History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches, Part 41

Author: Morrison, Annie L. Stringfellow, 1860-; Haydon, John H., 1837-
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1070

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and became the father of six children by What marriage. Of the family we may mention John, of Santa Maria; Edward, employed by the Santa Fe in Los Angeles; Thomas; a half brother David, an employe of the Southern Pacific Milling Company at Santa Maria : Fred, a half brother now in Port- land, Ore .; and a half sister, Phoebe McKee, who was well known in Santa Maria and San Jose, and moved to Indiana, where she died.

The eldest child of the family by the first marriage of his father, Thomas Boyd was educated in the common schools in his native country, lived there until he was twenty-one, and then, on May 1. 1871, bade good-bye to home and friends, and embarked for the United States, landing at Castle Garden in due time. For the first year he was variously employed in New York City. In 1872 he struck out for the West, and arrived in San Jose, Cali- fornia, where he hired out as a farm hand, working two years for wages, and gaining an insight into the customs of the westerners. In the fall of 1874, he came to the Santa Maria valley and found John Thornburg, R. D. Cook, Isaac Miller and Mr. Fesler, each with a house on the four half sections centering on what is now Main and Broadway streets. That was the begin- ning of what has become one of the liveliest towns between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Mr. Boyd started out to rent land, and with a partner, John Fremont Edwards, leased four hundred and eighty acres from the Kifer estate. This was the first independent venture he had undertaken. Ile had his reverses, dry years, pests, and all such interferences, but went about his work with a cheery smile, realizing that he was accomplishing something for himself. So well did he prosper that in 1880 he ventured to buy three hundred and twenty acres six miles southeast of the little town ; and with that as an anchor, he has met with well-deserved success and has given his influence towards helping to build up the community, and his hard work and management have made his own success assured. While engrossed in his own affairs, it must not be inferred that Mr. Boyd has neglected the duties of a citizen, for he has aided every worthy enterprise for the good of the city and county. He has served on trial and grand juries, and is a member of the Republican county central committee, but has never been a seeker after office.

In 1884 occurred the marriage of Thomas Boyd and Emma Griffith, a native of Santa Clara county and daughter of William and Cordelia (Swick- erd) Griffith ; and they have four children living: Edna : Elmer, who married Gertrude Rice, December 12. 1916, and who is on the home ranch ; Ruth, a graduate of the Santa Maria high school and the San Francisco Normal, who is teaching at Betteravia ; and Bernice, who attends the grammar school.

In 1912 Mr. and Mrs. Boyd retired from the ranch to a comfortable home at the corner of Thornburg and Church streets, Santa Maria, where, with true hospitality, they entertain their many friends. Mrs. Boyd is a member of the Presbyterian Church and president of the Ladies' Aid Society, and she also belongs to the Minerva Club and Eastern Star, and (1916) served as District Deputy Grand Matron for the Fifteenth District of California. She is very charitable, and is actively interested in all uplifting movements. Mr. Boyd is a member of Hesperian Lodge No. 264, F. & A. M., and of the Eastern Star. He is a good farmer, large landowner, worthy citizen, and sympathetic neighbor and friend.

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JUAN PACIFICO AND ABRAHAM ONTIVEROS .- The Ontiveros family is of Castilian blood, early members of whom were military men under the Spanish regime. The progenitor of the family in California was Gen. Patricio Ontiveros, born in Spain, a man of high military rank, who was sent by his government to do service in Mexico and was stationed at Los Angeles. Juan Pacifico Ontiveros, who was born in Los Angeles county in 1782, inherited the qualities of his ancestors and in early life joined the Spanish soldiery, was made a corporal of San Gabriel Mission and aided in the efforts to subdue the Indians and to protect the Spanish interests in Southern Cali- fornia. . As a reward for his services, he was given a tract of land known as the Cajon de San Juan rancho in Los Angeles county, now in Orange county, upon which Anaheim is located, and which he sold in those early days for what was considered a large fortune. He then came to Santa Barbara county and in 1855 bought the Tepesquet rancho of nine thousand acres in the Santa Maria valley. The following year he brought about twelve thousand head of cattle from his southern rancho, and in 1857 began the construction of an adobe house that was completed the following year, where he lived until his death at the age of ninety-five years, the possessor to the last of gracious qualities of mind and heart, and of the respect and good will of all with whom he had ever been associated. In early manhood he had married Martina Carmen Ozona, who was born in Santa Barbara and became the mother of his twelve children. She died at the age of eighty-nine years, beloved by all who knew her. It is with a great deal of satisfaction that the portraits of this worthy couple are reproduced in this volume through the courtesy of their youngest son, Abraham Ontiveros of Santa Maria.

Abraham Ontiveros was born on the San Juan Cajon rancho, then in Los Angeles county. April 5, 1852, and was given the best advantages of an educa- tion in Spanish. his father procuring private teachers for his children prior to the advent of the public schools. He grew to maturity on the Tepesquet rancho, where he had been brought by his parents when a lad of three years ; early learned the rudiments of farming and the stock business from his father ; and upon his death inherited two thousand acres of valuable land. From boy- hood he was of an inquiring disposition, and observed carefully the changing of the times and people, noticed the modern methods being introduced by new settlers in the county, and made up his mind that he would adopt them as far as he was able to do so. . Is a lad he traveled about the country with his father, and remembers when this part of the county was a desert waste, with bands of elk, deer. bears, wolves, wild hogs and other animals that roamed the land from coast to mountain across the site of what is now Santa Maria. He early learned to throw a lasso and once caught a wild hog that, when dressed, weighed some four hundred pounds. There were no trees except on the hills on either side of the valley, and the wind blew continuously and very hard. He well remembers the stories told by his father of the trials of the early stockmen when they would have to guard well their herds to keep them from being run off by thieves. He has kept records of the weather and rainfall in the valley for many years, and without doubt is the best-posted man on conditions during the transition of the state from stock to grain and dairying, and to hay and beans, whereby ranchers have made millions of dollars.

For many years Mr. Ontiveros was engaged in farming his two thousand acres, and met with well-deserved success in raising grain and stock, giving

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especial attention to breeding fine horses and cattle, and raising large quan- tities of grain, grapes, olives and walnuts. His horses were his pride and likewise the envy of many ; for he was satisfied with nothing but the best. To irrigate his land, he built a reservoir with a capacity of two hundred thou- sand gallons, on an elevation one hundred fifty feet high, bringing the water to the ranch from the springs in the mountains, and piping it to the buildings, where it may be had for domestic use. After a residence of more than fifty years on the ranch, Mr. Ontiveros moved to Santa Maria, where he has a comfortable home at 525 East Main street, and where he owns, besides this, other valuable residence and business properties.

Mr. Ontiveros has been twice married, first in 1879, to Miss Doraliza Vidal, a native of Santa Barbara county and, the mother of his six children : Blanche, Mrs. Contreras, living in Mexico; Ozell .A., formerly proprietor of the auto stage between Santa Barbara and Santa Maria, but now living on the home ranch with his wife and son ; Erasmus A., also living on the ranch ; Edmund F., who lives with his wife and daughter in Santa Maria, where he is proprietor of the California Garage, and who is also interested in ranch- ing near Arroyo Grande as well as on the home ranch on the Tepesquet, of which he is general manager ; Alesandro Evanoy, who is assistant manager of the home ranch, where he is living with his wife, formerly Katie De la Torre, and who is a corporal in the Fifth Regiment, U. S. Cavalry ; and Ida, the wife of Dr. Charles Fowler of Sacramento and the mother of one daughter. The second marriage of Mr. Ontiveros united him with Miss Petra Arellanes, and was celebrated in 1903. She was born in Santa Barbara, a daughter of Jose Guadalupe and Leonore (Davis) Arellanes, both now deceased, the father dying in 1904, at the age of eighty, and the mother on March 27, 1917, at the age of eighty-two. The Arellanes family are of old Spanish descent, and still own large landed interests in California, where they have flourished for many years, and they are connected with many of the prominent Spanish and Mexican families of the early days. Mrs. Ontiveros is a woman of fine character and is a worthy helpmate to her husband, and both have a wide circle of friends throughout the entire state of California.

Mr. Ontiveros has been liberal in his support of all projects that have had for their object the upbuilding of the valley, county and state, being particularly active in furthering the best interests of the Santa Maria Agricul- tural Association. His stock and fruit exhibits at various fairs have attracted wide attention. He has in his possession a sword used by his grandfather, and other family heirlooms, among which is a beautifully embroidered silk bedspread valued at two thousand dollars, which was made in China over two hundred years ago, and was used in his father's wedding chamber. These two relics were a part of the California exhibit at the World's Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia in 1876, and their owner considers them priceless.

Mr. Ontiveros had always enjoyed good health until 1911, when he met with an accident on the streets of Los Angeles, where he was run over and suffered severe injuries and a fracture of his skull. His iron constitution stood him in hand and he recovered. In the summer of 1916 he suffered from liver trouble, and in a Santa Barbara hospital had one hundred eighty-one gall stones removed by an operation. At this writing he is fully recovered and in possession of his full, vigorous manhood, and is living in contentment with his good wife, surrounded by his children and grandchildren. Mr.

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Ontiveros is repairing the old adobe erected by his father in 1857, and making of it a very comfortable home and a landmark on the Santa Maria ranch.

CAREY C. AND WILLIAM C. OAKLEY .- The son of a California pioneer and himself born in the state, William C. Oakley is justly proud of his connection with the varied interests of Santa Maria and the surrounding community. He was born in Sacramento county, October 31, 1866, a son of Carey Calvin and Elizabeth ( Whaley) Oakley. The father was born in Tennessee, crossed the plains with ox-teams to California in 1851, and worked for a time in the gold mines in the northern part of the state. He later was in the employ of the late Leland Stanford, and then went to the Sacramento valley, where for a time he engaged in farming and stockraising with good results.

In 1869 the family left Sacramento and came to the Santa Maria valley, homesteaded a quarter section of land. located opposite the site where the depot now stands, and there settled and carried on a general farming enter- prise for years. Carey C. Oakley brought one of the first threshing outfits to this section, and for some years operated it with success. He was married near Sacramento to Miss Elizabeth Whaley, a representative of an old pioneer family in Sonoma county, and they became parents of eleven children, all but two of whom reached maturity, and six of whom are now living: Francis D .: Mary E .. Mrs. G. J. Trott ; Nancy E., deceased : Emma C., Mrs. E. H. Stowell, who died, leaving five children ; Charles, who died in childhood : William C .; James A. : Harry Lec, who died at the age of nineteen : Anna Adeline, Mrs. D. R. Daniels : Minnie Belle, Mrs. G. L. Cook ; and John, who died in early childhood. The wife and mother died in 1880, after which Mr. Oakley was again married, Miss Margaret Robertson becoming his wife: and from this union one son was born, Lewis M. Mr. Oakley died in 1890: and his second wife passed away that same year, one week after his death.

W. C. Oakley was but three years of age when his parents came to this valley, and here he attended school and grew to manhood on the farm, early learning the details of a successful farming enterprise. He supplemented his education with a year's course in the University of Southern California, and then returned to take charge of the home place. The father and sons were engaged on a large scale in raising stock and grain, and this business, after the retirement of the former, was carried on by William C. and his brother, James .A. Oakley. They bought land from time to time, and now have thirty- five hundred acres on the Alamo, giving their time and energies to raising :

cattle, horses and hogs. Besides their own land they lease one thousand acres which they operate in connection with their stock business.

While Mr. Oakley has devoted his time to his own interests, to attain the degree of success which he now enjoys, he has never neglected the duties of a citizen and has taken an active part in the affairs of the Democratic party und served as a member of the board of supervisors for his district in Santa Barbara county, from 1907 to 1911. In local city affairs he supports men and measures that in his judgment will further the interests of the people, regard- kas ci party lines. He was elected a member of the board of trustees of Samolot Maria and has served as its president with gratification to nearly every Biff . It has been during his incumbency in office that most important poters have been promoted and consummated, placing his city in the front call of those of its size in the state. The sewer system has been installed.

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the streets have been paved and joined with the state highway that passes through the city, and the municipal system of water works and supply has been perfected by the purchase of the plant that was started many years ago and conducted as a private enterprise. The city has a solid financial footing. its bonds commanding a high rate of interest as well as a premium, having a ready sale. It is largely due to such men as Mr. Oakley, who have been conservative in all projects for the city's welfare, that Santa Maria has at- tained the standing it boasts of today.

In 1891. Mr. Oakley was united in marriage with Miss Bertha Belle Rice, who was born in Arroyo Grande, a daughter of Daniel and Isabella (Jones) Rice, pioneer settlers of San Luis Obispo county. Mr. and Mrs. Oakley have seven children in their family. Isabelle is the wife of John DuBois, who is an engineer for the Pinal-Dome Refinery Co .; Elizabeth is a teacher in the grammar school in Santa Maria; Marion is a student in the San Fran- cisco State Normal School; and Helen, Lois, Harry R., and Paul M. are attending school in Santa Maria. In 1903 Mr. Oakley erected his present home on Mill street.

Mrs. Oakley is a member of the Presbyterian Church and is active in the various societies therein, while Mr. Oakley is an attendant at the Meth- odist church, and is a member of the Knights of Pythias of Santa Maria. He and his wife have a wide circle of friends throughont Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, and are known as quiet, home-loving people, always ready to lend a helping hand to those worthy of aid.

PAUL O. TIETZEN .- The sterling personal characteristics, accom- panied by unquestioned financial and executive ability, which have placed Paul O. Tietzen among the foremost developers of northern Santa Barbara county have been correspondingly exemplified in a worthy and enviable an cestry, variously represented among the history makers of the world, prom- inent in commerce, in military circles, and in finance. He was born on the family estate, Kleefelde, near Thorm, Prussian Poland. March 20. 1852, a son of Julius and Adelaide (Elsner) Tietzen, who became parents of twelve chil- dren, all of whom received good educational advantages, and who all remained in their native land except Panl. His father was a university graduate and an officer in the Prussian army, and was a descendant of a long line of merchants and manufacturers. The grandfather of Paul O. Tietzen was a wholesale merchant in Berlin, and the first of the family to settle in Prussian Poland. The great-grandfather was one of the first members of the Berlin Board of Trade, at that time being formed, and was the organizer of several of the larger commercial establishments in that city. The origin of the family I- traced to Saxony, where for many generations they were connected with manufacturing enterprises.

The education of Paul (. Tietzen was received in private schools and in the Royal Gymnasium. He was reared in a home of culture by well- to-do parents, who were also strict disciplinarians. As a youth he read st ries of adventure, such as J. Fenimore Cooper's works and others, which created in him a desire to see America. Although his parents did not positives disapprove, they would rather have had him remain at home. In 1868 he embarked for the United States, and came around the Horn on the Ship "Davy Crockett," landing in San Francisco in overalls, a stranger in a strange land. He went from that city to the Sandwich Islands and to China, spell

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-overal monili- traveling about, and then returned to San Francisco, where he wired a position as a clerk in a grocery store, picked up bookkeeping and Muler was goployed as a bookkeeper by various firms in that city. Several years later, umcasting up accounts, Mr. Tietzen discovered that it took all he mrned to pay his living expenses in the city ; and then and there he decided to look about for a new field of endeavor.

He came to the Santa Maria valley in 1879, became connected as book- kooper with the firm of Blochman & Company, and spent several years be- tween Guadalupe and San Luis Obispo in that capacity. In 1889 he was sent to the new town of Santa Maria, which then had only about three hundred inhabitants, as agent for the Commercial Bank of San Luis Obispo. The outlook was anything but encouraging to start a bank; but he grasped the -ituation, and it was largely through his influence and energy that the Bank of Santa Maria was opened for business on May 1, 1890, with a capital of $25,000. He was elected one of the directors, and the officers were: L. M. Kaiser, president : Antone Pezzoni, vice-president ; F. B. Jack, manager ; Paul (). Tietzen, cashier and treasurer. He is now president of the bank, and it- capital and surplus are above $500,000. Mr. Tietzen was one of the organ- izers of the Valley Savings Bank, which opened for business on September 1, 1001. with a capital of $25,000, and was also the organizer of the First Na- jonal Bank of Santa Maria, with a capital of $50.000: both institutions have more than doubled their capital since their organization. He was one of the icorporators of the Pinal-Dome Oil Co., a $4,000,000 concern, of which he is treasurer : and he is also connected with the Home Telephone Company of Santa Barbara. the Santa Maria Abstract Company, the Santa Maria Realty Company, and other business interests in this city and elsewhere. He was one of the prime movers in organizing the Santa Maria Gas Company. that fur- uishes gas to Santa Maria valley and San Luis Obispo.

Mr. Tietzen took an active interest in securing the Carnegie Free Library For Santa Maria, and he and Mrs. Tietzen donated the half block of ground for the lawn and building site. Mr. Tietzen has always been intensely in- terested in the good-roads movement ; he assisted in the building up of the town by the erection of modern, substantial buildings; and in fact every movement for the advancement of the city, the county and the state has had his hearty co-operation and support. For many years he has been one of the most progressive leaders in this part of the county ; he is a many-sided man, a lover of his fellow-men and of all good works for moral uplift. Fraternally, Ve is a Mason, a Knight of Pythias and a Forester. holding membership in the lodges of Santa Maria.

At the home of Dr. and Mrs. W. T. Lucas, who were then living in the all adobe one of the oldest landmarks in the county-in Guadalupe, on Desember 14, 1883, occurred the marriage of Paul O. Tietzen with Miss Margaret Mellenry, born in Santa Rosa, reared in Stanislaus county, and onested in public and private schools and in Hesperian College, at Wood- Luuk Yolo county. She taught school in that county for a time, and in 1880 weum torSan Luis Obispo, where she continued teaching until her marriage. Offline the many years of her residence in Santa Maria, Mrs. Tietzen was -bnil leader, a worker for the good of the community, and interested in all Wbrew pavements, especially in temperance and equal suffrage. Four chil- from less! this union, three of whom are now living. Ida, educated at Mill's

T & Ballard

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College in Oakland, is the wife of William Howard Haynes, of Houston, Texas. Hazel, a graduate from Miss Head's school and the University of California at Berkeley, became the wife of Charles S. Dodge, an extensive lumberman of the state, with offices in San Francisco. James Herbert is also a graduate from the University of California, and is about to take a grad- uate course in Harvard College.

To give their children the advantages of the colleges and universities. Mr. and Mrs. Tietzen took up their residence in Berkeley in 1909, where he erected a beautiful modern residence at Claremont Court. There Mrs. Tietzen's fine social qualities, his children's accomplishments, and his own family's hospitality, make of it an ideal home. Although residing in Berkeley, Mr. Tietzen's interests are still with Santa Maria, and he is still one of the dom- inating factors in the banking circles of Central California. It may have been luck or chance that led him to this state, but he surely feels well repaid, by the success he has won, for all the hardships he has had to endure and the ob- staeles he has had to overcome; and there is no more loyal citizen of the state of California than Paul O. Tietzen.

THOMAS JEFFERSON BALLARD .- A native son of California and a representative of the class of pioneers who braved every danger to cross the plains and try to win a fortune from the mines, but who, not finding wealth as quickly as they expected, turned their attention to developing that richer resource, agriculture, and thereby won a competence, Thomas J. Ballard was born four miles from San Jose in Santa Clara county, August 21, 1858. He was a son of William Ballard, a native of Indiana, who crossed the plains with ox teams in 1850 and engaged in mining for a time. Returning to his Eastern home and claiming his bride. Lovina Elizabeth Bailey, who was born in North Carolina. Mr. Ballard again crossed the plains in 1853, and was followed by his wife, who came by way of Panama in 1855. On his second arrival in this state he settled on a farm in Santa Clara county and undertook the dairy business, which he followed until 1862. He sold out and removed to what is now Grangeville, Kings county, and bought a ranch there, improved it, and followed the stock business for a time. His next move was to a place near Visalia, where he remained until 1883. when he settled on a ranch three miles from Paso Robles and followed his chosen occupation until 1906, when he removed to Paso Robles and lived retired until his death, on January 2, 1913, at the age of eighty-seven. Ilis widow survived him until March 10, 1916, when she passed away at the age of eighty-one years. They became the parents of seven children, six sons and one daughter, of whom three sons and one daughter are living. Mr. Ballard was a prominent citizen of this state and did his share in developing the resources that have made it one of the best-known agricultural states in the Union. He enlisted for service in the California Home Guards during the War of the Rebellion.

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History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches, Part 41

Author: Morrison, Annie L. Stringfellow, 1860-; Haydon, John H., 1837- Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company Number of Pages: 1070

Author: Morrison, Annie L. Stringfellow, 1860-; Haydon, John H., 1837-
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1070