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 155

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

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MYRON NELSON CASTERLINE. In Oceanside, San Diego county, are to be found many live, energetic, persevering business men, prominent among whom may be mentioned the name of Myron Nelson Casterline, a well-known

contractor and builder. By his own unaided efforts he has achieved success, and is in fact a self-made man in every sense implied by the term. With his natural endowments of fine health, strong hands and a clear, cool brain, he started out in life with a determination to win, and gaining experience and business ability as the years have quickly fled, he has become very prosperous while yet in manhood's prime, his record being one of which he may well be proud. A son of John Casterline, he was born, January 20, 1865, in Scott county, Minn., coming from thrifty Scotch-Irish ancestry.

Barnabas Casterline, the grandfather of M. N. Casterline, was born, reared and married in New York state. Removing with his family to Minnesota in 1844. he became one of the brave pioneer farmers of that state, settling there when the country was in its original wildness, game of all kinds being abundant, while the Indians far outnumbered the white people. For awhile he was engaged in trading with the Redmen, first at Fort Snelling, and later at Mendota. Sub- sequently moving still farther into the forest, he settled near two small bodies of water, Spring Lake and Prone Lake, where he carried on general farming until his death, in 1883.

A native of Cayuga county, N. Y., John Caster- line removed with his parents to Minnesota when a bov, and there assisted in the pioneer labor of clearing and improving a tract of wild land. He learned the trades of carpenter, builder and mill- wright, and followed these for a number of years. During the Civil war he served in a Minnesota regiment of volunteer infantry, after which he returned to his home in Scott county. In 1884 he removed with his family to Osakis, Douglas county, where he engaged in contracting and building for awhile, and at the present time is a resident of Cass Lake, Cass county. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah McCullum, was born in Pennsylvania, removed with her parents to Minnesota when a girl, and died a few years after her marriage, leaving three children, of whom Myron Nelson, the subject of this sketch, is the first-born.

Receiving but a limited education in the dis- trict schools of Scott county, which he attended rather irregularly until twelve years old, Myron Nelson Casterline began to be self-supporting when but eleven years old. He worked as a farm laborer, drifting about in different parts of the state until coming of age, when he went to St. Paul, where he served an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade. Going subsequently to Oregon, he worked at his trade in Portland from 1890 until 1893, when he settled as a contractor and builder in Phoenix, Ariz., remaining there seven years. The following two years he was similar- ly employed at Prescott, Ariz., and from 1902

6,E While

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

until 1905 was one of the leading builders and contractors of Hollywood, Los Angeles county, Cal., where he built up a fine business. Coming to Oceanside in 1905, he bought land and built a fine residence, on Corona Heights, where he now resides, his home being pleasant and at- tractive. Continuing in his former occupation, he is one of the foremost builders and contrac- tors of this section of San Diego county, and is carrying on a large remunerative business, draw- ing his own plans and erecting some of the finest and best-appointed buildings of Southern Cali- fornia.

In Phoenix, Ariz., Mr. Casterline married Mary Monahan, a native of Ireland, and they have one child, Clissie May. Mr. Casterline is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics he is a Prohibitionist. He is public-spirited, generous and liberal, and while living in St. Paul, Minn., served for two years in the Artillery Company, Union Guards.

CALEB E. WHITE. No more courageous and hopeful pioneer braved the dangers of the trip to California by the straits of Magellan in 1849 than Caleb E. White, and with as much certainty may it be said that none labored more indefatigably than did he for the ad- vancement of his adopted state. As early as 1852 he began raising fruit on the American river, an attempt which met with discourage- ments at first but with keen foresight he real- ized that the conditions of climate and soil were adapted for this branch of agriculture, and instead of giving up the project, renewed his efforts with even more zeal. Be it said to his credit that he was the pioneer in the rais- ing of navel oranges in California. Such was his success in the raising of this special fruit, that at one time he planted and cultivated a three hundred acre orange grove for Oakland capitalists. Had he accomplished no more for his adopted home state than creating and sus- taining the interest in horticultural affairs which followed from his example he would have been counted a benefactor, but this was only one avenue of his usefulness, and his death, September 2, 1902, was counted a pub- lic loss.

A native of Massachusetts, Mr. White was born in Holbrook, Norfolk county, February 5. 1830, his father. Jonathan White, being a native of that same New England state. The latter was a prominent manufacturer there and well known in business circles in the east. His busy and useful life came to a close in 1875, when he was in his eighty-eighth year. His wife, formerly Abigail Holbrook, lived to attain the remarkable age of ninety-two years.

In the quiet precincts of his home town near Boston Caleb E. White was reared, but the spot was not so secluded that it did not hear the thrilling reports that followed the finding of gold in California in 1848. In February of 1849 he was one of the passengers who board- ed the brig Arcadia at Boston bound for San Francisco by way of Cape Horn. An exceed- ingly tiresome voyage of two hundred and six- ty-three days finally brought them to the Golden Gate, through which they passed Oc- tober 29.

With several others who had accompanied him on the voyage Mr. White opened a mer- cantile business in Sacramento, and under the name of Haskell, White & Co. business was carried on for one year, after which, until 1852, Mr. White was sole proprietor. In the latter year he sold out and engaged in fruit raising on grant land on the American river, an enter- prise which as yet was entirely unknown in that part of the country, but he lived to see the triumph of his efforts and share in the prosperity of the country, to which more than to any other one source is traceable the rais- ing of fruit. The land was part of a Spanish grant, and he lost it after having built up a fine home. His efforts were not without discour- agements, for in shipping the trees from the east many of them were destroyed in transit or died afterward, and to obviate this he decided to start a nursery of his own. This lie established on his home place and later on he purchased one with Mr. Hollister. The business grew and prospered, and at the time he sold his ranch in 1868 he was the largest fruit raiser on the American and Sacramento rivers. It was in the latter year that he lo- cated in San Luis Obispo county and estab- lished himself as a sheep raiser, an industry in which he was destined to become as well known as he was in horticultural lines, his prime object being the production of wool, rather than raising sheep for the market. The following year, 1869, he came to Los Angeles county and established a sheep ranch at what is now Florence, carrying it on with excellent results for ten years, during which time he lived in Los Angeles, in order to educate his children. During this time he became closely associated with the business affairs of that city, and in 1875 and '76 conducted the Los Angeles Emigration and Land Co-operative Association, of which company he was a di- rector.

It was in 1880 that Mr. White came to Po- mona and connected himself financially and so- cially with the city which was to be his last home. After the Los Angeles Emigration and Co-operative Association went down with the

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

boom it became absorbed by the Pomona Land and Water Company and he was no longer actively associated with it. Resuming his in- terest in horticulture, he secured a number of the finest locations for fruit raising that it was possible to find and in the years that followed concentrated his efforts along this line of ag- riculture with unflagging energy. As a com- pensation for his efforts he had the satisfaction of knowing that he owned some of the finest orange orchards in the San José valley. He also produced a large variety of deciduous fruits. Mr. White was also a large property owner in this city, most of it being in the business portion and included among his hold- ings was the White block.

Mr. White's marriage in 1855 united him with Mrs. Rebecca A. (Ferguson) Holship, a native of Missouri, born in St. Louis Decem- ber 12, 1835. When she was about sixteen years of age she became the wife of E. B. Hol- ship, and soon after their marriage they start- ed across the plains behind mule teams. Their experiences with the Indians were many and exciting, and at one time in their travels they journeyed three days and three nights with- out stopping in order to keep in advance of their dusky foe. The ravages of cholera, how- ever, which broke out while en route, depleted their number considerably and caused great suffering and sorrow, and upon reaching Sac- ramento Mr. Holship was added to its victims. Of the two children born to Mr. and Mrs. Hol- ship one died at the age of five years and John died in Los Angeles at the age of eighteen. Four children blessed the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. White. Helen M. became the wife of Thomas J. Caystile, the latter now deceased ; he was the first editor of the Los Angeles Times. Nannie became the wife of Charles L. Northcraft, of Pomona; Harry R. married Miss Mary Blainev, and with their four chil- dren they reside in Pomona ; Abigail died in early childhood. In his political affiliations Mr. White was a stanch Republican and fra- ternally he was a Mason, belonging to Pental- pha Lodge No. 202, F. & A. M., of Los An- geles. As would be expected of one as deeply devoted to the city's welfare he was a member of the Board of Trade. He was also a work- ing member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for years had served in the ca- pacity of vice-president of the People's Bank of Pomona. It would be impossible to over- estimate Mr. White's value as a pioneer settler in Los Angeles county and also in Pomona, for besides being the father of horticulture in the state, he was no less a father to the strug- gling town in which he settled. Through his efforts the first school house in the town was

inade a possibility and he was the prime mover in the installation of the first water system and erected the first hotel. At his death Septem- ber 2, 1902, he left a host of friends who had been intimately associated with him in his business and social life, all of whom admired him for his many manly and noble traits.

MRS. MARGARET MEHEGAN. During her long residence in California, embracing a period of more than thirty years, Mrs. Mehegan has witnessed the growth and development of the Pacific coast region and has been loyally de- voted to the welfare of the west. The scenes familiar to her mature years are far removed from those associated with her girlhood, for she is a native of the Atlantic coast country, and was born at Hodgdon, Aroostook county, Me., December 14, 1837. The schools of that day and locality were poorly equipped with facilities for the training of the young, hence her advantages were meagre, yet, by reason of habits of ciose- observation and study, she is now a well-in- formed woman. June 14, 1864, she became the wife of William Mehegan, who lived in the same neighborhood in Maine as that in which her girlhood years had been passed. As indicated by the name, Mr. Mehegan belonged to an Irish family. In that country he was born February 2, 1838, but he retained no recollections of the land of his birth, for he was only two years of age when his family sought the larger oppor- tunitics of the United States. Reared to a knowledge of farm work, he chose that occupa- tion upon starting out in the world for himself,. and for some years he and his wife lived upon a Maine farm, but about 1870 they moved to. Pennsylvania and settled in Butler county, where he was employed in the laying of pipe tunnels in the oil regions.

After removing to California in 1875 Mr. Mehegan ran a stationary engine in San Fran- cisco, under the employ of the Aetna iron works, but in a short time he resigned the position and came to the southern coast. Under the impres- sion that the Rosecrans tract belonged to the government, he located one hundred and six- ty acres there and remained for three years. when the courts decided that the property was not open to settlement. Afterward he remained on the same farm as a tenant of the Rosecrans estate and there his death occurred October 16. 1884. Four years after he had passed away his widow removed to the present site of Ingle- wood and bought an acre of vacant property. where she erected a residence and now makes her home. In addition she still owns other lots in Inglewood and has bought and sold some - real-estate in the town. Notwithstanding her

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advanced years, she is active mentally and physi- cally and able to superintend all of her affairs, which she does with precision and economy. In her family there are five children, named as fol- lows: Anna, who is with her mother; William J., who is engaged in farming near Marysville, this state; Charles A., who is employed in the mines of Inyo county, this state; Walter Jo- seph, residing in Inglewood; and Edward, who is in Los Angeles, holding a position with a business establishment of that city.

THOMAS POLLARD. Hospitality and liberality are the prime factors in the home owned by Mr. Pollard, who is located two miles south of El Monte, Los Angeles county, and since 1892 has been engaged in the culti- vation of peat land and the improvement of a ranch, where his friends receive a cordial wel- come and the stranger a hospitable hand. He inherits his chief characteristics from Eng- lish ancestry, his birth having occurred in Cornwall. England, April 24, 1856; his father, John Pollard, was a native of that place and the representative of one of the oldest families of the section. He engaged in mining in Corn- wall, where he spent his entire life with the exception of a few years in America, from 1869, when he came to the Pacific coast via Cape Horn, and entered the service of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, being em- ployed in the building of the line through the Sierra mountains. He married Jane Hore, also a native of Cornwall, and daughter of William Hore, a miner; her death also oc- curred in that location. They were the pa- rents of nine children, of whom but two are now surviving, Thomas Pollard being the youngest.

Thomas Pollard was eighteen years old be- fore he left his native country ; his education had been received in the common schools and his youth spent in the lead and tin mines of his home section. In 1874 he came to Amer- ica, drawn hither by the glowing reports sent him by his uncles, who came to Pasadena, Cal., that year and there engaged in business. Thomas went to Michigan first and in Mar- quette engaged in the iron mines for a time. In 1881 he started westward, locating in Utah and mining in Park City for a brief time, then spending one year in Montana, similarly oc- cupied, when he came to California and in Amador county followed quartz mining for two years. He came to Los Angeles county in 1890; two years later he located on his present property, purchasing fifteen acres of tule and willow land, which he proceeded to ditch and drain and cultivate. His first crop

was potatoes, which turned out two hundred sacks to the acre. He is now occupied in rais- ing celery, which he ships east to Kansas City and Chicago markets, and has also a nursery of walnut and apple trees.

In Cornwall, England, in 1889, Mr. Pollard was united in marriage with Miss Jane Mit- chell, a native of that place, and daughter of John Mitchell, a farmer of that locality and the descendant of a long line of Welsh ances- try, prominent in the history of that section. His wife was in maidenhood Christina Hare, a native also of Cornwall, and of this union were born ten children, three of whom are now living, Mrs. Pollard being the oldest. Mr. and Mrs. Pollard have one son, Thomas, Jr. Fraternally Mr. Pollard is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and politically is a Re- publican. He is a strong temperance advocate and loses no opportunity to assist the move- ment. Both himself and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but their re- ligion is not narrow or circumscribed, and be- ing the first of their denomination in this sec- tion they were among the first to assist the Presbyterians in erecting a church at Moun- tain View, Mr. Pollard helping to haul lum- ber from Los Angeles. In 1904 there were sufficient members of the Methodist Church to justify the erection of a building, and Mr. Pollard was again a chief organizer in this enterprise, and is now a trustee and class- leader and a man and citizen always to be de- pended upon in every movement looking to- ward the general welfare of the community.

FRANK AYERS. To become a successful ranchman requires as much business ability and painstaking care in looking after details as are necessary in any other occupation, and it is a pleasure to meet a progressive farmer who is energetic and ambitious and proud of his ac- complishments. Frank Ayers is one of the most successful of this class of men in the Ojai valley and he has just finished a new fine house and made new outbuildings and otherwise improved his ranch. In one holding he has one hundred and six acres of fertile land and in another one hun- dred and twenty acres, the latter being now planted to wheat, oats and barley; next year he will engage in alfalfa raising-one of the most profitable crops a farmer can grow in Southern California. There is a fine artesian well on his place which furnishes an abundance of water for all purposes.

Frank Ayers was born in Sonoma county, Cal., March IT, 1861, of Irish-American parent- age, his father, Robert Ayers, being a native of Ireland, who immigrated to California in 1849,

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and joined the army of progressive men who were eager to have a share in the wonderful op- portunities which this country afforded. He first went to the mines and worked for a time, but later deciding to engage in ranching, removed to Ventura county, where he remained until the time of his death, at the age of seventy-four years. His mother, Annie Connor before her marriage, was a native of Pennsylvania; she lived to be sixty-four years old, her death also occurring in Ventura county. There were seven children in the family, of whom six are still living, four of them in Ventura county, and two in Petaluma, Sonora county. Frank Ayers was but seven years of age when his parents brought him to Ventura county in 1868, and all of his early education was received in the Ventura county public schools. After reaching maturity he worked on the ranch at home for a time, but soon managed to acquire an independent property and in 1885 he married Miss Fannie A. Smith, one of Ohio's native daughters, and established a home of his own. Two children have been born to this union, Bertha and Kenneth.

While Mr. Ayers is a firm believer in the policies advocated in the platform of the Demo- cratic party, in local affairs he reserves the right to vote an independent ticket and helps to elect the men whom he thinks will most honestly and efficiently discharge the duties devolving upon them. Progressive, energetic and public spirited, he is one of the most highly esteemed citizens of Ventura county.

J. L. VAN DERVEER. Numbered among the progressive business men of Escondido is J. L. Van Derveer, an energetic, brainy man, actively indentified with the mercantile interests of this section of the county, and a valued as- sistant in promoting its prosperity. Although it is a compartively brief time since he entered upon his present career, he is conducting his business in a most systematic manner, and by his strict attention to all of its details, and his thoroughly upright dealings, he has met with most gratifying success and is fast making for himself an honorable record. A son of the late D. S. Van Derveer, he was born in the town of Lysander, near Syracuse, N. Y., April 17. 1874, being the youngest of a family of eight children, seven of whom are living, and the only one on the Pacific coast. His grandfather, Garrett Van Derveer, was born in New Jersey, the descendant of a Holland-Dutch family. After his marriage he removed to New York state, becoming a pioneer of Onondaga county, where from the heavily timbered land he cleared and improved a farm.

Born on the pioneer homestead of his parents in Lysander, N. Y., D. S. Van Derveer there

spent his three score years of earthly life, be- ing engaged principally in agricultural pursuits. He married Rachel Martin, who was born, lived, and died in the same town, where her father, Thomas S. Martin, was a pioneer settler, her death occurring when she was seventy years of age.

Brought up on the home farm, J. L. Van Derveer received his rudimentary education in the public schools, after which he entered Onon- daga Academy, from which he was graduated with the class of 1895. The ensuing five years he was employed as a teacher in his native county, meeting with excellent success in his profession. Coming to California in 1900, lie spent two years in Santa Barbara, the first year serving as princi- pal of the Goleta school, and the next year be- ing book keeper for the Johnson Fruit Company. Accepting the principalship of the Escondido grammar school in 1902, he held the position for three years, performing the duties devolving up- on him with marked ability and fidelity. Re- signing in 1905, he bought out the firm of J. W. Hedges & Co., and has since continued the business at his store on Grand Avenue, carry- ing a full line of books, stationery, wallpaper, crockery and queensware. As head of the firm of J. L. Van Derveer & Co., he is building up a fine trade, and has already acquired a note- worthy position among the successful merchants of the place.

In Escondido, Mr. Van Derveer married Nora Van Fleet, who was born in Colorado, of Hol- land-Dutch ancestry; and they have one child, Janey. Mr. Van Derveer belongs to the Es- condido Chamber of Commerce, is a member of the Committee on Railroads and Transportation, is treasurer of City of Escondido, and justice of the peace of Escondido judicial township. He is Independent in politics, voting for what he deems the best men and measures.

JOHN H. FREER was born in San Jose November 26, 1852, and is the son of William H. Freer, one of the early settlers of El Monte, whose biographical sketch appears elsewhere in this work. Reared and educated in Santa Clara county, in 1874 he came to El Monte, where he spent two years on his father's farm. He then engaged in farming at Whittier, Savannah and Puente until 1883, when he removed to Umatilla, Ore., and en- gaged in stock-raising for three years, Then he returned to the San Gabriel valley and is now residing in Arcadia, where he is engaged in the pursuit of horticulture.

In spite of the many ups and downs Mr. Freer is a very pleasant and affable gentle- man, very liberal and ready to help any public enterprise to the fullest extent of his means.

BOUND TO PLEASE THE Heckman Bindey ne

JULX.66

N. MANCHESTER,

INDIANA

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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 155

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