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 107

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 107

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Mr. May served as a member of the board of trustees from the organiza- tion of the Panama school district until his death. Mrs. May is a devoted Christian woman and is an active member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Bakersfield.

J. S. WORLEY .- The difficulty in securing water has been one of the most serious problems confronting the people of Taft ever since the founding of the town. Not only was the cost of water altogether unreasonable and

Amelia. Ho, May

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

exorbitant in the first years of the town's history, but it could be secured at any price only after the most self-sacrificing efforts on the part of the pioneers. That a more reasonable price is now possible results from the sagacious policy adopted by the Consumers Water Company, an organiza- tion subsidiary to the Western Water Company, and the successor to the Taft Utilities Company, which was incorporated and financed by a number of the representative pioneers and public-spirited citi-

zens of Taft. For two years, 1910-12, the concern placed water within the reach of those desiring it for domestic purposes. The water was bought at Kern or East Bakersfield and shipped to Taft in tank cars, from which it was forced out into two twelve hundred-barrel tanks on the hill, thence gravitated down to the residence and business section of Taft. Neces- sarily this was done at a high cost, viz .: twenty cents per barrel. The Consumers Water Company has completed its connection for domestic and mechanical use and now supplies water at a maximum of twelve and one-half cents per barrel, with a discount for cash, if paid before the 10th of each month, so as to bring the price down to nine cents per barrel to the private users. In addition the company provides water for fire pro- tection to the municipality of Taft. During June of 1913 the city of Taft completed a water system which at its expense had been constructed and installed for fire protection. Under the agreement now in force the Con- sumers Water Company pumps into a large tank, of fifty-five thousand barrel capacity, situated at an altitude of five hundred feet on the crest of 25-Hill, enough water to provide adequate fire protection, the same having a pressure originally of two hundred and fifty pounds per square inch, which however has been reduced by valves to one hundred and twenty-five pounds.

The Western Water Company, to which the Consumers is subsidiary, has a reputation for large enterprises. An immense concern, capitalized in Kern county, incorporated for $500,000 under the laws of California, it has had the guiding genius of such men as F. H. Hall, C. B. Colby and others, and has laid mains to supply with water the oil fields of the west side as well as all the towns situated therein.

A native son of the state, Mr. Worley was born in San Bernardino December 20, 1865, and is a son of the late Benjamin and Harriet (Court- ney) Worley, pioneers of the west. The parents were married in Ohio and shortly afterward joined an expedition bound for California, making the journey overland through Colorado and Utah. Although they passed the site of the Mountain meadow massacre shortly after that catastrophe they were not attacked by Indians nor did they meet with other misfortunes, but arrived in health and safety at their journey's end. The family com- prised six children and the third of these, J. S., was sent to the San Bernardino schools, where he received a good rudimentary education. Long before a tie or rail was ever laid he traveled over the route where after- ward he carried a chain and helped to survey for the road built by the Santa Fe from Needles, Ariz., to San Bernardino, Cal. In such work he received his first training as a civil engineer. Later he was connected with the construction of the water system for the Bear Valley Water Company of Redlands and on the completion of the plant he continued in the employ of its officials, being, indeed, for eighteen years a trustworthy manager of its lines. When he resigned the position, it was for the purpose of entering the employ of the Edison Power Company as a civil engineer and con- struction foreman. Largely due to his efforts was the erection of power house No. 1 on the Kern river. To him was given charge of the entire system of the Edison Power Company, which for the first time made him a resident of Kern county. The completion and management of the aqueduct and power house occupied the years from 1907 to 1910 inclusive and in

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June of 1911 he entered the employ of the Western Water Company, taking charge of the construction of pumping station No. 1. In addition he super- intended the laying of mains and the installing of engines and power plants. During February of 1912 he came to Taft, where since he has been in charge of the business of the Consumers' Water Company.

MICHAEL THEODORE KEAN .- A native of Michigan, Michael T. Kean was born in Marine City, St. Clair county, May 9, 1853, a grandson of John Kean, Sr., who served the American cause gallantly in the war of 1812, being present at Hull's surrender. John Kean, Jr., father of Michael T., was born at the old home of the Keans in Ireland and settled in Michigan at a comparatively early date. A man of business ability, he became a con- tractor of government work and had to do with much important construc- tion in St. Clair county, including a light house and jobs on St. Clair Flats. When not busy with contracting, which was his chief business, he devoted himself to farming. He married Mary Moran, a native of Ireland, and they both passed away in Michigan.

Of the five children of the worthy couple just referred to M. T. Kean was the first born and three others are living. When he was old enough he was put to school in St. Clair county, where he studied until he was fifteen. He was then apprenticed to the ship carpenters' trade in his native town, working six months without pay. then for a time at fifty cents a day and later at $1 a day. After completing his apprenticeship in 1872 he went to Lincoln, Neb., where he found employment as a carpenter and where he soon entered the University of Nebraska to take a three years' scientific course. It is greatly to his credit that he worked his way at that institution, earning money at odd times with which to pay all his expenses. Before his course was finished, however, he was obliged to give up his studies because of an affection of his eyes. Entering the employ of the Fitzgerald & Mallory Con- struction Company as a carpenter, he was soon advanced to the position of general foreman of their work on such lines as the B. & M., in Nebraska and Kansas ; the M. P. in Nebraska and Kansas; and the Chicago, Burlington & Quiney in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. When the M. P. Company built its road to Pueblo in 1888 he was its general foreman in bridge and building construction. When the work was finished he took up contracting and build- ing at Pueblo, with a real estate business on the side, prospered for awhile, but in 1893 fell with others under the influence of the panic. Not disheart- ened at having been thus "reduced to the ranks," he went back to carpenter work. In 1895 he came to San Diego, Cal., and was foreman of carpenter work for Spreckels until the fall of 1897. when he resigned and went to Arizona for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company as foreman of bridge and building construction between Albuquerque and Needles. He was thus employed until September, 1901, when he took up his residence in Bakersfield, where after working at his trade for a short time he became foreman for Burleigh and was put in charge of work on the Producers' Bank building, then in course of construction. Later he was similarly employed on the Metropole Hotel building. About 1902 he began contracting at Bak- ersfield on his own account, and among the artistic and substantial structures which he has since erected are the B. P. O. E. building, the Baer building, the Hotel Koesel, the Morgan block, the Moronet building, the Herrington-Cohn building, the Hambleton building, the Rainier building, the Blue & Gold Bottling works, the Kern Valley garage, the San Joaquin hospital, the Car- lock stables, the Manual Arts building, an addition to the Noreiga hotel, and many handsome residences in Bakersfield; much fine work throughout Kern county, including the Maricopa school house and the Rio Bravo bridge across the Kern river; besides other notable buildings in near-by districts of the state, and superintended the building of the Kern County high school.

In. J. Ream

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In Bakersfield, July 6, 1912, occurred the marriage of Mr. Kean, uniting him with Mrs. Victoria (Adams) Michener, a native of Gonzales, Tex., who came to California when a babe, in 1867, with her parents, crossing the plains with ox and horse teams. Her father, Thomas Adams, born in Illinois, was married in Tennessee to Nancy Taylor. He became a stockman in Gonzales, Tex., served in the Mexican war and in 1867 brought his family to Cali- fornia and located in San Diego county where he and his wife died. Through- out California Mr. Kean is known as the father of organized labor in Kern county and he was president of the labor council for two years. One of the organizers of the Builders' Exchange of Bakersfield, he was its first president and is still president of its board of directors. Fraternally he affiliates with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.

JACK HARDING .- The Harding family is of Anglo-Saxon ancestry. Joseph Harding crossed the ocean to the United States at the age of eighteen years and enlisted from New York City for service in the Union army. In company with his regiment he went to the front and participated in a number of serious engagements, in one of which he was wounded through the right leg. At the close of the war he came to California and entered the machine shops at the Mare Island navy yard, where he com- pleted his apprenticeship and where he has been steadily employed from that time to the present, being not only one of the oldest and most experi- enced, but also one of the most skilled and capable machinists in the yard. After settling in Vallejo he married Miss Mary Lawrence, who was born in Canada, but at an early age accompanied her parents to California and settled at Vallejo.

In a family of three children, two still living, Jack Harding was the eldest and his birth occurred at Vallejo in 1871, his education was obtained in Vallejo schools and his business training came to him in one of the mercantile establishments of that town. From the age of fourteen until he was twenty-one he worked under S. Dannebaum, a well-known merchant of the place, whose experience and ability proved of assistance in the early business training of the apprentice. At the age of twenty-one Mr. Harding went to San Bernardino, secured a position as a clerk and remained for three years. Returning to Vallejo, he retained his former position for a short time. Next he embarked in the clothing business with Harry Titcomb as a partner in the firm of Harding & Titcomb. Upon disposing of his interests in that store in 1905, he removed to Hanford and became manager of the clothing department of the Kuttner-Goldstein Company. From Han- ford he came to Bakersfield in 1908 as manager of Redlick's clothing depart- ment and in this city he became a member of the firm of Harding & Bert- rand, clothing merchants, in 1911, but in January of 1913 disposed of his interest in that business, since which time he has owned and conducted an exclusive tailoring establishment.

While still living at Vallejo Mr. Harding was made a Mason in Naval Lodge, F. & A. M., and later he was initiated into San Pablo Lodge, I. O. O. F. Politically he has voted with the Republican party ever since he attained his majority. His marriage tock place at Colusa, Cal., in 1899, and united him with Miss Willie May Beville, who was born, reared and educated in that city. As a girl she was given exceptional musical advantages and became one of the most skilled musicians in her home town, where also she was an active worker in the Episcopal Church. The Order of the Eastern Star also has received the benefit of her talented co-operation. Her parents, William T. and Lutie Beville, were natives respectively of Virginia and Missouri. Throughout the period of the Civil war Mr. Beville served as a private in a Virginia regiment of the Confederate army and afterward he came to California, settling near Colusa, where he eventually

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became a prominent farmer and where also he served with fearlessness and efficiency as sheriff for a period of two terms.

WILLIAM WILLARD PENSINGER .- Born December 4, 1868, in Grand Rapids, Mich., Mr. Pensinger was taken the next year to Nevada, where the parents remained for three years, then settled at San Luis Obispo for a time. In 1874 they came to Kern county, and here he attended school in the New River district until he reached the age of sixteen years. Until he was twenty-three he worked for his father on the home place, and then rented land and started to farm for himself, also engaging in teaming and hauling. He remained on this place for about two and a half years, then leasing two hundred and forty acres for the purpose of general farming. This he followed for about three years, also engaging to some extent in stock-raising, and then gave up the place and entered the employ of Mr. Frazier, a general farmer, for whom he worked about eight years. While working here, three years before moving on same, he bought a tract of twenty acres and later twenty more, and he now has the entire forty acres in alfalfa. The property is located four miles southwest of Bakers- field and is under the Buena Vista canal. The average cuttings amount to about six tons to the acre, which evidences the productive state of his land and the careful management of it. In addition to this Mr. Pensinger does some stock-raising, but he devotes a large portion of his attention to his hundred stands of bees, which he has had on his place for the past twelve years. This business has proved highly profitable from a business standpoint, and Mr. Pensinger has made a deep study of its conduct, taking great pleasure in the work. He is also interested in eighty acres of the family estate which he operates, besides renting sixty acres more, and now runs a farm of one hundred and eighty acres devoted to alfalfa, grain and pasture. He is fond of out-door life, interested in all that is up-to-date, and is withal a capable, successful ranchman and politically is a Republican.

DAVID ALBERT JACKSON .- The genealogy of the Jackson family indicates a colonial identification with the new world and a participation in the Revolution by William Jackson, whose son, William, Jr., bore a valiant part in the war of 1812 under Gen. Andrew Jackson. In one of the engagements of that second struggle with England he was wounded so seriously as to render necessary the amputation of an arm. After the close of the war he returned to Pennsylvania, where his son, Samuel, was born and reared in Chester county. He engaged in the iron industry on the Octoraro river near Coatesville, Pa. In that state he married Miss Mary A. Moore, who was born in county Derry, Ireland, but at the age of nine months was brought to America by her parents, who settled in Pennsylvania. Eventually Samuel Jackson and wife removed to Iowa and acquired large interests in the vicinity of Cedar Rapids, where they continued to reside until death. They were the parents of six sons and three daughters. The four sons old enough to bear arms enlisted in the Union army during the Civil war and gave to their country the patriotic devotion and courageous service which had characterized their ancestors in previous wars.

The youngest member of the family was David Albert Jackson, who was born near Coatesville, Chester county, Pa., March 7, 1850, and he received his primary education in the schools of that county. His desire was to become a mining engineer, and with that aim in view he entered the Hebron academy at Cochranville. However, before he could graduate his parents arranged to remove to Iowa, and he finished his course under private instruction in Montezuma, that state, where he received the degree of M. E. Soon thereafter he became chief mining engineer for the North- western Fuel Company at their coal mines in What Cheer, Iowa, these mines consisting of the properties of the Star Coal Mining Company and

مكير ؟

Im Pensinger

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the Granger Coal Company. Later as general superintendent he developed these properties and they acquired the largest coal mining interests in the state. During 1893 he resigned his position with the company and came to California, where he established his home at Fresno. As an expert in examining mines in California and Nevada he soon gained a wide reputa- tion. In 1900 he first became interested in the oil industry. After a brief period of prospecting at Coalinga he came to McKittrick in February, 1903, as superintendent for the San Francisco & MeKittrick Oil Company. When their oil wells were shut down he returned to Coalinga as superintendent for the Fresno St. Paul Company, but at the expiration of two years he returned to his former connections in McKittrick, where a test well had developed oil in paying quantities and where the San Francisco and McKit- trick Oil Company now owns one hundred and fifty-five acres with seventeen wells, sixteen of these being producers. In addition to superintending the large enterprises owned by this concern Mr. Jackson holds office as secre- tary and superintendent of the Jackson Oil Company, operating one hun- dred and eighty acres of adjacent oil land.

The marriage of Mr. Jackson was solemnized at Whitewater, Wis., and united him with Miss Helen E. Vincent, a graduate of the State Normal School and the Conservatory of Music, and a woman of the highest culture and refinement. The family, which consists of Mr. and Mrs. Jackson and their only child, Jessie Nena, are attendants at the services of the Fresno Presbyterian Church, and fraternally Mr. Jackson was formerly active in Masonry, having been made a Mason in Montezuma Lodge in Iowa.

P. E. BOWLES, JR .- As far back as 1903 the organization of the Reward Oil Company was promoted by the elder Mr. Bowles, with other capitalists. Immediately afterward the property was placed under develop- ment. At this writing the company owns one hundred and eighty acres, on which they are drilling well No. 40. It is worthy of mention that the wells are without exception good producers of fifteen and sixteen gravity oil, their splendid development indicating the foresight and executive ability of the president, P. E. Bowles, Sr., and the secretary-treasurer. Fred McNear, while the large production proves that the manager, P. E. Bowles, Jr., understands the difficult art of increasing the output of an already profitable enterprise. The comfort of their workmen has been a matter of special interest to the company. Their welfare is made a matter of serious concern and constant solicitude. A commodious and comfortable clubroom has been erected for their pleasure and in it has been provided a large hall equipped for moving picture shows, so that the men in their hours of leisure have an inviting place for rest and recreation.

Many years ago when he was but a youth P. E. Bowles, Sr., made a trip into Kern county with a friend and investigated the since famous Weed Patch. Since then he has never ceased to maintain a warm interest in this section of the country. His optimistic faith in its future has led him to make large investments here, both mineral and agricultural. In the midst of many large enterprises in San Francisco and Oakland, where he is president of the American National Bank of San Francisco, the First National Bank of Oakland and the First Trust and Savings Bank of Oakland. he became interested in the pioneer development of the McKittrick field. where he promoted the California Standard Oil Company, later selling these interests to the Associated Oil Company. In addition he promoted the Reward Oil Company, of which he is still the head and his son the manager. The Result Oil Company, of which his son also acts as manager. is another enterprise that has had the benefit of his executive leadership. In his marriage he became connected with a very influential California family. for his father-in-law, the late George W. McNear, of Oakland. was for years

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the most extensive grain shipper on the Pacific coast, besides being one of the pioneer operators in the Kern river and Coalinga oil fields. Valuable lands at Coalinga were located under his personal selection and in that field he became one of the largest stockholders in the Western Oil Company and the Maine State Oil Company.

Born and reared in Oakland, this state, a graduate of the high school of that city, P. E. Bowles, Jr., was sent from high school to the University of California. where he took the course in mechanical engineering until the close of the junior year. While at Berkeley he became a member of the Iota Chapter of the Zeta Psi. From California he went east to Columbia University in New York City, where he took the scientific course and was graduated in 1907 with the degree of B. S. For a short time afterward he engaged with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad in charge of bridge work on a new line built from Idaho to Seattle. That position he resigned in order to act as private secretary to Victor II. Metcalfe, secre- tary of the navy, and thereafter he made his headquarters at Washington, D. C., until the resignation of the cabinet officer in 1908. Returning to Oakland, he took charge of general outside work for E. B. and A. L. Stone, a large contracting firm of that city. Upon his resignation in 1909 he came to McKittrick as foreman of the Reward Oil Company, of which he is now manager, besides being superintendent of the Result Oil Company. Together with his father and Mr. McNear he opened territory in the North Midway field on section 26, 31-21, where two wells of 19 gravity oil have proved a great success. The land thus developed has been absorbed by the Reward Oil Company, which also owns considerable land on section 1, 29-21, McKittrick front, having now one producing oil well on that tract, and in addition the company owns oil lands on the Bellridge front, so that their holdings altogether aggregate an amount surpassed by few of the great organizations engaged in the development of the field.

On July 31, 1913, Mr. Bowles was married to Miss Jessie N. Jackson, daughter of D. A. Jackson, superintendent of the San Francisco & McKittrick lease.

ANDREW FERGUSON .- The general traveling production agent for the Kern Trading & Oil Company, now in charge of the McKittrick division, has been connected with every department of the oil industry and now fills a very responsible position with the most noteworthy efficiency. Since he was a youth his activities have been in the one line, following in this respect the example of his father, John Ferguson, one of the pioneers of the California oil fields and a man of unusual information in regard to their development. The family is of Scotch lineage. As far back as the genealogy can be traced, it shows an identification with the highlands and the historic regions around Dundee, where both John and Andrew Ferguson were born, the latter on the 24th of May, 1875. The former, a marine engineer by trade, traveled much over the high seas and on one of his voyages anchored in the port of San Francisco, from which place he made a tour of inspection throughout the state.

An old acquaintance from Scotland, a Mr. Kelsey, had settled in Tulare county and had improved a farm near Visalia. Through his representations of that part of the country the new settler was induced to locate at Goshen, where he opened a blacksmith shop. For three years he met with encour- aging results, but the failing health of his wife induced him to seek a new and more healthful location. The following three years were spent at Salinas as owner of a large blacksmith shop. During that period he first became interested in contracting for water wells and from that he drifted into the business of drilling oil wells. Assisted by his son, Andrew, he drilled one of the first wells in the Coalinga field and he also drilled in the Kern

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river field for the Trumbull Oil Company, pioneers in that district. Later contracts and wild-cat propositions took him to Vacaville, Suisun City, Monticello in Napa county and Pleasanton in Alameda county. Now at the age of sixty-two, he is living in retirement from business cares and finds a pleasant home with his son, Andrew, in the latter's residence at Fresno, where also lives the wife and mother, who was Annie Mudie, a native of Scotland. The family comprises one daughter and four sons, all living.

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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 107

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