USA > California > San Bernardino County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume III > Part 55
USA > California > Riverside County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume III > Part 55
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69
While he was growing up at Riverside the only vocation that presented a real opportunity to an ambitious boy was farming. He accordingly adopted it, but has given less attention than mnost River- side colonists to the fruit growing side of farming. His own par- ticular sort has been live stock. Years ago he tinned his face in blooded stock, and has worked consistently to the end that his herd should be registered Jersey stock. In 1912 he purchased 315 acres
1428
SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTIES
of rich land four and a half miles south of the town of Arlington, and while it had been partly under cultivation to oranges he has converted it into alfalfa and dairy ranch. It was in the home of her daughter, Mrs. M. M. Smith, that his foster mother Mrs. Thomas passed away at the age of ninety-eight.
Of his ranch land Mr. Thomas has used ten acres for deciduous fruits and one acre in oranges. The department in which he took greatest pride, however, is his herd of sixty-five registered Jersey cows, about thirty of which are regularly milked, the milk being sold wholesale in Los Angeles. He is primarily a cattle man, though he also raises hogs and chickens.
Outside of his ranch Mr. Thomas is a director and vice president of the Milk Producers Association of California; director of the Riverside County Mutual Fire Insurance Company ; director of the Riverside County Farm Bureau; director of the Southern California Fair Association; director and vice president of the California Pure Bred Livestock Association; director of the Federal Farm Loan Asso- ciation of Riverside. Fraternally he is a Past Chancellor Commander of the Knights of Pythias, a member of the Woodmen of the World and the Yeomen of America. He is a member of the Universalist Church, is a republican, has served on the Republican County Central Committee, but has never sought official responsibilities. His ranch is known as the "Golden Glen Stock Farm, G. W. Thomas and Sons, Pro- prietors."
George W. Thomas and Miss Margaret St. Marie, were married in Riverside by Rev. M. V. Wright on August 15, 1880. Mrs. Thomas is a native of San Bernardino, her father Alexander St. Marie hav- ing come from Illinois and identified himself with the "Gate City," at the time of the first Mormon settlement. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas.
Frank A. Thomas the oldest son is a graduate of the Riverside High School, a carpenter by trade, assists his father on the ranch, and when America entered the World war though above draft age, he went to Los Angeles and volunteered for service in the tank corps in August, 1917. He was with the forces at the front in France until the signing of the armistice. Before the war he had a long experience in the National Guard, serving as a non-commissioned officer, and First Lieutenant.
The second son Roy Thomas, also in partnership with his father, married Sadie Lincoln of Pomona, and they have a son Randolph Grice Thomas.
The third son, Myron M. Thomas, graduated from the Polytechnic School of San Luis Obispo, took post graduate work in the Iowa Agricultural College at Ames, and was called for service in the great war, but did not report for duty before the armistice.
Of the three daughters the oldest, Grace May, died at the age of sixteen. Anna L. is the wife of E. E. Stevens who was captain of the Pomona Company which went overseas, is now Assistant Superintendent of the Pomona Consolidated Water Company, and Mr. and Mrs. Stevens have one daughter, Maurine Dee Stevens. Eva A., the youngest daughter is the wife of Paul E. Pierce, Super- intendent of the Romie C. Jacks farm in Riverside County, and they have three sons, George Nathan, Robert Eugene and Kenneth Crawford.
The youngest member of the Thomas family is Leo. E. Thomas, who graduated at the Corona High School, spent one year in the
1429
SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTIES
Riverside Business College, and prior to the war kept books for a local firm, but being a natural born mechanic, he turned his atten- tion to that vocation after his discharge from military service. He went overseas as a mechanic in the Hydroplane Department of the Navy.
PETER MUNRO has pursued his trade and business as a mason con- tractor in many sections of California, but a great many years ago he yielded to the fascination exercised over him by Riverside, es- tablished his home here, and has had and still conducts a successful business.
Mr. Munro was born in 1853 in Falkland County of Fife, Scotland, son of James and Susan (Kilgour) Munro. His mother spent all her life in one village, where she died at the age of eighty-six. His father was a Scotch Highlander.
Peter Munro began earning his own living away from home at the age of ten, and at the age of sixteen he crossed the ocean to America. On reaching Chicago he realized the handicap he was suffering from his imperfect education and while putting in a full day's work he attended night school and acquired a substantial as well as practical education. For twelve years Mr. Munro worked at his trade as mason in Chicago and was there during and after the fire. He had listened attentively to many stories concerning the Golden West, and on leaving Chicago he came to California, and for several years worked at his trade in San Francisco, Sacra- mento and other cities. Thirty-seven years ago he established him- self permanently at Riverside, and has been doing a profitable business as a contracting mason ever since.
Mr. Munro is independent in politics, a member of the Masonic Order and he and Mrs. Munro are Presbyterians. In Chicago in 1878 he married Miss Annie Christie. They have three children, James, Annie and Archie. James, born in 1881, has been in business for twenty years in Los Angeles; Annie, born in 1884 is married and living in Los Angeles; Archie, born in 1889 is in the brick contracting business with his father.
SOUTHWESTERN PORTLAND CEMENT COMPANY-Victorville is the home of one of the most progressive and prosperous industries of San Bernardino County, the Southwestern Portland Cement Company, a corporation of western capitalists, most of them citizens of Southern California.
The first unit of the plant at Victorville was constructed during 1916-17 and an additional unit completed in July 1920, doubled the sum of the property. At present the property gives 2400 barrels of finished product daily and construction work is now under way for third Kiln and Mills that will increase output to 3400 barrels per day. The fuel for burning the raw material is crude oil. The power is electrical energy purchased from the South Sierra Power Company and carried over high voltage wires from a considerable distance. A private Railway seven miles long has been built to reach the inexhaustible breadth of the raw material supply for the manufacture of cement. This road has been in continuous operations since it was built and the entire plant has been run at a maximum capacity. One hundred and fifty men are employed, and approximately twenty- five per cent are skilled, including chemists, engineers, electricians and machinists.
1430
SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTIES
The president of the company is C. Leonardt a pioneer contractor of Los Angeles. O. J. Binford of El Paso, Texas is secretary, F. H. Powell of Los Angeles, treasurer, C. C. Merrill of Los Angeles, general manager, and the superintendent of the plant at Victorville, is L. V. Robinson.
L. V. Robinson has been associated with the industry at Victor- ville from the time it was put in operation, being assistant super- intendent until 1920. He is an electrical engineer by profession and has had a wide experience in industrial and mechanical affairs. Southern California and other portions of the southwest demand enormous quantities of cement, and the orders to be filled have always exceeded the maximum output of the plant at Victorville. The company also has a large plant at El Paso, Texas.
WILLIAM CURTIS was one of the venerable and honored pioneer cit- izens of San Bernardino County at the time of his death, which occurred at Redlands on the 11th of September, 1912. His were wide and varied experiences in connection with pioneer affairs in the west, he wrought wisely and well, adjusted himself to conditions that existed in the early days, proved a force in the furthering of civic and industrial development and progress, and ever stood exponent of enlightened and loyal citizenship. He did his part in futhering the early march of progress in this section of California and a tribute to his memory consistently finds place in this publication.
Mr. Curtis was born April 1, 1826, at Pontiac, state of Michigan, and he was eighty-six years of age when death set its seal upon his mortal lips. On the 15th of August, 1850, he wedded Miss Mary H. Raseg, who was born December 15, 1833, and who survived him by two years, her death having occurred at Redlands, California, August 21, 1914. Their marriage was solemnized at Fredericksburg, Texas. They resided in Bandera County where Mr. Curtis was three times sheriff until the secession of the state from the Union at the inception of the Civil war. All citizens whose Northern sympathies or other interests prompted in them a desire to leave Texas at this time were granted permission to make their departure, with the stipulation that they must be outside the borders of the state prior to July 22, 1861. All men who remained in the state after that date were subject to being drafted for service in the Confederate army. On May 11, 1861, Mr. Curtis, with his wife and their five children, set forth with a party of three other families- Hiram Snow and his wife and daughter; Mr. and Mrs. Irving Carter and their five children; and Gideon Carter, with his sister and her child-with wagons and ox teams to make their way to California, the limited household effecs having been transported in the wagons and the party having a number of head of cattle that were driven along with the primitive caravan. All of these families sacrificed all else that they had owned in Texas, and they became veritable refugees. At Fort Davis, Texas, they were joined by eight other families, and from that point forward they were compelled to traverse eighty miles of desert, from which no supply of water was to be had at any point. Thus they provided in advance all the water that they had means of transporting, and before they had passed through the arid tract this supply of water had been reduced to an alarming minimum. Two rain storms replenished the water for man and beast and thus averted not only suffering but probably death and loss. Upon arriving at Eagle Pass the weary sojourners found a limited
1431
SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTIES
supply of water that was being held in barrels for the use of Confederate soldiers en route to El Paso. The guards of this precious supply refused to let any of the Curtis party have the requisite supply of water, and under these conditions the members of the party held a caucus to decide whether it were better to proceed or to turn back on their course. The women of the party courage- ously voted in favor of using force to gain the necessary sup- ply of water to enable the journey to be continued. The women and children took buckets and filled them from the reserve barrels and the soldier guard did not molest them, as they refused to fire on women and children. The party continued on its way, and was still about thirty-five miles distant from the Rio Grande River. No water was to be had en route, but a welcome rain again gave replenishment to the meager supply. Upon reaching the river the party had to proceed up its course a distance of seventy-five miles to reach a fording place. After traveling two days the company was overtaken by a force of Confederate soldiers, the party of em- igrants having by this time been largely increased in numbers, so that it had about fifty men. The soldiers threatened to hang one member of the party-a man named Cummings, who was known to be a Union sympathizer -- and an open conflict was avoided only when the soldiers agreed to leave the sojourners unmolested, though the time limit had about expired and the party was not yet outside of Texas. On the next day the emigrant party arrived at a point opposite Victoria, a small town in Mexico, and there a guide or pilot was employed to convey the emigrants and their belongings across the river. Joseph Curtis, a brother of William Curtis of this memoir, and Gideon Carter were selected to go to El Paso del Norte and secure the necessary pass which would enable to the party to travel through Mexico to Santa Cruz. As the wagon train was passing along the river bank a guide came out of the bush and motioned for the wayfarers to follow him, and the entire party crossed the river in safety, though a few soldiers who had witnessed the escape made all haste to the Confederate camp, about two miles distant, to obtain reinforcements sufficient to stop the passage of the fugitives. By the time the soldiers arrived on the scene the entire party of emigrants was safely on Mexican soil. The journey was continued through Mexico and into Arizona where the crossing of the Colorado River was effected at Yuma. On October 11, 1861, the jaded and travel-worn sojourners arrived at San Bernardino County, California, the orginal Curtis party, with four wagons, having come through intact, notwithstanding the hardships and dangers en- countered on the long and weary overland journey. The addition to the original party had been many, and the wagon train increased to fully 100 wagons. There were over sixty deaths in the combined party, chiefly as the result of mountain fever, but fortunately with the Indians there was but one encounter to the perils of the journey.
After establishing his family in a primitive dwelling in San Ber- nardino, William Curtis gave his attention principally to gold mining on Lytle Creek until about 1867, and his returns from this enterprise was sufficient to enable him to purchase a tract of sixty acres, partially improved, in the district known as old San Bernardino, near the old Mission. Seven acres of the land were planted to grapes at the time Mr. Curtis purchased the property, and a profit was obtained by drying the fruit and shipping it by freighting teams to the Arizona mines. The Indians had constructed rude water ditches for irrigation Vol. 111-25
1402
SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTIES
purposes, and Mr. Curtis and other pioneers utilized these primitive water courses for irrigating their lands, thus utilizing the first dis- tinctive "water rights" in this section of California. Mr. Curtis was one of the early orange-growers of the district, his first venture having been made with seedlings, and later years having recorded his adoption of the now famous navel type of oranges, his property having been ex- cellently improved with the passing years and the entire tract being now given to the propagation of oranges of the finest type. About the year 1886 Mr. Curtis erected a modern house of two stories, and he provided other excellent buildings on his fine fruit ranch. The land is now divided. among his heirs, the old homestead being owned by Miss Ruth A. Curtis, a daughter who was born in Texas, July 24, 1855. She resides in the attractive old home dwelling erected by her father, and it is needless to say that the place is endeared to her by many hallowed memories and gracious associations, the while she has a host of friends in the community that has represented her home since the pioneer days.
William Curtis was a man of vision and public spirit, and he and his wife delighted to extend to friends and to the wayfarer the hospitality of their home. Indians and Mexicans were plentiful in this section in the early days, and none was turned away hungry from the Curtis door. A gentle and gracious personality was that of this honored pioneer, and both he and his devoted wife are held in reverent memory by all who knew them. They became the parents of five sons and three daughters: Henrietta, who was born October 16, 1851, became the wife of John Furney and was about twenty-two years of age at the time of her death. She is survived by one daughter, Mary Ida, who is now the wife of Leroy Oliver Yount, a prosperous fruit-grower of the Redlands district. Mary A., the second child, was born March 31, 1853, and is the wife of Hugh Henry Cole, of San Bernardino County. They have one son and three daughters: Lela (Mrs. Wilbur Bell), Henrietta Sarah (Mrs. Harry Porch), Alma Mary (Mrs. George Roster ) and William Henry. Ruth A., the third daughter, remains at the old home, as previously noted in this review. William George, who was born October 24, 1857, married Miss Elvira Wilcox, and they main- tain their home at Redlands. They have two children: George Edwin, who married Miss Eva Easton, and Miss Faye, who was graduated in a business college at San Bernardino and also in Claremont College, now holds a responsible position in the Internal Revenue office at San Bernardino. Eli, the fifth child, was born February 24, 1860. and thus an infant at the time of the memorable hegira of the family from Texas, as described in earlier paragraphs. He too continues his residence in San Bernardino County, where he was reared and educated. He married Miss Jennie Newton, in 1885, she being a native of the state of New York, and they have three children: Nellie is the wife of Maurice B. Doughten, of Camden, New Jersey, their marriage having been solemnized May 17, 1919. Mrs. Doughten went to the national capital in 1910, and was there employed in one of the government offices. Later she held a responsible position with the General Electric Company, as a representative of which she was sent to the Panama-Pacific Exposition, in San Francisco. Grace, the second child of Eli Curtis, was born in 1887. and was graduated in the Red- lands High School. In January, 1919. she assumed a position in the government war-risk department, at Washington, District of Columbia. In June. 1921, she resigned this position and is now employed in the county library, in San Bernardino. Theodore, the third of the children,
1433
SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTIES
was born in 1890, and is now associated with his father in the activities of the latter's orange ranch. Jeremiah Joseph Curtis, the first of the family born after the removal to California, was born in San Bernardino County, February 10, 1864. September 5, 1886, recorded his marriage to Miss Zilpha Wilson, and they reside in Old San Bernardino, their two children, Alice and Mabel, being married. Newell B. Curtis, the seventh child, was born June 20, 1868, and he likewise is one of the successful exponents of orange culture in San Bernardino County. He married Miss Rachel Watkins, a native of Pennsylvania, and they have three children: Ethel, born December 8, 1895; Mary, born December 17, 1897, married June 22, 1921; and Raymond, born February 14, 1904. Robert T., the youngest of the children of the late William Curtis, was born August 2, 1872. He married Miss Ella Strever, and they have one son, Strever. The family home is in Tulare County, California.
It was about the year 1867 that William Curtis established his residence on the fine ranch estate which is still held in the possession of the family. Eventually he developed a prosperous enterprise in manu- facturing wine from the grapes raised from vines planted on the land prior to his purchase of the same, and this he continued in connection with orange-growing, for a number of years. A former owner of the place planted the first walnut trees, and two of these now large and venerable trees add to the attractions of the old homestead. Three of the seedling orange trees which were on the place when Mr. Curtis bought it are still bearing fruit. Mr. Curtis was an apostle of civic and industrial advancement in Southern California and his worthy and useful life touched with benignacy this favored section of the state, where he lived and wrought to goodly ends and where his name is held in enduring honor. The old Curtis homestead is situated two and one- half miles east of Redlands.
CHARLES F. THOMS was a man who was in the most significant sense one of the world's productive workers, and it was entirely through his own ability and efforts that he made a success of his life and in- cidentally contributed to the wellbeing of the communities in which he lived. He was a pioneer in the development of the orange-growing in- dustry in the Fontana district of San Bernardino County where he planted one of the first orange groves, and here he continued his residence, an upright, useful and honored citizen, until his death, March 5, 1918.
Mr. Thoms was born in the state of Pennsylvania, in 1835, and was five years old when the family removed to Michigan, where his father obtained wild land and began the development of a pioneer farm in the midst of the forest. It was under such primitive condi- tions that Charles F. Thoms was reared, and by virtue of such conditions, his educational opportunities were in inverse ratio to the arduous work which he performed in his youth. In the passing years he profited much from the lessons gained in the school of experience and through self-application to study and reading, so that his early educational handicap was not of enduring influence. Living in the little log house and working zealously in the reclaiming of the pioneer Michigan farm, he early gained the self-reliance that was a sustaining force throughout the remainder of his life. This sturdy young man naturally was moved by a spirit of utmost patriotism when the Civil war was precipitated, and he promptly tendered his services in defense of the Union. He enlisted in Company D, Nineteenth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and proceeded with his command to the front, where he participated in
1434
SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTIES
various heavy engagements. He was finally captured by the enemy and was incarcerated in historic old Libby Prison until his exchange was effected and he was able to leave that odious Confederate bastile. He rejoined his regiment and continued in active service until the close of the war, with a record of having taken part in many important battles, besides innumerable skirmishes and other minor engagements. He was with Sherman in the Atlanta campaign, participated in the battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, and thereafter was with the forces of General Sherman on the ever memorable march from Atlanta to the sea. In later years he vitalized his interest in his old comrades by maintaining affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic.
After the war Mr. Thoms continued his association with farm enterprise in Michigan until 1874, when he removed with his wife and their one child, a daughter, to Kansas, where he became a pioneer farmer near Salina and where he endured his full share of the hardships that fell to the lot of the early settlers in the Sunflower state. He eventually was prospered in his farm enterprise in Kansas, and there he continued his residence until 1891, when he came with his family to San Bernardino County, California, and became a pioneer in the Rialto district, where he purchased the east ten acres of Lot No. 429, on the present Locust Street and Foothill Boulevard. This barren land was a part of the tract that has been placed on the market by the old Semi-tropic Land Company, and the rude shack that had been built on the place was repaired by him and made available as a home for the family. He later erected a commodious and well equipped house and made other improvements of the best order, the water right which he originally secured having proved of no value, so that for two years he was compelled to haul water to supply the needed moisture to the orange trees which he had planted. The surrounding land in the early days was virtually a desert, with naught but sage brush and other rank vegetation. He eventually de- veloped one of the model orange groves of this locality, and obstacles and unpropitious conditions were overcome by him with characteristic courage and determination. He aided in the splendid advancement of this section and the old wagon road that orginally was the only highway through the sagebrush and cacti of the district has now been made into a fine cement boulevard. Mr. Thoms was a republican in politics, was at one time actively affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
In 1873 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Thoms to Miss Hannah Hoats, who was born in Michigan, March 30, 1838, the year following the admission of that state to the Union, her parents having been very early settlers in Michigan. Of the three children of Mr. and Mrs. Thoms only the first was born in Michigan, the other two having been born in Saline County, Kansas. Cora, the eldest child, now resides in Ohio. Clifford, is a resident of Taft, Kern County, California. F. Claude, youngest of the children, has management of the old home place and he is recognized as one of the progressive orange-growers of San Bernardino County, and is one of the original stock-holders of the Citizens National Bank of Rialto. He was registered in connection with the second draft when the nation entered the World war, but was not called into service.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.