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 161

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 161

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JOY J. RICHART .- Since September of 1910 the development of the Cheney-Stimpson Oil Company has been carried on under Joy J. Richart as superintendent, to whose ability and careful oversight may be attributed the profitable continuance of the enterprise. The holdings of the company include twenty acres lying on section 23, township 32, range 23, where drilling was started February 7, 1910, and where since there have been devel- oped six producing wells. Four of these wells, Nos. 1, 2, 8 and 10, had been drilled prior to the association of Mr. Richart with the work and since then he has superintended the drilling of Nos. 3 and 7. Every modern equip- ment has been provided. The first-class condition of the lease renders pos- sible the maximum of production and there is now an average monthly out- put of ten thousand barrels of oil of fourteen degrees gravity. The lease ranks as one of the most profitable small properties in the field.

From his earliest recollections Mr. Richart has been more or less famil- iar with the oil industry, for he was born and reared in Crawford county, Ill., for years a center of that business. His parents, Watts and Fannie (Connett) Richart, devoted their active years to agriculture in that county, where the father died about 1899, and where the mother still remains at the old homestead. Eight children comprised the family, namely: Easter, wife of C. C. Baker, a merchant at Alma, Ill .; Kate, who married F. M. Cullson, a farmer in Lawrence county, Ill .; Charles I., an operator with the Big 4 Railroad Company, now stationed at Flatrock, Crawford county, Ill .; Anna, wife of J. W. Fantz, a driller in the Flatrock oil field in Illinois; Myrtle, who is with her mother; Edith, who died at the age of thirteen years; Joy J., who was born November 28, 1887, and is the only member of the family to remove from Illinois; and Grace, who resides with her mother at the old homestead. During early life Joy J. Richart attended school, worked on the home farm and had considerable experience as clerk in a store. When nineteen years of age he secured employment in the oil field near Robinson, Crawford county. With the Hazelwood Oil Company and the Ohio Oil Company he had a valuable experience of four years. Arriving at Bakers- field December 13, 1909, he sought employment in the oil fields. For three months he was employed as a gang-pusher on the San Joaquin division of the Associated, after which he came over to the Midway, sought employ- ment on 25 Hill and adjoining leases and in less than three days secured a position as production foreman with the Cheney-Stimpson Oil Company, whose holdings he since has developed with profit to the company.

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The marriage of Mr. Richart took place in Effingham county, Ill., and united him with Miss Mabel, daughter of George and Caroline (Fite) Eagle- ton, of Crawford county, Ill., the former deceased, the mother still living. Mrs. Richart was for three years before her marriage identified with the educational profession of Crawford county, Ill., being recognized as one of the best teachers enrolled. In the Eagleton family there were ten children and six of these attained mature years, namely : Viola, who married John D. Price, a farmer of Crawford county, Ill., and died leaving one child; Sadie, wife of F. L. Price, agent for the Prudential Life Insurance Company and a resident of Robinson, Crawford county ; James C., a rancher in Colorado; Ota Earl, who is engaged in the meat business and in ranching at Sugar City, Otero county, Colo .; Mabel, Mrs. Richart; and George H., who is em- ployed on the Cheney-Stimpson lease in the Midway field. Since coming to this location Mr. Richart has been identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Taft. With characteristic thrift he has invested his sav- ings in land and is now the owner of forty acres in Merced county, on the state highway, convenient to the Southern Pacific Railroad and to the San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation. The tract is now under cultiva- tion to melons and sweet potatoes, and is irrigated by means of pumping plants operated by electric motors. The land is worth $250 per acre and its fine improvements and high state of cultivation afford convincing evi- dence as to the capable oversight of the owner.

REV. JOHN H. BOESE .- The genealogy of the Boese family is traced to Germany, whence the paternal grandfather migrated to Poland, the birth- place of Henry Boese, who became a farmer in Molotschnah Colonie, Rus- sia, and there Rev. John H. Boese was born September 25, 1844. The family continued in Russia until 1879 and then immigrated to America, settling on a farm in Marion county, Kan., where Henry Boese died. The eldest child in the family, John H., worked hard from a lad to assist in the maintenance of the others. Meanwhile he learned the German language in the local schools. In 1867 he married Miss Lizzie Warkentin, who died in 1875. Afterward he was united with Miss Lizzie Fast, daughter of Rev. Peter Fast, a preacher and educator who followed these professions until his death. Upon settling in Kansas John H. Boese purchased eighty acres of land and engaged in raising grain until 1889, when he removed to Granada, Colo. There he pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of land, which he proved up on and then sold. His next location was Kirk, Colo., where he filed on a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, but after an attempt he found the land too dry and abandoned the claim. After a year at La Junta he purchased a farm near Pueblo and engaged in farming there until 1910, when he came to California. Soon afterward he bought forty acres under the Beardsley canal, ten miles northwest of Bakersfield. The improvements are of a permanent character, including a concrete house, substantial out- buildings and an excellent pumping plant. The farm is devoted to alfalfa.

By his first marriage Mr. Boese became the father of two children now living, namely: John, a farmer near his father's place; and Mrs. Nettie Freisen, of Bakersfield. Of the second marriage there are eleven children living, namely : Mrs. Lizzie Newman, of Colorado; Henry, of Pueblo; Sadie. Mrs. Freisen, of Bakersfield; Peter, of Pueblo; Mrs. Mary Hannaman, of Bakersfield; Mrs. Katie Koepper, of Los Angeles; Abraham, a farmer at Lerdo; Mrs. Anna Hiebert, also of Lerdo; Isaac and Susie, of Bakersfield ; and Jacob, who is aiding his parents on the farm. Having studied the Gos- pel for many years, Mr. Boese while in Colorado was ordained to the min- istry of the Mennonite Brethren Church and has since served in the min- istry. As the unsalaried preacher in the Rosedale Mennonite Brethren Church he gratuitously tenders his services to the congregation and, while depend-

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

ing upon his farm for a livelihood, freely gives of his time to the upbuilding of the cause of religion in his community.

J. B. JAMES .- A native of Missouri, Mr. James was born at California, Moniteau county, April 20, 1869, received a common-school education in Mis- souri, came from that state to California at the age of eighteen years and settled in the vicinity of Santa Barbara, where for four years he was employed on a stock and grain ranch near Lompoc. At the expiration of the first year he was promoted to be foreman of the vast tract, comprising about seventy-five thousand acres and covering an area about thirty-five miles in length. The supervision of the stock on the immense acreage made his task one of great difficulty, but he discharged every duty with intelligence and fidelity. However, he did not feel any desire to take up agriculture as a life-work. Instead, he had indulged a fondness for photography from youth and without special training dis- played commendable skill as an amateur. With the hope that his success might be developed by professional training, he gave up his position on the ranch and went to San Francisco to study the art. In that city he enjoyed exceptional advantages for learning the business in all of its branches. For two years he was in the studio of J. WV. Baker, a prominent photographer of the western metropolis, and from there he went to Martinez, Contra Costa county, where he opened a studio and embarked in business for himself. Two years later he removed from there to Bakersfield and began in the business, which since has developed into the finely-equipped, modern and artistic studio situated at No. 1923 I street, a studio known throughout the valley for the high character of its photographic output and the artistic tastes of its proprietor. The majority of the photographs taken especially for the engravings in this work were made at this studio.

JOHN W. KELLY .- Shortly after the execution of Robert Emmet in 1803, when emigration from Ireland was at its flood tide, there left the old home in one of the beautiful valleys of the island an Irish lad sixteen years of age, who crossed the Atlantic as a stowaway and settled in Virginia. During the war of 1812 he served in the army of his adopted country and bore a valiant part in the battle of New Orleans under General Jackson. Receiving an honorable discharge at the close of the war, he returned to Virginia and from there crossed the mountains into Kentucky, but later ac- companied Daniel Boone to the wilds of Missouri. "Uncle" Jack Kelly, as he was known far and wide, possessed the temperament of a pioneer and the ready skill of the typical frontiersman, hence he was well qualified for the difficult task of transforming a wilderness into an abode of peace and plenty. He had married Joanna Stephens and thus became allied with one of the most prominent Missouri pioneer families who with Daniel Boone founded the village of Boonville in Cooper county. Later some difficulty arose between Boone and Stephens and the former, giving up all association with the town named in his honor, crossed the Missouri river into Howard county, where he started a rival town called Boonesboro. Uncle Jack himself remained at Boonville and there died in 1874 when eighty-eight years of age.

Among the children of the Irish emigrant there was a son, Ewing, who was born in Missouri and during 1849 crossed the plains to the mines of California, where he worked for three years, returning to .Missouri via Panama. After his return he took up general farming, established a home of his own and lived a quiet. uneventful existence. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Celia Cornelius and was born in Missouri, descended from Virginian ancestors on both the paternal and maternal sides. Her death occurred in Missouri. Of her three daughters and two sons all are still living except one son. During 1888 Ewing Kelly came for the second time to California and this time joined his son in Glenn county, where he remained 65

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until his death. The son, John W., is the last male representative of the family in the United States of his generation. Born in Cooper county, Mo., October 29, 1861, he received his education in the school of experience. To an unusual degree he may be called a self-made man. With the exception of three months in a subscription school he was utterly without educational advantages, having to make his own living from the time he was ten years old without any assistance, yet notwithstanding this handicap he has achieved success of an high order. When he came to California in 1884 he intended to settle in Kern county, but suffering from chills and fever for three days he made a hasty change to Glenn county. On the Kendrick ranch at Stony creek he found his first employment at bucking sacks of Sonora wheat aver- aging one hundred and forty-five pounds (the same weight as himself), receiv- ing therefor $2 per day. This remuneration seemed princely as compared with wages in Missouri, which were about $12 per month. Following this he was employed on various ranches until November 7, 1887, when he was married at Stony creek to Miss Ida May Perry. She was a native of that place, the daughter of Thomas G. Perry, who was born in North Carolina but reared in Missouri, where he remained until 1865. In that year he crossed the plains with ox-teams to Napa, Cal., where he married Melissa Bunch, a native of Missouri who had come overland in the same train. Mr. Perry was a farmer in Glenn county until 1909, since which time he has resided on his ranch near Bakersfield. After his marriage Mr. Kelly took up a homestead and b ught school land on Stony ereek. There he engaged in farming and stock-raising until 1893. In that year he removed to Trinity county and engaged in placer mining until October, 1895, when he drove overland through the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys to Randsburg, Kern county, where he to k up mining and also engaged in merchandising. From 1896 to 1900 he served as constable of Randsburg. During the two ensuing years he was a member of the county board of supervisors. As the nominee of the Democratic party in 1902 he was elected sheriff and resigned as super- visor to take the oath of office in January of 1903. At the expiration of his term he was re-elected, holding the office until January of 1911, when he retired, not having been a candidate for re-election, although he had been continually in office in Kern county for sixteen years.

In Bakersfield, where he has made his home since 1903 and where he has engaged in the real-estate business since 1911, Mr. Kelly has a large circle of warm personal friends and business associates. His interests have been and still are varied and important, including as sub-division acreage the Verdina ranch two miles west of town, also stock in oil companies and the handling of oil lands. Interested in Maricopa from its beginning, he still owns forty acres of the town-site, which leased to tenants and improved with buildings forms an important part of the growing oil town. The first to embark in mercantile pursuits in the new oil town, he started the present store of Coons, Price & Co., Incorporated, of which he is still president and which has built un a large trade on the west side and keeps five delivery wagons in constant use. In addition he is engaged in the raising of alfalfa. Mr. and Mrs. Kelly have one child, Elisie Irene Kelly. The Bakersfield Board of Trade numbers Mr. Kelly among its most progressive members and his aid is confidently relied upon in all movements for the local advance- ment. Made a Mason in Tehachapi Lodge No. 313. F. & A. M., he has been loyal to the high principles of the order and in addition has been prominently identified with the local work of Bakersfield Lodge No. 266, B. P. O. E.

JEAN POURROY .- Among the old timers in the French colony of East Bakersfield we find Jean Pourroy, a native of Hautes-Alves, France, born Tune 24, 1847, and reared on the farm of his father, Pierre Pourroy, near Gap, where he obtained the advantages of the common schools of the

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locality. In 1872 he came to San Francisco, Cal., where he followed various occupations, but principally that of brick-making until 1878, when he came to Sumner (now East Bakersfield).

Being familiar with the sheep business in France, Mr. Pourroy entered the employ of a sheep man as a herder and by industry and economy in a few years he had accumulated sufficient capital to purchase a flock of sheep and engage in business for himself. During the winters he ranged his flocks on the plains near Delano and herded them in the mountains during the summers. He met with success and ten years later he purchased a farm of forty acres under the Kern Island canal, where he engaged in ranching for six years. Then he sold the place and now lives retired at his home on Humboldt street, East Bakersfield, enjoying the fruits of his labors. The lady who became his wife and assisted him in gaining their competency was in maidenhood Emily Villard, also a native of Hautes-Alpes, France, and is a sister of Ambroise Villard, who is represented in this work. To Mr. and Mrs. Pourroy were born three children, as follows: Emil, who is in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad; Blanche and Louise. Politic- ally he espouses the principles of the Republican party.

TRUMAN WORTHY HAMILTON .- The young men have aided materially in forwarding enterprises for the development and improvement of Kern county during the last decade and among those who have helped to bring about its present wonderful growth we find Truman Worthy Hamil- ton. He was born in Los Angeles, Cal., March 17, 1883, the son of E. M. Hamilton, the proprietor of Willow Springs, who is represented elsewhere in this work. Truman W. was educated in the public schools of Los Ang- eles until fourteen years of age. He then joined his father, who had dis- covered the Lido mine in Antelope valley, and continued to devote his time to its development until it was sold. His father having completed the Ham- ilton hotel at Rosamond, a large modern fireproof building, he became its proprietor January 15, 1912, and on March 14, 1912, he was appointed post- master at. Rosamond, the office being in the hotel, as is also the telephone office. In connection with the above he is also a dealer in hay and grain, gasoline and oils, and conducts an auto livery.

The marriage of Mr. Hamilton was celebrated in Los Angeles, uniting him with Miss Erma Gertrude Marine, a native of San Joaquin county, and they have a daughter, Harriett Blanche. He is greatly interested in the cause of education, being the clerk of the board of trustees of the Rosamond school district, and previously he held a similar position in the Willow Springs district.

JACOB N. RIPPLE .- Born in Huntingdon county, Pa., July 5, 1869, Jacob N. Ripple is a son of the late Henry Ripple, who for years operated the large tannery of R. G. Faust & Co., at Mount Union, Pa., and was still filling the position at the time of his death, in 1895, at the age of sixty-nine years. The mother, now seventy-two years of age (1913), still makes her home at Mount Union. The family consisted of eight children. The eldest son, Frank, who succeeded his father as superintendent of the tannery at Mount Union, died at the age of thirty-four years from the effects of an acci- dental injury and is survived by wife and five children. The surviving mem- bers of the family are as follows: Hannah, wife of Alexander Chilcoat. a foundryman at Bradford, Pa .; Wremick, a retail grocer, the father of a son and a daughter; Jacob N .; William H., superintendent of an oil company in the Bradford (Pa.) field ; Thomas, foreman of a brick yard at Mount Union. Pa. ; John, master mechanic in the extract works at Mount Union ; and Laura, wife of James Kimberlan, who is engaged in the brick business at Mount Union.

The humble circumstances of the family rendered imperative early self-

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

support on the part of the children and thus developed traits of independence, industry and perseverance. When only fourteen years of age Mr. Ripple was earning his own livelihood by working in the tannery operated by his father. At the age of eighteen he became a brakeman on the middle division of the Pennsylvania Central Railroad, his run being on a freight train between Altoona and Harrisburg. Railroading suited him as an occupation and in all probability he would have continued at such work throughout life had not the failure of his eyes obliged him to leave a business where unerring vision is absolutely necessary. For a time he worked in the tannery of his father and later held positions in tanneries at Arona and Mapleton. When twenty years of age he secured employment with the Forest Oil Company (subsidiary to the Standard), and from that time to the present he has been identified with the oil industry. Successively he worked in the Bradford field of Mckean county, Pa., for eight months with McDonald & Oakdale at Wildwood, Alle- gheny county, Pa., then at Montpelier, Ind .; and since 1908 in California, where for eleven months he engaged as production foreman with the Mascot, then for three years and one month filled a similar position with the North American, eventually returning to the Mascot, of which he since has engaged as superintendent. While in Indiana he and a partner, A. T. McDonald, owned and operated five oil wells; Mr. Ripple contracted rheumatism, which forced him to go to the hospital in the effort to get relief, but he finally was obliged to make a change of climate and came to California. Selling his interest in the lease to his partner, he brought his family and arrived at Los Angeles April 15, 1908. The only person whom he knew in this part of the country was Tim Spellacy, president of the Mascot lease, who gave him employment on that lease May 15th following, which began his extensive association with that well-known lease.

The marriage of Mr. Ripple took place at Wildwood, Pa., and united him with Miss Zelma E. Fishell, by whom he is the father of one daughter, Vio- let Lucile. The family were leaders in the movement resulting in the organiza- tion of the congregation now worshipping in the Hill schoolhouse, and Mrs. Ripple, co-operating and working with Mrs. A. W. Perry, now deceased, organized a Sunday school, which numbers seventy-eight pupils. In this work she has been enthusiastic and capable, and in addition has been a leader in the Ladies' Aid Society. As a trustee Mr. Ripple has been connected with the business policy of the church, whose influence in the community he believes to be most important. While living in Indiana he was an active worker in the Modern Woodmen at Keystone.

R. E. RANOUS .- Determination of will and force of character have enabled Mr. Ranous to surmount obstacles that would have discouraged a man of less resolution. From early life destiny led him in devious paths of bereavement and adversity. Never to him did Fortune beckon with smil- ing face and outstretched hand. The death of his mother when he was three years of age and that of his father when he was seven left him dependent upon the charity of friends, for the family had possessed very little of this world's goods. Four boys were left to struggle against an adverse fate. One of these, S. V., blind from childhood, was sent to the Institute for the Blind at Jacksonville, Ill., and died at the age of twenty-three. An older brother, L. P., formerly a farmer of Dakota, went to Alberta during the opening of that Canadian province and is now engaged in grain-raising near Calgary. Another brother, D. J., a favorite in the family and a young man of rare qualities of heart, died in Los Angeles county after an honorable service in the Philippines during the Spanish-American war. R. E. was born at Prophetstown, Whiteside county, Ill., October 2, 1879, and after the death of his parents lived with friends in Chicago for a year. From there he was taken to the home of Frank Burke, a farmer, three miles from Waukegan, Ill. During the seven years on that farm he was taught to aid

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

in the care of stock and tilling of the soil. Although not given many educa- tional advantages, he was quick to learn and acquired a thorough knowledge of the common branches.

The necessity of self-support took Mr. Ranous out into the world at an early age. During 1896 he went to South Dakota, to the home of his older brother, and for some time he worked as a farm hand in Grant and Beadle counties. Huron, twenty-six miles distant, was the nearest town of any importance. At that time wheat-growing was the principal occupa- tion and the need of harvest hands in summer was so great that excellent wages were paid during the busy season. While in South Dakota he en- listed for service in the Spanish-American war. Assigned to Company K, First South Dakota Infantry, he went to the Philippines with his regiment and took part in all of its engagements and campaigns. The record of the First South Dakota is as historic and praiseworthy as that of the First Nebraska and its members may well point with pride to the gallantry of the command in action, to its skill in military tactics and its achievements on the battlefield. At the close of the war the men were ordered back to San Francisco and there, October 5, 1899, received an honorable discharge.

Having seen something of California during his service in the army and being pleased with the country, Mr. Ranous returned to the west in 1901 and engaged in the oil industry. For a time he was a tool-dresser with Jewett & Blodgett near Maricopa in the Sunset field. Next he engaged as a tool-dresser on the Peerless No. 2 at Coalinga. A later experience in the Kern River field developed his talent as a production foreman. During 1904 he left the Fulton lease in order that he might enjoy a merited vacation. December 1, 1905, he returned to the Kern river field, where he was employed under William N. Forker. Afterward for a year he had charge of the Coal- inga lease of the S. W. and B. Oil Company. Upon returning to the Kern river field he remained with William N. Forker from May, 1908, to January 1. 1909, being employed as a driller on the lease of St. Clair & Jastro. From that district he came to the present site of Taft, where he drilled wells No. 1 and 2, section 22, township 32, range 23, and wells No. 3 and 4, section 26, township 32, range 23, owned by the Wilbert Oil Company. Upon the appointment of William N. Forker as water commissioner by the board of supervisors of Kern county, Mr. Ranous succeeded him as superintendent of the Wilbert Oil Company and has filled the position with recognized efficiency. Since undertaking the supervision of the properties he has drilled wells 5, 6, 7 and 8, and now has eight producing wells on section 26, where the company has forty acres : also two producing wells on section 22, where another forty-acre tract is being developed. On the former lease there is an average monthly production of fifteen thousand barrels. The company was organized by H. L. Packard and is owned by Bakersfield capitalists, H. A. Jastro being president and a large stockholder.

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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 161

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