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 34

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 34

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the citrus resources of Kern county, having selected for his operations forty acres at Trevis, fourteen miles east of Bakersfield. He sunk a well three hundred and twenty-five feet and installed a pumping plant which supplies ample water facilities. On his ranch he has a nursery of orange trees, of which he makes a specialty. It is a fact worthy of mention that during the cold winter of 1912-13 not even his seed-bed stock nor young grafts were injured. About one-half of the nursery is set out to navel oranges.

With his wife, whom he married in Visalia, and who was Miss Kate Thompson, a native of Florence, Nebr., Mr. Mccutchen is occupying his own comfortable residence, located on the corner of Seventeenth and D streets, Bakersfield. Having no children of their own, they have reared two of Mrs. McCutchen's nieces. Iris Taylor is now Mrs. C. W. Beatty, and Lizzie Taylor is the wife of R. V. Dorn, both of Maricopa.

MYRON HOLMES .- The genealogy of the Holmes family is traced back to an old family of England and a scion of that honored race founded the name in the new world when he crossed the ocean to New York. Will- iam J., a son of the original immigrant, was born in Schoharie county, N. Y., and early learned the rudiments of agriculture as conducted in that locality and era. Establishing a home of his own, he chose as his wife Miss Marcia Partridge, a native of Schoharie county and a daughter of Adelbert Part- ridge, for years prominent in the community as a manufacturing cooper. Hale and hearty notwithstanding their advanced years (for he is eighty-five and she eighty-one) William J. and Marcia Holmes now reside in Wellesley. Mass., surrounded by the comforts that have been secured through their own earlier, assiduous efforts. All of their seven children are still living, but the third. Myron, is the only one residing in California. Born at Richmondville, Schoharie county, N. Y., August 15, 1860, he received public-school advan- tages and upon leaving school gave his whole attention to farming. With a desire to be independent, he bought a farm adjacent to the old homestead and began for himself as a general farmer and stock-raiser, which occupation he followed in the same locality for a number of years.

Selling out his eastern interests in 1890 and locating in Bakersfield the ' following year, Mr. Holmes here bought the corner of I and Eleventh streets, built a house and has since made his home at the same place. Meanwhile he spent his first year in Kern county as superintendent of a farm owned by H. IT. Fish and his second year as manager of the Kingsley dairy, after which he clerked for six months in a grocery. Since 1894 he has been a trusted employe of the Kern County Land Company. For a considerable period he was connected with the engineering department, but in 1900 he was promoted to be storekeeper for the company and since then has had charge of the company's stores, a position of great responsibility, for which duties he has proved eminently qualified.

Throughout his entire active life Mr. Holmes has been interested in the development of the free-school system and since coming west he served for eight years as a member of the Bakersfield Board of Education. During the period of his service additions were built to the Emerson and Lowell schools, making of the buildings modern structures with complete equipment for edu- cational work. The Hawthorne school was erected during his service on the board and a block of land was bought on A and Eighteenth streets as a site for a new school. In his marriage Mr. Holmes became allied with a family deeply interested in educational affairs and he and his wife have worked in unison, striving to secure for their own children and for other children in the city the best advantages possible, in order that they might be qualified for the duties of life.

Mr. and Mrs. Holmes were married at Richmondville, N. Y., January 16, 1883, Mrs. Holmes having been Miss Lillie Mann, a native of West Ful-

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ton, Schoharie county, and a daughter of Almarien and Hannah (Chapman) Mann. Her father was a native of Vermont, but spent the greater part of his life in New York, where his death occurred and where his widow still makes her home. Of their thirteen children all but one lived to mature years and eleven still survive, Mrs. Holmes being the sixth in order of birth. All have engaged in educational work as teachers or superintendents of schools at some period in their lives, the youngest son, Manley Burr Mann, a graduate of Cornell University and a successful attorney-at-law, having taught in young manhood in order to aid in defraying his university ex- penses.

For a short time prior to her marriage Mrs. Holmes also taught school and she, too, was successful in the work. Of her marriage there are four children, namely : George Erwin, a graduate of the Kern county high school. now employed as electrical operator with the San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation : Marguerite, also a graduate of the high school, now engaged as stenographer with the Western Water Company; Myron Burr and Charles Raymond, members respectively of the high school classes of 1913 and 1914. The eldest son married Hattie L. Davis and has four children, Lillian, Roy, Maynard and Ernest. Not only are both grandmothers of these four children still living, but it is a noteworthy fact that three of the great- grandmothers still survive. The Holmes family is sincere in allegiance to the Methodist Episcopal denomination. For years Mr. Holmes officiated as a trustee of the First Methodist Episcopal Church and at the time of the erection of the present fine house of worship he was secretary of the board. Fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In 1902 he served as foreman of the grand jury and at other times he has held other public responsibilities. For many years he has been a member of the county central committee of the Democratic party and a local leader in that political organization.

LANE S. HARMAN .- An identification of more than twenty years with the material upbuilding of Kern county enables Mr. Harman to judge of values and forecast growth with an impartial judgment and keen sagacity. These qualities have proved helpful to him in the discharge of his duties as manager of the Kern City Realty Company, transacting a general business in real estate, dealing in property throughout the county, buying and selling on a commission basis and making a specialty of oil, orange and fruit lands. The company maintains an insurance department and underwriting is done in absolutely reliable organizations. In every department of the business a large clientele has been established. The company is doing its full share in advertising to the world the excellence of the climate, the fertility of the soil and the opportunities for agricultural and commercial prosperity. The manager is usually to be found at the office. No. 80512 Baker Street, East Bakersfield, where he has every facility for prompt investigation of lands and direct intercourse with possible buyers.

Mr. Harman is of eastern birth and lineage and was born in York county, Pa., March 24. 1854. Primarily educated in common schools, he later attended Mount Union College in Ohio and completed a commercial course of study. The family of which he is a member comprised three children, but one of these died in early years. A brother, Monroe, seven years older than himself. has become very prominent in the silver-mining industry in the state of Wash- ington. Both had to make their own way unaided from youth. After he had taught one term of school Lane S. Harman became connected with a mercantile business at Wellsville, Pa., where he remained for two years. From 1877 until 1890 he made his home in Mansfield, Ohio, and Columbus, same state, and meanwhile in 1880 he married Miss Ada E. Carpenter, a resident of the former city. As a means of livelihood he worked as traveling

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salesman for agricultural implement houses and built up an enviable reputa- tion as a specialist in that line, being indeed regarded as an expert judge con- cerning every kind of farm machinery.

Upon resigning from the road in 1890 Mr. Harman came to California and settled in Kern county, where since he has made his home. Joining the Rosedale colony, he bought forty acres of land covered with sage brush. To develop the tract from its primeval state required strenuous labor. For years he devoted himself diligently to the task of removing the brush, cultivating the land, providing irrigation, planting portions of the farm to fruit and bringing the entire acreage to a high condition of fertility. The task was one of great difficulty and brought many discouragements in its wake, but he had the cheerful co-operation of his wife and the assistance of the chil- dren, so that he was able to develop the property as he had desired. In order that his children might have the advantages offered by the city schools he sold the farm and came to East Bakersfield a number of years ago, since which time he has engaged in the real estate and insurance business, also has acted as notary public and conveyancer, having offices in the First Bank of Kern building. In politics he is a Republican with progressive sympathies, while in religious connections he and his wife are members of the Congrega- tional Church of Bakersfield. Their family consists of ten children and it has been their greatest ambition in life to train and prepare their sons and daughters for whatever responsibilities may await their future years. The children are as follows: Emrie L., a carpenter, who follows his trade in Bakersfield ; Will C., a bridge inspector on the Southern Pacific Railroad and a resident of East Bakersfield; Jeanette, wife of L. T. Peahl, of Bakersfield ; Frances, who married Frank S. Wilson and lives at McMinnville, Warren county, Tenn. ; Jo R., now Mrs. H. G. Spitler ; Helen W., now Mrs. George W. Jason, of Bakersfield; Ada I., Monroe, Jr., Winifred and Alice, who are the youngest members of this interesting and popular family.

WILLIS W. BOGGS .- The genealogy of the Boggs family is traced to the colonial era of American history. During the early part of the nine- teenth century Hon. Lilburn W. Boggs held an influential position in the public life of Missouri and he was serving as governor of that state at the time of the expulsion of the Mormons. By supporting the anti-Mormon ele- ment he incurred the hatred of the leaders of the sect, who afterward in a spirit of revenge sent one of their number back to the state for the purpose of killing the governor. Several bullets lodged in the head of the intended victim of their revenge, but he escaped fatal injury as by a miracle. When somewhat advanced in years he joined an expedition bound for California and shortly after his arrival in Sonoma he was appointed alcalde in place of John H. Nash, whose resignation had been asked for, but who, refusing to give up the office, was taken to San Francisco, thence to Monterey, in order that in his absence peace might be restored to the community. Ex-Governor Boggs died in the Napa valley at the age of sixty-three years.

During the summer of 1846 William Boggs, son of the ex-governor, came witli his family to California. Being a man of resolute purpose, excel- lent judgment and commanding personality, he was chosen captain of the emigrant train. Arriving at Fort Bridger, a dispute arose as to the route to be taken. Captain Boggs insisted upon following the highway generally used by emigrants and he pursued that road with the larger number of the party, arriving in safety at his destination without loss of men or stock. About ninety insisted in taking the Hastings Cut-off. They found travel impossible through the mountains. The sad fate of the Donner party is a matter of history. Just before starting across the plains in the spring of 1846 Captain Boggs had married a young Missouri girl. Their child, Guada- loupe Vallejo Boggs, was the first white child born in California after the

Mrs. R. L. M. leutehen

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government was taken out of the hands of Mexico. A younger son, Angus M. Boggs, who at the age of sixty-three years is living at Highland Springs, Lake county, was a member of the stock commission firm of Boggs & Behler, with offices in San Francisco and Napa. His marriage took place at Santa Rosa, this state, and united him with Miss Sallie Northcott, a native of Missouri, who came to California in 1861. They are the parents of eight children, all living, namely: Mervin J., who spent eleven years in the Kern river oil field, meanwhile being foreman on the 33 and Imperial, later super- intendent of the Fulton at Maricopa, and is now a rancher at Lindsay, Tulare county ; Paul N., formerly general manager for the J. F. Lucey Company at Bakersfield and now general manager for the same concern on the Pacific coast, with offices in Los Angeles: Leland Stanford, of Napa, a traveling salesman for the clothing house of Newmark & Co., in Los Angeles; Ken- neth E., agent for the Wells-Fargo Express Company at Eureka, Cal .; Willis W., who was born at Napa, Cal., January 24, 1886, and is now purchasing agent for the North American Oil Consolidated Company on section 15, township 32, range 23; Hugh F., who assists his father on the ranch in Lake county ; Lawrence B., and Elizabeth, who also remain with their parents.

Entering the sales department of the J. F. Lucey Company at Bakers- field in 1908. Willis W. Boggs continued with that concern for three and one-half years, meanwhile going from Bakersfield to Maricopa, thence to Shale, next to MeKittrick and finally to San Francisco. During 1911 and a part of 1912 he also acted as local buyer for the North American Consoli- dated on section 15 and engaged as salesman at the Taft store of Fairbanks, Morse & Co. Re-entering the service of the J. F. Lucey Company, he con- tinued with that corporation from February, 1912, to June, 1913, and on the 15th of the latter month he returned to the service of the North American Consolidated, for which he now acts as purchasing agent, a post entailing large responsibilities and necessitating a thorough knowledge of oil supplies and valuations.

ROBERT L. MCCUTCHEN .- As a native son of California it has been the privilege of Mr. Mccutchen to live through years marked by unparalleled growth along all lines of industry, in which, not content to be merely an inter- ested observer, he has been a prominent participant and resourceful promoter. Although still in the prime of a useful existence, his memory is stored with historical data of value and his personal activities have brought him in touch with the remarkable development of the west. The course of business pur- suits has taken him along the Pacific coast and into Mexico, so that he is thoroughly conversant with localities, soils, climates and opportunities. Years ago, when hunting geese and quail for the San Francisco market, he traversed the section of country now known as the west side oil fields, where frequently he saw owls and quail helplessly enmeshed in pools of oil and asphalt, but at the time no one realized the commercial importance of the discovery. Later developments proved the immense value of the hidden resources of the region and in the early progress of the oil industry he and other members of his family maintained an active connection, nor are his interests in the business less important at the present time.

A member of a pioneer family that always has stood for integrity, honor, truth and high morals, and. a son of that influential citizen, Preston S. Mc- Cutchen, whose personal history in many respects is a history of the develop- ment of certain parts of the west, Robert Lincoln Mccutchen was born in Sacramento, Cal., July 20, 1865, and at the age of seven years accompanied his parents to Monterey county, where he was reared on a stock ranch near Parkfield. During winter months he studied, first in the public schools and later under a private teacher, while in the summers he assisted his father in the care of the stock and the cultivation of the farm. Starting out for himself

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in 1882, he accompanied a brother, James B., to Arizona, where, joining an- other brother, G. W., he became interested in mining at the Tiger and Peck mines in Yavapai county. Returning to Monterey county at the expiration of two years, he remained there for a year, meanwhile being interested in farming.

Associated with his brothers, in 1885 Mr. Mccutchen began to hunt game for the market. For a time he made his headquarters on the Tulare and Buena Vista lakes. The game was shipped to the San Francisco market, where it brought the highest prices. It was during the period of activity as a hunter that he came through Kern county on a number of trips and began to study the soil of this part of the state. The result of his investigations caused him to purchase in 1890 twenty acres of raw land in the Old River district. This tract he set out to vineyard, but the experiment did not prove profitable. After he had removed the vines he put the land under cultivation to alfalfa, which he has continuously raised from that time to the present. By later purchase he added sixty acres to his tract, so that he now owns eighty acres in one body, situated nine and one-half miles southwest of Bakersfield. Witlı the improvement of the land he continued in his hunting expeditions and it was not until 1899 that he abandoned hunting for the oil industry, in which he since has been interested. From 1892 to 1895 he and his brothers engaged in hunting along the west coast of Mexico, where they hunted the heron and aigrette for their plumage, selling the same at from $10 to $30 per ounce. On returning from these expeditions he more than once carried $3,000 worth of plumes in a suit case. Ultimately, however, the business was destroyed by the natives, who ruthlessly slaughtered the birds, even killing them while they were nesting, and thus rendering a continuation of the business un- profitable.

After having developed and sold oil lands in the Sunset and Midway fields, during 1907 Mr. Mccutchen with his brothers selected a location in the north edge of Maricopa, on section 2, 11-24, where they struck a seven- hundred barrel well of thirteen-gravity oil. This being the best well up to that time and one of the early gushers, attracted wide attention and created considerable excitement in the field. In addition the brothers located the famous section 32, 12-23, some of which is sold and the balance leased, twenty acres of the tract being now operated by the Maricopa Queen Oil Company, that struck a two-thousand barrel well in March of 1913. In the midst of his many other activities, Mr. Mccutchen has continued to raise alfalfa and grain on his ranch, where in 1914 he completed a residence of twelve rooms, mod- ern in every respect, equipped with every convenience and forming a most desirable improvement to the property. Besides the ranch he owns valuable real estate on Chester avenue, Bakersfield, and in Richmond, and further has a ranch of eighty acres, in the Edison district where the possibilities of citrus culture are arousing wide interest.

While political questions have never been made matters of moment to Mr. Mccutchen (who believes that the highest type of citizenship is expressed in the character and not in the opinions), he keeps alive to the issues of the age and has been steadfastly Republican in his adherence to party principles. Fraternally he holds membership with the Woodmen of the World in Bakers- field. By marriage he became allied with a pioneer family of Kern county. In the Old River district, November 30, 1893, he was united with Miss Lena Freear, a native of this district and a daughter of Henry T. Freear, an honored citizen of the county. Six children comprise the family of Mr. and Mrs. Mc- Cutchen, namely : Vernon Ingersoll and Irene Marie, who are respectively members of the senior and freshman classes of the Kern county high school ; Harold, Ethel, Evan and Laverne. The influence of Mrs. McCutchen has been a benefaction in the family and the community. A resident of the same locality throughout all of her life, educated in its schools and reared in one of

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its finest homes, she is an honored native daughter and has a permanent place in the regard of many friends.

ALBERT W. FREEMAN .- The Freeman family comes of old English stock and was established in America by Henry Freeman, a native of Ket- ton, county Kent, England, born February 28, 1828. From his birthplace, which was but a short distance from London, the family removed to the metropolis and in boyhood he had the advantages incident to schooling in that great city. It was his ambition from childhood to come to the United States and at the age of eighteen he left the scenes of youth, bade farewell to friends and relatives, and started on the voyage across the Atlantic. The sailing vessel on which he embarked ploughed its slow way over the waters and finally cast anchor in the harbor of New York City, whence he pro- ceeded to Ohio and in a short time to Illinois. At Joliet, where he found employment, he met and married Emma Adeline Hart, a native of that city. When the first call came for volunteers for three months at the opening of the Civil war he offered his services, enlisted, was accepted and sent to the front. At the expiration of the three months he again enlisted, this time for three years, so that his entire period of active service covered three years and three months. Meanwhile he bore a brave part in many memorable engagements, including Shiloh, the Wilderness, Lookout Mountain, Chicka- mauga, Bull Run and Gettysburg. Under the leadership of Sherman he marched to the sea and took part in the numerous skirmishes and battles of that great campaign. With the defeat of the Confederacy he received an honorable discharge from the Union service and returned to his Illinois home. Removing to Kansas in 1870, he took up land in Butler county twelve miles from Wichita and on that farm occurred the birth of his sev- enth child, Albert W., April 15, 1872. After years of close attention to ag- riculture he retired in 1899, established a home in Wichita, and there re- inained until his death March 17, 1906. Since his demise the widow has con- tinued to reside in Wichita. Like him, she gives earnest adherence to the doctrines of the Methodist Episcopal Church. All but two of their twelve children are still living.

At the age of eighteen years in 1890 Albert W. Freeman left Kansas, where all of his previous life had been spent, and went to Arizona, where for six months he was employed in the lumbering business at Flagstaff. From there he returned east as far as Manzano. Valencia county, N. M., where he found employment in lumbering. However, at the end of six months he returned to Arizona and resumed work at Flagstaff. In the fall of 1892 he came to Bakersfield, where for three years he was employed by different contractors in the building of ditches and canals. During 1895 he became a zanjero with the Kern County Land Company and continued as such until 1899. when he resigned in order to return to Arizona. Upon his . arrival in that state he found conditions had changed since the period of his previous sojourn there. The outlook was unfavorable and at the end of six months he returned to Bakersfield, where he secured a position as clerk in the old Cosmopolitan hotel. During the spring of 1901 he resumed work with the Kern County Land Company. After a brief period as workman on the Calloway canal he was made foreman, also was given charge of the books, and continued steadily in the same place until February of 1910, when he was transferred to the charge of the Home ranch and made superintend- ent of the Kern island canal, his present post of duty. The many responsi- bilities incident to his position he discharges with satisfaction to all con- cerned.

In politics Mr. Freeman votes with the Democratic party. After com- ing to California he was made a Mason in Bakersfield Lodge No. 224, F. &

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A. M., and in addition he united with the Bakersfield Lodge No. 202, I. O. O. F., while also he and his wife are identified with the Rebekahs. At Rosedale, Kern county, June 13, 1905, he married Mrs. Lucy (Cheney ) Adams, who was born near Petaluma, Sonoma county, Cal., and by whom he has one child, Martha. Her parents. Return J. and Martha E. (Green) Cheney, were born in Bloomington, 111., where their marriage was solem- nized March 8, 1860. As early as 1856 Mr. Cheney had made a trip across the plains with ox-teams and was so pleased with the country that he de- termined to remain. Returning to Illinois in 1859 upon a visit to the old home, he married there during the spring of 1860 and then brought his bride via Panama to San Francisco, thence to Sonoma county, where he had taken up land. For years he operated one of the first threshing-machines brought into Sonoma county. In addition to his work as thresherman he developed a large tract of land in Sonoma county and was similarly inter- ested in Tulare county, after his removal thither in 1886. From Tulare county he came to Kern county in 1892 and settled at Rosedale. Of recent years he and his wife have made their home at Coalinga. They became the parents of ten children who attained mature years and all but one of these still survive. Mrs. Freeman, who was the youngest of the large family, was given high-school advantages and received the careful home training which has made her a notable housekeeper and efficient assistant to her husband.

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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 34

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