History of Orange County, California : with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its earliest growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 30

Author: Armor, Samuel, 1843-; Pleasants, J. E., Mrs
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1700

USA > California > Orange County > History of Orange County, California : with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its earliest growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 30

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Minerva J. Danner was educated in the public schools of Merced County, par- ticularly in the district of Woody; and there she was married on May 10, 1876, to Thomas M. Flippen, a native of Virginia, who came to California when seventeen, accompanying his father, Archer Flippen. The latter had had a tobacco factory and three plantations in Virginia, all of which were destroyed by the Civil War; but he recuperated somewhat in taking up stock raising in California, near Woody. M1. Flippen also engaged in the sheep raising business in Fresno County, then began raising stock in Linns Valley after his marriage; but in February, 1891, he traded his ranch for land in Orange County. The first ranch that he owned here was located near Olive, and there he went in for general farming. He set out walnuts, apricots and peaches, and three years later made a trade for the present Flippen place of twenty acres on East Chapman Avenne. He improved it in many ways, taking out the old trees and setting out Valencia oranges; and as he developed the valuable prop- erty, he became an active member of the Santiago Orange Growers Association, in which he also became a director. His lamented death, on May 19, 1913, at the age of sixty-two years, cut short a very useful career, of benefit to himself as well as to others. He was a director in the First National Bank of Orange, and a stockholder in the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Santa Ana. He was also a director in the

C. D. Ball

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Orange County Mutual Farmers Insurance Company. He was made a Mason in the Bakersfield Lodge during the eighties.

Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Flippen. Marion S. is an orange grower of this vicinity, as are also Wade H. and. Lucian, while Jeffie is in the California Art Craft School at Berkeley, and Virginia, the youngest, is a student at Stanford. Florence, next to the youngest, is a graduate of Occidental College, and the wife of Donald Smiley of El Modena. Since Mr. Flippen's death, Mrs. Flippen has continued to run the ranch and to look after the business, assisted by her children. She is a member of the Presbyterian Church and participates actively in the work of the several ladies' societies affiliated with that excellent congregational organization.

CHARLES DEXTER BALL, M.D .- Closely identified with Santa Ana and Orange County since 1887, Charles Dexter Ball, M.D., is recognized as one of its suc- cessful physicians as well as one of the stanch upbuilders of Santa Ana. He comes from English forbears, and his lineage is traced back to Wiltshire, England, and it was from that place that six Ball brothers came to America in 1635 on the ship Planter. Benjamin Ball, a grandson of one of these brothers, settled in Framingham, Mass., in 1703. His grandson, Dr. Silas Ball, was a surgeon in the American Army during the Revolutionary War.

Dr. C. D. Ball's father was Seth F. Ball, grandson of the Revolutionary surgeon, and he was born in Leverett, Mass., in 1822, and died in Santa Ana in 1900. He was twice married, his first wife being Arvilla Field, who died in 1884, and he was later married to Mary E. Rogers, who survives him. Two children were born of his first marriage, Charles Dexter Ball of this review, and a daughter who died in infancy. The mother was a descendant of Zachariah Field, one of the grantees of the state of Connecticut, and of Benjamin Waite, preacher, guide and Indian fighter, who was killed in the Deerfield massacre in 1704. The French and Indian wars of New England presented no more daring and picturesque character than Benjamin Waite. Seth F. Ball came to California in 1854 and remained for four years, after which he removed to Canada. He resided there until 1894, and then returned to California and settled in Santa Ana, where his last years were spent.

Charles Dexter Ball was born in Stanstead, Quebec, October 5, 1859. He re- ceived his literary education at Stanstead Academy and the Wesleyan College of Stan- stead; later he studied medicine at Bishops College in Montreal, completing his course and receiving his degree of M.D. in 1884. He began the practice of his profession in his native city, but it became necessary for him to seek a milder climate, and he accord- ingly came to Southern California and settled in Santa Ana in September, 1887. This was before Orange County had been formed, and the territory was a part of Los Angeles County, and ever since that date he has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession here, and is now the second oldest practitioner in point of residence in Santa Ana. In 1912 Dr. Ball received the ad eundem degree from McGill Univer- sity, Canada. He has been closely identified with the movements that have made Orange County one of the best-known counties in the State, if not in the United States.

Dr. Ball assisted in organizing the Orange County Medical Association in 1889, and later served as its president; he was also a charter member of the Southern California Medical Society, organized in 1888, and has filled the office of president; he also holds membership in the American Medical Association. He has seen Santa Ana grow from a small village into one of the leading small cities of the state, and has been owner of valuable realty holdings from time to time.

In 1883 Dr. Ball married Lizzie S. Bates, and she died in August, 1888. On October 24 of the following year, in San Leandro, Cal., he married Emma L. Rankin, born in Richmond, Canada, on June 3, 1861, a daughter of Zera Rankin, of Scotch descent. and a prominent business man of Richmond. Mrs. Ball's mother died when she was a babe of two months. In 1886 she came to California, and in 1888 she was graduated from the Oakland high school. Of this happy marriage four children have been born: Charles F. Ball, now first assistant chief engineer of the Holt Manufac- turing Company at Peoria, Ill. He married on April 26, . 1917, Miss Margaret G. Weeks. and they have a daughter, Margaret Elizabeth, born October 2. 1918: Dexter R. Ball is interning at the University Hospital in San Francisco; John D. Ball is a senior in the medical department of the University of California at San Francisco. He married Isabel Jayne on June 28. 1919: and Emma Arvilla Ball makes her home with her parents in Santa Ana. All of the children are graduates of the University of California, at Berkeley.

Dr. Ball has always been a Republican and has taken an interesting part in political affairs of the state and nation, heing elected a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Chicago in 1920 by a large majority. He has been president of the Abstract and Title Guaranty Company for thirty-five years, is a director of the

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First National Bank of Santa Ana; president of the Santa Ana library board since 1895; president of the Orange County Historical Society; a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, California Chapter; prominent in the Odd Fellows and Masons, holding membership in the various bodies of the latter in Santa Ana, and the Shrine in Los Angeles. He served in Los Angeles throughout the entire war as the medical member and referee of the Southern California District Exemp- tion Board No. 1, giving of his best efforts to help win the war. He and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Public spirited and progressive, Dr. Ball has always been a leader in all enter- prises for the upbuilding of Santa Ana and has done all that was possible to advance the social and moral welfare of its citizens. He has built up an extensive practice and is well known in the medical circles of the entire state as an able and high-minded practitioner and citizen.

CHARLES PARKMAN TAFT .- The ninth generation of the Taft family in America is represented by Charles Parkman Taft, of Orange County, Cal., and he was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, July 11. 1856. His father, Henry Cheney Taft, was a native of Uxbridge, Mass., and of Scotch descent, who married Hannah Sophia Parkman of Westboro, Mass. She represented the fifth generation of the Parkman family in America and was of English extraction. The various members of the Taft and Parkman families in this country have been prominently identified with the making of American history as statesmen, scientists and scholars, many of them attaining to places of prominence in the various localities in which they have lived and labored.

Charles P. Taft 'is a thorough American, is a graduate from Racine College, Racine, Wis., class of '77, and after leaving college he taught school for two and one- half years, then came to California and spent a year looking about the state for a desirable place of residence. He then settled in Los Angeles County with his parents, on the ranch where he now lives, and has participated in the wonderful development of what is now Orange County. Here he has twenty-three acres of land that he has developed from its primitive condition, and is carrying on experimental work in the propagation of semi-tropical fruits, meeting with very good results in his labors as thus far developed. He has done some valuable work in originating new varieties of loquats, avocados and feijoas, demonstrating that these varieties can be grown suc- cessfully as a commercial proposition. He considers his experiments are still in their infancy and is still deeply engrossed in his experimental work. The leader in his list is the well-known variety of the "Taft Avocado," which has proven to be a commercial success, and is being widely planted throughout Southern California.

The numerous varieties of the loquat that he has perfected are listed under the names of the Premier, the Early Red, which is ready for market in February and continues until the middle of June; the Champagne, the best of all; the Advance, and the Tanaka, of Japanese origin, are the strains he has improved.

Mr. Taft was united in marriage on July 17, 1888, with Miss Jennie McMullan, of Oakland, and she has shared with her husband the esteem of all those who have the pleasure of knowing them. Of an unassuming nature, Mr. Taft has carried on his experimental work quietly at his ranch. Though engrossed with his labors he has never failed to assist all worthy movements for the building up of his adopted county by giving of his time and means to those ends.

ISAAC R. WILLIAMS .- As one who contributed generously to the development of Orange County, Isaac R. Williams was well-known and universally honored as one of its pioneer settlers, and his passing away, after a brief and sudden illness, on March 23, 1906, removed from the community one of its stanchest citizens, and one who had furthered every good cause during his long years of residence here.

Pennsylvania was Mr. Williams' native state, and there he was born on June 20, 1854, in Schuylkill County. His parents were Daniel and Jane (Rosser) Williams, both natives of Wales, who came to this country with their families at an early date and settled in Pennsylvania. Daniel Williams made the long journey to California in 1856, coming via the Isthmus of Panama, and after spending some time in San Francisco he engaged in gold mining in Nevada County. In 1858 his family joined him, and in 1869 they removed to what is now Orange County, where he settled on a ranch, and there made his home until his death in 1889, Mrs. Williams passing away the following year.

As he was but four years old when the family came to California, and but fifteen when they came to Orange County, Isaac R. Williams had but little recollection of any other state. At the time he came here the county was but sparsely settled and ranching was yet in its infancy, and it was Mr. Williams' privilege not only to see

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the wonderful development of the ensuing years, but to take an important part in bringing these changes about. He early acquired a thorough knowledge of farming, and also was interested in stock raising. His first purchase was a tract of twenty acres at Buena Park, and for some time he was successfully engaged in dairying there. He increased his holdings from time to time in this district, and in after years devoted quite a large acreage to raising sugar beets, also raising cabbage and hay in large quantities, and he continued actively on his ranch until a short time before his demise. While Mr. Williams was a leading worker in the Republican party, he was in no sense a seeker for political preferment, but as a recognition of his capability he was four times appointed road overseer of his district, an office that he filled with much credit to himself and to the satisfaction of all.

In 1874 Mr. Williams was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Hunter, whose parents were John and Mary (Downing) Hunter, and they were for a number of years residents of Canada. Mr. Hunter was the postmaster and the proprietor of a general merchandise store at Bobcaygeon, and was also interested in the milling business there. Mrs. Williams' family were of Scotch and Irish descent, and many of her near relatives were prominent in the professions of law and medicine, her own father being a highly educated men. Mrs. Williams, who was the eldest of a family of four children, came to Orange County in 1871, where her father was engaged in ranching near Fullerton until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Williams were the parents of three children: Annie Jane is the widow of William Goldie, and they were the parents of two children-Mrs. Clark of Fullerton, and Margaret of Buena Park; John Walter married Miss Viola West of Fullerton and they have two children- George and Velma. He acts as manager for his mother's ranch and resides in a com- fortable home on the property. He is popular in the ranks of the Fraternal Brother- hood and is one of the enterprising farmers of the Buena Park district, as is his brother, Daniel R., who assists him in the management of the place. The latter mar- ried Miss Grace Lucas, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Lucas, and they are the parents of a son, Daniel R., Jr. They are planting a considerable acreage of the estate to citrus fruit, adding largely to its future value in this way, and besides the ninety-two acres of the home place they rent land in the vicinity, and thus carry on their ranching operations on a large scale.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE HELMS .- An old resident of Orange County whose life has been fraught with interesting events is Napoleon Bonaparte Helms, who was born in Missouri on April 15, 1844, the son of Huston and Nancy Helms, natives respectively of Indiana and Missouri. A pair of twins was granted these worthy parents, and our subject was one, his brother, Lafayette, who died in May, 1919, being the other.

While yet a young man, Napoleon was to be found in Texas following the enter- prise, in which so many young men of that day engaged, of stock raising. The Far West, however, soon proved more alluring to him; and when the opportunity was offered him to join a company of some fifty persons then being organized in Texas, each with the same ambition, namely, to reach California and the Land of Gold, he did so, and started on the venturesome trip. They trusted in the courage of their hearts and the strength of their arms, and believed that they would reach the desired-for haven, and perhaps that was why little out of the ordinary occurred on their journey of four months by ox-team, until they reached San Bernardino in November. 1859. There Mr. Helms made his home, working at various pursuits, and taking up farming by way of preference when he could.

In 1867 Mr. Helms returned to Texas and with two uncles bought a herd of 1,800 steers to drive to California on speculation. Cattle at that time cost about five to eight dollars a head, and it was predicted that the Medlin Train, so-called because of the name of the leader, would realize a handsome profit on the deal. Everything went well until they got ahout 120 miles from El Paso, in the Guadalupe Mountains, when they were attacked by the Indians; and while they were overpowered to some extent, they lost only their cattle and all their horses. There were only sixteen men against eighty Indians, and they fought them two days. The ox-teams and their lives were saved by hard fighting, and in October, 1868, they reached California.

At San Bernardino, in 1869, Mr. Helms married Miss Elizabeth Long, one of the attractive ladies then in this western country, and three children were born to them: William L., Isabelle T., wife of William Prichard, of Laguna, and Rosie Jane, wife of Joseph Glines, of Oakdale. Six years later, in 1875, Mr. Helms came to Los Angeles, now Orange County, and located at Santa Ana, at that time a very small town with only one store for the accommodation of the few pioneers; and here, for twenty-nine years, he followed well drilling. Mrs. Helms passed away in October, 1914, at the age of sixty-five, beloved hy all who knew her.

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Now Mr. Helms owns a trim little ranch of five acres, highly cultivated and maintained in a manner such as would do anyone credit, upon which he conducts general farming and where he is visited by his many friends; and there, too, he discusses national politics, with the enthusiastic bias of a Jeffersonian Democrat, but also as an American citizen who will always put the welfare of his community ahead of party triumphs, and who, therefore, never permits partisanship to affect him in his attitude toward strictly local measures and movements.

JOSIAH C. JOPLIN .- Among the men who have built up a reputation that is worthy of emulation and who have had the best interests of Orange County at heart is Josiah C. Joplin. He was born near Liberty, what is now Bedford City, Bedford County, Va., a son of James W. and Emily (Booth) Joplin, both natives of that state. The father, who was of Scotch extraction and a farmer by occupation, was born Novem- ber 14, 1807. and died in Kentucky in 1900 at the venerable age of ninety-three. The years between these dates were filled with hard toil and the endurance of trials that are incident to life in a frontier country. The family was first represented in the United States by Rafe Jopling who, with two brothers, James and Thomas Jopling, emigrated from Scotland in the eighteenth century and settled in Virginia. Rafe Jopling espoused the cause of his adopted country and sacrificed his life in the Revolutionary War. James Jopling, the paternal grandfather of Josiah C., was a nephew of this soldier and a planter in Virginia. The family originally spelled their name with the final g, one of the family, Dr. Josiah, for whom the subject of this review was named, being the first to use the present spelling, dropping the g. James W. Joplin was united in marriage in Virginia with Emily Booth, who was born there on June 4. 1816, and died in the same state August 2, 1869. Nine children were born to them: Thomas M., James Benjamin, Jesse, William, Josiah C., Ferdinand, Mrs. Betty Martin, Otho and Charles. The latter was accidentally drowned at Memphis, Tenn.

Born in Bedford County, in the Old Dominion State, September 15, 1844, Josiah C. Joplin was reared on a farm and received the training accorded to children in the pioneer days. However, he had some educational advantages, though limited, in the private schools of that vicinity. He always improved such opportunities as were pre- sented to him and by careful and extensive reading became a well informed man. Six of the Joplin brothers served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, Josiah C. enlisting in March, 1862, in Company A, Second Virginia Cavalry. They were first in Colonel Ashby's command, in Stonewall Jackson's Valley campaign, until Colonel Ashby was killed at Port Republic. After arriving at Richmond, his regiment became a part of the First Brigade, under Gen. J. E. B. Stewart, and was in the engagement at Meadow Bridge, Va., when General Stewart was killed. He served under Generals Beauregard and Robert E. Lee, participating in the battles of Antietam, Gettysburg, Richmond, and the Wilderness and others of equal importance. During his service he was slightly wounded in three different battles.

After the war was over Mr. Joplin returned to Franklin County, Va., where the family had moved during hostilities. He remained there but a short time and then went to Mississippi and Arkansas, spending three years in these states. He eventually returned to Virginia, and spent three years there in agricultural pursuits. While there he was united in marriage with Rebecca C. Boyd, a native of Virginia, born June 18, 1845, a daughter of Andrew Boyd. Her uncle, Hon. W. W. Boyd, was a member of Congress when Virginia seceded and he withdrew and joined the Confederacy and be- came a member of the Confederate Senate. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Joplin: Andrew Boyd, John Booth, James A., William P., Joe and Otho, de- ceased. Four of the boys are located in this county, and James A. is at Parker, Arizona.

In 1876 Mr. Joplin decided to remove his family to California and it was here that he found the land of "golden opportunity." for he found health and an opportunity to rear his children under a wider scope than he had found in the eastern country. He came direct to the present limits of Orange County, but then Los Angeles County, and has made this his home ever since. At the time of his arrival it was but sparsely populated and the thriving cities and towns of the present were but in their infancy. He located a 160-acre homestead in Belle Canyon, residing there seventeen years as a possessory claim before it was surveyed so he could file his homestead claim. He also purchased 320 acres from two settlers adjoining him and 286 acres from the South- ern Pacific Railroad, and this he put under cultivation, engaging principally in stock raising and bee culture.

It can be truthfully said that no man has been more interested in the development of the county than Mr. Joplin, and through participation in every progressive move- ment he became well acquainted with every well-known citizen within its boundaries. He has willingly given of his time and means to promote the welfare of the entire county, and no man has ever been more loyal to its citizens, for he has always guarded

Je Joplin

Rebecca C. Joplin

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well every trust reposed in him. One of the most important projects fostered by Mr. Joplin and which did much to advance the interests of the county was his connection with the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893. He personally collected an exhibit of the products of this county and his management of the exhibit there won for him much praise. So successful was he in this undertaking that he was chosen to superintend the exhibit of the county at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis, Mo. Mr. Wiggins, who was the superintendent of exhibits from the seven southern counties of California, gives him credit for being the first to make a success of chemically processing fruits for exhibits. Mrs. Joplin prepared a special exhibit of domestic canned fruit, for which she received a medal and diploma at the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago.

Politically, Mr. Joplin has always adhered to the principles of the Democratic party, and although Orange County usually has been strongly Republican, he has served several consecutive terms as county treasurer. He was first elected in 1898. from January 1, 1899 to January 1, 1903, then he was again elected county treasurer in 1906 and has been reelected every four years, or in 1910, 1914 and 1918. The last two times he was elected at the primaries. When requests were made through the legis- lators to the State Legislature for an increase in salary, Mr. Joplin refused to ask for an increase, saying that the county was paying him enongh. No wonder that he stands high with all parties.

Mrs. Joplin by her many charitable deeds, kindness and modesty greatly endeared herself to the people of Santa Ana and Orange County, because she always stood for truth, uprightness and a high standard of morals, and never failed to give substantial encouragement to all movements in that direction; thus she was universally mourned by everyone when she passed away on March 20, 1911. She was a faithful wife and mother, having always been the greatest help and encouragement to her husband in his ambitions and naturally very proud of his success and the political honors he had received. With the same high standard and principles in view she trained and reared her children to be God-fearing, law-abiding and useful citizens, and her great regret at passing was that she could no longer see to the ministering of comforts to them, and before her death she wrote and left a letter addressed to her children, admon- ishing them to live right and useful lives and follow the example of their father, who had gained such a high place in the estimation of the public. She had been ill for several years and knew that the end was coming, so in her loving and thoughtful way she made a distribution of her keepsakes and household furniture and dishes, giving each one the things she knew they liked and that she wished them to have.

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History of Orange County, California : with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its earliest growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 30

Author: Armor, Samuel, 1843-; Pleasants, J. E., Mrs Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1700

Author: Armor, Samuel, 1843-; Pleasants, J. E., Mrs
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1700