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 75

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 75

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In Paris, Texas, November 27, 1879, Dr. Helm married Miss Mollie Hathaway, a native of that town. She was a daughter of J. W. Hathaway and a granddaughter of William M. Hathaway, natives of Virginia and mem- bers of an old Southern family which traced its descent from English an- cestry. Her father, who removed to Missouri, and thence to Paris, Tex .. was a farmer and a well-known and popular merchant near Paris. In the course of events he removed to Ballinger, Tex., where he died. During the Civil war he was a gallant officer in the Confederate army. His wife, who before her marriage was Miss Naomi Yarnell, was born at Nashville, Tenn., and died in Texas. Her father, William Yarnell, a native of England, was

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

a planter in Tennessee, and later in Moniteau county, Mo., where he passed away. Mrs. Helm grew to womanhood in Paris, Tex., and was duly gradu- ated from Shiloh Academy. The children born to Dr. and Mrs. Helm are Lena, Thaddeus W., Jr., De Witt T., Homer H. and Francis. Thaddeus W., Jr., was educated as a mining engineer at San Francisco. Mrs. Helm is a member of the Rebekahis, of which she is past officer, is president of the Fra- ternal Brotherhood, and is an active member of the Salvation Army.

L. T. THOMPSON .- One of the most capable and enterprising citizens of Bakersfield, who has won a wide reputation for his exceptional capability in the execution of his duties as superintendent in the oil fields, is L. T. Thompson, who has supervision of the Monte Cristo Oil & Development Company and the West Shore Oil Company, both in the Kern river oil fields, and the Monte Cristo Oil and Development Company at Maricopa, as well as the Marion Oil Company at Taft. All of these are operated independently of the Standard and Union Companies, and are among the heaviest producers in Kern county.

Born at Roseburg, Ore., December 14, 1880, Mr. Thompson was given the opportunity of a good educational training, being sent to the public schools and then to business college at San Francisco, where was laid the foundation of his business knowledge. His first position was that of stenog- rapher for Fink & Schindler; he also kept their books, and some time later he became private secretary for Lieutenant Ballanger, in the department of Quartermaster General, of San Francisco, where he remained for a year. Mr. Thompson's ambitions led him to look for a broader field of labor, and lie was attracted by an advertisement of an attorney in San Francisco, Henry Ach, president of the Monte Cristo Oil Company, who was searching for a competent bookkeeper and stenographer for the work in the Kern river oil fields. He procured the position and came to the oil field in 1903 to take up the work there, at which time the Monte Cristo had forty wells.

Mr. Thompson's interest in the real work of the oil fields was imme- diately aroused and he became anxious to know more of the actual workings of the business. At the same time he knew that the only way to accomplish this was to begin practically at the bottom and work his way to the top by actually doing the work himself. It was at this time that his wife came to his rescue, for taking up his work as bookkeeper and stenographer she familiarized herself with all his system of work and the details of the busi- ness, in order that her husband might go to work as a laborer. He began as a tool-dresser and all 'round man for the company at Maricopa, then became driller there, and so well did he fill those positions that he was put on as drilling foreman, which he occupied until 1908. At this time he received the position of foreman of the Monte Cristo Company, but he soon after was given the superintendency, as he was then recognized as authority on the work. He is now the general superintendent of all their divisions, and his practical knowledge of the work has made him invaluable to his company. He is firm and just with his workers, keen and thorough in all his executions, and an upright, honorable man in all his dealings. The Monte Cristo's offi- cers are as follows: Henry Ach, an attorney of San Francisco, president ; I. L. Rosenthal, a wholesale shoe man of San Francisco, vice-president ; A. A. Power, of San Francisco, secretary, and L. T. Thompson, general super- intendent. The London, Paris & American Bank of San Francisco is their treasurer. The Monte Cristo employs fifty men, and its daily pay roll is $128: the West Shore twenty-two men, and its daily pay roll is $60; the Monte Cristo Company at Maricopa twenty-five men, and their daily pay roll is $70; and at the Marion Company, at Taft, there are two men. The Monte Cristo Oil Company has acquired six hundred and forty acres at Lost

Lucy a Castro Dometilo Castro

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

Hills by deed, and one hundred and one acres in the Fullerton oil fields under lease, which will be developed in the near future.

Mr. Thompson was married in 1907 to Miss Mabel Crosland, and they are the parents of one child, Louis T., Jr. Their home is on the Monte Cristo lease. Mr. Thompson has proved himself to be a man of thrift and has in- vested in six houses in Bakersfield. Ile is a Mason and a Republican.

DOMITILO CASTRO .- In Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, Domitilo Cas- tro was born May 3, 1857, the son of Thomas and Concepcion (Coronado) Castro, both natives of Sonora, Mexico.

Thomas Castro, the father, was born in Banamichi, Mexico, and in 1867 brought his family to Kern county, Cal., where he started in the stockraising business, locating about three miles southwest of the present town of Bakers- field, on sections twelve, thirty and twenty-seven. He here pre-empted a hundred and sixty acres, and later homesteaded a like acreage in Mt. Breck- enridge, having at the time a large number of cattle, horses, sheep and hogs. His death occurred January 14, 1900, when he was seventy-three years old, and he was buried in Union cemetery, where his wife had also been laid to rest. Mrs. Castro, also born near Banamichi, Mexico, was the daughter of Jesus Coronado, who came to California in 1877, soon returning to Mexico, where he passed away. Her death occurred in Bakersfield April 25, 1896.

Nine children, eight sons and one daughter, were born to Thomas Castro and his wife, as follows: Ramona. widow of L. O. Castro, residing in Kern City ; Lee, a stockman near Bakersfield ; Domitilo, mentioned below ; Manuel, who died near Bakersfield ; Thomas C., a farmer and stockman of this city ; Perfecto C., who is in the hotel business at Lost Hills; and Luciano A., E. P., and Emilio, are farmers and stockmen near Bakersfield.

Domitilo Castro remained on his father's home farm and followed stock- raising for many years after he had left the public schools. In 1879 he mar- ried and bought an eighty-acre ranch in sections nineteen, thirty and twenty- eight, on Union avenue, about six miles south of Bakersfield. Here he en- gaged in farming, making a specialty of raising alfalfa, later raised cattle, hogs, horses and mules, and the land is now seeded to alfalfa. The ranch is under the Kern Island ditch. The homestead now consists of one hundred and sixty acres near the mouth of Ft. Tejon canyon, which he proved up and improved for a stock range. After proving up he leased the place and located in East Bakersfield in order to give his children better educational facilities. Since then he has been engaged in the cattle business on his father's estate in the Breckenridge mountains. The brand which he uses, DC. is being recorded.

In January, 1911, after renting his ranch, Mr. Castro built a home in Bakersfield on an acre of ground, at No. 1101 Brown street, and he also owns other property. His wife, whom he married September 6, 1879, in Bakersfield. was before her marriage, Lucy Cage. She was born in Berryessa, Napa county, the daughter of Edward Cage, who was born in Mississippi and served in the Mexican war. Mr. Cage came across the plains with ox teams in 1849, settling in Napa county, where he followed farming for a time, then removing to Los Angeles. Later he was a farmer near Bakersfield, but finally he returned to Napa county, where he died when over sixty years of age. His wife, Mrs. Macaria (Arenas) Cage, a native of Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico, came with her parents to Napa county, where she now makes her home. Of the nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Cage five are living. Robert died in Kern county; John is a stockraiser living in East Bakersfield ; Mary, Mrs. Swiggart, died in Bakersfield; Lucy is Mrs. Castro; Dixie is Mrs. Lee Castro of Kern county : Alice is Mrs. Barry of Napa ; and Edward is a resident of Williams, Cal. Mrs. Castro's maternal aunt, Mrs. Antonia Rainey, was the wife of the late Andrew Jackson Rainey, who for many years was supervisor of Napa county, and through his efforts were built the

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

mountain roads into Capell and Berryessa valleys, and it is the concensus of opinion that they are the finest mountain roads in the state. Mrs. Rainey resides in Napa with her daughter, Mrs. Reams. Mrs. Castro received her education in the public schools of Los Angeles and in 1874 came to Kern county with her parents.

To the union of Domitilo Castro and his wife were born nine children, as follows: Marguerite, who is a trained nurse in Oakland, Cal .; Domitilo Frank, who is in the oil fields near Fresno; Louis Alfred, who is an oil driller located in Bakersfield; Albert Hamilton, who farms the alfalfa ranch; Andrew Martin, who is an oil driller at Taft; Adlai Stevenson of Coalinga; and Lucy May, Felix Clarence and Amelia Gertrude, at home. Mrs. Castro is a member of the Native Daughters of the Golden West, her husband being affiliated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. They are devout members of the St. Joseph Church of East Bakersfield.

CLARENCE DENVER BENSON .- A native of California, Clarence Denver Bensen was born in San Bernardino, November 1, 1878. His father, 1. 11. Benson, came from Illinois to California when a boy with his parents in 1852, crossing the plains with ox-teams to San Bernardino. In early days he followed freighting on the desert and later mining. In 1896 he came to Randsburg, where he has resided ever since. His wife, Etta Tallmadge, was born in Los Angeles county, the daughter of Frank Leslie Talmadge, a pioneer of Southern California from New England.

Clarence was the second oldest of a family of eight children and received his education in the public schools of San Bernardino. When seventeen he entered the employ of the Santa Fe in his native town and continued with the company until 1898, when he came to Randsburg, engaging in mining with the Yellow Aster and in other camps in Kern and San Bernardino counties. In May, 1906, he removed to Goldfield, Nev., where he mined and was also proprietor of the Merchants hotel.

In 1910 Mr. Benson returned to Randsburg as foreman in the Con- solidated Mines Company. and in 1913 was appointed superintendent of the mine. his experience making him well qualified to fill the important duties of the position.

In Goldfield, Nev., Mr. Benson was married to Miss Grace A. McCann, a native daughter of California and they have two children, Talmadge Edward and Denver William. Mr. Benson's membership with the Native Sons of the Golden West is with Arrowhead Parler No. 110, San Bernardino.

JAMES MONTGOMERY .- Randsburg has many loyal citizens who are generous in their support of movements for the betterment of their community, but none more so than Mr. and Mrs. James Montgomery. Mrs. Montgomery is serving acceptably as postmistress of Randsburg, while he is devoting his time to mining as well as assisting his wife in performing the duties of the office.

James Montgomery was born August 15, 1854, in Portadown, County Armagh, Ireland, where he was educated until sixteen years of age. He then made his way to New York City, where he remained for seventeen years, during which time he engaged in the grocery and tea business. In 1887 he removed to Omaha, Neb., where he was in the commission business. In 1896 he located in Randsburg, Kern county, and has since been engaged in mining. In September, 1896, he discovered and located the W. J. Bryan group of mines and with others he developed and worked them. These mines rank among the high grade ore properties. Aside from these he is also the owner of several other claims and mines.

In Genesee county, N. Y., occurred the marriage of Mr. Montgomery to Miss Josephine Gushurst, a native of Rochester, N. Y., whose education was obtained in the public schools and convent at Rochester. April 12, 1910.

Robinson. Mrs. A. B Robinson

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Mrs. Montgomery was appointed postmistress at Randsburg by President Taft and has served acceptably in that capacity ever since, being aided by Mr. Montgomery; and together they are well and favorably known.

ALONZO B. ROBINSON .- F. D. Robinson was a native of old Vir- ginia, who moved to Missouri, from which state he enlisted in the Mexican war. After serving until the close of the conflict he was mustered ont at Fort Leavenworth in 1848. In the spring of 1849 he came to California, crossing the plains with ox teams. Eager to try his fortunes in the gold mines he went to Eldorado county. Later he removed to Mendocino county and took up ranching, which he followed the remainder of his life. llis marriage united him with Orpha Hackler, a native of Tennessee, who crossed the plains with relatives in 1852. They were married at Diamond Springs, Eldorado county, and of the nine children born to them five are living. Alonzo being the third in order of birth. He was born December 8, 1858, in Ander- son valley, Mendocino county, attending school there until he was about seventeen years of age. Following the custom of many boys of that day he took up work on the home farm for a while, but he was ambitious to do for himself, and at the age of twenty secured employment in the lumber mills, leaving this, however, to engage in sheep shearing, and later again entered the lumber business as shingle sawyer. His experience in handling stock began in 1879, when he bought and sold stock for a short time, two years later, in the summer of 1881, taking a position as tree-feller, which he continued for some years. At the age of twenty-four, on December 6, 1882. Mr. Robinson came to Kern county, which has been the field of his labors ever since, and he began work for his father-in-law. Three years later he homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres on the west side, which is now part of his holdings in this county. In 1888 he went into the cattle business for himself, adding to his property from time to time in order to have a wide range for his stock, until he now owns and controls a large stock range in San Emidio district. His home ranch of one hundred and sixty acres eleven miles southwest of Bakersfield is well improved and under irrigation from Stine canal, and devoted to grain and alfalfa.

On December 2, 1882, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Robinson and Mary J. Rector. Her father was Bartley Franklin Rector, a large sheep owner in the county, who came to California across the plains in 1847 and followed mining. Later. in 1879, he came to Kern county and engaged in the sheep business, which he built up to a most flourishing state. Mrs. Robinson was born in Yountville, Napa county, October 2, 1861, and to her and her husband were born six children. Albert D., of Maricopa, married Lillie Denny, and they have one son. Byron D. ; Minnie M. married W. E. Wood- son, and they have one child, Mary M. : Stella D., Frank E., Archie W. and Dorothy B. are unmarried and living at home with their parents.

Along with his extensive ranching interests, Mr. Robinson has taken an active part in oil development, and owns an interest in several fields in Kern county. Withal, he has been active in politics, serving from 1901 to 1903 as deputy assessor under A. P. Lightner, and later being elected to the office of constable, which together with the office of deputy tax collector he filled for three years, and he has filled the position of trustee of the Paleto school board for sixteen years. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Woodmen of the World.

LEON BIMAT .- While it may be a source of gratification to Mr. Bimat that he cast in his fortunes with those of the great western country, he has never forgotten the land of his birth and the home of his youth. On the con- trary he cherishes a deep, intense devotion for France and particularly for the department of Basses Pyrenees, lying in the shadow of the lofty Pyrenees mountains, near the northern border of Spain. The memories of youth bind him to that peaceful farming country. There his parents, Edward and

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Marie (Mcrisou) Bimat, passed their uneventful but useful lives and there the former earned a livelihood for the family through the tilling of the soil and the raising of stock. The five children survive their parents and three of them have established homes in the United States. The fourth among the five. Leon, was born in the village of Preslion, Basses Pyrenees, November 22, 1859, and began to help on the farm as soon as old enough to work. Thus he learned to be industrious, painstaking and efficient. He can scarcely recall the time when first he decided to migrate to the new world. During July, 1878, he arrived in San Francisco, where he found employment as a gardener.

Coming to Kern county early in 1880 Mr. Bimat entered the employ of a sheepman, in whose interests he took the flock to Los Angeles county and from there to Inyo county, thence returning to Kern county. These various moves were made for the purpose of securing free range for the flock. Since 1881 he has engaged in the sheep business for himself and specializes with Merinos and Shropshires. the former valuable by reason of their splendid fleece, and the latter offering special advantages on account of their dual value of fleece and mutton.

Various interests in both business and residence property in East Bakers- field, where during 1910 he erected a substantial residence on the corner of Kern and Nile streets, bind Mr. Bimat to this place. Here he was married May 14, 1892, to Miss Malvina Rostain, a native of the village of Manse. department of Hautes-Alpes. France. and a daughter of the late Joseph and Marie (Cesmat) Rostain. For years before his death her father had engaged in farming and stock-raising in France. In a family of six children (only three of whom survive), she was third in order of birth and came to the United States during 1891, settling in Bakersfield, Cal. Her only surviving brother. Val Rostain, settled in East Bakersfield, as did also a sister, Mrs. Jeanne Bon- net, while another sister, Marie, Mrs. B. Bimat, made her home on a ranch near Bakersfield until her death in 1911. Since becoming a citizen of the United States Mr. Bimat has voted with the Republican party. In religion he and his wife are earnest members of the St. Joseph Catholic Church. Their family comprises five children, of whom the two eldest. Edward and Felsie, are graduates of the class of 1912 Kern county high school, while the three younger children, Leon Jr .. Pascal and George, are attending the public schools of East Bakersfield.

JAMES H. PENSINGER .- There are to be found in the famous oil fields of Kern county operators who came hither from Canada, workers from the east and foreigners from other lands, but comparatively few of the large number of men identified with the development of the oil industry at this point can claim that they are natives of Kern county and lifelong residents of the same region. Such a statement may be made in regard to James H. Pensinger, formerly superintendent of the Colloma Oil Company on section 31, township 28, range 28, and now foreman of the Traders Oil Company's lease. Throughout all of his life he has been identified with this portion of California and his earliest childhood memories cluster around Kern county. where he was born February 16, 1878, and where he lived as a boy in poverty but in comfort and independence, helping with the maintenance of the family through his energetic labors on the home farm. The father, Jerry Pensinger, had been a gold miner in Nevada and a man inured to the hardships of frontier existence. When he came to Kern county in 1872 settlers were few. towns small and the future outlook discouraging, but with characteristic optimism he secured land and set himself resolutely to the task of supporting his family. As soon as the children were old enough to assist, they became assets of value to the family welfare. Since the death of the father the widowed mother has remained on the home farin of eighty acres situated southwest of Bakersfield. Of her seven children the sixth in order of birth, James H., displayed great

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physical prowess even in early life and his splendid constitution has enabled him to do the work of two men without injury to himself. All through his life he has been a hard worker and in boyhood was earning his own livelihood when other lads of his age were enjoying school advantages. In 1900 he mar- ried Miss Lulu Hunter, by whom he had one child, Bessie.

Upon discontinuing agricultural work in favor of other pursuits Mr. Pensinger finally drifted to the Kern river fields about 1904 and there secured employment with the Provident Oil Company. He was later with C. B. Colby and the Colloma Oil Company, and October 1, 1913, became lease foreman for the Traders Oil Company under Joseph Raney.

C. H. DAWLEY .- Born January 26, 1844, in Ashtabula county, Ohio, when ten years old Mr. Dawley removed with his parents to New York, where in Chautauqua county he was reared to manhood. He learned the carpenter's trade, and later took up well drilling, and it was at Scrubgrass, Venango county, Pa., that he first drilled for oil, beginning as a laborer. For five or six years Mr. Dawley continued this work of drilling, in the meantime becoming familiar with all the methods employed in the work, and then removed to Nebraska, near Lincoln, where he engaged in carpen- tering and building. This was his home for twenty years, but in 1904, learning of the new industry opened up in California, he moved to Kern county, where he procured employment on the well-working gang of the Del Rey lease.

The Del Rey has eleven producing wells, the production being from eight to ten thousand barrels per month, and they employ on an average from five to six men all the time. Under Mr. Dawley's able management it has proved a paying enterprise, and it is largely due to the close attention and well-informed acquaintance which Mr. Dawley has with the conduct of the business.

In 1869, before coming west to Nebraska, Mr. Dawley married Miss Hattie M. Bates, and for many years they made their home on the Del Rey property, where now Mr. Dawley resides alone, his wife having died August 24, 1912. Both of their children died in infancy.

W. W. COLM .- As superintendent of the Sacramento Oil Company and the Acme Development Company. W. W. Colm heads interests which represent the most active industry in this part of the county. He is a native of Butte county, Cal., where he grew up, and attended school at Sacramento, and later entered Bainbridge College, from which he graduated. He has proved himself to be a clever, sagacious manager of the firm he represents. and has brought it to a paying basis by his own efforts. The stockholders of the company reside mostly in Sacramento, and the officers of the Sacramento Oil Co. are, J. L. Gillis, president. Charles Robb, vice-president, D. W. Car- michael, secretary and treasurer, and W. W. Colm, superintendent; of the Acme Development Co., Charles Robb, president, Charles Richardson, vice- president. J. L. Gillis, secretary and treasurer, and W. W. Colm, superin- tendent.

According to experienced oil men, there is no lease in the Kern river field which has been better drilled or better managed or can show better results in general than the twenty acres owned by the Acme Development Co. under the efficient management of Mr. Colm. Drilling on the Acme was begun on April 1, 1907, and eight wells were put down with one string of tools. The deepest of these wells is nine hundred and fifty feet, and the shallowest is nine hundred feet. None of the wells is large, but all are uniform producers. The drilling was completed on October 5, 1907, with no dry holes, no spoiled wells, no poorly finished jobs and no breaks of any kind in a uniform run of clean, successful work. In connection with this record it should be stated that this section (twenty-nine) is probably the easiest and cheapest part of the field to drill, but even considering this fact the

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record of eight good producing wells in six months with one string of tools is one of which any superintendent may well be proud.

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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 75

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