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 26

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 26

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After the war Mr. Allen followed farming in Mississippi County, Mo., later moving to Temple, Texas, in which section he was one of the pioneer settlers. In 1887 he sought the salubrious climate of California for the bene- fit of his health. After arriving in Fresno County, he first purchased ten acres of raw land in the West Park district, later increasing his acreage by buying twenty additional acres, which he improved. He developed his prop- erty and brought it to such a high state of cultivation that at that date it was regarded as one of the best vineyards in the county. In those early days, however, the price of grapes was so small that it did not pay vineyardists enough to justify picking the grapes ; so in 1890 he sold his ranch and moved to Fresno.

While living in Hickman, Ky., Mr. Allen learned the trade of a paper- hanger, painter and interior decorator, which he followed in Kentucky and Texas. Upon moving to the city of Fresno, he bought a lot on the corner of Inez and Ventura Avenues, where he erected his home and has resided ever since 1902. In Fresno, Mr. Allen has succeeded in building up an enviable

G. E. Ahlberg

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HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

reputation in his chosen line, as well as a large and profitable business, all unsolicited which is the best advertisement.

Jesse Buell Allen has been twice married; his first wife was Maggie E. Nunn, a native of Kentucky, in which state they were married in 1867. She passed away in 1873, having been the mother of three children, all of whom are deceased. Mr. Allen's second marriage took place in Troy, Texas, August 5, 1879, and united him with Anna Hand, a native of Shelby County, Ala., and the daughter of Rev. J. C. Hand and his wife Martha (Smith) Hand, natives of Georgia. Her father was a minister in the Baptist Church. He re- moved to Texas, where he was a pioneer minister in Bell County, Texas, and later he returned to Alabama, where he died. This union was blessed by six children, four of whom are living: Lawson J. is the secretary of the Fresno Merchants' Association; Harry is ranching west of Fresno; Mary is the wife of George Wachold, of Fresno; Glennroy is associated with the moving-picture business in Los Angeles. Mr. and Mrs. Allen are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

GUSTAV E. AHLBERG .- A pioneer rancher of the Fowler district who has developed forty acres from a stubble-field to a very productive vineyard, and assisted by his two able sons has made substantial improvements, is Gustav E. Ahlberg, a highly respected citizen, once broad-shouldered, strong and healthy, but now partially paralyzed. He was born at Halmstad, Sweden, on January 6, 1858, and when twenty-three years old first came to Fresno County. His father was Bernhart Nicholas Ahlberg, who was the chief executive officer, or sheriff, of the province of Halland in Sweden, where he owned forty acres. His mother died when he was only two years old, and he was brought up by his stepmother.

He grew up on the home farm, became a member of the state church, attended public school, and at the same time took care of his father's farm. He served one year of two terms in the king's military service, and then bidding good-bye to his father and brother and sisters, came to America, arriving in Fresno County in 1881. He was influenced to take this momentous step by the letters of his sister and brother-in-law, P. O. Lindstrom, who came to Fresno County from Sweden over forty years ago. Mr. Lindstrom, who died on July 16, 1882, was the pioneer blacksmith of Easton, and a man of experience. Mr. Ahlberg liked Fresno County from the start, and was not long in accepting an engagement to work on farms. His ability was soon appreciated, and he was made manager of Judge Stephen S. Nye's vineyard, one of the extensive and important holdings of this region.

In 1889, Mr. Ahlberg was married to Miss Matilda Thelander, and soon after he bought his forty-acre vineyard from Mr. Marden of the Nye-Marden Colony. He became active in American civic life, affiliating himself with the Republican party. In 1904 his good wife died ; and since then he has remained a widower. Three children were granted this happy couple. Carl G. has charge of the ranch ; William died in April, 1914, when he was about twenty- one years old; while Edward is at home and helps his brother Carl.

FRANK J. NOLAN .- A skilful captain of industry who, as president and manager of the Fresno Cooperage Company, has well guided the affairs of one of the city's most important business organizations is Frank J. Nolan, who was born in Santa Cruz in 1877, was educated in the public schools of San Francisco, and in the Pacific metropolis learned the cooper's trade. In April, 1903, he came to Fresno, and for some time made barrels by hand, for which he became locally famous. Few craftsmen were more needed in the early days of Fresno than a first-class cooper; and Mr. Nolan's ability, to- gether with his steady, conscientious application to the work of each day, and his desire to leave nothing undone to please his customers, speedily told . in favor of the new enterprise.

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When the steady increase in patronage warranted the move, the business was incorporated in 1907, for $50,000, and a fully equipped barrel machine plant was installed. Ten years later the business was reincorporated for twice the former amount. Located on a tract of fifteen acres at California and East Avenues, the cooperage plant has a capacity of from 800 to 1,000 barrels per day and employs from sixty to eighty men; and it keeps the special sidings of both the Santa Fe and the Southern Pacific railroads busy handling over $750,000 worth of business that is done there annually. Bar- rels to the number of 150,000 are shipped annually to different points in California : and the concern receives annually 150 carloads of staves and forty carloads of headings from the southern states, and about twenty-five carloads of steel from Pennsylvania.

KELLAR-THOMASON-FLEMING COMPANY .- Born in Darke County, Ohio, on October 18, 1872, Rolla C. Fleming, the local company's secretary, treasurer and manager, was taken at the age of six years to Sulli- van County, Ill. At the age of twenty-two he entered the employ of the Wabash Railroad, taking a post in the passenger department, and as a rail- road man worked his way through the different departments until he was made division passenger agent. Wherever he labored, whatever he under- took, the result was the same: his employers found in him an intelligent, conscientious worker, whose aptness, experience and fidelity made him de- pendable under all circumstances.

In October, 1912, Mr. Fleming arrived in Los Angeles and entered the employ of the Kellar-Thomason Company, traveling for them on the road for five years. In November, 1917, he settled in Fresno, and immediately began to build up the business which has made the first year of the company here so successful. Mr. Fleming is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Fresno, the Commercial Club of Fresno, and the Merchants' Association of Fresno: and he is thus able to exercise a beneficent influence in various channels.

For centuries the methods of irrigation remained unchanged ; but during the past two decades there have been great developments, and the associates in the Kellar-Thomason-Fleming Company were privileged to share largely in the honors for the reforms and advancement. More than twenty years ago in Southern California two men, George E. Kellar and E. O. Thomason of Covina, both of them practical ranchers and orchardists, were irrigating their lands by the then prevalent mud-ditch method. That method was, to say the least, wasteful of both water and physical energy, and realizing its inadequacy and crudeness, they helped to bring into practical use what is now known as the "KT" system. Their idea, briefly, was to use some sort of pipe to overcome the loss of water occasioned by evaporation and seepage and, further, to make practical irrigation easy by equipping the pipe-line with improved outlets. They first took up the manufacture of concrete pipe for their own use, finding that the making of this kind of pipe was within the range of possibilities, and that concrete pipe met two important require- ments ; cheapness and durability. There were at that time exceptional cases where some sort of pipe, either concrete, vitrified or iron, was in use to con- vey water over some specially porous or gravelly stretch of land, but irrigat- ing water was usually permitted to flow through weedy mud ditches. The use of concrete pipe put the water under control to a certain extent. but the first method employed for releasing and distributing it was quite crude, con- sisting of a slide gate operated in the pipe-line at every stand-pipe where water was to be turned out. This always gave trouble: for when the gate was closed at a stand-pipe, in order that the water might overflow there, several stand-pipes on about the same level would also overflow at the same time. This system was therefore superseded by the "valve system," which was adopted after several years of experimenting and actual practice, and

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which led to the inventing and patenting, in 1904, of the "KT" valve, and in 1905, of the "KT" gate, and later of other useful appliances. The immedi- ate advantage of the "KT" system is that, instead of first using the mud ditches and afterward installing some better arrangement, the best system is at once put in, thus from the beginning guaranteeing additional crops, which quickly return the apparently heavy investment. How great a saving to the progressive rancher such an advanced method is may be seen from the fact that an experienced engineer has recently declared that of the millions of dollars annually expended by our irrigation districts for water and for apply- ing it to cultivated crops, fully seventy percent. is wasted. The "KT" system of irrigation is essentially superior to all others on the market, as is shown by the constantly increasing demand for it.

The plant of this now famous company is located at 1218-1236 East Twenty-eighth Street, Los Angeles, and is the largest in the world given solely to the manufacture of irrigation appliances. The officers are: George C. Martin, president, Los Angeles ; R. Coffsen, vice-president, Los Angeles ; and Charles Montgomery, secretary and treasurer, Los Angeles. The Kellar- Thomason-Fleming Company, which has its offices at 2031 Kern Street, Fresno, was incorporated in November, 1917, and at once started business with these officers: George C. Martin, president, Los Angeles; R. Coffsen, vice-president, Los Angeles; and Rolla C. Fleming, secretary, treasurer and manager, Fresno.

WILLIAM HELM .- The interest which attaches to the biography of California pioneers is not that of curiosity, but a visible expression of grati- tude which all men feel towards those forerunners of civilization in the far West. Not only as a pioneer of the state, but also as one of the earliest resi- dents of Fresno County, William Helm held a high position among the people of the city and county of Fresno.

A native of Canada, William Helm was born in the province of Ontario, about forty miles above Montreal, on the St. Lawrence River, on March 9, 1837, a son of George and Mary (Oliver) Helm, both of whom were born in Scotland, the latter of English parentage on the paternal side. George Helm lived in Scotland until he was a young man, then emigrated to America and settled in Galt, Ontario, where he farmed until his death. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Helm came to California and made her home in San Francisco where she died at the age of about eighty-two years. Mr. and Mrs. George Helm were parents of nine children, of whom William be- came a pioneer of Fresno County.

Reared on the home farm and educated in the public schools of his com- munity, William Helm early learned the rudiments of farming and of the stock business under his father. In 1856, then only nineteen years of age, he left home and came to Wisconsin, where he was engaged in lumbering on the Chippewa River, and in operating a sawmill, for three years. He then made up his mind to come to California. Going to New York, he sailed from that city in 1859 to Panama, crossed the Isthmus and took passage on a vessel that landed him in San Francisco. He went at once to the Sacra- mento Valley and in Placer County found his first work with a butcher, remaining for some time and learing the butcher business and following it at Forest Hill and in Todds Valley. And still later he was engaged in the sheep business in Bear Valley, Placer County, where he had a good range for his increasing bands. In 1865 he brought his sheep down into Fresno County, which at that time was a vast open space, with no improvements and not a mile of railway. At Dry Creek, on section four, six miles north- east of what is now the city of Fresno, Mr. Helm purchased 2,640 acres of land from Mr. Chapman, paying one dollar per acre for it. Here his bands of sheep increased rapidly and he added to his landed interests until he owned some 16,000 acres and 22,000 head of sheep, being for many years the largest

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sheep-raiser in this part of the country. He established winter quarters on what is now the site of Fresno courthouse, little dreaming that in a few years there would be a city, unsurpassed by few others in the entire state, located on the spot. When the wool was sacked it was hauled to Stockton for ship- ment, necessitating three wagons, each drawn by ten mules, and the journey required twelve days to make the round trip.

Mr. Helm established his residence in Fresno and continued his opera- tions, and in time he brought water from Kings River and began to develop his land. He was one of the stockholders that built the Gould ditch. As settlers came to the county he sold off his land at advantageous prices, re- taining several thousand acres which he used for sheep-raising and on which he set out vineyards, until he had about 700 acres. Mr. Helm erected the Helm block, at the corner of J and Fresno Streets, and built up other prop- erty here. He was interested in the Farmers' National Bank of California, also was one of the organizers and vice-president of the Bank of Central California until his death. After an unusually busy and useful career Mr. Helm lived retired from all labors, spending part of his time in San Fran- cisco. He died at the home of his daughter, April 10, 1919, just past eighty- two years of age.

The marriage that united William Helm with Miss Fannie S. Newman occurred in Placer County. Mrs. Helm was born in England, but was reared and educated in New York. Of their union seven children were born: Jessie, Mrs. C. S. Cox, of Fresno; George I., a vineyardist of Fresno County ; Frank M., a resident of Fresno, also interested in a vineyard: Fannie, Mrs. E. A. Walrond, of Fresno; Mary, Mrs. Dr. J. L. Maupin, of Fresno; Agnes, Mrs. Dr. Montgomery Thomas, also of Fresno; and Maude, Mrs. M. M. Dearing, at home. Mr. Helm was a stanch Republican, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and at all times was ready to give substantial encouragement for the upbuilding of the city and county of Fresno, where the busy years of his life were spent. Mrs. Helm died in Fresno, April 22, 1906, in her sixty- fifth year.

It is difficult to overestimate the beneficent effect upon the growth and prosperity of the San Joaquin Valley which the work of William Helm had. Not only was he an eye witness to practically every step in the great scheme of development of the agricultural and horticultural resources, but he bore a conspicuous part in transforming a vast region, that was but little more than a desert waste, into one of the most productive sections of the entire state of California. Throughout his career he was ever mindful of the rights and privileges of others and earnestly cooperated with his fellow citizens in all efforts to advance the welfare of the community. The remarkable success that rewarded his labors was the result of perseverance and indefatigable industry. Mr. Helm belonged to that strong type of pioneer citizen who sur- vived despite the obstacles constantly presented in the earlier days of state- hood. The brief record of his life history, which was so closely interwoven with the history of the San Joaquin Valley, will prove of increasing interest to the younger generation and students of history as the years pass.

GEORGE LAMERS .- It isn't what a man has, but what he does with what he has that determines his standing in a community. A man may be possessed of the brightest of minds, or an abundance of wealth, but if he does not develop his brain, or if he uses his money for his own selfish ends, he has reflected no credit upon himself nor upon the community. A man with less of either brain or money, rightly expended, will reflect a greater luster. With what respect do we look upon the man who has come to the top knowing every step of the ladder.

Such a man is George Lamers, who was born at Nykobing, Jylland, Den- mark, September 21, 1882. His father, Edward Lamers, was a native of Den- mark, a carpenter by trade, who died when the son was only four years of age.

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His mother, Elise Marie (Nielsen) Lamers, since her husband's death has married again and lives on the old home place in Denmark. Her name now is Andersen.

George Lamers attended school in his native land, and remained there until he was twenty years old. In 1902 he came to America, locating in Chicago where he worked at the carpenter trade for two years, and then came to Hornbrook, Siskiyou County, Cal., and engaged in railroad work. Soon becoming bridge carpenter for the Southern Pacific, he was later transferred to the car repair shops of the Southern Pacific Railroad at Duns- muir, Cal., and stayed there four years. In 1909 he resigned from his work at Dunsmuir and came to Fresno, taking employment with the Santa Fe Railway Company. He is an able workman and the company has recognized his worth by making him foreman of the car repair shops at Fresno, where there are thirty-eight men employed.

He was married in San Jose, to Mary Jensen, a native of Denmark. They live in one of the companies' houses at Calwa, a suburb of Fresno, are members of the Danish Lutheran Church at Fresno, and are highly respected by all who know them. And so, perhaps never thinking of doing it, he is illustrating the truth of what a poet has said, "Honor and fame from no con- dition rise, act well your part-there all the glory lies."

LEWIS HOWELL SMITH .- A thoroughly successful man and an attorney who occupies a prominent place at the bar of California, bringing to the practice of his profession an active brain, a well trained mind, commend- able zeal and habits of industry, Lewis Howell Smith, of Fresno, has attained an honored place among the leading lawyers of that city. A native of Illinois, he was born at Peoria, November 3, 1872, a son of the late John Boyd and Lucetta (Howell) Smith, natives of Pennsylvania and Illinois respectively.

John Boyd Smith was born at Sunbury, Pa., where he attended the public schools. When a young man he went to Illinois and was engaged in the banking business, becoming one of the founders, and the cashier, of the Mechanics' National Bank, which afterwards became the Merchants' Na- tional Bank of Peoria. In 1889 he removed to Fresno, Cal., with his family, and here he became associated with the Fresno National Bank, remaining as cashier until his death, in 1893, at the age of sixty-four years. For more than forty years he was engaged in the banking business and was widely known as an able financier. Mrs. Smith's father, Lewis Howell, an early settler of Peoria, was a man of great financial ability, and for many years was presi- dent of the Peoria National Bank. Mr. and Mrs. Smith became the parents of six children, four of whom are living: Boyd; Mrs. W. E. Stone, of Peoria ; Lewis Howell, of this review; and Elsie. One son, Archie A., became the cashier of the Fresno National Bank in 1895, and remained in that position until his death, in 1899. Mrs. Smith survived her husband until May, 1917, when she passed away in Fresno.

Lewis Howell Smith attended the grammar and high schools at Peoria, Ill., until he accompanied his parents to Fresno, Cal., in 1889. Soon after he arrived here he was in the employ of the United States government as a mail carrier for a year or more. In 1891 he entered Stanford University and was graduated from that institution in 1895, with the degree of LL.B., hav- ing the distinction of receiving the first law diploma issued by that univer- sity. The ensuing year Mr. Smith worked in the office of Judge Carter, then superior judge of Fresno County, later, from 1896 to 1898, he was in partner- ship with Judge Carter, under the firm name of Carter & Smith. For the next three years Mr. Smith carried on an independent law practice, then, in July, 1901, he became associated with Judge Ostrander, under the name of Smith & Ostrander, with offices in the Forsyth Building. This partnership continued in force for five years, during which time the firm was associated with many of the prominent cases tried in Fresno County. At the end of

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the five years, Mr. Smith once more carried on an independent practice. In 1897 he was elected city attorney and served a two-year term. Mr. Smith is recognized as a most skilled lawyer and has been one of the leading mem- bers of the bar in Fresno, and as such he has been associated with many important cases. In the case of the People vs. McDaniels, a copy of which is transcribed in the California Reports and in the American State Reports, he served as attorney for the defendant and won the case in the supreme court, to which it was appealed, the supreme court reversing a former deci- sion and establishing a constitutional precedent that has since been taken up in law journals throughout the land. In 1913, Mayor Snow appointed Mr. Smith city attorney and he served until 1917.

In Georgetown, Cal., L. H. Smith was united in marriage on April 20, 1899, with Miss Maude Shepherd, a native of California and a daughter of B. F. Shepherd, one of the '49ers in California, who was a prominent merchant in Georgetown. When he retired he made his home with Mr. and Mrs. Smith in Fresno. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Smith four children were born: Archie A., who volunteered on his eighteenth birthday for radio service in the United States Navy ; serving from July, 1918, to February, 1919, when he was honorably discharged and returned home ; Merilyn Maude. Barbara and Dorothy. Mr. Smith is a member of the Chamber of Com- merce, of which he served as president at one time. He belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Eagles; the Commercial Club ; the Sequoia Club ; and the University Club, all of Fresno; and the Sigma Nu Society of Stanford University. He is a member of the County Bar Association. As a stanch Republican, Mr. Smith has taken a prominent place in the councils of the party and has served on county and state committees. He is public-spirited, progressive and an active upbuilder of the city, county and state, ready at all times to give substantial encouragement to all worthy projects. With his family he enjoys the good will and esteem of an ever widening circle of friends and business associates.

ELLSWORTH M. NORTHRUP .- An industrious, self-made man who has become a prosperous rancher and enjoys the reputation for a man of good judgment and generous impulses, is Ellsworth M. Northrup, popularly called "Cap" Northrup. His twenty-acre ranch adjoins Laton, Fresno County, Cal., on the west, and there he and his good wife and children have a home of genuine hospitality. Mr. Northrup was born in New Jersey, on March 20, 1865, the son of Joseph Northrup who had married Ella Ward. The latter died in New Jersey when Ellsworth was a child, and the youngest of four children, of whom two lived. The other, a sister, is now Mrs. Josie E. John- son, and she resides at Santa Cruz. Soon after his mother's death, his father moved with his family to Clark County, in northeastern Missouri, and having been a druggist by profession in New Jersey, he opened a drug store at Peaksville, Mo. Later, however, he became a farmer; and on his ranch he died at the age of seventy-seven.

"Cap" Northrup attended the common schools, grew up on a farm, and was married in Iowa, whither he went when he was twenty-six. He was twenty-nine when he took Miss Alma J. Washburn for his bride, the lady be- ing a daughter of Ebenezer and Mary Washburn; and in the meantime he had been employed in the powder works at Keokuk and on a farm.

In 1900, Mr. and Mrs. Northrup came west to Laton. His wife's uncle was the late J. Q. Hancock, a prosperous rancher who wrote Ellsworth and advised him to come to California ; and when he moved west, he brought a car-load of stock and implements, having made up the contents of his load in Iowa. He at first bought and improved a piece of forty acres southwest of Laton, from which he cut 2,000 cords of wood, all of the second growth. This involved a great deal of hard labor, but the proceeds was enough to pay for the first cost of the land, and in this way he got the good start which has ever since spelled prosperity. Anyone visiting the Northrup estate will ob-

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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 26

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