History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches, Part 49

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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hundred sheep into the Santa Maria valley, as far as the present Abraham Ontiveros ranch. The brother started from King City and crossed the Santa Maria river at the mouth of Sncy creek, November 6, 1869. The winter was so dry, and there was so much drought during the spring, summer and autumn following, not a drop of rain falling until February 12. 1870, that much of the flock perished from thirst, and they were able to raise only three hundred of the lambs.

Joined by another brother, Harry Goodchild, John and Cecil rented the Tepesquet ranch, then owned by Juan P. Ontiveros, and continued to lease it until 1876. That and the following year were also characterized by drought. and so severely were they afflicted that, of a herd of five thousand head pos- sessed by them, only four hundred fifty survived. This led the young ranchers to abandon the sheep business, after which Cecil went to Nevada for a while, but returned to practice law in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, and there he died in his brother John's arms.

When the subject of our sketch came to the Santa Maria valley, not only were there no automobiles or telephones, nor even the telegraph, but there were no railroads or fences ; there was nothing, one might almost say, but sheep, cattle, horses, Spanairds and half-breeds. Then the overland route, that is the old stage road from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara, had been laid out practically on the same lines as it is today. He used to be a thresher, and as such he worked both at the machine and as bookkeeper and roust- about, going from north of Paso Robles to the south of Santa Ynez, and can fairly claim that he has threshed grain in every field of the north end of Santa Barbara county.

Those carly days, however, were not devoid of enjoyment and pleasures to alleviate the pressure and strain of hard labor. The rifle and the hunt were pastimes with Mr. Goodchild, although he found the greatest sport in captur- ing wild horses and cattle. Until very recently, when his eyesight began to fail, he got his annual legal allotment of deer, and he has shot nearly every kind of game known to the Coast Range. Dances, rodeos and enormous barbecues were common : and reference to these recalls a particularly delight- ful story of a special feast arranged in honor of nine men named Juan or John. On June 24, 1872. St. John's Day was to be observed as usual, and in antici- pation of the event Juan Pacifico Ontiveros said to the subject of this sketch : "You have sheep, I have cattle; you kill sheep, I kill cattle, and we get the nine Johns together ; then we will celebrate St. John's Day properly." Thereupon invitations were sent out to Juan Ontiveros. Juan Ruiz. Juan de la Cruz Ruiz Juan Olivera, Juan Pedro Olivera, Juan Flores, Juan Pacifico Ontiveros, and one other whose name is not now recalled. together with lohn Goodchild, the latter the only one now alive. General invitations were deo sent broadcast to everyone from far and near. The sheep and cattle were Auchtered : a ramada or arbor was made for the ladies, and for three days un three nights the feasting, dancing and other merrymaking of the festivity comomed unabated.

Wione this traveled over much of the country, and being blessed with Cool jest nf observation, Mr. Goodchild has amassed an amount of first- TeuA CouplelLe of great value to the historian. Occasionally he has con- Flukedal ha experience to the growing historical records of the state, as Wiew - one years ago he wrote a description of the Painted Rock in the Carissa

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Plains, which is still considered, by many who have access to it in the carly history of Kern county, one of the best accounts of the attraction ever penned.

In 1877, John Thomas Goodchild bought his present ranch of a hundred acres, and about the same time he married Miss Adela Ontiveros, the daughter of Ramon Ontiveros and a granddaughter of Juan P. Ontiveros; and through his association with this representative native family he has learned to speak, read and write Spanish fluently. Eight children were born to the happy couple, and five of them are still living : Faith Margaret is at home; Ramon William married Miss Hortensia Ontiveros, and his sketch appears else- where in this volume ; Nellie is the wife of Clarence De Witt, who is interested in the oil business, and resides at Los Alamos with her child, Nellie Alice; Mary Elizabeth, called Bessie, and William George both live at home. \n infant son ; John Thomas, who died when fifteen; and Louisa, who died at the age of twenty-one, are the three children who have passed to the great Beyond. The lamented Mrs. Goodchild died in 1889, when the oldest of her offspring was only twelve years of age and the youngest less than a year old, and Mr. Goodchild has never remarried.

One of the pleasant recollections Mr. Goodchild has of his stay in Nativi- dad is the fact that he was present at the time of the execution and delivery of the deed to the first lot sold in Salinas City. The deed was made out by Eugene Sherwood, who owned the Sausal ranch, where Salinas now stands ; and the person who secured it was James Iversen, a blacksmith, who settled there then. What is particularly interesting to Mr. Goodchild today is the circumstance that Iversen made for him a spring-wagon costing three hun- dred dollars, and that this very wagon, in which he and his brother Cecil rode when they drove their seventeen hundred sheep into Santa Maria valley, is not only in a good state of preservation, but is still in actual service on the Goodchild ranch. Looking fondly upon this old spring vehicle in which he has traveled for thousands of miles, and which carried threshing crews every fall from 1887 until 1914, Mr. Goodchild says: "There will be no hearse to carry me to my final resting place, for I shall go in my old spring-wagon. While I live, no one except the sheriff will ever get it, and when I am gone they may do with it as they please." Let us hope that this old relic of pio- neer days in the Santa Maria valley will some day be accorded a fitting place in the rooms of the State Historical Society, or in some equally appropriate and permanent headquarters.

Naturally, in his long residence and extensive travel throughout this western state, Mr. Goodchild has met and come to know, more or less inti- mately, many persons of unusual interest. One of these worthies was Benja- min Foxen, after whom Foxen Canon was named, and who, probably the first Englishman to settle in the Santa Maria valley, came to California from London, doubling Cape Horn June 18, 1815, the memorable day of the de- cisive Battle of Waterloo. Foxen told him many incidents in his early experiences, and one of them nicely illustrates the cunning of the Indians when they set about stealing horses. Foxen at one time had a large number of mares that he had bought and was taking home to his ranch ; and when overtaken at nightfall, he put a bell on one mare, penned them up in the corral and securely barred the gateway by means of long, strong poles. To make doubly sure that no one could come and steal them away, he took his blankets and lay down to sleep in the neighborhood with his rifle at his side.

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All night he heard the tinkling of the bell, and rested easy, thinking his mares were safe in the corral; and the reader may imagine Foxen's surprise when, at daylight, he found every precious mare gone. At the point farthest away from the entrance a hole had been made through the side of the en- closure, and through the opening the Indians had driven the mares away over the mountains, stopping only when they reached the San Joaquin valley, so that he never recovered any of them. He was sure that he had heard the tinkling of the bell all night; and thus, calm and confident, he had not taken the trouble to get up and confirm his belief; nor was he mistaken in what he had heard. The redskins, however, having removed the bell, had artfully continued to ring it while the animals were being led off, and with such natural movements that even the experienced pioneer was deceived, and could not believe his own eyes when he discovered that his valuable property was gone.

A public-spirited citizen, Mr. Goodchild has often served on grand and petit juries. Of Democratic preferences, he has had no ambition for con- spicuous position or office, although at one time, after declining to run as a candidate for the office of county clerk, he acceded to the wishes of friends and stood for election as supervisor, when he was defeated by only eleven votes. Of a retiring disposition, he has been content to remain quietly in the rear, more or less unnoticed by the passing show. All these years, however, he has watched the development of the country with intense interest and even joy, ready to help along every enterprise likely to make for the common welfare. Should some enterprising moving picture producer, there- fore, interview him, he could get a correct idea of what has actually passed in the development of the great Santa Maria valley from the time when Mr. Goodchild settled here, and found it a waste of wilderness, to the present day, and it is safe to say that no more inspiring panorama of California, of historic merit, could be devised than that which might be produced under the guidance of this highly-favored pioneer.

CAPTAIN ABNER CLARK .- Captain Abner Clark was born at San- ford, York county, Me., on January 24, 1834, the second youngest of seven children, of whom only two are living. He was the son of Abner Clark, a farmer, and the grandson of David Clark, also a farmer, who was born of English and Irish ancestry. His mother was a native of Maine, a Miss Betsy Wakefield ; and while the lad worked about the farm, the good mother saw to it that he was sent to school. Having finished with the grammar school, Abner was entered at the Alford Academy, and there he remained until he had nearly attained to manhood.

When about twenty, he set out into the world for himself, first trying his hand at the trade of ship carpenter in old Kennebunk Port, Me., where De followed shipbuilding for four years. He next shipped as a sailor and ship Kirpenter on Atlantic vessels. He made a voyage across the Atlantic and back on the "Lizzie Thompson," and coursed over much the same route and Tack on the "Sea Belle," and also on the "Regulus." He then went around Calpe Ilorn, and returned again to the British Isles. As first mate on the barque "Union" he ran from Mobile to Boston, and then went from Mobile to Ilavre and returned. This ended his sailing on the Atlantic. Port Huron, Mich., then attracted him, and he started there a ship yard for the building of

Richard Brown

Lucy Brown.

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vessels for the lake trade. He built twenty-four large and small vessels in about twelve years.

In 1885, he sold out everything and came to California, living about a year at Modesto, and in 1886 came to Creston. Here he engaged in the stock busi- ness, and began to operate the Cressy Ranch, which he continued until he retired. He now resides at Creston, and divides his hours between his work as a real estate agent and his official duties as Justice of the Peace. . \t Cleve- land, Ohio, he married Miss Emma Cressy, by whom he had one son, Frank, foreman of the Cammatti Ranch.

RICHARD BROWN .- Sloping gently back into the hills, lies the cele- brated Brown ranch, where, nestling in a cove in the horseshoe bend of a ridge, are the spacious and hospitable farm residence and outbuildings, to which cool spring water is piped, the site affording a beautiful view of the Cholame and Estrella valleys. It is, indeed, one of the most charming home places in the neighborhood, and one does not wonder that Mr. and Mrs. Brown love it dearly, for their children were born there, and there they grew to maturity- all large, sturdy, handsome men. Richard Brown, the proprietor of the ranch, was born in Leigh, Staffordshire, England, April 12. 1858, the grand- son of Charles Brown, of Parkhall, Staffordshire, and the son of Joseph Brown, a native of the same place. His father was a farmer, and for twenty- one years the income-tax collector of that district. His mother, who was born near Cheadle, Staffordshire, was Miss Lydia Turner, the daughter of William Turner, once a farmer at Cheadle and later a resident of Broad- gate, where he died. Of Joseph Brown's three children, Richard was the second oldest and the only one to come to the United States.

Educated at the national school at Leigh, Richard began, at the age of twenty-one, to farm for himself, renting land and operating a farm and dairy of thirty cows. He also raised thoroughbred Shropshire Down sheep and full-blooded, high-grade Shorthorn Durham cattle. On March 15, 1883, he was married, at Leigh, to Miss Lucy Collier, who was born at Stowe, Staf- fordshire, the daughter of John and Mary ( Cottrell) Collier, both natives of that section. Mr. Collier owned a farm in Staffordshire, where he also conducted a dairy and made cheese : but he later moved to Fenton, and there he and his wife died. Grandfather Collier, also named John, was a farmer at Caton Hall, Staffordshire. Grandfather Clement Cottrell was one of the largest farmers in those parts; he had seventeen children, twelve daughters, all married to farmers, and five sons, who also followed agriculture. Mrs. Brown is the oldest of six children, and the only one in the United States.

After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Brown immediately came to America, reaching Portage county, Ohio, in April, 1883, and in May of the following year arriving in Oakland. At that time Mr. Brown took out his first papers preparatory to securing American citizenship. Soon after, he went to work on the Maxwell ranch near Sonoma, and then, for eighteen months, on the Emerson stock ranch in San Mateo county, whence he went to the farm of Levi Jones in Stanislaus county. August 4, 1886, he located on the nucleus of his present ranch, and he still likes to tell of the journey thither. They came by stage from the end of the railroad to San Miguel, and then by teams. and took a look at the Cholame country with the idea of selecting a home- stead : and having decided on what they now possess as the best anywhere to bc had, they later brought out their trunks and few belongings. They first

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located a pre emption of a hundred sixty acres, and when that was proved up they located a homestead, and also a tree culture adjoining, creating a ranch of four hundred eighty acres, and one that not a few neighbors and visitors greatly admire. He bought a team and turned the first furrow on the land; but as the crop was light the next summer, he went to the San Joaquin Valley and worked there with his team through the harvest.

In the beginning, the hill land he purchased was considered too rough to cultivate, and good only for stock ; and in 1887 he leased seventy acres from the R. B. Turner place, and in his harvest obtained eight hundred twenty-five sacks of wheat. What he did not use for seed he hauled to San Luis Obispo and sold in the market. He raised more and more each year, and stuck to cattle and grain in spite of financial failures and various ups and downs, with the result, as might be expected, that in the end he enjoyed success. When the combined harvester came into vogue. Richard Brown, with his usual enterprise. bought one, and since then he has always used one kind or another of improved machinery. For some years he rented from the West Coast Land Co., and then he began buying lands adjoining his own. He also began to farm upon the hills, and found to his agreeable surprise that, as the soil is heavy and strong, he could easily obtain good crops there. l'art of his success, it is interesting to observe, is due to his having invested in a combined harvester capable of adjustment to upland grades.

For many years Mr. Brown was engaged in dairying, but now he devotes himself mainly to the raising of grain, Durham cattle and draft horses of the Percheron-Norman strain. His brand, now so well and favorably known, consists of the two figures 3 3, connected at the bottom. The Brown ranch has over four thousand acres of land, and is well watered by springs: it has six hundred acres so situated that they can be plowed, while half of the area is yearly sown to grain. In the operation of this extensive ranch, two big teams are employed, and these teams assist in cutting the grain both of this ranch and of others near by.

Decidedly a man of public spirit and of vision, Richard Brown went in for improvements both upon and near to his property. He built, for exam- ple. the road from the Cholame thoroughfare for the distance of a mile to the beginning of his ranch ; and in 1886 he hauled the lumber from San Luis Obispo for his first house of two rooms, and for a small shed made of boards, for his horses. He was fortunate when he dug his first well, striking water at eighteen fect. Since then he has piped water to his residence and barns from a spring some distance from his residence, which furnishes excellent water for all purposes. All this has been accomplished by ceaseless energy and close application, in which he has been ably assisted by his wife, who is endowed by nature with much business acumen.

While they lived at Freedom Station, Portage county, O., on December 28. 1883, their first baby, a beloved little daughter, was born, of whom they were bereaved on April 2, 1884. She is now buried in the Charlestown meterv. Since coming to California, however, they have been blessed with Yof chiffren, all born on the Brown ranch: Evan, who owns a farm on the Limainc: and Frnald, Horace, and Stanley, who are all at home. Ernald omul Horice are operating the home ranch and also own the Coyote Springs rank ponine hundred sixty acres adjoining.

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A Progressive Republican in politics, and always looked to for counsel and leadership, Mr. Brown was a trustee and clerk of the board for the school district of Cholame for several years. In matters of religious worship. he and his family are Episcopalians.

PETER TAYLOR .- One of the most highly-respected citizens of San Luis Obispo County, and one who left his impress upon the community where, for many years, he made his home, was the late Peter Taylor. He was born in Perthshire, Scotland, December 7, 1837, and attended the public schools of his vicinity until he was thirteen years old, when, with his father, John Taylor, he came to America in 1851. There were six children in the family. They settled in Delaware county, N. Y., where the father engaged in farm- ing. Peter lived at home until he was twenty-one years of age, and then followed carpentering until 1863. Then he left for California, coming by way of Panama to San Francisco; from which place he went to Marysville, where he was engaged in ranching for a year. On account of the climate he was unable to remain there; and removing to Sonoma county, he resumed his occupation until 1869, coming in that year as a pioneer to San Luis Obispo County. Locating in Green valley, he purchased two hundred acres of land, and was one of the first settlers in that section. He engaged in grain farming. and the grain was shipped to San Francisco by boat. He gradually worked into dairying, and added to his holdings from time to time until, at the time of his death, he was owner of eleven hundred acres of fine land, considerable of which he had improved with buildings and fences. There are three sets of farm buildings on the property.

He was a member and trustee of the Presbyterian Church at Cambria, and a man whose word was considered as good as his bond. On a visit to Hamden, Delaware county, N. Y., after an absence of many years, he was married, December 30, 1874, to Jane M. McDougall, a native of that county. who was born on February 28, 1844. They were blessed with the following children : John A., Agnes J., Alexander and Peter J.

The parents of Mrs. Taylor were Archibald and Agnes (Salton) Me- Dougall, both born in Scotland-the former in Glasgow in 1810, and the latter in 1811. Mr. McDougall was a blacksmith by trade in Scotland, accompanied his parents to America in 1832, and settled in Delaware county, N. Y., and there he followed farming until his death. His wife came to this country with her parents in 1830 and settled in Delaware county, where she was married in 1840. She became the.worthy mother of seven children.

John A. and Peter J. Taylor are dairying on Santa Rosa creek : Alexander and Agnes J. reside with their mother on the old home ranch-the former hay- ing the management of the estate since the death of his father.

ASA W. ABLES .- To have been connected with the pioneer develop- ment of the Santa Maria valley is an honor accorded few families, and one of these is represented by Asa W. Ables of Santa Maria, owner of fifteen acres in the residential district, a ranch of one hundred twenty acres east of Orcutt, five houses in the district he platted as an addition of five acres to the city, besides the Ables brick building in the business district. A native of the state, he was born in Tomales, Marin county, January 12, 1868, a son of Thomas B. Ables, who was born in Guernsey. O., and who was married in Iowa, in 1854, to Elizabeth Shuman, a native of that state. In 1857 they outfitted for the trip across the plains with ox-teams and prairie schooners.

SAR TERRE DHISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

isleme nowy mandy and tenley- to complete the journey to Humboldt county, ud Jaymy onled there or a time, they then came to Marin county and lay ned ver & with wear Tomales, engaging in ranching with success.

In 1871 Are many came down to Guadalupe and lived for a short time; and Die eyed 0%) place of the Mesa between Santa Maria and Los Alamos. Where ileg jungle and improved some land. The hard times of 1893 caused low -enor memsul loss, although he had retired to' a home in town in 1887 My was Ecorably known to the citizens of the valley, though he rarely mivel of yodebe affairs ; and he was honest, upright and generous. He passed avery December 16, 1905. aged seventy-one. His wife survived him until September 3. 1:13, when she passed away at the age of eighty years. Their wom children were: Mrs. Alice Bassett, deceased ; J. W .. or Will, as he is Mmiliarly known, a carpenter and builder of Santa Maria: Walter, the beet raiser, near Santa Ana: Josie, who lives in Butte county: Asa W .. of this review : Dora, the wife of A. F. Fugler of Santa Maria: and Kittie, who mar- ried George Lucas and lives at Biggs, Butte county.

Asa W. Ables was but six years old when he accompanied his parents 1 .. Santa Barbara county. He had just learned his ABC's in Tomales, and now he went to school under pioneer conditions in the Agricola district, which was among the first schools to be organized in the valley, his father having erected the school building. The balance of his education has been obtained in the rough school of exacting experience. He learned to drive a team and turn a furrow on the home place, and later became a teamster, hauling goods and supplies from Port Harford, then the nearest shipping point. Mr Ables well remembers the building of the Pacific Coast Railway and the rapid development of the country after its completion. His principal Work has been as an agriculturist, and he is accounted a good farmer. Under the firm name of Ables & Smith he is engaged in raising grain and beans on rented land belonging to different parties, and gets the best of results. Coming to this valley when a small boy, Mr. Ables has had a rich pioneer experience, and what success has come to him has been the result of his own individual efforts, assisted by his wife.

On January 30, 1893. Mr. \bles and Louie Johnson, a native of Pike county, Illinois, were united in marriage. They have had no children of their ola, but have reared and educated two of her sister's daughters, Elsie kesler, who became Mrs. Thole of Santa Maria, and Ida Fesler, now Mrs. Nessell of San Diego.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Ables stand high in fraternal circles in Santa Maria, being members of the Eastern Star and the Rebekahs; while Mr. Ables is an til I ellow and a member of San Luis Obispo Lodge No. 322, B. P. O. Elks. the are both members of the Christian Church and in politics support Bertheam principles.

ALBERT JONES. In the person of this successful cattle raiser and Inside man, who died at Ortega Springs, near Annette, in January, 1909, Gul bis ereemel daughter, Miss Sophia F. Jones, a woman of prominence, ddl De miere soil manager of her own ranch, California numbered among live metic ch ens representatives of a good okl American family-that of low Paul Nad. The doughty founder of the American Navy-a family noted ton Gaty lo Revolutionary times, but also in the War of 1812 and the Mestom den out of these possession is the Jones farm in Maine, which

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History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches, Part 49

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