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 73

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

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though himself a southerner by birth and lin- eage, he was always loyal to the government and to the old flag. In 1863 he returned to Cali- fornia and for many years afterward continued in the coast survey, but resigned some years before his death.

Concerning the captain we quote the follow- ing from the United States Army and Navy Journal: "Captain Greenwell was well known for forty years to the public service, but, owing to his having resigned some years ago, his death has not attracted the attention of many friends in the army and navy to whom his loss will be a lasting grief. He entered the coast survey in 1846. Serving first in the party of Assistant Gerdes in Moblie Bay, he continued to work chiefly on the southern coast until 1854, in which year he was transferred to the Pacific coast. On this coast he gave nearly thirty years of his life to the faithful service of his country, in his profession as surveyor and civil engineer, while he made for himself and his family a home famed for its kindly hospitality throughout that beautiful region of Southern California. Here, as the country settled rapidly, he was sought for, far and wide, to give advice to those seeking homes, to render help to the unfortunate, and to place at the disposal of individuals or young settlements his valuable practical experience as pioneer in those regions. To army and navy officers working in his vicinity the assistance rendered by Captain Greenwell's thorough knowledge of the country, and his clear practical intelligence, was invaluable, and their debt of gratitude was made the greater by the warm and kindly hospitality of his lovely family. To have enjoyed the genial company, the faithful friendship, of this simple and noble character, is a privilege and a memory invaluable to those fortunate enough to have classed themselves as his friends. In that once happy home, near the Santa Barbara shore, a devoted wife now mourns his death, supported in her bereavement by two sons worthy of their father's name."

By his first marriage Captain Greenwell had one son, William M., who died in Washington, D. C., in 1898. His second marriage took place in St. Stephen's Church, New York City, De- cember 31, 1862, and united him with Miss Anna C. Cummings, who was born in Washington, D. C. Her parents, Charles and Mary J. (Steph- enson) Cummings, were natives of London, England, and there married, after which they came to the United States, settling in Washing- ton, D. C., and Mr. Cummings was employed as a purser in the United States navy until he died. Of his family of four daughters and four sons, Mrs. Greenwell, the youngest, is the sole survivor. One son, Rev. William Cummings, D. D., founded St. Stephen's Church in New York City and remained its pastor as long as he lived. Mrs. Greenwell was educated in the Con-

vent of Visitation at Georgetown, D. C., and has always been an adherent of the Roman Catholic church. Since the death of her hus- band, she has continued to reside in Santa Bar- bara, making occasional visits to the cast. Of her sons, the oldest, Charles B., is secretary of the Hueneme Wharf Company. He was elected to the state senate of California and has gained distinction through his able service in that body. The younger son, Arthur Cummings Greenwell, is now collector of customs at Santa Barbara. Among the property holdings of Mrs. Green- well one of the most important is the wheat and bean farm comprising between six and seven hundred acres and situated in Las Posas, Ven- tura county. Of this ranch Senator Bard, who was an intimate friend of Captain Greenwell, now has charge. In addition, she owns a ranch soutlı of Summerland and a farm of two hun- dred acres near Hope, Santa Barbara county.

Strength of character was one of Captain Greenwell's most conspicuous possessions. In every respect he was an independent thinker, forming his own conclusions after careful and matured study, unbiased by the prejudices of others. As he was always true to his country and true to his family, so it could not but fol- low that he was likewise true to his God. Though in no sense of the word a churchman, and having but little sympathy with warring creeds, he possessed that religion which finds in everything the footprints of an all-wise and all-powerful Creator. In the beauties of the region where he dwelt, in the history of the past, and in the mercies of the present, he saw every evidence of a God, and he had little patience with those shallow natures that deny the existence of a Creator whose handiwork may thus be seen on every side and in every era of the world's history.

Courage was another prominent element in Captain Greenwell's character. Fear was abso- lutely unknown to him. When but a young man, at the risk of his life, he saved some sailors from shipwreck and death. Years later, on a dark and foggy night, when the steamer Sena- tor was driven near the rocks of Point Con- ception, and when the crew were rebellious and the captain ill, he took command of the vessel, and by his judgment and tact reduced the crew to submission, saved the ship and brought the passengers safely to land. He had the reputation of being the best surfer in the service. His shore duties, also, were performed with equal success. In the mapping out and completing of a practicable scheme of triangu- lation, he was an expert. He was an excellent mountaineer and never forgot a landmark, lience was peculiarly fitted for his chosen occu- pation.

After a lifetime of noble and successful ap- plication, in an important sphere of duty, Cap-

John F. Cummings

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tain Greenwell died at his Santa Barbara home, August 27, 1886, mourned by the large circle of friends to whom his ability and kindliness of heart had endeared him, and remembered by all as a man ripe in judgment, prompt in action, versatile in mental capacity, keen in discrimina- tion, and dauntlessly brave and valiant.

JOHN F. CUMMINGS. Too much cannot be said in praise of the efforts of Mr. Cummings in the Santa Clara valley, of which he was one of the earliest settlers, having arrived in 1872. This section of the state has no rancher more industrious or capable than he. Under his en- ergetic supervision fields whereon the wild mus- tard towered to a height of twelve feet have been transformed into fertile tracts that well repay the owner's skillful cultivation. His abil- ity is doubtless inherited, for his father, Hon. James Cummings, who was born in Fayette county, Pa., in 1795, possessed many remarka- ble characteristics. Though his schooling was limited to four months, through his own efforts he acquired a broad fund of information, was known as a skillful debater and an orator of power. During his active life he farmed near Mansfield, Richland county, Ohio. His fellow- citizens, appreciating his talents, twice elected him to represent the district in the state legisla- ture, and for twenty-eight years he served as justice of the peace. A man beloved wherever known and honored throughout a wide section of country, he passed away, at eighty-five years of age, leaving a record of which posterity may be justly proud. He married Christine McMil- lan, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1801, and whose ancestors came to America in an early day. In the family were five daughters and two sons, and six of these are living, John F. being fourth. One of the sons, Wilson S., is one of the most prominent men of Fredericktown, Ohio, and owns practically all of the large buildings and enterprises there represented.

In Richland county, Ohio, John F. Cummings was born September 19, 1835. As opportunity offered he attended the public schools of his neighborhood, and his youth was not unlike that of other farm-reared boys. When twenty- five years of age he came to California and worked by the month in the northern part of the state. The money thus saved was invested in land, which he operated on his own responsi- bility. In 1869 he purchased one hundred and fifty acres of bottom land in Ventura county, and upon this tract took up his permanent resi- dence three years later. For the first few years his crops consisted mainly of barley and feed for hogs, of which stock he averaged six hundred lead per annum. His experiments with the cul- tivation of the lima bean began in 1876, and he was the first in the valley to predict a success in

this industry. At first he placed ten acres under the beans, but gradually increased the amount until he utilized one hundred acres, producing about a ton per acre. A portion of the land is in an apricot orchard and a walnut grove, the crops from each being exceptionally satisfactory. In fact, he has met with gratifying success in everything he has undertaken to accomplish on his ranch, and he is conceded to be one of the best and most practical farmers in the valley. Everything in connection with the place is under his personal supervision, and no farm as- sistant whom the excess of work obliges him to employ works half as hard as this successful agriculturist, who keeps in advance of all im- provements and is ever striving to bring about simpler and better methods.

In California Mr. Cummings married Miss Georgia Sweeney, who was born on Long Is- land, N. Y., being the daughter of a skilled engi- neer. They are the parents of five daughters and four sons, all of whom are yet at home, and form an interesting family. They are named as fol- lows: Ada B., Madge, Walter W., Esther, Jean- ette, Victor, Olga, John F., Jr., and Wilson S.

The interests of Mr. Cummings extend be- yond the limits of his ranch and embrace a knowledge of and co-operation with all that is instituted for the benefit of the community. He owns stock in the Santa Paula Home Oil Com- pany, and is a stockholder in the Santa Paula Company's co-operative store. The breadth of mind which characterizes his actions in general is carried into politics, and, although a Repub- lican, he invariably votes for principle rather than party. The county of Ventura does not contain a more eloquent or carnest advocate of temperance, nor a more liberal-minded man as to religious matters. In opening his purse to aid all worthy causes he aids alike the Methodist or Presbyterian or any other denomination of worshippers, believing that all are equally worthy and traveling the same road under dif- ferent creeds. He is emphatically a thinking man, for his conclusions in all matters are the result of his own profound consideration, wide observation and careful weighing of all sides of a question.

JOSEPH MCCULLOUGH GARRETSON. Intimately associated with the pioneer days of the east as well as the west has been the forceful life of Joseph Mccullough Garretson. one of the business men of Santa Barbara. He comes of a family who have agreed with Riche- lieu that there was "no such word as fail" when applied to their respective undertakings, and whose enterprise and capabilities have been exerted for the best good of this country ever since Lord Baltimore sailed away from the shores of England and settled in and named Baltimore county, Md. Indeed, the same craft

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which buffeted the storms of the Atlantic with the lord of Baltimore as its most distinguished passenger had also as passengers the great- great-grandfather, Shadrack Garretson, and his brother John, who eventually acquired six hun- dred acres of land at Gooseberry Neck, Balti- more county.

On the homestead at Gooseberry Neck was born the great-grandfather, Job Garretson, and the grandfather, John, the latter of whom in- curred the paternal displeasure by enlisting in the Revolutionary war against the wishes of his sire, the feeling waxing so strong that upon his return from the war the house of his childhood memories was no longer a pleasant or profitable place to live in. With the unyielding pride of his race he struck out in the world on his own responsibility and became a planter in Hawkins county, Tenn., where his death eventually oc- curred. He was twice married, the three sons of the first marriage being Jeremiah (the father of Joseph Mccullough), who died in Indiana; George, who died in Cincinnati, and John, who died in Tennessee. By the second marriage there were Madison, Owen, Freeborn and Wil- liam, all of whom have long since joined the silent majority. Jeremiah Garretson was born in Hawkins county, Tenn., in 1800, and about 1820 settled near Connersville, Ind., where he farmed for thirty years. His former occupation was resumed after removing to the vicinity of Lafayette, where occurred the death of his wife, his own demise taking place in 1855, at the age of fifty-five years. He married Jane Mc- Cullough, who was born in Hawkins county, Tenn., in 1799, a daughter of Joseph McCul- lough, who was born in Scotland, and became a planter in Tennessee. There were eight chil- dren in the family, four sons and four daughters, of whom Joseph Mccullough Garretson alone survives.

Near Connersville, Ind., where he was born on the old homestead March 4, 1836, Joseph Mccullough Garretson attended the subscrip- tion schools of his time, the most of his early education, however, being the result of the teaching of his mother, with whom he pored over books in the chimney corner by the light of the hearth fire, during the long winter even- ings. This same thoughtful mother was a typi- cal pioneer woman, and such leisure as she could command from the arduous duties around the farm was devoted to spinning and weaving, and such other occupations as fell to the lot of the settlers. In 1859 her son Joseph departed from the home surroundings and went to Fountain county, Ind., where he worked on the farm of Mr. Williams for his board, and for the privilege of attending school during the winter. By 1854, so industrious and frugal had he been that his worldly possessions amounted to the lordly sum of $212.50. With this seemingly

colossal fortune he struck out for California, his clothes in a satchel, and his hopes confidently directed toward a future of vast accomplish- ment. February 22, 1854, he arrived in La- fayette, Ind., from where he took the train for New York City, and March 6 boarded the steamer Ohio for Aspinwall, his passage costing him $170 of his hard-earned money. To get across the Isthmus made further inroads in his finances to the extent of $30, and from Panama he took the boat John L. Stevens for San Francisco, which he reached March 18, 1854. Nevada City being his destination, he visited Sacramento on the way, and upon arriving there had just one dollar left. He remained over night and walked to Nevada City, and after try- ing hard to sell his blanket for his night's lodg- ing on the way succeeded in having fifty cents left after consummating the deal. In Nevada City he found an old schoolmate, and at once went to work for $4 a day, and at the end of the week had cleared $20. With a part of this he purchased necessary blankets and engaged in mining, later finding his way to Nelson's Point, in Plumas county, on the Feather river, where he was overtaken with rheumatism, and was obliged to substitute clerking for mining for a couple of years. At the end of this time he again began to mine and continued to do so for three years, after which he sold out and went to the Washoe valley, in Nevada, and engaged in ranching and the butcher business. In 1865 he married Miss Catharine McCaleb, a native of Pennsylvania, and continued to live in Nevada until his removal to Santa Barbara county in 1869. The journey hither was accomplished with wagons and teams, and a stop was made at San Bernardino, but the town was too warm and the travelers came up the coast and settled at Carpinteria in 1869, remaining there for a year. Here Mr. Garretson engaged in the dairy busi- ness, and in 1870 located four miles west of the city of Santa Barbara, where he became inter- ested in farming and stock-raising. Eventually he located on the place of forty-five acres on what is now Hollister avenue, which he has since improved and built upon and farmed. In 1892 he moved into Santa Barbara and built the store on East Ortega street, in which he now carries on a mercantile business

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Garretso11 are: Charles O., who is teaming in Santa Barbara; Claire Josephine, who is now Mrs. Kirch; Albert Elmer, who died in July of 1900 at the age of twenty-four years; and Mabel, who is living at home. Mr. Garretson is one of the most prominent Masons in Santa Barbara, hav- ing become a member of the Forest City Lodge No. 66, and of the Carson City Lodge, and is now associated with the Santa Barbara Lodge No. 192, F. & A. M. He was exalted to the Royal Arch Masons No. 10, Forest City, and

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was a charter member of the first chapter in the state of Nevada at Carson City. He later be- came one of the organizers of the Santa Barbara Chapter No. 51, of which he is now treasurer. He is also connected with the St. Omar Commandery No. 30, of which he is treasurer, and he is a member of Al Malakiah Temple, N. M. S., of Los Angeles. Politically he was a Republican prior to 1880, but is now independent.

JOHN W. HUGUS, formerly of Pasadena, was born at Pittsburg, Pa., November 24, 1836, and died in San Francisco, October 10, 1901. In descent the family came from the old Hugue- not stock, who settled the French colony in Hesse-Cassel, Germany, whither so many of the French fled after the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1598. In 1761 his great-grandfather came to America with a brother, William, and settled in Pennsylvania, where his father, Peter Hugus, was born and educated. From Penn- sylvania Peter Hugus moved to Canton, Ohio, where he was a merchant in good standing for many years. While in Canton, the boy, John, became intimately acquainted with another rugged Canton boy, William McKinley, and their personal friendship continued throughout their lives. His father's mercantile ventures were not successful, and to repair them he brought his wife and children into the west and settled in Omaha, in the territory of Nebraska, in 1856. Mr. Hugus had two brothers and two sisters. His brother, Charles, was a lawyer of great promise, and owned and published the Massillon News in Ohio. There Mr. Hugus learned the printing trade, which he followed for a number of years, and was employed on several of the prominent newspapers in the larger cities of the west.

In June, 1857, Mr. Hugus moved to Omaha, where the family had preceded him, and followed his trade as a printer until 1861, when he went to Fort Kearney, two hundred miles west of Omaha, to take charge of a post trader's general store there. He soon acquired an interest in the business, and with the money thus earned he removed to Omaha in 1866 and engaged in the banking business. In 1864, at Williamsburg, Pa., Mr. Hugus married Annetta Olivia Rees, who died in 1868 in Omaha. The death of his beautiful young wife was his first great sorrow. In 1870 he went to Fort Fred Steele, in Wyo- ming, seven hundred miles west of Omaha. where he laid the foundation of his career as a successful merchant and banker. In Wyoming and Colorado he established banks and general merchandise stores, all under the name of J. W. Hugus & Co. Rawlins, Wyo., was the head- quarters of the business, and for several hundred miles around Rawlins the merchandising and banking house of J. W. Hugus & Co. supplied

the needs of a new and prosperous country, and was, and is today, one of the most progressive and successful merchandise houses in the west. In 1883 Mr. Hugus admitted into partnership with him J. C. Davis, who had been with him for a number of years, and to whom he gave the entire management of their large interests. In the autumn of that year he moved to California, settling in Pasadena, where he bought a large ranch and built one of the fine houses in the foothills near the present Altadena tract. In a few years he transformed the rank growth of grease wood and rocky roughness into one of the finest ranches in Southern California.

In 1873 Mr. Hugus married Sarah Golds- borough Carnan, whose family settled in In- diana at Vincennes, coming there from Mary- land, where they were prominent in law. Her father was educated at Harvard and served later as judge in one of the large districts in Indiana. Mrs. Hugus shared with her husband the trials and pleasures of frontier life in Wyoming, and in California she found the great pleasure of her life in dispensing that cordial and generous hospitality in which in her earlier life she had been so well initiated in her own southern home. To them were born two children, Louise Bonner Hugus and Annetta Olivia Hugus. Mrs. Hugus and her daughters were actively interested in the social life of Pasadena, as well as in the church, educational and charitable work. Mrs. Hugus died November 19, 1897, beloved by all who knew her.

Throughout all his life Mr. Hugus was a con- sistent and sterling Christian of the vigorous and strenuous type, carrying his religion with him in every hour of his life with such dignity and force of character that it made him at once a marked man in any community, and won for him, among men with strong passions in the ear- lier days of the west, a respect for his person- ality such as few men attain. He was known all his life as Judge Hugus, a title earned in Wyoming that paid a fine tribute to his char- acter. In the west men of quick impulses and hasty actions felt the process of law too slow to settle differences that the might of the stronger could not at once overcome, and be- cause it grew customary to settle controversies by referring the matter for John Hugus to de- cide, he acquired the title of Judge, inasmuch as so often he was selected to arbitrate differ- ences by stockmen who would agree to stand by and accept his decision upon controversies affect- ing their business and social lives. His whole life was identified with the history in the Episcopal Church in Wyoming, Colorado and Southern California. Many tens of thousands of dollars he directly contributed towards building permanent churches, establishing parishes and aiding in maintaining the salaries of missionaries, priests and bishops working in these three states. In

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the Throop Polytechnic Institute at Pasadena he was a trustee and valued advisor in all its educational work. By his own large endowment to the school and his ability to interest others, he was able through the power of his wealth and individuality to render most material aid to the school in a crisis, which, when passed, placed the institution on a firm financial and educational basis, so it will for all time be a power among the educational institutions on the coast. Mr. Hugus believed himself to be a trustee for the small fortune he accumulated, and that his stew- ardship could be best managed by his personal supervision during the period of his own best mental activity. In the last ten years of his life he gave over $200,000 to church and educa- tional work, in which he took a personal inter- est. Much of this he constantly supervised, and many a young man he aided by both helping him with means for his education and by the per- sonal and continued interest he kept up in the young man's life.

Upon the Sunday after his death memorial services were held in San Francisco and Pasa- dena (Cal.), Rawlins (Wyo.) and in a number of churches in Colorado. His death in San Fran- cisco came suddenly to him while in attendance at the general convention of the Episcopal Church, and so it seemed to fittingly round out a life so long identified in the work of the church. Surviving Mr. Hugus are his widow and three daughters. Less than two years be- fore his death Mr. Hugus married Miss Blanche Bolt, a daughter of Frank C. Bolt, president of the San Gabriel Valley Bank in Pasadena. By his first wife Mr. Hugus had one daughter, Nellie Rees Hugus. who married Victor B. Cald- well, a graduate of Yale and at present cashier of the United States National Bank of Omaha. Louise Bonner Hugus and Annetta Olivia Hugus are his children by his second wife. Miss Louise B. Hugus lives in Los Angeles, and is actively engaged at the College Settlement House, being a resident worker. Annetta Hugus married Albert E. Carroll, a graduate of Har- vard and a manufacturer of woolen machinery in Boston, Mass.

JAMES E. SHAW. In 1892 Mr. Shaw camc to Riverside and bought ten acres of raw land under the Gage canal, which he set out in navel and valencia oranges, and which has developed into one of the most prolific groves on the heights. During the year he packs about two thousand one hundred boxes of navels and six- teen hundred boxes of valencias, which are shipped through the local buyers. In 1900 the grove was seven years old, and the returns were $5,342 net above picking, which furnished the best showing of any grove in this section. The land is entirely free from frost, many improve- ments have been made upon it and a fine resi-

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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 73

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