USA > California > San Luis Obispo County > History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches > Part 68
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Mr. Plympton is a member and past master of the Arroyo Lodge, No. 274. F. & A. M., and was a delegate to the Grand Lodge in San Francisco in 1915. He is president of the Farmers' Educational Co-operative Union, and was a delegate to the State Union in 1914. He is a prominent member of the Methodist Church, being a trustee and steward.
On March 19, 1899, Mr. Plympton was united in marriage with Mary Brown, who was born in Knox county, Mo., and they are the parents of two children : Harold and Eunice. Mr. Plympton is a man of publie spirit and strong character, honest and industrious, and one who has made a success of his life work.
REV. F. M. LACK .- The history of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church of Arroyo Grande dates back to 1881, when church services were held ne ant old adobe house, but it was not until 1886 that the present church was. Malt by Rev. Father Michael Lynch, a native of Ireland, who also erected the church at Nipomo. He died in 1903. Rev. Father F. M. Lack, the priest now in charge, was born in France in 1861, educated in France and in Ineland. ordained to the priesthood in London and, in 1889, came to the 1 mitenil States.
Arriving in this country, he came to California and for about a year was millant to Rev. Father MacNamee in the parish in Santa Cruz. The follow- mars.900 lo. came to San Luis Obispo as assistant at the Mission and re- unimed there three years, during which time he ministered to the churches a Verbier hoff avucos, and all of the coast section and at Poso. His next 7000 000 1 Santa Ynez Mission. While stationed there he held church In Europe signor chapel, Gaviota ( Las Cruces), Los Alamos and Guada- IntoTwoporteen years. At that time the Indian reservation numbered (os con lowolost souls at Santa Ynez. In parts of the county where there Wan 0 55 .000e -. he held services in empty store rooms, hotels and L' This lo embl find where there were accommodations.
Hay Ter me to St. Patrick's Church in Arroyo Grande, also serving To 0 1 1 000 b 4 Nipomo and Guadalupe. The parishes of St. Patrick's
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and St. Joseph's number about 2,000 adult members. It is greatly to the credit of Father Lack that at present their condition is so prosperous. His mission territory is limited to the boundary lines of Santa Maria on the south, Edna and Oil Port on the north, the Kern county boundary on the east, and the ocean on the west, including Pismo, Oceano, Hadley and Oso Flaco. He has been most zealous in his work and is beloved by his con- gregations. He is now in point of service the oldest priest in the county. The experience gained while at the Mission and in Santa Cruz enables him to meet almost any emergency that may arise in his line of duty. Father Lack is public-spirited and willingly co-operates with all movements for the uplift of the people and the betterment of the county.
JOHN C. FREEMAN .- The entire life of Mr. Freeman has been passed within the borders of California. He was born in Rocklin, Placer county, October 11, 1888, the son of a pioneer of the state, who was a business man of Rocklin for many years. The education of J. C. Freeman was received in Oakland, where his father had moved to establish himself in business. He graduated from St. Mary's College in 1905, and then entered the mercantile business, engaging in different vocations until 1907, when he returned to Rocklin to take charge of his father's undertaking business, established many years before. The four years from 1907 to 1910 were spent in Rocklin. In the latter year a fire which practically wiped out the town, destroyed the estab- lishment conducted by Mr. Freeman, and he then decided to branch out for himself in a wider field.
Coming to San Luis Obispo, in 1910, he purchased an undertaking busi- ness which had been established many years before. Ilis early training had given him the advantage of modern and scientific methods; and through these, together with his painstaking care and courteous treatment, Mr. Freeman soon made his influence felt in San Luis Obispo and environs; so that today the establishment, of which he is owner and proprietor, known as P. J. Freeman & Co., Funeral Directors, and long located at 982 Monterey streeet, is well and favorably known throughout a wide area.
On June 4, 1913, Mr. Freeman was united in marriage with Miss Violet Mitchell, who was born in Oakland, and ot this union two daughters, Catherine and Jean, have been born.
Since coming to San Luis Obispo, Mr. Freeman has taken a very active part in the civic and social life of the city.
ORRIN E. MILLER. Through his connection with the interests of Arroyo Grande as the leading blacksmith of this section, Mr. Miller has become one of the well-known men of the county. He was born in Johnson county, Iowa, July 6, 1870. the son of Isaac D. and Cadace ( Andrews) Miller, natives of Iowa and Pennsylvania respectively. The father served in the Civil War, enlisting in Company D, Twenty fourth Iowa Regiment, Volun- teer Infantry, and during an engagement was shot in the leg and made a cripple for life. In 1872 he came to California, and the following year settled in Morro and engaged in farming until 1877. when he moved to Arroyo Grande and bought a tract of six and a quarter acres north of the town. where he is engaged in raising fruit and general produce. He is a member of the Grand Army Post and the I. O. O. F.
Orrin E. Miller attended school at Morro and Cholame valley, began the trade of blacksmith with Joseph Eubanks of Arroyo Grande in 1888.
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worked for him three years and then went to Hollister, where he worked two years at the same trade ; and from there he went to Iowa, and followed his trade three years. He returned to California at the end of this period and, in partnership with his brother Walter, erected a shop near the creek, in Arroyo Grande, where he has since been located and carries on a thriving business. Mr. Miller also owns six and one-half acres north of the town which is set to fruit and nuts, and equipped with an electric pumping plant For irrigating.
The marriage of Orrin E. Miller united him with Sarah Startzer, a native : lowa. They have four children : Hazel, teaching school in Arizona, Ida, Arline, and Harold. Mr. Miller is a member of the Odd Fellows and has passed through all the chairs, and is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. He is well liked in his community, where he is recognized for his integrity and industry.
NIELS JOHNSON .- Niels Johnson is a representative citizen of Tem- Dleton, and the pioneer of the wood business that has meant so much to every farmer in this section of the county ; for when crops were poor or there were no crops at all, the timber could always be depended upon to yield a living and pay taxes, and it was through Mr. Johnson that a market was found and ready money was forthcoming. He was born in Naskoo, Denmark, March 21, 1850, a son of Johan and Maren Rasmussen. His father, a farmer and blacksmith, was twice married, and Niels Johnson of this review is the youngest of four children born of the first marriage.
Niels Johnson was reared in his native land until he was nineteen, when he set out for himself and came to America, locating in Oshkosh, Wis., where he was employed in the lumber mills on Wolf river for one year. Then he went to Green Bay, and in 1871 came to California. He went to the lumber section in Mendocino county and worked one winter, and then came back to San Jose and followed farm pursuits. In 1876 he was united in marriage at San Jose to Miss Mary Jane Dunbar, a native of New York State. She came to California with her sister, Mrs. Maria Carr, and lived in Nameda county.
After their marriage Mr. Johnson went to Salinas, where he followed munching, purchased and improved a place near there, and then sold out and moved to Castroville. lle was one of the first men to ship wood from that Taken to San Jose, where he found a market : he also bought land and farmed Lo aitime, but soll and moved to Watsonville. In the early days in that wellon the fruit business was a fiasco, for there was no sale for the fruit. The herci land was selling for $250 per acre, which was thought the limit : but u ler quadrupled since. In 1889, Mr. Johnson sold out and moved to Temple- one and bought one thousand acres adjoining the town on the south. He nadsome of the land, plowed it and put in grain, and carried on general Tony ww stock raising, with fine results.
Nawet deal of timber was on Mr. Johnson's land, and he cut a certain -0.0 y 1 en li year and figured on a certain income from that source. 1 . Treraquel 11 buying wood on a large scale and has found a d'y menemen lose and San Francisco, handling about one thousand My fire the market for wood was poor, but by dint of perse- The Ore footy up and maintained a regular demand, and this yields a www . dant Who are clearing their land and cutting wood. For
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nils Johnson
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ten years Mr. Johnson has supplied the Western Meat Co., in San Francisco and Oakland, with white oak wood for smoking their meats. He considers that the wood business at Templeton has been the backbone of the com- munity's prosperity.
Besides his home place Mr. Johnson farmed twelve hundred acres on the Santa Margarita ranch about six years, and at another time had twenty-five hundred acres leased on the Carissa plains, from 1898 to 1900, using a combined harvester for gathering his crop, and a caterpillar engine for haul- ing and for plowing, besides using other modern machinery in the conduct of his ranch work. In 1913 he sold his ranch and at once made another pur- chase of nine hundred acres near Templeton ; then he sold six hundred of this and still retains three hundred acres. He also bought his present block in Templeton, where he has his residence and also a livery and feed stable.
To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson nine children were born. Ernest runs the livery stable: Lulu, Mrs. Fritz Clausen, lives in Templeton : Maria, Mrs. Edward Anderson, lives near Templeton: Emma, Mrs. Wessel, is at Santa Barbara; Edward stays on the home ranch; Harry is ranching east of the town; and Grace is at home with her father. Mrs. Johnson passed away in April, 1913, and seven weeks later a son, Clayton, died at the age of twenty. Maud died at the age of twelve years. Mr. Johnson has served as a school trustee for many years. He is a member of the San Luis Obispo Lodge, No. 322, B. P. O. E. In his political affiliations a Republican, he was the nominee of his party for supervisor of District No. 5 two different times ; but while he carried his own town, the greater population was in the other end of the dis- trict and so defeated him.
Mr. Johnson is an enterprising man. He was one of the organizers of the Templeton Flour Mills Co., and a director from the starting of the build- ing, for which the lumber was hauled from Pismo. The mill was erected as a full roller-process mill. It was expected that this enterprise would build up the community : but after operating for a few years, the company ran behind and became seriously involved, and Mr. Johnson with two others, Thos. Pe- tersen and Owen ()'Neil, liquidated it. In all of his business dealings Mr. Johnson has endeavored to follow the Golden Rule, and the result is that his integrity and honesty of purpose are unquestioned.
ABRAHAM CHRISTENSEN .- A man of excellent character, well and favorably known by a wide circle of friends throughout the section of San Luis Obispo County where he makes his home, Abraham Christensen was born at Bjellandsogn, near Christiansand, Norway, on November 29. 1850. His parents, Christen and Anna (Olsen) Christensen, were both born there. and the father was a well-to-do farmer and the owner of a large pine forest that was of great value. They had five children, two of whom are now living. Ingeborg, Mrs. Anderson, died in Paso Robles: Ole died in Temple- ton : Kiddel lives in Minnesota: Nils died in that state, being killed by a falling tree at St. Peter.
Abraham Christensen, the youngest of the family, was educated in the public schools at his home town, and learned farming as it was carried on there. At the age of twenty-one he went to sea, sailing from England to St. Petersburg on the "Triton"; and from that time his life was one of much travel, leading to almost every important port in the world. Returning to Christiansand, the "Triton" loaded rye for Bordeaux ; then she cleared with a
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Girgouff Tilmber, and again with wine for Germany. - The ship was once frozen un for Four weeks, when all got sick from using river water, but recovered after getting back home. He made two trips to Scotland on a coasting -chooner, and was with the barque "Callisto" for two years. At Buenos Avres he left the "Callisto," and worked in that city until the breaking out of to volution, when he left on a Norwegian ship for Antwerp. He then shipped Trek home and was in the coasting trade until 1878, when he went to London, med the "Jeanette" and went to Havre. This was the ship that James Gor- den: Bennett bought for his Arctic explorations. On her Mr. Christensen came Through the Straits of Magellan to San Francisco, and on to Mare Island, here, in December, 1878, he resigned.
All the coasters were laid up, and Mr. Christensen went to work in the Livermore valley till trade started once more, when he sailed on the "Ivanhoe" with lumber for San Pedro, and then back to San Francisco. Nearly all coast- ers were laid up on account of the slack times, but he soon joined the schooner "Alfred," making two trips to Mendocino City after lumber. He next made a trip to Seattle on the barkentine "Modoc" and back, with coal. The times were hard ; and he then went to work on the Sutter street cable cars as a con- ductor. In the spring he was made mate of a coasting vessel and later was' 11 the Merchants tugboat "Holyoke." While he was in San Francisco, he at- tended night school, perfecting his English and preparing himself to take an examination, which he passed successfully, and was licensed as a master and pilot of tugboats. He was in the Merchants and Shipowners service until 1886, when times became very slack and among others his boat was laid up.
Having been raised on the farm, he had always had a longing to get back to the country : so in the spring of 1886, with a comrade, Christian Tellefsen, he came to Monterey and San Luis Obispo County on a recreation trip. They were so pleased with the soil and climate of the country and became so inter- o-ted that they determined to locate land. Securing the services of Mr. Minnett, a surveyor of San Miguel, they located on pre-emption claims of one hundred sixty acres each in Vineyard canon, about fourteen miles from Em Miguel. About a year later, having proved up, he located a homestead OL one hundred sixty acres in the same vicinity. After placing his first claim, Mr. Christensen returned to San Francisco and bought horses and machinery, and then came back to the ranch, erected a house, dug wells, cleared the land, nd began farming and stockraising. He proved up on the land and cultivated I many years, having a three hundred twenty acre ranch, and then sold and Trwated on the Nacimiento. Here he farmed three years, and then went to Pas Robles in 1902, where he engaged in farming and stockraising, and the Tuy business, and has made a success. He was faithful to his duties on sea berkel his way to a master and pilot's license ; and on land he has been pofi Enithink to his duties, for he has made a success of his labors and is Well respected by all who know him. He has served as trustee of Orange FAHfiet in Monterey county, is a member of the Lutheran Church, od malin is a Socialist.
My dloistersen was married in San Francisco on January 5, 1889, by 8 00 Inom berg, to Miss Grethe A. Andersen, born at Egeland, near Im Lock mother died in December, 1874, and her father was married a Un Ton, we Urge borg Christensen, and in September of 1888 they came I web Grethe, to San Miguel. Mrs. Christensen has been a
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faithful helpmate to her husband, always assisting and encouraging him during their early struggles and hardships caused by the dry years.
To Mr. and Mrs. Christensen the following children have been born : Anna Andrea, Mrs. Ritter of Paso Robles, the mother of one daughter, Eugenia E .; Emma Frederika, wife of Mr. Joe Freeman, a farmer of Paso Robles, who has one son: Christopher Albert, proprietor of Spring City Dairy of Paso Robles; Laura Nicoline, Mrs. Rasmussen, of Paso Robles; Grethe Amalia, at home, a graduate of the high school; and Oscar Frederick Johan, at home.
JOHN STUMPF .- A prominent and wide-awake business man, and the owner of the Star Garage building in Templeton, John Stumpf has been actively engaged in business and farming in this section for many years. He was born in Bavaria, Germany, September 13, 1855, a son of J. A. Stumpf, who was a well-to-do farmer and owner of three hundred fifty-six acres of land in Bavaria. Two uncles of our subject were pioneers in 1849 of the section now the site of Detroit, Mich., owning land there and becoming very wealthy.
John Stumpf was educated in the public schools and also by private tutor in his native province. The family has produced some prominent Bavarian educators. In 1877 he came to America, and in Philadelphia was employed at railroad work until 1882, when he finally reached San Francisco and there was variously occupied until he went to the mines in Tuolumne county, where he followed mining for a time. Then he came back to San Francisco and found work on some vessels plying about the bay, and later for seven years became proprietor of a boarding house.
In 1894 he came to Templeton, where he has since been located. He was interested in a dairy ranch of thirty-two acres in town and installed a pump- ing plant, improved the place, sowing alfalfa, and continued dairying until, selling out lately, he built the structure occupied by the Star Garage. Besides this property, Mr. Stumpf owns other business and residence prop- erty in the town, and is also a stockholder in the First National Bank of Paso Robles, and in the Paso Robles Mercantile Co. He is still interested in mines in Tuolumne county. Always helpful, too, in building up industries, he was one of the stockholders of the Templeton Milling Co. and was on its board of directors for three years. He is a member of the Eagles, and in politics is a Republican. He is well satisfied with his choice of a home, as he has made a success of his labors, and has won a host of friends and ad- mirers through his strict integrity and honesty of purpose.
FRANK WITCOSKY .- \ native son of California, and one who always has the interests of the community uppermost in his mind when it comes to promoting every movement for developing its resources and bettering the condition of its citizens, is Frank Witcosky, now twenty-nine years old, the youngest cattle buyer in the state. He was born in San Francisco, July 24, 1888, a son of Adolph Witcosky, a native of Germany who came to Cali fornia in the early eighties, and followed his trade as a blacksmith in San Francisco, where he now lives and is similarly engaged.
Although born in San Francisco, Frank Witcosky was brought to San Luis Obispo when three years old and received his education here in the public schools. For eight years.he drove a butcher wagon for Gingg Bros. Since he was ten years old, however, he has been familiar with cattle in one
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way or smother, and it was but natural that he should turn to buying and selling stock when he started for himself. Since 1913, therefore, Mr. Wit- cosky has been buying cattle on commission, handling large contracts and making considerable money. At the age of eighteen he turned some big deals that represented considerable capital.
Ile ships from 200 to 300 head at one time, and in 1915 shipped in all about 4.000 cattle. In the spring of 1916, he consigned ten car loads of calves and yearlings to King City, and that same spring from ten to twelve to the Imperial Valley and Arizona. Ile also acts as buyer for the butchers of San Luis Obispo. Besides stock cattle, Mr. Witcosky has purchased horses for the government for use in war maneuvers, and handles large numbers of dairy cattle which are shipped to Arizona. There is no better judge of beef cattle in the state than Frank Witcosky of San Luis Obispo, and he has a wide acquaintance throughout the West, where he is well and favorably known as an expert on stock and a conservative buyer.
Mr. Witcosky's marriage united him with Miss Wyss, who was born in San Luis Obispo County, and they have four children : Evelyn, Frank, Alma, and Gertrude. He is a member of the U. P. E. C. Lodge of San Luis, and is a popular and public-spirited citizen.
GEORGE LAING .- A prosperous fruit raiser and citizen of the northern part of San Luis Obispo County, George Laing is located about four miles northwest of Paso Robles on a fine sixty-six acre ranch. He is a native of New Brunswick, born in Campbelltown, October 15, 1875, a son of Robert, who was a farmer and grandson of Alex, a native of Scotland who settled in Campbelltown at an early day and farmed. In 1883, Robert Laing located in South Dakota, where he bought a farm and operated it until 1891, when he homesteaded one hundred sixty acres in the Sisseton and Wahpeton Indian reservation, where he and his wife (who was, in maidenhood, Catherine Atkinson) still live. Mrs. Laing is a descendant of English parents, who settled in New Brunswick.
The third of a family of eleven children, nine of whom are living, George Laing was reared, from the age of eight years, in South Dakota, attended the public schools and when sixteen started out to work for wages on the farms near his home when not engaged on the home farm. At the age of twenty-one he took up a homestead of one hundred sixty acres on the Indian reservation, erected a house, broke the land and raised wheat, and also rented adjoining land for that purpose. He was successful ; and selling out in 1907. he came to California and bought a prune orchard of thirteen acres near los Gatos, Santa Clara County, a property he traded, in 1909, for the sixty six acres he now owns.
llere Mr. Laing improved the land, cleared it and set out olives and almonds, ten acres, and Bartlett pears, eight acres, while he reserves two acres for loganberries and has the balance in grain and hay. On this land he has suc- cooled beyond his expectations and finds a ready market for his crops. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and is a Republican.
Wis dith Dakota occurred the marriage of George Laing with Miss Ella Lala a native of Minnesota, whose father George was a native of Ontario. wul Show grandfather Coburn came from Scotland and married Eliza Bowl, vov I welfele 1.01%. He was a merchant tailor. in Ontario. George Coburn even- Wells idiot m Ortonville. Minn., and later in Pope county, where he and
Mue Jane Kiler
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his wife are now living. Mrs. Laing was a teacher before her marriage and now substitutes occasionally in the schools. They have six children : Elma, Ethel, Bertie, Dayton, Clayton and Edson. Mr. Laing has served as school trustee and clerk of the board here as well as when in Dakota. Mrs. Laing is a member of the Episcopal Church.
MRS. JANE KILER .- Perhaps there is no resident of this county more familiar with pioneer conditions than Mrs. Jane Kiler of Paso Robles. She is the daughter of Lott H. Smith, who was a native of Pennsylvania, where he farmed, and who later located in the Bronx, now a part of New York City. In 1864 he brought his wife and two children to California via Panama, and settling in San Rafael, followed painting and contracting for many years, after which he retired and died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Kiler, in Paso Robles. One of his brothers, Sidney Smith, was a noted singer in New York City, where their father, John Smith, was a taxidermist and an expert in dyes. The wife of Lott Smith was Alice Ilall, a native of New York, whose father, John Hall, came from England and settled in the Bronx district. He was an artist and painter in oil, and by trade was a stone mason. Ile died in New York. One of his sons, Robert Hall, was a capitalist in New York City. Mrs. Lott Smith died in San Rafael.
Of the union of Lott H. Smith and Alice Hall six children were born, among whom Jane was the third in order of birth. She was born in the Bronx, New York City, and was educated in San Rafael, attending school and church in the old Mission, where court was also held for a time. The site of the Mission is now occupied by the First National Bank of San Rafael. In 1876, Jane Smith was united in marriage with Samuel Il. Kiler, a native of St. Joseph, Mich. He was a carpenter and builder, and was also engaged in the insurance business, as well as in the sale of agricultural implements, until 1887, when they came to San Luis Obispo County and located in Paso Robles, building a comfortable home and settling down in the new town. Soon afterwards he homesteaded a tract of one hundred sixty acres five miles west of the town, in the Encinal district, adding later by purchase another ranch of like amount ; so that they had three hundred twenty acres, upon which they made improvements in buildings and fencing, and in the setting out of orchards of various kinds of fruit, specializing in apples. . \t the apple show in Watsonville in 1912, their exhibit of Northwestern Green- ings took the medal against exhibits from twenty-eight counties. At the Paso Robles fair, the same year, their exhibit was in the shape of a pen- nant, reading "Paso Robles," the letters being formed with differently col- ored apples. Here they took the prize on Black Ben, Arkansas Black, and Northwestern Greenings. In 1916, Mrs. Kiler took the blue ribbon at the Upper Salinas Valley fair on her Northwestern Greenings.
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