History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Volume I, Part 107

Author: Vandor, Paul E., 1858-
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1362

USA > California > Fresno County > History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Volume I > Part 107

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Mr. Hansen belongs to the Danish Brotherhood, and is popular in that organization. He was an original stockholder of the Danish Creamery As- sociation, and one of the early directors. Mrs. Hansen is a member of the Danish Ladies and of Fresno Chapter, Red Cross. Mr. Hansen has long been a loyal Republican, but he is independent in local matters. His good citizen- ship has been recognized as he has been twice elected school trustee for the Central Colony district.

THOMAS F. MOODY .- A well-to-do pioneer California rancher, who is historically interesting as one of the earliest settlers in the Laguna Tract, and today well sustains the honorable and enviable traditions of one of the best early families, is Thomas F. Moody, who resides three miles west of Hardwick. He was born near Santa Clara, in Santa Clara County, on May 31, 1855, the son of George W. Moody, who was a native of Jackson County, Mo., farmed there and was there married to Emily Lynn. Grandfather Daniel Moody was born in Virginia and there became a planter. He came to Ken- tucky, and from Kentucky to Missouri; and thence to California, ten years after George Moody arrived here. The Moodys came from England, settled in Virginia, and had a very creditable part in the Revolutionary War. The Lynns were likewise of English blood, although Mrs. Moody's mother was born in Indiana. The paternal grandmother, Hannah King, was an own cousin of Daniel Boone. Back in Missouri in the early days there was a trapper, and he came all the way out from Missouri to Oregon for trapping, thence moving south into California in the early thirties, when George was still a boy. Re- turning to Missouri, he related stories about California, and the lad George's imagination was fired and he resolved to come to California. Luckily, he was able to see his dream come true, for he was one of the few whites, forty in all, who came to California from Jackson County, Mo., in 1847, Grandfather James Lynn being one of them, and the captain of his company. This company came through Colorado, Utah, and Nevada, and on September 12. 1847. they halted at where Stockton now stands. George Moody brought with him to California his young wife and first-born, William, who was then only one year old, and having established himself in the Santa Clara Valley, he engaged principally in store-keeping, farming and stock-raising. He owned the Fremont Place in that valley near Mountain View, at one time the headquarters of General Fremont while he was stationed on the coast ; but through failure of title he lost it, and he died a comparatively poor man, in 1910, aged eighty-four years. The mother died in Santa Clara County, aged thirty-six, leaving eight chil- dren: William A. is at Elko in Nevada : John J. is at Boulder Creek, Santa Cruz County, Cal. ; Mary is now Mrs. McDonald of Hanford ; George M. mar- ried, lived and died in Nevada and left three children; Thomas F., who is the subject of this sketch ; Charles S. resides at Elko, Nev .: Ellen, the widow of Stephen Henley, also lives at Elko; and Emma is the wife of Major Miller of Elko.

Marrying a second time, George Moody chose for his wife Mrs. Ellen Deitzman, widow of Henry Deitzman of Santa Clara, and the mother at that

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time of five children-Lovey J., Nellie, John, Emma, and Frank; and by her Mr. Moody became the father of three more: Lee, who resides at Stockton ; Daniel lives in Lompoc; and Lena, the wife of Henry Barker, of Santa Cruz County.

Thomas Franklin Moody's early life was passed in the Santa Clara Valley, where he grew up on his father's ranch and went to the public school until his mother's death, which occurred when he was fourteen years old. Then after his father's second marriage, he started out for himself. He went to live with an uncle for a year, and worked for his brother-in-law McDonald; and from that time on until he was twenty-one he hired out by the month for various farm-labor. Then he was married to Miss Lovey Jane Deitzman, his step- sister; but she died in 1906 and left seven children: Pearl lives at home ; Ernest resides at Elyria, Ohio, where he is married and is the foreman in a rubber-heel manufactory; George Cleveland is a rancher in Kings County ; Lela resides nearby in Armona, the wife of Kenneth Starr, a rancher ; Le Roy married Edna A. Laidley, and is now in Belgium, a lieutenant in the United States marine aviation service; Lester is in the marine aviation service at Pekin, China ; and Irene is at Berkeley, a junior in the University of California.

On Mr. Moody's second marriage, he was joined to Mrs. Daisy Mylar, widow of Fred Mylar of San Juan Bautista in San Benito County, by whom she had three children : Fred, Leslie and Elmer Mylar.

After his first marriage, Mr. Moody ranched for a couple of years in San Benito County ; and when the extremely dry season of 1877 hindered oper- ations, he went north into Napa County and worked around with his four- horse team. Having returned to San Benito County, he moved in the Fall of 1878 to the San Joaquin Valley and settled near Lemoore, which was then in Tulare County, but now in Kings, and farmed for a year. Then he went to the south of Hanford, and farmed there two years ; and next he came to the Liberty Settlement, about half way between Riverdale and Caruthers; and there he resided for ten years.

In 1898, Mr. Moody came to the Laguna de Tache Grant, where he rented for three years, after which he bought sixty acres from Nares & Saunders. He has not only improved the place but added to it by purchase from time to time till it is now 200 acres in extent. He and his sons, George C. and Pearl, own a place of sixty acres in Kings County, south of the railway tracks near the county line between Fresno and Kings counties. He also owns a piece of land in the slough on Murphy Creek, consisting of twenty-eight acres, and owns a quarter interest in his wife's place of forty acres in Fresno County, near the Kings County line, where he now lives, three miles west of Hard- wick. In 1909 he had an interest in city property at Coalinga, but he has dis- posed of his holdings there.

A Democrat in matters of national politics, Mr. Moody is non-partisan in his service as Trustee of the Laguna Grammar School and the Laton High School. He was also Road Supervisor for two years under John Clough, and he has done jury duty. He is one of three directors of the Riverdale Federal Land Association, and passes upon land values before loans are made. This is a plan by which any person owning real estate to the value of from $500 to $10,000 may borrow money to the latter sum, for from five to forty years, at six per cent. interest.

An interesting bit of local history associating the Moody's with Santa Clara Avenue, on which they reside, is furnished in the story of how that thoroughfare came to be named. When the Rural Free Delivery was estab- lished, the Postal Department expressed the wish to have the avenue named ; and Mr. Moody, as the oldest resident, selected Santa Clara because that was the county in which both he and his wife were born.

Mr. and Mrs. Moody were for years identified with the United Brethren Church, and Mr. Moody belongs to the Woodmen of the World.

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ALBERT ANDERSON BLASINGAME .- One of the most prominent stockmen and pioneers of Fresno County, himself a worthy descendant of an honored pioneer, is the subject of this sketch, Albert A. Blasingame. He was born in Eldorado County, Cal., January 12, 1858, the son of the late Jesse A. and Mary Jane (Ogle) Blasingame, pioneers of Fresno County, who settled near Academy, when Albert was a very young child. The land in this section was a vast uncultivated wilderness, and Albert has ridden after bronchos over the land where Fresno is now situated.

The interest which attaches to the life story of California pioneers, is a visible expression of the gratitude which all men feel towards the forerunners of civilization, in the Far West. The life of Albert A. Blasingame has been full of interesting incidents. From associating with his father, from boyhood, Albert at an early age became an expert cattle buyer and manager of stock. When a boy of about thirteen years, he assisted his father 'in driving a herd of some 2,000 head of cattle across the plains from Texas to Nevada. Albert was often left in charge of the whole band of cattle, but his experience was such that he could, with the aid of riders, manage the whole herd satisfac- torily.

An interesting incident occurred one night while he slept in the Raton Mountains, with his head on his saddle and his horse tied to it with a rope of rawhide : during the night the coyotes ate the rope to within six inches of the saddle. Fortunately for the young man his faithful steed was undisturbed and awaited his master in the morning.

In 1870, his father, J. A. Blasingame, took his wife and Albert back East to his old home state, Alabama, where he went to settle an estate. They spent one winter in Bell County, Texas, and Albert, being but a boy of about twelve years, attended school for six months. In the spring, the father began to purchase cattle to drive across the plains. His first lot was purchased at San Antonio, Texas, and consisted of 1,200 head. As he continued his journey he made other purchases, paying from one to two dollars per head. Although Albert was but a boy in years, he possessed a man's judgment when it came to selecting cattle. At Denver he helped to select 200 fine steers from a herd of 5,000. Albert cut them out of the large drove and superintended the brand- ing of them with the Blasingame brand, a letter B with a bar under it. This lot of cattle, for which they paid fourteen dollars per head, proved to be the best they had purchased. With their 2,000 head of cattle they continued their journey over mountains and prairie until they reached Brown's Hole, in Wy- oming, where they spent the winter. The next winter found them at the end of their trail, Humboldt Wells, Nev., the destination they had planned to reach. The railway company built a corral for their cattle and Albert Blas- ingame and his father were the first shippers to use it. From this place they shipped their cattle to San Francisco, Sacramento, and Colfax. The cattle reached the various destinations in such fine condition that Mr. Blasingame received most excellent prices ; in fact, the lowest price was seventy dollars per head. The enterprise proved a most gratifying success. Albert Blas- ingame was filled with justifiable pride to know that he was instrumental in making the undertaking such a splendid success, he being but a boy of four- teen. He continued with his father for some time and was actively interested with him in his stock interests, looking after all of his sheep, having at times as high as 16,000 head under his care. Later in life he engaged in the stock business for himself and made a splendid success.

On May 2, 1884, Albert A. Blasingame was united in marriage with Jen- nie P. Cease, the ceremony being solemnized in Kingsburg, Cal. She is a na- tive of Lexington, Va., and was the daughter of H. P. and Frances (Johnson) Cease. Her mother passed away in 1861. H. P. Cease was a merchant in Vir- ginia and at one time kept a hotel at Lexington. He brought his family to

Clarence. J. Reyturn.

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California in 1883 and settled on a vineyard near Kingsburg. Mr. Cease was born in 1826 and passed away in Fresno at the age of eighty-nine years.

After his marriage, Albert Blasingame started in the stock and sheep business on the old Pitman place, located at the forks in the road between Centerville and Fresno, thirty miles east of Fresno. He purchased this place. which contained 620 acres. As he prospered he purchased more land and kept on adding to his initial ranch until he possessed 2,200 acres. He makes a specialty of raising short-horn cattle of the Hereford strain. Mr. Blasingame has his father's old branding-iron, and it is the first one that was recorded at Fort Miller. On his ranch, at the head of Dry Creek, there is an excellent spring and the ranch also contains valuable mineral land, with gold and chrome ore. A few years ago he took a trip to Arizona and New Mexico and purchased 400 head of cattle, which he shipped to Fresno, and disposed of them at various times.

About 1902. Mr. and Mrs. Blasingame removed to Fresno where they built their new home on Blackstone Avenue, where they own forty acres. They are the parents of four children that are living : Albert A., Jr., a deputy sheriff : Mary, who is now Mrs. Arnold, and who resides in St. Louis, Mo. : Edna, attending the Fresno State Normal; Janet, a student at Fresno High School. For over twelve years Mr. Blasingame was a trustee of Mechanics- ville School District and was acting clerk for years. He is a member of the California Cattle Men's Association, and politically is a Democrat. Mrs. Blasingame is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, of Fresno.

CLARENCE JAMES REYBURN .- A broad-minded and liberal-hearted man, whose hospitality and generosity are evidences of the appreciation of his own prosperity and his belief in the excellent doctrine of "live and let live," is Clarence J. Reyburn, the well-known rancher and son of James John Reyburn, so widely and well-known as a pioneer of the San Joaquin Valley. He was born near Memphis. Scotland County, Mo., on December 21, 1865. his parents having just come to that state from Iowa. His father was a native of Miami County, Ohio, and traced his lineage to John Stewart Rey- burn, his father and the Kentucky pioneer, and to Grandfather Reyburn, who was one of the heroes of the War of 1812. Striking out bravely for himself when a mere boy, J. J. Reyburn worked on a farm near Burlington and after- wards purchased a share in a flour mill at Des Moines. At Mount Pleasant, in the same state, in 1866, he married Mary A. McDonald, a native of Henry County. Ind., where she was born on July 29, 1831. She came to Iowa with her parents, John and Mary (Dyson) McDonald, who had three children : Mrs. Revburn ; Leander, who served in the Twenty-fifth Iowa Regiment in the Civil War and now resides in Oklahoma; and Minnie P., who resides with Mrs. Reyburn in Enterprise Colony. In the middle sixties Mr. and Mrs. Reyburn migrated to Scotland County, Mo., and there engaged in raising grain and stock; and in 1873 they came far westward to California, into which section a brother had already come and settled. J. J. Reyburn raised wheat near Salida, and then preempted and homesteaded at Red Bank, on Big Dry Creek. After a while he bought eighty acres ten miles from Fresno, where he had a notable vineyard and orchard ; and when he retired and sold his 640 acres in the Big Creek district, he resided in Fresno until his death, on March 25, 1914. Mrs. Reyburn still lives, honored as was her husband, and makes her home with our subject. She is the mother of five chil- dren, four of whom grew up: Chester H., lives at Mountain View ; William D., in Los Angeles ; Clarence J., of this review ; and Nancy, who is Mrs. M. M. Sharer. All have chosen the better paths leading to honorable careers, and all have prospered.

Brought up in Missouri, Clarence Reyburn came to Stanislaus County in 1873, and two years later to the Red Bank district, where he also attended the public school. He was fortunate in being able to remain at home, and

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there thoroughly learned the ins and outs of farming and stock-raising. Even after his majority he continued to run the home farm with his father; and together they raised grain and stock. When his father retired, he took up his residence and work on the place of 640 acres now owned by R. Madsen.

In 1889, Mr. Reyburn with his father purchased eighty acres of his present place in the Jefferson district, and the following year began the diffi- cult and arduous work of improvement. A first-class vineyard resulted, and in time forty acres were sold. The estate still owns forty acres devoted to the growing of muscat and Malaga grapes. In the meantime, Clarence J. Reyburn bought forty acres of wheat stubble adjoining. which he cleared up, leveled and otherwise so improved that it now bears the highest grade of muscat and malaga grapes. His home was destroyed by fire July 7, 1907. and he immediately erected the present large modern residence of fine architecture. He has always been a member of the California Associated Raisin Company and is proud of his support of an organization that has done so much for the interests it fosters.

Mr. Reyburn modestly stands for what is edifying and inspiring in reli- gion, and takes pleasure in doing his part as a member of the First Pres- byterian Church in Clovis. He has been deacon of the church, and at Jeffer- son he was superintendent of the Sunday School. He is a Republican and yet loyally supports the present administration ; and he aids in all worthy movements for local expansion and improvement.

JACOB VOGEL AND HERBERT E. VOGEL .- The president of the Fresno Hardware Company. H. E. Vogel is well known to the citizens of Fresno County as a man of high business standing and as a progressive and loyal resident, who is ever ready to assist in the advancement and general upbuilding of the county. His father, the late Jacob Vogel, was prominent in financial circles in the San Joaquin Valley and gave his best efforts toward the development of this section of the state.

Jacob Vogel was born in Hesse-Cassel, Germany, November 27, 1830. His father was Baltasar Vogel, a native of the same locality and a well known and prosperous farmer and merchant until his death in 1848. He was a Lutheran and a strong moral citizen who gave his best efforts to advance the welfare of his community. His wife, formerly Christine Hoffman, was also a native of Germany, where she died. They had five children, of whom Jacob Vogel was reared on the home farm and educated in the public schools until he was fourteen when he was confirmed. He was then apprenticed to learn the trade of shoemaker, remaining three years, when in 1857 he came to America. He took passage on a slow steamer, the voyage occupying three weeks. Landing in New York, he went on to Chicago, arriving there with a single dollar in his pocket. He found work there for four months, then went to Bloomington, Ill., and for three monthis worked for a mason, as he was unable to follow his trade. He received one dollar a day for his services and then found work at his trade until the breaking out of the Civil War. He had taken a keen interest in the questions of the day and in 1858 had heard Lincoln and Douglas debate five times in as many cities in Illinois. In the spring of 1862 he became a volunteer among three hundred, a company raised in one night to go to Springfield to guard prisoners. In July he en- listed in Company A, Ninety-fourth Illinois Regiment, Volunteer Infantry, being mustered in at Bloomington, after which the regiment was sent for service in Missouri and Arkansas. With his regiment he participated in the siege of Vicksburg, then the regiment was sent to the relief of Port Hudson and thence to New Orleans, where a greater part of the command was in- capacitated through fever. When the Thirteenth Army Corps was organized, four months later, all that was left of the regiment became a part of same. They were then sent to the Rio Grande, in Texas, then to Mobile Bay, where they took part in the battles of Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines. The troops were again sent to Texas, where at Galveston, Mr. Vogel was honorably

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discharged from the service in July, 1865. He was wounded in the right hand at the battle of Vicksburg.

After his discharge Mr. Vogel returned to Bloomington, worked at his trade for a time, then traveled some, going as far west as Omaha. His em- ployer suggested to him that he start a store and shop of his own, so he went to Clinton, Ill., where he became established in business. He met with success from the start and soon his business grew to such proportions that he had to make two trips East each year to visit the factories, where he purchased his goods. He invested in farming property, owning a farm of 480 acres, which he improved. In 1886 he came to California as a delegate to the National Grand Army Encampment at San Francisco. It was but natural that he should visit several sections of the state while he was here, and he became so charmed with the climate and the business possibilities of the state, that upon his return to Illinois, he sold out his interests and returned to make his home in California. He invested in lands, real estate and stock, in the vicinity of Fresno. He erected a fine home in the city of Fresno, bought and im- proved a forty-acre vineyard : improved a fine tract which he planted to alfalfa and made other wise investments. In 1900 he bought a home in Fruitvale, to which he retired, although he looked after his business interests in Fresno in person. He was vice-president and a director of the First National Bank of Fresno: president of the Fresno Street Improvement Company, which owned a brick block at Fresno and I Streets. He was also a stockholder in the Peoples Saving Bank of Fresno, the Fresno Abstract and Title Company, the First National Bank of Selma, the Selma Savings Bank, the First National Bank of Dinuba, and the Dinuba Savings Bank. He was also interested in business property in Sanger.

Jacob Vogel was married in Bloomington, Ill., to Eliza Ludolph, born in Kur-Hessen, the daughter of Martin Ludolph, who became a farmer in In- diana, where he died. Mr. and Mrs. Vogel became the parents of six chil- dren : Amelia, Mrs. A. Hall. of Fresno; Mrs. Louise A. Aldrich, of Fresno ; Olivia, Mrs. Charles McCardle, of Dinuba : Herbert E., of this review ; Welby and Bernal. Mr. Vogel was an Odd Fellow, belonging to the Lodge and Encampment ; a member of the Grand Army Post; a Lutheran ; and a Re- publican. He died on February 11, 1915, in Fruitvale. Mrs. Vogel died on the same date.

It will thus be seen that H. E. Vogel, who was born in Dewitt County, Ill., on May 16, 1877, has a valid claim to the best interests of Fresno County as an inheritance from his worthy sire who contributed to the best of his ability to the betterment of business, social, religions and agricultural con- ditions of the central part of California. Herbert E. attended the public schools of Fresno, graduating from the Fresno High in 1895 with honors, after which he worked in various places and gained valuable experience, for the next two years. He then started on his own account as a rancher and gradually developed a model ranch from its primitive condition. His property consists of about 400 acres of fine land and is located about ten miles west of Fresno and south of Kearney Avenue. Here will be found one of the finest dairy ranches in the county upon which all improvements have been made by its owner.

Mr. Vogel began breeding Holstein cattle in 1899, beginning on a small scale and against heavy odds, for many said the business would not pay. He brought his bulls from the East, having only the highest grades to be found and now he has 200 registered Holstein cattle and much of the stock in the county has been bred from his herd. He has done much to bring into being a higher grade of stock than hitherto thought of by dairymen in the San Joaquin Valley. He is one of the oldest and best known breeders of Holstein stock in California and he belongs to the Holstein-Friesian Association of America and the California Holstein-Friesian Association. He exhibits at the State Fairs and at the Fresno District Fairs, and at both places he has won

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many premiums for his fine grade of stock. He has been a director of the Fresno District Fair Association for the past ten years. In all matters for the betterment of conditions in the county he has followed in the footsteps of his father. In 1910 he became a stockholder and was elected president of the Fresno Hardware Company.

Mr. Vogel was united in marriage in Fresno County with Miss Irma E. Foley, a native daughter of the county, and they have a daughter, Verna V. Both Mr. and Mrs. Vogel are highly esteemed and have a wide circle of friends. He is a Mason and a Shriner.

JOHN W. SHUEY .- Pride of ancestry will not alone achieve success. It will assist, for the stirring blood of men who have wrought for the well- being of the nation will tell in the generations coming after them. To be well born is an asset that counts tremendously in the world effort to promote progress, provided the possessor of such birthright exerts himself in the di- rection of growth. There are many who do not thus exert themselves, but are content to live their lives depending upon their forbears to carry them along. Preferring to add to rather than detract from such ancestry, John W. Shuey stands today an example of the type of men who will reflect credit upon their forefathers.

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History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Volume I, Part 107

Author: Vandor, Paul E., 1858- Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company Number of Pages: 1362

Author: Vandor, Paul E., 1858-
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1362