An illustrated history of Southern California : embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the peninsula of Lower California, from the earliest period of occupancy to the present time; together with glimpses of their prospects; also, full-page portraits of some of their eminent men, and biographical mention of many of their pioneers and of prominent citizens of to-day, Part 54

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1038

USA > California > Los Angeles County > An illustrated history of Southern California : embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the peninsula of Lower California, from the earliest period of occupancy to the present time; together with glimpses of their prospects; also, full-page portraits of some of their eminent men, and biographical mention of many of their pioneers and of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 54
USA > California > San Diego County > An illustrated history of Southern California : embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the peninsula of Lower California, from the earliest period of occupancy to the present time; together with glimpses of their prospects; also, full-page portraits of some of their eminent men, and biographical mention of many of their pioneers and of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 54
USA > California > Orange County > An illustrated history of Southern California : embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the peninsula of Lower California, from the earliest period of occupancy to the present time; together with glimpses of their prospects; also, full-page portraits of some of their eminent men, and biographical mention of many of their pioneers and of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 54
USA > California > San Bernardino County > An illustrated history of Southern California : embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the peninsula of Lower California, from the earliest period of occupancy to the present time; together with glimpses of their prospects; also, full-page portraits of some of their eminent men, and biographical mention of many of their pioneers and of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 54

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).

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HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY.

at camp and was rejected because too young. He went back and carried with him the measles, which he distributed gratuitonsly throughont his native town. After his recovery he worked at Cornville until July 29, 1862, when he again enlisted in the Twentieth Maine, by stretching the truth a little as to his age. He succeeded in getting mustered in at Portland, Maine, August 29, 1862; he left Portland Septem- ber 2, 1862. They went to Washington, where they received their rifles, then marched to Arlington Heights, joining the Third Brigade, First Division, Fifth Corps. They were ordered to Antietam, passed through Fredericksburg, Maryland, and over South Mountain, and par- ticipated in the battle of Antietam, also in other engagements. After this battle they encamped on Antietam creek, and were there until No- vember, when they went with the rest of the army to the battle of Fredericksburg. They were in Hooker's division. After the battle they encamped at Stone Mason's Station, fromn which place they were ordered to head off Stew- art's cavalry, also taking part in Burnside's famous stick-in-the mnd march. At the time of the battle of Chancellorsville, the small-pox prevailed in his regiment, and they were de- tached to guard the telegraph; atter the battle they were removed to a camp a few miles from Falmouth. At this time Mr. Jones was on the brigade guard. From this camp they went to Germania Ford and guarded it for two weeks. They participated in the cavalry fight at Upper- ville; from there they crossed the Potomac at Goose Creek and marched through Maryland and Pennsylvania. At Gettysburg their brig- ade was stationed at Little Round Top, at the extreme left of the army. After that battle he and half of his regiment were detailed to build corduroy roads and bridges. He was hurt by a stick of timber crushing him to the ground, from which he has never fully recov- ered. He joined his regiment at Beverly Ford, and was sent from there to Emery Hospital, transferred to the Veteran Reserve corps and served in Washington until the fall of 1864,

when he was sent to Johnson Island, Ohio, and had charge of the rebel prisoners at that camp. From there they were sent to Cincinnati, Ohio, doing dnty in that city until the 6th of July, 1865, when he was innstered ont. He returned to Bath, Maine, where he and his brother owned a farm, and where he remained until November, when he went to Boston and followed the express business for about two years, then went to Brook- lyn, New York, and became a painter. In 1868 he returned to Boston and engaged in making picture frames. In 1872 he became a photog- rapher, and traveled through New York, New Jersey and Illinois, until 1874. when he came to San Diego. He afterward went into the mines in 1878 at Forest City, Sierra County, where he remained for three years, meeting with moderate success. Meeting with an accident he returned to San Diego and engaged in house painting, in which he has continued nntil the present time. He joined the G. A. R. on the 8th of October, 1881, being one of the charter members of Heintzelman Post, No. 33. He was Commander of the post during the year 1886. He joined the A. O. U. W., by transfer, in 1862, and is now the Master Workman. He was married De- cember 13, 1871, to Miss Sadie M. Hovey, in Hallowell, Maine. They have two children: Daniel Paul, born November 21, 1875, and Newell James, born Angust 27, 1882. All honor should be given to the men who had the bravery to stand np and fight in such a deadly struggle to maintain the Union.

OHN B. BOYD was born in Northninber- land, Pennsylvania, March 29, 1846, son of William and Catherine S. (Slater) Boyd. When seven years of age he came with his father to Illinois, living with his aunt, Sarah B. Smith, attended the public schools there and gradnated at the high school in 1864. He had his regimentals, and there were two other boys also clad in "blue." They had just enlisted. His regiment was the One Hundred and Thirty-

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HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY.

ninth Illinois, Colonel Davidson. They were three months at Cairo, on guard duty. His time expiring, he enlisted in the Fourteenth Illinois. It had been greatly depleted, and he with others went to fill up the ranks that had been vacated by the men who had fallen in bat- tle. They were ordered to North Carolina, and were Sherman's rear guard. The nearest Mr. Boyd came to a fight was the night General Johnston surrendered. After the grand review they were ordered West, and went as far as Flat river, and there received orders to return and be mustered out. The war being over, he re- turned home and engaged as assistant book- keeper with the Second National Bank, Peoria, where he remained four years, then eame to San Diego, September 17, 1869. He engaged in publishing the San Diego Union, and also in law business, and is now a member of the firm of H. T. Christian & Co., in the abstract and title business. He is a member of the G. A. R., and belongs to Heintzelman Post, No. 33, San Diego. He has served seven years in the Na- tional Guards of California, Company B, San Diego city, that being the length of a term of service.

APTAIN WILLIAM S. HINKLE was born near Terre Haute, Indiana, June 30, 1830. His grandfather, Wendle Hinkle, was a Lutheran. His father, Nathan Hinkle, was born in the Shenandoah valley, Virginia, and raised in Jefferson County, Kentucky, and was for forty years a Methodist minister. In 1820 he was married to Elizabeth Reed, a native of Kentucky; the result of the union was eleven children, nine of whom survive. Mr. William S. was raised in Indiana, where he attended the public sehoo's, and college at Asbury Uni- versity, Indiana. After he left college he be- eame a civil engineer, which business he followed for five years. In 1861 he went into the army as Quartermaster. He remained on staff duty the first year, when he became Captain of an

artillery company, Battery D, First Indiana, in which position he remained until the elose of the war. In the spring of 1862 he was in the Gulf Department, under General Butler. They were engaged in many small fights, but the first general action was when General Breckenridge undertook to take Baton Rouge. He com- manded his battery of four guns for forty-seven days and nights, in which they fired three shots every five minutes. Their guns commanded the entrance of the railroad into Port IIudson, and were of 30-pound weight. The next was Banks' Red River expedition, but his command was not in the general fight. It was his battery that dislodged the enemy's guns on the bluffs on Cane river. His three years' term of service expired, and he was mustered out on the Sep- ternber following, 1864. He had only received one slight wound, in the wrist. When he left the army, at the age of twenty-two, he went to Mattoon, Illinois, where he engaged in the gen- eral merchandise business. In 1887 he moved to San Diego, where he has since been engaged in the real-estate and money-lending business. His son, E. C. Hinkle, is now associated with him in the business.

Captain Hinkle was married in the fall of 1866, to Mrs. Monroe, widow of Colonel James Monroe, of the One Hundred and Twenty-third Illinois, who was killed at Farmington, Tennes- see. Her father, Mr. J. T. Cunningham, of Illinois, was the first Republican candidate for Congress in his district. He was an intimate friend of Mr. Lincoln. Mrs. Hinkle was born in 1836. They had two children, and raised Colonel Monroe's two children. The eldest son, Edgar C., cast his first vote in San Diego; Madge was married to Mr. Noble Gordon, who is a merchant in Metamora, Indiana; Ruth married Dr. C. J. Deeker, who is Assistant Sur- geon in the United States Navy, and Bessie is now in San Diego with her parents. Mr. Hin- kle belongs to the Methodist Church, and Mrs. Hinkle to the Christian. She is a faithful worker in both churches, however, and will no doubt re- ceive a double reward. Mr. Hinkle is a Royal

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Templar, being thus a member of an insurance society that receives only strictly temperate people. He is also a member of Heintzelman Post, No. 33, G. A. R. San Diego can boast of many good citizens, but Captain Hinkle, in real worth, is the peer of any of them.

EROY W. ALLUM, San Diego's first as- sistant Postmaster, is a veteran. He and his father, Mr. Thomas Allum, both en- listed at the beginning of the war. His father enlisted in Company C, Twenty-second Iowa Infantry, but was discharged at Vicksburg on account of sickness. He recovered and recruited a company of 100-day mnen. Company D, Forty- eighth Iowa, August, 1864. He was promoted to First Lieutenant, and served until the close of the war. He married Miss Matilda A. Al- Ium, a distant relative, of Scotch-English de- scent, and had a family of ten children, of which the subject of this sketch was the third. The family came to Iowa in 1853, and settled in Davenport. In 1856 Leroy went to Hazel Dell Academy, which he left October 2, 1862, at the age of eighteen, to enlist in Company C, Twenty- second Iowa, the same company in which his father first enlisted. He went all through the war, and came back without a wound, although in many places of great danger. He was in the following battles: Port Gibson, Champion Hill, Black River, and at the siege of Vicks- burg. It was his regiment, under Colonel William M. Stone (afterward Governor of Iowa), that planted the flag upon the works, when twenty-eight men were killed in a few minutes, and some captured. They were obliged to with- draw, but they brought the colors back with them. Vicksburg was taken the 4th of July following. After this the regiment was in the battle of Jackson, Mississippi, and was in New Orleans and Texas, and on the Red River cam- paign. They were also in the Shenandoah val- ley, Fish Hill, Cedar Creek and Winchester. In 1866, he, with his bunk and messmate,

Thomas M. Rogers, started the Republican, a newspaper, at Newton, Iowa, which he con- tinned until 1878, when he moved to Oakland, California, where he published the Vidette, a Republican paper (daily and weekly), and con- tinned there nine years.

He was married to Miss Alice G. Israel, daughter of Mr. M. C. Israel, a merchant of Monroe, Iowa, and has three children, all boys: Leroy M., born November 6, 1875; Ralph L., born September 11, 1878, and Fred M., born August 11, 1883. He is a Knight Templar in the York rite, and thirty-second degree in the Scottish rite Masonry, and is a member of the G. A. R. He belongs to Heintzelman Post, No. 33, of San Diego.

EORGE M. WETHERBEE was born in Westminster, Massachusetts, December 7, 1837. His father having died when he was quite young he made his own way in the world and earned his own living from the time he was nine years of age. There was a family of four boys and one girl, and notwith- standing the fact that they were all thrown upon their own resources young, not one of them ever used tobacco or tasted whisky. In his mother's family there were twelve brothers and sisters, and only one girl weighed less than 200 pounds. The baby of the family now liv- ing weighs 300 pounds! Mr. Wetherbee him- self now weighs 270 pounds. His weight when a young man at the time of entering the army was 211 ponnds. Notwithstanding his weight he now works hard in his inills every day. He has a son, Allen H., who at seven- teen years of age weighed 207 pounds. In 1852 Mr. Wetherbee went to work for the Hay- ward Chair Company of Gardner, Massachusetts, andin 1854 he went to Boston and entered upon what has ever since been his principal business, the planing-mill business. In 1861 he went to Boston and enlisted for three years in the First Massachusetts Infantry, Colonel Robert Cowden,

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commander, and served as a musician during the entire war. He commeneed playing in a brass band when thirteen years of age, and has followed it as a partial business until within the last four years. During the last year of the war he was the leader of a brigade band, and was with Sherman on his march; played at Rich- mond and at the close played in the grand review at Washington. Brigadier General Knife was Mr. Wetherbee's commander, and Mr. Weatherbee recruited the band for this brigade. When he came out of the armny he located in business in Boston until 1869. He then went to Sin Francisco and carried on a general mill business and bee-hive manufactory until October, 1884. He then came to San Diego and built the first planing-mill in the city, which was burned by an incendiary on Decem- ber 12, 1884, the day after its completion. He lost everything in this, to him most disastrous, fire, but the courage of a brave and true Amer- ican stood by him. He borrowed capital and rebuilt at once, and has added to the mill and machinery until he has the largest and mnost complete mill of its kind on the coast. having 26,000 square feet of work room. His mill is a complete one, capable of manufacturing all kinds of work in the planing, molding and seroll sawing line, inelnding all sorts of work usually done in a first-class establishment Mr. Weth- erbee is a practical workman and can run and keep in order any machine in the mill. He has a reputation for honorable and upright deal- ing; that in itself alone is a fortune; he has employed as high as eighty men at once in this establishment. In addition to the wood-work- ing part of the mill they have a barley rolling mill, and roll large quantities of barley. Mr. Wetherbee was married to Miss Angelina Bar- ney, born April 26, 1837, a daughter of Captain Renben Barney, who sailed in a whaling ship. They were descendants of Benjamin Franklin. Their ancestors were Quakers and were among the first settlers of Nantucket. Mr. Wetherbee had a family of four children, namely: George A., born June 12, 1858, and is now foreman in

his father's mill; Angie I., born July 12, 1866: she is married to Mr. George H. Hebrank, a native of Pittsburgh, who is in the glass-blowing business; Allen H., born February 24, 1871, now a civil engineer in Utah with the Bun River Cavell Company. Mr. George M. Weth- erbee is a member of Heintzelman Post, No 33, of San Diego, G. A. R., is president of its board of trustees, a member of Occidental Lodge, No. 179, I O. O. F., and Past Grand. He is a member of Encampment No. 57, I. O. O. F., and Past Chief Patriarch; also a member of Franklin Lodge, A. O. U. W., and a member of the board of delegates of San Diego County, representing the Fifth ward.

R. I. L. PALMER .- In 1829 Jabez Pal- mer landed in America from England, and settled at Stonington, Connectient. He had three sons, one of whom settled in New York, one in Virginia, and one remained in Connecticut. Mr. I. L. Palmer's grandfather removed from the latter State to Ohio in 1797, and settled in Washington County, which was then a wilderness. They came with teams to Pittsburg, and then in boats down the Ohio to Marietta. This family consisted of Joseph, Ja- bez, Isaac and Betsey. The township in which they settled was given their name-" Palmer." Mr. I. L. Palmer's grandfather was married in 1820 to Mrs. Persis Tilton. They had a family of ten children: Oscar, Joseph, Charles, George,. Andrew, Jabez. Ann, Jane, Hannah and Mary. Oscar was Mr. I. L. Palmer's father, and he was married to Miss Anna Chamberlain in 1841. Mr. Palmer's grandfather lived until he was ninety-three years of age, and his grandfather on his mother's side, John D. Chamberlain, was in the war of 1812, also in the Seminole war. He was a teacher and a surveyor, and lived to the great age of 102 years and died in 1885. Dr. Palmer's parents had four children, two girls and two boys. Mr. I. L. Palmer was the second son and was born at Marietta, Ohio, June

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HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY.

21, 1845. He attended the commnon school at his home, and finished his education at the Uni- versity at Athens, Ohio, after coming out of the army, in which he enlisted April 19, 1861, at the age of sixteen. He was five feet ten inches high, and weighed 156 pounds. He enlisted for three months in Company F, Eighteenth Ohio, and when his term had expired he enlisted in Company A, Thirty-sixth Ohio, for three years. April 14, 1864, the then veteran enlisted for the third time in the same company with which he had been for three years and with which he had helped to fight so many severe engagements. He was in thirty-one hard-fought battles, 200 skirmishes with bushwhackers, never missed a battle, a march or a guard, and only received one slight wound, in the hand by a piece of ex- ploded shell. At the time of his last enlistment he weighed 230 pounds, while he now weighs 270. His father's brother and himself at one time weighed 775 pounds. He is a well proportioned, large man, young-looking and very active in his movements for one so heavy. To show how active he has been we will state that he has run a good many foot- races, and was hard to beat. At the close of the war, in 1865, he went to the common school one winter, to the academy, and then to the university. In 1867 he was married to Miss Maria Woodruff, who was born at Water- town, Ohio, July, 1842. Her father, Mr. Silas Woodruff, was of English descent, while her mother was of German. Their nnion has been blessed with five children, three of whom sur- vive. Their oldest son, Oscar, was born in Jack- son, Missouri, December 24, 1867; Anson and Ormstead, twins, were born February 16, 1870; Della May, June 5, 1873, in Clay County, Mis- souri, and Ova Mable, January 5, 1876, in Cloud County, Kansas. Mrs. Palmer and the children are members of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Palmer is an Odd Fellow and a member of the Heintzelman Post, G. A. R. Ile has also been a member of the National Guard for seven years. He came to San Diego from Kansas, where he taught school, and conducted a store part of the

time, May 23, 1878, and set the first stake for the California Southern Railroad. He took the United States census in 1880, held the office of constable and deputy sheriff in 1883, which office he held until August, 1884. He then took charge of the rebuilding of the wash-out in Temecula Cañon, after which he located the line from there to Barstow, and built twenty. four miles of the road. He came back to San Diego in 1885. In September of the same year he was appointed deputy marshal, which po- sition he held until 1887, when he was appointed city assessor. In the fall of 1887 he was elected tax collector and street commissioner, and served until May, 1889. He has bought property and built a home, and has a ninety-five- acre ranch at Murrietta. While in Kansas he was township trustee, Justice of the Peace, and a school director for five years.

APTAIN EDWARD B. SPILEMAN is a native of Boston, Massachusetts, and was born July, 1844. His father, Bartholomew Spileman, was born in Scotland, and was a mer- chant the greater portion of his life. He came to the United States when a young man, made two voyages across the ocean to Europe and died in 1858. Captain Spileman's mother, Mary (Cameron) Spileman, was born in Scotland, and died in Boston in 1860. They were Scotch Presbyterians. They had a family of four chil- dren, of whom Captain Spiieman is the only survivor. He received his education in Massa- chusetts and Pennsylvania. In 1862 he enlisted in Company D, Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers, and re-enlisted in 1864. He served in the Army of the Potomac, and was in three very hot en- gagements, viz .: Fredericksburg, Clianeellors- ville and Gettysburg. He was wounded in the latter battle, receiving a gun-shot through his left thigh, and was laid up for nearly a year. While in the army he had the measles, from the effects of which he never fully recovered. His lungs were badly affected, and his weight re-

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duced from 142 pounds to 115. In 1865 he was mustered out of the army and engaged in the lumber business at Tawas City, Michigan, from 1867 until 1887. He is a Republican, and al- ways means to be one. While at Tawas City he was chairman of the Republican district committee. He cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. He has declined many offers of offices. lle is interested in Minnesota mineral lands to the extent of 2,000 acres, from which he is re- " ceiving very encouraging reports. He came to San Diego in 1887 to die, but after getting here changed his mind, bought property and built himself a home. He was united in 1864 to Miss Mary Fogarty, a native of New Jersey, who was born in 1847. She was the daughter of John Fogarty, who was born in Connecticut, but a resident of New Jersey for many years. They had a family of six children, three of whom are still living: Edward E., born in Tawas City, Michigan, April 16, 1869; Hiram, also born in Tawas City, January 21, 1871, and Lilly May, born March 27, 1880. The Captain is a Pres- byterian, a Knight of Pythias and a Thirty- second degree Mason, and lias been Master of Lodges for six years. He has organized the San Diego Rifles, and is now their Captain.

OLONEL JOHN A. HELPHINGSTINE, a prominent business man of San Diego, although not an old-time resident, is highly appreciated for his enterprise and public spirit. He was born in Crawford County, Illinois, Oc- tober 12, 1844. His father, Washington Helphingstine, was also a native of that State, born in 1819; and his grandfather, Jacob Helphingstinc, was born on the Atlantic ocean when his parents were coming to America from Prussia. Colonel Helphingstine's mother was Amy Allison, a daughter of John Allison, of Scotch descent, but born in Illinois. Colonel Helphingstine passed his boybood on the farm until he was seventeen years of age. Then came the war of the Rebellion, Sumter was fired upon

and the North rising like a giant in his might flew to arıns. The loyal citizens of the country responded with alacrity to President Lincoln's call for volunteers, but from no section was the response more general than from the broad prai- ries of his own State. Men past the prime of life took their places in the ranks, and school- boys dropped their books to enlist in the service of the Union. Young Ilelphingstine bade his his parents farewell. left the farm and enlisted as a private in the Sixty-second Illinois Volun- teers; he served through the war, in the army of the Cumberland for two years, and was then transferred to the West, and was mustered out as Quarterin ater of his regiment. During his spare moments while in the army, young Hel- phingstine hid studiel law, and at the close of the war he attended the high school in Craw- ford County. Having graduated he resuined his law studies under Judge Harrison, of Independ- ence, Kansas. In 1870 he was admitted to the Kansas bar, and successfully practiced his profes- sion for ten years in Independence; he served one term as Police Jndge of the town, and for five years was County Clerk of Montgomery County.

In 1880, he went to New Mexico, where he engaged in mining, continuing in that calling for three years. He thien turned his attention to journalism and established a daily newspaper, the Chieftain, at Socorro; he conducted this paper for three years with ability and energy, and in that time made it a power in the com- inunity. He was largely instrumental in secur- ing the appointment of E. G. Ross as Governor of the Territory. The circamstances attending his connection with this appointment are so strongly characteristic of the man-of his loy- alty to friends, and his indomitable perseverance -- that it is worth recounting. Ross was an old Kansas man, and at one time, during Andy Jolinson's administration, liad represented the State in the United States Senate. His candid views, openly expressed, and his independent conduct, during those stirring times, injured him with his party (the Republican), and upon his return home from the Senate he was polit-

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ically ostracized. Disappointed at the treatment he had received at the hands of his party and reduced in means, he left Kansas and went to New Mexico. There Helphingstine found him working at a case in a newspaper office. The two men had formed a friendship in other days, and Helphingstine came to his assistance now. Knowing his thorough executive ability and his stubborn honesty, he boldly advocated Ross' appointment as Territorial Governor in the col- uinns of the Chieftain. This indorsement proved of eminent service, and Ross was made Governor. During his administration Hel- phingstine served as Inspector general on his staf with the rank of Colonel.

On October 20, 1886, Colonel Helphingtine came to San Diego; he had intended resuming his law practice here, but was wooed from his professien by the brighter opening he found in real estate; he took charge of the lands of the Coronado Beach Company as their general agent, February 1, 1887, and remained in that position until September 1, 1889. During this time his sales of real estate amounted to about $1,000,000. While con- nected with the Coronado Company he formed a syndicate and purchased a large tract of land within the city limits, which he placed un the market, under the name of Helphing- tines's Addition; he also has the agency of El Cajon Valley Company. Colonel Helphing- stine, some months since, secured the premises formerly occupied by the Commercial Bank of San Diego, and has there fitted up the finest set of offices to be found in San Diego. On October 10, last, he was presented by Mr. E. S. Babcock, Jr., on behalf of the Coronado Beach Company, with an elegant gold watch, as a token of their appreciation of his efforts in their behalf when general agent of the com- pany. Colonel Helphingstine is interested quite largely in city real estate, and besides, has a valuable ranch property.

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Author: Lewis Publishing Company Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1038

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1038