History of Kern 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, Part 104

Author: Morgan, Wallace Melvin, 1868- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1682

USA > California > Kern County > History of Kern 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 > Part 104

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Missouri is the native state of Charles Heldman and Augusta, St. Charles county. the place of his birth, where he first saw the light of day August 17, 1849. His parents were of German nativity, and he was orphaned by his father's death when he was three years of age. In Augusta, where he was reared, he attended the public schools, and when a lad he began to learn the cooper's trade under his stepfather, Eberhart Fuhr. In 1871 he went to Colorado and thence to Montana, being engaged at mining. In the fall of 1871 he made his way to the Pacific coast, following his trade in San Fran- cisco until the spring of 1872, when we find him in Utah, remaining there until the fall of 1872. In that year he became a miner in Pioche, Nev., and in 1873 he started for Panamint, at the time of the excitement in Death Valley, where he prospected until the spring of 1874, and then came to Kern county. Soon afterward he began mining on the Bodfish, where he built an arrastre and operated it for seven years. Next he located and opened the Centennial mine on Erskine creek, operating it until he sold it to good advantage, when he purchased the present ranch from the railroad com- pany and began improving it, and during the past seventeen years has wrought a wonderful change in the appearance of the place. He dug a ditch, taking water from Bodfish creek for irrigating his alfalfa, while he irrigates his orchard from a spring. His orchard is thrifty, and a large producer.

Mr. Heldman has been a constant reader and having a retentive mem- ory, he has accumulated a fund of information which makes him a very inter- esting and entertaining conversationalist. He is very broad in his views and is a member of the Thomas Payne Historical Association, as well as The American Secular Union.

DAVID W. MADDUX .- Among the native sons who have rendered a creditable showing and been instrumental in the development and improving of the natural resources of Kern county we find David W. Maddux, born at El Monte, Los Angeles county, the oldest child of William and Joanna (Mar- ney) Maddux, the date of his birth being March 1, 1856. His father died in 1858 and in 1859 the family removed to Hillsboro, Ore., where they resided for about five years, then removing to a place near Salem, Ore., and remaining until 1866. They then returned to California and located on a ranch at the foot of Mt. Diablo, in Contra Costa county.

On this ranch David Maddux worked faithfully for a few years, mean- time attending the public schools near his home. From a boy in his teens he earned his own livelihood by working on ranches. He spent two years prospecting near Tombstone, Ariz., during the early excitement of that cele- brated frontier mining camp, and then spent two years at Temple Junction, Tex., where he engaged in cotton growing. However, neither the business nor locality pleased him very much and he resolved to return to his native Cali- fornia. In 1884 he located in the Semi-Tropic district in Kern county and with other members of the family improved the place by boring artesian wells. He obtained two excellent flowing wells and set out orchards and sowed fields of alfalfa. In 1895 he located on the ranch that now has the Santa Fe wells, six miles west of what is now McKittrick. On this place he engaged in farming

C. N. Heldman

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

with his brother, William A., and later he traded his farm in Semi Tropic for the place on which he now resides, also located in the Little Santa Maria valley. He also homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres adjoining, im- proving it, building a comfortable residence and suitable barn, and since proving up on it has also purchased other lands and now owns about six hundred acres on which he is raising hay and stock. On his original farm he bored three wells and obtained a large flow of excellent water which he has lately sold to the Santa Fe Company.

Mr. Maddux has also become interested in real estate in Bakersfield, owning a residence on Twenty-third and M streets, and with his partner, M. S. Platz, built eight bungalows on the corner of Twenty-third and D streets. While he has never aspired to public office he is interested in the success of the Republican party.

M. M. LICHTENSTEIN .- An artistic and imposing business establish- ment of Bakersfield is the jewelry store situated at No. 1414 Nineteenth street and owned by The Lichtenstein Jewelry Company. When Mr. Lichtenstein came to this city in 1910 and selected for his store the central location he now retains, he decided to reproduce in the fixtures a Parisian establishment which he had admired during one of his trips abroad. The development of the idea proved successful. In all probability there is no other store in America simi- larly equipped and finished, and visitors in Bakersfield invariably pause before the store in admiration which always finds expression in terms of highest praise. The walls are made of French plate mirrors, while the large square showcases of French plate glass rest on marble bases, the entire equipment representing an expenditure of $8500 and testifying silently as to the elegant tastes of the owners.

The Lichtenstein family comes of German lineage. M. H.,. father of M. M., was born near Berlin, Germany, and at the age of thirteen came to the United States with his parents, settling in St. Louis. After he had grown to manhood he went to New York City and there with his father engaged in the millinery business. Tales of the discovery of gold in California lured him to the west, for he was of an adventurous disposition, fond of travel and fearless in danger. During 1850 he landed at San Francisco after an uneventful voyage via Panama. For a time he was employed in the express business in San Francisco, but in 1852 he started an express and exchange business between that city and Sacramento. It was his characteristic love of adventure that led him to join the filibustering expedition organized by William Walker, who attempted, with a force of four hundred men, to make himself master of Nicaragua. In that brief but disastrous campaign he had even more excite- ment and danger than he liked. He narrowly escaped execution with many of the other members of the expedition. The fate which others met he for- tunately escaped. Without doubt he owed the preservation of his life to the fact that he wore his Masonic emblem. As he made his way alone up the coast, riding on a burro, he suffered many hardships, went through many exciting experiences and often traveled on very short rations.

When finally the unfortunate adventure had reached a safe termination, Mr. Lichtenstein returned to San Francisco, secured employment and re- mained until about 1870. Joining the rush to Pioche, Nev., at the time of the Raymond-Ely excitement, he met with good luck and made a fortune of $150,- 000 in the mines. However, being a true Californian of the old school and fond of speculating on the Stock Exchange, he soon lost his entire fortune. Nothing daunted, he began at the bottom once more and as soon as he had a suf- ficient capital he engaged in the jewelry business in San Francisco. In spite of his frequent losses on the Stock Exchange, he became well-to-do and con- tinued to conduct a large jewelry trade until the time of the fire. After that he failed rapidly and April 21. 1907, he passed away. Surviving him and still

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living in San Francisco is his widow, Mrs. Toba Lichtenstein, who settled in that city in 1865. Of their ten children four sons and one daughter still sur- vive. The youngest son, M. M., was born in San Francisco September 5, 1872, and received his advanced education in the city high school and Heald's Business College. After he had graduated from the latter institution in 1887 he engaged in the jewelry business with his father on Stockton street, but after the fire he opened a store on Market street near Powell, where he con- tinued until his removal to Bakersfield. Meanwhile he made his first trip abroad in 1894, when he met Miss Mathilda Herzog, a native of Mainz. They later married at San Rafael, Cal., where she visited relatives. During 1909 they made a long and enjoyable tour of Europe. All public movements receive the support of Mr. Lichtenstein when he is convinced of their utility. In politics he votes with the Democratic party. Several fraternities have the benefit of his cordial co-operation. At this writing he acts as secretary of Bakersfield Parlor No. 42, N. S. G. W., and with others is endeavoring to develop and pre- serve all of the historical places in Kern county.

JESSE L. KELLEY .- The ability to judge stock accurately Mr. Kelley inherits from his father, the late Thomas Kelley, who was considered a successful stockman of his day and locality. Born in Maine, he had set- tled in Missouri during young manhood and by gradual development he had built up a large stock industry, owning thousands of head of cattle, horses and mules. Early in the '50s he had crossed the plains with a party of men desirous of inspecting the west. Soon he returned to Missouri, but subse- quently he made four other trips to the coast, at times traveling with ox- teams and at times with horses. In addition to his homestead of fifteen hundred acres near Marysville, Nodaway county, Mo., he acquired large tracts of farm lands in Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. Eventually he sold his stock and closed out his extensive interests in Missouri, removing from that state to California, where he settled in Humboldt county. There he soon became interested in the stock business and on his large ranch near Ferndale he always kept a drove of fine horses as well as many head of mules and cattle. On that ranch he remained until his death, which occurred at the age of eighty-six years.

While living in Missouri, Thomas Kelley had met and married Mary Lee, who was born in Kentucky and died in Missouri. At an early age she left her home in the Blue Grass state in company with her father, Noah Lee, a native Kentuckian and a member of a pioneer family of that com- monwealth. For years Mr. Lee was one of the extensive and prominent farmers of his county in Missouri. The twelve children of Thomas and Mary (Lee) Kelley are living at the present writing and the youngest of the large family, Jesse L., was born at the old homestead near Marysville, Nodaway county, Mo., April 2, 1878. Reared on the farm, from boyhood he was familiar with the stock industry in every department. As a boy he was able to point to the defects in a horse or steer. He also studied their diseases and the best cures for each. When only eleven years of age he was trading in horses and while some of his trades were more fortunate for the other party than for himself, yet each was a stepping-stone in his training and added to his knowledge of animals. As early as 1893 he made his first trip to California and at San Francisco followed the riding of race horses. In other large cities of the United States he engaged in the same work.

When twenty-one years of age Mr. Kelley began to buy and sell stock at Marysville, Mo., where he had a yard of his own and operated with a skill that was little short of remarkable in view of his youth. Older dealers in stock were amazed at his trained judgment. After some years in the same place he decided to remove to California. During 1899 he located in San Francisco and engaged in buying and selling horses and mules. fre-

Jesse LAley

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

quently returning to Missouri on business, but always considering Cali- fornia his home. Since 1906 he has engaged in business in Bakersfield and has become the largest shipper of stock in the entire San Joaquin valley. His shipments of horses and mules have been especially large. Growers of stock have come to place every confidence in his judgment and have found his prices the best that the market justifies. Four miles from Bakersfield on the Kern Island road he owns a fine alfalfa ranch of eighty acres and finds the care of the property an enjoyable change from his business affairs in the city. While he never has been active in politics nor has sought office he keeps posted concerning public affairs, and votes the Republican ticket at general elections. By his marriage in Marysville, Mo., November 20, 1900, to Miss Mattie McLean, who was born and reared near Marysville, Mo., he is the father of two children, Floyd and Clara, now students in the Bakersfield schools.

JAMES ALEXANDER .- Everywhere, in every community, people look up to Scotchmen as an example of that which constitutes good citizenship. The Scotchman is a worker, an economist, a lover of country and a friend of educa- tion and enlightenment. He prospers and, prospering, helps others to prosper. The citizen of Weldon, Kern county, Cal., whose name is at the head of this brief notice daily impresses upon his neighbors the truth of these reflections. Born in Kincardineshire, Scotland, October 22, 1875, a son of David Alexander and a descendant of old and honorable Scottish families, he was early placed in the public schools of his native place and studied hard until he was twelve years old, when he was obliged to lay down his books and help to earn the family livelihood. Owing to his father's ill health, the boy had from a very early age much responsibility in the conduct of the family affairs. When he was eighteen years of age, in 1893, the whole family came to America and, making their way to California, settled before the end of that year on what is now James Alexander's ranch on the South Fork of the Kern river. He took charge of affairs and they leased from the A. Brown Company until 1911, when they purchased the place. Mr. Alexander owns two hundred and forty acres, one hundred and ninety acres of which is under cultivation. It is under irrigation and about one hundred acres is in growing alfalfa. He is also a grower of grain and is engaged quite extensively in the breeding of cattle, hogs and horses, also cattle and hogs for the market, his brand being a JA joined.

Fraternally Mr. Alexander is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, affiliating with Kernville Lodge No. 251. He is a member of the board of trustees of Weldon School District and is clerk of the board. A suc- cessful man, of public spirit, he has been a promoter of many local move- ments for the general good. June 27, 1907, he married Miss Grace L. Bishop, in Kings county. She was born in Nova Scotia, daughter of William A. Bishop, who brought his family to California. Mrs. Alexander was educated in Santa Clara county and was graduated from the state normal at San Jose in 1900, engaging in educational work until her marriage. Two daughters have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Alexander and his wife, Mabel and Alice. The mother of Mr. Alexander died in 1906, and his father now lives with him.

J. W. BATES .- As field superintendent of the Fairfield Oil Company, Mr. Bates has charge of one hundred and twenty acres lying on section 13, 31-22, a similar tract on section 19, 31-22, all of section 11, 31-22 (which is undeveloped), and twenty acres on section 19, 30-22, at McKittrick, upon which there are seven producing wells. The average production runs from ten thousand to twenty thousand barrels, and it is the ambition of the superintend- ent to develop the leases to the fullest degree possible, with the hope that the returns may be commensurate with justifiable expectations.

Prior to coming to the west Mr. Bates made his home in New Hamp- shire, where he was born January 18, 1889, where he received a common-

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

school education and where he was trained for the responsibilities of the busi- ness world. An interesting experience at Dartmouth College was brought to a close with his graduation in 1910. In the course of his study in that institution he had been prominent in a number of societies and fraternities. In the fall of 1910 he left the east and came to California, where a friend in San Francisco secured work for him in the MeKittrick oil field. The position was not one of importance, being that of mule-driver. To work strenuously and laboriously did not daunt him in the least. By the quiet discharge of uninteresting duties he proved that a college graduate was not superior to manual labor and did not disdain the humblest duties. Soon he was promoted to be a tool-dresser and in May, 1913, he was made manager of the Fairfield Oil Company, which has four wells and one now drilling. During 1912 occurred the death of his father, F. C. Bates, for years the owner and proprietor of a large boot and shoe business at Somersworth, Strafford county, N. H. Surviving him are the wife and daughter, still residents of New Hampshire, and the only son, who inherited the shoe business. Being pleased with California and the oil busi- ness, Mr. Bates has given over to his mother the management of the store at Somersworth and she in turn has entrusted it largely to an experienced old employe long connected with the establishment.

AUGUST MAUREL .- Gap, Hautes-Alpes, France, was the birthplace of August Maurel, the date being July 11, 1865. His father, Francois Maurel, being a farmer, he was reared to that pursuit, attending school until he reached the age of fifteen. In 1882 he made his way to the United States, coming directly to the Pacific coast and followed gardening in San Francisco for a while, in January of 1883 coming to Sumner. Mr. Maurel found work with a sheepman on the plains, being thus occupied for about three years, when he purchased a flock of ewes and started out for himself. This he has since continued with such marked success that he is designated as one of the large sheepmen in the county. His herd at starting consisted of about fifteen hundred head, but at times it has reached twelve thousand. For the first seven years he ranged his sheep at Poso Bridge, then between Kern river and Poso creek, then for about ten years at Granite Station and vicinity, and still later in the Weed Patch and Rock Pile country.

Mr. Maurel owns property near San Bernardino, but he has always made his home in Kern county, his place of residence being now at the corner of Eureka and Owens streets, East Bakersfield. He has invested in real estate in this city and owns five other residences which are valuable pieces of prop- ertv. Ile was married in East Bakersfield July 12, 1893. to Miss Marie Robert, who was also a native of Hautes-Alves, France. They are the par- ents of three children, viz .: August G., who is attending Heald's Business College, San Jose : Alice, attending Bakersfield Business College ; and George. Mr. Maurel is a member of the Order of Eagles and the Druids, and in politics is a stanch Republican.

JEREMIAH SHIELDS .- Among the ancestors of Jeremiah Shields on the maternal side his great-great-grandfather McElroy came from Scotland and settled in county Londonderry. Ireland. where later generations have been identified un to the present time. The Shields family were distinctly from county Donegal, that being the lifelong home of James and Catherine (Mc- Elrov) Shields. The early associations of their son, Jeremiah, bound him closely to that county, where he was born on New Year's day of 1843 and where he was reared on a farm sixteen miles from the city of Londonderry. Mav 4. 1868, he landed in the city of New. York, penniless but hopeful, and possessing a robust constitution that enabled him to endure without harm the heavy work of later vears. After a brief sojourn in New York City and Phila- delphia he went to Omaha. Nebr., and secured employment on the constric- tion work of the Union Pacific Railroad. The vast plains were almost wholly

August Maurel

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

unsettled and Laramie, the last station on the line, was a hamlet of a few tents. The particular task of the young immigrant was that of laying track and for over one year he was given steady employment by the contractors. When finally the work was completed he came by train to Sacramento in January, 1869. He followed farm work until 1871, and then removed to Lodi, where he secured work as foreman of track repairs for the Central Pacific Railroad. For five years he filled the position with praiseworthy fidelity and efficiency, after which he spent six months in Oakland.

Coming to Kern county for the first time in September of 1876, Mr. Shields became foreman of the Southern Pacific Railroad at Tehachapi, being the first permanent incumbent of the position. The work entailed many re- sponsibilities, yet it was so congenial and acceptable that he refused an offer to become roadmaster of the Mojave and Needles branch, preferring to con- tinue in the foremanship. In the highest part of the mountain section there were six tunnels within one mile. The dangers of earth slides and winter snows were so constant that he kept a vigil night and day. Nothing affords him greater gratification than the fact that during the period of his occu- pancy of the position. covering almost sixteen years, there occurred no acci- dent that could be attributed to carelessness on his part. In the mean- time he had taken up land and when in December of 1891 he resigned as fore- man it was for the purpose of giving his entire time to farming and stock- raising. He now owns two hundred and fifty acres one and a half miles west of Tehachapi. While he still owns the ranch, since 1903 he has resided in Bakersfield, where he owns a comfortable residence at No. 1612 H street.

Ever since he became a citizen of our country Mr. Shields has advocated Democratic principles. Formerly he served as a member of the county Democratic central committee. For years in Tehachapi he held office as school trustee, but that position came to him less through his desire for, political preferment than through his known interest in educational affairs and his intelligent realization of the needs of the schools. The Democrats of his dis- trict secured his election as a member of the board of county supervisors in 1894, his duties beginning in January of the next year. At the expiration of the term in 1898 he was again chosen to fill the position. The end of the term, January 1, 1903, was also the beginning of his first term as county treasurer, to which responsible post he was elected by the Democratic party of Kern county. During 1906 he was re-elected and so satisfactory was his service that when the time came for the next election, 1910, he had no opponent, being again chosen his own successor, to fill the office until New Year's of 1915. The details connected with the office are many and the responsibility great, but he has proved equal to every emergency and has vindicated the choice of his party. During his busy and successful life he has had little leisure for participation in social functions or fraternal activities, and the only organiza- tion with which he has been prominently connected is the Order of Knights of Columbus, which he serves as a trustee. In his marriage, which occurred at Sacramento in 1873, he was united with Miss Catherine Shields, a young Irish girl of gentle character and industrious habits, well qualified to assist a poor but ambitious man in his efforts to secure success. Six sons and one daughter blessed their union, namely : Minnie, deceased in 1874 at six months of age ; James D., employed as a stationary engineer in Bakersfield: Henry P., a painter in this city ; George F., a machinist, who follows his trade in Los An- geles; Jeremiah P., now serving as deputy county treasurer ; Edward J., who holds the position of locomotive engineer for the Santa Fe road out of Bakers- field ; and Hugh M., a cartoonist and commercial artist now following his chosen occupation with recognized success in San Francisco.

WILLIAM A. MADDUX .- Among the men who have done much to improve land and build up the agricultural resources of Kern county we find

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William Maddux, a native son, born in El Monte, Los Angeles county, No- vember 6, 1858, the son of William and Joanna (Marney) Maddux. In 1850 the father crossed the plains with ox teams to Los Angeles, Cal., where he met and married Miss Marney, who had also crossed the plains, coming with her uncle, Fielding Hathaway, in 1852. Mr. Maddux was one of the early merchants of El Monte, but before he had an opportunity to accomplish much in his line he passed away late in the fall of 1858. There were two children born of this union. The oldest. David W. Maddux, is also a resident of Kern county, residing on his farm near McKittrick. The mother, who married the second time to J. E. Morgan, is again a widow and resides in San Jose.

William A. Maddux was reared from the time he was eight years of age on the farm in Contra Costa county, the place being located at the foot of Mt. Diablo, and he attended the public school at Clayton. As early as thirteen he began paddling his own canoe by working on ranches, besides performing his duties on the home place. He spent two years farming at Pilot Grove, Falls county, Tex., and in 1884 came with the family to Kern county. Here he located land at Semi-Tropic and drilled artesian wells and was successful in improving the place, sowing alfalfa and setting out orchards and vineyards which were irrigated from the flowing wells. He still owns one hundred and sixty acres in that district. In 1895 he located a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres at the foot of Temblor mountain in the little Santa Maria valley, six miles west of MeKittrick, which he improved and proved up on and has also purchased land adjoining until he owns eight hundred acres of land. On the homestead he sunk a well and at a depth of one hundred and thirty-eight feet he struck an abundant flow of good water, thus richly enhancing the value of his place. Fraternally he is a member of Delano Lodge No. 356, I. O. O. F., and politically is an independent Republican.

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History of Kern 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, Part 104

Author: Morgan, Wallace Melvin, 1868- [from old catalog] Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company Number of Pages: 1682

Author: Morgan, Wallace Melvin, 1868- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1682