History of Riverside County, California, Part 44

Author: Holmes, Elmer Wallace, 1841-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 845


USA > California > Riverside County > History of Riverside County, California > Part 44


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DANIEL BATTLES


The history of the Battles family was for many generations identified with the far-off state of Maine, and it was there, in Vas- salboro, that Daniel Battles was born October 30, 1835, the son of Daniel and Dorcas (Perkins) Battles, who passed their entire lives in that state. During the second war with England the father laid down the peaceful implements of agriculture and went to the front in defense of his country, resuming more agreeable duties on his farm as soon as hostilities were over. At the time of the boyhood of Daniel Battles' educational facilities were meager indeed, but being endowed with a naturally keen mind and perceptive faculties above the average, he made every opportunity count in his favor, to the end that he became a well-informed man. Besides attending the schools in the home locality he also attended the academy at Farmington. When most boys were free from care he was prepar- ing for his future by learning the carpenter's trade, an undertaking which proved timely, inasmuch as it enabled him to lay by a goodly sum and carry out a project which had been forming in his mind for a number of years.


Ill-health had laid its heavy hand upon Mr. Battles while he was interested in work at his trade in the East, and on the advice of his physician he came to the West in the hope of recuperating his lost vitality. To the surprise of his physician, who had declared that he could not live a year, the salubrious climate and health- giving sunshine so far restored him to health that he was enabled to carry on active business affairs for a number of years. Coming to California in 1873, he settled in Riverside, where it was his inten- tion to engage in horticulture. On January 3 of the following year he bought ten acres of unimproved land, on which he planted fifty- six orange trees, also planting orange seed on a part of the ranch, and today the trees which have developed from the latter are the


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strongest and largest of any to be seen for miles around. In the interim while his fruit was developing he improved his time by working at the carpenter's trade, and was known as the pioneer contractor of Riverside, where he continued to work at his trade from time to time until failing health again made it necessary for him to give up active work. His earth life came to a close in his Riverside home January 5, 1895, and he left to mourn his loss a de- voted family and a host of friends who were attracted to him for his fine trait of character that dominated his life. Large-hearted and kindly disposed toward all, whatever was for the good of his brother man enlisted his sympathy and co-operation, educational, religious and philanthropic movements never lacking his support. Reared in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal Church, for years he was steward in the Riverside church. Made a Mason before coming to the West, he transferred his membership to Riverside, becoming a charter member of Evergreen Lodge, and with his wife he was affiliated with the Eastern Star.


Mr. Battles' first marriage occurred September 28, 1862, unit- ing him with Miss Leafy C. Longley, who was born in Augusta, Me., and who died April 21. 1868. Two daughters were born of this marriage, Bertha S., Mrs. C. W. Finch, and Hattie B., Mrs. Branch, both of Los Angeles. On November 10, 1868, Mr. Battles was mar- ried to Miss Sarah A. Huse, in Farmington, Me. She was a native of Strong, Me., a daughter of Enoch and the granddaughter of Joseph Huse, both natives of New Hampshire, tracing their lineage to a family from London, England, to Massachusetts. Sarah Web- ster, the wife of Joseph Huse, was a second cousin of Daniel Web- ster. Enoch Huse engaged in farming for many years at Strong, Me., but his last years were passed in Farmington, that state. His wife, in maidenhood Nancy Butterfield, was born in Farmington, Me., and there, too, she passed away. She was a daughter of Col. James Butterfield, who was born January 1, 1786, and won his title through service in the Maine militia. In addition to maintaining a farm, he also conducted a hostelry known throughout that section of country as "Butterfield Inn." His father was Samuel Butter- field, born March 7, 1739, and he died July 29, 1808, having been a pioneer of Maine. The following children were born to Enoch and Nancy Huse: Nancy Emily, Mrs. Clara Fales, who lives in Farm- ington, Me .; Mrs. Hannah B. Ellsworth; James B., a contractor of Evanston, Ill .; Mrs. Fannie W. Niles; Sarah A., Mrs. Battles; and Mary J. Jennings. These have all passed away except James B., Mrs. Fales and Mrs. Battles. Four children were born of Mr. Bat- tles' second marriage, as follows: Nellie May and Fred Arthur, both of whom died when about one year old; Foye D., who served in the Spanish-American war from May to December, 1898, being ser-


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geant in Company M, Seventh California Infantry, and now a black- smith in Riverside; and Lillian P., the wife of John H. W. Warren, residing with Mrs. Battles.


Mrs. Battles was educated in the academy at Farmington, Me., and it was there that she became acquainted with Mr. Battles. A woman of splendid judgment and large executive ability, since the death of her husband she has taken charge of the ten-acre ranch on Brockton and Bandidi avenues, Riverside, planted to navel and seedling oranges, and is making a success of the undertaking. A member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, she is active in all of its departments of usefulness, and she is also a member of the Eastern Star and the Woman's Relief Corps.


JOSE JENSEN


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Ever since the era of western history whose initial period was marked by the discovery of gold in 1849 the Jensen family has been intimately connected with the material development of the common- wealth and particularly with that portion thereof embraced within the present limits of Riverside and Los Angeles counties. Different races blend their blood in the veins of the present representatives of the name. The maternal progenitors were of ancient Spanish lin- eage and long ago sought the sunny land of California. On the pa- ternal side of the house the ancestry is of honorable Danish lineage and as far back as the genealogy can be traced the forefathers lived and labored in the little rugged, storm-swept land separating the North from the Baltic sea.


The family history shows that Capt. Cornelius Jensen, born in Denmark in 1814, early went to sea as a sailor and rose to the rank of captain, commanding his own vessel for twenty years. Mean- while he visited the principal seaports of the world and acquired a cosmopolitan knowledge that made him an intensely interesting conversationalist and genial companion. To a man of his courag- eous temperament and love of adventure the discovery of gold in 1849 proved a lure that could not be resisted. Giving up the com- mand of his vessel after arriving in California, he followed the call to the mines. Here his experiences were similar to those of other Argonauts of the day. Mercantile pursuits later engaged his en- tire attention and he remained in the camps of the northern part of the state until 1853, when he removed to Los Angeles. The now prosperous metropolis was then a hamlet of adobe houses inhabited


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by Spaniards, many of whom had belonged to the nobility in the old home land and represented an aristocracy ancient and honorable.


Destiny had led the rugged and bluff sea captain to Southern California to meet his fate in the dark eyes and sweet face of a young Spanish beauty, Mercedes Alvarado, who was born in Los Angeles of Spanish ancestry but Californian parentage. The newly married couple began housekeeping in San Bernardino county, where the captain carried on a general store at Agua Mansa and became well known throughout all that section of the country. As he began to accumulate money he invested it in property until he had purchased several hundred acres in what is now Riverside county and later he acquired the title to a part of the Rubidoux ranch, where he settled in 1869. He bought over five hundred acres of land near Murrietta which was devoted exclusively to the stock business. Under his energetic efforts the place was improved and made profitable. Alfalfa yielded large crops of hay. A small orange grove and a vineyard brought their annual harvests to swell his growing income. On the land he erected the first brick house in the county, a substantial structure that formed an attractive and comfortable home for the family. In this house he died December 12, 1886, and here his widow still resides, surrounded in her advanc- ing years by the love and ministrations of her descendants and the respect of a large circle of friends. For about fourteen years Cap- tain Jensen served on the board of supervisors in San Bernardino county.


Born in Los Angeles county August 19, 1855, Jose Jensen grew to manhood in what is now Riverside county and remained at the old homestead until his marriage, February 9, 1886, to Miss Valen- cia M. Case, a native of Ohio and for some years a teacher in that state, Nebraska and California. After his marriage Mr. Jensen set- tled on a ranch of one hundred acres within two miles of Riverside and here he has since resided, meanwhile having increased the size of the ranch to one hundred and fifty acres. The residence was erected under his supervision as were also the other buildings on the place. The greater part of the ranch he has placed under alfalfa, but there is also an orange grove of seven acres in good bearing condition. In addition to the home place he owns three other ranches which he devotes to the pasturage of cattle and horses and he further owns a house in Riverside, so that his prop- erty holdings represent a large valuation in the aggregate. In his work he has had the assistance of his only child, Walter C., a capa- ble young man, who received a high school education and later attended the Riverside Business College for two years.


The principles of the Democratic party have received the sup- port of Mr. Jensen and frequently he has acted as a delegate to


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local conventions. For four years he served as deputy assessor and he further aided local affairs by service as a judge of elections. Not only is he well informed regarding political matters, but he also possesses a broad knowledge of local educational affairs and through a service of some fifteen years as a member of the board of education, he promoted the welfare of the school of his district. His father was one of the organizers of the irrigation ditch that waters part of this section of county and after his death it was in- corporated as the Jurupa Ditch Company, of which Jose Jensen has since been connected in an official capacity, now being superin- tendent. This is the oldest ditch in the county. The ranch at Mur- rietta is now owned jointly by Mr. Jensen and his mother, he look- ing after the interests. It has been Mr. Jensen's privilege to wit- ness the remarkable development of Southern California and he is proud of the fact that he is one of its native-born sons, proud also of its standing as one of the most productive regions in the coun- try and as returning from its soil a per capita income not sur- passed by any other portion of the West. In 1911, with a partner, Mr. Jensen engaged in the real estate business in Riverside.


S. A. WHITE


Substantial men of affairs from the East have been attracted to California through that fascination of climate and environment which the country almost invariably weaves around its visitors and which impels them to forsake the associations of their business activities for the favored land of sunshine. The important enter- prises that once engaged the keen mental energies of S. A. White were relinquished when, after having maintained a winter home in California for some seasons, he became so attached to the country that he retired from business and removed permanently to River- side, where now he enjoys a life of leisure in the midst of attractive surroundings at his home, No. 1017 Tenth street. The tastes of a gentleman of cosmopolitan culture are apparent in the artistic fur- nishings of the residence and also in the beautiful aspect of the grounds, the whole combining to form an attractive addition to Riverside's galaxy of artistic homesteads.


Born at East Randolph, Mass., February 21, 1845, S. A. White is a son of Samuel L. and Silence Swift (Adams) White. The father, who was born at East Randolph in 1818, remained a resident


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of that locality throughout his entire life and had charge for years of an express business between his native city and Boston. Event- ually retiring from business cares, he passed away in 1894. Upon the completion of grammar-school studies, Mr. White entered the high school of his home town and remained in that institution until he responded to a call for volunteers. The Civil War had reached its height and there was need of young men to aid the Union, so at the age of eighteen years he offered his services to the country. As a private soldier in Company I, Forty-second Massachusetts Infan- try, he served from 1863 until the expiration of his term of enlist- ment, when he received an honorable discharge.


An era of business enterprise received its original impetus when Mr. White, at the close of the war, entered the boot and shoe business as an employe of L. B. White, of Brockton, Mass., a manu- facturer of that place. For two years he held a position as super- intendent of his factory and then resigned in order to establish business associations in Boston. For seven years he maintained an enviable record as a traveling salesman for the shoe-finding firm of B. F. Brown & Co., of Boston. The connection was terminated through his decision to embark in business for himself, his specialty being the manufacture of shoe finishings for shoe factories. Solely through his energy and business acumen he built up a plant that was the largest of its kind in the world for shoe-upper finishes, with a factory at Montreal, Canada. a branch store in Leicester, England, and agencies in France, Germany and Australia. The trade in every country was familiar with the business and the S. A. White Co. Its success won recognition from men engaged in every de- partment of the shoe business and its sales aggregated figures rep- resenting large dividends on the original capital.


The desire to spend the winter months in a climate less bleak and dreary than that of New England led Mr. White to establish a winter home in Riverside in 1898. The impression created by tem- porary residence here was so favorable that he sold out his busi- ness in 1903 and came to the West to establish his citizenship and enjoy the comforts connected with a life of leisure. Aside from taking care of his real-estate holdings and superintending his in- vestments, he has no business to engross his attention or distract from the enjoyment of prosperity. While living in the East he was united in marriage, in Boston, November 2, 1887, with Miss B. K. Sanger, who presides over his elegant home with accustomed dig- nity and graciousness. Their only child, Arthur B., a civil en- gineer by occupation, is a graduate of the Institute of Technology in Boston. At no time in his life has Mr. White been active in par- tisan politics. Indeed, he takes no part in public affairs aside from voting the Republican ticket. For years he has been deeply inter- ested in Masonry. During a sojourn in England he identified him-


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self with the blue lodge at Leicester and later he rose to the Knights Templar degree, being now past commander of Riverside Com- mandery No. 28, K. T.


RUPERT E. FORD


An early settler of California, having located in Pasadena in 1873, Mr. Ford has been privileged to witness the interesting growth of both Los Angeles and Riverside counties and has contributed at all times his quota toward the development of the communities in which he has made his home. For the past five years he has resided near San Jacinto, upon a highly improved tract of twenty acres which he devotes to alfalfa, peaches and apricots, specializing in the latter.


Born August 13, 1846, in Milton, Queens county, Nova Scotia, where he received his early education, he remained with his parents, Capt. Charles and Azuba (Freeman) Ford, natives of that place, until he reached the age of thirteen years, going from there to Bos- ton, across the Bay of Fundy. Working his way west to Minneapo- lis, he became a carpenter's apprentice and three years later en- gaged independently in his trade, which he plied successfully sev- eral years. Later he went to Helena, Mont., and soon afterward secured employment with a construction crew on the Northern Pa- cific Railroad, encamping at Cinnabar, near Yellowstone Park, at the time of General Grant's tour of the west. Continuing his jour- ney to Portland, thence to San Francisco and San Diego, he ulti- mately located in Edgemont, now Hollywood, near Los Angeles, having previously worked at his trade for a time in Pasadena. Later he was joined by his mother, his sister and his brother Charles M., the family continuing to make their home in Hollywood. October 8, 1898, Mr. Ford was united in marriage with Miss Nettie Lee, whose birth occurred near Galena, Ill., and who accompanied her parents to Dallas county, Iowa, where she spent her early girl- hood. The young couple began their domestic life in Gardena, where Mr. Ford conducted a stock and grain ranch, upon the sale of which he moved to Hemet in September, 1908, purchasing his present ranch, which is among the most highly improved in the valley.


Mr. and Mrs. Ford have four children : Nellie, Rupert Lee, Car- roll and Arthur Eugene, all of whom were born in Los Angeles county. Politically Mr. Ford is a stanch Republican, and though he has never sought or desired office, has served as delegate to various county conventions. His wife is an efficient member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Hemet and with her husband enjoys the highest regard of their many friends.


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ZACCHEUS E. LADD


Well known as a prosperous, progressive business man and rancher of the San Jacinto section, and one who has aided very materially in the development of the community since he settled therein in 1895, is Z. E. Ladd, a native of New York state, born May 7, 1837, in Brasher, St. Lawrence county, where he spent his youth and grew to young manhood on the farm of his parents, David and Elizabeth Ladd, natives respectively of New York and Ireland. The father was an old-line Whig.


Z. E. Ladd was educated in the common schools of that county and for several years followed farming and carpentering, having a natural bent in the handling of tools. In 1860 he pur- chased a tract of land containing about fifteen hundred sugar maple trees and established a sugar bush in his home county. For several years, during the sugar season, his annual output averaged about thirty-five hundred pounds. In June, 1863, he answered his country's call by enlisting in the First New York Independent Battery, serving under General Sheridan in the Army of the Potomac and participating in many important engagements. Upon receiving his honorable discharge at Syracuse, N. Y., July 18, 1865, he returned to his home and began adding to his holdings until the farm aggregated two hundred and fifteen acres. In the town of Fine, just opposite his sugar bush, he established a general merchandise store in 1870, and for the following eighteen years conducted a successful business. He lost his property by fire in 1888.


The first marriage of Mr. Ladd was solemnized in his native county on January 8, 1862, uniting him with Miss Elizabeth Egleson, who was born in Wilna, N. Y., and who for years was one of the teachers in the schools there. Their only child, Della Ladd, born in 1863, died May 14, 1888. The wife and mother passed away December 17, 1881.


Selling out his holdings in 1895, Mr. Ladd located in San Jacinto, Cal., October 19, purchasing eight and one-half acres of land where he now resides and improving the property. He also owns two business blocks in town and has greatly aided in sus- taining the prestige of the place by his good business judgment. He was one of the organizers and is the president of the San Jacinto Commercial Company, in which he is a large stockholder and which enterprise, more than any other, has aided in the up- building of the city's business; at this writing, (1912) the volume of business transacted exceeds $10,000 per month. He is also a stockholder in the First National Bank of San Jacinto, and has


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been a liberal contributor towards every worthy enterprise for the general advancement of the city.


September 16, 1884, Mr. Ladd was united in marriage with Miss Lany Shaw, who was born in South Edwards, N. Y., Decem- ber 1, 1838, and by whom one daughter, Mary Grace, was born September 4, 1885. She is now the wife of Louis Williams, one of the rising business men of San Jacinto.


A stanch Republican, Mr. Ladd cast his first presidential ballot for A. Lincoln in 1860, repeating his choice four years later while on the field of battle. He was made a Mason in New York state and now holds membership in San Jacinto Lodge No. 338. The family are active members of the Methodist Church and sub- scribe liberally to all its philanthropies. Mr. Ladd is an unos- tentatious man, and by his quiet disposition and manly traits of character has gathered about him a host of sincere friends.


LEMUEL SPOONER


West of Riverside, at the base of the mountain, in a locality brought under cultivation more recently than the older settled sec- tions of the district, lies the homestead of Mr. Spooner, who since 1890 has been identified with the material development of this region and has witnessed the transformation wrought through the planting of orange groves upon land once given over to the cactus and the sage-brush. The residence erected by himself stands in the midst of a picturesque environment of mountains and foot-hills. The grounds present an attractive appearance with cedars and other ornamental trees and with a varied assortment of beautiful flowers. The entire place indicates the thrift and affectionate sup- ervision of the owner, whose personal labors have converted the land from its raw state into a productive property with an alfalfa field and a grove of navel and Valencia oranges in full bearing condi- tion.


Reverting to the history of the owner of the place, we find that Lemuel Spooner was born near Cooperstown, Otsego county, N. Y., September 22, 1827, being a son of Ebenezer and Sarah (Tillou) Spooner and a descendant of English ancestors who settled in New England as early as 1630. The father, a native of York state and a farmer by occupation, moved to Wayne county in 1835 and settled on a farm near Marion, where he died in 1839 and his wife two . years later. Of their eight children the sole survivors are Lemuel 28


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and his brother Harvey, a resident of Waterford near Detroit, Mich. After the death of his parents Lemuel Spooner was taken into the home of a Mr. Galloway, whom he accompanied to Michi- gan in 1844 and settled in the village of Howell, Livingston county. There he learned the foundry business, which he followed for some years, but later turned his attention to merchandising and re- mained a resident of Michigan until 1859. Meanwhile he returned on a visit to New York and at Marion, that state, July 29, 1852, he married Miss Charlotte Pooley, who was born and reared in that place.


Selling out his Michigan holdings in 1859 Mr. Spooner moved to Kansas and for two years engaged in business at Atchison, but at the outbreak of the Civil War closed out his interests in order that he might enter the service of the country. On account of a lame ankle he could not be enrolled in the army, but he was as- signed to the quartermaster's department and later was transferred to the commissary department. being in southwestern Missouri and northwestern Arkansas most of the time until the close of the war. On his return to Atchison he disposed of his property there and invested in a farm which he cultivated for four years, having the assistance of his wife, who during his service in the war had re- mained with relatives in the east. From Kansas he removed his family to Quincy, Ill., while he himself acted as clerk for a brother at Leavenworth, an Indian agent. From Leavenworth he was sent into the Comanche Indian country and remained there for ten years, until the death of his brother. Joining his family at Quincy, Ill., he purchased a mill and engaged in the manufacture of flour until he lost the entire plant in a disastrous fire. Meanwhile he had developed an extensive business and turned out three hundred bar- rels per day.




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