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 115

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 115

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For some years after being admitted to the bar, Attorney Holmes practiced in North Carolina, and also served as a member of the State legis- lature, leaving an enviable record for painstaking fidelity to his constituents. Then he farmed a large plantation in Alabama; but the Civil War breaking ont, he was impelled to uphold the cause of his native section, and so he entered and served in the Confederate ranks. After the War, like so many others he returned to the cultivation of the soil in Mississippi; and always believing in doing as best he could whatever he undertook to do at all, he made such a success of his plantation that it became, so to speak, a model for the community.

In 1868, Mr. Holmes came to California by way of the Isthmus and joined the Alabama settlement near Madera, where he farmed successfully for several years. He became a Director of the Stockton Asylum for the Insane, and was also honored by election to the Constitutional Convention. The Convention having provided for this district of the Superior Court, Mr. Holmes was appointed the first Superior Judge here; and in 1880 he was elected to the same office. So well did he satisfy the public, while fulfilling his obligations to the State and meeting his own high sense of honor and

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ethics, that again in 1890 the voters of the district chose him for Judge. His courtliness, of the old-school type, together with his known integrity capti- vated everyone, and he was filling the high office when, in December, 1894, he died.

Judge Holmes had married Miss Mary Strudwick, a native of Mobile, Ala., and the daughter of an extensive planter, the ceremony taking place in 1851, and from their union were born Owen and John, both of whom are now dead; Mrs. W. J. Pickett, and W. A. Holmes. W. A. Holmes was the Southern Pacific City Passenger Agent at Fresno, and in August, 1918, he was appointed the chief clerk of the Fresno office of the United States Railroad Administration. The family belongs, therefore, to that group of early and prominent pioneers of which Fresno County is and always will be very proud.

CHARLES A. MARSHALL and EDWIN C. MARSHALL .- Eye wit- nesses of the many changes that have taken place in Fresno County since the Marshall family came to California, has been the lot of Charles A. and Edwin C. Marshall, pioneer ranchers of the Centerville district. They recall the time when the present fertile and productive fields were but wind-swept desert wastes covered with cacti. They are descendants of an old Kentucky family and sons of Louis and Mary (Foree) Marshall, natives of the Blue Grass State, and where the former died. Three brothers, Charles A., Edwin C., and Albert R. Marshall came to this state and located in Fresno County in 1886. They bought thirty-five acres of land at Centerville and embarked in the nursery business for some time, when they disposed of it and set their ranch to trees and vines. Their good mother joined her sons in 1889, made her home on their ranch and enjoyed the comforts of California life until her death in 1910. Louis and Mary Marshall have the following surviving chil- dren : Mrs. Mary Wiley, of Whittier; Mrs. Jennie Clopton, of Los Angeles; Charles A., of Fresno: Albert R., of Santa Ana; Edwin C., of Centerville ; and Mrs. Josie Fernald, of San Francisco.

Charles A. Marshall was born in Ballard County, Ky., April 25, 1866, received his education in the public schools of his native state and was reared there until the age of twenty when he came with his brothers to Fresno County and ever since that date his interests have been closely interwoven with the history of the growth of the county. He lived on the ranch and assisted in its development for many years and in 1917 he was united in marriage with Mrs. Caroline (Dickson) Dodd, who was born in Humboldt County, Cal. Mr. and Mrs. Marshall reside in Fresno and enter heartily into the social life of their community.

Edwin C. Marshall was born in Kentucky on May 10. 1870, and was educated in the schools with his brother and with him came to make a home in the Golden West. He has lived on the ranch at Centerville ever since the property was acquired by the brothers. He served as horticultural commis- sioner of Fresno County for a few years. Edwin C. Marshall was united in marriage with Mary Lockhart, a native of Missouri and they dispense a charming hospitality at the Marshall ranch.

The Marshall ranch at Centerville is a very productive property, the deep, rich fertile soil producing banner crops each year. In 1918 the yield of fifteen acres planted to Emperor and Malaga grapes was 127 tons of Em- perors and 29 tons of Malagas, and the 1917 crop was of still larger propor- tions. This land was developed from its raw state. Two irrigating systems have been installed, with an extra pumping plant for the orange grove.

In 1914 in order to stabilize the market prices and build up the fruit business Charles A. Marshall began shipping green fruit to points in the east, on a strictly commission basis. In the above year he became associated with B. W. Shepherd, as buyer of green fruits in the Sanger district, shipping to the well-known commission firm of Sgoble and Day, New York City. In this

C . C. Marshall .

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business Mr. Marshall has been very successful. He is very public-spirited and heartily cooperates in promoting those movements that have for their aim the upbuilding of city, county and state, and is recognized as a man of unquestioned integrity.

JOHN J. KERN .- Among Fresno's worthy citizens of foreign birth is John J. Kern, proprietor of the liquor store at 2033 Mariposa Street. His store is one of the landmarks of Fresno, as he has been in the liquor business in this building continuously for more than twenty years. He recalls shooting rabbits in the early days on the present site of the city of Fresno. His earliest recollections are in connection with the Fatherland, for he was born in the Kingdom of Bavaria, Southern Germany, April 8, 1854. John J. Kern was edu- cated in the common schools of Germany and in early life learned the brew- ing business, which he followed in his native country until 1880, when he came to America. The first six years, after his advent in the New World, were spent in a Buffalo brewery and on a farm in the country. In 1886 he came to the Pacific Coast and worked for the National Brewing Company in San Francisco until 1895, when he located in Fresno and opened a liquor store at his present stand.

In 1881 Mr. Kern entered the matrimonial state, choosing as his life com- panion a daughter of the old Fatherland, Elizabeth Kaufer. Five children were born to them: Ida. is now Mrs. Moisen of Patton; Emma L. is Mrs. Delk of Fresno and is the mother of one daughter; Harry L., who served in the United States Expeditionary Forces in Europe : two daughters died in child- hood and are buried in San Francisco. Mr. Kern owns one hundred sixty acres of unimproved land west of Fresno and several town lots. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Foresters of America. the Owls, Sons of Herman, and is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce.

A. D. EWING .- Among the many native Missourians who have con- tributed to the development of the city and country adjacent to Fresno there are few names better known than that of A. D. Ewing, county treasurer of Fresno. He is the son of Henry N. and Carrie (Martin) Ewing, and was born in Callaway County, Mo., February 14, 1861, just prior to the opening scenes of the great drama of the Civil War. The elder Ewing followed the occupation of farming until he came to California in 1882, when he pur- chased forty acres of land and engaged in fruit raising, following the oc- cupation for six years; afterwards engaging with Mr. Bartlett in the dray and transfer business, continuing in this business until his death in 1892. His wife died in 1879, three years prior to his coming to California.

At fifteen years of age Mr. A. D. Ewing had the misfortune to lose his right arm in a railroad accident. Notwithstanding this handicap he has made a success of life, standing shoulder to shoulder with his compeers as a man of ability. He received a public school education, and coming to California in 1883 engaged in fruit raising. After completing a course in business college in San Francisco in 1886-87, he returned to Fresno and in 1888-89 was elected the first tax collector in Fresno County. He was united in marriage June 2, 1890, with Miss Mollie Munday, of Kansas City. The union has been childless. Finishing his term of office he joined his brother, D. S. Ewing, in improving forty acres of land, continuing in this occupation until 1893 when he accepted a position to do clerical work in the auditor's and assessor's office, acting in that capacity until 1899, in which year he was appointed deputy county clerk, serving under George W. Cartwright for four years, afterwards serving for eight years under W. O. Miles and another four years under D. M. Barnwell also acting as clerk of the court. In August, 1914, he received the exclusive nomination for county treasurer for a term of four years and in 1918 was renominated for said office without opposition and in November, 1918, was elected. He is an active member of the Christian Church, serving as an officer in that church for eighteen years, ten years

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of which he was the treasurer. He is also a director of the Young Men's Christian Association. In politics he is a Democrat. He has passed the chairs of the Lodge and Encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fel -. lows and for over eleven years was the financial secretary of Fresno Lodge, No. 186, I. O. O. F. He is a member of the Woodmen of the World and also belongs to the Brotherhood of American Yeomen, acting in the capacity of secretary for that organization for a period of ten years. During his long term of efficient service in office he has won an enviable reputation for probity and has made many warm friends.

JUAN CAMINO .- Pastoral occupations are imbued with a charm pecu- liarly their own, and this is particularly true of this occupation when it is in combination with the old world life found in the country of Northern Spain. Juan Camino, one of Fresno County's early settlers and sheep men, was born in the northern part of that picturesque country, coming as a Christmas gift to his parents, December 25, 1857. Brought up and educated on the farm he herded sheep for his father, a sheep raiser, until 1881, when he came to America and arrived in Fresno with a small amount of money. He continued the occupation of sheep herding in Fresno County until 1885, when he bought a few sheep with money he had saved and engaged in business with his brother Domingo. The flock increased until at one time they owned 7,000 sheep and some cattle. They ranged the sheep all over the county, also drove them into Mono and Inyo Counties for feed. Domingo sold his interest to his brother and returned to his native country, Juan continuing in the sheep raising business until 1904, when he sold out and retired from active business life. A self-made man, Mr. Camino has acquired considerable property interests in Fresno County. He is the owner of 1,500 acres of grazing land near Coal- inga, also a five-acre peach orchard north of Fresno, as well as houses and lots in Fresno.

In 1895 he was married to Grace Etchegoin, a native of France, who has borne him an interesting family of four children, namely: Marie, Raymond, Micaela and Mary Jane. Mr. Camino is a well known and influential member of the Catholic Church.

C. S. HARDWICKE .- Mr. Hardwicke is of English descent, having been born in Rotherham, Yorkshire, England, on August 26, 1869. He spent his youth in his native country, attending the Tonbridge and Oundle High Schools. His parents are Eugene and Martha (Saunders) Hardwicke, and to them were born five children, of whom four are living.

In 1886, at the age of seventeen years, C. S. Hardwicke came to Fresno County, stopping at the Washington Colony. He was a young man of means ; yet he was ready to do his bit and went right to work the day after arriving, and that spirit has stayed with him ever since and is one of the telling characteristics in his make-up today. In 1891, five years after his arrival in Fresno County, he bought his first piece of land. Misfortune lurked just around the corner for him, and in the early nineties, like so many others, the panic struck him and he lost his place with all the improvements he had worked so hard to make. The place he lost would now easily bring $12,000, and he lost it on a debt of $700. Discouraged somewhat, but not vanquished, Mr. Hardwicke went to Orosi, in Tulare County, where he developed another vineyard. Here he was married to Miss Margaret Forseman, a member of a pioneer family at Wildflower. They had two children, Constance and Ken- neth. Mrs. Hardwicke died in 1913.

In 1906 Mr. Hardwicke sold out in Tulare County and, returning to Fresno County, bought the place he now owns. He has forty acres two miles south of Fresno on Jensen Avenue, just off of Elm. There are ten acres in bear- ing Emperors and eight acres of young Emperors, four acres of Cornichons, seven acres of Sultanas, five acres of Thompson seedless, five acres of Muscats, and one acre of naval oranges. He has experimented with all the

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grapes and is satisfied in his own mind that the emperors are the most profit- able. He has remodeled his home and built barns and other needed build- ings, and was one of the first in this section to put in the now justly cele- brated "Kewanee" Water System. His native energy, directed by intelli- gence, has enabled him to possess one of the most productive vineyards in Fresno County. As has been seen, he specializes in table grapes.

Mr. Hardwicke is a good friend to education and progress, and for many years has served as trustee of the Fresno Colony school district, which maintains one of the best schools in the country districts in Fresno County, and much of the credit for the excellence of the school is due to him. He is a stockholder in the Raisin Association, is progressive and wide-awake, and may be counted upon to lend a hand when any forward movement looking to the advancement of Fresno County is begun.

TAYLOR M. ELAM .- A master of his environment and the formidable obstacles that once confronted him and, for the time being, brought disaster. and therefore the skilful mariner successfully directing his own destiny, is Taylor M. Elam, who has twice made a fortune. and whose many friends rejoice in his present prosperity. He was born near Knoxville, Tenn., De- cember 5, 1849, the son of Joel Elam, a native of Old Virginia.

In that commonwealth the father married Sarah Callac, who was also born there, and they moved to Kentucky, then to Tennessee, and after that to Texas. The father's health urged him, however, to migrate still farther, and in April, 1853, he started for California, with his wife and five children, but when five weeks out, he died on the plains. His widow and the children continued the journey in the ox-team train, and were seven months en route ere they reached Los Angeles. Then they went to Redwood City, where the mother took up land, but it proved to be a grant. and after two years she had to give up all she had acquired. Then she located at San Juan. bought a farm and once again started to make a home, hut this also proved a grant, and she lost what she had invested. Coming to the Sonora Mines at Shaw's Flat. she ran a small hotel and eating-house. Later she moved to Stockton and farmed with the aid of her children, and then she moved to Modesto, Stanislaus County. They were the second family into Paradise, then Mariposa County, and soon after they located at Pea Ridge, where they remained about twenty-five years. Some of the children married there, and Mrs. Elam resided with her children, till she died at the age of sixty- four, the mother of five sons and daughters: John Henry, a dairyman four miles from Kerman : Fannie, who is Mrs. Smither of Mariposa County : Tay- lor, the subject of this review: Tabitha, who married Neal Robinson, and who died at Raymond; J. Thomas, residing on Effie Street, in Fresno.

Brought up in California, Taylor M. remembers the trip across the plains and his early life on the farm in Mariposa County, where he had his introduc- tion to the stock business. He attended the public school, learned to ride the range, rope, brand and care for cattle, and for twenty-two years was in the saddle every day. In 1878 he was married at Fresno to Miss Lucy Wain- wright, a native of Kentucky who came across the plains to California with her parents. Prior to his marriage, Mr. Elam and his brothers were in the stock business together, but when he became a benedict, they divided up their interests. In 1884 he came to Fresno and engaged in the livery business, and ran the Front Street Livery Stable, and also operated a stage from Fresno to Easton and White's Bridge for seven years, when he sold out and ran a stage to Fine Gold, now Madera County. He also engaged in the dray and express business, and quit to take up real estate, in which field he met with success.

He bought lands and lots, subdivided and sold, owning and disposing of both the Gladys and the Irvington additions; and by improving .wisely, he realized well on what he had sold prior to two years of panic. That cold

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blanket to business and prosperity, however, nearly cleaned him out in 1889, and he went to Merced County to work on a ranch and recuperate. He drove a ten-mule team at one dollar a day and farmed, and made strenuous efforts to get another start; he saved money and bought the Last Chance Mine on Whitlock Creek in Mariposa County. He operated it vigorously and met with success ; so that in two years he cleaned up $6,000.

He and J. Thomas, his brother, then went in for dairying and were the first to engage in that business on the Kearney ranch, where they conducted a fine dairy for three years, but not finding their arrangements with Kearney satisfactory, they gave it up and bought bank-lands, four miles south of Kerman, where they continued dairying. They leveled and checked, and were the first to sow alfalfa in that vicinity. They sold cream and also rented 900 acres for range purposes, and they are still renting 700 acres there. They own the fifty-five acres on North Avenue, fifteen miles from Fresno, and four miles from Kerman, where they built a residence and barns. In 1918 the brothers bought forty acres on Kearney Avenue, thirteen miles west of Fresno, which is devoted to the growing of alfalfa. They put in a pumping- plant and have fifty cows in their dairy. They also raise cattle, horses and hogs.

Two children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Elam: Frank lives in Sacramento; while Gladys, who is a graduate of the Chico State Normal, is teaching at Berkeley. The family attends the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Elam is an Independent Democrat in national politics. He is a stock- holder in the Danish Creamery Association.

JOHN GERNER .- Owner of an eighty-acre ranch on Jensen Avenue, eight miles from Fresno, John Gerner had been a resident of this section since 1891 and was associated with the building-up of the agricultural and horticultural interests of this part of Fresno County. He was born in Wash- ington County, Wis., July 14, 1856, a son of Christian and Johanna (Seider- mann) Gerner, natives of Germany, but married in Wisconsin. The father was a wagonmaker by trade but followed farming after reaching the United States. Both he and his good wife died in Wisconsin. They became the parents of nine children, seven of whom are still living. John was the second child and oldest son and the only one to live in Fresno County.

The elder Gerner appreciated the advantages of an education and the son was sent to the district school during the year until he was old enough to assist on the farm, after which he attended the winter terms. John learned to care for stock, helped operate their farm when the work was done by ox teams and he began to plow at the age of ten. As the dairy interests became more important in their section the lad became familiar with it and they furnished milk to the creameries there. In time he became owner of 100 acres in Washington County, which he improved and farmed until he came to California, in 1888.

During his residence in his native state John Gerner was married to Mary Bager, by whom he had three children: Robert, born in 1881, was killed by the kick of a horse in 1894; Arthur E., who was born in Wisconsin July 23, 1883, raised on the California ranch, educated in the public school, now owner of 130 acres improved to vines and trees, besides his interest in the home place, and who is a trustee and for years clerk of Highland school district, and who belongs to the Peach Growers, Inc., and who married Edna Orich and has three children-John, Allen and Carl; and Anson J., the third son, is a civil engineer by profession, a graduate of the University of California, who spent six years in the Government reclamation service in Utah, and who was in the engineer officer's training school at Camp Hum- phrey's, Va., and who will operate the home place in partnership with his brother, and who married Sophia Hazelton.

Edwin Govar

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John Gerner decided he would come to California where he felt greater opportunities awaited him, and accordingly he sold out and arrived at San Bernardino, where he remained one year, then went to Los Angeles. He was looking over the country in search of a suitable ranch and made his first visit to Fresno County in 1891. He liked the looks of the country, saw the possibilities of irrigation, and made the purchase of eighty acres. This was a part of a large grain-field from which a heavy yield of wheat had been harvested. He moved his family to a rented house in Fresno until he could prepare a suitable home for them on his ranch, which he did in December, 1891. Part of his ranch had been used for a sheep fold and this contributed to the fertility of the soil. He began to set out a vineyard in the spring of 1892, and now there are fifty-five acres of muscats, and fifteen acres of mala- gas, and the balance is used for farm buildings, pasture, and a family orchard. When he settled on the ranch there was no road into Sanger, and the nearest neighbor was one and a half miles away. Mrs. Gerner died at this home in 1915.

Mr. Gerner's second wife was Mrs. Harriett L. Darling, widow of A. P. Darling. Mr. and Mrs. Gerner met an accidental death by being struck by a Southern Pacific train at the Minnewawa vineyard, on April 29, 1919, and the funeral, one of the largest in Fresno, was held at the home on May 6, 1919. Mr. Gerner was a progressive worker and thinker, always ready to cooperate in all forward movements for the good of the county and com- munity. He helped to build the highways and to organize the Highland school district.

EDWIN GOWER, SR .- Prominent among the scientific farmers of Cal- ifornia who, in winning their own prosperity, have furthered the development and permanent welfare of the state, is Edwin Gower, the well-known rancher and nurseryman living four miles northeast of Fowler. He owns 160 acres in a state of high cultivation, ten acres of which is given to a nursery, while the balance is set out with vines and trees.

Mr. Gower was born at Gold Hill, Nev., in an emigrant wagon, on Sep- tember 14, 1860, the son of Sewall Gower, who was a native of Maumee City, Lucas County, Ohio. His grandfather was Robert Gower, a surveyor by profession, who was the surveyor of Lucas County, and who is said to have first plotted out the city of Toledo. An uncle, A. G. Gower, studied civil engineering under Roebling, the celebrated Prussian-American who built the Brooklyn Bridge ; and this uncle engineered the building of the first sus- pension bridge across the Ohio River at Cincinnati.

The Gowers trace their family history back. to Wales, and in the brilliant years of their forebears they were memorialized by no less a person than Sir Walter Scott. A distinguished member of the family also is the Rt. Hon. Lord Ronald Sutherland Gower, the gifted sculptor and author. This branch of the Gower family, in extending to the New World, first settled in Colonial times, in what is now the state of Maine, and thus became connected with the early history of that state. As a result of these Maine associations, the Gowers became intimate friends of the Nortons, the family from which Lillian Nordica, the famous opera singer, sprang; and her first husband was F. A. Gower, our subject's third cousin, an electrician who was lost in a balloon ascension in 1887. Mr. Gower's paternal grandfather moved to Cedar County, Iowa, in 1838, and there established Gower's Ferry across the Cedar River. He was a member of the first constitutional commission and convention that drafted the first constitution for the state of Iowa; and Edwin's uncle, James H. Gower, was a member of the convention that drafted the second consti- tution for Iowa.

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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 115

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