USA > California > San Bernardino County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume II > Part 57
USA > California > Riverside County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume II > Part 57
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In 1884 he decided to move West, and accordingly located in Hold- redge, Phelps County, Nebraska, opening a grocery store. He built up a good business but disposed of his interests and moved to Illinois and opened a shoe store at Princeton in that state. He remained here until 1897 when he came out to the real West, California, engaging in the shoe business in Los Angeles. In 1900 he came to Riverside and, finding it was just the beautiful place he had been looking for as a home site, and that a fine business also could be established, he at once formed a partner- ship with Harry F. Grout. One of the main reasons for coming to Riverside was that it was a dry town and Mr. and Mrs. Backstrand knew it was the ideal place to raise a family. Backstrand and Grout opened a general merchandising establishment, a department store in almost every- thing wearable and usable. It is one of the real institutions of the City of Riverside, and none stand higher in the public estimation. In politics Mr. Backstrand adheres to the policies of the republican party, and while he has always taken an interest in political affairs he has never accepted or sought political preferment. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World.
He is also affiliated with the Masonic Order, a member of the Blue Lodge, the Chapter, Commandery of Riverside and the Al Malaikah Temple of Los Angeles. He was interested also in the orange business at one time, but sold out all his interests. He was president of the Fair Association 1914-15 and takes great interest in it still. He is a director now.
Mr. Backstrand was united in wedlock with Miss Christine S. Scott, in Jamestown, New York, February 16, 1884. Mrs. Backstrand is a native of Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Augustus Scott, in the mercantile business of that town and Mr. Scott was a native of Sweden. Mr. and Mrs. Backstrand are the parents of five children :
THREE GENERATIONS
Top Row, Right to Left-MRS. CHRISTINE SCOTT BACKSTRAND, JOHN FERDINAND BACKSTRAND, LELAND MILTON BACKSTRAND. Bottom Row, Left to Right-CLIFFORD JULIUS BACKSTRAND, MRS. CLARENCE F. BACKSTRAND, JOHN HAROLD BACKSTRAND. Standing-CLARENCE FERDINAND BACKSTRAND, MISS LILLIAN JEANETTE BACKSTRAND.
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Clarence F., residing in Riverside, was associated with the Southern Sierras Power Company as an electrician and is now a member of the firm of the Riverside Electric Company ; Lillian J., a graduate of the Univer- sity of Southern California, is an instructor in music in that college now. She is possessed of a remarkably beautiful contralto voice and is a soloist of wide reputation in California ; Lawrence S. died September 22, 1911, aged twenty years and nine months; Clifford, who was graduated from the College at Claremont in 1920, graduated from the Whorton School of Commerce of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Science in Economics, Class 1921; Leland is studying chemistry at Claremont. Mrs. Backstrand is a member of the Methodist Church of Riverside.
HARRY F. GROUT-One of the prominent and well known business men of Riverside who has been a contributing factor to its upbuilding for more than a quarter of a century is Harry F. Grout, partner in the drygoods business of John F. Backstrand since 1900.
He was born in East Dorset, Bennington County, Vermont, June 17, 1872, the son of Stephen and Henrietta (Fuller) Grout. He attended the primary schools of his native town and then went to the Burr & Burton Seminary at Manchester, Bennington County, Vermont, and was grad- uated with the class of 1890. After he concluded his schooling he spent a year in traveling for pleasure and observation, and among other western points he visited Los Angeles, which city made a most favorable impression upon him, so much so that he determined to visit it again with a view to making it his home. He returned to Rutland, Vermont, and was there for four months working for the Western Union Telegraph Company as an operator. In December, 1891, he went South, to Beaufort, South Carolina, as manager of the wholesale department of the cotton .growing firm of J. J. Dale & Company. He remained with this firm for two years.
At the end of that time he returned to Rutland, Vermont, in December. 1893, and engaged with the Howe Scale Company as office manager, and he stayed in this position for five years, when, in the fall of 1898, he resigned and came out to California, locating in Los Angeles as salesman with L. W. Godwin, a shoe dealer.
In 1900 he determined to branch out for himself, and in seeking the most desirable location came to Riverside, where he formed a partnership with John F. Backstrand, opening a dry goods store that has developed into one of the leading institutions of the city and is known throughout the district as a reliable, trustworthy firm.
Mr. Grout is a republican and an ardent and liberal supporter of all city affairs, taking great interest in not only the city but the county development and upbuilding. He was at one time a member of the Board of Public Utility. He is a member of the Riverside Chamber of Com- merce and served as its president in 1911-12. He is a member of Riverside Lodge No. 643, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and of Riverside Lodge, No. 282, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
He married in Rutland, Vermont, June 23, 1897, Miss Vida E. Billings. They have one daughter, Doris, the wife of Sheldon R. West- fall, of Riverside.
FERDINAND BAMBERGER-After years of useful endeavor, Ferdinand Bamberger, of Riverside, is living in comfortable retirement, feeling he has earned the repose he is now enjoying. He was born in Germany, Feb- ruary 17, 1847, a son of Lazarus and Mina (Stern) Bamberger, natives of Germany, both of whom are now deceased. By occupation Lazarus
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Bamberger was a grain merchant, and he was a well-known and prosper- ous man.
After acquiring a public-school education Ferdinand Bamberger went into business, and for three years was at Frankfort-on-the-Main. After he had closed these connections he looked about him for another location, and six months later came to the United States, and arrived in California in 1864. For the first three years after his arrival here he worked as a clerk at San Jose, and then, leaving that merchant, went to Antioch, where he was in a store for another year. During the mining excitement which centered about White Pine, Nevada, he went there and continued there about eight months, but returned to California and worked in a company store at New Almaden, at the quick silver mines at that point. He was in charge of the store, and remained in that position for three years. For the subsequent eighteen months he was at Santa Rosa, and from there went to Pleasanton and clerked in a store for a year.
During all of these changes he gained a valuable experience and a knowledge of the language and customs of his adopted country so that he then felt competent to go into a business of his own. Therefore he and a brother established themselves in a mercantile business in Grass Valley, Nevada County, where they remained for eight years. During 1887 and 1888 Mr. Bamberger was in business at San Diego, but owing to the financial depression of the latter year, lost his investment, as did nearly all of the business men of that period in San Diego. His attention having in the meanwhile been directed toward Riverside, he decided to come to this city, and the change proved a fortunate one for him, as the business he then established proved so profitable a one that he continued to conduct it until 1913, when he retired with ample means. He erected his resi- dence at 1107 Chestnut Street, and here he still maintains his home. While he votes the republican ticket, he has never been active in politics, nor has he sought public honors.
In 1877 Mr. Bamberger married in Germany Susette Sterns, a native of Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Bamberger became the parents of three chil- dren, namely : Rena, who is the wife of Louis Myers, band leader in Los Angeles, and they have three children, Sarah, Leslie and Ferdinand ; Edna. who is a widow of M. Stern, is a resident of Los Angeles; and Lester, who married Gertrude Haas, of San Francisco. Lester Bamberger is now engaged in the apiary business at Riverside. The grandson of this family, Jack Bamberger, is the pride of his grandfather's heart. Mrs. Bamberger is a Christian Scientist. The family is a well-known one at Riverside, and its members are worthy of the confidence they enjoy.
CHARLES W. MATHEWS-One of the distinctive features of modern life in a city is the care given to the welfare of children, which has become so important as to enlist the attention and secure the efforts of some of the ablest men of the country. One of them who is devoting himself to juvenile work as a probation officer is Charles W. Mathews of Riverside, a man well fitted for the work by reason of his sympathetic understanding of the problems of his young charges.
Mr. Mathews was born in Dunn Countv. Wisconsin, March 11, 1870. a son of James E. and Jane (Mathews) Mathews, both of whom were born in Ireland. James E. Mathews was the fifth white settler to locate in Dunn County, Wisconsin, and went through all of the hardships inci- dent to a pioneer community. He was a general farmer, and also en- gaged in merchandising in the little village of Colfax, Wisconsin, where he acquired considerable prominence in republican politics, serving his party repeatedly as a delegate to county and state conventions. During the war between the North and the South he was unable to enter the
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ranks on account of a physical disability, but his family was represented in the Union army in the person of his eldest son, George, who is now deceased. When only seventeen years old George Mathews enlisted in Company C, which was afterward made a part of the Eighth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry and was organized at Eau Claire, Wisconsin. It was his company which carried the famous eagle "Old Abe" throughout the war, and in this connection an interesting reminiscence is given. The eagle was captured by a young Chippewa Indian on the Flambeau River, and he traded it to a man for a bushel of corn. It was later sold to Company C for $2.50, and carried to war by a man named David Mc- Lain. After four years spent in the service, under the command of Gen- eral Sherman, George Mathews was honorably discharged at Washing- ton, District of Columbia. Both James E. Mathews and his wife are now deceased.
Charles W. Mathews attended the district and high schools of his native county, and was graduated from the latter in 1888. This school was afterward established at the county seat, Menomonie, Dunn County, Wisconsin. After leaving school Mr. Mathews spent some time assist- ing his father in the work of the farm, where he remained until 1890, but in that year went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was engaged in a realty and building business, buying property, improving it and then disposing of it at a good figure. In 1908 he came to Riverside, and, buying a home at Arlington, for a time was engaged in a real-estate and insurance busi- ness, but in 1914 was induced to take up juvenile court work, and since then has been a probation officer of the court. In politics he is a repub- lican, and has twice represented his party in the County Central Com- mittee. He has taken an effective interest in the work of advancing and bettering the local conditions and served on the Arlington Chamber of Commerce as secretary for a number of years, and during 1912 was president of that body. Connecting himself with the Magnolia Avenue Presbyterian Church, he has taken a very active part in its good work. and is now one of its elders. The Present Day Club has in him an active member. Mr. Mathews is a Mason, having been raised in the Blue Lodge in the North of Ireland. In 1897-8 he paid a visit to the old home of his ancestors, and discovered that all of them on both sides of the house had belonged to Lodge No. 256 of that order and at the time of his visit a cousin of his mother was the worshipful master, and another relative was senior warden. At the time he was raised this lodge was 410 vears old, and its charter, now carefully framed is printed in the old English alphabet, and is nearly faded out. This lodge claims to have members in every part of the world. Mr. Mathews was given in open lodge a clearance certificate when he left.
On June 14, 1898, Mr. Mathews married in Wisconsin Mary J. Moore, a native of that state and a daughter of Robert Moore, a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Mathews have two children. Alice M., who is a student in Junior College; and Walker G., who is a graduate of the River- side High School. class of 1918, and is now teller of the Commercial Savings Bank of Riverside.
PETER T. RUBIDOUX-There are few names better known in River- side County and few families better entitled to feel a proprietary interest in the beautiful modern city of Riverside than that of Rubidoux. Many years of the past must be covered to come to the time when the first bearer of this name in America, feasting his eyes on the natural beauties of the Imperial Valley, testified to his faith in its future. With far- sighted vision he acquired great tracts of virgin land from its Spanish
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holders, and spent the rest of his long life on the very site of the present city of Riverside. There is always a certain glamour about the past that attaches to the early settler, but it is very certain that Luis Rubi- doux, the French grandfather of Peter T. Rubidoux, a well known and highly respected resident of the Riverside of today, possessed practical qualities of a high order that caused the family name to be closely interwoven with the developing history of this district.
Peter T. Rubidoux was born January 25, 1867, in the old adobe building that was the original residence of his grandfather at River- side. His parents were Luis and Castillo (Flavia) Rubidoux, the former of whom is a resident of San Jacinto, California. The latter was born and died at Riverside. During boyhood Peter T. Rudiboux attended the public schools at Riverside and early gave his father assistance in starting a livery stable, which enterprise was the first of its kind here and was later sold to a Mr. Hayt, after which Peter T. engaged in various occu- pations until he accompanied his father to San Jacinto, where he followed teaming and freighting for a time. When twenty years old he returned to Riverside and entered the employ of George W. Dickson and after- ward Edward Miller.
In the meanwhile Riverside began to assume the appearance and offer the advantages of a growing city, and naturally Mr. Rubidoux took a deep interest in every improving condition. When the Riverside Water Company became a fact here he entered the employ of this public utility company and continued with it for the next seventeen years. He next worked for five years at the blacksmith trade for Mr. Difani, all his life having been able to turn his hand usefully in one calling or another. Since 1915 he has practically given all his effort and attention to city work, and the municipality has no more honest or faithful employe.
At Riverside, on May 25, 1890, Mr. Rubidoux married Adelina Silvas, who was born at San Diego, California. Her father was Esidro Silvas, a native of California and a member of an old Spanish family of the state. He was a man of influence and importance, a prosperous cattleman and owner of the San Pasqual ranch near San Diego and also had extensive estates near Sonora, Mexico. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Rubidoux : Mack J., Lucy Smith, Richard, Sadie, Albert and Clarence, all of whom survive except the eldest.
Mack J. Rubidoux was born at Riverside and was graduated from the Riverside High School with the class of 1911. He was a bright, ambitious youth who aimed to become an electrical engineer, and while studying for this profession earned his way by working at packing oranges. When the great war came on he entered military service and as a cor- poral in Company E, 364 Infantry in the 91st Division, accompanied the American Expeditionary Forces to France, and was one of the brave boys who fell in the battle of Argonne Forest. He was a notable athlete, well known in football and basket ball, and an enthusiastic gymnasium worker in the Y. M. C. A. at Riverside, where his memory will long be kept green. His remains were brought from France and interred in American Legion plot in Evergreen Cemetery in Riverside on September 17, 1921, with full military honors by the American Legion, Riverside Post No. 79. His funeral was attended very largely by River- side men in their desire to pay fitting tribute to the memory of the dead hero.
The eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rubidoux, Mrs. Lucy Smith Rubidoux, is a widow and has two children, Dorothy and Theda. Her sister, Miss Sadie, resides with her parents.
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Richard Rubidoux is a graduate of the Riverside High School and a business college, and is a chemist at the Cressmore Cement Plant. He married Miss Katherine Kiggins, a native of South Dakota, and they have a daughter, Lorraine. Albert Rubidoux is employed with the Cres- cent Sheet Metal Works. Although but twenty-one years old he has an established record as a light weight fighter of 120 pounds, and is a drawing card in the San Bernardino Athletic Club. He married Thesa Taylor, of Redlands, California, and they have a daughter, Evelyn. Clarence Rubidoux is an employe of the Cressmore Cement Plant. He married Uyvon Barstow, who, like himself, was born in California. The family belongs to the Catholic Church. Politically Mr. Rubidoux is a republican.
JOHN NATHANIEL BAYLIS, located in San Bernardino early in his life work, the practice of medicine and surgery, and has remained there ever since, building up a large practice and taking front rank among the exponents of the healing profession. This work he has augmented by association with important responsibilities relating to it. His skill as an administrator to the medical and surgical necessities of the community is greatly and justly valued.
But important as has been his part in the professional life of the city, just as vital and even more enduring has been his work in the crea- tion of beauty, not only for the residents of California, but for the world. Just as long as that pageant road, that road of enchantment, "Rim of the World" exists to glorify the State of California will his work live. And just as long as "Pine Crest" draws humanity to its healing bosom will his name be remembered-and after.
Dr. Baylis was born in Smyrna, Delaware, April 22, 1865, the son of John Baylis, the second, and Anna Mary (Jones) Baylis. His father, a native of Pennsylvania, went to Delaware while very young, following merchandising most of his life, and now lives retired in Philadelphia. The mother of Dr. Baylis was a native of Delaware, who died in 1918.
Dr. Baylis was educated in the public schools of Bridgetown, New Jersey, and in the South Jersey Institute, after which he entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated with the class of 1886 and with the degrees of M. D. and Ph. D. He practiced for a year and a half in the hospitals of Philadel- phia and in May, 1887, came to California, locating in San Bernardino, where he has since continuously practiced. He has a general practice in medicine and surgery. He is also the local surgeon for the Santa Fe Railroad and fills the same position for the Southern California Edison Company.
Dr. Baylis married in 1890, Elvira Lucretia Tucker, a daughter of Richard Tucker, of Hartford, Connecticut. They have two children : Helen, wife of Owen E. Coffman, of Palm Springs, who has one child, and John Baylis, the fourth, who is assistant manager and superintendent of the famous Pine Crest properties and superintendent of the Hillview Farms.
Dr. Baylis is a member of the San Bernardino County Medical So- ciety of the Rotary Club and of San Bernardino Lodge No. 836, Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks. He is also a director of the California State Bank, and has been since its organization.
He is the owner of Pine Crest, one of the most noted and beautiful mountain resorts in California. It was through his work and efforts that the property was developed from a commonplace homestead to its pres- ent unique beauty and charm. It is surely one of the few resorts whose natural beauty and acquired attractions none can gainsay, a natural jewel
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set in a most favored nook and enhanced by all that modernity could give. But probably the greatest service, one which never will be forgotten, he has bestowed upon his country is his work on that inspirational road, "The Rim of the World," famed alike in verse and story and known all over the world as one of the most strikingly scenic roads open to man- kind. The majestic snow-crowned mountains, the purple misted hills, the green tracery of the far-off mystic stretches, the soft breezes ever gently blowing, the ever unfolding panorama of God's making, all combine in a miracle of indescribable beauty, awe inspiring, so poignantly enchanting it almost overcomes the enthralled beholder. For one hundred and one miles it winds its way, a road of Paradise, from San Bernardino, up Waterman Canyon, through Fawnskin Valley, Big Bear Valley, onward and ever onward, kaleidoscopically gliding to its picturesque end. A more detailed description of this wonder is given on other pages of this history, of how the three original parts of the road, really beginning and ending nowhere, were united. It was because Dr. Baylis saw a vision and dreamed a dream of a wondrous road, and he made that dream come true, that vision materialize. He induced the supervisors to join those wandering road children into the "Rim of The World" marvel. But, wise in his day and generation, Dr. Baylis knew that the most mar- velous flower in the world, a miracle of beauty and fragrance, would forever blush unseen unless public attention was drawn to it. So he proceeded to inaugurate an advertising campaign, far reaching and on a most stupendous scale. The world read, came and beheld, and behold- ing first held its breath in rapture then spread the glad tidings of another California wonder, worthy to be added to the "Seven Wonders of the World" if not to lead them.
Dr. Baylis is the owner of the famous Hillview Farms in Riverside County, comprising some forty-five acres. These farms are not for utility alone, for they are among the show places of the entire district. The farms supply the Pine Crest resort with all its pigeons, pork, oranges, grape fruit, deciduous fruits and with almost every variety of vegetable. At Pine Crest there is a fine apple orchard, so the fruit from them is supplied right from the trees to the guests of Pine Crest.
EVERETT B. HOWE, D. D. S .- Natives of California may well be excused for their enthusiastic admiration of a birthplace that possesses such a wealth of attractions and practical advantages, for truly this land of sunshine, plenteousness and hospitality has few equals in the sister- hood of states. Her population, however, is not entirely made up of those who have been fortunate enough to have been born under her blue skies. On every side may be found without search just as enthusiastic "Cali- fornians" who, born perhaps hundreds, yes, thousands of miles away. claim this title because of the benefits they have both given and received since establishing a home in the Golden State. Not every one who has long enjoyed the bounty of California has justified the hospitable recep- tion they have received, but there are others whose appreciation has been conscientious and they have in many ways become prominent factors in the social and civic life of different communities. In this connection reference may be made to one of Riverside's leading citizens, Dr. Everett B. Howe, who for thirty-five years has been a resident and has sincerely and successfully promoted the welfare of this section, where he is justi- fiably held in very high regard.
Everett B. Howe was born at South Weymouth, Norfolk County. Massachusetts, September 27. 1858. His parents were Joseph B. and Mary (Blanchard) Howe, both of English descent and Revolutionary
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stock. Joseph B. Howe was born in Vermont and his wife in Massachu- setts.
Everett B. Howe was educated in the public schools and was gradu- ated in the class of 1876 from the high school at South Weymouth, following which he completed a business course in the Bryant & Stratton Commercial College, Boston. His father was a merchant and a man of local prominence at South Weymouth, but the young man decided upon a professional career, in pursuance of which he spent three years in pre- paratory training in a dental office, and after completing the course entered upon the practice of dentistry at Rockland, Massachusetts. Dr. Howe remained there until 1886, in which year he came to Riverside County, California. After successfully passing his examinations before the State Board of Dental Examiners he opened an office at Riverside, built up a large and lucrative practice and before his professional retirement in 1912 had become an eminent authority in dental surgery.
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