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 94

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 94

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He was born at Syracuse, N. Y., on November 15, 1848, the son of Ly- man Pierce, a New Yorker, who married Miss Phoebe Dean, also of the same state, and then removed to Michigan and after that to Iowa. At the breaking out of the Civil War he showed his patriotism by enlisting in an Iowa regi- ment, with which he served through the worst of that awful conflict, and after the war he removed to Story County, Iowa, where he took up farming. When he and his good wife retired, they came west to Fresno; and here they lived until their death.

Charles S. Pierce was sent to the public schools of the districts in which he lived, and being quick to grasp what was taught him, he made unusual progress despite the obstacles of the ante-bellum and war days. He seemed to have a special penchant and talent for business ; in course of time he in- dulged in business ventures to his heart's content, and little by little he succeeded beyond his boldest anticipation.

When he was fifteen, he moved with his parents to Waterloo, Iowa, and six years later, at Ames in the same state, he was married to Miss Mary Ellen Fitchpatrick, a native of Washington County, Ind., and a member of an old Virginia family. Her parents were William and Sarah V. (Heggy) Fitchpatrick, who came from Virginia to Indiana, and then settled at Ames. There they were early pioneers and owned and operated a farm that now adjoins the State Agricultural College, and at which homestead they in time died. Besides Mary Ellen, they had four children, all of whom grew to

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HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

maturity : Joseph went into the Civil War as a member of the Twenty-third Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and now resides in Nevada, Iowa; William was also in the same regiment, but died in Mexico; John was in the Eighth Iowa Cavalry, and at present has his home at Hebron, Nebr .; and Sarah is Mrs. McElyea, of Ames. Joseph and John were both taken prisoners and sent to Andersonville, where they finally met-not altogether, on account of their environment, a joyous union. .

Shortly after his marriage, Mr. Pierce moved to Cherokee, Iowa, where he engaged in farming and also in the general merchandise business. Leav- ing there, he came direct to Fresno, in 1883, destined to remain here ever since, and in September he engaged in the lumber business with his brother- in-law, F. K. Prescott, forming a firm styled Prescott & Pierce, which con- tinued for about ten years. In 1895 he severed his connection with Mr. Pres- cott and organized the C. S. Pierce Lumber Company, which is now one of the leading retail lumber concerns of the San Joaquin Valley. Some eight years ago, he organized the Tulare County Lumber Company, with yards at Visalia and Lindsay. He was also interested in many other business con- cerns, being a director in the Farmers' National Bank of Fresno, and for over twenty years served as director of the Peoples Savings Bank, which was sold to the Bank of Italy two years ago.

Five children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Pierce: Maude Phoebe is now Mrs. S. S. Parsons of Pacific Grove; Mae is the wife of H. E. Norton who is now president of the C. S. Pierce Lumber Company: Blanche Bee married Dr. T. N. Sample, a prominent physician of Fresno; Ethel Jane is Mrs. Leland Cutler, of San Francisco; and Bernice Lucile is the wife of Ernest Miller of Visalia.

Mr. Pierce was a member of the Commercial Club and was a prominent Mason, a Knight Templar and Scottish Rite Mason, as well as a Shriner. Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Pierce has continued to reside at the old home on Van Ness Avenue, surrounded by her children and friends. The daughters are all devoted to their mother, and through their assistance she is able to manage her extensive affairs. She is a member of Raisina Chapter. No. 89. of the O. E. S., as well as the Order of Amaranth, and is an earnest Presbyterian.

HON. CHARLES A. HART .- Foremost among the pioneer settlers of Fresno County was Judge Charles A. Hart, who in young manhood daunt- lessly pushed his way across desert, plain and mountain to a new and uncul- tivated country and after his arrival he threw himself into its development and advancement with all the energy he possessed. He descended from a fine old New York family, was well-bred and educated and rapidly became an ac- knowledged leader in the establishment of beneficent enterprises in Millerton. the first county seat of Fresno County, and for over half a century occupied a post of honor and influence in legal, financial, political, agricultural and social circles.

Judge Hart was born in Geneva, N. Y., November 7. 1820, a son of Hon. Truman Hart, a well-known banker of western New York and for several terms a representative from his district in the New York State Senate. Judge Hart's mother was Susan Carpenter, a native of the Empire State and a rep- resentative of a prominent family there. When Judge Hart was a small boy his parents moved to Palmyra, N. Y., where he attended the grammar and high schools, and later graduated from the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, that state. The year following his graduation he was employed as a civil engineer and surveyor on the New York and Lake Erie Railroad, having charge of the construction of the portion of road between Elmira and Bing- hamton. At the expiration of his contract he went back to his home, entered the office of Theron R. Strong in Palmyra, studied law and was admitted to practice in the state of New York. He practiced one year in Palmyra, then went to New York City and entered upon an entirely new avocation, that of

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a commission merchant, dealing in wool, hides and leather, in which he was successful.

Enterprising and far-seeing, and doubtless actuated by a spirit of ad- venture, he decided to put his fortune to the hazard on the Pacific Coast, where he hoped to find a realization of his dreams of future prosperity. Join- ing a party of New England men in 1848, he proceeded by steamer to Mat- amoras, Mexico, where the company purchased a good outfit and with pro- visions a-plenty started on their journey across the country for Southern Cal- ifornia. The journey was leisurely made through Mexico, across the great American desert to the Gila River, thence through the Indian country in Ari- zona to the Colorado River, landing near the present site of Yuma. While crossing the great desert the party found many immigrants who had illy provided themselves with food and water and were in great distress and to these they gave of their own precious stock of food and water, even to the last, when their last two days were made with nothing to eat, but with the satisfaction that they had aided their fellowmen to the best of their ability. In their stock of supplies they had added quantities of leather and of this they made boats with which to cross the streams. The Colorado River was only about a half mile wide but the current was swift and in crossing their boats were carried down stream about a quarter of a mile. The region they traversed was one of the least known and most dangerous routes overland, though the shortest. They crossed the Mojave desert and there they suffered untold hardships from lack of water for man and beast. Judge Hart learned to speak Spanish while they were leisurely crossing the Mexican country and this came in good play for, after he reached Millerton he soon had as clients manv of the Spanish-speaking residents of the county. Their journey took them through Los Angeles, up the coast to Santa Barbara and on to San Jose and San Francisco, from which place they journeyed inland and finally, after seven months on the road, arrived at Hill's Ferry in Merced County, on August 7, 1849.

Although entirely ignorant of mining, the party started for the diggings and on their way were fortunate in meeting with Captain Cutler, who had served in the Mexican War under General Taylor, and from him received some excellent advice and information as to the placers. For two years Judge Hart and his companions worked successfully, finding gold in large quantities, not infrequently averaging sixteen ounces per day each. About 1853 or 1854 Judge Hart located at Millerton, then Mariposa County, opened a law office and entered upon the practice of his profession. When Fresno County was created in 1856, from a portion of Mariposa County, and Millerton was made the county seat, Judge Hart was appointed the first county judge and filled that office with great satisfaction for one term, when he retired to resume his law practice. He continued in the law until 1874, when on account of ill health and upon the advice of his physician he retired to his ranch of over 2,000 acres of very valuable land. When the government abandoned Fort Miller as a military post in 1863, Judge Hart bought the post buildings, one of which he remodeled and ever after occupied as a residence. Upon his ranch he gave especial attention to stock-raising and the culture of fruit ; in the lat- ter industry he was recognized as a pioneer in the San Joaquin Valley. Judge Hart made the Fort his home until his death, which occurred on May 13. 1903. at the home of his son, Truman G. Hart, 251 Blackstone Avenue, Fresno.

Judge Hart was united in marriage with Mrs. Ann (Brennan) Mckenzie, a native of Ireland, February 18, 1865. She was the widow of Sergeant James Mckenzie, by whom she had three children: William H. Mckenzie, now deceased, formerly a capitalist in Fresno ; Mary Jane, widow of John C. Hoxie, of Fresno ; and E. P. Mckenzie. The only child born of the union of Judge and Mrs. Hart is a son, Truman G. Hart, capitalist of Fresno.

Judge Hart belonged to that rare type of men who pursue to a consum- mation their plans in life in spite of all obstacles which may arise in their

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paths. Throughout his life he was actuated by the highest motives, and though the early days of California were fraught with opportunities to gain wealth and eminence by the adoption of questionable means, he was never known to pursue a policy in any way subject to adverse criticism. His life was pure and blameless, both in public and private affairs. He frequently manifested his public spirit and liberality of heart and mind in a way that endeared him closely to a multitude of friends. The beneficent effect of his life and work upon the welfare of Fresno County cannot be overestimated, for during the days of the county's development he was one of the most potential factors in placing it upon a sound and substantial basis. His participation in public affairs was governed by high-minded and unselfish motives. His name will be handed down in history as that of one of the most striking characters and finest citizens in the San Joaquin Valley.

DENVER S. CHURCH .- Well known as a successful and skilled lawyer, Denver S. Church, of Fresno, represents a prominent family connected with the development of the state of California, and has served as Congressman from California, and is a native son, born at Folsom, December 11, 1864. His father was E. J. Church, a native of Pennsylvania, who crossed the plains in 1852, with ox teams, in company with his two brothers, one of whom, M. J. Church, was the founder of irrigation in Fresno County. After mining at Diamond Springs unsuccessfully for a time, E. J. Church moved to Wood- bridge, San Joaquin County, and worked at the blacksmith's trade, and very soon afterwards he moved to Folsom, where he continued at the trade and also engaged in raising stock. He went to Napa County and was engaged in the stock business and in general farming near St. Helena, for many years, or until advancing years made it unwise for him to continue further manual labor ; he retired, in 1898, and lived in Fresno in the enjoyment of a well-earned rest. His wife was Catherine Rutan, a native of Illinois, who crossed the plains in the early fifties, with her father, Samuel Rutan, settling on a farm near Woodbridge. She died in 1868, when her son Denver S. was but four years of age.

The youngest child in the family, Denver S. Church attended the public schools at St. Helena and later Healdsburg College, where he completed the regular course. In 1877 he came to Fresno and joined an uncle, M. J. Church, and helped carry the chain during the survey of Temperance Colony. In 1887, having settled permanently in Fresno, Mr. Church took up the study of law and in 1893 was admitted to the bar and thereafter carried on an independent general practice, meeting with good success, both in the results obtained, from the cases handled, and from a financial standpoint. From January, 1899, to January, 1903, he served as deputy district attorney under O. L. Everts. He has always been a prominent factor in Democratic politics and on that ticket was elected a member of Congress. Mr. Church is a member of the Fresno County Bar Association ; Fresno Parlor No. 25, N. S. G. W .; Fresno Lodge of Elks, and the Woodmen of the World. Sharing with Mr. Church in the esteem of the community is his wife, whom he married in Reno, Nev., and who was Miss Louise Derrick, born in Reno, her parents having been pioneers of Car- son Valley.

TRUMAN G. HART .- Prominently identified with the best interests of Fresno County, the San Joaquin Valley and the State of California, is Truman G. Hart, a man of large affairs, a native son and distinguished as an excellent representative of a distinguished pioneer family of the county, being a son of the late Judge Charles A. Hart, the first judge of Fresno County. Truman G. was born at Millerton, the original county-seat of Fresno County, April 9, 1866, and he attended the public school of his birthplace in pursuit of the rudi- ments of an education, which was supplemented by an attendance of the schools of Fresno City, and in 1882, he entered St. Augustine College at Benicia, from which he was graduated in 1886.

2.6. Sample

Mrs Sallie Sample

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HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

Mr. Hart returned to Fresno and soon became identified with the Fresno County Abstract Company, working his way to the position of manager, which he held a number of years. He was always active in local politics and in 1894 was elected on the Republican ticket for the office of county clerk, receiving over 700 votes majority, which at that time, the county always being con- sidered a Democratic stronghold, was unusually large. He served from Jan- uary, 1895, till January, 1899, and declined a renomination.

Mr. Hart is a pioneer in the oil industry in the San Joaquin Valley, as one of the organizers of the Producers and Consumers Oil Company, in which he served as a director. This company put down three wells on Section 20, Township 19, Range 15, and got oil in commercial quantities; this was the beginning of the greatest industry in the entire valley. Mr. Hart disposed of his interest in this company and organized the Oil City Petroleum Company and became its president, he also helped organize the Twenty-eight Oil Com- pany and was president of that concern. He has been interested for many years in many companies organized to exploit the oil-fields of the San Joaquin Valley and has met with more than the usual degree of success in his oper- ations.

In Fresno, September 29, 1892, Truman G. Hart was united in marriage with Augusta A. Trowbridge, a native of Illinois, and she presides over their well-appointed home at 251 Blackstone Avenue, Fresno. Mr. Hart has always been a leading spirit in the advancement of all interests for the development and upbuilding of the county. He is recognized as an authority in financial circles and his business ability and judgment are unquestioned.

DAVID COWAN SAMPLE .- When David Cowan Sample arrived in California it was with empty hands and pockets. The success that he has achieved has been the result of his own efforts, for he has applied the three P's of success-Prudence, Perseverance, and Push-in all his career. In the evening of his days he can look back upon a life well-spent, and with the knowledge that he has done his duty as a citizen to his county and his fellow man. A native of Mississippi, he was born at Lexington on February 12, 1849, a son of Isaac and Mary H. (Dulany) Sample, both born in the Caroli- nas, the former in South Carolina and the latter in North Carolina. They were farmers and followed that occupation near Lexington until the death of the father, when his son David C. was a small child. Mrs. Mary H. Sample was a daughter of Daniel Dulany, who served as a colonel in the War of 1812. He was a large landowner in Mississippi, where his death occurred. Mrs. Sample died in that state, leaving three sons and one daughter of whom David Cowan was the youngest.

David Cowan Sample was reared on his mother's plantation, the "Cy- press," located about nine miles from Lexington, where he attended a private school until he was fifteen years of age. He then left school to join the Confederate forces and acted as a scout under General Forrest. He furnished his own mount and was assigned to the Sixth Texas Cavalry under Captain Scott, and served until the close of the war. During this memorable struggle the home plantation was devastated, the slaves and stock disappeared, and the farming implements were destroyed. Upon his return to civil life, Mr. Sample found employment as a clerk for one year, when he once more en- tered a private school in Lexington and remained for a like period. He then came to California via Panama, in company with Major Thomas P. Nelson and his wife, arriving on June 18, 1868, a stranger in a strange land. He went to. Solano County, where he found work in the harvest fields for a short time, and then to Dry Creek, where he worked as a farm hand two years. After this he went into the sheep business for himself in Fresno County. As he succeeded with his sheep business he invested in land, first taking up a pre- emption claim, which formed the nucleus of his large holdings in later years, when he had some eighteen sections of land on the plains and in the foot- hills, farming land along Dry Creek, and stock ranches on Sayles and Hol-

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land Creeks. In the latter section he has a fine lemon and orange orchard. The land is in the thermal belt and is well adapted to the growth of citrus fruits. He raised sheep profitably until he sold out in 1904, when the ranges were included in the forest reserves, in the latter years keeping about 10,000 head. After he sold his sheep he started in the cattle business, making a specialty of shorthorn Durhams, full-blooded and high-grade stock, and it was through his leadership that the grade of stock was perceptibly raised to a higher standard in the county. His range land is all under fence and modern improvements have been added from time to time. The property is one of the show places on Dry Creek, and is located some nineteen miles from Fresno. His land of later years has been farmed to grain. As he prospered he became interested in property in Fresno and maintained his interest in several enterprises in that city, one being the manufacture of buggies and wagons, before the advent of the automobile, under the firm name of Carl & Sample. The firm sold out to Cobb & Evans, now in the automobile business. He was one of the organizers of the Fresno Meat Company, in January, 1904, and acted as president and manager. Under his directions the packing house was built along modern lines and completely equipped with up-to-date machinery. He was likewise one of the originators of the Fresno Flume and Irrigation Company, but the panic of 1880 necessitated a change of the original plans ; however, the project was completed, much to the credit of the projectors, and is of much benefit to the county. He is a director in the San Joaquin Abstract Company of Fresno, and is also interested in the W. M. & M. Oil Company of Fresno County and served as its secretary.

At Millerton, in 1872. Mr. Sample was united in marriage with Miss Sal- lie Cole, born in Solano County on December 23, 1854, the daughter of William T. Cole, who came to California in 1849. He was engaged in the stock business, becoming one of the pioneer stockmen of Fresno County, where he was a large sheep raiser on Kings River at Cole's Slough. Mr. and Mrs. Sample became the parents of eleven children: William C .; Mand, Mrs. John Shipp ; Thomas N., a physician of Fresno; Mary, Mrs. J. A. Blasingame ; Annie S., Mrs. Dr. B. B. Lampkin ; Estelle, Mrs. Frank Wyatt ; David Cowan, Jr., who enlisted for service in the World War and was assigned to duty as farrier in the Remount Division, with rank of sergeant: Sallie ; Fillmore C., a student in the medical department of Stanford University, who enlisted for service in the medical unit in the American Expeditionary Forces and is still in service ; Ruth ; and Harry. Mrs. Sample died on December 27, 1917. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and had devoted her life to the rearing of her children and the care of her home. Mr. Sample is a Mason, holding membership in Fresno Lodge, No. 247, F. & A. M. Polit- ically he is a stanch Democrat and has served as a member of the county central committee. He belongs to the chamber of commerce in Fresno and supports all worthy enterprises that have for their object the betterment of business, social and moral conditions. Since 1910 the family home has been in Fresno, where Mr. Sample moved to take a well-earned rest after many years of hard labor to obtain a competence. He is highly respected by all who know him, and their home is a place where a charming hospitality is dispensed to friend and stranger.

ENOS FROST ST. JOHN .- When a man is able to look back upon a long line of honorable ancestry and to realize that he, himself, has added to its luster, it affords him no little satisfaction. Such in the evening of his days is the experience of Enos Frost St. John. He was born in Troy, Oak- land County, Mich., April 10, 1835. His father, Daniel St. John, was a pioneer of Southern Michigan. The grandfather, Enos St. John, was born at Canaan, Conn., and emigrated to Rensselaer County, N. Y., and later to Genesee County, N. Y. The St. John family is of English origin, and rose to great prominence in the fifteenth century. They settled in Connecticut in colonial times. The late John P. St. John, Governor of Kansas and Prohibition candi-

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date for President of the United States, was from this family. The mother was Olivia Marsh, from the early Marsh family, of Hartford, Conn. She was married in New York State near Rochester, and became a pioneer of Oak- land County, Mich. She died in Milford in 1873. There were six children : Martha E., William G., Enos Frost, Charlotte A., Oliver H., and Frances Eugenia, wife of Floyd Burnham, of Fresno, Cal. The father was a miller by trade, and for five years worked in Solomon Frost's mill at Genesee, N. Y. The Frost family was a very prominent one. Going to Michigan, the father bought a farm in Oakland County, and raised his six children. He came to California and died at Fresno, at the age of eighty-eight years and nine months.

E. F. St. John helped to clear up his father's farm in Michigan, re- maining at home and attending the public schools of his township and at Milford. He came to California in 1857, by railway to St. Louis, and by river boats to Kansas City, then a very small place. He left there in the early spring of 1857, crossing the plains with an ox team. The Kansas-Ne- braska troubles were at their height, and he saw some of the border ruffian warfare. The Lawrence Republican had just been burned, owing to the fierce strife regarding slavery that existed then. He had strong anti-slavery sympathies. After working a week on the Republican, on May 24, 1857, he started for the West. When about five hundred miles out, he had trouble with his employer, McGowan, and joined a party headed by a man by the name of McWhinney. They reached the Yuba River above Downieville in the latter part of September, 1857. He hired out to work on the reservoir that supplied water at Camptonville, a gold-mining town. Later he went to Marysville and went to work for G. G. Briggs, and this was the beginning of an acquaintanceship that lasted for a good many years and resulted in es- tablishing the future of Mr. St. John in California. Mr. Briggs was a well- known California pioneer, a horticulturist and extensive landowner. With him Mr. St. John remained for eight years, helping to set out orchards and vineyards at Marysville ; and later, as Mr. Briggs had large landed holdings in Santa Barbara County, Mr. St. John was sent to what is now Ventura County and worked in his orchards and on his farms for one year. He then went back to Marysville and remained there two or three years.

In the spring of 1865 Mr. St. John left for his old home in Michigan, going by water via Aspinwall, Panama, and New York, sailing in Vanderbilt's boat Ocean Queen, one of the largest and best boats of that day. After visiting relatives at New Canaan, Conn., and in New York State, he went to his old home in Oakland County, Mich. He was married at Ann Arbor, in the fall of 1869, to Mrs. Sylvia A. St. John, widow of Solomon St. John, a cousin, by whom she had one child, Anna A., who now lives at home in Fresno. Mrs. St. John's maiden name was Lowry: She was a daughter of James Lowry, of Washtenaw County, Mich., where she was born on a farm on the Lodi plains. Of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. E. F. St. John were born five children : Bessie, who died in Michigan in 1883 at the age of twelve vears, seven months and three days : Irma, now the wife of Dr. Barr, of Fresno ; Fred E. and Fannie O., twins, at home, the latter graduating from the University of California, and is a teacher in Fresno County ; and Daisy, wife of F. R. Cabot, a rancher, who lives across the road from the old home.

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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 94

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