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 166

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 166

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).

Mrs. Broom is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which she is a liberal supporter. Her political interests are with the Repub- lican party. She is one of those refined women whose influence for good is felt by all with whom she associates, and she has been a most devoted and worthy mother.

JOHN NICOLL .- One of the honored pioneers of Kern county is John

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Nicoll, of Weldon, who was the fourth man to settle on the South Fork of the Kern river. Of English and Scotch parentage he was born near Perth, on the river Thames, in Upper Canada, July 9, 1827, and attended public school there until he was thirteen years old, when he was brought by his parents to a new home in the United States. The family settled in Hancock county, Ill., and there he began life for himself and prospered. In 1851 he started with ox-teams across the plains to California, wintered in Salt Lake City, and then came on, arriving in California in March, 1852. He located first in Calaveras county and mined until 1857, in February of that year settling within the present boundaries of Kern county. His capital in cash at that time consisted of only $1.75, but a strong heart and splendid physical strength were the elements which contributed toward his success. He fol- lowed mining until he took up a government claim of one hundred and sixty acres, a part of his present ranch, where he has lived since 1863.

During the first three years of his residence here Mr. Nicoll subsisted on provisions packed across the Moiave desert except for such game as he was enabled to kill in the vicinity of his home. He put his land under cultiva- tion, after he had cleared it of sage brush, improving it, and purchased other land until he now owns four hundred and eighty acres, all under irrigation, one hundred acres of which is in alfalfa, the rest being given over to grazing. He gives much attention to stock-raising, being the owner of two hundred head of cattle. His homestead is well improved with good buildings and with every appliance for successful operation. He was a member of the board of trustees of the Weldon district for six terms, and was clerk of the board for several years. The same spirit of leadership which made him a pioneer has kept him at the forefront in all movements for the general good.

GEORGE W. LOVEJOY .- Born near Rochester, N. Y., March 18, 1840, George W. Lovejoy is a son of Josiah B. and Mercy (Stickney) Lovejoy, the former born near Andover. Mass., and the latter born at Cape Cod, of Puri- tan lineage. There were six children who attained mature years and George W. was next to the youngest of these. When three years of age he was orphaned by the death of his father, who had been a clothing merchant in Boston and later had lived in New York state. The mother went back to Massachusetts after the death of her husband and her son was sent to Phil- lips Academy at Andover as soon as he had completed common-school stud- ies. At the age of eighteen he was apprenticed to the trade of a machinist in Ballard Vale, Essex county, and later he completed his time in Boston. In 1861 he enlisted in the First Massachusetts Infantry, and after the second battle of Bull Run he was detached from the regiment and sent to Portsmouth Grove. R. I., where he was placed in charge of the steam works. He re- ceived his honorable discharge after a service of three years. Later he was employed by the Corliss Engine Company of Providence, then worked in the Hope marine engine works at the same place and afterward held a position as engineer on a steamboat until 1868. when he came via Panama to San Francisco. The first year in the west was spent in a sawmill in Mariposa county, after which he was engaged in erecting locomotives for the Southern Pacific Company at Sacramento. A year later he entered the employ of the Risdon iron works of San Francisco and in the interests of that concern made a number of trips to Mexico, while later he traveled in Washington and Oregon erecting pumps for the Worthington Pump Company.

Upon coming to the Tehachapi region in 1884, Mr. Lovejoy erected the first mill that milled ore at the Yellow Aster mine in Randsburg. Much of his time has been given to the development of his homestead. After he had acquired the title to the land he planted apple and pear trees and began to specialize in fruit, and was successful and inaugurated the industry in the county. The ranch originally embraced a quarter section, but eighty acres have been sold, and the remaining tract of eighty is rented to a tenant, Mr.

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Lovejoy himself making his home in Tehachapi, where he owns a house and other property. In politics he is a Republican. On the organization of Garfield Post of the Grand Army in San Francisco he became a charter mem- ber. Since coming to his present location he has been identified with Te- hachapi Lodge No. 313, F. & A. M., and in addition he has affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. He was married in. San Francisco to Miss Isabella Robertson, a native of Hamilton, Canada. They are the parents of five children : William R., a Southern Pacific conductor, residing in Los An- geles; Arthur, of San Francisco; George W., Jr., employed on the Santa Fe Railroad with headquarters at Winslow, Ariz .; Mrs. Adeline Fletcher, of Los Angeles : and Mrs. Muriel Wright, who died in Arizona, her husband having been employed at Clifton, that state.

LAWRENCE HENDERSON .- Far to the north of Great Britain, on Shetland islands, was the childhood home of Lawrence Henderson and there his parents, Thomas and Ann (Murray) Henderson, lived upon a farm. There were eleven children of this union and the father had four children by a previous marriage. The youngest of the children, Lawrence, whose birth occurred in 1871, became an active helper on the home farm at an age when most boys are in school or at play and he continued to do his share until he too left the old home to do battle for himself in the great world beyond their island home. The parents continued at the old homestead, where the father died at seventy-five and the mother when eighty-four years of age.

A visit back to the old island home on the part of one of the older sons, C. M. Henderson, of California, inspired in the mind of Lawrence Henderson a desire to come to the far west. Although then only fifteen years of age he had been doing a man's work and was able to support himself, so his parents gave their consent to his departure. The interesting trip came to an end in Men- docino county, where the youth readily found employment in the lumber woods and logging camps. After a time he went to Oakland and engaged as a gripman on the cable-car system of San Francisco, later working for the Piedmont Consolidated Cable Company as a driver for eighteen months altogether. Upon his return to Mendocino county he resumed work as a lumberman. From that locality he went to Oathill, Napa county, where for three years he worked in the employ of the Napa Consolidated Quicksilver Mining Company.

In 1900 Mr. Henderson closed out his interests in Nava county and during the month of June arrived in the Kern river fields, where he still resides, although his residence in this district has not been continuous. For a time he was employed as a tool-dresser for the Century Oil Company and later he worked as a driller for the same organization, but no oil was found. Thereupon he secured work with the Illinois Crude Oil Company as a driller under his former superintendent in the Century, who had bought an interest in the newer concern. At first all went well, but at the expiration of two years prices dropped and the Illinois suspended operations. Mean- while Mr. Henderson had married Miss Daisy Ellen Ingle, of Middletown, Lake county, and to that locality he removed, buying a tract of land and during the seven years of his residence in that county he developed and im- proved a farm of four hundred acres. With his wife he was a member of the Baptist Church in Middletown, while in the same town he held membership with Friendship Lodge No. 150, I. O. O. F.

Upon leaving Lake county Mr. Henderson spent a year in Coalinga. Fresno county, and while there was retained to come to the Kern river oil fields, where he had worked with efficiency some years before. The property of which he acts as superintendent consists of the Wrenn lease and that part of the Traffic Oil Company's holdings composed of the old Alcedes and the Kane, Robinson and Wrenn holdings on the southeast quarter of the south-

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

east quarter of section 30, township 28, range 28. The property of which Mr. Henderson now has charge comprises thirty acres, upon which there are fifteen producing wells, with a net monthly production of about eight thou- sand barrels. Steady employment is furnished to seven men. With his wife and three sons, Andrew Wallace, Spurgeon Raymond and Lawrence Bar- clay, Mr. Henderson resides in a comfortable home on the Wrenn property.

EARL HILLMAN .- Born in Madison county, N. Y., February 20, 1873, Earl Hillman at an early age moved with his parents to Hebron, Ill., where he received his educational training in the public schools. He had always taken a deep interest in the west, and it was his intention that if ever the opportunity presented itself he would make it his home. Accordingly, in 1902, upon finding it possible to come to the coast he made his way to Randsburg, Kern county, and this has since been his place of residence. Upon first coming to this county he worked in the Yellow Aster mine for a short period, after which for a year or so he worked at various places until in 1904 he bought out the business of A. Gibney and has continued business in the town ever since. Besides this he is interested in mining. He also has investments in property in Los Angeles and Richmond, which have proved very profitable.

Mr. Hillman is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He is inde- pendent in his political views, voting for the man best suited to the office, and in his interest in all civic affairs he has aided materially in many of the town improvements.

J. A. DURNAL .- From a very early period in the history of the Amer- ican occupancy of the Tehachapi region the Durnal family has been identified with local affairs. The first representative of the name to settle in this dis- trict was the late John A. Durnal, a native of Little Rock, Ark., but a resi- dent of California from the age of nineteen years. Immediately after his ar- rival in the state he secured employment at El Monte as a corn-husker at seventy-five cents a day. From that place he came to Kern county in 1871 and worked for wages at Old Tehachapi, but soon took up farming for him- self and in a short time became engaged in the sheep industry. The drought of 1877 ruined him financially. Forced to begin anew, he bought a small herd of cattle and turned his attention to that industry, having his ranch and headquarters in Bear valley, where with Harvey Spencer under the firm name of Durnal & Spencer he conducted operations on a large scale with alternate successes and discouragements. When finally he sold the cattle he continued in business in Tehachapi and later engaged in business at Bakersfield, where he died March 27, 1909.

After coming to Kern county John A. Durnal met and married Miss Lucinda Wiggins, who was born in Red River county. Tex., and during infancy was brought to California by her parents. Since the demise of her husband she has made her home with her older daughter in Los Angeles. Her father, Judge William Wiggins, brought his family across the plains by the southern route about 1855, making the tedious trip with ox-teams and wagon. At first he settled in El Monte, but soon he went to Kern county, where he served as the first justice of the peace in the Tehachapi district. To him belonged the distinction of having been the second white man to locate in the Tehachapi mountain region, Mr. Brite having been the first. After years of intimate identification with this locality he removed to Bakers- field and there spent his last days.

The family of the late John A. Durnal consists of seven living children. namely : Renza, a foreman painter in Los Angeles; Cora, wife of C. A. Williams, of Los Angeles ; John A., Jr., familiarly known as Jack; James E .. of Tehachapi; Myrtle, who married M. S. Delanty and lives at Phoenix : Perry, of the Palos Verde valley; and Kenneth, living in Tehachapi. The 67

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

first eleven years in the life of J. A. Durnal were passed at Old Tehachapi, where his birth had occurred July 12, 1883, and where he received his pri- mary education. As the school advantages of the district were very meager in those days he was taken with the other children to Los Angeles in 1894 and there completed the studies of the grammar schools, after which he was sent to the University of Southern California. Upon leaving school he embarked in the tea and coffee business as proprietor of the Oriental Tea and Coffee store on West Jefferson street, Los Angeles. Not finding the occupation congenial or profitable he left for Arizona and engaged in mining near Bisbee. The ill health of his father necessitated his return to Tehachapi and later the two opened and conducted a billiard parlor at Monolith. After the death of the father the business was sold and since then Mr. Durnal has made his home in Tehacha i. For s. me years he has been a member of the Democratic League of Kern county. His marriage took place in San Bernardino and united him with Miss Jean A. Gates, a native of Tehachapi and a daughter of L. F. Gates, who died during the term of his service as a supervisor of Kern county.

SIMON DUSCHAK .- The Moron boiler shop, owned and operated by Messrs. Duschak and Hurst, has risen to rank among the prosperous and profitable enterprises of the oil fields and is favorably known by every lease superintendent on the west side.

Simon Duschak was born in Chicago, Ill., January 27, 1879, and is a son of Paul and Henrietta (Fisher) Duschak, pioneers of Chicago and still residents of that city, where through all of his active life the father engaged in black- smithing. The family consisted of seven children, namely: Lena, Frances, Lizzie, Simon, John, Katie and May. When only eleven years of age Simon began to work in the Illinois Central shops at Burnside, and from the age of seventeen until he was twenty-two served as an apprentice to the boiler- maker's trade.

Upon coming to California in 1901 Mr. Duschak secured employment successively at Stockton, Point Richmond, San Bernardino and Los Angeles. In the last-named city he was first with the Baker iron works and then with the Southern Pacific. The railroad company sent him up to Sacramento, but there he resigned and went to Salt Lake City, engaging in the boiler shops of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company. The same company engaged his services in their Denver shops. Returning to Sacramento, he re- engaged with the Southern Pacific, which company also employed him as a boiler-maker in San Luis Obispo. Next he was with the Union Oil Com- pany as boiler-maker at Orcutt, from which point he came to Taft (then Moren) as early as 1909, prior to the great fire. At once he formed a part- nership with Mr. Hurst and secured a ground lease for ten years from the Jameson tract in South Taft, where they built a boiler shop and a double cot- tage large enough to accommodate two families. Since embarking in busi- ness they have built up a large trade extending from Pentland to McKittrick and obliging them to keep steadily employed a force of seven skilled workmen. Two automobiles also are kept in constant use as well as a horse and buggy. While living in Los Angeles Mr. Duschak married Miss Frances Valpey, of that city. He is a member of the Petroleum Club. Before leaving Chicago he became a member of the Knights of Pythias and after coming to the west he identified himself with the Eagles in Sacramento.

WILLIS EDWARD HURST .- Since the proprietors of the Moron boiler shop. Messrs. Duschak and Hurst, came to Taft in January of 1909 and embarked in business, they have built up a plant remarkable for efficiency of service and perfection of product.

Willis Edward Hurst was born in Lancaster county, Neb., July 20, 1877, a son of I. N. Hurst, who for thirty-five years was employed as a locomotive

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engineer. When less than fifteen W. E. Hurst began an apprenticeship of five years in the boiler shops of the Burlington & Missouri Railroad at Wymore, Gage county, Neb. After the completion of his time he engaged as a boiler-maker with the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company at Pueblo, Colo., and later with the Union Pacific Coal Company at Rock Springs, Sweetwater county, Wyo. Meanwhile, when only eighteen years of age, he had married at Wymore, Neb., Miss Edith Smith, daughter of Abram B. Smith, of Blue Springs, Gage county, Neb. They have one son, Edwin Forrest Hurst, now a student in local schools.

Coming to California in 1901 and securing employment with the Santa Fe Railroad Company in San Bernardino, Mr. Hurst there formed the acquaint- ance of Mr. Duschak, and a friendship was begun that brought into business relations two men of unquestioned skill in their trade and of the highest reputation for industry and integrity. For a time Mr. Hurst worked with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in Sacramento, for five years was with the same road at San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Bakersfield, and from the last city he went to Orcutt as an employe of the Union Oil Company. Following the outbreak of the oil excitement at Moron (now Taft) he came to the new town and formed a partnership with Mr. Duschak. Since coming to this place he has identified himself with the Petroleum Club. In Santa Maria he joined the blue lodge of Masons and while in San Luis Obispo he became an active member of the. Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.

JAMES T. LAPSLEY .- The manager of the Harvey house at Mojave, Kern county, is James T. Lapsley, a native of Harrodsburg, Mercer county, Ky., born December 15, 1879, a son of Dr. John B. Lapsley. Dr. and Mrs. Lapsley, who are also of Kentucky birth, are highly respected, making their home in that state. The son was educated primarily in the public schools near his father's home and he helped his parents on the farm. He was duly graduated with the degree of A.B. from Centre College, at Danville Ky., with the class of 1899, and was a teacher in McAfee Academy for about two years. In September, 1901, he came to California, locating for a time at Ventura. On December 22, 1901, he began a connection with the Fred Harvey Com- pany, proprietors of eating houses along the Santa Fe and other railway lines. From Ventura he went to Barstow, where he remained about four months. In the spring (f 1902 he made his advent into Mojave, where he filled a responsible position as cashier until he was transferred to Los Angeles, still in the employ of the Harvey Company. Later he served the company at different important stations in Arizona, New Mexico and California and in 1907 was returned to Mojave as manager of the Depot Hotel, a position which he now occupies.

In Louisville, Ky., November 4, 1912, Mr. Lapsley married Miss Mildred R. Bailey, also a native of Mercer county, that state. She graduated from Beaumont (Ky.) College with the degree of A.B., and also graduated from the State Normal school at Richmond, Ky.

R. R. HUNT .- One of the well-informed insurance men of Kern county is R. R. Hunt, who until the fall of 1912 was associated with E. P. Hoisington in the real-estate business at Bakersfield. Since September 12, 1912, he has been a resident of Taft, and since January 1, 1913, he has devoted his attention to the insurance business, being a special agent in Taft, where he has built up a good business.

The business career of Mr. Hunt in Kern county has covered a period of twelve years, he having come hither in 1900. He was born March 17. 1881, in Plattsburg, Clinton county, Mo., where his childhood was spent and his edu !- cational training obtained. Upon arriving in Kern county he obtained work

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as tool-dresser in the oil fields of the Kern River Oil Company, remaining for eight or ten years, during which time he was promoted in his work as his abilities became appreciated. For one year he was employed at Taft, in the Midway field, and for fourteen months he had charge of the development work for the Associated Oil Company. Subsequently he was engaged in the real- estate business at Bakersfield, remaining there until he came back to Taft in the fall of 1912.

Mr. Hunt is independent in politics, voting for the man best suited for the office, and his interest is ever in the welfare of his adopted county and state. In 1910 he married Miss Bessie Aston, and they have one child, Thomas A.

ELIOTT MITCHELL ASHE .- Born in Orange county, N. C., April 17, 1858, Eliott M. Ashe attended a private school there until he was ten years old, and then was brought to Stanislaus county, Cal., by his parents. Later the family moved to Merced county, where they lived until Mr. Ashe was seventeen years old, when they took up their residence in Kern county. He worked for his father until he was twenty-two years old, and at that time bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres which is now under a good state of cultivation and is devoted to general crops. For twelve years he was associated with his brother in the dairy business and since then he has been successful as a stock-raiser and general farmer.

On December 19, 1883, Mr. Ashe married Christina J. Rutledge, a native of Tuolumne county, born March 4, 1859, and she has borne him seven chil- dren who are here mentioned in the order of their nativity: Eliza M., Mrs. Fred Coutts, of San Diego; Richard E., a farmer in Panama; Mary R., teach- ing in this county ; Henry E., deceased ; James S., attending the Kern county high school ; Anna L., and George Tilghman, both at home.

It was in the Old River district of Kern county that Mr. Ashe began his independent career as a farmer, and he has been a witness of the development of the entire county. As a farmer he has succeeded by hard work and careful attention to business, and as a citizen he has invariably come to the aid of all movements for the advancement of the community.

CHARLES H. WYNN .- In 1896 Charles H. Wynn came to Randsburg and here he has made his home almost continuously since, engaged in the practice of law, and with his sons, Harmon and Wilbur, he is also interested in mining. A native of New York state, Charles H. Wynn was born in Genesee county, April 23, 1848. Left an orphan when a child, he was taken to Danville, Ill., to make his home with relatives, and there he attended school. On April 1, 1862, when he was less than fourteen years old, he enlisted in the Union army, becoming a private in Company I, Thirty-fifth Illinois Vol- unteer Infantry, and in the battle of Stone River he was severely wounded. At the same time he was also taken prisoner, but was afterward recaptured and returned to his regiment, thereafter taking part in several other battles and at the expiration of his term he received his honorable discharge.

Upon returning home from the war, Mr. Wynn settled at Dixon, Ill., where he attended school, and then entered the State University at Ann Arbor, Mich., where he took his law course. In 1870 he began the practice of law, following this up to the time he came to Randsburg, Cal., in August, 1896. Upon arriving he first established a stage line between Mojave and Rands- burg, which was first-class in every detail. As above stated he is interested in mining with his sons, owning the Baltic stamp mill and cyanide plant. It is worthy of note that the first tungsten discovered in California was taken from the Baltic mine, and this was the first shipment of tungsten ore from the state.

JOE D. KERSEY .- When he came to Moron in 1908 the present town of Taft was non-existent, so that he has been a witness of the development of the place from the very beginning. In partnership with Pat O'Brien and

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B. H. Sill of Bakersfield he now owns several thousand acres of oil land in the Midway, and in Lost Hills and Elk Hills. Being located in the heart of the region where the great gassers and gushers have been discovered, this land bids fair to become most valuable and to bring fortunes to its owners.

While he has been living in Kern county since 1892, Mr. Kersey spent his early life in the city of Chicago, where he was born in 1875 and where he received a fair education. His father, Edward P. Kersey, was born in Ireland and when a young man sought the opportunities afforded by Chicago. Start- ing in as a carpenter, he soon began to take building contracts. For many years he maintained an office on the corner of LaSalle and Monroe streets, where now stands the Woman's Temple. After the great fire of October 9. 1871, his activities were doubled and he engaged a corps of skilled carpenters to assist him in filling contracts. There still stand in Chicago buildings of lumber, stone, steel and concrete, that attest to his craftsmanship and indus- try. In many respects his personal history is a record of the early material growth of Chicago and to the last he remained a devoted citizen of his adopted town, although his death occurred at Sacramento during a visit he had made to California in the hope of regaining health. In Chicago in 1910 occurred the death of his wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Donnelly. A native of Ireland, she came to the United States in girlhood. There are five other children in the family and the most of these are now married and engaged in business in the city where they were reared. The one son, how- ever, was not content to remain there and in 1890 he made his way to Pueblo. Colo., where he engaged in the fish and oyster business. The year 1892 found him in the gold mines of the Mojave desert and since then he has been a resident of Kern county. Through saving his money and making judicious investments in Los Angeles and Kern county real estate, and through the purchase of cil lands, he has become well-to-do, but in his growing fortunes he is the same genial, public-spirited and open-hearted man as in the days of poverty and toil.

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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 166

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