes Silva Oliveria, now a resident of Marysville. Of the union of Mr. and
Mrs. Brass five children have been born : Peter T., Lucy A., John II., Richard
J. and Edith E. In politics Mr. Brass is a Republican and takes an active
and intelligent interest in the party work in the county. He is a friend of
education and has served as a member of the school board of the Laguna
district, also acting as clerk for three years.

He is very popular in fraternal circles. He is a member of the I. D. E. S.
of Santa Maria, and in 1910 was Grand Master, in 1911-12 was (irand Rector,
and in 191.i served as Grand Rector of the U. P. E. C. He is a member of
San Luis Obispo Lodge No. 322. B. P. O. Elks, and Santa Maria Lodge No.
.^02. I. (). O. F. Both Mr. and Mrs. Brass arc members of the Catholic
Church. Mrs. Brass being a member of the .Mtar Society of same. They have
spent manv \ears in this section, and both are highly esteemed for their many
good qualities and public spirit.

JOSEPH BRASS, SR.— .\ wealthy rancher, now eighty years old. but
active and mentally alert as a man of thirty. Joseph Brass. Sr.. was born in
the Azores islands on :^Iarch 19, 1834. His early life liistory, sounding like
a romance, would occup\' an entire volume if it could be written in detail.
He grew to young manhood on a farm, but early in life went to sea and fol-
lowed it for twenty-five years, touching at almost all the important ports of
the world. He sailed in the American barque "Ocean Rover" for years, and
was on board that ship when it was overtaken by tlie ".Mabania," as a result
of which he was taken to port a jirisoner during the Civil War. Returning
to America, where he had first landed at Boston in 1861, Mr. Brass resumed
the life of a sailor and continued it until a short time before he came to
California in 1887.

1004 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

When Air. IJrass was twenty years old, he was farming and had married
Annie FreilaS; by whom he had one son. Both mother and ehild died. The
second marriage of Mr. Brass was with Mary Dorothy Valeadao, while on
one of his visits to his home port. Two children were born — Anton V. of
Santa Maria and Mary DLiriJthy, wiihjw of C. J. Souza, also of that place.
His third marriage united him \\ith Annie L. Bello, and nine children were
born. Five of these are now li\ing: Bauline, wife of John Bello; Mary, who
married .Anton J. Souza; Concepcion, the wife of AI. Azevedo : John, who
married Annie Oliveria ; and Joseph, Jr., the husband of Emih' Oliveria. Air,
Brass has fifty-four grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.

After leaving the sea, Mr. Brass went home and found that his son, Anton
v., had come to California and was located at Guadalupe, Santa Barbara
county: sm he decided that he would \'isit him and see the country, and ac-
cordingly, in |ul\- of 1S87, he arri\ed here arid Avas so well pleased with the
district that he planned to hicate permanently. He bought land on the Hats
in the Santa Maria valley for eighty dullars per acre, where the Betteravia
sugar factory is now located, lie then \vent back home and disposed of his
interests, and came to California to make his new home.

When the Union Sugar Company decided to build their factdry, they ar-
ranged a trade with Mr. Brass, gi\ing him two hundred fifty-two acres, where
he now lives, for his one hundred lifty he had bought first; and Mr. Brass
moved onto his new place, inipnned it and farmed for a time, but is now
living retired in the enjoyment of a well-earned rest. He is a Republican
and a member of the San Luis Obispo Lodge of Elks, in which he takes a
great interest, as he does in all public enterprises and movements for the
uplifting of humanity and betterment of the country.

ANTON SILVEIRA, JR.— To men of foreign birth California has of-
fered opportunities such as were never enjoyed in their native lands. This is
illustrated in the successful career of Anton Silveira, Jr., of the Santa Maria
valley. He was born in the Azores islands, January 10, 1873, a son of Anton
Silveira, also a native of the Azores, once a resident of California, but now
living in Mexico. He came to California in 1875, worked his way from the
foot of the ladder, and became a prosperous farmer in the Arrovo Grande
valley.

Anton, Jr., received a grammar school education at home, his mother
being a teacher, who never came to this country, but makes her home with a
married daughter in the Azores. At the age of fifteen young Silveira came
to California to join his father. He had no money to get to California after
he landed froiu the ship, and succeeded in borrowing enough on board the
ship. He left home on a sailing vessel, March 2, 1888, arriving in Boston
April 1. Ihe lad had worked his own way from a child; for after he had
taken his school course he worked on lighters that loaded and unloaded the
vessels that touched the harbor of Fijol island, attending night school while
so employed. This ad. led to his education, for he met English, French and
German sailors, and in this way was enabled to speak our language enough
to be understood.

After he arrixcd in California, he had difficulty in locating his father,
who was a rancher in the Arroyo Grande valley; but when he did find him,
he worked with him until his marriage, an<l since that time has been farming
for himself, raising beans on a large scale in this vallev.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ICNXIRONS 1005

In 1893. Anton Silvcira, Jr.. wa.s united in marriage with Mary Ann
^Icdciros, and the}- iiavc had nine children — Joaquin, Joseph, Anton, Jr.,
Frank, ilary, Lena, Matilda, John and Henrietta. In 1909 the wife and mother
passed away, since which time Mr. Silveira has kept his little family together
and is rearing them with care and giving them an education that will fit them
for responsible positions in life.

Mr. Silveira has served as trustee on the school board in I'.onita district.
He is a member of San Luis Obispo Lodge No. 322, P.. P. ( ). Llks, (iuada-
lupe Lodge of Odd Fellows, Santa Maria Encampment, and the San Luis
Obispo Canton; and he is also a Moose and a member of the Eagles. He
takes an acti\e and intelligent interest in everything for the good of the com-
munity, and has a host of friends. In politics he is a Republican.

JOSEPH C. SCARES.— That success is gained by concerted effort, as
well as by hard work and good management, is demonstrated in the career
of Joseph C. Scares, a rising young rancher of the Santa Maria valley, where,
with his father-in-law, Anton V. Bras, he is carrying on a four hundred acre
ranch eight miles northwest of Santa ^Nlaria. Mr. Soares was born in the
Azores islands. February 16, 1882, a son of Joseph Soares, a farmer. His
father died and was buried at sea. Mis mother. Lsaliel Jeft'a. is still living
in the Azores.

The sixth child in order of birth of a family of seven children. Joseph
C. Soares received his schooling in his native land, began working on the
farm when a mere lad, and remained at home until 1902, when he came to
America and settled in the Santa Maria valley in California. He began work-
ing for wages, and when he had saved enough he leased land, ranched for
himself and raised beans with success. .\n older brother. Manuel Soares.
is also a rancher in the valle_v.

The land operated by Mr. Soares and his partner coni])rises four jiumlred
acres of the Bonita ranch and is owned by tiie LeRoy brothers of San i-Van-
cisco. The tract is one of the most fertile ranches in the valley, and under
the management of Messrs. Bras and Soares yields handsome returns. Mr.
Soares has a four-year lease on his property with two years yet (1916) to run.

In 1911 occurred the marria.ge of J. C. Soares with Miss Maria Bras, a
daughter of Anton V. Bras; and they have one child, a daughter, Lena. Mr.
Soares is a Republican in jiolitics and belongs to the 1. D. E. S. and the
U. P. E. C. He is a Catholic.

ANTON V. BRAS.— A prosperous rancher of the Santa Maria valley and
owner of one luindred sixty-eight acres of valuable land, .\nton \'. Bras is
one of the highly respected and intelligent Portuguese citizens of this state.
He was born on May 6, 1867, in the Azores islands, where he received a gram-
mar school education, and lived there until eighteen years of age. .\n uncle,
John Bello, a brother to .\nton's stepmother, then owner of a farm in San
Luis Obispo County on the Oso Flaco, wrote back for his nephew to come to
California, saying that there were very good chances here f<)r him to become
independent.

On Mav 28. 188.^, the young man took passage on a \erv small sailin.g
vessel and landed in Boston July 1 of that year. His destination being Cali-
fornia and Santa Maria, he lost no time and arrived at the home of his uncle
on July 17. The first ten months in this country he worked for wages on
different dairy ranches; then he leased land and began farming for himself.

1006 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND EN\TRONS

starting' \\ith one span of horses. 'I'oday he is the owner of a tine ranch, a
beautiful home, and fourteen head of horses, besides a two hundred acre
ranch in Colusa county. For ten years Mr. Bras farmed on the Oso Flaco be-
fore he settled on his present home place.

At Arroyo Grande, in 1889, Mr. Bras and Miss Maryanna Gloria Silveira
were united in marriage and they have become the parents of ten children,
eight of whom are living: Mary, the wife (if Joseph Soares ; Maryanna;
Louisa, who married IL G. Sil\-eira ; Carrie, the wife of Alanuel Sih'eira ;
Anton \'., Jr.; and J(jseph, .Ada, and Arthur.

Since l:>ecoming a citizen of this country, Mr. liras has been a Republican
in politics, has taken an active interest in educational affairs and for years has
served as one of the trustees of the Bonita district, in 1916 being president of
the board. He is a member of the Catholic Church, ;inil Mrs. Bras is a member
of the Altar Society. iM-aternally, he is an Elk, l.ehm-in.i; to San Luis Obispo
Lodge No. 522: has passed the chairs and served six years as secretary and
two years as president of the I. D. E. S. ; and also belongs to the U. P. E. C.
He is a self-made man, charitable and progressive ; and his integrity has never
been questioned.

SEVERING ZANETTL— Not a few of the Swiss settlers in the United
States have found their way into California and arc numbered among the
persevering and industrious citizens of our state. In this list may be included
the name of Severino Zanetti, who Avas 1)orn in Bellinzona, canton of Ticino,
Switzerland, February 12, 1863, and crossed the ocean to America in 1881,
arriving in San Francisco, September 27. with just five dollars in his pocket.
He immediately went to Sonoma count)-, where he got a joli digging potatoes
at ten cents a sack. Tie later found work in .'t dairy, which was more to his
liking; for after leaving school at the age of fourteen he hatl worked with his
father on their farm and became familiar with dairying. In his native land
he had also spent a couple of years as a warehouseman and shipping clerk for
Charles Salvioni, a large dealer in general merchandise at Bellinzona, SA\-itz-
erland. lie did not like the ])ay rccei\cd, which was only twenty-live cents
a day, although lie did like the kind of work; and being ambitious, he wanted
to go ahead and make a fortune, but he had no money to begin with or to take
him to such a place as might afford an open field for his talent.

Having heard of America as a land of opportunity, California being
especially mentioned b\' luany who had located liere as a Mecca for his coun-
trymen, he decided he would try his fortunes in the new country and asked
his father for enough to pay his passage. His parent had only about two
hundred dollars, and not looking favorably upon his proposition, turned a
deaf ear to his pleadings. The most natural thing then to do was to appeal
1o hi< good mother; ,-ind when he asked lu-r assistance, she let him have the
nionc\-. ;md August 2'». ISSl. he left home and came direct to San Francisco.
The lirst \ear in the st.ite he re|iaid the loan, and often afterwards he sent
money to his ji.ircnts in llic old country.

il his positi.Mi with the dairyman, he ke]it it
year with another Swiss .kurynuin, and one
miliar with the language. Thus e(|uippcd
airying and with our language, he came to
A. r. Tognazzini. Two \-ears later, with

•/.

•verin.

. /an

letti si

four years, an

id thei

1 spe

lit ant

with an .\me

rican

to gl

ct mo

witli the mctl

hods o

if car

rying

Guadalupe ai

id wei

It to

work

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND i:N\lkO.\S 10U7

John Toonazzini, he \nn\iiht >>u\ liis employer, paying $8,500 for the dairy
i)f one hundred twenty onus, with horses, hog's, young stock and e(|uipnient.
J£ach of the partners i)aid $1,10U; and they gave their notes for the un])aid
amount. So well did they prosper, that they wiped out their debt in four
years. Tn 1892 Mr. Zanetli bought out his partner and conducted the busi-
ness alone. In 1891 he had invested his surplus capital in four hundred acres
of land four miles east of Cuadalupe, which he farmed many years, but
which is now leased to the Union Sugar Co. Mr. Zaneiti leases 1,100 acres of
the old Adobe ranch live miles from Orcutt, on which he nms a dairv of eightv
cows, besides growing beans in large cpiantities.

In 1889 Severino Zanetti was married to Miss Esterina Ferraris, a native
of Italy. They are the parents of the following children : 01ym])ia ; Ancella,
wife of John Paul Souza ; Tilden, a graduate of St. Mary's College of Oak-
land, class of 1911; .\lma, attending the convent at Watsonville ; Dai.sy. a
graduate of Notre Dame of San Jose; and Sylvester, a student in the Santa
Maria high .school. Air. Zanetti is a stanch supporter of the public .school
system. By his service on the school board of the l.aguna district he has done
much to advance the standard of education in his community.

In 1915 he bought four and one-half acres in Santa Maria, and erected a
beautiful modern house at a cost of -SIO.OOO, where he installed his family,
although he spends much of his time on the ranch looking after his interests.
He is a man of cheerful disposition, always busy with his own affairs. i)ut
is public-spirited and gives considerable of his time to the advancement of
interests that are for the betterment of the community at large. He is con-
sidered a "live wire" of the Santa Maria valley.

In 1900, Mr. Zanetti made a trip back to Switzerland and visiteil his
aged parents, Peter and Louisa (Delco i Zanetti. both now deceased. The
father died in 1913 aged seventy-seven, and the mother in 1914 at the age of
seventy-six. They had eight children in their family. Severino, Joe, Maurice,
Plino, Peter, Ferdinando, I-"edelino, and Laura, deceased. Joe, I'eter and
Ferdinando are employed with the Swiss railway: Fedelino is a farmer in
.Switzerland; Plino, Maurice and Severino are residents of L'jJifornia. The
family are of old Roman origin, and many generations ago were \er\- wealthv
residents of Alilan. Italy.

FILIPPO PERTUSI.— A prosperous i)oultryman and farmer of the
Santa Maria valley. Filippo Pertusi was born in canton Ticino, Switzerland,
Januarj' 10, 1865, a son of Bernardo and Angelina Pertusi. both of whom were
born, lived and died in his native land. The father was ro;idniaster of his
district. The second of si.x children and the oldest son, l'"ilii)])o was educated
in the public schools and brought up in the Catholic faith, .\fter his school
days were over, he was apprenticed and served two years at the trade of shoe-
maker at Masogno, Italy; then he started a shop of his own in th;it village.
He also learned the trade of mason and bricklayer.

When twenty-five years of age, he decided to come to .\inerica ; an<l
bidding goodbye to friends and relatives, he sailed I'rom Havre, l-"rance, in
May. 1890. landed in .New York in due time and came direct to California,
arriving in -San Francisco, June 8, 1890. He was without a cent in his pocket,
just having enough to pay his fare. He then met some of his countrymen
and was provided for, and ten days later he went to Santa Cruz Island and
worked I'or twenty dollars (ler n)onth. building houses of rock and brick:

1008 .S.\N LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND l'-X\IROXS

but he nnlv remained four months. Coming to Foxcn canon, he found em-
ployment on the dairy farm of G. IMuscio, and worked steadih' for six years.
In the meantime, in 1893, he was tmited in marriage with Aliss Domitila
Milani. a nati\e of his hoine place in Switzerland, and they both continued
in the employ of ]\Ir. ]\luscio until 1896. Having saved their earnings, ]\Ir.
Pertusi then leased three hundred twenty acres of John Houk, ten miles
southeast of Santa Maria, and they started in the poultry business and in
general farming on their own account.

From boydiood j\lr. Pertusi has had a struggle for existence, and it was
not until he started on his own account, and with the aid of his wife,, that
prosperity began to smile upon them. His place is arranged for raising poul-
try and he keeps from nine hundred to two thousand White Leghorns. He
hatches his own chickens 1>\ four incubators, and has four brooders and sepa-
rate yards for the chirk, n- nf various ages. He has a blacksmith shop on the
ranch and does general blaeksmithing for his neighborhood. With the aid of
his two sons. Air. Pertusi carries on the ranch and is meeting with success.
The children of the family^ — James, Linda, Irma and George — have been
given ever}- advantage within the means of their parents, and are comjietent
to fill various positions in life. James and George assist with the ranch work ;
Linda, a graduate of the Los Angeles Normal school, is teaching school at
Garey ; and Irma is a stenographer. The members of this worthy^ family are
respected by all who know them, and have a wide circle of friends in Santa
Barbara county.

MAURICE ZANETTL— As an energetic and prosperous son of Switzer-
land. Alaurice Zanetti has made good in California, and in Santa Alaria and
vicinity has a host of friends. He was born in canton Ticino, November 1,
1867, a son of Peter and Louisa (Delco) Zanetti: wa.s educated in the native
schools until thirteeii years old ; and then went to work as a clerk in a large
tourist hotel at St. Bernardino, Switzerland, remaining there two years. He
desired to become an engineer and was apprenticed for one year in the rail-
road shops in Switzerland. In the meantime he had been formulating plans
to come to America ; and in 1883 he sailed from Havre, for New York.
California was his destination and he arrived in San Francisco in due time.
Willing to engage in any honest work he went to Tomales, Marin county,
where some of his countrj-men were living, and hired out to do farm work
for a time; and from there he moved to Duncan's Mill. Sonoma county, and
later to Santa Barbara county, and in 1885 worked on a ranch near Guadalupe.
He next formed a partnership with his brother, S. Zanetti, leased eight
hundred acres of land and carried on a general farming until he was taken ill
in 1891 : and in July of that year he returned to Switzerland to recuperate and
to visit his old home. W'hile in Switzerland, he was offered a position as loco-
motive engineer under the government, if he would stay in his native land ;
but money matters necessitated his returning to America, and he armed
in California in 1894. His business attended to, he went to Ventura and was
in the employ of a wholesale liquor house for two years, when he pur-
chased the business and ran it successfully until 189(1. Then he sold out and
went to Santa Paula and engaged in the same line from 18<>(, i,, 1897, coming
then to Santa Maria, where he opened the Horseshoe P.ar. a wholesale and
retail liquor business, which he has continued ever since.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND l-:X\'lROXS 1009

Mr. Zant'tti is also the senior member of the firm of M. Zanetti & Co.,
which operates a ranch of 1,800 acres under lease, extendinjr from the susjar
factory to Casmalia, and which is in charge of his brother, P. Zanetti. They
raise sr'ii" ^n'l beans, and have a dairy and stock ranch on a large scale ;
and the_v are meeting with very fair success in this venture. Mr. Zanetti owns
twenty residence lots in Santa Maria, and resides at 509 West Main street.

In the year 1900, Mr. Zanetti married Anita C. Tonini. daughter of
^Tichael and Elizabeth Tonini, large ranchers of San Luis Obispo County.
Afr. and Mrs. Zanetti have four children: Edwina, Ellen. ^Vilhelmina. and
Elizaljeth. Mr. Zanetti is a progressive citizen and is respected by his
many friends. Tie is greatly interested in the upbuilding of the town, and
plans a beautiful residence for himself on his tract, lie is a Republican in
politics, and is a nicmber of the Catholic Church.

JOHN PAUL SOUZA.— This native son. like his lirother Frank, is very
popular and broad-minded, and takes a great interest in the uplniilding of the
Santa Maria valley, which has been his home since his birth on June 24, 1892.
into the home of C. J. and Maria (P>ras) Souza, who were both natives of Por-
tugal, and came to this country and were married in San Luis Obispo County.
The father was a large bean grower, and improved a three hundred acre
ranch in .San Luis Obispo County, which he traded for his present estate of
five hundred acres. lie passed away at the old home in 1915, aged fifty-two
years. His widow lives in a comfortable home in Santa IMaria.

John Paul Souza attended the public school in the .\gricola district, sup-
plementing his grammar course with a term in the San Luis Obispo business
college, after which he took up ranching on two hundred acres of the estate
of his father. This is very fertile land, two miles west of Santa Maria; and
here, in partnership with his brother, AFanuel C. Souza, he is successfully
raising beans. The brothers are up-to-date ranchers, are supplied with all
modern machinery, and with their knowledge of the bean industry are well
(|ualificd to make it i)a\-. The industry yields handsome returns after all
expenses are paid, netting them a good revenue each ^-ear.

In Jul}-, 1915, John Paul Souza and Miss Ancella Zanetti were united in
marriage, and they reside in a modern bungalow erected by Mr. Souza on part
of tlie Souza estate, located two and one-half miles west of Santa Maria. They
are members of the Catholic Church and have a wide circle of friends through-
out this part of the county.

FAUSTINO J. SILVA.— l"auslini. .1. Silva was born on the Island of
Pico, in the .Azores, hebruary (\, \i>()2. and there grew to manhood on the
farm, meanwhile attending the local schools. Having heard of the good
opportunities that awaited young men who were willing to work, and to be
steadily emjiloyed, in California, he determined to cast in his lot on the Pa-
cific Coast. In October, 1883; he arrived in San Luis Obispo, and entered the
employ of the California Central Co., where he continued for a period of
eleven years. Having saved .some money, he determined to engage in farm-
ing, and for that purpose came to Santa Margarita in 1894. Leasing a part of
the Santa Margarita ranch, then owned by Polk Murpiiy. he bought teams
and implements, and engaged in raising grain on a tract of four hundred
acres. Si.x years later he gave uji his lease and rented the Estrada ranch at
Templeton.'which he ran successfully for six years. He then returned t.i the
Santa Margarita ranch, and leased the old place he had previously farmed.

1010 SAN LUIS (JBISI'c;) COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

where, with his stei)S(in, John M. Costa, as partner, he is farming- five hun-
dred acres a \ e.ir to grain, making a specialty of raising barley. In the sea-
son of \'>l() they obtained about 9,000 sacks. Mr. Silva believes in using the
latest and must motlern implements and machinery, and is now doing his
plowing, sowing, harn iwing, and gathering of the grain liy the use of a
Yuba caterjiillar engine ni fcirty-horse power.

In "^aii l.uis ( )bis])o, .Mr. Silva was married to Mrs. Maria Costa, also
l)(ini in I'ien. Slie died in 1899, leaving a son by her former marriage, John
i\I. Costa, then four years of age, whom I\Ir. Silva raised and educated and
who is now associated with him as a ]iartner.

In jiolitics Mr. SiKa is independent, preferring to vote for the man
rather than for the part v.

TILDEN E. ZANETTI.— ']-he son ,.f a well known and successful Swiss
rancher in the Santa I\Iaria valley and himself one of the representative young
men who are ranching with success, print ipalK raising beans, from which in-
dustry he has cleared many thousands ol iloll.n-s, Tilden E. Zanetti was born
on a ranch near Guadalupe, January 1,\ lN'',i, a son of Severino Zanetti, of
whom an extended mention is made elsewhere in this ^dlunle. Young Zanetti
attended the pubHc scliools of Santa }*Iaria valley, John II. Haydon being his
first teacher. He attended the Santa Alaria high school two j^ears and one
year was spent in the high school of San Jose. Then he took the literary, com-
mercial and mechanical courses at St. Mary's College of Oakland, graduating
in 1911, after which he returneil to Santa Barbara county to assist his father
on the ranch. He now farms independently, leasing two hundred and forty
acres of the old Kemp place, and one hundred acres from his father, and is
raising beans on an extensive scale with success.

In 1916 Mr. Zanetti was united in marriage with Miss Maimie Schneider,
a daughter of E. C. Schneider of Santa Maria. I'.oth Mr. and Mrs. Zanetti are
popular in their social set in the valley, and ha\ e ,i host of friends.

MANUEL J. SANTOS. A highly respected citizen and rancher in the
Santa Maria \ alley is Manuel J. Santos, a prosperous Portuguese who came
from the Azcjre- islands, where lie was born on the island of Pike, .\pril 2S,
1870. lie was the only son of Alanuel Joaquin and Egnacia (Josepha) San-
tos, lioih natives of Portugal and now deceased, and went to the common
schools in early lioyhooci. The father migrated to Brazil and engaged in
business for a time, but he returned to his natixe island and passed his last
years there, h'ive girls of the fainil_\ are still living in the Azores.

At the age of se\enteen, young Santos decided to come to California,
and on April S. 1SS7, he left his native island port and sailed for the United
St;ites. Arriving in I'.oston, he at once set out for California, reaching here
on May 2(> of th.it \ear. lie workeil in San Francisco a few months, then
came to Arroyo ( Iraiide, and for two ,ind one-half years was working for
wages. With his s;ivings, hv went to the ( )so Elaco, leased land and began
ranching.

As he succeeded, he bought land in 1S'>S and made all the necessary ini-
l)ro\enieiils, and in 1910 he moved onto it. In l'»ll he erected a fine home
ot Ihr Imiigalow style of architecture, ami with his wife and daughter is living
in the enjoyment of his means, leasing Ihe land for raising beans. Tlie prop-
erty consists of eighty acres of valuable l.in.l located one ;in.l one-half miles
west of Santa .Maria. In l'»01 he purchased nine hundred twentv-three acres

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND F.NVIRONS lUll

on the L.is Os.is road, which also is loasc-il : and in 1909 he bought two hundred
acres on the Suey ranch, in early days the beans were pulled by hand and
threshed by the tranii)inL; of horses. The prices rant^ed from fifty cents to
ninety cents a cental.

April 26, 1911. Mr. Santos was united in marriage with Miss Laura
Scares, a nati\e of the Azores, who came to California when she was eighteen
years of a.tre. They ha\ e one daughter. Cecelia. Mr. Santos is a Republican
and he and his wife are members of the Catholic Church.

LORENZO NERELLI. — Lorenzo Nerclli, who is engaged in farming
in the Ascension district, was born in Foggia, Puglia, Italy, January 23, 1883,
the son of a farmer. Thomas Xerelli. Lorenzo was brought up on the farm,
and attended the public scIkkjIs. Deciding to cast in his lot in America, he
came to New N'ork City in 1906, and gradually made Iiis way westward,
arriving in California in I'^'O". Coming almost immediately to San Luis
Obispo County, he found employment at charcc)al-l)urning. Afterwards he
engaged in burning charcoal on iiis own account in the vicinity of Paso
Robles and Templeton, shipping the i)niduct to Los Angeles. San I'Vancisco,
and Oakland.

^Ir. Nerelli was united in marriage, in Id.aho, with .Mrs. Cerrina Branca,
who was also born in Italy: and after iheir marriage, he returned to San
Luis Obispo County with his wife, and she purchased the ranch of one hun-
dred four acres where he is engaged in farming. Mr. Nerelli still continues,
also, in the burning of charcoal, by this means clearing the balance of the
land and putting it under the plow. IJe is meeting with deserved success,
and is rapidly making of his ])lace a garden sjxit, the soil being very rich
and fertile.

By her first marriag.e, Mrs. Xerelli had two children. Raymond and Alice
Branca; and the present union has been blessed with one child, Aldo. The
family are members of the Catholic Church.

MANUEL J. TRIGUEIRO.— The motto, "Nothing succeeds like suc-
cess," is aptly illustrated in the life story of Manuel J. Trigueiro of the Santa
Maria valley, who began at the bottom of tiie ladder of success and has grad-
ually worked his way towards the top. lie is a naturalized citizen of the
United States, is interested in all good movements to build up the county,
aii<l by attending strictly to his business affairs has "made good." lie was
b. .rn in the Island of Florcs, of the Azores group, June 2">, 1863, a son of
lohn |. and Anna (Harmens) Trigueiro, the former of whom lived to be
sixty-four, and the latter seventy years old. They never left tiieir native
island, where for generations the families have been farmers and stock-
raisers. The paternal grandmother lived to be over one hundred years old.
Four children were born to John J. and .\inia 'i'rigueiro: Manuel J.: Mary
Armas, single, living on the old home farm; I'rank J., a stockman at I':iko.
Nev. ; and Joe F., in the Island of Flores.

Attending school and working on tlie home farm until lie was cigiiteen
is the story of the early life of Manuel J. Trigueiro. Then lie came to the
United States, landing in Boston, and worked on farms in Rhode Island for
three and one-half years, beginning at ten dollars a month. lie came to
California after he had made enough money in the east to defray his expenses,
worked one season on the Oso Flaco, and then spent eighteen months in
Tulare countv. With his savings he went to I'.nreka, Nev., staying tliere

1012 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

five years, and then went to Elko and started in the sheep business, in time
becoming owner of 8,000 head.

In 1907, Mr. Trigueiro returned to the Azores and married Anna Freitas
Martinez, a native of Flores and a daugiiter of Joseph F. ]\Iartinez, who later
came to California. After their marriage, the young couple came to Mr.
Trigueiro's sheep ranch in Nevada, that had been cared for while he was
away, and began with renewed energy. In 1909 he sold out and came to the
Santa JMaria valley and engaged in raising hay, grain and beans; and in
1916 he liarvested 1,500 sacks of beans. He owns two hundred acres that
he purchased of the Union Sugar Co. in 1909. They have a modest but
comfortable home, which radiates good cheer and plenty, and is presided over
by his estimable wife, who, by her frugality in domestic affairs, has contributed
largely to the material success of her husband.

]\Ir. and Mrs. Trigueiro are members of the Catholic Church, and have
many friends in their community. In 1912 they made a trip back to their
native land and spent about a year, hut were glad to get back once more to
California, where they had laid the fmuuhition of their success.

THOMAS MINETTL— Thomas Minetti is a native of California, born
at Cayucos, San Luis Obispo County, June 18, 1894, the son of Secondo and
Camilla (Tonini) Minetti, both natives of canton Ticino, Switzerland, and
early settlers of Cayucos. They raised a family of six children, all of whom
are living, Thomas being the second youngest.

Mr. Minetti was educated in the public schools. After completing the
Cayucos grammar school, he entered the employ of the Diamond Creamery,
ten miles north of Cayucos, where he spent two years learning the creamery
business. Then, in 1910, he entered the employ of the Central Creameries Co.
at Cayucos, and continued with them and their successors, the California
Central Creameries, until 1912, when he became manager of the Cayucos
creamery. In this capacity he has continued ever since, having charge of the
plant and engaging in the manufacture of butter, which is shipped to Los
Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City. They also manufacture caseine.
Mr. Minetti was married in San Luis Obispo on October 17, 1916, to Miss
Rose Tartaglia, who was born in Cayucos. He and his wife are members of
St. Joseph's Church at Cayucos. His political views favor the principles of the
Republican party.

ELISCO B. RUIZ.— No better instance and illustration of the self-made
and substantial lousiness men of the Santa Maria valley exists than E. B.
Rujz, ])ro|)ri(ior of a general merchandise store at Garey. His success is
fiiunded Upon an untiring ca])acity for work and genius for detail. A native
son of California. .Mr. Ruiz was born on the Ruiz ranch in the Santa Maria
valley, .August 23, 1876. and was educated in the public schools and in St.
Alary's College in Oakland, where he was graduated from a commercial
course. He grew to manhood on the Ruiz and Tepesquet ranches, engaged
in ranching, and in I'idS w.is united in marriage with Miss Esperanza Onti-
veros, daughter of Alex.iuder .ind I'.iviana (Ruiz) Ontiveros. They have
one son, I'.artholomew J'l

In the spring of 1916, Mr. Ruiz bought an acre and a half in the center
of the town site of Garey and erected a fine bungalow home and also a store
building, which he stocked with an entire new stock of staple and fancy
groceries, confections, dry goods, clothing and furnishings, giving his per-

SAN LUIS ORISI'O COfNTY AND 1:N\1K0NS 1013

sonal altcnlidn U> the business and ihe huildint,^ up nf a successful trade. .Mr.
and ^irs. Kuiz are nienihers of tlie Catholic t'hurch, .Mrs. Ruiz being a member
of the Altar Society of the same.

Mr. Ruiz is a descendant of one of the oldest Spanish families in Southern
California, his grandfather being Nicholas Ruiz, a respected rancher of Los
Angeles county as it originally was platted. His father, John Baptiste Ruiz,
was born in Los Angeles, and at one time the family owned the Placentia
ranch, now situated in (Grange county, then a part of Los .Vngeles county.
He was a large stock man, and married Miss Rita Ontiveros, a sister of
Abraham CJntiveros, of whom extended mention is made elsewhere in this
work. They had several children: Adolph, of Fresno; Michael, of Car-
pinteria; Josei)h, in the Santa Maria valley; FJisco P.., of this review; Estan-
islao N., on the home ranch; Mary, Mrs. Permassee. of Cuyama vallev. and
Ilobie, a blacksmitli. on the home ranch near Garey.

JOSE G. ROSA.— A native of the Azores group, born on the island of
Pico, Ma\- S, 1S77, Joe C. Rosa attended tlie iniblic school and worked on the
home farm until hv was fourteen, lie then came to the L'nited States, land-
ing at .\e\\|iort. K. I., where a cousin was located; and there he went to
work on a farm, bein;^ paid ten dollars per month in summer and five dollars
in winter, lie reni.iinid twn years, until he had saved enough money to
bring him farther west, for he had his mind set on California.

In 1893 he arrived in S.in Luis ( )bispo, got emjiloyment at once on a
dairy ranch and worked by the month until he was married; then, with his
helpmate, he felt encouraged to strike out for himself and leased some land,
adding to his equipment each year and doing successful farming until he had
saved enough to buy a farm of his own. This he did in 1912, when he pur-
chased seventy-seven acres from the Union Sugar Co.

After buying land, Mr. Rosa commenced making im])rovements ; he
erected a bungalow, built barns and fenced the land, and began raising beans
as a specialty. In 1916 he produced three hundred sixty sacks of beans, which
netted him a fancy price.

On March 12. 1903, Mr. Rosa married Miss Edclina Martin at Nipomo,
and they have two children, Laura, born January 26, 1904, and Mabel Gene-
vieve, born March 15, 1910. ]Mrs. Rosa is a daughter of Manuel Martin, a
prominent rancher of San Luis Obispo County. ^Ir. Rosa's parents, Frank
and Mary Rosa, were landowners, who had three sons, Manuel, Frank and
Jose G. The mother and licr other two sons are living on Pico Island: the
father is dead.

JOSE S. CALDERON.— .\ son of a i)ioneer Spanish family, Jose S.
Calderon is a much-resi)ected citizen of Carey, where he owns a place of six
acres. Here he built a fine bungalow, where he and his family reside. He
also owns a quarter section in the Tcjiesquet range.

Mr. Calderon was born .March 20. 1884, in Sistjuoc. and is the seconrl
living member of a family of seven children born to his parents, Jnse J. and
Maria (Ruiz) Calderon, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this volume.
He secured his education in the jniidic schools, and began working as a farm
hand for H. S. Kelly in 1898, at fifty cents a day. For fourteen years lie
continued working for wages on ranches and in the Carey blacksmith shop,
where he learned the blacksmith's trade. He now has a shop of his own,
in which lie does his own work. He is an extensive i)can raiser, his crop of 1910

1014 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

havin,<^- brought him $11,000. He owns about twenty-two head of horses
and mules, twenty-fix e head of eattle, and a full cnmiilement oi farming
machinery.

In 1898, when twenty-two years of age, Mr. Calderon was united in mar-
riage with Aliss Bessie Elliott, a granddaugliter of the late Charles W. Brad-
ley, a l)anker and large property owner, and a leading citizen of the county.
Of this union one child has been horn, Francis J.

Air. Calderon is a member of the lizard nf trustees of ( iarc\- schiK)l dis-
trict, and is serving as clerk of the Imard. lie is mad master of the East
Garey road district, and in every way has aided in the development of the
resources of the county in which he lives. He is progressive and prosperous,
and of the Spanish lads who resided in the valley he is the only one now there
wdio, starting on his own resources, has made good. He is justly popular with
all classes ; and he and his wife enjoy the confidence and esteem of a wide
circle of frien<ls in the valley, where the\- are leaders in their social set.

JOSEPH V. LOPEZ.— rhe term sell-made applies in its truest sense to
Joseph \'. Lopez, who has traxeled a long ;ind hard road to reach his present
position among the successful ranchers of the Santa Aiaria valley. He was
born in St. George island, the Azores, on August 22. 1872, attended the
Portuguese public schools and began when only eleven years old to work as a
tender with his father, who was a stone mason. He learned to dress stones
and to build walls, and later became a full-tledged stone mason, even build-
ing some stone houses in his native land. His father, George \'. Lopez,
born in St. George island, eighty years ago, after a useful life is now living
retired in his home. He was married twice.

Among tlu' children of his first wife we mention Manuel, now residing
in the Azores, though formerl_\- a dairyman in San Mateo count}- ; John, who is
also following his trade at home; Josejih \'., the sul)ject of this re\'iew ; Mary,
Mrs. J. S. Luis of Edna, San Luis Obispo County: Tony, who owns a ranch
near Edna; and Edna, the youngest daughter, who was but a few days old
wdien her m'other died about thirty years ago, and is now the wife of Manuel
Silva, a rancher in San Luis Obispo County. The children of the second
marriage of the father were two sons and three daughters.

Joseph V. Lopez decided that he would come to -\merica to better his
condition, for his older lirolher had written him from Pescadero that money
was to be made in California by anyone who would be willing to do hard
work, so that at the age of sixteen he struck out from his home on a three-
masted sailing \essel for Providence, R. I., and with very favorable winds

n da}-s. Stopping a few days

rnia and after his arrival here

Mit to work on a dairy ranch.

uilding the reservoir ior the

and three months later he

rk that came along, chopping wood

and working on a threshing machine, and always kept busy.

In 189.^ M. Lopez came to Santa Maria and threshed for a season, wdien
he rented land on tlu' .Suey ranch. I'.ver since he has followed farming with
very good results, lie has ahva)'s been something of a mechanical genius,
handy witli tools and machinery, .-ind in company with Mark H. \Vhitney
for -.1 i)artner in .-i threshing outfit, he has usually kept busy during the sea-
sou and has added to his income. Santa r.;irbara count v has been the scene

the tri]i across the Atlantic was made in

fiftCi

in Host.)!!, the young lad then set out for

Calif(

joined liis lirotlier in .^an Mateo county a

md w

lie soon (|nit his job and was employe(

1 in 1

Spring X'alley Water Co. of San Fran

icisco.

resumed work on a ranch. He took any w

orktl

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND I'.XXIKONS 1015

of Mr. Lopez's activities since 1895, with the exception of two years spent in
the vicinity of Stockton, where he suffered a loss of about $30,000 on account
of water flooding Boulding island. At another time he lost his barn and con-
tents by fire, Ijut even with these losses and discouragements he has kept a
smiling face and has kept hard at work, and now owns eighty acres of land,
besides renting other tracts.

Air. Lopez was united in marriage August 13. 18' >S. wilh Miss lsal)elle
Curdeiro, daughter of \'. J. and Mariana (Tei-xeira) Cordeiro, the furnier
living near Oceano and tlu- latter deceased. The children born to Mr. and
Airs. Lopez are: Mary and Iv.sa, twins: and Barbara and Ernest. Mr. Lopez
has looked well to tlic future, having invested somewhat in oil stocks and
insurance, as well as profiting by his ranching and threshing operations.
He bought his ranch of eighty acres in 1902 and moved onto it, and has
leased land on the Suey almost every year he has been in the valley, farming
as high as eight hundred twenty-five acres. He is a Mason, having been a
member of Hesperian Lodge No. 264 for the past twelve years, and lives
up to the precepts of the order. He is a member of the Ll^. P. E. C. and the
T. D. !•-. S . while his wife belongs to the ladies' auxiliar^'^ of the U. P. E. C.
The}- are members of the Catholic church. Politically he aims to vote for the
men best suited for the offices, regardless of party lines. Mr. Lopez is broad-
minded, progressive, upright and honest — a man who makes and retains
friends wherever he goes.

ANGIOLINO BASSI— A well-known and Inghly-esteemed citizen and
business man of Santa Margarita and Alascadero, Angiolino Bassi was born
in Cerentino. canton Ticino, Switzerland, September 20, 1868, a son of Cesare
and Candida (Padovani) Bassi, natives of the same canton. The father was
an educated man, and a teacher and educator of prominence until his death.
The mother resides in San Luis Obispo County witli her children. ( )f her
twelve children, Angiolino is the oldest.

Angiolino Bassi was educated in the schools of Switzerland, where he
pursued his studies till fourteen years of age. Thereafter he was employed
on farms until he was able to save up enough money to come to California,
the goal of many ambitious young Swiss boys, who, on account of reports
of good wages and steady employment here, and the prospect of success,
are eager to reach our shores. When sixteen years of age, he left home and
kindred and went to Havre, where he took passage on the steamer "Canada"
for New York City. After landing there, he crossed the continent to San
Francisco, arriving on November 4, 1884, and readied Cayucos. San Luis
Obispo County, a few days later. It was necessary for him to seek employ-
ment; and this he immediately found on the dairy ranch of A. Tognaz/.ini,
where he remained for three years. He then took a trip into other counties,
but returned to San Luis Obispo County in about a year and located in
Paso Robles, where lie followed farming.

Later, in partnership with his brother. Mr. iiassi engaged in the wood
business. They bought stumpage and cut wood, shipping it i)y the carload
out of Pa.so Robles. They also bought land, from which ihey cut the wood.
The brothers dissolved partnership; and in I'lOS Mr. liassi removed to Santa
Margarita and engaged in the wood iiusiness for himself. Since then he has
been shipping to Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, and San Luis Obispo.
He has men cutting wood all the while, at times as many as fifty <>r sixty.
Of late he is cutting and clearing aroun<I both Santa Margarita and .\tasca-

1016 SAN LUIS OBISFO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

dero, shipping from Eaglet, Asccnciim. and Atascadero. Meanwhile, he is
also engaged in farming on the Santa Margarita ranch.

He has just completed a fine residence in Santa Margarita, where lie
lives with his family. Mr. Bassi was married at San Luis Obispo, on Novem-
ber 0, 1910, to Miss Marie Bertazzi. She was born in Leventina, canton
TiciiKi, the daughter of Genesio and Julia (Rosselli) Bertazzi, dairy folks and
farmers. She came to California in April, 1907. They have one child, Inez.

In politics, Mr. Bassi is a staunch Republican, believing the policies of
that party best suited to the general welfare of the country. He has never
had reason to regret his decision to come to America, where he believes a
poor young man may best make a living, and by energy and economy obtain
a competency.

PAUL SILACCI.— Paul Silacci, a resident of California for thirty-nine
years, was born in Intragna, canton Ticino, Switzerland, ]\Iay 17, 1860. His
father, Dominico Silacci, was a farmer, who came to Cambria, Cal., in 1891,
but returned tn Switzerland in 1896, and died there five years ago, aged
eighty years. His mother was Caroline (Cavalli) Silacci, and she died at
her old home thirty years ago. Of their eight children, five are living, three
being in California: Antone and Peter, l:)oth living at Cambria, and Paul, the
subject of this sketch.

Paul Silacci was l.)rought up as a farmer boy, and was educated in the
]iu1)lir seln"ils. \\ hen seventeen years of age, he came to California, arriving
in San I'rancisen. and for three and a half years thereafter he worked on a
dairy. In November, 1880, he came to Cayucos, where he worked out for two
years, and then started in for himself. He leased the David Morro place of
1,800 acres near Cambria, and engaged in dairying. He was on one place for
twenty-nine years, and ran a dairy of one hundred fifty cows or more, manu-
facturing butter in the old way, by panning and skimming, until his separator
was installed. In 1911 he gave up the lease, and bought a ranch of 1.000
acres in Villa creek caiion. After running this ranch one year, he decided
to return, and leased the place. His ranch is a splendid dairy ranch, about
nine miles from Cayucos, where he now resides.

In 1905, at San Francisco, Paul Silacci was married to Miss Giacomina
Pellandra, who was also born in Intragna. They have five children ; Theodore,
Caroline, Mary Enas, Peter, and Henry.

In 1884 Mr. Silacci became a citizen ni the United States, and e\er since
has been a Reiniljlican. He is a progressi\ e citizen, and belie\es in aiding any
cause that has fur its end the upbuilding of the community and the uplifting
of its citizens.

ACHILLE STORNL— Achille Stnmi came to California in 1871, and
since that time has been closely associated with the dairy business. He was
born in Solduno, canton Ticino, Switzerland, on January 2, 1851, the son of
Nicola and Geronimi Storni, farmers of that canton, both now dead. Of
their five children, four are living, our subject being the youngest. A brother,
Nicnja, now resides in San Luis Obispo; and the other two are in Ticino.

When a lad, Achille Storni attended the local scliools vmtil fourteen years
of as^e, \\(irl<ing at home till 1871, when he came to California. He was the
first (if ihe l.imily to emigrate to the Golden West, and was induced to come
on accmiiit of the glowing reports from the Coast. The trip took a month.
He arrived in Petaluma in necend)er. 1871, and went to work cm a dairy
ranch al twentv dcill.irs a niMnth, where the\- used to p:\n and skim the milk,

SAN LUIS ORTSI'O COfXTV AND I-:XVIRONS 1017

and also churn, by IkuhI. He had borrowed two hundred dollars from his
mother to pay his way here : and as soon as he had saved that ainimnt, he sent
it back to her with interest, lie continued to work, and saved enough money to
engage in bu.siness for liimself.

In 1881 he came to .San Luis Obispo County and located near Cayucos.
He leased a rancli .■!" t]\v lunidrcd acres, bought a lierd of dairy cows, and
engaged in dairying. At first he panned and skimmed the milk, and churned
by hand, but later on gcjt a horse-power churn. He ran this dairj' for ten
years, and then liought liis present place of four hundred twenty acres on
Old creek, about four miles from Cayucos. On this property Mr. Storni made
the improvements, building residence, barns and dairy houses, which last are
now equipped with the De Lave! power separator. He has from fifty to fifty-
five cows in the dairy. The place is well watered by Old creek and numerous
springs, and has ample water for the stock in the different pastures.

On December 5, 1882, Mr. Storni was married to Miss Chelestina Scaroni,
who was born in Gordola, canton Ticino ; and they have seven children, as
follows: Achille, who is farming near Cayucos; Charles, w-ho runs the home
dairy; Clelia, Mrs. C. Ghezzi, who resides in Cayucos; Enio, still at home;
Irene, clerking in Cayucos; Daria, Mrs. .\. V. Ranionitti of Cami)ria ; and
Flora, at home.

Air. Storni made his first trip back to Switzerland in 1882; and in 1910
he took the trip again, with his wife and his d.-iughter Irene. He has served
as school trustee of Central district fur several years. In jiolitics, he is a
Rejniblican.

MANUEL NUNEZ.— A worthy npresenlative of a fine Portuguese fam-
ily «u the island of I'ic.i, where he was l),.rn on January ,^, 1862, Manuel
.Vunez has held the respect and good will of all who know him. He gre\v to
young manhood in his native island, attending the common schools and work-
ing on a farm until he was nineteen, and then came to the L'nited States,
and at Fall Ri\er, Mass., was employed in a brick yard for two years. \\'itii
the money he had saved he came to California in 1883, and for si.xteen months
worked on the wharf at San Pedro. His next move was to Monro, where
he found work on the Cantona ranch, remaining one year; then lie rented
some land and has since been engaged in farming for himself, and has met
with success.

In 1011 Mr. Nunez moved to the Suey ranch in .Santa P.ariiara county,
where he lea.ses six hundred acres nf land, and l';inns to grain, lieans and liay.
In 1916 he raised 1,447 sacks of barley, 844 sacks of beans, and 429 tons of
hay ; and in this entcri)rise he is becoming independent. With liis s..n-in-law.
I'rank Gonzalves, he owns one hundred eight and one-half acres of land, six
miles east of Santa Maria on the Garey road, where Mr. Gonzalves erected a
bungalow, barn and other ncce.ssary buildings, costing about J?.1,(X)0. and
now makes his home.

Mr. Nunez married Miss Rita Lewis, also born in the island of Pico and
they have nine children. Mary Gloria married I'rank Gonzalves; Rosa Lep
is the wife of George k'rcitas of San Luis Obispo; Anton is farming with his
father; Lena L has become the wife of Manuel Silvcra of Oxnard ; John is at
home; Emma married .\nton \'argas of Santa Cruz; and Paulina, Rita and
Minnie are all at home. The family ;ire members of St. Mary's Catholic
Church in Santa Maria; and Mr. Nunez is a member of the I. D. R. S., while
two of his sons belong to the L'. P. E. C. lodge.

1018 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Manuel Nunez, as he is known b}' all liis friends, dropped his last name f(jr
convenience; hut on all legal documents he signs his full name, j\lanuel Nunez
Brinkino. His father, Frank Nunez Brinkino, died in 1900, aged eighty-
five years, and after his death his widow came to the United States and now
makes her home in Santa Maria, still hale and hearty at the age of eighty-six.
Mr. Nunez is a hard-working man, progressive and successful.

ESTANISLAO N. RUIZ.— General farming and stock-raising were the
principal industries followed in the Santa Maria valley for many years, until
these were succeeded by more intensive farming, such as that of beets and
beans, ^^'ith the changing of the productions, time has worked changes with
the people also. A representati\e <<{ :i ])r. lud Castilian family, and a respected
citizen of the vicinity of Sis(|u.ic, i;. .\. kuiz was born on May 7, 1879, on
the Ruiz ranch. He attended the TJarey and Suey public schools. He has
worked on the home place ever since he was old enough to drive a team,
and is now running the J. B. Ruiz ranch of one hundred sixty acres, together
with the Mrs. Lindsay ranch. On December 4, 1916, E. N. Ruiz married
r\Iiss Inez Foxen of Los Alamos, daughter of Fred and Louisa Foxen.

The Ruiz family are numerous in the valley, and are among the prominent
families of Spanish descent that settled in California in an early period. They
at one time had extensive holdings in what is now Orange county. After the
family had settled in Santa Barbara county, they became actively interested
in its upbuilding. The grandfather, Nicholas, and the father, John Baptiste
Ruiz, were prominent characters in the early days. The latter died, on
October 25, 1914, at the age of seventy-seven. His widow, Mrs. Rita Onti-
veros Ruiz, lives on the home place and also owns three hundred twenty acres
up the Santa Maria river.

The Ruiz estate has never been divided, and all the members of the
family work in harmony for their best interests. They are members of the
Catholic Church. J\Ir. E. N. Ruiz is a member of Santa Maria Aerie, No. 1745,
F. O. E. He is a trustee of the Garey school district, and is also serving as
road master of the Garey road district. Politically, he is a Republican.

LOUIS G. PEDRAITA.— A resident of Cayucos for thirty-four years,
Louis G. Pedraita was born in Giubiasco, canton Ticino, Switzerland, April
27, 1864. His father, Charles Pedraita, came around Cipe Horn to California
in 1849, when a young man, landing at San Francisco. For a time he fol-
lowed mining, but later took up farming in the vicinity of San Francisco
and San Jose. After spending twenty-four years in the Golden State, he
returned to Switzerland, where he married Angelena Tomenelli, who was born
in his native place. They were the parents of six children, of whom two are
living, Louis being the youngest of the family. Charles Pedraita was the
proprietor of a hotel ; and he also owned a mill, run by water power, where he
manufactured flour.

Louis G. Pedraita was educated in the public schools. In his youth he
learned the miller's trade, and also worked at the carpenter's trade. In
December, 1882, he left home and started for California, arriving in Cayucos
in January, 1883. For seven years he was employed on different dairy farms,
and then made a trip back to his old home, where he remained for two years.
Returning to Cayucos, he leased a building and opened the American Hotel
on Main street, continuing in business there until 1895, when the property was
destroyed by fire, lie then bouglit the lot and built a now hotel on the same

SAN LUIS OBISrO COUNTY AXD IC.WIRONS 1019

site, which he named the New Swiss Hotel. Here he met with success until
a second fire, in 1898, again destroyed the building, causing a total loss. He
next put up a store building, which he rented until he sold the lot, when he
removed the Ijuilding to the present site of the Cottage Hotel and remodeled
it. Here his wife is now engaged in the hotel business; and the Cottage
Hotel is the leading and finest hotel in Cayucos. Mr. Pedraita has resumed
the carpenter's trade, and is engaged in contracting, building, and jobbing.

In 1882, in Cayucos, Mr. Pedraita was married to Anita Porocini, born
in Novara, Italy, the daughter of Donato and Josephine Porocini, who re-
moved with their family to Cadenazo, canton Ticino, Swit-zerland. Mrs. Pe-
draita was educated in Italy and, after removing to Ticino, met and became
acquainted with Louis Pedraita. She came to Cayucos the year of her mar-
riage. Here she devotes all of her time to the hotel, and her ability in the
culinary art is attested by the splendid meals served at her place, '^fr. and
Mrs. Pedraita have four children. Henry runs the truck for the Harmony
Valley Creamery; Lillie, ^frs. Arrigoni, resides in San Francisco; Peter is
in the employ of the James Cass Co.; and Lima lives at home.

Mr. Pedraita is a member and past ofificer of the Druids Lodge at Cayu-
cos. In national jxiliiics he is an ardent Republican.

LUIS PAOLINL — On the Muscio ranch, about two miles north of
Cayucos, Luis I'aolini is making a success of dairying. He was born in
Ravecchia, canton Ticino, Switzerland, April 21, 1892, and is the son of
Antonio and Virginia (Bassi) Paolini, farmers there. He was reared on
the farm and learned dairying as it is carried on in Ticino. He was educated
in the public schools. After completing the grammar school, he entered the
high school in Bellinzona, where he pursued his studies for two years.

Having four uncles in California, three of them in San Luis Obispo
County, he had heard of the opportunities olTered here to a young man of
energy, and willingness to work ; and so he decided to come to California. Ac-
cordingly, he quit school and set out for the New World. On October 12.
1909, he arrived in San Luis Obispo. For about two years, he worked for
his uncle, Alex Bassi, in Harmony valley, and then entered the employ of
the Harmony Valley Creamery, where he remained for six months. After-
wards he was engaged at different dairies until 1916, when he leased tiie
^luscio ranch of 1,153 acres and began in the dairy business on his own
account. It is a fine dairy ranch, and he usually milks about one hundred
twenty-five cows. The milk is separated by ])ower, and milk and cream
are shipped to Cayucos and to San Luis Obispo. He raises grain and hay
on the ranch, for his stock.

Mr. Paolini is a member of Cayucos Lodge, Xo. 90, of the Druids, of
which he is an officer. In nalicmal politics he is a believer in the principles
of the Republican party.

ELIGIO ROTANZI.— A resident of the vicinity of Cayucos for the last
twenty-six years, Eligio Rotanzi was born in Peccia, cant<in Ticino, Switzer-
land. March 9, 1871, the son of Gaetano and Isabelle Rotanzi, farmers there.
The father had made a trip to California in 1874, and followed farming near
Watsonville for five years, when he returned l<> his Imme. In (he family of
three children, Eligio Rotanzi is the second oldest. The oldest of the family.
Rev. Albert Rotanzi, is a priest; the youngest. Fred, is a railroad conductor.

Eligio Rotanzi was educated in the public schools of his native canton,
and worked on the farm until he came to California. When nineteen vears

1020 SAN LUIS OBISrO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

of age he started for tlie Pacific Coast, leaving home on October 28, 1890, and
arri\ing in San Luis (Jhispo on Xo\enil)cr 17 of the same year. He was em-
ployed in a dairy at Los Osns f> 'r al)iiut nne year, and then for six months in
the Chorro valley, when he went U> San Jose and followed dairying from
;\lay. 18'>2, till No\eml)er, 1894. Returning then to San Luis Obispo County,
he came to Cambria, \\here he was employed in various dairies. He then
\v<irke<l fur three }-ears on Old creek, when he became foreman of the Antone
Tognazzini ranch on Cayucos creek. After crmtinuing in this position for
seven years, he bought the cows and leased tiie place of 1046 acres, and since
1906 has conducted the dairy on his dwn accnunt. Here he milks about
one hundred twenty cuws. separating the niillv with a De Lavel j^ower sep-
arator. l~i irmcrl}", the milk was [lanned. and >kimmed by hand; and the
cream was churned for butter Ijy horse power, lie raises grain and hay on
tiie phue. for which he uses two six-horse teams.

In 1914, Air. Rotanzi bought a ranch of fi\-e hundred twelve acres on the
Cambria road, whicli he dcM'tes to stock-raising and dairying.

In Cayuco.^, occurred the marriage i>l I'digio Rotanzi to Aliss Carolina
Giovanetti, who was born in canton Ticino, Switzerland. They have five
children : ( iuido, Alice, Delia, Albert, and Norman.

Air. Rotanzi is a member of the Lodge of Druids, in which he has passed
the chairs, and is also a member of the Foresters of America in Cayucos, of
which he is trustee. He is a supporter of the Republican party in national
politics, deeming the principles of that party best suited for the prosperity of
the country.

JOSE J. CALDERON.— A native of Santa Uarbara county, and a repre-
sentative of those early families who were leaders of affairs in the days of the
Spanish and Alexican periods in this great western commonwealth, Jose J.
Calderon was born November 2, 1856, a son of Ballentyne and Salvadora
(Cordero) Calderon. The father was born near San Diego, and had a brother
named Jose J., who lived in Santa Barbara, and for whom our subject was
named. The parents are both dead, the mother having passed away in 1862,
and the father at the age of seventy. Several generations of the family have
been residents of California, and represent the early Spanish families here.
Ballentyne and Salvadora Calderon had a family of five children : Longarda,
wife of Jose Pico, of Los Alamos ; Jose J., the subject of this sketch ; Juan S.,
of Santa Barbara; Francisco, deceased; and Airs. Alaria AIcGuire, of Santa
Barbara.

Jose J. ne\er had a chance to attend school. He worked out on ranches
as a cowboy, and in 1876 came north to this county, where he was employed
as a laborer until 1883. He was then able to buy a small place of five and
one-half acres, where his home now stands. For thirty years. Air. Calderon
worked on threshing machines in this county, saving his money, which he
invested in land from time to time, until he now has forty-five acres that he
calls his own, all made by hard work and good management.

in 187'), Jose J. Calderon married Alaria A. Ruiz, daughter of Juan de la
Croix Ruiz. Seven children have blessed this union. Juan died at the age
of twenty-nine years. Olympia became Airs. Frank Goodchild, and is now
deceased. Those living are : \'alentine ; Jose, of Garey, of whom mention
is made elsewhere in this work ; Lisandro, wdio married Dolores Rivers, and
is agent for the Pacific Coast Railway at Sisquoc ; Ida, who married Tony
AAestmoreland, of Sisquoc; and Romaldo, who lives at home.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND Il.WlRONS 1021

MRS. MARY GUERRA.— Of the women who have entered into the
arena of business affairs, mention is due Mrs. ^lary Guerra, proprietor of
the Swiss American Hotel at Cambria. She was born in Palognedra, Cento-
valle, canton Ticino, Switzerland, February 9, 1854, a daughter of James
Guerra, a farmer there, who married Hilary Ma.ijgetti. a native of the same
canton. They both died in the old home. Of their nine children, she was
the seventh in order of birth.

^lary Guerra had the advantages of the public schools in her native place,
and it was there that she was united in marriage with James Guerra, on June
3, 1877. He was raised to manhood's estate in canton Ticino, on his father's
farm, and served his time in the Swiss army. 'I'hey resided in Switzerland
until 1891, wiien they decided that California held l)etter opportunities for
them.

On arriving in this state, they settled in Cambria and soon afterwards
engaged in the hotel business, their hotel being the oldest hotel in Cambria
or on this part of the coast. Here Mr. Guerra passed away, on July 10, 1912,
at the age of fifty-six 3'ears. He was a member of the Foresters of America
and of the Druids. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Guerra six children were
born : Paul ; Rosie, the wife of Joseph Barlogio, of the vicinity of Morro ;
Emilio, deceased ; Irene and Lily, twin girls ; and Birdie.

Mrs. Guerra deserves great credit for what she has accomplished ; for
by her energy and close apjdication to business, she has made a success of
her hotel. She is genial and kind-hearted, and is held in the highest esteem
by the whole community. She is public-spirited and does her part towards
supporting public movements for the I)enefit of the town. She advocates
the principles of the Repulilican party.

PETER SILACCI.— .\ resident of California since 1884. and of San
Luis Ol)is])o since 18S.=;, Peter Silacci was born in Intragna, canton Ticino,
Switzerland, .March 26, 1868, the son of Dominicus Silacci, and a brother of
Paul and Antnue Silacci, whose sketches also appear in this work.

Peter Silacci was educated in the public school, and in the gymnasium
in Locarno, where he attended for two years. When sixteen years of ago,
he decided to come to California. In Switzerland he was in the employ of
Joseph Magona, in the Swiss Hotel Locarno, as a waiter. Flis idea had
l)een, to go to London and study English, and then to Vienna to learn Ger-
man as spoken there, and so become a successful waiter; but his lather in-
duced him to give up the idea and come to California instead, where two
brothers already were located, who wrote back encouraging rejiorts con-
cerning the country and its opportunities. He left Locarno on October 29,
1884, and arrived in San Francisco in November. 1884, where he was employed
as a waiter in a restaurant.

In the spring of 1883, Mr, Silacci came to Cambria, where he workeil
for some time on a dairy ranch. In 1888 he was employed in the Cosmopol-
itan Hotel in Cayucos. Here he remained for two years, and then bought
the hotel, of which he was proprietor during the year following, lie then
sold out. and again engaged in dairying. Leasing the James Muscio ranch
on Cambria road, he stocked it with a dairy iier<l, and for eighteen years
ran a dairy of about ninety cows, raising stock in the meantime. \\ lien the
place was sold, he had to dispose of his cattle. He then leased the Joiin
Taylor ranch, on the coast at Cambria, and operated a dairy of fifty cows.
.\fter three years, he sold out and bought his present place of seven hundred

1022 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

acres on Santa Rusa creek, the old D. F. \\'ittenberg ranch, l)nt could not
take possession until the two-year lease expired. He moved to Cambria,
therefore, and ran a small dairy until October, 1915, when he moved on his
place and began to make improvements, rebuilding where this was necessary,
and stocking the ranch with cattle. He now milks about fifty cows and keeps
a large number of stock cattle.

Mr. Silacci's place is composed of two ranches. There is a considerable
acreage of plow land, devoted to the raising of grain, hay, and beans. It is
fine bean land ; and usually sixty acres is planted to beans. Before buying
here, ]\Ir. Silacci traveled in the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys, but
selected this locality as the best. The ranch is well watered by creeks and
springs. Water is piped to the residence, and to the dairy house and other
farm buildings ; and there is an amjile supply for the irrigation of the alfalfa
fields.

Peter Silacci was married in San Luis Obispo to Angelina Rusca, who
was born in Giubiasco. Her father, Joseph Rusca, is a farmer in Los Osos.
^Ir. and [Mrs. Silacci have six sons: Henry, Angelo, William, Peter. Jr.,
Albert, and Elmer.

Mr. Silacci is a member of the Cayucos Lodge. I. O. O. F. He has Ijeen
school trustee in Someo school district. Politically, he indorses the prin-
ci]iles of the Republican party.

HENRY ANDREW GNESA.— Among the younger generation of dairy-
men of the coast section of San Luis Obispo County, Henry A. Gnesa is operat-
ing a ranch of five hundred sixty acres on Morro creek. He was born in Green
valley, near Caml)ria, June 18, 1890, a son of James and Sophia (Georgi)
Gnesa, both natives of Switzerland, who came to this country and were
married in California. James Gnesa has been engaged in the dairy business
in this county over thirty years, and is now a resident of the Los Osos sec-
tion. There were six children in the family, of whom Henry A. is the
second eldest.

He was brought up in Cireen valley, and attended the (ireen valley and
Excelsior schools. From a lad he helped on the farm, and at the age 'of nine
began milking cows. \\'hen he was twenty-one years old, he commenced
to work for wages, spending the first year with his father. He then leased
the Morro creek ranch and began dairying for himself, and has since been
thus engaged. His dairy cow^s now number about fifty, and he raises
enough hay and grain for his stock. Water is piped from a spring to the
dairy house. It has a fall of one hundred feet, furnishing power for the
separator and for other purposes.

Mr. Gnesa is a member of Court Queen of the Sea, No. 29, F. of A.
Politically, he is a Republican.

MANUEL S. GULARTE.— A resident of San Luis Obispo County since
187.S, who has been engaged in stock-raising and farming, Manuel Gularte
was born in St. George, of the Azores group, in 1855. His father, Silva
Gularte, was a farmer; so Manuel from a lad worked on the home place and
learned the stock-raising industry as it was followed in the Azores. Having
heard good reports of wages awaiting anyone willing to work in the United
States, he determined to try his fortune in the land of the Stars and Stripes.
Accordingly, when eighteen years of age, he left his native land and kindred
and embarked for the New World, arriving in Providence, R. I., where he
was employed for two years. He then came to the Pacific Coast.

SAN LUIS omSPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 1023

ArriviiiL;' in San Lnis Obispo County in 1875, Mr. Gularte obtained a
])lacc at hcrdinti sheep in the Paso Robles district, and later on the Carissa
Plains and at Sinnnler. After some years of steady employment and saving
his money, he decided to go into sheep-raising on his own account, and pur-«
chased a flock of about fi\e hundred ewes, which he ran on the range in the
vicinity of Simmler. The flock increased, and he was successful, becoming
the owner of two flocks of sheep of about 2.000 each.

During this time he pre-empted and also homesteaded land. He had a
ranch of three luinclred lwenl\- acres, wliich he improved, and operated with
good success.

Fortune having smiled on him, Mr. Gularte sought a wife: and in the
old Mission town of San Luis Obispo he was united in marriage with Marianna
Azevedo, also a native of St. George. Of this union have been born seven
children, as follows : Amelia, Mrs. Silva, who lives on a farm near her
parents ; Manuel, who assists his father on the ranch ; Mary, Mrs. Silvcra, of
Sisquoc ; and Marian, Rose, Anthony, and John, who are at "home.

I\Ir. Gularte purchased a ranch of two hundred fifty acres four and a half
miles north of San Luis Obispo, where he has a dairy: and he also owns a
farm of one hundred sixty acres two miles south of his ranch. This he rents
to others, giving his time and attention to farming the place on which he
resides.

He is a member of the l)i)ard of trustees of the Cuesta school district; and
fraternally he is a member of the U. P. E. C. and L D. E. S. He and his
family are communicants of the ^Mission Catholic Church in San Luis Obispo.
In national politics he is a Republican.

AUGUST C. PIMENTEL.— If ever you should wish to know about the
Oso Flaco and the richness of its wonderful soil, and how men have done
well there and even made fortunes when elsewhere the earth refused to yield
so generously to their hard and patient toil, you would do wisely to call
upon A. C. Pimentel, a successful rancher who lives four miles south ..f
Guadalupe. Like so many other thrifty Portuguese who have been wel-
comed to California, Mr. Pimentel is a native of the island of Pico, among
the balmy Azores, where he was born on March 12, 1883. When twenty years
old he sailed from the beautiful port known as the Ponta del Garda. San
Miguel, and after an eight-day voyage reached Boston on .\ugust 3. 1903.
Soon he came west, and stopped at Fresm. for three months, and tliere he
began his first work in America, the herding of sheep.

Now it happened that Mr. Pimentel had some cousins in California, and
a brother, Joe C. Pimentel (a sketch of whose life the reader will find else-
where in this volume). Joe, coming up to Im-csuo, induced the newcomer to re-
turn with him to Guadalupe : and here in this vicinity he has been ever since.
For a year he worked for his brother, and for anotiier year he was in the
service of the Union Sugar Co. He then removed to Oso Flaco, little dream-
ing that his advent in that vicinity meant more in the way of fortune to liim
than the mere learning of where he might find the richest soil. He w.irked
by the day for a while for M. D. Martin, and then undertook to helj> I-'rank
Nunez. During the year that he was with the latter, he married his ..nly
daughter, Mary Nunez, by whom he had one child, IClva. His young wife died
thirteen months after their marriage, (^u setting up housekeeping for liimself,
he rented a ranch in Oso I'laco. where he continueil U> farm f->r four years. In

1024 SAX LUIS OBISrO COUNTY AXD EN\TRONS

I'n.i, he leased the Salisbury raneh, and the next year eame to his present ]ilace.
Although not so prosperous as when he \\-as on the Oso Ulaco, ^Ir. Pinientel,
like the good farmer that he is, has continued to be successful; and in 1916,
from a hundred ninety acres planted to beans, he gathered fifteen hundred
eighteen sacks.

January 19, 1910, witnessed the second marriage of 'Sir. Pimentel. his
bride being j\Iiss ^Vfary Silva, a native of the island of Pico, and the daughter
of Jacinto and Isabel (Nunez) Silva. A\"lien only eleven years old, she came
to America with her parents, both of whom are still living, at Harris Station,
Santa l^.arbara county. Two children, Isabel and August, have blessed this
happy union.

i\s an illustratiem of the devotion of man}' of those who have wandered
far from home in order better to establish themselves in the New \Yorld,
with its greater opportunities, the fact may be cited that w'hen Mr. Pimentel,
in 1912, received news that his mother was ill, he went all the way back to
Pico island to see his parents. He was ^vell re\\ar(le<l in finding them both
still living, and after somewhat over two months he returned home, arriving
here the latter part of June.

Renting three hundred acres of the old Guadalupe ranch, and holding
a three-year lease of the j\l. D. Tognazzini raneh, Mr. I'imentel em|)lo\s
sixteen work horses and numerous men, and is indeed a bus}^ man; but both
he and his good wife find time for social pleasures. He is a popular member
of the I. D. E. S. and the U. P. E. C. ; while Mrs. Pimentel belongs to the
S. P. R. S. I. The family attend the Catholic Church.

EDWIN P. DUGHI.— A native of San Luis Obispo County, born on
A'illa creek, February 22, 1889, Edwin P. Dughi is a son of Paul Dughi, who
was born at La Frasca, Switzerland, and who came to California about forty
years ago and located on \'illa creek, where he engaged in dairy farming.
He was married in this count}- to Miss Mary Villa, who also was born on
Villa creek, a sister of Frank- \ ill.i, whose family were pioneers of this
county. Paul Dughi later retired to a home in San Luis Obispo, where he
passed away in the late nineties. His widow is still living, and is a resi-
dent of Cayucos. Nine children were born to them, of whom Edwin P. is
the fifth in order of birth.

Edwin P. Dughi was educated in the pul)lic schools nf the county. He
was bereft of his father when he was a lad of (.ml}' nine vears. From
the age of twelve he has been practically self-supporting, working on dairies
about Cayucos for wages, and then being for two and a half years appren-
ticed to learn the -blacksmith's trade, under E. A. Bassi, and also James
Pedrotta. He was looking for other business, however; so in 1910 he
sought employment in the Cayucos branch of the California Central Cream-
cries Co., beginning at the bottom and for two years gradually working his
way up. In 1912 he went to Cambria as manager of the corporation's
creamery there, and has held that position ever since.

In 1909 Mr. Dughi was married in San Luis Obispo to Miss Janet
Tarl.ig'ia, who was born in the Adelaida district, a daughter of P. Tar-
taglia. She died on January 1, 1917, leaving, besides her husband, two little
girls, Bernice and Veldora, to mourn her loss.

In ])olitics, Mr. Dughi is a Republican. He is one of the well-known ;uul
publie-s])irited men of the coast section of the count}', whose success has
bt'en of his own making and who merits the respect of ,ill who know him.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENNIRONS 1025

JOSEPH CURTI.— j(isci)li ("ui-ti. a daiVyman on Santa Rosa creek, has
a ranch uf three hundred t\veni\- acres about five miles from Cambria. He
was born in Premia, Novara, Piedmont, Italy, Januar}- 22, 1863, the son of
Jacento and Christina (Martinetti) Curti, farmer folks in Italy. He was
educated in the public schools of his native land, and learned farming while
assisting his father on the farm. He served the period of his enlistment in
the Italian army.

Mr. Curti had heard good rejjorts from California, and decided to come
to this state. Accordingly, on January 12, 1890, he arrived at Cayucos, with
his wife and child. On Janttary 14 he began working on a dairy ranch. After
working for four years, he rented a dairy on shares from Nicola Storni,
where he remained for eleven years. He had saved some money, and now
decided to buy a ranch ; so in 1905 he purchased his present place of three
hundred twenty acres, and moved onto it. Since then he has run the place
as a dairy ranch, and at present milks about twenty-five cows. It is a fine
place, with plenty of springs. Water is piped to the residence and dairy
house, and water power is used for operating the separator. In connection
with the dairy, Mr. Curti devotes a consideral)le acreage to the growing
of hay.

In 1886, before coming to this country. Josepii Curti was married to Miss
Mary Cosso, who was born in Italy. They have three children. Ernest is
now running the home farm ; and Henry and Cora are at home.

In politics Mr. Curti is a Republican. He is industrious, and has many
friends thnaighuut his section of the county.

ABRAHAM TOGNAZZINI.— What a man may accomjilish who is an
able machinist, employs only competent and well-paid help, attends strictly
to business, and gives that business his personal attention, is well illustrated
in the story of the rise of Abraham Tognazzini, the popular ex-deputy con-
stable and progressive proprietor of the Guadalupe Garage, a prosperous
establishment opened in the winter of 1912-13. His father was Noe Tognaz-
zini, a native of Someo, Canton Ticino, Switzerland, who went to Australia
with his family in order to join his father, John Tognazzini, a gold miner in
the province of Victoria. There he met with a fair degree of success as a
miner, but made most of his money by taking up government land there and
selling it, after having duly proved it up. .\braliam"s mother, now living at
Guadalupe, was Alarie ZanoUi.

Leaving Australia, Mr. and Mrs. Noe Tognazzini came to California and
took up their residence for a while at Point Sal, Santa Barbara county, then
the old "chute landing," where ships were loaded with gypsum. They arrived
in 1888, and the next year went to a ranch at Casmalia. The following year
they were back again at the chute landing; and a year or two later they
homesteaded at Mussel Rock, in due time proving up a hundred five acres.
At Guadalupe, in 1909, Noe Tognazzini died, aged sixty years, the father of
eighteen children. I'ive of these died young, but thirteen grew up. Else-
where in this work will be found a sketch of Samuel M.; lUizabeth S. became
the wife of R. B. Leeds, a glazier of Lt>s .\ngeles ; Moses P., formerly a black-
smith of Guadalupe, is a rancher in Arizona; Daniel is a well-known mer-
chant at Guadalupe, and clerk of the board of trustees of the school district
there; .Mary M. is the wife of Peter Baranchi. a rancher near Orcutt ; Jose-
phine'M. married F. C. Rusconi, whose sketch al.so appears in this work, he
being a member of the firm of Tognazzini & Rusconi, proprietors of the

1026 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Golden Eagle Creamery at Guadalupe ; Elora E. was wedded to Pacifico
Chigolotti, foreman in the sugar factory at Betteravia; Romeo L. E. works
in the California Garage at Santa ]\Iaria ; Walter E. is employed in the mill
at the Betteravia sugar works; Albert and A. G. are both of Guadalupe; Noc
F. died unmarried; and Abraham is the subject of our sketch.

Born near Daly's Ford, in the province of Victoria, Australia, July 20,
1880, Abraham Tognazzini went to school in Australia, and later at Point
Sal and Casmalia, Cal. At an early age he started to work out by the
month on near-by ranches. He worked hard and steadily, and also saved
his money; and when the aiUouK iliilc came to stay, Mr. Tognazzini, with
admirable far-sightedness, was ([uicl^ to perceive the great business oppor-
tunity for a garage at Guadakipe, and opened the first and by far the leading
garage in the town. Since that time he has steadily prospered in his
business and financial undertakings, and has now built up a dependable
patronage. He is agent for the Case tovtring car, deals in all kinds of first-
class auto supplies, and does expert auto repair work.

In 1908, Abraham Tognazzini was married, at San Luis Obispo, to ]\Iiss
Olympia Georgia, a native of Switzerland, who came to Californa when three
years of age, by whom he has had two chldren. \'iola O. and Cecil Abraham.
A happy family, they dwell togetlicr in a handsome residence which ^Ir.
Tognazzini lately purchased.

CELESTINO SIGNORELLI.— The same touch of the romantic which
characterizes the history of the Signorelli family in general, lights up the
individual story of Celestino Signorelli, who left Europe following the death
of his father and in consequence of the severe struggle imposed upon the
widow and her children for very existence.

Born on Fcbruar}^ 2, 1880, in the province of Bergam, Italy, where he
attended school and studied the Italian language, Celestino Signorelli, when
seven years of age, went with his parents and brothers and sisters to Switzer-
land, where the two youngest of the children were born ; and in canton Ticino
he grew up, attending the local school and working to help the mother sup-
port the family. Two brothers and a sister had already gone to America and
settled in California; and hearing from them frequently, he resolved, when
about twent\--one years of age, to come to America also.

On OctolKT 14, 1890, therefore, he left Switzerland, after arranging that
ills mother and the three youngest children should follow him the next Jan-
uary; and on October 17 he sailed from Havre on the steamship "Savoy,"
landing in New York on October 26. Fie soon reached Guadalupe, Cal., and
on November 2 commenced to milk cows for Romildo Tognazzini, for whom
he worked thirteen months. He then entered the service of the sugar com-
])any, and afterwards bought a hay press and ran it.

On coming up to Oso Flaco, he entered into a contract with his brother-
in-law, E. Morganti, to clear up and recover a hundred acres of land, now a
part of the land he leases from the Union Sugar Co., agreeing to complete
tlie work in five years. After fulfilling his agreement, he took up the hotel
business, and managed the Exchange Hotel at Guadalupe, but retired from
the business at the end of nineteen months, being afflicted with asthma. He
then endjarked in his isresent dairy business, for which he maintains over a
hundred milch cows. \\c sells the crtam to the Eagle Creamery at Guada-
lupe. His land is well a.lapted for the growing of alfalfa hay, and for this

SAX LUIS Or.ISPO COUNTY AND I'.WIROXS 1027

dairy enterprise. He rents three hundred fifty acres, more or less, from the
Union Sugar Co. at Oso Flaco, the company putting in wells and furnishing
engines and pumps. He pays $2,255 for rent, has already leased the land
for six years, and his lease has five years more to run. He employs three men
the year round, and in haying time takes on extra help. In 1916, he had over
three hundred tons of barley hay for "sale at the harvest, worth about fifteen
dollars per ton. He is also raising cattle and hogs.

Some years ago Mr. Signorelli was married to ]\Iiss Delphina Tominelli,
a native of canton Ticino, and a daughter of Joe Tominelli, who died when
she was only three years old. Her mother, who managed to keep the family
together, had four children: Adnesta, who lives in Switzerland; Jahonina,
who is married and also dwells there ; Jackimo, also a resident of the little
republic; and Mrs. Signorelli, who is the only child living in America. A
fine-looking, motherly woman, she came as a fiancee to Guadalupe, accom-
panied by -Mr. Paulo Duchini, who had lived at Guadalupe, had returned to
Switzerland, and after nine years had decided to come to California again.
The bride-to-be was twenty-five years old when she came here. To this
excellent woman, Mr. Signorelli attributes much of his success; and no
wonder,- for she does all the housework for the large ranch, cooks for three
hired men the year round, looks after her children, and still finds time for
her husband. Five children have blessed this marriage, of whom three still
remain, the pride and hope of their parents : Hilda, Neva and Alma. An
infant died at its birth ; and little Alma, the third born, while playing near
the railroad track at Guadalupe, when only seventeen months old, was run
over and killed. The parents then named their fifth child Alma, also. Before
coming to California, Mr. Signorelli was married in Switzerland to Julietta
Galiardi, who died there a few years later, and b}- whom he has two children
living: Martino and Camillo, both residing in their natixe place.

JOSEPH F. SILVA.— W hen the future historian of California comes
to check olT the true builders of this great commonwealth, he will not fail
to enumerate Joseph F. Silva, the well-known pioneer who, starting with
little or nothing of this world's means to iiis credit, amassed such a hand-
some fortune that, at his death, he was able to leave five of the most desir-
able ranches in this section to his faithful wife ; nor will the historian pass
over the enterprising sons of this early comer, Antone and John Silva, who,
as partners together in extensive enterprises, iiave become important men
of affairs, and who, in the enjoyment of leisure hours, have made themselves
leaders in the social circles in which they move. Starting from the lower
rungs of the ladder, and climbing high in the keen competition of the day,
Joseph Silva left an example of thrift and business integrity, likely to be
followed with success by both of the sons bearing his honored name.

I'orn in the Azores, where he married Annie A. Canadas, Joseph !•". Silva
came to California and settled in the Santa Maria valley wiien he was
thirty years old. He had the foresight that made him among the first to
discover the richness of the soil along the Oso h'laco, and led him to work
with all his energy to acquire what he could of the best acreage when it
might still be had for a mere song. Besides the home place of a hundred
fourteen acres, he bought two ranches in Santa Maria, tiie one of a hundred
sixty-one acres and the other of a hundred twenty; while he also secured a
hundred six acres at Guadalupe. .\ man of striking iHTsoiiality, widely

1028 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD I-:X\TRONS

known as a public-spirited citizen with Repul)lican political preferences, and
full of active, fruitful years, Joseph Silva died in 1912 at the age of sixty-two.

Six children and their families enjoy this heritage with the widow :
joe and his wife, Mary (Costa), -who reside on one of the ranches to the
north of Santa Maria; Antone and IMary (Silva), who have one child, Edwin;
Frank, who married Alary Ermona, and resides with her on one of the
ranches two miles east of Santa Alaria ; John and Alary, who are at home ;
and Alarie. who married Alatt. Aledosa, and resides near Guadalupe.

On the home ranch, on December 15, 1888, Antone Silva was born ; and
in that vicinity he attended the public school. At only twelve years of age,
he commenced driving his father's teams, and soon was handling the plow.
Today he farms in partnership with his brother John — an excellent partner
by the way — tilling some four hundred acres. From the mother they rent
a hundred fourteen acres, and from Peter Pezzoni they lease over two hundred
fifty more. Such bounteous harvests reward their expert management of
these ranches that in 1916 they gathered two thousand four hundred sacks
of beans, and large quantities of beets, hay and potatoes in addition. The
Silva brothers have demonstrated their ability as agriculturists and success-
ful business men. They were trained by their father, from boys, in the best
methods of cultivating the soil, as well as in the selection of the crops best
suited for this section. Evidence of their prosperity is seen in their splen-
did, well-kept buildings, fields and fences and in their rapidly moving auto-
mnl)ilcs. l)v which thev are able to keep in close touch with their various
ranches.

ANTONE FELICIANO.— Had anyone, on meeting Antone Feliciano;
the well-known farmer and capitalist, about the middle of the sixties, when
he first landed in San Francisco, prophesied that within half a century he
would retire the .possessor of a comfortable fortune, the prediction would
have been perfectly safe; for like a considerable number of other California
pioneers who eventually became well-to-do, Mr. Feliciano was a sailor, and
through good seamanship made the port that proved the gateway to his
prosperity. Born in the balmy Azores, on the sea-girt island of Fijol, about
1850, he was the son of Joseph Feliciano, also a sailor, although the grand-
father had been a farmer. His father, who died where he was born, in Fijol,
sailed the ocean his entire life, and retired in his seventieth year. His. mother,
Mary Ethel, died in the Azores, somewhat older than her husband It was
natural enough, therefore, that the son should put to sea in his early teens;
and since he shipped with an jVmerican vessel when he was onlv fifteen, it
is not surprising that a year later he entered the then already famous
C.oldcn Gate.

From his first experiences in California, Mr. Feliciano fell in love with
the state and decided to cast in his fortunes here; but having tasted the
adventure and pleasures of tlie sea, he was loath to abandon them. He con-
tinued to work as a sailor in the const trade, serving in particular on vessels
plying between San Francisco and Monterey. The latter proved a harbor
of good luck for him, for there, at the age of thirty, he was married to Miss
Marv Xetto. a native of Boston, who had come to California when she was
a child.

The first settler cm tlie ( )s() Flaco in San Luis Obispo County. Mr.
Feliciano bought one hundred twenty acres, still operated by some of his

SAN LUIS Oi'.ISl'O COUKTY AND 1CN\1 R( )NS 1029

chil.lrcn. wliicli his ljockI and faithful wife and family manai^i-d until, in his
forty-fifth year, he (juit the sea; and so successful were they by hard work
on this and other fertile farms since acquired— each "flat as a pancake, and fat
as grease"— particularly in the scientific cultivation of beans and grain, that
after building, in 1916. a beautiful Iningalow to be occupied by the family of'
one of his children, he was able tn retire, in January, 1917. and move to Santa
Maria, where, for ten thousand dollars, he bought the Porter home on South
Broadway, acknowledged to be one of the finest residences in town.

Fifteen progressive and interesting children, two of whom have since
died, were born to this worthy couple. The living are: Tony; Joe, who
married Miss Myrtle I'esler, of Santa Maria, by whom he has one child,
Arthur; Mary, the wile of S. D. Martin, a rancher living east of the town;
Frank, the husband of \'ernie Fesler ; Rose, who resides in Oakland, and
is a milliner; and lielle. Gussie, Fthel. Jack, Peter. Henry. Freddie and
Clarence, who are at home.

Now enjoying the well-earned fruits of a long and arducnis life, Mr.
Feliciano is numbered among the substantial citizens of Santa Maria, one
whose experience in practical affairs is well worth consulting, and whose
word is as good as his bond.

LOUIS AND LOVIA SIGNORELLI.— Hure may be many other pio-
neers from over the sea who, both before and since coming to California,
have been trained in the school of hard knocks; but few, if any, have profited
more than Louis Signorelli tlinnigh the lessons so painfully learned, and none
roore deserves the prosperity he and his good wife now enjoy. The father,
Bortel Signorelli, a native of Italy, was a laborer, who busied himself par-
ticularly with the cutting of wood and theburning of charcoal,, and who also
gave of his time for military service in Switzerland. He no doubt had a
very hard time of it, trying to make a living for his wife and large family of
children, and perhaps it is not surprising that he was induced to go to Africa
to work in a coal mine. There, in Algiers, he was taken with a fever and
died, quite alone, in his sixty-third year.

The privations of the mother and children under the conditions can well
be imagined. The older boys and girls, just as soon as they were old
enough to set out for themselves, sought to better their condition by sailing
for the New World. Four of them already liad reached California, settling
near Guadalupe, before the mother — doubtless one of the most self-sacrific-
ing, as well as one of the noblest, not to say ablest, of women in so rearing her
family — and the youngest three children, ten years after her husliand had
died, arrived in the land of promise. Splendidly, liowever, liave these heroic
efforts of the mother have been rewarded ; for all seven ><i liic children have be-
come prosperous, and are now highly respected citizens of San Luis Obispo
and Santa Barbara counties. They are ['"rank, the rancher who resides south
of Orcutt; Rosa, the widow of F.. M<irganli, who die.l in 1915. after a long
residence at San Luis Obisiio; .\meiio, a laborer at Gu:i<lalnpe ; Celestino,
the dairyman of Oso Flaco, a sketch of whose life is elsewiiere given; Louis,
the subject of this review; Alfred Isadorc, whose life story ai>i)ears on another
page; and Trma, the wife of A. Toniasini, the dairyman at Los .\lamos.

Born in 1882. in Ber.gam, Italy, Louis Signorelli came to Switzerland
with his parents when a child, and migrated t.i California in I'^O.^. After his
arrival he worked bv the m.uith for a while as a farm hand. I'hrec years ago.

1030 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

he rented his present place from the Union Sugar Co., agreeing to pay that
concern one-fifth of his receipts for the use of the land. Expending some
$18.50 a day for Japanese labor, and $1.44 for seed, $3.50 for plowing,
50 cents for harrowing and $3.50 for water for irrigation, or a total of about
$27.44 a day, he is still able, with the sugar-beets yielding him $5.50 or $6,
or o\er. per ton, to clear up a handsome profit. He has sixteen work horses,
and in 1917 will plant a hundred acres to beans and three hundred fifty
acres to beets. Leasing four hundred fifty acres from the Union Sugar Co.,
he pledges to put out at least three hundred fifty acres to the product they
desire : and under normal conditions he can expect twelve tons of beets to
the acre.

The year 1912 witnessed the marriage of Louis Signorelli to ]\Iiss Lovia
Tomasini, a native of Someo, canton Ticino, Switzerland, to whom he
attributes much of his present high degree of success. She is a typically
good-natured Swiss ; woman, and a credit to American motherhood and
womanhood, a-- well a-; to that of her native country. She enjoys, like her
husband, the L^rcat Messing of health; and being optimistic by nature, indus-
trious and anil'iiiMu.s, >hc has proven an excellent helpmate to him. Two
children are their particular joy: Waldo Vencento, and Emory Louis. Sev-
eral of Mrs. Signorclli's brothers still survive. Ardveno Tomasini resides on
a dairy ranch near Los Alamos; Arminio Tomasini has a dairy at San Luis
Obispo ; BozeUio Tomasini lives in Nevada ; and there are a brother and
three sisters in Switzerland. Her parents are Vencento and Constanca
(Caporgno) Tomasini. The father has spent his life as an educator, an<l both
parents are living in Someo.

RINALDO BASSL — A resident of San Luis Obispo County since 1896,
Rinaldo i'.assi is engaged in the feed and fuel business in San Luis Obispo.
He was l)orn in A'alle IMaggia, canton Ticino, Switzerland, April 16, 1880.
His father, Cesare Bassi, was an educator. He taught school all of his life,
and died in Switzerland. The mother, Candida Padavani, now resides in
Santa Margarita. Of their thirteen children, Rinaldo is the eighth in order
of birth.

Rinaldo Bassi was brought up in his native town. Cerentino, and was
educated in the public schools under his father till the age of fourteen, when
his father died. He remained at home until past fifteen years of age, when,
in 1896, he came to California, whither several brothers had previously emi-
grated. He came to Paso Robles and for several years was employed at
farming and dairying, and also at clearing land and cutting wood. In 1908
he located in San Luis Obispo and began a feed and fuel business, in which
he has continued since. His place is at 1165 Monterey street. He bought
the site and l)uilt up the establishment from the foundation ; and here he
engages in a wholesale and retail feed, coal and wood business, delivering
with teams and by truck.

In San Luis Obispo, Rinaldo Bassi ^yas married to ^Tathilda Devaux, a
lady of French descent, who was born in canton Ticino, and was raised and
educated there. They have three children : Victoria Bessie, Adelina, and
Rinaldo, Jr.

Mr. Bassi is a member of the Swiss Alutual Benevolent Association, of
the T. D. ]•:. S. Society, and <if the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce.
Politically, he is a Republican.

SAN LUIS OlilSPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS 1031

ALESSIO BASSI. — I'orn in St. Antonino, canton Ticino, Switzerland,
February 14, 1862, Alessio Bassi came to California in 1879, and to San Luis
Obispo County in 1882. His father, Andrea Bassi, was a dairyman; and
Alessio was raised on the home farm, pursuing his studies at tiie public sdiool
till fourteen years of age. After that the worked for his uncle until he
reached the age of seventeen years, when he decided to come to California.
Two of his brothers had located at Fort Ross; so, after his arrival, in 1879,
.Viessio went to Fort Ross, where he found employment on a dairy. Later he
was in the employ of N. Sartori, at Duncan's Mill. In 1882 he came to Cayu-
cos. He worked on dairy ranches on Morro creek till 1885, when he started
business on his own account on little Morro creek, running a dairy ranch ol
five hundred acres, with a herd of about fifty cows. For a while he did well ;
Init low prices of butter and hogs caused the loss of all he had made, and
he again went to work for wages, to get another start.

Mt. Bassi then homestcaded eighty acres on San Bernardo creek and ran a
small dairy, increasing his acreage by renting land, and adding to his herd
until he had a dairy of fifty-eight cows. He then sold out, and in 1908 leased
his present place of seven hundred seventy acres in the Harmony district,
bought stock and implements, and now milks about one hundred cows,
separating the cream with a power separator. He owns a ranch of eighty-
seven acres in Laguna valley, two and one-half miles from San Luis Obispo;
and this he leases out.

Alessio Bassi was married in San Luis Obispo to Miss Ermina Georgia,
also a native of Ticino. by whom he has six children: Ida, Mrs. Guerra of
San Luis Obispo; Lillie. -Mrs. Filipponi of Los Osos valley; Dora, Mrs.
Madonna of Villa Creek ; and Louis, Alessio, and Virginia, wiio live at home.

J\Ir. Bassi is a stockholder in the Harmony Creamery Association. In
politics, he is a Repul)lican.

JOHN SCARONI. — Burn in Gordola, canton Ticino, Switzerland, in
April, 1851, the son of Antone and Elizabetha (Cordiga) Scaroni, fanner folks
in the Alps region, John Scaroni was the third of the four children tiiat grew
up in his parents' family. He was brought up in Switzerland, where he at-
tended the public schools.

In 1873, when twenty-two years of age, Mr. Scaroni decided to try his
fortune in the New World, and started for California in January of tiiat year.
A brother, Pio Scaroni, had come to Santa Cruz eighteen months before ; so
he joined his brother there, arriving in February, 1873, with only live dollars
left in his pocket. He got a job with a dairy, and worked there lor five years.
Then, in partnership with another man, he rented the same place and ran it
three years.

In January, 1882, -Mr. Scaroni came to Cayucos, San Luis ( »l)ispn County.
Here he worked out for three years, and llien rented a dairy two and a half
miles from Cayucos. .After operating this dairy for five years with success,
he bought the place, which contained three hundred twenty-five acres, and
ran a dairy of fifty cows. In those days he panned the milk, and skimmed it
by hand, and had a boiler for scalding the pans. The churning was done by
horse power, and the butter was shipped away, lie continued here for about
fifteen years, and then leased the place as a dairy, though ho still owns it.
In 1902 he bought his present place of two hundred acres near Cayucos creek.
where he carries on a dairying business, maintaining a herd of from thirty to
thirtv-five cows. He uses an automatic separator and ships his cream to the

1032 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

markets. He raises grain and hay for liis stock, and also has a small piece
of alfalfa. He has improved the place with suitable farm buildings, to which
water is piped from a spring half a mile away.

On March 2, 1894, John Scaroni w^as married in San Luis Obispo to INliss
Natalina De Giorgi, who was born in canton Ticino, and who came to Cali-
fornia. November 26, 1893. She is the daughter of Peter and Elizabeth
(Cortazzi) De Giorgi. The father is dead; the mother is living at seventy-two
years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Scaroni have three children, JNIamie, Richard, and
Laura, who are all at home assisting their parents.

Mr. Scaroni was made a citizen soon after coming to San Luis Obispo
County. Politically, he is a Republican : fraternally, he is a member of
Cayucos Lodge, I. O. O. F.

FRANK M. FRATIS.;— A successful bean grower who leases and cul-
ti\ates, in a first-class manner, one hundred five acres of the Pizzoni ranch
on the Oso Flaco, in San Luis Obispo County, Frank M. Fratis was born on
Flores Island, in the Azores group, on January 8, 1862. He is a son of
Martinez and Annie Fratis, lifelong farmers on Flores Island, both now
deceased. As a boy he was reared on a farm, and when nearljftwenty, m
1881, left the home of his parents, bound for the United States, and came
direct to California, where so many of his countrymen had settled before him.

He worked for wages in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties
until he had accumulated some mone)^, and in April, 1904, returned to his
native land, where he remained almost eighteen months. While there, in
1906, he was married to Maria Dureys, a native of that island. They came to
.America ; and, once more in California, he has been farming successfully
on his present place, where, in 1916, he raised 1,403 sacks of beans. IMr. Fratis
does nearly all his own work. He has a good bank account ; and he and his
wife are frugal in their tastes and co-operate with each other in the care of
the ranch. They have three children, Mary, Annie and Angeline.

The parents of Mr. Fratis had fourteen children ; but only seven reached
maturity. Manuel died in San Luis Obispo County; Mary became the wife
of Manuel Olivera and died in Santa Alaria, leaving four children; Filomina
died in Portugal; ]\Irs. Hannah Brass lives in Oakland; Mrs. I\Iariana Olivera
has two daughters employed by the telephone company in Santa ]\Iaria,
where she resides ; and there are two sons, Joe, of Santa Cruz, and Frank,
of this review.

UGO BASSI. — The genial and obliging proprietor of the Santa Mar-
garita Vegetable Gardens, located one mile north of the town, Ugo Bassi
is a native of Switzerland, where he was born on November 25, 1869, in
Calentino, in the canton of Ticino. His father was a graduate of the uni-
versity, and an educator of more than ordinary pmminence. He died in 1895,
at about the age of fifty-eight.

Ugo Bassi was the second oldest in a family of twelve children. He
was educated in the public schools until lie was fourteen, and then was
set to learn the trade of a bricklayer, which he later followed in Switzer-
land and in Holland. As the fame of California had traveled to that tar
cduntry, its advantages had Ijeen carefully considered by i\Ir. Bassi; and
being an energetic and ambitious young man, he concluded that he would
try liis fortunes in the (lolden State, and accordingly sailed for ^Vmerica. He
embarked at Havre on November 16. 1888, on the steamer "Grand Brittan."
bound fcir New York. From New York he crossed the continent bv rail to

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND KNVIRONS 1033

San Francisco; and from there came first to Santa Barbara, where he worked
for two months. He then went to Port Harford ; but finding nothing to do
at his trade, he went to work chopping wood at luhia, on a contract to
furnish wood to the Pacific Coast Railway Company. He entered into part-
nership with his brother, Angiolino Bassi, and they were engaged thus for
about six years. The brothers moved to Paso Roblcs and began clearing
land (with a view to setting it out later to fruit) and cutting wood, -which
was shipped to fill their contracts. They have the distinction of sending out
the first car load from Paso Roblcs. In the summer season they engaged in
baling hay. For about fifteen years they continued business in this way,
when they moved to Santa Margarita.

After a few more years in the wood business, Mr. Bassi began raising
vegetables. For this purpose he leased the old China Gardens from the
Santa Margarita ranch. He has about fifty acres of gardens, where he
raises vegetables of all kinds in their season. There is no sort of vegetable
used here that he docs not raise. He puts up dill pickles, chow-chow, and
ketchup, and cans fruits and vegetables, all of which find a ready sale. He
runs vegetable wagons in Santa Margarita, Creston and Atascadero, and
plans to put on a motor truck in the spring of 1917. To irrigate his gardens,
Mr. Bassi constructed a dam on the creek, dug ditches for irrigation, and
further improved the methods of gardening.

Mr. Bassi"s mother makes her home with him most of the time. He is
an enterprising, progressive man, always ready to help any project that has
for its aim the upbuilding of the community. He is kind-hearted and hos-
pitable, and seems always ready*to help those who have been less fortunate.

MANUEL F. MADRUGA. — Among the men who, by close application
and honest and straightforward business methods, have risen to a high
standing in the community, and are stanch supporters of everything for the
good of the home and the school, is Manuel F. Madruga, owner of one hun-
dred acres near Guadalupe. He came from his home in tlie Island of Pico,
where he was born on March 21, 1872, a poor boy and unable to speak
English. His father, Philip Jose .Nladruga, is still living in his native island,
at the ripe age of sevent3-six years, and takes an active interest in affairs
where his little farm is located. His wife, who was in maidenhood Maria
Cardoza, died on the farm in 1886. Their six children are: Philipa, who
lives in the island of Flores ; Jose, who lived in California for a time, and
then went back to Pico island in 1911, married, and still lives there; Maria,
who resides with her father; ;\lanuel l\ and Maria, twins, the latter living
in the Azores; and Philipi Jose, a Roman Catholic priest in Flores.

.At the age of seventeen, in 1889, Manuel 1'. Madruga came to California
to join his brother Jose at Ciuadalupc, and for some years worked on various
ranches in this section of the county. In 189<.> he was united in marriage
with Miss Balvina Gularte, who was born in San Luis Obispo, a daughter
of Joseph S. and Laura Rosa (Vcirea) Gularte, well-known residents of that
county, but now living near Santa Maria. The father came to California as
early as 1872, locating near San Luis Oijispo, where he was a pinneer rancher
and hotel man. The mother came to this county about 1S70. and was
among the first settlers of Oso IHaco. Mrs. Madruga was reared in San
Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, and attende<l tlie i)ul>lic sciiools
of the Santa Maria valley.

1034 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

After his marriage, Mr. jMadruga decided to make a start for himself.
He leased land and farmed with success, saving his money, and then pur-
chased his present ranch. Later he erected on the property his handsome
and modern residence, the finest on the Oso Flaco. Mr. Madruga spends
his time and energies in farming, making a specialty of beans, sugar beets,
onions and potatoes. He keeps six work horses busy all the time, and
has harvested some exceedingly large crops, which have netted him hand-
si mie returns.

Mr. and ^Irs. jMadruga have had seven children, two of whom died in
infancy. Those living ar^e Manuel P., May E., Laura P., Frances A. and
Philip Jose. Mr. Madruga has found time to take an interest in the affairs
of his community. He is a believer in the maintaining of good schools, and in
everything else that helps the whole community to better its condition. He
has served as clerk of the board of Oso Flaco district the past six years.
He is a member of the U. P. E. C, I. D. E. S., and A. O. U. D. lodges in
Guadalupe ; is a Republican in politics ; and, with his family, attends the
Catholic Church.

STEPHEN V. CAMPODONICO.— A son of the pioneer merchant in
Guadalupe, S. V. Campodonico is making good, and is recognized as a con-
servative, as well as a thorough man of business. He has been engaged as
a clerk in his father's store since he was a lad of thirteen, and for several
years past has been the buyer, as well as the main working spirit of the
establishment. He stands for progress, and is one of the owners of the New
Commercial Hotel and manager of the Crescent Theater.

A native of the state, he was born in San Francisco, j\larch 20, 1882, and
was brought by his parents to Guadalupe when a child. He attended the pub-
lic school until 1895, when, after reaching the eighth grade, he was taken out of
school and set to work in the store to learn the practical part of merchandis-
ing. Beginning at the very bottom, he worked his way through the various
departments, learning every detail in each, until he became competent to
take charge of the entire concern and thus relieve his father of the burden.
The store carries a stock of about $35,000 valuation, consisting of a general
stock of all kinds of merchandise ; and the business is carried on with good
results.

In San Luis Obispo, S. V. Campodonico was united in marriage with
Miss Flora D. Baumgartner, a native of Kansas, but residing in Nipomo at
the time of her marriage. Two children have blessed this union, Florence
Thelma and Stephen \Villiam. Mr. Campodonico and family occupied a
fine home in Guadalupe until it was destroyed by fire, on Novem!)er 5, 1916,
probably to cover a robbery.

Mr. Campodonico is a member of the firm of Campodonico Bros., who
erected the new Commercial Hotel building, seventy-five by one hundred
feet, completed at a cost of $12,500, which includes the Crescent Theater, of
which our subject is the manager. For twelve years he has been a notary
pnldic, is the resident agent for the California Fire Insurance Co., and is
keenly alive to all the possibilities in this part of the county. He is popular
with all classes, decidedly progressive, and a "booster" for both town and
county. Mr. Campodonico is Past Grand of Laguna Lodge No. 224, I. O. O. F.
He is a member of the board of trustees of Guadalupe school district, serving
his second term.

SAN LUIS OP.ISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS lO.LS

ALFRED ISADORE SIGNORELLI.— A siuxcssful rancher in tlic
Oso Flaco, and one who, hand over hand and entirely thmugh his own un-
tiring industry, has climbed each rough-hewn round of the ladder of priva-
tion and toil, Alfred Isadore Signorelli was l)orn in Sonieo, canton Ticino,
Switzerland, August 4, 1888, the son of Bortel and Esther Signorelli, Italians
who had migrated to the little republic. The sixtli in a family of seven chil-
dren, and the youngest of five brothers, Alfred Signorelli, on coming here,
worked out for a year on various farms; and then, although only fifteen
years old, in order to provide a home for his mother, younger sister and him-
self, he pluckily rented the Alorganti ranch. This ranch he still manages,
now leasing it from the Union Sugar Co. In the home he thus established,
his mother, always the object of particular affection and interest, conliiuied
to live until her death, in 1915, at the age of si.xty-two years. The father
had died years before at the age of sixty-three.

On August 1, 1914, Alfred Isadore Signorelli was married to Miss Mary
Belloni, who was born near Guadalupe, the popular young daughter of John
and Mary Belloni, well-known residents of Guadalupe, now retired. By her
he has had one promising child, Irma Gladys.

Equipped with a full comidement of work horses and machinery, includ-
ing a 1916 model Holt caterpillar for plowing (of thirteen horse-power for the
draw-bar and thirty horse-power in the belt), Mr. Signorelli operates to
good advantage some two hundred fifty acres, giving a hundred acres to
beets, and one hundred fifty to beans, grain and hay. His conservatism is
shown by the fact that he still rents the ranch he began with ; but his con-
servatism is of the progressive type. Mr. Signorelli is a model farmer, whose
methods are being imitated by his well-wishing competitors.

Strong of body and active of intellect, large-hearted and making and
keeping many friends, Alfred Signorelli, together with his excellent wife.
is prominent in social affairs, and particularly so in the circles of the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows at Guadalupe.

FRANK EGEDIO RIGHETTI.— A prosperous rancher and one of
the trustees of the Oso Flaco school district, who is highly respected for liis
manh' qualities, Frank E. Righetti was born May 15, 1880, in Someo, canton
Ticino, Switzerland. His father, Joseph Righetti, was a farmer and owned
a little place in Someo, where he married Dolorata Tomasini. They had six
children: Victor, who lived in Oso Flaco about twenty years, though not
continuously, and is now married and resides in Someo ; Leno, who lives in
Montesano, Wash.; Robert, who died in San Luis Obispo, leaving a widow
and two children; Frank Egedio, the subject of this review; and .\ssunta
and Lisa, who reside in San Luis Obispo.

Frank Egedio Righetti grew up in Someo, and attended school until
he was fourteen, being educated in the Italian language. He then con-
tinued assisting his father until he was seventeen years of age. Having
three brothers in California, he decided to join them, for their letters were
filled with glowing accounts of this country. In 1897, therefore, he sailed
from Havre on the "La Touraine," and arrived in New York early in De-
cember; but he did not tarry long in the East, for his finances would not
permit of unnecessary expenses. He arrived in Cayucos a few days before
Christmas, and secured a job at once as a milker for John Scaroni. Ik-
attended school for a few months at Willow Creek in order to learn to

1036 SAX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AXD ENX'IROXS

read and speak English. For three years he was employed by Peter Righetti
at Morro, and then came to Guadalupe and worked for Peter Tognazzini
four years on the Oso Floco. He liked California from the start, and saved
iiis money; and with a partner, A. Bondietti, he took a four-year lease on some
land on the Oso Flaco, engaging in dair\-ing. After this, he began farming
for himself.

In the meantime, in September, 1907. Mr. Righetti was united in mar-
riage with Miss Elvezia Bondietti, a native of San Luis Obispo County and
a daughter of A. Bondietti, who is mentioned elsewhere in this volume.
Mr. and ]\Irs. Righetti have four children: Rena, William, Dora and Hazel.

In 1909, they moved to the place where they now live, which ^Ir. Bon-
dietti owns, consisting of eighty acres. Besides this, "Sir. Risrhetti rent.^
one hundred fifty acres from the sugar company. He uses a Holt tractor of
1.V30 horse power, and other modern machinery and implements. ' He was
naturalized on October 3. 1910. In politics he is a Republican. He is serv-
ing on the school board of Oso Flaco district. Fraternally he is promment,
being a member of the Masons, Guadalupe Lodge. No. 337. F. & A. M. ;
a Past Grand of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and a member
of the -San Luis Obispo Lodge, Xo. 322, B. P. O. Elks.

FRANK SIGNORELLI.— An example, well worthy of studv bv the
American youth, because of the living demonstration of what a poor lad mav
do by devotion to parents and to some definite ideals, is Frank Signorelli,
the farmer and stockman on the state hisrliwav, half-wav between Orcutt and
Los .-\lanios. Frank Signorelli was the first of his family to come to .America.
His father, Bortel Sienorelli. an Italian, was a poor man. but a A'ery honest
charcoal-burner and day-laborer, who, warmly devoted to his wife and chil-
dren, left them in Switzerland, whither he had misrrated, in order to earn, as
he supposed, a better livine: in a coal mine in Africa; but prostrated there bv
a fever, he suffered and died. AVith grim determination, the equally devoted
mother kept her children tosrether until, one by one, they were all able to
remove to California, where they have certainly become a credit to the com-
munities in which tliev reside; and in the soil of the Golden State, her own
sacred ashes now rest. Among her children, besides the subiect of this
sketch, are Louis, the Oso Flaco rancher, and Celestino. the dairyman of the
same place, an account of whose interesting lives is set forth in this work.
.Another is Amelio. a laborer, unmarried, at Guadalupe. Rosa, the widow of
E. Aloreanti, who resides at San Luis Obispo, and Irma. the wife of .A.
Tomasini, the Los Alamos dair3^man, are the two daughters in the familw

Born in Italy, on N'ovember 8, 1871, Frank Sis^uorelli attended school
there, and when twelve years of age removed with his parents, brothers and
sisters to Switzerland, where he grew up at Locarno, in canton Ticino.
From the time he entered the free republic, however, only the hardest kind of
hard work was his lot. He cut timber and chopped wood for a living in the
rocky forests, and later went to .Algiers, .Africa, where he toiled as water-bov.
carrying pails of water to workmen who were engaged in building the
railroad.

In 1891, when but twenty years of age. he sailed for California, and for a
year chopped wood at Santa Rosa, Sonoma county. The ne.xt twelve months
were sjK'nt at milking; cows on a ranch not far from the same place. The
third year, he rented a small tract of eightv-two acres, where he raised

SAN LUIS OP.ISPO COUNTY AND KN\lRONS 1037

grapes, prunes and haj- ; and from that time he farmed independently until,
about five years later, he came down to Oso Flaco and began to work for his
brother-in-law, E. Morganti, who then ran a big farm and dairy and devoted
three hundred acres to farming, while reserving eight liundred acres for pas-
ture; and with him he continued for five years. He learned all about milking
and the care of cows, and became an expert butter and cheese maker.

Nine years ago he entered into a ])artncrship with JMilo D. Tognazzini,
of San Luis Obispo, with whom he operates the Cap Harris ranch of four
hundred acres. A hundred fifty acres are planted to beans; and the rest of
the land is devoted to hay and live stock. He also looks after one hundred
seventy-three head of Tognazzini's Holstein heifers and steers, from two
to three years old. He employs three men and six or seven times as many
work horses. The conditions of the bargain are interesting: Mr. Tognazzini
pays the rent and furnishes the seed, and gets one-half of the profits; while
Mr. Signorelli does all the work, and takes the other half of the profits.

Mr. Signorelli also undertakes some work for the countv government,
repairing the Casmalia grade to Lompoc. and keeping the highway in excel-
lent condition. To this he devotes from three to four days a week, and
employs from two to six horses, i^erforming his la1)(>r under the exi)eriiMicc(l
direction of E. Righctti, the district road master.

A romantic result of Frank Signorelli's association with Santa Rosa was
his inarriacre there to 'Miss Lena Capitani, a native of Locarno, Switzerland,
and the daughter of Frank and Eugenia CP.i-iallia") Capitani, who brouirlit
their family to Sonoma countv. Mrs. Signorelli was educated in the puWic
schools of Santa Rosa. Their life together has been unusuallv hanpy ; and
their home is made bright by three children : Irene, Esther, and Ellis.

From bovhood used to the hardest kind of manual labor, and inclined,
therefore, to laugh at fatigue. Frank Signorelli still swings his axe with viiror,
or does whatever is necessary in tlie way of work, at the same time that
he wisely cares for what he has already acquired. He is rapidly making
money, as is attested l)y the fact that he owns two lots on tlie water front
in San Francisco, where they are steadily increasing- in value. .X Republican
in politics, he takes a keen interest in public afl'airs. and delit^hts to do his
full duty as a citizen.

PIETRO SCOLARI.— .\ fine representative of that class of indomitalde
Swiss-Americans who are making a real success in California is P. Scolari,
the farmer and dairyman living six miles west of Los .\1amos, who came
here practically without means, and yet, through industry and frugality, and
upright dealing, has prospered until, today, he could probably I)uv out.
several times over, many who once were more well-ld-d.i th.in he. P.orn in
November, 1859, in the canton of Ticitio, Switzerland, nH far fmni Italy.
he was the son of P. Scolari, now deceased, and <<i M.iry Scolari. still living
there, who was born in 1839.

At about twenty years old Pietro Scolari came to .\nu-rica, and reached
the Golden Gate on the 12th of February, 1870. On arriving in San Francisco,
he found that he had only five dollars left ; but he borrowed another five
dollars from a friend, and came on to Guadalupe. There he went to work
immediately for J. Tognazzini at twenty dollars a month. For some eight
years he continued to labor for wages; and then, in 188.^, he went to Lompoc.
and for a while rented land there before crmiing to his present place.

1038 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Since I8''l he has been a tenant farmer, tilling- a part of the Careaga
ranch, west of Los Alamos. There he now farms and operates nine hundred
eighty-five acres, which he devotes to beans and hay, and to a dairy, for
which he has a full complement of live stock, with from fifty to sixty milch-
cows. Before this he leased about three thousand acres and had a dairy of
about one hundred fifty cows and about two hundred head of other stock.
In 1916, he bought fifty-five acres of excellent valley land adjoining the ranch
land that he rents. He has thirty horses, and a complete outfit of agricul-
tural machinery.

Attracted to his old home by a sweetheart, Mr. Scolari, in 1893, went
Ijack to Switzerland, and there married Assunta Cascioni, a native of his
birthplace. By her he had six children, one of whom, Mary, Mrs. Rossini,
died at the age of twenty-two. The five living children, who are as hard
workers as Mr. and Mrs. Scolari themselves, and who contribute much to
the successful management of the Scolari ranch, are Peter. Louis. Assunta,
Josie, and Alfonso.

Mr. Scolari has been a friend of education and was the originator of the
movement w^hereby a new schoolliouse is to be erected in Iiis district.

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Books

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county and environs who have been identified with the growth and development of the section from the early days to the present"

See other formats