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 35

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 35

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JOHN EDWARD HAMILTON .- The supervising principal of the Conley school district of Taft was born in New York City May 27. 1853. and is a son of Callaghan and Margaret (O'Connor) Hamilton, both of whom were natives of county Kerry, Ireland, but crossed the ocean in early life and were married in the city of Brooklyn. There were four children in the family, but two of these died in infancy, the present survivors being John Edward and Charles C., the latter an attorney in Oakland. During 1868 the family removed to California and settled in San Francisco, but four years later I. E. returned east in order to receive treatment for spinal trouble. For a time he remained in Indianapolis. Upon coming back to California in 1874 he settled in Mendocino county, where his brother was teaching his first term of school. As he wished to take up the same line of work, he began to study under his brother preparatory to taking the teachers' exam- ination. February 8, 1875, he began to teach school at Willits, Mendocino county. In order the better to prepare for pedagogical activities he took a course of study in St. Ignatius College at San Francisco. Later he secured a scholarship in the Hastings College of Law, but instead of entering that institution he made a trip to Seattle and on his return to California settled again in Mendocino county. Until 1886 he taught school there. Meanwhile in 1882 he had married Miss Margaret E. Muir. By the union there are two children now living. Ethel M. and Charles I. After leaving Mendocino county he went to Santa Barbara county and for twenty-two years made that region his headquarters. Meanwhile for ten years he served as a mem- ber of the county board of education and for six years of the period he was honored with the presidency. For three years he acted as principal of the Los Alamos schools and for fifteen years he taught in Santa Maria.

A newspaper experience as editor of the Santa Maria Graphic for two . years (1891-92) supplemented the work of Mr. Hamilton as teacher, but when he was elected principal at Santa Maria he abandoned journalistic activities. For thirteen years he served as principal at Santa Maria. Upon resigning in 1906 he went to Kansas City to act as eastern representative of various enterprises operating in the middle west and on the Pacific coast. Upon his return to California he came to Taft in November, 1911, and se- cured employment as bookkeeper for Lierly & Son. During January of 1912. the teacher in the North American school having resigned. he was pre-

J.J. Buite

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vailed upon to complete the unexpired term, at the same time maintaining charge of the books for the firm. In June of 1912 he was chosen supervising principal for one year and in June of 1913 he was re-elected for four years. As principal he has made a record for efficiency and progressiveness. Under his supervision the schools are keeping pace with similar institutions throughout the county and have become a source of gratification and pride to all public-spirited citizens. In addition to his responsibilities as super- vising principal he has found leisure for the composing of songs and the writing of lectures. One of his compositions, a baseball song entitled "Base- ball," has become very popular among the boys in Taft. As a popular lec- turer he makes a specialty of literary subjects and while all of his addresses have been received with enthusiasm, "An Hour with Tennyson" is perhaps the favorite and has elicited the greatest applause from interested audiences.

LUCAS FRANKLIN BRITE .- As one of the most extensive cattle growers in Kern county and as a member of the board of supervisors Mr. Brite is well known throughout the entire length and breadth of the county where he has made his home from his earliest recollections. In his life work he follows the example set by his father, the late John Moore Brite, who for years engaged extensively in agricultural pursuits and at the same time was a prominent supervisor of Kern county. Born in Missouri, but from early life a resident of Texas and employed as a teamster and farmer near the capital city of Austin, the father crossed the plains with ox teams in 1854, accompanied by his family, arriving at El Monte, Los Angeles county, in September of that year. The same fall he located in the Tehachapi Valley, where he began operations in the stock business. On his arrival he built a iog house a little below what afterwards became known as Greenwich, resid- ing there until he made his location in the valley that now bears his name, residing there continuously with the exception of one year, 1857-58, spent in Walkers basin and nearly a year in El Monte. During the residence of the family at El Monte a son, Lucas Franklin, was born August 13, 1859. In the same year the father returned with his wife and children and settled in a small but fertile valley in the Tehachapi mountains, where he entered land and built an adobe house which is still standing, and continued in the stock busi- ness. As he was the first and principal settler in the region and as the entire district is now owned by some of his heirs, the name of Brite's valley appro- priately was given to it. During the early days it was remote from any mar- ket and the large crops of farm products as well as the large herds of stock had to be taken long distances when sold, but eventually the Southern Pacific railroad built to within six miles of the farm house, and from that time the family found conditions less irksome.

Upon the organization of Kern county John Moore Brite was chosen a member of the first board of supervisors, which created the first county gov- ernment and directed public affairs from the county seat, then known as Clear Creek, but later called Havilah. For the greater part of the next six- teen years he was a supervisor and during part of the time was honored with the chairmanship of the board, being an integral factor in the difficult task connected with the removal of the county seat to Bakersfield. With all of his work donated to the early upbuilding of the county, he did not neglect the management of his land or the care of his stock. His herds increased in size and his brand, a half-moon capital J, was known all over the county, while his possessions in land increased until at the time of his death, during April of 1893, he had about two thousand acres. He is still survived by his widow, who was Miss Amanda Emeline Duty, a native of Austin, Tex. Their family consisted of thirteen children. Of these Martha died in Texas at two years of age, Mattie died in Brite's valley when two, and Mary passed away when seventeen. The eldest sons, Joseph H. and James Moore, are extensive ranch-

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ers in Brite's valley. Lucas Franklin, of Bakersfield, was sixth in order of birth. Eliza Lee married W. T. Wiggins, of Brite's valley ; William is living in the Imperial valley ; John B. and Charles Richard live in Brite's valley, the last-named being with his mother at the old homestead; Chloe is the wife of E. A. Stowell, of Cummings valley ; Clara married Henry O'Neal and lives at Stockton ; and Cora is the wife of W. HI. Adams, of Stockton. The mother, together with her sons, Joseph, James, Charles, Richard and John, also a daughter, with her husband (Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Wiggins) own all of Brite's valley.

The earliest recollections of Lucas Franklin Brite cluster around the val- ley which bears the family name. Early in childhood he was a pupil in a log schoolhouse two and one-half miles from the old homestead, next he attended school in a frame building at Oldtown, four and one-half miles from home, and finally he completed his study of the three R's in the Cummings valley school, four and one-half miles from home. From school he drifted into ranching and when he started out for himself he located on railroad land. When this came into the market he bought six hundred and forty acres at $2.50 and $3 per acre. The land was level and fertile, comprising some of the best acreage in Cummings valley. At this writing he owns five thousand acres in this valley and of the total amount eighteen hundred acres are level. The vast tract represents his own industrious application and self-denying perseverance. With the aid of his sons he manages his large holdings, devoting about four- teen hundred acres to grain and the balance to stock range .. Alfalfa also is raised without the aid of irrigation, although he installed a pumping plant on his home farm, ten miles west of Tehachapi.

The raising of grain formed the largest agricultural interest of Mr. Brite for many years. During early days he utilized a header and stationary thresher. Later he operated five headers which elevated the grain to the wag- ons, nets being placed in the bed of the wagons. The wagons were then hauled to the thresher and the nets dumped on the table of the threshing ma- chine. In the work as thus conducted thirty head of mules or horses were used on the headers, forty head were used on the ten wagons (four to a wagon), two head were used for the lifting of the derrick and eight head were carried as extras. for special needs. About twelve thousand acres of grain were harvested and threshed in two months. When the combined harvester came into use, Mr. Brite was quick to see its advantages and avail himself of its improvements over the old-fashioned methods. At one time his brother John arranged a plow with ten gangs hinged in the middle so that it was possible to turn the soil even in rough places or in hog wallows. Ten horses or mules were used on each plow and as many as five of the implements were kept in steady use during the season. The greater part of his land is located in the Tehachapi and Cummings valleys and is well adapted for grain and stock. Some very fine horses of the Percheron and French coach breeds have been raised on his lands, while his shorthorn Durham cattle, with their well-known brand of GB, have no superiors in quality throughout the entire county.

The marriage of Mr. Brite took place in Brite's valley, December 5, 1885, and united him with Miss Laura Smith, who was born in Cummings valley, Kern county, being fourth youngest among the eleven children of John and Amanda E. (Stark) Smith, natives of Texas. At an early period in the settle- ment of the coast country the Smith family crossed the plains with wagon and oxen and settled in Bakersfield after a brief sojourn in Los Angeles. Mr. Smith died in Cummings valley, while his wife passed away in Brite's valley. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Brite there are five children, of whom the two eldest, John Perry and Lucas Vance, are farmers and stock-raisers at the old homestead. The third child, Bertha, is a student in the University of Cali-

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fornia. The two youngest, Bonnie and Ruby, are students in the Bakersfield high school. It was for the purpose of giving his youngest children the ad- vantages of the Bakersfield schools that in 1910 Mr. Brite came to this city and erected a residence at No. 1819 Orange street, where the family since have spent the school year, returning to the ranch for the summer. In his home city Mr. Brite has a large circle of friends, while throughout the country he is well known and universally respected. From early life he has been a supporter of Democratic principles and it was upon the regular party ticket that in 1902 he was elected from the second district to the board of county supervisors. At the expiration of his first term in 1906 he was re- elected, and again in 1910 he was chosen his own successor. As supervisor he has favored all movements for the permanent advancement of the county, has given his support to needed improvements and been identified with the build- ing of bridges and county buildings, including the addition to the county hospital, the new high school, manual arts building, Hall of Records and the imposing new court house, yet at the same time he has maintained a conserva- tive policy and has guarded the interests of taxpayers with conscientious fidel- ity and keen discrimination.

THOMAS A. BROOKS .- The manager of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company for Kern county has followed this line of business since the age of sixteen years and meanwhile has gained a varied experience of the utmost value to his present and future activities. Sent for the first time to Bakersfield during the early part of 1911 and for the second time in the spring of 1912, he has been closely in touch with the development of the business at this point and has forwarded with customary energy the interests of the company, which now reaches every important point in the county. The task has been and still continues to be one of no slight importance. The greatest tact and the highest intelligence are required in order to superin- tend the local interests with success. It speaks well for the manager that he has been able to satisfy patrons, enlarge the field of operation and at the same time advance the financial status of the company shareholders. The satisfactory growth of the business in the past betokens similar development in the future.

The elder of two children, Thomas A. Brooks was born in San Fran- cisco June 20, 1886, and is a son of Thomas J. and Mary (Anderson) Brooks, natives respectively of Boston, Mass., and Bristol, England, who came to California, were married in Oakland, and shortly afterwards established a permanent home in San Francisco. In that city the mother died in 1911 and there the father still remains. Educated in the public schools until he had gained a thorough knowledge of the common branches, in October of 1902 Thomas A. Brooks began the task of earning his own livelihood. At that time he entered the employ of the telephone company as a solicitor in San Francisco. A year later he was given a clerkship in the city office. Later he was promoted to the division office in San Francisco as division commercial engineer. The splendid manner in which he discharged the duties of the position led to his promotion to the rank of commercial en- gineer in the general office. All of these promotions had occurred within a decade after his original identification with the business.

The interests of the business caused Mr. Brooks to be detailed for im- portant duties at San Diego, Cal., and Portland, Ore., after which he was sent to Bakersfield in January of 1911. The result of his investigations in this city is apparent in the large new telephone building on Twentieth be- tween I and Chester. During the process of construction of this building he filled a similar mission in the city of Los Angeles, from which place he returned to Bakersfield in March, 1912, to act as manager of Kern county for the company, which is profiting now, as it has profited in the past, by

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his far-seeing discrimination and keen insight into matter ong the line of his specialty. Since coming to this city he has identifieu imself with the Bakersfield Club and with other organizations connected with the social and commercial life of the city.

CHARLES N. SEARS .- The identification of the Scotch family of Sears with the new world began during the colonial period of American history, the first immigrant of the name having established himself on a plantation in Virginia, and from the Old Dominion Enoch Sears removed to Ohio during the carly portion of the nineteenth century. Several generations have made their home in Guernsey county, Ohio, where James and Mary Sears passed the early years of their lives. When the call came for volunteers in the service of the Union during the Civil war he bade farewell to his young wife and set forth to fight for his country, going to the front with an Ohio regiment of which he was a member. When the disastrous battle of Chickamauga was being fought he and three of his brothers were killed in action. The little community in Guernsey county where they had been born and reared mourned their tragic taking away, but revered their memories as heroes of the struggle. Surviving this one of the brothers was a son, Charles N., who was born at North Salem, Guernsey county, Ohio, January 13, 1861 ; he was also survived by his wife, who later became Mrs. Wyatt and is now living in Nebraska in the city of Minden. The only child in the family was taken from Ohio to Illinois at the age of thirteen years and afterward attended school at Roseville, Warren county, where he prepared for college. It was his ambition to acquire a thorough education and with that object in view he matriculated in Abingdon (I11.) College, from which in 1879 he was graduated with the degree of A. B. and with a high standing for excellence of scholarship.

A desire to see more of the country and also to acquire cheap land led Mr. Sears with two companions to start for Nebraska. Buying a team and wagon and securing the necessary outfit, they drove overland to Phelps county and entered land near Holdrege. Later he took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, to which in time he secured the title. To one of his energetic temperament the idle waiting for the expiration of his home- stead period was impossible and he passed the time profitably and pleasantly in acquiring a knowledge of the law. For a time he read with a prominent attorney and jurist at Kearney, Buffalo county, and so well was his time passed that in 1887 he was admitted to the bar of Nebraska, after which he began to practice at Holdrege with W. P. Hall as a partner. In order to enlarge his professional knowledge, he took a course in the law department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, from which he was graduated in 1892 with the degree of LL. B. Immediately after his graduation he en- gaged in the practice of law at Benton Harbor, Mich., from which point he came to California during the fall of 1900 and in February of the following year established himself in practice at Bakersfield, where he is well known as a man of scholarly attainments, an attorney of ripened experience, a coun- selor of sagacious judgment, and a citizen of the most unquestioned pa- triotism. Besides his professional activities he also is interested in oil opera- tions, while his deep devotion to and prominence in the Republican party gives him added influence in his home city. Faternally he holds member- ship with the Knights of Pythias. In Benton Harbor, Mich., occurred his marriage to Miss Alberta Putnam, who was born in Niles, that state. re- ceived excellent educational advantages and is a woman of culture and an earnest member of the Congregational Church of Bakersfield. The only child of their union is a son, Herbert Putnam Sears, a student in the city high school. The lineage of Mrs. Sears is historic, one of her ancestors having been a Revolutionary soldier. John Putnam, of Green Mountain fame.

R.L.Stockton

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and a brother of that illustrious patriot, Gen. Israel Putnam, who, when news came concerning the opening battle at Lexington, left his plough in the field at Pomfret, Conn., mounted his horse, and the next morning was in Concord, later led some untrained patriots in a successful assault north- east of Boston, and from that led from one victory to another until he was recognized as one of the greatest men of his day.

ROBERT L. STOCKTON .- An epitome of the history of educational advancement in Kern County presents in brief a recapitulation of the life work of Robert L. Stockton, county superintendent of schools since January of 1903, also vice president of the Central California Teachers' Association and ex-officio secretary of the county board of education. In reviewing his identification with the educational advancement and present standard of scholarship in the county he might well exclaim, "All of which I saw and part of which I was." From the age of eighteen years he has given his attention with whole-hearted devotion to the tasks confronting an educator and no problem has been too vexatious for his patient consideration, no progress too great for his aspiring vision and no change too radical provided only that the welfare of students and the interests of the schools thereby are promoted. Since he entered upon the duties of county superintendent the school work has quadrupled entailing upon him duties far more weighty than those incident to the first months of his official incumbency. In addition to the county high school there are now eighty-eight districts, while about two hundred teachers are given employment in the grammar and thirty in the high schools, there being expended annually in the interests of county educational work an amount approximating a half million dollars, which includes not only salaries of teachers, but also expenditures in new buildings, repairs of old buildings, janitor service and the manifold lesser expenses connected with a work of such magnitude. The duties of the county super- intendent have expanded to such proportions that two assistants 110W are given steady employment and the superintendent's office is a scene of busy activity during practically every season of the year.

County Superintendent Stockton is proud of the fact that he can claim California as his native commonwealth and that his father, Dr. I. D. Stockton, was one of the honored pioneers of Kern County. Born at Santa Rosa October 25, 1863, he accompanied his parents to Kern County in 1872 and afterward attended the schools here. Diligent in study, intelligent in appli- cation and keen in mental comprehension, he acquired a wide fund of infor- mation notwithstanding the handicap occasioned by poorly equipped schools. After he had taken a course in the Los Angeles Business College he returned to his home county and took up educational work, for which he possessed inherent ability and in which he has achieved signal success. From his first identification with the schools as an instructor he aimed to advance the standard of scholarship. He rejected as obsolete the inadequate theories of earlier days and injected into pedagogy the spirit of twentieth century progress. As a result of his efforts the schools soon gave evidence of more thorough work and the advancement thus begun has continued to the present with auspicious results. For many years he served as a member of the county board of education and even yet he retains a connection with that useful organization. As the Democratic nominee in 1902 he was elected county superintendent of schools after an exciting contest with the then incumbent, whom he defeated by a large majority. In 1906 he was re-elected and again in 1910, the latter time without opposition, but with the endorse- ment of all parties. There are now about eight thousand pupils in the public elementary schools of the county, besides about five hundred in the high schools.

In the management of educational work so large and important he

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has the hearty co-operation and helpful assistance of the board of super- visors and the county board of education. all of whose members have the welfare of the schools as their slogan.

It should be stated that the Kern County High school has more than quad- rupled in attendance in the last ten years and its departments multiplied until the state superintendent of public instruction pronounced it the most com- plete course and best high school in the state. They have added courses in surveying, assaying, wireless telegraphy, manual training, domestic science and art and agriculture, and claim the unique place of having the largest agricultural farm of any high school in the state.

The marriage of Professor Stockton united him with Miss Frances Engle, a native of Kern County and a daughter of David Engle, a pioneer stockman near Granite. They are the parents of eight children, namely : Ralph, Denton, Warren and Marion, all of whom are graduates of the Kern County High school, and the two last-named are now students in the Hastings Law school in San Francisco; Irving and Jesse, who are attending the Kern County High school; Clara and Frank, pupils in the public schools. The oldest son is a mining man in Nevada and the second son is engaged in the stock industry in Kern County, where Professor Stockton owns a stock ranch near Granite, also an alfalfa ranch near Button Willow. On the former place a specialty is made of horses, mules and cattle, while on the latter tract alfalfa is raised both for hay and for seed. Besides being a member of the Bakersfield Board of Trade he is interested in other movements for the civic well-being of the community. Fraternally he holds membership with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World, but the duties incident to educational work are so engrossing that he has had little leisure to participate in the activities of any of these fraternities, although in the heartiest accord with their philanthropies and social amenities.

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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 35

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