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 93

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 93
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 93
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 93
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 93

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).

He was married in December 8, 1838, to Miss Harriet Currier, of Windsor, Kennebec County, Maine, born May 13, 1820. She was the daughter of Charles and Mary (Baker) Cur- rier, both of Maine. The subject of this sketch

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HISTORY OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY.

is one of a family of five children. The oldest son, Charles Currier Grow, entered the army in the Thirty-second Regiment Maine Volunteers, was in Banks' Expedition, and was killed in the battle of Cane Crossing. He was First Lieu- tenant at the time of his death. The second son is Samuel Lorenzo; the third child, Mary Frances, married Arthur Newell, of LaGrange, Illinois; Walter Fremont and Wallace Dayton are twins. Mr. Grow owns a fine ranch of 160 acres in Highlands and is doing a rushing busi- ness in fruit and vines and nursery stock. He was married in lowa, in 1880, to Miss Carrie E. Burroughs.

UCAS HOAGLAND, a rancher near San Bernardino, was born in Michigan in 1837. His father, Abraham, and his mother, Margaret (Quick) Hoagland, were born in the old country. They moved to Michigan in 1824, where Mr. Hoagland worked at his trade, that of a blacksınith. He was Captain of the militia that serenaded General Lafayette, and moved to Hancock County, Illinois, in 1845. After a short sojourn there he moved to Council Bluffs, where he spent one winter, and then moved to Salt Lake, where he died in 1879. The subject of this sketch was the oldest of seven children. He enlisted in the Mexican war from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1846, in Company B, Iowa Volunteers, and was discharged at Los An- geles, in 1847. He then went back to Salt Lake and remained until 1849, when he came with ox team to California. For two years he ran a pack team in El Dorado County. In 1852 he came back here and bought forty acres, which he kept eight years. He then sold it and went back to Salt Lake and teamed in Montana for six years. In 1870 he came back to San Bernardino County, and now owns a fine ranch of sixty acres three miles southeast of the eity, all well improved and in good condition. March 1, 1848, he married Miss Rachel Hale, of Mas- sachusests, and had one child, Olive. In 1854

his wife died and in 1862 he was again united in marriage to Miss Harriet Wamford, from Cambridge, England. This union was blessed with six children: Emily, now Mrs. William Aldrich; Luther, Monroe, Truman, Earnest and Maudie. Mr. Hoagland is a true pioneer and has had a varied experience. He is in favor of every enterprise that has for its object the np- building of the county and community in which he lives.

HARLES W. FLEMING, editor and pro- prietor of the Phoenix, one of Riverside's enterprising journals, was born in Cum- berland County, Pennsylvania, in 1858. He started in life's work when about fifteen years of age, as an apprentice in a printing office at Mt. Holly Springs, and served an apprentice- ship of three years. When eighteen years of age he struck out for the great West, locating in Lincoln, Nebraska. He then established himself at his trade, and was engaged with the State Journal Company for some eight years. In 1885 he resumed his westward march, and in April of that year came to Riverside. He worked as a journeyman on the Riverside Press for some months, and then established the Com- mercial Job Office, which he conducted until 1887, and then sold to the Enterprise Company. During the next year Mr. Fleming was engaged in real estate and insurance business. In June, 1888, the Tribune Publishing Company was incorporated, and the publication of the River- side Daily Tribune started, with Mr. Fleming as business manager. The publication of that paper was suspended, December 30, 1888, and later he bought the presses, type, etc., and en- gaged in job printing, and June 1, 1889, issned the first number of the Phoenix, a weekly paper. He is the editor and proprietor of the paper, and also proprietor of the Phoenix Job Printing-office. Mr. Fleming has spent his life in printing and publishing enterprises, and is thoroughly a master of his calling. Ilis

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HISTORY OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY.

paper is independent and outspoken, but, like its proprietor, may always be found supporting Riverside's interests. He is a member of the Board of Trade, and for the first year of its organization was secretary of the board. Polit- ically he is a stanch Republican, and a member of Sunnyside Lodge, No. 112, Knights of Pythias; also a member and Recorder of River- side Division, No. 30, Uniform Rank, of the same order, and District Deputy Grand Chan- cellor of the State for his section.

In 1882 Mr. Fleming wedded Miss Edith Roberts, a native of Nebraska. Her father, John Roberts, is a well-known pioneer of Otoe County, Nebraska, and is now a resident of Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California. The only child from this marriage is a daughter, named Cecile. Mr. Fleming's parents, Isaac and Susan (Sheffield) Fleming, were natives of Pennsylvania. His father died in Nebraska, in 1885; his mother is now a resident of River- side, California. He is one of a family of thir- teen children, eleven of whom are grown to manhood and womanhood.

EWIS DECK, of Redlands, is a native of the " Keystone" State. His father, Henry Deck, was one of the pioneers of Wanke- sha County, Wisconsin, and had a family of nine children, of whom our subject is the old- est. He left home at the age of fifteen, and went to New York, and from there by the Pan- ama route to California, in 1857. He had the measles while on board the vessel, and when he got on land had not money enough to buy his dinner. He first worked in the vegetable gar- dens at Marysville, for $20 a month. After this he mined in both quartz and placer mines from 1862 to 1883, all along the coast, but principally in Nevada, and some in Mexico. No man in Sonthern California, perhaps, has had a more varied experience, nor can they give a fuller history of early mining days than he. He made and lost many fortunes, but in 1883

gave np mining and turned his attention to horticulture. He is a true pioneer and has an extended knowledge of the world.

MOS W. BEMIS, living two and one-half miles west of San Bernardino, on Fifth street, is one of the early and successful pioneers of this connty. He was born in Jeffer- son County, New York, and is a son of Alvin Bemis, who with his family removed to Ohio when Amos was eight years of age. In 1844 he removed to Lee County, Iowa, where he died in 1847. The family lived in Lee County three years after Mr. Bemis' death, and in 1851 the Inother, seven sons and three daughters, started for California. Amos being the eldest the others naturally looked to him, and on his shoulders rested the greater responsibility. They spent two winters in Ogden, Utah. In 1853 he married Miss Julia McCullonghi, a native of New York State. Her father, Levi Mccullough, moved from Erie County, New York, to Mich- igan, in 1836. He was therefore a pioneer of that State, and was a citizen of Jackson when it could boast of one store, one mill and a few small houses. In 1846 he left there for Iowa. At this time the Mexican war came on and he entered the service as a volunteer and served until the close. He then joined his family in Iowa, and almost immediately set out for Ogden, Utah, arriving there in 1852, and there it .was that Mr. Bemis met and married his daughter. They started across the plains March 20, 1853, and June 5, of the same year, they arrived in San Bernardino County. He first bought ten acres of land; he now owns a fine farmn of 200 acres. For twenty-five years he engaged in stock-raising, but recently he gives more atten- tion to general farming. He has built an ex- cellent residence on Fifth street, and has a fine orchard of semi-tropical fruits; he began opera- tions here by camping out one entire summer. The city of San Bernardino was then only a miserable little fort. They had some tough

Wat Com

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HISTORY OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY.

times at the start, and with bears and Indians all around life was uncertain. Two of his broth- ers thus met their death; Samuel Bemis, his older brother, was killed by the bears while searching for a younger brother, Nephi Bemis, who had been killed by the Indians. Could those of the present day who come to this magnificent country, with its fruitful fields and pleasant groves and commodious residences, know but one-half the dangers and privations, labors aud hardships endured by the pioneers, surely they would more fully appreciate their advantages and show more respect, as well as give more glory to the frontiersman who had the nerve and push to develop so thoroughly the resources of the country.

Mr. Bemis lias been eminently successful, and his excellent wife has been a close sympa- thizer to rejoice with him in prosperity, and to labor, cheer and comfort him when Fortune hid her face. They have brought up seven children, namely: Frances, now Mrs. Milo Brooks; Amos Henry, Levi, Irvine, Wilson, George and Loran.

ON. WILLIAM A. CONN, of San Ber- nardino, is one of those strong individual- ities in the pioneer history of California, who by his force of character and intellect stamped his impress upon the early civilization of the Golden State. Though a number of the first years of his residence on the Pacific coast were passed in the northern part of the State, at San Francisco, yet for a third of a century Sonthern California has had the benefits of his public-spirited patriotism, his business attain- ments and his generous philanthropy.

Mr. Conn was born in 1814, on the West India Islands, where his father had settled somne years previously to engage in shipping and mercantile business, and was a large property owner there. Four years after the birth of the subject of this memoir, he came with his family to the United States and resided several years in the city of Baltimore. Deciding to seek a 88

home in the then new West, he started with his family for Pittsburg, he and his wife traveling on horseback and the children in a Pennsylvania " schooner " wagon. On reaching the " Smoke City " the family and their belongings shipped on board a keel-boat down the Ohio river for Cincinnati, their final destination being St. Louis. They stopped about a year in. the Ohio metropolis, then started for St. Louis, but Mr. Coon was diverted from his purpose by the per- suasion of a friend who induced him to settle in the young State of Illinois, in the then promis- ing town of Kaskaskia, which was thought to be a place of great promise, and destined to become the important distributing center of the South- west. Mr. Conn, who had been a seafaring man and captain of a vessel in earlier life, bought a farın near Chester, Illinois, on which he died in 1826. Two years after his decease the widow removed with her children to Jacksonville, Illi- nois, and it was there the subject of this memoir began his business career, which continued for many years in Meredosia, Illinois, in St. Louis, and on the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, and consisted of general merchandising, packing pork and afterward shipping on the rivers be- fore named. In 1848 he made a business trip to England and Ireland, and while there read the account of the discovery of gold in Califor- nia, in a London newspaper. In the latter part of 1850, and the early part of 1851, Mr. Conn made shipments of merchandise and produce to San Francisco, and in the spring of the latter year started for California, via the Isthmusof Panama, landing from the steamer Northerner in San Francisco on May 5, 1851. The first year or two were chiefly spent in disposing of his merchandise in San Francisco, where he remained until 1857, still contemplating returning East across the plains. In the spring of that year he first came to San Bernardino, and early in Jan- uary, 1858, he bought of the Mormon leaders, Amasa Limon, Charles C. Rich and Ebenezer Hanks, the unsold portion of the Rancho San Bernardino, which originally comprised eight leagues. His purchase consisted of something

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HISTORY OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY.

over 8,000 acres, and was made for himself and two partners under the firm title of Conn, Tucker & Allen. Many of the Mormons had returned to Salt Lake the previous summer in obedience to the command of Brigham Young. San Ber- nardino has been Mr. Conn's ostensible residence ever since that time. He sold off these lands trom time to time, to actual settlers chiefly, many of the purchasers being poor men with families, some of whom still remain to remember and thank Mr. Conn with feelings of deep gratitude, as their benefactor who made prices and terms so easy as to assist them in securing a home- stead which has yielded them a living, and in not a few cases a competency. These lands were sold according to the Mormon plats and maps, save abont 300 acres, which Mr. Conn still owns. His services have been called into requisition by the people in an official capacity, as well as in his private business. In 1858 he was elected to the General Assembly and served in the sessions of 1858-'59. In 1867 he was elected State Sena- tor, and filled that office till 1871. Senator Conn has, from both circumstances and taste, been associated with the most distinguished people of the Pacific coast, many of whom are his warm personal friends, and greatly enjoy intercourse with the ripe intellect and warm social nature of this typical gentleman.

ILLIAM TOBY NOYES was born Ang- ust 22, 1836, in Durham, Cumberland County, Maine. His parents, John Henry and Sarah Webb (Toby) Noyes, were natives respectively of England and Wales. His father was a politician, and was elected as the first clerk of Pawnel, and was a pro- found student and a strong advocate of the temperance cause. He died at the residence of his son William, in California, in 1880, at the age of seventy-six. Mr. Noyes came to California by water in 1863, and landed in San Francisco in May of that year. He had previously (in 1861) made a trip to

Cuba, where he worked at the carpenter's trade for one year. He also spent some time building, etc., in Virginia City, and in 1865 went back to San Francisco and worked for the Government for one year. Then he went to East Oakland, where he engaged in building and contracting for fourteen years. From there he went to Tucson, Arizona, and contracted for abont one year. From the latter place he moved to San Bernardino County, and bought 120 acres of land in Highlands, in partnership with Will- iam H. Randall, and has given his attention to fruit and vine culture ever since. He was mar- ried in March, 1861, to Miss Harriet Randall, of Pawnel, Maine, and they have one child, a daughter-Miss Jennie. Mr. Noyes' influence as a politician is strongly in favor of the Prohi- bition party. He has been in California twenty- six years, and has never tasted a glass of whisky or beer. In 1888 he received the nomination of his party for the office of sheriff of San Ber- nardino Connty. He is at present Justice of the Peace for Highlands district. He is an Odd Fellow, and affiliates with the Orion Lodge, No. 189, East Oakland, of which lodge he was a charter member.

ENRY A. WESTBROOK is one of Riv- erside's earlier settlers and ranks as one of her most successful business men and hor- ticulturists. Mr. Westbrook dates his birth in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, June 20, 1848. His father, Benjamin Westbrook, was a native of New Jersey, who in his young manhood lo- cated in Pennsylvania and there married Miss Lucy I. Nichols, a native of that State. He was a carpenter and builder by occupation. Mr. Westbrook was reared in his native village until eight years old, and then placed on a farm until the age of seventeen, during which time he obtained such an education as the winter terms of the public schools afforded. He then abandoned farming occupation, and returned to his father, and under his tutorship became

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HISTORY OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY.

skilled as a carpenter and builder. In 1869, he struck out for the West and located in Clinton, Iowa, working at his trade as a journeyman, and later went to Belle Plain, Iowa, and there established himself as a contractor and builder. In 1872 he went to Chicago, and was there act- ively engaged as a contractor and builder for two and a half years, during the rebuilding of that city. In 1875 his health failed him and he was compelled to suspend his operations.

He then returned to Belle Plain, deciding to seek a home ou the Pacific coast. In 1876 he came to California and located in Riverside, and upon liis arrival he established himself as a builder, and later also devoted his attention to horticultural pursuits. Success lias crowned his efforts. He is a thorough mechanic, well schooled in his calling, and possessed of sound business principles. He came to Riverside with but little or no capital, and his manly conduct, honest and straightforward dealing soon secured the patronage and support of the community, and for many years he has been identified with the building industries of that city and colony, and gained a well-earned competency. At this writing he is still occupied as a contractor and builder, having his place of business on Main street, corner Sixth street. He is also the owner of a twenty-acre tract on the east side of Orange street, south of Russell street. This tract attests his success as a horticulturist. It is thoroughly improved and under a high state of cultivation. His fine orange grove contains 320 seedlings, and 800 budded trees of Washington Navel, Australian Navel, St. Michael Malta Blood and other approved varieties; also 100 lemon trees, Lisbon variety. His vineyard of raisin grapes is four acres in extent. He also has two acres in alfalfa, which under his admirable system of irrigation yields six crops a year, giving an ag- gregate of nine tons per acre. His trees were planted in the years intervening between 1877 and 1880 and are now many of them in good bearing, rendering profitable crops. Mr. West- brook has always been a progressive citizen and a strong supporter of such public enterprises as

would tend to build up Riverside. He is a stockholder and director of the Riverside Water Company. In political matters he is a Repub. lican, has served several terms as a delegate in county conventions and may always be found supporting the best elements of his party.

Mr. Westbrook was married in 1871, wedding Miss Jane E. McDowell, a native of Gettysburg, Ohio. Her parents, Robert and Sarah (Camp- bell) McDowell, are natives of Pennsylvania, and were among the earlier settlers of Darke County, Ohio. Her father is one of the pio- neers of Riverside. From the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Westbrook there are two children, Lucy Ada and Lova.

ROF. CHARLES RUSSELL PAINE, of Redlands, is a native of Massachusetts, born in Barnstable September 9, 1839, a son of John and Lucy (Crowell) Paine. He is one of a family of six children. He was grad- nated at Amherst college, and has taught in Maine, Rhode Island, Ohio, Indiana and Cali- fornia. He came to this latter State in 1870 and taught school in Riverside. He also taught the first school in Colton. In 1873 he estab- lished a private school in San Bernardino and in 1876 was elected County Superintendent of Schools. He subsequently served as principal of the city schools two terms. Prof. Paine and his father-in-law, Dr. Craig, caine to Cali- fornia to raise fruit in Riverside. They drove from Los Angeles and took up eighty acres of barren land. on which they built rude houses, and then went back to Los Angeles for their fami- lies, and theirs were the first families to live on the lower plain. The Professor tells an amus- ing incident which occurred just as they were crossing the Santa Ana river, how that his brother-in-law, Scipio Craig, now editor of the Citrograph, fell out of the wagon into the water. Also, how later he and Scipio had raised a crop of corn on the island in the river, and when it was almost ready to gather the Mexican cattle

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HISTORY OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY.

invaded the corn and barley, and they could only go in with wagons and haul off as much as they could, and let the cattle destroy the rest. The Professor can tell many interesting stories of pioneer life, which, could they all be written, would make in themselves a whole volume. In 1877 he purchased 186 acres located in Crafton, and has since given his attention to his large fruit interests. He was married in 1863 at Muncie, Indiana, to Miss Mary E. Craig, a daughter of Dr. Craig, who is well known here.

ILLIAM A. HAYT .- There is no man inore deserving of mention among the representative citizens of Riverside than the gentleman whose name heads this sketch; nor is there a man in the community who has . done more to promote the growth of the city than he. He is always alive to its interests, and his name is generally the first among the `subscribers to any enterprise that is conducive to the welfare and prosperity of the commnnn- ity. Such facts as have been gathered regard- ing his life are of interest.

Mr. Hayt was born in Putnam County, New York, in 1832. His father, Harry Hayt, was a native of that State and a descendant of an old colonial family. He was a farmer, miller and merchant, well and favorably known in Putnam County. The subject of this sketch received a good common-school education until the age of fourteen years. At this age his speculative and trading disposition rendered the humdrum life on a farm insupportable, and he entered the store of his brother as a clerk. In 1852 his father died, and the next year, npon reaching his majority, Mr. Hayt purchased from his father's estate the mills, store, and other enter- prises, and was successfully conducting them when the floods of 1855 swept away his dams and flumes and wrecked his mills. The losses were more than he could support and he was compelled to suspend his business. Nothing

daunted he started anew in life, and secking the great West, he located at Hastings, Minnesota, where he established himself in the lumber business.

He remained in that plaee until 1859, and then determined to seek his fortune on the Pa- cific coast. He started from St. Paul for his trip across the plains, driving his own team. Crossing the plains in those days was fraught with dangers and hardships, but he successfully overcame all obstacles, and August 15, 1859, found him in Sacramento. He spent that fall and winter in San Francisco and Folsom, dealing in mining properties. In the spring of 1860 he took a stock of goods to Nevada and en- gaged in mercantile pursuits. This was too quiet, however, for his speculative temperament, and he engaged in prospecting and developing inines, and was at one time secretary and super- intendent of the well-known Overman mine. He made fortunes quickly and as rapidly lost them in disastrous ventures. In 1864 he re- turned to his native place and settled in more quiet pursuits, but he was not satisfied, and in 1868 he returned to California, and spent a year in the commission business with Mr. E. Cald- well, in San Francisco. He then returned East and for several years engaged as a contractor in Patterson. In 1876 he returned to the Pacific coast and devoted the next three years in pros- ecuting mining interests in California and Ne- vada. Tiring of his pursuit of the tickle goddess of wealth in the mines, in October, 1879, he camne to Southern California and located in Riverside. At that time he was blessed with but little of this world's goods, but he had an unlimited capital in energy and ambition. His first business operation was the opening of a meat market on the west side of Main street, where the Hayt block now stands. This business was conducted in partnership with his son Charlie P. Hayt, under the firm namne of Hayt & Son. The next spring the firm en- tered into the livery business, on the corner of Market and Eighth streets. Their stock in trade was limited to three horses and two wag-

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HISTORY OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY.

ous. From this small beginning Mr. Hayt and his son built up oneof the most extensive livery enterprises iu San Bernardino County. In 1887 Mr. Hayt found his other enterprises demanding so much a tention that he retired from the livery business. In 1888, in connection with J. H. D. Cox, hie established the commission house of lIayt & Cox, and has since been an extensive dealer in flour, grain, coal, lime, etc. Mr. Hayt has acquired some of the most valuable busi- ness property in Riverside and has been noted for the class of buildings he has erected. In 1882 he built the Hayt Block, on the corner of Sev- enth and Main streets, and in 1885 enlarged the same. He has been identified with the various corporations that have made the improvements so valuable to Riverside. IIe is an original incorporator and president of the Riverside Railway Company; director of Riverside Heights Water Company; president of Riverside Gas and Electric Light Company, and was the prime mover and promoter of that enterprise; he is also an incorporator and treasurer of the Riverside Building Association.

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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