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 160

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

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Returning to Michigan, Mr. Hall resumed the work of teaching school in St. Joseph, and dur- ing the summer vacations was employed on the lake as a shipping clerk. During 1868 he went again to Denver and secured the principalship of a school nine miles from the city. While acting in that capacity, in the fall of 1869. he married Rebecca A. Chapman, whose mother is still liv- ing in Downey. During 1870 he removed to Washington and for four years was in the em- plov of the government as teacher in the Quini- ault Indian Reservation, one hundred and fifty miles from Olympia. In this work he had the capable assistance of his wife. At the end of

this time, in 1874, he came to California and purchased his present ranch of forty-five acres near Downey. Since then he has made a spe- cialty of stock-raising and now has sixteen head of cattle on his farm. Mr. and Mrs. Hall are the parents of three children, namely: Alice, who married William D. Mansfield; Catherine, wife of Edward Mather, who is a jeweler by occupation; and Edwin R., who is connected with a boat at San Pedro. In politics Mr. Hall has always been an ardent Republican. For ten years he has officiated as trustee and clerk of the schools, and besides he has filled the positions of deputy assessor and secretary of the water com- pany. Fraternally he has been a member of the Independent Order of Foresters for a long period. The possessor of a tenor voice of rare strength and sustaining power, he has aided in the choir work of the Presbyterian Church and in concerts the value of his services as a singer has often been of especial importance in secur- ing success for the venture.

CHARLES F. GREENMAN. Noteworthy among the active business men of Burbank is Charles F. Greenman, one of the leading real- estate dealers, and a citizen of influence and worth. A native of New York state, he was born, June 11, 1845, in Fulton county, where he lived until sixteen years old. Removing to Wis- consin in 1861, he was there engaged in agri- cultural pursuits for a number of seasons. In 1864, before attaining his majority, he enlisted in Company A, Twenty-third Wisconsin Volun- teer Infantry, as a private, and subsequently par- ticipated in several important engagements of the war, being with Grant at the siege of Vicks- burg, taking part in the Red River and Mobile expeditions, and in other notable events of the conflict. August 18, 1865, he was honorably dis- charged from the service, after which he re- turned to his Wisconsin home. Going to Minne- sota in 1867, he was there engaged in farming for five years, when, in 1872, he migrated to Iowa, where he resided for twenty-four years. A part of this time he there followed general farming, after which he worked at the carpen- ter's trade for fifteen years, and then ran a res- taurant for eight years, being quite successful in all of his operations.

Coming to Southern California in 1895, Mr. Greenman purchased a vineyard in Antelope val- ley. Taking up a part of the vines, he set out small fruits, and was there engaged in horticul- tural pursuits for two years. Removing then to Burbank, he purchased an unimproved ranch lying three-fourths of a mile west of the village, and immediately began its cultivation, during the two years that he occupied it raising alfalfa.

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Later purchasing a restaurant in Burbank, he operated it for three years, when he sold out at an advantage. He then bought his present com- modious and attractive residence in Burbank, and has since devoted his entire time and attention to the buying and selling of real estate. A man of excellent business tact and judgment, he has acquired much valuable property in this vicin- ity, owning two ranches adjoining the village, and several desirable lots in both the business and residence parts of Burbank.

Mr. Greenman has been twice married, his first marriage occurring in Wisconsin and unit- ing him with Araminta Dolliver, by whom he had three children, all of whom reside in the east. His second marriage was with Susan Crowell, and they have one child, Fern Green- man. Politically Mr. Greenman is a Republican, and while a resident of Iowa belonged to the Grand Army of the Republic. He is identified with but one benevolent organization, that being the Burbank Lodge of the Fraternal Brother- hood.

SQUIRE ED HICKS. To possess the love and respect of fellow-citizens and neighbors bodes well to the recipient of whatever age he may be, but if he be a young man with life still before him the honor is all the greater. Prob- ably no one in the San Jose valley is better known or stands higher in the esteem of his neighbors than Mr. Hicks, a progressive, up-to-date ranch- er in the vicinity of Spadra. On both sides of the family he comes of antecedents who were reared in the south for many generations, and he himself is of southern birth, having been born in Fulton county, Ky., July 1, 1861, a son of William and Mary J. (Irven) Hicks, they too being natives of that southern state. This was a momentous period in the history of our country and with thousands of other loyal citizens Will- iam Hicks offered his services in support of the Confederacy, having been born and reared in an atmosphere which fostered sentiments of seces- sion. His zeal, however, was destined to cost him his life, for he was killed on the field of battle in 1864. In Kentucky Mrs. Hicks had formerly married Mr. McClannahan, by whom she be- came the mother of one child, Nancy, now the widow of F. M. Glidewell. The mother and daughter now make their home together in Okla- homa.

Bereft of a father's care and training when he was a child of three years, Ed Hicks received from his mother the love and guidance of both parents, and in return she has had the satisfac- tion of seeing him grow to a noble manhood and take his place on the battlefield of life. As he was little more than a babe when he left Ken-

tucky his education was received entirely in Texas, where he made his home until grown to manhood. Then as now, cattle-raising was the chief industry in that state, and in starting out to find employment Mr. Hicks had no difficulty in securing work as a ranch hand, and for many years rounded cattle on the Texas plains. He also drove cattle from that state to the pasture lands of the neighboring states of New Mexico and Colorado. Subsequently he relinquished work along this line to some extent, following it only during the summer seasons, while dur- ing the winters he was employed by the street car company of Fort Worth, that state. He claims the honor of running the first car over the tracks of the Fort Worth electric car line, and he remained in the employ of the company as motorman for six years. It was about this time that he came to the west, with San Francisco as his destination. He did not remain long in the metropolis, however, coming soon afterward to Pomona, where he secured a position with J. E. Packard, and later entered the employ of A. T. Currier, with whom he remained about five years. Soon after his marriage, which occurred in 1892, he bought the ranch of thirty-seven and a half acres upon which he still resides, and which in the intervening years has been trans- formed into one of the most productive ranches in the county. The land is in two pieces, the one which is called the home ranch being em- bellished with a comfortable residence and all that goes to make a well-equipped ranch.

Mr. Hicks settled down to domestic life in 1892, at which time he married Miss Susie Ar- nett, who was born in Mendocino county, this state, and is a daughter of Robert S. Arnett, a descendant of southern ancestors. Henry coun- ty, Tenn., was his birthplace, and there also his parents, Samuel and Malinda E. (Norman) Hicks, were born. The grandfather was a vet- eran of the war of 1812, and served with brav- ery under the command of General Jackson. The early boyhood years of Robert S. Arnett were passed upon his father's farm in Tennessee, and as the educational advantages in the south at that. time were poor at the best, his training along that line was sadly deficient. However, he was determined to secure an education and forged ahead with that object in mind. From Tennessee he went to Mississippi, there as in the former state working on farms and saving his earnings, in so doing adding to the fund which he was setting aside to pay his tuition through college. By private study in addition to his college training he fitted himself to teach, and thereafter followed farming and teaching as long as he remained in the south, or until 1853. when he crossed the plains with his family, mak- ing the trip behind the slow but sure oxen. From

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Colusa county, where he first located, and where he engaged in ranching for four years, he re- moved to Mendocino county, there as in his prior location taking a vital interest in all mat- ters that affected the welfare of the community. While in Princeton, Colusa county, he was made postmaster of that town, filling the position ef- ficiently in addition to managing his ranching in- terests. In Mendocino county he resumed agri- culture, clearing and improving raw land, upon which he carried on stock-raising principally. He also added school teaching to his other duties, and was given charge of the first school held in Little Lake valley. After a residence of ten years in Mendocino county, in 1867 he disposed of his holdings there and came to the San Jose valley, locating on the Palomares tract in Los Angeles county, just north of what is now the city of Pomona. The Palomares homestead was one of the landmarks of the county, located on the San Bernardino road, and there for two years Mr. Arnett furnished substantial refresh- ment and lodging to travelers, his hostelry being regarded by wayfarers of that time as one of the bright spots on an otherwise long and tire- some journey between the scattering towns. It was in 1874 that he came to Spadra, and it was in this vicinity that he spent the remainder of his long and interesting life. For two years he lived on land which he rented from A. T. Cur- rier, but later he purchased fifty acres in the vicinity and erected a very fine residence. He was one of the earliest pioneers of the San Jose valley, where his name was a household word, for he was loved and respected by old and young alike, and is still rememberd for his many kind- ly deeds. For many years prior to his death he was a deacon in the Baptist Church, and in his political belief he was a Democrat. During his later years Mr. Arnett made his home with his daughter, Mrs. Hicks, his wife having passed away in 1866. He survived her nearly forty years, his death occurring in August, 1905, when the community mourned the loss of one of its most substantial and best-beloved citizens. Mrs. Hicks was one of seven children born to her parents.

In his political sympathies Mr. Hicks is a Democrat, and takes a keen interest in party af- fairs, but is not interested in the sense of office- seeking, for he has no ambition in that direction. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Pomona.

JOHN S. HARBISON. The genealogical records of the Harbison family trace their line- age back to the year 1435 in Ireland. Early in the settlement of America three of the name immigrated to the new world, and years later

John, a descendant of one of the immigrants, became a pioneer of Freeport, Pa., where he mar- ried Massy, daughter of Edward White, a soldier of the Revolutionary war. Himself a stanch patriot and brave soldier, John Harbison en- dured many perils in his service against the hos- tile Indians and fought under Wayne and St. Clair in various desperate engagements. On one occasion, when seriously wounded, a retreat was ordered, and with his wound hastily dressed he made his way to the spot occupied by the remnant of St. Clair's army, where he was as- sisted into the fort and cared for until his re- covery. The opportune arrival of other soldiers saved them from the Indians. During his ab- sence from his home the savages murdered two of his children, May 22, 1792, and took his wife and infant prisoners to a camp near the present site of Butler, Pa. At night she watched for and seized a chance to escape and stole away in the darkness, fleeing through the woods and over streams of water, and at one time was saved from capture by a new-fallen tree, under which she crawled with her babe until the In- dians had passed out of sight. Traveling by night and hiding by day, she finally reached the Allegheny river near Pittsburgh in safety, after having endured hardships and exposure which would have killed a woman of less robust con- stitution. She lived to rear a large family, and died in 1846, at the age of seventy-six years.

Among the children of this brave pioneer couple was a son, William, who settled in Beaver county, Pa., and later moved to a farm near New- castle, where he died. His wife, Margaret, who was born in Washington county, Pa., December 28, 1799, was of English descent, a daughter of William and Margaret (Gray) Curry. Under General Washington as chief armorer in the field, William Curry (or, as the government re- ports give his name, William Currie) participated in eight battles of the Revolutionary war, being present at the memorable crossing of the Dela- ware, and was also a "minute man." When Major Andre was captured, William Curry was one of the men in charge of the armory at Car- lisle, Pa., which was used as a prison for the noted traitor and many other noted British pris- oners.

In the family of William and Margaret Harbi- son there were three sons and one daughter, but John S. is the sole survivor. Born in Beaver county, Pa., near Freedom, September 29, 1826, he was reared on a farm five miles from New- castle in what is now Lawrence county, Pa., and there received such advantages as the public schools afforded. While engaged with his brothers in the nursery business he gained a prac- tical knowledge of the occupation that proved helpful to him in later years. In 1854 he took

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passage on the Northern Light to Greytown, his hives to this county, and at one time owned twelve apiaries with thirty-seven hundred and fifty hives of bees. Among his purchases of land was the tract of seven hundred and twenty- six acres known as the Sweetwater apiary, in the Dehesa district of San Diego county, which he has developed into one of the finest country places in Southern California. The idea of bee culture was ridiculed by many when he came here, but he proved the wisdom of his judgment by the financial success of his plans. In those days the country was dominated by the stock- men, whose policy it was to discourage people from settling up the ranges. However, as bees did not eat grass, they saw nothing to fear from apiarists, for it did not occur to them that a class of men would be brought in whose vote would overbalance their own. So it proved, and a thence crossed via the Nicaragua route and from there proceeded on the Sierra Nevada to San Francisco, where he landed on the 20th of No- vember, 1854. For some weeks he prospected in Amador county, but he found that the life was one of great hardship and constant exposure, with little gold to be obtained by the inexperi- enced miner, so he went to Sacramento and in- vestigated the possibilities of fruit culture, the result being that he wrote east for seeds and small trees. These arrived in February, 1855, and were immediately planted. In the fall of 1855 he imported a general assortment of decid- uous trees, from which he sold nursery stock to all of the pioneer horticulturists in the Sacra- mento valley, and also sold some of the first fruit trees planted at Vacaville. It had been his orig- inal plan to build up a large nursery and then . new district attorney, judge and sheriff were sell at a profit and return east, but during the years of 1855 and 1856 he studied the flora of the country and decided to engage in the bee business.

Returning east in the spring of 1857, Mr. Har- bison made arrangements for the shipment of sixty-seven colonies of bees. November 5, 1857, he took passage on the Northern Light for Aspin- wall, thence took the Golden Age, Capt. R. C. Whiting, for San Francisco, where he landed with sixty-two of the hives in excellent condition. The freight on the bees had cost him $1 per pound, but even at that high price the invest- ment proved profitable. Establishing an apiary near Sacramento, he increased his original colo- nies during the same year to one hundred and seventy hives. Some time before nine hives of bees had been brought to California, but they were in inexperienced hands, so that it may be said that Mr. Harbison practically started the industry in the state. In the fall of 1858 he re- turned to the east and made another importation of over one hundred hives, and during these years he sold bees readily for $roo per hive and honey at $1.00 per pound. About the same year he established a large nursery for shade trees and introduced the yellow locust and Lombardy poplar, which, together with other ornamental trees, he sold in San Jose, Marysville, etc.

Through his representations of a favorable outlook for the industry Mr. Harbison induced R. G. Clark to come west and embark in the business. November 28, 1869, they brought to San Diego one hundred and ten hives and estab- lished an apiary near Lakeside. During the four years of their partnership they established four apiaries and when dividing their interests each retained two. In April, 1874, Mr. Harbison moved to San Diego county, and the following year he erected the residence which he still occu- pies. At different times he transferred many of

finally elected, and a no-fence law was passed by the legislature. Thus the introduction of bees caused San Diego county to be settled up many years sooner than would otherwise have hap- pened.

The first car of honey shipped by Mr. Harbi- son to the east was in 1869. Its successful pass- age caused him to repeat shipments to the Chi- cago and New York markets. In 1873 he shipped his first carload from San Diego county to Chicago, accompanying the shipment person- ally. Years afterward agencies were established in different cities and a systematic business was maintained. In one year he shipped twenty-three cars of comb-honey east, besides two cars to San Francisco and Sacramento, but this was not all of his own raising. At expositions he was a fre- quent exhibitor. In 1876 he was awarded a medal at the Philadelphia Centennial, and at New Orleans and St. Louis he also received the highest awards for the quality of honey ex- hibited. While he expended thousands of dol- lars in that way, he was personally benefited by the exhibitions and at the same time San Diego county was widely advertised. Through his en- ergetic management of the business he became the largest apiarist in the world, and his name was well known to all interested in the industry. In 1861 he published the Beekeepers' Directory of the Theory and Practice of Bee Culture, of which he is the author. In 1857 he made an im- provement to the hive and invented and patented the first section box for honey, which was first exhibited in 1878 at the California State Fair at Marysville.

In addition to his extensive bee interests Mr. Harbison set out large fruit orchards in Upper Mission valley and engaged in raising oranges and olives, but these lands he later sold. For many years he was a stockholder in the Harbi- son Wholesale Grocery Company, Incorporated,

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and in early days he officiated as a director in the Bank of Commerce, of which he is yet a stockholder. Strictly temperate in his habits, upright in all business transactions, energetic in dispositon and sincere in his friendships, he is a man who would be a valuable acquisition to the citizenship of any town. Since the organization of the party he has voted the Republican ticket, but he has never been a politician. Fraternally he is connected with the blue lodge, chapter, com- mandery and consistory of the Masonic order in San Diego, while in religious connections he is an attendant upon the services of the Presby- terian Church and a contributor to its mainte- nance. At Newcastle, Pa., June 15, 1865, he married Miss Mary J. White, who was born and reared there and was educated in the high school. Her paternal grandfather. Judge David White, was the son of an English lord, and her maternal grandfather, Robert Reynolds, was an early set- tler in Pennsylvania, whither he removed from Maryland. Her parents, Samuel H. and Mary (Reynolds) White, were born in Newcastle, where they lived after marriage. Three children were born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Harbi- son and two of these attained maturity, but Florence, after having graduated from the high school, died at twenty years, mourned by a large circle of friends. The only surviving child of the family is Edith, who married Edward Henkle and resides in San Diego.

GEORGE B. ROWELL, M. D. Not long after the Pilgrim Fathers had crossed the un- known ocean to the bleak shores of New Eng- land and had planted the ensign of freedom on the Atlantic coast, the Rowell family became identified with the little colony of self-sacrificing emigrants who endured the hardships of a dreary and stern environment. It was during the year 1632 that the first representatives of the name in the new world left their old home in England, where they long had been prominent in the city of Exeter, and established their race amid the rugged surroundings of Massachusetts. With the material development of the locality they were intimately associated, and many genera- tions lived and labored in New England. In the family of Joshua and Svbil (Spaulding) Rowell, natives of New Hampshire, there was a son, Spaulding, born in that state in November, 1831, and reared in the locality familiar to his earliest recollections. While still quite young he gained a wide experience in the lumber in- dustrv. and in order to enlarge his interests in that business he removed to Canada, where he became the owner of a number of sawmills and- engaged extensivelv in the manufacture of lum- ber. While still largely interested in business

pursuits his death occurred in 1877, his wife having passed from earth two weeks prior to his death.

Among the children of Spaulding and Martha (Ball) Rowell there was a son, George B., who was born in the vicinity of Montreal, Canada, July 19, 1859, and received his early education in local schools. From an early age he deter- mined to become a physician and his studies were directed with that ambition in view. On completing classical studies he took up the study of medicine, matriculating in McGill University, one of the leading medical schools in Canada, from which he was graduated in 1884. Imme- diately after graduating he crossed the ocean to England and engaged in post-graduate work in London for one year, meanwhile gaining much important practical knowledge of the science to which he had dedicated his life. The degree of Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England was conferred upon him on the com- pletion of his special studies.

Returning to Canada at the expiration of his European studies and travel, Dr. Rowell entered upon active professional practice, and soon after- ward received an appointment as professor of anatomy in Bishop's Medical College, which position he filled for two years, or until his de- parture from Canada. In search of a climate less rigorous than that of his native land he came to California in December, 1887, and opened an office in San Bernardino, where he has since built up an important general prac- tice and has gained a reputation for skill in diagnosis and in the treatment of difficult cases. The establishment and management of efficient institutions for the instruction of medical stu- dents have always been matters of interest to him, and he took an active part in the founding and incorporation of the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Los Angeles, of which institu- tion he has since been a member of the board of trustees and professor of the practice of medicine. The duties connected with his work as a member of the faculty oblige him to make frequent trips to Los Angeles and a goodly por- tion of his time is spent in that city, yet he still retains a large practice in San Bernardino, and in both cities has a circle of warm friends to whom he is known and by whom he is admired as a skilled physician and a polished gentle- man.

ERNEST EASTWOOD. There are few citizens within the limits of Ventura county who have been more deeply interested in its agricult- utral development or more closely informed as to its material resources than is Ernest Eastwood, who, though not a native of the United States, is

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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 160

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