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 117

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 117

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HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

myrna variety, although forty acres are planted to vines. The large ranch containing 1,125 acres, situated in the Pollasky district, is devoted to grain and stock, but it is the intention to devote a portion of it to raising figs.

Charles J. Brown's successful career was cut short by his passing away in 1907, at the age of thirty-seven. He was mourned by his many friends, having been highly esteemed as a citizen, active in the county's best interests. Mr. and Mrs. Charles J. Brown were blessed with four children: Floyd C .; Stan- ley F .; Lawrence B .; and Edward Wise, all of whom are at home and assist their mother in the operation of her ranch.

Mrs. Dottie Brown is a member of the Clovis Women's Club, and of the Fresno Parlor of the Native Daughters of the Golden West, and she also belongs to the California Associated Raisin Company, and California Peach Growers, Inc., and is active in the Clovis local of the Fresno County Farm Bureau. She attends the Christian Church.

HENRY STEPHEN HULBERT .- A splendid type of the self-made man, and as fine an example of the true American, is Henry Stephen Hulbert. president of the First National Bank of Del Rey, and an extensive and suc- cessful raisin and peach grower who, as a pioneer of Selma, has been inti- mately connected with the growth and development of this part of the San Joaquin Valley. He came here in 1879, and has ever since been an active factor in the development of Fresno County and the neighboring territory of Central California. He was born at Victor, Ontario County, N. Y., the son of Mark Hulbert, a hard-working farmer, who was a native of Massa- chusetts and first saw the light near Barrington, on the Housatonic River, in a district long the seat of the Hulbert family. Grandfather Hulbert came from Massachusetts to New York with his family in 1831. and on the way drove a bull team on the tow-path of the Erie Canal. Mark Hulbert was then twelve years old; and he grew up in Ontario County, N. Y., and lived and died on a farm of eighty acres, part of which the grandfather took up. There, too, he was married; but the mother of our subject died when he was only three years old, and after his father remarried, the lad's early life was no longer happv, nor is it pleasant now to remember.

By his first wife, Mark Hulbert had four boys and two girls, among whom Henry Stephen was the youngest. John Russell, the eldest, went out with the first company that left New York State for the Civil War in 1861. and his regiment was known as the First New York Mounted Rifles. He fought bravely and died of typhoid fever while campaigning in Suffolk, Va. Sheldon, the second son, was equally patriotic; he went out in the train service in the Civil War, and was killed in a railway accident between Mead- ville and Salamanca, Euphemia died young. Marcus enlisted in 1863 in Company M, of the Twenty-first New York Volunteer Cavalry, passei through all the hard service, serving his full time, and came home so broken in health that he died within a month after his return. Hettie became the wife of W. P. Davis, who worked for the Union Pacific Railway in early days and died in Kansas; and she also passed away in that state.

Henry Stephen Hulbert was born on Washington's Birthday, 1851, and grew up with five children by his father's second wife. Two of these are still living in Victor, N. Y., and in Shortsville, near by. He attended the district schools, and then worked on his father's farm. He was faithful to his father, and remained at home until a few years after attaining his majority, when he made up his mind to come West. Finding it necessary to stop a couple of years in Cheyenne, he wiped engines on the main line of the Union Pacific, later became a fireman, and still later was a brakeman on a freight train. Finally he was promoted to be a freight conductor ; and he made his headquarters in Cheyenne from April, 1874, to 1876. Pushing further west in the latter year, at length he arrived at Sacramento, where he tried to get work as a brakeman, but was unable to do so; and on that account he went on to Lathrop, where he was more successful. But he had to wait for thirty

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Enuna Huilbert

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days, and then commenced as brakeman on the Visalia division of the South- ern Pacific. After a year, he was given a freight train, which he ran until December, 1879, when he quit and started for Arizona.

Now it so happened that A. L. Bartlett, the ticket agent at Kingsburg at that time, had had an unfinished business transaction with Mr. Hulbert, which induced the latter to stop at Kingsburg on the way and try to settle up the matter. The agent wished him to wait until pay-day, and so Mr. Hulbert loafed at Kingsburg and ran over to Selma from time to time. He had a particular interest in the place; for while he was conductor, he had set out the first car of freight ever consigned to the Selma switch. The car contained machinery for the flouring mill then being built there by Frey Bros. Getting interested in the prospective town, Mr. Hulbert bought for $200 the first lot ever sold at Selma for money. It was on the northwest corner of West Front and Second Streets. Several lots had been given away before, but Mr. Hulbert became the first bona fide purchaser, and the deed was signed by the four fathers of the town. Being now a lot-owner, Mr. Hulbert put up the first two-story building for store purposes erected in Selma. It had a public hall in the second storv, and this was Selma's first public hall; and therein, on February 22. 1880, the first public ball was given, the proceeds constituting the first money taken in by the way of rent or profit in Selma. This building had been opened a year and nine months, and Mr. Hulbert was just getting ready to start a restaurant when, in the winter of 1881-82, a fire occurred that burned him out and destroyed much else of value there. He decided not to rebuild, and sold his property for just what he had paid for it. $200, and then turned to other fields of enterprise.

Mr. Hulbert had already applied for the purchase of the 160 acres he came to own in Selma, filing his petition in 1879, but there arose a question as to whether he or another applicant should be awarded the land. In the spring of 1880, however, the contest was settled and the land was awarded to Mr. Hulbert, as he had the best intentions of improving the same ; and he then accepted any kind of a job he could get, such as carpenter work and work in the warehouse at Selma, to help him live and pay the interest and taxes. While thus occupied, he was married, in 1882, to Miss Emma Litch- field, of Lathrop, Cal., an attractive daughter of Illinois, from Fulton County. Her father had come to California seven years before and had taken up farm- ing. Her mother, now Mrs. Bailey, is still residing at Lathrop, aged eighty-six. Mr. Hulbert went to work for the California Pacific Railway Company and again ran freight trains from Vallejo to Calistoga, and out to Willows; and in railway work he continued for a year, when he prepared to engage, as already stated, in the restaurant business at Selma ; but the third night after he had returned, the building burned. It was then that he built a shack on his farm. There was just enough grass on the 160 acres to make a hen's nest; the nearest switch was at Fowler, and the nearest business point was Selma. His first crop was wheat and barley. Farming was very uncertain without irrigation, and he hardly made small wages. But he con- tinted to farm and to cultivate his land, and in 1884 he planted his first vines. For a good while, the returns were very discouraging ; he had to sell fine muscat raisins for eighteen and a half dollars a ton. Such prices being ruinous, he cooperated with his neighbors in trying to secure a stable and reliable market. He took a live interest in all the movements to provide a market and living prices, but all these efforts failed until the California Raisin Growers' Association finally made a success of its project. Mr. Hulbert, in looking back to these dark days, finds satisfaction in the thought that he was in the forefront in taking stock in the Raisin Growers' Association, as well as in interesting his neighbors in it. He was the first man in this neigh- borhood to try to sell stock in this association, and he personally took stock and sold it to others. He succeeded in getting two or three neighbors to join, and together they took $40,000 worth of stock-subscriptions that meant a

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good deal in those days. Now he has one hundred acres of muscats, and also fine vineyards of Malagas and Thompson Seedless, and an orchard of peaches.

Mr. and Mrs. Hulbert have five children. Hettie is the wife of Joseph A. Kenry, a rancher living near Selma, and is the mother of three girls and two boys. May is the wife of Vernon Matlock, also a rancher near Selma. Goldie California graduated from the University of California and taught two years at Santa Ynez, in Santa Barbara County. Victor operated his father's ranch until he left home in September, 1918, to enter the service of his country and went into training at Camp Kearney, where he died of pneumonia on Novem- ber 20. 1918. Velma attends the Selma High School.

Besides being prominent as a stockholder and member of the Califor- nia Associated Raisin Company and the California Peach Growers, Inc., Mr. Hulbert, as president of the First National Bank of Del Rey, is able to effect much good as a capitalist and a money lender. Upon the reorganization of the Farmers' National Bank as the Selma National Bank, Mr. Hulbert be- came a stockholder, and he has since served as a director. He also was one of the organizers of the Le Grand Bank, in Merced County. He is an A-1 citizen, ever mindful of the ideal in politics, voting for principle and for men of principle, and placing conscience above party affiliation; and with his good wife he stands ready to promote local movements for the public weal. He was chairman for Del Rey of all the Liberty Loan issues after the first, and the town went over the top in every instance. The quota of the Second Loan was $9,000; amount subscribed, $13.700. For the Third Loan the quota was $12,000: amount subscribed, $36.000; number of subscribers. 235. For the Fourth Loan the quota was $17,000; amount subscribed, $35,650. For the Victory Loan the subscriptions were $20,000, the quota being $15,750. Besides this, the War Savings Stamps and Thrift Stamps approximated about $15,000.

JOHN KAISER .- Born in Alsace, France, March 5, 1863, John Kaiser was the son of Manuel Kaiser, a doctor doing government work. His parents came to New York State where his mother died. The father died at Fresno, where he came to make his home with his son.

John Kaiser was the third oldest of a family of six children, and was reared and educated in Alsace. At an early age he was apprenticed to a machinist and learned the trade thoroughly. In 1880. in his seventeenth year, he went to Rochester, N. Y., where he worked at his trade until 1887, then, in the fall of that year he, with two brothers, started for California, making the trip on horseback from Nevada. They eventually reached California, rode down the coast to San Luis Obispo, then to San Diego and back across the Tehachapi to Fresno, early in February, 1888.

Mr. Kaiser located on a 120-acre ranch at Raymond, now in Madera County, which he preempted, and then came to Fresno, shortly thereafter purchasing ten acres of land in the Kearney tract. This was raw land, and he started to improve by planting a vineyard. During this time he was in the employ of M. Theo. Kearney, as foreman of the Kearney (Fruitvale) Ranch ; he directed the planting of 70,000 trees along Kearney Avenue and superin- tended the first buildings in Kearney Park. He also superintended the first planting of Kearney Park, and became well acquainted with Mr. Kearney, which intimacy led him to remain there from 1888 to 1893, when he resigned. Moving into Fresno, he engaged in business for two years, then went back to his own little ranch, besides which he leased other vineyards and remained there four years.

Then came the Alaska gold excitement. His brother, H. G., was one of the first pioneers at Nome, and one of a party which originally discovered gold on the Beach. He wrote for his brother John, who went to Alaska remaining there for a season. In 1902 he returned to his ranch and later bought his present place, forty acres eight miles west of Fresno. In 1903 he began im- proving it, setting out peaches and sowing alfalfa and in 1905 built his present

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residence. He leased forty acres more and operated eighty acres for ten years. His ranch is now in peaches and Thompson seedless grapes.

Mr. Kaiser was married in Rochester, N. Y., to Miss Anna Doaring, a native of that city, and they have had eight children, three now living : Lucile, Mrs. Hayes of San Francisco; Fred E. and George E., both in Fresno. Mr. Kaiser is an expert horticulturist and viticulturist, and has a splendid record in planting. He is interested in public affairs, in politics a Democrat, and altogether a man whom it is worth while to know, for he has succeeded in making two blades grow where only one grew before.

JOHN NEWTON HINES .- No class of California pioneers came to better understand the early conditions peculiar to the Pacific Coast than such business men as John Newton Hines-men who saw the inside as well as the outside of the cup, and who, adapting themselves to changing circum- stances succeeded in much that they attempted, and became masters in more than one field of endeavor. Mr. Hines' grandfather was Isaac Hines, a na- tive of Maryland and a soldier in the War of 1812, who settled in Tennessee and there built both flour- and saw-mills. His father was Archilaus D. C. Hines, who was born in the same vicinity and followed the same line of business. He had a saw-mill on the Tennessee River, at the month of Chook Creek, where he obtained his water power: and he furnished lumber for building up much of Knoxville. He continued the industry for fifteen years after the Civil War, and then sold out and moved to Carthage, Mo., but re- turned to Tennessee to look after his father's farm. Still later in life, in 1892, he came to California, and since then he has made his home in Fresno. He is now ninety-four years old, and lives at 333 Blackstone Avenue. During the Civil War, he passed through some very trying times-due to his Union sentiments at a time when he was among or near so many Southerners. He believed that the Union must be upheld, and discountenanced Secession ; and even his life was threatened in consequence. He was willing at any time to give up his property to save the Union, and he was proud of the fact that a brother was a captain in the Union Army. Mrs. A. D. C. Hines was Mar- garet P. Bowman before her marriage, and she came of an old Southern family. She was born near Whitesburg. Ala., and died at Fresno in April, 1915. She was the mother of six boys, all but one of whom are still living. and three girls. Those living are: Dr. J. B. Hines, a practicing physician of Fresno, the eldest; John N., the subject of our sketch ; F. M. Hines, a farmer at Tranquillity : Samuel B. Hines, who resides at Fresno: Dr. A. Don Hines, of San Jose ; Edith M., and Mrs. Mary L. Lane, both of Fresno; and Alice. now Mrs. Williams, of the Temperance district.

Born at Knoxville, Tenn., on November 14, 1858, John Newton Hines was brought up in Tennessee, where he attended a private school until he was twelve years old, when he removed to Missouri; and after finishing with the elementary and secondary schools, he attended the State Military School at Knoxville. Finally he entered the East Tennessee Wesleyan University, from which he was graduated in 1884 with special honors and received the degree of Bachelor of Arts.

In 1885, Mr. Hines came West to California and to Fresno, where he was soon engaged as bookkeeper for Kutner, Goldstein & Co., which posi- tion he held to everyone's satisfaction for a couple of years. Then he was advised by Dr. Rowell, on account of illness, to give up all indoor work. or he would not recover. He therefore resigned, and with his brother, F. M. Hines, bought teams and engaged in teaming, hauling lumber from Pine Ridge. The outdoor work agreed with him, and lie again became robust. Before the flume on which they were working was completed, they sold their teams, and John, with John Albin as a partner, then ran the Pleasanton, now the California Hotel. After that, with his brothers, F. M. and S. B., he started a grocery business, under the firm name of J. N. Hines and Bros., at the corner of I and Fresno Streets, and soon built up a very prosperous

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business. This interest he sold in 1906 in order to give his attention to his vineyard and farm; for some years before he had purchased 160 acres nine miles northeast of Fresno. He began to improve the holding by setting out a vineyard and planting alfalfa; and later he erected a brick residence and other buildings. As the acreage is under the old Gould ditch, the grapes and alfalfa do well, and always there is a bumper harvest; and it is little wonder that, wishing to retire from farming to devote his attention to his other business affairs, Mr. Hines readily sold his home place of eighty acres for the magnificent sum of $70,000. At present the place is used largely for a vineyard for table and raisin grapes. Mr. Hines also owns other valuable lands, including twenty acres near Roeding Park and eighty acres at Wah- toke. He has valuable business and residence lots in Richmond, some of which are in the Inner Harbor, and he holds the title to considerable real estate in Fresno. Believing in cooperation, he is a member of the California Associated Raisin Company.

In Fresno, Mr. Hines was married to Miss Annie May Owens, said to have been the first girl baby born in that city. She was the daughter of William and Julia Owens, and her father was a well-known pioneer contrac- tor, who died here. Mrs. Owens resides at Santa Rosa. Mrs. Hines was educated at the Fresno High School. All too soon, in 1906, she passed to her eternal reward. She was the mother of six children: Dorris E., attending Junior College at Fresno; Archie B., Gertrude E., and Margaret, attending the Fresno High School; and John B. and Mary J. Mr. Hines is a member of Lodge No. 186, I. O. O. F., of Fresno. In politics he favors the policies of the Republican party.

JOHN H. KELLY .- A man who may justly be called a pioneer up- builder of Fresno County is found in the person of John H. Kelly, a resident of the county since the spring of 1887. IIe was born in Cortland County, N. Y., October 14, 1842, where his parents, Patrick and Bridget Kelly, had settled when the country was in an almost virgin condition, and carved out a farm and home, where they lived in comfort. While he was growing from youth to manhood, John H. Kelly assisted in the development of the home farm, and when not at work with his father, went to the district school in their neighborhood in pursuit of an education. Conditions were crude; the schoolhouse was constructed of logs and the floor was of puncheon. It was here, under such pioneer conditions, that the sturdy character of this youth was moulded up to the time he was sixteen years of age. He then went on a trip of exploration to the Mediterranean Sea, sailing from New York City, via London, to Spain. He spent some time at the celebrated fortress of Gibraltar, and returned home after an absence of two years, during which time he gained a fund of valuable information.

In 1860 John H. Kelly returned to the United States and located at Mid- land, Midland County, Mich., where for two seasons he engaged in lumber- ing with his brother, William Kelly, after which he opened a general merchan- dise store in Midland and carried on a prosperous business for five years, when he gave it up. Later he was appointed postmaster of Midland, his appointment being among the first made by President Grover Cleveland dur- ing his first term, and he served four years.

In the spring of 1887 Mr. Kelly came to California, and during his travels stopped at Fresno, making the newly built Grand Central Hotel his head- quarters. While there he met Mr. Ferguson, then editor of one of the local papers, who drove him about the city and country. Mr. Kelly had brought a carload of buggies from Michigan, intending to sell them in California. During the drive about the country he was much impressed with the possibilities of this section, and soon negotiated for a forty-acre tract one and one-half miles south of the city limits, and traded in his buggies as part payment on the $8,000 deal. The land had just been set to muscat grapes, and a house had been built on the property by the owner. After the vines

Mr Ters IN Kelly

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came into bearing, Mr. Kelly, with others, erected a packing-house on the site of the plant now owned by the Hammond Packing Company ; a coopera- tive raisin association was formed, the first of its kind in California, with T. C. White as the first president. Mr. Kelly was sent East to sell the output of the association, and made stops at Chicago, Detroit, Boston and New York City, besides many other important cities throughout the East and South. After a tour of two months the crop was disposed of and agencies were established in various cities for future business. On his return to California, Mr. Kelly was elected president of the company and W. F. Forsythe was made secretary. Two years later Mr. Kelly left this concern, to become a member of the firm of the Chaddock Packing Company, where for twelve years, including his services before and after his trip to Alaska, he was manager of the packing-houses and devoted his time and attention to the building-up of that concern.

In 1897, when the gold excitement broke out in Alaska, Mr. Kelly went to Dawson, and during the journey experienced many hardships. After pack- ing over the Chilcoot trail, on reaching the Yukon River the party built boats and went down stream, making the journey to the new Eldorado in safety. Mr. Kelly met with fairly good success. With three partners he engaged in the general merchandise business in Dawson and owned the Skokum Mine on Bonanza Creek, famous in Alaskan history. This com- pany cleaned up about $60,000 in four months. Some time after this Mr. Kelly sold out his mercantile interests in Alaska and came back to Fresno. The next year he made the second trip to Dawson, going by steamer and rail all of the way. On this trip he sold out all of his mining interests. On his return home he became interested in the oil business, and with others in- vested about $120,000 on Pinoche Creek, Fresno County ; but no good results came from the venture.

The real estate business appealing to Mr. Kelly, he bought a tract of land located about three blocks southwest of the new State Normal School, and this deal he considers one of the best he ever made. He subdivided the tract and sold lots on ten-dollar monthly payments, with seven per cent. interest on deferred payments. He built many homes for his purchasers, as well as houses on his own lots, selling the latter on the installment plan, the in- stallments ranging from fifteen to thirty dollars per month. He preferred to sell in this way rather than for cash, as he would have a certain amount of money coming in each month. So successful was he in this venture that he bought a tract west of Russian Town, which he subdivided and handled in the same manner. Mr. Kelly is still building on his lots in the two tracts, and has his offices at 1033 J Street. He is very well pleased with his venture in the real estate business in Fresno County.

Mr. Kelly has always been a lover of fine horses, especially of trotting and pacing stock, and has owned some very fine standard-bred animals, among them the pacing mare Diablo, with a record of 2:08. Lottie Lilac was another of his favorites, and both were well known on the various cir- cuits, where he won his share of the purses that were put up for the races. In 1903 he assisted in organizing the Gentlemen's Driving Club, of Fresno, and races were held at the local park which were a source of much pleasure to the lovers of the sport.

The marriage of J. H. Kelly in Manteno, Ill., on May I, 1873, united him with Mrs. Almira M. (Seaver) Flood, a native of Craftsbury, Orleans County, Vt., and the daughter of William and Hannah Seaver, of Vermont, in which state her mother passed away. In 1854 her father removed with his children to Illinois, locating at Manteno, where he followed farming until he retired. He spent his last years with Mr. and Mrs. Kelly in Fresno. Mrs. Kelly was educated in Cottage Grove School, Chicago. Her first marriage occurred in 1863, when she was united with Henry Flood, a soldier in the Civil War, and thereafter a farmer until his death in 1868. Five years later she met and

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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 117

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