USA > California > San Bernardino County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume II > Part 38
USA > California > Riverside County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume II > Part 38
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In 1877 he decided on a change and went to Santa Maria, to an uncle, W. L. Adam, who had purchased eleven leagues of land and who also conducted a large general store. He worked for a time in the store and then engaged in driving a team, as he did not like the indoor confinement. He varied this by working also on the big Suey ranch for a man named Fields, who was in charge of the property. In 1878 Mr. Henderson returned to San Bernardino and drove team for Van Slack in the mountains of the district until 1880, when the
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big Bodie boom started. With seven others he procured teams and started for Bodie, but on the way up they met crowds of men return- ing from Bodie who told them the boom was "busted," so they decided not to go on. When the party reached Bishop Creek, Mr. Henderson decided to get a job there. At that point lived a man named Gillette, who had an old grist mill. Mr. Henderson talked with him about the chances of getting a job, and Gillette went to a man named Mallory and secured him work the next day. Mallory had 320 acres of land and raised grain, cattle, hogs and chickens, sell- ing to the miners around Bellville. He went to work for him in May and worked all summer .. After the first month he was made fore- man. Among the men he had to oversee were a number of Piute Indians. In the fall Mr. Henderson started hauling grain to Bell- ville, and it sold for five cents per pound. At other times he would take out hogs, chickens and sometimes a bunch of cattle. He worked for Mallory until 1882, and then went to work again for Tyler Broth- ers, and was engaged as lumberman there for two years.
He then started in business for himself, buying a team and haul- ing freight up to the mountains and hauling down lumber on the return trip. He kept this up about seven years, and in 1889 was elected city marshal of San Bernardino, and ex officio tax collector. He held these offices until 1901, and then ran again for the position, but was defeated. He then worked for Walter Shay in the police department for four years, after which he was special officer for the Santa Fe for seven years. He resigned from this position then in order to be at home with his wife, who was in poor health, and his duties in that position kept him away from home most of the time. He was elected councilman from the Fifth Ward, and while holding this position he was elected mayor of San Bernardino, in 1919, serving until May, 1921. After leaving the mayor's office Mr. Henderson was appointed administrator and has been looking after the estate of his deceased sister, Mrs. Margaret Yeager. This estate consists principally of orange groves in the Rialto district. Mr. Henderson owns a pretty home of five acres in San Bernardino.
In 1889 he married Asenia Wilson, a daughter of James Wilson, of El Monte, California. He is a member of San Bernardino Lodge No. 348, A. F. and A. M., and of Arrowhead Parlor No. 110, Native Sons of the Golden West. Politically he gives his allegiance to the democratic party.
CHARLES P. HAYT .- The enterprises originating in and directed by him and others, with which he has been prominently associated, give Charles P. Hayt a notable place in the history of Riverside and Riverside County. An early recognition of the possibilities in the building line and unlimited faith in the city has brought him enviable prosperity. Always public spirited, he has given time, money and energy to the work of the community as a whole. This interest has been thoroughly progressive and constructive.
The history of local transportation in particular involves repeated reference to Charles P. Hayt and his father. He had the distinction of establishing the first star passenger and mail route between River- side, Colton and Temecula. It was not only his capital that provided the facilities for this transportation route, but his brawn and muscle were availed in driving one of the old Concord coaches between the points named. Mr. Hayt was the first man to put up a thousand
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dollars for the franchise and the first steel laid in Riverside for the Street Railway, which afterward merged into the Arlington Company and has since been developed as part of the great system of the Pacific Electric Railroad. The first local line ran on Seventh, Park and Eighth streets to Mount Rubidoux, and the passengers were car- ried in little cars built by the St. Louis Car Company.
Charles P. Hayt was born in Patterson, Putnam County, New York, October 15, 1854, son of William A. and Mary E. (Pugsley) Hayt. His great-grandfather, Stephen Hayt, was a drummer boy in Washing- ton's Army during the Revolution. Later he engaged in farming in Putnam County, New York, where his son, Harry, his grandson, William A., and his great grandson, Charles P., were all born, and where in different generations they were identified with farming and merchandising.
William A. Hayt made his first trip across the plains to California in 1859. He again came West by way of the Isthmus of Panama ten years later. He had a part in various enterprises in Riverside and vicinity, and he lived there for many years, until his death on De- cember 4, 1915.
Charles P. Hayt acquired his early education in the public schools of Putnam County, New York. For eight years he was in business in New York State. He knows intimately many phases of pioneer times in the far West. During the exciting days of the Comstock lode, during the seventies, he was at Virginia City, Nevada, and came in touch with many of the old time miners and the mining conditions of that period. Mr. Hayt altogether has made five trips across the Isthmus of Panama. His observations of the Isthmus caused him to believe that a mistake was made when the United States started the construction of its great canal. He has always favored the con- struction of a tide-water canal instead of the lock system.
Mr. Hayt came to Riverside in September, 1882, and with his father engaged in the livery and transfer business and also as dealers in meat. It was a very small scale enterprise, and two horses com- prised the livery equipment. They built a stable 55x150 feet, and soon the business outgrew even these facilities and they purchased adjoining property and built upon it. Soon after this C. P. Hayt purchased all his father's interests. Charles P. Hayt was a born veterinarian, and for years he personally cared for the health of his horses. In former years he conducted one of the best stables in Southern California, and had probably the largest livery business, and was also a large dealer in hay and grain. During the time he and his father were associated they operated the first mail stage line. This line boasted one of the old six-horse Concord stages, and later that coach was sold to Cave & Reeves of Redlands to be used in the desert runs.
Mr. Hayt's personality and his willingness to assist in all matters of public importance made his business a most popular and profitable one. He finally gave up the livery business to enter larger fields of endeavor. Building construction appealed to him, and he and his father erected a number of buildings in Riverside. They jointly erected the three-story brick building known as the Hayt Block on the southwest corner of Seventh and Main streets, Charles P. Hayt later purchasing his father's interest. It was constructed in 1887 on ground 55x155 feet. In November, 1892, Mr. Hayt built his present handsome residence at 484 Orange Street. He constructed other build-
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ings, and his faith in the rapid advancement of Riverside has been com- pletely justified.
Mr. Hayt in 1888 took an active part in the formation of the River- side Gas & Electric Company, and was the second to fill the office of secretary. This public utility was successful from the start, and is still giving Riverside as fine a service as is enjoyed by any other city on the coast. In politics Mr. Hayt is a republican, but has concerned himself with politics only so far as the interests of the local community were concerned. He was a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge in the old home town.
May 22, 1884, at Riverside, Mr. Hayt married Miss Minnie Myrtle Morey, of an old American family of English ancestry. She was born in Naperville, Illinois, and her parents, Amos Benjamin and Mary Amanda Morey, are both natives of New York. Mr. Morey was a Union soldier, serving throughout the Civil War. Mr. and Mrs. Hayt have two sons. William Augustus, the elder, is in the implement business at Los Angeles, while Arthur Pugsley Hayt is engaged in the automobile business in Los Angeles. Mrs. Hayt came to Riverside May 10, 1883, in the interests of Miss Irene Lamb. Mrs. Hayt was a buyer for small mercantile houses and was instrumental in establishing the first Riverside store dealing exclusively in ladies' goods and art work. It was a very successful enterprise, but after a year they moved to Los Angeles and established the business there. Mrs. Hayt joined the Riverside Woman's Club when it was three weeks old, and took an active part therein until 1917, and is still a member of the organization.
PHIL G. RIMELL, special agent for the Union Oil Company at River- side, California, is one of the successful men of this region, and one whose career has been marked by earnest endeavor, hard work and good business management. He was born at London, England, September 23, 1874, a son of George James and Ellen (Carter) Rimell, both of whom are still living, although over eighty years old. They were natives of London, and here he has been engaged in handling a store for old books and engravings which was established over seventy-five years ago. They are in excellent health, and in spite of their years are still active. Both belong to old English families.
It was intended by his parents that Phil G. Rimell be given a thor- ough training and fitted for the calling of a mining engineer in both London, England, and Madrid, Spain, and to this end he was sent to an excellent private school to acquire the fundamentals of a solid education. These plans were entirely upset, however, by the discovery that he would not be able to complete his studies on account of his weak eyes, and so, when only fifteen and a half years old, the courageous lad crossed the ocean to the United States, and reached Helena, Montana, May 8, 1890, determined to learn the stock business in all its details. Young men were then in great demand by the large cattle growers to ride the range, and in spite of his youth he had no difficulty in securing work. From the beginning he earned enough to pay his own way, and liked the business in spite of the hardships incident to it, for Montana was then on the outskirts of civilization and the cowboys of that period had to rough it in true pioneer fashion.
At the termination of a five-year experience Mr. Rimell returned to England, and after proving to his father's satisfaction that he could make a success of it if he went into the cattle business for himself, secured the older man's financial backing and, returning to Montana in 1896,
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purchased his own herds and operated in the vicinity of Choteau until 1906 with marked success. In the latter year his wife's health failed, necessitating a change to a less vigorous climate, and after some search Mr. Rimell decided upon locating at Riverside, California, moved here, and has since made it his home.
Soon after locating at Riverside he sold his Montana interests and turned his energies to orange culture. He was succeeding beyond his expectations when, in 1912, together with other growers of this region, he suffered heavy financial losses, and felt that he could not afford to continue in a line of business, to the exclusion of everything else, which was subject to such periods of depression. Therefore he began handling real estate, having already had considerable experience in this line through his successful colonization of 10,000 acres of land on the Great Northern Railroad in Montana for Eastern capitalists. The colonists were Hol- landers, and the project proved satisfactory to all parties concerned. In July, 1914, the Union Oil Company opened its local plant at Riverside, and Mr. Rimell was made its manager. So capable did he prove that within six months this company appointed him special agent of this territory, which position he has since held, and during the time he has been occupied with these duties the business of the company in his terri- tory has increased more than 3,000 percent. During all of the time he has resided at Riverside Mr. Rimell has given some attention to orange growing, but owing to the fact that the expansion of the city has so increased the value of his property on Cridge Street he has sub-divided a portion of it and sold it for residential purposes, but still retains seven and one-half acres at 575 Cridge Street, where he maintains his home.
Since coming to Riverside Mr. Rimell has been very active in all of the community interests, and is now president and a director of the Rotary Club, and was accredited delegate to represent it at the Inter- national Convention at Edinburgh, Scotland, which he attended in June, 1921. He is a member and stockholder of the Victoria Golf Club, and was a director of it and its secretary from 1911 to 1913. As a director of the Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Business Men's Asso- ciation and the Present Day Club he renders an efficient service in a commercial way. He is a member of Riverside Lodge, A. F. and A. M., the Woodmen of the World and the Modern Woodmen of America. After securing his papers of citizenship he espoused the cause of the republican party, and has continued one of its active workers ever since. While in Montana he was a member of the City and County Central Committees, and since coming to Riverside has been a member of the City Central Committee for one term. A communicant of the Episcopal Church, he is very active in All Saints parish, serving it as vestryman, and is vice president of the All Saints Men's Club.
On April 26, 1899, Mr. Rimell married at Choteau, Montana, Jennie McDonald, a native of Missouri, and a daughter of Sterling McDonald. The latter was a soldier of the Union Army during the war between the states, and after its close served Scotland County, Missouri, for many years as county clerk. Mrs. Rimell's health was greatly improved by her change of residence, and she was spared to her family until May, 1920, when she passed away. She bore her husband two daughters, namely : Ellen, who died in infancy ; and Elizabeth, affectionately known as Betty, who is a student in the National Cathedral School at Washington, Dis- trict of Columbia, class of 1923. In whatever he has undertaken Mr. Rimell has displayed a whole-hearted interest and an enthusiasm which has enabled him to attain to an unusual success. While advancing his
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own interests, however, he has never forgotten his obligations as a good citizen, but has contributed freely and generously of his time and means to forwarding those projects which in his judgment would work out for the good of the majority. His wide and varied experience have given him a broad outlook on life, and ripened his judgment, clarified his vision, and enabled him to weigh carefully and concisely the merits of any mat- ter. These characteristics are recognized and appreciated by his asso- ciates, who are glad to accord to him a leadership he is so capable of sus- taining, and his advice is sought and taken on numerous occasions.
NELSON H. TWOGOOD, who has become one of the successful expon- ents of the citrus-fruit industry in Riverside County, was born at Pecatonica, Winnebago County, Illinois, September 25, 1851, a son of James D. and Amanda (Cable) Twogood, the former a native of the State of New York and the lattter of Ohio, the lineage of both tracing back to English origin and the respective families having been founded in America in the Colonial days. The father of James D. Twogood became a pioneer settler in Iowa, where he passed the remainder of his life. James D. Twogood continued his association with farm enter- prise in Illinois until 1886, when he came to Riverside County, Cali- fornia, where he developed a fine orange grove of thirty-two acres at Highgrove, besides becoming the owner of 200 acres of land in Perris Valley, this county. His home at Riverside was at the corner of Orange Grove Avenue and Fourteenth Street, and he was one of the honored and influential citizens of the county at the time of his death, in July, 1895. His widow passed away in 1905.
Nelson H. Twogood was reared and educated in Illinois, and as a young man became a successful teacher in the rural schools. He con- tinued his connection with farm enterprise in that state until 1883, when he took up a homestead of Government land in what is now the State of South Dakota. He improved this property and continued as a pro- gressive farmer in South Dakota until 1901, when he came to Riverside County, California, where he has since given his attention to the pro- duction of citrus fruit, his homestead place of thirty-nine acres at River- side being devoted to oranges, and his place of thirty acres in Perris valley being devoted to dry farming. He was one of the organizers of the Highgrove Sugarloaf Fruit Association, but later severed his con- nection with the same. He is now a director and the secretary of the Sierra Vista Fruit Association, and was formerly a director of the bank at Highgrove. He takes deep and loyal interest in community affairs, is a republican in politics and for several years has been president of the Highgrove Board of Education. He is an active member of the High- grove Chamber of Commerce and of the Riverside Farm Bureau. He and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Highgrove, both being teachers in its Sunday School, besides which he is serving as a trustee of the church, while Mrs. Twogood is secretary of its Home Missionary Society.
January 1, 1880, recorded the marriage, at Andover, Ohio, of Mr. Twogood with Miss Mary H. Wight, who was born 'and reared in that state, a daughter of Benjamin P. Wight, a representative of the English family that resided on and gave title to the Isle of Wight, whence came the first American representatives, who settled at Dedham, Massa- chusetts, long prior to the Revolution. Mrs. Twogood is chairman of the woman's department of the local Farm Bureau and is popular in the representative social activities of her home community. In con- clusion is given brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs Twogood:
Nelson A, Twogood Mary H6. Twogood
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Blanch Wight Twogood, the eldest, was a graduate of Mitchell Uni- versity of South Dakota and became the wife of E. Elmer Haas, of Highgrove, She was a graduate of the Riverside Business College and taught in the public schools of South Dakota and Riverside County prior to her marriage. She passed away October 16, 1916, leaving three chil- dren, two of whom are now living. The living children are Lawrence Nelson Haas and Edward L. Haas, both students of the Yarba Luida, (California) school. Olive Haas died in infancy. Ernest, born in South Dakota, is a graduate of the Riverside High School and of the University of California, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Science. He is now in the employ of the General Electric Company at Schenectady, New York. He married Margaret Reims, and they have one son, Robert Reims Twogood. Captain Ralph S. Twogood received from the University of California the degree of Bachelor of Science and is now employed in the engineering department of the South- ern Pacific Railroad. He married Grace Moore, of Berkeley, California, who likewise is a graduate of the University of California, and their two children are Ruth Mary and Ronald. In the World war period Captain Twogood entered the nation's service, and at Camp Lee, Virginia. he gained his commission as captain. Thereafter he was stationed at Washington, D. C., as inspector of railway equipment. Archibald J. Twogood received from the University of California the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Electrical Engineer, and he is now in charge of the electrical engineering department of the Oregon Institute of Technology that is maintained under the auspices of the Young Men's Christian Association. He married Dorothy Pierce, of Berkeley, this state, and their two daughters are Shireen and Margaret. Ruth Laura, youngest of the children and the light and life of the parental home, passed to the life eternal September 9, 1903, at the age of nine years.
DAVID C. BOYD, one of the pioneer orange growers of Riverside, belongs to a family of three brothers, all of whom attained to distinction, although each one followed out his own bent in the choice of a calling. One of the brothers was a talented musician ; another had great inventive genius and followed that lure in connection with patent attorney work ; but David C. Boyd loved the soil and has found both pleasure and profit in its cultivation. Although over seventy years of age, he is hale and hearty, and still delights in following the furrow of the plow. He is very much of an authority on orange culture, and has one of the finest groves in Southern California, comprising eighteen and one-half acres. While others were diverted from citrus culture, he has continued faith- ful to his oranges, and they have paid him well for his care. In their declining years Mr. and Mrs. Boyd have a most cheerful home, which is cared for by their charming daughters. His has been a well-spent life, full of action and well worth living.
The birth of David C. Boyd occurred at Bethany, Butler County, Ohio, July 22, 1850. He is the youngest and only survivor of three children, namely : W. S., a patent attorney, formerly of Washington, Dis- trict of Columbia, but now deceased, was the inventor and patentee of many useful articles which were in common use; and Squire Brown Boyd, a natural-horn musician who found his pleasure, as well as living, in harmony He was a young man of magnetic personality, made friends with all who came into contact with him, and was also a salesman of rare talent. He drove out of Cincinnati, Ohio, with the first wagon equipped with an organ, and demonstrated by means of his superior playing on it and his singing the importance of having a musical instrument in the
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home. He devoted much of his life work to mastering the violin and brass instruments, playing all at different times in concerts. The life of this brilliant, lovable young man was terminated by death when he was in the very flower of his young manhood, at the early age of twenty- seven years. Nearly half a century has passed since finis was written in his life volume, but the memory of this rare nature remains as fresh with his devoted brother as though it had happened but yesterday.
The father of these three brothers was William H. Boyd, who was a son of John Boyd and a native of Ohio and by trade a cooper. Wil- liam H. Boyd married Harriet Crane, also a native of Ohio, who died in California, July 5, 1896, at the age of seventy-two years. Her father, Stephen Crane, a farmer of large landed interests, gave to each of his children sufficient land to make a farm. After the death of her first husband Mrs. Boyd married his brother, and David C. Boyd remained with his mother and step-father until he was ready to start out in life for himself, at which time he bought a farm, and upon it raised stock and general farm products, and at the same time maintained a superin- tendence of his mother's farm.
His aunt, Mrs. Eliza Sarber, came to California in 1882 and settled at Riverside, and her reports of the region were so favorable that Mr. Boyd, through her, purchased nine and a quarter acres of land at River- side, which he still owns, and to which he has added since he arrived in this city. He made several trips of inspection to California, and then, as soon as he could dispose of his Eastern interests, he took up his resi- dence here. Mrs. Boyd still owns forty acres of land in Butler County, Ohio, but no Eastern interests have been permitted to interfere with the development of the California property. When Mr. Boyd picked his first crop of oranges, which were navels, the entire product could have been shipped in two boxes. He now picks more than twelve carloads from the same grove. Generally speaking, this grove is of navels, although he has a few seedlings and a few valencias.
At one time Mr. Boyd was a member of the Riverside Farm Bureau, but no longer maintains that connection, although he does belong to the Riverside Heights Orange Growers Association. In politics he is an independent, but has taken but little part in public matters since coming to California, although in the East he was an interested worker, especially during the campaign of James G. Blaine for the presidency.
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