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 192

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

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George H. Miller was a child of only four years when his parent removed from Illinois to Wisconsin, and he was reared and educated in the common schools in Oshkosh. After remov- ing to Pomona in 1884 he attended the high school here for a number of years, graduating in 1889, he spent a short time in Pomona College. With the idea of preparing himself more readily for business life, however, he gave up the latter to take a course in Woodbury's Business Col- lege, graduating therefrom in 1891. It was not long afterward before he was enabled to put his knowledge to good account, having obtained a position with the Pomona Steam Laundry Com- pany, with whom he remained four years, and for a part of that time was manager of the plant. Subsequently he secured the position of book- keeper with Fairbanks-Morse Company of Los Angeles, and later became salesman for the same company. As he was always of a mechanical turn of mind the work was congenial and he remained with the company until starting in business on his own account in 1898. Coming back to Pomona that year he opened his present machine shop on Garey street, having a floor space 50x105, where may be found everything in the line of pumping supplies. He also owns a ranch of fifteen acres on Cucomongo avenue, five acres of which are in oranges, besides a ranch near Claremont.

In Pomona Mr. Miller was married to Mary B. Green, who was born in Minnesota, and they

and their two children, Ray and Grace, form a happy home circle, the family residence being located at No. 907 Gibbs street. Both Mr. Miller and his wife are members of the Christian Church and he is a member of the Board of Trade of Pomona. Fraternally he is identified with the Woodmen of the World.

JOEL DAVID MARTIN. An expert me- chanic, a business man of ability, and a licensed sailing master and pilot, Joel David Martin is a well known citizen of Avalon, and at present fills the position of superintendent of the Meteor Boat Company of that city. He has contributed largely to the success of the big glass bottomed boats and assisted in the building of many of the larger craft used in the waters at that point. Mr. Martin is a native of Indiana, his birth hav- ing occurred October 2, 1865, in Crawfords- ville. His father, William Martin, was born in Beardstown, Ill., and was by occupation a farmer. He was in the Mexican war under General Scott, serving in an Indiana regiment, and later be- came a pioneer in Minnesota, locating in Lake City, where he improved a farm and still lives at the advanced age of eighty-four years. The motli- er, who was before her marriage Lucinda Pryor, belonged to an old eastern family, her birth oc- curring in Indiana and her death in Minnesota, in 1877.

There were fourteen children in the family of which Mr. Martin was a member, he being the second youngest. In 1866 he was taken by his parents to Minnesota, and was reared on a farm near Lake City, receiving his education in the public schools there. At the age of seventeen he went to Minneapolis and learned and followed the carpenter trade for a number of years. As an employe of Sackett & Wiggins he assisted in building the Hennepin theatre in that city, then was employed by Litt as assistant to the master mechanic for two years. When Litt built the Grand Opera House in St. Paul Mr. Martin fitted up the stage; then was engaged as master mechanic and was on the road for nine vears fol- lowing, during that time making one trip east. In February, 1900, he came to the coast with James Neil, later spending a year in Honolulu with him, building all of the scenery necessary to the needs of the company. Returning to Los Angeles in 1901 he became master mechanic for Morosco, filling the position for four years. Hav- ing become interested in Avalon with Mr. Huh- bard, in 1901, he bought the Meteor, then as- sisted in the organization and incorporation of the Meteor Boat Company, built the Cleopatra, became connected with the Avalon Glass Bot- tom Boat Company, then bought the Monami and

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consolidated the two companies. The Monami is now dismantled and lying on the beach. The Empress, which Mr. Martin now runs, was also built by him and is the only boat with two rows of glass boxes having sixteen glasses, one and one-sixteenth inches thick, twenty-four and one- half inches wide and sixty inches long. The equipment on this craft is the finest and best of any at Avalon and includes one seventy-two horse power, three cylinder engine, and another eight horse power two cylinders.

The marriage of Mr. Martin occurred in St. Paul, uniting him with Miss Loretta Hanley, a native of Faribault, Minn., and they are the par- ents of one son, William. The family residence is located on Eleventh street and Maple avenue in Los Angeles.

FRANK MILLER. An experience of con- siderable duration as a soldier in the volunteer service during the Civil war, followed by the oc- cupation of a sailor upon the high seas and a miner in the mountainous regions of the west, gave to Mr. Miller a broad knowledge of differ- ent parts of the United States, the customs of different localities, the opportunities afforded by diverse pursuits and the habits of people in va- rious regions. In this way he has acquired a broad knowledge of men and localities and is the possessor of a self-acquired education that gives him prestige in his community and prominence among acquaintances. The details connected with mining and milling are thoroughly under- stood by him, so that his services are of great practical value in the development of the plant with which he is connected and in which he owns an interest.

Illinois is the native commonwealth of Mr. Miller, who was born in Coles county, March 29, 1840, and is a son of Elisha and Harriet (Cush- man) Miller. During boyhood he received such educational advantages as were offered by the city school of Charleston, the county seat of Coles county. As he grew toward manhood he saw the shadow of war hover over the country and envelop the people in its dark mantle of sorrow. His northern education and lineage naturally gave him a strong faith in the Union, and at the outbreak of the Rebellion he gave his enthusiastic support to the Federal cause. Like thousands of the sturdy young men of the north, he hastened to offer his services to the Union, enlisting with patriotic ardor and loyal devotion to country. At Ottawa he was accepted as a private in Company B, Fifty-third Illinois In- fantry, and shortly afterward was assigned to the army of the Tennessee, in which he served for three years and eight months. Among the most historic struggles in which he bore a part

were the battle of Shiloh and the siege of Vicks- burg, and later he marched with General Sher- man to the sea, participating in the memorable engagements of that campaign. At the close of the war he took part in the grand review at Washington and received an honorable discharge from the army.

Travels through the southland, the experiences of camp life and the roving nature of a soldier's career, left Mr. Miller discontented with the un- eventful monotony of village work, and shortly after he had left the army he became a sailor, following the sea for two or more years. At the expiration of that time he entered into an occul- pation radically different from any he had pre- viously attempted, and as a miner he soon ac- quired a wide knowledge of the regions of the west. In the interest of his work he visited the Rocky mountain regions, spending some time in the mines of Utah, Nevada and Idaho. For about five years he made his headquarters in Oregon and engaged in mining extensively in that state. After having made various trips to California in the interests of his business affairs, in 1897 he became a permanent resident of the state, and now is one of the managing partners in a mining enterprise which owns and operates a valuable property in the Holcomb valley in San Bernardino county, near the village of Doble. Here Mr. Miller makes his home and occupies a leading position among the pro- gressive citizens. While living in Illinois he met Miss Emma Elsie Cushman, daughter of John and Addie (Wilder) Cushman, and they were united in marriage in 1870. The only child of their union was a son, Frank, who died at the age of nine months.

ROBERT CLELAND HARBISON, editor of the San Bernardino Sun, is of Scotch-Irish descent and dates his ancestry in this country back to the Revolutionary period, his two great-great-grandfathers. Harbison and Chest- nut, having served in the Revolutionary war and died in military prison during that con- flict. His great-grandfather was Mathew Har- bison of South Carolina, and his grandfather, Robert Harbison, was born in that state and . in the early forties of the nineteenth century became a pioneer farmer of Bloomington, Ind., and in 1857 removed to Indianola, Iowa, where he improved a farm and lived the re- mainder of his life. His father, William Por- ter, was born in Bloomington, Ind., in 1841, and when a boy was taken by his father to Indianola, where Robert Cleland Harbison was born September 10, 1866. The father was engaged in farming for a time and later be- came a dry goods merchant at Indianola, con-

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ducting that business for many years, but now living a retired life in that city. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, having served in the Thirty-fourth Regiment of Iowa Volunteer Infantry, from which he received an honorable discharge before the war was ended on account of physical dis- ability. As an active member and elder of the Presbyterian Church, he is a liberal supporter of its charities and benevolences, and is one of the most highly respected citizens of his home city. His wife was in maidenhood Amanda Cleland, a native of Beaver county, Pa., who came to lowa with her parents in 1856, and died at Indianola in 1903. The son, Robert Cleland, is the only child living.

He attended the public schools of Indianola, graduating from the high school in 1881, and later entered Simpson College from which in- stitution he graduated in 1888 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and having won every prize offered in the college course. His early liking for the newspaper work was evidenced by the attention which he gave to local and college papers during his course. In 1891 Mr. Harbison was granted the degree of Master of Arts by his alma mater. After his gradna- tion from college he began teaching school and continued in that profession until 1890 when he went to Ogden, Utah, and engaged in business life for a short time, later taking up the newspaper work. In 1892 he secured a position as reporter on a San Francisco paper, and in 1894 came to San Bernardino, where in company with W. A. Selkirk and N. J. Levinson, he started the San Bernardino Sun, having taken over the Courier of that city which was in a very badly run down con- dition at that time. In 1905 The Sun Com- pany of San Bernardino was incorporated with Mr. Harbison as president. The com- pany conducts a general publishing business, and the Sun, which has been a daily ever since the commencement of its publication has grown froin a four-page, six-column paper to eight, ten and twelve pages of seven columns each. The plant is thoroughly modern and one of the most perfectly equipped in this part of the state, having linotype machines, a perfecting press, and an electric power plant. The Sun building was erected in 1901, but the proportions were soon found to be inadequate, and in 1904 it was enlarged to di- mensions 50x90 feet and is located on Court street. The publication is conducted on Re- publican lines politically, and Mr. Harbison is an influential councillor among party leaders. He is an ex-member of the Republican county central committee. and now serves as chair- man of the Republican committee for the

eighth Congressional district, in which he re- sides.

The marriage of Mr. Harbison occurred in San Francisco when Miss Nina Lezotte, a native of Mitchell county, Ia., and a talented musician, became his wife. They are the par- ents of one child, a daughter Rose. Frater- nally he is a member of San Bernardino Lodge No. 346, F. & A. M., Keystone Chapter No. 57, R. A. M., and St. Bernard Commandery No. 23, K. T.

BURT BEVERLY. Prominent among the leading real estate dealers of Los Angeles county is Burt Beverly, who with his part- ners, M. E. and S. L. Stroud, is doing much to advance the realty interests of Southern California. A son of Pardon Mawney and Catherine Jane (Booker) Beverly, he was born and brought up in Logan county, Ill. He comes from distinguished ancestry, his great-grandfather, Pardon Mawney Whipple, served in the war of 1812, being an officer on board "Old Ironsides," the popular name of the frigate Constitution, which has been pre- served to this day, while an uncle of his Grandmother Beverly was a soldier in the Revolution. His father, a native of Provi- dence, R. I., migrated to Arkansas when a young man, and after his marriage went north, he and his bride traveling in a wagon to Illi- nois, passing through Chicago when it was but a frontier post. Locating in Logan coun- tv, he became owner of four hundred acres of rich land, and for many years was one of the foremost farmers of the community.

Laying a substantial foundation for his future education in the district schools of Logan county, Ill., Burt Beverly was subse- quently graduated from the Atlanta high · school, and from the Gem City Business Col- lege in Quincy, Ill. Going south for a year, he had charge of the books of the Bluff City, Lumber Company at Pine Bluff, Ark. The climate proving unsuitable, he went from there to Chicago, where he remained a num- ber of years, working for some of the largest firms of that metropolis, including those of Swift & Co., and of Reid, Murdoch & Co., which he served as bookkeeper, subsequently working for three years in the wholesale house of Marshall Field & Co. Then on leaving Chi- cago July 8, 1901, he and his wife traveled extensively, finally visiting Mrs. Beverly's uncle, Flint M. Whitmore, a wealthy lumber- man of Northern California, who located in Amador county in 1849. Five months later, in Sacramento, Mr. Beverly formed the ac- quaintance of M. E. Stroud, with whom he

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

went to Seattle, Tacoma, Everett and other places of interest, returning from Puget Sound to San Francisco by steamer. Coming to Los Angeles county in March, 1902, Mr. Beverly resided for a year in Pasadena, and then came to Ocean Park, accepting the position of book- keeper with the Ocean Park Improvement Company. Subsequently, in partnership with M. E. and S. L. Stroud, he embarked in the real-estate business, opening an office at No. 162 Pier avenue. Succeeding well in their operations, these enterprising gentlemen re- moved to Venice December 15, 1905, opening their present office, No. 38 Windway avenue. This firm has acquired considerable property of value in this locality, owning and controll- ing five lots on Ocean Front, and also having title to other property near here, and in Hunt- ington, on the beach.

In Chicago, Ill., Mr. Beverly married Mabel Estelle Whitmore, a daughter of Orange Scott Whitmore, now residing at Pasadena, and they have three children, Marion, Muriel and Burt, Jr. Politically Mr. Beverly is independent, and religiously both Mr. and Mrs. Beverly are members of the Christian Church.

FRANK L. BATES. Not only does the Bates family belong to the pioneer citizenship of California, but preceding generations were also identified with the early colonization of the east, so that both on the Atlantic shores and on the Pacific coast they have borne a share in transforming primeval conditions into an environment of progress and prosperity. It is a tradition in the family that Orin Bates was born in the house that was also the birth- place of the celebrated "Jim" Fisk. Asa, a brother of Orin, was the father of Asa, Jr., who was born at Pownal, Vt., in 1813, and be- came a California pioneer of 1849, crossing the. plains with oxen and wagons. After a trial experience as a miner at Yankee Jim's, he went to San Francisco, purchased a small steam- boat and began to freight up the Sacramento river. Later he held the offices of postmaster and justice of the peace at San Pablo, Contra Costa county, from which point he removed to a farm near Watsonville, and after a time moved to Antioch, Contra Costa county, where he engaged in teaming. In 1868 he was ap- pointed lighthouse keeper at Point Conception, off the coast of Santa Barbara county, but re- signed the position after three years and turned his attention to business pursuits in the city of Santa Barbara. On disposing of his inter- ests there he went to Lower California and became interested in prospecting and mining, but soon transferred his headquarters to the

Gold Basin of Arizona. At the time of his death in Pomona, September 25, 1889, he had attained the age of seventy-six years.

When Asa Bates came to the Pacific coast he was a single man, but a few years later, in 1854, he established domestic ties, his marriage in San Francisco uniting him with Rachel Pat- terson Taylor, who was born in Vermont, a daughter of John L. and Susanna (McGarr) Taylor, and a sister of Hon. James M. Taylor.

The family of Asa and Rachel Patterson (Taylor) Bates comprised five children, name- ly: Clarence A., who died at Pomona, Cal .; Ida E., who married Cornelius E. DeForrest of New York City (a great-nephew of Commo- dore Vanderbilt) and died in San Francisco; Frank L., whose name introduces this sketch ; Algernon Valentine, who was drowned in the Colorado river at the age of twenty-one years ; and Mabel V., Mrs. J. B. Osborne, who was president of the Los Angeles Equal Rights League, treasurer of the Women's Press Club, and secretary of the board of directors of the Association of Pioneer Women of California, and who died in Los Angeles September 8, 1905, at the age of thirty-nine years, and was buried at Pomona. The mother, who is now seventy-five years of age, is still active and mentally well preserved, a well-informed wo- man, interested in the work of the Pioneer Women of California, to whose association she belongs, and an entertaining conversation - alist, whose narratives of early days in the west are not only pleasant but instructive as well.

While the family of Asa Bates were living at Watsonville, Santa Cruz county, Cal., his son, Frank L., was born October 22, 1861, and he received a fair education in the Santa Bar- bara schools. From an early age he has been a student of mines and mining, and few sur- pass him in knowledge of the industry. For four years he engaged in mining, milling and operating a cyanide plant in Death valley, aft- er which he spent three years in Eldorado canon on the Colorado river, and then went to the mining district of San Bernardino county. removing to Julian in 1898 and operating a mill at that place. For eight years he oper- ated a mill at Perris, Riverside county, and later engaged in gem mining in the foothills of Smith mountain, where he now owns sev- eral claims. Recently he came to San Diego county to operate a cyanide plant two and one- half miles northeast of Escondido, as a mem- ber of the firm of Bates & Timmerman. In politics he votes the Republican ticket, while in religious affiliations he holds membership with the Congregational Church. His mar- riage took place in Los Angeles May 22, 1892,

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and united him with Alice Simmons, who was born at Barnes, near Julian, San Diego county, and has passed her life within the limits of Southern California. The only son of Mr. and Mrs. Bates is Orin, a bright boy now eleven years of age.

CHARLES O. HUMPHREY. When Mr. Humphrey came to California in 1901 the thought uppermost in his mind was to find a climate less harsh than that which prevails in the state of Washington, where he formerly resided, and where his wife's health was be- coming impaired. His first location in the state was in the vicinity of Los Angeles, where he purchased a ranch of twenty acres devoted en- tirely to the raising of small fruits, but two years later he disposed of his property there and came to Long Beach. After residing here long enough to satisfy himself that the climatic conditions were such as he was in search of he determined to establish himself in business and to this end purchased the livery stable then owned by F. M. Jones. During the two years which Mr. Humphrey has had the business in charge he has outgrown the quarters which it formerly occupied and is now in a leased build- ing on American avenue, which accommodates forty horses, besides a large variety of ve- hicles.

Knox county, Ill., was the scene of the early life of Charles O. Humphrey, and he was born near Galesburg, June 6, 1867. The parents, Samuel and Harriet (Herrold) Humphrey, were pioneers of Knox county, settling on a farm in the vicinity of Galesburg when that now thriving town was little more than a ham- let. The father passed his remaining days in Illinois, dying on his farm in 1873. Some time after the death of her husband Mrs. Humphrey went to Washington, and her death occurred there in 1891. Only six years old when orphaned by the death of his father, the school advantages which he otherwise might have enjoyed were a thing of the past, and aside from the training which he obtained in the district school near the farm his knowl- edge has been gained in the broad school of experience. As soon as he was old enough he worked on the homestead farm and thus re- lieved his mother of much of the responsibility which had fallen to her upon the death of her husband.

Leaving the middle west in 1887, Mr. Hum- phrey located on a farm of four hundred acres near Spokane, Wash., which he had purchased for $5 per acre, remaining there until 1901, when, as previously stated, he came to Califor- nia on account of his wife's ill-health. The

family home at No. 936 Cedar avenue is presid- ed over by Mrs. Humphrey, who prior to her marriage was Molisa Donnelley, a native of Iowa, and who is now the mother of one daugh- ter, who bears the name of Alice. Both Mr. and Mrs. Humphrey are members of the Bap- tist Church, toward the support of which they contribute generously, also aiding in the fur- therance of the various benevolent societies connected with that body. Politically Mr. Humphrey is a Republican, although he takes 110 active interest in the party aside from cast- ing his vote, and fraternally he is identified with the Eagles and the Woodmen of the World.

JAMES CLOYD JOHNSTON is a native of the east, he was born on a farm on the Ohio river where for some years resided his par- ents, Cloyd and Diana (Bruce) Johnston, the father from that point carrying on his work as a stock-buyer and drover and shipping and driving cattle in large numbers to the Cincin- nati markets. The farm was situated near the river town of Powhatan Point in Belmont county, Ohio, and there he was born August 27, 1842, and there he passed the uneventful years of early youth. On leaving home he took up the task of earning his own livelihood, in which pursuit he traveled through various parts of our country. Ultimately he extended his travels to other lands. At the close of four years of travel he came to California and set- tled at what became known as Johnston's Landing on Catalina Island. Later he was the first to take flocks of sheep to San Clemente, where his success proved the possibilities of the occupation on the island.

Coming to the mountains of San Bernardino county in 1890, Mr. Johnston established his home at Doble and has since bought mining interests in this section. At this time he ranks among the most prosperous miners in the Hol- comb valley and owns a large number of claims immediately north of his home place; these claims he values at $200,000. Since coming to this locality he has taken up one hundred and sixty acres of land from the government and has transformed an unimproved tract into an attractive homestead. The residence forms a comfortable home for the family and pos- sesses architectural attractions, in addition to harmonious interior furnishings. The walls are adorned with oil paintings from the brush of Mrs. Johnston, who is a keen lover of na- ture and possesses the rare faculty of being able to reproduce on the canvas many of the beauties of sky and water, mountains and woods. Mrs. Johnston was born in Grass Val-

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ley, this state, and was Jessie E. Doney, a daughter of Loren and Amelia (Platt) Doney. Two children bless their union. The son, Bruce, receives $250 per month for his serv .- ices as chemist, assayer and mining engineer at Searchlight camp. The daughter, Pearl, is the wife of Oscar Witt.

Politically Mr. Johnston is a Republican, and since 1905 he has filled the office of post- master at Doble. Formerly he owned three hundred and twenty acres where Hollywood stands, and also owned various unimproved lots in and near Los Angeles, but the majority of these he has disposed of and has invested the proceeds in his present valuable mining claims.

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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 192

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