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 74

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 74

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Forced to make a new start and determined to seek a new location, Mr. Getchell came to California and arrived in Los Angeles in June of 1893 with only $7 between him and destitution. Without delay he was able to secure work. For two years he was employed in the real-estate business. Later he secured employment with a large company dealing in electrical, mining and irrigation machinery. After some years with that concern he resigned and in 1902 became connected with the firm of Fairbanks, Morse & Co., in whose interests he traveled through the northern part of Arizona, selling and installing electrical, mining and irrigation machinery. During 1903 he was dispatched to Bakersfield to take charge of the local interests of the company's business and until 1906 he served efficiently as their manager at this point. Since 1906 he has engaged in the automobile livery business, catering to the local passenger trade. At Helena, Mont., he met and married Miss Ella V., daughter of Joseph Walton, of that city. They are the parents of three children, Frances, Willard and Virginia, whose presence brightens the elegant residence erected at No. 2118 Eighteenth street.

The fact that Mr. Getchell possesses a complete knowledge of the roads of Kern county led to his selection in January of 1913 to serve on a committee of three to investigate and report to the board of supervisors concerning the roads of the county. The task demands great familiarity with all parts of the county and when it is remembered that Kern county is larger than Con- necticut, Rhode Island and Delaware put together, it will be seen that his study of conditions has been broad and long-continued. A practical system of county roads will cost between three and six million dollars, so that the committee of three, viz .: A. J. Woody, J. L. Evans and C. E. Getchell, have a tremendous responsibility placed upon them.

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

DANIEL BURKE .- One of the men who have achieved success in Kern county is Daniel Burke, a native son of the county, born twelve miles south- east of Glennville, January 18, 1867, a son of Daniel Burke, Sr. The father was born in County Mayo, Ireland, in October, 1828, and came to the United States in 1849 and to California in 1852. Until 1864 he followed mining i·1 different parts of the state, during this time going to the Frazier river mines in British Columbia and remaining two years. In the meantime, in 1862, he bought a land claim on Little Poso creek, and in 1883, after a survey had been inade, he acquired a homestead and four sections of railroad land. In 1889 he also bought land in the Panama district, to which he moved in 1898, but he died on his ranch in the Greenhorn mountains in August, 1900. He was a man of prominence in his time and locality, who had much to do with public affairs.

Daniel Burke, Jr., attended public schools until he was sixteen years old and afterward worked on his father's homestead at the stock business and on the Burke property in the Panama district. The present place of forty acres seven miles south of Bakersfield was bought in 1902 and Mr. Burke devotes it to raising alfalfa and a small vineyard of choice varieties of table grapes.

In Hot Springs valley, near Havilah, January 26, 1896. Daniel Burke married Miss Rose Palmer, who was born near Kernville, September 29, 1874, and they have a son, Palmer Burke. Robert Palmer. Mrs. Burke's father, was born in Christian county, Ky., May 7, 1823. and settled at Jacksonville. Ill., whence he came in 1850 to California across the plains on horseback and with pack mules. For ten years he was more or less successful in placer mining in different parts of the state, and in 1860 he came to the Piute moun- tains and made his headquarters there while he prospected and mined in Kern county. While engaged in his mining ventures he also carried on a stock business, establishing his home on the ranch in Hot Springs valley in 1878, and there he died in 1905, when he was eighty-two years of age. Fra- ternally Mr. Burke affiliates with the Knights of Columbus and the Wood- men of the World, politically he is a Republican, and with his wife is a mem- ber of St. Francis Catholic Church.

COL. THOMAS BAKER .- During the pioneer period of the history of California one of its foremost men was Col. Thomas Baker, the founder of Bakersfield and the original owner of the entire town site. For the difficult task of frontier upbuilding he was qualified by temperament and experience. He possessed in abundance the qualities characteristic of the progressive pioneer. the generosity that sacrifices its own needs for the welfare of others and the hospitality that finds a friend in every home-seeker. To an unusual degree he possessed foresight and sagacious judgment. When first hie rode over the broad expanse of country where Bakersfield now stands as a commercial metropolis he pointed out the vast possibilities of the region and asserted that some day a large city would stand on this site. Further than that, he pointed out the line of a railroad and the exact point where it would pass through the Tehachapi mountains. When finally the railroad was built it was remembered by others that it followed the course of his prediction. In addition he predicted that some day oil would be produced in this valley, although it is scarcely probable that even his vivid imagination grasped the enormous magnitude of the industry in the twen- tieth century. With a broad and prophetic vision he united a kind-hearted helpfulness and unwearied hospitality. To strangers he was very hospitable, even when hard pressed for money himself and more than once he gave to newcomers a sack of flour when he did not have the means to buy another for his family use. Travelers were entertained in his adobe house and their horses were fed in his corral, nor was a charge ever made for feed or board. Although he had acquired large tracts of land he used these not for his own

Dan Burke

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

profit, but to induce others to settle thereon. Often he would donate to an industrious settler a quarter-section of land and many a time he gave away town lots to promising but poor young business men. Indeed, some of the best business locations in Bakersfield were donated by him without any pay whatever. In his intense desire to see the country settled he gave away all of his lands with the exception of eighty acres on O street and this after his death was sold in lots by his widow. When finally death terminated his activities, November 24, 1872 (a date memorable in American history as that of the demise of Horace Greeley) the success of the town was assured and Bakersfield proudly claimed a population of five hundred souls.

The title by which Thomas Baker was known throughout all of his adult life came to him through his service as a colonel in the state militia of Ohio before he had attained his majority. Born in 1810 in Muskingum county, Ohio, he claimed as his birthplace the picturesque valley through which the Ohio canal extends and which was made famous in history on account of the identification therewith of the Rosecrans and Sheridan families as well as others of note. During youth he lived on a farm. Be- sides becoming familiar with agriculture he gained a practical knowledge of surveying and also studied law with the intention of making land law his specialty. Shortly after his admission to the bar he removed to Illinois, but in a short time crossed the Mississippi river into the territory of Iowa. During May of 1837 he was driven away by the Indians who burned his cabin, but in about one year he returned. In the autumn of 1838 he settled in the vicinity of the present site of Washington, Iowa. Without question he had reached a point further west than the location of any other white settler in that part of the Black Hawk purchase. Frequently he had be- friended the Indians and finally, at the time of the Black Hawk uprising, they repaid his kindness to them, warning him of the coming trouble and thus saving the family while other white settlers were massacred.

The distinction of being the first United States district attorney of the territory of Iowa came to Colonel Baker, who held the office until the adop- tion of the state constitution. Elected to the first legislature of the new state, on the organization of that body he was chosen president of the senate. thus becoming ex officio the first lieutenant-governor of Iowa. Subsequently he was re-elected several times to the state senate. No man had a larger share than he in the early legislation of that great commonwealth. Many of the important laws still on the statute books of Iowa were devised and drafted by him. While he was becoming prominent and successful in Iowa, the love of adventure lured him to the western coast after the discovery of gold. During the fall of 1850 he arrived at Benicia, Cal., but after a few . months he left that town for the vicinity of Stockton and during 1852 he removed to Tulare county, where he was one of the founders of the town of Visalia. There in 1857 he married Miss Ellen Alverson. Four children of that union lived to mature years. Mary E., who died May 24, 1894, was the wife of Henry A. Jastro, of Bakersfield, chairman of the board of super- visors of Kern county and one of the foremost men of California. Thomas A. is now sheriff of Kern county. Nellie, Mrs. Cowgill, died in Bakersfield May 6, 1887. The only surviving daughter. Charlotte E., is the wife of John M. Jameson and resides in Bakersfield, her mother, now Mrs. Tracy, being an inmate of her home since her second widowhood.

Elected in 1855 to represent his district in the state legislature. Colonel Baker gave satisfactory service in that capacity. During 1858 he was ap- pointed receiver of the new land office at Visalia and held the position under the administration of President Buchanan. During the legislative sessions of 1861-62 he served as senator from Fresno and Tulare counties. About that time, in partnership with Harvey Brown, he purchased the swamp land franchise granted to Montgomery Brothers. including the odd sections of all

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

the swamp lands extending from Kern river around by the lakes and connected by the sloughs, reaching northward to Fresno on the San Joaquin river. The original grant contemplated the construction of navigable canals through the entire length of this section of the state, but the plan was found impracticable and the legislature released the grantees from that part of their obligation. September 20, 1863, Colonel Baker arrived on Kern Island with his family preparatory to commencing the work of reclamation, remarking at his arrival, "Here at last I have found a resting place and here I expect to lay my bones." The country was neither new nor strange to him. Several years before he had explored it carefully and noted its possibilities. At a glance he had realized the peculiar advantages of the country and its natural resources. From the time of his arrival until his death, November 24, 1872, he was ever ready to promote the advancement of the country and maintained an intense interest in the village which bore his name. In the early days money was scarce and supplies not too abundant, but. for- getful of self, he was ever ready to aid newcomers. Acknowledging every- one as entitled to his consideration, he never allowed a man to leave his house hungry. The stranger always received a cordial welcome. So genial was his hospitality that his guests never suspected that the stores could be exhausted nor did they realize how he denied himself in order that they might have enough. Coolness of temper and uniform good nature char- acterized him. Nothing disturbed his equanimity. However he might feel to have his motive impugned and his friends unmindful, he did not allow such matters to disturb his disposition. When his favorite projects miscar- ried he retained his self-poise. His motto was "Time will always justify a man who means to do right." How true this statement is both ancient and modern history reveals. He considered that rational beings should not indulge in vain regrets or useless worries. Whatever ill he suffered (and he endured his share of hardships and misunderstandings) his friends could nct see that he brooded over them. This quality of mind enabled him often to gain the mastery over adverse circumstances, but it also made him indif- ferent to frequent financial losses. Fortunes were made and lost with indif- ference. In owning land his sole ambition was to make it fit for the sup- port of families. His absorbing desire was to see the vast tracts reclaimed and covered with the permanent improvements made by new settlers. In his gifts to homesteaders he displayed greater liberality than the govern- ment itself. Being the original owner of the town site of Bakersfield, he might have acquired great wealth therefrom, but instead he donated some of the best business locations and by his liberality secured the erection of a number of the first buildings in the village. While pointing out to these pioneers how they might attain wealth he remained indifferent to the allure- ments of fortune, but evinced the financial carelessness characteristic of many of the greatest pioneers of the west, losing sight of his own personal ad- vancement in his patriotic devotion to the development of the country. His personal characteristics came to him as an inheritance from an honored old Virginian family of English extraction. His father, Thomas, was a soldier in the war of 1812 and his great-grandfather, Thomas, was a participant in the Revolution, while he inherited their valor and patriotic spirit, but when the Civil war came he was prevented from participation by reason of the California quota being more than full as well as by reason of his own age, which was beyond the limits of military service. However, he served his country loyally and well, although it was not his privilege to bear arms on the field of battle, but by the development of unreclaimed lands, by the building up of a community and by the advancement of progressive civic enterprises, he proved himself most loyal to the land of his nativity and the country of his adoption.

Posa L. yfaucey

feelfancy

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

JOSEPH E. YANCEY .- The suburban community known as Broad Ripple, which then was adjacent to and now forms a portion of the city of Indianapolis, Ind., made an interesting environment for the early years of Joseph E. Yancey, who was born on a farm at that place March 12, 1860, being a son of Joseph A. Yancey, a Kentuckian, who became well-known among the stock-raisers in the vicinity of Indianapolis. In that city he was educated, and at the age of sixteen he started out for himself, working at various occupations until he came to California in 1880 and settled at Bakers- field. For two winters he carried on his studies in the Crocker school, while in the intervening summers he was employed as a clerk or farm hand. During the year 1882 he entered the employ of the Kern County Land Company, then known by the firm title of Haggin & Carr, and for three years he acted as superintendent of their Mountain View ranch, after which for two years he followed mining at the Long Tom mine. A subsequent experience lasting two years as roadmaster of the Sumner road district was followed by employment in teaming, general contracting and building canals for the Kern County Land Company and for the Southern California Construction Company at Barstow. The business of a contractor filled his time and kept him busily occupied until July, 1899, when he discontinued in order to be- come street superintendent of Bakersfield. In that capacity he served for twelve consecutive years or until after the consolidation of Bakersfield and Kern into one city. In addition to filling that position he also served as city health officer and plumbing inspector. In an official capacity he proved prompt, efficient, reliable and intelligent and the difficult duties of his re- sponsible post were discharged with exactness and to the general satisfac- tion. Since resigning as street superintendent he has resumed contracting and building and now makes a specialty of general contracting and building. The supervision of his building operations consumes all of his time, although he is also interested in the McKittrick Oil Company and in oil lands in the Temblor and McKittrick districts.

Fraternal connections have been formed by Mr. Yancey with the Benev- olent Protective Order of Elks and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Politically he votes with the Republican party. Some years after he came to Kern county he married Miss Rose L. Williams, who was born in Fort Scott, Kan., but came to California at an early age and received a superior education in the schools of this state. From an early age she has been a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and in the faith of that denomination she reared her adopted daughter, Lena, now Mrs. Harvey DeWar, of Bakersfield. Her parents, George and Achsah (Riggs) Wil- liams, were identified with pioneer agricultural interests in Kansas, but left that state in 1875 to identify themselves with the Pacific coast country. The beautiful philanthropic spirit which throughout life has been a leading element in the character of Mrs. Yancey led her to take up work among the homeless children and waifs of Bakersfield, and in co-operation with Mrs. Coolbaugh she started the Kern County Children's Shelter, which from the first has proved a most important undertaking and has increased in size to such an extent that about forty-five children are now cared for by the or- ganization. After the plan first became merged into definite form Mrs. Yancey officiated as superintendent of the shelter, having the movement in charge for three years during the building of the new Home, and when com- pleted she resigned on account of a nervous break-down. However, it was largely due to her efforts and self-sacrificing and constant assistance that its success may be attributed.

J. B. CARTER .- As a trusted employe of the San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation Mr. Carter is associated with the development of the valley, particularly the West Side oil fields, where he serves as district manager and agent for the corporation. The distinction of being a native son 31

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

of the great commonwealth belongs to him. He was born and reared in San Francisco, spending, however, a portion of the years of his youth in Fresno, where he completed the studies of the grammar school. His father, B. B. Carter, an Englishman by birth and family, for years held a position as steam- ship steward on a vessel out from San Francisco, but is now living a retired life in Fresno, where some years ago occurred the death of the wife and mother, Margaret (Gill) Carter, a member of an old family of Irish lineage.

Having been employed at various occupations in Fresno during early life, at the age of twenty-three J. B. Carter returned to San Francisco and secured employment with the old Market Street Railroad Company. In the capacities of conductor and motorman he remained with the same company for fourteen years. Meanwhile he made a record for fidelity, trustworthiness and efficiency. During 1902 he left San Francisco and went back to Fresno, where he engaged as a conductor on the Fresno city railway. The following year, when the Fresno Street Railroad Company was taken over by the San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation, he remained with the new owners of the property, taking with them, however, a somewhat different position from any in which he had previously served, viz .: that of collector of electric light and water bills. For three and one-half years he served as collector and then, in recognition of energy and ability, was promoted to the newly organized business and extension department. From there, January 15, 1910, he was sent to take charge of the corporation interests in Taft and the Mid- way fields. Meanwhile he had married in 1897 in San Francisco Miss Alice Ball, a native of Butte county, and she accompanied him in his removal to Taft, where he still maintains his headquarters. That his work possesses the highest importance from the standpoint of development and expansion of the corporation lines is indicated by the fact that from 1910 to 1912 he had charge of the building of more than sixty miles of distributing line in the West Side oil fields, a work involving vast expense and assiduous labor, but promising large returns in the increased business secured under his able management.

HERBERT ALLEN BALLAGH, D. D. S .- The Ballagh family. whose representatives occupy positions of prominence in Kern county and have at- tained enviable reputation for intellectual worth, possesses in Dr. Ballagh of Maricopa a member with the ambition and energy to add prestige to the honored family name. A lifelong resident of the west, he is a typical Cali- fornian in aspirations, impulses and loyalty. The fact that his father has been a Presbyterian minister and therefore stationed in different parts of the pres- bytery, gave to him in early youth a knowledge of various sections of the state and a familiarity with the general work of industrial, agricultural and commercial progress.

During the residence of the family at Red Bluff Dr. Ballagh was born May 7. 1885, being a son of Rev. Robert and Elizabeth (Gotz) Ballagh, now residents of Bakersfield. After years of prominent service in the Presbyterian denomination the father to some extent has retired, but he still ministers to the congregation at Glenville and maintains a deep interest in matters affect- ing the work, both local and general. While successful in ministerial labors, he and his wife were no less fortunate in the training and education of their seven children and justly felt proud of the splendid mentality displayed by them. The eldest son, A. Scott, is engaged in the life insurance business at Fresno. The second son, Charles E., of the Kern river oil fields, is superin- tendent of the Four-Oil and Apollo Oil Companies; R. G. carries on a real- estate business in Bakersfield; T. E., city clerk of Maricopa, is also engaged in the real-estate business ; C. S., of East Bakersfield, is a druggist and one of the proprietors of the Kern Drug Company ; Herbert Allen was the sixth son ; the only daughter, Ahlida, is a teacher in the Bakersfield grammar schools.

Although living in a number of towns during different years of his boy-

M.W. Hela M. D.

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

hood, Dr. Ballagh was a resident for the most part of Portersville, where he attended the grammar school and took the first year of high-school work. Later he was graduated from the Fresno high school. From Fresno he came to the Kern river fields and worked as a pumper on the Imperial and 33 lease- holds, also on the San Joaquin division of the Associated Oil Company. Mean- while he frugally saved his earnings in order to assist in the payment of his expenses while studying dentistry. September 6, 1906, at the age of twenty years, he matriculated in the University of Southern California, where he took the full course of three years, graduating in 1909 with the degree of D D. S. Immediately after graduation he came to Maricopa and entered upon profes- sional work. Soon after the Maricopa fire in 1910 he and his brother, E. E .. erected a substantial concrete building, 50x40, on California street, centrally located. and divided into two store rooms and four offices, his own office being located in this block.

THADDEUS W. HELM, M.D .- Dr. Helm was born at Elkrun, Fauquier county, Va., October 14, 1850, a son of John G. and Pauline (Jones) Helm. In both lines of descent he came of old and honored Virginian families and in the paternal line he traced his ancestry to Wales. When he was vet but a boy he was taken by his parents to Blackwater, Cooper county, Mo. He was reared on a farm and when he was eighteen became a traveling salesman. Four years later he went to Texas and there became a school teacher and a medical student. Eventually he entered the medical depart- ment of the University of Missouri at Columbia, from which he was gradu- ated with the degree of M. D. in 1877.

It was at Brookston, Tex., that Dr. Helm began his medical practice. After a brief experience there he removed to Ballinger, in the same state, where he practiced with much success for about ten years. Sometimes he traveled sixty or seventy miles on horseback to see patients, carrying his medicine and a few surgical appliances in his saddle-bags. As he attained prominence as a physician he won admiration as a man and popularity as a citizen and the office of coroner of his county was conferred upon him. In 1888 he came to Lemoore, Kings county, Cal., where he labored professionally until in 1891, when he settled in Bakersfield. His office was long located on Nineteenth street, but eventually he removed it to the Producers Bank Building. In California, as he had been in Texas, he was called by his ad- miring fellow-citizens to places of trust and honor and he filled the offices of coroner and public administrator of Kern county. In his political affilia- tions he was a Democrat, and was active as a member of the Fraternal Brotherhood, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Encampment and Canton, being captain of the last mentioned. He was an active member of the Kern County Medical Society, of which he was twice elected president and of which he was vice-president at the time of his death, which occurred November 1, 1910. He was long identified also with the California State Medical Association and with the American Medical Association. A believer in the evangelical religion and in the ministry of the church for the physical benefit of men, he was an admirer of General Booth, and his method of work for humanity.

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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 74

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