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 92

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 92

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Setting out from his birthplace with the good-will of his neighbors and friends, Mr. Ball came to California in 1876, and for six years settled in San Francisco. On August 7, 1882, he first came to Fresno with a view to opening here a drug store and establishing himself in business. He located in the Clark & Mckenzie Building on Mariposa Street, and there, in one of the first drug stores in town, he soon built up a thriving trade. It was only a short time, in fact, before his success warranted his purchasing a part of the corner where the Griffith-Mckenzie Block now stands. This first investment comprised a lot 50 by 125 feet on I Street, to which he afterwards added another lot, measuring 25 by 150 feet. These two plots of ground together make up the lot covered by the Griffith-McKen- zie Building, and on this property Mr. Ball built a two-story structure, to which he moved his drug store in 1883, and where he continued in business until 1885. Then he sold the ground and building to H. Thompson, and pur- chased the site of his late business block at the corner of Kern and J Streets. On that site, in 1905, Mr. Ball erected a theater which, for its time, did credit to the city and also served the pleasure-seekers in a way that was educational and uplifting. This theater he later removed to make way for the modern business block that was so agreeably identified with his name, and which was totally destroyed by fire on July 19, 1918. With his customary energy and enterprise Mr. Ball immediately rebuilt, putting up a modern concrete fire-proof structure, and this was practically completed when he was so sud- denly called to leave the scene of his earthly labors and benefactions.

After disposing of his former property, Mr. Ball acquired some land southeast of the city and, giving up the drug business, became interested in vineyard ranching and was soon devoting much of his time to the raisin industry. Such was his customary way of doing things on a generous and go-ahead scale, when once he had committed himself to an enterprise, that the Ball Vineyard, at California and East Streets, with its beautiful palm drive, became the largest, as it was one of the first, in all the valley. Several years ago, however, he gave up the vineyard and turned the property into an orchard. The land, as well as the Ball Block at J and Kern Streets and other valuable city property, was in his name at the time of his death.

From 1905 to 1915 Mr. Ball was also engaged in the wall-paper and paint business, although he was carrying responsible investments in the fruit business since 1886. The growth and success of all his enterprises are evidences of his aggressive attitude toward the great question of the solid

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and permanent development of Central California. He was public-spirited to a marked degree, and was always deserving of the confidence and esteem which his fellow-citizens accorded him. In political matters of national or other than strictly local import, Mr. Ball was a stanch Republican. Frater- nally, he was an Odd Fellow and a Woodman of the World; and he was a member of the Sunnyside Country Club.

Mr. Ball was married at Fresno on December 29, 1915, to Mrs. Bessie May (Webb) Hill, a native of Marshall, Ind., who came to California in 1893. Having traveled extensively in the state, Mrs. Ball has watched the growth of California during its era of progress. A cultured and refined woman, possessing much natural ability and business acumen, she became actively interested in Mr. Ball's enterprises for the development of his property and the upbuilding of Fresno, and so is today well qualified to take up the management of the large interests left by him, and to continue, in his optimistic and large-hearted way, the carrying out of his ideal plans.

Previously to the time of his death, Mr. Ball had been slightly ill for several days, but he had not taken to his bed until the evening before he died. Heart-failure, at 4:30 o'clock the next afternoon, deprived Fresno of her great friend. Reviewing the exemplary career and good works of this estimable and influential Californian and citizen-leader of Fresno City and County, one feels how appropriately these words of benediction from the inspired Bard of Avon might be applied to his life:

"Yon have the grace of God, sir, and He hath enough."

In this connection, it may be most appropriate to reprint here an edi- torial published by the Fresno Herald on March 19, 1919, soon after Mr. Ball's demise. It reads as follows, and undoubtedly reflects the sentiments of many of Mr. Ball's fellow-citizens :

"It seems to the Herald that there should be some adequate recognition by the community for the generous and gracious bequests of Frank H. Ball. As Fresno read of the benevolences- $10,000 to the Y. W. C. A., $10,000 to the playgrounds, $10,000 to the Y. M. C. A., $5,000 to the Firemen's Relief, $5,000 to the Fresno Relief Society, and $5,000 to the Citizens' Relief Com- mittee-there was a certain thrill that comes from such substantial recogni- tion of the worth of these organizations to the public. It is fine to know that our institutions are appreciated, and that their services are placed at a distinct value, that they receive merited reward. The Ball will provided the largest bequests ever publicly distributed in Fresno. Certainly we are grate- ful for the measure of Mr. Ball's appreciation of those organizations which attracted his generosity, for his public spirit, and finally for acting on that spirit. May his memory be graced with the community's gratefulness. Per- haps, after all, we could bestow nothing more acceptable than our sincere appreciation. But let us do that."

JOHN M. PUGH .- Among the prominent and worthy pioneers of Cali- fornia who are sure to be lastingly remembered as among the broad-minded, far-seeing builders of Fresno County, and one equally certain long to be honored by those who knew him personally as the high-principled founder and thrifty head of a family now well-established here, was John M. Pugh, born on May 9, 1839 in Carroll County, Ohio. He removed to Missouri where, at a very early age, he worked hard at farming. When a young man of about eighteen, in 1856, he crossed the plains with ox teams and came to Marysville, near which place he drifted into the stock business. In the spring of 1867 he returned to Missouri and was there married to Miss Ruth Sallee, a native daughter of that state ; and a year later, after their first child was born, they came out to California.

At first Mr. Pugh located on a farm at North Butte, Sutter County, near Pennington. and there engaged in grain and stock raising ; but in 1874, having sold his ranch at North Butte, he removed to Stonyford, Colusa County and

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settled on a claim of 160 acres, where he continued farming and stockraising. His efforts having proved successful, he in time bought out the land of other settlers, and became owner of 4,500 acres on Stony Creek, which he im- proved with a good residence and buildings, and brought to a high state of cultivation. He was the first man on Stony Creek to sow alfalfa; and as the experiment proved that the soil and climate was adapted to its culture, it was taken up by other settlers and alfalfa growing has become popular in that section, the land being irrigated from the waters of Stony Creek.

In June, 1888, Mr. Pugh sold his ranch and removed with his family to Fresno County where he bought 160 acres of land in the Central Colony, on East and North Avenues, and engaged in viticulture, farming and stock- raising. Later he sold this property and moved to a ranch near Fowler. His wife died in 1904, and in 1905 he removed to Kutner Colony and bought 140 acres of the old Limbo ranch. Forty acres of this was already in vine- yard; and with the aid of his sons he set out the rest of the ranch in the same manner ; and there he resided until in 1913, when he died widely mourned by those who had come to know him and to appreciate his exceptional per- sonality. In Masonic circles the demise of Mr. Pugh was deeply regretted ; he was made a Mason in Marysville and was one of the founders of Snow Mountain Lodge, F. & A. M., at Stonyford, in which he was also Master.

The seven children thus honored by this good man's name are: Hannah Pugh, who became Mrs. J. A. Bailey, and now resides in Willows, where her husband is Sheriff of Glenn County; Edward M. Pugh, of Pugh Bros. ; James V., who is associated with Edward in the same firm : John S. Pugh, in the Granville district ; A. U. Pugh, of Fresno: Perley Pugh, of Sanger ; and Ina, now Mrs. James Rose, who lives in the Granville district. All were born in Stonyford except the three oldest: Hannah was born in Missouri; E. M. and John S. were born in Sutter County.

SIMON WILLIAM HENRY .- The fundamental characteristics shown in the life of Simon William Henry illustrate the energy and usefulness to humanity for which so many of our pioneers were noted. A broad-minded and public-spirited man, his adaptability and resourcefulness of mind, shown in the various enterprises in which he engaged, brought him a due meed of success in life and a memory which lives in the esteem and respect of all who knew him.

Born in County Conant, Ireland, December 8, 1834, Simon William Henry crossed the seas to Ontario, Canada, at the age of thirteen, in 1847. He learned the blacksmith trade in Ontario and Michigan, and followed that business until he came to California, via the Isthmus of Panama, in 1859. After his arrival in this state he first settled in Suisun, Solano County, but soon migrated south to Fresno County, arriving here in the fall of that same year, and found employment with Judge Hoxie. Later he bought out his employer and ran a hotel, livery stable and blacksmith shop at Millerton, until 1874, also engaging in ranching at that place. In 1874 he came to Fresno and built Henry's Hotel, corner of Tulare and K Streets, on the spot where the post-office building now stands. This hotel was later moved to the rear of the courthouse, and was torn down in 1915.

In 1889, Mr. Henry built a blacksmith shop and livery stable on the corner of Tulare and J Streets, on the spot where the Patterson Block now stands, and ran this business until 1899. A part of his home on that corner was moved from his former location at Millerton, and part is still incorpor- ated in the home at 422 South Van Ness, he later engaged in farming and teaming, and his death occurred on March 24, 1918. In early days in the county, Mr. Henry was an active member of the Episcopal Church in Fresno, and he donated all the iron used in the building of the church and installed the same himself, also donating freely to the support of the church. A public- spirited man, he was actively interested in the anti-Chinese question, and was

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one of the leading spirits in that movement. In politics he was a strong Re- publican, though he never sought public office.

On April 3, 1862, in San Francisco, Mr. Henry was united in marriage with Annie Mitchell, a native of Devonshire, England, who survives him, as do six of the seven children born to them, as follows : William E., of Fresno; Fred, of Fresno; Albert E., of Stockton; John, of Hanford; Simon William, Jr., and Frank R., of Fresno. One daughter, Annie, formerly a clerk in the county recorder's office, is now deceased.

LEVI C. GOODELL .- A Fresno County pioneer who has done much to develop important interests in his part of California, and was largely instru- mental at one time in affording better irrigation facilities for a large and fast- growing area, is Levi C. Goodell, who was born in Hancock County, Ill., on January 4, 1849. His father was Joseph Goodell, a native of Maine, who emi- grated to Illinois in early days, and later crossed the plains to California, using oxen to draw his wagons, and taking six months for the trip. He had married Nancy Bloyd, a native of Kentucky ; and she accompanied him on the perilsome trip. He located in Tehama County, and with true Yankee enterprise, farmed to grain; and in 1865 he died. Later, the devoted widow passed away.

As a boy Levi Goodell worked on ranches and when he was able to do so, he located with his brother, Robert W. Goodell, near Honcut, Butte County, where they farmed 500 acres to grain. At times conditions were dispiriting, and there was generally need of courage and "backbone;" but Mr. Goodell had inherited qualities such as frequently had their best "try out" in undeveloped California, and he was the last man to think of doing anything else than going forward. In the fall of 1878 he sold out and located southwest of Selma, where he bought 160 acres of railroad land. This he farmed to grain and alfalfa, and made such a success of the venture that three years later his brother joined him. They farmed together the land already under control, planting to grain, and then rented other land besides.

Having again sold out, in 1886, Mr. Goodell settled in the Wheatville country, where he owned 400 acres of grain and alfalfa land. He operated on a generous scale, showing his entire faith in the country, and continued to live and farm there for twenty-four years. Wheat averaged ten sacks to the acre ; and he raised, besides, high grade horses and mules. When he took possession, the country was wild and the land had no water; and seeing the great need of better irrigation facilities, he helped to start the Crescent Canal Company of which he was at once a director, and he was its president for ten years. He planted a family orchard, and he also laid out a good vineyard, both of which undertakings added to his valuable experience.

In 1910, Mr. Goodell sold his ranch and bought 187 acres northwest of Kerman. The land was raw, but he graded and checked it, and planted alfalfa. He sank two wells, installed a pumping-plant, and brought the place up to a high state of cultivation.

On the death of Mrs. Goodell, on May 16, 1917-an event that cast a deep shadow over the community in which she had been botli an honored resident and a beloved neighbor-Mr. Goodell rented out his land and moved into Fresno. He still retained his valuable undeveloped ranch-lands in the Clovis district, and his oil-land interests in the vicinity of Coalinga, but he has wisely preferred the quiet, restful life, in which he may look back, and with much satisfaction, we are sure, to the stirring past and his active share in it.

When Mr. Goodell married in 1876, he took for his bride Florence L. Loshbough, a native of Michigan who came to California in 1875, settling near Honcut, Butte County, and with her he enjoyed years of the happiest married life. The union was blessed with two children; and these sources of comfort are still left to him. The elder is Calvin C., living in Stockton; and the younger, Effie, the wife of Harrison Forsyth and the mother of one son living, Harrison. She lives in Los Angeles.

Lassa 6. Winchell

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HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

HON. ELISHA COTTON WINCHELL .- A resident of Fresno County, from the very early pioneer days to the end of his life, none will be more kindly remembered than Judge Winchell. A man of high ideals and of fixed principles, his example and precepts were ever factors in the substantial im- provement of all conditions, social, moral and political. A lawyer by profes- sion, he was temperamentally of distinct judicial mind and of pronounced literary inclination and ability. Withal companionable, kindly, entertaining and youthful to his last days, these qualities especially endeared him to the young, with whom he was in sympathetic touch ; many of whom, still living, will hold his memory in affectionate regard.

Elisha C. Winchell was born in West Springfield, Mass., July 25, 1826, a lineal descendant of Robert Winchell, who came over from England and settled at Windsor, on the Connecticut River, in 1634. Elisha C.'s father, Elias, was a merchant and manufacturer; his mother was Fanny Ely, a de- scendant of another early Colonial family of New England, and a woman of great talent. Suffering business reverses after the panic of 1835, the father and family moved westward; reaching the hamlet of Quincy, Ill., August 9, 1837, they remained there till January, 1838, when the Mississippi, frozen over, allowed passage on the ice to the Missouri shore.

Traveling thirty miles still westward, they settled on a lonely prairie, built a double log cabin, made rails and fenced land, broke sod with oxen, planted crops, and established a home in the wilderness. Once a week the mails from Palmyra were brought on horseback to the lonely cabin, which became, in September, 1838, the "West Springfield" postoffice.

After a term in the Marion College, Elisha C. entered, as student, the law office of Thomas L. Anderson and John W. Dryden, his brothers-in-law, at Palmyra, Mo., and in June, 1848, was admitted to the bar. In November, following, he opened a law office in Paris, Monroe County, Mo., forty miles west. Fascinated, however, by the tales from the far western Eldorado, he started, with three companions, on April 11, 1850, for California. They out- fitted at Saint Joseph with wagon and six horses, and, bidding goodbye to civilization, advanced on the road to the Pacific. On June 25th they crossed the South Pass ("the roof of the continent") at an elevation of 7,490 feet, whence they plunged into the silent expanse of waterless, yellow deserts that lie between the Rockies and the Sierra Nevadas. July 27th, at the Humboldt River, 600 miles from Sutter's Fort, their provisions nearly exhausted and their animals unable, from starvation, to haul the wagon further, they made pack-saddles from the wheel spokes and wagon box. Abandoning everything except their arms, a little food and their blankets, they took their way down the Humboldt Valley, a hideous desert, which for 300 miles was strewed with animals and wreckage. For many weeks they had been accustomed to see abandoned property and dead and dying animals, but these scenes were now doubled and trebled; as they advanced the scenes became more dreadful, the heat of the day increased, and the road heavy with sand; the stench arising was continuous and terrible. Horses, mules and oxen, suffering from heat, thirst and starvation, staggered along until they fell and died, on every rod of the way. Both sides of the road for miles on miles were lined with the carcasses and abandoned wagons; around were strewn yokes, chains, harness, guns, tools, bedding and clothing, in utter confusion. The owners had left everything except what scant provisions they could carry, and hur- ried on to save themselves.

During the night of August 11th and the forenoon of the 12th, our adven- turer led his staggering horses through these scenes of death and desolation, to the ice-fed waters of the Carson River. Resting there till somewhat re- cuperated, he followed this stream eight miles to the Carson Canyon, and on August 26th crossed the territorial line of California. Abandoning here, on a grassy meadow, his faithful but almost helpless animals, and shoulder- ing a thirty-pound pack of law-books, bacon and biscuit, he crossed the moun- 38

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tains. At dark of August 31st, he camped for the night under a live-oak tree, sleeping soundly, without blankets, till the frost of the dawn awakened him. He was soon on the way; Sutter's Fort was forty miles distant; at sun- set, half starved but in robust health and high spirits, in tatters and penni- less, he entered Sacramento, a mushroom city of cloth and clapboards ; half hidden in the willow thickets by the river. The first of the Winchell family in America, so far as known, to set foot on California soil. He never left its confines.

In January, 1851, the young pioneer opened a law office in Sacramento, and in 1852 was elected justice of the peace, with an annual salary of $5,000. In 1855 he was elected city assessor of Sacramento.

On July 7, 1853, Elisha C. Winchell was united in marriage with Laura C. Alsip, who had come to California by steamer in 1852, with her widowed mother, and was living in Sacramento. The wedding ceremony was per- formed by Rev. O. C. Wheeler, D.D., the first Baptist minister in Sacramento, at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Ledyard Frink, the latter being a sister of the bride. Four children were born to this pioneer couple: Lilbourne Alsip. born October 9, 1855; Iva Mary, born 1857, died 1858; Ledyard Frink, born November 30, 1859; and Anna Cora, June 24, 1870.

Remaining in Sacramento until the spring of 1859, Judge Winchell be- came interested in the reports of an old friend regarding the general terri- tory of the "southern mines" and of the growing pastoral industries of the San Joaquin Valley. His friend urged that there was a promising field for a lawyer at Millerton, the county seat of the young county of Fresno, as most of the lawyers at that time resided at Mariposa and Visalia. This resulted in his moving from Sacramento to Millerton, with his wife and young son, in May, 1859. The family made their first, temporary home in the large adobe house at Fort Miller, which stands at the southeast corner of the plaza (and is still, in 1919, in an almost perfectly preserved condition). Living there until October of 1859, they moved to another adobe building, apart from those that surrounded the fort quadrangle, known as the "Hos- pital," having been constructed by the government for use as such. This was a commodious structure, having two large rooms with a smaller apart- ment between them (apothecary shop, for the use of the post surgeon), and entered from an open vestibule in front. In this home, November 30, 1859, was born Ledyard Frink, the second son.

Judge Winchell soon established his office in the Colonel Burrough Hotel in Millerton, and resumed his practice. This was the building afterwards used as the courthouse. Governor Downey appointed him notary public about this time. In 1860 he was appointed superintendent of public instruc- tion, the first in the county, and he proceeded to establish three districts; Millerton, Scottsburg, and Kingston. At Scottsburg he selected three trus- tees, assembled them in the saloon, which was also the postoffice, wrote out their appointments on top of a battered card-table on which was a deck of very dirty cards; he swore the trustees in and, after he had been invited to "take something" by the barkeeper, which offer he declined, climbed into his buggy and departed.

In September, 1860, as a candidate for the state legislature, against three opponents he canvassed on horseback the counties of Fresno, Tulare and Buena Vista, but was defeated by a small vote. In 1861 he was elected dis- trict attorney, and in 1863, county judge. In the spring of 1864, an Indian killed a white man during a drunken brawl, was arrested, tried, found guilty and sentenced to be hung ; after which the prisoner was remanded to the cus- tody of the sheriff, and court adjourned for dinner. During the noon hour lynchers took possession of the Indian (the sheriff being complaisant) and started with him out the trail which led past Judge Winchell's home. Appar- ently having forgotten in their haste to get a rope in town, they supplied the need by entering the judge's field, taking the rope with which a calf was

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staked out, and with it hung the Indian to an oak tree in a canyon a half mile south of the judge's house-the judge at dinner in McCray's hotel, wholly unaware of the proceedings.

The old adobe "Hospital" remained their home until the fall of 1861, the family moving then to a little valley half a mile south of the fort; the creek running through this valley is named for the family, and the canyon gorge is known as Winchell Gulch. A good house was built, of lumber cut in Crane Valley and hauled by ox teams. The doors, windows and redwood shingles came by freight wagons from Stockton. This became a true home ; many improvements were made; fences were built, roads graded ; fields cul- tivated, and crops raised. Judge Winchell had planted here an orchard of various fruits in the winter of 1859-1860. before moving his family from the fort. He had obtained from Sacramento, from the nursery of WV. R. Strong, 600 assorted fruit trees and a variety of the best grapes. The great grass- hopper plague of 1861 destroyed many of the settings, but by employing over 100 Indians from the nearby rancherias, who fought the pests with fire and smoke, they succeeded in saving trees that afterwards flourished and for many years produced the only fresh fruit in that locality, and which was much in demand by the neighbors and passersby. Many flowering and orna- mental plants were also set out.

In July, 1869, Mr. Winchell and Capt. J. N. Appleton, with "Billy" Haines as guide, visited the Kings River Canyon and the Big Trees in what is now Grant Park. Mr. Winchell wrote a descriptive article that was pub- lished in the San Francisco Call: this was the first descriptive article ever written of that section.

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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 92

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