History of Riverside County, California, Part 55

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 55


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After a primary education in the San Diego schools Miguel Aguirre took a course in St. Vincent's College, Los Angeles, and later attended Santa Clara (Cal.) College, after which he located in Los Angeles. For a time he there conducted a wholesale butcher business and in 1880 he engaged in ranching and stock raising near Beaumont, Cal., successfully conducting his affairs for seventeen years, and upon the sale of his property moved to San Jacinto, where he purchased the fifty-acre ranch upon which he now resides, and which he improved by the erection of a good residence and


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other buildings and the installation of three artesian wells. Later he bought thirty acres in three separate tracts, and also rented for agricultural and other pursuits a farm of about twenty-six hundred acres in San Jacinto Valley, his sons assisting him in the venture.


Mr. Aguirre was married in Los Angeles September 9, 1880, to Miss Rudecinda Pico, who was born in San Diego, daughter of Jose Antonio and Magdalena (Baca) Pico, natives of California and New Mexico respectively, and both deceased. Of the ten children born to Mr. and Mrs. Aguirre one died in early childhood, and those living are Elena C., Jose A., Rosario E., Martin M., Dolores A., Francisco A., Maria L., Anita A., and Carlos A. The children were reared in San Diego, San Bernardino and Riverside counties and were edu- cated in the public schools and convents. Politically Mr. Aguirre is a Democrat, intelligently interested in both civic and national issues, though he has never sought or desired office. Both himself and fam- ily are devoted members of the San Jacinto Catholic Church, and maintain a deep concern in the welfare of their fellowmen.


CHARLES S. WILSON


The courage and perseverance of Mr. Wilson throughout his career may well be said to be worthy of emulation. His good fortune has been the result of constant faithfulness and fitness for the position that awaited him. As superintendent of the River- side Water Company for the past seven years Mr. Wilson has proved conclusively his ability to control every phase of the situa- tion under his jurisdiction.


Mr. Wilson was born August 18, 1872, in South Lyon, Mich, his parents being James N. and Camilla (Gage) Wilson, natives, respectively, of Salem and Lyon, that state. In the grammar and high schools of his home town the son received his education, leav- ing in 1890, and thereafter assisted upon his father's farm until 1893, when he came to Riverside, Cal. For a period of six months he worked on the ranch of W. J. Gage, then returned to South Lyon, where he rented his father's farm, conducting it successfully until 1896, when he once more came to California, locating in River side in December. In West Riverside he ranched for five months. after which he worked in various lines for some time. In October, 1897, he entered the employ of the Riverside Water Company as a laborer at $1.50 per day. Three months later he was transferred to the position of teamster, and in 1900 was made division superin- tendent with headquarters at Colton. In the fall of 1905, his ability


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having been recognized by his employers, he was placed in charge of the construction of the Rubidoux reservoir, and in January, 1906, was appointed general superintendent of the entire system, with offices at Riverside.


In South Lyon, Mich., April 4, 1894, Mr. Wilson married Miss Eleanor Smith, a native of Detroit, Mich. Their union was blessed with three children: Merle, a student in Heald's Business College in Riverside; Eula and Martha W., both of whom are students in the grammar school. Mr. Wilson is associated fraternally with Riverside Lodge, No. 282, I. O. O. F., and Magnolia Camp, No. 92, W. O. W. He is active in civic developments, and his name ranks high among Riverside's best citizens.


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EDWARD COPLEY


The vicissitudes incident to experiences in the west in the era prior to the uplifting influences of a modern civilization and num- erous railroads fell to the lot of Mr. Copley and developed in his character traits of self-reliance and unwearied perseverance of the utmost value to his subsequent success and ultimate prosperity. Much of his time in maturity was given to mining pursuits and he gained a reputation throughout the west for sagacious judgment in mining propositions and keen discrimination in prospecting. Pleas- ant as was the work and profitable as were its results, there came a time when the desire for the quiet enjoyment of home life untram- meled by business cares led him to give up traveling and prospect- ing. For a considerable period he has enjoyed all of the com- forts of existence in his comfortable home at Riverside, where, surrounded by his orange grove comprising ten acres, he has all of the essentials to happiness and passes his declining days in serene contentment.


Born in Huntington county, Pa., April 20, 1830, Edward Copley is a son of Josiah and Margaret (Chadwick) Copley and a descend- ant of old eastern families, the former of English ancestry. It was not possible for him to attend school regularly and the larger part of his schooling was received before he was nine years of age, and he also worked in a printing office for a short time. In the mean- time his father had removed to Armstrong county, Pa., and the boy was put to work on the home farm, where he gained his rudi- mentary knowledge of the care of the crops and the stock. Later he worked in his father's fire-brick factory until 1859. That year


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was the start of his migratory existence, for it witnessed his com- ing to California across the plains, no railroads having as yet been built. A brief sojourn along the Pacific coast in this locality was followed by removal to the then territory of Washington, where he secured employment as a carpenter at Olympia. During 1861 he removed to Idaho and embarked in mining pursuits near Clear- water. Thence in 1863 he returned to Washington and settled at Cascades, where he found employment in the car shops, remaining for a number of years and proving himself a competent mechanic.


Leaving the shores of the Pacific in 1870 Mr. Copley went to Kansas, where he had a contract to erect buildings for the Kansas Pacific Railroad Company. During July of 1871 he went to Colo- rado and settled at Colorado Springs, where his was the first family to arrive in the town. Others, however, followed soon and in large numbers, so that he was kept busily engaged as a carpenter. It was his privilege to witness the early settlement of that now well-known and popular city. During 1873 he was employed for five months in building the trail up Pike's Peak, a feat that oc- casioned considerable excitement at the time of its consummation. After the completion of this work he aided in the organization of the Silver Wing Mining Company to buy and sell mines. Of this organization he became secretary, but resigned in 1876. He was then sent east by the company to find buyers for their properties. During 1883 he relinquished identification with the concern and removed to New Mexico, where he bought and superintended the interests of the Old Man Mining Company. The year 1886 found him in Arizona, where he and other capitalists bought the Great American, said to have been the largest mine ever developed.


Upon disposing of his interest in the mine in 1888 Mr. Copley returned with his family to Colorado Springs and established a comfortable home in that city, where he lived retired until 1891, the year of his arrival in Riverside. The purchase of ten acres on Magnolia avenue gave him the orange grove which has since been a source of both pleasure and profit to him. On this place he and his wife with their daughter, Miss Caroline, have a home giving evidence of the refined tastes of the inmates. Another daughter, Margaret, is the wife of E. C. Stoner, of Pittsburg, Pa., while the only son, Albert T., resides in Los Angeles. Mrs. Copley was Miss Mary A. Saunders, a resident of Olympia, Wash., where in August of 1863 she became the wife of the gentleman whose success she has since promoted, whose troubles she has lightened by an ever- ready sympathy and whose joys she has doubled by enthusiastic participation therein. The family have been faithful members of the Presbyterian Church and have contributed to its missonary movements. In politics Mr. Copley votes with the Republican party.


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NELS M. CORNELIUS


The lack of early educational opportunities has been the deepest regret following Mr. Cornelius throughout mature years, but to compensate for these the fact that he was forced in childhood to earn his own livelihood developed within him traits of self-reli- ance and industry of the greatest value to subsequent success. There has also come to him the education that every citizen se- cures in the vast school of experience and who shall depreciate its importance or minimize its relation to the upbuilding of a creditable financial standing as well as a noble character. Being a close ob- server he has gained in this way a broad fund of useful informa- tion and his knowledge of this country and of its governmental problems is extended. For a quarter of a century he has made his home in Riverside. With the savings of years of frugality he acquired a farm of twenty acres and this he now occupies and operates.


In the southwestern part of Sweden, near where the tumultu- ous waves of the Skager rack and the Cattegat beat against the rock-bound shores, in the humble home of Nels M. and Annalise Cornelius a son was born January 19, 1841, and was given the name of the father. The home had none of the comforts common to the present day and offered little more than a rude shelter from the stormy blasts that at times swept over the country, endangering the flocks and herds on land and the ships at sea. As soon as he was old enough to work the boy was given the task of herding sheep and cattle. In that locality there were no fences and the stock was allowed to roam from range to range under the charge of herders, who for a pittance endured the hardships and privations incident to their lonely labors. From the age of ten until he was fifteen the farm boy was employed as a herder for his father, without any opportunity to attend school and deprived even of the advantages to be gained by association with others. In 1856 he left home and began to work for neighboring farmers, but his opportuni- ties were no greater than before with the exception that he was enabled to save each year a very small amount, to be applied to to- ward paying his expenses to the new world.


Immediately after his arrival in the United States in 1868 Mr. Cornelius settled in Galesburg, Ill., where he found employment on a C. B. & Q. construction train two years, and later as a moulder. After remaining there for sixteen years, in 1886 he came to Southern California. On the 13th of August he arrived in River- side and here he has since made his home, being for a consider- able period employed with O. T. Johnson as foreman of the latter's


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ranch. In 1899 he bought twenty acres and since then he has engaged in farming. The residence which he owns is located on Streeter avenue and is capably presided over by Mrs. Cornelius, formerly Ida U. (Samuelson) Yerkson, whom he married in South Dakota, March 11, 1905. By her first marriage she had three chil- dren, Arthur W., Emery R., and Lillian C., all in Southern Cali- fornia. Mr. Cornelius was first married to Miss Mary Swanson, the ceremony taking place in Sweden. In his family there are two sons, John L. and Charles A. In religion he is identified with the Mission Friends and exemplifies in his honorable, upright life the highest principles of Christianity. Although hardships have been many and obstacles to progress great, at no time has he refused to help worthy persons in need of temporal assistance, but in all instances of charitable action he has proved prompt, efficient and kind-hearted. Since he became a voting citizen of our country he hạs supported Republican principles and has upheld the platform of the party by his ballot.


BENTON L. SHEPHERD


Among Corona's most faithful and conscientious citizens was Mr. Shepherd, who passed away July 12, 1909, his unfailing kind- ness and progressive, unselfish spirit having greatly endeared him to his many friends and associates. Born September 12, 1836, in Lincolnville, Me., he was the son of Culver and Lydia Jane (Heal) Shepherd, both natives of that state. Upon completion of his edu- cation the son came to California about the year 1855 in company with other gold seekers who dreamed of acquiring an immediate fortune. Returning to his home in Maine, some time later he made a second trip to California and this time was fairly successful in his mining ventures. From Maine, whither he later returned, he went to Minnesota, where he farmed for about ten years. After selling out his interests there he went to Cathlamet, Wash., where he established a general merchandise store. In 1887 he located in Corona, Riverside county, and purchased ten acres which he planted to oranges, an undertaking which he conducted successfully until selling out, after which he lived retired until his death.


Mr. Shepherd was an ardent Republican, deeply interested in both national and municipal politics, and was always prompt to respond to civic needs, being most broad-minded and generous. In both social and business life he was known as a man of unswerv-


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ing integrity and high ethical principles, his influence upon his asso- ciates having been both lasting and helpful.


The marriage of Mr. Shepherd took place in Stillwater, Minn., June 18, 1865, and united him with Miss Florilla Heal, of Lincoln- ville, Me. Two children grew to maturity: Winifred, who by her marriage with Josiah Riddell became the mother of two sons, Percy and Ralph, is now the wife of Edward Bergeot, and resides in Co- rona; Grace presides over the parental home at No. 502 East Seventh street. Upon the completion of her high school studies and her musical education she became organist in the Corona Congrega- tional Church, where she still continues, also conducting a private music class with success.


BRADFORD MORSE


No more public-spirited representative of the east has trans- ferred his allegiance to the Pacific coast or more enthusiastically entered into the interests here represented than has Bradford Morse, whose accomplishments form a part of the history of River- side, which has been his home since early in the year 1881. A na- tive of Massachusetts, he was born in Middleboro, Plymouth county, May 8, 1848, his father following agriculture as a means of liveli- hood, and the son early became familiar with the duties associated with that calling. Besides receiving a good public school education he had the privilege of a course in the Pratt free, an English high school of North Middleboro. With the knowledge thus acquired he started out at the age of nineteen years to make his way in the world, going to Brockton, where until 1881 he was employed in a shoe factory. His interest in military affairs became evident soon after his location in Brockton, as for eleven years out of the four- teen which he passed there he was associated with the Third and First Regiments, Massachusetts National Guard. From private he steadily advanced until he was made captain of Company I, First Regiment, an office which he held for four years or until resigning in order that he might carry out a long cherished desire to remove to the west. March, 1881, witnessed his arrival in Riverside, Cal., and for more than thirty years the state has known no more loyal and patriotic citizen than Bradford Morse. As in the east, his love of military affairs was made manifest when he assisted in the or- ganization of a company at Riverside, which was first known as Company C, Ninth Regiment, California National Guard. He was chosen first lieutenant of the company and subsequently became bat-


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talion adjutant, an office which he resigned after a service of six years.


Mr. Morse's interests since locating in Riverside have been many sided, but his versatility has enabled him to make a success of whatever he puts his hand to. While his largest accomplishments have been along lines of a public or civic nature, he demonstrated a working knowledge of agriculture on his ranch of nine hundred and sixty acres located east of Box Springs mountain, where he carried on general farming and dairying, and an alfalfa ranch of one hun- dred and thirty acres at Agua Mansa. His knowledge of and inter- est in horticulture were the means of his being made a member of the first county board of horticultural commissioners of San Ber- nardino county, in 1887, but after one year's service he resigned in order that he might give his attention to other matters. During three terms, from 1886 until 1892, he rendered his home city effic- ient service in the capacity of marshal and tax collector. His record as city marshal was one to be remembered, being marked by a re- lentless fight against saloons and allied evils in the community.


As yet Riverside county had not been set apart from San Ber- nardino county, but when the project began to be agitated it was universally conceded that Mr. Morse should be one of the men to have charge of the undertaking in favor of Riverside county. As one of the three members of the Riverside county division execu- tive committee he assisted in the preparation and presentation of the bill for the creation of the county to the legislature of Califor- nia for enactment. In 1893 Governor Markham appointed him one of the commission of five having in charge the organization in every detail, he being elected president. The work of the commission was successful and in May, 1893, a special election was called to supply officers for the new county of Riverside, and among them Mr. Morse was chosen county assessor. He was a member of the Republican county central committee from 1884 to 1893, in San Bernardino county, and during all but two years of this time he was a member of the executive committee. When Riverside county came into being in 1893 he was elected chairman of the first county central committee, which was non-partisan, and was also a member of the state Republican central committee during the years from 1894 to 1896. As an evidence of the high regard in which his ability was held by his fellow citizens it may be said that he was appointed expert for the legislative assembly committee on revenue and taxa- tion in 1895, and it may furthermore he said that the bill for the revision of those laws which he had assisted in preparing was re- ported by the committee, and passed both houses without a con- trary vote. Further honors came to him in April, 1894, when he was elected city trustee, being re-elected to the office in 1898. In


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November, 1911, he was elected councilman from the first ward for a four-year term.


Mr. Morse rejoices in the growth and prosperity of his home county and he furthermore takes pride in the fact that he has been permitted to have a share in bringing about present conditions. He is a member of the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias of Riverside. In 1871, June 22, in Middleboro, Mass., he was united in marriage with Miss Ella A. Keith, a native of that state, who shares in his popularity in Riverside.


FRANCIS X. PEDLEY


The climatic, commercial and horticultural advantages offered by Riverside form a trio of diversified attractions drawing hither a splendid class of citizens from our own country and from other lands. It would be difficult to find a region whose residents are so loyal to its upbuilding as are the people of Arlington. A unanimous verdict bears testimony to the desirability of the location from a residential standpoint. With the restlessness characteristic of pres- ent times the property-owners make frequent changes, but remov- als are few, it being generally understood that those who once come within the spell of the city's fascination cannot be induced to re- move elsewhere except under stress of urgent affairs. To take charge of the transfers of property and to negotiate deals there are many real-estate agents, none, perhaps, more energetic and capable than Mr. Pedley, junior member of the firm of Mckenzie & Pedley, and for many years identified with the city's development. Through long residence in the community he has formed experienced opin- ions concerning. real-estate valuations and is considered an excel- lent judge of prices. A conservative judgment restrains him on the one hand from undue enthusiasm, while on the other hand caution is not carried to the point that prevents progressive action.


Descended from an Anglo-Saxon family of ancient lineage and honorable record, Francis X. Pedley was born in Derbyshire, Eng- land, in July of 1864, and received excellent advantages in English schools. For some time he was a student in Eastbourne College, but at the age of fourteen years he matriculated in St. Mary's College and there took the regular course of study, graduating in 1881 with a high standing. Immediately afterward he crossed the ocean to the United States and proceeded as far west as Winneshiek county, Iowa, where he became interested in farming. From that state he came to California in 1889 and secured employment with the Hol-


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comb Valley Mining Company. After a creditable service as as- sistant manager of the plant in the Holcomb valley in 1894 he re- signed his position and came to Riverside county, where he became assistant manager of the San Jacinto Land Company at Corona.


Shortly after his removal in 1899 to Arlington, Riverside coun- ty, Mr. Pedley bought an orange grove and began to be interested in horticulture on his own behalf. For some years he remained on the place, but in November of 1905 he relinquished its management and turned his attention to the real-estate business as a partner of Mr. Mckenzie of Arlington. He was married in Los Angeles in No- vember, 1899, to Miss C. M. Goellner, of that city, a young lady of culture and excellent education. They are communicants of the Roman Catholic Church and have contributed regularly and gener- ously to the benefactions carried on under the auspices of that de- nomination. Since he became a voter Mr. Pedley has supported the men and measures of the Republican party and in local matters has aided the progress of movements for the general welfare. In con- nection with his church membership he enjoys the fraternal associa- tions of the Knights of Columbus, while he is further identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. Among the people of Arlington he has a large circle of friends. Of stalwart physique, he is a man who would attract attention in any gathering, being tall and commanding in stature and massive in proportions, and the favorable impression created by his personal appearance is heightened by his friendly manner and keen intelligence.


MARTIN MEIER


A resident of the San Jacinto valley since 1883, Mr. Meier is well known as a prosperous lumber merchant of Hemet and by his progressive business methods and good citizenship has contributed largely to the growth of that community. He was born February 2, 1859, in Lubeck, Germany. Upon completion of his education, which included a thorough course in merchandising, he was em- ployed in several wholesale business houses until 1882. In that year he immigrated to the United States, stopping first in New York City. After a year's travel through the east and south he located in San Jacinto, Cal., where he purchased three hundred and twenty acres of railroad land in the mountains and upon this he en- gaged in the stock business with a nucleus of forty cattle. Later, in 1886, he opened a lumber yard at Old Town, San Jacinto, success-


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fully conducting the business until 1894, when he moved the yard to San Jacinto. In 1908 he purchased three acres in Hemet, moving his buildings to the new site, and later erecting additional sheds and a convenient office. He also built a comfortable home in Hemet, where he has since resided with his family.


Mr. Meier was married in San Jacinto in November, 1891, to Miss Nora Sherman, the daughter of Antone and Katie Sherman. Mr. Sherman engaged in the manufacturing of lumber in the San Jacinto mountains. Mr. and Mrs. Meier have four living children : Dorothy, Ione, Margaret, and Herman.


For several years Mr. Meier served as a stockholder and di- rector of the First National Bank of San Jacinto and also served as a member of the town board, his excellent judgment and sterling integrity having placed him among the most influential citizens of that section.




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