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 48

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 48

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Of course there were diversions, but they were due rather to the triumphant qualities of the human being and the natural tendency of the American toward humor. On the third of July, at a summit on the Rocky Mountains, they found plenty of ice ten or twelve inches under the soil, and on "the glorious Fourth" the women put on their white dresses, and thev all marched in military style, beating on an old tin bucket for a drum. Some hare was also bagged and there was a steaming potpie for the feast. Not long after, however, even death threatened them from the action of some mis- chievous boys who had climbed up on top of a high hill. turned loose a large rock which came down among the cattle, causing a general stampede, and all but catching two men, through being interfered with by trees, and so protected. Another redeeming bit of humor was the imposition of a two-hour sermon on Mormonism, by a Mormon who wished to convert them, and who insisted on that privilege in return for rendering them some aid in pointing the way to green pastures further up the mountain, where he delivered his harangue. Many anecdotes are given of rough border life, cowardly assassina- tion, lynch law and summary trials and dispensing of justice, together with shyster maneuvers by unprincipled lawyers to get their clients free, or to hoodwink the latter out of all they had.

Finally, after all these dangers, together with exposures to wild animals including the grizzly that often cut into their trail and traveled even between their wagons, Elias Draper and his party arrived at Stockton on October 3. 1853, having been on the road six months. He had worn out his shoes away back in the mountains, and arrived in the Golden State barefoot. He took an old saddle skirt and cut out two sandals, and tied them to his feet, and thus saved himself from being snagged.

WILLIAM DOHERTY .- An honest, upright and good-natured old Cal- ifornian, of genial hospitality, is William Doherty, who sowed the first alfalfa in Kings County. He was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, on April 25, 1852, the son of George Doherty who was also born there and came of a family originally called O'Doherty. He was married there to Margaret O'Hara, a native of the region, and they had six children. When William was still a baby, in the fall of 1852, the parents crossed the ocean to the United States -- and it was then that Mr. O'Doherty dropped the O' from his name-and settled at Great Barrington, Mass., where he was a farmer ; but in 1856 they moved west to Madison, Wis. There the mother died in 1857, leaving eight children ; whereupon the father moved to Kansas and settled on Walnut Creek, sixty miles west of St. Joseph. In 1860 he crossed the great plains with his family, traveling by ox teams and wagon up the Platte River; and on the way he and his party were attacked by Sioux Indians. The train had

1754

HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

forty-six fighting men, and when they were surrounded by Indians, the wagons were used as corrals, and they fought the savages for thirty-six hours. At last, "Buffalo Bill" and a company of United States cavalry came to the rescue, and the Indians fled. The Indians used bows and arrows; William Doherty and his sister moulded bullets for the riflemen.

Arriving in California without any further mishap, the family settled in the San Joaquin Valley, where George Doherty farmed Wallace Kerrick's place. Then the father bought a ranch on Mormon Slough, but in the fall of 1863 sold out and located in Stanislaus County, near what is now Modesto. He built a house and was the pioneer farmer in the region between Stanislaus and Tuolumne Rivers. He had 320 acres which he operated until he died, in 1883, at the age of eighty-four. The mother had died in Wisconsin ; and of the eight children, five are still living. The oldest girl, Fannie, acted as mother to the rest of the children until she was married in 1864.

The third youngest in the order of birth. William was for a while in Kan- sas and then he crossed the plains to California, where he grew up on a farm, attended school and remained home until his seventeenth year. Then he be- gan to farm on his own hook on the west side of Stanislaus County, near what is now Westley and after that he and his brother-in-law, Monroe Gar- ner, took up land west of Grayson, plowed the raw land with eight-horse teams, and raised grain. William took up an option on three sections of rail- road land, improved a part by planting to grain, and succeeded well enough to clear up all that was necessary to pay for the entire outfit. This included two six-horse and two eight-horse teams, a header wagon and thresher; for the land he paid $1.25 an acre, and had about $8.000 left. The two dry years, 1870-71, plunged him $5,000 in debt; but in 1872 he put 2,000 acres into grain, cleaned up sufficient to enable him to pay all he owed, and then had $10,000 over.

Selling out, William and his brother Robert removed to Kings County where they took up homesteads and bought five sections of railroad land. They went in for grain raising, and met with success; Robert is still on the place, and William continued there until 1901, when he sold out to his brother all he owned there except 160 acres; and then he came to Fresno County. He bought 1.200 acres on Little Dry Creek, in old Auberry Valley and went in for stock-raising, farming and the wood business. In 1914 he traded that property for his present place of eighty acres on Mckinley Avenue, in the Barstow district, ten miles from Fresno. He devotes this to a vineyard of about thirty-seven acres of Thompson seedless, nine acres Feherzagos, and a peach orchard of ten acres, and the balance in alfalfa, the whole forming a fine place. He makes his residence at 327 Coast Avenue, Fresno, where he has built a comfortable home. He still has 160 acres of alfalfa land at Han- ford, and eighty acres on Little Dry Creek. He owns, too, 140 acres in the sinks of Huron, which he rents out. He belongs to the California Associated Raisin Company and California Peach Growers, Inc.

While at Visalia Mr. Doherty was married to Miss Annie Jessie Evans, who was born near Madison, Wis., and came to California in 1870 with her parents; four children have blessed the union: Edna is Mrs. Garner and resides in Clovis; Margaret has become Mrs. Gibbons of Hanford; Eva is Mrs. Spears, of Fresno; and William J. He was educated in the Fresno High School and Heald's Business College and held a position in the First Na- tional Bank until he began to assist his father on the ranch. He enlisted in the United States Army, served with the Ninety-first Division until mustered out at San Francisco, May, 1919. He is now on the ranch and married to Ethel Gatewood.

When not giving his time to the social life of the Independent Order of Foresters, of which he is a member, William Doherty takes part in the councils of the Democratic party, having been a delagate to both county and state conventions. He has served on the grand jury, and for two terms was

2. N. Duff.

1757

HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

school trustee in Kings County as well as in Fresno County, where he was trustee in the Auberry district.

At the time that Mr. Doherty sowed the first alfalfa in Kings County, he paid fifty cents a pound for the seed. He and his brother and Perry C. Phillips built the Lake Side ditch, which was the first ditch for irrigating in Kings County. The Doherty brothers were the first farmers near Hanford.

Mr. Doherty has traveled much through California, and is well-posted on early days and historical old landmarks. He is also familiar with the wonders and beauties of California mountains and valleys. He spent four years in Death Valley, prospecting for nitrate of soda, and found valuable deposits. In fact, he was so lucky, that he also succeeded in selling the find to an English syndicate ; but his partners could not be induced to sell out at the time and they lost out. In the basin, 261 feet below sea-level he found a vast ledge of rock salt, four miles wide and fifteen miles long; while in the south-west corner of Death Valley is a range of what appears like a gravel hill. On close inspection, however, one sees that the gravel forms only a veneer from six to eight feet thick, and that the balance underneath is solid rock salt.

JOHN HARRISON DUFF .- To have helped in the building up of a community and to continue a worker for its further development and prog- ress, entitles a man to a place in the annals of the county, the advancement of which as a whole depends upon the success of the settlements within its boundaries. Such an upbuilder is J. H. Duff, one of the contributors to Reedley's growth and expansion into an important adjunct to the prosperity of Fresno County. A native of West Virginia, he was born near Charleston, July 20, 1863, the son of Dr. John H. and Margaret (Allen) Duff, of Scotland and Virginia, respectively. Stonewall Jackson was a first cousin to Dr. John H. Duff, their mothers being Harrison sisters; it is on record that many a fight was had between the two young fellows because Jackson would call Dr. Duff a Black Abolitionist, their family all being Republicans. Dr. Duff and his wife were the parents of fourteen children, thirteen of whom grew to maturity and are engaged in the useful occupation of teaching, with the exception of one son, Robert, who is an extensive farmer, and John Harrison of this review, likewise engaged in agricultural pursuits. Among the grand- children there are three doctors, two lawyers, and many business and com- mercial men. The family moved from Virginia to Johnson County, Ill., where they took up land, which is still in the family, and resided in that state for a number of years, then removed to Ohio, and finally returned to what is now West Virginia and here bought 1,400 acres of Government land, in Jackson County, which they improved and here the parents died, the father at sixty-seven years of age and the mother at eighty-six.

In 1888, John Harrison Duff took up his residence in Indiana, in which state, in 1891, he was joined in marriage with Miss Rebecca A. Heath, a daughter of Harvey and Armenta (Finley) Heath, and a native of Indiana. Of this union one son, Robert C., was born, April 12, 1895, whose demise occurred on November 30, 1916; the mother passed away October 26, 1906. Their son, Robert C., was a graduate of the Reedley grammar school, com- pleted the high school course also, and graduated from the Central Business College in Los Angeles, where he died.

Mr. Duff migrated from Indiana to California in 1901, and settled in Reedley, on his present ranch. He later purchased 160 acres of land, which he put under cultivation, divided into small tracts and sold ; and with others bought 300 acres, named it the Peck Colony, and sold to settlers. His home ranch was devoted to the production of peaches, but he supplanted them with white Adriatic figs during 1919. He has a large and well constructed home which, with its modern improvements and pleasant surroundings, adds to the enjoyment of life. During his younger days Mr. Duff traveled through many 82

1758

HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

states, and after his marriage he and his wife continued traveling so that he has the distinction of having traveled in every state of the Union but four, and has been out of the United States four times into Mexico and Canada. A man of foresight and progressive ideas, he has been a booster for all cooperative associations to help the ranchers, and belongs to the Cali- fornia Associated Raisin Company and to the California Peach Growers Association. He has also been a liberal supporter of all projects to aid the Government in the prosecution of the World War.

While a resident of West Virginia, Mr. Duff was a member of the board of education in Washington township, Jackson County, and also served as deputy marshal under George W. Atkinson, later governor of the state. Since settling in Fresno County he has sought no public office, but has been ready at all times to aid in promoting the best interests of his section, which he foresaw was destined to grow into a prosperous agricultural district. Among other business interests, Mr. Duff is a charter member and stockholder in the Reedley National Bank.

ISAAC DOSSEY MORRISON .- A well-known man in the develop- ment of the raisin industry, who has very naturally come to be a leader- partly through the inheritance of ability, and partly through his own develop- ment, by foresight and hard work-in helping to determine the agricultural future of the Golden State, is Isaac Dossey Morrison, the wide-awake and popular managing superintendent of the Kingsburg branch of the California Associated Raisin Company, the leading shipping-plant of the town. His father, the late Ezra D. Morrison, was a Kingsburg pioneer and one of the first successful raisin growers. He moved to the vicinity of Kingsburg with his family from Stockton in the fall of 1880, and at the time of his death, in 1898, he was sixty-five years old, and was one of the honored pioneers of both Fresno County and the state, while he was pleasantly remembered in the East as a consistent and active member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He owned an excellent ranch of 160 acres northeast of Kingsburg, forty acres of which were in vines, ten acres in orchard, thirty acres in alfalfa and the balance in grain.

He was born at Portland, Me. He started for California in 1849, but stopped at numerous places for two or three years, and came across the Isthmus in company with his brother-in-law in the fall of 1852. They had to lie by at Panama for quite a while, waiting their turn to take a steamship to San Francisco, and so great was the rush of travel that they were offered a premium of $250 for their turn to embark, but they pressed on to San Fran- cisco, arriving there almost destitute, and Ezra Morrison traded his pocket- knife for his first meal. Then he went on to the gold diggings on the Ameri- can River and mined there; and having struck success and made a stake, he returned to Stockton, where he engaged in grain-farming and stock-raising. He soon became a large operator, farming from 250 to 400 acres to wheat; and he helped build the Mariposa Road from Stockton via Collegeville to Escalon. Then he formed a partnership with Joseph Leighton, Isaac's uncle ; and they went to San Luis Obispo County and bought ten mares which were mustangs or Spanish ponies for breeding purposes, and bred these to stallions of the "Copper Bottom" breed and these were soon widely recognized as among the most successful breeders of that excellent strain.

Ezra Morrison had married Miss Laura Anna Dossey, a native of In- diana, then of Dossey Meadows, a fertile section back in the mountains named after her father, James Dossey, who was one of California's pioneers, and one of the best-known of California sheepmen. He had moved from Indiana to Missouri, and from Missouri to New Orleans, La., where he em- barked for San Francisco by ship via Cape Horn, and arrived in the bay city in pioneer days. They had five children, among whom were Charles Yuba and Cynthia Eunice, twins, and Harold E. Morrison. An infant, Johnny, died in his third month.

1759

HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

Isaac Dossey Morrison was born at Stockton, on November 6, 1874, and grew up on his father's extensive grain and stock ranch, where he went to work driving horses, plowing and handling horses while he was a mere boy. At fifteen he drove four and six horses on header wagons, and helped to harvest and thresh wheat and other grain. And with his parents he came to Kingsburg in 1880, finishing the grammar schools here. He early became interested in vineyards and raisin-growing, and now he owns and operates a fine raisin ranch near Kingsburg, in addition to his main employment at that city.

He became actively interested in the welfare of the Raisin Growers at Kingsburg who organized several years ago, a company of farmers owning their plant; and he took charge as field man in 1916, and on April 19, 1918, became the managing superintendent of Plant No. 9 of the California Asso- ciated Raisin Company, when they took over the Kingsburg plant and busi- ness. The raisins are stemmed here and then shipped to Fresno, where they are processed and then put up in cartons for the market; and so important has the industry become for the town and locality, that over 7,000 tons were handled at Kingsburg in 1918, while 1919's output is bound to show a large increase.

Mr. Morrison was married to Miss Louisa Edith Paulson at Kingsburg on October 25, 1899; and now the well-mated couple reside in a beautiful home at the corner of A and Lewis Streets, where they dispense a hearty hos- pitality. They are both active members of, and attendants at the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which Mr. Morrison is the organist; for his father's people were all musical and he inherited that gift to such an extent that he has become an accomplished violinist and organist. Four children share this church life with their parents: Pearl, Eunice, Hugh and Carroll. The latter was born the day before Christmas, 1917.

Mr. Morrison is a Mason and a member of the Kingsburg Lodge, No. 294, F. & A. M. In national politics, he is a Republican.

JOHN A. ARMSTRONG .- Not every resident in California has such an interesting record of development and building to their credit as John A. Arm- strong, the successful farmer and stockman of Auberry Valley, who came to California in the middle eighties and not only did much teaming in former days, but built various sections of highway, including an important stretch of the toll road recently constructed. He was born in Illinois, near DuQuoin, on February 15, 1857, the son of William Stewart Armstrong, also a native of that state. His father was a native of Kentucky, who came as a pioneer to Illinois and built the first mill in that vicinity for the grinding of corn- meal, using for power the energy supplied through oxen treading. William Armstrong was a farmer and stock-raiser, who died near his home when about fifty years of age. His wife also died there, the mother of five children -four girls and a boy.

Brought up on a farm in Illinois, John attended the public school of the neighborhood until he was sixteen years old, or about the time that both of his parents died. Then he struck out for himself, working here and there on farms, and in 1880 going to Texas, where, in the vicinity of Weatherford, he was in the employ of the Texas Pacific Railroad.

In 1884 he came to California and settled for a while at Merced where, for a couple of years, he was employed on a ranch. Then he leased a ranch, and in the boom year of 1887 located in Auberry Valley, where he preempted 160 acres and also homesteaded the same sized tract. Later he bought his present place and engaged in the raising of hay and stock. He sold hay to teamsters, and he himself freighted for twenty years. With eight and ten- horse teams he hauled between Pine Ridge and Fresno. With the proceeds of his enterprise he bought 880 acres in a body-thirty-five miles from Fresno;

1760

HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

and as the timber had been all cut, he quit teaming. He visited a dozen little mills, and made a trip every week or ten days.

Now Mr. Armstrong is engaged in raising grain and hay, and also in breeding cattle and hogs. His farm is fenced and cross-fenced, and he has many improvements, with a large capacity for irrigation. His cattle brand is a circle, with a dot inside; and there is no more honored member of the State Association of Cattle Men.

While in Fresno Mr. Armstrong was married to Miss Frances Elston, a native of Missouri, by whom he has had five children-Berdina, Philip G., Grace, Stewart and John. Mr. Armstrong is a Republican in party politics, and a long, hard-worker for the elevation of the ballot, and he has been a consistent advocate of better schools and the best of educational advantages. In his desire to help in such work in the most practical way, he has served as clerk of the Big Sandy board of education for years.

M. S. McMURTRY, M. D .- Manifold and varied as are the lasting bene- fits conferred on society by one profession alone, that of medical men and women, and much as doctors have accomplished in the great early and later pioneer work of building the magnificent commonwealth of California, it is doubtful if the public today realizes what the splendidly trained, assiduous and brave-hearted corps of physicians has done to make Central California still more of an earthly paradise. Among this class of royal-blooded souls none is more justly esteemed and popular than Dr. M. S. McMurtry, who was born in Batesville, Ark., in 1880, the son of Dr. Milton McMurtry, a native of Fulton, Mo. Having finished the usual collegiate studies, Milton McMurtry graduated from the Missouri Medical School at St. Louis, receiv- ing the degree of M. D., after which he went to Arkansas to practice. Later he moved to Erin Springs, Okla., then to Purcell and still later to Oklahoma City. It was in 1906 he located in Clovis, Cal., having in each place estab- lished an enviable reputation for skill and intuition. Milton's father, Calvin McMurtry, was a native of Kentucky, though of Scotch descent, and was for some time the holder of a very responsible position in the United States mail service.

The good wife of Dr. Milton McMurtry was Nellie Byers before her marriage, and she was born at Batesville, Ark. Her father came from Phila- delphia, and her mother from Boston; and through their happy union she received a very broadening culture. Both Dr. Milton and Mrs. McMurtry died at Clovis in 1916.

An only child, M. S. McMurtry came to Purcell in 1885 and there at- tended school; and with his father he made the race into Oklahoma and located claims and lots. While his father continued his practice, the mother and son lived on their claim. He also went to school in Batesville, and then he entered the University of Oklahoma at Norman. He was there two years, when he matriculated at Westminster College, in Fulton, Mo. He graduated in 1900, with the degree of Bachelor of Science.

Entering the University of Missouri, he attended courses in the medical department at Columbia, and graduated in 1902 with the degree of M. D. For two years he was an interne at Parker Memorial Hospital, and then he began to practice in Oklahoma City, where he remained until the fall of 1904. In that year he moved to California and located at Clovis; and here he re- sumed his professional practice. He was soon an active member of the County Medical Society of the San Joaquin Valley, the State Medical Society and the American Medical Association ; and having profited by postgraduate courses at the New York Polyclinic and the New York Postgraduate College, his learning and fitness were soon generally recognized, and he was made Health Officer for Clovis and Deputy County Health Officer. He also became sur- geon to the Fresno Flume and Lumber Company, and local surgeon to the

Char Sillianson

1763

HISTORY OF FRESNO 'COUNTY

Southern Pacific. Taking up the general practice of medicine and surgery, he is also surgeon in charge of the Clovis Sanatorium.

Dr. McMurtry's interests and activities are not confined to medical work alone. With true scientific interest in all about him, he has gratified an am- bition to have a practical part in the development of agriculture here, and now owns a fine vineyard near Clovis. He also has ninety acres four miles out of Clovis, sixty-five acres of which are devoted to Calimyrna fig culture. To irrigate his land properly, and to render himself somewhat independent in his ranch operations, Dr. McMurtry has installed his own pumping plant.

Amid the delightful environment of Clovis, the Doctor was married to Lucretia Smith, a native of Selma, who was educated at Clovis and is the daughter of A. P. Smith, the well-known rancher of Clovis. Two children have blessed this marriage, Clayton and Kathleen. Dr. and Mrs. McMurtry attend the Presbyterian Church, and the Doctor, who is indeed a prince among fellows socially, is a member of the local Knights of Pythias, the Wood- men of the World, and the Modern Woodmen of America. While at the Uni- versity he was popular among the Ipsilon Beta Chi's, and this may be a cue to his general popularity today.

CHARLES WILLIAMSON .- A rancher who is among the best-posted viticulturists in California, and who has been of great service to others by demonstrating the entire success of his advanced methods of planting, in- grafting and fertilizing of vineyards, is Charles Williamson, who came to Fresno in the early eighties and has more and more grown to be optimistic regarding Central California and its wonderful future-an opinion of im- portance as will be plain to everyone who knows Mr. Williamson's observing powers. He was born at Unst, in the Shetland Islands, on June 1, 1863, the grandson of a sturdy Scotchman who established a residence in which more than one generation was born. Into this severely plain Presbyterian family Henry Williamson, Charles' father, was also introduced, to grow up both a fisherman and a farmer, and in time to marry Janet Isbister, a native of the same section. In 1872, he crossed the ocean with his family to New Bruns- wick, and located at Fredericton, where he was in the employ of the rail- road. After a while he bought a farm, cleared and improved it, and there he resided until, with his family, he joined the subject of our sketch in Fresno County. He bought a ranch in Lone Star and, with the assistance of his children, set out a vineyard; and he still owns ten acres of this property. Now, at the age of eighty-three, he resides in Ashland, Ore., his wife having died in September, 1918. He was a familiar figure in Presbyterian circles, and the honored father of six children, four of whom are still living: David is in Lone Star; Joan has become Mrs. William Lindsey, of Ashland, Ore .; Thomas lives at Fallon, Nev .; and Charles is the well-known Socialist, well- read, of retentive memory, an interesting conversationalist, and in every reasonable respect, generously hospitable. Fortunate indeed is the man who has the privilege of being entertained by him, and who is thus admitted to the warmth and charm of his mind.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 48

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