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 137

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 137

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On December 13, 1890, they arrived at Selma, Mr. Peak's earthly pos- sessions at that time consisting of his wife, their baby, dishes, bedding, kit of carpenter tools and just $51 in cash. He went to work immediately as a farm hand in the River Bend country, and there he stayed until the following June. He later struck a job with ex-Sheriff Ball .of Yolo County, who was then improving forty acres near Selma. The times were panicky, and our subject was compelled to work at anything that his hands could find to do, in order to sustain himself, wife and baby. It was during his spare hours in these difficult years that he completed the correspondence course offered by the International Correspondence Schools referred to. By much sacrificing effort Mr. Peak also built a small house at Selma, where he lived and worked at the J. A. Roberts Nursery. The next year he rented eighty acres of land, sixty acres of which were in alfalfa. This ranch he kept for six years, and it was of considerable help to him, although he had to work it partly by means of hired help, using a team of his own, receiving in the end sometimes, only three dollars per ton for his alfalfa. In the fall of 1895, Mr. Peak was appointed to a position as special registration deputy, and in that capacity he served for ten months.

About this time his health failed him, for he found that he could not stand the heat of the glaring midday sun. He secured work in the wood- working department of M. Vincent's wagon and blacksmith shop at Selma, receiving $1.25 per day. He stayed with Mr. Vincent eight years, and during this time became a master blacksmith. He also made a small pur- chase of twenty acres, which he improved and planted, while he continued to work at the forge. The five years at Vincent's were followed by one year in Gordon's blacksmith shop, and after that he was employed in Mr. Lloyd's smithy at Selma, when he reengaged with Mr. Vincent. At this time he looked after his twenty-acre ranch until he finally disposed of it for $6,000.

For the past six years Mr. Peak has given practically his entire time to his operations as a first-class contractor and builder, until he has become the leading operator in that line in this entire district. He lives three-fourths of a mile south of the city limits of Selma, on the South McCall Road, on the twenty-acre ranch which he has recently purchased, and upon which, in the fall and winter of 1917-18, he built a beautiful residence of tile and stucco, a modern bungalow, with garage, barn, etc., the whole costing some $5,000 and affording himself and family a very pleasant home with country sur- roundings. In his building operations, he ran a crew of eight men. He has done $100,000 worth of work for Libby, McNeill & Libby, alone, at Selma, in the past five years. He has erected more than one hundred residence build-

Joseph poBlogan

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ings in Selma and vicinity, and has also built the Selma Hotel, the First Methodist Episcopal Church at Selma, the Vincent Block on East Front Street, and the Bryant & Steward Building on High Street. He has recently sold his ranch of seventy-five acres on the Ward Drainage Canal.

Mr. Peak expects hereafter to give his attention to the automobile busi- ness in Selma, where, at 1941-43 West Front Street, he owns a large brick garage building, with well equipped machine shop, salesrooms and office, under the firm name of J. H. Peak & Sons.

Mrs. Peak is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Selma. Mr. Peak is active in the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World. They are the parents of seven children: Elsie, the wife of R. J. Smeaton, resides with their two children, Elsworth and Vaughn, on their ranch at Selma ; George W., who married Gertrude Reed of Selma, is a farmer nearby, and has two children-Viola and Elwin; Ernest, returned from France, hon- orably discharged May 12, 1919, and is now of the firm of J. H. Peak & Sons, of Peak's Garage, at Selma ; Margaret, who is the wife of J. H. Robinson, the electrician at Fresno, and has two children-Jean and Don; Melvin, attend- ing the Selma High School; and Gertrude and Elbert, in the seventh and fifth grades of the grammar schools.

JOSEPH WILLIAM HOGAN .- A resident of California since 1872, an honored pioneer of Fresno County, and one of those fearless and patriotic men who volunteered their services in the defense of our country during the Civil War, a gallant soldier and a hero, such a man is Joseph W. Hogan. He was born near Waterloo, Monroe County, Ill .. October 7. 1839, and was reared and educated there. His father was Joseph William Hogan, born in Monroe County, where his parents had settled in early days, taken up govern- ment land and from the wilderness built up good homes and made a pros- perous country. The father enlisted for service in the Mexican War and was killed at the battle of Waterloo. He served under Gen. Zachary Taylor. The son well remembers the day his father left home to join the soldiers. His mother was Louise McMurtry in maidenhood and she died about four years after her husband was killed. She left three children, our subject being the only one living. After the death of his mother he was taken by his uncle, Dr. Andrew Squires, and was reared on the American Bottoms of the Mis- sissippi River and spent his early manhood as a farmer.

Joseph W. then went to Missouri and was in that state at the breaking out of the Civil War. Realizing the necessity of defending the Union, which his forefathers had established through sacrifice and suffering, he was fired with patriotism and enlisted for three months. After serving with bravery and honor the allotted time, Mr. Hogan realized that the rebellion could not be subdued in three months, so with the spirit of a true patriot he reenlisted for three years, or during the war. He served with Company B. Thirty-first Regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry, and after four years and seven months of valiant service he was honorably discharged on November 19, 1865.

Joseph W. Hogan was a heroic soldier and during his service he was wounded four times, and was engaged in the following battles: Pea Ridge, which was fought on March 7 and 8, 1862, where he received a flesh wound ; at the battle of Vicksburg he was wounded in the left hip; he was injured at the battle of Carthage by being hit with a piece of shell ; and at the battle of Pine Ridge he was shot in the arm by a prisoner he had captured.

When the war was over, Mr. Hogan, in 1866, started for the Pacific Coast, but on reaching Denver he decided to remain for a time and it was two years before he again took up his journey westward. He secured a place as a driver of a six-mule team for Cook & Keith, who were freighting to Salt Lake City. He stopped there a month, but as the Gentiles were getting too numerous to suit the Mormons, they were ordered to leave within three days, so Hogan with about 300 other pilgrims set out on foot for the fort at Lar-

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amie, Wyo. En route, they met Kit Carson, the famous scout, and he was headed for Salt Lake City with about 5,000 soldiers. The 300 men joined him and were outfitted with arms and ammunition and were among the men who surrounded the city and captured Brigham Young. Mr. Hogan went back to Fort Laramie with the soldiers, received his discharge from the army, returned to Denver, later went to Nebraska. and still later to Missouri.

From Missouri, Mr. Hogan came to California in 1872, in a cattle car. paying $111 for a one-way ticket and taking twelve and one-half days to make the trip. finally arriving in San Jose. He soon went to Salinas, stopped there two years and then came on to Visalia, and a little later went to work in Squaw Valley for Frank Jordan, a pioneer cattleman. He was in this part of the country before Fresno County was organized, before a courthouse was built, and he was a member of the jury that tried the first case in the new county. He bought 320 acres in Hill's Valley, farmed five years, then moved into Tulare County and farmed near Traver till the dry years broke him. In 1903, he bought twenty acres of stubble near Reedley, began to make im- provements and now has Thompson seedless and Malaga grapes. He is a mem- ber of the California Associated Raisin Company and advocates cooperation and organization as the salvation of the fruit-growers.

Mr. Hogan has been married twice. His first union was in 1863, when he was united with Miss Eliza Henley, who bore him nine children, seven of whom are living: Mary F., Mrs. Cook, in Fresno County; James W., in Glenn County; Joseph R., in Santa Cruz County: Emmett W., in Shasta County : Dolly, Mrs. Shaw, in Fresno County; Maud, Mrs. Furman, in Di- nuba; and Wesley, in Fresno. Mrs. Hogan passed away in October, 1887. and is buried in the Kingsburg cemetery. The second marriage united him with Mrs. Katherine (Crandley) King, a widow with two children: William O., superintendent of the Colonial Vineyard in Fresno County ; and Nellie, wife of R. S. Thompson, living near Reedley. This marriage was solemnized January 4, 1888. Mrs. Hogan reared her own children as well as the large family left by the first wife. She did all her own work, cooked for twenty- five men during the busy ranching season, put up her fruit and performed all other work necessary to carry on a large household, and with no help, other than what the older children could give. About eleven months after her marriage to Mr. Hogan, a daughter, Cornelia Belle, was born, now the wife of Arthur Ward of Dinuba.

Joseph W. Hogan is beloved and honored by the community where he has lived for so many years, and is highly revered for his valiant and un- selfish service rendered to his country in time of her great need, and if lie had not been prohibited by his advanced years, his friends are confident that he would have been found with the United States Army "somewhere in France," intrepidly fighting "to make the world safe for democracy." He has been a friend of the public school system; he secured the organization of the Windsor school district by going before the supervisors with enough signatures to organize a school and served as a trustee for twelve years. In politics he is an unswerving Democrat. He is an enthusiast on the subject of the possibilities of Fresno County.

JAMES M. FERGUSON .- An experienced oil-man who as a path- breaking pioneer has contributed to the development of the Golden State, a man of liberal views and charitable tendencies, and the representative of a prominent old Scotch family, is James M. Ferguson, who was born in Lochee, near Dundee, Scotland, on February 12, 1882, the son of John Fer- guson, a native of the Scottish Highlands. He married Annie Mudie, who was born near Lochee, and was a mariner, traveling around Cape Horn. He was shipwrecked off San Francisco about 1884, and remained in California. He settled at Visalia, and in 1886 his family joined him. He was a blacksmith at Visalia, then set up his shop at Goshen, and soon made a specialty of drilling for water-wells. He had three or four rigs in the San Joaquin Valley,

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and when oil was struck in the Kern River field, he contracted to drill for Messrs. Turnbull & Beebe. In 1903 he removed to Coalinga and continued drilling ; and there he and his good wife still make their residence. Five children were born to this excellent couple: Andrew is superintendent at Maricopa and employed with the Melita Oil Company; John C. is superin- tendent of the Zier Oil Company in Coalinga; James is the subject this review ; Annie is Mrs. Hord of Armona ; and William lives at Coalinga.

The third oldest in the family, James M. came to California and attended school in various places, according to the location of his parents. He early helped his father, and from a boy learned how to drill water-wells. The result was that he was ready for the advent of oil, at Kern River and later at Coalinga, and took part in the exciting operations in those fields from the start. In 1903 he came to Coalinga and became producing foreman for the Peerless Oil Company, and two years later he entered the service of the Zier Oil Company. With his brother Andrew he leased the holding of the Zier people, which had two wells, and he drilled eight new ones, and con- tinued there until 1910, when he sold his interests and accepted a position with the Spinks Crude Oil Company, as superintendent, and this responsible position he has held ever since, except the year from July, 1916, to July, 1917, when he was drilling water-wells. With his brother John he drilled the two water-wells for the city of Coalinga, and then he returned to the Spinks Company as superintendent.

Mr. Ferguson was married at Fresno to Mrs. Jane (Ashman) Lenhart, a native of that city ; and he had a step-daughter, Elizabeth Lenhart. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was one of the organizers of the Coalinga War Fund Association.

GEORGE WASHINGTON HENSLEY .- The seventh son in a family of nine children, George Washington Hensley has the further distinction of being a native son of Calaveras County. Cal., born February 15, 1857.

His father, John Jackson, and mother, Margaret (Murray) Hensley, were among the intrepid pioneers of '53, who braved the perils and hardships of a journey with ox teams across the wilderness that intervened between their old Missouri farm home and the golden sands of the promised land. The family, consisting of parents and six children, followed the northern route via Salt Lake City and the Humboldt River, to Calaveras County, Cal., where they established their home. Their experiences in their new home were similar to those of other pioneers of the early days-hardships endured. obstacles overcome, and the gradual betterment of conditions as the country grew and developed. Most of the early pioneers were interested in mining, for a time at least, and Mr. Hensley was no exception. After devoting some years to the mining industry, in 1859 he moved to Deep Creek, Tulare County, and engaged in the cattle business. In the fall of 1861 he settled on the Fresno River, in what was then Fresno County (now Madera County ), bought a tract of unimproved land and raised stock. He was super- visor of Fresno County one term, on the Democratic ticket. He died Decem- ber 25, 1902. His wife, a native of Missouri, preceded him six years. She died at the old home, October 11, 1896. Her father, the Honorable Thomas Murray, was active in public affairs in Missouri, and at one time served as a member of the Missouri legislature. He accompanied the Hensleys across the plains in 1853 and settled at Petaluma where he engaged in farming.

Of the nine children comprising the Hensley family, a daughter died at the age of five. The other members of the family are: Thomas J., a stock- man in Madera County: Samuel P., residing in the same county ; Abel H. and W. C., who reside on the old home place in Madera County : P. J. and G. W., residents of Fresno; John M., ex-sheriff of Fresno County, residing in Madera ; and Martha A., deceased.

George W., being the seventh son of his father, was called by his family and acquaintances Doc Hensley and is still known by that name.

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From a lad he learned the care of sheep, with his father. In 1868 the flood caught all of his father's sheep below Lane's bridge and all were drowned, but he started again and made a success. Doc Hensley, when seventeen years of age, engaged in the sheep business for himself in Tulare County, near Tipton. In 1877, the dry year was disastrous and he lost all. He then worked with the California Lumber Company as foreman till 1880, then located in Madera and later followed draying and teaming for two years. Still later he ran the Club Stables on the spot where the Fresno Auditorium now stands. In 1888 he started boring wells and has continued that occupa- tion for the past thirty years. He is the oldest in this line of work in Central California, if not in the whole state. He dug his first well on N Street, Fresno, and also dug wells at the County Hospital, the County Court House, the Fresno Fair Grounds and the Jersey Farm Dairy. He bored the first oil well bored in the Kern River District, Kern County, for the Fresno-Bakers- field Oil Company. He bored the first well for irrigation and installed the first pumping plant in Fresno County. Since then this method of irrigation has become universal.

He is quite ingenious and has made a number of improvements in well- boring outfits and machinery, one of his inventions being a perforator which has proven very successful and is now in general use. In partnership with his brother, Abel, he owns the old home ranch in Madera County, one-half section of land devoted to stock-raising.

George W. Hensley was united in marriage with Annie Pennington, a native of Roseburg, Ore., whose father, J. B. Pennington, crossed the plains in the early forties with Whitman, settling in Oregon. Her father was a pioneer and Indian fighter; he died while with our subject, aged over ninety- nine years. Mr. and Mrs. Hensley are the parents of six children: George W., Jr., a business man in Clovis; Warner, with the Fresno Fruit Growers Association ; Mrs. Elsie Obanion, on the home ranch ; Lillian, Mrs. Robinson of Fresno; Harold, with the California Fruit Exchange and who served in the United States Navy; and May, graduate of Fresno High School, Class of 1919.

In his fraternal affiliations Mr. Hensley is a charter member of the Fresno Lodge of Knights of Pythias.

BELDIN WARNER .- A Californian, who with his devoted wife under- went severe hardships to accomplish their share of commonwealth building that those who come after them may inherit and enjoy the blessings, is Bel- din Warner, the well-known rancher almost four-score years old, who lives two miles northeast of Selma on Floral Avenue. He was born in Eden Town- ship, County of Compton, in the Province of Quebec, Canada, on September 26, 1841, the son of Chester Warner, whose birthplace was also the Province of Quebec, but who came of English blood on his father's side, and of Irish blood on the side of his mother. Her maiden name was Vilinda Heath, and she was born in Connecticut. Chester Warner's wife was Sarah Pease before her marriage, and she came of Scotch blood and was born in Vermont, al- though both of her parents were natives of Connecticut. One of the Warners fought in the Revolutionary War, and two of the earliest Warners came over soon after the Mayflower. Charles Dudley Warner, the famous author and editor, belongs to the family group.

Brought up under the English flag and sent to the excellent Canadian schools, Beldin worked on his father's farm there and then for three years labored in a Canadian saw-mill. On September 27. 1875, when he was thirty- four years old, he started for California by way of the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railways, accompanied by an older brother, Walter C. War- ner, and arriving at Santa Cruz engaged for three years as butter-maker in a dairy. In 1878 he came to Fresno, and with his brother Walter, who took shares in the company, and which were paid for in labor, hired out to work

BeldinWarner

anna S. Harnes.

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on the Centerville and Kingsburg ditch, and at one time he was one of its biggest stockholders. The next year they bought a half section, of 160 acres each, from the pioneer sheepmen, Fanning Bros., and this has continued to be the Warner home ever since, although the brother died some twenty years ago. Farming has always been his occupation, and along with hard work, he and his family live the simple life. He owns 120 acres, where he grows alfalfa and has a fine pasture, and he has thirty-five acres of trees and vines. The ranch is valuable and conduces to contentment and happiness. Since they came here, in the days when Selma was not yet on the map, they have borne the toil and heat of the summer day, but they take a just pride in the growth and development of Central California, and look forward particularly to a brilliant future for Fresno.

On July 7, 1898, Mr. Warner was married to Miss Anna Swenson, who was born in Chicago and reared in Central Iowa. Her father was Benjamin Swenson, a Swede, and he lived in Chicago, and she remembers that her mother was called Betsy. Mrs. Warner was too young to know much about her family's history ; she had one sister Charlotte, who became the wife of a Mr. Thompson ; there was an older brother, John, who was thirteen years old when she left home, and a younger brother, Samuel, then four years of age. She has never seen any of her folks since she left Chicago for Iowa. and she has often been heart-broken over the separation of the family. The last she recalls of her mother, dying on a sick bed, was her prayer to God to take care of her little girl,-a prayer that has certainly been answered. Mrs. Warner's mother died in Chicago when she was five years old, and she was adopted into an Iowa family, that of Mr. and Mrs. F. Barnes, with whom she came to California, staying under their roof for fifteen years. They settled at Selma in November. 1881, when she was only eighteen, and she attended school at Selma, held in the old Presbyterian Church. She was first taken by Mr. and Mrs. Irwin Seward, of New Providence, Iowa ; she worked for her board, studied hard, passed the teachers' examination at Fresno: taught for two terms in Fresno County, and then went for a year to the Nor- mal at Los Angeles, after which she taught for eight and a half years.

Two children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Warner: Norval, who was graduated from the Selma High with the Class of '19, is a member of the Selma Concert Band; and Cyrus is a Sophomore in the Selma High School. Mrs. Warner is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Selma, and they both belong to the Red Cross and bought Liberty and Victory bonds. The Golden Rule has long been the standard of this excellent couple, and they have cultivated a public spirit. Mr. Warner has never taken a glass of liquor, although reared in Canada, where every hotel had its bar.

WILLIAM HENRY SAY .- Distinguished as not only a thoroughly scientific and prosperous horticulturist but also as one of the largest free- holders at Selma, William Henry Say, one of the most popular citizens of this section, would merit particular interest and general esteem as the eldest and worthy son of the late James H. Say, an honored pioneer who was also a large landowner hereabouts. The father was born and brought up in Ve- nango County, Pa., and as early as 1853 came out to California by way of the Isthmus, and for ten years or more was successful as a miner at Placer- ville. The following decade he was employed in general ranching in Men- docino County, and in 1874 he first located in Fresno County, when he home- steaded and preempted 320 acres of land lying five miles northeast of what is now Selma, and later bought railroad land, coming to be a noted holder of real estate. From time to time he resided in Selma, where he erected the Renfro House, which was the first good hotel in Selma, but it was burned down in 1890. He had married Miss Laura Jane Coates, who was born in Wisconsin, and who became the mother of his four sons and two daughters. On October 15, 1902, Mr. Say died.

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The eldest in this family, William Henry was born in Mendocino County, on August 2, 1864, and after completing his early education in the ditsrict school, he was well trained by his father in a practical knowledge of agriculture and horticulture. In 1884, Mr. Say was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. De Witt, a native of Missouri, the ceremony being solemnized in Fresno County near Selma. Her father came from one of the fine old families in Virginia, but he early pushed into Missouri as a pioneer, and settled first in Sullivan and later in Adair County. In 1883, on account of ill-health, he came to Califor- nia, accompanied by his daughter Mary; and greatly pleased with the climate of the Golden State, he returned to Missouri in 1884, to bring the remaining members of his family to California. Upon their arrival, the family located upon a ranch five miles northeast of Selma, and there he engaged in raising fruits, grapes and alfalfa, continuing until his death, in 1891, at the age of fifty-seven. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Say: DeWitt H., who died at the age of four; and Harry Lyle, who, responding to the call of his country, served in the United States Navy, making an enviable record, given in some detail elsewhere in this work. It is not surprising, therefore, that Mr. and Mrs. Say are intensely interested in the welfare of the sailors and soldiers, and were loyal supporters of the Wilson administration in the conduct of the present war "to make the world safe for Democracy." Mrs. Say is the active head of the Red Cross at Selma, and is such an untiring worker that the organization at Selma did heroic service both in work and in raising money, as may be readily seen from the fact that during the one month of January, 1918, the Red Cross at Selma raised $400.

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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 137

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