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 91

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 91

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

in that line. Mr. Coombs purchased lots on K and Twenty-eighth streets, the lots running through from K to L streets, and here he built his residence and has his headquarters ; he also owns lots in various parts of Bakersfield.

In 1910 Mr. Coombs built the Colonial Hotel at Nineteenth and R streets, a two-story concrete building, and he also owns other residence prop- erty in the vicinity. He owns several ranches near Lemoore, Kings county, under the Kings river ditch, all of which is farmed under his own supervision and is highly productive. He has a hundred and ten acres at Shafter, on which he has a pumping plant and is raising alfalfa and stock. He is very optimistic over the business outlook of Bakersfield and with Mr. Snively owns the Southern Barber Shop which has just been refurnished and is one of the most elegantly appointed tonsorial parlors in the state. His informa- tion on property values has led him to purchase property in Los Angeles. Hollywood and Naples.

Mr. Coombs married Mrs. Rosalie (Shay) Coombs, who like her hus- band was a native of Maine, having been born in Pittston, and who proved a true helpmeet to him in his every interest. Her death occurred January 1, 1914, mourned by all who knew her. Mr. Coombs embraces the principles of the Republican party in his political views, and fraternally he unites with the Woodmen of the World.

DAVE COFFEE .- The son of Absalon Coffee, a planter of Alabama, Dave Coffee was born October 3, 1853, in Jackson county, that state, and passed the first twelve years on the old home plantation, meanwhile at- tending subscription schools. Going to Texas in 1868, he settled at Jefferson, Marion county, and began an apprenticeship to the trade of car- penter and builder with a construction company engaged in the building of the Texas Pacific Railroad. For some years he remained with the same concern, resigning at the time of his removal to California. During the fall of 1874 he worked at Truckee with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. The summer of 1875 found him in Kern county, where immediately he found employment with H. P. Livermore in the construction of buildings on the property now known as the Greenfield ranch. A year later Haggin & Carr acquired the Livermore interests and he continued as a carpenter with the new owners, who in time were superseded by the Kern County Land Company. As foreman of carpenters he had charge of putting in the head- gates and weirs in the river reservoirs and canals, including Beardsley, Kern Island, Calloway, James, Buena Vista, Pioneer, Stine, East Side, etc., and when the task of construction was completed he remained as superintendent of the entire system in all canal carpentering, as well as all building con- struction for the company.

During the long years of his heavy responsibilities with the Kern County Land Company as an employe on its canal system Mr. Coffee re- mained undisturbed by any idea of establishing a home of his own until finally he succumbed to the charms of a most estimable woman, Mrs. Mary (Goff) Magoon, whom he married in Hanford and who lends comfort to his home at No. 1825 Orange street. Bakersfield, aiding him in dispensing its hospitalities to his many friends. She was born in Jaffrey, N. H., the daughter of Thomas and Annie (Magcon) Goff, natives of New Hampshire and Vermont, respectively. Her ancestors, on both maternal and paternal sides, served in the Colonial and Revolutionary wars, and settled in Jaffrey, N. H., after the war. By her former marriage she has two children, Ruth Esther and Dorris A. Formerly Mr. Coffee owned property on Twentieth and G streets and he has held other equities at different times. A year after coming to Kern county he was initiated into the Bakersfield Lodge of Odd Fellows, with which he has been continuously connected since 1876 and to whose philanthropies he has been a generous contributor. In addition both

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

he and his wife are identified with the Order of Rebekahs. Mrs. Coffee has always been interested in religion and in advancing its influence for moral uplift, and she holds membership with the First M. E. Church in Bakersfield.

CHARLES WESLEY ROWLEE .- Grandfather James Rowlee left the Fatherland in early youth and settled in New York state. The son of this immigrant was LaFayette Rowlee, a native of the Empire state and a wagon-maker by trade. It was in 1857 that he set out from Tioga county for the west, first settling in Rockford, Winnebago county, Ill. He made his home there on land which he had purchased from the government, and later located in Rock Grove City, Floyd county, Iowa. After coming to the middle west, farming had formed his chief occupation, first in Illinois and then in lowa, and it was while making his home in Linn county in the latter state that he passed away at the comparatively early age of forty- nine years. In maidenhood his wife was Mary Ring, a native of Vermont and the descendant of old New England ancestors, her father, Levi Ring, being a participant in the war of 1812. Though born in Vermont, she was reared chiefly in Tioga county, N. Y., where in young womanhood she followed teaching. She is now living in Pasadena, Cal., at the venerable age of ninety-two years. In her youth there were neither matches nor stoves, and fires had to be started with flint or from the banking of coals. The parental family comprised eight children, as follows: Charles W .; Martha, now Mrs. Deeble of San Francisco; Eugene, who resides near Sacramento ; Emma, now Mrs. John C. Martin of Marion, Iowa; Jessie, Mrs. Smith of Sacramento; Mariette, who lives in Pasadena; Minnie, who died in Oakdale, Cal .; and William, who resides in Oregon.

Charles Wesley Rowlee was born in Pennsylvania, just over the New York state line, near Owego, Tioga county. He was a lad of nine years when the immigration westward took the family to Illinois. He attended the public schools in that state and completed his education in the Upper Iowa University at Fayette. When nineteen years old he began teaching in Linn, that state, and so successfully did he prosecute the duties of that work that he continued at it for seven years, during which time he was married in Cedar Rapids December 24, 1869, to Miss Martha A. Martin. She was a native of Marion, Linn county, Iowa, daughter of John T. Martin, who was born in Westchester. Pa. In 1876 Mr. and Mrs. Rowlee came to Stockton, Cal., and he soon became engaged in grain farm- ing near Lockeford, but in 1884 they decided to come to Kern county, and here they saw the first artesian well bored in the county, the operation taking place on the Hoskin's place near Semi-Tropic, section 24, town- ship 27, range 23. Locating on the Goose Lake Channel, he pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres, sunk an artesian well to the depth of five hundred and sixty feet which flows two hundred and sixty-six miners' inches, and also constructed a reservoir for irrigating his crops. He has since added to his tract and now has six hundred acres in one body, two hundred and sixty acres of this devoted to growing alfalfa, the remainder being used for grazing. Ile also engaged in cattle-raising, establishing as his brand the half circle over a V, and raised many valuable horses as well. He is still engaged in general farming and stock-raising. In 1913 he moved into Bakersfield, having built a beautiful residence on Chester Lane, and he is now enjoying the fruits of his hard labors, and a well-earned rest. Mr. and Mrs. Rowlee were the parents of six children: Nellie May. who married George Tilton, passed away in Bakersfield. Dollie, a graduate of the San Diego Normal class of 1902, has been engaged in educational work. being principal of the Standard district school; she is the wife of George E. Taylor. a merchant in Bakersfield. Clifton died in infancy. Fannie C .. also

OwNowle

Mrs @ A Rowle

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

a graduate of the San Diego Normal class of 1902, followed teaching, and is now the wife of William Tracy, of Button Willow. Gilbert F. is a farmer on Goose Lake Channel. Hazel Irene is a manufacturer of home- grown ostrich plumes from the Tracy Ostrich farm. Mr. Rowlee is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias. In politics he is a Socialist and adheres closely to principles pertaining to the party.

The heaviest disaster which has befallen Mr. Rowlee in his labors as a farmer was the total loss of his crops in 1906 through the flooding of the land, when the Kern river broke through and came down the Goose Lake channel. Like all practical and sensible farmers, he at once began to formulate plans to prevent the recurrence of such a disaster .and by the end of the year 1908 he had erected a substantial levee, which in the future will protect the home place from disastrous floods. As a pioneer and progres- sive farmer, he is held in the highest respect by acquaintances. His thrift has been of the highest value as an example to other agriculturists of the community. Every portion of his large acreage is kept in first-class con- dition and is made a source of revenue to this far-sighted, capable and resourceful farmer. Mrs. Rowlee's father was a cousin of Thaddeus Stevens, and her great-grandfather Stevens was the author of Steven's Arithmetic. John T. Martin migrated from Pennsylvania to Indiana, whence he joined the early settlers of Linn county, Iowa. He was an architect and builder. Later he removed to Anderson county, Kans., and there passed away. His wife, who before her marriage was Miss Lydia T. Moore, was born in Whitewater, Ind., a daughter of David Moore of an old Quaker family. She died in Marion, Iowa, in 1911, when she was eighty-nine years of age. She always remained a member of the Society of Friends in which she was reared. Four of their children grew to maturity: D. W. Martin resides in Buckley, Wash. ; John C. Martin passed away in Marion, Iowa ; Martha A. became Mrs. Rowlee ; and Benjamin L. Martin is an apple-grower in Chelan, Wash. The Martin family are originally from England, the first settler in America locating at Philadelphia, soon after the settlement by William Penn, the family being members of the Society of Friends.

DAVID CARTER .- The adventures that filled the early years of David Carter would have been possible at no period of our national history save that of evolution and material upbuilding. His first experience on the vast unsettled plains came when he was scarcely thirteen years of age. at which time. in 1852, he accompanied his parents as far west as Salt Lake City. Prior to that journey he had lived in Illinois, where his birth had occurred in Adams county in 1839. In removing to the west the family had hoped to enjoy greater advantages in the cultivation of land than the state of Illinois then afforded. The lad, being quick to learn, soon acquired an excellent knowledge of the Indian language and was on terms of the greatest friend- liness with such of the original Americans as remained on the plains and in the mountain reservations. For this reason he encountered no dangers of Indian attacks when he engaged in teaming and hauling all through the west. On one occasion in 1857, while freighting, he had overtaken a large train of emigrants bound for California. While camping with them a band of savages approached. Mr. Carter overheard them plotting in their own language to massacre every member of the expedition. Finally one Indian who knew him came up to him and entered into conversation. In behalf of the emigrants he made an urgent appeal to spare their lives, promising for them that they would start early in the morning and proceed without delay toward their destination and also promising that they would molest no member of the Indian race whom they might chance to meet. Through the intervention of

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

this Indian chief who knew him, he was able to save the lives of the entire group of emigrants. So terrified were they by their narrow escape that they forced him to accompany them for many days as guide and protector.

When twenty years of age Mr. Carter came to California in 1859 and settled at San Bernardino, where he resumed teaming, the occupation to which throughout all of his life he has given his time and attention. Coming to Kern county in 1865 and selecting land on Kern Island, he began to till the soil. On that place he built a willow shanty, to which in 1866 he brought his bride, who was Miss Sarah Ann Carter, a native of Spencer county, Ind., and a friend of his boyhood. During 1852 she had crossed the plains with her parents and had settled in Salt Lake City, whence in 1859 she had accom- panied them to San Bernardino county, Cal., where she remained until her marriage. Two daughters blessed their union. Arminda, Mrs. C. C. Blanch, died in Bakersfield, leaving three children, William, May, Mrs. W. E. Platt, of Taft, and Minnie. William and Minnie reside with Mr. and Mrs. Carter and are a source of pride and affectionate joy to their grandparents. The other daughter, Myrtle, is the wife of Otto P. Lindgren, of Bakersfield, and they have one child, Otto Frederick. After he had spent a short time on the farm and had then engaged in teaming at Kernville for two years, David Carter removed to Los Angeles and gave his attention to hauling and teaming in that city. Returning to Bakersfield in 1889, he since has kept a number of teams and has earned a comfortable livelihood from hauling, freighting and teaming. Throughout all of his adult existence he has supported the Demo- cratic party. Fraternally he has been connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen for many years. As he reviews the transformation wrought in Kern county since first he came to this region in 1865, it is difficult to realize how much has been accomplished in less than one-half century. Tall buildings stand where once he hunted the wild hogs on the streets of Bakersfield. An expert marksman, he often shot deer and elk in these then unpopulated regions and always there was an abundance of wild game in the family larder. The wealth that has been taken out of the earth by means of the oil wells was then undreamed of, except by a few enthusiasts regarded by others as visionary.

WARREN RODGERS .- The late city clerk and present postmaster of McKittrick. a pioneer of 1884 in Pasadena and of 1899 in his present locality, claims Iowa as his native commonwealth and was born at Sigourney, Keokuk county, September 16, 1870, being a son of Samuel and Ellen (Payton) Rodgers, natives respectively of Ireland and Illinois. Ancient Celtic blood flows in the veins of the Rodgers representatives in the new world. Accom- panying his parents to the eastern part of Ohio from his native land. Samuel Rodgers grew to manhood in the Buckeye state, whence he settled in Iowa during the pioneer period of agricultural development in Keokuk county. On a farm near Sigourney, he and his wife, who was descended from an old German family, labored with the most painstaking industry in order to care for their children and provide a livelihood for the large family. Eventually the interests in Towa were sold and removal was made to California. During April of 1884 a place was bought in the old Indiana colony (now Pasadena) on Cypress avenue, and there he continued to make his home until he passed out of the earth life. Since then his widow has remained at the homestead in Pasadena. Of their ten children seven are still living. Warren, who was less than fourteen at the time of the removal to the west, completed the grammar-school studies in Pasadena, after which he began to earn his live- lihood by work in a nursery. Later he learned the trade of a butcher and upon coming to the present site of MeKittrick in the spring of 1899 it was with the intention of opening a meat market in this oil field, where drilling had only recently begun. However, during the first six months here he

Waren Rodgers

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

engaged on a surveying corps, and then, in the spring of 1900, put into effect his plans for opening the first meat market of the place. While continuing in the business for some years, before the railroad had been built, he ran a meat wagon into Taft.

Associated with another gentleman in 1912 Mr. Rodgers organized the McKittrick Brick Company, of which he has acted as manager and which is engaged in the handling of lime, cement, fire clay and explosives. The need of such an enterprise was manifest from the first and the company has been fortunate in building up an excellent trade in the line of their specialties. Ever since coming to this county Mr. Rodgers has been a leader in Demo- cratic party affairs and at this writing he serves as a member of the county central committee. Deeply interested in the advancement of McKittrick, he has contributed to local enterprises by co-operation, influence and practical assistance. The appointment as the first city clerk of McKittrick came to him in 1911 and during the spring of the following year he was elected to the office without any opposition. Besides filling the position he served as ex- officio city assessor. August 19, 1913, he was appointed postmaster at Mc- Kittrick, and it is safe to say that the office will have a very first-class service.

While making Pasadena his home Mr. Rodgers married in that city Miss Bonnie M. Jones, a native of Marshalltown, Iowa. In that city also he took an active part in fraternal affairs. On the organization of Pasadena Camp No. 253, Woodmen of the World, he became a charter member, and later he entered Bakersfield Lodge No. 266, B. P. O. E., as an active member, besides which he is an influential member of the McKittrick Tribe, I. O. R. M., in which he has been honored with the office of sachem.

NICHOLAS JAMES WILLIAMS .- A successful cattle man of Walk- er's Basin, Mr. Williams is a native of Kern county, born at Havilah, May 25, 1866, and was one of the first white children in the county. His father, Thomas Williams, was born in Cornwall, England, where he was married to Mary Andrews. Coming to California around the Horn in a sailing vessel, he arrived in San Francisco in 1853. Following mining in various camps, he drifted into Kern county in 1855, where with his brother he built a mill at Keyesville, which they ran until the freshet of 1862 carried it away. He then began farming in Walker's Basin, continuing there until his death in 1906 at the age of eighty- two years. His wife died in 1909, aged eighty-five years.

The only child of his parents, Nicholas James Williams spent his child- hood on the ranch in Walker's Basin, receiving his education in the public schools. In 1873 his father gave him a line-back heifer calf, which was his beginning in the cattle business. While continuing to help his father, he watched his own herd, which was continually growing larger. From the age of eleven he rode the range and he has been interested in cattle raising ever since, his brand being the well-known Mule Shoe L. Many years ago he purchased the Joe Welch homestead in Walker's Basin which has since been his residence and headquarters. He also owns three other ranches in Walker's Basin, one of which, adjoining his father's old place, he home- steaded. The latter has seven hot springs on one flat, not only mineral water, but suitable for irrigating his lands, as he built reservoirs for that purpose. For his summer range he owns a stock ranch at the foot of Piute Mountain, à valuable acquisition to his stock business. His investments are not alone confined to Kern county, for he owns four hundred and eighty acres of apple iand in Mariposa county, which is rapidly growing into value.

Mr. Williams was first married in Kernville to Miss Alice Yates, who was born in Kernville, the daughter of William and Anna Yates, pioneers of the county. Mrs. Alice Williams died in 1899, leaving four children : Mary Alice, who is a graduate of the Stockton Normal and who is engaged in

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teaching ; Virginia .A., who is a graduate of the Crocker Street Hospital, Los Angeles, and is now a nurse ; Lyman E., and Beatrix, who are remaining at home. At Havilah in 1901 Mr. Williams was married a second time, being united with Mrs. May (Palmer) McClure, who was born in Merced, Cal Her father, Frank C. Palmer, was for many years prior to his death super- visor of Mariposa county. Mrs. Williams was a graudate of the Mariposa schools. Her first marriage was to George McClure, who died in Mariposa county, and of the union there was one child, Georgia, a graduate of the Dinuba high school, and now a teacher. Of the present union there are five children : Elva, Helen, Clara, Violet and Hazel. Mr. Williams has always been a Democrat. For many years he has been clerk of the Board of Trus- tees of the Walker's Basin school district, and is greatly interested in main- taining a high standard for the district schools. He is also one of the state fire wardens in the Kern National Forest Reserve.

ALBERT M. TAYLOR .- The manager of the Fellows branch of the Associated Supply Company has been a resident of California since the latter part of 1906 and in various capacities, each rising above its predecessor in point of importance, he has been connected with the same firm since August of 1908, having first been retained as clerk in different departments, then promoted to be assistant storekeeper, and finally, in November, 1912, trans- ferred to the Fellows branch as manager, which responsible position he fills with efficiency. Although a native of Iowa, born near Brandon, Greene County, May 17, 1880, but little of his life has been passed in that state, for he was only four years of age when the family removed to Missouri and settled in Gentry County. His parents, Levi W. and Margaret B. (Albert) Taylor, were natives of Ohio. At the time of the discovery of gold in Cali- fornia the father, who was then a young man without domestic ties, crossed the plains with a party of emigrants and tried his luck in the gold fields without any great success. Upon returning east of the mountains he settled in Iowa and took up farm pursuits. During 1884 he removed to Missouri and eventually became a resident of Oklahoma, where he died at Anadarko. Later his widow came to California, where she now makes her home in Bakersfield.

In a family of six children that grew to maturity and are now all living. Albert M. Taylor was the fourth child. After he had finished the grammar grade in Gentry County, Mo., he took up the study of telegraphy and soon became an assistant on the Q system, rising to be an operator and agent on that line. From Missouri he went to Colorado. At the time of the Boxer rebellion in China he enlisted in the regular army. In June of 1900 his name was enrolled as a private in Company K, Eighth United States Infantry. With his command he set sail from San Francisco on the 31st of August and proceeded across the ocean on a transport. The original destination was Nagasaki, Japan, but later orders changed the course of the vessels to Manila where in December of the same year he was transferred to the signal corps. After having served on different parts of the various islands of the Philippines and particularly on the Negros, Cebu and Panay islands, where his skill as an operator proved of value to the command. he was honorably discharged in March, 1903, by special order of William H. Taft, then secretary of war. Next he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the telegraphic division under the jurisdiction of the Philippine constabulary and from that rank he rose to be first lieutenant. During the fall of 1905 the telegraphic division was removed from constabulary jurisdiction and placed under the postoffice department, Mr. Taylor thereupon being appointed a district post- office inspector. Upon his resignation from that position in November, 1906, he returned to San Francisco and from there went south to Long Beach. where for two years he served as a deputy in the office of the city assessor. In that city he married Miss Bessie B. Boettcher, who was born in South

albert MTaylor

family

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HISTORY OF KERN COUNTY

Dakota and by whom he has two sons, Albert M., Jr., and Eugene E. Since leaving Long Beach he has been connected with the Associated Supply Com- pany, with whose officials he has a high standing for integrity, intelligence and business acumen. Since his return from the Philippines he has held mem- bership with the Spanish-American War Veterans, and during the period of his residence in Long Beach he was a prominent member of Company L, Seventh Regiment, California National Guard.

ROGER WHELAN .- The country of Ireland has presented to the United States some of its ablest citizens who have figured prominently in both political and commercial fields, as well as in all the fields of labor found in this country requiring tact. keen perceptive ability and industry. Roger Whelan is one of her sons who came to the United States in 1862 to build up his fortune and make it his home. Settling first in the state of Connecticut, he engaged in the general work of farming, which he followed for some years, in 1870 coming to California, which had attracted him by its exceptional crops and unusually fine climate.

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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 91

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