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 73

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 73

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Removing from New York state to Illinois, Truman Judd settled at Pecatonica, Winnebago county, where his son, Frank S., was born March 28, 1857, and where he himself for some years engaged in pedagogical work. The quiet routine of the schoolroom, however, was irksome to his adventur- ous temperament and at times he abandoned the profession temporarily for travels, then later gave up the work entirely in order to enter other avoca- tions. During the spring of 1849 he joined an expedition of Argonauts bound for the gold fields of the west. Crossing the plains with ox-teams and wagons, he found so much of interest in the journey that he recorded his impressions of the country in a journal written as he traveled from point to point along the lonely route. Such a record would be of priceless value to his descend- ants and its loss in the Sacramento fire of the '50s was deplored. After his arrival in California he engaged in mining and later he took a contract for building a portion of the levee at Sacramento, whence in 1856 he returned to Illinois. Not long after the discovery of gold in Pike's Peak he traveled across the plains to that portion of the country and camped on the present site of Denver at a time when only a few rude shacks marked the spot destined for a commercial center. For years he made his headquarters at Monument, where he built three sawmills. Later he built a sawmill on the Little Fountain and engaged in the manufacture of lumber which was used in the early material upbuilding of both Denver and Pueblo.

Disposing of his holdings in Colorado and removing to Texas a few years after the death of his wife, which had occurred in the former state in October of 1867. Truman Judd soon became a power in the journalistic circles of the Lone Star state, where he edited and published the Fort Worth Tribune. Forceful as a writer and able as an editor, he made a name for himself throughout his part of the state and was recognized as a power on the side of progress and achievement. During 1880 he came to California as a permanent resident. After a sojourn of five years in Nevada county he came to Kern county in July, 1885. and here his death occurred in August of that year. To this same county his brother. Stoel Judd, a California pioneer of 1851. had come during the '60s and here he continued to make his home until he passed from earth in 1909 at the age of eighty-four years.

Seven children formed the family of Truman Judd. Five of these attained maturity, namely: Mrs. Julia Squires, who died in Colorado; Mrs. Almina Reader, who died in Nevada county, Cal .. in 1889; Mrs. Hattie Webb, of Texarkana, Tex .: Mrs. Lucina Weir, wife of Jerome Weir. a pioneer and prominent upbuilder of Colorado Springs, Colo .; and Frank S., the youngest member of the family circle. The second daughter, Almina, migrated to California via Panama in 1863 and later became the wife of James Reader :

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upon her death she left five children, of whom only one, Hattie, came to Bakersfield to make her home, although there is also a granddaughter, Mrs. Amanda Krelle, residing in this city. When Frank S. Judd was a child four years of age he accompanied his parents from Illinois to Colorado and later became a pupil in the public school in Colorado City. During 1870 he re- moved to Texas with his father. Having finished the study of the common branches in the Fort Worth schools he learned the trade of printer in the composing room of the Fort Worth Tribune. During May of 1881 he came to California and settled in Nevada county, where he engaged in mining at French Corral. A first visit to Kern county in 1885 gave him a favor- able impression concerning this portion of the state. Returning in the early part of 1887, he became a permanent resident of the county on the 12th of April and has since lived on ranches or in Bakersfield. For seven years he engaged in farming as an employe of his uncle. Stoel Judd. Later he bought land in the San Emidio country, where he engaged in ranching and stock- raising.

Upon the retirement of his uncle from active ranch pursuits Mr. Judd purchased the Judd property near Lakeside ranch and there he remained until the sale of the place in 1910. For years he made a specialty of raising alfalfa seed. After selling the farm in 1910 he bought forty acres seven miles from Bakersfield and there he since has engaged in raising alfalfa. A short time since he sold the mountain ranch and built a comfortable resi- dence at No. 1720 Maple avenue, from which place he superintends the alfalfa farm, besides taking an active part in the buying and selling of real estate. He is a Democrat and a member of the Elks.

JAMES H. THORNBER .- The Thornber family descends from Anglo- Saxon ancestry and for generations has been represented in Westmoreland in the north of England, where Francis Joseph and Elizabeth (Peters) Thorn- ber passed their entire lives. the former being engaged as an accountant. The parental family comprised six sons and six daughters and the eighth in order of birth, James H., was born in the village of Kendal, July 5, 1875. Two sons and two daughters are still living and all of them have come to America, the older son, John P., being a resident of Bartlesville, Okla., while the two daughters. Mrs. Agnes Grisdale and Mrs. Elizabeth Marriott, make their home in Kern county, Cal., the headquarters also of the fourth member of the family, James H. The last-named attended the Kendal grammar school in Westmoreland, and later was a student in the Friends' school at the same place. After he was graduated at the age of fifteen years he was employed in the village until 1892, when he crossed the ocean to the United States and proceeded west to Montana. Securing employment on a ranch near Chinook he soon learned the business of operating a stock farm on the plains. Later he became interested in operating the Black Coulee coal mine, besides which he also engaged in general contracting.

Upon selling some of his interests in Montana in October of 1908 Mr. Thornber came to Bakersfield. Shortly afterward he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in the Weed Patch. The task of transforming the raw acreage into a productive farm was one of great difficulty, but the land was rich and fertile and ultimately produced fruit and alfalfa in paying quan- tities. Since 1909 he has made his home in East Bakersfield, where he owns a residence at No. 1601 Pacific street. Besides having a real-estate and insur- ance office at No. 919 Baker street, he is engaged in the building of cottages and bungalows and these interests, together with the supervision of his Mon- tana ranch, which he still owns, keep him busily occupied.

Ever since he came to this city Mr. Thornber has been connected with the Chesbro Methodist Episcopal Church of East Bakersfield, where at this writing he officiates as president of the board of trustees and president of the

gym repton Ellen R Upton

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adult Bible class. With the co-operation of the pastor of this church he organized a Sunday-school at Toltec No. 2 and since then he not only has acted as superintendent, but in addition he has given exceptionally faithful and efficient service in the capacity of local preacher. Being deeply interested in the religious life of the oil fields, he gives freely of his time, ability and means to promote the cause of Christianity in that par- ticular portion to which he has been called. While living in Montana he was married at Chinook, September 25, 1900, to Miss Alice Greenough, a native of Mechanicsburg, Ohio, and a daughter of the late John K. and Minnie (Currier) Greenough, the former born in Concord, N. H., of Mayflower stock, and the latter a descendant of Scotch forbears. In 1886 the family removed to Chanute, Kans., where Mrs. Thornber was reared and educated, remaining there until 1899. In that year the family located in Chinook, Mont., where the marriage of the young people occurred. Interested in social functions and active in church work, Mrs. Thornber's deepest affections, however, are cen- tered upon her four children, Chester Harve, Grace Elizabeth, Agnes Myrtle and Alice Celia. Fraternally Mr. Thornber belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and Bakersfield Lodge No. 224, F. & A. M., also with his wife is identified with Bakersfield Chapter No. 25, Order of the Eastern Star.

WILLIAM UPTON .- When Mr. and Mrs. Upton bought a tract of twenty acres one mile southeast of Kern in 1893 they realized the difficulties facing them. Not an attempt at cultivation had been made. Not an improve- ment had been placed on the land. No effort had been put forward to secure irrigation. In all of its raw unattractiveness the land awaited the patient hand of labor, and such was the capability of the owner that eventually it became known as a farm without a superior in Kern county. When finally he sold in order to retire to private life it was with the satisfaction of knowing that he had developed one of the finest farms in this portion of the state.

The Upton family is of old Virginian ancestry. Major James Upton, a native of West Virginia, migrated to Indiana and engaged in farming in that state until death. The title by which he was known came to him through service in the state militia. At the time of removing to Indiana he was a youth and later he married Sallie Bracken. a native of Rush county, that state. Following his demise she removed to Illinois and settled in Sangamon county, where her remaining years were passed. In her family there were five sons and one daughter. Two of the older sons served in the Civil war. The only survivor of the six children is William, who was next to the young- est among them. Born near Lebanon, Boone county, Ind., September 8, 1849, he was educated in country schools and Lebanon Academy. During 1866 he accompanied other members of the family to Illinois and settled near Springfield, where he aided on his mother's farm for a few years. Later he rented a farm and then bought land in Mechanicsburg township, Sangamon county. Selling that place in 1889 he removed to Dawson in the same county, whence in February of 1891 he came to California. Limited in means, he made a very small beginning as a farmer of Kern county. For two years he owned and improved a farm of forty acres in the Rosedale colony and on this place he planted fruit and also sowed alfalfa. When he sold the property in 1893 he bought the small farm near Kern where he labored diligently and successfully until he relinquished farming activities. The first purchase included twenty acres and later he bought ten acres adjoining, so that he had thirty acres altogether. During the last year on the small ranch Mrs. Upton kept a careful account of all receipts and disbursements. For the vear a total of $1,823.25 was received from the sale of hay and produce, and in addition they raised many of the necessities for their own table. The total expense, without counting their time, was limited to $300, this small expense being made possible through their industry and wise management.

The marriage of Mr. Upton and Miss Ella R. Sutherland was solemnized

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at Illiopolis, Ill., February 17, 1875, and has been one of mutual helpfulness and happiness, their only sorrow having been the loss of their children in early life. Mrs. Upton was born in Mechanicsburg township, Sangamon county, Ill., and was fourth among the nine children comprising the family of Hugh and Abbie (Bird) Sutherland. Only four of the nine are now living. Born in 1809, Mr. Sutherland came from his native city of Edinburgh, Scot- land, to the United States in 1825 and shortly thereafter settled in Illinois, where he engaged in farming. Some years after locating in that state he married Miss Bird, who was born in Frankfort, Ky., September 27, 1824, and accompanied her mother to Illinois in 1833. Of late years she has lived in Springfield and has been physically active notwithstanding her advanced age. Mrs. Upton is an earnest member of the Congregational church and a leading worker in the Ladies' Aid Society. In addition she is a popular member of the Woman's Relief Corps. Mr. Upton is connected with the Fraternal Brotherhood and in politics always has voted with the Republican party. Upon selling their farm in June of 1909 they came to East Bakersfield, where they not only erected their present residence at No. 600 Pacific street, but in addition built a number of cottages for rent.

REV. JAMES S. WEST, A. B .- The history of the First Baptist Church of Bakersfield. of which Rev. James Samuel West is now pastor, dates back to the year 1889, the inauguration of the movement occurring on the 21st of April with the union as a congregation of a very few persons, adherents of that faith and formerly communicants of the denomination in previous places of residence. The following years were filled with anxious solicitude regarding the future of the congregation, but nevertheless were years of spiritual and numerical growth. The following is a list of the pastors together with their periods of service: Rev. J. C. Jordan. April, 1889-February, 1893; Rev. C. O. Johnson, February, 1893-April, 1894; Rev. T. M. French. October. 1894- January, 1896; Rev. J. T. Collins, January, 1897-August. 1899; Rev. William Mullen, August, 1899-May. 1900; Rev. W. C. Whitaker, May, 1901-May, 1902 ; Rev. W. M. Collins, January. 1903-May. 1906; Rev. J. Fred Jenkins. October. 1906-January. 1908; Rev. Lloyd C. Smith, August, 1908-August, 1911, and Rev. James Samuel West, the present pastor, whose ministry commenced in September of 1911.

Immediately after the organization of the few members into a congrega- tion steps were taken looking toward the building of a house of worship. The corner of I and Twenty-second streets was secured as a suitable site. Febru- ary 17, 1890, the corner-stone was laid of a structure of brick, small but sub- stantial. The first services were held there on the first Sunday of April, 1890. With that building as headquarters, an excellent work was conducted for years, but eventually the lot was sold March 2, 1904, the last services being conducted in the old church on the 13th of March, of the same year. The corner-stone of the new structure of white brick was laid September 14. 1904, at the new lot on the corner of Twentieth and G streets. The first services were held in the Sunday-school room December 6, 1904, and in the main auditorium March 5, 1905, while the formal dedication, April 9, 1905, conse- crated the noble and dignified edifice to the worship of God. The building contains the auditorium, Sunday-school room and pastor's study, and in mode of construction adheres to modern ideas of church architecture. In addition to the church edifice there is a commodious and attractive parsonage, also of white brick. Besides the home Sunday-school a similar work has been estab- lished at East Bakersfield, and two hundred children have the advantage of the excellent religious training given by teachers thoroughly competent to discharge their appointed tasks. The present membership of the church is about two hundred and fifty, one hundred and fifteen having been added since the beginning of the pastorate of the present minister. While devoting him- self with self-sacrificing intensity to the upbuilding of this congregation, the

James SMask

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pastor has found time to minister at regular intervals to the congregation of Baptists at Edison, which was organized by his predecessor. To aid in the missionary work with the Mexican population of Bakersfield an assistant pas- tor has been engaged, whose time is almost wholly given to that department of Christian effort.

The present pastor, to whose earnest, sincere and self-denying efforts much of the present gratifying growth of the church may be attributed, is a member of a family long and honorably identified with the Baptist denomina- tion. His father, Rev. W. W. West, a Virginian by birth and a member of a colonial family of the Old Dominion established there by Scotch forbears long before the Revolutionary war, has met with remarkable success in the Baptist ministry in West Virginia, where he has the record of having baptized more people into the Baptist Church than any other clergyman in the entire state. By his marriage to Miss Margaret Underwood, a native of Franklin County, Va., he became the father of four sons and three daughters, all still living except two of the sons. The eldest child in the family, James Samuel, was born at Highpeak, Franklin county, Va., March 17, 1875, and passed the years of boyhood in West Virginia, where at the age of sixteen he began to teach in the country district of his home county. It was his ambition to acquire a thorough education and with that end in view he carefully hoarded his earnings, so that he was able to work his way through higher institutions of learning. In 1897 he matriculated in Doane Academy, the preparatory department of Denison University at Granville, Ohio. After years of study he was graduated from the university in 1904 with the degree of A. B., and at the same time was licensed to preach, but feeling the need of more experience and further study before entering the ministry he accepted a position with the Young Men's Christian Association of Ohio as state secretary. In that office he inaugurated two departments of the state work, viz .: the county department and the bituminous coal miners' department, both of which he pioneered and pro- moted by personal supervision.

After having spent eighteen months of pleasant and profitable labor in the work of the Young Men's Christian Association, resigning from such service Mr. West matriculated in the Rochester (N. Y.) Theological Semin- ary. Upon his graduation in 1908 he returned to West Virginia and at West Union was ordained to the ministry of the Baptist denomination. For one year he served as pastor at West Union, after which he spent two years with the First Baptist Church of Bucyrus, Ohio. Meanwhile he had married at East Rochester, N. Y., Miss Helen Elizabeth Tufts, who was born in Can- andaigua, Ontario county, N. Y., and received excellent advantages in the academy in that city. With his wife he has established a comfortable home in the Bakersfield Baptist parsonage, which is brightened by the presence of their small daughter, Virginia Aileen. Since coming to the west he has identified himself with the Los Angeles Baptist Association and the Southern California Baptist State convention. In fraternal relations he holds member- ship with the Tribe of Ben Hur and the Woodmen of the World, while during his university course he was identified with the Kappa Sigma.

VERNON L. UNDERWOOD .- The growing influence of Mr. Under- wood as a citizen of Tehachapi and as a participant in the railroad service results from the possession of qualifications eminently adapting him for influ- ential identification with any measure or movement that may enlist his aid. As agent at Tehachapi for the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe Railroads he discharges duties of importance and in addition he serves acceptably as local agent for the Wells-Fargo Express Company.

The only child of Philip and Anne (Mathewson) Lawler, Vernon L. Underwood was born in Pasadena, Cal., September 3, 1888, and at the age of nine months was left fatherless. Some years later his mother became the

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wife of Dr. Maro F. Underwood and the boy was given the name of the step-father. Philip Lawler, who was a native of Maine, enlisted in the Union army at the opening of the Civil war and remained at the front until the expiration of his term of service. Later he came to California and engaged in the lumber business in Mendocino county. Although he lived until 1889 and never relinquished his business enterprises, always he suffered as the result of his war service and the hardships of that period were the direct cause of his death. His wife, who was born in Wilmington, Del., and who now makes her home with her only child, was a daughter of a pioneer of 1849 who had come across the plains to California with a brave band of argonauts.

Upon completing the studies of the Los Angeles grammar and high schools. Vernon L. Underwood entered the railroad service, his first work being that of an assistant in the ticket office at Lindsay, Tulare county. where he remained for eighteen months and meantime learned much of value to him in subsequent positions. From Lindsay he was sent to Oil City as cashier and chief clerk, and later became agent; and afterwards acted as agent at Owenyo for eighteen months. During May of 1912 he was transferred to Tehachapi as agent for the Southern Pacific Company, besides which he has acted as Santa Fe agent and as the local representative of the Wells- Fargo Express Company.

FRED ALBERT HILL .- Simeon Smith Hill came to Kern county in 1880, having worked formerly with the Great Western Quick Silver Mine in Lake county. He had reached California from the East in 1874. He and his five sons followed farming in Rosedale district, Kern county, two years, but the venture not proving a success Mr. Hill bought eighty acres in another section of Rosedale district, and remained there until the death of the mother in 1885, when he sold the place and went into the livery busi- ness in Bakersfield. In 1888 he sold out and moved to Linns Valley, where he became engaged in farming, three years later moving to Golanagi Springs, a summer resort situated three miles above Democrat Springs, where he stayed for a short time, then deciding to purchase eighty acres of land in Linns Valley. Some time later he sold his place here and again launched into the livery business, but he finally purchased the Democrat Hot Springs, which he afterward sold to his son, D. D.

Fred A. Hill was born in Monmouth, Warren county, Ill., November 1. 1863, and attended school there. He came with his parents to California in 1874 and attended public schools in Lake county, this state. With the rest of the family he came to Kern county October 13, 1880, and as early as 1882 began working for Haggin & Carr, which firm is now known as the Kern County Land Company. Mr. Hill has been in the employ of the original company and its successor ever since 1880 with the exception of two years, when he was in the livery business with his father. In 1890 he was made foreman of the Kern County Land Company and in 1895 he was promoted to assistant to C. L. Conner, superintendent of the Lakeside ranch, upon whose death, in December, 1910, Mr. Hill was given full charge.

Mr. Hill was married in Bakersfield Angust 9, 1903, to Miss Edna M. Baker, a native of Hanford, Cal. Her father, John M. Baker, crossed the plains with ox teams in pioneer days and settled on a farm near Hanford. He now resides in East Bakersfield. To Mr. and Mrs. Hill were born three children, Milton S. S .. Evelyn Edna and Fred Richard. A Democrat in politics, Mr. Hill is conversant with all the subjects of the day, and adheres closely to the principles of his partv. Fraternally he is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Knights of Pythias.

C. E. GETCHELL .- A true and loyal son of the great west is Mr. Getchell, who was born at Helena, Mont., December 18, 1866, and in all of his long life has never been east of the Rocky mountains, but with charac-

Mas. Fred a Hill.

Fred Hill

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teristic energy and progressive devotion lias labored for the material upbuild- ing of his section of the country.

The distinction of being the second white child and the first white boy born in what is now the state of Montana belongs to Mr. Getchell, the first white child having been Anna Flowerre. His father, F. S. Getchell, came to California via the Isthmus of Panama and landed in San Francisco in June of 1850, after which he engaged in placer mining on the American river, at Sawmill Flat, Marysville, Grass Valley and other places. In Tuolumne county he married Mrs. Sarah (Sparks) De Noielle, a widow with three children. Of their union only one child, Charles E., was born, and he passed his early years in Montana, where the elder Getchell was an historic character and prominent pioneer miner, known throughout the length and breadth of the mountain state for his kindly hospitality, positive convictions and broad knowledge of gold mines.

When fourteen years of age C. E. Getchell became a cowboy, engaging with the D. H. S. Cattle Company. During 1880 he helped to drive the first band of cattle into the now celebrated Judith basin country in Montana. For five years he rode the range as an employe of the same organization, after which he filled a similar position with Daniel Flowerre for two years. In that way he became familiar with the entire country, besides acquiring a thorough understanding of stock and a really remarkable skill as a rider. At the age of twenty-one he began to run horses for himself, beginning on a very small scale and by degrees rising to business of a larger nature. Together with his half-brother, R. W. De Noielle, and J. P. Ketchum, he bought out the Holter planing mill in 1888. The plant was enlarged immediately after its purchase. Everything indicated an era of prosperity. However, there soon broke out a local financial depression which ultimately involved the whole country in a money stringency, and in 1892 the business went into the hands of receivers.

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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 73

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