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 114

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 114

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HARRY A. ETZWEILER .- Born at St. Joseph, Mo .. January 22, 1886, Mr. Etzweiler is a son of Jacob, a Pennsylvanian, and an architect and builder by occupation. Several buildings and warehouses in St. Louis and Galveston were erected under his supervision and from plans of his own drawing, while in addition he served for some years as a government in- spector of construction work at Galveston. ITis death occurred in 1910 and four of his children grew up. Catherine, Minnie, Harry Aaron and Jacob. The mother. Mrs. Debbie (Shaffer) Larson, is now living in Bakersfield, to which city Harry A. came in 1900 at the age of fourteen years. For a short time he worked in a brick yard. From that time until

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1905 he served an apprenticeship to the trade of boiler-maker. Meanwhile he had the further advantage of night study in the National Correspon- dence School. For one year he engaged as boiler-maker in the Los An- geles boiler works under George Hanke, after which he became an em- ploy of the Pioneer boiler works in the same city. As foreman of con- struction with the Los Angeles Gas and Electric Light Company he en- gaged in installing gas tanks. Such was his success in completing a $30,000 job, with three hundred workmen under him, that he was engaged by the Fulton engine works to superintend a similar work, representing about the same outlay of money. As a representative of the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad Company he was sent to Los Vegas, Nev., and remained there for ten months, working as a boiler-maker.

Returning to Bakersfield in June of 1908, Harry A. Etzweiler soon engaged with the Kern Trading and Oil Company in the Kern river field, where as boiler-maker and superintendent of concrete work he proved so efficient and reliable that he was sent to the Kerto division February 7, 1911. Mr. Etzweiler's present position in

the boiler department of the Sunset-Monarch Oil Company dates from July 28, 1913. During 1907 he married Miss Mamie Davis, daughter of Ola and Celesta (Edgar) Davis, of Los Angeles. Two daughters blessed their union, namely : Hazel, who died in November, 1912; and Audrey D., two years old. Be- sides being a leader in the Kerto Club, Mr. Etzweiler is identified with the Loyal Moose and the Woodmen of the World. With his wife he has maintained a deep interest in the organization and maintenance of the Kerto Sunday-school, which now numbers forty pupils. In addition he formerly served as superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Sunday- school at Kern and also aided in the organization of the Epworth League and the Junior League.

JEAN BAPTISTE CAPDEVILLE .- One of the first to settle in the town of Tehachapi, and who since 1892 has been one of the prime movers in its advancement, is Jean Baptiste Capdeville. A native of France, he has since 1888 made California his home, and is numbered among the most exten- sive sheep growers in the state. He was born in the town of Osse, Basses- Pyrenees, France, October 17, 1868, the son of Jean Pierre Capdeville, a farmer and husbandman, who served for seven years in the French army. His wife, who before her marriage was Marie Anne Iriate, still survives. Of the eight children born to this couple Jean B. was the third. Until he was thirteen years old he attended public school and thereafter until he was twenty he followed farming in his native land. Full of ambition to achieve greater suc- cess in life than he felt he could gain by remaining there, he came to America in November, 1888, making his way directly to San Francisco, Cal., where for a year he was employed in the butcher business. He then moved to Porter- ville. Tulare county, and there his experience in the herding and care of sheep began, for in 1894 he had gathered enough knowledge of the business, as well as sufficient capital, to enable him to embark in the business on his own ac- count. IIe bought a flock of sheep and ranged them there for a while, later bringing them to Kern county, where ever since he has engaged in the busi- ness on a very large scale, having from four to seven thousand head at various times.

Mr. Capdeville came to Tehachapi in 1892, again in 1902 and finally in 1909, at which time he made it his permanent place of residence. He has acquired property holdings here as well as in Bakersfield, and has put forth every effort to aid in the public activities of Kern county, his keen observation as to its needs and his accurate ideas of carrying out the details of all projects making him valued among the citizens. In 1912 he erected the most beauti- ful residence in Tehachapi.

On September 21, 1905, the marriage of Jean B. Capdeville and Anne Fillet

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took place in Los Angeles. She was born in La Doux, France, in 1885, and is the mother of four children as follows: Magdalene, Bertha, Annie and Albert. Mr. Capdeville was a member of the Knights of Pythias in Tehachapi until the lodge surrendered its charter.

FRANK W. WALLEN .- Numbered among those enterprising men of Kern county who have come here with ambitious spirit and undaunted courage to face the hardships of a new country is Frank W. Wallen, whose productive ranch covers forty acres in this county, all under cultivation. A native of Sweden, born in Skane on February 1, 1863, he was there during the early part of his life, attending school until he was fifteen years of age. His parents were farmers and he was reared as an agriculturist, but when fifteen years old was apprenticed to the blacksmith's trade for three years. After completing this he canie to Michigan and for a short time remained there, later going to Mon- tana, where he worked taking contracts for teaming and hauling. Mr. Wallen had attended school for a short time also in the United States. In Montana he also followed the livery business for a time, and his line of work carried him through various parts of the state. Remaining there for a period of six years he then moved to the Bradford oil district of Pennsylvania and worked there as a tool-dresser, then as a driller, until he came to Kern county, Cal , arriving in the year 1899. Having gained experience in the oil fields in the east he had little difficulty in procuring a position in the oil fields here, and went to work as a driller in the various fields of Kern county. During this time he lived in Bakersfield for about twelve years, working most of the time in the oil fields, and in 1911 bought the forty acres of land four miles south of Bakersfield, on the Kern Island road, which is now his home place. Here he engages in general farming, hog raising and the poultry business, his large assortment of chickens consisting of Rhode Island Reds, Minorcas and Plymouth Rocks.

Mr. Wallen is fraternally connected with the Knights of Pythias, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a Mason of the Knight Templar degree. being also a member of Islam Temple, N. M. S., of San Francisco. He was married August 2, 1896, in Pennsylvania to Capitola Hyatt, who was born in Elk county, Pennsylvania. February 7, 1877. They are the parents of four children, as follows: Leonard C., Francis Capitola, Irene M. and Lilas.

JAMES THOMAS MAGUIRE .- With the development of a community and with the increasing of its industrial interests comes the many facilities of labor to lend their hand in alleviating the burden and smoothing the rough places in the road of progress. One of the most important of these, if not the most essential, is the telephone, which in its installation will bring the com- munity in touch with outside interests, report its progress and eradicate jour- neys and troublesome drawbacks through loss of time. It is to James T. Maguire that the West Side district is most indebted for its fine telephone and telegraph system, for it is due almost entirely to his efforts and zeal that they were first placed in the vicinity. Mr. Maguire was born May 10, 1873, in San Jose, Cal., the son of Patrick J. Maguire, who had learned the iron moulding trade in Boston. whence he had made the trip across the plains to the Pacific coast. In San Francisco he engaged for a few years in the wood and coal business at the corner of Third and Folsom streets until his marriage to Bridget McMahon, when he located at the Hacienda mine, in Almaden. Santa Clara county, and followed mining. Continuing thus until 1871 he then located in San Jose, where he was the first to engage in the local express and draying business, and this he continued to follow until his retirement. His death, when he was seventy-two, took place September 16, 1905, and his wife passed away six weeks later. Of their eight children, seven of whom grew to maturity, James T. was the third eldest.

Educated in the public schools, Mr. Maguire later entered Santa Clara

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College and continued his studies until his sophomore year when he took a course in the Garden City Business College in San Jose, from which he was graduated in 1892. His first employment was with the Sunset Telephone & Telegraph Company, and later he began as an apprentice with the Pacific States Telephone & Telegraph Company. By careful and observing work he advanced through the different departments, mastering all of them, and he soon rose to be district superintendent of constructions, covering territory from South San Francisco to Santa Barbara. Later he was transferred to Oakland in the same capacity, covering territory from Eureka to South San Francisco. including San Francisco and Oakland. In 1905 he was transferred from the construction department to the commercial department and sent to Bakers- field as manager for the company, and the next year he was made manager at Los Angeles. Meanwhile he had become interested in the oil business on the west side, and he returned to Bakersfield in 1907 as manager for the Pacific States Telephone & Telegraph Company, finding time to devote to his per- sonal business while managing that territory. Until March 1, 1911, he con- tinued thus and then resigned to devote all of his time to his own affairs. Mr. Maguire was the pioneer telephone man on the west side. In 1908, associated with C. S. Garfield of Bakersfield, but now of Ocean Park, he started to build the telephone line from Bakersfield to McKittrick and the first station was in Tetzlaff's store. Then he built the line into Maricopa, establishing the second station in Coons and Price's store in that place. When Taft started to build up, they built their line in there, and the third station was placed in Hopkins grocery store at Taft. The next station was in Fellows, in the Lawton and Blanks store. In all these fields they extended their lines to the different wells or company headquarters and business assumed such proportions that they erected a new building at Maricopa for their station. About the same time a new station was built at Taft on the south side of the railroad, but when the business district of the town was moved on to the north side they built on that side also, and there their headquarters are now found. In Fellows they built and established their own station and office on the main county road, just north of town, and in McKittrick they also found it expedient to move into their own building. The telephone system embraces the vast oil fields of Sunset, Midway, North Midway, McKittrick, Bellridge and also the Buena Vista and Elk Hills, covering an extensive area and including about seven hundred subscribers. At the time of the incorporation, in 1908, the firm became known as the Kern Mutual Telephone & Telegraph Company, with C. S. Garfield as president and manager. It was thus continued until Mr. Maguire resigned from the management of the Pacific States and he then assumed the presidency and general management, which he still retains, making his headquarters in Taft.

On August 29, 1896, Mr. Maguire was married at San Jose to Miss Blanche Kamp, a native daughter of San Jose, the daughter of Aemilius and Cynthia (Morse) Kamp, who both crossed the plains in ox-team trains, the father as early as 1849. He was a pioneer nurseryman and horticulturist in Santa Clara county, and later was superintendent of Oak Hill cemetery. Both parents are now living retired in San Jose. Mr. Kamp had not received many educational advantages in early youth, but he was ambitious to learn and by study and close observation he became a learned man, well informed on current subjects and the master of several languages, acquiring culture and intellect of a high order. Of the seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Kamp four are living, of whom Mrs. Maguire is the second eldest. She was educated in the public schools and at Notre Dame College at San Jose.

Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Maguire, Maybelle Berniece, James Thomas, Jr., and John Patrick. The father is a member of Bakersfield Lodge No. 266, B. P. O. E., of which he is past Exalted Ruler, and he is also

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a member of the Bakersfield Club, serving as a member of the board of trustees and as treasurer until his business interests took him to the West Side. He is also prominent as a Knight of Columbus. In political issues he is a Democrat and is a member of the Kern County Democratic Central Com- mittee. The family residence, which he erected in Bakersfield in 1909, is located at No. 2318 B street.

ROBERT PALMER .- That he should have worked his way forward from poverty to independence and, notwithstanding the handicap of being thrown upon his own resources at an early age before he had secured a common-school education. should have broadened his mind by self-culture and habits of close observation, proves that Mr. Palmer was a man of more than ordinary force of character and energy of purpose. The conditions that environed his early years were made discouraging by the death of his father. Edward Palmer, a native Kentuckian and a lifelong resident of the Blue Grass state, where his death occurred about 1829. About 1834 the mother, Martha (Patton) Palmer, removed to Illinois with her family and settled at Jacksonville. At that time Robert, who was born in Kentucky May 7, 1823, was a lad of eleven years, scarcely ready to take up the difficult burden of self-support, yet forced to do so by reason of the circum- stances of the family. It was as a miner that he earned a livelihood. While the work was difficult and physically exhausting he managed to find time for reading and developed into a manhood of broad mental vision, qualified in mind and body for the difficult task of pioneering.

The discovery of gold in California changed the entire tenor of the life of Mr. Palmer, who early in 1850 joined an expedition bound for the west. The journey was made on horseback and with pack-animals. What might have been a tedious, uneventful trip was made memorable through several attacks on the part of savages and Mr. Palmer long carried in his arm a wound made by an arrow. Fortunately, however, none of the party was killed and it was without loss that they landed at Hangtown in August, immediately after which the young gold-seeker went to the Sierras to engage in placer-mining. After about ten years in the mines of that region he came to Kern county in 1860 and became interested in the mines at Kernville (then called Whiskey Flat). During 1862 with three other prospectors he located and developed placer mines at Claraville. This attempt proved success- ful. While working the mines he began to buy cattle and selected the LH brand for his herd. In 1876 he purchased from J. M. Lewis a tract now known as the Palmer ranch. To this raw land in Hot Springs valley he brought his family and from that time until his death, May 30, 1905, he gave his atten- tion to the raising of cattle and to general farming, meanwhile winning the warm friendship of associates and co-workers throughout the valley. So great was his popularity that he could have had local offices had he chosen, but, while always voting the Democratic ticket, he steadfastly refused to run for public office.

The marriage of Mr. Palmer at San Francisco June 14, 1865, united him with Miss Rose Glennon, a native of Kells, county Meath, Ireland, and a daughter of James and Mary (Brady) Glennon, the former superintendent of a large estate in that county. During May, 1863, Miss Glennon crossed the ocean to New York City. January 13. 1864, she embarked on a vessel for Panama and on the 8th of February she landed in San Francisco, where she lived up to the time of her marriage. Afterward she made Kern county her home and at this writing, although spending her time largely with mar - ried daughters in Los Angeles, she still owns the old homestead of two hundred and eighty-two acres in Hot Springs valley. The ranch is devoted to alfalfa and stock and is without a superior on the Kern river, the present manager, Walter Palmer, continuing the careful oversight maintained by his

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MRS. ROBERT PALMER

ROBERT PALMER

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY 1201

father. The family consisted of twelve children who attained mature years, namely : Robert, a stockman of Kernville; Margaret, wife of William Wear, of Wallace, Idaho; Richard, who died in Los Angeles in October, 1894; Edward, now living in Oregon; Mrs. Mary E. Moberly, of Los Angeles ; Lee Palmer ; Rose, wife of Dan Burke, of Panama, Kern county ; Walter, on the home farm; Mrs. Hettie Curtis, of Hollywood; Mrs. Rebecca Dunn, of Los Angeles; Patton, deceased; and Mrs. Nellie Beaty, of Los Angeles. The children received fair educations. From 1876 until 1883 the parents were the only family in the entire valley having children and, public schools not having been established, they were obliged to hire at their own expense a teacher, but in 1883 the arrival of other people with children necessitated the establishment of free schools, which important work Mr. and Mrs. Palmer promoted, as they did all movements for the general upbuilding of the South Fork country.

HENRY HOSKING .- That Kern county has offered exceptional oppor- tunities to young men of industry, intelligence and steadfastness of purpose is illustrated by the success here attained by Henry Hosking, an Englishman by birth and education, but since the autumn of 1885 a resident of the San Joaquin valley and for a long period of rising importance an employe of the Kern County Land Company. When eventually he resigned the respon- sible position which he held with that large corporation it was for the pur- pose of developing and improving a tract of land which he had purchased some years before and for which he had paid by installments out of his wages. Thrift as a farmer is indicated by the appearance of his valuable tract of eighty acres lying on the Kern Island road six miles south of Bakersfield.

The first recollections of Mr. Hosking cluster around the shire of Corn- wall, England, where he was born March 8, 1863, and where he received a fair education in the schools of the Church of England. His parents, Richard and Mary (Sandow) Hosking, were lifelong residents of Cornwall, where the former died at eighty and the latter when eighty-one years of age. For a long period they had earned a livelihood for their family from agricultural efforts and had leased and cultivated a Cornwall farm, retiring only when old age rendered further manual labor impracticable. There were nine children in the parental family and of these Henry was fifth in order of birth. When nineteen years of age he took passage for America on one of the steamers of the White Star line that landed him in Quebec early in 1882. In company with his friend, Whitsed Laming, he traveled to Kansas and settled in Leavenworth county, where he secured work on a farm near Tonganoxie. For three years he continued in the same locality and in the same line of work, after which he came to California and joined his brothers, Richard and Andrew, who had preceded him to the Pacific coast. Immediately after arriving in Bakersfield he secured employment as a ditch-tender for the Kern County Land Company. in whose employ he continued for nineteen years, meanwhile receiving promo- tions from time to time until at last he was made foreman of the water courses and canal system of the corporation. Upon leaving the employ of the com- pany he removed to his farm six miles south of Bakersfield and here he has since followed a practical and profitable system of agricultural work.

The marriage of Henry Hosking and Emily Lincoln White took place in Bakersfield, to which city the bride had come from her native commonwealth of Iowa. Her parents. Bushrod and Margaret (Cork) White, were natives respectively of Virginia and Kentucky and were married in the Blue Grass state, whither Mr. White had removed at an early age. The next removal took them to Iowa and from that state they came to California and became pioneers of Kern county, where they made many friends among the early settlers. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Hosking there are two sons, Ronald R. and Raymond H., the former a graduate of the commercial department of

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the Kern county high school and the latter a high-school student, both being young men of fine minds and excellent abilities. In religious connections the family hold membership with the Bakersfield Episcopal Church, and politically Mr. Hosking is a Republican.

THOMAS C. CASTRO .- A native of Santa Ana, Sonora, Mexico, Thomas C. Castro was born December 21, 1864, the son of Thomas and Concepcion (Coronado) Castro, both of whom were natives of Mexico. (For a full ac- count of the parental history refer to the sketch of Domitilo Castro.)

Of their children Thomas C. Castro was the fifth in order of birth. Reared in Kern county, where he attended the public schools and learned the business of his father, that of raising stock, he became well versed on all matters pertaining to that line of work, remaining on the home place until he was seventeen. He then went to Nevada, where he entered the employ of a ranchman who was largely interested in stock-raising, and after three years with him came to Bakersfield again and followed ranching on the home place for a short time. He soon started out for himself, purchasing a twenty-acre tract, which he cultivated, and it was not long before he had a fine herd of cattle, also raising horses, both draft and roadsters. These are Belgium and Standard bred animals, and he has had many of the finest horses bred in the state on his place. His short-horn cattle, of Durham variety, have at- tracted much attention, and he has taken much pride in their exceptionally fine condition. He also ran cattle on the Breckenridge mountains. He now has forty acres of land under cultivation to alfalfa, about three miles south- west of Bakersfield, where he makes his home.

In Bakersfield, in 1885, Mr. Castro was married to Maria Gonzales, a native of Sonora and the daughter of Guadalupe and Natividad (Peralta) Gonzales, both natives of Mexico. Mr. and Mrs. Castro became the parents of five children, as follows : Angel, Mrs. Charles E. Castro, of Bakersfield; Ramon ; Carmelita, Mrs. Winn, and Josephine, Mrs. O'Brien, both of Bakers- field; and Thomas McIlvain. The family are devout members of the St. Francis Catholic Church, of Bakersfield, toward which they are liberal con- tributors, helping greatly in the building of the church. In politics Mr. Castro is a Republican.

AUGUST AMOURIG .- The only one of three brothers to settle in Cali- fornia, August Amourig was born at Gap, Hautes-Alpes, France, September 4, 1865, and is a son of Etienne Amourig, a farmer and stockman between the Rhone river and the Alps mountains. As a boy he helped with the care of the stock when not in attendance upon the neighboring free schools. Dur- ing October of 1884 he crossed the ocean to America and settled permanently in California, where he found steady work in the employ of sheepmen on the plains. From the first he frugally saved his wages. Within two years he was able to buy a small band of ewes. This gave him a start in the sheep industry. Enjoying the free life of the plains and the care of the sheep, it seemed as if he would be favored by fortune, for his flock increased from year to year until it numbered about thirty-five hundred head. A change came in 1893. when the Democratic administration began to urge the removal of the tariff on wool, thus greatly injuring the sheep business. To make matters worse, a severe drought came at the same time. The result was that the young sheep-grower lost the work of nine years and began anew without any means.

After having worked about six months for wages Mr. Amourig had earned enough to buy a team and he then engaged in the raising of grain near the lake. It was possible in that section to raise alfalfa and he secured excel- lent returns through allowing his hogs a free range of the meadows. Unfor- tunately as he was again prospering he made the mistake of going on the plains to raise grain and two dry years left him penniless. His next venture was the cutting of wood along the river. This he sold in Bakersfield and earned enough to buy a team. At the time of the first oil boom he engaged

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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 114

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