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 168

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

USA > California > 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 168

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

In Colorado Springs, May 10, 1877. Mr. Ray- ner was united in marriage with Miss Jennie Shideler, a native of Hampton, Iowa, and a daughter of Thomas Shideler, who was born in Ohio and married in Indiana Anna Fullhart. a native of Ohio. and together they located in Iowa and established their home. He fol-

lowed the trade of blacksmith and later was a merchant in Hampton. He next located in Michigan, and thence in 1869 came to Colorado Springs, Colo., where he now resides, his wife having passed away in June, 1903. Mr. and Mrs. Rayner had one child, Laura Mrytle, who died in 1887, at the age of nine years. Both himself and wife are members of the First

2139

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Methodist Episcopal Church, of Redlands. When they first came to this city there was no church of this denomination, so they at- tended the Congregational Church until 1887, when sixteen Methodists organized a congre- gation and in 1890 built the first church, Mr. Rayner officiating as treasurer on the build- ing committee. He is a Republican and a practical and public-spirited citizen, eager to assist in every movement which has for its end the general welfare of the community and the public.

WILLIAM H. SINGLETON, manager of the W. S. dairy and the Singleton ranch, in the San Timoteo cañon, is an up-to-date and progressive rancher, has proven an upbuilder in various lines in Southern California, and has achieved a success which places him among the representative citizens of this section. A native Californian, William Henry Singleton was born in San Bernardino, July 11, 1861, a son of Ann (Singleton) Wilshire and Henry Wilshire, a pioneer of this section, who was accidentally killed. His widow married Hi- ram Haskell, also an early settler of Califor- nia, and who died in this valley. She had a son and daughter by her first marriage, Will- iam H., previously mentioned, and Martha, who became the wife of E. M. Van Deventer, who died at her home in 1906; by her second marriage she had three children: James, as- sisting in the management of the W. S. dairy ; Rohert, who died at the age of thirty years ; and Ella, who became Mrs. Steedman, and died in Berkeley at the age of twenty-five years. Mrs. Haskell still survives and lives in the old home. The children by her first marriage were both adopted by their maternal grand- mother, Mrs. Ann Singleton, who was born in Lancashire, England, as was her husband, James Singleton, their marriage taking place in the Mother country. after which in 1853 they came to America and located in Utah. Four years later they came to Southern California and in San Bernardino established their home for a time. in 1868 locating on the Rubideaux grant of forty-four hundred and forty acres, where the death of James Singleton occurred in 1881. His wife died in 1894. They had two children, William, who resides on this ranch and is represented elsewhere in this vol- ume; and Ann, previously mentioned.

Reared on the old Singleton place William Henry Singleton received his education in the public school, his attendance, however, being limited, the fund of information and knowledge possessed in his manhood being the result of observation and personal research rather

than scholastic training. From boyhood he learned the stock business and general farm- ing, and upon the death of his grandfather he assumed charge of the ranch, being then twenty years old. He has continued the work since, enlarging the enterprise until he is now cultivating fifteen hundred acres more than the original farm, which was about four thou- sand acres, of which twenty-five hundred acres are tillable. He has one hundred acres given over to alfalfa and irrigated by natural springs. He has established a magnificient dairy known as the W. S. Dairy, supplied by one hundred and twenty-five cows of Holstein and Durham stock, and he also has installed a creamery, operated by a gasoline engine, a modern churn and separator of large capacity, and every possible equipment both for dispatch and ex- cellence. He gives some time to the breeding of draft horses, having about sixty head at the present writing.

Mr. Singleton is prominent in fraternal cir- cles, being a member of Token Lodge No. 146, I. O. O. F., of San Bernardino; the Elks of Redlands, and Redlands Parlor, Native Sons of the Golden West. Politically he is a stanch Democrat, and has been a member of the Riv- erside county central committee for the past eight years. He takes a strong interest in ed- ucational affairs, and for several years served as school trustee and clerk of the board in the El Casco district.

THOMAS H. BUNFORD. Prominent among the men of our times who have accu- mulated wealth through their own unaided ef- forts, and are well worthy of the honored title of self-made men, is Thomas H. Bunford, of Long Beach, Los Angeles county. Inheriting in no small measure habits of thrift and indus- try, he was also endowed with that peculiar vein of grit and determination that is essen- tially American, and by means of these he has steadily pursued the even tenor of his way, steadily mounting the ladder of financial suc- cess. and is now living retired from the ac- tivities of life. A son of the late Richard Bunford, he was born, January 24, 1842, in Pittsburg, Pa.

A native of Pennsylvania, Richard Bunford spent his early life in that state following the. trade of a shoemaker. In 1842 he removed with his family to Ohio, becoming a pioneer settler. Taking up land, he improved a good farm from the wild tract, and was subsequent- ly engaged in general farming until his death, in 1900, at the venerable age of eighty-seven years. He married Caroline Herbert, who died on the Ohio homestead in 1845.

2140

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Being taken by his parents to Ohio when an infant, Thomas H. Bunford received his early knowledge of books in the typical log schoolhouse, a rude structure, with a punch- eon floor and slab seats. Leaving home when seventeen years old, he learned the black- smith's trade, at which he worked about four years. In the spring of 1863 he enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Forty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served for a year and a half. the larger part of the time being connected with the Heavy Artillery. Losing his health, he was honorably discharged at Camp Chase, Ohio, in the fall of 1864. Re- turning home, he worked at his trade two years or more, and in 1867 went to Glenrock, Neb., where he bought land, and was em- ployed in farming and blacksmithing for a quarter of a century, meeting with excellent success in his operations. Coming to Califor- nia in 1892, he located first in Pomona, Los Angeles county, where he purchased ten acres of land, and for nine years was prosperously engaged in general ranching. He made many improvements on the property, among others building a pumping plant, with a well four hundred feet in depth. Selling his ranch in March, 1902, he came to Long Beach, and hav- ing bought a building lot erected a modern five-room cottage, in which he has since re- sided. enjoying in a quiet manner the fruits of his previous years of toil.

In Nebraska, November 26, 1879, Mr. Bun- ford married Mary V. Jones, a daughter of John M. Jones, who was born in Wales, and died in Ohio. Politically Mr. Bunford has always been a stanch adherent of the Repub- lican party, and socially he belongs to Vicks- burg Post No. 61, G. A. R., of Pomona.

MRS. HELEN C. CARPENTER. Though not one of the pioneers of Long Beach, where she now resides, Mrs. Carpenter has made her home in California for more than a quarter of a century and has witnessed its material de- velopment during the most important era of its history. The family of which she is an honored member became established in Amer- ica during the eighteenth century, when her paternal grandfather crossed the ocean from Germany and settled in the commonwealth of Maryland. Her father, Daniel Hauptman, was born in Maryland and while still quite young enlisted for service in the war of 1812, where he participated in the battle of Bladens- burg and other engagements of that historic struggle. The war ended. he was honorably discharged from his country's service and re- turned home to resume the pursuits of civic

life. While the city of Washington was still in its infancy he became one of its pioneers and established a small tin shop which grew with the development of the city, until event- ually he controlled a business as extensive as it was important. Among the business men of the city he was honored for his strict in- tegrity, high principles of honor and accom- modating disposition. For more than fifty years he was an active member of the Method- ist Episcopal Church in Washington, whose early growth he fostered and whose doctrines he made it his aim to exemplify in all business transactions and social intercourse. As sol- dier, business man and Christian, he lived a life above reproach, and in his family relations he was especially thoughtful and affectionate. The memory of his sterling manhood and af- fectionate care will always linger in the heart of his daughter. the only survivor of his eleven children. March 27. 1817, he married Mar- garet Michael, a native of Germany, and their union was one of mutual helpfulness until death came to separate then. The wife was the first to pass away, her death occurring April 2, 1865, and he departed this life Octo- ber 9, 1873, at the advanced age of eighty-two years.

In the city of Washington, where she was born and reared, Miss Hauptman received the advantages of fair educational facilities, and there she was united in marriage, November 12, 1868, with George W. Carpenter, a native of New York, born in 1840, but from early life a resident of Washington. For a considerable period Mr. Carpenter engaged in the grocery business in his home city, but about 1872 he and his wife removed to Kansas and became property-owners in that then new and unde- veloped region. Ill health led them to dispose of their interests in Kansas in 1879 and there- 11pon they sought the genial climate of the Pacific coast, where, after a brief sojourn in Los Angeles, they settled at Artesia. For twelve years Mr. Carpenter engaged in the meat business in that town and there he died in 1893. leaving his wife with a daughter, Maude, and a son, Morris H., the latter now a resident of Los Angeles. During the year 1900 Mrs. Carpenter and her daughter made a tour of the east and spent some time at her old home in the capital city. While there Miss Maude was taken ill and passed away on the 21st of November. Just at the threshold of young womanhood, twenty-one years of age, and of gentle and companionable disposi- tion, her death was a heavy blow to her moth- er and shock to her circle of friends in Cali- fornia, where the remains were brought for burial. The year after this bereavement Mrs.

2141

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Carpenter removed to Long Beach and here for a time she owned considerable real estate, but this she has sold with the exception of a house on Pine avenue and her beautiful resi- dence at No. 407 Fast Seventh street, where she is passing the afternoon of her life in quiet contentment. From early childhood she has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and a contributor to its benevolences. One of her most treasured possessions is the old family Bible, a book of extraordinary size, bearing the year 1816 as the date of publica- tion.

JOSHUA ANDREWS. One and one-half miles north of Long Beach, at the postoffice of Burnett, lies the valuable country homestead of Mr. Andrews, who purchased the property about 1890 and has since resided at this place. At the time of coming here, Long Beachı was an in- significant hamlet, whose future popularity only the most sanguine predicted. The ten acres which he then purchased are now valued at more than $1,000 per acre, the increase in value being largely due to the rapid growth of the town. The residence which he erected is of brick and stands on the corner of Hill street and California avenue; in location it offers many advantages to its occupants, to whom it gives the charm of country life with the facilities connected with close proximity to a growing city.

Of Canadian birth, Mr. Andrews was born in Toronto August 29, 1838, being a son of Robert and Susan (Long) Andrews, natives of Eng- land. After coming to Canada the father fol- lowed the occupation of a farmer until his death, which occurred about 1843; for many years he was survived by his wife, who attained an ad- vanced age and died in 1890. Their son, Joshua, received rather meagre advantages as a boy, for the early death of his father forced him to earn his own livelihood from an early age. When he was fifteen years old he became an apprentice to the trade of blacksmith and carriage-maker, and upon attaining his majority he started in busi- ness for himself, opening a shop at Toronto which he carried on for five years. Afterward he was employed in a large machine shop and later engaged in business for himself, operating a shop until he sold out in order to remove to the Pacific coast.

At the close of a voyage made via Panama, Mr. Andrews landed in California May 1, 1878, and for a time he worked at his trade in Oakland and San Francisco, but eventually moved to Southern California, arriving in Los Angeles county July 1, 1884. For a time he engaged in business at Downey and later made his home at Norwalk, but on selling out there he removed

to the place where he still resides, retired from the active cares of life and looking after the subdividing of his property in town lots. On establishing domestic ties in Canada, he was married December 1, 1861, to Miss Dinah E. Moat, a native of England. Four children came to bless their union, but one of these died in in- fancy. Those now living are as follows : Robert J., who makes his home at Santa Ana; Amelia Mary; Elizabeth, wife of George H. Bixby, who is represented elsewhere in this volume; and Richard Long, who is engaged in farming and the dairy business at East Clearwater, Los An- geles county. During his residence in Canada Mr. Andrews formed social affiliations with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, but when he came to Southern California, he found no organizations of either order in the towns where he settled, so he allowed his membership to lapse. Since taking upon him- self the pledge of citizenship to our govern- ment he has affiliated with the Democratic party, but in local elections he considers the candidate's opinions upon the tariff question of less im- portance than his character as a man and his intelligence as a citizen.

SAMUEL L. LENT. Although he has been a resident of Long Beach but a few years, Samuel L. Lent has in that time thoroughly demonstrated his ability as a business man and worth as a public-spirited citizen and of- ficial, being now a member of the board of trustees of the city. The family is of Dutch extraction, seven brothers having come from Holland in an early day and settled in New York state. The grandfather of Samuel L. Lent, Abram, was one of the early pioneers of Ohio. The father, Lewis Lent, was born in Ohio, September 16, 1836, and at the break- ing out of the Civil war enlisted in the Twen- ty-fourth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infan- try, from which he was honorably discharged eighteen months later on account of physical disability. In 1867 he removed to Erie county, Pa., engaged in agricultural pursuits and still resides there. His wife was before her mar- riage Mary Murry, a native of Dublin, Ire- land, who with her parents came to Buffalo, N. Y., about 1842. Her father, James Murry, subsequently removed with his family to Ohio; he died while serving in the Mexican war. The death of Mrs. Lent occurred in Pennsyl- vania in 1869.

The birth of Samuel L. Lent occurred Jan- uary 21, 1861, on a farm near Coshocton. Ohio, and when six years of age was taken by his parents to Erie county, Pa., where his boy- hood days were spent on his father's farm.

2142

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL, RECORD.

He received a preliminary education in the public schools, then attended the state Nor- mal school at Edinboro, and later was a stu- dent in Hillsdale College at Hillsdale, Mich., for one year. In 1883 he removed to St. Paul, Minn., and was occupied as an accountant in a mercantile establishment until 1887.

In 1885, while living in St. Paul, he was united in marriage with Fannie E. Armstrong, a native of Utica, Licking county, Ohio, who was educated in a private school in Pana, 111., and later in St. Paul, Minn. She is the daughter of John H. Armstrong, who was born in Pennsylvania and settled in Ohio when it was still out on the. frontier. Mr. Arm- strong served for three years in Mckinley's regiment, the Twenty-third Ohio, and after the war engaged in contracting and building in St. Paul, in 1896 coming to Long Beach, where he is now engaged in the same busi- ness. He is a member of the grand Army of the Republic and fraternally affiliates with the Masonic lodge. His wife, who is still living, was before her marriage Mary M. Selby, a native of Ohio and daughter of Rev. Enoch George Selby, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal denomination. His father, Caleb Selby, of Baltimore, married Nancy Long- worth. The family on the maternal side is traced to the Conard family of Quaker stock. Nathan Conrad was one of the first Ohio set- tlers, coming from Virginia in 1805, and later laid out the city of Utica, Ohio. The family were members of the Friends Society.

In 1887 Mr. Lent went to Rat Portage, Lake of the Woods, Canada, and the succeed- ing three years was engaged in the lumber business there. He then came to the coast, and settling in Victoria, British Columbia, was occupied with construction contracting on the Northern Pacific Railroad. In 1893 he came to California and engaged in construction work for the Southern Pacific between Santa Margarita and Santa Barbara, doing some of the heaviest work there for eighteen months, after which he went to San Francisco and took contracts for street construction in that city. Later he became a gold miner in Siski- you county at the mouth of the Salmon river, employing the hydraulic method. Returning to San Francisco in 1902 he remained there until 1904, when he came to Long Beach and engaged in the real-estate business.

In the spring of 1906 Mr. Lent was nom- inated on the Independent ticket as a candi- date for city councilman and was subsequent- ly elected. He has proven himself an earnest and efficient official, is chairman of the public works committee and member of other im- portant committees. In national politics he

is an advocate of Republican principles. Fra- ternally he helds membership in the Masonic bodies and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He was made a Mason in Keewatin, Ontario, and is still a member of Keewatin Lodge No. 417, A. F. & F. M .; belongs to Cal- ifornia Chapter No. 5. R. A. M., in San Fran- cisco; to Golden Gate Commandery No. 16, K. T., in San Francisco; and is a Thirty-sec- ond Degree Scottish Rite Mason, holding mem- bership in San Francisco Consistory No. 1, and is a member of Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., in San Francisco. He was secretary of the Twenty-ninth Triennial Conclave of the Grand Encampment, Knights Templar, which held its session in the city of San Francisco in Sep- tember, 1904. Socially he is a member of the Cosmopolitan Club, and also is an active mem- ber of the Chamber of Commerce of Long Beach. His membership in the First Congre- gational Church signifies an interest in re- ligious matters. As an all-around well devel- oped citizen, who lets no part of the life of the community go without his studious atten- tion, he is universally recognized as a man of unusually broad intelligence and good judg- ment and is justly entitled to the high respect and esteem he is accorded by the community in which he resides.

DANIEL W. ANDERSON. In the rapid advancement and growth of Long Beach, Daniel W. Anderson has proved himself a prominent factor. As a real-estate dealer and speculator he has made many important deals, and while building up a lucrative business for himself has also been an encourager and pro- moter of all proposed beneficial projects. A native of Kentucky, he was born in Clark county, in February, 1847. His parents, Preston and Eliza Anderson, moved from Virginia, their native state, to Kentucky as pioneers, and were engaged in farming throughout their lives, bothi dying young.

Left an orphan when six years old, D. W. Anderson had but limited educational ad- vantages, attending for a few terms, only, a subscription school. In 1865 he went to Mon- roe county, Iowa, where he worked by the month for two years. On attaining his ma- jority he leased land and for two years man- aged it successfully. Purchasing then one hundred and twenty acres in Monroe county he operated it for two years, and then sold out, and the following four years farmed on rented land. Buying then a ranch of two hundred and forty acres, in the same county. he improved it, and carried on general farm- ing for seven years. Disposing of that prop-

2143

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

erty, he subsequently purchased one hundred and sixty acres in the southern part of Mon- roe county, and eighty acres of adjoining land in Appanoose county. The first-named tract he afterwards sold, but the other eighty acres he still owns. After farming there for ten years he came to Los Angeles county, locating at Long Beach in 1900, and has since acquired title to much valuable city property. He first bought five acres on Junipero street, between Fourth and Seventh streets; his next pur- chase was five acres south of this, on Sev- enth street; then, south of the home lot, he bought two and one-half acres; subsequently he became owner of three acres at the corner of Fourth and Junipero streets, and of two acres across from this. On the home lot where he resided for five years, he added many im- provements. At the corner of Second and Bo- nito streets he owns a lot 100x150 feet, on which is a building which has been remodeled for apartments. He has sold all of his acre property, having held it for a time for the pur- pose of making improvements.

March 4, 1869, in Iowa, Mr. Anderson mar- ried Harriet Phinney, who was born in that state. Of the eleven children that have been born to them, two died in infancy, and nine survive, namely: Charles, of Duarte; Dora, wife of Dr. Albert Winn, of San Pedro; Mel- vin, of Pasadena ; Esley, of Los Angeles ; Will- iam. of Compton; Elmer, of Sonora, Mexico; Arthur, an engineer on the Santa Fe Railway, residing at The Needles; Vern, at home, and Bertha, attending the Long Beach high school. Politically Mr. Anderson is identified with the Democratic party, and fraternally he has been a Mason since 1876, being a member of the lodge at Unionville, Iowa. Mrs. Anderson is a most estimable woman, and a valued mem- ber of the Christian Church.

OZROW ROBERTS. One of the oldest settlers of San Timoteo cañon is Ozrow Rob- erts who has been located here since his first independent venture in young manhood, for he boasts a nativity of the state in which he is now making his home. He is a son of Bear- ry Roberts, an honored pioneer of this sec- tion whose biography is given at length on an- other page of this volume. Ozrow Roberts was born in San Bernardino county, January 19, 1860, and here reared to young manhood, receiving his education in the public schools. He remained at home helping his father until he was twenty-seven years old, when he de- cided to become dependent upon his own re- sources, and accordingly leased land and en- gaged in farming for the period of one year,

when he located on a small farm given him by his father, and with this rents three hundred and sixty acres adjoining, all devoted to grain and pasture land, while he also raises cattle. In Redlands, May 12, 1887, he married Miss Julia Bowles, who was born in Montgomery county, Mo., and born of this union are five children, namely : Ruby, a student of the Redlands high school in the class of 1908; Ha- zel, a student of the Redlands high school in the class of 1909; Arthur, Jane and Margaret. Mrs. Roberts is a daughter of James Ander- son Bowles, the descendant of Gideon Bowles, who came to Virginia from Ireland in 1620, and was one of the first citizens of James- town. Her grandfather, David Bowles, was born in Georgeland county, Va., December 31, 1804, and was brought to St. Louis county, Mo., in 1811, where he grew to manhood and mar- ried Julia Mackay, who was descended from James Mackay, who was born in Scotland in 1762 and came to America in 1782, and en- gaged as a civil engineer until his death, which occurred in 1822. In 1836 congress conferred to the Mackay heirs one hundred thousand acres of land in Lincoln, St. Charles, Boone, Franklin, Washington, Iron and St. Louis counties in Missouri. James Anderson Bowles, father of Mrs. Roberts, was born in St. Louis county, Mo., March 28, 1826, and there en- gaged as a farmer, serving in a Missouri reg- iment in the Confederate army during the Civ- il war, in which two of his brothers were killed. In 1886 he located in Redlands, Cal., and engaged in horticulture, setting out an orange grove on West Cypress avenue, where he made his home until his death, which oc- curred in 1904. His wife was formerly Eliza- beth Williams, a native of White county, Mo., a daughter of Elijah Williams, a native of Virginia, from which state he removed to Mis- souri and engaged as an extensive farmer. Mrs. Bowles died in Redlands in 1896, at the age of sixty-two years. They were the par- ents of eleven children, of whom seven are no wliving, Mrs. Roberts being the sixth in order of birth.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 168

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