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 108
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One of the four children of Mr. and Mrs. Nishkian, Dearan, died when he was seventeen; and at Mr. Nishkian's death, there were living his widow, Mrs. Horopik Nishkian; a son, Odar, who married Lucy Kaprialian, doing service for his country overseas in the Fortieth Division, United States Army, in France, 1918 and 1919, returning home in May of the latter year, and since his honorable discharge is assisting his mother in the operating and manage-
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ment of the ranch; a daughter, Zarouhi, who is Mrs. Metchonian of Fresno; another son, Vaughan, who is an auto expert in Fresno; a sister, Mrs. I. Garey ; and three brothers, M. M., M. N., and K. M. Nishkian, still living in Fresno.
Garabed M. Nishkian belonged to the Armenian Holy Trinity Church, from which he was buried, two thousand friends attending and making the funeral a notable occasion. The services were conducted by the Rev. V. Cas- parian and Theodore Isaacs, and at the cemetery short speeches were made by E. Shahinian and A. Equinian, countrymen of the deceased. A glowing tribute was paid to the departed by E. S. Ardzrooni. The latter said in part: "Mr. Nishkian was born in an environment where tyranny and oppression reigned, and as early as 1881 he devoted himself to the liberation of his race, subjugated by the Turkish rule. Thus he joined the council of seven other leaders and launched a national policy of liberation, and though revolutionary in principle, the real purpose of the movement aimed to awaken public intelli- gence and through conciliatory measures reach the long-desired freedom. With Nishkian's leadership an epochal political reform movement was at once felt throughout the country ; but however destined he seemed to play the part of a national hero, the movement was halted, and the associates of Nishkian were captured and put to death. Only young Nishkian escaped, leaving a death sentence and a shattered ideal behind. He eluded the Turkish author- ities at Constantinople where, disguised, he was kept in hiding by his elder brother who was also affiliated with the movement. His views in later days on the political situation of Armenia stood in strange contrast to his earlier doctrine. He realized that without a concerted and constructive attempt, and without the aid and active sympathy of friendly nations, the cause of his country could never advance. In justice to his sacred memory it must be said that he lived in advance of his time. The effects of his theory may in- deed often be traced in his practice. His liberal contributions to charity flowed from a generous and devoted heart, and he gave most unostentatiously. He felt a certain contempt for mankind ; defied the commonly-accepted creeds of society, and always presented a forceful personality and an uncompromising disposition, once his conclusions had been formed."
MR. and MRS. H. W. RUSSELL .- Born at St. Joseph, Mo., January 15, 1866, H. W. Russell came to California in 1869 with his parents, George C. and Mary L. (Curtis) Russell, both parents having been born in New York State, and married there. They settled in San Francisco, where the father was a car- penter and later moved to San Jose. H. W. was the only boy in a family of three children. His two sisters are Mrs. Carrie P. Fowler, a widow, residing with her mother, who is past eighty years of age, at San Jose, and Lottie, now the wife of L. B. Pollard of Fresno. From San Jose the family moved to Fresno in March, 1879, settling in the Mendocino district, where the father bought gov- ernment land and improved a tract of 160 acres. They lived there for five years and then moved back to San Jose. Mr. George C. Russell died at the home of his son in Dinuba in 1911 and is buried at San Jose.
Mrs. H. W. Russell, nee Iambie A. Carr, is the third child and second daughter of the well-known Fresno County pioneer, T. W. Carr, who now lives at San Miguel, San Luis Obispo County. He came to Fresno County in 1875 and helped promote and dig the Kingsburg and Centerville ditch. He was one of the first ditch superintendents on that ditch. He was born in Ohio and moved to Iowa where he was married to Miss Helen McClosky, a native of Pennsylvania. She died at Dinuba in 1906 and lies buried in the Mendocino Cemetery in Fresno County. She left eight children: Robert, a rancher at Gridley, Butte County ; Sophie, the wife of A. J. Salladay of Terra Bella; Iambie A .; Oscar, who re- sides at Coalinga; Benjamin T., residing at Parkfield, Monterey County ; Maggie, the wife of E. O. Reese of Kerman; Bertha, wife of W. H. Gilstrap, she died in 1917 and left one child, Bernice; and John W., who resides at Oroville.
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Iambie A. Carr was born at Milton, Iowa, and was but seven years of age when she came to California. She attended the Mendocino district school and later the Selma High school and was a member of the first class graduated from Selma High in 1885. She was a student at the San Jose Normal later and taught school for four years in Fresno and Tulare counties.
She was married at Lompoc to Mr. H. W. Russell, April 8, 1891, and they lived at various places on the Coast until they came to Dinuba in 1906, where Mr. Russell planted and improved a seventy-acre ranch. They came back to Fresno County in 1913 where he improved a ranch at Sanger. In November, 1918, they moved back to Fresno where they now reside.
Mr. and Mrs. Russell are the parents of five children : H. Warren, a rancher near Fresno; Ila H., the wife of E. R. Hudson, cashier of the First National Bank of Sanger; Ralph C., a graduate of the Sanger High School who enlisted and was in the Officers Training School at Waco, Texas, at the signing of the armistice, and is now at home; Elmer W. and Glen C., both living at home.
Mr. and Mrs. Russell are members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Fresno.
CHARLES H. BYRD .- Charles H. Byrd is the owner of forty acres in the De Wolf district, where he resides with his family, ten miles southeast of Fresno. He is a son of the late John H. Byrd, the pioneer of Kings River. His mother is still living in Fresno.
C. H. Byrd was born on the old Byrd Ranch on the Kings River, August 2, 1876. He was raised on the home ranch and attended the home district school and was graduated from the Fresno High School in 1898. Since leaving school he has been engaged in ranching and horticulture.
He was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Collins, a daughter of the late J. D. Collins, in September, 1904. Mr. and Mrs. Byrd have three children : Charles Collins, J. D., and Stanley.
After the death of Mr. Byrd's father, he and his wife settled in the De Wolf district on the twenty acres given to his wife by J. D. Collins.
They have greatly improved the place and it is now planted to vines and trees in full bearing, and fifteen acres are in alfalfa. They have a beautiful bun- galow, barns, tray sheds and pumping plant.
Mr. Byrd is a member of the board of trustees of the De Wolf school district and is a Mason. In politics he is a Democrat.
R. J. HEISKELL .- R. J. Heiskell, a raisin grower owning thirty-four acres of well-improved land on North Avenue, twelve miles southeast of Fresno in the Highland school district, is a native son of Fresno County. His father, J. M. Heiskell of Clovis, is a Fresno County pioneer and is now living retired at Clovis. He came to California right after the Civil War. R. J. Heiskell is his second son and the third child of a family of five children: W. J., a cattle raiser, who resides at Clovis; Margaret, who resides in Fresno; Robert J .; Bettie, re- siding in Fresno; and Kate, the wife of Fred Wolf, an electrician in the Navy Yard at Mare Island, residing at Berkeley.
R. J. Heiskell was born March 29, 1873, seven miles northeast of Clovis, which was the Heiskell home farm at that time. His father was born in Ten- nessee and was married there to Miss Mary Jack. When he first came to Cal- ifornia, a year or two after his marriage, he went to Stanislaus County, where he grain-farmed. From there he came to Fresno County and continued at grain- farming near Clovis in the Dry Creek country and it was there that R. J. Heiskell grew up. His mother passed away about twenty years ago.
He attended the public school and most of his education was obtained at the old Mississippi school. Later he went to business college at Fresno. After he was of age, he rented land near Clovis and there grain-farmed for several years.
He was married in 1901 to Miss Mary Ethel Collins, the eldest child of the late J. D. Collins.
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Mr. Heiskell bought his present place of thirty-four acres in 1908, at which time it was nothing but a grain field. It is now a lovely vineyard, very productive, in one of Fresno County's best raisin districts. There are twenty-four acres planted to Muscats, two acres to Thompsons, five acres to Zinfandels, and a comfortable house, with barn, drying yards and an alfalfa field make up the balance.
Mr. Heiskell is a Democrat in politics.
ERNEST VICTOR BRISCOE .- Ernest Victor Briscoe, the eldest son of R. W. Briscoe, was born at Malaga, January 29, 1890, and grew up on his father's ranches. He attended the Malaga public schools and the Fresno and Heald's Business Colleges in Fresno. Mr. Briscoe resides on his forty-acre vine- yard in the De Wolf district, and recently purchased from his father 120 acres at Kerman, which is also in vineyard.
His father was not only an extensive landowner and vineyardist, but also a stockman, hence Ernest Briscoe is conversant with almost every branch of agriculture.
He spent the year 1913 at Glendale, near Phoenix, Ariz., and while there planted 160 acres to alfalfa.
He was married in Fresno on August 20, 1915, to Miss Margaret Weimert of Fresno County, a daughter of W. E. and Pearl Weimert, ranchers in the Barstow Colony. They have one child, Dorothy Louise.
Mr. Briscoe is a member of the Baptist Church at Malaga and Mrs. Briscoe belongs to the Brethren Church at Fresno.
CHARLES A. HIVELY .- A native son who has had a very valuable experience as an oil man, and who very naturally takes a live interest in public affairs pertaining to Coalinga, is Charles A. Hively, field superintend- ent of the fuel department of the Southern Pacific Railroad. He was born at Oakdale, Cal., on June 23, 1870, the son of William Snyder Hively, a native of Bath County, Va., one of five brothers, two of whom served in the Union Army during the Civil War. The Hivelys are really of old Virginia stock, and are therefore from among the most representative Southern aristocracy.
William S. Hively came to California in the latter fifties, and here mar- ried Mary J. Christian, who was born in Chariton, Iowa, and crossed the great plains in an ox team train to California, accompanying her two broth- ers. After mining in the Sierras, he located at Oakdale, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising; and in 1876 he came to Tulare County, and pitched his tent near Tipton, one of the early settlements, where he home- steaded, improved and farmed 160 acres of land, until he retired to Dinuba. There he died, at the ripe old age of over eighty years. Mrs. Hively passed away in Riverside, five years before her husband, the mother of three chil- dren, two (twin) boys and a girl. The other son is W. A. Hively, a success- ful farmer of Turlock.
Charles A. Hively was reared at Tipton and sent to the public schools there, after which he went to Washington College, at Irvington in Santa Clara County, where he completed the course of study prescribed. Then he raised grain in Tulare County, but in 1900 entered the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad at Bakersfield. He was clerk in the freight offices under W. V. Matlack of Bakersfield, but in 1901 was transferred to the oil department at McKittrick, where he rose rapidly from a clerkship until he became superin- tendent of the Kern Trading and Oil Company. In November, 1905, he was transferred to Bakersfield and continued there until November 17, 1909. when he was transferred to Coalinga.
As field superintendent, Mr. Hively has grown up with the company, commencing with some eight or ten wells on the south side in the McKit- trick field, having a production of 10,000 barrels a month; in four years the production has increased to about 45,000 barrels per month. This wonderful
Castively
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growth has also occurred in the Kern River field, where the production, while Mr. Hively was superintendent, rose from 40,000 barrels a month to 130,000. Since 1916 the company has been known as the Fuel Oil Department of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Mr. Hively was fortunate in early being asso- ciated with two or three men of signal ability, so that his experience was more valuable than that accorded the average man. He was for a while in intimate cooperation with Josiah Owens, the geologist for the Kern Trading and Oil Company, a splendid scientist and a man of good judgment. He also worked under J. B. Treadwell, head of the oil department. Now Mr. Hively is a member of the American Mining Congress. He has been interested in different companies for promoting the oil industry and related projects. He is also vice-president of the Baker Casing Shoe Company.
At Visalia, on February 14, 1891, Mr. Hively was married to Miss Ina Foster, a native of Guerneville, Sonoma County, Cal., whose father, William Foster, crossed the plains a pioneer to California. He became a lumberman, and was an expert ox-driver in the lumber woods in the early days. Mr. and Mrs. Hively have a daughter, Vera, a graduate of Stanford University, where she received the Bachelor of Arts degree. She also attended Miss Conklin's school in New York City and graduated from the secretarial department.
Mr. Hively is a member of the Hanford Lodge of Elks, and was made a Mason in Bakersfield Lodge, No. 224, F. & A. M., and he is a member of the Coalinga Chapter of Royal Arch Masons. He is also president of the Growl- ers Club of Coalinga, and is thus prominent socially as well as in financial and business circles. He was a director of the Coalinga Chapter of the Red Cross, and president of the Coalinga War Fund Association, and was very successful, as a member of the Liberty Bond drive committee, in raising funds for the war.
F. TUCKER .- A wide-awake Ford agent and dealer who is not only favorably known in Selma, but has an enviable reputation beyond the bounds of this enterprising town, is F. Tucker who came to California with a couple of willing hands, a good head and a brave, warm heart, and today, as a natural result, is the possessor of a snug little fortune. Complete mastery of the details of the business, as well as a belief in square dealing and prompt, reliable service have contributed to build up his large trade. He now owns and occupies the largest garage building in Selma, at the corner of Second and West Front Streets, which contains an ample machine shop, offices and display rooms. He handles Fordson Tractors and Ford antos, and accessories.
Born near Greeley, Kans., on November 5, 1879, Mr. Tucker grew up in "The Garden of the West," enjoyed the excellent common-school advan- tages of that state, and grew robust under summer heat and winter cold. Not until August, 1911, after he had often reflected on the advantages of life west of the Rockies, did the ambitious young American, now grown to manhood, come out to the Pacific; but from the first day that he breathed the air of California, he knew that he had found what he had long dreamed about.
Settling temporarily in Fresno, he worked for a year for the Ford agent there, and then, initiated into the perfect routine which has always charac- terized the business ways of that automobile system, he removed to Selma and established the agency here. From almost the start, he won favor with the local public, and success has attended his efforts beyond his most san- guine expectations. His sales for the year 1917 were 178 cars, for 1918 he had a contract for 192 automobiles, while in 1919 his contract is for 250 cars, and he will handle the Fordson tractor besides. It is doubtful if any other dealer in the state can make a better showing, limit of territory and other conditions being taken into account.
Mr. Tucker, however, has one or two specific items for which he is justly proud. He unloaded the first car-lot of automobiles ever consigned to Selma, no other dealer before him ever having brought in a carload of machines. The
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total number of Fords he has disposed of up to date is more than 1,200. These come to him from the Detroit factory only partly assembled; and they are finally and expertly put together at the Tucker shop.
The surprising thing about Mr. Tucker's success with his Selma agency is the limitation of the territory in which he is expected to operate. It runs east only as far as the river, for Fowler has its own agency, and so has Kingsburg, the well-kept agency at the latter place being managed by Mr. Tucker's brother. Considering, therefore, the very limited area of the district to which he is by Ford ethics strictly confined, Mr. Tucker probably holds not only the California, but the United States record for sales in a five-year period, a fact which speaks for the general prosperity of the vicinity as well as the thrift and good judgment of the inhabitants of Selma. His machine- shop is connected with his commodious, clean and well-kept garage.
While in Kansas, Mr. Tucker was married to Miss Levora Reynolds of that state, by whom he has had two children, Florence and Frederick. In the suburbs, northwest of Selma, he has built himself a beautiful home, and there he lives with his interesting family.
Having thus been the very satisfactory representative of the Fords at Selma for the past six years, Mr. Tucker has not only kept on hand a large stock of Ford accessories, but he has always had a sufficient force of com- petent machinists to meet every demand of his numerous and appreciative patrons. The result is that he has one of the best-paying branches to be found anywhere on the Coast.
EUGENE A. BERRYHILL .- The genealogy of the Berryhill family in the United States is traced back to Colonial Days before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, to the great-grandfather of E. A. Berry- hill, who gave his life in the cause of liberty and freedom, during his service in the Revolutionary War. The Berryhill family is of Scotch ancestry. The grandparents of E. A. Berryhill, were M. W. and Katherine C. Berry- hill, who were the parents of ten children, nine of whom grew to maturity and three migrated to California: O. D .; F. A .; and Sarah M .; three other members of the family reside in Missouri.
Olando DeKalb Berryhill, the father of Eugene A., was born in Arkan- sas, in 1859, and received his early education in the public schools of Arkan- sas and Missouri. In 1875, when about sixteen years of age, he arrived in the Golden State without money or experience, his chief assets being a clear mind, a strong and healthy body, and a firm determination to win suc- cess. His first employment was secured at Santa Rosa, where he worked one year in a rock quarry. Subsequently he moved to the San Joaquin Valley, settled in Tulare County and engaged in grain-raising, beginning with 160 acres, and continuing in the business for fifteen years. In 1897, he entered the raisin business and has continued in this industry ever since. His first purchase of vine land consisted of eighty acres, later he bought forty acres more, which he set out to vines, and upon which ranch he is now residing. Subsequently he purchased sixty acres from the Sacra- mento Bank, which place he afterwards sold. At present, O. D. Berryhill owns fifty acres devoted to grapes, and his wife has a vineyard of fifty-five acres which yields a fine crop of grapes.
On June 12, 1879, O. D. Berryhill was united in marriage with Miss Angelina Myers, a native of Missouri, who migrated to California in 1875, and the daughter of Conrad Myers. This union was blessed with seven children : Herbert F .; Eugene A .; Edith; Mrs. Henry Estes; Homer L .; Claude Chalmers; Leonard R .; and Gussie. Leonard R. and Claude C. both demonstrated their patriotism by answering their country's call to the colors and saw over a year's service in France, in the Aviation Corps of the United States Army. Leonard R. entered the service in December, 1917, and for ability was promoted to the rank of corporal. Claude C. was
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HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY
mustered into service in July, 1917, and trained on Long Island, N. Y. and was made a sergeant for capable service. Both brothers were ordered for overseas duty, going at different times, and were united in France.
Eugene A. Berryhill, the subject of this review, was born October 15, 1884, on his father's ranch in Fresno County and received his early educa- tion in the public schools of the Rosedale, Mendocino, Hills Valley and Sand Creek districts. Since his school days were over he has engaged in ranching and is now located about four and one-half miles southwest of Sanger, living on the ranch where he was born and of which he is the owner.
On November 25, 1906, Eugene A. Berryhill was united in marriage with Miss Georgia Madsen, born in 1888, in Oakland, Cal., the daughter of Robert K. Madsen. This union was blessed with four children: Yvonne; Robert; Virginia; and Richard. Mr. Berryhill is classed among the en- terprising and worthy young ranchers of Fresno County, and he and his estimable wife are highly esteemed in their community. He is a stock- holder in the California Associated Raisin Company.
NEWTON P. BYRD .- Newton P. Byrd is the youngest child of the late John H. Byrd, who died October 5, 1913, and whose widow still resides in Fresno. Newton P. was born on the old Byrd homestead in Clark's Valley, on November 5, 1894. He was raised on the Byrd ranch, attended the district school in Clark's Valley and was graduated from the Fresno High School in 1915.
In the same year, he was married to Miss Ernestine Naomi Belfils, a daugh- ter of Dr. E. K. Belfils, a dentist with offices in the Union National Bank Build- ing, Fresno. Mr. and Mrs. Byrd have one child, Barbara Lee.
Mr. Byrd bought his ranch of twenty acres from J. D. Collins in 1915. He built a beautiful cement and stucco bungalow in 1917, where he and his family now reside.
Mr. Byrd is a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West Parlor in Fresno and he is a Mason, being a member of Fresno Lodge, F. and A. M.
LEWIS E. VAN RONK .- A busy and popular brick and cement con- tractor, as well as plasterer and manufacturer of cement building blocks in the enterprising city of Sanger, Fresno County, is Lewis E. Van Ronk, a native of Iowa, where he was born on July 10, 1865, a son of Theodore and Cynthia Van Ronk, who were natives of New York. They were the parents of six children, L. E. Van Ronk being the only member of the family to migrate to California, to which state he came in 1913.
In his younger days L. E. Van Ronk learned the trade of a brick mason and has followed the vocation ever since. His early education was received in the public schools of Iowa, from which State he migrated to Centralia, Wash., where he resided for twenty-five years.
While living in Washington, in the year 1888, L. E. Van Ronk was united in marriage with Miss Nancy Viola Watson, a native of Iowa, born on April 17, 1870, a daughter of Charles Watson. Mr. and Mrs. Van Ronk have been blessed with six children: Vera Maud the wife of M. Stanton of Centralia, Wash .; Lavern Edward, who manifested his patriotism by answering the call to the colors, and who served his country overseas over a year in the interest of universal Liberty, being attached to the Aviation Corps, No. 835; Virgil L .; Marie Geneva, who married P. M. Crosby, and is residing at Sanger; Frank L., another patriot who is serving his country in France; and Leta J., the youngest of the family.
Mr. L. E. Van Ronk is doing a large business in the making of cement building blocks for which purpose his factory is supplied with the proper facilities in the way of machinery and the various patterns for blocks suit- able for the construction of homes. The success he has won is evident that he has the confidence of those with whom he has had business dealings. Aside from his home in Sanger, Mr. Van Ronk is the owner of a fine residence in Centralia, Wash.
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HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY
WILLIAM JORDAN MOFFITT .- A thorough gentleman and an amia- ble and successful man of affairs, who is blessed with a wife of like business and social qualities, is William Jordan Moffitt, who was born at Spencer, in Tennessee, August 4, 1884. His father was Marion Moffitt, a native of Ten- nessee, who was a major in the Confederate Army, and afterward a farmer and a member of the legislature. He died in his native state. Mrs. Moffitt was Mollie F. Ammonette, also a native of Tennessee. She is still living, a widow now, Mrs. Macon, and resides with the subject of our review. By her first marriage she had two children, only one of whom, William, is now living. He was the elder of the two, and was brought up in Tennessee, attended the public schools, and afterward was a student at Burt College in that state. When nineteen, he entered the employ of the N. C. and St. L. Railroad and continued with them as a bill clerk until 1906, when he came to Fresno. Here he secured employment with Wells Fargo & Company, and helped the messenger on the run out from Fresno to San Francisco, and also to Los Angeles.
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