USA > California > San Bernardino County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume III > Part 10
USA > California > Riverside County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume III > Part 10
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Allen J. Davis was born at Charlotte, North Carolina, April 19, 1877. and is a son of Jesse Davis, who was for many years a leading merchant at Charlotte, where he died in December, 1920, at the age of seventy- seven years. The mother of Allen J. Davis was Arpie Jones, a native of North Carolina. and a member of an old family which originally came from Wales. She was a descendant of John Paul Jones, of historic fame. Her father was a maior in the Confederate Army in the Civil war. The public schools of his native city afforded Mr. Davis his early education, and he continued his residence in North Carolina until 1900. when he came to California and found employment on a dairy farm near Corona. Later he became foreman of a fruit packing house established hv Mr. Call, and he eventually became a stockholder and the general manager of the Call Lemon Company, for which in 1913 was erected
agDavie
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the present packing house of the Charters-Davis Company. Messrs. Charters and Davis owned one-half of the stock of the Call Lemon Company, and in 1918 they purchased the remaining stock and reorgan- ized the business under the present title of the Charters-Davis Company. Mr. Davis is a director of each of the Temescal Water Company, the Corona Water Company and the Corona National Bank. He has charge of the E. T. Earl estate, consisting of 900 acres in Temescal Canyon, 250 acres of which are planted in Valencia oranges and the remainder is grain, alfalfa and grazing lands. He is a stalwart supporter of the cause of the republican party, has received the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite of the Masonic fraternity, is a life member of the Shrine, and he is a member of the Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. His wife holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church at Corona.
January 7, 1896, recorded the marriage of Mr. Davis to Miss Ada Shurbette, of Rockhill, South Carolina, and her death occurred in No- vember, 1898. The only child of this union, Carl, is now a resident of Santa Catalina Island, California. On the 7th of June, 1907, was sol- emnized the marriage of Mr. Davis and Miss Gertrude Sargent, who was born in Missouri, near Pittsburg, Kansas, and was educated in the public schools of Corona, California. She is a daughter of George Sargent, of Corona. No children have been born of this marriage.
RALPH F. BURNHAM. Of Ralph F. Burnham, of Riverside, it may be said that he is one of his community's fortunate men. He is fortunate in having a good parentage, a fair endowment of intellect and feeling, a liberal education, in attaching himself to a healthful and honorable voca- tion, and, above all, fortunate in casting his lot with the people of Riverside at a time when its enterprises were at the full tide of development, and under circumstances which have enabled him to co-operate in her material growth without that engrossment of time and faculty which hinders the fullest indulgence of the intellectual faculty, the refining and elevating influences of the aesthetic nature, and the kindly cultivation of the graces of social and private life. While he has borne a fair share of the labors of civic life, he has at the same time preserved his love of letters, his pur- suit of manly and invigorating pastimes, and his indulgence in the ameni- ties of a refined and gentle life.
Mr. Burnham was born at Batavia, Illinois, March 6, 1883, a son of William H. and Catherine (French) Burnham, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of Illinois. William H. Burnham was a manu- facturer at Batavia for a number of years, and when he retired from business affairs removed to Orange, California, whence he subsequently went to Los Angeles, his present home. Both he and his wife are living, as are their three children: Ralph F .; Mary, the wife of Henry O. Wheeler, of Los Angeles; and William H., Jr., of Riverside.
Ralph F. Burnham commenced his education in the public schools of Batavia, Illinois, and was still a lad when taken by his parents to Orange, California. There he completed his primary school education, subse- quently pursuing a course at the California Polytechnic Institute, Pasa- dena, California, and later at Columbus University, New York City. After his graduation from the latter, as a member of the class of 1904, he returned to California and engaged in the manufacture of automobiles at Los Angeles, where for eight years he was secretary of the Auto Vehicle Company. When he vacated this field it was to enter the insurance busi- ness at Los Angeles, but in April, 1912, he gave up this line and came to Riverside, where he and his father and his brother purchased 142 acres Vol. 111 5
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of valuable land three miles southeast of the city, of which they are devoting 120 acres to citrus fruit ranching. Mr. Burnham has made a success of his activities and is accounted one of the highly skilled and well informed men in his line of business. He is a director in the United States Supply Company of Omaha, Nebraska.
Politically Mr. Burnham is a republican. He is a member of the Los Angeles Athletic Club, the University Club of Los Angeles, the Newport Harbor Yacht Club, the Riverside Victoria Club, the Alpha Delta Phi College Fraternity, the Alpha Delpha Phi Club of New York City, the Riverside Chamber of Commerce and the Riverside Polo Club. Worthy civic, educational and charitable movements have always had his hearty support, and he was one of the substantial contributors to the building fund of the new hospital at Riverside.
On October 16, 1905, Mr. Burnham was united in marriage with Miss Ruth Wilson, daughter of Franklin I. and May ( Allen) Wilson, of Chi- cago, Illinois, the former a native of Elgin, Illinois, and the latter of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Mr. Wilson, a manufacturer, upon retirement from active life removed to Hollywood, California, where he died, his widow now being a resident of Los Angeles, this state. Mrs. Burnham was born at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, but as a child was taken to Chicago, where she received her education in the public schools and at Lewis Institute. She is a member of the Riverside Victoria Club. She and her husband are the parents of four children: Barbara, John W., Richard W. and Elizabeth L.
REV. LLOYD H. EDMISTON .- The title of Rev. Lloyd H. Edmiston to a place among the biographies of the citizens of Riverside rests upon the fact that he has labored faithfully and effectively as a member of the New Jerusalem Church. Ordained in 1915, his actual connection with the ministry has covered only a period of seven years, but during this time he has had the same solicitude for the spiritual interests of Riverside which a father has for his children. In addition to his ministerial labors he has achieved some success as a small fruit, citrus fruit and nut raiser and poultry rancher.
Reverend Edmiston was born at Henry, Illinois, January 6, 1874, a son of Rev. Berry and Edna (Lee) Edmiston. His father, a native of Tennessee, was for some years a minister of the New Jerusalem faith, but in 1878 removed to Riverside and embarked in ranching, a vocation which he followed until his death in August, 1912. Mrs. Edmiston, a native of New Hampshire, died at Riverside in November, 1912, in the same faith. They were the parents of three children : Joseph L., a poultry rancher of West Riverside ; Charles H., also of Riverside, and Rev. Lloyd H.
Lloyd H. Edmiston was a child when brought by his parents to River- side, where he secured his introductory education in the graded and high schools. Choosing the ministry as his vocation, he attended the New Jerusalem Church Theological Seminary at Cambridge, Massachusetts, dur- ing 1914 and 1915, and upon his return to Riverside commenced to apply himself to the church. He was thus engaged at the time that he was ordained, June 6, 1915, at Washington, D. C., since when he has served as pastor of the New Jerusalem Church of Riverside. He has accomplished much for the good of his community, where he has many friends, not alone among the members of his congregation but those of other creeds and denominations. In addition to acting as spiritual leader of his flock he takes upon himself the responsibilities of friendship, and acts as coun- sellor and guide in matters of a business nature. Such a man is bound to wield a strong influence in his community, and in Rev. Mr. Edmiston's
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case this influence is one that has always been constructive and progressive in character. When not engaged in his ministerial labors he devotes hin- self to the cultivation of his nine and one-half acres of land, another feature of his snug little ranch being the raising of poultry. He is a member of the socialist party.
On December 7, 1906, Rev. Edmiston was united in marriage with Mrs. Alice Wright Test, daughter of William and Laura Elizabeth Wright, of Union County, Illinois, and to this union there have been born two chil- dren: Ednah and Lloyd Ariel, both residing at home and attending the public schools. Mrs. Edmiston had a daughter, Cleone Test, by her first marriage. Cleone Test is a graduate of the Riverside High School and the School for Nurses at California Hospital, Los Angeles, California, she was born in Alto Pass, Illinois. Mrs. Edmiston was also born near Alto Pass, Illinois, where she received her education in the public schools.
JACOB BERTSCHINGER .- The name Bertschinger is favorably known not only in the Chino Valley, but in several sections of Southern Cali- fornia. The pioneer and founder of the family is Jacob Bertschinger, Sr., who, surrounded with comforts and with the security of ample means, can, nevertheless, look back upon a number of successive chapters of arduous experience as a pioneer toiler in this district. Besides getting prosperity for himself he has done something for the community in the way of constructive enterprise and in rearing an honest, thrifty and indus- trious family.
Jacob Bertschinger, Sr., was born in the City of Zurich, Switzerland, January 2, 1864, being one of thirteen children. His parents were farmers, and during his youth he lived with them and contributed of his toil to the support of the household. In 1886, at the age of twenty-two, he married Rosina Schoch, who was born in Zurich, Switzerland, October 4, 1858, one of fourteen children.
Seeking advantages and a future that they should never realize in their native country they immigrated to America, reaching New Jersey in 1887, without the command of a single word of English. For a year and a half they remained in New Jersey, working as silk weavers in one of the great silk goods factories of that city. The next phase of their journey took them to Illinois, where they remained a year, and next they turned their faces to California, traveling by rail as far as Pomona. Mr. Bert- schinger was attracted to Chino by learning of the construction of the proposed sugar refinery in 1891. He started to walk the distance between the two points, falling in on the way with Mr. Durrell, who was well acquainted with the country. It required a real pioneer's knowledge to get over the country at that time, since there were no roads and no houses between Pomona and Chino. The "Santa Ana" began blowing while they were en route, and Jacob Bertschinger became confused and insisted they were traveling in the wrong direction. He could not understand English, and only by the greatest efforts Mr. Durrell persuaded him to keep on, otherwise he would have died in the Puente hills.
Jacob Bertschinger and wife reached Chino without money, without acquaintances, only with a willingness and desire for work. He secured employment and assisted in building the concrete foundation for the great American sugar refinery at Chino and remained in the service of the plant for six years. He also engaged in farming, and that gave him a variety of experience. Three times he lost all he had gained, first trying the culture of sugar beets. He had a fine crop when a Santa Ana cut them off at the ground. With three failures he doggedly kept on, rented and bought land, did dairying and general farming, worked incessantly, and
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to such a man and character prosperity could not be denied, and in 1912, when he sold out, he was able to retire in comfort. In the meantime he had reared and educated his family. One of his resources when in need of ready money was baling hay for others. He and his sons baled hay through the daylight hours, and then at night irrigated their own crops, and his children often walked three miles to school, since much of the time they had no buggy horse to drive. Nevertheless the parents insisted that their children attend school regularly, and they not only acquired an education, but learned the value of the dollar earned by arising at three o'clock in the morning, milking a string of cows, working in the fields all day, and retiring only at dark. The family are Swiss Lutherans in religion and Mr. Bertschinger and his sons are republicans.
Of the children born to this honored couple five died in infancy and early youth. There are three living. All were born at Chino. Jacob, Jr., born in 1893, was educated in the Chino schools and is now a prosperous cement worker at Los Angeles. In 1913 he married Freda Weber, a native of Switzerland, who came to America alone in 1911. They have two children, Walter and Emma.
The second child, Rosina, born in 1895, was educated in the Chino High School, and is the wife of John G. Smith, a native of Wuertemberg, Germany. They live at Chino and have three children. Olga, Evelyn and Mildred.
Otto William Bertschinger, the youngest of the family, was born August 24, 1897, attended grammar school at Chino and a business col- lege at Riverside. and during the World war was inducted into the in- fantry and was ordered to report at Kelly Field, Texas, about the time the armistice was signed. In July, 1919, the firm of J. Bertschinger & Sons, composed of Jacob Bertschinger and his two boys, engaged in the cement business at Chino, manufacturing cement pipe and doing general contract work. In July, 1920, Otto W. Bertschinger bought out his partners, and has since, through his personal efforts, brought the busi- ness to a high state of prosperity. He has over $4,000.00 invested in machinery and equipment, including all the latest mechanical devices for mixing and handling concrete. This invested capital has been earned by the business. He began making cement pipe by hand. He now manu- facturers piping, curbing, sidewalks and does all classes of concrete founda- tion work.
FREDERICK A. CHARLES DREW-The lapse of several years since his death has not obscured the brilliant and successful career of the late Mr. Drew as a Southern California business man and as a citizen of Ontario who was loved and admired by a host of friends.
He was born at Exeter, Canada, October 28, 1878, son of Edred and Lydia (Johns) Drew. His father was brought from England when a child, and lived several years at Exeter, Canada. The widowed mother, though enjoying rugged health, has had a long life and is still living at Ontario. Edred Drew died during the Spanish-American war, in Santa Barbara, California.
The late Frederick Drew was six years of age when his parents moved to Ontario, California, in 1884. He acquired his early educa- tion there and in Los Angeles, attending the old adobe school and later the Chaffey Agricultural College. His father was in the undertaking business at Ontario, and after his death in 1898 the son Frederick took charge and continued its management until 1905.
In that year he established the Drew Carriage Company, and under his management this became one of the largest firms dealing in farm
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implements. and machinery in Southern California. He was regarded as the keenest and most able salesman in this line on the Pacific Coast, and his success with his business caused him to be chosen as Pacific Coast representative of the International Harvester Company. This re- lationship brought him in touch with all the implement houses on the Coast. In 1918 and 1919 he held the record for retail tractor sales in the United States. In the spring of 1919 Mr. and Mrs. Drew went to Chicago, partly on a business trip to the home offices of the International Harvester Company, and while en route he was stricken with the influ- enza and while in St. Luke's Hospital at Chicago during delirium he leaped from a first story window, causing his death. He died April 21.
After his death Mrs. Drew was offered two hundred thousand dollars for the business, but she chose to retain it, and has exemplified remark- able business qualifications in carrying it on successfully, her inten- tion being to turn it over eventually to her sons when they reach the proper age.
Mr. Drew married Miss Florence Higgins at Santa Barbara in June, 1898. She is a daughter of W. W. Higgins. Mrs. Drew has three children, Dorothea, born in 1899; Edred, born in 1902; and Charles, born in 1904. The late Mr. Drew's many friends were derived from his ex- tensive business and social relationships. He was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was a member of the Episcopal Church and voted as an independent republican. He was a member of the Chamber of Commerce, was president of the Business Men's Club for one year, and was a member of the Pomona Gun Club. Mr. Drew was very fond of horses and a good judge of them. Mrs. Drew was born in Picton, Canada, Province of Ontario, November 1, 1878, was educated there and came to California in 1895 with her family.
CHARLES MILAN CRAW is one of the oldest living natives sons of San Bernardino. He has been active in the affairs of the county over forty years, chiefly as a farmer and rancher.
Mr. Craw was born March 28, 1860, in an adobe house on Fourth Street in San Bernardino, son of Charles Jesse and Olive (Packard) Craw. His father was a native of St. Joseph County, Michigan, and the grandfather was Orin Craw, who brought his family across the plains when Charles J. was a small boy. The Craws first located at Salt Lake, though they were not of the Mormon faith, and in 1852, by ox train, they continued their journey westward to San Bernardino. Orin Craw was one of the earliest traders in Southern California and Arizona, and continued that work until his death. He was on the road with a freight team between Los Angeles and San Bernardino, and was found dead in camp by the trail. He was therefore faithful to his duty to the end, and had lived a sturdy, healthy and happy life, and many of the traits of this hardy old ancestor descended to his sons and grandchildren. Charles Jesse Craw also worked as a general freighter, and for many years hauled goods by team from San Pedro and Los Angeles to Arizona and other points in the desert. He died in 1900. His first wife, Olive Packard, was a native of Ohio and died in 1867. The second wife of Charles J. Craw was Mary Ellen Packard, who is living at Los Angeles. Charles Milan Craw is the second of four children. The oldest was Amelia Craw. The other two are Louella and Orin Ransom Craw.
Charles Milan Craw was seven years of age when his mother died, and he came to manhood with a limited common school education. He worked with and for his father driving freight teams, and when the build- ing of railroads destroyed that business he devoted his attention to farming.
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In 1888 he married Miss Catherine A. Cavenaugh, who was born in Utah Territory November 2, 1867, and came with her parents to California in 1883. The family settled in Santa Ana in Los Angeles County. Mr. and Mrs. Craw had four children: The oldest died in infancy ; Angie H., born at Chino July 2, 1892, is a graduate of the Chino High School and State Normal at Los Angeles, and was a teacher until her marriage in 1917 to A. T. Ezell, a native of Tennessee, now a prosperous druggist at Seeley in Imperial County. They have a son, Robert Ezell, born April 1, 1920, in the Imperial Valley. The third child, Helen A., born at Chino January 2, 1894, is a graduate of the Chino High School and the Los Angeles Normal and is a teacher in the schools of Colton. The fourth of the family, Ethel Craw, born at Chino June 11, 1895, graduated from high school and the Los Angeles Normal, spent one year at Chino, and in 1916 became the wife of Thomas B. Seitel, of Chino. Mr. Seitel is in the United States mail service at Chino. They have a son Willard Stanley Seitel, born May 2, 1918.
After his marriage Mr. Craw engaged in business for himself, and in 1890 removed to Chino, where he leased a large acreage of land from Richard Gird. It was virgin soil, never having been plowed, and he did his farming among the vast herds of cattle and other stock owned by the Gird interests. He continued farming here until 1901, his chief crop being sugar beets. In 1901 he moved to Los Angeles County and raised beets for the Los Alimitos Sugar Refinery, and that experience of five years proved profitable, though his first venture in raising beets at Chino had been prosecuted at a loss. In 1907 he returned to Chino and bought his present home, located at 169 Seventh Street. Mr. Craw had pre- viously purchased ten acres, one of the first small tracts sold by Gird in the subdivision of his famous ranch. To this he later added ten other acres, and he holds it today and has developed it into a fine alfalfa and English walnut ranch. Mr. Craw continued farming on a large scale in this dis- trict, leasing large tracts of land.
He has been a public spirited worker in the development of the com- munity and since 1915 has been county road commissioner for the Chino Road District. He has served his third term as a trustee of Chino City. Mr. Craw is a republican, comes of a Baptist family, and is affiliated with Chino Lodge No. 177, Knights of Pythias. Mr. Craw as a youth was a pupil of John Brown, and he pays a distinct tribute to Mr. Brown as a real school master and one who inspired his pupils to develop both their minds and their character.
ROBERT W. ENGLISH, a retired resident of San Bernardino County living three miles south of Ontario, at the corner of Enclid and Eucalyp- tus avenues, his post office being Chino, has had a richly varied experience in the far West, since for many years he was a railroad man, also par- ticipated in mining and merchandising, and has been a resident of the Chino Valley for a quarter of a century.
Mr. English was born in Platte City, Missouri, August 16, 1857, son of William K. and Elizabeth (Fox) English, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Tennessee. He was second in a family of four sons. From Missouri the family moved to Arizona in pioneer times, and Wil- liam K. English was for fifteen years president and general manager of the Great Horn Silver Mining Company, the largest silver mine in the world at the time. William K. English died at Frisco, Utah, in 1894, while his widow died and was buried at Corona, California, in 1906.
Robert W. English acquired a good education and in 1874 graduated from the State Normal School at Lawrence, Kansas. Almost immediately
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he was attracted into the operating side of railroad work, and became a locomotive engineer, driving an engine over many western divisions. He was in the service of the Santa Fe Company fifteen years, having a run between Trinidad and Santa Fe, New Mexico, over the Ratoon Mountains, which at one time was the steepest climb of any steam railroad in America. As a result of his long experience pulling trains over these snow covered mountains he became stricken with snow blindness, and for three months was totally blind, and though he eventually recovered his vision he was left color blind, and thus incapacitated for his former duties as an engineer. For two years he was yard master at Blake City, Utah, a Denver and Rio Grand Railroad. Mr. English in early days was locomotive engineer dur- ing the construction of some important western lines. He ran a locomo- tive on construction trains when soldiers rode guard on these work trains to protect the property and the workers against Indian attack.
After leaving the railroad service Mr. English became identified with mining, and for four years had some successful experiences in the gold mines of Southern Utah. He became interested with Godby & Hampton, and this firm sold their interests to Mr. Bigelow, New York's largest shoe manufacturer. Mr. English took stock in a new company and was superin- tendent of the mining properties for three years. At that time the concern became involved in litigation, and the business was suspended. Mr. Eng- lish possessed 30,000 shares of stock, which had paid liberal dividends, but after dissolution of the company his stock became a total loss. He then went to Tombstone, Arizona, and while there became acquainted with Richard Gurd, who formerly owned many hundreds of acres in the Chino Valley. From Tombstone he went to Lincoln County, Nevada, and was in the range stock business for five years. He was obliged to leave that altitude on account of heart trouble. In 1896 he came to this valley, bring- ing sixteen horses with him, and leased land from Mr. Gurd, farming it four years. About that time he bought fifty acres from Mr. Gurd, but subsequently sold it. Mr. English in 1900 moved to Corona, California, and enjoyed a prosperous career in the implement business until he closed out in October, 1920, and is now living quietly retired.
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