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 52

Author: Storke, Yda Addis
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 738

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 52
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 52
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 52

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).

Since his residence here Mr. Newby has been very successful in the investments he made, and he now owns a good home and several other places from which he receives rents. He is the agent of the Gas Company of Ventura. His political views have ever been in harmony with the Republican party. Mr. Newby is a gentleman who is held in high esteem by a large circle of friends and acquaintances.

W. BAKER is one of the representative business men of the city of Ventura. · He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, May 7, 1853, the son of F. W. and Mary L. (Eaton) Baker, the former a native of Ver- mont, of Scotch descent, and the latter of Cambridge, Massachusetts, of English ances- try. Mr. Baker was the oldest of four chil- dren. He attended the Winchester High School and also the Massachusetts Agricult- ural College. His first work for himself was in the dry-goods business with Jordan, Marsh & Co., of Boston. Not being suited

with that position, he obtained a place in the wholesale hardware store of Hogan, Clark & Sleeper, and remained with them two years, when the great Boston fire occurred and they were burned ont. He then accepted an offer to travel for Baker & Hamilton, a San Fran- cisco hardware house, remaining in their em- ploy four years. At the expiration of that time he engaged in business for himself in Napa, under the firm name of Stone & Baker, doing a tin and hardware business. Two years later he sold out to his partner, returned to San Francisco, and again entered the em- ploy of Baker & Hamilton, working for them two years longer.

Mr. Baker then came to Ventura and pur- chased the store of E. A. Edward, who had been the pioneer hardware man of the place. This purchase was made in April, 1879, and, with the exception of one year, Mr. Baker has conducted the business and has been very successful. From time to time, as necessity demanded, he has increased his facilities for doing business. The little building that once served for a store room has given place to a fine two-story brick, 30 x 75 feet, and the first building, moved to the rear, is used for a warehouse. The store occupies both the lower and upper story of the new building. Mr. Baker has the only elevator in the city. He owns a factory, 30 x 50 feet, in which he mannfactures tinware, honey and fruit cans in large quantities. He employs five men all the time and in the busy season seven or eight. His business extends all over the county, and some of his mannfactures are shipped all over the State. In one season he made 12,000 sixty-pound honey cans, and many thousand smaller ones. They adopted a plan that every person who purchased $1 worth of goods should have a guess on how many cans they were making. The one who guessed the nearest was paid $50, the next

370

SANTA BARBARA, SAN LUIS OBISPO

$25, and the third $10. This store is No. 216 Main street, between Oak and Palm.

Mr Baker was united in marriage to Miss Annie M. Sheriden in 1880. She was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, the daughter of S. N. Sheriden, of Ventura. They have three interesting children, two sons and a daugh- ter, all born in Ventura, viz .: George L. Frederick N. and Annie M.

Mr. Baker is Senior Warden of the Masonic Lodge, F. & A. M .; is also a K. of P., and was District Deputy of the order to the Grand Lodge. Politically he is a Republican. Mr. Baker is a stockholder in the Ventura Gas Company, and does his full share in all pub- lic enterprises. He is the owner of a good home, where he resides with his family, and also owns other valnable real estate.

Mrs. Baker is a member of the Congrega- tional Church.

JOHN REED, one of the founders of the Lompoc Colony, and the surveyor of the town, was born in Milton, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in 1826. His father was a farmer and carpenter. The subject of this sketch received his preliminary educa- tion at Milton, and graduated at Williams College, in 1848. He then acted as tutor in Virginia and South Carolina for about two years. He was married in Boston, in 1853, to Miss Amanda S. Baker, and together they went to San Antonio, Texas, where for two years they were engaged in teaching. In 1854 they came to California, by the Nicara- gua route, landing at San Francisco, where his family resided for four years, while he was engaged in surveying Government land. In 1858 he moved to Santa Clara County, bought a farm of 120 acres, and for sixteen years thereafter was engaged in farmning. In

1874, at the founding of Lompoc Colony, he came to the valley with other interested co- operators; Mr. Reed is one of the few sur- viving resident members of that early period. He surveyed the town and part of the sur- rounding country, and was one of the orig- inal purchasers of the grant. He also bought 160 acres near the center of the valley, which he has since sold, and now owns 160 acres at Santa Rita, and one block within the cor- porate limits.

Mr. Reed was County Surveyor of Santa Clara County in 1862-'63, and of Santa Bar- bara County from 1878 to 1887. In 1886 he was elected Justice of the Peace of Lompoc, and in April, 1890, was elected Town Clerk.

His first wife died at Santa Clara, in 1874, and in 1882 he was again married, to Mrs. Ella Miller, of Lompoc, which union has been blessed with one child.

C. HATHAWAY, the present manager of the Los Alamos Rancho, owned by John S. Bell, was born in Sanilac County, Michigan, in 1863. His father was a seafaring man, and during his later life was captain on the Lakes. The subject of this sketch left home at the age of eighteen years, and for many years followed the mill- ing business, learning the trade of millwright at Montrose, Colorado. He worked there three years in the lumber mill, then, in 1884, went to Denver, where he engaged in the coal and wood business. In 1885 he came to California, settling at Santa Cruz, where for two and a half years he managed a saw- mill. He came to the Los Alamos Rancho in the spring of 1887, in the employ of Grover & Rosener, who had contracted to purchase the ranch; but failing to meet their obligations

371

AND VENTURA COUNTIES.

in March, 1889, the ranch reverted to Mr. Bell, and Mr. Hathaway continued its efficient man- ager. He received a diploma in 1888 from the Mechanics' Institute of San Francisco, for the products of the ranch, in fruits and vegetables. The ranch consists of 14,000 acres; 2,000 is rented and under cultivation. They keep about 100 cattle and 175 head of horses, with stallions "Othello," " Robbery Boy," and " Arab," all running horses. They also have about twelve acres in deciduous fruits. In 1888 Mr. Hathaway bought thirty acres of valley land in the east end of the valley, where he is building a house and out- buildings, with a view of making that his permanent residence. He has a small vine- yard and intends setting ten acres to mixed fruits.

Mr. Hathaway was married at Los Alamos, in 1889, to Miss Jennie E. Wait.

W. BROUGHTON came to Califor- nia in the summer of 1859, and P has resided in the State ever since. He is a New Yorker by birth, born July 29, 1836, at Tonawanda, Erie County. New York. He read law in the office of W. W. Thayer, since Governor of Oregon, and now an able Judge on the Supreme Bench of that State. Was admitted to practice in Cal- ifornia, in 1863, and since that time has favored the profession with a strong tendency to newspaper life. Several papers have been founded, edited and published by him in various parts of the Pacific coast. In 1874 he owned and edited the Santa Cruz Enter- prise, which has since been merged into the Local Item. In 1865 the New Age, the first Odd Fellows weekly paper in the United States, was founded by him in San Francisco and is now in its twenty-fifth year. In 1875

he established the Lompoc Record, at the founding of the Lompoc Colony, in Santa Barbara County, California, which he is now editing. In 1880 he founded the Arizona Bulletin, in that Territory, but discontinued the publication. Mr. Broughton was the original projector of the Lompoc Colony, and performed herculean work in its organi- zation and in locating colonists. The success of the colony is mainly attributed to his enterprise in publishing the local paper and diffusing throughout the land the facts con- cerning the most desirable region of the Pacific coast for homes.

In 1862 Mr. Broughton was marrieed to the only daughter of Mr. George T. An- thony, a highly respected citizen of Santa Cruz. A family of seven sons and five daughters is the result of this happy union. In politics, Mr. Broughton of late years has been a Democrat, and in 1886 was the nomi- nee for the State Senate of that party for the district embracing San Luis Obispo, Ven- tura and Santa Barbara counties. At present Mr. Broughton is at Lompoc, practicing his profession and publishing his paper, the Lompoc Record, a paper recognized to be one of the ablest in the county.

HOR ENRY DUBBERS, a rancher residing in Ventura, came to Ventura in 1862, and as he is one of its most worthy pioneers, this history would not be complete without recording his life. He was born in Holstein, in the year 1819, and came to America in 1851, coming direct from Ger- many to California. His parents were both natives of Germany, and his father was a merchant. When Mr. Dubbers came to San Francisco he was sick, and his intentions were to go to South America; but beco ving

372

SANTA BARBARA, SAN LUIS OBISPO

acquainted with other Germans, who were engaged in farming, he was induced by them to stay in California. They had rented land in San Mateo County at $4 per acre, and in- duced him to put capital in the business; he soon discovered that there would a be loss in the venture, and took it under his own man- agement. He soon after bought the prop- erty-500 acres-and made good to the other parties all that they had put in and more. The property advanced on his hands, and he sold it at a liberal advance. He then came to Ventura, but the title to the lands was so unsettled that he did not buy at that time. A few years afterward oil was discovered, and it was pronounced very rich; New York and Philadelphia capitalists came in, and as he could talk Spanish he was taken in with them. They bought a large tract of land, and Mr. Dubbers took charge of the receiv- ing of the machinery and supplies for the oil wells, and forwarding it to the wells. When Mr. Dubbers came to Ventura only two or three schooners stopped here during the year, to bring supplies and provisions, and for a good while the country was very inuch isolated from the outside world.

He bought an interest in the Santa Ana ranch, and owns about 930 aeres; he is raising wheat and barley on it. He had fifteen acres in city tracts, which he subdi- vided, and has sold about half of it at re- munerative prices.

In 1859 Mr. Dubbers was united in mar- riage to Miss Wilhelmina Osterman, a native of Germany. They had four children :- Henry, born in San Mateo; Hattie, born in Ventura, and is married to Mr. J. B. Ward, a civil engineer from Cleveland, Ohio; Al- fred, born in Ventura, and is now at the Berkeley University; Emma, born in Ven- tura, and is now with her sister in Pittsburg. Ilenry is married, and lives at Point Reyes.

Mr. Dubber's ancestors are all deceased, in Germany, but he thinks of making a visit to that place; he has lived in Brazil and Buenos Ayres, and can speak English, Spanish, French and German. When he came to Ventura there were only a few Americans in the place, and no mail conveniences. When the postoffice was established, Mr. V. A. Simpson was the first postmaster, and a stage route was established twice a week from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles. Mr. Dub- bers is leading a quiet and retired life, in his old-style, adobe house, surrounded with life's comforts. He is spending the remainder of his life under the shade of some large trees planted by his own hands.

NDREW NELSON, a prominent busi- ness man and rancher of El Paso de Robles, was born in Sweden, in 1846, both his parents being natives of that coun- try. At the age of nineteen years Mr. Nel- son entered upon a seafaring life, continuing thus engaged for twelve years and during that time seeing a large portion of the world. In 1870 he came to New York and was there variously employed, first as night-watchman in a large warehouse. Next he was at Pitts- ton, Maine, two years, employed in saw- mills. Then, going to Chicago after the great fire there, he engaged as a carpenter. Returning in 1874 to Maine, he worked at Portland, building the Grand Trunk elevator. Later he went to San Francisco and worked as a laborer on the Baldwin Hotel. The next year, 1877, lie was married in San Francisco to Miss Annie S. Akblom, a native of Sweden. They moved to Seattle and there bought seven acres of land located five miles out in the woods near Talmonkay, which he cleared and devoted to the culture

373

AND VENTURA COUNTIES.

of sınall fruit, remaining in that place until 1888. Mr. Nelson was successful in Seattle in the fruit business and also in his invest- ment in real estate. He still owns property in that place, and also fifty shares in the Puget Sound Creosote Company. He sold out and came to El Paso de Robles, pur- chased 160 acres of land near the town, on the northwest, built a good residence, and is making notable improvements in the way of clearing away brush and planting trees and vines. He has also purchased 160 acres farther from the town, in the same direction, and owns property on which he has built a good residence. On his ranches, Mr. Nelson is raising some fine horses.

In addition to his other interests in this place, Mr. Nelson is senior member of the firm of Nelson-Quarnstrom Company. The paid-in cash capital of the company is $9,000. They have a general merchandise store on Twelfth street, and do the principal business in their line in town, their trade ex- tending from forty to fifty miles east.

Mr. and Mrs. Nelson have five children, four sons and one daughter, all born in Washington Territory, viz .: Robert, Fred- rick, Earnest, Albert and Mable. Mr. Nel- son and his wife are members of the Meth odist Church. He is a Master Mason, and in his political views is a Republican.

ENSON POLAND, one of the original founders of the town of Lompoc, was born in Randolph County, Virginia, now West Virginia, December 13, 1838. His father was a farmer, who in 1844 emi- grated to Chariton County, Missouri, and bonght 292 acres of land and carried on general farming; he also raised tobacco, which was then a staple product. Henson

was educated in the subscription schools of that period, then attended the Brunswick Academy, and finished at the Bluff High School, which was founded by Thomas M. Crowder, a graduate of the University of Virginia. Mr. Poland then taught school in Prairie Township, now called Salisbury, Mis- souri, but owing to the breaking out of the war and the exciting political feeling of Mis- souri, his school was dismissed before the term expired. Being a strong advocate of Unionism, contrary to the expressed senti- ments of his family, and yet not caring to take up arms against a people in which was represented his own kin, Missouri became too hot for him and he went to New York. In 1863 he took the steamer, en route for Cali- fornia, by the Isthmus of Panama, arriving in San Francisco on April 28, 1863. He farined in San Joaquin Connty during the summer, and in the fall started for the Ari- zona mines, but at Los Angeles was diverted to the Soledad mines, where he passed four months, returning to Santa Cruz County in March, 1864, where for six years he worked in timber, furnishing lime kilns and the California Powder Company with fnel and stove wood. In 1870 he was employed by the California Powder Company as manager of outside hands, and at his departure received highly commendatory certificates. In the fall of 1874 he came to Lompoc, at the found- ing of the colony, and was one of the syndi- cate which purchased a part of the Lompoc ranch, namely 46,500 acres, and has since bought five town blocks, twenty-five acres, four and a half of which he still owns. He improved his city property, and leased 200 acres, which he cultivated in grain, until 1888. He set out twelve acres in deciduous fruits, 1,000 trees, apples, pears, plums, all of which are now in bearing and doing well.

In 1888 he was elected Town Clerk and

374

SANTA BARBARA, SAN LUIS OBISPO

served one term, and in April, 1890, was ap- pointed Postmaster by President Harrison, assuming his office July 1, 1889. He has fitted up his office at his own expense, making it comfortable and convenient, and is a very acceptable postmaster.

Mr. Poland was married at Santa Cruz, August 4, 1868, to Mrs. D. W. Scoville, a native of New York State, who crossed the plains to California in 1863. Mr. Poland has served as presiding officer of Lompoc Lodge, No. 262, F. & A. M., and was also a charter member of the San Luis Obispo Lodge, No. 62, Royal Arch Masons. He was a char- ter member of the Odd Fellows Lodge, No. 248, which was instituted July 10, 1876, and has been continuously an officer until June 1, 1889, having passed through every chair. He was present to represent the Santa Cruz Lodge, No. 38, F. & A. M., at the laying of the corner-stone of the Mercantile Library at San Francisco, in March, 1867, which ceremony was performed by the Grand Lodge of Cali- fornia, F. & A. M. Mr. Poland is a man of progress and public spirit, charitable in all his dealings, and a conscientious and hon- ored citizen.

ON. R. M. SHACKELFORD, an emi- nent business man of El Paso de Robles, is a native of the Blue Grass State, where his ancestors for generations, both on the maternal and paternal sides, have lived. The Shackelfords of Kentucky claim both Scotch and English progenitors, while Mr. Shackelford's mother's family, the Dickersons, claim English forefathers only. Mr. Shack- elford was born in Kentucky, and came to California in 1853, when a lad of seventeen years. Having been identified with Califor- nia during the whole of its history as a

State, and having received his education here« he claims the right and distinction of being a Californian in the fullest sense. While Mr. Shackelford has made a remarkable busi- ness success in life, yet like most pioneers he has seen hard times and many reverses, not- withstanding the misfortunes and trials have been to him, as he expresses it, " golden ex- periences." To appreciate health we must know what it is to be sick; and to enjoy sun- shine we must have been in the deepest shades.

Mr. Shackelford's business career has been a remarkable one. A portion of his boyhood was spent in Missouri; and he was but four- teen years of age when the gold excitement occurred in California. As soon as he was old enough he came to this coast, a poorly educated boy, seventeen years of age. In Tuolumne County, he worked hard all day, and at night studied until teu and eleven o'clock, in the winter time, and in this way he received his education. For five years he dug in the mines in Tuolumne and El Dorado Counties, both placer and quartz, with but fair success. In 1858 he engaged in draying and handling freight with ox teams over the mountains. He received eighty cents per hundred for a single trip, the price of a pair of oxen. They took their provisions and camped out at night; he followed this busi- ness successfully for eighteen months. At Marysville he engaged in a flour-mill, for- warding and commission business until 1863. By this time he had made a little money and had it invested in this business: his warehouse was full of flour and grain, but the floods of 1862 and 1863 filled the warehouse with water, and the accumulation of years of in- dustry was destroyed. He was compelled to start out again with ox teams, hauling freight from Marysville to Virginia City. He then went into the lumber business, which he

375

AND VENTURA COUNTIES.

manufactured until 1865. In this year he was elected a member of the first Legislature of the State of Nevada, by the Republican party, and served one term. In the fall of 1866 he returned to Los Gatos, California, where he opened a general merchandise store and lumber business connected with it. In 1868 he sold out, and in connection with two other gentlemen bought 22,000 acres of land, on which the town of King City now stands. In 1873 he sold out his interest and settled at Hollister, California, and engaged in a mill and warehouse. In this business he is still interested, the property having been trans- ferred to the Central Milling Company. In November, 1886, he removed to El Paso de Robles, and engaged in the construction of warehouses, and started lumber yards along the line of the railroad between Soledad and San Margarita. He organized the Southern Pacific Milling Company, etc., and they have nine warehouses fifty feet wide and aggre- gating nearly a mile in length, and as many lumber yards.

Mr. Shackelford has purchased 1,700 acres of land adjoining Paso Robles, and has organ- ized a company known as the Stock and Fruit Company's Association. On this land they have established a breeding farm, are raising fine horses, and have also a very large orchard. Mr. Shackelford is one of the directors and a stockholder of the water works of the town, and is a stockholder and director in the Cen- tral Milling Company. Mr. Shackelford, with Messrs. Steele & Wheelan, organized the Southern Mill and Warehouse Company; they have six warehouses and lumber yards, and the planing-mill at Ventura City.

Mr. Shackelford's father and grandfather were both born in Kentucky, and both bore the same name, James Shackelford. The grand- father was a soldier in the Revolution, and in the war of 1812 died fighting the Indians, at

the battle of Hall's Gap. James Shackelford, Jr., married Sarah A. Dickerson. Her father, Beverly Dickerson, was a stock-raiser and tobacco planter. . Mr. Shackelford's parents had twelve children, of whom ten are living. He was the fourth child in this numerous family, and was born in Kentucky, January 17, 1835. He was married in 1861 to Miss Mary Louise McQneston, a native of Wis- consin. They have one son, Otto Shackel- ford, a promising young merchant of El Paso de Robles. Mrs. Shackelford's father, John MeQueston, is a native of Michigan, of Scotch descent. Mr. and Mrs. Shackelford are mem- bers of the Methodist Church, and were im- portant factors in the building of the neat church and parsonage in their town. Mr. Shackelford was a trustee, and gave the ground and $1,200 to aid in the building.

In March, 1887, Mr. Shackelford built on a block of good ground, purchased for that purpose, a beautiful cottage, in which he re- sides with his family. He is a Knight Tein- plar, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and a mneinber of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He has been a Republican since the organization of that party.

D. LINDNER is the son of J. D. Lind- ner, Sr., and was born in Stark County, Ohio, February 20, 1839. His father came from Germany in 1830, stopped for a time in the State of New York, then became a pioneer of Ohio, and afterward of Iowa. He had been a Democrat, but, npon the or- ganization of the Republican party, joined its ranks. In his religious views he was a Lutheran. He wedded Rosa Mary Sargent, a native of Saxony. They were parents of nine children, only four of whom are now

376

SANTA BARBARA, SAN LUIS OBISPO

living. Mr. Lindner was the fifth child of this family. He came to California in 1859, at the age of nineteen years, and engaged in farming in Sonoma and Marin counties, and also worked some at the carpenter's trade. He afterward removed to San José, where he was engaged in contracting and building until 1870. In that year he came to Monterey County, settled on a Government ranch, ten miles east of San Miguel, remaining on it six months, the want of water inducing him to abandon it. Mr. Lindner went to the coast, seven iniles above Cayucos, San Luis Obispo County, and entered a homestead. For fifteen years he lived there, engaged in raising stock and grain, and improved the place by build- ing, etc. He sold out and returned to San José, where he bought eight acres of land ad- joining the city. On this property he built a house and planted the land to fruit trees, and a year later sold out and returned to the sunthern part of the State. At Creston he farmed a large tract of land on shares for three years, after which he came to his present location. He has eighty acres of choice land, two miles from Paso Robles, and ninety acres near Creston.

Mr. Lindner married Mrs. Maule, a widow with four children. They have had three sons, Virgil, Warren and Milton. Virgil was born in San José, Monterey County, and Milton in San Luis Obispo County. Of the three sons only two are living, Milton dying in the second year of his age. Mr. and Mrs. Lind- ner are members of the Grange, and Mr. Lindner is Master of the lodge at Paso Robles, and is much interested in its workings. He has voted with the Greenback and Prohi- bition parties, but takes no interest in the older political organizations. He is radical on all the topics of interest in the county and is well informed. He is by nature endowed with the ability to make an interesting speech,

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.

Author: Storke, Yda Addis Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 738

Author: Storke, Yda Addis
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 738