History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume III, Part 9

Author: Brown, John, 1847- editor; Boyd, James, 1838- jt. ed
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: [Madison, Wis.] : The Western Historical Association
Number of Pages: 618


USA > California > San Bernardino County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume III > Part 9
USA > California > Riverside County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume III > Part 9


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to be transported to the front. The march was continued to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and thence through the desert country, with countless obsta- cles to be overcome in passing through the arid districts of the Southwest. Thus was achieved by these hard men a feat of endurance well nigh unprecedented in history. The men of this party, as official records show, did much to further the success of the United States in the war with Mexico, and their record was one of loyal and arduous service. The mem- bers of the Mormon Battalion were mustered out while in Mexico. Some of them returned to Missouri by the same route that they had come, and Mr. Robinson and a number of other members of the command returned by wagon train through Mexico to Yuma, Arizona, thence to Wilmington, California, and onward through Salt Lake City, Utah, and he finally arrived at his home in Missouri in 1848. In May, 1852, in company with his wife and their five children, he became associated in the forming of a wagon train of many ox and mule teams, the train being divided into units of ten wagons each, with a captain assigned in charge of each of these divisions. Mr. Robinson was made captain of his unit. The members of the party were followers of Brigham Young, and they set forth to form a new Mormon colony, it having been the hope of the Latter Day Saints that after the annexation of territory at the close of the Mexican war they would be given a refuge and home in California. The immigrant train proceeded on its hazardous westward journey and suffered greatly by the scourge of cholera which marked the year 1852, many members of the party having died of the dread disease, including Mr. Robinson, who died July 17, 1852, while the company was in the immediate vicinity of the Platte River, one of his daughters having died six days previously. The bereaved wife and mother, with her four young children, continued her weary and desolate journey, and the daughter Elizabeth, of this sketch, who was then six years old, well recalls the passing of the party through Echo Canyon, she having been greatly alarmed by the echoes, which she thought to be persons mocking the party. The memorable journey and its incidents left vivid impressions on her childish mind, and her reminis- cences of this remarkable pioneer experience of the western wilds are most graphic and interesting. The travel-worn caravan arrived at Salt Lake City about the first of September, 1852, and Mrs. Robinson and her chil- dren there remained until 1858, when they became members of another wagon train and set forth for California. Mrs. Robinson later contracted a second marriage. Philomon M., the eldest of the Robinson children, was born in Missouri, as were the other four children, and he accompanied his mother on the journey to California; Elizabeth F., to whom this review is dedicated, was the next in order of birth; Louise was the daughter who died en route to Utah; and the two younger children, Emma and William H., accompanied their mother to California. Mrs. Robinson established the family home at San Bernardino, and here she later married William Pugh, there having been three children of this union-Melvin, Cardnell and Eleanor.


Elizabeth Robinson was reared to adult age amid the pioneer influences and conditions that obtained in San Bernardino County, and her educational advantages were those of the locality and period. On the 14th of January, 1863, she became the wife of Anson Van Leuven, a California pioneer of 1852. In 1854 Benjamin Van Leuven, father of Anson, likewise came to California, and here he purchased eighty acres of land in the Mormon settlement in San Bernardino County. After his marriage Anson Van Leuven settled on this land, and the property, now finely improved, is still known as the Van Leuven ranch. This place is situated on Mountain View Avenue in the Mission district, and here Mrs. Van Leuven maintains


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her home at the present time. It is needless to say that the old home is endeared to her by many hallowed memories and associations. On this place Mr. Van Leuven planted his first orange grove in the year 1862, and the trees which he thus planted were the first to bear oranges within the borders of San Bernardino County, the first ripened products having here been garnered in 1867. Apples and peaches raised on the Van Leuven ranch in the early days were dried, and grapes were manufactured into wine. These products were sold and shipped out by wagon freight, as was also the grain raised for market. There was nothing sybaritic in the conditions that were in evidence here in the early days, and Mrs. Van Leuven states that she wore simple calico dresses which she made by hand, as did she all other clothes used by herself and her children. She was the mother of three children before she ever saw a sewing machine, and it can thus be understood that she acquired skill with the needle as a matter of virtual necessity. In her possession to-day, as a prized relic, is a surrey that gave long and effective service, this vehicle having been manufactured in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1849, and Nathan Meek having used the same in making the overland trip to California. Mr. Van Leuven purchased the vehicle in 1863, and it continued as the family carriage for many years-until, in fact, it gave place to the modern automobile.


In coming to California Mr. Van Leuven crossed the plains with an ox team, and a somewhat attenuated heifer, which he purchased, was hauled on a wagon the entire distance from Bitter Springs. This animal played well its part in the family entourage and lived to the age of thirty-four years.


Mr. Van Leuven served as sheriff of San Bernardino County from 1858 to 1861, and it will be understood by the students of early history of California that his duties were of strenuous and often hazardous order, as horse and cattle thieves and other outlaws were active in pursuit of their nefarious work. The large cattle and horse ranch known as the San Jose Ranch was the site of the present fine little city of Pomona, and ran its cattle in the bottom lands of the Mojave River. Thieves stole a large number of horses from this ranch, and they were tracked through Cajon Pass. The owner of the ranch, in riding about and looking after his cattle, recognized his stolen horses in the distance. He notified Sheriff Van Leuven, who took up the trail, recovered the horses and captured four of the six thieves. After their conviction he alone took charge of them on the trip to the state prison, the sheriff and his prisoners having gone to San Pedro on horseback and having thence continued up the coast by steamer. The ranch owner, fearing an attempt would be made to rescue the prison- ers, brought sixteen men to guard them on the trip to Los Angeles, but Sheriff Van Leuven declined this aid and proceeded alone with his pris- oners. The sheriff traced the men by the track of the defective hoof of a horse which one of the number was riding, he having recognized this peculiar deformity as being that of a horse stolen from the San Jose Ranch, and on this occasion he manifested much finesse, as did he on many other occasions. His vigorous administration rid the district and county of many lawless and desperate characters, for rarely did a guilty man escape him. He served as a deputy United States marshal during the period of the Civil War, and was one of the prominent and influential men of his county. In 1863 he was elected to represent San Bernardino County in the Legislature, and as a member of the Lower House he made an excel- lent record of service in the General Assembly of 1864. He was a stalwart republican, a man of inviolahle integrity, marked loyalty and much pro- gressiveness and public spirit. Long before the close of his life he and his wife had severed their allegiance to the Church of the Latter Day Saints.


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Honest and upright in all of the relations of life, Mr. Van Leuven left a benignant and enduring impress upon the community in which he lived and wrought, and he was one of the honored pioneer citizens of San Ber- nardino County at the time of his death, in 1896.


Mr. and Mrs. Van Leuven became the parents of five children, all born in the old home place in San Bernardino County. Myron Franklin, eldest of the number, was born November 25, 1863, and he resides with his wid- owed mother on the old home place, his wife, whose maiden name was Mary Hughes, being deceased. Sarah, the second child, was born June 8, 1865, and her death occurred in 1882. Byron, who was born April 2, 1869, is a bachelor and remains with his mother on the home ranch. Henry, born April 21, 1871, is a prominent business man of Redlands. He married Miss Lucy M. Iuch, of Redlands, and they have one son, William H., born November 12, 1914. Maude, born March 2, 1883, is the wife of C. J. Boone, who is a successful orange-grower, residing on part of the old homestead near Redlands. Mr. and Mrs. Boone have three children, Carroll Jackson, William Bruce and Richard Lewis. Mrs. Boone is an active and influential member of the Parent-Teachers' Association of Redlands, and is earnest in work for community betterment, besides being popular in the social life of the locality which has represented her home from the time of her birth.


Mrs. Elizabeth F. Van Leuven has witnessed the marvelous develop- ment of San Bernardino County, much of which was a desert waste when her family here established their pioneer home, and she has taken her part in the march of progress, has lived to enjoy the gracious rewards of former years of endeavor, and is one of the well known pioneer women of the county, with secure place in the affectionate regard of all who have come within the compass of her gracious and kindly influence.


BENTON BALLOU is one of the progressive and representative fruit growers of the Ontario district of San Bernardino County, and his is the distinction of being one of the pioneers of this line of productive enterprise in this section of the county, which was little more than a desert when he here established his home. He has been an influential force in connection with the civic and industrial development of the district and of the fair little city of Ontario, where his attractive and modern home, at 119 Princeton Street, is nearly opposite the Chaffey High School, this being definitely one of the finest residence properties in the city.


Mr. Ballou was born at National, Iowa, May 3, 1865, a date that indicates distinctly that his parents were numbered among the pioneers of the Hawkeye State. The name of Ballou has been worthily associ- ated with American annals since 1637, when the original progenitors of the American branch landed at Providence, Rhode Island. Land was purchased of Roger Williams, and this property in Rhode Island still remains in the possession of the Ballon family. Sanford B. and Sophia (Phillips) Ballou were the parents of the subject of this sketch. The mother died December 19, 1867, at National, Iowa, and the father died in Pasadena, California, in May, 1907.


The pioneer public schools of Iowa afforded Benton Ballou his early educational discipline, which was supplemented by a commercial course and still later by a course in civil engineering. Mr. Ballou has been a resident of the Ontario community of San Bernardino County since December, 1898, but it was not until 1899 that he initiated his activities as a fruit grower in this locality. From a virtually desert waste he has developed a splendid ranch estate of 1,000 acres, and his attention is


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given principally to the growing of grapes and peaches of the best types, his operations being now of broad scope and importance. A portion of his ranch was formerly owned by his father. His prominence and in- fluence in connection with fruit propagation is indicated by the fact that in 1921 he was president of the California Growers Association, Inc., one of the largest and most important organizations of its kind in the United States. As a young man Mr. Ballou served as a member of the Nebraska National Guard, in Company E, Second Regiment of Infantry. He was reared in the faith of the republican party, but while residing in the Southern states he transferred his allegiance to the demo- cratic party, in the ranks of which he has since been aligned. Mr. Ballou is a man of broad and tolerant views, considerate and generous in his judgment of his fellow men, and just and honorable in all of the relations of life, with the result that he has inviolable place in popular confidence and esteem. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and he and his wife hold membership in the Congregational Church in their home city.


In the parsonage of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the City of San Bernardino, on the 23rd of November, 1900, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ballou and Miss Alice Ferris Jenkins, daughter of Daniel Jenkins. Mrs. Ballou was born in Sandoval, Marion County, Illinois, March 18, 1865, and was educated in the public and high schools of St. Louis, Missouri. They have one child, Sanford, a student in Junior College of Ontario, California. In their delightful home they take pleasure in entertaining the young folk of the community, as well as friends of their own generation.


MARION LEE COOK. For over thirty years Marion Lee Cook, civil and mining engineer, has been a resident of San Bernardino, and his suc- cess and popularity in his profession and in the social and civic life of the city are due to the fact that from the first his sterling qualities of character were indelibly impressed upon all with whom he came in contact. It did not take him very long to show that in all lines pertaining to his profession he was efficient in the highest degree, consequently he has built up a large clientele not only in San Bernardino but throughout the district.


Mr. Cook is always strong in the advocacy of anything which will push his home city to the front, and is a prominent and potential factor in all civic movements. He has served his city in positions of trust, always the loyal and energetic citizen. He is a strong republican, and takes an active part in the councils of the party. When the World war was going on he gave time and money to the cause where his intuitive sense of affairs and fertility of resource were of great assistance to his co-workers. He served in every way he could and also was a member of the Red Cross and War Loan committees.


Mr. Cook was born near Raleigh, North Carolina, October 28, 1861, the son of John H. and Lucy A. (Stauffer) Cook. His father was a planter and stock raiser, and he also handled wheat coming in from the North, shipping it to the South to be made in flour ; the Civil war ruined his business and his home, and he moved to Ohio when his son Marion Lee was a small child. He went to Colorado for a time, hoping it would benefit his health, but returned to Ohio, locating in Wooster. Here he died in 1873. His wife was a native of Ohio, and she is now living in Los Angeles and is eighty years of age.


Mr. Cook was educated in the public schools of Georgetown, Denver and Wooster, Ohio. From these he entered the Spencerian Business Col- lege in Cleveland and graduated therefrom. He then went back to Colo-


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rado, and was for some time a bookkeeper and accountant. From this he entered the engineering department of the D. & R. G. Railroad, after that putting in a year in the University of Virginia, engineering department. From there he went back to Colorado, and spent two years in the School of Mines at Golden in that state. He put in one year in old Mexico and New Mexico, and having thoroughly equipped himself for his profession he came to California, locating in San Bernardino in August, 1890. Since his coming to California he has acquired various properties, oil leases and mining claims, among these latter owning a half interest in the Eldorado Gold Star mine in Nevada.


Mr. Cook married in 1895 Ella Allison, a daughter of Hugh J. Allison, of San Bernardino. They have one son, Lloyd, now in his third year in the Oregon Agricultural College at Corvallis, Washington, Class of 1922.


Mr. Cook was elected county surveyor four times, serving from 1894 to 1910, and was assistant highway commissioner from 1915 to 1918. He was also a member of the Freeholders committee that framed the present city charter for the City of San Bernardino.


JAMES F. WHEAT, postmaster of Redlands, and while this is his first term in that office, he has proved his exceptional ability as a public official in San Bernardino County, and won the recognition due him. He was selected for his first position as a live wire, a worth-while man and an indefatigable worker, and he filled the position with recognized efficiency and devoted, painstaking care. In his present office he has shown himself to be master of every detail, the right man for the right office.


Mr. Wheat was born in Leonora, Minnesota, December 3, 1871, the son of James M. and Almira E. ( Foot) Wheat, both natives of New York. James M. Wheat went to Minnesota in the early days of that country, and practiced there as a physician for many years. He was actively interested in politics and a power in his party. He was state senator for eight years. He came with his family to California in the fall of 1887 and located in Redlands, continuing his practice there and also serving as health officer of that city for nearly twenty-five years. He died there in 1910, at the age of eighty-six. His widow is now living in Redlands. They were the parents of two children, Ida M., who died two years ago, and James F.


James F. Wheat was educated in the grade schools of Minnesota and of Redlands and then attended business college in Los Angeles. He entered the business world by means of a real estate and insurance business in Redlands, and his activities in that line soon attracted attention and created public confidence. He made hosts of friends and deserved every one of them. He was a young boy when brought to Redlands, and he grew up in that city.


In 1910 he was elected city treasurer of Redlands, and was re-elected five times, resigning in the middle of his fifth term to accept the position of county recorder, which he held until January 1, 1922, resigning to accept the postmastership of Redlands, which position he now holds.


Mr. Wheat prospered in his business life, and owns a fine orange grove in Redlands. He married August 20, 1896, Gertrude Masten, a daughter of Benjamin F. Masten, of Indiana. They have two children, Mildred and Marjorie. Both are graduates of the Union High School, and Mar- jorie is now attending the University of Redlands. Miss Mildred is an accomplished pianist, and is practicing her profession in Los Angeles, where she gives instruction and is accompanist for prominent singers of the coast. Mrs. Wheat is a prominent club woman, being a member of the Contemporary Club and also one of the Landmarks Association committee of the Women's Federated Clubs. She was chairman of the committee.


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Mr. Wheat fraternally is connected with the Redlands Lodge, No. 583, B. P. O. E. Politically he is a strong republican.


DUDLEY G. CLAYTON. A county official who proved his worth to the citizens of Riverside City and County in other positions of trust before his election to his present office, Dudley G. Clayton created confidence in him- self. won by his ability and successful administration of all offices he held. A citizen of Riverside for over thirty years, he has served it well, both as a business man and as an official.


Mr. Clayton was born in Keswick, New Brunswick, October 19, 1867, the son of J. P. and Lucy A. (Golder) Clayton, also natives of New Brunswick. J. P. Clayton was of English descent, grew to manhood on a farm and followed this occupation for many years, but at the same time acquired many valuable lumber interests. He came around the Horn in 1867 and went to Sacramento, where he assisted in painting the capitol building. He was there for a year and then went back to sell the farm, but was induced not to do so. His son, John Clayton, who came with him around the Horn in 1867, remained in San Francisco and followed the occupation of ranching in the northern part of California until his death in December, 1888.


In 1880 J. P. Clayton moved with his family to Missoula, Montana, and there carried on a lumber business until he retired. His wife was the daughter of Daniel Golder, her mother being the daughter of Captain Strange, captain of a vessel in the West Indies for the British govern- ment. An only child, she was born on board a man-of-war and was a small child when her father settled in New Brunswick. He chose this place for a home, although he owned a large grant of land on the site of Philadelphia. He neglected this latter property, however, and allowed it to pass from his possession, as he had other interests that represented con- siderable money and which engrossed his attention at that time. Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Clayton were the parents of eight sons, of whom all but one attained mature years. They were: John, who died in San Francisco; Daniel and James, farmers in New Brunswick ; William A. and Charles G .. who died in New Brunswick at the respective ages of twenty-seven and twenty-one; W. E., a dentist in Los Angeles, and Dudley G. Clayton.


Dudley G. Clayton lived in New Brunswick until he reached the age of sixteen, and then went to Waterville, Maine, where he clerked for a year. He then returned home, and while there settled up the business of his father, who had then decided to remove to Montana. Dudley G. joined the family in Montana in 1887 and engaged in the lumber business with his father.


In 1889 he came to California and selected Riverside as his permanent home. His first venture into the business life of the city was by means of the purchase of the interest of Mr. Zimmerman in the Park (now Holyrood) Hotel. In a year he sold out and accepted a position in the improving of Evergreen Cemetery. He became a stockholder in the com- pany and was made superintendent in February, 1891. When he took hold of the work no improvements had been attempted, but under his able direction it was enlarged and beautified until it assumed the appearance of a lovely park.


He continued in this for twelve years and in 1902 he went into the undertaking business under the firm name of Clayton & Flagg, on the corner of Eighth and Orange streets. Later he bought Mr. Flagg's interest and continued alone for a short time, and then sold the business and went into the office of Sheriff P. M. Coburn as under sheriff on November 1, 1904. He next went into the police department as deputy chief marshal


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under M. R. Shaw. Following this, when in May Captain Johnson was appointed chief of police, he was re-appointed deputy, when the charter was adopted. He continued in this position until the death of the chief, when he was appointed chief, in 1908. He continued in the police depart- ment as its chief until shortly after Mayor Evans assumed his office. He then acted as deputy chief until the following May, when he went back as under sheriff, this time under Sheriff F. P. Wilson. He resigned from this position July 27, 1918, to enter the race for county clerk, in which he was successful. This position he now holds most ably, and he was elected for the four year term.


Mr. Clayton is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees and has served as secretary of the local tent continuously since 1893, and also as its commander. He is a member of the Independent Order of Foresters and has been scribe of Star Encampment No. 73 for fifteen years. He has been a member of the Yoemen for ten years.' In politics he is a strong republican, and always takes an active part in all party affairs. In religious faith he is affiliated with the Baptist Church, of which he has been a member since 1883. He was its treasurer for some time and is now a trustee.


Mr. Clayton married on January 16, 1889, at New Brunswick, Miss Bertha J. Dunphy, a native of Keswick, New Brunswick, where she resided until her marriage to Mr. Clayton. She is the daughter of Frederick Dunphy, a farmer by occupation. They are the parents of one daughter, Inez E., now the wife of Everett J. Horsley, the proprietor and publisher of the Daily Herald at Anaheim. The Herald is one of the brightest, most up to date live wire papers in the state, ably edited and extensively circulated.


ALLEN J. DAVIS, vice president of the Charters-Davis Company, is one of the influential figures in connection with the great citrus fruit industry in Riverside County. The company of which he is vice president initiated business in 1909, under the title of the Call Lemon Association, and the present corporation received its charter in 1918, when it was incorporated with a capital stock of $200,000, G. A. Charters being its president ; Allen J. Davis, its vice president, treasurer and general man- ager ; and A. G. Ritter, its secretary. The company has 212 acres de- voted to citrus fruit and 108 acres given to peaches, plums and alfalfa. Under a lease for ten years the company has also twenty-two acres of orange grove. Seventy-five employes are retained, and the company conducts a large and substantial fruit packing business, its well equipped packing house two miles southeast of Corona, utilizing 24,000 square feet of floor space and an average of 100 carloads of fruit being shipped annually. All of this fruit is raised by the company itself.




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