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 151

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

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HON. HENRY MONTAGUE WILLIS, San Bernardino, was born in Baltimore, Mary- land, September 21, 1831. His ancestors were among the first English settlers of the Colony of Virginia and Maryland prior to the Revolu- tion. His father, Mr. Henry H. Willis, was a captain in the merchant marine, with whom the subject of this memoir made a number of voyages before he was twelve years of age, al- ternating between school and the sea. At the age of twelve he adopted a seafaring life, and during six years' sailing the briny deep he vis- ited the ports of the Mediterranean, England, France, Ireland, Rio Janeiro, Montevideo, Buenos Ayres, Pernambuco and Valparaiso, and rose by successive steps to full seaman, and finally to officer of the vessel. While in Rio Janeiro in 1848 as second mate of the bark Helen M. Fiedler, a fleet of clippers arrived with the first passengers for the gold fields of California. This was the first intelligence re- ceived of the discovery of gold. One of the ships of this fleet being disabled, his vessel was chartered to carry a portion of her passengers to California ; and loading with such a cargo as was most appropriate for the market of San Francisco, the bark started on her voyage. June 28, 1849, the vessel anchored in San Francisco harbor, having touched only at Val- paraiso for supplies. Soon after his arrival the young mariner purchased an interest in the pilot boat Eclipse, and with his associates ran

her up the Sacramento river with a cargo of freight and passengers ; but being attacked by chills and fever Mr. Willis abandoned that en- terprise and took a position of first mate on the bark which had borne him to this coast, and which was then chartered for Oregon. They reached Portland in about twenty days and took on a load of lumber. On the return trip the captain, Mr. Willis' father, falling ill, the whole command devolved upon him, but he anchored the vessel safely in the bay and discharged her cargo in San Francisco in Feb- ruary, 1850. His father died in San Francisco in the month of May of that year.

Being seized with the gold fever young Wil- lis started for the Mokelumne hill mines, via Stockton. The rainy season came on and the floods carried away his dams and filled up his diggings; he returned to Stockton, where he engaged in painting until prostrated with ty- phoid fever, from which he was restored through the tender nursing of his mother. To recover his somewhat depleted exchequer Mr. Willis invested all his means in the town of Pacific City, on Baker's bay, Wash., then Ore- gon Territory. The speculation proved disas- trous, and having little to do but to hunt and fish, he and his partner, C. W. C. Russell, ex- plored Shoal Water bay and discovered the oyster beds which have made that bay famous. Securing enough of the bivalves to fill sixteen sacks, they employed Indians to carry them across the portage to Baker's bay and shipped them thence to San Francisco. So eagerly were they sought after that a vessel was im- mediately chartered and sent to Shoal Water bay for a cargo of oysters. Thus these sixteen sacks laid the foundation for the oyster trade between that bay and San Francisco. Business demanding his attention in San Francisco, Mr. Willis left the oyster enterprise to be con- ducted by Mr. Russell. From this time, 1851, until 1854 Judge Willis remained in the Pa- cific metropolis engaged in the dry-goods busi- ness on Sacramento street. Being fond of study, he, unassisted during these years, pre- pared himself for college and the study of law. In 1854. in company with his friend, Hinto Rowan Helper, who was studying with a sim- ilar purpose, he left for the east. he to enter college and Helper to publish his first book, "The Land of Gold." Until January 1, 1856, Judge Willis studied law at the college of Chapel Hill. N. C., under the tutorage of Judge Battel, of the Supreme Court, assisted bv Hon. Sam F. Phillips, and on the above date was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the state. After spending six months in the law office of Chauncy Shaefer in New York City studying the codes, the young bar-

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rister returned to San Francisco, arriving in June, just after the hanging of Casey and Cora by the vigilance committee.

Having already achieved more than a local reputation as a writer for the press, and hav- ing received a tempting offer as the chron- icler of a three years' cruising expedition in the South Seas, he was undecided whether to make literature or law his life work when came his appointment as prosecuting attorney of San Francisco in the fall of 1856. He accept- ed, and the decisive step was taken. He how- ever continued the contributing of articles to the columns of the Evening Bulletin for a num- ber of years. He filled the office of prosecut- ing attorney until his removal to San Bernar- dino in 1858 to attend to the litigation growing out of the purchase of some land in the coun- ty, in which his mother was interested. While attending to this business he became engaged in farming and fruit-growing. January I, 1861, Judge Willis married Miss Amelia, daughter of Jerome M. Benson, an old citizen of the county. The same year he was chosen district attorney of San Bernardino county, which office he resigned after holding it for a few months. He rapidly rose to prominence in his profession and was employed in the courts of the county, involving land title or water rights. He won the first water suit in the county, known as the "Cram right," thereby fixing a precedent and securing prosperity to the settlers in that part of the county. In 1872 he took his seat on the bench as county judge and filled that position continuously for eight years with marked ability and satisfaction to his constituents. The new state constitution abolished the office of county judge, and upon retiring from the bench Judge Willis resumed his position at the head of the San Bernardino county bar and his large law practice. In the fall of 1886 he was elected superior judge and honorably discharged the duties of that office from January, 1887, to January, 1889. After retiring from the bench, he continued in active law practice as the senior partner of the firm of Willis & Cole, and later of the firm of Wil- lis & Willis, finally retiring from active prac- tice in 1894, and going to the city of Ocean- side, in San Diego county, to pass the summer. He there died. in September, 1895, at the age of sixty-four years.

In 1868 he began to improve what was known as the "Willis Homestead" in old San Bernardino, and being confident that artesian water could be obtained in this valley he im- ported the first tools and sank the first well in the county. Not being successful on his farm, the tools were brought into San Bernardino and soon after many artesian streams were

flowing from wells bored by them within the city limits. He made another trial on his farm and was rewarded by an abundant flow of wa- ter at the depth of four hundred and ten feet. In May, 1887, he disposed of the homestead and thereafter resided in the city of San Ber- nardino until his death.

There were born to him and his wife twelve children, of whom six daughters and one son reached maturity and are now living. His son, Henry M. Willis, still resides in Redlands, San Bernardino county, and was lately deputy district attorney of the county, and is now state senator from the thirtieth district.

Judge Willis was one of the few to establish Odd Fellowship in the county, by organizing San Bernardino Lodge No. 146, and he was also a member of other fraternal orders, being a charter member of Valley Lodge No. 27, Knights of Pythias. He always took an active interest in pioneer matters, was a member of the State Pioneer Association when in San Francisco, and was a prominent member and corresponding secretary of the San Bernardino Society of Pioneers. In ante-bellum times, Judge Willis was politically a Douglas Demo- crat ; during the war he was a stanch Union man, and after the war he resumed his old par- ty affiliations. He was noted for his sociable, affable manners and his generous hospitality to his friends.

JESSE P. R. HALL. Prominent among the men of energy, enterprise and sagacity, who have been instrumental in developing and advancing the leading industries of the El Cajon valley is Jesse P. R. Hall, of Bostonia, an extensive fruit grower, and one of the leading horticulturists of his community. A son of the late John R. Hall, he was born February 16, 1847, in Madison county, N. Y., of English ancestry on the pa- ternal side.

A native of England, John R. Hall immigrated to America when young, and for a number of years thereafter was a resident of New York state, living there from 1830 until 1854. Follow- ing the march of civilization westward, he re- moved with his family to Michigan in the latter year, took up raw land and having cleared a farm was there employed in its management until 1886. Coming then to California, he resided here until his death, in 1889, at the age of seventy-three years. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Fairchild, was born in New York state, and died in California in 1887, aged eighty-two years.

Receiving an excellent education in the com- mon schools of Michigan, Jesse P. R. Hall subse- quently learned the carpenter's trade, and for many years was busily employed as a contractor

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and builder, although he owned a farm, and was to some extent engaged in agricultural pursuits, his home being in South Blendon, Ottawa county, Mich. Capable, intelligent, practical in his views and possessing excellent judgment, he became in- fluential in public affairs while young, and at the age of twenty-one years was elected township clerk, serving from 1870 until 1874, and later was elected and held the office of supervisor of Blendon township, Ottawa county, serving from 1876 until 1884. For four years he was superin- tendent of the schools of Blendon township, and also served as justice of the peace for several years, holding public office much of his time while there. Coming to El Cajon valley in 1886, he located near Bostonia, buying the first year forty acres of his present home ranch, and the following year buying twenty acres more. At once begin- ning the improvement of his property, he erected his fine residence and substantial farm buildings, and then turned his attention to the cultivation of the soil. He has now a bearing vineyard of forty acres of raisin grapes, and ten acres de- voted to the raising of oranges and other fruits. In his chosen industry he is meeting with signal success, from the productions of his ranch reap- ing a good annual income.

March 18, 1866, in Ottawa county, Mich., Mr. Hall married Charlotte Abbott, who was born, March 6, 1848, in Grandville, Kent county, Mich. Eleven children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Hall, namely : Wilson D., proprietor of a lumber yard, machine shop and hardware store at El Cajon; Marie E., a teacher in the Chico Normal School; Julian D., a gardener and rancher in the El Cajon valley; Burdette Coutts, who was born at South Blendon, Mich., October 12, 1874, and died June 22, 1899, at the home of her parents; John Ab- bott, who was born October 6, 1876, and died September 9, 1885; Samuel C., born August 18, 1878, and in business in Los Angeles, with office in the O. T. Johnson building; Rosa Lucy, who was born February 14, 1880, and died October 16, 1902; Jesse Rexford, born September 12, 1878, graduated from the University at Berkeley in May, 1905, and is now at Yale college; Arthur Nelson, born October 25. 1885, in Grandville, Mich., and now attending the University of Cali- fornia ; Mary Julia., who was born March II. 1888, and died February 12, I903, and Helen Genevieve, Born February 12, 1890, and attending the El Cajon high school. In death of

the

four of their children, Mr. and Mrs. Hall have been deeply bereaved, the loss of their second daughter hav- ing been particularly sad. She was named by her grandfather in honor of Baroness Burdette Coutts, of England. After her graduation, she was engaged for several terms as a teacher in

both the public schools and the Sunday school, and was especially active in the Y. P. S. C. E. Society. She was a true Christian, following in the footsteps of her Master, and in her own sweet and quiet way doing much good, giving one-tenth of her income, which she called the Lord's money, for charitable purposes. Miss Hall was a lover of nature in all of its forms, and had a rare faculty of expressing her feelings in poetic words. Some of the poems which she penned are worthy of more than passing notice, from one of which, entitled "God's Pictures," we dare quote briefly for the benefit and pleasure of her many friends and acquaintances :

"God's pictures, what wealth there is in them, What joy in the sight, what sweet rest; His pencils sketch none but the fairest, His brush painteth none but the best. God's pictures, no price asked in payment, Ay, even a beggar may see. He giveth to all of His beauty Sweet glimpses of Heaven to be."

"Oh Christ! she said in her gladness Her face glowing full in His light, How near to my heart is Thy sunshine, How far from my path is the night. Oh clouds ! you reflect back the glory And grandeur of heavenly things;

But I in my life as I serve Him,

Reflect Christ, mv Saviour and King."

Politically Mr. Hall is a Republican, and is now a trustee of his school district. Religiously both Mr. and Mrs. Hall are active and valued members of the Presbyterian Church.

SAMUEL F. LEWIS. For a period of suf- ficient duration to entitle him to rank among the pioneer agriculturists of Mesa Grande, Mr. Lewis has been identified with the ranching interests of this portion of San Diego county, and meanwhile has risen to a position of influence among his as- sociates and acquaintances. Shortly after his removal to Mesa Grande in 1884 he purchased the ranch he still owns and occupies and later he acquired the title to a tract adjoining his original purchase, so that now he has three hundred and eighty-five acres in one body. Of this large ranch he has fifty acres under cultivation to grain, fifteen acres in a vineyard of choice grapes and the balance in grazing land adapted for the pas- turage of stock. All of the improvements on the farm have been made by him, and, being a car- penter by trade, he was able to erect all of his own buildings with little outside help, so that it may be stated with unusual accuracy that the improvements on the property are his own handi- work.

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Dating his residence in California from 1870, Mr. Lewis, prior to that year lived in various parts of the south and in his native Missouri, where he was born at St. Louis, June 3, 1838. His parents, John and Nancy M. (Mann) Lewis, were natives respectively of Kentucky and Mis- souri. Before the bridge had been built at St. Louis the father owned and operated the upper ferry at that city and later he bought a farm in St. Louis county, where he engaged in general farm pursuits and in raising stock. His death occurred near St. Paul, St. Charles county, Mo., about 1850, when he was fifty-four years of age; and he was survived by his wife until the pe- riod of the Civil war, when she passed away. In addition to attending the public schools Samuel F. Lewis had the advantage of a collegiate course, and to the knowledge thus acquired he has added by the reading of current periodicals and by habits of close observation.

In a family consisting of four sons and three daughters Samuel F. Lewis was the fourth among the sons and when he had finished school he returned to the farm to care for his widowed mother, whose property he superintended for a time. In 1859 he removed to Texas and settled at Lagrange, Fayette county, where he followed the carpenter's trade. At the outbreak of the Civil war he returned to his old Missouri home and en- listed in Company H, Tenth Missouri Infantry, with which he served in camp and field until the surrender at Little Rock, Ark., at the close of the historic struggle. From the expiration of the war until 1870 he engaged in farming in Missouri, but during the latter year he disposed of his interests in that state and came to Cali- fornia. For four years he engaged in the dairy business near Petaluma, and in 1874 removed to Timber Cove, Sonoma county, where he was proprietor of a hotel, and later bought and con- ducted the Washoe house near Petaluma. From there he came to San Diego county and pur- chased his present farm property, where since he has labored indefatigably in the improving of the land and the developing of a first-class farm.

The marriage of Mr. Lewis was solemnized in Missouri in 1866 and united him with Miss N. M. Beale, daughter of Dr. J. B. H. Beale, for years a busy and successful physician in Missouri, but now, at the age of seventy-nine years, living retired in San Diego. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis comprises the following children : Clarence, now in Mexico ; Gale H., of San Diego; Mrs. Betty B. Story, of San Diego county, and Ida, who married J. I. Morris, and lives in Mesa Grande. The Methodist Episcopal Church South is the religious home of the family. Politically Mr. Lewis was reared in the Democratic faith and has never swerved in his allegiance to the party. Since coming to San Diego he has served

as superintendent of roads for a number of years and during his term of service he built the road from Ramona to Mesa Grande, also surveyed the same. The Keith grade, as this road is called, is one of the finest grades in the whole county and many tributes of praise have been bestowed upon the superintendent to whose ability and wise workmanship the success of the undertaking may be attributed.

NATHAN HALL. It is not definitely known what era of American history the Hall family became established in the new world, but the records show they were early identified with that portion of the Old Dominion now known as West Virginia. There Hon. Nathan Hall was born and reared, there he engaged in farm pur- suits and the raising of stock, and from his home district he was sent to the legislature of his state to assist in formulating its laws. Early in man- hood he married Mary, daughter of Isaac Means and a native of West Virginia, where she re- mained until death, and in that state also oc- curred the death of Nathan Hall. Born of their union were twelve children, all but one of whom lived to maturity, Nathan, Jr., being the eighth in order of birth and the only one among the num- ber to settle on the Pacific coast. In his native town of Grafton, W. Va., where he was born December 23, 1840, he attended a subscription school held in a log building equipped with slab benches, a puncheon floor, and a fireplace open- ing into a chimney made of mud and sticks. There were few text-books in those days, and a quill pen was used in writing, but in spite of all disadvantages he obtained a fair educa- tion.

Starting out for himself at the age of twenty- one years. Nathan Hall went to Iowa via Missouri and bought a tract of land near Granville, Ma- haska county, where he engaged in raising corn and cattle. Later he sold there and went to Car- roll county, Mo., where he bought a farm and engaged in raising stock. On selling that prop- erty he turned his attention to the manufacture of cloth and blankets in a woolen mill, near Kirksville, Mo., but the price of wool, which had been very high, dropped suddenly and ruined him financially. Forced to begin anew, and without the means necessary to buy a farm, he decided to turn to railroading. In 1875 he secured work near Kirksville with the Wabash Railroad Com- pany as a section hand. It was customary then to work four years before being made foreman, but his work proved so satisfactory that in four- teen months he was promoted to be foreman of a section.

Coming to California in 1887 Mr. Hall set- tled in San Diego and secured employment with

W.C. Billingsly

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the Southern California Railroad Company as track foreman in the yards. After two years he was appointed assistant roadmaster under O. T. Casson and continued in that capacity until 1896, when he was appointed roadmaster in charge of the division from National City to Orange (one hundred miles), including the branches to Es- condido (twenty-two miles) and Fallbrook (eighteen miles), making a total of one hundred and forty miles under his supervision. Thoroughly familiar with the details connected with railroad- ing, he has proved an experienced and capable man in the business and has shown himself to be trustworthy and painstaking. For some years he has been a member of the Roadmasters' Main- tenance of Way Association of the United States and Canada, and when their convention was held at Niagara Falls, N. Y., he was an interested spectator and participant. During 1896 he re- moved from San Diego to Oceanside and now re- sides in his commodious residence on Fifth and Hill streets.

The first wife of Nathan Hall was Miss Maria Marcus, who was born in West Virginia and died in Missouri. Three children were born of that union, namely : Laura, of Pomona, Cal .; Charles W., who is engaged in mining in Nevada, and John, a farmer of Adair county, Mo. The second marriage of Mr. Hall was solemnized at Macon, Mo., in 1873, and united him with Mrs. Lizzie (Wallace) Barnhart, the widow of James Barn- hart, a Pennsylvanian by birth, who engaged in farming and the manufacture of brick near Kirks- ville, Adair county, Mo., where he died. One child was born of their union, Ellsworth Barn- hart, now living in Los Angeles. To Mr. and Mrs. Hall a son was born, Wilbert . N., of San Diego, who is a foreman with the Santa Fé Rail- road Company. Mrs. Hall was born in Randolph county, Mo., being a daughter of James and Malina (Jones) Wallace, natives of Tennessee. The father was a pioneer of Randolph county, Mo., and later removed to a farm in Macon coun- ty, the same state, where he remained until death. His wife, who removed to Missouri with her father, Aquilla Jones, and settled on a farm, was a resident of that state until death. Five children were born of their union and Mrs. Hall is the youngest of the three now living. In politics Mr. Hall favors Republican principles. While living in Missouri he was made a Mason in Queen City Lodge No. 380, A. F. & A. M., of which he is now a demitted member.

WILLIAM C. BILLINGSLY. When a stranger inquires of the people of Ballena valley concerning their prominent citizens, the name of W. C. Billingsly is always given as that of a leading resident, and often the

statement is made that "He is one of our finest men and most honored pioneers.", The respect accorded him is proof of his manty and sterling qualities, and of the high attributes of character that have won for him the good-will of every- one with whom he has had business or social relations. Though now he has reached an age justifying retirement from life's activities and though he has retired from agricultural pur- suits, he still retains a warmyinterest in local affairs and serves as justice of the peace, which office he long has filled both in this state and formerly in Texas.

A native of Trenton, Tenn., Mr. Billingsly was born September 8, 1833, being a grandson of Jephtha Billingsly, a soldier in the war of 1812. His parents, Elisha and Martha (Fite) Billingslv, were natives respectively of Mis- souri and Virginia, the mother being a cousin of Senator John Randolph of Virginia. As early as 1848 the family removed from Tennes- see to Texas and engaged in the transformation of a raw tract of land into a cultivated ranch. On the homestead the death of the mother occurred in 1882, when she was sixty-eight years of age, and the father passed away in 1860. aged eighty-two years. The primary education of W. C. Billingsly was secured in private schools in Tennessee. After going to Texas he was a student in private schools, where he completed the high-school course. On starting out for himself he engaged in locating and surveying land and for a time filled the office of surveyor of Llano county, Tex., where also he engaged in stock-raising and general ranching.

Removing from Texas to California in 1871, Mr. Billingsly bought a lot in San Diego, erected a house and began to work at carpen- tering. A year later he came to the Ballena valley and rented a building at what is known as Luckett Station, where he carried on a hotel for two years. At the expiration of that time he gave up the hotel business and secured a tract of two hundred and eighty acres of gov- ernment land where he now lives. Since mov- ing to the farm he has increased its size by the purchase of adjoining property and now owns four hundred and eighty acres of valuable land, on which he has planted a first-class orchard and erected a neat and substantial ranch-house. Early in manhood he established a home of his own during the period of his residence in the Lone Star state. His marriage was solemnized in Llano county August I, 1861, and united him with Martha E. Putman, who was born, reared and educated in Texas, and is a ladv of earnest Christian character, a member of the Baptist Church, with which also he is identified. Their union was blessed with

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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 151

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