USA > California > San Luis Obispo County > A memorial and biographical history of the counties of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura, California Containing a history of this important section of the Pacific coast from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospective future; with full-page steel portraits of its most eminent men, and biographical mention of many of its pioneers and also of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 34
USA > California > Santa Barbara County > A memorial and biographical history of the counties of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura, California Containing a history of this important section of the Pacific coast from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospective future; with full-page steel portraits of its most eminent men, and biographical mention of many of its pioneers and also of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 34
USA > California > Ventura County > A memorial and biographical history of the counties of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura, California Containing a history of this important section of the Pacific coast from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospective future; with full-page steel portraits of its most eminent men, and biographical mention of many of its pioneers and also of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 34
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93
At this time there were bnt five communi- eants of the church. On Easter Sunday of 1888. solemn confirmation service was ad- ministered to a class of fifteen adults, and the church thus strengthened began preparations for a church building.
A most eligible lot on the corner of Oak and Santa Clara streets was purchased, and the present church editiee was erected, being opened for services in December, 1889.
The church property is valued at not less than $8,000, the lot having eost $3,000.
Rev. W. A. M. Breck, the present ineum- bent, began his rectorship in May, 1890.
The membership comprises thirty com- muneiants, besides the uncomfirmed.
Since his arrival, Mr. Breck has instituted services at the mission stations, Nordhoff, Santa Paula and Hueneme, there being fif- teen communicants at the last mentioned place, eight at Santa Paula, and six at Nord- hoff.
The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was organized in Ventura, July 29, 1888, under the ministry of Rev. J. W. Allen, presiding elder of the San Luis Obispo Dis- trict, Los Angeles Conference, and Rev. D. C. Browne. pastor of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Los Angeles. There were thirteen charter members, and five more were added by the end of the con- ferenee year October 2.
Rev. D. C. Browne succeeded Rev. J. W. Allen as presiding elder of the district, and was also appointed pastor of the church at Ventura. During this year, from October, 1888, to October, 1889, twenty-five were ad- ded to the membership, and the church, led by Ilon. L. M. Lloyd, secured the build- ing of a house of worship, on the corner of
Main and Kalorama streets. The ehnreh services this year were held in the Young Men's Christian Association Hall.
On September 30, Bishop R. K. Hargrave. with appropriate services, laid the corner stone of the new church building. Rev. J. M. Neems was appointed to the pastorate by Bishop Hargrave, October 6, 1889, and entered at once upon his work. The services were held in the Hare school building on Main street, from October, 1889, to May, 1890. May 4. 1890, the church held their first serv- ice in their new building, in the Sunday - school room, with innch rejoicing. And on July 27, following, they entered their beauti- ful auditorium with grateful hearts to Him who had so wondrously led them in this work. During the year, from October 6, 1889, to September 11, 1890, fifteen were added to the membership, and the church building was finished and furnished at a cost of $7,000.
The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in Ventura, while not strong in either numbers or wealth, yet has thus far met all claims against it, and looks to the future with hope- ful hearts, believing that He whose hand hath led them thus far will lead them on.
Christian Church .- Charles Bradshaw be- gan to preach in July, 1870, at Pleasant Valley. There were a few members who continned to meet occasionally nntil Decem- ber 25, of the same year, when the church was organized with fourteen members at Pleasant Valley. The following were the charter members: Charles Bradshaw and wife, J. S. Harkey and wife, Martha White, Fanny and Laurence White, William Cagle, D. W. Gil- bert, Mrs. Gilbert, S. Wallbridge, and Amy and Ollie Wallbridge and Mrs. Bear. The church continued to meet for three years, when a land decision occurred adverse to the settlers, at the end of which time there were abont fifty members.
.
240
VENTURA COUNTY.
As most of them were deprived of their homes, they began to scatter until there were only a few left, but they continued to meet until the summer of 1876, when all had left but three.
In October, 1876, Elder G. R. Hand came to Ventura and engaged to preach for one year. The church then reorganized with thirty members. Rev. Hand preached until May, when he left and went East. The mem- bers continned to meet and worship until the spring of 1879, at the school-house. From 1875 to 1883 there were no meetings of the church. About July, 1883, Rev. J. S. Har- key, who has been elder of the church ever since the first organization in the county, called the membership together, and they cov- enanted to meet and worship together, and they have been doing so from that time until the present. They are now meeting at Good Templars' Hall on Main street. There has been added since the organization up to the present time by letter, confession and obedi- ence, forty-eight members. There are, as near as can be ascertained, between fifty and sixty members in the county. Elder F. W. Pattee, formerly from Pasadena, is now preaching on the first Lord's day in each month. The church meets every alternate Sunday for social worship in the above named hall, and a Sunday-school meets every Sunday in the same place, at two o'clock. It has about fifty scholars and teachers enrolled, with Miss Annie Linn as superintendent.
A lot has been donated to the church at the western end of the town, and the congre- gation hope soon to erect a suitable house of worship upon it.
Y. M. C. A .- The Young Men's Chris- tian Association of San Buenaventura was organized in September, 1887, with sixteen charter members. It has now a member- ship of sixty-four. The president is J. S.
Collins; vice-president, Dr. C. F. Miller ; treasurer, J. C. Brewster; and general secre- tary, Moore Hesketh. The rooms are in Collins' Block, Main Street, and are comfort- ably furnished, being open daily, Sunday ex- cepted, from 8:30 A. M. to 10 P. M. The as- sociation is liberally supported by the Chris- tian and business people of the town. It has already a building fund, and is now endeavoring to secure a suitable lot on which to erect a permanent home. During the nine months of its existence it has helped a num- ber of young men to better and purer lives, and is now exerting a silent influence for good in the community.
THE PRESS.
As has been seen, the Signal was estab- lished in 1871, by John H. Bradley, who in 1873 retired from its management, on account of ill-health, being succeeded by Messrs. W. E. Shepherd and John J. Sheridan.
In November, 1875, was first issued the Free Press. Its editor was O. P. Hardy, and its politics nominally independent. The two papers fell into a hot controversy, in which was displayed much personal acrimony.
In November, 1883, the Democrat was founded by the Democrat Publishing Com- pany, and subsequently purchased by John McGonigle, its editor from the beginning.
The Vidette was founded in May, 1888, by F. E. Smith, and an interest in it was sub- sequently purchased by Dr. Stephen Bowers.
The newspapers at present in the city of Ventura are: The Free Press, daily and weekly (publishers, Leonard & Sykes); the Democrat, weekly; the Republican, weekly.
In other towns of the county are published the following: The Chronicle, Santa Paula; the Herald, Hueneme; the Recurrent, Nord- hoff.
241
VENTURA COUNTY.
Of
FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS
Ventura has the usual number. The Masons own a handsome hall.
THE BENCH AND BAR.
As the judiciary of Santa Barbara for many years included that of Ventura, the names of the earlier Bar members in the older county comprehend those of the younger. As to those of later date, a report on this subject has been promised the editor by B. T. Williams, Esq., Superior Judge of Ventura County, but, as it has not yet been received, the present writing must go to press without treating of this subject.
RESOURCES.
Chief among the resources of Ventura County is
AGRICULTURE.
From the time of its first settlement by the Mission fathers, over 100 years ago, Ven- tura County has been more or less given over to agriculture; but her grand capabilities in this line are only beginning to be under- stood.
When he came to Ventura County the man whose ideas of farming were formed amid the summer rains and the corn-fields of the Mississippi had to learn over again how to farm, and, now that he has learned the lesson, is growing rich on the land which at one time was deemed comparatively worth- less.
A mistaken idea has prevailed to some ex- tent among people in the East that farming is only carried on in Southern California by means of irrigation, and that without it crops would be a failure. Irrigation is not used at all in Ventura County, except for alfalfa, and for all small grains and winter crops it is not used in other countries. They are cultivated
just as they are in the Mississippi Valley or the Atlantic States, and need only the regular rains of the winter and spring, or wet season, to mature them. Corn, a summer crop, is irrigated in some counties, but never here, as the natural moisture of the soil is sufficient to mature the crop. In some sections, after a winter-sown crop, raised without irrigation, has been harvested, another crop is raised when the rains are over by means of irriga- tion, and thus the land does double duty. In Ventura County, however, as our farmers do not desire to get rich in a day, corn is planted after the winter rains are over, and but one crop a year is raised and that without irri- gation.
In many places land will be seen which is never free from a growing crop from year to year, except during the few days when plow- ing for the new planting. In counties where irrigation is used, where water from the river is used, the sediment held in suspension con- stantly renews the fertility of the soil over which it is spread.
Southern California throughout is a won- derfully rich farming section, and Ven ura County is richer than any. She raises enough for her own consumption and exports more than any other county in the south. Her markets are at her very door. Lying between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, neither of which raises enough for home consumption, the question of disposing of her products is a simple one. Many things, especially beans and fruit, are shipped to the East, although the bulk of exports goes by steamer to San Francisco. But the supply is never half equal to the demand, which makes Ventura a splendid field for the industrious farmer. It is a better field than any other in Southern California, if for no other reason than that it is the only county where irrigation is not needed and not used. The number of acres
242
VENTURA COUNTY.
under cultivation in this county is estimated at 100,000 this year.
Anything that grows in Ventura county- and anything will grow-yields a good profit to the tiller. But of course there are some things much more profitable than others. Heretofore barley has chiefly occupied the attention of the farmer, with satisfactory results; but year by year the tendency is to forsake barley and go over to
THE BEAN.
Before all others Ventura is pre-eminently a bean county. This is conceded on all sides, and one of the facts that has not been denied in other counties. The cultivation of the bean dates back to the earliest settlement of the county; and bean culture has always been successful. The season of 1864-'65 was the dryest and most unpropitions ever known here, and even then a large quantity of beans were exported. About the year 1875, Mr. Crane began cultivation of the Lima bean in the valley, and it is now thought to be the most valuable bean produced in the county. The Lima bean is a very prolific product. More than a ton is often raised on an acre of ground, while twenty-three hundred pounds of the White Navy beans are frequently raised on one acre. Lima beans have often brought as high as 5 and 6 cents a pound, returning to the producer the handsome figure of $100 per acre, but $50 is probably a fair average.
This year Limas will bring 23 cents a pound. Estimating 1,800 pounds to the acre, at 2} cents, the yield in money per acre will be $44 and the profit about $32 or $33. Bean raising costs about $7.50 per acre. This estimate includes everything-cost of seed, planting, cultivating, cutting and harvesting. And it is a liberal estimate.
Beans are planted with a bean planter, a simple machine. Two, three, and sometimes
four rows are planted at a time. Cultivation after they are planted consists simply in keep- ing the field clear of weeds. They are planted in May, after the winter rains are surely over, never irrigated, cultivated once or twice after planting, and then nothing more is done until they are ready to cut, which is generally in August or September. At first beans were pulled by hand, but by degrees improvements on this slow method were invented, until now the harvesting of the bean is a very inexpen- sive, rapid and simple process; and herein lies much of the profit. They are cut with a bean cutter, also a very simple machine. It is a V-shaped knife, the blades of which are five or six feet long and are attached on either side of a wooden sled about eight feet long, one foot wide and one deep. Three horses are attached to the cutter, which is guided between the rows by one man. This way beans can be cut at an expense of about 50 cents an acre, and one man and three horses will cut fifteen acres a day. Lima beans are planted in rows three feet apart and drilled. Small white beans are planted thirty inches apart and drilled. The latter are cut earlier than the Limas. After the beans -- of any variety-are cut, they remain in piles in the field for about four weeks to dry, when they are taken to the machine and threshed at an expense of about 15 cents per 100 pounds. Seven dollars and a half will easily cover the cost of seed. planting, cultivating, cutting and harvesting an acre of beans. The demand for beans is always good. Limas bring from 22 to 3 cents a pound, the small whites from 2 to 2g cents. Farmers in Ven- tura have often cleared $50 an acre on a crop of Lima beans, and never less than $30. So it will be seen that bean land is not shock- ingly dear at even $200 an acre. Land that will pay fifteen per cent. on money invested is not exorbitantly high: it is reasonably
243
VENTURA COUNTY.
cheap. But there is plenty of land suitable for bean culture that can be had for $150, some at $100, $75, $60, $50-according to location and facilities for shipping. The high- est priced lands in the poorest season will pay fifteen per cent. on money invested. The Santa Clara Valley has heretofore been considered the home of the bean. Before this season farmers who were not fortunate enough to own land in this favored section were afraid to embark in anything but grain, but this year some tillers of Las Posas seil were bold enough to pioneer bean planting, and crops resulting from their experiments demonstrate the fact that beans can be successfully grown in other sections besides the Santa Clara Valley. Rice & Bell on the Las Posas have as fine a crop of beans as can be found in the county -- a crop that will certainly average a ton to the acre. Beans have also been raised this year on the Ojai, the Conejo, and a few in the Simí. Unquestionably the soil and climate of the Santa Clara valley is more suited to the cultivation of the bean than any one of these latter valleys, which are mostly given over to grain-growing. In the Santa Clara Valley farmers often raise 2,000 to 3,000 sacks of beans a year. A sack of Lima beans contains about sixty pounds, and abont seventy pounds of small whites.
In the Las Posas Valley, good bean land- land that will raise as good beans and as heavy crops as grow anywhere in the county-can be liad at $60 an acre.
First-class bean land can be bought and paid for with two years' crops. No bean land can be bought in the Santa Clara Valley-the alleged home of the bean-for less than $100 an acre, and most of it runs from $150 to $200. The latter price would seem enor- mously high to the Eastern farmer un- acquainted with the profits of bean raising.
A California bean field often embraces
hundreds of acres, all in sight from a given point. The vines run along the ground and not on poles as in the Eastern States.
Next to fruit growing, bean raising is undoubtedly the most profitable industry in the farming line in Ventura county; and it is more profitable than some kinds of fruit growing.
OTHER PRODUCTS.
No spot in California can excel the Santa Clara Valley in the production of corn. It grows without irrigation and has reached as high as 72 centals or 120 bushels to the acre. It is planted in April or May after the rains are over, and frequently nothing more is re- · quired till it is ready for gathering in autumnn. Should it rain after the ground is planted the farmer frequently finds it advantageous to plow it up and plant it a second time; other- wise cultivation will be necessary to overcome the weeds. After the corn is gathered and husked it may be thrown into open pens and left uncovered for a year or more, if not sooner shelled or fed to stock. Everything in connection with corn-raising except the gathering is performed by machinery. Until lately corn was raised extensively here and fed to logs, but now, notwithstanding the heavy yield per acre, the ground is generally considered more profitable for some other kinds of crops. Ventura is the only county in Southern California where corn is raised without irrigation.
Barley is the chief cereal crop of Ventura County. Its yield is large in the Santa Clara and other valleys. On the west side of the river it has reached 52 centals, or 104 bushels, to the acre. There is always a demand for barley, and there is so much land in the county exactly suited for its production that it is likely to continne one of its staple products. It may be sown after the autumn rains or early in the spring. Cut green it is used for
244
VENTURA COUNTY.
hay, and is highly relished by stock. Year in and year out the profits from barley- raising will average from $15 to $20 per acre. The Simi Valley yields larger crops than any other portion of the county.
Wheat is an important crop in Southern California, but is not as extensively grown in Ventura County as barley. The Ojai Valley, Simí and Conejo plateaus are better adapted to wheat than the land immediately on the coast, as they are less subject to fogs which occur in some seasons of the year. Wheat- raising in California is another and different thing from what it is in the East. After it ripens it may be left standing for weeks with impunity, the husk closing around the grain and holding it intact. When the farmer is ready he enters the field with headers and a thresher and cuts, threshes and sacks the grain the same day. The sacks are put in large piles and left in the field uncovered for weeks, or even for months, until he is ready to haul them to market. The wheat of Cali- fornia has a world-wide reputation. The State ships on an average some 15,000,000 bushels annually.
Alfalfa, or lucerne, which is being exten- sively grown in Ventura County, is known botanically as Medicago sativa. It has been grown in Greece for about 3,000 years as a forage plant and for hay. The Romans es- teemed it very highly, and Columella wrote that it yielded four to six crops a year. In France it is known as lucerne and in Spain as alfalfa. It came from Spain to South America, and thence by way of Mexico to California. It is grown extensively in South- ern Europe. It is a most successful crop in this county, but in most places needs irri- gation. From six to eight cuttings are har- vested in a year. It yields from two to three tons to the cutting, and readily nets from $60 to $75 to the acre. It is fed to cows,
horses, hogs and poultry, all of which thrive upon it.
While oats are not extensively raised here, yet they grow to perfection and make excel- lent feed. In some portions of the county oats grow wild, covering foot-hills and sides of mountains, and they are prized by stock- men for all kinds of stock, including slicep.
In this connection should be mentioned bur clover, which covers the mountains, foot- hills and valleys in winter with a carpet of green. It bears a bur which contains small seeds, which are highily relished by cattle, horses, sheep, goats, hogs, and upon which they thrive. About the first of June it dies and drops the burs containing the seed, some- times covering the ground to the depth of an inch or more, and remains good until the November rains. When the country was new no provision was made to feed stock any sea- son of the year. They were sustained during the winter and spring months by the abund- ance of grass which grows luxuriantly in the valleys and on the mountains, and during the summer and autumn lived on bur clover.
Vegetable raising has been largely rele- gated to the Chinese, who pay as high as $25 an acre rent for land. Of late, however, white men are turning their attention to this im- portant industry in Southern California. Of late, white men have begun to see that there are possibilities for profit in the humble cab- bage, cauliflower, tomato and potato, not ex- ceeded even by the noble orange. Train-loads of vegetables are now sent East from South- ern California every winter, although not by any means so many as should be sent. These vegetables arrive East when everything is frozen, and fetch very high prices. The in . dustry is growing rapidly, and offers excel lent opportunities to men of' moderate means, as it is not necessary to wait several years for a return. A thrifty man can support a family
245
VENTURA COUNTY.
in this manner from the product of five acres, or even less.
Potatoes yield two crops a year and bring as much as $200 an acre. At present there is not enough raised in the county, and, with the demand East, ought to develop into a great industry in the rich valleys of Ventura County. Sweet potatoes yield immense crops and always command a good price.
Tomatoes ripen nearly all the year round, the same vines bearing for years in the more sheltered spots. Asparagus, onions, beans of all kinds, peas, cabbage and cauliflower, squashes, melons, pumpkins, and in short, nearly or quite every vegetable known to the northern or semi-tropic climes grow here to perfection.
Fruit culture iu Ventura County is yet in its infancy, but it is growing rapidly. There are a few spots on earth so favored by nature, and none where the horticulturist receives larger profits for his labor. The possibilities of horticulture in this county seem almost without limit. Year by year the area de- voted to it is being enlarged, and as the connty is settled up orchards and vineyards increase and multiply. The profits are much greater than from grain-growing, while the labor is much lighter and pleasanter. It requires no extraordinary stretch of the imagination to see the county iu a few years transformed into one vast orchard and vineyard; to see the large farms now in grain subdivided into small tracts, with a happy home in each sur- rounded by fruits and flowers The great Simí, the Las Posas, all the great ranchios now supposed to be good for little but grain, will one day be an unbroken line of orchards. The growth of some of the most populous and wealthy countries of the old world has been based upon horticulture and viticulture. The chief income of the Mediterranean countries, occupying a similar latitude to
Southern California -Asia Minor, Greece, the Ionian Islands, Italy, Southern France, Spain and Portugal-is derived from their export of oranges, lemons, figs, olives, olive oil, dates, raisins, dried prunes, chestnuts, preserved fruits, wines and brandies. The United States imports annually $15,000,000 to $20,000,000 of fruits and nuts, all of which, in quantity to supply the United States, may be grown within the limits of Ventura County, and, in addition thereto, all the wine and brandy which is consumed in this country, with a large surplus for export. Horticulture, therefor, furnishes a pretty solid basis for a large population in this county, apart from its other numerous re- sources.
Fruits are at home in Southern California, and particularly in Ventura County. They seem at once to take kindly to its soil and climate, no matter whence they are brought. In the early days during the '50s-there were only a few inferior varieties of grapes and oranges grown in Southern California. The Mission grape was about the only variety grown in California at that time. There were a few old orange trees in Los Angeles County, around the missions, introduced by the Catholic fathers a century ago. The suc- cess of these led to others being planted in other sections, and so the orange industry has increased until the present day. There are seedling pear trees at the missions a hundred years old. The first grafted fruit trees were brought to California in 1851, 1852 and 1853. Fruit trees at that time were a dollar apicce, and the fruits were so.d at enormously high prices-from $1 to $2 per pound. As timne passed, inore fruit trees were planted, nurs eries established, and the price of fruit and trees diminished, and before railroads reached our coast the price of fruit was not remunera- tive, orchardists lost their interest in fruit_
246
VENTUR.1 COUNTY.
raising, and it was some years before fruit was shipped East with profit.
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.