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 149

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

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When he was a lad making his home at Bonneterre, Mo., Mr. Griffin formed the ac- quaintance of Miss Abby Smith, who was born and reared in that old French town. In estab- lishing domestic ties he chose her as his wife. and they have worked their way together in Southern California, until now they enjoy a deserved prosperity and a large circle of warm friends. To their only child, Ural, they have given excellent educational advantages in the schools of Southern California. 'The family

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

attend the Methodist Episcopal Church and are contributors to religious and philanthropic movements. The only fraternal organization to which Mr. Griffin has given allegiance is the Independent Order of Foresters, in which he has been an active member for some years.

URBAN AMASA TYLER. From the com- mencement of his independent business career Urban Amasa Tyler has preferred the occupa- tion of farmer and has been engaged in the cul- tivation of various crops since completing his education. He is a native son of California, hav- ing been born March 6, 1872, in San Bernardino, the son of Uriah Urban and Rachael ( Moore) Tyler. The father was one of Southern Cali- fornia's earliest pioneers, and as such became an important factor in the progress and upbuild- ing of his locality. In his .sketch, given else- where in this locality, more details concerning his useful life will be found. After complet- ing his studies in the public schools Urban A. Tyler took a course at San Bernardino Academy, conducted by D. B. Sturgess, and when his studies were finished immediately began his oc- cupation as a ranchman. In 1902 he purchased ten acres upon which he built a house and placed other improvements, setting out five acres to va- rious kinds of small fruits and devoting the re- mainder to the growing of barley for his own 11se.

The marriage of Mr. Tyler, February 1, 1899, united him with Miss Rose A. Alvarado, a daughter of Ignatius and Sarah A. (White) Alvarado, and they have become the parents of three children : Clarice, Elmira and Eunice. Mr. Tyler is a member of Arrowhead Parlor, No. IIO, N. S. G. W., in which society he has held several offices. While he had no taste for poli- tics he intelligently and faithfully fulfills his duties as a citizen and takes an active interest in all elevating and upbuilding enterprises insti- tuted for the benefit of his community.

WILLIAM P. WILLIAMSON. The fact that Mr. Williamson came to California eight seasons before finally taking up his residence here marks him as a careful, thoughtful man, and the fact that after all of these investigations he finally selected Pomona as the one place of all others where conditions and climate are most harmoni- ously combined is at once a compliment to the town. After a life of many busy and useful years as a tiller of the soil in Iowa he came to Pomona in 1900, and has since lived retired, en- joying a well-earned respite after many years of labor and responsibility.

A native of the Emerald Isle, William P.

Williamson was born in County Derry, Septem- ber 8, 1837, one of six sons born to his parents, James and Margaret (Peyton) Williamson, they, too, being natives of Ireland. The father was a stanch Presbyterian and in defending his faith was often involved in the religious disturbances which were frequent occurrences in Ireland dur- ing his day. During one of the Catholic massa- cres he was taken prisoner and placed in Lon- donderry jail, and during his incarceration there suffered untold hardships, being compelled to live on rats in preference to death by starvation .. He died at the age of sixty years, and his wife when seventy. Three of their sons are still living, and of those who came to the United States one is in Pomona, Cal., one in Iowa, and the other returned to Ireland on a visit and died there. William P. received a common-school education in his native country, and at the age of fourteen came to the United States and settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, where without difficulty he secured employment in the rolling mills, receiv- ing a man's wages from the beginning. At the end of two years he left Ohio and located in Illinois not far from Chicago, where for about four years he worked as a farm hand. There- after he spent about five months in Minnesota, then in the throes of an Indian uprising, and among others he assisted in driving the foe from the white settlements.

Subsequently returning to Illinois, Mr. Wil- liamson about this time (in 1857, when he was twenty years old) formed domestic ties by his marriage with Miss Margaret Williamson, who was born in County Antrim, Ireland, April 20, 1838, a daughter of John and Martha (McClen- nen) Williamson. John Williamson was a prac- ticing physician in the old country, a profession which he relinquished in 1847 to come to the United States. In Will county, Illinois, where the family settled, the mother died at the age of fifty-eight years, and thereafter the father re- moved to Tama county, Iowa, there living to at- tain the remarkable age of ninety-four years. His family comprised one son and six daughters, and of these three daughters are now living, one in California (Mrs. W. P. Williamson), one in Illinois, and one in Indiana. As Mrs. William- son was only nine years of age at the time of her removal to the United States, she has little knowledge of her native country, and in fact the greater part of her life has been spent in the middle west. Reared and educated in Will county, Illinois, after their marriage she remained in the same county for about six years, Mr. Wil- liamson then removing to Tama county, Iowa. Purchasing a farm of four hundred and forty- two acres, he settled down to life in that locality, and for thirty-five years raised successful crops, not one failure marring the record. In addition

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to raising grain he was equally successful as a hog and cattle raiser, and was rightfully classed among the most successful and thrifty farmers of that state. He erected two residences on the farm and a complement of outbuildings adequate for the needs of his business. He still owns his Iowa property, although for the past six years, or since locating in California, it has been under the care of a tenant.

Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Williamson, but only one is now living. James Hugh, the first born, died at the age of two years and seven months; Lillie B. is the wife of Dr. G. W. Forester, a physician of Pomona, and they have three children living; Maggie May became the wife of Augustus Schroder, and at her death, which occurred in Pomona, Septem- ber 25, 1905, at the age of thirty-nine years, she left one child. The family are communicants of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Pomona, of which Mr. Williamson and his wife are members, and in their daily living exemplify the teachings of their religious belief. In his political leanings Mr. Williamson is a Republican, casting his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, and it was on the ticket of his chosen party that he was elected town councilman of Elberon, Iowa. The key- note of Mr. Williamson's success is without doubt due to the high principles of honor which have entered into every transaction, to the end that his life has been upright and honorable, and in the evening of his days he can look over the past without remorse and forward to the future without fear.

EMMO C. BICHOWSKY. Since coming to Pomona in 1899 Mr. Bichowsky has demon- strated the possession of qualities which make for good citizenship, and as an enterprising, wide-awake business man he has won a name and place for himself in the commercial world which is worthy of his efforts. Among the various en- terprises with which his name is associated are the Pomona Implement Company, of which he is president, and the Pomona Valley Hospital.

Mr. Bichowsky was born February 29, 1856, in Terre Haute, Ind., where his father, Francis, a native of Berlin, Germany, had settled upon his emigration to the new world in 1849. For thirty-five years he was associated with the busi- ness life of that city as a merchant, and his death in 1906 was deplored as a public loss. His wife, Mathilde Gust, was also a native of Germany, born in Frankfort-on-the-Oder, Prus- sia. Emmo C. Bichowsky was their only son who grew to manhood, and he was given a good education in the common and high schools of his native city, graduating from the latter with honors when seventeen years of age. His ambi-

tious spirit would not permit him to be content in idleness, and although the circumstances of his parents were such as to admit of a short respite after his arduous school life, he neverthe- less sought occupation at once. His first posi- tion was as cashier for the firm of Hulman & Co., of Terre Haute, later accepting the position of teller in the bank of McKeen & Co., of the same city. During the nine years he remained with the latter employers he was advanced stead- ily until at the time of his resignation, in 1885, he had been filling the office of assistant cashier for some time.

The year which witnessed the close of his business connections in Indiana was the begin- ning of a new career in the Golden State, and one with which he has every reason to feel proud. He first located in San Gabriel, Los Angeles county, and for a time he was employed as deputy in the county tax collector's office at Los An- geles. In the fall of 1886 he became associated with L. J. Rose & Co., owners of the largest winery on the coast, the products of Sunny Slope, at the vineyard was called being sent to all parts of the country. For about eleven years Mr. Bichowsky was manager of this large for- eign corporation, and upon resigning his position in August of 1897 he went to Santa Monica, re- maining there two years, in the meantime asso- ciating himself with the California Green and Dried Fruit Company at Los Angeles as man- ager. Believing that a larger opening awaited him in Pomona, he gave up the latter position in 1899 and the same year came here, in August buying out the implement business of Philip Stein & Co. With this as a nucleus he organized a new company which was incorporated as the Pomona Implement Company, with himself as president. From the first the business has had a steady growth which has been gratifying in the extreme, and he now occupies the whole of the Brady building as well as the annex, which in- cludes two stores and a floor space 105x971/2 feet. In addition to implements of all kinds and makes he also carries a complete stock of the goods manufactured by the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company. Another enterprise with which Mr. Bichowsky is associated is the Pomona Valley Hospital, of which he is presi- dent. It has been in active operation since De- cember of 1904, and is conceded to be one of the finest small hospitals in this part of the state. He is also vice-president and a director of the San Gabriel Cemetery Association. During the time he had charge of the Sunny Slope ranch in the San Gabriel valley he purchased an orange ranch of twenty-four acres and he still owns this property.

In Boston, Mass., Mr. Bichowsky was married to Miss Ella Mason, a native of that state, and

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four children have been born of their marriage: Carl (deceased), Foord, Francis and James. In their religious affiliations the family are Uni- tarians and in the church of that denomination at Pomona Mr. Bichowsky is a trustee and is chairman of the finance committee. Politically he is a Republican, and fraternally he is a char- ter member of Pomona Lodge No. 789, B. P: O. E. Enterprising and successful, he has not been content with gaining prosperity for him- self, but has taken an active part in plans for the upbuilding of his community, and in 1900 was one of the organizers of the Board of Trade, of which for three successive years he has been president.

WILLIAM HALE MUNROE. As one of the leading contracting painters and decorators of San Pedro, William Hale · Munroe is conduct- ing a successful and well-established business, which occupies an important place among the various industries of this thriving city. A man of strictly honest principles, with a fine record as a soldier in the Civil war, he stands high in the estimation of the community in which he re- sides, and is looked upon as a useful and hon- orable citizen. A native of New England, he was born April 19, 1840, in Bristol, R. I., where his parents, Caleb and Lemira (Luther) Mun- roe, spent their entire lives. The father, a farmer by occupation, was of Scotch-Irish an- cestry, while his mother was of English descent. Grandfather Munroe served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war.

The youngest of a family of eleven children, William H. Munroe was brought up on the home farm and educated in the common schools of Bristol. At the age of seventeen years he began learning the trade of painter in Fall River, Mass .. where he was employed until after the breaking out of the Civil war. Enlisting, in June, 1862, in Company D, Third Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, he was in camp at Read- ville, Mass., for a year, and then, with' Burn- side's expedition, was sent to North Carolina, where he took part in the battles at Roanoke Island and Newbern. Returning home at the expiration of his term of enlistment, he at once re-enlisted, becoming a member of Company D, Sixtieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and was for a short time stationed in Maryland. He was subsequently promoted to the rank of sec- ond lieutenant, and with his regiment was sent to Indianapolis to guard prisoners. At the close of the war, after serving five months with his company. he was honorably discharged, and then returned home.

Settling in New England, Mr. Munroe fol- lowed his trade either in Massachusetts or

Rhode Island for a number of years. Desiring a change; he went to Yankton, S. Dak., in 1876, and was there engaged in painting and contract- ing for a while. Removing from there to Hutch- inson county, S. Dak., he bought a large tract of land, and for a number of years was pros- perously employed in agricultural pursuits. Sell- ing out in 1894, he went to Salt Lake City, where he followed his trade of painter and con- tractor for seven years. Coming to California in 1901, he located in San Pedro, purchasing a residence at No. 1325 Center street, and has since built up a substantial business as a con- tractor in painting and decorating, his artistic and durable work being appreciated by his pa- trons.

Mr. Munroe has been twice married, his first marriage, in Somerset, Mass., uniting him with Augusta Brooks, a native of Vermont. She died in Yankton, S. Dak., leaving one child, William F., now engaged in business at Trinidad, Colo. In Yankton, S. Dak., Mr. Munroe married Mrs. Calista (Kelly) Bartlett, who was born of Scotch-Irish and English ancestry and reared in Ohio. By her first marriage she has five chil- dren, one son, Van Velsor Bartlett, being a resi- dent of Santa Rosa. Politically Mr. Munroe is a loyal adherent of the Republican party, and while a resident of Yankton served as auditor of Yankton county. While there he organized Phil Kearney Post No. 7, G. A. R., which he served as commander, and he is now a member of Harbor City Post No. 108, G. A. R. He is likewise a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent, Protective Order of Elks.

Since writing the above Mr. Munroe has dis- posed of his holdings in San Pedro and intends to locate in Santa Rosa, Sonoma county.

MARSHALL POSEY SULLENGER. A pioneer ranchman of San Bernardino county is Marshall Posey Sullenger, a native of McLeans- boro, Hamilton county, Ill., born October 7, 1845. His father, Alexander T. Sullenger, a native of Kentucky, in addition to following farming, also dealt in marble for many years. He lived to reach the ripe old age of ninety-one years and passed away in 1893. The wife and mother, who was born in Fairfax county, Va., died at the early age of thirty years. The edu- cation of M. P. Sullenger was gleaned in the district schools of Illinois, and even that priv- ilege was not secured without great effort, for schools were few and far between at that time, the lad being obliged to walk four miles to the schoolhouse. Until the breaking out of the Civil war in 1861 his life was spent on the farm, but on August 12 of that year he enlisted in Com-

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pany A, Fortieth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under command of Col. S. G. Hicks. He served faithfully until the end of his term of enlist- ment in 1864, when his company and regiment re-enlisted as a body, retaining their old organ- ization, and Mr. Sullenger continued in the serv- ice until the close of the war, receiving an hon- orable discharge in June, 1865. He participated in a number of important battles, including Shi- lol, Corinth, Holly Springs, Vicksburg, Jack- sonville, as well as in many minor engagements. He was with Sherman on his famous march to the sea, at that time being under marching or- ders and in the firing line for one hundred and twelve days in succession.

At the close of the war Mr. Sullenger returned to his home in Hamilton county, Ill., and en- gaged in agricultural pursuits for a number of years. Removing to California in 1883, he pur- chased a ranch of two hundred and twenty acres, which he has brought to a high state of devel- opment, and is now growing thereon hay and grain crops. He is also the owner of a fine res- idence in the city of San Bernardino. In 1892 occurred his marriage to Miss Eliza M. Snider of San Bernardino, who was born in Ohio and for twenty years was an educator in the schools of Illinois, Pennsylvania and in San Bernardino. Mr. Sullenger is a member of Cornman Post No. 57, G. A. R., and politically is a stanch believ- er in the principles advocated in the platform of the Republican party. He is a man who is deeply concerned in all matters of social and civic interest and is highly respected by all who know him.

JOHN BLODGETT. The proprietor of the City Stables, John Blodgett is one of the old set- tlers of Redlands and one of the important fac- tors in the upbuilding of the business interests of the place. He is a native of Fulton county, Ind., his birth having occurred in that location September 16, 1856; his paternal grandfather, Morris, was a native of New England who be- came a farmer in Ohio, later in Indiana, and fin- ally came to California and after some years spent in San Jacinto located in Tehama county where his death eventually occurred, at the age of eighty-eight years, his wife having died at the age of eighty-four. His father, George W. Blodgett, was born in Ohio and in young man- hood became a farmer in Indiana. The pioneer spirit was strong upon him and the further at- tractions of the discovery of gold in the west im- pelled him to come as far west as Pike's Peak in 1859. Later he went to Montana and from that point he was drawn to Virginia City at the time of the gold discovery at that place. He sent his family east during the time spent in Vir-

ginia City, and the following year he returned to Indiana by mule-teams, but immediately after- ward brought his family to Montana traveling in a train of one hundred and fifty wagons. This was at the time of the Sioux, Cheyenne and Ar- apahoe outbreak, but the journey was made in safety because of the large train, in which were three hundred armed men. They made the trip by way of the Bozeman cut-off, the Big Horn and Yellowstone Park, at Bozeman, crossing the Yel- lowstone river, where a son, Bruce, was drowned. They located in the vicinity of Virginia City where the father had taken up a large hay ranch, and there he built a hotel and conducted a stage through Madison valley to Virginia City, a dis- tance of about twelve miles. After one year he discontinued these efforts and moved to Raders- burg, Mont., thence came overland to Utah, where he engaged as a large contractor for the Union Pacific Railroad Company. He was living at Corinne at the time of the completion of the railroad, shortly after which he removed to Col- orado and on the Divide engaged in the cattle business. While thus occupied he located at Colorado Springs and built one of the first dwell- ings in that city, which property he sold in 1871, and in July of that year came to California and in the San Jacinto valley engaged in general farming, the raising of alfalfa and the manage- ment of a large dairy. Their trading point was first at San Bernardino and later at Glendale. It was here that his wife, formerly Letitia Mc- clure, a native of Indiana, passed away. Mr. Blodgett passed his last days with his son in Red- lands, where his death occurred in 1903 at the age of eighty-four years. They were the parents of four sons and two daughters, of whom one son is deceased.

Frontier life has always been the part of John Blodgett, for from Indiana the family removed to various places in the west, and it was because of this that he early learned the management of horses and also his judgment regarding their possibilities. His actual knowledge of booklore is scant, because of an injury received in child- hood which compelled him to seek an outdoor life. But in this he acquired what has been of more service to him than the best school training, for with added years has come the knowledge he could not then learn and in the meantime experi- ence had fitted him for a proper understanding and use of it. When a mere lad he received $150 a month for herding stage horses, and also rode race horses for Hank Brown. He was present at the ceremony of the driving of the golden spike in 1869, and witnessed much of the growth and development of the west before and after that important event. He engaged with his father in the cattle business in Colorado, Utah and Mon- tana, and followed his parents to California in

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1871. From the San Jacinto valley he was accus- tomed to drive stock to Utah and the Panhandle in Texas. He took up a homestead near San Jacinto at the head of the valley and there im- proved a ranch, and in the meantime took a trip back to Colorado and bought cattle at Durango, and while there was married to Minnie Jacobs, a native of Ohio. He engaged in the cattle busi- ness in that section of Colorado, where he still owns cattle. Later he started a horse ranch in Arizona on the Verde and still has animals there. Returning to San Jacinto he again engaged in the stock business until 1900, when he located in Redlands and here engaged in dealing in horses, his reputation as a correct judge of equine flesh extending throughout the country. In June, 1906, he purchased the business of the City Liv- ery and has since continued the business at No. 123 State street, where he has fine vehicles of every description. Mr. Blodgett had the honor of driving Helen Hunt Jackson through the Hemet valley to the ranch owned by Charles Thomas, at the time she was gathering material for her famous novel "Ramona."

Mr. and Mrs. Blodgett are the parents of four living children, three, Stella, Vivian and May, having died in Fresno; those living are Arthur, Frank, Gladys and Grace, the two sons being en- gaged with their father in business. Mrs. Blod- gett is a member of the Baptist Church, whose charities are liberally supported by the family. Mr. Blodgett is a Democrat politically and was elected through these interests to the position of road overseer of the San Jacinto district, which duties he discharged with efficiency for six years.

MATHEAS BLUMEARE. One of the most extensive ranchmen in the Moreno valley is Matheas Blumeare who is farming three thou- sand acres of land to barley and wheat and in harvesting his crops uses a thirty-two horsepower combined harvester. He was born in Alsace Lor- raine, France, June 16, 1847, being the son of John and Susan Blumeare, both natives of the same country. The father was occupied as a farmer during his lifetime, his death occurring in Algeria, Africa, in 1863, at the age of forty- seven years, his wife also dying there at the same age and in the same year. Matheas Blumeare re- ceived a good education in the French and Ger- man languages and after the completion of his studies took up the occupation of farming in his native country. In 1889 he emigrated to Amer- ica and locating in Los Angeles county engaged in farming and dairying. Continuing in business at that point for one year he next when to Fuller- ton for two years and in 1893 came to the Moreno valley which has since been his home.

In 1897 Mr. Blumeare was married to Angela

(Becker) Blumeare, a native of France, and who was in that country in 1878 wedded to Peter Blumeare, a brother of her present husband, the three coming to this country at the same time and the death of the brother occurring in this place in 1897 at the age of forty-two years. Mr and Mrs. Blumeare are devout members of the Catholic Church in San Jacinto. They are enter- prising and progressive people, anxious to keep pace with present day methods and are held in the highest esteem by all who know them.

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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 149

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