History of Riverside County, California, Part 62

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 62


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ARCHER BOWEN


Perhaps in no section of the country have land values im- proved with such rapidity and stability as in this great western sec- tion, where large tracts are being opened and the resources of the place made accessible. This fact has warranted men of business acumen and real worth devoting their time to the selling of real estate and many have made startling successes at this occupation. Archer Bowen of Corona is an example of a man who has made his way in the world by the use of wise and sagacious judgment in handling land.


Mr. Bowen was born in North Fairfield, Huron county, Ohio, in 1838 and remained there until he reached the age of twelve. At this time his parents moved to Hillsdale county, Mich., and there the boy grew up and attended school, being later employed on a farm, which proved a valuable training for his career in California. Coming to the southern section of the state in 1889, Mr. Bowen was employed in the furniture business in Los Angeles for about one year, later worked on the Fuller ranch for about a year, and afterward was employed as a landscape gardner at the tin mines for about two years. Finally returning to the portion of the state where he had first located, he settled in Corona, Riverside county. For more than twenty years he has been engaged in buying and selling and in exchanging land. During this time prices have changed rapidly, land that could be bought in the city for $50 per block has increased in value many times. Always of a progressive


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spirit Mr. Bowen has been no small factor in the advancement of Riverside county and he has done much to improve civic conditions in his own town.


Mr. Bowen established domestic ties in Michigan when he mar- ried Miss Eliza Brott, a native of that state. One son, Robert, blessed the union, his birth occurring in Michigan in 1868. He grew to manhood the companion of his parents and remained with them until his decease in 1908, in Corona. Mr. Bowen lost a faith- ful son and a worthy partner. Mrs. Bowen passed away June 20, 1911, aged sixty-nine years. She was a member of the Methodist Church and interested in its charities.


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THOMAS I. FLETCHER, V. S.


Well known as one of the most skilful veterinary surgeons, as well as a progressive and public-spirited citizen of Riverside, Dr. Fletcher enjoys the distinction of having established in September, 1907, the first infirmary of that character in the city. He is a native of Crawfordsville, Ind., born January 28, 1870. After a prelimi- nary education in the local schools of his native state he went to Toronto, Canada, to attend the Ontario Veterinary College and graduated in the class of 1898. From that date until 1903 he prac- ticed his profession in Champaign, Ill., going thence on account of his failing health to Sheridan, Wyo., where he spent the succeeding two years. In 1905 he located in Riverside, where he erected the Fletcher Veterinary Infirmary with accommodations for fifteen animals, the building being thoroughly modern and sanitary in every respect. He is preparing plans for a scientific stock breed- ing farm to be located on his ranch, which lies seventy-five miles east of Riverside, near Mecca. In his opinion the conditions of Southern California are more conducive to successful stock-raising than any other climate, this conclusion being based upon several years of investigation.


Dr. Fletcher was united in marriage in 1901 to Miss Margaret Collins, of Illinois. They have four children: Desmond Richard, Paul Franklin, Hazel Alice, and Herschel Collins, all of whom re- side in the parental home. Dr. Fletcher is a member of the River- side Chamber of Commerce and of the Riverside Driving Club. He is considered one of the substantial residents of the community, and has attained a success beyond even his own expectations, which is conceded to be justly deserved.


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EDWARD E. PENPRASE


A resident of Corona since 1888 and of Riverside county since 1882, Edward E. Penprase is numbered among the progressive young business men of the county. He was born in Elk Point, S. Dak., in 1872, and was but two years of age when the family moved to the vicinity of the quicksilver mines in Santa Clara county, Cal., and for five years the father was employed at the New Almaden mines. In 1879 they settled in Whatcom county, Wash., which remained their home for the following three years, and in the spring of 1882 settled in Riverside, where his father made a purchase of forty acres of land and later added one hundred and sixty to his holdings, as well as a tract purchased from the South- ern Pacific Railroad Company. In 1887 the elder Penprase settled in Corona. He was born in England in 1837 and was a miner by occupation, following that vocation until he took up agricultural pursuits in California. He was twice married, first to Elizabeth Thomas, a native of England, by whom four children were born, those living being Edward E., and J. H., of Elsinore. Their mother died in 1874 and the father later married Louisa Rucker, of San Jose. He died in 1905.


E. E. Penprase received his education in the Riverside schools, making his home with the late A. J. Myers, a former superintend- ent of the Riverside Water Company, who lived on the present site of the Salt Lake depot. Mrs. Myers, who is still living, is a de- scendant of one of the old Mexican families of Southern California. and it was while working for his board and room with this family that he learned to speak Spanish fluently. After he had finished school his first employment was in picking fruit, for which he re- ceived fifty cents a day and boarded himself. For one year he worked as a paper hanger and did almost any kind of work that would bring him a living. Upon coming to Corona he worked for his father for some time.


After leaving the parental roof Mr. Penprase engaged in ranching and as he succeeded invested his savings and is now the owner of about three hundred and twenty acres of land in the Chuckawalla valley, Riverside county. A tract of eighty-four acres adjoins the clay bank owned by the Colton Cement Company at Prado, from which land clay is taken in considerable quantities. In 1909, with his brother, he engaged in the clothing business in Corona; subsequently purchasing his brother's interest, he now con- ducts the business alone and has built up a very profitable enter- prise. Mr. Penprase is interested in many projects in Southern California; he is a stockholder of the Mathie Brewing Company of


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Los Angeles, a stockholder and one of the directors of the National Bank of Corona and besides his ranch property owns the building and lot where his store is located and his residence property, also several lots on Main street and near the grammar school building. He is a stockholder in the Original Amador Mining Company at Amador City, Cal., and interested in the clay beds in Fresno can- yon, south of Prado. Ever since he has been a resident of Corona and vicinity Mr. Penprase has been actively engaged in developing the resources of this section and by his ability and good business judgment has become one of the successful men of the county. He is public spirited and has contributed his portion towards all pro- gressive movements for the upbuilding of Corona and Riverside county. Mr. Penprase was married in 1905 in San Bernardino to Miss Josie Salazar, a native of Colton.


HARVEY MILLER


By his exceptional executive ability and sterling principles Mr. Miller is well equipped for the enterprise in which for the past four years he has been successfully engaged, and throughout the community is regarded as a man of ambition and public spirit. A farmer by occupation, his father was born in Ohio in 1823, and in 1894 passed away in Lucas county, Iowa, whither he removed with his family. He well remembered the time when the govern- ment purchased Indian lands in Monroe and Lucas counties, Iowa, and the pathetic dignity of the Red Men during the inevitable negotiations made a lasting impression upon his mind. Mrs. Miller, formerly Miss Elizabeth McMullen, whose birth occurred in Ohio in 1830, died in Iowa at the age of seventy years.


Harvey Miller was born in Monroe county, Iowa, in 1861, and received his education in Lucas county, whither his parents had moved. At the age of nineteen he married Miss Mary E. A. Shore, a native of Illinois, whose parents came to California from Lucas county, Iowa, in 1887. Her father passed away in Orange county at the age of eighty-one years. Mrs. Shore makes her home with Mr. Miller. In 1891 Mr. Miller visited California but returned to his eastern home, where he remained until 1893, then removing to Orange county. Purchasing land near Garden Grove he resumed farming, but in 1906 disposed of a portion of his property, trading the remaining forty acres in 1908 for his present home, also the stock of the Main street livery barn. Later he added to his equip-


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ment and today owns an up-to-date livery business. He purchased the furniture and hardware business of Miller's Furnishing House in May, 1912, conducting that in connection with his livery business.


Mr. and Mrs. Miller were blessed with five children, as follows: Vinie E., who died in infancy; Delbert J., born in Iowa in 1883, and now residing in Corona with his wife and three children; Gerial N., born in Iowa in 1885, now married and engaged with his father in business; Clarence H., also a native of Iowa, educated at Garden Grove, Cal., and whose death occurred in 1906; and Dena A., born in Orange county in 1893, now the wife of Victor Tilson of Corona. A member of Garden Grove Lodge of Fraternal Aid, Mr. Miller has ever maintained an interest in the welfare of his fellowmen.


BARNABAS ELLIS SAVERY


A native of Massachusetts, B. E. Savery was born in Wareham, Plymouth county, October 22, 1846. Educated in the public schools, he later worked at the iron moulder's trade, until he was eighteen years of age, when he enlisted in the Twenty-fourth Unattached Company, Massachusetts Volunteers, December 16, 1864, hailing from Plymouth, Mass. He was discharged with the company May 12, 1865, because of the close of the war. The company had served the country with great credit, exercising and executing commands with a noticeable and commendable promptness. Mr. Savery tried to enlist a number of times but was refused. The last time he was rejected he got up at 2 o'clock in the morning and walked from Wareham, through a thin coating of frozen snow to Plymouth, the recruiting place, a distance of about seventeen miles. During the walk the ice and frozen snow actually cut the boots from his feet, so that immediately upon entering town he was obliged to spend all the money he had for a pair of shoes. Even after this expenditure of strength and money he was refused the privilege of enlisting as a soldier. A recruiting officer, or some person present. noticing his deep disappointment, said to him, "Come with me and I will get you a chance to enlist." The man paid his fare to Boston and sure enough, after they got there the young man was accepted and made happy.


At the close of the war Mr. Savery returned home and later shipped on a whaler for two years and six months. Returning from this cruise he remained at home for four weeks and then shipped as carpenter and cooper for four years, sailing the Atlantic and


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Pacific oceans via Cape Horn. He came home and shipped again, this time around the Cape of Good Hope, but being attacked with rheumatism he was discharged after two years' service. He then remained in the Friendly Islands for five years and returned home on a vessel from Auckland, New Zealand.


On arriving home Mr. Savery worked as a carpenter for three years and then was employed as mechanical superintendent for the Walkover Shoe Company, retaining this position for fourteen years. He arrived in California in April, 1893, located in Corona and bought a ranch about two and a half miles south; after selling this he moved into the town. He spent the first three years in looking after small ranches, and he also made the boxes and shipped the first fruit from Corona, via the Santa Fe. There being no pack- ing house here at that time he helped to build the first one erected and remained with the company for one year making boxes and loading fruit. He then went into the contracting and building business, since which time he has built eighty-six houses in Corona, seventy of these having been erected by himself. He is now city inspector of building, plumbing and wiring.


In 1879 Mr. Savery married Miss Emma A. Drinkwater, a native of Maine, and to this union two children were born, one dying in infancy. The other child, Jennie F., was born in 1880 and is the wife of Benjamin Austin; they reside in Alberta, Canada. Mr. Savery is a member of the Odd Fellows, Grand Army of the Republic and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Politically he is a Republican and a great supporter of everything that tends to increase interest in Corona.


CLARENDON B. EYER


A resident of Beaumont, Cal., and one of the men who have been active in the development of this section is C. B. Eyer. He was born in Indiana July 1, 1865, and was graduated from the University of Michigan, law department, July 1, 1888, and that same month he was admitted to the bar of the state of Illinois for the practice of his profession. Mr. Eyer practiced law in Illinois from 1888 until 1907, and became a well-known attorney of Chicago. He resided in Evanston and served that city as one of the alder- men from 1903 to 1905.


Mr. Eyer was a member of the well-known firm of Smoot & Ever from 1892 until his removal to California in 1907. At this


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time he came to the state with the idea of investing and locating and in August of that year he and his asociates purchased several thousand acres at Beaumont and organized the Beaumont Land and Water Company and the San Gorgonio Water Company, being vice-president and secretary of the latter and president of the former. The great progress that this thriving young city has made has been largely due to his efforts in promoting these enterprises. Since his connection with this section Beaumont has grown in popu- lation from three hundred to nearly two thousand.


In all matters that have been put forward to promote the growth and development of this section he has been intensely inter- ested and has been a liberal contributor. He married, October 16, 1888, Miss Cora Knowlton of Winterset, Iowa, and they have two sons and one daughter.


HENRY BRUNMIER


The success achieved by Henry Brunmier and the large amount of prosperity which he now enjoys is the reward of pluck and hardi- hood and undaunted courage in the face of difficulties. He was born in Manitowoc, Wis., October 3, 1867, and his boyhood was passed there uneventfully. At the age of nineteen years he came to California, landing in San Bernardino with but fifty cents in his pocket. Finding employment in a nursery he worked in this busi- ness for two years, when he took up a homestead under the gov- ernment laws, on a part of the ranch which he now owns and upon which he resides. With such a small beginning, through thrift and industry he has accumulated property and amassed quite a fortune. He owns four hundred acres of land in the Brunmier (Bedford) canyon and has one hundred and fifty acres under a high state of cultivation, planted in eucalyptus, lemons, oranges, olives and various deciduous fruits. This property is especially valuable as it is suitable for all kinds of fruits and is situated in the frostless belt. It has the additional advantage of what is in California almost invaluable to a ranch-a large supply of water which the owner is rapidly developing. - From the Brunmier home may be seen one of the most beautiful views in the entire valley. In 1904 Mr. Brunmier lost everything but his house by fire, amount- ing to about $4000.


Mr. Brunmier's marriage occurred in 1893, when he was united with Miss Jennie May Dameron, a native of California, and to


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this union six children have been born, two daughters and four sons : George H., Laura, Eva, Earl, Orvel and William.


In the social, fraternal and civic life of the community Mr. Brunmier has taken an active part. and has proven himself a useful and worthy citizen. He has been a school trustee for a . number of years, and is a member of the Fraternal Brotherhood. Aside from his fruit raising industry he maintains a general farm, raises horses, cattle, turkeys and chickens and has an apiary. Possibly most valued among all his animals are two young deer which are kept on the ranch. Mr. and Mrs. Brunmier and their family enjoy the respect and esteem of the entire community and are counted among Corona's most worthy citizens.


JUDGE JAMES HARRIS BALL


One of Banning's best known citizens was the late Judge J. H. Ball, who took up his residence in Riverside county June 17, 1891. He was born in Randolph county, Mo., August 3, 1844, and spent his boyhood on the farm of his parents. Despite the meager educa- tional advantages afforded by the schools of that period Judge Ball became both well educated and cultured, owing to his power of ob- servation and his deep love of intellectual pursuits.


The opening year of the Civil war found him a lad of seventeen, both eager and determined to serve his country. Enlisting in be- half of the Confederate cause he served five months as a member of the State Guard, later joining Perkins' Battalion, but his worthy anticipations were shattered for a time, owing to a gun-shot wound received in the battle at Pea Ridge, Ark. Upon his recovery, how- ever, he returned to the field, where he served until the terrible con- flict between the North and the South was ended. Judge Ball was present upon the eventful occasion of the surrender of General Lee and also witnessed many other important happenings.


Upon his honorable discharge from service, Judge Ball re- turned to his home, where, September 26, 1866, he married Miss Martha C. Baker, also a native of Randolph county, Mo. The young people settled in a cozy home on a newly acquired farm, where, in 1872, the young wife passed away, leaving two sons. Edgar E., construction engineer for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, with headquarters at Winslow, Ariz .; and William H., in business in Macon, Mo.


In Howard county, Mo., December 3, 1873, Judge Ball married


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Miss Sallie Tatum, also a native of Missouri. One son and three daughters were born of this marriage, those living being Ada May, the wife of John Ainscough, of Banning; Robert Bruce, of San Francisco, division superintendent of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa . Fe Railroad; and Lela B., the wife of James Weir, of Los Angeles.


In the hope of benefiting his failing health Judge Ball traveled several years prior to his removal with his family, in 1891, to Ban- ning, Cal., where for a time he worked at various occupations, later purchasing near town a tract of unimproved land. Twelve acres of this property he set to almonds and peaches, all of which are bear- ing, besides which there are two and one-half acres in apricots. He also bought in Banning several lots upon which he erected cottages, and by his keen business ability and honorable methods succeeded in acquiring an ample competence for himself and family.


Judge Ball was one of twenty-three associates who secured the Foresters' Hall and was a member of the Foresters' Hall Asso- ciation. He was elected justice of the peace of Banning in the spring of 1911, and his constituents never had occasion to regret their choice. For six years he served as justice of the peace at Lamar, Barton county, Mo., where he was well known and highly esteemed. He prided himself upon the fact that he was a Jeffer- sonian Democrat, being a strict adherent to the high standard held by that most eminent statesman. After his identification with Banning, Judge Ball was untiring in his efforts in behalf of the community, where, by his progressive principles and his unselfish interest in the development of the city, he won the unanimous com- mendation of his fellow citizens. He died May 7, 1912, and was buried from his residence on the ninth of the month.


WILLIAM A. SEWELL


While drawing its population from all parts of the United States, and indeed from all portions of the civilized world, Cali- fornia has comparatively few Texans within her border, but such as have come to the Pacific coast from the Lone Star state have proved citizens of true worth, a decided acquisition to the devel- opment of the commonwealth. In the list of native-born Texans now residing in Southern California, mention belongs to William A. Sewell, who is engaged in the real estate and insurance business at Beaumont, also fills the office of justice of the peace and, in addition, for the past three years, or since 1908, has acted as a notary public. Possessing great faith in the possibilities of the


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land in the vicinity of Beaumont, he has devoted himself to the selling of lots here and has drawn to the community' a goodly number of capable, loyal citizens, who join with him in lauding the resources of the district.


A resident of California since 1900, Mr. Sewell was born in Kaufman county, Tex., September 16, 1861, and grew to manhood on a farm near Dallas. Almost wholly deprived of educational advantages, he nevertheless was of a studious disposition and learned much from the careful perusal of such books as he read. Later studies gave him a broad fund of business information and he is now a man of extended research, with the diversified knowl- edge necessary to commercial activities. In Collin county, Tex., February 20, 1887, he married Miss Augusta L. Rike, a native of North Carolina, and the young couple began housekeeping on a farm. Four years later they removed to Abilene, Tex., where Mr. Sewell engaged in general wagon and carriage making and black- smithing for nine years. Coming to California in 1900 they settled in Shasta county, where for three years he carried on a store at Keswick. During 1903 he sold the business and returned tempo- rarily to Texas, but soon went to Oklahoma, where he closed out a stock of goods and remained for fourteen months. On his return to the west he engaged in the mercantile business at Los Angeles until 1907, when he sold out. Since then he has engaged in the real estate business.


As a representative and local agent for a prominent company of Los Angeles Mr. Sewell came to Beaumont, where he has sold a number of lots, besides disposing of land in the valley. His office is in this town and he owns a comfortable house here as well as several vacant lots. The Los Angeles firm made a practice of running several excursion trains to Beaumont each week and in this way strangers were enabled to see the land and study the soil and opportunities afforded by the district. Among the people of the town he is very popular, as was evinced by his elec- tion to the office of justice of the peace, when he received the unanimous vote of the precinct with the exception of three votes. On national issues he votes the Democratic ticket, but locally he is independent and endeavors to support the best men irrespective of party. His family consists of wife and son and daughter, the latter being Edna, Mrs. J. F. Roberts, prominent in social circles of Beaumont. The son, H. Grady, is married and engaged in business at Beaumont. The family are identified with the Baptist Church and contribute to its maintenance as well as to its missionary movements, and they also are generous in their contributions to philanthropies, kind to the deserving, helpful to the needy and loyal to the welfare of the town. 39


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TERRY W. DAVENPORT


One of Riverside's retired citizens is T. W. Davenport, whose life throughout has been marked by both foresight and determina- tion. In his declining years he displays the same active mental power which has ever been one of his strongest characteristics and which now affords him greater pleasure than ever before. He was born December 29, 1842, in Johnson county, Mo., where he received his early education. In 1852 his parents, J. T. and Sarah Daven- port, removed to Dade county, where the son continued his gram- mar school studies. At the age of fourteen he began working on a farm and by his perseverance and energy gained a good start in life. At the age of nineteen, on December 31, 1861, he was united in marriage, in Dade county, to Miss Mary Davis, who was born there June 14, 1845.




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