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 42

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 42

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).

F. F. HILL .- While much of the life of Mr. Hill has been lived in Cali- fornia, he is a native of Kansas City, Mo. (born January 5, 1876), and from 1878 to 1889 was on a cattle ranch near Bozeman, Mont., his father being both a merchant and a stock-raiser in Montana, but now a resident of Los Angeles. Coming to California in 1889 and settling at Santa Paula, Ventura county, he became a warehouse boy with the Union Oil Company when he was eighteen years of age, and from that time to the present he has been with

350

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

the same corporation, with the exception of two years devoted to drilling and development work for himself at Newhall and for various companies in the Los Angeles and Santa Paula fields. It has been his privilege to witness the development of the Union Oil Company of California from a modest be- ginning to its present vast influence and enormous holdings, and with sat- isfaction he may view his own association with the concern, for which he worked in various capacities, including tool-dressing and drilling. Recogni- tion of his ability and faithfulness came in 1903 with his promotion to be field superintendent and from that in 1912 he was assigned to the place of superintendent of development, since which time he has had his office in the Union Oil Company's building in Los Angeles and has had charge of ali development work in the California fields, viz .: Fullerton, Lompoc, Santa Maria, Ventura county, Coalinga, Lost Hills, McKittrick, Midway, Maricopa, Sunset and the Kern river oil fields. His home is in Los Angeles, where he has erected and now occupies a residence at No. 709 South Hope street, and his family consists of his wife (formerly Miss Blanche Pitt, of Los Angeles) and their two children, Wayne and Wanda F. Hill.

EUGENE B. DUNCAN .- Among the bright and active young business men of Bakersfield whose splendid energy and modern methods have con- tributed not a little to the rapid development of the community is Eugene B. Duncan, who is now filling the responsible position of assistant cashier in the Security Trust Co. Bank of Bakersfield. The son of M. A. and Emma (Lehman) Duncan, he was born October 9, 1878, in Quincy, Adams county, Ill., where he was reared and educated. Taking a business course at Gem City College in order to further his business knowledge he was gradu- ated therefrom and in March, 1899, came to Bakersfield to make his home. From that year to 1904 he worked with Sam Wible in the laundry business, filling the position of office foreman. In 1904 he took a position in the water department of the Kern County Land Co., and remained as one of their most trusted employes for seven years. Since the time of the organ- ization of the Security Trust Co., on March 1, 1911, Mr. Duncan has been connected with it, being a stockholder in the company and now ably filling the position of assistant cashier. He is also director in the First Bank of Kern and has been actively identified with the financial business world of his community in the last few years.

In October, 1909, Mr. Duncan was married to Miss Caroline K. Duncan of Quincy, Ill., and they now make their home at No. 829 D street, where they have a beautiful and comfortable cottage. Mr. Duncan has a creditable military record, having served six years (1906-1911) as commanding officer of Company L, State Militia National Guard, being commissioned captain.

ALFRED RUPP .- It was as a driller that Mr. Rupp first became asso- ciated with Kern county. On New Year's day of 1900, when for the first time he came to Bakersfield and from here rode across the country to the Kern river fields, he found only six derricks in that entire district. The rapid development of the oil industry he witnessed with interest. As superintendent for the Dolton & Fuller Company he engaged extensively in drilling in this field and shortly after his arrival, becoming a partner in the company, he took contracts for drilling throughout all of the district, spending a little more than two years in the work in Kern county. Later he became superintendent for S. Pierson & Son and, acting in their interests, he conveyed an oil rig to Mexico and put down the first two wells in the state of Vera Cruz. After a year in that part of Mexico he returned to Bakersfield, where he has since made his home.

Born near Pitston, Luzerne county, Pa., December 17, 1870, Alfred Rupp accompanied his parents to Kansas at the age of seven years and settled with

John F Cuddeback

353

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

them on a frontier homestead in Hodgeman county, far from the railroad and remote from other homesteaders. The isolation of the family and the incessant labor necessary to the improvement of the land prevented him from having any special educational advantages, although he was sent to school whenever possible. The most of his time in boyhood was devoted to the till- ing of the soil and the care of the stock. At the age of twenty years he started out to make his own way in the world, going first to Colorado and later to Utah, where he worked at any occupation that offered a source of income. Returning to visit the family in Kansas, he there came to a deter- mination to locate in California and the spring of 1894 found him a new- comer in Los Angeles, where he found employment and remained for several years. From that city he went to Summerland, Santa Barbara county. There he first became interested in the oil industry and learned to be an expert driller. After three years in the oil business in that field he came to the Kern river field shortly after its first opening and here he experienced the hardships and successes incident to the industry. Since leaving this line of work he has been proprietor of the Midland hotel on Nineteenth street, Bakersfield. In addition he has mining interests in the Breckenridge mountains, where he and his partner, Arthur Worthington, own a number of valuable claims and have erected machinery at their principal mine, called the Crystal and Hercules. situated thirty-two miles northeast of Bakersfield. Mr. Rupp was married in San Diego to Miss Nora Forest, a native of Kansas. In fraternal relations he holds membership with the Eagles.

JOHN PRICE CUDDEBACK .- A family long known and honored throughout Kern county, particularly in the Tehachapi valley, has lost none of its prestige through the forceful business career of John P. Cuddeback, whose splendid energies and dauntless courage have enabled him to amass an inde- pendent fortune. He was born in this picturesque valley September 18, 1865. the son of Grant P. and Almira (Hale) Cuddeback, who came across the plains with their respective families in 1849, and were married in El Monte. Later they became the second permanent family to settle in the Tehachapi valley, where the elder Cuddeback followed cattle raising. He was also interested in mining in the Panamint mountains, being associated in this enterprise with John Narbo and Moses Hale, but the Indians proved so menacing that they were forced to leave the locality. What is now the site of Goler and Randsburg was the scene of their mining attempt. The following children comprised the parental family : Clinton ; Celestia, Mrs. E. A. Honey ; Bertha, Mrs. Chappel, now deceased : George G .; William N .; Mary, Mrs. Powell, deceased; John Price; David A .; Ernest and Alonzo, the last two mentioned also deceased. The mother of these children passed away in Los Angeles in 1872, while the father died in Orange about 1902.

In the valley where he was born, John P. Cuddeback still retains important property interests and worthily upholds a name as highly honored as it is widely known. It would, however, be doing an injustice to his rare talents and attractive personality to limit the influence of his life to any one county, for almost any portion of Southern California has been benefited by the fine business abilities of himself and brothers. He and his brother. Will N., have worked together from boyhood harmoniously and successfully. When John Price was about ten and Will N. about thirteen, their brother George sent them to deliver to a neighbor a bunch of grape-cuttings, stating that they should ask $10, but be willing to take $7.50. The boy of ten was so eager to sell that he promptly exclaimed : "We want $10, but will take $7.50." Needless to say that they received $7.50. The incident, which greatly amused the entire family, taught the child a lesson of self-reliance, and in later years, when planning his own operations, he learned to keep his prices to himself. Though

354

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

educational advantages were limited, John P. Cuddeback continued to add to his store of knowledge whenever he could be spared from work, and his dili- gence and application have made him a man of broad education. The same penetration and readiness to learn exhibited in his youth are still shown in every phase of commercial, industrial, social, and educational development that comes before his notice.

Such is his fondness for his old birth-place that when the opportunity arose he purchased his father's old homestead which is now included in his large ranch. Although once and always a cattle man and rancher, hav- ing added section after section until today he is among the largest individual land owners and cattle growers in Kern county, it must not be understood that his activities have been limited to land and cattle. For many years he and his brother, Will N., were engaged in the butcher business in Tehachapi, and were also pioneer business men of Randsburg, when that camp was started. Many years before the placer mines at Goler and the ledge of the Yellow Aster were discovered, the Cuddeback brothers ranged their cattle over the region. It was necessary for them to dig wells at different places and put up windmills and horsepower pumps that their cattle might have watering-places. They were fortunate in finding water within twelve feet of the surface in places, thus demonstrating the feasibility of obtaining on the desert that which meant so much not only to themselves, but also to other cattle men for utilizing the abundance of dry feed. When they first began occupying that range, Panamint Tom still held sway and was the leader of the Panamint Indians. These frequently came to the brothers' camp, where they were fed and treated like the friendly Indians they had become. This was a good illustration of the change that had of necessity come to poor Lo since the time he had driven the elder Cuddeback and his companions out of the country. As the brothers were pioneers of that region, Cuddeback Lake, to the east of Randsburg, was named in their honor.

After the dissolution of the partnership, John P. formed a real-estate partnership in Los Angeles with Charles L. Cooper, whose daughter, Miss Ethel, who was born in Ventura, he married May 6, 1907. At Manvel, in the Searchlight district in San Bernardino county, he carried on the largest cattle ranch in the county, having as partners George Briggs and Dan Murphy of Needles. More recently he has associated himself with Lawrence B. Burke in the purchase of the Sacramento ranch of fifty thousand acres near Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo county, to the management of which he devotes the greater part of his time, and in so doing he is carrying out his pet project in breeding and raising Shorthorn and Hereford cattle and saddle horses.

To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. John P. Cuddeback three children were born, Virginia Ethelwyn, Alzada Brooks, and John P., Jr. During the win- ters the family make their residence in San Gabriel, and the summers are spent at the country home on the ranch in the Tehachapi valley, where Mr. Cudde- back enjoys the refinements and luxuries rendered possible by his brilliant business career. In early youth he became identified with the Knights of Pythias at Tehachapi, and he still retains his membership in the order, besides being a member of the San Gabriel Country Club. When it is remembered that he started out to earn a livelihood at an early age without the aid of financial friends to assist him, his remarkable success in business and the position of influence to which he has risen prove the truth of the old adage to the effect that "What man wills to be he can be." Still in the prime of life, with many possible years of continued usefulness before him, already he has attained a commercial prestige and landed authority reached by few in long lives of capable endeavor.

355

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

HARRY A. HOPKINS .- Upon the incorporation of the Taft Ice De- livery Company, January 3, 1913, twenty-five thousand shares of stock were sold at par value of $1 each and these were bought by about thirty stock- holders, all residents of this community. The officers and directors are: W. S. Lierly, president ; S. J. Dunlop, vice-president ; H. A. Hopkins, secre- tary-treasurer ; A. I. Scott. A. B. Green, E. A. Henderson and F. W. O'Brien.

Regarding the personal history of Mr. Hopkins, it may be stated that he represents a family identified with America ever since the landing of the Mayflower. His father, A. A. Hopkins, a native of Springfield, Ill., and now a resident of Los Angeles, is a relative of Hon. H. A. Hopkins, of Aurora, Ill. Himself a contractor and builder, he is well known in Taft, where he built eight houses and a large proportion of the business buildings in the town. By his marriage to Elizabeth Shrader. who was born in Detroit. Mich., of German ancestry, he had a family of four sons, namely : Albert J., who died unmarried in 1903 at the age of thirty-one years; Benjamin F., pro- prietor of The Apparel Shop on Third and Hill streets, Los Angeles, and also owner of The Colton People's Store at Colton, this state; Harry A., of Taft, and Ray R., proprietor of the Puritas Tea and Coffee Company on Los Angeles street, between Third and Fourth streets, Los Angeles. The third son, Harry A., was born at Ogden, Utah, March 28, 1882, and was six years of age when the family settled in San Diego, Cal., only to remove thence in a short time to Los Angeles. In 1903 he was graduated from the Commercial high school of Los Angeles. Long before this, however, he had been earning his own livelihood. When only thirteen he had begun to learn the trade of printer. After school and on the Saturday vacation he learned to feed the press and to set type in the composing room of the American Typefounders' Company. For a time he worked in the printing department of the Los Angeles Daily Times and he also was with the Los Angeles Herald. earning in that way the money necessary for his high school course.

While with George Rice & Son, printers of the magazine supplement of the Los Angeles Herald, Mr. Hopkins was accustomed to go to work imme- diately after leaving school at three o'clock on Friday afternoon and he con- tinued uninterruptedly at work until midnight Saturday. Notwithstanding this long period of constant work without rest or sleep, he was able to resume his studies on Monday and at the time he completed the high school course he was earning $18 per week. After his graduation he secured employment as a bookkeeper. For a time he engaged as tracing clerk and stenographer with the Santa Fe Railroad Company in Los Angeles. Later he worked for the Wilmington Transportation Company at San Pedro. In the interests of the Easton-Eldridge Company he engaged in selling acreage in the Hemet valley of Riverside county, after which he became an employe of the Barber Asphalt Paving Company of Los Angeles.

Arriving at McKittrick, July 10, 1904, Mr. Hopkins assumed charge of the Midway office of the Chanslor-Canfield Midway Oil Company. The present site of Taft then showed nothing but sage brush and jack rabbits. Water was hauled from Lake Buena Vista and cost $8 per barrel. During 1906 he spent seven months in the Indian Territory and engaged in drilling a number of wells as a partner of Cremins Brothers. Upon his return to Mc- Kittrick he took charge of the National Supply Company, with whom he continued for eighteen months. Later he was placed in charge of the Kern county business of the J. F. Lucey Company, with offices in the Producers' Bank building, Bakersfield. Meanwhile he had been interested in the land around the present town of Taft. Close inspection had convinced him that the place offered favorable openings for great oil development. Upon re- signing his position in Bakersfield he came to the present site of Taft, where he opened the first general mercantile store and was commissioned post-

356

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

master, in July, 1909, under President Taft. The new town had been given the name of Moro. On account of there being a Wells-Fargo express office in San Luis Obispo county known by the name of Moro, considerable confi- sion resulted. The Southern Pacific Railroad Company, hoping to end the confusion of names, added an "n" to the word, making it Moron, but there being a post office of that name in Colorado the government objected, nor did the name satisfy the people. The question of another change of name was then agitated. Postmaster Hopkins then met Postmaster R. A. Edmonds of Bakersfield and discussed the matter. The office desk of Mr. Edmonds was graced by a picture of President Taft. Happening to glance at it, Mr. Hopkins immediately exclaimed: "Name it Taft," which suggestion was seconded heartily by Mr. Edmonds. These are the real facts connected with the naming of the now celebrated oil town.

In the great fire Mr. Hopkins, carrying only an insurance of thirty per cent, lost about $12,000 and the date of the conflagration, October 22, 1909, remains therefore indelibly impressed upon his mind as a time of the deepest discouragement. However, with characteristic courage he set himself reso- lutely to the task of recouping his losses. After the fire the Southern Pacific notified the business men that they must move to the north side of the track. There was some protest to the move. Some of the business men accepted the offer of J. W. Jameson and went on his tract south of the tracks, but a majority moved to the north side, where they could own property for them- selves. In September of 1910 the buildings on the south side were destroyed by fire and this put an end to efforts for the upbuilding of that section.

After three months in the real-estate and oil-land business, Mr. Hopkins put up a building on the corner of Fourth and Center streets on the north side. The block is now occupied by the Mission Drug Company and other establishments. His next move was the starting of the Taft Public Utilities Company, a concern formed for the purpose of supplying water, which was shipped in tank cars from Kern, pumped into two tanks with a capacity of twelve hundred barrels and then distributed among consumers in Taft. Upon the organization of the company in October, 1910, J. P. Dooly was elected president, and Harry A. Hopkins secretary and manager. February 1, 1912, the company sold out to the Consumers' Water Company, which is still in existence. Returning to the real-estate business, Mr. Hopkins handled acre- age in Mono county and became interested in an irrigation project in that county, retaining indeed at the present time considerable stock in the Mono Home and Canal Company. During December of 1912 he inaugurated a movement looking toward supplying the people of Taft with ice. The fol- lowing month the company was incorporated. Since then it has rapidly de- veloped into one of the leading business enterprises of the place. In addi- tion to being the first postmaster of Taft, he has served as a city trustee since November, 1910, and has been identified with civic affairs to an important extent. As a Republican he has been influential in the political life of the community. Fraternally he is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks at Bakersfield and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Los Angeles. His family comprises two children, Zuva Belle and Harry A., Jr., and his wife, whom he married in Riverside, this state, and who was Miss Zuva Tyler, daughter of William Tyler, a sergeant on the police force of Los Angeles.

CHARLES DRADER .- From the earliest recollections of childhood to the intelligent efforts of maturity Mr. Drader has been associated with the oil industry and thus has become familiar with every phase of the business. Even the name of his native village in the western part of the province of Ontario suggests his occupation, for he is a native of Petrolia, a well-known town in the oil fields of Canada, where his father, the late Ernest Drader,

Guthamblin

359

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

who died November 19, 1912, was one of the leading pioneers and owned extensive interests. In a home in the midst of such an environment his birth occurred March 22, 1874, and there he passed the uneventful years of youth. Under the keen oversight of his father he was taught every branch of the work and thus developed a judgment not always seen in young men of his years. It was this judgment and accuracy of discrimination that led a prominent English corporation to engage his services in the capacity of manager of their company, known as the Canadian Oil Fields, Limited, and he continued to fill the position with conspicuous energy and fidelity until the property was sold to other parties.

Leaving his old Canadian home to inspect other oil districts, Mr. Drader visited Mexico and engaged in the industry at Tampico for a brief period, dating from December of 1910. While the oil in Canada has a paraffine base, he soon found that the Tampico oil has an asphalt base and the two therefore differed in mode of operation and in by-products. The work in Mexico he found as intensely interesting as that of Canada, but the enervat- ing climate proved unhealthful and he came to the Kern river oil fields, where since April 1, 1912, he has ably served as superintendent of the Kern River Oil Fields of California, Limited. On coming to this district he brought with him his wife, who was formerly Miss Margaret Parker of Petrolia, Canada, and their two children, Lorna M., born in 1900, and Ernest O., born in 1906.

The Kern River Oil Fields of California, Limited, was bought in 1910 by a group of capitalists, mainly residents of London, England, and the new corporation engaged the services of Ernest V. Benjamin and W. W. Orcutt as members of the management committee, and subsequently em- ployed Mr. Drader in the capacity of superintendent. The company was incorporated in London with a capital stock of $6,000,000, of which all but $1,000,000 has been paid in. Their holdings are very large and valu- able, including six hundred and forty acres comprising section 33, town- ship 28, range 28; all of section 1, township 29, range 28; four hundred and eighty acres on section 25, township 28, range 27; three hundred and seventy acres on section 19, township 28, range 28; also lands in the Santa Maria and other fields.

GUSTAVUS SCHAMBLIN .- The possibilities which Bakersfield offers to men of ability and integrity appear in the successful business career of "Gus" Schamblin, president and general manager of the Pioneer Mercantile Company, president and a director of the Barker Investment Company, vice- president and a director of the Successus Oil Company operating in the Mc- Kittrick field, and secretary and a director of the Mannel-Minor Petroleum Company operating a tract of two hundred acres on Bellridge front. The growth of the Pioneer Mercantile Company has been little short of remark- able and indicates the business qualifications of its promoter. When he opened the business in 1899 he rented a building, 12x14 in dimensions, on Chester avenue between Seventeenth and Eighteenth streets. Soon he was forced to seek larger quarters. His next location was on the corner of Twentieth and I streets. From there he soon moved to a larger place on Nineteenth between H and I streets. Forced to secure still larger quarters, in 1905 he secured space on I street between Nineteenth and Twentieth, double the size of his original space, the building being 66x80 feet in dimensions, with a basement 66x200 for storage purposes. Having again outgrown his quar- ters Mr. Schamblin found it necessary to secure larger space, and in March, 1913, concluded the lease of a new concrete building on the corner of Twen- tieth and 1 streets. Here he has the entire basement. first floor and mez- zanine floor, the building covering a floor space 72x116 feet, and being equipped with every modern convenience and elevator service.

360

HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

Born at Waldenburg, Switzerland, August 30, 1855, Mr. Schamblin and his sister, Mrs. Selina Tschude, now of Waldenburg, were the only children of the late Mathias and Eliza (Schneider) Schamblin, lifelong residents of that part of Switzerland, where for thirty-five years before his death the father served by continuous re-election as county clerk of Waldenburg. The only son was educated in the local high school and gymnasium and after graduating at the age of eighteen began an apprenticeship in a large watch factory at Waldenburg, but later he studied bookkeeping and business corre- spondence in German and French. Coming to the United States in 1877 he spent a year in New York City and there enlisted as a private in Company B, Twentieth United States Infantry. With his command he spent two years at Fort Gibson in the Indian Territory. From there he was transferred with his regiment to Fort Assinniboine, Mont., where he was detailed as adju- tant's clerk with the rank and commission of sergeant. In 1883 he was hon- orably discharged from the army. From the fort in Montana he came to California and secured employment on the bay at San Francisco. The year 1886 found him a newcomer in Bakersfield, where for a number of years he filled clerical positions. During 1892 he entered the employ of the Kern County Land Company as warehouse man in the Sumner warehouse. The faithful discharge of duties led to his promotion to be foreman of that warehouse, from which he was raised to the position of superintendent of all the company's warehouses in the county. Resigning from the employ of the Kern County Land Company in 1899, he embarked in business for himself in a small room, then and there laying the foundation of the now prosper- ous Pioneer Mercantile Company, which he incorporated in 1911 with a cap- ital stock of $150,000. The company now ranks among the largest and most successful of the kind in the county. Mr. Schamblin is interested in the First National Bank of Bakersfield, and since its organization has been a stockholder in the Security Trust Company.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 42

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