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 64

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

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The marriage of Dr. J. A. Bainbridge united him with Mary E. Herold, who was born in Mis- souri and died in California in 1885. Her father, Thomas Herold. a native of Wurtemberg, Ger- many, and a graduate in medicine from the Uni- versity of Wurtemberg, engaged in practice in New Orleans, La., but after a time became in- terested in business pursuits and for years was extensively engaged in the manufacture of to- bacco. With his sons, he started the tobacco factory that is now owned by Drummond & Co., and John Drummond, of this firm, was once employed by W. G. Herold & Co. Besides his other interests. Dr. Herold owned considerable farm property and had boats on the Mississippi. He died on one of his farms in Lincoln county, Mo. In the family of Dr. J. A. Bainbridge were five sons and five daughters, of whom four sons and four daughters attained maturity. Three of the daughters are married. The oldest son,

E. D., resides on a ranch in San Joaquin county ; B. M. is principal of the Lathrop school; and C. E., a graduate of the California Medieal Col- lege and of the New York Polyclinic, is now a physician in Sacramento, Cal.

The third in the family in order of birth was J. C. Bainbridge, who was born near St. Louis, Mo., November 23, 1862. His education was conducted in the public schools of Lincoln county, Mo., and the high school of Stockton, Cal., from which he was graduated in 1878. The following year he completed the course in the Stockton Business College and Normal School. In this institution he remained as professor of mathematics, meantime studying medicine under his father. In 1883 he entered the Cali- fornia Medical College of San Francisco, front which he received the degree of M. D. in 1886. The three ensuing years were spent as principal of a school in Sacramento. From 1889 to 1891 he traveled in England, Scotland and other Eu- ropean countries, also visited Buenos Ayres and Chile in South America, returning to San Fran- cisco via New Orleans. Soon afterward he went to Australia, this trip being undertaken for his health, as was also the preceding. From Australia he went to Yokohama via Honolulu, and later sailed on the steamer Queen for Alaska. On the return trip he spent six months in British Columbia.

On his return to San Francisco he became superintendent of instruction at Heald's Busi- ness College, where he remained from 1891 until January, 1894. He resigned to re-enter the California Medical College and later studied for almost a year in the New York Polyclinic, taking a special course in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. He then began the practice of medicine in San Francisco. From 1894 until 1899 he had charge of the eye and ear elinic in the California Medical College, holding the position until, hoping that the change of elimate would benefit his wife's health, he came to Santa Barbara, since which time he has acquired an extensive practice. One of the special attractions of his office is an X-ray machine, which is the only instrument of the kind in Santa Barbara. He also has special ap- paratus for eye, ear, nose and throat work. In addition to his private practice, he is physician for the two local courts of Foresters of America. surgeon for the Native Sons and also the Native Daughters of the Golden West. examining phy- sician for the Woodmen of the World, the Fra- ternal Brotherhood. United Moderns and Knights of Pythias. Uniform Rank, in which various organizations he is a member. For four years he was secretary of the Eelcetic Medical Society of California, and is still connected with the San Francisco County Society of Physicians and Surgeons. Various articles have appeared over his signature in prominent medical jour-

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nals, and a number of these have been copied by professional papers in Vienna and Berlin, where the theories advanced and the conclusions proved have attracted attention from specialists of world-wide fame. Since coming to Santa Barbara he has been initiated into Masonry and is now a member of the local blue lodge and chapter. He is also associated with the Knights of Pythias here and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in San Francisco. In pol- ities he favors Democratic principles.

During his residence in San Francisco Dr. Bainbridge married Miss Dora A. Waters, who was born in California, and is a member of Alta Parlor, Native Daughters of the Golden West. The two children born of this union are de- ceased. Dr. and Mrs. Bainbridge are connected with the Episcopal Church and contribute to re- ligious and philanthropic movements. The father of Mrs. Bainbridge, Abraham Waters, was born in England and accompanied his par- ents to the United States, settling in Richmond, Ill., where he grew to maturity. In early man- hood he came to California and here followed the occupation of mineral expert until his death, by drowning, at the age of forty-seven years. In this state he married Susan Pedler, who was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and now resides in San Francisco.

HON. JOHN S. COLLINS. At the time of its establishment in 1887 the banking establish- ment of William Collins & Sons was not only one of the most imposing buildings in Ventura county, but the volume of business conducted behind its doors was proof of its substantial standing in the financial world of California. It had a paid-up capital of $100,000 all owned by the firm, the officers of the institution being William Collins, president; D. E. Collins, vice- president; and J. S. Collins, cashier. The rise of this solid commercial undertaking was the signal for an era of uninterrupted prosperity, and at the present time they do the largest banking business in Ventura county. William Collins, the original president of the company, was one of the sterling pioneers of California, and his death in 1894 removed a man well known for his fine personal attributes, and of prominence because of his ability as a land- scape gardener. He was born in Perthshire, Scotland, his father being also a native of that shire, and an agriculturist by occupation. In his youth he learned the art of landscape gar- dening, and was thus employed in his native land for a number of years. In 1855 he brought his family to Illinois, and at Nashville, Wash- ington county, bought a claim in the forest which he partially improved, but eventually again turned his attention to gardening. In 1860 le located in C'arthage, Mo., but when the war devastated the land he lost all that he had,

and in 1864 made arrangements to cross the plains to California. Himself and family were among thirty others who started out with ox and mule teams, taking the route through Omaha, Idaho, Washington and Oregon, their course made memorable by the dangers of In- dian attack on the North Platte river.

After a year's residence in Salem, Ore., they located in Oakland, Cal., where Mr. Collins had the management of the garden arrangement of Mount View cemetery, and also became super- intendent of the park of two hundred acres. He creditably maintained his responsible posi- tions for twenty-five years, until the time of his death. He was superintendent of and owned a half interest in the Amador marble works, with quarries at Amador and Rockland. He was a Master Mason and a Republican, and was chair- man of the Republican committee of Alameda county. He married Isabelle Walker, who was born in Montrose, Scotland, and died in Oak- land in 1876. There were three sons and one daughter in the family, of whom J. S. is the oldest. The daughter, Mrs. Kate Flint, is a res- ident of Ventura; D. E. is president of the Cali- fornia Bank of Oakland, and William died at the age of seventeen, in Ventura.

John S. Collins was born in Perthshire, Scot- land, May 21, 1849, and was educated in the public schools of lowa and California, and studied at the California Military Academy, in Oakland. He then entered the University of California and remained until the junior year, when he quit to engage in business, having been elected secretary of the Mount View cemetery, and treasurer of the Amador Marble Company. In 1868 he purchased five hundred and twenty acres of land in Ventura county at $14 an acre, and sold the same after twenty years for $105 per acre. In 1882 he came to Ventura for the second time and became a member of the lum- ber firm of Saxby & Collins, and upon the death of Mr. Saxby entered the Bank of Ventura, of which he was a stockholder, and occupied the position of teller. Correctly anticipating the need of another bank in the town, in 1887 he es- tablished the bank of William Collins & Sons, of which he was cashier. From then until the present time he has been a prominent factor in the development of Ventura, his generosity in promoting all worthy causes, his financial and executive ability, his genial personality and ca- pacity for making and retaining friends, having gained for him an enviable popularity, the foun- dation of which is embedded in the honest re- gard of the community.

In 1887 Mr. Collins was elected to the city council, of which he has since been president, and under his capable administration have been effected the most important improvements. Water bonds have been voted and sold, but the abstract title is not yet clear; there is a paid fire

U. S. devagy

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

department. In 1899 was erected the Collins & Taylor block, than which there is no finer in Ventura county, the dimensions being 50x100 feet, and the material used in construction being pressed brick and granite from the quarries at Rockland. Mr. Collins and his brother, D. E., are still interested in the marble quarries at Amador, and the granite quarries at Rockland. He was made a Mason in Oakland, Cal., and is now affiliated with the Ventura Lodge, No. 214, and with the Chapter and Commandery. In politics a Republican, he is a member of the county central committee, and ex-member of the state central committee. He is a member of the board of trade, president of the Caledonian Club and president of the Street Fair Association.

After coming to Ventura Mr. Collins married Belle Gerry, who was born in Indiana. Of this union there is one child, Belle, who is a gradu- ate of the high school and the wife of Rev. W. G. Mills, of Hueneme. The pleasant home of Mr. Collins is on Poli street.

ULPIANO F. DEL VALLE. The famous Camulos rancho in Ventura is the present home and property of Mr. del Valle, who was born March 2, 1865, in the house where he now re- sides. The family of which he is a member has a distinctive position among the Spanish aris- tocracy of California, where it was founded by his grandfather, Antonio del Valle, during the early portion of the nineteenth century. Janu- ary 22, 1839, Rancho San Francisco was granted to him, containing about eleven thousand five hundred acres of grazing land and three thou- sand acres of tillable land, the larger part being in Ventura county, although a small portion lay in Los Angeles county. The property now belongs mostly to the estate of H. M. Newhall, of San Francisco. Besides the San Francisco rancho (and at that time included in the same), Antonio del Valle secured the Camulos rancho, a fertile tract of two thousand acres, forty-seven miles northwest of Los Angeles, and in the east- ern portion of Ventura county. Upon his death a portion of the estate passed into the hands of his son, Ygnacio, who had come from Mexico in 1825, and who, on acquiring the Camulos, took his family to reside thereon in 1861. From that time improvements have been constantly made, but the picturesque and romantic features of the rancho have been preserved. There oc- curred the death of the then owner, in March, 1880. Among his five children was Ulpiano F., whose boyhood days were spent on the home ranch and in schools in Los Angeles and San José. After completing his education he clerked for two years in a dry-goods store in Los An- geles, but in 1886 took charge of the estate as manager, himself and brother, R. F. del Valle. an attorney of Los Angeles, being the principal owners. In 1899 he purchased his brother's

interest and has since that time been sole pro- prietor of the estate.

Camulos rancho is a beautiful place. The original reservation has been improved until it is now one of the most productive properties in Ventura county. When the traveler enters the head of the Santa Clara valley, Camulos quickly comes into view. It is situated about two miles above Piru City, and thirty-six miles from the county seat. In altitude it is seven hundred and thirty-three feet above the sea level. There is a postoffice on the ranch and a shipping station for the transportation of prod- nice. The country extending for miles along the Santa Clara river presents a scene of wonderful beauty, full of romantic interest. The family residence, a substantial and spacious adobe house, is almost hidden from view by foliage of tropical luxuriance. Near by is a private chapel, which is a place of especial interest to visitors. Designed for family prayers, in it a lamp has been kept burning for twenty-six years, and in all that time has never been allowed to be extinguished even for an instant.

The oldest water right and richest soil in the valley are to be found at Camulos. Farming is carried on with irrigation, and in that way val- table products are harvested. Large quantities of citrus and deciduous fruits of the highest grade are here produced, also almonds and general farming products. A noticeable adjunct is a drying room for drying fruits, also exten- sive fruit yards and a sulphur room. Poultry also claims some attention, and there is a flock of forty peacocks, which are not only beautiful but profitable as well. On the ranch is a black walnut tree beneath whose shade one hundred workers can sit at the tables, cutting and paring the fruit. To the world Camulos is best known as the home of the heroine in Helen Hunt Jack- son's famous work, "Ramona." Subsequent to the publication of this work, visitors at once began to throng to the rancho, to the amaze- ment of the owners, who had yet to learn of the wonderful interest the romance had awakened.

Politically Mr. del Valle is a Democrat and active in his party, which he has represented as a delegate to county and state conventions and as a member of the county central commit- tee. Besides all of his other activities, he has been interested in the breeding of blooded horses, principally running stock, but he has now relinquished that industry for the raising of fine mules for the market, which work he intends hereafter to make a leading feature of his ranch industry. He is also in the hog raising business and sends to the markets an average of six carloads a year. In spite of the many lines in which he is interested and the many enter- prises to which he must devote attention, each department receives personal oversight, and a careful supervision is maintained over all.

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

PAUL CHARLEBOIS. The excellent judg- mient, common sense and executive ability of Mr. Charlebois have not only won for him a substantial place among the business men of Ventura, but have also elicited well merited rec- ognition as a politician. It is doubtful if any- one could more conscientiously avail himself of opportunities to advance the public welfare than has been forcibly demonstrated during the va- rious administrations of this honored citizen, who is now serving his second term of four years each as sheriff of Ventura county.

Of French descent, Mr. Charlebois was born in Montreal, Canada, December 8, 1855, his grandfather, Joseph, having been brought as a child from the mother country by his parents. The father, also named Paul, was born in the uncultivated regions of the dominion, and dur- ing his long life as a farmer never left the scene of his birth, where occurred his death at the age of seventy-two years. He married Emily Le- gault, a native of Canada, whose father was a French Canadian. While yet a youth of tender years Paul Charlebois, the younger, lost his mother by death, and when twelve years old began to be practically independent of his fath- er's support. At Ogdensburg, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., he found employment in a mer- cantile establishment as errand boy, and re- mained with the same firm for nearly eight years. He also during his stay in New York went on the lakes as freight clerk, and in this capacity visited Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Mil- waukee and Chicago. In 1869 he departed for California via the Panama route, and after ar- riving in San Francisco held a position as clerk in a dry-goods house for two years. Upon re- moving to Ventura he became identified with the firm of Einstein & Bernheim, and for nearly fifteen years had charge of their hardware and grocery department. He next entered the em- ploy of Leach & Hunt at Ventura, and after nine months bought out the firm. He contin- ned to deal in hardware, tinware, stoves and farm implements until August of 1900, when he disposed of his interests to other parties.

In the fall of 1900 Mr. Charlebois became in- terested in stockraising, and now has five hun- (red head of cattle, himself and wife owning about six hundred acres of ranch land. He has a fine home on Chestnut street, and also owns a thirty-acre fruit ranch on the Santa Ana rancho, twelve miles from Ventura, where apri- cots and prunes are raised.

The political career of Mr. Charlebois began in 1878, when he was elected chairman of the town board and served in this capacity for four years. In 1888 he was elected county treasurer for four years, and in 1894 was elected sheriff. being re-elected after the expiration of his first term of four years. It is needless to say that his administration has met with the approval

of those who are best capable of judging of his fitness for the position, and that he has showed an unusual amount of tact, good management and ability to reconcile antagonistic elements. He is variously interested in affairs of the town remote from his business or political interests. Prominent in fraternal circles, he has passed all of the chairs of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has been district deputy for four vears and treasurer of the lodge for sixteen years. He is also a member of Santa Barbara Lodge, No. 613, B. P. O. E.

In 1875 Mr. Charlebois married Agnes Ayers. who was born in Illinois, and came across the plains with her parents and ox-teams when a small child. Her father was a pioneer of Ven- tura county, and both parents died in the state of their later adoption. The four daughters comprising the family were born in Ventura, and here received their education in the public schools. They are: Blanche, Celia, Emma and Florence.

CAPT. A. W. BROWNE. In these days of anxiety to secure official recognition and of mis- used confidence in furtherance of personal gain, it is refreshing to know of one who has so util- ized the trust imposed in him as to stand in the white light of publicity with an untarnished record. It is therefore a matter of pride with his fellow-townsmen that Captain Browne has not only advanced his own credit but also that of the community which, as a public officer for many years and at present county auditor and recorder, he so conscientiously guards. In the history of Ventura it is doubtful if any occupy - ing the high places within the gift of the people have heard so few dissenting voices raised against their administration.

A resident of Ventura since 1875, Captain Browne came here from Philadelphia, Pa .. where he was born February 9. 1852. In for- mulating his plans for the future his early as- pirations were broadened by the admiration which he entertained for his father, N. B. Browne, who was born in Reading, Pa., in 1818. and eventually became identified with the high- est professional, governmental, commercial and political life of the Quaker city. A profound exponent of the law, he rapidly arose to posts justified by his administrative ability, and held positions requiring the most exemplary honor and tactful management. He represented his district in the legislature, and under the presi- dential administration of Abraham Lincoln was postmaster of Philadelphia, and assistant sub- ' treasurer. After the war he was one of the. foremost organizers of the Fidelity Insurance Trust and Safety Deposit Company of Philadel- phia, the second company of the kind ever in- corporated, and of which he was the first presi- dent, holding the position until his death in

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. .

1876. He was president of the Union League

H, Seventh California United States Infantry, Club of Philadelphia, and president of the Fair- . under command of Colonel Berry, and after the mount Park Commission for many years, and it war retired from the National Guard, after nine years of loyal service. He is well known in fra- ternal circles, and is associated with the Benevo- lent Protective Order of Elks, at Santa Bar- bara; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Ventura, and the encampment, being captain of the canton and patriarch militant; the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and also the Inde- pendent Order of Foresters. He owns a farmi of four hundred acres, called the Tierra Rajada Rancho, where general farming and grain rais- ing are conducted. His residence is located on Ventura avenue, Ventura. was during his term of office that they acquired the large tract of land south of the river on George's Hill. He came of an old Pennsylvania family who were Democratic in their political affiliations, but with the breaking out of the Civil war he departed from long cherished tra- ditions and became a strong Union man. Fra- ternally he was a Mason. When a young man he married Mary Jane Kendall, who was of English descent and born in Reading, Pa. Mrs. Browne, who died in Philadelphia when her third child, A. W., was four years of age, was the mother of four children, all of whom at- tained to maturity.

Captain Browne was educated at Sanders In- stitute, a military school in Philadelphia, and at Williston Seminary, East Hampton, Mass. His first effort at earning a livelihood was with the Fidelity Insurance Trust and Safety Deposit Company, with which he remained for five years, and during that time rose from the position of errand boy to that of receiving teller. This po- sition was resigned in the fall of 1873, and the same year he came to Ventura county and bought sheep from Senator Bard, and engaged in the sheep industry in partnership with Levi Taylor, under the firm name of Browne & Tay- lor. At times they owned fifteen thousand head, divided into flocks of two thousand each. After disposing of his sheep in 1883, Mr. Browne pur- chased a ranchi of five thousand acres on the ex- mission grant, and engaged in the cattle busi- ness until 1887, after which for a year he man- aged the Anacapa hotel in Ventura, in partner- ship with Mr. Wagner, the firm name being Wagner & Browne.

The political career of Mr. Browne began in 1888, when he was elected county supervisor of the first district, from the duties of which he resigned to accept a position in the office of the county recorder. In 1888 he became deputy county recorder and auditor, and in April of 1892 was appointed recorder to succeed Re- corder Jewett, resigned. At the next election, in 1892, he was elected county auditor and re- corder for a two years' term, and in 1894 was clected for a four years' term by a large ma- jority. In 1898 he was elected without opposi- tion, and endorsed by both Democrats and Pop- niists, his term to extend until January of 1903.

When the National Guard of California was formed, in 1892, Mr. Browne became second lieutenant of Company E, Seventh Infantry, N. G. C., and was later raised to the rank of first lieutenant. . At the end of five years, when the company was reorganized and changed to Com- pany H, he became its captain. During the Spanish-American war he served from May un- til December of 1898 as captain of Company

Captain Browne married Miss Neotia Rice, a native of Yuba county, and daughter of Peter Rice, of Mansfield, Ohio. Peter Rice came to California during the gold craze, and mined for several years, following which he be- came a toll road builder in the mountains. He later engaged in farming in Ventura county, where his death occurred. To Captain and Mrs. Browne have been born six children, viz .: Albert O. B., who is junior member of the firm of Lane & Browne, in Ventura; Valeria O., who is a member of the junior class at the high school; Nathaniel B., who is a sophomore in the high school; S. Harry, Mary K. and Ruth E.

REV. SHERLOCK BRISTOL was born at Cheshire, Conn., June 5, 1815. Gideon Bris- tol, his father, was a native of Connecticut, as was also the grandfather, who bore the same name. The latter was a soldier in the Revolu- tionary war, spending six years in the colonial army and being one of the company chosen to receive the British arms at the final surrender at Yorktown. This company was composed of large men. His ancestors were of English ex- traction and were pioneers in the Connecticut colony, one of the family being a prominent judge in New Haven. Our subject was born on the same farm as were his father, grandfather and great-grandfather, the land being originally taken by his great-great-grandfather, a native of England. His early life was passed on the homestead, and in the common schools he re- ceived his primary education. At the age of sixteen ycars he attended the Episcopal Acad- emy, and took so much interest in educational pursuits that his part of his father's estate was devoted to his education, he supporting himself meanwhile. In 1835 he graduated from Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., in 1839 from Oberlin College, and from the Theological Seminary in 1842, teaching meanwhile to support himself.

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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 64

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