USA > California > San Bernardino County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume III > Part 66
USA > California > Riverside County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume III > Part 66
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elimination contest. Her team won first place, and she can play any place on the team. She is fond of outdoor life, shoots, bikes, and, with her father, hunts deer, riding through wild and rugged country with utter ease and fearlessness. Gertrude was born in Pennsylvania, Febru- ary 13, 1907. Katherine was born at Redlands, December 8, 1909, and died in July, 1910. Marjorie Louise was born at Mentone, California, June 7, 1911. Carroll Edwin was born at Mentone, March 30, 1914. Florence was born at Redlands, June 5, 1919.
Mr. Knickerbocker belongs to Redlands Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; Redlands Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and Redlands Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Congregational Church. During the winter months he and his family reside at their home on Buena Vista Street, Redlands, but their greatest enjoyment is found after they reach Big Bear Valley with the opening of spring.
By the old residents in the Valley Mr. Knickerbocker is regarded as the best woodsman in this region, and it is stated he can fell a tree, marking the exact spot where a certain limb will strike ground, before starting to cut, and rarely missing a mark. This proficiency is doubt- less the result of early training in the woods. When "Big Sam," a land- mark of the Valley, was struck by lightning a few years ago and set on fire, it became necessary to cut down the tree to protect the adjacent cabins. Mr. Knickerbocker felled the blazing monarch of the forest without touching a cabin.
A self-made man, he has acquired all he possesses through his own unaided efforts, and owes no man a dollar.
ROBERT C. BELT .- California is a land of great wealth, wonderful scenery and remarkable opportunities, and to those willing to exert them- selves nothing is impossible. As the years go on new openings arise in this vast domain, and not only are the Native Sons enthusiastic over its possibilities, but the outsiders also share in the universal hymn of praise. Not for nothing has it been given the significant name of "Golden." Everywhere abounds the chance for the acquiring of ample means, while at the same time opportunities for enjoyment are afforded which seem too good to be true. Of recent years a new avenue of endeavor has been opened in the development of Big Bear Valley, oftentimes called the Playground of Southern California. Here have come some of the most enterprising and competent men of the country, whose energies and genius are expended upon making this one of the wonder spots of the world. One of these successful business men and ideal hosts is Robert C. Belt, owner and operator of Duck Lodge and other mountain camps in Bear Valley, an old cowboy and typical cattleman, with all of the fine characteristics of that calling.
Robert C. Belt was born at Quincy, Illinois, May 30, 1886, a son of David M. and Sarah I. Belt, natives of New Jersey. David M. Belt was a merchant, and a man of prominence at Quincy, and met his death in a railroad wreck at Buffalo, New York, while on his way to an encamp- ment of the Grand Army of the Republic, to which he had been sent as a delegate from Los Angeles, California, where he had been residing for several years previously. His widow passed away at Los Angeles. They had nine children, namely : Maggie, who is the wife of William Griffin, of Los Angeles; Frank ; David, who lives at Pasadena, California; Roy, Bertha, Susie, Martha and Wilbur, who are all deceased; and Robert C., who is the youngest in the family.
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After completing his course in the Quincy grammar schools Robert C. Belt took one in the Union Business College of his native city. He then secured, under Governor Yates, the appointment as guard at the state penitentiary, and served as such for one year, following which he ยท spent six months at Kansas City, Missouri, and then came to California. From 1904 to 1906 he was in a contracting business at Los Angeles, but becoming tired of city life he came into San Bernardino County and homesteaded land at Seven Palms, which was at one time an Indian village. Here he developed his property, sunk a water well, erected necessary buildings, and succeeded in securing the first flouring mill in that section. While engaged in homesteading he was in the employ of Talmage & Clark and later of their successors, Talmage Brothers, serv- ing as foreman on their White Water ranch, and remained with the two firms for six years, riding range in Big Bear Valley, Seven Palms and Warren Wells, and later went into the cattle business for himself, in all spending fourteen years in this industry and becoming an efficient cattle- man. In roping, riding and endurance he can prove himself the equal of any man, and is physically fit as a result of his outdoor life.
After he had made his homestead a valuable property he traded it for seven acres of land in Big Bear Valley to Talmage Brothers, who had large holdings in the Valley, where they were among the pioneer cattlemen. In 1915 Mr. Belt began the construction of his home, which now is one of the most artistic places in the Valley, and occupies a very picturesque location overlooking Metcalf Bay and Lake. After he had provided for his own needs Mr. Belt put up fourteen permanent cabins on his property, all of which are illuminated with the Delco light system, and are most modern in their furnishings and design. He is also the owner of one and one-half acres of the North estate, which is lake front property and especially desirable, on which he controls the exclusive concession and privilege of boating, supplying all kinds of motor and row boats, and affording storage for privately-owned boats. Mr. Belt owns and maintains his own home boating camp on Metcalf Bay and Duck Lodge at Baldwin Lake, where he has a modern brick clubhouse and restaurant, and a fleet of forty boats. At the latter resort he specially caters to sportsmen of the day. He will eventually fill his estate with additional cabins. As a builder Mr. Belt is a pioneer in his section.
Mr. Belt has witnessed many changes for when he first came to the Valley all supplies were brought in by pack-trains over difficult mountain trails, or with a buckboard drawn by two horses, the load being limited to 400 pounds. Now countless automobiles and motor trucks roll over the magnificent roads, and aeroplanes land in front of his estate so frequently as to cease to cause comment or awaken unusual interest.
In 1915 Mr. Belt married Miss Cora S. Hayden, who was born in Indiana, July 21, 1891, a daughter of Elmer and Nancy Hayden, both of whom were also born in Indiana. Mrs. Belt was educated in the Indiana public schools, and Valparaiso, Indiana, University, from which she was graduated. She is an accomplished musician, and from 1912, when she came to California, to her marriage she was supervisor of music in the public schools of San Bernardino and Chino. Mr. and Mrs. Belt are very well suited to each other, as his hardiness is only equaled by her courage. In 1917 they decided to visit the San Bernardino Orange Show. It was in February, and their only way out of the Valley at that time was over the frozen lake to the upper end, and thence along the desert road, as there was five feet of snow between their home and the head of the lake where the road was open. In spite of the almost un-
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surmountable difficulties they made the trip to San Bernardino and return successfully, and have the record of being the first and only ones to do so. It is somewhat remarkable that Mrs. Belt's father also met his death by accident, he having been killed when a train struck his auto- mobile at Rialto, California, in 1915. His widow survives and makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Belt. Mrs. Belt has a brother, Floyd S. Hayden, of Azusa, California, who was the eldest born in the Hayden family ; and a sister, May Hayden, who, born in 1889, died in 1890.
Mr. Belt is living the kind of life he loves. It would be impossible for him to confine himself to an office or within any set confines, for he needs the great outdoors, and close association with nature in its wild- est moods. He is big of heart and mind, quick to respond to any demand upon him, and thoroughly competent in business. His holdings are in- creasing in value, and he is adding to their improvement all the time. Guests who visit his camps once are very anxious to return the follow- ing season for here they find not only ideal surroundings, but the con- genial companionship of the kind-hearted westerner, who knows how to make them comfortable and give them the best kind of sport.
BERRY LEE ROBERTS .- The growth of intelligence and sound optimism has advanced agriculture to a combination of occupation and science, the profound possibilities of which can be but imperfectly mastered by any one man in his comparatively brief span of years. Man, whose faith is pinned to the soil, and whose delight and reward it is to use its stored fertility for the most enlightened needs of civilization, has brought it to a stage of usefulness unequaled in any other walk of life. To such must come the greatest material satisfaction also, as witnessed in all prosperous farming communities, of which the territory included in San Bernardino and Riverside counties is one of the best examples. Since the earliest history of this part of the state certain families have been connected with its continuous advancement, lending color and enthusiasm and splendid purpose to its unfolding prosperity. Of these none are better or more favorably known than that which is represented by Berry Lee Roberts, of Highland.
Mr. Roberts was born September 12, 1873, at San Bernardino, Cali- fornia, a son of Berry and Frances (Thomas) Roberts. His father, a son of Jesse and Mary (Alpin) Roberts, was born in Conway County, Arkansas, and was fifteen years of age when he drove four yoke of oxen across the plains with a party, including his mother, which left Arkansas April 10, 1852, and arrived at their destination in Mariposa County, California, October 1 of that year. Berry Roberts had lost his father when he was an infant, and it was necessary that he early look out for his own support. His mother, who was a native of Tennessee, later went to Texas, where her death occurred. After spending five years in mining Berry Roberts took up ranching in San Bernardino County, as well as in the San Yimoteo Canon, in which latter community he settled on a 200-acre ranch in December, 1857. He was one of the first to introduce blooded cattle into this region, and did much to im- prove the breed of stock in this part of the state. He started out on his own resources, without means, but through perseverance and energy, determination and a hardy and courageous spirit overcame the obstacles and hardships of life in a new country, and won his way to the ownership of a good ranch and a place high in the confidence and respect of his fellow-citizens. He died at the home of his son, William M. Roberts, at Redlands. In Mariposa County, California, Mr. Roberts married Miss Frances Thomas, a native of Missouri, and they became
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the parents of twelve children: William M., Ozrow, Mary, Ella, Emma Beach, Nettie, Berry Lee, Sterling, Ida, Early, Archie Milton and Edward.
Berry Lee Roberts had few chances for an education, but made the most of his opportunities in the little country school at El Caseo, in the San Timeteo Canon. At about the age of seventeen years he went to work for the Southern Pacific Railway Company, and during the several years that he was engaged in maintenance work became known as an efficient maintenance man as well as a capable construction worker. In the latter connection for a number of years he did heavy construction work in difficult places in the mountains, as well as on the desert, and in this labor the hardy stock from which he sprang stood him in good stead. After a number of years he left the Southern Pacific and in- vested his earnings in a farm. Farming held him for only several years, however, when he returned to railway work, in building, grading, laying track and construction of the Tonepaugh & Tidewater Railroad. About the same time he built a six-mile branch from Lyle Junction to the Lyle C. Mine (the Borax C. Smith Mine), owned by the so-called borax king. This was an inferno to work men in, and it was evidence of Mr. Roberts' executive capacity that he was able to complete the con- tract. Returning then to San Bernardino, he was employed in construc- tion work by the San Bernardino Valley Traction Company, building, grading and laying track on new lines from San Bernardino to Red- lands and from San Bernardino to Highland, as well as the Arrowhead Hotel branch line. Later he served as roadmaster of this line for a number of years, until the road was taken over by the Pacific Electric Railroad Company. Mr. Roberts was also the builder, years ago, of the road from Squirrel Inn to Little Bear Valley and Lake, under Engineer Lathrope, this being a mountain road and well-known trail. He had charge of the digging of all the trenches for the city water and gas mains in San Bernardino, as well as the line to Highland, and laid the 24- inch water main from San Bernardino to Lytle Creek, operating under a bond of $180,000. Mr. Roberts remembers when the site of the present Court House was a stock corral, his recollection of this being vivid be- cause of the fact that it was he who got out the rock for the building, being in charge of the men who secured this necessary commodity from a quarry on Mill Creek. Another contract, done for the Edison Electric Company, was that connected with the necessary work to carry adequate water from point to point, and the building of the tramway up the moun- tain side for the construction of this work.
When he left the last employment mentioned Mr. Roberts accepted a position as superintendent for the Fontana Land and Water Company, a position in which he farmed from 600 to 700 acres of land. He was engaged in ranching on a large scale for six years, and during harvest times would have as many as 300 farm hands in his employ. In 1899 Mr. Roberts purchased three acres of oranges on Orange Avenue, High- land, and here built a modern home. Later he added to his holdings, and at present is the owner of six acres of as fine stock orange trees as are to be found in the State of California, together with a picturesque home overlooking the valleys and mountains. Mr. Roberts has acquired this property only through the hardest kind of work, but in its owner- ship he is proud, as he is also of the fact that he is a native son of the great Golden State and that he comes of sound old California stock. He belongs to several civic associations and fraternal orders, and is a veteran of the Spanish-American war. In 1898 he enlisted in Company G, Seventh Cavalry, and trained at Presidio, California,
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but was honorably discharged when peace was declared in 1899. His equipment was all ready loaded on a vessel when the countermanding orders came, these proving a great disappointment to him, as they did to all members of the Seventh.
In 1899 Mr. Roberts was united in marriage with Miss Mary York, a daughter of James and Sarah (Ingle) York, the former a native of Tennessee and the latter of Illinois. Mrs. Roberts was born at Leroy, Illinois, and was brought to California by her parents in 1898. Of the three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Roberts one survives; Marjorie, born November 8, 1910.
ARTHUR H. NELSON .- To successfully grow oranges in many sections of Southern California is an achievement being demonstrated every day, but to be able to produce the finest fruit in the world at a great profit is quite another matter. This interesting procedure has been going on for some years on the fine estate at Greenspot, in the Mentone District, San Bernardino County, owned by Arthur H. Nelson, who now lives re- tired at Los Angeles. Mr. Nelson has been a resident of California for almost two decades, but when he invested in land in the Mentone District in 1904, having growing oranges in prospect, his venture was deprecated by business acquaintances and deplored by his friends. De- pending, however, upon a sense of judgment that had seldom failed him, and possessing a considerable scientific knowledge of climate, soil and temperature, he persisted in his undertaking and today is one of the leading producers of the justly celebrated Navel oranges in the western country.
Arthur H. Nelson was born at Bridgewater, New Hampshire, in 1864, the second of four children born to Oliver Fuller and Sophia Kingsbury (Hatch) Nelson. The Hatch family was prominent in Col- onial days in New England, and Elisha Hatch, the great-great-grandfather of Arthur H. Nelson, purchased from the Indians the townsite of Fal- mouth, Barnstable County, Massachusetts. During his early business life Oliver Fuller Nelson was connected with the Boston Rubber Com- pany, manufacturers of rubber shoes, and afterward he was a pioneer in that industry in Montreal, Canada, where he established a plant that he conducted for many years.
Arthur H. Nelson attended the public schools of Medford, Massa- chusetts and afterward a school of design, where he applied himself to the study of architecture, and afterward followed this profession in association with some of the leading architects of New England. He was concerned in the designing of many important structures in the East and the erection of the church edifice in the City of Detroit, Mich- igan, which at that time was the largest and most imposing between that city and New York. His professional career was interrupted about this time by family responsibilities, he being recalled to Boston to take charge of his father-in-law's estate, a property aggregating over a million dollars.
On October 14, 1885, Mr. Nelson married Miss Carrie Elizabeth Puffer, who was born at Somerville, Massachusetts, September 15, 1865. a member of a very prominent family of that state. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson have had five children, namely: Harold Arthur, Leslie Scott, Frank Roy, Helen Puffer and Donald Hatch. Harold Arthur Nelson was born at Medford, Massachusetts, June 18, 1888. He was graduated from the Medford High School and Tufts College, taking a course in structural engineering. He is now associated with the Pacific Fruit Exchange, being in charge of the ice and percolating plant and all their heavy con- struction work at San Francisco. He married Miss Ella Bryan, daughter
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of George Edward Bryan, who is well known in business circles at Cleveland, Ohio.
Leslie Scott Nelson was born at Medford, Massachusetts, July 3, 1897, and was but fifteen years old when he graduated from the high school of his native city. After completing a course in engineering in the University of California he enlisted in the United States Navy for service in the World war, as an ensign. He was assigned to Mare Island and put in charge of the drilling of recruits, including 1200 brought from the Philippine Islands, all of these being partially trained at the time the armistice with Germany was signed, and shortly afterward he returned to civilian life and is now connected with the Johns-Manville Company, Los Angeles.
Frank Roy Nelson was born at Medford, Massachusetts, September 20, 1898, and after graduating from the high school entered college at Berkeley, California. At the outbreak of the World war he first went to work in the ship yards and then entered the officers' Training Camp in the University at Redlands, was one of the first ten selected for further instruction and was sent to Waco, Texas, and he was about to be commissioned lieutenant when the armistice was signed and he was relieved. He resides with his wife and son in the Mentone District, where the latter, Arthur H. Nelson, Jr., was born June 10, 1921. Mr. Nelson is superintending his father's orange groves at Greenspot. Miss Helen Puffer Nelson was born at Medford, Massachusetts, March 11, 1902. After graduating from the high school at Redlands she entered the University of California, where she is yet a student. The youngest member of the family, Donald Hatch Nelson, was born at Medford, Massachusetts, March 24, 1904, and was an infant when his parents came to California. After graduating from the Redlands High School he became a student in the Pasadena Army and Navy School.
Arthur H. Nelson continued as manager of the Puffer estate until he came to California, resolved to go into the business of growing oranges, and after carefully considering prospects he purchased thirty acres of wild land in what is now known as Greenspot. He received very little encouragement from those in any way interested in his welfare, but like many other men who have succeeded by trusting to their own judg- ment he continued to believe that this land of high altitude (2000 feet), with proper care and scientific methods, would in time justify his faith. Some of the land had already been utilized, and he at once set out his groves to cover the rest of it and built a home here, although at that time there was little neighborhood social life in the district. To his original purchase Mr. Nelson subsequently added and now owns ninety acres at Greenspot, seventy-five acres being devoted to oranges. In 1913 he shipped fruit which brought him $1,100 and $1,200 per car. His judgment about altitude proved to be right, and no finer Navel oranges are to be found in the state, this choice variety yielding best in a tem- perature approaching that of Bahai, Brazil, where they came from.
Ever since coming here Mr. Nelson has been deeply concerned in all interests pertaining to the welfare of orange growers, and one of the earliest needs he recognized was the lack of an adequate packing house at Greenspot, and he set about to remedy it. After negotiating with the different railroads and transportation lines he prevailed on the Pacific Electric to build the road that is now open, a great undertaking, as it necessitated the erection of a bridge that cost $35,000, and then Mr. Nelson organized a local body and the present packing house was erected, which is of modern construction and probably the best equipped plant
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in every way in all this section. Mr. Nelson continues on the com- pany's directing board and was president of the organization until 1921, when he resigned and since removing to Los Angeles has been practically retired from business life. He has been a wonderfully inspiring factor in the development of this section, and has definitely proved that a high elevation is the most favorable for orange growth, and his scientific dis- covery may, in time, solve many of the present problems of fruit growers.
LEVI VREDENBURGH, whose home for many years was at Chino, where Mrs. Vredenburgh resides, was a pioneer oil man, gaining his experience in the early days of oil production in Western Pennsylvania, was known in the East as an expert on the technical phases of oil production and refining, and his interests finally brought him to the West, and it is generally acknowledged that he laid the secure foundation for the prosper- ous management of the Puente Oil Refinery.
Mr. Vredenburgh was born at Croton Falls, New York, December 1, 1842, and was seventy-six years of age when death came to him at Chino on December 18, 1918. He was of Holland Dutch ancestry, a son of Harry and Elizabeth (Bevans) Vredenburgh, the former born June 20, 1811, and the latter May 20, 1815. A brief record of the children of his parents is as follows: Fannie, born June 25, 1834; Harriet, born July 13, 1836; Amanda J., born April 19, 1838; Charles, born June 13, 1840, died while a Union soldier in the service of the Federal Government April 27, 1863; Levi; Julia, born September 23, 1845; George, born April 23, 1848; Edgar, born October 28, 1853, died December 16, 1853; and Helen, born September 28, 1856, and died March 20, 1857.
Levi Vredenburgh grew up and acquired his early education in New York State. At the age of seventeen he enlisted in the Federal Army, served and fought as a private, was wounded in one battle, and for three years carried a bullet in his knee. After the war he earned his money as a worker in the timber woods of Pennsylvania, and was soon attracted to the great oil fields of the Oil Creek District of Pennsylvania. His varied experiences in the study of the oil business made him an expert on the refining processes, and he had some very responsible positions while in the East.
On August 25, 1869, Mr. Vredenburgh married Miss Anna M. Ter- williger, who was born at Leeds, Greene County, New York, in February, 1846. To this union were born two children. Elizabeth Jane, born at Sherman Well in Venango County, Pennsylvania, November 4, 1870, died February 10, 1895. Ezra Irving Vredenburgh, who was born at Meredith, Cherokee Township, Venango County, April 20, 1872, was liberally educated and had a very successful career as a physician and surgeon. He died June 5, 1909, and is survived by his widow and one son Irving, born July 20, 1906, and now living at Oakland, California.
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