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 32

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 32

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JAMES B. MCCUTCHEN .- The position to which he has risen and the obstacles which he has overcome prove the ability of Mr. Mccutchen, at the same time indicating what it is within the power of any man of integrity. energy and determination to accomplish for himself. Of discouragements he has had many and vicissitudes not a few, yet all of these he endured with fortitude and conquered by persistence. Whether it was the misfortune of failure in viticulture or an attempt in peach-raising where the cost of pro- duction exceeded the receipts from the total sales, or whether it was long sojourns in Old Mexico, enduring the hardships of camp life and the native food, none of his disastrous experiences dampened his ardor or lessened his courage, but each in turn rendered possible the attainment of a final success, represented now by the possession of a fine alfalfa ranch of eighty acres sit- uated nine and one-half miles southwest of Bakersfield under the Stine canal ; represented also by a valuable dairy herd comprising one hundred and twenty cows and the modern and sanitary equipment demanded by the up-to-date development of the dairy industry. Recently he erected on his ranch an attractive bungalow of ten rooms, fitted with modern conveniences, not the least of these being electricity furnished by his own electric (Gray and Davis) plant.

Although not a native of California, the early recollections of James B. Mccutchen cluster around this state and he was familiar with its development from a frontier community filled with gold-miners to a prosperous common- wealth with varied industries and great possibilities. Born at Bentonsport, Iowa, October 26, 1849, he was four years of age when his father, Preston S. Mccutchen (represented elsewhere in this volume) brought the family across the plains and settled at Franklin, Sacramento county. During boyhood he attended the public schools and when not in school he aided his father on the home farm. At the age of twenty years he passed an examination for a teacher's certificate and secured a school at Stony creek in Colusa county, where he taught for two years. From early life he was an expert marksman and interested in the hunting of game. Upon giving up his school he joined with his brother in hunting geese, ducks and quail for the San Francisco markets. Their headquarters were at Tulare lake, from which place they hunted throughout Tulare and Kern counties. During the winter of 1874-75 they shipped almost forty-two thousand ducks and geese. a total weight of forty-two tons in the one season or a little over two pounds per bird. the express charges on the shipments being three cents a pound.

After having given his time to hunting game for a number of years, Mr. McCutchen in 1880 went to the Tiger mine in Arizona. In a short time he secured a school near Prescott and during the next four years he taught in Yavapai county. The stock-raising industry in the Agua Fria region next

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engaged his attention. Upon his return to California in 1890 he came to Bakersfield and purchased twenty acres in the Old River district. This tract forms the nucleus of his present possessions. His first attempt was to cul- tivate raisin grapes, but after two crops he replaced the vines with peach trees. The orchard developed successfully and the fruit was of the finest quality, but after peeling and drying the peaches he could not secure more than six cents per pound, which was less than the cost of production. Finding the enterprise unprofitable he grubbed out the trees and put the land under cultivation to alfalfa. While in the main he has devoted himself to the ranch he has had other interests in the meantime. From 1892 to 1895 he spent much time in Old Mexico along the west coast from California to Central America, hunting the aigrette and the heron for their plumes. At times he would have $3.000 worth of plumes in one suitcase. The dealers in New York paid as much as $30 an ounce for aigrettes and $10 an ounce for the heron plumes. Unfortunately the business was almost annihilated by the natives, who hunted ruthlessly, without any regard to the saving of the young. This ren- dered continuance in the business unprofitable.

In order to secure the pasturage necessary for his large herd of milch cows, Mr. Mccutchen has leased an alfalfa ranch of three hundred and twenty acres two miles from his home and on the leased property he main- tains his stock. The dairy is equipped with a modern sanitary system for the handling of the milk and this, during the heated season, is iced en route to Taft. Maricopa and Fellows, where it is sold to the local retail trade. The utmost care is maintained in the management of the dairy. Not the slightest detail is neglected and it is due to the rigid supervision that complete satis- faction exists among the customers. While the supervision of the dairy and the care of the ranch require close attention on the part of Mr. Mccutchen, he has found time for other interests and has been particularly interested in oil development. With his brothers he located one hundred and sixty acres, forming the southwest quarter of the famous section 32, two miles east of Maricopa. On twenty acres of this tract there has been developed by the Maricopa Queen Oil Company one of the best oil wells on the west side. the production from the well averaging two thousand barrels per day of twenty-four gravity oil.

The marriage of Mr. Mccutchen was solemnized at Prescott, Ariz., December 26, 1886, and united him with Miss Margaret P. Dickson, who was born at Downey, Cal., January 27, 1868, and is a woman of refinement and truc worth. Her parents, John and Mary (Ehle) Dickson, natives of Tennessee and Iowa respectively and pioneers of Los Angeles county, Cal .. afterward became early settlers of Yavapai county, Ariz., and lived upon a stock ranch there for some years. In 1901, when seventy-two years of age, Mr. Dickson died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. McCutchen, with whom Mrs. Dickson. now sixty-four years of age, has since remained. There are four children in the Mccutchen family, namely: Preston J., who is engaged in the retail milk business on the west side, his headquarters being at Taft ; Ollie, a graduate of Heald's Normal and Business College at Stockton and now a teacher at Taft : Van Dickson, proprietor of the Chester machine works in Bakersfield ; and Perry, a student in the Kern County high school. Deeply interested in the cause of education, Mr. Mccutchen has not limited his atten- tion to aiding his children in securing excellent educational advantages, but has been desirous that every child in the community should receive a prac- tical education. For some years he has served as clerk of the board of trustees of the Old River school district. Politically he is a protectionist and a Republican of progressive tendencies. As a citizen he favors all movements for the well-being of the people, while as an agriculturist he is deeply inter-

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ested in the development of Kern county land and has an abiding faith in the possibilities of the soil when rightly cultivated and regularly irrigated.

JACOB NIEDERAUR .- It was the good fortune of Bakersfield to enjoy during its early history, as in its later era of progress, the loyal devotion of men of ability, energy and progressive spirit. To the foundation laid by such citizens was added the superstructure of subsequent effort that rendered possible the prosperity now attained by the city. In the list of capable pio- neers no name stands out with greater prominence and none is more worthy of an honorable place in local annals than that of the late Jacob Niederaur, who from the time of his settlement in the then struggling, insignificant village in 1869 until his death, February 9, 1903, contributed persistently, effectively and intelligently to the advancement of the town commercially, materially and financially, contributing his quota to every enterprise for the general welfare and leaving the impress of his forceful personality upon every civic project. It would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to name an enter- prise of pioneer days which failed to receive his quiet but efficient support. A master workman, skilled in the use of tools, and without a superior in his trade of a cabinet-maker, he did not limit his activities to the occupation in which he had achieved signal success, but entered into other aventies of labor. From the first he appreciated the value to this county of its great oil resources. Nor did he fail to realize the excellent location of Bakersfield as a business headquarters for the oil fields. Other resources of the com- munity were backed by his sincere faith and generous support and the wis- dom of his judgment was proved by his own large success, as well as by the steady advancement made by the county and city of his adoption.

Born in Bavaria, Germany, June 15, 1841, Jacob Niederaur was nine years of age when brought to America by his parents, who settled at Bryan, Ohio. He was one of four sons, all of whom were trained by their father, a skilled mechanic, into a thorough knowledge of cabinet-making as soon as they were old enough to handle tools. In skill and quickness he soon proved the equal of the others and was able to earn his livelihood at the trade while yet very young. When he came to Bakersfield at the age of twenty-eight vears he had no difficulty in finding employment as a cabinet-maker. Al- though he had no capital he was thrifty and economical and soon he was able to embark in the furniture business. The beginning of the business was very small, but as time passed he enlarged his stock of furniture and became the leading furniture dealer in the entire valley. Shortly after his arrival in Bakersfield he was impressed by the need of an undertaking establishment and he at once began to study the business, acquiring a thorough familiarity with its every detail. He is remembered today as the pioneer undertaker of the city. During the early days the business houses were mere shacks, but he became a champion of better buildings and himself set the example by erecting a substantial block, the first floor of which he utilized for his under- taking establishment and furniture, while the second floor he rented for general lodge, hall and lecture purposes. At the time of the incorporation of the Southern Hotel Company he became a stockholder in the new enterprise and was enthusiastic in his efforts to secure adequate hotel accommodations for the growing city. Although intensely devoted to the welfare of the community it was not possible to secure his acceptance of public offices and he took no part in politics whatever aside from voting the Republican ticket. The only lodge to which he belonged was the Knights of Pythias, and in that order he ever maintained a warm interest.

For some years after his arrival in the west Mr. Niederaur continued to lead a single life, and it was in this city that he met the attractive young lady whom he chose as his wife. She was Miss Lucy J. Williams, who was born in Ross county, Ohio, May 10, 1860, but grew to girlhood in Vermont, her mother having returned to that state after the death of the husband and

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father. At the age of sixteen years Miss Williams left the east to come to California as governess for the children of Philo Jewett at Bakersfield. While filling this position she met Mr. Niederaur, whom she married August 6, 1878. Two children came to bless their union, Philip Williams and Helen Jewett, After the death of Mr. Niederaur his widow continued to make her home in the elegant family residence, which since her death, November 30, 1909, has been occupied by her daughter and son-in-law, Helen Jewett Forrest and Thomas W. Forrest. This young couple were married October 16, 1911, Mr. Forrest being vice president of the E. H. Loveland Produce Company and one of the leading young business men of Bakersfield. The son, Philip Williams Niederaur, formerly engaged in the furniture business in Bakers- field, but now resides in San Francisco.

Among the many friends whom Mr. Niederaur won through his fine qual- ities of heart and mind there was none to whom he was more deeply attached than to Franz Buckreus, for many years superintendent of the Kern county hospital. Between those two pioneers there was a deep bond of affection which time only served to deepen. The implicit faith which Mr. Niederaur reposed in his friend was shown by his selection of him as administrator of his estate, without bonds, and also as guardian of his children. After the death of his friend Mr. Buckreus continued to operate the furniture and undertaking establishment for a time. During March of 1904 he sold the undertaking business to Morton & Connelly, who are now in that business at No. 1712 Chester avenue. About the same time the furniture business was sold to George C. Haberfelde, who since has become a leading repre- sentative of this line of commercial enterprise in Bakersfield. The estate left by Mr. Niederaur was valued at $70,000 and had he been spared to enjoy the present remarkable growth of his chosen city he would have attained much greater wealth, but the large estate which he accumulated is especially significant because it represented the unaided efforts of a man who ever lived up to his high ideals of honor and his lofty principles of business integrity. Of such pioneers the city and county may well be proud and their descendants may recount their activities with pardonable gratification.

E. T. EDWARDS .- Among the men of resourcefulness and executive force who have sought out the great Midway oil field as the center of their activities, none has been welcomed more heartily and none is forging to the front more rapidly than Elbert T. Edwards, president and general manager of the California Well Drilling Company. Incorporated, whose main office is on the well-known Supply Row in Taft. The company represented by Mr. Edwards is young, strong and aggressive. The special business is con- tract drilling of wells, whose completion is guaranteed. Besides himself the officers are H. G. Moss of Maricopa, vice-president, and J. H. Osgood, of Taft, secretary and treasurer, with W. W. Stephenson, a director, as the Bakersfield representative of the concern. In addition to Mr. Stephenson and the officers J. F. Swank is also serving as a member of the board of directors. Incorporation was made on a capitalization of $250,000, the stock being divided into two hundred and fifty thousand shares, par value $1 each. The business of the company is not limited to the Midway field but extends through the west side and brings to them the patronage of some of the greatest organizations doing business in Kern county fields. so that the general manager finds himself crowded to the utmost with important work. Tremendous responsibilities rest upon him. These are courageously met and intelligently discharged. In no respect is he more careful than in his efforts to lessen the hazards of a work which, at best, contains the ele- ment of danger and the constant fear of accident. The members of the drilling gangs pursue their work with the knowledge that the manager is using every precaution to prevent accidents and injuries to them, and this

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knowledge is in itself a large asset in giving to the company all the work- men that are needed, numbering at times as many as one hundred and fifty.

The first eighteen years in the life of Mr. Edwards were passed in Ten- nessee, where he was born at Nashville January 7, 1881. Ever since leaving that state he has engaged in the oil industry and kindred pursuits, first at Houston, Beaumont, Sour Lake and other Texas oil towns, and next at Jennings and Welsh, La., and after 1909 in California. After a short time in the Kern river field he went to Coalinga and engaged as a driller with the Southeastern Oil Company, Limited. During the latter part of 1910 he came to the Midway field. In the latter part of 1911 he organized the Cali- fornia Well Drilling Company, which is prepared to do cementing as well as drilling, and which keeps. from three to fourteen strings of tools in use, using the rotary tools principally. Among the concerns for which the com- pany has drilled wells may be mentioned the West Side, Sunset Monarch, May's Consolidated, Pacific Crude, General Petroleum, California Counties, Northern, Spreckels, Maple Leaf, Northern Exploration and other oil and gas companies. The general manager has many heavy duties in connection with a business so great in magnitude. That he has been successful proves him to be a man of force of character and high intelligence. Since coming to Taft he has identified himself with the Petroleum Club. During 1912 he erected a bungalow on North and Second streets, Taft, and here he and his wife, formerly Thelma Sells. a native of Kentucky, have established a home that is sought by their large circle of friends in Kern county.

W. C. MCCUTCHEN .- The name of the four Mccutchen brothers is identified with many enterprises well-known in the early history of Maricopa, where they have been land-owners from a period antedating the memorable rush incident to the bringing in of the world-famous Lake View gusher. They were among the first to discern oil possibilities in the region and events have proved the wisdom of their forecasts. One of the four, W. C., a man of great energy and a leader in every forward movement in this region, has spent all of his life in the west with the exception of the first four months, for he was born in Iowa December 4, 1853, four months before his parents, P. S. and Jane Mccutchen, left that state for the Pacific coast. The long journey across the plains was made with wagons drawn by oxen. The first location of the family was in Placer county, where the father engaged in mining for a number of years. Removing from that locality to Sacramento county, he took up land near Franklin and engaged in general farming. His next removal occurred in 1872 and took him to Monterey county, where lie made his home in the Cholame valley near Parkfield. During 1878 he was bereaved by the death of his wife and afterward he went to live with his children, being for a time at Hanford. For some time he has resided with his sun, George, at Maricopa. Although now ninety-three years of age, he retains the possession of physical and mental faculties and exhibits a constant in- terest in neighborhood business affairs.

After the death of his mother in 1878 the family home was broken up and W. C. McCutchen went to Arizona to engage in mining. For two years he worked in the silver mines near Bradshaw. Returning to California he located at Hanford in 1880 and took up land on the Lone Oak slough six miles southwest of town, where he began to improve a farm and engage in the raising of crops suited to the soil and climate. During 1900 he sold out and moved to Tipton. Tulare county, near which town he bought land and engaged in agricultural enterprises. Two years later he came to Bakersfield and about the same time located twenty acres of land at Maricopa. During the great gold rush to the Nevada mines he joined the Argonauts bound for that country and spent two years at Goldfield, finding himself, however, little the richer for the venture. Since 1908 he has had his headquarters at

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Maricopa and has been interested in the development of property with his brothers, G. W., J. B. and R. L. The company organized by themselves has put down eight wells, six of which proved to be producers, although only four are now in use, being flowing wells. In addition to bearing his share in the management of these wells and the putting down of new ones, Mr. McCutchen has devoted considerable attention to other property interests and is the owner of real estate in the city of Richmond as well as orange land near Edison. With his wife, formerly Miss Louella Mcclintock, he has estab- lished a home at Maricopa (living at the present time on the Mccutchen Bros. oil property ) and has identified himself with enterprises for the upbuild- ing of the new town, whose existence is dependent upon the oil industry and whose future has the glowing promises offered by that wealth-producing activity. By a former marriage he is the father of four children, of whom the two sons, G. P. and W. W. (twins), are residents of Maricopa, as is also the youngest child, Mrs. G. E. Fritz, while the third child and elder daughter, Mrs. J. A. Fritz, makes her home at Taft.

JOHN H. CLAYMAN .- An honored place among the pioneers of Cali- fornia is held by John H. Clayman, who has been identified with the devel- opment of the commonwealth for a period covering more than fifty years and meanwhile has himself been a large contributor to the industries of agriculture, horticulture and stock-raising, besides aiding in the expansion of the public-school system and in other projects indispensable to permanent prosperity. It is to such pioneers as he that the state owes its remarkable growth in years past and they laid well the foundation for future continued prosperity, so that it may be safe to predict that the development of the past is but the precursor of similar advances in years to come, for all of which due credit must be given to the pioneers.

Much of the active life of John H. Clayman was spent upon the then frontier, and it was not until 1910 that he relinquished agricultural activi- ties, disposed of his ranch and came to Bakersfield to enjoy in his declining days the fruits of long-continued labors. His parents, Benjamin and Per- melia (Randall) Clayman, were natives respectively of Pennsylvania and Ohio, and during their early married years lived upon a farm in Marion county, Ohio, where occurred the birth of John H. Clayman March 11, 1842. In 1845 the family removed to the then frontier of Indiana and settled upon a tract of unimproved land in Elkhart county, where the most arduous labor was necessary to improve a productive farm. The mother died in that county. Of her seven children three are now living. John H. being the fourth in order of birth. In 1853 the family followed the tide of migra- tion still further toward the setting sun and established a home on the desolate prairies of Nebraska. The claim which they pre-empted was wild land and the task of developing the property proved so formidable that in 1859 the father with his family crossed the plains with wagon and ox- teams to California and were only thirty-six hours behind the Mountain Meadow massacre. Accompanying them was John H., then an energetic. capable youth of seventeen years, ready and willing to do a man's work and eager to see the vast region west of the mountains. With the hopeful spirit of youth, he tried his luck in placer mines in Shasta county. The success of the experiment was so gratifying that he continued for eight years and at the expiration of that period had accumulated an amount sufficient to enable him to invest in land.

Securing a raw tract of land in Tehama county four miles east of Red Bluff, Mr. Clavman at once began the task of making the property pro- ductive and remunerative. At first he engaged in grain-raising and in the stock industry, but having ascertained that certain varieties of fruit would thrive in the region he planted a large orchard of apples, prunes and peaches.

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In some years the fruit brought him a very large income, so that he pros- pered beyond his early expectations. The entire estate of one hundred and sixty acres was placed under cultivation and when eventually sold to other parties brought a great advance over the original purchase price. Meanwhile Mr. Clayman had interested himself in movements for the material upbuilding of his township and county. At the time of the build- ing of the schoolhouse in the Antelope district he served as member of the board of trustees and his counsel and progressive spirit proved of great assistance in the enterprise. Since coming to Bakersfield he has built three residences on the corner of Fourth street and Chester avenue and two of these he rents, occupying the third for a home for himself and wife.

The marriage of John H. Clayman and Catherine Elizabeth Worley was solemnized at Red Bluff, Cal., November 14, 1874, and was blessed with five children, named as follows: Carrie, now a teacher in Tehama county ; Elmer, a resident of Bakersfield; Zola, wife of Joseph Percy Freear, of Bakersfield; Crim and Mrs. Bessie Hosmer, also of Bakersfield. Born in Washington county, Iowa, Mrs. Clayman is a daughter of the late James and Elizabeth (Albaugh) Worley, natives of Ohio and pioneer farmers of Washington county, Iowa. During 1859 the family crossed the plains with an expedition of wagons drawn by ox-teams. For a time Mr. Worley engaged in teaming in Shasta county, but later he took up farm pursuits in Tehama county, where he resided until death. There were two sons and one daughter in the Worley family and of these Mrs. Clayman was the eldest. In religion she was reared in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which she since has adhered with earnest sincerity. Politically Mr. Clayman is a Republican. Fraternally he has been connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with his wife holds membership with the Rebekahs.

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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 32

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