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 57

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 57

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WILLIAM TRACY .- It is the proud claim of William Tracy that he is a native son of California. In San Joaquin county, but near Galt, Sacra- mento county, he was born August 8, 1866, being a son of the late Edgar Vernet and Mary (Dix) Tracy, natives, respectively, of Pennsylvania and Ohio. The mother died in San Joaquin county in 1877 and the father passed away May 2, 1913, when advanced in years. Reared and educated in Pennsyl- vania and Ohio, and married in the Buckeye state in 1852, he had brought his young wife across the plains in the summer of 1852, making the long journey with ox-teams and wagons. At the opening of the Civil war he re- turned east, enlisted in his old home regiment of Ohio infantry, went to the front and served until the close of the rebellion, when he received an honor- able discharge and returned to California. For many years and indeed until he retired from business cares he engaged as a liveryman and owned a stable at Acampo. In his family there were nine children, as follows: Alice, Mrs. J. W. Johnston, of Sacramento ; Theodore, of Bakersfield : Emma, who married Ellis Kilgore and died in Sacramento; Mrs. Ida Marsh, a resi- dent of Massillon, Ohio; Mrs. Mary Barber, of Amador county; Mrs. Sarah Van Valkenburg, of Lodi: William, whose name introduces this article : Anna, wife of James Arp, of Bakersfield; and Mrs. Nellie Jarvis, who is living in Amador county.

The death of his mother when he was ten years of age brought to William Tracy a breaking up of tender home ties and a loss almost irreparable. During the next six years he was given a home by a farmer. After leaving here he lived with his sister. Mrs. Kilgore, of Sacramento, where he finished the grammar school. Mr. Kilgore is of the well-known firm of Kilgore & Tracy, of Sacramento. The happy days spent in Mr. Kilgore's home and about his place of business are among the happiest recollections of Mr. Tracy's childhood days. While yet in his teens he purchased an outfit and engaged in teaming on the large ranches in Colusa county, meanwhile saving his earnings with frugal forethought for the future. Since coming to Bakers- field in January of 1891 he has been actively associated with the farm and stock interests of Kern county. Here he took up a homestead and joined his brother. Theodore, who had secured a claim on the Goose lake channel of Kern river. on the range of Canfield & Tracy, whose herds of cattle the two brothers superintended. In due time William Tracy acquired the Canfield & Tracy holdings and later bought out the interests of his brother, who removed to Bakersfield. By such additions to his original homestead he acquired a ranch of three thousand and eighty acres, lying five miles north- east of Buttonwillow, or twenty-five miles west of Bakersfield as the crow fies. Much of the ranch is in pasture, on which may be seen cattle bearing the well-known brand of 91 and horses with the T brand that in the neighbor- hood has come to stand for quality and breeding. One section of the ranch has been put under irrigation and is devoted to alfalfa and grain, the balance being used for range. A special feature of the ranch is the breeding of draft horses, which find a ready sale in western markets and always command a

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high price. At the head of the drove of over two hundred horses are two Belgian stallions, viz .: Predominant, weight fifteen hundred pounds, and Silver Tip, two thousand pounds, both fine specimens of their popular breed.

A rancher whose devotion to agriculture has been so constant and whose interest in county development has continued through so many years must necessarily have identified himself with other enterprises besides those of ranching, and we find that Mr. Tracy has exhibited a steadfast devotion to every movement of permanent value to the county. Particularly has he been interested in the cause of education. For many years he served as a trustee of the Wildwood school and the district had the advantage of his painstaking devotion to its educational system and his ardent determination to promote the upbuilding of a first-class country school. Although by no means a partisan, he is a pronounced Republican and stanch in his allegiance to party principles. In his marriage to Miss Fannie C. Rowlee, a native daughter of San Joaquin county, he won a wife possessing in eminent meas- ure housewifely skill, artistic talents and deep devotion to country life, and they are earnestly promoting by their united, harmonious efforts the mental development and physical training of their children, Cecil Foster, William Darrel, Frances Fay and Charles Wellington.

MRS. WILLIAM TRACY .- Versatility of mental equipment forms a notable attribute of Mrs. Tracy, to whom belongs the distinction of being a native daughter of the state, whose entire life has been passed within the boundaries of the commonwealth, whose education reflects the training offered by its schools and whose refinement of taste indicates a cultured environment from earliest years. A resident of Kern county from child- hood, but a native of San Joaquin county, she is a daughter of that sterling and honored pioneer couple, Charles W. and Martha (Martin) Rowlee, men- tion of whom is made at length elsewhere in this volume. At a very early age she gave evidence of unusual ability and desire for knowledge. Not satisfied with the opportunities offered by the common schools, she prepared for normal work and then entered the Chico State Normal, where she spent two years in study, pedagogy being her specialty. Next she availed herself of the advantages offered by the San Diego State Normal and after she had graduated from that institution in 1902 she took up educational work in Kern county with the intention of specializing as a teacher, but her mar- riage to Mr. Tracy, April 3, 1904, changed her plans and terminated a brief but highly successful career as an instructor. There was, however, no relinquishment of her interest in schools and schooling, for she has con- tinned up to the present time a capable and enthusiastic promoter of all educational advancement, a firm believer in the value of the public schools and an exponent of modern methods adopted in the most progressive insti- tutions of learning.

For her four children, Cecil Foster, William Darrel, Frances Fay and Charles Wellington, Mrs. Tracy cherishes worthy ambitions. That they may receive the best of training and educational advantages is a source of constant solicitude on her part. That their ideals may be of the highest Christian type, not bound by narrow creed or selfish egotism, is her hope for their future. While striving to promote their physical welfare and mental growth, she finds the leisure to devote herself to art and her own paintings adorn the walls of the ranch home as well as the family residence in the city at No. 1919 Orange street. Fond of outdoor life and a lover of the country, she finds great pleasure in developing the natural resources of . their environment. To watch things grow and thrive brings her hap- piness, and whether it is a plant or tree or whether some pet bird or animal, the growth of each interests her intensely. For this reason she surrounds herself with pets. The pea-fowls on the ranch, the fancy poultry and the thoroughbred sheep are objects of deep interest to her. Together

Che Fairchild

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

with Mr. Tracy she is especially interested in watching the development of "Phoenix" and "Tempe." a pair of magnificent ostriches now eight years of age, and brought from Arizona in 1907 when only eighteen months old. They were the first birds of the kind in the entire county and Mrs. Tracy has made a special study of their needs, growth, the incubation, hatching, etc .. with a view, not only to understanding them, but also to making them a source of revenue. The season of 1913 resulted in an ostrich hatch that is destined to play an important part in the commercial future of the valley. when their birds brought forth a troop of eight chicks which were suc- cessfully raised. These were the first ostrich chicks hatched in the county and thus opened a new industry in the San Joaquin valley. This led to the purchase of a troop of fifty-two birds from W. F. Robison, manager of the Southern California ostrich farm at Idora Park, Oakland. The birds were successfully transported by rail to Buttonwillow and from there they were hauled in wagons five miles to the Tracy ranch, this being accom- plished without injury to any of the birds. The ease with which they are cared for is shown when it is known that they are turned into an alfalfa field surrounded by the usual four-foot woven wire stock fence. When the birds select their mates they are placed in individual pens for nesting. Among these birds there are representatives from three different sections of Africa, i.e., the South African (the most common breed in the country). the West Coast and Nubia. The Nubian is the finest ostrich known, having skin of a blush-pink color and being a larger bird and producing a longer and finer feather than any other breed.

The feather industry has grown to such proportions and the demand has become so large that Mrs. Tracy has found it necessary to remove to Bakersfield her factory for cleaning, dyeing. repairing and the manufacture of feathers into plumes and ostrich fancies. Her sister. Miss Hazel Rowlee. has charge of the factory, while Mrs. Tracy devotes her attention to the management and superintendence of the ostrich farm. She is recognized among the ostrich farmers as an authority on the nesting. hatching and rearing of the birds. The present successful status of the industry gives great promise for the future and not only the family, but the entire com- munity finds much of interest in the new undertaking as a novel industry with unique possibilities.

CHARLES H. FAIRCHILD .- The records of Pennsylvania show that when William Penn brought over his original colony of emigrants he had among the number a member of the English family of Fairchild. a young man of bold spirit and fearless valor. well qualified to assist in pioneer tasks. and it is said that he became one of the first settlers in the city of Philadel- phia. Later generations remained in the Keystone state and Ephraim Fairchild was born in Bradford county. With the love of the frontier that had been manifested in the original immigrant, he came to California when this great commonwealth was an unknown region without attractions ex- cept for goldseekers, its rich soil undeveloped and its sunny climate unap- preciated. While developing an important business in Sacramento and acquiring large tracts of land in the adjacent valley, his wife, Sarah Kelton (Ford) Fairchild, also was becoming well known in the west, where she contributed liberally to the press of that day and was recognized as a gifted and popular writer.

The schools of his native city of Sacramento afforded to Charles H. Fairchild fair educational advantages, of which he availed himself to the utmost. A sturdy, wideawake and ambitious boy, he developed into a suc- cessful man who was never content to do less than his best. From the time that he entered the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company he rose rapidly to positions of trust. Gradually he was given additional respon-

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sibilities. Any doubts that might have been entertained as to his ability were soon changed to satisfaction and therefore he was trusted in a degree not always given to the young. The interests of the company were promoted by his able service as assistant superintendent at Mojave. In recognition of his ability and sound business judgment he was promoted to be freight and passenger agent at Bakersfield, which influential position he held for many years, meanwhile establishing in this city a home made beautiful by the artistic tastes of his wife (nee Margaret H. Fay) and made happy by the presence of their four children. He was an influential member of the Episcopal Church, and kind and charitable to those in need.

The discovery of oil in Kern county and the instantaneous development of a new industry here did not fail to rouse the enthusiastic interest of Mr. Fairchild. As was natural to a man of his breadth of thought, he at once entered heartily into the new work. Grasping the business with a celerity seldom surpassed, he became very successful as a dealer in oil lands and acquired expertness as a judge of values and possibilities. Eventually his interests as an oil operator became so important that he resigned from his position with the Southern Pacific Railroad and devoted himself exclusively to oil development thereafter, with the exception that for one year he also engaged as proprietor of the Hughes hotel in Fresno. His most important and profitable connection in the oil fields was as vice-president and a large stockholder in the Calloma Oil Company operating in the Kern river field, the other partners in the organization having been H. A. Jastro and the St. Clair estate. Another successful lease which he promoted with Clarence Berry as partner was the Ethel D., in the west side field. His death occurred May 14, 1910, from hemorrhage of the brain, and brought an unexpected and sudden termination to his far-reaching activities, entailing upon Bakersfield a heavy loss to its citizenship, depriving the Bakersfield Club of one of its honored charter members and removing from the oil industry of Kern county one of its keenest operators. He was a strong partisan in politics, possessing stanch convictions, and was at one time chairman of the Republican County Central Committee. Fraternally he was a member of the Elks, a Mason of the Knight Templar degree, and a Shriner.

MARGARET H. FAIRCHILD .- The career of Mrs. Fairchild is a most interesting as well as an active one. Born in San Francisco, Cal., she was the daughter of Stephen J. and Catherine (Kelley) Fay, both pioneers of California, having come hither from Boston, Mass., and arriving in San Francisco in 1862. Here Mr. Fav became an extensive general con- tractor, but when at the height of his career his untimely death occurred in 1869. Her mother also being taken from her when she was very young, Mrs. Fairchild was reared in the family of Daniel Sullivan, a wealthy man of San Francisco, and here she received a thorough education. Having abil- ity and the spirit to acquire a firm foundation in her studies, she rose rapidly and was graduated from the public school with a splendid record. News- paper work early attracted her, and after acquiring a knowledge of the busi- ness in all its branches, on February 14, 1901, she came to Bakersfield, where her services were given first to the Bakersfield Democrat which was edited by E. A. Pueschel. then the leading paper of the county. Later she was engaged on the Kern Standard, owned by W. D. Young. Her suc- cess in this work was phenomenal and subsequently she purchased a half interest with Mr. Young, still later buying out his interest in the Standard and conducting it as sole owner and proprietor for two years. She then sold the plant to Messrs. Conklin & Mande.

It was at this time that Mrs. Fairchild became the wife of Charles H. Fairchild, the ceremony taking place in San Francisco. She is a well-to-do. prosperous and thorough business woman, whose ideas of business lead her to transact all her affairs on a strictly honorable basis. Of the highest

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principles, she is conscientious and trustworthy, and her influence for good is felt throughout her entire community.

Mrs. Fairchild has a very comfortable residence at the corner of Pine and Twentieth streets, Bakersfield, where she with her gifted and talented children live an ideal home life. Her refining influence has accomplished much to bring them to their present exquisite state, for their well-mannered, cul- tured ways are proof of the best of breeding and training. She is the mother of four children, Ruth, Dorothy C., Gerald Charles and Virginia Fay, and they have brought much comfort and cheer to their deserving mother.

R. B. REES, M.D .- Whatever of success has come to Dr. Rees is the result of his own efforts and constant study. It was not possible for his parents, John W. and Rachel (John) Rees, to give him any educational advantages, for after they crossed the ocean from their native Wales they had to labor incessantly to secure the necessities of existence. The father, who was a contracting painter in his younger years, now makes his home in Columbus, Ohio, where the mother died in 1910 at the age of seventy- five years. Their son, R. B., was born in Newark, Ohio, and in boyhood attended school at Columbus, that state, whence he went east to Boston in order to earn a livelihood in a humble position. During leisure hours he studied in the Boston evening high school, where he pursued a special sci- entific course until his graduation. Meanwhile all of his studies had been directed with the ultimate aim of professional work, an ambition of which he never lost sight through all the financial hardships of youth. During 1897 and 1898 he attended the University of Vermont and in the fall of 1898 he matriculated in the University of Maryland at Baltimore, from which he was graduated in 1900. The degree of M.D. was conferred upon him when he graduated from the medical college of Harvard University at Cam- bridge, Mass., in 1901, after which he practiced his profession for three years in Boston, later serving for two years as resident surgeon in Carney hospital. . South Boston. It was there that his splendid talent for surgery first at- tracted attention. In critical operations he proved unusually successful and his time was almost wholly given to surgical duties. Since leaving the east he has retained an honorary membership in the Massachusetts State Medical Association.

Having successfully passed an examination before the state medical board of California in December of 1906, during March of 1907 Dr. Rees selected Bakersfield as the center of future professional work and estab- lished an office in this city. Here too he has his home, which is presided over graciously by Mrs. Rees, formerly Miss Edna Clark Wetterman, and is brightened by the presence of an only child. John Wetterman. In Bak- ersfield, as in the east. Dr. Rees makes a specialty of surgery and practices at Mercy hospital, in addition to having built up a large private practice. From two to four o'clock he has office hours in his suite above the Hughes drug store, while during the balance of his time he gives his attention to home and hospital professional duties. Devotion to his specialty is indi- cated by membership in the Surgical Club of Rochester. Minn. In addition he is identified with the Kern County and California State Medical Asso- ciations, the San Joaquin Valley Medical Society and the American Med- ical Association, and through these organizations as well as through the reading of current medical literature he keeps in touch with modern devel- opments in the science of therapeutics. Such has been his devotion to the practice of medicine and surgery that he has had no leisure for partici- pation in political affairs or civic enterprises, nor has he been active in any fraternities aside from the Elks and the Woodmen of the World.

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

J. R. NEFF .- The president of the Neff colonies, who has become closely connected with the material upbuilding of Kern county through the promoting of irrigation colonies in the Weed Patch, began to be interested in this region during the year 1907 and, after having carefully studied the soil, climate and possible profitable cultivation of the land in intensive farming through irrigation, purchased property and undertook the devel- opment of the plans he had projected. With a record of successful identifica- tion with the banking business he was qualified by executive ability and thorough knowledge of financial problems to manage and develop large landed interests and those associated with his projects in Kern county have found him to be not only enterprising and progressive, but also far-sighted in discrimination, honorable in action and sagacious in judgment. The original colony which he established in Kern county, known as the Foothill Citrus Farms Colony, is located on section 26, township 31. range 29, and was incorporated during 1907 with a capital stock of $24,000, which is the value of the pumping plant and irrigation system. Upon the first election of officers Mr. Neff was chosen president and he has filled the position up to the present time, H. A. Moyers of San Bernardino being secretary, while the California State Bank of San Bernardino acts as treasurer. The large tract of land incorporated by the company is held privately by about twenty colonists, who own shares in the water company. The two wells, which are each twelve-inch bores, are two hundred and fifty feet and three hundred and three feet respectively, and produce sufficient water for the irrigation of the land as well as for domestic purposes, as needed by the twenty colon- ists now on the tract. During 1912 the company put in electrical motors and centrifugal pumps and since then has used electricity, buying the power from the San Joaquin Light & Power Company. The products of the land include alfalfa, Egyptian corn, all the fruits known to Southern California ; nut trees, such as English and French walnuts and black walnuts ; all kinds of berries, Logan berries doing especially well : and vegetables of every kind.

The Bear Mountain Orange Company, of which Mr. Neff is also presi- dent, is located on section 24. township 31, range 29. Kern county, and was organized in 1908, with a capital stock of $12,800. on the same plan as the older company. In addition he manages the Orange Belt Farms Company. capitalized at $9,600, and owning the southeast quarter of section 23. town- ship 31, range 29. All of the colonists, numbering now about seventy-five persons, are interested with Mr. Neff in his enterprise. Under his capable leadership, wise judgment and untiring energy. the prospects for future development and growing success are most attractive, and there is every reason to believe that the colonies will prove most profitable acquisitions to the landed wealth of the county. Many of the persons buying in these tracts have come from Southern California, quite a few being from Santa Ana, and they were influenced to select property here from the fact that the soil and climate ranked with their own section. the water facilities are adequate, and the price of the land was low enough to meet their approval. Nor have they had reason to regret their decision in coming to Kern county. On the other hand, their prospects for the future are the brightest.

Mr. Neff was born in Baylor county. Tex .. April 29. 1876. and grew to manhood in that commonwealth, where for some years he held a position as cashier of the City National Bank of Childress, also from 1900 to 1904 he served as clerk of the district and county court of Cottle county. At Austin. that state. he was united in marriage with Miss Bessie Hutchinson, a resi- dent of that city. There are two children in the family, Lawrence and Pattie. During the latter part of 1904 Mr. Neff removed to California and settled in San Bernardino county, but afterward removed to Pomona. Los

John Enas

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

Angeles county, and now makes that city his home, superintending through frequent personal trips the valuable interests which he has acquired in Kern county and in which he has invested heavily with a firm faith in their steady advancement in production and valuation.

JOHN ENAS .- At St. George. Azores Islands, Portugal, John Enas was born April 29, 1852, the son of John Enas, a farmer and builder in that country. His wife, Marianna J. Bettencurt in maidenhood, died in 1911. John Enas, Jr .. attended school until fourteen years old. In 1866 he came alone to the United States to earn his own way unaided. Settling first in Stanis- laus county, Cal., he worked part of the time as sheep-shearer, and part as helper on a threshing machine, being employed after this for a few years at different points in the state, working for wages. In 1873 he came to Kern county and settled in Delano, where he became occupied in sheep rais- ing for himself, and he soon became thoroughly familiar with all the details of that enterprise. He remained in Delano until 1881, when he bought what is now his home place, consisting of four hundred and eighty acres of land, located fifteen miles west of Bakersfield on the old Headquarters road. Of this one hundred acres were then planted in alfalfa, and the remainder was unimproved.

Mr. Enas has since that time been extensively engaged in stockraising, handling horses, mules, sheep and cattle. He has added to his original tract until it now covers an area of over nine thousand acres; three hundred acres are under cultivation and the remainder devoted to pasture land. He has spent most of his time on his ranch, and it can be said of him that he is one of the most extensive stockraisers in the county. He also owns a section of land in the Kern River oil field, of which one hundred and sixty acres is proven oil land. On this land are twenty wells, of which fourteen are pro- ducing at the present time. In 1906 he accepted the office of vice-presi- dent and director of the Portuguese-American Bank of San Francisco, and he was also a director in the Bank of Bakersfield until it was dissolved. He is now a director of the Security Trust Company in Bakersfield. He is a man highly successful, but he has worked hard to gain the position he now holds. and has justly earned his present prosperity. An expert in stock- raising, his stock is considered the best, and his business enjoys the most flattering recognition. He is a member of the U. P. E. C. and the I. D. E. S. societies, while politically is an Independent Republican.

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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 57

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