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 71

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 71

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Jefferson county, N. Y., was also the birthplace of George S. McKee, who was born December 29, 1860. He was educated in the public schools in his neighborhood and when he was seventeen years old began to support himself by farm labor. In 1885. he located in Perkins county, Nebr., where he home- steaded, after which he moved to Ft. Lupton, Colo., and there for eight years was successful as a butter-maker. From Colorado he came to California in 1898, since which he and his brother have contributed to the success which they both enjoy. Milo G. McKee is a Mason, and both are Republicans.

CHARLES HEMAN SHERMAN .- From practically the very begin- ning of his identification with the Midway field Mr. Sherman has been finan- cially interested in the May's Oil Company and its successor, the May's Con- solidated Oil Company, of which he is now treasurer and superintendent. When he entered the employ of the company in 1909, the work of develop- ment had only begun and he has been identified with all of the subsequent operations. Shortly after the concern commenced to develop their lease he was elected treasurer of the company and a member of the board of direc- tors, having charge of the office in the Midway field, and in February, 1913, he was appointed superintendent. Articles of incorporation were again taken out in 1911 and the title changed to its present form. The properties of the organi- zation on section 30, 31-23. and on section 28, 31-23, contain seven producing wells, the output of which entitles the company to rank among the most suc- cessful in the entire field.

Of Canadian birth, born in Ontario in 1883, Mr. Sherman is a member of an old family of New York state and was second among the four children of Heman and Margaret (Parks) Sherman, natives of New York, the former born at Elizabethtown, Essex county. For many years the father lived in Ontario and acted as administrator of a large estate. After having com- pleted the studies of the public schools at Roche Point, Charles H. Sherman worked in the lumber woods in Western Ontario and saved his earnings in order to secure a college education. He attended the British-American Col- lege in Toronto until the close of the sophomore year, when he returned to the lumber region for another year.

Entering the banking business as bookkeeper in the Sovereign Bank of Canada at Aylmer, in five months Mr. Sherman was promoted to be

Milo G. Mckee.

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cashier and a year later he was transferred to the head offices of the bank in Toronto, where he ranked as sixth on a staff of sixty-five men. On account of failing health he resigned from the bank, where he had established an enviable record for ability as an accountant, and entered the employ of F. B. Chapin, a silverminer at Cobalt, Canada, and in a short time he was pro- moted to be cashier, filling the same position with the successor of Mr. Chapin. However, at the expiration of two years he again found his health impaired by the confining work, and he resolved to come to California, where his former employer, Mr. Chapin, had acquired interests in the Midway field.

JOEL WRIGHT COULTER .- Numbered conspicuously among the young men of Southern California who have forsaken city life for the broad acres, seeking rather to live his life in the open under the blue skies than to experience the exciting tumult of city life, is Joel Wright Coulter, whose grandfather, B. F. Coulter, is well known in Los Angeles as the founder of the large establishment known as the Coulter Dry Goods Co., of which F. M. Coulter is now the head.

Joel Wright Coulter was born in Los Angeles, October 20, 1886. son of F. M. and Lelia (Lockhart) Coulter. After attendance in the public schools of his native city he was sent to Harvard Military College, from which he graduated in 1905, and then spent two years at the University of California, taking the agricultural course. Subsequently, under his grandfather's instruc- tion, he entered the Coulter Dry Goods Co. as a clerk, and after working in the different departments in order to familiarize himself with the details of the business he finally became head of the toy department. It was in 1912 that Mr. Coulter turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, and buying six hundred and forty acres in Kern county, in Buena Vista district, he resigned his position with the Coulter Dry Goods Co. and located on his new place in order to give his personal supervision and aid in the improvement of his land. The tract is splendidly located twelve miles southwest of Bakersfield, and the whole section is irrigated by the Buena Vista Canal. It is gradually being leveled, checked and improved for raising alfalfa. Mr. Coulter expects to have four hundred acres in that crop, and the land not set apart for this purpose is devoted to general farming. In the improvement of his ranch he finds the knowledge which he acquired in agricultural college to be of great benefit, enabling him to run his own levels and surveys, as well as to make field tests and soil analysis, and make the selection of crops. He is making a specialty of stock raising and has already made splendid progress in his undertaking. He built a large eight-room residence, necessary barns and outbuildings, and has introduced every modern device to complete the place and it ranks among the foremost of its kind in the county.

On June 22, 1909, in Los Angeles, Mr. Coulter was married to Miss Edna Barlow, who was born in Ft. Covington, N. Y., daughter of Allison Barlow. who has been engaged in the real estate business in Los Angeles for many years. Mrs. Coulter was educated in Stanford and is a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta Society. Mr. Coulter is a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon at Berkeley. They are the parents of one child, Alison Lelia. With his wife Mr. Coulter is a member of the Broadway Christian Church in Los Angeles.

CHARLES C. SMETZER .- The president of the Master Plumbers' Asso- ciation of Bakersfield ranks as an artisan of exceptional skill and as a business man of high reputation for probity, careful workmanship and accuracy of judgment. Although the period of his identification with the interests of Bakersfield has not been long in duration, it has been of sufficient length to prove the high quality of his citizenship and the substantial nature of his occu- pative knowledge. It was in this city that he completed his apprenticeship to the trade of plumber and worked as a journeyman, later embarking in business for himself at No. 959 Baker street. East Bakersfield, where his wife has

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charge of the office, thus enabling him to devote his entire attention to the carrying out of contracts for the plumbing of residences of every size and style.

Since coming to California in 1900 Mr. Smetzer has seen many portions of the state and it is his conviction, founded on experience and observation, that Kern county offers advantages not to be surpassed by other sections of the commonwealth. Of German ancestry and Ohioan birth, he is a son of the late David and Rebecca (Shaffer) Smetzer, who lived upon a farm in Ohio for many years prior to their demise. There were five children in the family and two of these came to California, Charles C. and William, both now living in East Bakersfield. The former, who was next to the youngest among the children, was born in Williams county, Ohio, June 20, 1881, and passed the years of early life upon the home farm, meanwhile having such advantages as the country grammar schools and local high school offered. At the age of nineteen he started out to earn his own way in the world and immediately came to California, where he found employment on a ranch in Tulare county. Next he learned how to manufacture fruit-boxes and thereafter worked as box-maker in packing-houses from Fresno on the north to Redlands on the south, remaining in that business until he turned his attention to the trade of plumber. Since 1905 he has lived in Bakersfield and East Bakersfield and in the latter city he opened a plumber's shop in the spring of 1911, since which time he has devoted time and attention to the doing of first-class work in his special line.

The marriage of Mr. Smetzer took place in Bakersfield December 12, 1908. and united him with Miss Ethel Oren, who was born in Topeka, Kan .. but was reared and educated in Kentucky. Possessing excellent business ability, she has been of assistance to her husband by taking charge of the office and keeping the books. For some years she has been a leading local worker in the organization of Pythian Sisters, while Mr. Smetzer is an interested participant in the activities of the Knights of Pythias. Local movements of merit receive his quiet but stanch support and in politics he gives allegiance to the Republican party.

THE WOMEN'S IMPROVEMENT CLUB .- Under the laws of Cali- fornia and federated with the state federation of Women's Clubs, the Women's Improvement Club of Taft was incorporated in 1912, its object being for civic, literary and choral improvement. The following officers direct the executive policy of the organization : president, Mrs. W. M. Mikesell ; first vice-presi- dent, Mrs. J. Walter Key ; second vice-president, Mrs. George Seybolt ; record- ing secretary. Mrs. J. P. Plaugher; corresponding secretary, Mrs. L. P. Guiberson ; and treasurer, Mrs. H. E. Smith. The literary and choral depart- ments are yet in the incipiency of their usefulness, but will be developed at no distant day. Up to the present time the civic branch, as expressed in the Taft branch of the Kern county free library, has been developed to such an extent that there are now four hundred volumes of choice. up-to-date literature. including all branches of history, art, travel, fiction, humor and exploration, as well as juvenile books and magazines, and in addition the leading dailies and weeklies and a number of the best magazines.

Co-operation with the county and state library organizations makes it possible for a patron of the Taft library to secure any book he or she may wish on any desired subject. Since its inception the library has had the kindly co-operation and financial support of the city trustees of Taft. The first home of the library was in the City Hall. The rapid growth of the project demonstrated that more commodious quarters were needed. Four of the leading women of Taft took the matter into consideration. These women, Mrs. Charles Heath, the then president of the Club, and the building com- mittee consisting of Mrs. L. P. Guiberson, Mrs. J. W. Kev and Mrs. W. M.

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Mikesell, gave a note to the bank in order to secure funds for erecting a build- ing in 1912. Donations were not urged, but the money has been raised through entertainments and in other ways. By the 1st of January, 1914, the ladies hope to have the building entirely free from debt, and this in itself will speak volumes for their determination and executive management. The uplifting influence of the library is evident to all. About three hundred and fifty books were added to the shelves on the 1st of July, 1913, and immediately afterward the rooms began to be filled with people, old and young, eager to avail themselves of the privilege of reading the choicest output of the large publishing houses of the world. In addition to the books and magazines, the library has been a center for good lectures by local and Kern county profes- sional men and advanced thinkers. The custodian, Mrs. B. J. Krekeler, a courteous and intelligent woman, ably and faithfully attends to the duties of librarian and assists the members of the Women's Improvement Club in a wise endeavor to promote the moral and educational welfare of Taft.

LUCIUS JOHNSTON .- The lineage of the Johnston family is traced back to Virginia, where the original immigrant to America made settlement and became a planter of considerable local prominence. Of later generations the pioneer instinct showed strongest in Basil Johnston, a Virginian by birth and education, but throughout young manhood a planter in Tennessee and ultimately one of the first settlers of Jefferson county, Ill., where he took up raw land and developed a farm. Among his children was a son, William Ambrose Johnston, a native of Tennessee and now a resident of Jefferson county, Ill., where he has improved and still owns a valuable farm near Mount Vernon. Shortly after the opening of the Civil war he left wife and family and went to the front as a volunteer in the Sixtieth Illinois Infantry, with which he continued until the expiration of his period of enlistment. Upon receiving an honorable discharge from the army he resumed the man- agement of his farm and since has devoted his attention to agricultural pur- suits. By his marriage to Mary Lynch, who was born in Jefferson county and died there in 1871, he had a family of five children and all but one of these still survive. The eldest. Lucius, was born at the home farm near Mount Vernon, Ill .. February 25, 1861, and received his education in country schools, supplemented by attendance at Ewing College.

During a period of ten years devoted to teaching school Mr. Johnston employed all his spare time to the development of the farm which he had purchased when he was twenty-two years of age. The earnings of the school- room were given over to the improvement of the land and to the erection of needed buildings. Later on, besides tilling the soil of the farm and raising stock thereon, he filled the positions of township tax collector and assessor and served with efficiency as a justice of the peace. During 1893 he came to California and engaged in ranching in Kern county. After seven years he left the farm and settled in Bakersfield, where he built his home at. No. 2510 H street, besides erecting three other bungalows which he rents. Immediately after coming to this city he secured a position as chief operator in charge of the main distributing station of the Power Development Company, later known as the Power Transit and Light Company. Recognition of his faith- full service came in a merited promotion to the position of superintendent of the meter department. When the San Joaquin Power and Light Corporation absorbed the old concern in 1911 he was retained in the same position, which he since has filled with customary attention to details and unswerving fidelity.

While engaged in farming in Jefferson county, Ill., Mr. Johnston was first married, in 1883, to Miss Florida Crosno, a native of that county, who died there in 1893. His second marriage occurred in Bakersfield in 1897, uniting him with Miss Lucy Range, a native of Germany who came to San Diego, Cal .. when a child. She was educated in the schools of that city and Los Angeles.

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One son, Donald, was born of this union, he now being a student in the Kern county high school. The family are interested in all movements for the upbuilding of Bakersfield and Mrs. Johnston is an carnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of this city. In politics Mr. Johnston votes with the Democratic party. Fraternally he not only belongs to the Woodmen of the World, but in addition he has been very prominent in the local ranks of the Knights of Pythias, which he has represented in the grand lodge, besides holding the office of past chancellor commander.

H. H. MCCLINTOCK .- To witness the remarkable development of the Midway field and to contribute thereto through the force of his own mechanical and constructive ability has been the privilege of Mr. McClin- tock, who occupies a most responsible position as superintendent in Kern county for the Northern Exploration Company and for the Southern Cali- fornia Gas Company as well as the predecessor of the latter concern, the Midway Gas Company. The corporation named, which like the others rep- resents enormous financial institutions, had for its principal task the build- ing of gas-pipe lines from the Midway field to Los Angeles, where the gas is distributed and sold to the various existing gas companies through the agents of the Southern California Gas Company. In turn the latter is associated with the Northern Exploration Company, which engages in the drilling of gas wells and the production of natural gas, a product superior to the manufactured gas for heating purposes.

In the local work of these large institutions the commanding person- ality of H. H. McClintock has wielded a permanent influence. Through all his life a resident of California, of which he is a native son, he yet has traveled extensively, has enjoyed the advantages of training abroad and in the course of his career as a marine engineer visited the principal ports of the world. Born at San Jose, Santa Clara county, November 18, 1873, edu- cated in the public schools and business college in his native city, married June 20, 1900, and identified with the Midway field in the early days when its total output was less than one thousand barrels, these facts give a sum- mary of his eventful existence, but fail to indicate the thoroughness of his training and the scope of his influence in occupative enterprises. In early years he served an apprenticeship in the Fulton iron works at San Fran- cisco and at the expiration of four years in that plant he went abroad in order to study marine engineering with a famous firm of shipbuilders in Belfast, Ireland. From the great yards of the firm have been sent forth some of the largest and finest ships that sail the high seas. The ill-fated Titanic was one of their most majestic creations.

After a practical experience in marine engine-building that kept him in Belfast from 1899 until March, 1902, Mr. McClintock then returned to San Francisco. For several years he engaged as a licensed marine engineer and master mechanic. Meanwhile he sailed around the world three times and had charge of the engines on a number of the greatest steamships. Meeting Mr. Rockefeller at San Francisco, he was induced to take up pipe- line construction work. For a time he was employed in the mechanical department and for one year engaged as superintendent of the Central Division with headquarters at Hanford. During 1907 he directed the con- struction of the line into the Midway field, an eight-inch pipe to Richmond and the pipes for the water system to Rio Bravo. Since 1908 he has been a very active constructive agent in the development of the Midway, where as previously stated he acts as superintendent of the Northern Exploration Company, the Southern California Gas Company and the Midway Gas Company, the latter recently overtaken by the concern previously named. In July of 1911 he took charge of the construction work for the Western Water Company and from that time until the completion of the task in June, 1912, he superintended the laying of pipes and the building of the

Hyb miClintock

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

line for the concern. Besides being connected with the Elks at Bakersfield he is actively interested in the Petroleum Club at Taft.

MRS. HARRIET JASPER .- The Boucher family, of which Mrs. Jasper is a member, descends from old French lineage, but has been represented in America for a number of generations and her father, Stephen Boucher, was a native of New York. During a residence of some years in Indiana he met and married Zoe Rahome, a descendant of German and French ancestry and a connection of the Pollock family, for years influential citizens of Louisville, Ky. Accompanied by his young wife Mr. Boucher removed to Canada and established a home at Chatham, Ontario, on the Thames river, where he en- gaged in the lumber business and also bought and sold grain. The daughter, Harriet, was born at Chatham during the period of the sojourn of the family at that point. During 1866 the family came via Panama to California and spent two years in San Francisco, where the court for purposes of convenience changed the spelling of the family name from Boucher to Boushey. From San Francisco Mr. Boushey went to Catalina Island and engaged in lead and silver mining with Temple and Workman. 'In the interests of the same gentlemen he came to Kern county in 1881 and located antimony mines in the San Emidio mountains. In addition he and a partner developed some claims of their own, then he bought out the partner and engaged alone in the man- agement of the mill and smelting plant. In 1889 occurred the death of his wife and a son, Alexander, who had assisted him in the development of the antimony mines. His own demise occurred July 24, 1891, when he was seventy-eight years of age. Of the other members of the family his son, Dr. Julius Boushey, died in San Francisco, and a daughter, Anzoe, Mrs. Thomas E. O'Hare, died in Los Angeles.

Of the four children in the Boushey family who attained mature years Mrs. Jasper is the sole survivor. She was educated in San Francisco and Los Angeles and in the latter city became the wife of William Jasper, a native of Bremen, Germany, and by occupation a machinist and locomotive engineer. At the age of twenty-one years Mr. Jasper came to California and secured employment as an engineer in San Francisco. After his marriage he removed from San Francisco to Los Angeles, where he engaged in the mer- cantile business. About 1885 he came to Kern county, where afterward he assisted Mr. Boushey in the mines until the death of the latter and the subsequent sale of the antimony mine and smelter by the administrator to the Kern County Land Company. Thereupon he came to East Bakersfield and erected a residence for his family. Much of his time was spent in the oil fields until his death, which occurred January 20, 1903, at the age of sixty-two years. Ile had taken up a homestead in San Emidio, which he left to his wife. Later Mrs. Jasper entered a claim adjoining that which he had developed. Upon it she remained for five years as required by law. Meanwhile she made needed improvements on both places. The stipulated time having expired, she will soon hold a title to her claim. In entering upon such an undertaking after having been left a widow with a large family, she showed commendable energy and a desire not only to secure independence for herself, but also to aid her children in subsequent years, for undoubtedly the land will increase in value with development of the surrounding country and of its own resources. With her family she has been a lifelong adherent of the Roman Catholic faith and for some years past she has belonged to St. Joseph's parish. In politics both she and her husband were quiet but firm believers in the principles of the Democratic party. Of her seven children we note the following : James William is a locomotive engineer now living at San Bernardino; George Alexander is employed as cattle buyer for Miller & Lux at Hanford ; Edith Adelaide is the wife of A. C. Silver and lives in East Bakersfield ; Fred- erick Stephen is an oil-well contractor operating on the west side; Albert L.

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is a locomotive engineer of East Bakersfield; Emma married Mark Wilson and lives at Waites, Kern county ; and Myrtle AA. married H. B. Jones and resides in Los Angeles.

HENRY FORD CONDICT .- A study of genealogical records indicates that when William the Conqueror crossed the channel to England he had among his soldiers a member of the Condict family, a gallant Norman of noble blood, who bore his part in the triumphal entry of the troops into the British Isles. Whatever of heroism characterized his subsequent activities and whatever of honor came to his Anglo-Saxon descendants, these possibilities are hidden in the mists of historical obscurity. The next fact that can be ascer- tained in the family history proves that one John Condict came from Wales to America as early as 1640 and settled in the then wilderness of New Jersey. From him descended Nathaniel Condict, a brave soldier and lieutenant-colonel in the Revolutionary war, in which he perished ere yet victory had crowned the self-sacrificing efforts of the feeble band of patriots. Among his children there was a son, Silas, a native of New Jersey and a farmer in the vicinity of Paterson, that state, where also he had banking interests. The next genera- tion was represented by Sidney Condict, who was born at Paterson, N. J., became a merchant in New York City, but during 1842 removed to the fron- tier of Illinois and took up government land in McHenry county. From that time until his death in 1856 he labored with unceasing energy to transform the raw tract into a productive farm, but the end came ere he had realized his anticipations of agricultural success.

The marriage of Silas Condict united him with Charlotte Reynolds, who was born in New Jersey and died in Illinois in 1874. She was a daughter of Capt. Abram Reynolds, an officer under General Scott in the war of 1812 and a pioneer of 1842 in McHenry county, Ill., where he died about 1856. By his own energetic efforts he acquired large holdings in land. Not only was he · successful in private affairs, but in addition he wielded a wide influence in public enterprises and at one time filled the office of sheriff of his county in New Jersey. The family of Silas and Charlotte Condict numbered six children. Four of these attained maturity, but only one still survives. Henry Ford Condict, who was born at Newark, N. J., July 5, 1837, and was brought to the frontier of Illinois in 1842. As a boy he attended the country schools of MeHenry county. Through the kindly assistance of Hon. E. B. Washburne, member of congress from Illinois and a distinguished citizen of Galena, in 1854 the youth was appointed to a cadetship in the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. Among his classmates was one who, as Admiral Dewey, later acquired a worldwide fame. After he had spent two years in the academy he was forced to resign on account of failing eyes. Returning to Illinois he later married Miss Nancy J. Young, a native of Maine. During 1859 he came via Panama to California and became interested in mining at Deadwood, Siskiyou county. When the news reached him con- cerning the breaking out of war he at once returned to the east and at Manchester, N. II., enlisted in the First New Hampshire Battery Septem- ber 26. 1861. Upon the organization of the troops he was elected lieutenant of his company. Ordered to the front, he fought in numerous desperate engagements, including the second battle of Bull Run, Antietam, Chancel- lorsville and Fredericksburg. In the last-named battle the battery was reduced to four guns. This almost total annihilation obliged the young lieu- tenant to resign his commission and retire. Not content, however, to leave the service of the Union he went immediately to Illinois and June 3, 1863, became a member of Company H, Eighth Illinois Cavalry, which he ac- companied to the front. In the historic engagement at Gettysburg his regi- ment fired the first shot. Throughout the balance of the war he bore a gallant part. After the surrender of the Confederate troops he was sent

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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 71

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