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 126

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 126

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E. W. RANDOLPH .- The Randolph homestead was on the Massa- sinawa river near Marion, Grant county, Ind., and for years its care en- grossed the attention of Jacob Randolph, who had removed thither from his native Ohio. While yet in middle age he died at the old home farm in March of 1880, leaving to his wife and children the memory of an honorable existence devoted to the discharge of the duties devolving upon him as head of a household and as a progressive citizen of the community. Of his five sons the third, E. W., born on the home farm December 7, 1869, is now the sole survivor. The wife and mother, who bore the maiden name of Sarah E. Connelley and was born near Marion, Ind., has married again since the death of Mr. Randolph and is now a resident of the village of Upland, in Grant county.

The death of his father forced upon Mr. Randolph the responsibilities of self-support when he was only ten years of age, and ever since then he has "paddled his own canoe." The family with whom he made his home allowed him to attend school in the winter months, so that his education was not wholly neglected. By doing chores in the mornings before school and in the evenings after he returned to the home he paid for his board, while in the summer months he proved very helpful in the fields long be- fore he was large enough to do a man's work in the world. At the age of sixteen he began to learn the trade of a sawyer in Grant county. From that he drifted into the work of a planing mill. During 1891 he went to Upland, Grant county, where for fifteen years he held a position with T. J. Deeran, owner of the largest planing mill in all that section of the country. In his place he was almost indispensable and his resignation in March of 1907 was greatly regretted by all those connected with the plant. Resigning with the intention of settling in the west, he came at once to California and has since been connected with the Union Lumber Company of Bakersfield. Promoted from one position to another, since October of 1907, he has been mill foreman, and upon the destruction of the plant by fire in 1909 he helped in the work of rebuilding, had charge of the millwright work and installed the machinery, this being thoroughly modern and complete. His comfort- able home at No. 1131 Eighth street is presided over by his wife, formerly Lissa Marshall, who was born at Upland, Ind., and is a daughter of Milton Marshall, an old settler of Grant county, a prosperous farmer of that section of Indiana, and for four years a member of a Union regiment during the Civil war. In national politics Mr. Randolph votes with the Democratic party. Fraternally he belongs to the lodge and encampment of Odd Fel- lows and with his wife holds membership with the Rebekahs in Bakers- field.

ARTHUR B. FILBEN .- The citizens whose identification with Kern county has proved of the greatest value to local advancement are those who have endeavored to ascertain the most profitable crops for farm production, those who have developed important business enterprises and those who in other avenues of labor have promoted the general welfare. Not the least prominent nor the least successful of such public-spirited men are the Fil- bens, father and son, the former of whom has developed a particularly valu- able ranch of one hundred and sixty acres, while the latter now acts as man- ager of the same. The planting of sixty acres of the tract in a vineyard of muscat grapes seemed in the nature of an experiment, but the results justi- fied the undertaking, for it was discovered that the product possessed a flavor unsurpassed by the grapes of even the famed Fresno vineyards. Much of the ranch has been put into alfalfa and grain, both of which are well adapted to the soil of Kern county. During 1904, after Arthur B.

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Filben had completed the studies of the San Francisco schools and the San Jose Academy, he came to Kern county to assume the management of this productive property. At that time Wasco was known as Dewey, and it possessed the insignificance of a small hamlet remote from all business activity, but later the development of oil brought the district into consider- able prominence and enabled Mr. Filben to engage successfully in the real estate business. At the present time he has charge of a number of sub- divisions in Wasco and in addition he manages twelve hundred acres of land well adapted to orange culture. The management of these various interests leaves him little leisure for outside matters, but we find him cheerfully co- operating in all movements for the progress and advancement of the county. He has the distinction of being a native son, his birth having occurred Aug- ust 1, 1884, at Manchester, Mendocino county. October 1, 1907, he was united in marriage with Miss Louise Gustavus, who was born at Antigo, Wis., October 1, 1888. Two daughters, Dorothy F. and Helen, comprise their family.

In referring to the ancestry of the Filben family we find that they descend from colonial residents of New England. The father, Rev. Thomas Filben, a native of Boston, Mass., born in 1857, accompanied his parents to San Francisco at the age of five years and attended the public schools of that city. During 1880 he was graduated from the College of the Pacific at San Jose. He then engaged in educational work in Mendocino county and was a member of the county board of education. Afterward he entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal denomination. For twenty-five years he held pastorates in San Francisco and Sacramento and adjacent points, and the value of his labors was evident in the results secured. As early as 1883 he superintended a Chautauqua at Pacific Grove, which was the first of its kind in California and the second in the United States. For a time he acted as superintendent of instruction at the summer sessions and even at the present time he retains an important identification with the work. Upon first visiting Kern county during 1892 he formed a business connection with the ranch of six hundred and forty acres owned by the Palm Fruit Company, Incorporated. His services as manager were retained for a considerable period. About that same time the Rosedale colony was established and small tracts were planted to grapes as well as various deciduous fruits. Al- though owning interests in Kern county he continued to make San Fran- cisco his home from 1892 until 1905, when he bought the present home place of one hundred and sixty acres near Wasco and here he has since lived with his son, being retired from all active cares, but maintaining a warm interest in every movement for the further development of the large resources of Kern county. Realizing the imperative need of irrigation facilities, he put on his ranch one of the very first wells in this part of the county. The pump- ing plant comprises a gasoline engine of fifty horse-power with a flow of two hundred and fifty inches, abundantly sufficient to provide water for all the needs of the ranch.

RALPH H. THOMPSON .- A love of travel and adventure characterized the early years of Mr. Thompson, who when yet a mere boy started out for himself in the world and earned a livelihood by manual labor as he traveled from place to place throughout all of that vast region stretching west from the Rocky mountains. From his earliest memories he was familiar with the vast unsettled plains of Texas. Born in that state May 10, 1879, he learned a love of freedom from its great expanse of unpeopled lands and from the lure of its sun-kissed valleys. Yet the Lone Star state did not satisfy his thirst for adventure, which led him on and on into the mines of the west, the great timber lands of the northwest, the lofty mountains and the broad plains of America. It is a noteworthy fact that when only eighteen he made a trip overland through the British possessions into Alaska. In the midst of the exposures

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and hardships of such an adventure many might have perished, but a robust constitution carried him through in safety and he arrived at Dawson in splen- did physical condition for active mining operations. The great discovery of gold in the Klondike was made shortly after his arrival and stimulated him to increased exertions, resulting in the establishment of a location on No. 32 above on Bonanza, where he opened a mine and engaged successfully in mining for a year or more. From boyhood he had been interested in mining and it was his faith in the possibilities of the Alaskan fields that led him to the Klondike before gold had been discovered in that field.

As early as 1896 Mr. Thompson had made his first trip to California and then and later he saw much of the country through his travels among the mines and lumber camps. While at different times he has visited the greater part of the United States he has found no region whose climate and oppor- tunities interest him more than California and the state has in him a loyal citizen. When the "wanderlust" of early years had given place to a desire to establish himself in the permanent citizenship of a community he selected California as his chosen home and Bakersfield as the center of his business activities, arriving here in 1906 and embarking in the business of a contracting painter. In boyhood he had been trained in both painting and carpentering, and always more or less he has followed these occupations, so that he was prepared to take up contracting with every assurance of a successful outcome for his labors. His comfortable home at No. 822 Oregon street is presided over by his wife, formerly Miss Antonia Jacomini and a native of Bakersfield, where she was educated and married. One son, Charles, blesses the union. For some years Mr. Thompson has been identified with the Builders' Exchange of Bakersfield. In addition to the management of his contracts in the building business he is proprietor of the Buck stables on Baker street in East Bakers- field, where he conducts an important livery, feed and sale business. Frater- nally he holds membership with Sumner Lodge No. 143, K. of P., and is past chancellor commander.

CLARK APPLEGARTH .- The superintendent of the Applegarth Re- fining Company possesses the energy of temperament, activity of mind and sa- gacity of judgment that secures for his business undertakings an excellent measure of success notwithstanding opposition of a most formidable nature. The high quality of his product and the untiring energy of his nature have been the two elements entering into his steady progress. The production of asphalt for paving forms his special line of business and his product, the Williams asphalt mastic, a patented mixture, has a reputation for quality and dura- bility that is not excelled by any of the productions of the modern industrial plants of the country. Since he became the active head of this business and se- cured the entire control of the plant he has increased the output by a slow but steady development. At this writing the refinery uses two hundred and fifty barrels of crude oil per day and turns out approximately twenty tons of as- phalt in the same time, the average production per month being almost six hundred tons.

The distinction of being a native son of California belongs to Clark Apple- garth, who was born in Merced September 25, 1877, and is a son of Clark and Martha (Norman) Applegarth. During his early childhood the family re- moved from Merced to Ilanford and in the latter town he received his school- ing. From youth he has been self-supporting and always his inclinations turned him toward the oil fields, so that he acquired an expert knowledge of the oil industry while still quite young. At the age of twenty years he went to the oil fields of South Coalinga, Fresno county, where he secured work as a day laborer. Little by little he worked his way out of the ranks of unskilled laborers. The first experience he ever had as a driller was secured in the South Coalinga fields. Other parts of the industry became familiar to him while

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working at that place. From Coalinga he went to Stockton and secured work as a day laborer for the Davis Refining Company, manufacturers of asphaltum. In addition he worked for the Tesla Bricquette Company. From a very humble position he worked up step by step until finally he was made superintendent of the Davis Company and it was while connected with that organization in its large refinery that he mastered the production of asphaltum.

While living at Stockton and engaged in the manufacture of asphaltum there Mr. Applegarth was united in marriage with Miss Emma Thyarks, by whom he now has one son, Norman. From Stockton he was sent to Alma, Mich., to put the Alma Mastic plant on a paying basis, in which he succeeded. The time spent in the east proved most helpful to him from a business stand- point and gave him a thorough familiarity with the production of the patented product in which he since has specialized. Upon his return from Michigan he leased the old Volcan refining plant from the Volcan Oil and Refining Com- pany and since 1906 he has devoted his energy to the building up of the plant.

SCOTT & GOODMAN .- The first store in the little settlement at Re- ward was started by M. P. Scott and took the form of a mercantile estab- lishment containing a stock of goods suited to the needs of oil operators, through which he gained a wide circle of friends in the entire field. Increase of popularity came to him with his appointment as the first postmaster of the new town, a position that he since has filled with marked efficiency, although having disposed of the store in which for a time he had his office. Recently he has associated with himself his nephew, H. S. Goodman, who like himself is a native of Roanoke, Roanoke county, Va., descended from an old family of that commonwealth.

A son of Joseph and Lou (Scott) Goodman and a graduate of the National Business College of Roanoke, Mr. Goodman came to the Pacific coast shortly after he had completed his studies in the commercial school. Not long after his arrival in Kern county he became connected with his uncle, M. P. Scott, in the mercantile establishment and in the operating of the Reward postoffice. Since the sale of Mr. Scott's former business, uncle and nephew have been partners in a general store carrying a stock of sta- tionery, confectionery, cigars and notions, and they are well known through- out all this part of the oil field, where their sterling qualities and exceptional business capability have brought them the confidence of acquaintances and the warm regard of intimate associates. In their efforts to promote the prompt delivery of mail to the people using the Reward postoffice they have instituted a service direct from the train at McKittrick, which saves about two hours delay in the delivery of the mail bags at their office. In many other ways they have promoted the convenience of the patrons of the office. Both maintain warmest interest in the upbuilding of the community and the development of this portion of the oil field. In politics both are Democrats,

M. P. Scott is a native of Princeton, Mercer county. Va., (now W. Va.), his birth occurring January 4, 1860, the son of Dr. John D. Scott, who was a mechanic of such exceptional ability that he made the principal portion of his dental instruments, and these he used in his practice until the time of his death at Roanoke, Va., about 1907. He moved to Christiansburg when his son was only a year old, and it was there that M. P. Scott passed his boy- hood days. When he reached the age of nineteen he began to clerk in a general mercantile store at Floyd Court House, Floyd county, Va., and continued there for four years. He then went to Roanoke, Va., where he lived for twenty-five years, a part of this time being in business for himself and the remaining time working as a clerk. At Roanoke he was led to overbuy real estate during the boom and when the panic between 1893-1898 occurred he met with financial disaster, losing everything, so that it took him three years of hard work for wages to pay his debts, which he cleared up entirely. In May, 1908, he came to California, being at the time in a nervous

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and greatly debilitated state of health. Putting up a tent he camped for six months and drove a team for the Benedict & Merrill Company, meantime circulating a petition for a post office to be established at Reward. In Aug- ust, 1909, he was appointed postmaster of the newly established office (which was begun in March, 1909), and in December he received his commission and supplies. Mr. Scott has never married.

CHARLES DICKINSON .- Long experience in eastern oil fields pre- pared Mr. Dickinson for critical recognition of the values of western districts and the fact that he has been a stanch upbuilder of the Maricopa field, an earnest advocate of its possibilities and a generous contributor to its progres- sive projects, furnishes ample evidence as to his faith in its future. Of east- ern birth, born at Silver Creek, Chautauqua county, N. Y., he began to work in the Ohio oil fields at a very early age and for ten years he experienced the reverses and successes incident to oil operations in Wood county, Ohio, where he filled almost every position from that of roustabout to foreman. Altogether he worked in Ohio oil districts for ten years and then came west to California, where he secured employment in the Whittier and Ventura oil fields. Coming to Maricopa in 1904 he engaged with the Adeline Oil Company, on whose property he drilled eight wells, besides drilling four wells on the Adeline Extension Oil Company's property. Altogether he has drilled twenty wells in the Sunset field. Having become intimately acquainted with Barlow & Hill, oil operators, of Bakersfield, he has entered into business rela- tions with them, their combined interests owning the Adeline and Adeline Extension properties at Maricopa. While living in Ohio he married Miss Mary Weaver, a native of that state, and they now have a substantial resi- dence on the Anaconda lease.

Besides being manager of the Anaconda lease of forty acres with three producing wells, located on section 12, 11-24, Mr. Dickinson is proprietor of the Maricopa Realty Company, a director and one of the largest stockholders in the Maricopa Bank, builder and owner of the Dickinson block, the original locator of the Adeline Extension Townsite subdivision in Maricopa, and with others a leading factor in the erection in 1911 of a two-story brick block, 63x93 feet in dimensions, the largest and most attractive public building in the city. occupied by the Maricopa postoffice and the Carroll hotel, the Maricopa Drug Company, and the Wells-Fargo Express Company. The fine structure now occupied by the Maricopa Bank received his substantial support in its erection.

With all of his other varied interests Mr. Dickinson finds time to serve efficiently as vice-president of the West Side Good Roads Club, of which F. W. Train is president and Charles Barnhart secretary, among the other active members being J. I. Wagy, L. L. Collman and C. Z. Van de Hork. In this official capacity he energetically promotes the "Three Hours by Auto to the Coast" movement, a project which it is estimated will cost $200,000, but will be worth far more than that sum to the people of the west side. Indeed, the building of the road would ensure the future of Maricopa.

GEORGE D. HENDERSON .- Allured by the hope that he might find in California more attractive business opportunities and a more healthful climate than his own Canadian country could boast, during the year 1878 William P. Henderson, a bookkeeper formerly employed by a Toronto con- cern, brought his family to the western coast of the United States and settled in San Jose. A later removal established them at Ontario, San Bernardino county. At the time of coming to this state there were four children in the family and another child, named Muriel Grace, was born after the location of the family in the Santa Clara valley. Two other daughters, Margaret and Lillian, both of Canadian birth, are now residents of Los Angeles. The older con. Thomas, a civil engineer by occupation, is connected with the Kerckhoff mining interests in Los Angeles. The younger son. George D., born in To-

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ronto, Canada, February 4, 1875, was only three years of age at the time of accompanying the family to the west, hence his early recollections cluster around sights and scenes in the Santa Clara valley. Although ambitious to acquire a good education, he had no opportunities to attend school aside from the grammar grade, but the lack of thorough schooling has not greatly handi- capped him. Industry and determination have enabled him to forge ahead and earn a livelihood. While yet a mere lad he worked in the press-rooms of Wannop & Forbush, also Goodwin & Thomas, and other job printing firms of Los Angeles.

When news of the discovery of oil in the Kern river field reached Mr. Henderson he resigned his position and came at once to Kern county. As this was in the year 1898, he ranks among the earliest workers to secure em- ployment in the Sunset field. Beginning as a day laborer with Messrs. Blod- gett and Jewett at the old Sunset refinery, he soon gained an excellent knowledge of the industry and was able to fill the position of foreman with the old Occidental Oil Company, many of whose wells were put down under his supervision. During 1903 lack of transportation facilities caused the oil industry to languish. Some of the companies stopped work and a large num- ber of the workers sought other fields. It was then that Mr. Henderson de- cided to try his luck in the gold mines. Proceeding promptly to Searchlight, Nev., he secured employment in the Duplex mine and became foreman of the shaft gang. In a short time he left that country for New Mexico and at Fierro, Grant county, gained a valuable experience in copper mining during an employment of one year with the Hanover-Bessemer Iron Ore Associa- tion. The spring of 1908 found him again in Kern county. For a short time he was employed on section 35, with the Sunset Road Oil Company, but in the same year he came into the employ of the Sunset Monarch Oil Company. That he has won the confidence of superior officials is evident from the fact that in January of 1911 he was promoted to be foreman of section 2 lease with twenty-five producing wells.

ALPHONSE CHAUVIN .- Descended from French ancestors, Mr. Chau- vin was born at Buenos Aires, Argentina, South America, December 23, 1880, a son of Jean Baptiste and Clerice Chauvin, the former a native of Marseilles, France, and now living retired at Las Mees in that republic. Generations of the Chauvin family had engaged in the manufacture of shoes and the tanning of leather. Naturally therefore he turned to the hide and leather business in early life. After his marriage he took his young wife to South America and settled in Buenos Aires, where he established a plant for the tanning of leather. His travels took him throughout the Argentine Republic, in every part of which he interested himself in the buying of hides. Prosperity came to him. By degrees he acquired a large fortune. Meanwhile his son; Al- phonse, at the age of two years had been sent to Marseilles, France, to be cared for in the home of an uncle. The parents themselves later went back to France, hoping to enjoy life and health among their old friends, but soon the mother passed away and not long afterward the father lost almost his entire fortune through the failure of the Bank de la Provincia, in which he was a heavy depositor. Hoping to retrieve his losses he returned to Buenos Aires and remained for a time, but without the success of the first sojourn in that city.

In addition to the son. Alphonse, the family included twins born in France, but only one of these attained mature years, namely: Emile, now a teacher of languages at Bogota, Colombia, South America. From two until ten Alphonse lived in France. When he returned to South America with his father he had a thorough knowledge of the French language. Later he stud- ied Spanish in the Argentine. Upon his return to France he was sent to the public schools. At the age of fourteen he became a bell boy in one of the leading hotels of Marseilles. Later he was employed at Nice, Monte Carlo

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and Geneva, next going to Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany, and from there to London. At Nice he had served an apprenticeship in a bakery. While in London he wished to enlist in the English army for service in the Boer war, but upon asking the advice of a friend, Mr. Todd from Genoa, he was urged to keep out of the army and at the same time advised to go to Genoa, where a position as Italian-English interpreter would be tendered him on the Prince line of steamships. Accepting at once, he traveled via France to bid his father farewell and then started on the long journey. At the expiration of his second voyage to America, January 1, 1903, he decided to remain, so resigned the position and found employment in New York City. During the excite- ment caused by the discovery of gold at Tonopah, Nev., he traveled across the continent to the scene of the new camps, and remained there long enough to clear up some gold.

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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 126

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