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 151

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 151

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).

The marriage of Mr. Park and Elizabeth Reed, a native of Louisiana, occurred in Colum- bus, Ohio, in 1876. To Mr. and Mrs. Park have been born three children, James, Mabel, and Edwin M. Mr. Park has been prominent in the affairs of the Republican party, and served on the board of school trustees of the Montecito school district for one year.

HENRY FERN. Since 1888 Mr. Fern has made his home in Santa Barbara and has been engaged in contracting and building. He was born in Gloucestershire, England, August 6, 1834, and is a son of William and Lucy (Reed) Fern, natives of the same shire as himself. His paternal grandfather, who came from Derby- shire, was a brick mason and contractor, while the maternal grandfather was a dry-goods mer- chant. Of a family of twelve children, Henry Fern was the only one to come to America. It was in 1871 that he crossed the ocean and es- tablished his home in the United States. His first location was Kansas City, where he en- gaged in contracting and building. In 1873 he came to California, where he first followed his chosen occupation in Woodland. After some seven years he removed to Bonanza Springs, Lake county, and, while regaining his health, which had been impaired by overwork, he kept a summer hotel. As soon as he was strong enough to resume contracting he came to Santa Barbara, where he is a well-known contractor and brick manufacturer. Among his contracts were those for the Fithian block, and the White- head, Alexander and Kellogg residences. About 1893 he built a brick yard on West Haley street, which has a capacity of five thousand brick per day. In politics he is independent and in re- ligion a member of the Christian Church. By

his marriage to Elizabeth Fewkes, a native of Nottingham, England, he has two daughters: Lizzie, wife of J. T. Peed; and Dora, who is a professional nurse in Los Angeles.

JOHN T. PEED. The Kent family is of English ancestry, and many successive genera- tions were born in East Kent, including the sub- ject of this article, his father James, and grand- father, James, Sr. The last-named was for many years employed in the coast guard, while the father was for thirty-three years a foreman in the government shipyards at Sheerness on the sea, being finally retired on a pension. At the age of seventy years he makes his home now at East Church. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Quest, was born in East Kent, where her father, George, was a farmer and for a time also a government employe. At the time of her death, in 1894, she was sixty years of age. Of her nine children all but one are still living. John T., who is the only one of the family in America, was born Wednesday, September 6, 1859, and received a limited education in Sheer- ness. At the age of eleven years he began to learn the painter's trade under George Ayre in Sheerness, with whom he worked for eight years.

During 1881 Mr. Peed came across the ocean, proceeding by steamer through the Straits of Magellan and going to Valparaiso, South America, thence to Callao, Montevideo, and other ports of that country, where he worked at his trade. Later, going to the Sandwich Islands, he was similarly employed. In 1883 he first saw California, at which time he secured employment at his trade in San Francisco. From there, in 1885, he came to Santa Barbara, where he worked on the Dibblee mansion about eight months, and has since engaged in con- tracting in this city, with the exception of three and one-half years spent in San Francisco at the same line of business. Among his contracts have been those for interior decoration of the Crocker mansion, Old Ladies' Home, Hunting- ton mansion and others in San Francisco, and the residences of Mr. Hopkins, Mrs. Chamber- lain, Mrs. Rogers and Mrs. Drayer, the Cottage hospital, Fithian block, Country Club house, the residence of William Alexander and the Alexander block, and the Howard, Kellogg and Spaulding residences; also many fine residences in Montecito. He erected the residence which he occupies at No. 318 West Carrillo street. Fraternally he is connected with the Woodmen of the World; the lodge of Odd Fellows, in which he is a past officer; the encampment, in which he is now an officer; and in these various fraternities, as well as in general movements calculated to promote the public welfare, he takes a warm interest.

In Santa Barbara, July 14, 1888, Mr. Peed married Miss Lizzie Fern, who was born in

W. N. Workman

1021

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Nottingham, England, and received an excel- lent education in San Francisco, where she had the privilege of study under a celebrated musi- cian of the west.

WILLIAM H. WORKMAN, the president of the Workman Company, has resided in Southern California since 1854, when he, a boy of fifteen years, was brought to the state by his parents, David and Nancy (Hook) Workman. He was born in Boonville, Mo., in 1839.

In the family of David and Nancy Workman there were three sons. The eldest, Thomas H., was killed by the explosion of the steamer Ada Hancock in Wilmington harbor April 27, 1863. The second son, Elijah H., settled at Boyle Heights, and the third son, William H., is also a resident of Los Angeles. The last-named fol- lowed the printer's trade for a time after com- ing to California, and then for twenty years was connected with his brother in the saddlery and harness business. For some years he has given his attention to the real estate business, in which he has important interests. Particularly has he been interested in the improvement of Boyle Heights, by the introduction of water, street car lines and other improvements.

During 1887 and 1888 Mr. Workman filled the office of mayor of Los Angeles, and he has also been a member of the city council and the board of education. In his political views he is a Democrat. His marriage, in 1867, united him with Miss Maria E. Boyle, daughter of A. A. Boyle; they are the parents of two sons and four daughters.

ARTHUR N. SANBORN. The name of Sanborn is well known in Pomona, not only by reason of the connection of A. M. Sanborn with its brick-contracting interests, but also on account of the prominence of his father, Isaac Sanborn, who was connected with important enterprises here for some years. The family de- scends from old and substantial New England ancestry. The parents of Isaac were John D. and Huldah A. (Frye) Sanborn, natives of San- bornton, N. H., and pioneers of Medford, Minn., where they took up a tract of raw land far re- moved from civilization. All their supplies had to be hauled sixty miles. Indians were their only visitors, and for miles around there was no white woman except Mrs. Sanborn. Through all of these privations and hardships they worked their way to independence and comfort.

In Sanbornton, N. H., Isaac Sanborn was born August 11, 1831, and there and at Lowell. Mass., he learned the early lessons of life. For many years he followed brick-mason's trade. first in the east, then in St. Paul. Minn., next at Medford, thence to Clinton Falls, and finally to Owatonna, which was the county-seat of Steele county. On leaving Minnesota he set-

tled in Sedalia, Mo., and from there moved to Windsor, same state, where his parents died. Not feeling satisfied with the climate he came to California and selected Pomona as having the most healthful climate, in his opinion, of any of the towns of this locality. In 1888 he became vice-president of a company which erected a brick building and established a cannery. At first he was connected with J. H. Mertz, who was president, and later C. C. Morse and J. E. Ball were admitted to the firm. Employment was furnished to almost one hundred hands. At the expiration of three years he sold his interest in the factory and entered into the brick-con- tracting business, but in 1901 the failure of his health necessitated his retirement.

The marriage of Isaac Sanborn united him with Flora. A., daughter of Joseph and Anna C. (Sawyer) Sawyer. She was born in Warner, N. H., and graduated from Mount Holyoke Seminary in 1857, after which she engaged in teaching. With her parents she removed to Medford, Minn., where she was a pioneer teacher, first having a school in her father's cabin, and later teaching in a small frontier school house. In later years she has main- tained her interest in pedagogy and has broad- ened her sphere of knowledge by general read- ing. This she has done in addition to carefully rearing her sons and daughters and preparing them for fields of usefulness in the world. Born of her marriage were the following-named chil- dren: Arthur N .; Jessie L., wife of W. C. Rob- ertson, of Los Angeles; Alice M. and William H., both deceased; Alice M., at home; Charles H., who is in Los Angeles; Bertha, a teacher in a high school in Los Angeles; Amy, wife of J. T. Allen, Ph. D., of the State University at Berkeley; and Flora, a teacher of the Pomona high school. The family are connected with the Congregational Church and Mr. Sanborn is a trustee in the same.

In Owatonna, Minn., Arthur N. Sanborn was born in 1859. Until twenty-one he followed farming, after which he learned the brick busi- ness and worked as a journeyman. In 1887 he came to California. For eight years he worked in Los Angeles, in the meantime doing con- tract work also in other towns. From there he came to Pomona, his present home. Among his contracts may be mentioned those for Armory Hall, Odd Fellows' building, Main Street stables, Bartlett and Wright buildings, electric light plant, pumping plant, the Brady block, Union block, Hansler, Stein block, be- sides numerous other public buildings. Since 1900 he has built several structures in Los An- geles, where he has also done considerable re- modeling. By all who have given him con- tracts he is conceded to be a master mechanic and an expert workman, one who thoroughly understands all the details of his business.

1022

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias, and in religion is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1885 he imarried Miss Lucy A. Dickinson, who was born in London, England, and came to America with her parents, Jolin and Anna Dickinson, settling in Missouri upon a farm. After the death of her father Mrs. Dickinson removed to Pomona, of which she is now a resident. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Sanborn are John H., Carlos Herbert, Leslie Franklin, Ethel May and Ruth Carroll.

JAMES E. SLOAN, the genial and well known Santa Barbara agent for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, was born in Vallejo, Solano county, Cal., August 10, 1870. His father, James Sloan, is a native of Ireland, and of Scotch-Irish parentage, while the mother, Annie (Foster) Sloan, was born at Niagara Falls, where the Foster flats are named after her father. James Sloan came to California in 1852, and since that time has lived in the same little house in Vallejo, and held the same posi- tion in the steam engineering department at Mare Island navy yards. His home and his own unobtrusive, kindly personality form one of the landmarks of the town which has for nearly half a century accounted him an honored mem- ber of the community.

In the Vallejo public schools Mr. Sloan re- ceived his initial education, which formed the nucleus for ever continued reading and ob- servation. In 1884 he entered the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, during the construction of the California and Oregon road, and later filled positions as agent at sev- eral places throughout New Mexico and Ari- zona. For two years he was located at Fresno, Cal., and in 1897 was transferred to Summer- land, and has since held the first and only agency of the road at this point. No one has endeavored to promote the best interests of the place more than he, or has more rapidly and surely gained a firm footing in the com- mercial and social world here represented. Since coming here lic has become interested in the oil industry, and is one of the stockholders in the North Star Oil Company, which is operating seven wells. He is also interested in several other wells, and owns considerable real- estate in Summerland, his purchases indicating a profound faith in the continued prosperity of his adopted town, and his appreciation of the manifold advantages of residence here. He is a member of the Masonic Order at Santa Bar- bara, is a Royal Arch Mason and has passed all the degrees obtainable in America. He is also a charter member of the local Knights of Pythias. In 1895 Mr. Sloan married Miss Clason, and of this union there is one child, Bernice Helen Sloan.

RUFUS D. SMITH, Sr. A resident of Santa Barbara since 1876, Mr. Smith is of eastern lineage. His father, Johnston Smith, was born at Topsham, Vt., in 1797, and became a farmer, mill-wright and mill-builder. In 1868 he re- moved to Spring Valley, Minn., where he died in 1877, aged eighty years. His mother was a member of the Johnston family, of the colonial period, and he was also descended from the Smiths, Thompsons and Wilsons, who emi- grated from Londonderry, Ireland, and were pioneers of Londonderry, N. H. The wife of Johnston Smith was Emeline S. Wilson, a native of Sutton, Vt., and descended from north of Ireland ancestry. At this writing she makes her home with her son, Rufus D., and is eighty- four years of age. Of her family, four sons and two daughters attained mature years, and all but one daughter are still living. They are named as follows: J. W., of Santa Barbara, who was captain of Company K, Eighth Ver- mont Infantry, during the Civil war; Charles E., also of Santa Barbara, who was a member of Company B, Eleventh Vermont Infantry, which was changed to the First Vermont Heavy Artillery; Rufus D .; Frank J., a business man and farmer of Spring Valley, Minn .; and Mrs. Helen J. Garfield, of Santa Barbara.

In Newark, Caledonia county, Vt., Rufus D. Smith, Sr., was born May 2, 1846. He was reared on a farm near Newark, Vt. In Novem- ber, 1861, he volunteered in Company K, Eighth Vermont Infantry, and accompanied Butler's expedition to New Orleans. He and his brother, J. W., were captured in September, 1862, and for ten weeks remained in Vicksburg and other prisons, after which they returned to New Orleans on parole. Three months later they were exchanged, and at once joined their regiment at what is now Morgan City, La. Somewhat the worse for his prison experiences, Mr. Smith was honorably discharged in April, 1864, and returned to Vermont. In February, 1865, he enlisted in Company D, Ninth Regi- inent Veterans Reserve Corps, and served for a time at St. Albans, Vt., but later was sent to guard the White House at Washington, D. C., where he remained until his discharge, Novem- ber 20, 1865.

From Vermont in 1867 Mr. Smith moved to Spring Valley, Minn., where he engaged in farming, and later acted as police judge. In 1876 he came to Santa Barbara and became a tobacconist. Only a year after settling here he was obliged to have his right leg amputated, as a result of the sufferings of his prison life. Dur- ing that same year (1877) he was elected justice of the peace, and two years later was re-elected, serving until he resigned March 1, 1880, to ac- cept the position of under sheriff with C. E. Sherman. Three years later he was chosen under sheriff with R. J. Broughton, with whom

1023

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

he remained for twelve years, and then remained under T. H. Hicks for four years. He is now serving under Nat Stewart, this being his twenty-first year in the office, and he is consid- ered the best posted man in California in mat- ters relating to the sheriff's office and the duties thereof. Politically he is a pronounced Repub- lican. While living in Minnesota he was made a Mason and is now a member of Lodge No. 242, of which he has been secretary. Starr King Post keeps alive his interest in the Grand Army and the veterans of the Civil war. In the First Church of Christ, Scientist, he is a member of the board of trustees and the present clerk of the same.

In Barton, Vt., January 9, 1867, Mr. Smith married Miss Lucy M. Lebourveau, who is of French descent. They have five children now living: Gilman W., and Rufus D., Jr., who are engaged in the livery business; James W., a graduate of the Hastings Law School and a practicing attorney; Lyndol J., a clerk; and Edson A., who is in the real-estate business with W. W. Burton. The sons are residents of Santa Barbara, where they are very popular.

RUFUS D. SMITH, Jr. When his parents came to Santa Barbara, Mr. Smith was a mere lad. He was born in Spring Valley, Minn., November 10, 1869, a son of Rufus D. Smith, Sr., who has been under sheriff of Santa Bar- bara county for twenty-one years. Educated in the public schools of this city, the youth began to take an active part in life's realities at an early age. When fourteen he secured employ- ment with Cooper & Dreyfus, in surveying. His next work was with Lawrence & Comstock, of the Santa Barbara Transfer Company, after which he was one year with Capt. George F. Ellis. In 1891 he went to San José, where he was employed by the San José Cab Company for three years. Returning to Santa Barbara, he was deputy county recorder under Neil J. Murphy for a year, and for a similar period served as a contractor for street grading. His next position was as agent for the Santa Bar- bara Transfer Company, and in the fall of 1895 he became agent for the Los Angeles Transfer Company. After having filled that position un- til December, 1896, he returned to his former position as agent for the Santa Barbara Trans- fer Company, but June 30, 1901, he resigned in order to give his entire attention to the livery business, in which he had previously become interested. With his father he had bought out the livery interests of W. H. Meyers, in October, 1899, thus acquiring the ownership of the Fashion Stables, at No. 532 State street. As manager of this business, he finds his time fully occupied. The building is 50x150 feet in dimen- sions, with thirty stalls. The vehicles are of

modern style, the surreys and buggies being cloth-lined and first-class in every respect. A specialty is made of the winter tourist business, a number of drives to interesting points having been arranged in such a manner that sightseers may secure a splendid idea of life on the coast, at a comparatively small expenditure of time and money. The principal drives are those to Hot Springs, Montecito Valley, the Crocker- Sperry lemon ranch, Carpinteria, Goleta and the Mountain and Mesa drives, also those to the Cooper, Hollister, Stow and Shepard ranches, and Bartlett canon.

A charter member of McCook Camp, Sons of Veterans, Mr. Smith continued his connec- tion with this camp during its existence. In politics he is a Republican. He is a charter member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks in Santa Barbara and is associated with the Fraternal Brotherhood. In Santa Barbara he married Miss Mary E. Tucker, by whom he has one child, Fred Tucker Smith. Mrs. Smith was born near Boston, Mass., a daughter of C. G. and Catherine G. Tucker, natives of England. Her father, who was an architect and builder in Massachusetts, came to Santa Barbara in 1886, and afterward erected some of the most sub- stantial and costly residences in this city. His death occurred in November, 1900, soon after he had completed a handsome residence for his son-in-law, Mr. Smith, at No. 1230 Garden street.

G. F. STEPHENSON. The Stephenson family is of English descent, its most illustrious representative having been George Stephenson, the inventor of the steam engine. In every family certain inherited traits are noticeable, and this family has been especially characterized by mechanical skill. However, George A., father of G. F. Stephenson, won his first suc- cess in an occupation widely different from that in which many others of the name have en- gaged, being through all his active life a prac- titioner of the medical profession. Reared in Greenville, Pa., where his father was a me- chanic, his surroundings were such as to give him a taste for mechanical arts, but instead he early showed an inclination for the practice of medicine. After graduating, he practiced in Cleveland, Ohio, then in Michigan and later in Iowa. During the Civil war he served as surgeon of a Pennsylvania regiment.

It was after he came to California, about 1874, that Dr. Stephenson first actively engaged in the occupation which his father and other an- cestors had followed. His inherited mechanical skill found an outlet in the manufacture of surgical instruments, in which he met with en- couraging success, and he continued a manu- facturer until his retirement, since which time he has made his home in Los Angeles. After

1024

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

coming to California he was married, in Sacra- mento, to Fredericka Loeplich, of German de- scent. Four children were born of their union, namely: G. F., whose birth occurred in Sacra- mento May 29, 1877; Arthur G., a business man of Los Angeles; Herman P., who served in the Philippines for two and one-half years as a mem- ber of Troop B, Fourth United States Cavalry; and Mabel, of Los Angeles.

When about five years of age G. F. Stephen- son was taken to Chicago and later to Inde- pendence, Kans., coming in 1888 to Los Angeles, where he attended the grammar and high schools, and in 1895, at the conclusion of a night course, was graduated from the Los Angeles Business College. Meantime he had served an apprenticeship of three years with the Pacific Manufacturing Company, and at the ex- piration of his time he became a workman at the trade, being for a time in Los Angeles and then in San Bernardino, where he had charge of the water plant. On his return to Los Angeles he secured a position as machinist and engineer in charge of the plant of James Jones & Co., remaining there until 1900, when he was appointed first assistant engineer of the Van Nuys Hotel. In recognition of his thorough knowledge of engineering, he was promoted in June, 1901, becoming chief engineer of both of the Van Nuys hotels. During the summer of 1901 he gave his attention to the remodeling and enlarging of the plant, which is now with- out a peer of its kind through all the west. Hy- draulic elevators have been introduced, new engines provided, and a private system for the lighting up of the hotels established.

In the spring of 1902 Mr. Stephenson erected the power house used for the new Potter Hotel of Santa Barbara, which is one of the largest on the Pacific coast. He also superintended the putting in the hotel of the plumbing and elec- trical plant. The supervision of the large plant is a work of great responsibility, and the discharge of his many duties leaves Mr. Stephenson little time for participation in outside matters; hence he has taken no part in politics aside from vot- ing the Republican ticket, and is connected with no fraternal society except the Foresters of America, while along the line of his special occupation he is interested in the National As- sociation of Stationary Engineers, Los Angeles No. 2, in the work of which he maintains a deep interest.

STEPHEN S. SKIDMORE. Through his connection with the J. M. Griffith Lumber Com- pany Mr. Skidmore is associated with one of the leading concerns of Downey. At the time of the incorporation of the company in 1887. he became a stockholder and has long acted as manager. In Cass county. Tex., Mr. Skid- inore was born October 25, 1855, a son of Wil-

liam and Caroline (Williams) Skidmore, natives respectively of Kentucky and Tennessee. His father, who was a son of Thomas Skidmore, went to Alabama in youthful years and there learned the blacksmith's trade. The year 1836 found him in Paris, Tex., where he ran a black- smith shop and also conducted a hotel business. About 1851 he removed to Cass county, Tex., and in 1869 came to California. After two years in San Diego he removed to Downey. During the Mexican war he was a ranger and a member of the home guard and at the time of the Civil war his sympathies were strongly on the side of the south. In politics he always voted with the Democrats. His death occurred at Downey in 1877 when he was sixty-five years of age. His wife passed away in 1898, aged eighty-three. They were the parents of the following-named children: John T., who died at fifty years of age; Marian, a resident of Long Beach, Cal .; George E., who died March 26, 1899; Edward U., of Downey; Margaret, whose home is at Long Beach; and Stephen S., of Downey.

At the time of coming to California Stephen S. Skidmore was a boy of fourteen, and two years later he settled with his parents at Dow- ney, which he has since considered his home, although engaged in business at other points at different times. For two years he was em- ployed as a baggageman on the Southern Pa- cifie Railroad in Arizona and for two years he was employed in Los Angeles by the J. M. Griffith Lumber Company, with which he has been connected continuously since 1881. In the city where he now lives he married Miss Eliza Paulsell, by whom he has a son, Grey M., a promising young man, now employed in the Los Angeles office of the J. M. Griffith Com- pany as collector and order clerk. With his wife, Mr. Skidmore holds membership in the Christian Church, in which he holds the office of elder.

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 151

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