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 II, Part 103

Author: Vandor, Paul E., 1858-
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1424

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 II > Part 103

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He was reared at Solon on the Kennebec River, and from a lad took charge of the farm, at the same time that he attended the public school. He thus not only acquired the A B C's of agricultural experience, but what was to be of inestimable value in later years, he learned to rely upon himself. In 1878 he removed to Fort Fairfield where his parents bought 120 acres of land, eleven acres of which was cleared, and the balance timbered. Each year they cleared and burned up such a part that they soon had about eighty acres under cultivation. He had charge of the home place, and in common with many in that section, father and son raised potatoes as a specialty.

Through reading. Charles became interested in California; and being attracted to the state because of the reported mildness of its climate, he came to California in 1905 and was so satisfied with what he saw that he sold his eastern home and settled here. He did not choose Fresno County how- ever until he had first traveled the state and had become convinced that Central California offered more to the square mile than any other part. He then bought land in the Houghton district, now Roosevelt, his first place being two miles west of his present homestead. It was an alfalfa ranch, and he ran it for a year, but thinking he could do still better, he bought, in 1906,

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his present place, which consists of eighty acres on McKinley Avenue, situated ten miles northwest of Fresno. Having disposed of the other property, he has devoted this to dairying and the raising of alfalfa. The soil is excellent, and is well irrigated, being under the Herndon canal, the ranch also being equipped with a first-class pumping plant run by electric power and having a five-inch pump. He is also interested in sixty acres adjoining, which his son runs as a dairy.

While at Fort Fairfield, Mr. Richardson married Elizabeth Bloomfield, a native of the province of New Brunswick, by whom he has had five children : Marion L., who was in the Second California Infantry and served during the border trouble with Mexico. He was honorably discharged but when the great war was declared with Germany he enlisted and was in the Fortieth Division overseas. Since his discharge he has been ranching near the home place; Charles E., who also did his duty and was First Lieutenant in the Marine Corps attached to the second separate machine gun battalion, is also ranching in Fresno County; Otto B., who was a corporal in the 187th Com- pany, United States Marine Corps, and is now in the general merchandise business at Rolinda, under the firm name of Houghton and Richardson; and Edith and Ruth. The family attend the United Presbyterian Church at Barstow, in which Mr. Richardson is a ruling elder; and they also do their civic duty under the banners of the Republican party, to which Mr. Richard- son has belonged for years.

WILLIAM SHERMAN RICHMOND .- An enterprising orchardist and vineyardist who represents in his own family history one of the sturdy Amer- icans who fought for the preservation of the Union, and whose wife is the direct descendant of an Ohio pioneer who once owned part of the site of Columbus, is William Sherman Richmond. He first came to California in the late eighties ; and ever since he has been deeply interested and active in con- tributing toward the development of that part of the great state in which he cast his fortunes.

He was born in Memphis, Scotland County, Mo., on January 26, 1867, the son of Theodore W. Richmond, a native of Indiana, who came to Iowa, where he homesteaded. When the Civil War broke out, he raised a company and was elected captain of Company H of the Nineteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He was present at the siege of Vicksburg, but was incapacitated by malaria for much service. After the war, he farmed in Scotland County, and there he died in his sixty-seventh year. His family was one of the old New York group and had its place in the history of the Empire State.

Mrs. Richmond was Elvira Irish before her marriage, and she was born in Indiana. Her parents came from' Connecticut, and they originated with the old Mayflower stock. After a useful life she passed away in Missouri, the mother of ten children, six of whom are still living. Albert C. is in Texas County, Mo .; Kate has become Mrs. Bull of Kalispell, Mont .; Frank M. lives at Ogallala, Nebr .; Carrie resides in Fresno; and besides the subject of our sketch, there is Emmett G. Richmond, also of Fresno County.

Brought up on a farm in Missouri, William S. attended the public schools, including the grammar grade and the high school of Memphis, and when twenty-two came to California in 1889, settling in the vicinity of Reedley and Dinuba. Fresno was then a very small town. He went to work on the grain farm for Crow & Agee, and with them he continued for a couple of years. After that he returned to Missouri and followed farming with his father.

In 1902 he came once more to the West and going to Lawton, Okla .. settled in the Comanche and Apache country, and bought a relinquishment claim and homesteaded 160 acres. He improved it and obtained a patent signed by President Roosevelt. In 1909 he sold the property at a good ad- vance, and with the proceeds came on to California. He was not long in dis- covering the superiority of Fresno County, and bought a ranch of twenty

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HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

acres on Chittenden and Clinton Avenue in Roeding's Villa Colony ; and there lie engaged in horticulture. He set out peaches, apricots and a vineyard ; then bought ten acres, added to that, and now he has twenty-five acres, all improved with a fine residence, comfortable barns and a desirable pumping plant. Besides peaches and apricots, he raises both Thompson and Malaga grapes. He is a member and stockholder in both the California Peach Grow- ers, Inc., and the California Associated Raisin Company.

In Missouri, Mr. Richmond was married to Miss Linda Easterday, a native of that state and the daughter of Daniel Easterday, who was born at Columbus, Ohio, where her folks once owned much of the site of that city. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Richmond-Lucile and Virgil in Oklahoma, and Alvin in California. The family attend the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Fresno.

Mr. Richmond was made a Mason in Memphis Lodge No. 16, F. & A. M. in Memphis, Mo., and he is still affiliated there. In Oklahoma he was a trus- tee of the church, and superintendent of the Sunday School. He belongs to the Sons of Veterans and is a standpat Republican.

J. H. NELSON .- An interesting old settler in Fresno County, who can look back to such a part in laying the foundation for the chief city of Central California that, when the first railway locomotive puffed and snorted into Fresno, he was on hand to haul goods from the train to Tollhouse, and con- tended with such difficulties that he paid as high as twenty-five cents a bucket for water sold in the town, is J. H. Nelson, who came to California on Septem- ber 13, 1859. He was born in Bearcreek, Cedar County, Mo., on Washington's birthday, 1854, the son of Len Edward Nelson, a native of Virginia, who was a marble-cutter by trade, but became a farmer. The father married Miss Nan Emmerson, who was born in Tennessee. In 1858 he started across the plains with his family of two children, and the usual ox teams. Arriving in Stockton, he set up for a year as a marble-cutter, and then he went to Sonora, continued to ply his trade and opened a marble yard.

The elder of the two children, J. H. Nelson, crossed the plains when he was four years of age, and then had the experience that he still remembers of wintering on the prairies. Settling with his folks in California, he went to school at Sonora, but at fifteen he was thrown upon his own resources. In 1869, he came to old Millerton to work for Uncle John Emmerson, who ran the old McCray Hotel, and he continued with him for about three years. In 1873, having worked awhile on a ranch at Centerville, he removed to Tollhouse, where a cousin, Joe Carter, ran a dairy on Pine Ridge; and he remained with him until 1874. Then he engaged in lumbering, and later worked in the saw mills; and for a season he ran a mill himself.

On June 7, 1882, Mr. Nelson was married at Tollhouse to Miss Phoebe Waite, who was born in Des Moines, Iowa, the daughter of T. A. Waite, a native of Ohio, who settled in Iowa as a farmer. Her mother was Mary J. Cavin before her marriage, and she was born in Ohio. In 1875, Mr. Waite brought his family to Fresno on account of his health, and located at Toll- house, where he worked in the mill. The same year he was seriously hurt in an accident, and on June 18, 1876, he died. The mother also died there, leaving eight children, of whom Mrs. Nelson was the fourth eldest. She came to California in her eighth year, and attended the public school at Tollhouse.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Nelson engaged in the manufacture of shakes on Pine Ridge, which he hauled to Tollhouse and from there trans- ported by teams to Fresno. In 1884, Mr. Nelson located a preemption of eighty acres at Tollhouse and improved the land, and in the summer time he made shakes on Pine Ridge. He set out an apple orchard on his home place, and later he bought eighty acres adjoining, and then had 160 acres on which he raised both stock and fruit. He used the brand I C, and he still continued

J. J. nelson

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to make shakes on Pine Ridge. He had five acres in some of the finest apple orchard to be seen in that vicinity.

· In the fall of 1915 Mr. Nelson sold his ranch, and located near Clovis; and since then he has engaged in the scientific work of viticulture. He owns ten acres one and a half miles to the north of Clovis, which he has also set out in attractive vineyards.

Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Nelson, and have added to the social popularity of the family in the communities in which they have lived. Lee Edward is a carpenter near Clovis; Alice J., now Mrs. Burritt, resides at Oakland ; Annie D. has become Mrs. R. N. Cobb, of Hoopa, Hum- boldt County; Laura M., now Mrs. Arthur Cate, resides at Clovis; Mary G., is a graduate of the Clovis High School, now studying for nurse at Burnett Sanitarium; and Edith A. attends Clovis High School. Mrs. Nelson is a member of the Methodist Church of Clovis, and Mr. Nelson is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World.

SHELL COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA .- To what extent, in the laying out and directing of a great enterprise, new and approved ideas as to the great value of sanitary methods and appliances and the importance of doing every- thing possible to make the laborer comfortable and happy, may be employed is well ilustrated by the Shell Company of California, with their headquarters at Oilfields. Their camp there is said to be the most modern, sanitary and best arranged oil camp in the United States and perhaps in the world. The streets are well-plotted and the buildings up to date, lighted by electricity and heated by gas. There is a well-stocked general merchandise store; a large dining hall with auxiliary dining rooms; a large and fully equipped club house, and a modern hospital. For this plant, not only are the managers of the company to be thanked for their public spirit, but the company's workers as well have had their honorable part.

The oil property and camp were started about 1900 by Balfour Guthrie and Company, although William Mills Graham before this had started on Section 27, selling out afterward to that firm. Then he was made superintend- ent for them and began the development here. Finally, the California Oil- fields, Ltd., was incorporated, and this gradually purchased the small com- panies around there until it became the largest company operating on what is known as the East Side Field.

About August, 1913, the Shell Company purchased the California Oil- fields, and took over all of their holdings; and they have continued there de- velopments on a large scale, at the same time maintaining the excellence of their buildings; and the result is a prosperous and happy town of more than 600 population. The company even have their own dairy, poultry and hog ranch, and also conduct a large commissary department, with a bakery and a boarding house. There is an abundance of natural gas on the different leases, and this is used in the production of steam, gas and electric power, as well as for heating and lighting purposes. A small refinery is operated, and a compressor gasoline plant.

The company has its own ice factory and refrigerating plant, an excellent water system, and they keep up a modern sewer system, with septic tanks and garbage destroyers. There is also a garage sufficient to house some thir- ty-seven cars as well as trucks, and stables adequate for the accommodation of eighty or more horses and mules; a large, modern machine shop, with boiler and tank shops, and spacious storehouses and offices designed accord- ing to the best architectural and decorative standards; and besides the com- munity buildings for men, there is a large club house with billiard parlors, reading room, ice-cream parlor, library, etc. The large swimming pool affords both recreation and the facilities for preserving health and increasing happi- ness. In summer time an air dome provides for moving pictures, and in win- ter such entertainment is given in the lecture hall. There are also grounds for both base- and football.

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The school district is named Oil King, and there is a commodious modern schoolhouse with five teachers.

E. S. Durward is the present superintendent, and he is intensely interested in keeping the camp up to the highest standard and introducing improve- ments whenever they can be made. He never fails to inquire into any pro- posals for improvements, recommends the best, and puts the matter before the proper authorities. The result is that the employees stick by the com- pany, many having been there for eight or ten years.

In order that the company, employees and staff may keep in touch with each other, a Welfare Committee whose members are elected from amongst the employees by popular vote meets once a month with the superintendent. In these meetings matters affecting to the comfort and efficiency of the em- ployees, improvements, safeguards against accident and any other matters beneficial to the employees and the company are discussed and settled.

Mr. E. S. Durward was born in Scotland, and in that country he studied and became a mechanical engineer. Later he took up the study of mining engineering, and in the oil fields in Egypt followed his profession for three years. Returning to England, he remained there for a short time; but the attractions of California drew him hither, and in 1913 he reached the Pacific Coast. Shortly after his arrival he entered the service of the California Oil- fields, Ltd., as assistant superintendent; and in August, 1913, when these holdings were taken over by the Shell Company, he remained with the new proprietors in the same position. Under the superintendence of Mr. W. C. McDuffie, in the spring of 1918, he was made Field Superintendent for the company, succeeding Mr. McDuffie who had become general superintendent.

JEROME A. McLAUGHLIN .- A thoroughly reliable oil-man, whose in- tegrity is unquestioned and who has an enviable reputation as one of the best production men in California, is Jerome A. McLaughlin, production fore- man for the Shell Company of California, at Oilfields. He was born in Butler County, Pa., in 1867, the son of Daniel G. McLaughlin, a native of that state, who became a successful farmer and oil-operator, his lands being still in the possession of his family, a valuable heritage, as they are underlaid with coal and oil. The oldest son, C. R. McLaughlin, is looking after the interests of this estate. Daniel McLaughlin died in Pennsylvania. His wife was Eleanor (Boyle) McLaughlin, and she now resides in Glendale, having the companion- ship of a daughter. They live in a home, that J. A. McLaughlin built for his mother ; and there she is spending her later years in peace and contentment. Four boys and two girls were born to this worthy couple, and among them J. A. was the second oldest.

Jerome A. received a good education in the local public schools while he assisted his father on the farm and in his oil operations, and he remained at home until he went to the oil-fields in Wood County, Ohio. There he became production foreman for the Standard Oil Company, and later had the same position with the Palmer Oil Company. In 1904 he came out to Bartles- ville, Okla., to become production foreman for the Security Oil Company, and while there he made the acquaintance of A. C. Graham of Oilfields, Cal., who later recommended him as foreman for the California Oilfields, Limited, and he was tendered the position in 1908. He accepted and came here im- mediately to take charge; and he has remained in that office ever since, con- tinuing with the Shell Company of California when it succeeded to the prop- erty in August, 1913. He has given them the benefit of years of valuable experience, and is considered one of the best-posted production men in California.

In many ways Mr. McLanghlin has identified himself with the permanent growth of the community, in which we hope he will remain. Among other activities, he is a stockholder and director in the Oilfields Cooperative Store.

J. a. M Laughlin

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GEORGE F. CORLEY .- Well known as the proprietor of the Coalinga Dairy, the oldest and best dairy in the city, was the late George F. Corley, a native of Tennessee, born near Gordonsville, February 4, 1876, a son of Henry and Tennessee (Ray) Corley, both natives of Tennessee. The ancestors of the Corley family were from the Emerald Isle, Great-grandfather Corley emigrating from Ireland and settling in Tennessee. Grandfather Nathaniel Corley saw service in the Civil War.

After completing his education in the public school of his native state, George F. assisted his father on the farm until 1903, when he came out to Madera County, Cal. Here he was employed by the Raymond Granite Com- pany as their foreman, remaining with them four years. In 1907, Mr. Corley moved to Fresno County, locating at Coalinga, where he secured employment in the oil-fields as a rig-builder, being engaged by different companies. De- siring to engage in business for himself, Mr. Corley bought, in 1914, the Coalinga Dairy from R. Thut, the purchase including his business, residence and dairy buildings. Since that date he personally conducted the business by the most modern and sanitary methods, and his care in safeguarding his milk was fully appreciated, as shown by the large patronage accorded the Coalinga Dairy, which had the reputation of selling the best quality of milk in the city. In addition to the dairy business, Mr. Corley also engaged in raising cattle and hogs.

On January 20, 1898, George F. Corley was united in marriage with Miss Mary Inez Roberts, a native of Gordonsville, Tenn., and they became the parents of four children: Bessie, now Mrs. Reed of Coalinga; William, with the Coalinga Ice Company ; Lamon ; and Louise. Mrs. Corley is the daughter of Oliver and Lucy (Whitley) Roberts, born in Virginia and Tennessee, re- spectively, and who were farmers. Mr. Roberts served in the Confederate Army in the Civil War. Both parents died in Tennessee, the father in 1914, and the mother on July 30, 1912.

Fraternally, Mr. Corley was a member of the Odd Fellows and the Eagles at Coalinga. He was well-informed and possessed a genial disposition, with the happy faculty of making and retaining friends and was always ready to aid in advancing the best interests of Coalinga. Mr. Corley passed away on January 13, 1919, after an illness of nine days. Mrs. Corley has bravely taken the management of their affairs and, with the aid of the youngest son, Lamon, continues the dairy business.

BERT A. STATHAM .- A representative of one of Fresno County's ear- liest pioneer families who has made himself in private and commercial life thoroughly dependable, turned aside to effect a good army record, and come to stand high in Masonic circles so that with his wife he is enviably popular, is Bert A. Statham, a native son who was born in Fresno on October 22, 1888, the only son of James and Margaret (Lawson) Statham. The father was born in Centerville, Fresno County, on September 22, 1859, and engaged in the butcher business at Fresno. Then, for several years, he served as deputy tax collector, and in 1909 he died near Selma. His father was A. H. Statham, a Fresno County pioneer and one of the early developers of the city of Fresno. Mrs. Statham's father was George Lawson, for quarter of a century the pro- prietor of the Grand Central barber shop.

Bert was brought up in the home of his grandparents, the Lawsons, and when they moved East to Greenville, Il1., he accompanied them, and attended the common schools of the districts in which he lived. He also attended Greenville College, where he pursued a business course, and then he took a position as stock clerk with the Peters Shoe Company of St. Louis.

His grandmother, Betsy Jane Ingles, having died in Greenville, Bert Statham returned to Fresno County with his grandfather, reaching here in 1911 ; and in July he located at Selma. He accepted a position as bookkeeper for the Selma Planing Mill, but resigned in February, 1915, to enter the

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service of the Selma Land Company. Now he devotes his whole time and attention to the management of their insurance department.

Not only did Mr. Statham render active field service in the war, but he returned just in time to do the required herculean work in connection with the Victory Loan drive. When the call for volunteers came, he enlisted in the quartermaster's corps, on August 13, 1917, and was assigned for duty in the paymaster's office at the San Francisco Presidio. He remained steadily at his post, and rose to become first-class sergeant. On March 13, 1919, he was honorably discharged at San Francisco. Under his direction as secretary of the Drive, Selma went promptly "over the top" by 115 per cent.

In 1915 Mr. Statham was married at Fresno to Miss Ethel E. Phillips of Selma, the daughter of George B. and Jennie (Dodson) Phillips; and they reside at 2121 North Street in their own house. Mr. Statham is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of Selma Lodge No. 277, F. & A. M., and the San Francisco Consistory Bodies, No. 1. He also belongs to Islam Temple, of the San Francisco Shriners. He is a member of Selma Parlor of the Native Sons, and he belongs to the Eastern Star and the Improved Order of Red Men, Independent Order of Foresters, and Woodmen of the World.

CLARENCE L. STAMMERS, M. D .- A medical man of exceptionally superior training, whose skill and conscientious attention and care to every patient have enabled him to rise rapidly in his profession is Dr. Clarence L. Stammers, doubly interesting to residents of Central California as the son of an esteemed pioneer. His father, a jeweler, was one of the highly-respected business men of Selma, and his mother, who has survived and still resides here, owns the well-known Stammers Block. The Doctor occupies rooms in the Sugar Block, while he lives at the Selma Sanitarium, at 1701 First Street, which is in charge of his wife.

Dr. Stammers was born at Cheyenne, Wyo., on September 29, 1887, the son of the late William Robert Stammers, a native of England who came to Selma and was the pioneer in the jewelry trade. After coming to the United States, he married, as his second wife, Miss Mary Elizabeth Footherape, also a native of England, who still resides in Selma, enjoying the honors due her as a pioneer. Mr. Stammers passed away in January, 1916, at the age of sixty-nine years.

Clarence L. was five years old when he came with his parents to Selma, and here he attended the public schools. In these preliminary studies he laid a broad and liberal foundation ; and he was fortunate in deciding early to become a medical man. He first studied ophthalmology, and practiced the same, and later he studied medicine and surgery.

He went to Chicago and entered the Northern Illinois College of Ophthal- mology and Otology, and there in 1907 he graduated. Then he took a post- graduate course at the Los Angeles Optical College, from which he grad- uated in July, 1908. Next he practiced ophthalmology in Selma for about a year. Dr. Stammers then entered the California Eclectic Medical College at Los Angeles where he took the four years' course, graduating in 1914. He had spent three years in the Selma High School and during his college course he returned to Selma and took his senior year, graduating in the class of '13. This union of high school and medical studies, typical of a western American youth, somewhat impaired his health, but he continued for a year to practice ophthalmology at Selma and then he went to San Francisco again to get in close touch with the outer and busier world.

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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 II, Part 103

Author: Vandor, Paul E., 1858- Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company Number of Pages: 1424

Author: Vandor, Paul E., 1858-
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1424