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 61
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A few years later he made another venture in the raisin business which would have netted profitable returns but for the unsettled condition of the raisin market in the days without organization. In partnership with F. J. Williams, for whom he worked five years, he purchased the crops on one and one-half sections of the Empire Vineyards for $1,000. At the beginning of the season the price of raisins was five cents. They received four cents for the first load delivered and prices continued to drop. The packers would make no contracts, so they had the raisins stemmed and packed, and stored them in a Fresno warehouse. They received less than one-half cent a pound for two carloads shipped east for which they had been offered three cents! The raisins left in the warehouse were burned and, even with the three cents insurance, the loss was great.
Even after this curious and discouraging experience, Mr. Christensen was still determined to be a raisin-grower, and in the fall of 1901 was able to pur- chase his present place of twenty-two and one-half acres in Roosevelt District, and in the following February he began to set out his vines. doing all the work with his own hands, from making the cuttings to splitting the stakes
Cecil B. Christensen
Christensen. George-
1877
HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY
from railroad ties. Progress was slow the first few years. The rabbits ate off the young vines and nearly the entire vineyard had to be reset the second year and the place inclosed with rabbit wire. Then the grasshoppers took the first real crop, even killing many of the young vines. Small crops were raised between the young vines and Mr. Christensen worked out in order that he might make further improvements. The house grounds were laid out in a pleasing manner with fruit and ornamental trees and shrubs. And now he has good buildings on the place, a ten-horsepower pumping-plant and all the equipment for caring for the place and crops. This was the first Thomp- son seedless vineyard started in this vicinity, which is now one of the fine vineyard districts of the county.
Mr. Christensen has great faith in the California Associated Raisin Com- pany of which he has been a member since its organization and is also a cor- respondent for his district. Some ten years ago he made the assertion that good raisin vineyards would sell for $1,000, and his prediction has been realized, as some vineyards have been sold, in 1919, for as high as $1,100 per acre.
On October 12, 1910. Mr. Christensen was married to Cecil Bemis, a na- tive of Wichita, Kans. Mrs. Christensen is the daughter of Abel R. and Emily Blanchard Bemis, natives of Michigan and Ohio, respectively. They came to Kansas and engaged in farming. In 1903 Mrs. Bemis and her four children came to California, the father having passed away in 1887, and the mother makes her home with Mrs. Christensen. Mrs. Christensen was a teacher be- fore her marriage, having taught in Kansas, and, after coming to California, she graduated from the Los Angeles State Normal School and took up her work in the Barstow District School where she taught three years. One child, Rose, has blessed their union.
Mr. Christensen has made three trips to his old home to see his parents. The last trip he remained a year to care for his father until he passed away, in 1904. The mother followed him three years later. Neither were privileged to visit their son in his California home, although it would have been his greatest pleasure. When young George started for America his father gave him this little piece of advice : "Always pay your debts and don't be afraid of hard work, my son." The first he has always done; the second he has met undaunted.
Mr. Christensen is a Lutheran in his religious faith, and a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, Sunset Camp, No. 7199. Mrs. Christensen is a member of the Rolinda Methodist Church and takes an active part in the social and civic life of the community. Both believe in heartily supporting the national administration regardless of party politics, in times of national crises, and in voting for the best men and best measures in local movements, and also in giving their financial support to all movements for the advance- ment of education and the benefit of humanity.
MARGARET B. LOCKIE .- Among California women who have shown exceptional ability in the difficult work of progressive and highly successful ranching must be mentioned Miss Margaret B. Lockie, the daughter of the late William A. Lockie, the well-known pioneer of whom mention is made elsewhere in this historical work. She conducted the home ranch, with her sister, Mrs. Lillie I. Pugh, after the death of the father and until the estate was settled. This vineyard and orchard ranch comprised 180 acres, and was one of the most productive in the Fowler district. A Democrat in matters of national political import, Miss Lockie endeavors to perform her civic duties in the same thoughtful and honest manner, and in all movements pertaining to local legislation and improvement, she is a leader in casting aside party lines and heartily supporting the best measures and the most desirable candi- dates. Miss Lockie is a stockholder in the First National Bank in Fowler.
After the death of her father, Miss Lockie was made the administratrix of the Lockie estate. It is a matter of local comment that she and her sister, 87
1878
HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY
Mrs. Pugh, have taken front rank among Central California women for their business acumen and progressive leadership in up-to-date ranching.
Mrs. Pugh, who as Miss Lillie I. Lockie, was married in 1913 to John W. Pugh, who was born in Portland, Ore., on January 3, 1870, and died on April 12, 1917, aged forty-eight years. He came to Fowler in 1911, and prior to that he was in business for two years in Newman When his life closed, the Fowler Independent very fitly paid him this tribute :
"Mr. Pugh was a successful business man, respected and admired as an honest and upright citizen, and his death will be deeply felt by all who came to know him in social and business life. He was a friend of the children of the town, and was anxious to provide pleasure for them. His broad and sym- pathetic nature found response in numberless friends. He was a Royal Arch Mason."
After the affairs of the Lockie estate were settled, Miss Lockie and Mrs. Pugh moved into Fowler, where in 1919, they purchased a modern bungalow residence in which they make their home. They enter heartily into all pro- gressive movements for the betterment of business, social and moral con- ditions and have a wide circle of friends in their section of Fresno County.
WILLIAM A. JONES .- George William Curtis, the brilliant editor, essayist and orator, once wrote entertainingly of "The Scholar in Politics," and he might quite as profitably discourse today concerning many of the present land-proprietors of California, about the scholar in business, choosing for his text such a career as that of William A. Jones, the university graduate guiding the affairs of the Minnewawa Vineyard, of which he is the owner. His grandfather, John P. Jones, a blacksmith who afterwards became a farmer, brought his family to Wisconsin in 1848; and his father, who was born at Star Wales, was a miner and manufacturer who, with his two brothers, purchased the Mineral Point Zinc Company and made a great success of its management as an incorporated concern. He was the secretary, treasurer and manager of the affair, built it up and improved it, opened the zinc mines and constructed a large plant. In time he combined it with the New Jersey Zinc Company of New York. They rebuilt and enlarged the plant in 1910 for increased capacity, and he managed it until he died, in 1912, sixty-eight years old.
At one time his father was mayor of Mineral Point, and in that office, he exerted himself strenuously for the improvement and uplift of the city, county and state. He was vice-president of the bank, a member of the Wis- consin Assembly ; under Mckinley and again under Roosevelt he served as Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Washington, D. C., filling the position creditably. He was a prominent Republican. Mason and Knight Templar. and equally prominent in Scottish Rite and Shriner circles.
Mrs. Jones, William's mother, was Sarah Ansley before her marriage. and was born in Linden, Wis., the daughter of Thomas Ansley, a pioneer mer- chant of Chicago. After a life of devotion to her husband, W. A. Jones, Sr., and her four children. she still resides at Mineral Point.
Born at Mineral Point, Iowa County, Wis., on October 13, 1883, the second oldest child and the only son, William was educated at the Lawrence- ville Preparatory School, and after graduating. entered Princeton College. where he continued for two years. Leaving college. he entered the Mineral Point Zinc Company's plant at Depue. Ill., working up in the manufacturing department until he became assistant superintendent. After three years at Depue. he was transferred to Palmerton, Pa., the largest plant of the New Jersey Zinc Company, and there he was assistant superintendent of a depart- ment until 1913, when he resigned and came to San Francisco. After seven months in the State, he returned to Wisconsin as foreman for the Leonard Construction Company of Chicago, and with that responsibility he was busy for several years.
1879
HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY
Returning to California in 1916, Mr. Jones bought the Minnewawa Vine- yard, four and a half miles east of Fresno; and locating on it, he has since given it the major portion of his time, superintending and managing the large ranch of 620 acres.
Minnewawa Vineyard was originally owned by Dr. Eshelman, who be- gan improvements there about thirty-five years ago. It is situated on Sections 16 and 17, to the extreme south of the Easterby tract and in the northern part of Lone Star. It was afterwards owned by Mr. Eshelman's daughter, Mrs. Sherman, who named it Minnewawa, "Wind of the Trees." Fancher Creek runs through the place. It is also known as Washington Colony ditch. But irrigation is afforded in addition by the use of appliances never dreamed of by Mr. Eshelman-five electric pumping plants, the largest of which has a five-inch pump.
The ranch is devoted to both viticulture and horticulture, and also to general farming ; table grapes are raised (emperors and malagas) and raisins, prunes, muscatels and some Thompsons. Five acres are set out in navel oranges ; eighty-seven acres in olives, and of these thirty-seven acres are bearing orchards and large producers, some trees being twenty-seven years old. In the operation of the ranch, besides teams, the best tractors are used. On the property Mr. Jones has a beautiful residence of Colonial architecture, surrounded by a park of seven acres, including ornamental shade trees of numerous varieties. These trees are so placed that the Jones residence and grounds may truly be said to be one of the show-places of the county.
Mr. Jones was married at Piedmont, Cal., to Miss Emily Chickering, a native of Oakland, and the daughter of the late W. H. Chickering, a prom- inent attorney of San Francisco. Growing up, she received the completion of her education at the University of California, from which she graduated with honors.
THOMAS A. HOOVER .- The pioneer carriage and wagon manufac- turer of Fresno, well and favorably known in Fresno's early days as the maker of a superior type of camp wagons and stages, Thomas A. Hoover is a native of the Buckeye State, born at Hamden, Ohio, April 2, 1852, and at the begin- ning of the Civil War his parents moved to Odell, Ill., where they lived on a farm, and it was in the district school of this community that Thomas A. Hoover received his early education.
When he reached his majority, Mr. Hoover moved to San Antonio, Texas, where he engaged in carpenter work, and for nine years followed con- tracting and bridge building. Afterwards he went to St. Louis, Mo., where he established himself as a carriage and wagon manufacturer, continuing in the business for a period of three years.
In 1887 Mr. Hoover arrived in Fresno, Cal., where he engaged in the real estate business; later on he opened a shop for the making of wagons and carriages, which was located on Merced Street, near H Street; one of his specialties was a camp wagon, which was so thoroughly and dependably con- structed that it made its builder famous in the San Joaquin Valley as the manufacturer of the best grade of vehicles; all of his work being done to order. The name of "Hoover" on a carriage or wagon was a synonym for best quality and workmanship.
The Advent of the automobile gave Thomas A. Hoover an opportunity to develop his inventive genius, and in 1909 he began the manufacture of auto springs and engaged in general repair work on automobiles at his plant, 1823 Merced Street.
In 1910 associated with Edward Downing he established the Hoover Spring Company at San Francisco, and remained there three years during which time he was engaged in getting the plant in running order.
Mr. Hoover has secured a number of valuable patents on his inventions, on six of which he is receiving royalties. He has four patents on automobile bumpers, two on automobile springs, and one on a tire carrier. These are
1880
HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY
all manufactured by the Hoover-Persons Spring Company. In 1914, Mr. Hoover formed a partnership with H. G. Persons, and they conducted the business under the firm name of Hoover-Persons Spring Company. In 1917 he sold his interests in the company to Mr. Persons, but receives a royalty on his patent springs and bumpers.
The Cambria Springs Company of Los Angeles, is also engaged in man- ufacturing his patent bumpers. Mr. Hoover has retired from active partici- pation in business, but receives royalties on his many patents and sees that his goods are kept up to standard.
Thomas A. Hoover was united in marriage in 1884 with Isabel Gorla, a native of Missouri, and they are the parents of three children: Gus L., who is associated with the Pacific Coast Lumber Company of San Francisco; Isabel, is now the wife of Richard Bensburg, Cape Town, South Africa; and Elma resides in San Francisco.
During the long period of his residence in Fresno, Mr. Hoover has wit- nessed its wonderful growth and development, and is justly proud of the part he has contributed to the advancement of the general business and welfare of the City and County.
EMANUEL MARION MCCARTY .- A man of broad education who has good reason to praise California, for here he regained his impaired health, is Emanuel Marion McCarty, a Californian by adoption after no less than seven different removals from state to state in quest of the mystical elixir of life. He was born in Davis County, Mo., on April 12, 1861, the son of William McCarty, a native of Ohio, who was reared in Indiana, from whence he re- moved to Missouri where he was a farmer in Davis County. He served in an Illinois regiment during the Civil War; and he died a well-known agricul- turist in Missouri. He married Eliza Jane Ninemires, who was also born in Davis County ; and she ended her days in Missouri, the mother of seven children, all of whom grew to maturity.
The oldest of these was Emanuel Marion, who was also the only one to come to California. He was brought by his parents when only six weeks old, by horse teams and wagons to Woodford County, Ill., and when he was nine years old the family moved back to Davis County, Mo. Indeed the family moved back onto the same farm on which he was born, and while there he was sent to the local public schools which afforded very limited educational opportunities. He became, in more senses than one a self-made made, and he remained home to assist his father until he was married.
This ceremony took place in Gentry County, Mo., October 27, 1885, and united him with Miss Permelia Crume, a native of that county and the daughter of Francis Marion Crume, who had come from Kentucky to Bu- chanan County, Mo., with his parents when he was about eight years old. Later. they moved to Gentry County where they were pioneer farmers, and settled on government land that had never been tilled before. Mr. Crume served in the Union Army and now, eighty-nine years of age, he resides in comfortable retirement at King City, Mo. His wife was Sallie Jane Wheeler before her marriage, and she was a native of Gentry County and died on Au- gust 23, 1869, a member of an old and honorable pioneer family in Missouri. She had two sons and two daughters, all of whom grew up, and among these Mrs. McCarty was the youngest.
After this marriage Mr. and Mrs. McCarty engaged in farming in Davis County, and later they bought a farm there where they raised grain and stock on some sixty acres. On account of Mr. McCarty's health, however, they removed in 1904 to Cherokee County, Kans., near Chetopa, and there they resided a year. He then went to Texas for a few weeks, and when he returned to Missouri they removed to Kinsley, Edwards County, Kans., and after farming there they went back to Chetopa. Having improved his farm and worked it for awhile he moved to Granada, Colo .; but as his health be- came worse he remained there only a couple of months, and then he acted on
Emma Bohner
John Bohner
1883
HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY
the advice to go back to Stafford County, Kans., where he farmed for another two years.
It was while there that Mr. McCarty learned of the Kerman section in Fresno County, Cal., and wishing to try the Coast climate he made a trip, in 1911, to California and purchased forty acres of land three miles east of Ker- man. He returned to Kansas, sold his effects, and brought his family to Cal- ifornia. The section around Kerman was a barren waste, and he had to cut the tall weeds to get a free place in which to build his house.
Since then Mr. and Mrs. McCarty have made wonderful improvements in their property. The land has been leveled and checked and sown to alfalfa, and they have engaged in dairying. He has a separator and sells the richest of cream. His ranch is on California Avenue twelve miles west of Fresno.
Mr. and Mrs. McCarty have seven children. Myrtle is Mrs. Moore and resides in Stafford, Kans .; Harvey is a farmer near Kerman; William is in the lumber business at Zenith, Kans .; Jesse Elwood served with Company D. 144th Machine Gun Battalion, Fortieth Division, saw nine months' service in France, was discharged and immediately took up his work with the Asso- ciated Pipe Line Company; Estella is Mrs. Eggers of Stafford; Sallie has become Mrs. D. O. Hansen of Fresno; and there is Marion Monroe who lives at home.
A Democrat in national political affairs, Mr. McCarty is a member of the Odd Fellows, being affiliated with Lodge No. 186 in Fresno, and he is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, having joined in Missouri. Mrs. McCarty is a member of the Royal Neighbors, and both Mr. and Mrs. McCarty belong to the Baptist Church.
Few pioneers deserve more consideration for what they have really accomplished than Mr. and Mrs. McCarty. After spending their all to im- prove his health they had to begin again here very much in debt; but they have made a real success of their management and they are now in very com- fortable circumstances. Their daughter Sallie has also regained her health, adding to the thousands who have found physical salvation in the curative properties of California's wonderful climate.
JOHN BOHNER .- To rise from a position of obscurity to that of a successful viticulturist and ranch-owner, in a few years, is a record to be justly proud of, and in attaining his goal, John Bohner has merited and won the respect of his friends and associates in the Parlier section of Fresno County. Mr. Bohner is a native of Switzerland, where he was born on Sep- tember 7, 1872. His parents were Frederick and Mary Bohner, natives of Switzerland and they were the parents of two children, John being the oldest and the only one now living. Both his parents are deceased.
John Bohner was reared and educated in his native country and in early life learned the trade of a butcher, but soon abandoned that business to en- gage in other lines of activity. In 1894 he immigrated to this country and, after his arrival here, gladly accepted any kind of work that he was capable of doing in order that he might quickly learn the customs of this country and gain experience. Sometimes he labored for as small a sum as fifty cents per day, but he was just as faithful in the discharge of his duties as if he had been paid ten times as much. This high regard for right principles soon gained for him the reputation of being a man of true worth, character, and ability. He engaged in the cultivation of grapes, to which he gave close attention, and in 1902 he purchased his present place of forty acres, located one mile northeast of Parlier. At the time he bought this land it was a wheatfield, the estimated value of it being only twenty-five dollars per acre.
Possessed with the excellent characteristics of his native country-men- thrift, untiring energy and a determination to succeed-John Bohner went enthusiastically to work to improve his ranch and bring it to a high state of cultivation. So well did he accomplish his aim that the value of his place has increased to such an extent that $1,000 per acre would not tempt him
1884
HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY
to sell. He raises mostly Thompson seedless and muscat grapes; eighteen acres of the latter kind average him forty tons. His land is scientifically cultivated so as to produce the best results. A view of his home and ranch will convincingly prove that John Bohner has made a decided success of his enterprise.
On December 20, 1900, John Bohner was united in marriage with Miss Emma Roth, a native of Switzerland, born December 15, 1877. She came to California in 1894. Of this union seven children were born: Elsa M .; Hans F .; Emma; Louise B .; Freda H .; Emil C .; and Frank G. The family are members of the Lutheran Reformed Church. Mr. Bohner is a member of the California Associated Raisin Company. In politics he is inclined towards socialism. With the aid of his wife, Mr. Bohner has won an independent position in his community, and the family enjoy the respect of all their acquaintances.
GEORGE W. MILLER .- Patriotism is a strong family trait of George W. Miller, the successful dairyman of Tranquillity, as both his paternal and maternal ancestors were in the Revolutionary War. He first saw the light of day at Massillon, Stark County, Ohio, November 11, 1848. His father, Samuel Miller, was a native of Maryland, who came with his parents to Ohio. Grand- father George Miller served his country in the War of 1812, and Great-grand- father Miller helped to win the Independence of the United States in the Revolutionary War. George Miller's mother, in maidenhood was Susan Rice, a native of Westmoreland County, Pa. Her great-grandfather. Frederick Rice, served in the Revolutionary War, and afterwards settled in Ohio, where he passed away at Wooster. Grandfather Peter Rice also moved to Ohio, where he was a blacksmith and farmer. Her father was a prominent whole- sale and retail grocer at Toledo, Ohio, until 1850, when he passed away. Her mother died at Chatham, Ohio. There were four boys and one girl in the Miller family, George W. being the youngest. One of his brothers, A. H. Miller, saw service in the Civil War, being a member of Company B, Forty- second Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under the command of Gen. J. A. Garfield, afterwards President of the United States. A. H. Miller became a prominent man of affairs in Medina County, Ohio.
George W. Miller was reared in Medina County, on a farm and received his early education in the public schools of his district. Early in life he learned cheese- and butter-making in Ohio, and in 1877 he moved to Missouri, near Nevada, where he was manager of a cheese factory, afterwards becom- ing manager of a cheese factory at Sheldon. His next move took him to Chase County, Kans., where he bought a farm and also farmed in Elk County, in the same state. Having a desire to follow his trade of butter- and cheese- making, Mr. Miller again became the manager of the Sheldon cheese factory and creamery, where he continued for five years and then engaged in farm- ing again. This time he located in Sumner County, near Wellington, where he engaged in wheat farming.
It was in September, 1909, that Mr. Miller located at Laton, Fresno County, Cal., where he engaged in the dairy business. On March 28, 1911, he purchased forty acres of raw land at Tranquillity, which he improved, leveled and checked, built a home and planted alfalfa and engaged in dairy- ing and raising hogs. This property he sold in 1919, then bought twenty acres two miles southeast of town, made nearly all the improvements and lives retired.
In Vernon County, Mo., Mr. Miller was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Margaret McGovney, a native of Adams County, Ohio. This happy union has been blessed with seven children: Bessie, who married Charles E. Hull, who is with the Standard Oil Co .; Hattie, wife of Elmer Ayres, a dairyman of Tranquillity, where he owns a ranch : Roy, has a ranch of twenty- one acres where he is engaged in raising hogs: John assists his father in the work of the ranch and owns eighteen acres adjoining ; Frank, owns twenty-
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