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 148

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 148

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

During the period of his residence in Baltimore Mr. Jones married Miss Rosalie Hickman of that city. Her father, Emerson Hickman, a native of Baltimore and a contracting plasterer, served during the Civil war as a police officer in his native city and later was commissioned a sergeant in the Union army. On one occasion during the war he was wounded in the shoulder, but the injury did not prove to be serious. Until his death, which occurred at sixty-three years, he continued to make Baltimore his home. In young man- hood he had married Catherine Bryan, a native of York, Pa., and first cousin of William Jennings Bryan. The only child of their union was Rosalie, Mrs. Jones, to whom they gave the best educational advantages their means rendered possible. Of her marriage there were eleven children, one daughter, Lillian, dying at the age of ten months. The ten now living are Ethel, Iva, Muriel, Lavonia, Gwendolyn, Millwood, Lanier, Dorothy, Audrey and Parker Barrett, all still at home, and the eldest now acting as bookkeeper for her father.

OLIVER QUALLS .- That large class of native sons achieving note- worthy success and pushing forward in meritorious business transactions has a capable representative in Oliver Qualls, who since coming to the oil fields has filled various positions from roustabout to tool-dresser, but more recently turned his attention to business pursuits. After having been an employe of S. J. Dunlop for a number of years on oil leases he became the latter's partner in the hay, grain and storage business, opening yards on East Main street in Taft. By the purchase of the Dunlop interests he became the sole proprietor and owner July 1, 1913.

Prior to his identification with the oil fields Mr. Qualls made his home in Fresno county, where he was born January 4, 1879, at the family home three miles north of Sanger. His father, William, for years engaged in general farming in Fresno county, but of recent years has made his home in Wash- ington and has engaged in the lumber business at Winlock, Lewis county. The mother, who bore the maiden name of Marinda Hale, was born in Ohio and is now deceased. The eldest and youngest of the three sons, Albert and Oscar, are engaged in farming in Fresno county. The second, Oliver, who re- ceived a common-school education in Fresno county and worked at agricul-

1412

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

tural pursuits there, was interested in farming for himself from the age of twenty-three until twenty-nine. When he closed out his farming interests he brought with him from Fresno to Kern county six head of work horses and with these he engaged in freighting in the Midway field. At the expiration of three months he sold the horses. Then began a period of employment as teamster with the Mount Diablo Oil Company, in which Mr. Dunlop was a stockholder and director. For a number of years and indeed until the sale of the holdings of the company he continued with that concern, but later he was transferred by Mr. Dunlop to a lease of his own, where he worked up from roustabout to tool-dresser. January 1, 1913, he embarked in the hay, grain, feed and storage business at Taft and at the expiration of six months became the sole owner of the store, which he conducts in a manner satisfac- tory to customers and bringing to himself a fair profit. Since coming to this county he married at Hanford Miss Pearl Hunter, of Taft. In politics he is a Republican. Prominently connected with the Odd Fellows at Taft, he has been a promoter of the erection of their building here, a substantial structure, 50x118 feet in dimensions, two stories in height, a credit to the order and a source of pride to the people.

JOSE M. LUGO .- The first association of the Lugo family with Cali- fornia dates back as far as the era of the establishment of the old Spanish missions so inseparably connected with the beginnings of modern civilization. When Los Angeles was an insignificant hamlet and San Francisco still un- known to the world of commerce Antonio M. Lugo owned cattle that roamed over the vast uninhabited ranges between the two towns, in the former of which he made his lifelong home, interested in its growth and well-known to its people. Possessing a sturdy physique and robust constitution, he lived to the age of one hundred and seven years, retaining his mental and physical faculties. Among his children was a son, Jose De Carmel Lugo, a native of Los Angeles, whose wife, Maria Antonia Poyorena, was likewise of Californian birth. After the death of that wife he married again, being married three times in all. For years he made his home on a large cattle ranch near Riverside and engaged in the stock business, owning cattle and ranges in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Four children were born of his union with Miss Poyorena : Carmel, wife of F. Talamantes, a member of the detective force of Los Angeles ; Rita, who married A. Lopez and lives in Los Angeles ; Jose M., whose name introduces this article and whose birth occurred in 1860 in Los Angeles; and Agrippina, wife of Edward Haynes, a resident of San Diego.

From his earliest recollections Jose M. Lugo has been familiar with the cattle business. In his younger years he handled thousands of head of stock and was considered unusually skilled in such work. For about twenty-five years he was employed in the cattle department of the Kern County Land Company, with whose officials he has enjoyed a reputation for fidelity, energy and trustworthiness. For some years he owned a ranch of forty acres south of Bakersfield, but in 1912 he sold the tract and embarked in the grocery business, since which time he has conducted a general store on the corner of H street and Brundage Lane in Bakersfield. In politics he is a Republican. During February of 1911 he was united in marriage with Mrs. Tillie Blanco, a widow, whose father, Michael Castro, was among the early settlers of this part of California. By her first husband she became the mother of three children now living : Carrie, a student in the Sisters' School in Los Angeles: Albert and Blanche, attending the Bakersfield public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Lugo are the parents of an only son, Jose J. The family are earnest and influential mem- bers of St. Francis Catholic Church of Bakersfield.

FRED N. CRIPPEN .- Noteworthy prominence as a pioneer in the Kern river field and a record for fast and successful drilling on 25 Hill have

1413

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

been achieved by the superintendent of the Tamalpais Oil Company, not- withstanding the fact that he still is a young man with the possibility of larger results to his credit in the future. An extensive experience as a driller qualifies him for continued usefulness in that important department of the oil industry. It was while connected with the Nevada-Midway Oil Company, in whose employ he drilled five wells, that he established the best record ever made on the hill, which was that of drilling eleven hundred and ninety-three feet in eleven days. In addition he has drilled many wells for other concerns and since being appointed superintendent of the Tamal- pais Oil Company, September 1, 1911, he has re-drilled three wells which now average a monthly production of fifty-five hundred barrels and at the same time he has succeeded in eliminating a very disagreeable feature by shutting off the top and bottom inflow of water. Three men are furnished employment as his assistants in the care and development of the lease on section 23, township 32, range 23, and in the capacity of superintendent he has proved absolutely dependable as well as efficient and energetic.

A native son of the west, Fred N. Crippen was born in Humboldt county, this state, March 2, 1879, being a brother of S. G. Crippen, carpenter foreman on the Kern Trading and Oil Company's lease near Maricopa. The parents, S. G. and Mary A. (Becket:) Crippen, are now residents of Lake- port, Lake county, and an uncle, Dr. W. W. Beckett, ranks among the in- fluential physicians of Los Angeles. The parental family consisted of ten children, but only five of these are now living, and in order of birth Fred N. is the youngest son and fourth child. The family lived on a ranch in Hum- boldt county and he was taught to aid in the care of the stock and the culti- vation of the land. When not attending the public schools at Petrolia he was occupied on the ranch, but agriculture did not prove a congenial occu- pation, and at the age of fourteen he found work in the Petrolia oil field, first as a roustabout, and later as a tool dresser.

Upon coming to the Kern river field at the age of nineteen Mr. Crippen secured employment on the Provident lease under Ed Bush. The following year (1899) he went back to Humboldt county and secured work with the McIntosh Oil Company, continuing there two years. The year 1901 found him at McKittrick, where he was employed as a tool-dresser. From there he came to the Midway field and secured work on what is now the Santa Fe lease. After eight months in the North Midway he went back to Mc- Kittrick and engaged in drilling for H. F. Guthrie. Even in the hardest times he was able to make his $7 per day, for he had a reputation as an expert driller. For fourteen months he had charge of drilling for the San Luis Bav Oil Company at San Luis Obispo. From September, 1909, to March 15, 1910, he was with the Standard in charge of section 30, while from March 21, 1910, to April, 1911, he was connected with the General Petroleum, (then known as the Esperanza). With his wife, who was formerly Miss Rose Welker, of Oklahoma, he makes his home on the Tamalpais lease and has many friends in this part of the field. Since coming here he has become a member of the Knights of Pythias at Taft, while formerly he was an active member of the Elks at San Luis Obispo. Besides being the owner of lots in Bakersfield and at Del Monte Heights he has made excellent investments in oil lands in four different oil fields in California, and there is every reason to believe that at no distant day he will reap from these financial returns as gratifying as they are merited.

CHARLES DALY .- Only exceptional native ability and determination of will could have brought Mr. Daly, while still at the threshold of maturity, to unquestioned prominence among the plumbers and steam-fitters of Bakers- field, where he has a workshop, display room and office at No. 1724 K street. A modern stock of sanitary appliances is to be found at his place of business. Skilled mechanics are engaged to assist in the installation of plumbing and

1414

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

heating equipment and in gas-fitting. The personal supervision of the pro- prietor is exercised over all contracts, a practical plumber whose experience is far greater than might be expected of one so young in years.

A son of M. J. Daly, of San Francisco, Charles Daly was born in that city December 15, 1887, and received a public-school education. While yet in his teens he began to learn the plumbing business and for some time worked in his native city, but in 1906 came to Bakersfield, where he found employment with Gundlach and Ferguson, also did plumbing for the Bakers- field shops of the Santa Fe Railroad Company. During 1909 he embarked in business for himself as an independent plumbing contractor, and has since had many residence contracts, as well as public buildings, among the latter being the Kosel hotel of three stories, the Massena hotel of three stories, the two-story addition to the Echo building, the Morgan building of three stories and the old Redlick (now the Burges) building of two stories, besides which he has recently completed contracts on the Schofield building and the Bakersfield Manual Arts school. In the spring of 1913 he did the plumbing in the new Mercy Hospital and the watering of the parkway on Truxtun avenue from A to V streets. For some years he has been identi- fied with the Master Plumbers' Association and Builders' Exchange. July 20, 1912, he was united in marriage with Miss Beulah Egan, of Bakersfield, and they now make their home at No. 721 Chester avenue.

GRANT STUTSMAN .- From the inception of the industry the drilling of oil wells in California has engaged the attention of Grant Stutsman, who now is connected with the C. C. M. Oil Company in the same important capacity, his work at the present time being on one of the Santa Fe properties in the vicinity of Fellows. When he undertook the drilling of oil wells on contract at Summerland in 1897, he had a previous large experience in the drilling of water wells and therefore was qualified for a new enterprise. Prior to his arrival in that field the wells there had been dug and his was the first string of tools and the first rig brought into Summerland, where during a long period of successful activity he put down a large number of wells for different companies and sunk four that were extremely profitable producers. In that work he used a portable rig and a gasoline engine. With the subsequent changes in methods of drilling he has kept in close touch. When new measures have been proved to be valuable he adopts them, so that as a driller he is thoroughly modern and up-to-date.

Born in Illinois in 1868, Grant Stutsman is a son of the late Henry and Hattie Stutsman, the latter of whom died in Kansas. The former, a soldier in an Illinois regiment during the Civil war, later lived for a time in Illinois and then near South Bend, Ind., where he engaged in agricultural pursuits. About 1880 he took the family to Kansas and settled on an unimproved farm near Neodesha, Wilson county. His last days were spent in California, where he died at Nordhoff, Ventura county. Three of his children are now living, the second of these being Grant, who was twelve at the time of the removal of the family to the Kansas farm. After seven years devoted to helping in the tilling of the soil, he left Kansas and came to California, where he spent one year at Pasadena. Next he took up farming near Watsonville and still later he found employment in the drilling of water wells, but since 1897 he has given his time wholly to the drilling of oil wells.

After three years in the Summerland field the opening activities in the Kern river field attracted Mr. Stutsman to Kern county in 1900, after which he drilled for a contractor and also did independent drilling as a member of the firm of Stevens & Stutsman. When his interests in the business were sold he entered the employ of the Kern Trading & Oil Company at McKittrick and for three years continued in the capacity of drilling foreman for the great concern. From Kern county he returned to Santa Barbara county and after the opening of the Santa Maria field he spent two years in Cat Canon with one

1415

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

of the largest companies working in that district, after which he was employed for eighteen months as a driller with the Dome Oil Company. Returning to Kern county in November, 1911, he became a driller at Fellows with the C. C. M. Oil Company, which concern has since had the benefit of his long and successful experience as a driller. In politics he has voted the Repub- lican ticket in all national elections. In Santa Paula he was married to Miss Elizabeth Hern, who was born at Watsonville, Cal., the daughter of Rice and Juliana (Ogan) Hern. The former was a pioneer of 1850 in California, and the latter a Forty-niner, having come across the plains with her parents in childhood.

WILLIAM E. VAN METER .- When Mr. Van Meter came to California in 1904 he had in view a permanent location providing that the country suited him and that a suitable position could be secured. Coming to East Bakers- field (then known as Kern) for the purpose of visiting an aunt, Mrs. A. E. Shelley, a California pioneer and a woman well-posted concerning the re- sources and opportunities of the state, he was induced to remain and since then has been variously employed, principally being engaged in the fire depart- ment in different capacities.

In the southeastern part of Nebraska at Table Rock, Pawnee county, occurred the birth of William E. Van Meter on Christmas day of 1879, his parents being Davis and Lottie A. (Jones) Van Meter, natives respectively of Iowa and Michigan. The family were pioneers of the great plains of the middle west and suffered the hardships and privations incident to the devel- opment of a productive farm out of raw land. Their home county in Nebraska was quite close to the Kansas border and after a time they crossed into the other state, where they traveled west to Jewell county and there bought an undeveloped tract of land near Formosa. The father still lives on the same farm, but under his wise supervision it has been greatly improved and is now the source of a fair income in return for his care and cultivation. On this homestead in 1911 occurred the death of his wife. Of their three children the second was William E., who as a boy rode the range in Jewell county and became familiar with conditions then existing in the northern part of Kansas. For a time he clerked in Kansas stores, but finally gave up a position in order to come to the Pacific coast and he has since lived in Kern county. For four years he was employed in the boiler shop of the Southern Pacific Railroad. About 1908 he received an appointment as driver of the hose wagon in the Kern fire department and continued in the same capacity after the consolida- tion of the two cities. Later he was made driver of the engine and afterward lieutenant of Engine Company No. 2, in which position he has since re- mained, having charge of the engine house and engine. Since coming to the county he has purchased two places in East Bakersfield and has thus exhib- ited the firm faith he cherishes concerning the future of his chosen home town and community.

A. NEAL JACOBS .- The grandfather of our subject, Hon. Isaac W. Jacobs, was an early and honored pioneer of California, crossing the plains in 1854 and becoming one of the most prominent and active citizens of Yolo county. He was a lawyer of no mean ability and after coming to California was elected in 1892 on the Democratic ticket in Yolo county to represent his district in the state assembly. A scholar, an orator and an up-to-date business man, he was much esteemed in his community, and his death, which occurred February 10, 1905, was widely mourned. His wife was before her marriage Almira E. Martin, and among their twelve children was John M., who became the father of A. Neal Jacobs.

John M. Jacobs crossed the plains with his father in 1854 and settled in Yolo county, where he followed farming and stock-raising on the old home farm during his entire life. He married Laura Hanscom, born in Chico.

1416

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

daughter of Henry Hanscom, who was a pioneer of Chico and a member of an old New England family. Mr. Jacobs passed away in 1898 and his widow is now making her home in Alameda, Cal. The second oldest of the children born to this couple was A. Neal, whose birth occurred April 13, 1884. near Yolo. Reared on the home farm, he attended the public schools of Wcodland and later entered and completed a course at the Pierce's Business College, Woodland, after graduation entering the Southern Pacific Railroad offices at Sacramento as clerk. He was thus employed for about ten years and then became salesman in San Francisco, until August, 1911, when he came to Bakersfield to enter the employ of the San Joaquin Light & Power Company as bookkeeper, later becoming timekeeper and paymaster. He is now dis- patcher for the company, and his efficiency in the execution of all his duties has brought him a degree of success unusual in the career of so young a man. In fraternal circles he is a member of the Loyal Order of Moose.

O. P. GOODE .- Having spent his entire life in California and his mature years in Kern county, Mr. Goode is familiar with the resources of the state, the opportunities offered by the county and especially with the growing importance of the oil industry, for although not an oil operator, his work has kept him in intimate touch with the developers of the oil fields and his knowledge of the business has grown accordingly. A native of Yolo county, he was born in Woodland July 18, 1870, and at the age of seven years accom- panied the family to Santa Barbara county, where he received a common- school education extending through the grammar grade. Since leaving school he has earned his own livelihood, working first at any occupation offered, but later devoting much of his time to the trade of a blacksmith. Upon his arrival in Kern county in 1891 he secured land, bought cattle and embarked in the dairy business, but did not find the undertaking profitable. Accordingly he changed his line of work and sought the activities of the new and growing oil fields. After going to the Sunset district in 1907 he began to take teaming contracts and ever since he has made a specialty of this business, in which he is unusually skilled and efficient.

As early as 1908 Mr. Gocde came to the present site of Fellows and estab- lished a home on the St. Lawrence lease, but when the town was started in 1910 he removed into its limits, at the same time building a blacksmith shop, which ever since he has operated. During December of 1908 he was united in marriage with Miss Phoebe Harris, a native of Ventura county, and they have twin boys, Malcolm and Marvin, born in June, 1910. Upon the organiza- tion of this district, in July of 1910, Mr. Gcode received the appointment of constable from the board of supervisors. In other ways he has been identified with the business administration and material development of the town. In addition to managing his blacksmith shop and his teaming business, he is engaged in the sale of hay and grain, wood and coal. The only fraternal organization to which he has allied himself is the Woodmen of the World.

From the very first endeavor to found a town at Fellows Mr. Goode has had faith in the outcome of the project. Every movement calculated to further the general welfare of the community has received his cordial co-operation. All of his enterprises are conducted with intelligence and efficiency. In the hauling of freight he has proved most helpful to the smaller operators, many of whom, without his prompt delivery of the same, would have trouble in the transportation of goods from the depot to the fields. Anywhere on the west side his teams may be seen, busily engaged in the delivery of freight, while he himself is managing the entire outfit, as well as his store and shop, with the closest attention to all details and the most absolute integrity of principle.

J. J. HERN .- With one of the expeditions that crossed the plains during the eventful summer of 1850 there came a rugged young frontiersman, Rice

1417

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

Hern, who was born in Boone county, Mo., of an old Kentucky family. Nothing of especial importance marked the course of that tedious journey with wagons and oxen, nor did his subsequent experience in mining camps savor of romance and thrilling adventure. Returning to his Missouri home via Panama in 1852, he visited among friends and relatives, and during 1853 again crossed the plains, this time with the intention of becoming a permanent resident of California. From that time he identified himself with ranching in this state, where at different times he operated farms in Santa Clara, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara and Stanislaus counties, and where he is now living retired in Ven- tura county. A few years after his second trip to the west he married Juliana Ogan, who was brought across the plains by her parents in 1849 and settled near San Jose, where her marriage was solemnized. Her death occurred in Santa Barbara county.

The eldest of the ten children of this pioneer couple was J. J. Hern, born in San Joaquin county near Stockton, March 21, 1862, and reared on a farm, where he became familiar with stock-raising and all the details of tilling the soil. Leaving home at the age of twenty-one, he earned a livelihood by honest perseverance and unflagging industry. In 1886 he went to Montana and took up a claim at the head of the Big Hole river in Beaverhead county. Mont., where later with two partners he organized the California Land and Cattle Company. After two years he disposed of his cattle and invested in sheep. running a ranch near Dubuque in the eastern portion of Montana. During the period of his sojourn in Montana he married at Dillon, that state. Miss Etta Wraton, a native of Waverly, Ill. Five children comprise their family, namely : Leslie W., now employed in Oakland, Cal .; Bertha : Carroll, who is connected with the C. C. M. Oil Company ; Russell and Lenora.

Returning from Montana to California and taking up ranch pursuits in Ventura county near Oxnard, Mr. Hern specialized in the raising of grain and beans. In 1900 he gave up farming in order to engage in the oil business. As a teamster with the Modelo Oil Company he had his first experiences in the business at Piru City, Ventura county. Every phase of the industry he learned step by step and he remained with the same company successively as tool-dresser and driller. Coming to the Kern river field in 1902 he was engaged as a driller with Daulton & Fuller for eighteen months. Next he worked for the Salt Lake Oil Company as a driller in the Los Angeles field, from which he went to the Fullerton field and drilled on some of the first wells sunk at Olinda. Returning to the Los Angeles field, he put down an oil well on the Fillmore place. The drilling of two wells kept him for some time near Lompoc in the employ of the Union Oil Company, which then sent him to the Santa Maria field to aid in the drilling of wells. For two years following he engaged as superintendent of the Laguna Oil Company at Orcutt, in the Santa Maria field, after which he held a similar position with the Palmer Oil Company in Cat Cañon, Santa Maria. In August of 1909 he came to the Midway district, where he engaged as drilling foreman with the C. C. M. Oil Company, which in October, 1912, promoted him to his present position as field superintendent. In politics he is a Democrat and fraternally he belongs to San Luis Obispo Lodge No. 322, B. P. O. E., Fremont Camp, Woodmen of the World, at Los Angeles.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 148

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