USA > California > San Bernardino County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume II > Part 23
USA > California > Riverside County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume II > Part 23
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Mr. Wheeler returned then to Wisconsin, and for about three years engaged in a mercantile business, removing then to Iowa, and there was interested in the lumber trade until 1888, when he embraced an opportunity to sell out to advantage and soon afterwards was on his way to California with the intention of locating permanently in this state. After considerable traveling about he reached Riverside, and very soon felt that his search for a home site was ended. He purchased property at 1590 Mulberry Street, on the corner of Prospect Street, where he erected his commodious residence, and has called Riverside his home ever since.
After locating at Riverside Mr. Wheeler was engaged for a time in the furniture business under the name of W. S. Sweat & Company. Later he disposed of his interest in this firm and purchased the Rose Mine in the San Bernardino Mountains. In company with his asso- ciates in the enterprise he erected a five-stamp mill, cleaning up what he got on the plate and shipping his concentrates to San Francisco and El Paso. He continued to work this mine for three or four years and
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then disposed of his interests. The mine is still being worked. He did own the Egyptian Mine in Colorado, which is being profitably worked, a long tunnel now being constructed which will tap the ledge at a depth of about 1500 feet. Mr. Wheeler sold his interest in this property when he left Colorado.
After returning to Riverside, in 1903, he bought 680 acres of land in the Imperial Valley, which was soon afterwards put under water. He raised alfalfa, corn, wheat, barley and cattle for a number of years, but finally sold out when he felt like retiring and taking life a little easier. He has also made successful experiments in orange growing. He bought at one time sixty acres of land in High Grove, fifty acres of which he planted to oranges and brought into bearing. At one time he had 1500 stands of bees in and around Riverside, and his largest shipment of honey in one year was ninety tons.
In 1871 Mr. Wheeler married Miss Josephine Packard, who was born in Ohio, and they have four children: May, who is the wife of William Dunworth, a builder at Miami, Florida, and they have three sons; Frank, who is superintendent of the Globe Mills at Calexico, has a family of wife, two sons and two daughters; Hattie, who is the wife of W. B. Richards, interested in the orange and lemon growing industry at Long Beach, California, and they have two children; and Josiebelle, is the wife of Clarence Barton, of El Centro, who is treas- urer of Imperial County. They had two children, but one of whom is now living.
Since disposing of his Imperial Valley property Mr. Wheeler has led a quiet life, although not an idle one. In addition to his handsome residence at Riverside he has other city property and owns the business block which is now occupied by the Daily Enterprise Publishing Company. This modern structure was built by his son-in-law, Clar- ence Barton. In political sentiment Mr. Wheeler is an ardent repub- lican, and while living in Iowa he was quite active in the political field, frequently serving in township offices and as a member of com- mittees and as delegate to party conventions. He has never united with any fraternal organization except the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Mr. Wheeler's sister (deceased) was Mrs. Hattie (Wheeler) Paine, wife of Colonel W. H. Paine, who was on the staff of the different gen- erals of the Army of the Potomac. She died after presenting her hus- band with a daughter. He was a civil engineer and was commissioned a captain in the regular Army during the Civil war struggle and made a great name as a bridge builder. Later he was one of the engineers of the Brooklyn Bridge and when the cable was stretched across the river he and his daughter were the first to cross on it, prior to the completion of the bridge.
JAMES T. BARRETT, PH. D .- As professor of plant pathology and now dean of the Citrus Experiment Station of the University of Cali- fornia, Doctor Barrett stands in very close and vital relation with the primary industry of Southern California. The Experiment Station at Riverside, more fully described on other pages of this publication, is the practical laboratory where nearly every technical problem involved in the growing of citrus fruits is worked out, and growers from all over this section of the state resort to Doctor Barrett's office for advice and counsel on determination of proper fertilizers, cultivation, irrigation and the control and eradication of diseases.
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Doctor Barrett came to California from the University of Illinois. He was born at Butler, Illinois, November 14, 1876, son of Jesse C. and Emma (Hutchison) Barrett, the former born in Indiana and the latter in Illinois. They are now living retired in Riverside. They are of English descent and of old American families. Emma Hutchison represents an old Kentucky line, being related with the Henry Clay family. Jesse C. Barrett was for many years active as a farmer and teacher, and for twelve years was county superintendent of schools of Montgomery County, Illinois.
James T. Barrett attended grammar and high school in Illinois, gradu- ating from high school in 1894 and finishing his preparatory course in 1895. During 1898-1900 he taught in high school, and in 1903 received his A. B. degree from the University of Illinois. For five years he was on the research staff of the University of Illinois Agricultural Ex- periment Station. In 1907 he received his A. M. degree, and in 1910 was granted the Ph. D. degree by Cornell University. On leaving Cornell he returned to the University of Illinois in the department of botany, and served as botanist of the Agricultural Experiment Station until 1913.
Doctor Barrett in 1913 accepted the chair of plant pathology in the Graduate School of Tropical Agriculture and Citrus Experiment Station, a department of the University of California, and has since been actively identified with the Riverside community. Since July 1, 1919, he has been acting dean and director of the station, his titles being Professor of Plant Pathology, acting director of the Citrus Experiment Station and acting dean of the Graduate School of Tropical Agriculture. Doctor Barrett is serving his second year as president of the California Citrus Institute.
He is a member of the Riverside City Planting Commission, the Board of Education, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Botanical Society of America, American Phytological So- city and Western Society of Naturalists. In 1908 he was elected to membership in Sigma Xi, the national honorary scientific fraternity. He is an independent republican and once for a brief time was in local politics, being elected and serving a term as city clerk of Butler, Illinois. He is a member of the Official Board of the First Methodist Church and one of the superintendents of the Sunday School.
June 15, 1904, at Butler, Illinois, Dr. Barrett married Miss Anne Turner, a native of Illinois, daughter of William Turner, a farmer of that state, and granddaughter of a justly distinguished Illinois college professor and horticulturist, Jonathan B. Turner, who is known in the history of that state as the originator and strong supporter of the land grant idea for the establishment of agricultural colleges. The Morrill Land Grant Act, which resulted, was the first civil bill signed by Abraham Lincoln. Out of this Morrill Act came the provision result- ing in a large measure in the founding and establishment of nearly all state agricultural colleges. The four children of Dr. and Mrs. Barrett are all students in the Riverside schools, their names being, respectively, James Turner, Mary Helen, Martha Anne and Paul Hutchison Barrett.
LYMAN M. JENKINS is a former Iowa man who has found content- ment and happiness in the beautiful surroundings of Riverside. About twenty years ago he bought a place of eight acres on Palmyrita Avenue, and that, with its development and improvements, constitutes his home today. His father was a pioneer Californian, a gold seeker, and as a boy Lyman Jenkins heard many stories from his father's lips and thus came to know California and was attracted to its marvelous resources. Vol. 11-11
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When the health of Mr. Jenkins' wife began failing in the eastern climate it was only natural that he should select the sun-kissed valleys of this state to restore her.
Mr. Jenkins was born in Illinois, August 17, 1858, son of Charles and Harriet (Thatcher) Jenkins, both natives of New York State and of English descent and Revolutionary stock. His father while in Illinois was a successful farmer and very popular citizen, and was county super- visor for eight or ten years. In 1850 he went across the plains to California in search of gold, remaining about two years. He afterward made two other trips west.
Lyman M. Jenkins had a public school education and attended the business college at Naperville, Illinois. From school he returned to the work of a farm in that section of the state, and in 1883 moved to Iowa, where for ten years he followed farming and was then a merchant at Winthrop until 1901.
Largely on account of his wife's health he sold his interests in Iowa and came to Riverside. His purchase of eight acres lies on Palmyrita Avenue and La Cadena Drive. He grows oranges, grain and alfalfa and has recently added chickens. The poultry is assuming an important place in his farm operation. His land is on a gentle anticline that commands an interesting view of the valley and the surrounding orange groves, with the mountains showing in the distance on all sides. He is a member of the Poultry Association and of the Riverside Farm Bureau.
Mr. Jenkins throughout his manhood has been a staunch republican. He was a leader in his party in Iowa, serving on the City and County Central Committees and frequently as a delegate to conventions. For five years he was a trustee of the town of Winthrop. Politics has given him little concern since coming to California. Here he has devoted his time to the ranch, both for pleasure and profit. He is also interested in city property in Calipatria in the Imperial Valley. Mr. Jenkins was secretary of the Lodge of Masons at Winthrop until he came to California. He is a member of the First Methodist Church at Riverside.
While in Illinois he married Miss Adela Baylis, who died, leaving three children. Charles, the oldest, is an electrical engineer with the Southern California Edison Company at Los Angeles, and by his mar- riage with Miss Ina Rudy, of Salt Lake, has a daughter, Betty. Rosa, the second child, is the wife of Baird Travers, a carpenter and contractor at Calipatria, California, and has a daughter, Adela. Howard, the youngest, associated with the Lewis Company at Atascadero, married Lois Johnson, of Riverside, a sister of W. A. Johnson, president of the First National Bank. Mr. and Mrs. Howard Jenkins have one daughter.
At Winthrop, Iowa, November 27, 1895, Mr. Jenkins married Miss Jessie Fernald. She was born in Iowa, daughter of Charles Fernald. Her mother is now living with her in Riverside. Mr. Jenkins also has three children by his second marriage : Lucille, wife of Merrill Phinney, of Highgrove; Fred F., with the Lewis Company at Atascadero, and Miss Doris, of the class of 1924, in the Riverside High School,
WILLIAM B. RICKER-The growing of tropical fruits and nuts and the packing and shipping of the same occupy the attention of many sub- stantial residents of Riverside County. The lavish bounty of nature has brought many a man with farming experience to this favored part of California. In all vocations in which climate and soil must be primarily taken into consideration the modern system of scientific training is a great and helpful factor in bringing about success, whether it is applied to growing grain in the East, corn in Illinois or oranges in California.
Mr& Mrs. NKouros.
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A prosperous fruit and nut grower, whose beautiful home is at River- side, is William B. Ricker, who spent all his early years on a New England farm.
William B. Ricker was born at Turner, Androscoggin County, Maine, and is a son of J. W. and Betsy (Briggs) Ricker. Both the Ricker and Briggs ancestors came to New England in Colonial days and both were heroically represented in the Revolutionary war. J. W. Ricker and his wife spent their lives in Maine. He was a substantial farmer in Andros- coggin County, and was prominent in politics and influential in civic matters at Auburn, serving in such offices as school commissioner and councilman. He was a veteran of the Civil war, serving three years in Company C, Eighth Maine Volunteer Infantry.
William B. Ricker attended the public schools and completed the high school course at Auburn, Maine, following which he settled down on the home farm and assisted his father in its management and operation until he was twenty-nine years old. In 1903 he came to California, and shortly afterward bought five acres of land at the corner of Blaine Street and Chicago Avenue, Riverside, which he devoted to walnuts, oranges and other fruits. He has prospered greatly in this undertaking, and it is generally acknowledged that no other property in this vicinity is better cared for, more attractive or more profitable. He brought with him from the East well settled habits of industry, and during the winter seasons until recently he was usually to be found at work in the plant of the Riverside Heights, No. 10, packing house, of which he is a member, or the Monte Vista Citrus Association.
On June 21, 1898, Mr. Ricker married Miss Mildred Lowell, who was born in Maine and is a daughter of James L. Lowell, a substantial farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Ricker have had two children : Verna Grace, whose lamented death occurred on March 19, 1921, when aged but six- teen years; and Wesley L., who is a student in the Riverside Junior College.
In politics Mr. Ricker is a republican, but he has contented himself with being an earnest and loyal citizen rather than a seeker for public office. He belongs to the Sons of Veterans and also to the Present Day Club. He has never regretted coming to California, and no resident of Riverside could be more appreciative or more anxious to advance its welfare in every way.
HERMAN H. MONROE, of Riverside, has had a wide newspaper expe- rience covering nearly a half century both in California and the Middle West, is a scholar, a writer, and has had residence in Riverside for thirty-five years. He was born at Knoxville, Tioga County, Pennsyl- vania, May 22, 1852. His father, Augustus J. Monroe, was a native of Massachusetts, of Scotch-English ancestry and of the stock that produced President Monroe. He was a criminal lawyer of some note, served as a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature in the fifties, and in 1860 became a pioneer citizen of Iowa, where he served the Gov- ernment as assistant assessor of internal revenue, was city attorney and otherwise prominent in his home town of Monticello. He prac- ticed law in the courts of Cedar Rapids and Des Moines until he was past eighty and lived to the ripe age of ninety-six years. His wife was Adelia Wood, a native of New York State and of Revolutionary ancestry. They had three volunteer sons in the Civil war.
Herman H. Monroe attended the grammar and high schools of Monticello, and in 1868, at the age of sixteen, entered the local printing office and learned the "Art Preservative." In 1875 he became an
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employe in the Government printing office at Washington. Later for some five years he had charge of the Record-Union at Rochester, Minnesota, an establishment that handled all of the printing for the great grain firm of G. W. Van Dusen & Company, then operating 140 elevators throughout Minnesota and the Dakotas.
Mr. Monroe came to Riverside in the autumn of 1886 and soon after assumed foremanship of the Daily Press, then owned by L. M. Holt. Later, when the Clarke Brothers came over from Ontario and succeeded to the ownership of the paper, it was soon after incorporated and Mr. Monroe became first vice-president of the Press Printing Company. In 1889 he sold his stock to H. W. Hammond and pur- chased the Morning Enterprise, creating the firm of Monroe & Barton. This plant he owned wholly or in part four different times, but in 1913 finally disposed of interests in Riverside and became half- owner in the Hemet News with John E. King, another veteran news- paper man, who is also postmaster at Hemet.
When Mr. Monroe withdrew from the Press Printing Company the Daily Press said of him: "Mr. Monroe has been connected with the Press since 1886, and has won the fullest respect and kindest re- gard of all his associates. He is a well-equipped newspaper man with wide and varied training, and should make a success of his new venture. His former partners on the Press bespeak for him a cordial reception from the people of Riverside and the newspaper fraternity. The work of dramatic critic, which for years has been so acceptably done by Mr. Monroe, will be handled by some other member of the Press staff in a manner, we trust, to maintain the high reputation of that department of this paper."
The Hemet News is one of the live papers of the county and is generally regarded by newspaper people as one of the best weekly journals on the Pacific Coast. While conducting the Enterprise Mr. Monroe was a director of the local Chamber of Commerce and was active in the business life of Riverside. He served as city censor during five consecutive mayoralty terms. He is affiliated with Sunny- side Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of which he is one of its oldest members.
It may not be improper to note that during his connection with the Riverside papers Mr. Monroe, as dramatic critic, had full charge of the department of amusements, and through his kindly efforts some of Riverside's young musicians were given publicity and encouragement to what subsequently led to successful careers. Among these might be named Isobel Curl (Mme. Piana), Norma Rockhold (Mlle. Rocca), Marcia Craft (Marcella Craft), Henry Ohlmeyer, the bandmaster, and other musicians and readers who have honored Riverside before the footlights.
At Monticello, Iowa, January 17, 1874, Mr. Monroe was united in marriage to Miss Lydia A. Austin, a native of New York State, and of English-Irish descent. Her father was N. W. Austin, a contractor and builder who operated in Chicago after the great fire. Mrs. Monroe is possessor of a beautiful lyric soprano voice and cultivated her musical talent as a pupil of Mme. Sarah Hershey-Eddy in Chicago. From childhood she was prominent in musical circles and always gave freely of her services. In 1891 she became interested in the order of Pythian Sisters, and by rapid advancement occupied the presiding chairs in Subordinate, Grand, and finally, the higest office that the order has to bestow, in the Supreme Temple. She has also for many
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years been an active member of other prominent fraternal organi- zations.
FRANK D. TROTH was a Pittsburgh merchant for a score of years before coming to California, and his business activities have been suc- cessfully continued in Riverside, where he is well known as a financier, is president of the Title Insurance Company and is also head of one of the leading drug firms of the city.
Mr. Troth was born February 28, 1861, son of William J. and Mar- garet (Scott) Troth. His mother was a native of Halifax, Nova Scotia. His father was born in Vienna, Dorchester County, Maryland, and was a well known citizen of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for many years. He was in the internal revenue service in that city, and later, when Pitts- burgh Safe Deposit Company was organized, the first deposit company ever started in Pittsburgh and now one of the big financial institutions of that city, he became custodian, and filled that post of duty for twenty- four years, until his death.
Frank D. Troth grew up and received his early education in Pittsburgh, attending grammar and high school. As a boy he went to work in a drug store and gained a thorough and practical knowledge of the drug business and was also granted a license as a pharmacist by the state. For twenty years he conducted his own store at Pittsburgh.
On coming to Riverside in 1908 Mr. Troth took up an entirely new line of business, as an associate of the Union Title and Abstract Company. He was elected president of this company in 1912. Later the company bought the oldest abstract business in Riverside County, known as the Riverside Abstract Company, and continued under the name of the old organization, with Mr. Troth as president. In 1919 the business was reincorporated as the Title Insurance Company of Riverside, of which Mr. Troth is president.
August 5, 1919, Mr. Troth became a partner in a drug business which for ten years had been conducted by George A. McCarty. The new firm name is Troth & McCarty, and they have a splendid store. with a trade from all over the country and a rapidly increasing business.
Mr. Troth both in Pennsylvania and in California has been active in republican politics. While in Pennsylvania he was secretary of the School Board at Knoxville. He is the present park commis- sioner of Riverside. He is a member of the Business Men's Associa- tion, the Present Day Club, and is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge at Pittsburgh, Al Malaikah Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Los Angeles, Riverside Lodge of Elks and the Maccabees. He is a deacon in the First Congregational Church and a member of the Choir Committee.
Mr. Troth married Elizabeth Jahn, a native of Pittsburgh, daughter of John Jahn, of Pittsburgh. Mr. and Mrs. Troth were married in Castle Shannon in Pittsburgh. They are the parents of a daughter and twin sons. The daughter, Margaret, is the wife of W. H. Davis, chemist for the Standard Oil Company at Oakland, California. Frank D., Jr., is a student in Pomona College, and Fred B., formerly connected with the George Reynolds Company of Riverside, is now with the Owl Drug Company of Los Angeles.
S. LEONARD HERRICK-It sometimes happens that what at the time was regarded as a serious calamity is, in reality, a "blessing
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in disguise," for through it and the resultant changes in plans of living and place of residence men ofttimes enter into a sphere of usefulness for which their talents specially fit them, and in this way succeed beyond their expectations and attain to a degree of prosperity which would not have been possible under other conditions. Such, without doubt, has been the experience of S. Leonard Herrick, one of the most successful orange growers of Riverside, who came to this city because of ill health which forbade his pursuing the course he had laid out for himself.
S. Leonard Herrick was born at Grinnell, Iowa, September 1, 1873, a son of Stephen Henderson and Hattie E. (Fellows) Herrick, the former of whom is a banker of Riverside, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. He came to California in 1882, on an expedi- tion to collect specimens for an Eastern museum, stopping during his trip with his family in Oakland. He was so pleased with what he saw of Riverside that he located there with his family in 1886, and became at once identified with the citrus culture of this region. Growing up in Riverside, S. Leonard Herrick attended its public schools, and then became a student of Pomona College at Claremont, California in 1889, the year the college was opened at Claremont, and was graduated from its preparatory department in 1892. He then went to Iowa College, now Grinnell College, at Grinnell, Iowa, from which he was graduated in 1895 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. His father had graduated from the same institution with the same degree just thirty years previously. After graduation he acted as private secretary to the president of the college until an opportunity presented itself by which he was enabled to attend the university of Chicago to study for another degree. He studied there twelve months and then he continued his studies abroad in company with an instructor in sociology at Grinnell College.
After his return from abroad he took the Degree of Master of Arts at Grinnell College. A position was offered him at Pomona College, which he accepted, and was engaged in teaching there during 1898-1899. He proposed to devote his life to educational work, specializing on the subjects to which he had devoted so much thought and study, but his health did not warrant the close confinement necessary for this work, and he was forced to entirely change his mode of living and turn his attention to some occupation which would insure his being in the open. His father's important holdings in ranch property afforded his son ample opportunity for developing his own interests and recovering his health, and the younger man has since 1900, looked after the outside interests of his father as well as his own, which have steadily increased in volume, and he is now numbered among the prominent orange growers of this part of the state. S. Leonard Herrick is secretary of the East Riverside Water Company, manager for the East Riverside Land Company ; treasurer and general manager for the Herrick Estates, Incorporated ; and treasurer for the Lemona Heights Company. He is a director of the Monte Vista Citrus Association, and for several years was president of the Highgrove Fruit Exchange and has been very closely identified with the citrus industry since he left the educational field. At Riverside and its vicinity he owns with his father two hundred acres of citrus groves, and a one-fourth interest in the Lemona Heights Company, which owns one hundred and eighty-six acres of oranges and lemons.
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