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 II, Part 12

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1234

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Born January 29, 1845, in Atchison county, Mo., Ambrose Walsh lived there until nine years of age. In 1854 he came with the family to the Pacific coast, crossing the plains with ox teams, having a long and dangerous trip. The Indians, who for centuries had held the intervening country, were not pleased with the approach of the pale-faced strangers, and harassed the travelers in many ways, stealing their cattle when opportunity offered, even going so far as to massacre, at Mountain Meadow, the train immediately preceding them. Arriving in California, the Walsh fam- ily settled in Contra Costa county, where Am- brose, in common with the other children, re- ceived such education as was afforded by the district schools. In 1868, the family removed to San Diego county, locating in Mission Val- ley. Six years later, in 1874, the son Am- brose, starting in life for himself, took up a government claim of one hundred and sixty acres at Valley Center, where he has since re- sided. From the wild land he has improved a valuable ranch, his energetic and judicious toil being well rewarded, his farm being one

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of the best in its improvements and appoint- ments of any in the vicinity, bearing visible evidence of his agricultural skill and wise management.

In 1883 Mr. Walsh married Hannah Shel- by, a native of California, and they are the pa- rents of two children, Lawrence, a farmer, who married Clara Borden, a native of this state and daughter of Jefferson S. Borden; and Mary, residing in San Diego. Politically Mr. Walsh is a firm supporter of the princi- ples of the Democratic party, and for six years has served as school trustee. Religiously he is a member of the Catholic church at Escon- dido.

REV. W. E. JACOB. Should any writer of future years give to the Episcopal Church a complete record of the growth and progress of that denomination in Southern California prominent mention would be made of the life and pioneer service of Rev. W. E. Jacob, who since 1885 has been identified with the spiri- tual upbuilding of San Diego county and meanwhile has accomplished inuch in behalf of the permanent religious and moral develop- ment of this part of the state. Thoroughly American in sentiment and patriotic spirit, he is nevertheless a citizen of our country by adoption only, and was born in Queens coun- ty, Ireland, April 27, 1843, the son of a physi- cian and the grandson of a physician, both of whom were men of exceptional mental attain- ments and of high standing in their profession. Among the eighteen children comprising the family of Dr. John and Charlotte Jacob he was the fifteenth in order of birth and received a thorough classical education, auspiciously commenced in Dublin schools, and afterward prosecuted in the schools of England and France. Before leaving Ireland for the Unit- ed States he married Miss Jane Rebecca. daughter of Rev. Samuel Madden, a clergy- man in the Church of England. The only child of their union is a daughter, Rebecca Charlotte, who .is now the wife of Douglas Garden of South Oceanside.

Coming to the United States in 1875, after a sojourn of a brief period in New York City, Rev. Mr. Jacob removed to Nebraska and in Omaha, that state. he was ordained to the Episcopal ministry in an impressive ceremony conducted by Bishop Clarkson. When he came to California in 1885 he established his head- quarters at Encinitas, San Diego county, from which point he traveled throughout the entire county and into neighboring districts in the interests of the Episcopal Church. Not only did he hold the first services ever held by the

denomination in Encinitas, but he did the same elsewhere. Some of his charges were twenty-five miles distant from his home, but his eagerness to preach the Gospel and estab- lish missions overcame his bodily fatigue, and he was ever ready to respond to an appeal by those who were remote from churches. The congregations at Del Mar, Encinitas, Merle, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Escondido, Fallbrook, San Luis Rey and Murietta were established and organized under his supervision, and the first services in each town were held by him, after which he remained in charge until the missions were able to engage a pastor inde- pendently. It was hiis custom to visit each congregation once in two weeks, and in order to facilitate this work he kept a stable of six horses. To this day he is a lover of good horses and now has one of the finest to be found in all San Diego county. The majority of professional men allow themselves a hobby as a relaxation from the responsibilities of their life work, and his hobby has been a love for horses : few are better judges than he of a fine animal, and at a glance he detects weak points or good qualities that might remain un- noticed by a less careful observer.

For a time after 1897 Rev. Mr. Jacob had charge of the Episcopal Church at San Pedro and his wife assisted as superintendent of the Sunday-school and leader of the choir. In ad- dition he founded a mission at Terminal Island and established the cause at Long Beach, whose substantial edifice of the present day is the result of the pioneer work rendered by Mr. Jacob some years ago. Indeed, too much praise cannot be given Mr. Jacob for his serv- ices in behalf of his church. All through Southern California his name is known and honored among the members of the Episcopal Church. and there are many who will testify that the present standing of the church in this region is largely due to his unremitting, self- sacrificing and judicious labors at a time when such work was most needed. Active as in the past, he now ministers to the congregations at Carlsbad, Merle and San Luis Rey, making his home in South Oceanside.

HIRAM MUSSELMAN. Among the intel- ligent and prosperous agriculturists of Compton is Hiram Musselman, widely and favorably known throughout this section of Los Angeles county as an upright, honest man, of sterling worth, and a worthy representative of the earlier settlers of this vicinity. He was born, Angust 27, 1832, in Pennsylvania, where he was reared and educated, attending first the common schools,

E. M. Lease

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and afterwards taking a part of a college course of study. His parents, Elias and Susan (Mes- senger) Musselman, were both born in Pennsyl- vania, and both died in Illinois, the father in 1859, and the mother in 1862. They were peo- ple of high moral standing, and consistent mem- bers of the Lutheran Church.

In his earlier life Hiram Musselman engaged in agricultural pursuits in his native state, meet- ing with success in his labors. Going from there to Chicago, Ill., he engaged in the furniture bus- iness for a few years, and then moved to Fair- field, Kans., where he changed his occupation, becoming a stock raiser and dealer. Coming to Compton, Cal., in the fall of 1883, he purchased a ranch of ten acres, and at once began its im- provement. He devotes a part of his land to the raising of alfalfa a part to the raising of fruit of different kinds, and in addition he makes a specialty of. raising chickens, as a poultry farmer being quite successful.

In Chicago, Ill., in 1864, Mr. Musselman mar- ried Julia Wheeler, who was born in Wiscon- sin, a daughter of Silas P. and Julia A. Wheeler, the former dying in New York, and the latter in Wisconsin. Mrs. Musselman died on the home ranch, in Compton, Cal., in 1891, leaving three children, namely: Charles W., living at home; Amy, wife of Robert Harper, and living near Downey, Los Angeles county; and Carrie E., living at home. Politically Mr. Musselman is identified with the Republican party, and re- ligiously he is a Congregationalist.

EDMUND MORRIS PEASE, M. D. In 1634, six years after the founding of Salem, there came to this young settlement among other immigrants of Puritan temper, a certain John Pease. He was the first of his family in the new world, and eight generations have been marked by his courageous faith, unswerv- ing loyalty to truth and devotion to God, qualities which peculiarly ' characterized Dr. Edmund Morris Pease in his life of service to God and men.

Descended from the John Pease of Salem through the following line of descent are: Tohn, David, Benjamin, Job, Job, Asa. Asa and Edmund Morris. Dr. Pease was born in Gran- by, Hampshire county, Mass., December 6, 1828. After studying in the common schools of that place he went to Williston Seminary, in East Hampton, to prepare for higher train- ing. This he later took in Amherst College, from which he graduated with the degree of A. B., in 1854. Three years later the degree of A. M., was conferred upon him by his Alma Mater. After graduation he became a teacher, first instructing for a period of two years in

a boys' school in Baltimore, and then serving as tutor for one year in Amherst. He gave up teaching however in order to prepare him- self for the medical profession, with a view to becoming a medical missionary, and in 1862 he graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. At this same time he pursued a course at the Union Theological Seminary, from which he also graduated.

No sooner had Dr. Pease finished his train- ing than came the call for volunteers in the Civil war, and he immediately offered his services. He was appointed assistant surgeon in the Sixteenth Connecticut Regiment. One year later, October 27, 1863. he was given the position of surgeon, with the rank of Major, in the famous regiment known as the Ninth United States Colored Troops. His regiment was assigned to the Army of the Potomac, and was the first to enter Rich- mond when that city was taken. When peace had been declared, he was sent to Texas and was chief medical officer of the Department of the Rio Grande. Later he was ordered to Louisiana, where he remained until the latter part of 1866, when he was honorably dis- charged at Baltimore.

Dr. Pease then entered upon professional life and practiced medicine for five years in New York, and for six in Springfield, Mass. In the latter place he met Miss Harriet A. Sturtevant, a native of Westport, Essex coun- ty, N. Y., to whom he was married in Borden- town, N. J., April 25, 1877.

In early life having decided to devote his energies to the cause of missions, Dr. Pease went immediately after his marriage to the Marshall Islands as a medical missionary. He located on Ehon, where a church and school had already been established by former missionaries. After two vears of labor he transferred the school to Kusari, one of the Caroline Islands, and made it an effective training school for native workers. During Dr. Pease' eighteen years of service as teacher, preacher and medical missionary twelve churches were added to an original three, ten native pastors were ordained to the ministry, and thirteen unordained native teachers were installed in the Islands. After having acquired a mastery of the language, which by the way, is totally different from the Polynesian. Dr. Pease began immediately to translate the New Testament and revise the Gospels and Acts already in the native tongue. As the result of his untiring labors his translation of the New Testament and the Psalms has been in use for several years. He also compiled a dic- tionary of the language and some educational

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books and added many songs to the hymn and tune book already in the Marshall Island dia- lect.

While in the Islands two children were born to Dr. and Mrs. Pease, Edmund Morris, Jr., and Francis Sturtevant. In order to edu- cate his sons Dr. Pease came with his fam- ily in 1894 to the United States. After spend- ing several months in the East, he located near Pomona College, in Claremont, Cal., where he lived until his death.

During his residence in Claremont Dr. Pease identified himself with all the best interests of the town, aiding in every way the upbuild- ing of the college, community and church. He was a Mason and was also identified with the Grand Army of the Republic. Although far from the scene of his missionary labors, Dr. Pease spent the last twelve years of his life translating the Old Testament into the Mar- shall Island language. It was his desire that the entire Bible should be in the hands of the natives, and this wish of his heart would have been fulfilled had he been spared for an additional year of labor. At the age of seventy-eight, while still vigorous in mind and body, Dr. Pease was seized with the sud- den illness which caused his death. On No- vember 28, 1906, he passed away at his home in Claremont. A man of heroic mold, fearless and devoted to God's service, Dr. Pease ranks as one of the great men of the missionary world.

ELI JACKSON YOKAM. The fifth of a family of nine children of George and Sarah (Wilson) Yokam, Eli J. Yokam was born in Knox county, Ohio, December 25, 1835. Three years later the family moved to Franklin county where the boy grew up to manhood on his father's farm. His early school advantages were limited to a few months each year in the old log schoolhouse, with slab benches. His two older brothers having enlisted in the war with Mexico, he became the mainstay on the farm, and at seventeen years of age had charge of the two hundred and twenty-acre farm. Supplementing his meager school opportunities with study at home he fitted himself for teaching, and taught a number of terms. On attaining his majority he rented land of his father, which he tilled on shares and spent the proceeds in obtaining an education. After graduating from Duff's Com- mercial College at Columbus he spent two years in Antioch College, and in the Ohio Weslyan University.

Soon after quitting school Mr. Yokam rather accidentally embarked in the newspaper busi- ness as joint proprietor and editor of

Westerville Banner, Westerville, the seat of Otterbein University, is a good type of col- lege town. Determining to master the details of the business the new partner by the end of the first year had charge of the job department, and had formed the habit of setting up at the printer's case much of his local and editorial matter with- out committing it to writing. After over four years of successful management, during three years of which he was sole proprietor and edi- tor, Mr. Yokam sold the paper and plant, and im- mediately entered the employ of the publishers of the Ohio Statesman, the time-honored Dem- ocratic journal at the state capital, in charge of its advertising business. Fifteen months later he accepted a flattering offer from the publishers of the Columbus Dispatch, a wide-awake young daily, owned by J. H. Putman, private secretary to the governor, and Dr. Doren, founder and su- perintendent of the state institution for the feeble-minded. During his connection with the Dispatch he served in the several capacities of bookkeeper, advertising man and local writer.

Upon a change of ownership of the Dispatch Mr. Yokam resigned his position and purchased the Columbus Sunday Herald. The Herald had been founded some three years before by Gen. Thomas Ewing for his son "Thom," who had strong journalistic aspirations, but the young proprietor had failed to place it on a self-support- ing basis. Taking editorial and business charge Mr. Yokam enlarged the paper to a thirty-six column folio, the largest published in the city, and arranged to send it out on the Sunday morn- ing trains and have it delivered by special car- riers in the towns forty miles out from the city. The circulation and business rapidly increased several hundred per cent, every issue showing a large net profit. The double duties assumed in- volved active labor sixteen hours a day on an average. At the end of two years of this stren- uous life, yielding to the importunities of would- be purchasers. Mr. Yokam sold the Herald in 1876 for several times the purchase price, and engaged in other lines of business.

The following year Mr. Yokam went to Illi- nois, and in 1880 he, in connection with others, published a history of Peoria county, a quarto volume of nine hundred pages, he being the lit- erarv editor. In 1882 he purchased an interest in the Springfield Evening Post, an infantile journal in its swadling clothes, and took editorial charge. The Post had three old-established dailies as competitors in a city of twenty-five thousand, and while it reached a daily circula- tion of nearly two thousand copies (second largest in the city)', it could not obtain the Asso- ciated Press franchise; and failing to reach a paying basis Mr. Yokam severed his connection with it. He soon after took the position of

Abbatfield

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general agent for a large New York publishing house, with headquarters in Chicago. At the end of three years of successful business he re- signed, leaving the city May I, 1888, for Cali- fornia under a two-year contract with a history publishing firm of that city to engage in historical work. Before the expiration of that engagement he purchased the land in Highland which he transformed from a rough barley field into a fine orange grove and handsome home which he and his amiable wife now occupy.

At the time of Morgan's raid in Ohio during the Civil war, Mr. Yokam, being a member of a militia company, was called out for a brief cam- paign as a member of the One Hundred Thirty- third Regiment of Ohio National Guard, unhitch- ing from the mowing machine to obey the sum- mons of Colonel Innes.

Since settling in Highland Mr. Yokam has taken an active interest in matters of local public concern. He was three times elected president of the Highland Horticultural Club. He was the originator of the Highland Orange Growers' Association, which was organized in his resi- dence, and has served in the capacity of direc- tor, secretary, vice-president and president of that organization. He is serving his second year as president of the Highland Library Club, and his fourth year as president of the San Bernar- dino County Ohio Society. Though chiefly oc- cupied in cultivating his fine orange and lemon grove, Mr. Yokam has contributed an occasional article for the public press upon historical and other subjects of general interest, and has writ- ten numerous papers on various topics to be read before public gatherings.

Mr. Yokam was first united in marriage with Miss Lucretia J. Hyde, October 16, 1861. On the 28th of January, 1870, she passed away, leaving two children, Frank W. and Harriet L., both still living. September 27, 1882, he married Mrs. Frances E. Loring, who is still the chief factor in his happy home life.

ABRAHAM HATFIELD. Noteworthy among the representative pioneers of Ramona and its vicinity is Abraham Hatfield, who holds a well-deserved position among the sturdy, en- ergetic and successful agriculturists who thor- oughly understand the vocation which they fol- low, and are enabled to carry it on with pleasure and profit. He is a native of Missouri, and was born July 6, 1840. His father, Charles Hatfield, born in Kentucky, married Catherine Dale, a native of Virginia, and subsequently moved to Missouri, taking up land from the government, and from the unbroken forest clearing and im- proving a homestead. There he and his faith- ful helpmate spent their remaining days, both

dying in the prime of life, the father passing away at the age of forty-seven years, and the mother when forty-three years old. They were people of Christian character and worth, and faithful members of the Baptist Church.

One of a family of nine children, Abraham Hatfield, in common with his brothers and sis- ters, was brought up on the home farm, obtain- ing a limited education. Soon after the break- ing out of the Civil war he enlisted in Company A, Sixteenth Texas Cavalry, in which he served three and one-half years, when he was cap- tured, and took the oath of allegiance. Going to Montana in 1865, he was for a number of years successfully engaged in placer mining. In 1870 he came to Southern California, and after living for a short time in the old city of San Diego settled as a farmer near Julian, buying three hundred and twenty acres of land, on which he put a number of improvements. Disposing of that ranch he took up a government claim of one hundred and sixty acres, and by dint of per- severing labor and good management has since improved the valuable farm on which he now resides. He has erected a substantial set of farm buildings, set out fruit trees and planted a vineyard, and as a general farmer is exceedingly prosperous, his specialty being the raising of grain and stock. He is also interested in gold and gem mines in San Diego county.

December 7, 1876, Mr. Hatfield married Sarah M. Casner, who was born in Alabama Septem- ber 13, 1837, and they are the parents of two children. Margaret Irene and Charles M., both of whom are at home. Politically Mr. Hatfield is not affiliated with any party, but votes accord- ing to the dictates of his conscience, casting his ballot for the men best qualified in his judgment to serve the interests of the people. Religiously he is a valued member of the Baptist Church.

WALTER CARTER. One of the many capable and industrious agriculturists of Los Angeles county is Walter Carter, who is pros- perously engaged in his free and independent occupation in Wiseburn. His ranch is pleasantly located, and with its comfortable and convenient set of buildings, and their neat and tasteful sur- roundings, invariably attracts the attention of the passer by. A son of George C. Carter, he was born, January 20, 1864, in Virginia, but was reared and educated in Missouri.

A native of old Virginia, George C. Carter removed to Missouri in the early '70s, having previously served as a soldier in the Mexican war. When the Civil war broke out he was made captain of a company and served under General Price in Missouri. He took an active part in several engagements, and received two

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flesh wounds while in battle, one bullet striking him in the right shoulder, and another striking the right arm and practically paralyzing it. Re- turning to Virginia at the close of the war, he established a tobacco factory, but not succeeding particularly well in operating it, he sold out. Going then to Missouri, he bought land and im- proved a good farm, which he managed as long as he was able, and on which he is now living, retired from active pursuits. He married Mary E. Henry, who died in 1870. She was a true helpmeet to him, and a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She bore him seven children, three of whom are still living.

Brought up on the home farm, Walter Carter was educated in the public schools of Troy, Mo. At the age of eighteen years he began the battle of life on his own account. Starting westward, he came to the Pacific coast, and at Los Angeles secured work as a fireman on the Southern Pa- cific Railroad, subsequently being promoted to the position of engineer. Leaving the railway, he was for awhile engaged in freighting on the desert, driving a mule team. Locating then at Hyde Park, Los Angeles county, he worked awhile for Captain Clark, and then went to Del Rey, where he took charge of the dredger, oper- ating it until the company gave up work. De- sirous of settling permanently, he came then to Los Angeles county, and in the Wiseburn dis- trict rented land and embarked in agricultural pursuits. Encouraged by his good success, he subsequently purchased land, buying one ranch of three hundred and sixty acres, and another containing sixty-seven acres, on which he has his house and buildings. His improvements are of a substantial character, and as a farmer he is exceedingly prosperous. He has also other interests connected with mining, and in this busi- ness reaps quite an income.

Mr. and Mrs. Carter are the parents of two children, Le Roy and Sylvia. Politically Mr. Carter is identified with the Democratic party.

BEN E. PATCHETT is a native son, his birth having occurred near San Miguel, Cal .. October 15, 1871, one of the four children com- prising the parental family. His parents were among the early pioneers of the state, the father, John A. Patchett, having crossed the plains in an emigrant party in 1860, and his mother, who was Amanda Carpenter before her marriage, having come to California by the isthmus in the same year. Both were natives of the state of Iowa. The mother resides at Pismo, while the father died in 1903. at the age of sixty-two vears. 'During his lifetime he was a strong ad- herent of the Republican party.

The carly education of Mr. Patchett was re-

ceived in the public schools of San Luis Obispo county and was supplemented by a commercial course at Heald's Business College of San Fran- cisco. He began his independent business career in the San Joaquin valley, where he engaged in the stock business for seven years and soon ac- quired valuable property. In 1903 he removed to Arroyo Grande, where he is now residing, and owns one of the finest and best improved ranch- es in this section of the state, comprising four hundred and sixty acres of ground, three hun- dred and fifty of which are devoted to the grow- ing of crops, the rest being pasture land. His beans yield a large harvest of sixteen sacks per acre, conclusively proving the fertility of the soil. The Logan Oil Company well is also lo- cated on this farm. In politics Mr. Patchett is a strong Republican and earnest supporter of the tenets advocated in the platform of that party, and he takes an active interest in the busi- ness, social, political and religious life of the community. He was married in 1897 to Miss Sarah Bower, a native of Iowa, and to them have been born three children: Edwin, Ernest and Stewart.

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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 II, Part 12

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company Number of Pages: 1234

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1234