History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches, Part 72

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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In 1914, he died near Templeton, highly respected by his neighbors. Her mother, on the other hand, who was Christine Gumerson of Sweden, in her maiden days, died forty years ago in Colorado. Mrs. Hawkins received her education in Colorado, and later came to the Pacific Coast. In his endeavor to set a high moral standard for the community in which he resides, Mr. Hawkins has the heartiest co-operation of his good wife. Three children, Clarence Edwin, Rudolph Ernest, and Carl Willard, brighten this happy home. A fourth child, Arthur, died at the age of five years. In political matters, Mr. Hawkins favors the principles of the Republican party. He is a member of the Lutheran Church.

ALBERT JOHNSON .- Albert Johnson, successful ranchman, prosper- ous partner in a threshing enterprise, and prominent citizen in his locality. is one of those California farmers who have had a varied experience, and who can do more than one thing and do it well. He was born in Minneapolis, on October 8, 1878, his father, Andrew Johnson, of Vermland. Sweden, having come to that bestirring western town. When he first reached the United States, Andrew Johnson was about twenty years of age. Ile began work as a stone mason and bricklayer, soon becoming a contractor.

In 1888, he located in California, near Templeton, where he bought some acreage from the West Coast Land Co., beginning with thirty acres in the Bethel district. Ile worked alternately at farming and at his trade, assist- ing to plaster the Lutheran Church, and he showed his skill by burning brick for his houses. He put up, in fact, numerous buildings in different parts of the county, and yet became more and more proficient in grain farming. Gradually, too, he bought more land, so that when he died, in 1910, at the age of sixty-six, he possessed quite two hundred fifty acres. He was a devout member of the Lutheran Church.

Andrew Johnson was twice married: On the first occasion, in Minne- sota, he was joined to Miss Catherine Bergquist, who died at Minneapolis in 1884, and by whom he had six children. Three of these are still living: Albert, the subject of our sketch: Charles, a merchant of Templeton : and Joseph, who was born in Minneapolis in 1880, was educated in the Bethel school district, and since 1900 has been a partner with Albert. Andrew John son's second wife had been Miss Anna Ellen Pedersen, a native of Norway. who came to Minneapolis in 1886 and died in Bethel in 1895. She bore him five children, and three are living : Elvert and Henry, who are farming on the home place, and Anna Catherine, now Mrs. Alfred Lovgren, of Bethel.

Brought up in California from his ninth year. Albert attended the pub- lic school at Bethel, and helped his father until he was twenty three years of age, when, with his brother Joseph, he commenced farming, renting a part of the present place. Having been rather successful in the raising of grain. they began to buy land in 1903, and now they own three different farms. com prising two hundred seventy acres two miles from Templeton ; and there they have built a stone residence with material from their own quarries and a frame barn, and have a well one hundred twelve feet deep, with an engine installed near by. The family estate is still undivided, and Albert was the administrator of his father's property. In addition to their other possessions, they also own two lots in Thousand Oaks, Berkeley.

Some years ago Albert Johnson was married at Bethel to Miss Char lotte Emelia Erickson, a native of Red Wing, Minn, and by her he has had

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two .Inldren, Margaret Amelia and Paul Oscar Albert. All the family stool the Swedish Lutheran Church at Templeton, of which Albert John- sun is secretary to the board of trustees. In politics, Mr. Johnson aligns himself with the Republican party.

GEORGE FRANCIS ROOT .- To the permanent settlement of the West the citizenship of the East has made heavy contributions; and from the lensely populated regions of the Atlantic Coast, settlers have been drawn to the promise and fertility of the Pacific Coast environments. Among these i- George Francis Root, who came across the continent from Craftsbury, \'t., to California, and in this state, so remote from his early home, has spent the active years of his life. He was born in Craftsbury, Orleans county, Vt., March 2, 1861, a son of Moses and Mary ( Blanchard ) Root, the former born in Sunderland, Mass., and the latter in Vermont, both tracing their ancestry back to some of the early families of the New England states. The Root family goes back to two brothers who came from England and settled in Massachusetts in 1682, Elihu Root being a member of the same family and an own cousin of Moses Root, who moved to Vermont and settled on the Governor Crafts farm, farmed it for a time and later bought the same, con- tinuing his operations there until his death. He made one trip to California and spent a season traveling about the state, and visited Yosemite valley, which pleased him very much. His wife died in Kern county. They had eight children. Of these, Edmund is located in Wasco, Kern county : Sidney is a member of the firm of Keniston & Root, one of the largest dealers in surgical instruments in Los Angeles : Luchia is now Mrs. Alston of Los Angeles ; and George F. is the subject of this review.

George Francis Root, the fifth child in order of birth of the eight children, was raised on the home farm and was educated in the public schools and Craftsbury Academy, graduating in 1879. After that he followed farming on the home place until 1881, when he came to California and located in Los Gatos. Here he was employed as a horticulturist and vineyardist, and also learned the trade of miller in the Los Gatos Flouring Mills.

He and his brother Sidney both came to San Luis Obispo County in 1885 and located homesteads. George F. located six miles northeast of Paso Robles, near the old adobe, and built a residence, hauling the lumber from San Luis Obispo, to which place the grain had to be hauled in the early days vi farming here, taking three days for the trip. The grain was cut with a Header and cost fourteen cents per cental for threshing. lle now has his combined harvester and does the work for less than half that amount, costing mme dollar and a half to cut and thresh. One year, after he had cut his own pop. he ent for several of his neighbors, the cutting amounting to seventeen Tumadreil dollars for one farmer alone. He used thirty-two horses for motive proti ile uses two fourteen-horse plows, each with five ten-inch shares, uns Dity inches : and he plows deep and well and summer-fallows every iffor ster. hi- experience having taught him that that method pays better ont rilkea larger crop.

or Rody bought three hundred twenty acres adjoining his land, and the ma tour vid enough grain to pay for it, with a balance of four hundred dol- At one time he owned 1,000 acres ; but he sold part, retaining Wie Landhdl pin ty three acres in a body. In 1913 he moved into Paso Qd -o Gre tol a bungalow at the corner of Fifteenth and Vine streets;

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and in 1916 he built his present fine two-story residence at Fifteenth and Chestnut streets, besides which he owns four other residences here and eighty-six lots, which he is selling. He is a stockholler in the States Con- solidated Oil Co. of Los Angeles, and a stockholder in the Goodwill Mining Co., iron and copper, of which he is a director and one of the organizers, with Quest, Iversen and Ayres. He is also president of the board of education of Paso Robles, and during his term of office the new grammar school, costing $43,000.00 was erected. He was trustee of the Estrella school district for years ; and he has taken a very active part in many enterprises for the pro- motion of the county's welfare. He has been very successful in all his business dealings, and what he has accomplished has been through the ex- ercise of good business judgment and fair dealing.

Mr. Root was married in Estrella to Miss Florence Edgar, who was born in Illinois and died on the home ranch. They had seven children-Glenn, operating the home ranch: Blanche, a graduate of the Los Angeles State Normal and teaching at Shandon : Ruth, Mrs. Stewart of Wasco; Mary, a graduate of the Manual Arts school in Los Angeles ; and George, Carrie, and Frank. By his second marriage Mr. Root was united with Miss Mabel Me- Cord, a native of New York state, to whom one son has been born, Sidney Root. Mr. Root is a member of the Methodist Church, and on its official board. In politics he is a Republican on national issues, but in local matters supports the men he considers best qualified to fill the positions, regardless of party lines.

JOSEPH TIDROW .- One of the pioneer ranchers of San Luis Obispo County in the vicinity of Paso Robles, and one who has seen the growth of this state during the past sixty-five years, is Joseph Tidrow, proprietor of Walnut Cove Ranch. He was born February 24, 1844, near Weaverville, Ind., a son of Joseph Tidrow, a native of Tennessee, who went to Ohio and there married Caroline Troutt, coming soon afterwards to Indiana and later to Keokuk, Ia., where they settled. In 1851 he outfitted for the trip across the plains to. California, and with his wife and four children started on the Jong and dangerous journey. Their ox-teams traveled slowly and when they reached Salt Lake it was too late to proceed to California that winter. So they remained there until spring and then made the balance of the trip. arriving at El Monte, Los Angeles county, in the fall of 1852. There Mr. Tidrow bought a ranch and for a time engaged in farming : later he traded the wagon with which he had crossed the plains, for eighty acres of land, which he later sold for two hundred fifty dollars, Ile then bought land near Anaheim and farmed until his death. His wife died in Monterey county.

Joseph Tidrow was but six years old when the trip was made across the plains, but there are many incidents now fresh in his mind of happenings along the route that were impressed indelibly on his mind at the time. Ile attended a private school, and put in three months in the public school; and when sixteen he started out for himself working for wages on the various ranches in the vicinity of his home, and also driving a team. In 1863 he drove a freighting team of seven yoke of oxen to Owens river. Inyo county. and then went to Santa Cruz and worked in the redwoods, getting out posts and ties by contract, in which he was very successful, making as high as eight dollars a day. In October, 1864, he enlisted in Co. A, 8th California Volum- teers, was mustered in at San Francisco, taken by boat to Washington ter-

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ritory aml stationed with his regiment at Cape Disappointment, where he remained until the summer of 1865, when he was honorably discharged at the close of the war.

Coming back to California, Mr. Tidrow stopped for a time in Los Angeles, then took his mother to Visalia, and bought a farm six miles east of town, where he engaged in ranching. There he was married, on May 9, 1869, to Miss Martha J. Gray, who was born in Shelby county, Texas, and who had come overland to California in 1863. She is a daughter of James and Mathilda ( English ) Gray, both natives of Texas, where her father was a cattle man. Her mother died in Texas in 1856. In 1863 her father came to California and located in Tulare county, where he farmed. He died in San Diego. Mrs. Tidrow was educated in the public schools of Tulare county. In 1873, suffer- ing from chills and fever, although his wife was in good health, Mr. Tidrow moved to Salinas and there recovered : but his wife was taken ill and was un- der the care of physicians for a year. When the doctor had got all but one hundred fifty dollars of his money, Mr. Tidrow determined to change climate, and the following year came to Adelaida, in San Luis Obispo County. lle located a place, but did not file on it ; however, he built a house of shakes. having split them himself.

In the spring of 1875 he located on a place of one hundred sixty acres in Oak Flat, and built a frame house, hauling the lumber from San Luis Obispo .. After operating the ranch for a time, he gave it up, as he found it was held in reserve for the railroad and could not be homesteaded. In 1877 he located on his present place of one hundred sixty acres, five miles from the city limits of Paso Robles. The land was covered with brush and one could not see fifty yards in any direction. He cleared the land, began making im- provements, erected a small house, broke the land, built brush fences to keep out the sheep and cattle that roamed at will over the country, and has added improvements from time to time until he now has one of the best ranches in this section of the county.

Mrs. Tidrow regained her health ; so he felt well repaid for his labors. He added fifty-five acres adjoining, and has devoted himself to building up a fine homestead. Mr. Tidrow bought one hundred thirty-eight acres near Templeton, on the Salinas river, which is operated by his son, Pleasant. One walnut tree on his ranch, thirty years old, yielded two hundred fifty pounds of nuts in 1916. In the early days eggs sold for eight and ten cents per zek, and butter from fifteen to twenty cents per pound ; and at that time he til his produce to Cayucos. He kept a dairy of twenty cows ; and with the bork he did outside, he obtained a start and came out successfully. In 1877 Im malel near Bakersfield with a four-horse team for six dollars a day, enten seven months there helping to build the Buena Vista canal.

To Why and Alrs. Tidrow nine children were born, eight of whom Ida having died at twenty-four years of age. Lillie is Mrs. ESen lase : Pleasant lives on his father's ranch near Templeton ; In Ou ml school district : Laura, Mrs. Palmer, is of Taft ; Oliver is Et mhard lives in the Almond school district : Ora, Mrs. Baker, Mid Lena is Mrs. Russell Morgan of MeKittrick. Mr. Trustee of the Oak Flat school district many years, has The tet 10 for the past eight years and had built many 11 101, before he was made road master. In politics

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Mr. Tidrow supports Democratic candidates on national issues. He is a Mason, a member of Paso Robles Lodge. No. 286, and is a member and Pasť Grand in the Odd Fellows, and a member of the Encampment and a past of ficer and also a member of the Rebekahs. He is truly a self-made man.

C. A. CHRISTENSEN .- One of the rising young men of the county. and one proud to be known as a native son, is C. A. Christensen, proprietor of the Spring City Dairy. He was born in Vineyard canon, Monterey county, September 28, 1892, a son of Abraham Christensen, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this volume. Young Christensen was reared on the ranch in Monterey county until ten years of age, when he came with his parents to San Luis Obispo County and settled opposite Paso Robles, on a ranch devoted to farming and the dairy business. He attended the public school. and after completing the grammar school helped his father on the ranch.

In March, 1915, in partnership with J. C. Lawrence, he started the Spring City Dairy. They bought cows, and started a milk route in June. the two continuing together until August 1, 1916, when Mr. Christensen bought his partner's interest and now manages the business alone.

He has twenty acres in alfalfa, with a flowing well to supply water for irrigating, and thirty high-grade cows in his herd. His dairy is well equipped with modern means for caring for milk, and is sanitary in every detail. By persistence and close application to his work, Mr. Christensen is making a success of his venture.

CHARLES S. KINNEY .- As might be expected of one who has spent his entire life in California, Mr. Kinney is a patriotic son of the Golden State and ardently champions all measures looking toward the development of the commonwealth. His father, Samuel James Kinney, was born in Toronto, Canada, of Scotch descent, and married Eliza Martin, a native of Ohio. He was a railroad engineer in Ohio, and there he enlisted for service in the Civil War, but was rejected because the condition of his teeth would not permit him to bite off the cartridge. He crossed the plains in the sixties with horse teams and settled in San Luis Obispo, where he followed farming for a time; then he went to Santa Rosa and was employed as engineer for a number of years until, in 1874. he was accidentally killed while making an examination of a bridge, falling through to the bottom. His widow is still alive and resides at Arroyo Grande.

The youngest of eight children born to his parents, Charles S. Kinney first saw the light of day on February 22. 1870, in San Luis Obispo. He at tended the public schools there, but at an early age had to go to work to help support the family. At the age of twelve, he was apprenticed to learn the plumber's trade in Hanford; and completing it in three years, he went to Visalia, and thence to Los Angeles, working at the trade.

Finally he arrived in Arroyo Grande and later established a plumbing and hardware business, which he ran for fifteen years, meeting with success and building up a large trade. One year wa spent in business in San Luis Obispo, and in 1908 he came to Paso Robles to take charge of the plumbing department of Bell's Department Store, which business he has seen develop to large proportions during the past eight years.

Mr. Kinney was married in Arroyo Grande to Miss Evangeline Brock. a native daughter of Santa Barbara county, born in Santa Maria. They are parents of four children: Edith, Hazel, a student in the normal school at

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San Jose, Esther and Florine. Mrs. Kinney is a member of the Episcopal Church Mr. Kinney is a Socialist in political belief. He is a true type of the native sons of the West, and is a supporter of all movements that will advance the interest of the county.

MARTIN HOLZINGER .- Not a few of the personal associations con- Meeting America and Germany join the duchy of Baden with some American state, as in the case of Martin Holzinger. until lately an esteemed California pioneer. He was born in Baden, August 17, 1842, a son of George Holzinger, . farmer, who brought his family to the United States and settled in York- town. Bureau county. Ill., where he died. Martin attended the public schools i that county, after which he began farming ; and on May 5. 1870, he was married to Miss Magdalena Mathis, who was born near Selesta, Alsace.

Her father, John Mathis, was a farmer who had a large country resi- lence with beautiful and fine gardens of fruits and flowers at Selesta. The residence was the largest in that vicinity, with many spacious, sunny rooms. The father naturally improved his large American farm, when he became owner of one, and he brought his wife and ten children to this country to enjoy its opportunities. The mother of Mrs. Holzinger was Magdalena Laufensberger. a native of Gerstheim, Alsace, who eventually visited Cali- fornia and died at Newkirk, Okla., while on a visit to one of her sons. Her brother, Christian Laufensberger, was mayor of Gerstheim for about forty wears, and his son Edward is now holding the same office.

The children of the Mathis family are: John, in Nebraska; Ernestina, now Mrs. John Ernst of San Luis Obispo; Amelia, Mrs. William Ernst of Geneseo : Jacob, Mary and Eugene, who are living near the old home in Illi- nois : Albert, who resides in Idaho ; Emil, living at Apache, Okla. ; and Minna, Mrs. Burton, who is also living in Illinois. Magdalena Mathis received her education in both German and French, and was reared in the beautiful country about Selesta. She came to America with her parents, and studied the English language until she became as proficient in it as in the other two.

After his marriage, Martin Holzinger settled down to farming in Illi- mois: but in December, 1885, he came to California and located at Geneseo on the ranch his widow now owns, taking up a hundred acres on the Shandon road eleven miles from Paso Robles. It was necessary to bring all supplies from San Luis Obispo. Mr. Holzinger was a hustler and ambi- vous, and he soon built for himself a frame house. He also set out an orchard of apples, pears, prunes and almonds, and waited for what he ex- peried was to be a bountiful harvest. They had a splendid orchard, which bore well: but he could find no market for the product, and so he grubbed om the trees and continued raising grain, also leasing considerable lands commons . Ile had some twelve hundred acres in wheat. As he prospered, do portell a more commodious house for his family.

40 411 \ 10, 1900, Mr. Holzinger passed to his reward after a useful career, 00 0 b. H time Mrs. Ilolzinger has managed the ranch, taking that sensible power -le has always manifested. Four children are living: Edward, a 0 0100 0 er steif: Albert, farming in the vicinity of the old home; and walesof Awin, who are with their mother.

Long related with the Lutheran Church at Geneseo, Mrs. Holzinger Los opole The me these felt for good. In political affiliation, the family are Til inger is a cultured and refined woman, with a taste

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Mrs. Magdalena Holingen

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for the beautiful which finds expression in her garden and in the ornamental, fruit and shade trees, as well as shrubbery and flowers, that beautify her attractive home.

HENRY BASCOME TOLLE .- Whatever of success has come into the life of Henry Bascome Tolle, a prominent citizen of Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo County, has been the result entirely of his own efforts, as he was early thrown upon his own resources with nothing but courage and industry to presage the worth of his future. He was born at Glasgow, Ky., February 5, 1842, a son of Samuel and a grandson of William Tolle. William Tolle was of English ancestry, a planter of Virginia, whence he came to Barron county, Ky., where he died. He did not believe in slavery and therefore kept no slaves. Samuel Tolle was born near Lynchburg. Va., followed farming in Kentucky, was an old-line Whig, did not believe in slavery, and was a promin- ent member of the Methodist Church and a class leader for years. He died in Kentucky. His wife, Mary Ann Snoddy, was born in Virginia, a daughter of Daniel Snoddy, who was a native of the north of Ireland and settled in Kentucky in an early day. Mrs. Tolle died in Kentucky.

Henry Bascome Tolle was the sixth child in a family of twelve children. nine of whom grew to maturity and three of whom are living. He was brought up on the home farm, attended the district schools and at the age of nineteen and one-half years enlisted in the 9th Kentucky Infantry, Co. E., in September, 1861. He was mustered into the service at Columbia, Ky., and was made sergeant. With his regiment he participated in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Perryville, Ky., Murfreesboro, Chattanooga. Chickamauga, and Missionary Ridge, and was then sent to Knoxville on the double quick to relieve Burnside. after which he served in the Georgia campaign and in the battles of Peach Tree creek and Marietta, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Ga., and numerous skirmishes. He had some very narrow escapes, having several bullets pierce his hat and graze his clothes, and nothing but the providence of God saved his life, for which he has always been thankful. He returned to Louisville, where he was mustered out in December, 1864. Two of his brothers, Joel L. and Peter, enlisted in the same company with our subject for service in the Civil War. but were captured while en route to be mustered in, and were kept at Nash- ville, and then at Atlanta. where Peter died. Joel returned home. Mr. Tolle removed to Taylorsville, Ind., and, in 1866, to MePherson county, Kan .. and was the first settler to locate in that county. He took up a homestead of one hundred sixty acres in Gypsum Creek township, and built a log house and stable.

Then he returned to Kentucky, and on October 9, 1807, was married in Glasgow to Miss Sarah Frances Snoddy, who was born there, a daughter of William and Eliza Snoddy, the fourth of nine children in their family. She had one brother, Christopher, in the Civil War as a member of Co. F. 21st Kentucky Volunteers. After their marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Tolle settled on his farm in Kansas, where he broke the land and was successfully engaged in farming many years, with the exception of two, when his crops were com- pletely eaten up by grasshoppers. Ilis farm was bottom land. and he raised fine crops of wheat and corn, and some stock. In 1887, he sold out and came to California and for a time lived in Watsonville and was engaged in horticulture. setting out an orchard in the Pajaro valley. In 1890, he sold it and came to Paso Robles and engaged in carpentering and building. continuing in the trade

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History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches, Part 72

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