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 143

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 143

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Arriving in Los Angeles on the 7th of September, 1899, Mr. Bowman spent six weeks or more in the city. On Thanksgiving day of the same year he

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visited the Kern river fields for the first time. The outlook interested him. Conditions seemed promising, therefore he decided to remain for a time. As an employe of W. W. Stephenson he completed the first well that produced on the Black Jack lease. When that task had been brought to a favorable con- clusion he returned to the oil fields near Lima, Ohio, but in October of 1901 left that locality for Poplar Bluff, Mo., where he engaged with the Oil Well Supply Company for a brief period. When again he returned to the Ohio fields he continued there until 1904, when he tried his luck in the Indiana oil fields and later in Middle Tennessee. On his return to Lima, Ohio, he was united in marriage with Miss Lola E. Miller, of Elkhart, Ind., by whom he now has two sons, Robert L. and Wilbur D. For three years his main enter- prises were limited to the Lima field, although various interests took him elsewhere for brief intervals. For two years he was employed in the machine shops of the locomotive works at Lima, Ohio, and from July 12, 1907, until his return to California in 1910 he had charge of the property of the Missouri Min- ing Company at Chelsea, Okla., coming thence to the Kern river fields and re-entering the employ of Mr. Stephenson, February 26, 1912, he was made field foreman of the Black Jack Oil Company. February 17, 1913, he assumed his present position as superintendent of the Homer lease. The home of his family is on this lease, in a comfortable cottage owned by the company. Having been somewhat of a traveler and not identified with civic affairs in any place of residence, he has not mingled in politics, but is a member of the blue lodge of Masons at Bakersfield. He is not a member of any denomination, although interested in the work of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with which his wife has been connected for some years.

JAMES H. MANSFIELD .- Securing work with the Kern Trading and Oil Company during September of 1908, in a short time Mr. Mansfield had become familiar with well-pulling, tool-dressing and other lines of labor. The next step made him a foreman and from production foreman he was promoted to be well foreman in 1909 and lease foreman in 1910, the last-named post being his present sphere of duty. Prior to coming to Kern county his expe- rience had been with railroad and street-car work, but he has proved exception- ally quick in acquiring a thorough knowledge of the oil industry and by capability and intelligence has made good with the company.

Born in Macoupin county, Ill., in 1879, and educated in the graded schools of Scottville, that county, Mr. Mansfield secured his first work in the round- house of the Illinois Central Railroad Company and later engaged as a brake- man on the same road. In 1902 he went with the Great Northern Railroad Company in Montana, where he remained for a considerable period. Upon resigning from the employ of that company he came to Southern California in 1904 and found work as motorman with the Los Angeles and Redondo Beach Street Car Company, later holding similar positions at Napa and Stockton successively and then returning to Los Angeles to resume work with the car company. In September of 1908 he began to work with the Kern Trading and Oil Company on section 3, township 29, range 28, and on this property he has since had his home, with his wife and child, James Wayne. Mrs. Mans- field was formerly Miss Edna Belle Watson, of Santa Barbara, and their marriage was solemnized in San Bernardino. Fraternally he is a Scottish Rite Mason thirty-second degree.

JAMES LOGAN BAKER .- Of Texan birth and southern ancestry, James Logan Baker was born August 30, 1880, at Stephenville, the county- seat of Erath county, in the north central part of the Lone Star state. His parents, A. J. and Theresa Baker, for some years lived upon a large ranch in Texas, where the father engaged in the raising of cattle, and after the removal of the family to California he has followed the same line of work in Calaveras county. Of the children comprising the family the eldest, Jennie, became the

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wife of E. Trimble, a sheep ranchman in Coke county, Tex., and died there in 1886, leaving an only child, Jessie. The eldest son, Alexander, who en- gaged in ranching in Texas, died in that state in 1887, leaving a wife, May (Chambers) Baker, and an only child, Alexander, Jr. The third child and sec- ond son, Andrew, is now engaged in gold-mining in Calaveras county, Cal. The youngest member of the family circle, James Logan, was twenty years of age when the family came to California and settled in Calaveras county, where he had an experience of two years in placer mining. On leaving the mines he secured employment as a clerk with Pattee Bros., proprietors of a general store at Valley Springs in the home county.

Upon leaving the store Mr. Baker returned to Texas, but an experience of eighteen months as proprietor of a cattle ranch and various hardships associated with the work convinced him that California was to be preferred as a place of residence. Accordingly in 1907 he returned to the Pacific coast coun- try and sought employment in the Kern river fields, where he has since been employed with the Federated, first as an oiler, later as roustabout, tool dresser and extra man, advancing so rapidly that December 17 he was chosen superin- tendent. By attending strictly to the duties of the position and using intelli- gence and wise judgment in all matters he is making a success of the work. In the field his reputation is that of an expert oil man, while the officials of the company have been satisfied with his constant devotion to their interests. While still living in Texas and at the age of only nineteen years Mr. Baker established home ties, being married to .Mary Fisher, daughter of Jack Fisher, of Mullin, Mills county, that state. They are the parents of three children, Earl, Archie and Pearly.

FREDRICK EHLERS .- The manager of the Pioneer meat market at McKittrick has a wide acquaintance among the oil men in this portion of the field as well as a high standing among the business men of the town, with whose interests he has been identified intimately since his arrival in October of 1909. Having previously been connected with the Miller & Lux corpora- tion, he was sent to this place in their interests and has since superintended the market which the firm established at this place. Besides attending to every detail connected with the business he has contributed to the material growth of McKittrick and was elected a member of its first board of trustees on the incorporation of the city in 1911. During the spring of 1912 he was re-elected to this important position and since then has acted as chairman of the health committee, also has been associated with other movements for the welfare of the town.

A native son of this state, Mr. Ehlers was born in Merced county, June 16, 1880, and is a son of Fredrick and Annie Ehlers, being third in order of birth among five children, three daughters and two sons, all still living. The father, after having engaged for years as a foreman in the employ of Miller & Lux, finally bought a farm in Merced county and devoted the balance of his life to agricultural pursuits. His death occurred in 1895, since which time the widow has remained at the old homestead. Reared on that farm, Fredrick, Jr., was educated in country schools and later completed a com- mercial course in the Chestnutwood Business College. He learned the trade of a butcher, which he has since followed first at Santa Rita and then at McKittrick, in which latter place he also acts as agent for the Fresno Con- sumers' Ice Company. In San Francisco he was united in marriage with Miss Mabel Conrow, of Dos Palos, Merced county, and they are the parents of two children, Beatrice and Fredrick. Before leaving Merced county, Mr. Ehlers was an active worker in the Young Men's Institute, and he also has been connected prominently with the local work of the Improved Order of Red Men.

JOHN NEILL .- Since the beginning of settlement throughout the West there has been a constant though never very large influx of settlers from the

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Canadian provinces, and throughout the entire period Canadians have come to the front in the United States in all the fields of industry, commerce and finance. This has been especially true in California in connection with agri- cultural interests. An example very much to the point is John Neill of Bodfish, Kern county, who was born on Prince Edward Island, May 8, 1856. He attended public school there until he was fourteen years old, worked on the home farm until he was eighteen and during the succeeding year labored in a lumber yard at New Brunswick. In the fall of 1874 he came to Califor- nia and was employed for a short time in Stanislaus county. In January, 1875, he settled in Kern county and found work in a sawmill in Green Horn mountains, where he remained twenty years, meanwhile acquiring property at Waggy Flat. Eventually he located in Hot Spring valley, where he owns and operates six hundred and forty acres, and he is at this time still the owner of the old Waggy ranch, a tract of one hundred and twenty acres. On his ranch in Hot Spring valley he is proprietor of the Hot Spring House, .appropriately named from a large hot spring 132°, which boils out of the ground with such strong pressure as to force it into any part of the house. Hot and cold baths, sulphur, magnesia, iron and borax baths may be had in this hotel. His homestead is well improved with a good residence and ample barns and other out-buildings and supplied with implements and appliances of every kind essential to diversified farming.

Politically Mr. Neill is a staunch Republican and he has, as occasion has offered, been active in political work. He affiliates with the Masons at Bakersfield. He married in April, 1881, Miss Annie Miller, a native of Nova Scotia, who came to California in 1873. They have two daughters, Millie Ida, now Mrs. Fisher of Santa Barbara, and Dora Etta, now Mrs. Selicz, of Waggy Flat.

CHARLES CROWELL TAYLOR .- Born in Smithfield, Somerset county, Me., October 18, 1862, C. C. Taylor is a son of David and Susan (Wakefield) Taylor, natives of Fryeburg and Smithfield, Me., respectively. His father was a farmer at Smithfield, later going to Aroostook county, where he died in 1887. The mother passed away in 1874. Of their four children Charles C., was the eldest. He attended public school near the family homestead until he was sixteen years of age, and then worked for his father for four years. He then engaged in teaching school for three years in Aroos- took county, and afterward clerked in a general store in Easton, and then in Houlton, Me., for some two years. The subsequent year he taught school and it was then that he concluded to come to California, and in March, 1887, he arrived in Kernville, Kern county.

The first employment of Mr. Taylor in the Kernville neighborhood was on the Sumner ranch for Mr. Brown and two weeks later he was offered a clerkship in the store of A. Brown, which was incorporated in 1901 as the A. Brown Company, and since then he has been a member of the firm and its secretary and general manager. These positions he has filled to the present time, having labored successfully for the advancement of the house, which carries a stock of general merchandise approximating $40,000, owns a sawmill in the Green Horn range, and has many thousand acres of land on the South Fork, with twenty-five hundred acres under cultivation. All of this is under irrigation, having four canals from the South Fork, and a large portion is producing alfalfa. They are extensively engaged in raising cattle, horses and hogs, which they ship to the Los Angeles markets. An adjunct to its store is the local postoffice, Mr. Taylor having been postmaster since 1906. The company also has a branch store at Weldon, on the South Fork, where its farming lands are located. Here Mr. Brown built a flour mill of fifteen barrels capacity, which the company now owns and operates. Being large wheat growers, the company is engaged in manufacturing flour for local consumption and its sawmill furnishes lumber for the build-

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ing and improvements in the valley. These varied interests occupy all of Mr. Taylor's attention.

Mr. Taylor is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having joined the order in Easton, Me., and now belongs to Kernville Lodge No. 251, in which he is past noble grand. He also affiliates with the Fra- ternal Brotherhood. As a citizen he is public-spirited, useful and popular and as a Republican he has a recognized political influence.

In Bakersfield, on June 7, 1894, Mr. Taylor married Miss Edith Vir- ginia Bennett, who was born in Virginia City, Nev., the daughter of Rev. Jesse L. Bennett, one of the pioneer Methodist preachers on the Pacific coast, who spent his last days in Kernville, where Mrs. Taylor was reared and educated. Afterward he engaged in educational work, teaching in the Bakersfield schools for seven years, and for two terms he served as a member of the county board of education and was prominently identified with the bringing of the Kern County High School to its present high standard.

STEPHEN W. MILLARD .- Living retired from active labors on his ranch near Bakersfield is Stephen W. Millard, one of the energetic citizens of Kern county who has contributed much to the development and mainte- nance of his adopted commonwealth. He is the fourth eldest in a family of eight children born to Thomas and Elizabeth (Stallard) Millard, natives of Somerset, England. Thomas Millard crossed the Atlantic in 1843 and settled at Fort Erie, Ontario, where he bought and exported grain until 1846, when he located at Black Rock, Erie county, N. Y., where he died. His wife also passed away in that state and but four of their children now survive. Ste- phen W. was born in Shepton-Mallet, County Somerset, England, on No- vember 5, 1824. He was privately educated, his principal teacher having been a clergyinan of the Church of England. He was nineteen years of age when he came across the Atlantic with his parents, having spent the last two years in England working in a banking house. Upon reaching America he remained with his father in the grain business, raising that product on three thousand acres of land, until the year 1850, when he started for Cali- fornia. He sailed from New York on the Daniel Sharp around Cape Horn and landed in San Francisco June 13, 1851, the trip having consumed a hun- dred and sixty-three days. He at once engaged to do some work for the Fathers of the old mission at San Jose and cut one hundred acres of barley with a cradle in twenty-two days, built eleven miles of wire fence at $200 a mile and superintended the planting of one hundred acres of potatoes. In 1852 he began farming on his own account in Santa Cruz and Alameda counties, and for a time raised more than half the grain grown in Santa Cruz county. Later he purchased a thousand acres of land near Pleasanton, which he devoted to grain raising. In the period 1884-86 he was superin- tendent of the Pleasant Valley mine in Eldorado county, eighty miles from Placerville, then returned to Alameda county and continued raising grain until 1891, when he bought his present homestead. This consists of twenty acres, located two miles south of Bakersfield, and is devoted to the raising of strawberries.

Mr. Millard's marriage occurred in Santa Cruz county, November 12, 1861, uniting him with Rebecca Lively, a native of Kentucky and daughter of Dr. Joseph and Henrietta Lively, the latter natives of Virginia, who brought their family to California across the plains in 1849. The doctor prac- ticed medicine in Santa Cruz county, and there both the parents passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Millard are the parents of eight children, as follows: William S., of Humboldt county, Cal .; George, who died at twenty-four years of age; Joseph H., of San Francisco; Benjamin, of San Diego: Emma. Mrs. Keep of Berkeley; Grace, Mrs. McCaron of Los Angeles; Edward F., of Bakersfield ; and James, of Irvington, Cal. Mr. Millard is now living retired on his ranch, enjoying the reward of his long and useful existence. He has 58

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always evinced the greatest interest and faith in the commonwealth and has had the pleasure of seeing his ever-optimistic prophecy for the future of the Pacific coast region well fulfilled.

WILHELM ADOLPH WIRTH .- The good influence of German blood in the upbuilding of our American institutions has long been recognized, for the German-American, wherever his lot may be cast, stands for prosperity and enlightenment. He is ready in war and in peace to defend the land he loves and by his industry and prudence is a potent factor in the advancement of all worthy interests as well as of the general prosperity of the community. Wilhelm Adolph Wirth, of German parentage, was born at Weldon, on the south fork of the Kern river, in Kern county, December 19, 1878, the son of Adam Christian Wirth, whose sketch also appears in this work. He at- tended public school until he was seventeen years old and worked for his father until he was twenty-one. Then he began on his own account, engag- ing in farming and acquiring real estate. In 1902 he opened a liquor store in Kernville, and has invested in property in Bakersfield.

On May 5, 1905, Mr. Wirth married Miss Millie Ross, a native of Kern- ville. Kern county, and they have a daughter Louise. Mr. Wirth is Re- publican in politics, and has been a member of the Republican County Central Committee. For five years he was deputy sheriff under Henry Borgawardt and J. W. Kelly, and he is now faithfully filling the office of deputy constable. For some years he was school trustee at Kernville. Fraternally he affiliates with the Eagles.

GEORGE W. KING .- A resident of Isabella, Kern county, Cal., George W. King was born in Bedford county, Tenn., April 25, 1853. He attended the public school near his home until he was nineteen years old, and then until he was twenty-one assisted his father in the latter's business. Meanwhile he learned telegraphy and during the next two years he was employed as a telegraph operator at Normandy. He gave up that employment to become a general merchant and as such he prospered eight years. After that until 1879 he was in the stock and lumber business.

In the vear last mentioned Mr. King came to California and located in Hanford, Kings county, where for seven years he worked as a carpenter. Later he was otherwise employed and in 1894 he settled in Kern county, where for three years he devoted himself to mining He was one of the fathers of the thriving town of Isabella and was for eight years its post- master, being the first incumbent of that office. He built the first house in Isabella, also the first store buildings and put in the first stock of general merchandise. He is now the proprietor of a prosperous general store, and also owns a hundred and sixty-acre tract near Fairmont, in Los Angeles county. He owns the New Century and Colwell mines, which he opened up bv tunnels and cross-cuts, thus opening a big ledge of twenty-three feet in the New Century, where he built a five-stamp quartz mill. The Century mine is big body low-grade ore, while the Colwell is high-grade free milling ore. Mr. King has forty acres of land on South Fork under irrigation, and he has acquired ten town lots and a residence.

On February 19, 1908. Mr. King married Miss Elizabeth Parker, who was born in Illinois in 1867 and was brought to California by her parents when she was six years old. One child, Elizabeth J., has been born to their union. The first marriage of Mr. King, which took place in Tennessee, was to Margaret J. Cully, who passed away there, leaving a child, Eustice L., now superintendent of S. W. & B. Oil Company, at Coalinga. Mr. King has been a leader in many things of public importance and his fellow townsmen have come to depend on him as a man of public spirit who will not fail them in any emergency.

CHARLES HENRY FRY .- The energy with which Mr. Fry prosecuted the teaming business when in partnership with his father until the death

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of the latter brought him the good wishes of those with whom he had busi- ness dealings and when he decided to remove to the country and take up agricultural operations on his ranch which he bought, located eleven miles south of Bakersfield, in the hope that his children might be benefited by his hard work and self-denial he had only words of praise and encouragement from all. It was necessary for himself and wife to give up many conveniences to which they had become accustomed in Bakersfield. The work on the farm was difficult and trying, but they are a persevering young couple and are cultivating the land with energy and perseverance.

In the old river district of Kern county Mr. Fry was born February 8, 1881, being a son of Joseph Benson Fry, a pioneer of Bakersfield, who came to California from Illinois in 1877 and died May 26, 1911, aged fifty-six years. His wife, who also was of Illinois birth, bore the maiden name of Johanna Evelyn Banks. Two sons and three daughters survive, namely : Arthur D., a bookkeeper in Bakersfield; Mrs. W. W. Ramage and Mrs. F. A. Nighbert, both of Bakersfield; Lola, who resides with her mother in this city ; and Charles Henry, who received his education in Kern county, engaged in the team contracting business with his father and also for two years main- tained a grocery store in Bakersfield, whence he removed to the farm. In politics he votes with the Republican party, while fraternally he is con- nected with the Foresters. In 1901 he married Miss Florence Hix, a native of Missouri. They are the parents of three children, Lloyd O., Charles B. and Eunice F.

S. C. BIRCHARD .- A record of the business activities of Mr. Birchard is to a large extent a recital of the history of Taft, with which he has been identified from its beginning and to which he has given freely of time and energies and intelligent co-operation. He is now associated with official affairs, in the capacity of city recorder. Born in Cass county, Iowa, March 2, 1882, and reared in Davenport, that state, Mr. Birchard received a high- school education and at the age of fourteen began to learn the butcher's trade with Robinson Bros., of Davenport. From that time to the present he has engaged in the meat business. When he decided to leave Davenport he resigned his position with Robinson Bros., proceeded at once to Cali- fornia and landed in Bakersfield during December of 1903. In this city he married Miss Carrie L. Sullivan, of Davenport, Iowa, in March of 1904. and for a time thereafter continued as an employe in the Opera market, after which he embarked in business at Hanford. At the time of the oil excitement of 1909 he drove across the country in a single buggy, landing at the Midway field in February and taking up work under Mr. Rogers. During June of 1909 he bought out his employer. On the 1st of November he began to build the Pioneer market, which he opened about Thanks- giving and conducted until selling out to Musick & Burnham in May of 1910. From that time he served as treasurer of the Taft Public Utilities Company until the stock of the concern was sold to the Consumers in Feb- ruary of 1912. In the spring of 1911 he was appointed city recorder. Since coming to this city he has affiliated with the Improved Order of Red Men. Any movement for the local upbuilding receives his stanch support. With cordial enthusiasm he gives of time and means and influence to promote such enterprises as make for the prosperity of the people and the advance- ment of the city.

JAMES F. BROWN .- Various lines of business activity have engrossed the attention of Mr. Brown since in early life he began the task of making his own way in the world and at this writing fills an important position as drilling foreman on the M. J. & M. & M. Consolidated Oil Company's lease. When he began with this concern, September 13, 1909. it was as a roustabout, but was soon made lease foreman, from which he worked up

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to be drilling foreman and became a stockholder. Since he arrived in the Sunset field and entered the service of the Monte Cristo he has not lost a day from work, but persistently carries forward the duties of his department.

Although the Browns are of an old American family, identified with the colonial history of our country, Gustav, father of James F., is a native of Germany, born during the temporary sojourn of his parents in that country. When one year old he was brought to the United States, the family settling in Maryland. For eight years prior to the Civil war he was in the United States army service under Major Carlton of the United States Dragcons. Much of the time he was stationed on the frontier and thus saw much of the western and southern country, principally New Mex- ico, Arizona, Texas and California. While stationed at Fort Tejon he was wounded in an Indian skirmish. Becoming a permanent settler of Cali- fornia he served as a deputy under Sheriff Adams in Santa Clara county and later engaged in farming in Santa Cruz county, but eventually retired from active work and is now making his home at Hollister. In Los Angeles he married Miss Lydia Morse, a native of Nebraska, who also survives at the present time. They became the parents of eight children, namely : James F., of Kern county ; Mrs. Annie Yeager, wife of a hotel proprietor at Avalon, Catalina island ; Charles E., deceased ; Matilda, who married George Wright, a farmer of San Benito county ; Alice, who married Albert Donovan, a railroad man living at San Jose; Cora, wife of Albert Bell, an insurance adjuster in New York City; Robert A., an engineer whose home is in the northern part of California; and Minnie, a trained nurse in San Francisco.

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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 143

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