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 62

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 62

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C. H. SELLERS .- The Union Oil Company, operating on section 8, township 29. range 28, was incorporated under the laws of the state of Cali- fornia by a number of stockholders, principally residents of Los Angeles. where also reside its officers, namely : president, Lyman Stewart ; vice-presi- dent. W. L. Stewart ; secretary. Giles Kellogg ; and treasurer, E. W. Alston. The superintendent of their refinery, which is said to be not only the first but also the largest in the Kern river fields, has been connected with the plant throughout the greater part of its operative history, for the factory was com- pleted in july of 1902, and he took charge on the 15th of September of the same year. Since then the capacity of the plant has been doubled and employ- ment is furnished to thirty-five men. A total capital of $200,000 has been invested in the refinery and the returns secured under the efficient manage- ment of the superintendent have justified the expenditure of this sum.

Very early in the development of the Mississippi valley the Sellers family removed from the east to Iowa, where for years George Sellers followed the trade of a carpenter and where he married Rachel Wells, now deceased. Of recent years, since his retirement from active work as a carpenter, he has made his home in San Jose, Cal. In his family there were five sons and three daughters, one of the sons being C. H., whose birth occurred in Clinton county. lowa, March 24. 1876, and whose somewhat limited education was secured in lowa schools. As a boy he helped his father and learned much concerning the trade of carpenter, but when fifteen he started out to make his own way in the world, coming to California, where he learned to be a practical butter-maker in a creamery at San Jose. His introduction to the oil"

T. arthur Cannell

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

business took place when he became interested in a refinery operated by S. W. Palmer, of Oakland. Having no practical knowledge of the industry he began as an unskilled laborer and as a roustabout, but gradually he worked his way up to a more profitable position. During 1902 the company showed their confidence in him by sending him to the Kern river fields as their super- intendent and since the fall of that year he has had charge of the refinery, its progress and development being largely due to his energy and intelligent oversight. A specialty is made of the production of asphaltum for street paving and roofing purposes and in the latter specialty the company has been a pioneer. Through the pipe lines of the Producers' Transportation Company connection is made with the lines of various oil companies. About five thou- sand barrels of crude oil are used daily and the monthly production of asphalt reaches two thousand tons.

With his wife, whom he married at Martinez, Cal., and who was Miss Ella Kindig of Chicago, and with their two children, Spencer and Inez, Mr. Sellers has established a comfortable home on the company holdings and there his leisure hours are happily spent. He aided in the organization of the Standard school district and acted as trustee.

THOMAS ARTHUR CANNELL .- On the Isle of Man, Thomas A. Can- nell was born June 9, 1854, the son of Robert and Catherine (Kelley) Cannell. There they spent their entire lives, the former conducting business as a hatter in Douglas. There were eight children in the family and two of these, John J. and Thomas Arthur, became residents of California, the former now having a home at Bishop, Inyo county. For several years the two brothers in Cali- fornia engaged in the sheep industry and had large flocks upon the ranges of Tulare, Kern and Inyo counties. The venture proved profitable, but a desire to avoid the migratory experiences of a sheepman led the younger brother to take up land, buy cattle and enbark in farming and stock-raising in Kern county.

During a visit at his old home across the seas Mr. Cannell married, October 19, 1891, Miss Margaret Ann Joughin, daughter of John and Margaret (Kaighin) Joughin, lifelong residents of the Isle of Man and owners of Ballacrebbin, one of the most productive farms of that little country. Mrs. Cannell was born in the parish of Jurby on that island and grew to womanhood in the parish of Andreas near the town of Ramsey, where she remained until her marriage and where one of her brothers, the present owner of Ballacrebbin farin, still makes his home. Her other brother, William D. Joughin. came to California and now operates the Cannell ranch near Isabella, Kern county, on the south fork of the Kern river.

Immediately after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Cannell came across the ocean to California and settled in Kern county, where by their united efforts and constant industry they became increasingly prosperous. The brand of the triangle inverted, which Mr. Cannell used, was to be found on many of the ranges in this part of the state, for his holdings in stock were exceed- ingly large. One of his ranches comprised several sections of land at Granite Station, Kern county, while his home ranch was the tract of eight hundred acres near Isabella, a well-improved estate developed from the primeval con- dition of nature through his own painstaking industry and wise supervision. Selling his stock .in 1906 and renting the land. he built a residence at No. 445 South Union avenue. Los Angeles, where his widow still makes her home. After coming to the city he did not retire from business activities, but hecame an organizer and promoter of the Apartment House Building Company. of which he acted as secretary, treasurer and a director until his death. and which in 1911 erected a splendid modern apartment building on Second and Flower streets and it should be added that it proved to be such a success that in 1913 the company built an annex of large dimensions. While on a visit

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

to his ranch at Isabella Mr. Cannell died. October 17, 1912, and his sudden demise brought a personal grief to a large host of friends throughout his community. All through his life in California he had been a loyal citizen, with progressive views as to local development and upbuilding. Although not a member of any religious movement he attended church and contributed to such work and his wife for years has been a generous member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles.

ALBERT LEROY HARRINGTON .- Connected with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company as night yard-master at Bakersfield, Mr. Harring- ton is regarded by the officials under whom he works as a most conscientious and careful man, devoted to the business and alive to the responsibilities of his position. From an early age he has been connected with some form of railroad work. Indeed he was only sixteen when he left high school to enter upon railroading, and ever since, with scarcely a vacation, he has continued with different companies in different capacities. In addition one of his brothers and his father also have been identified with railroad work for many years and are now in the employ of the Western Pacific, with headquarters at Stockton, the brother, Arthur, having risen to be a conductor with that road. Two other brothers, Arnold and Lorin L., are employed by the Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Company at Stockton, the former holding the important position of outside manager. The youngest brother of the five, William, is still with the parents in the Stockton home.

The parents of Albert LeRoy Harrington are Lorin and Nettie E. (Hargis) Harrington, natives respectively of Illinois and Iowa. Their eldest son among the five who form the family is Albert LeRoy, whose birth oc- curred at Fontanelle, Adair county, Iowa, November 2, 1882, and whose earliest days were passed upon the home farm there. During 1883 the family became pioneers of Nebraska, where the father took up land in Fill- more county. Results were not favorable and learning of land in Lincoln county available for homesteading he removed there in 1886 and settled near the Platte river. Very soon, however, he went a little further west to Keith county in the same state, where he made a determined effort to develop his homestead into a productive farm. Climatic conditions were such that his unceasing exertions brought little but failure, and finally in 1896 he sought employment on the railroad. For three years he was employed on the main- tenance of way in Nebraska by the Union Pacific Railroad and in 1899 he took his family to Wyoming, where he worked for the same company. In 1901 he worked on the Union Pacific in Utah and during 1903 he went to Nevada for the Central Pacific. Coming to California in 1904 and settling at Stock- ton, he since has been in the employ of the Western Pacific road.

As early as 1898 Albert LeRoy Harrington worked on the maintenance of way for the Union Pacific in Nebraska and in 1899 he secured similar work in Wyoming. During 1901 he entered the train service of the Union Pacific road as a brakeman with headquarters at Rawlins. Resigning two years later lie came to California and entered the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company as a brakeman out from Los Angeles. Soon he was trans- ferred to the yards as a switchman. In June of 1904 he was sent to Oakland as a foreman on the maintenance of way. From there in July of 1905 he came to Bakersfield as a switchman in the Southern Pacific yards. Appre- ciation of his fidelity and intelligence appeared in his promotion to be assist- ant yard-master in 1908, and two years later he was promoted again, this tinie to the responsible post of night vardmaster. Meanwhile in 1908 he had married at Santa Ana Miss Mabelle Buell, who was born in Kansas and reared in California, and who is a graduate nurse from the Sisters' hospital in Los Angeles. They own a comfortable home at No. 607 Quincy street, East Bakersfield, which he erected some years ago and in which they dis- pense a broad and kindly hospitality. Both are well known in the local

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organization of Pythian Sisters, and in addition Mr. Harrington is connected with the Knights of Pythias, the Eagles and the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen. Politically he votes with the Democratic party.

JUDGE GEORGE FLOURNOY .- The Flournoy genealogy is traced back to the middle ages in France, where representatives of the name bore a part in the activities of the Huguenots. Religious persecutions led to the massacre of many of that faith and to the exile of others from their native country. They became transplanted upon American soil shortly after the first attempts at colonization had been made near the shores of the Atlantic. The first home of the immigrants was in Virginia and later some of the family settled in Georgia. Col. George Flournoy, son of Marcus A. Flournoy, was born and reared upon a plantation in Georgia and received excellent advan- tages in the state university at Athens, from which institution in 1854 he was graduated with a high standing. He was well qualified for the practice of law and went to Texas to open an office at Austin. Soon he rose to such prominence in the profession that in 1860 he was elected attorney-general of the state. At the opening of the Civil war he resigned from office in order to serve the Confederate cause as colonel of the Sixteenth Texas Infantry and that regiment he commanded until the close of the war. Meanwhile he was often wounded in battle and several times the wounds were serious, but in the midst of physical sufferings and untold deprivations he continued to lead his men until finally they crossed the Red river, the last Confederate regiment to retreat from the victorious Federal troops.

The south having been financially ruined by the war, Colonel Flournoy found no professional opening and accordingly crossed into Mexico, where as captain of the guards of the palace he served in the French army under Marshal Besaine. Upon the downfall of Maximilian he retired with the French army. Returning to Texas, he engaged in practice at Galveston and became widely known as an attorney of remarkable ability and professional knowledge. During 1879 he came to California and opened a law office in San Francisco, remaining there until his death, September 20, 1889, at the age of fifty-seven years. While his life was not long as men count years, it was eventful, useful and crowned by the friendship of a large circle of asso- ciates, both professional and social. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Virginia Holman, was born in Tennessee and died in Oakland, Cal. Her father, James Holman, a Kentuckian by birth, became a resident of Ten- nessee as early as 1804 and upon attaining man's estate became interested in the occupation of a planter. During 1852 he took the family to Texas and settled upon a farm near Austin, where in 1867 his long and busy existence came to an end. Three children comprised the family of Colonel and Mrs. Flournoy. Eugenia, the wife of Paul Corti, died in Bakersfield January 27. 1912. Marguerite, the wife of Thomas F. Garrity, died in Oakland in 1905. leaving two daughters. Eugenia and Virginia, both making their home with Judge Flournoy. The next to the youngest child, and his father's namesake. is Judge Flournoy, of Bakersfield, who was born in Austin, Tex., April 20. 1863, and received a classical education in the Jesuit College in the District of Columbia and in the University of Georgia at Athens. After his gradu- ation in 1879 from the latter institution he came to California and began to study law with his father in San Francisco, later for two years enjoying the advantages of study in Hastings Law School.

Having been admitted to the bar of California in 1884 at the age of twenty-one years George Flournoy came to Bakersfield, but soon returned to San Francisco, where in 1886 he was elected city and county attorney on the Democratic ticket. So satisfactory was his service in the very difficult position that in 1888 he was re-elected. serving until 1890. After his release from official duties he devoted considerable time to travel. During March of 1892 he came to Bakersfield and opened a law office. Soon he won recogni- tion through his wide knowledge of jurisprudence. For eight years he served

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as city attorney of Bakersfield and for another three terms he served as deputy district attorney of Kern county. In both of these positions he dis- played a broad understanding of the law, especially as pertaining to the statutes of California. March 6, 1911, the board of supervisors appointed him justice of the peace to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Judge J. C. Black, a position he has since filled. Throughout all of his active life he has sup- ported Democratic principles and has given to that party locally the benefit of his sagacious mind, unvarying tact and comprehensive grasp of political problems. During the period of his residence in San Francisco he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Huie, a native of Sonoma county, this state, by which union there was one child, Huie, who died in Los Angeles Novem- ber 6, 1912, leaving a wife and a daughter, Roberta, four years of age.

R. W. BESS .- Diversified experiences in many of the well-known oil fields in the United States have enabled Mr. Bess to appreciate the advantage offered by the industry in California and particularly by that portion of the state embraced within the Kern county fields. Through a recent contract he became superintendent and manager of the United Crude Oil Company at Maricopa and since he took possession in March of 1913, under an eight-year lease on a fifty per cent basis, he has raised the production from practically nothing to three thousand barrels per month, doing this by dint of his own persistence, energy and capability, aided by the three efficient workmen whom he employs. Thoroughly and critically competent, he is well qualified to de- velop the lease into a gratifying and growing success. From the time he began in the oil business at the age of fourteen up to the present era of managerial connection with a lease, he has been interested in no occupation aside from the oil industry nor has he cared to enter other lines of enter- prise.

The lifelong interest in the industry maintained by Mr. Bess results from early environment. When only one year old he was taken by his parents from New York state to Bradford, Pa., in the midst of oil fields of considerable importance, and there he passed the years of youth. Born May 19, 1882, at Bolivar, Allegheny county, N. Y., across the state line from the Bradford fields in Pennsylvania, he was the eldest of six children, whose father, W. W. Bess, for years engaged with the Roberts Torpedo Company and held other positions in the Bradford fields, but is now an employe of the United Crude Oil Company at Maricopa. The wife and mother, who bore the maiden name of Esther Aldumas Mcclellan, is an own niece of General Mcclellan, of Civil war fame.

When the family removed from Bradford they lived successively in other oil regions of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Indiana, and the son accompanied them in these various moves, eventually coming to California in 1896 and securing employment in the Fullerton oil fields. His first work there was in the capacity of pumper for the old Santa Fe. After one year at Fullerton he proceeded to Coalinga during the period of its first boom. For two years he engaged with a company in that district. At the opening of the Kern river field he came to this county and secured a position as tool-dresser, continuing in the field for two years. From this point he returned to Fullerton to work, later went back to Coalinga, and finally left the state in order to study conditions of the oil industry in Colorado. The fields near Boulder, Golden, Greeley and other places became familiar to him through actual experiences as a driller. From Colorado he went into Kansas and engaged in drilling in the oil fields at Independence and Chanute, thence coming back to California, where for four years he engaged in drilling in the Sunset, Midway and Santa Maria fields. Early in 1913 he assumed the duties of his present position. During May of 1905 he was united in marriage with Miss Rose La Vern Freear, daughter of Henry T. Freear, an old settler of Kern county, a

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

Civil war veteran and a man widely known and universally honored. Mrs. Bess is also connected with the Mccutchen family, one of the most prominent in Kern county. Three children blessed her marriage to Mr. Bess, but a heavy bereavement came in the death of two, Leona being the sole survivor.

DELBERT A. SHIVELY .- The history of the Shively family in America dates back to a very early period in the colonization of Pennsylvania and one of the name, who removed from the Keystone state to Illinois during the first years of the nineteenth century, opened and conducted the first tailor shop ever started in Chicago, later relinquishing business in order to develop property at Freeport, Ill., and still later removing to lowa to pass his declining days. The next generation was represented by Samuel A. Shively, who was born near Freeport, Ill., and removed with his father to Chickasaw county, Iowa, when all that section of country was an undeveloped wilderness and prairie. Scarcely had he arrived at man's estate when a call came for volunteers in the Union service and he volunteered in the Thirty-second Iowa Infantry, going with his regiment to the front and fighting in its battles until the expiration of his term of service. The war ended, he engaged in farming near Lawler, Chickasaw county, Iowa, and on his farm there his oldest child, Delbert A., was born June 26, 1866. The family contained two younger children, whose mother, Cornelia (Tisdale) Shively, now deceased, was a member of a very old family of New England.

Taking the family to Minnesota abont 1872, Samuel A. Shively home- steaded one hundred and sixty acres in Rock county and devoted ten years to the improvement of the tract. Upon disposing of the property he returned to Iowa and settled in Lyon county, but later removed to Missouri and estab- lished a home at Springfield. Thence he went to Chicago and took up. the study of medicine. After having graduated with the degree of M.D., he engaged in practice in Chicago until the time of his death. His eldest son was six when the family went to Minnesota and thirteen when they became residents of Lyon county, Iowa. After he had completed the studies of the common schools he learned the trade of barber in Rock Rapids, Lyon county. and there engaged in the business for himself. The summer of 1895 was spent in Pasadena, Cal., and the visit gave him a favorable impression concern- ing the west. Selling his business at Rock Rapids in 1901 he came to Bakers- field and purchased the Southern hotel barber shop, which since he has con- dueted with efficiency, securing a large trade by reason of recognized skill in the trade. Meanwhile he has become interested in alfalfa ranching in the Rio Bravo country, where he has installed a pumping plant for irrigation of the one hundred and ten acre tract. He has erected two bungalows, one of which he sold, and the other (at No. 2021 Cedar street) he now occupies. Fraternally he holds membership with the Knights of Pythias.

The marriage of Mr. Shively took place at Rock Rapids, Iowa. August 28. 1887, and united him with Miss Fannie Geiser, who was born at Normal, McLean county. Ill. Their only child, Vera, is the wife of R. C. Hackett of Bakersfield. A graduate of the Rock Rapids high school, she was a teacher prior to her marriage. She was the youngest among the three children form- ing the family of Frederick and Fannie (Eicher) Geiser, the former a native of Canton Bern, Switzerland. and the latter of France. Shortly after his arrival in the new world Mr. Geiser enlisted in an Ohio regiment and served in the Union army throughout the Civil war. After the death of his wife, which occurred in Normal, Ill .. he removed to Iowa and embarked in business, and later he resided at Colby, Kans., where occurred his death, April 14, 1899. at the age of sixty-eight years.

J. ROBINSON .- The Revenue Oil Company (J. Robinson, superintend- ent) was incorporated March 17. 1900, with a capital stock of $200,000, and now has its head office at Nos. 404-406 Chamber of Commerce building. Pasadena, C'al., its president. R. H. Pinney, and secretary, A. K. Nash, both

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being citizens of that place. The board of directors consists of the two officials named, in addition to C. B. Scoville, Isaac Bailey and J. C. Dalton. Five men working under the direction of the superintendent care for the company holdings of forty acres on section 4, township 29, range 28, where since the first work was started seventeen wells have been put down, six of these. however, now out of commission, although by re-drilling the present super- intendent has been able to secure twelve producing wells, six of which are operated by a power jack. The net yield is six thousand barrels per month, an amount largely in excess of former returns and therefore gratifying to those financially interested in the concern.

All through his life Mr. Robinson has been identified with the oil industry. Born in Fayette county. Pa., April 21, 1867, he was fifteen years of age when he began to work in the Bradford field in Ohio and for twelve years he was employed there by the Hazelwood Oil Company. Studying the industry with assiduous attention, he became familiar with every department and is now able to manage any responsibility, important or trivial. From the Bradford. field he went to the Clinton Rock fields near Toledo, Lima and Findley, and acquired the sole ownership of eight wells, besides a one-fourth interest in twenty-four others. When eventually he disposed of all these interests it gave him financial independence, but the spell of the oil fields was upon him and after "wild-catting" in Ohio and finding twelve dry holes, there was little left of his former fortune. Later he prospected in West Virginia, drilled wells in Guernsey county, Ohio, and Barboursville. Cabell county, W. Va .. and then took charge of a property owned by J. W. Stone in Wood county, Ohio, whence he changed his headquarters to Illinois, working first at Rob- inson, Crawford county, and then spending one summer at Casey, Clark county. Next he investigated conditions in Oklahoma and from there went to Utah to meet Colonel Dunn with a view to drilling for him, but the two failed to complete their negotiations.

Upon coming west to California and landing in the Whittier field near Los Angeles, Mr. Robinson engaged with the Central Oil Company and later with the Murphy Oil Company as production man. After perhaps three years in that field he came to the Kern river oil fields in 1910 and since has been retained as superintendent with the well-known concern whose interests he guards with extreme care. His sons, John and James, bright youths of nine- teen and sixteen, are a source of pride to him and he is sparing no pains to prepare them for whatever responsibilities the future may hold for them. With his wife, formerly Miss Alice Elthringham of Ohio, he has estab- lished a comfortable home on the company's holdings and such limited leisure as his very responsible position permits is spent in the society of his family and friends, there being no inclination on his part to participate in politics or identify himself with fraternal organizations.

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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 62

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