Historical and biographical record of southern California; containing a history of southern California from its earliest settlement to the opening year of the twentieth century, Part 142

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co.
Number of Pages: 1366

USA > California > Historical and biographical record of southern California; containing a history of southern California from its earliest settlement to the opening year of the twentieth century > Part 142

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).

RUSSELL C. ALLEN. The Sweetwater Fruit Company, incorporated, is one of the old- established and successful industries of San Diego county. Not a little of its present pros- perity is due to the wise oversight of its gen- eral manager, Mr. Allen. In 1890 he was con- nected with the organization of the company, which purchased two hundred acres in Sweet- water valley. One-half of the entire acreage is in lemons, of which there are annually raised about twenty thousand boxes or sixty carloads. Fifteen acres are in navel oranges, of which fifteen carloads are shipped yearly. The ship- ments of oranges will increase each year, so that when the trees are ten years old about one hundred carloads can be shipped each year. The company owns a packing house and pre- pares its fruit for shipment. On the property there are also two private pumping plants, from which in dry seasons water is secured for the ranch. Besides the lemons and oranges. Eng-

955

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

lish walnuts are grown, there being fifteen acres in this product. Thirty acres are in alfalfa. The shipments from the ranch comprise two brands of fruit, Bonita and Hibiscus, both of which have acquired a reputation that insures their sale at fair prices. To add to the equip- ment of the ranch a store was opened thereon and a postoffice established, and for two years Mr. Allen has filled the office of postmaster.

In Jamaica Plains, Mass., Mr. Allen was born in 1859, a son of Joseph H. and Anna M. Allen. His educational advantages were of the best the country afforded. In 1880 he was graduated from Harvard College with the degree of A. B., after which he was a student in Columbia Law School, New York City, and also studied in the office of Henry C. Atwater. Coming to Cal- ifornia in 1882, he settled near El Cajon, San Diego county, where he bought property (now known as Las Paderes ranch) and set out a raisin vineyard and an olive orchard. This place, which he still owns, comprises two hundred and eighty acres and is watered by a private pumping plant. From 1889 until 1899 he was a partner in the El Cajon Packing Company, which engaged in the raisin packing business. His property interests are large, including, as already intimated, a part ownership of the Bon- ita ranchi, of the Sweetwater Fruit Company, and the ownership of Las Paderes ranch. Through his twenty years of practical experi- ence in fruit growing he has acquired a thor- ough knowledge of the business, and is par- ticularly well informed concerning the adapta- bility of the soil to certain varieties of fruits. Frequently he has been called upon to furnish articles for fruit growers' journals, and in these papers he has given the result of years of labor and tireless application, thereby enabling in- experienced horticulturists to profit by his experience through all these years.

A. J. BACON, M. D. During the latter years of his life Dr. A. J. Bacon was a resident of Gardena, where he purchased land and erected a commodious residence. He was born near Macomb, Ill., and reared on a farm, liis primary education being received at the dis- trict schools of his neighborhood. His father, Col. Charles Bacon, was born in Tennessee, was a civil engineer in the earlier part of his life, but after coming to Illinois he settled on a farm of fifteen hundred acres near Macomb, where he eventually died.

The professional training of Dr. Bacon was undertaken at Rush Medical College in Chi- cago, Ill., and at the Eclectic College in Cincin- nati, Ohio. He began his practice in Table Grove, Ill. At the end of twenty-five years he removed to Fairfield, Neb., on account of poor health, and later went to Hastings, Neb., re- maining in both of the latter towns two years.

Thence he went to Denver, Colo. After a year and a half in Denver he located in Los Angeles, Cal., and then removed to Gardena, where his death occurred in March, 1900. His first mar- riage was contracted in Illinois, and of this union there was one daughter, Carrie, who is now the wife of J. M. Leonard, a telegraph operator for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company.

May 4, 1865, Dr. Bacon married Miss Miner, born near Table Grove, Ill., October 10, 1841, a daughter of William Miner, who was born in Kentucky, September 4, 1810. Mr. Miner re- moved from Kentucky to Indiana, and after- ward located near Table Grove, Ill., where he had fifteen hundred acres of land, and this property he farmed until his death in 1894. His wife, formerly Phoebe Ward, was born in New Jersey, a daughter of John Ward, who was born in Kentucky, and was both a farmer and preacher. Mrs. Bacon spent her girlhood days in Illinois, and was educated in the public schools and at the seminary at Quincy, Ill. She has one daughter, Mrs. Nellie Barlow, who lives with her mother.

PROF. ALBERT J. COOK. The depart- ment of biology, under the charge of Professor Cook, is among the most important in Pomona College. The entire upper floor of Pearsons Hall of Science is devoted to this department. In the south end is the museum, containing a valuable collection, which includes an articu- lated and disarticulated human skeleton, a dis- articulated and sectional human skull, articu- lated skeletons of all classes of vertebrata, all orders of mammalia, the celebrated Azoux manikin and the Azoux models of the human eye and ear; also a representative collection of insects, another of fossils from all periods of geologic history; and a cabinet of archæolog- ical specimens. In the north end are labora- tories for zoology, and botany with complete appliances, added to the conveniences of water and gas.

Professor Cook was born in Owosso, Mich., in 1842, and received a thorough education, graduating from the Michigan Agricultural Col- lege in 1862. During the same year he came to California and taught in the public schools of Sacramento for some time, returning to Michigan in 1868 and accepting a position in the educational work of that state. His recog- nized learning and talents led to his appoint- mient as professor of mathematics in the Michi- gan Agricultural College, in which department he remained for two years, and was then trans- ferred to the chair of zoology and biology. Dur- ing all of these years he had never relinquished the hope of returning to California, and when he was invited to the chair of biology in Po- mona College at Claremont he accepted. This

956

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

chair he has filled since January, 1894, and be- sides he has charge of the Farmers' Institute of Southern California, being an appointee of the University at Berkeley. He organized and established the Farmers' Clubs of Pomona val- ley and Southern California, which have in- creased to over forty and he is recognized as a power in promoting the success of agriculture and horticulture. To this work he has given considerable attention. The fact that he is a fluent speaker and able writer has brought his services into demand along these lines, and he is now regular correspondent for the California Cultivator and the American Bee Journal. In Claremont he is connected with the local schools as trustee and with the Congregational Church in a similar capacity.

The present wife of Professor Cook was Mrs. J. S. Eldridge, of Pasadena. He had been pre- viously married to Miss Mary Baldwin, of Ohio, who died in 1896, leaving two children. The son, Albert, is engaged in agricultural pursuits in Michigan and is identified with the Farmers' Clubs of his state, being president of the organ- ization. The daughter, Catharine, is the wife of Lyinan J. Briggs, who is assistant chief of the Bureau of Soils, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.

GEORGE H. BALLOU. The president of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce is a member of an old-established family of New England that traces its lineage to French-Hu- guenot ancestry. His father, Henry S., a native of Rhode Island, was, during early manhood, a merchant in the wholesale trade, but later gave his attention to the shipping and commis- sion business in Providence. Retiring when advanced in years, he came west to California and spent his last days at Coronado. One year previous his wife, Deborah A., had died in Rochester, N. Y. She was born in Niagara county, N. Y., to which place her father, John L. Davis, had removed from New England. The family was of English descent. To her marriage were born two sons and two daughters, all of whom are still livinig, except one daughter. One of the sons, Stephen D., was for three years a soldier in the Civil war, after which, in 1866, he came to the Pacific coast, and is now postmas- ter at San Luis Obispo; at one time he served as sheriff of that county.

In Providence, R. I., George H. Ballou was born October 8, 1848. When only twelve years of age he was graduated from the Providence high school, after which he assisted his father in business. When sixteen years of age, or less, he enlisted in the United States Engineer Corps, and for a time served in the east, after which he was transferred to the west, and at the close of the war was serving in Missouri.

With the rank of sergeant he was honorably dis- charged at Willet's Point in the spring of 1867, after a service of three years. Going to New York City, he secured employment in an im- porting house, and later accepted a position with the house of C. P. Low & Co. in Yoko- hama, Japan. During the following years his time was spent partly in New York and partly in Japan, and he discharged his important duties as manager of the business with efficiency and success.

Through a residence in California between 1883 and 1885 Mr. Ballou had come to know and like the state and its people. On his return from Japan, in 1889, he determined to settle in San Diego, and almost immediately he inau- gurated an important business venture. The firm of G. H. Ballou & Co. was established July 1, 1889, and has since continued in busi- ness, although since 1896 the title has been Ballou & Cosgrove. The company transact a large business in importing teas and coffees and manufacturing spices and baking powder. In addition to this business, Mr. Ballou is presi- dent of an oil company and a director in others. Upon the organization of the Merchants' Na- tional Bank he was chosen a director and served as such as long as he was connected with the bank. Elected treasurer of the Merchants and Manufacturers' Association at its organization, he continued in that capacity until the associa- tion was merged into the Chamber of Com- merce. Of this he served as the first vice-presi- dent, has been a director for many years, and in January, 1900, and in January, 1901, was hon- ored by the election as president. This impor- tant position he fills with the same efficiency that has characterized him in every post and under all circumstances.

Thirty years ago Mr. Ballou was made a Mason in Lockport, N. Y., and he is now con- nected with the lodge, chapter and commandery in San Diego, and Al Malaikah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Los Angeles. He is also con- nected with the Benevolent and Protective Or- der of Elks. The Republican party has always received his stanch support and he has never wavered in his allegiance to its principles. Fre- quently he has been a delegate to state conven- tions of the party and at all times has stood. ready to use his time and influence to advance those principles which he believes to be for the welfare of our country, finding an important means of spreading Republican tenets through his membership in the Republican League. In Lockport, N. Y., in 1868, he married Miss Har- riet A. Whitcher, who was born in that city. They are the parents of one daughter, Frances Ada, who in April, 1902, married Robert L. Crane of Buffalo, N. Y., where she now resides and is very prominent in social and musical circles.

W. L. brain

959

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

WILLIAM L. CRAIN. A few cabins shel- tered all of the residents of San Pedro when Mr. Crain came here in 1882. Seven years before, in May, 1875, he had entered the employ of the Southern Pacific Railway Company as an office boy at Wilmington, San Pedro having at that time not been started. As he proved himself to be industrious and capable, he was given work in the tallying of vessels. Step by step he won de- served promotions, and in 1889 was appointed agent for the railroad at San Pedro, which posi- tion he still ·holds, having entire charge of the company's office, yards and wharf, in addition to which he acts as agent for the Wells-Fargo Express Company.

Near El Monte, Los Angeles county, Cal., W. L. Crain was born December 15, 1858, being a son of William H. and Margaret Jane (Carter) Crain, natives respectively of Springfield, Ill., and Indiana. During 1856 his father came to California, and while crossing the plains met Miss Carter, whose parents were in the same emigrant train with himself. Arriving in Cali- fornia he took up the work of a freighter, and was accustomed to drive to San Pedro for his freight, which he would then haul to various points in this state and Arizona. Removing to Washington Territory in 1871, he took up freighting and teaming there, but died two years later, when forty-three years of age. He was of English extraction, and his father was a native of South Carolina. His widow makes her home in San Pedro, and is now ( 1902) sixty-nine years of age. Four children were born of their union. Annie, William L., Isabelle and Charles H.

When a boy William L. Crain was a pupil in the old brick school on Spring and Second streets, Los Angeles. He accompanied his par- ents to Walla Walla, Wash., and after his father's death returned with the family to San Bernardino, Cal. Being the older son, the sup- port of the others fell upon him, and with filial love he cared for his mother and endeavored to provide her with the comforts of life, at the same time supporting the other children until they were able to care for themselves. He secured employment as driver of an eight-mule train from Spadra, the end of the Southern Pacific Railroad, to Panamint, hauling merchandise out and returning with a load of ore. The trip took thirty days and was attended by many dangers. Indeed, more than once he had narrow escapes from sudden death. Ofter he drove across the desert alone, sleeping on the ground at night and cooking his meals by the roadside. When he abandoned the work of driving, he entered the railroad company's employ, and has continued with them ever since, a period of more than twenty-seven years. His long service is sufficient testimony concerning his fidelity to the com- pany's interests. Fraternally he is connected with Wilmington Lodge No. 198, F. & A.

M., in the works of which he is interested and active.

October 1, 1898, occurred the marriage of Mr. Crain to Mrs. E. J. (Story) Fields, who was born in Haverhill, Mass., and in 1895 came to San Francisco, a year later settling in San Pedro. Her father, Francis Story, was a native of Haverhill, Mass., of English extraction, his an- cestors having first settled in New Hampshire, and thence removed to Vermont. During the Civil war he served in the Union army. His death occurred when he was eighty years of age, and he was preceded by his wife, who was De- borah Getchell, of Maine.

HON. JOHN C. CHAMBERS. Many of the men who have since been prominent in the activities of Southern California first became associated with this region in the days of the famous boom, and Mr. Chambers is one of the men who dates his residence in the state from 1887. He was born near Mansfield, Richland county, Ohio, November 18, 1837, a son of James and Mary (Tipton) Chambers, natives respectively of New York state and Monroe county, Ohio. His paternal grandfather, a native of county Armagh, Ireland, and of Scotch Quaker descent, came to the United States and after a few years in New York settled in Bel- mont county, Ohio, where he cleared and im- proved a farm. His death occurred in Richland county when he was over four score years of age. The maternal grandfather, Luke Tipton, was a native of Maryland, of Quaker lineage, and became a farmer in Ohio. After years upon a farm in Richland county, Ohio, James Cham- bers moved to Cedar county, Iowa, in 1864, and settled upon a farm near Springdale. Dur- ing the stirring days of the war he was a stanch abolitionist and his farm was one of the stations of the underground railroad. Both he and his wife died in Iowa. They were the parents of six sons and one daughter, of whom the daugh- ter and one son are living. During the Civil war one of the sons, Elwood, enlisted in an Ohio regiment, went to the front, bore an active part in campaigns and battles and died from a gunshot wound in West Virginia.

The third in the family was John C., who was born near Mansfield and grew to manhood upon the home farm, receiving his primary educa- tion in district schools, later attending the Wes- leyan University at Delaware, Ohio. Teaching and farming formed the occupations of his youthful years. In 1863 he accompanied the family to Iowa and afterward bought a farm near Springdale, but in 1867 turned his atten- tion to the mercantile business, which he con- ducted at Springdale for some years. In 1873 he resumed farming south of town. Meantime he had become prominent and popular and a local leader of the Republican party, on which

960

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ticket in 1871 he was elected to the Iowa state senate. He served during the session of 1872 (when . Allison was first elected to the United States senate), the extra session of 1873 and the session of 1874. Again, in 1883, he was elected to the senate, serving in the sessions of 1884 and 1886, and taking an active part in securing Senator Allison's re-election for a third term. For twenty years during his residence in Iowa he served as president of the school board and greatly aided in promoting the standard of edu- cation in his community.

In Knox county, Ohio, Mr. Chambers mar- ried Miss Jennie W. Lewis, who was born in Logan county, that state, of Quaker parentage. They have three sons and two daughters, namely: Elmer L., who is employed in the Riverside postoffice; Walter R., who is with the Pasadena Electrical Railway Company; J. H., who is interested with his father; Edith and Mabel, at home.

For eight years before coming to California Mr. Chambers was connected with the West Branch Bank in Iowa, which he assisted in organizing in 1875, and of which he was cashier for eight years and president for one year. His first location in California was at Wildo- mar, Riverside county, where he gained his first experience in ranching. Finding the country very dry he organized an irrigation district, but did not meet with success in securing water. Settling in Riverside in 1891, he engaged in selling hay and feed, the most of which was brought in from his large farm at Wildomar. While in Riverside he served as city recorder for four years and also as justice of the peace. Later he turned his attention to general con- tracting, doing most of the granite street work in that city. In February, 1900, he obtained the street sprinkling contract in Pasadena, at which time he moved to this city and bought property on North Fair Oaks avenue. In his business he uses ten Studebaker sprinklers of the latest approved variety. His interests in Riverside are still retained, including an orchard and residence on Olivewood avenue. In reli- gion he adheres to the faith of his ancestors and is identified with the Society of Friends.

CHIEF A. M. CLIFFORD. The Pasadena fire department, than which no better equipped exists in the southern part of California, owes its present standing among kindred institutions to the untiring zeal of its chief, A. M. Clifford. A long standing proficiency as a general engi- neer and railroad man led up to the present position of Mr. Clifford, who came to this city in August of 1890 to assume charge of the engine then in use by the department. At that time there were but four men regularly employed by the city to respond to fire alarms, and a great deal of hard work and responsibility fell to the

lot of the engineer. Nevertheless, he continued to discharge his arduous duties with commend- able credit until his promotion to his present position in May of 1901, directly after the new city charter had taken effect. Under the pres- ent liberal management many changes have taken place in this particular branch of munic- ipal control, and facilities for protecting life and property have been augmented by many modern innovations, including ladder, truck and hose carts and a chemical engine.

To Dr. Ephraim and Amanda (Sloan) Clifford were born ten children, nine of whom are liv- ing, A. M. being fourth. He was born in Farnı- ington, Van Buren county, Iowa, August 25, 1856, and was reared on the paternal farm until seventeen years of age. Dr. Clifford was born in Vermont, of English descent, and for many years practiced medicine at Fairview, Ind. The strenuous activity incident to a large country and city practice eventually undermined his health, to regain which he removed to Farming- ton, Iowa, and purchased land upon which to farm and lead an out-door life. He later pur- chased government land, which now constitutes a portion of the city limits of Des Moines, upon which he rounded out a well conditioned life, his wife surviving him up to the present time. Mrs. Clifford is over eighty years of age and rejoices in the fact that nine of her children are still living. One of her sons, Samuel K., dis- tinguished himself as a soldier in the Third Iowa Cavalry during the Civil war, and is at present a resident of Tacoma, Wash.

When seventeen years of age Mr. Clifford removed to the farm near Des Moines and lived thereon with a brother until his return to Farm- ington. He then completed his preliminary education at the high school, and in 1875 began railroading with the Keokuk & Des Moines, now the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad. While still a brakeman he changed to the Chi- cago, Burlington & Kansas City Railroad (then known as the Burlington & Southwestern), in whose employ he was promoted to the position of conductor. For a short time he was em- ployed in a flouring mill at Farmington, after which he began to fire on the St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad, still later becoming an engineer on the Chicago, Burlington & Kansas City road, his route being between . Burlington and Carrollton, Mo. At the time of the great Chicago, Burlington & Quincy strike in 1888 he quit railroading in the middle west, and December 25 of that year came to Los Angeles in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad as engineer. His route lay between Los Angeles and Bakersfield, and in 1890 he resigned to accept the position of en- gineer with the Pasadena fire department.

Since coming to Pasadena Mr. Clifford has identified himself with many of the interests

961

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

here represented. His pleasant residence on Dayton street is opposite the fire headquar- ters. Mrs. Clifford was formerly Cora M. Getchell, a native of Minneapolis, and she is the mother of one child, Edith A. Mr. Clifford is well known in fraternal circles, having become a Royal Arch Mason in Farmington, of which lodge he is still a member, and he is also iden- tified with the Pasadena Lodge No. 272, F. & A. M., the Pasadena Commandery, the Con- sistory, and Al Malakiah Temple.

GEORGE G. CRANE. In pursuit of that occupation to which he became accustomed in earliest youth in Ohio, Mr. Crane, in 1883, set- tled in Ventura county, where he has realized many of his ambitious expectations. He was born in Sharon township, Medina county, Olio, July 7, 1835. His paternal ancestors were all born and reared in or near Deighton, Mass., where the original ancestor, from England, one Henry Crane, settled in 1654. On the maternal side, Louisa (Briggs) Crane was born in On- tario county, N. Y., in 1815, a daughter of Thomas Briggs, also a native of Massachusetts. Her brother, George G. Briggs, the pioneer fruit man of California, in 1861 became the owner of the Rancho Santa Paula y Saticoy, in Ventura county, and said rancho was sub- divided and thrown open for settlement by him. In 1855 Mr. Crane came to California and as- sisted his uncle, George G. Briggs, in putting out two hundred acres of orchard, in addition to the already large orchard then just bearing; near Marysville. He also assisted him in put- ting out an orchard of one hundred acres near Oroville, and one of two hundred acres on the Sacramento river near Knights Landing. Re- maining in California something over three years, he then returned to his native place in Ohio, married and purchased a farm upon which he resided for ten years, when, selling his farm, he removed to Cass county, Mo. Six years later he removed to Denver, Colo., where he en- gaged in the wholesale fruit business, shipping from forty to fifty carloads a year from Marys- ville and Sacramento.

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.

Historical and biographical record of southern California; containing a history of southern California from its earliest settlement to the opening year of the twentieth century, Part 142

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918 Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co. Number of Pages: 1366

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co.
Number of Pages: 1366