A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, also containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present, Volume I, Part 121

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1184

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Laying out the town of San Fernando soon after purchasing his ranch, Mr. Porter erected the first buildings and laid the foundations for this now thriving, busy, little city. He developed much of the water by the sinking of numerous wells and putting in pumping plants, establish- ing irrigation on a large scale, and for. many vears was extensively engaged in raising grain and cattle. He was the pioneer fruit grower of this section, setting out orange and lemon trees. and having an orchard of two hundred and twen- ty acres devoted to the culture of citrus fruits. He incorporated this property under the name of the Ex-Mission Land and Water Company. in which he had a large interest. In 1905 he sold a large part of his remaining land, about seventeen thousand acres, reserving for himself a tract of twenty - four hundred acres adjoining San Fernando. On this he made magnificent improvements and completed at a cost of $50,000 a handsome residence, three stories in height, the first story being of granite. It is ar- tistically.built. and is amply supplied with all the comforts and conveniences to be found in the most modern mansion. On this estate there is a well-stocked nursery, an olive grove and a val- uable and productive orchard. The ranch is fur- nished with machinery of the latest approved pat- tern, including a large traction engine, which, in addition to horse and mule teams, is used in farming. He always took great pride in his handsome herd of horses, keeping some of the best roadsters and driving horses to be found in the state, among them being some sired by the famous running horse Thad Stevens. He had large herds of cattle, his Durhams, Holsteins and Jerseys making a fine dairy. He was also interested to some extent in two large apiaries on his place. He was a man of broad culture and liberal thought, and read and spoke Spanish flu-

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ently. Genial, hospitable, and a good conversa- tionalist, he was a prince of entertainers, and an invitation to his home was warmly welcomed and gladly accepted.

In Los Angeles, Cal., Mr. Porter married Kate Caystile, who was born at Diamond Springs, Nevada county, Cal., where her father settled as a pioneer. She is a woman of fine character and excellent judgment, and is held in high esteem throughout the community. She is a sister of Thomas Caystile, one of the original proprietors of the Los Angeles Times. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Porter, namely: George K., Jr., who died at the age of twelve years; Es- telle C. and Benjamin F. Politically Mr. Porter was a straightforward Republican, and voted for Fremont for the first governor of California. He was a good speaker, and for many years was very prominent and active in campaign work, making addresses throughout the state. Frater- nally he was a member and past master of Santa Cruz Lodge No. 36, F. & A. M. After a life of usefulness in every community where he made his home. Mr. Porter passed from earth No- vember 16, 1906.

JOSEPH W. WOLFSKILL. The history of a community is best told in the lives of its citizens, and when these citizens are men of forceful character, progressive and public-spir- ited, giving of the best in their lives not alone to the upbuilding of their own fortunes and the furthering of their own personal interests, but to the establishment and maintenance of en- terprises calculated to advance the general wel- fare of those about them. then indeed is such a career worthy of a place in the highest type of citizenship. Such qualities and characteristics have distinguished the Wolfskill family. estab- lished in Los Angeles county in February, . : 831, and since that time proven a dominant force in the upbuilding of the western com- monwealth and the development of Southern California. The pioneer, William Wolfskill, was a native of Kentucky, his birth having oc- curred in the vicinity of Richmond, March 20, 1798; his parents were of German and Irish extraction, inheriting from ancestors the spirit of sturdy courage and independence which prompted them to make for themselves and their children a home in what was then a wil- derness. While he was still a child in years the family removed to Howard county, Mo., then the center of an Indian country, and dur- ing the war of 1812 considerable trouble was experienced from the hostility of the red men.

In 1815 William Wolfskill returned to Ken- tucky to attend school, and two years later was again located in the paternal home in Missouri,

where he remained until he was twenty-four years of age. He received a practical training along agricultural lines and at the same time imbibed the spirit of the early day-the cour- age, independence and progressiveness which ever distinguished the pioneer. Young man- hood found him inclined to push farther into the west and after leaving home in 1822 he went to New Mexico, spending one year in Sante Fe. He then went down the Rio Grande to Paso del Norte, and trapped for beaver with a native of New Mexico, who gave proof of his villainy by shooting Mr. Wolf- skill in an endeavor to secure an insignificant plunder of hides, blankets and ammunition. However, the blankets, which were made of homespun, proved to be a most excellent ar- mor and checked the bullet, which entered the flesh 'near the heart. Returning to Santa Fe. Mr. Wolfskill remained a brief time, after which he went to Taos and fitted. out an expe- dition to the Colorado river, where he engaged in trapping until June of the same year. He had many adventures with the Indians during this period in the southwest and many narrow escapes, but finally returned to his home in Missouri. His health had been impaired by the hardships he had undergone during this time and he found it necessary to remain in Missouri for a time. Later he engaged in buy- ing up herds of cattle from the western ranges and driving them to eastern markets, which oc- cupation he found lucrative until the spring of 1828. At this date, he with others outfitted with a load of goods for New Mexico, and af- ter reaching that point and disposing of the goods he pursued his way to California, arriv- ing in Los Angeles in February, 1831.

Henceforth Mr. Wolfskill remained a citi- zen of California and in the years following he gave no little toward the highest development of the state. The first schooner in California- El Refugio-was built by him at San Pedro, and in it he made one trip to the coast islands in search of otter, after which he sold the ves- sel. which finally went to the Sandwich Is- lands. He then turned his attention to that which occupied the greater part of his time throughout the remainder of his life-the cul- tivation of citrus fruits and grapes and the raising of stock. He planted the first orange grove in this section in 1841 and demonstrated the fact that Southern California possessed a climate that would produce the finest fruit in the world. In 1856 he planted two thousand trees a little southwest of what is now the Ar- cade depot, this being the largest orchard at the time in Southern California. For many years thereafter this ranch proved one of the most prolific orange bearers in the state, as

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many as twenty-five thousand boxes of oranges and lemons being shipped in a single year. The growth of the city has long since displaced the orange grove, but the early pioneers of Los Angeles remember it as one of the first fruits of the eastern civilization. In addition to his efforts along this line, Mr. Wolfskill also gave considerable time and attention to the growing of nuts, at one time importing sweet almonds from Italy and attempting their growth. The climate here was evidently not adapted to their culture and this effort proved a failure, although in the cultivation of other nuts he was highly successful.

With the growth of the city Mr. Wolfskill found opportunity to improve his property and this he did, to the material advantage of his own property and that about him, finally dis- posing of one tract for the large sum of $200,- 000. To Mr. Wolfskill is owed much for the character of his citizenship, for no man exer- cised his talents and ability more than he to develop and advance the best interests of Southern California and particularly of Los Angeles. A man of broad mind and natural culture, he was intensely alive to the educa- tional needs of the community and for the im- mediate benefit of his family he established a private school in his own home, at the corner of Fourth and Almeda streets, which property he purchased in 1838, and there his children received a good education, as did also the sons and daughters of other pioneers. It has been truly said of him that his work in the develop- ment of this region, along every line of activ- ity, was such as to win for him the esteem of his associates and the regard of all who have ever had reason to love Southern California. Personally he was a man of many friends, for he was of a genial, kindly temperament, a fine conversationalist, and thoroughly alive on all questions of contemporary interest. He con- finned to reside at his Los Angeles home until his death, which occurred October 3, 1866. By his marriage, in January, 1841, Mr. Wolfskil! allied his fortunes with those of an old and hon- ored Spanish family. His wife was Dona Magdalena Luge, daughter of Don Jose Ygna- cio Lugo and Dona Rafaela Romero Lugo, of Santa Barbara. They became the parents of six children, three of whom are now living. Joseph W., Mrs. Charles J. Shepherd and Mrs. Frank Sabichi. The eldest daughter, who mar- ricd H. D. Barrows, died in 1863; Lewis, who married Louisa Dalton, a daughter of Henry Dalton, of Azusa rancho, died in 1884, and Rafaelita died in childhood in 1855. Mrs. Wolfskill preceded her husband to the grave four years.

Joseph W. Wolfskill was born in Los Ange-

les, September 14, 1844, and in this city was reared to young manhood, receiving his edu- cation in the private school which his father had established. Upon the land now occupied by the Arcade depot and other buildings in that vicinity he engaged in horticultural pur- suits until the growth of the city made the property too valuable to be thus utilized, when he began the laying out and disposal of large tracts, the first to be sold being one hundred acres known as the Wolfskill Orchard tract, which was owned by Mrs. F. W. Shepherd and himself. The lots now front on Fourth and Fifth and Sixth streets, also Third and Central avenue, all business property, which has continued to advance in price to the pres- ent day, and now being held at fabulous priccs. Although he has disposed of a vast amount of property he still retains considerable city prop- erty, owning at the present writing the site of the city market. He owns a ten thousand acre ranch in the San Jacinto valley, in River- side county, and also a handsome residence in Redondo, on Pacific avenue, where he has re- sided since 1887. For many years he has been identified with the business interests of Los Angeles, having a nursery at the corner of Wabash and Znal streets, on Brooklyn Heights, and is also engaged as a florist at that place, his products being handled by a retail store located at No. 218 West Fourth street, Los Angeles. He has met with uniform suc- cess in his work and is justly named among the men who have attained a high place in the citizenship of Southern California. He is a man of strong, unswerving principle, firmly grounded in all that goes to make the highest type of manhood, and merits the position of high esteem in which he is held by all who know him. He has served efficiently as a member of the city council of Los Angeles for two terms, acting on both the land and water committees. He is a stanch Republican and has been ever since casting his first vote for Lincoln, and has given his best efforts toward the promotion of the principles he endorses.

In San Francisco Mr. Wolfskill was united in marriage with Ellen de Pedrorena, a native of San Diego, Cal., and the daughter of the Hon. Miguel de Pedrorena, who was born in Spain and became a pioneer of San Diego, where he engaged as a rancher and stockman. He was very prominent in public affairs, serv- ing as a member of the first constitutional con- vention of California, and his death, which oc- curred in San Diego, removed a citizen of worth and works. Mr. and Mrs. Wolfskill are the parents of ten children, of whom Joseph WV. Jr., is engaged in stock-raising in Riverside

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county ; William F., is a resident of Los An- geles ; and David and John are engaged with their father in business in Los Angeles.

REYNOLD B. BORDEN. During the long period of his sojourn in San Diego county Mr. Borden has owned and operated the same tract of land, this comprising three hundred and thirty acres lying five miles northwest of Es- condido and near the post-town of San Marcos. At the time of his purchase of and removal to the property, in 1882, the land was wholly un- improved, but under his systematic oversight and persevering energy two hundred and thirty acres have been brought under cultivation to grain, and the balance is utilized for pasturage and meadow. While the raising of grain has been his specialty ever since he came to this ranch, he has had other interests, chief among these being his apiary, which he finds a prof- itable adjunct of general farming.

Born in Lafayette, Ga., August 3, 1849, Reynold B. Borden is a son of Archibald and Sarah Caroline (Rogers) Borden, natives re- spectively of Tennessee and Georgia, and de- scendants of colonial families of the southern states. When he was four years of age, in 1853, he was taken to Arkansas by his parents and grew to man's estate in Washington conn- tv, meanwhile attending the schools of Prai- rie Grove. While still quite young he gained a thorough knowledge of harness-making and the saddler's trade under the supervision of his father, who added these occupations to that of general farming. After many years in Ar- kansas the parents removed to California in 1877 and settled in Los Angeles county, where the mother died in 1880, at the age of sixty- two years. In May of 1904 the father returned to Arkansas to spend his remaining days amid the scenes familiar to him through much of his active life.

In 1874, one year after his marriage, Mr. Borden and his wife came overland to Cali- fornia. after having followed his trade at Vin- cy Grove, Washington county, Ark., with meager financial returns. Upon his removal to this state he established his headquarters in Los Angeles county and bought ten acres at Downey. With his brother Thomas, now a resident of Long Beach, he built one of the first houses on the present site of Long Beach and tilled the soil where now may be seen some of the city's most substantial public buildings and residences. In 1880 he removed to Arizona and there engaged in the dairy business, having ten cows and selling milk to the amount of $260 per month. On his return to California in 1882 he bought the property

in central San Diego county where ever since he has been busily engaged in grain-raising and general agricultural pursuits.

The marriage of Mr. Borden took place in Arkansas September 17, 1873. and united him with Miss Julia McKendree, by whom he has three children, Rosa Lee, John A. and Dora M. The elder daughter is the wife of George WVitty and lives near the old homestead. In religious connections Mr. Borden and family belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church South and he has been a regular contributor to church and charitable enterprises. The year before he left Arkansas for the Pacific coast he became identified with the Masonic Order, but has not been active in the fraternity in the west, the only organization with which he is actively identified at the present writing being the lodge of Odd Fellows at Escondido. Reared to a faith in the Democratic party. he has never swerved in his allegiance to that organization and always supports its princi- ples and candidates. For four years he held the office of constable, but with that excep- tion he has never been a public official, it be- ing his preference to devote his attention ex- clusively to the management of his farm and to the enjoyment of social intercourse with neighbors and family and friends.

JOHN A. WORTHEN. A successful engi- neer, a progressive and enterprising citizen, and a man of scholarly attainments, John A. Worthen is held in the highest esteem among the ranchers of Norwalk. Los Angeles county. He is a native of Orange county, Vt., where he was born Jan- marv 15. 1852, a son of Joseph H. and Elizabeth (Chase) Worthen, also natives of that state, where the paternal ancestry had flourished for generations : relatives by the name of Hughes served in the Revolutionary war and also in the war of 1812. His parents lived and died in their native state, leaving a family of six children of whom five are now living. An uncle, Amos Worthen, served for years as state geologist and laid the foundation for the famous state collection in Illinois.

John A. Worthen received his education through the medium of the public schools and later in an academy in Orange county. He com- pleted his educational training in Dartmouth Col- lege, at Hanover. N. H., where he took a scien- tific and civil engineering course and later took a post-graduate course of two years in the Thaver Institute. After graduating he followed the work of civil engineer in the middle west for about twenty years, serving on the Mississippi river for about two years, but for the greater part of his time was identified with the interests of the Union

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Pacific and Missouri Pacific Railroads. He had his headquarters in Omaha, Neb:, for about two years and during that time practiced civil engi- neering, was city engineer in Denver for one year, and for the last ten years prior to coming to California was in the employ of a railroad company as engineer. He came to San Francisco in 1890 as the chief engineer of a corporation known as the South San Francisco Land & Im- provement Company, which purchased large tracts of land and laid out a city, built harbor, docks and canals, spending over $2,000,000 in the enterprise. Mr. Worthen was the chief en- gineer, but on account of failing health he re- signed in 1893 and came to Southern California, locating first in Pasadena, then in Covina, and finally coming to his present property, where he purchased forty acres of land, of which twenty acres are devoted to grapes, principally wine grapes, about two acres being in table grapes. He is also engaged in the dairy business, while the balance of his land is given over to alfalfa. He planted all the fruit trees, also put up the greater part of the outbuildings which improve the place. He is still interested in his chosen profession, having designed and constructed the extensive concrete irrigation conduits now around Downey. He is prominent politically and socially, voting the Democrat ticket and taking a prominent part in every movement which has for its end the upbuilding of this section.

In 1886 Mr. Worthen was united in marriage with Miss Susie Worthen. a native of Vermont, and they are the parents of two children, namely : Mary A., attending Berkeley; and Elizabeth, a graduate of the Whittier high school.

GEORGE SLACK. The Slack family is of English ancestry, the western pioneer, William Slack, now an esteemed citizen of Los Angeles, having been born in Doncaster, Yorkshire, Eng- land. December 27, 1823. His father, Richard Slack, was also born in that location and in man- hood engaged as a brick layer until his death. His wife, Ann, was also born and died in the same place. They had three children, of whom the only one living is William, the oldest. He was brought up in England and educated in the public schools until fourteen years old, when he was apprenticed to learn the moulder's trade. He worked at his trade in Lancastershire, where in 1845 he married Miss Eliza Varley. He final- ly brought his family to America and after land- ing in New Orleans, La., he went on to Cin- cinnati, Ohio, and there worked at his trade un- til 1850. He then came to St. Louis and bought a team of oxen and wagon and for a time teamed

from Churchville to Council Bluffs. During the same year he started across the plains to Salt Lake City, and after remaining there two years. completed the journey to the coast, going first to San Bernardino, Cal., and thence to El Monte. As there was nothing in the line of his trade he began farming and the raising of cattle, pur- chasing a farm adjoining the city upon which he remained for some years. He then went to Ventura and spent two years, thence going to San Antonio, Tex., where he superintended the construction and operation of the first gas works in connection with a Mr. Lyons, of that place. After two years he returned to El Monte, hav- ing profited little by his experience in Texas : he had intended going to Oregon, but was offered work in running a threshing machine, and after the close of the season he became engineer in a distillery. In the mean time he had started in the cattle business and met with success in the enterprise and was finally able to purchase a forty-acre ranch, on which he continued in the dairy business and the raising of stock and poul- try. With his accumulated means he purchased another forty-acre tract, and now owns a fine farm of eighty acres just south of El Monte. He also owns one acre in El Monte, at the cor- ner of San Bernardino avenue and Mission road. which is improved with store buildings at the corner.

In 1893 William Slack located in Los Ange- les and erected a home at No. 523 South Han- cock street. His first wife died in El Monte. leaving a family of ten children, namely : Will- iam, of San Gabriel: Elizabeth, wife of Rich- ard Quinn, of El Monte: Eliza. Mrs. Smith, of El Monte: John. of El Monte : George, the sub- ject of this review: Albert, a farmer near this place : Arthur, a butcher of Los Angeles ; Mary, wife of T. E. Peterson, a merchant of Los An- geles : Richard, a blacksmith, at Puente : and Sarah Ann, wife of G. L. Matthews, of Los An- geles. His second marriage took place in El Monte and united him with Ann Hewitt, who was born in England and died in El Monte. Aft- er her death he married again. While a resident of El Monte Mr. Slack served as deputy post- master under John T. Haddock. Politically he is a Democrat.

George Slack was born in El Monte, Cal .. April 10, 1864. and was reared to young manhood on the paternal farm, receiving his education in the public schools. At the age of sixteen years he began work with Goodwin & Seward, of Los Angeles, learning the trade of carpenter. He remained with them for four years when he be- gan contracting in El Monte, where he has ever since been located. He has built residences all over the San Gabriel valley and put up many buildings of various kinds in El Monte, and has

THOMAS CAREY

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

also built in Los Angeles, Santa Ana, Santa Monica, Highland Park, and other cities of Southern California. He built the family resi- dence on San Bernardino street, which is pre- sided over by his wife, formerly Miss Lena Kill- ian, a native of Georgia, and with whom he was united in marriage in Los Angeles. Fraternally he is identified with the Independent Order of Foresters, of which he is a past officer, and polit- ically is a Democrat.

NATHAN D. BURLINGHAM. Prominent among the enterprising residents of Los An- geles county who have been potent factors in developing and promoting the mineral re- sources of California is Nathan D. Burlingham, of West Glendale. Following the tide of im- migration westward to the Pacific coast in 1850, he located in a district rich with aurifer- ous deposits. and from that time until the pres- ent day has been successfully engaged in min- ing, from the God-given golden treasury draw- ing great wealth. Industrious, energetic and far-seeing, he has labored with a zeal and ear- nestness of purpose worthy of commendation, and in the accumulation of property of value has met with a just reward for his many years of toil and speculation. A native of New York, he was born, July 4, 1831, in Jamestown.

At the age of six years Nathan D. Burling- ham accompanied his parents to Battle Creek, Mich., which was then an almost uninhabited territory, the only buildings in the place being three log houses. In this primitive town he lived for eight years. Going then to Indiana, he worked for about three years in an iron foundry, after which he was for a time engaged in boating, first on Lake Michigan, and subse- quently on the Mississippi. In 1850, his en- thusiastic ardor being awakened by the thrill- ing accounts of the discovery of gold in Cali- fornia, he joined a party coming overland to the Pacific coast, and in the tedious journey across the dreary plains walked the greater part of the way, during the three months of travel rid- ing but three days. While crossing the Hum- boldt river the party had serious trouble with the Indians, but in spite of that reached Hang- town in safety. Hc at once began his career as a miner, and in the many operations in which he has been engaged has met with far more than average success, his prosperous financial ventures far exceeding his disastrous specula- tions. He visited many sections of the state as a young man, in 1859 making his first ap- pearance in Los Angeles.

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A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, also containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present, Volume I, Part 121

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company Number of Pages: 1184

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1184