History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches, Part 95

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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cess, de bay- great faith in the future of the oil business in the Orcutt district and fun-elf holds an option on two hundred acres of oil land which He lopes to th-pose of at a handsome profit.

Mr. Ghine- was united in marriage, in 1898, with Miss Cora McCraskey, We. The heel !. is a native of California, born in the Santa Maria valley. They Have four children: Neill C., Elza M., Ariel Roberta, and R. C., Jr. Their first honte was erected by Mr. Glines at Orcutt, it being the first house erected in the Twitchell division of that town. He sold this and bought their present place, located near his place of business.

Mr. Glines is a Mason and a Republican, and as such is a member of the county central committee. He was one of the organizers of the Orcutt school district and served on the board of education, of which, during the year 1" 10-17, he has been president ; and for six years he was clerk of the board. Mr. Glines is a self-made man and, like his pioneer father, is intensely inter- ested in all movements that have for their object the building up of the county and valley. He and Mrs. Glines have a wide circle of friends and are highly respected.

JAMES F. FORBES .- It is to the pioneers of every locality that the burden of establishing the basis of the present day prosperity falls, and to them proper credit should be given. Among these worthy men, special mention should be made of James F. Forbes of Orcutt, in the Santa Maria valley. He erected the fourth building in the town and became one of the upbuilders in commercial circles in the oil fields district. He was born in Nova Scotia, April 11. 1859, a son of Captain Daniel and Rebecca ( Rogers) Forbes, both natives of Nova Scotia, born of Scotch ancestry. Captain Forbes followed the sca for many years and died in 1909, aged eighty-eight years. His father was a farmer in Canada and a native of that country, his parents having emigrated from Scotland. Mrs. Forbes died in 1916, aged eighty-six years. She had three children: James F .; William D., of Lake county, and Mrs. May Spurling, of Orcutt.

James F. attended the schools in Nova Scotia, but was early put to a practical test, going to sea when he was sixteen on his father's ship, the Alexander, studying the while to fit himself for advancement as a seaman. In due time he passed the examination and became first mate, and gradually worked his way to the top, becoming master mariner. Having been reared in the environment of shipping and shipbuilding, it was but natural that he should be an apt student. Ile sailed to many of the leading ports of the world- going to Hamburg and Granada, passing three times around the Horn and four (mies around Cape of Good Hope, and making two voyages to Calcutta. He Ben siled to Manila and, in 1885, to San Francisco, when he came with a load af -wear for Mr. Spreckels

In 1884. James F. Forbes was married to Miss Jessie Crow, a native of VinilLa, Colchester county, Nova Scotia, and a daughter of Thomas and Sarah 19nnlo Crav.

When he had returned from Manila he met an old friend, William C. Volver who secured a position for him on the railroad, and he became Bene fon man at Saticoy. Ventura county, being later transferred to Psaliin - Fr ing become acquainted with W. W. Orcutt and other promi- wat . men. officidis of the Union Oil Co., Mr. Forbes started in the livery Tivsie , Aby of Was struck in what is now the Coalinga field, and branched

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out as a teaming contractor. Continual application to his work undermined his health and he spent one season at Pismo beach.

While there, he was told that the Union Oil Co. was going to open up at Orcutt, which was then a place just surveyed, and existing only in the imag- ination of the officers of that company. Mr. Forbes, however, came to Orcutt, bought two lots, and erected a wooden store building on the site of the Orcutt Mercantile Co.'s store. This was the fourth building to be erected in the new town, and he was the first merchant His stock was of general merchandise, principally groceries. In January, 1905, he was made post- master and served until his resignation, in 1913. In December, 1 10, the D.mi ling and contents were destroyed by fire, a loss of $52,00) to the firm of J. I. Forbes & Co., an incorporation, with only $12,000 insurance. . \t feast $25,000 of this tell on Mir. Forbes, who owned the building and two thirds Of the stock. Mr. Forbes then organized the Orcutt Improvement Co. and they erected the present building in 19Il at a cost of about $10,000. It is eighty by ninety feet, the second floor being used for a public and dance hall and the entire lower floor being occupied by the Orcutt Mercantile Co. and the post office. The officers are : F. C. I witchell, president ; Bank of Santa Maria, treasurer; C. E. Webb, secretary; and J. F. Forbes, vice-president. Mr. Forbes is also proprietor of the Orcutt Bar, and owns, besides, three hundred twenty acres of improved land in Kings county.

ur. and Mrs. Forbes are parents of eight children, four of whom died in cany childhood. The others are: Aubrey D., an employe of the American Vil (o .; Stella, wife of J. T. Porter, of Maricopa ; Edward Everett, an em- ploye of the Associated Oil Co., and Willard, attending school at home.

It will be seen that the perseverance of Mr. Forbes has been the domi- nating factor in his career, and though suffering heavy losses, he is always optimistic of the future.

JOHN M. NORRIS .- The name of Norris is inseparably connected with the history of the Santa Maria valley as well as with the larger possibilities of Santa Barbara county. John M. Norris was born on a ranch that is now the site of Orcutt and the oil field district, May 20, 1878, the youngest of ten children born to his parents, John R. and Mary T (Mattingly) Norris, natives of Virginia and Missouri respectively. J. R. Norris crossed the plains from Missouri in 1849, and engaged in mining in Mariposa county with considerable success. He went to Sonoma county, where he was married, his wife having crossed the plains in 1852. She died in 1910, aged seventy two years. Her husband died the previous year at the age of eighty two years They became pioneers of the Santa Maria valley, and ever shire then the name has been prominenthy identified with Santa Barbara county FR Norris was for years trustee of the Santa Maria Orion High School Ile unlisted for service in the Mexican War, and became first leufenand, sort - ing under General Price in the celebr ted Missouri What Her & Mounted volunteers, which made up a very important part of the United States cantry during the war. He was discharged at Santa Fe, N. M .. After the war and rode a mule back to Missouri.

John M. Norris attended the public schools of the Santa Maria valley and the high school in Santa Maria, and wos reare I bonfarm hie on the home place. From early manhood he has been interested in politics, and as Democrat he has for years been prominently connected with county af is-

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He Dllos- a general farming on his sixty-acre ranch near Orcutt. Mr. Norris Wa- appointed roadmaster of the Orcutt district and has had the over- sight ofsont two hundred and fifty miles of public highway, and the super- Cision of from fifteen to twenty men and from twenty five to one hundred head of stock. It is needless to say that the roads in his district were kept jo good order, as careful inspection will show. He has studied the road q0, -hon and is authority as a road-builder. On January 1. 1917, he accepted a position as teamster with the Union Oil Co.

Mr. Norris was united in marriage, October. 1902, with Miss Mary Harp. a native daughter of California ; and two children have blessed this union- Naomi Frances and Chester Eugene. Mr. Norris is a Mason and belongs to Hesperian Lodge No. 204 in Santa Maria, and with his wife is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star. The family are members of the Methodist Church of Orcutt.

It is to such men as John M. Norris, a native son of California, that the state is indebted for the execution of the plans laid down by their pioneer fathers, many of whom predicted the wonderful expansion that would come to this country if their plans for its development were properly carried out, thus leaving a heritage of civic responsibility to their posterity.

LUCIUS LAMAR FARNUM .- Since November 14. 1914, L. L. Farnum has been assistant engineer at the compressor plant of the Union Oil Co. at Orcutt. He was born in Los Angeles, April 27, 1894, a son of the late Cook Farnum, a pioneer oil-well driller of the Los Angeles fields. His father died on his ranch near Orcutt, November, 1916, aged fifty-five years. Mrs. Farnum and her daughter are living in Los Angeles ; the other child, a son, Lavoisia, resides at Orcutt.

The oldest of three children born to his parents. Lucius L. Farnum attended the public schools in Los Angeles and Santa Maria, and pursued a two years' course in the high school at the latter place. When he was six- teen he began working around engines and machinery, and in 1913 he secured t position with the Union Oil Co. He is a member of the Eagles and Moose lodges of Santa Maria.

By the installation of the compressor plant, a great saving is made, as the gas now converted into gasoline went to waste. The immense Snow engines are the invention of the last four or five years, and are run on natural gas. They are explosion engines on much the same principle as the ordinary gasoline engine. Natural gas is compressed under refrigeration and gasoline is produced, about three gallons to every 1000 cubic feet of compressed Ja, The invention of this kind of an engine makes a gas well as valuable as tev oil well and about as eagerly sought. L. L. Farnum and Robert Reid are fik engineers in charge of the compressor plant on the Newlove lease in the Santa Maria field.

ROBERT P. REID .- The resident chief engineer of the compressor plant of the Union Oil Co. in the Santa Maria field has grown up in the engineering Wo mes. nul beginning with a course on mechanical engineering, he has. WTours of practical experience, learned the business in every detail and is compe tent to hold any position in an engineering line. While practically a alspor in the Santa Maria field, Robert Reid is typically western in his ex- pris Atpl habits. He was born in Virginia City, Nev., March 1, 1880, grew to gor manhood among the mining scenes of the Comstock until he was

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eighteen, attended the public schools and took a special engineering course at the lhumboldt Engineering school in San Francisco. His first work was as a shipbuilder for the Union Iron Works, for a period of twelve years. The following two years were spent with the shore gang, repairing engines and ship machinery for the Pacific Coast Steamship Company.

His next engagement was under the United States civil service as ship builder in the navy yard at Bremmerton, Wash., for two years. Returning to San Francisco he was employed by the Risdon Iron Works one year, then went on the road for Chas. C. Moore and Co., installing engines, boilers, pumps, etc., and helped install the exhibits for that company for the Panama Pacific Exposition. After finishing the above work he engaged with the Union Oil Company at Oleum for one year, and in February, 1916, accepted his present position.

It will be interesting to the readers of this work to know a little about the compressor plant on the Newlove lease belonging to the Union Oil Co. This plant has two sets of Snow engines, of 450 h. p. cach. Each set has one low- pressure and one high-pressure engine of 500 h. p .- in all, about 2,000 h. p. These are the largest engines in these fields, and they are used in making gasoline from natural gas. They were installed in 1913, and are now using gas from the Newlove, Squires and Itartnell leases.

Mr. Reid was united in marriage in San Francisco with Miss Christine Cameron, born in Virginia City, Nev. ; and they have one daughter, Bessie. lle was made a Mason in San Francisco, where he holds his membership, and he is also connected with the Independent Order of Foresters. The parents of Mr. Reid are Robert and Mary Reid, the former a pioneer of Vir- ginia City, who was station tender on the Comstock lode. Ile and his wife are living in San Francisco. At the age of seventy-five he is hale and hearty. Besides Robert, the children are: Jennie, Mrs. Laist ; Stewart, a copper- smith ; and Alice, now Mrs. Lewis, all of San Francisco.

ANTHONY TINSLEY DAVIS .- Enjoying today a competency gained largely by the intelligent use of his two hands, when forced to climb from the lowest rung on the ladder, Anthony Tinsley Davis is a highly esteemed citizen of Shandon, in which community he has for some years been a pros- perous grain-grower and stockman. Born in Henry county, Va., on March 3, 1868, he is the son of Anthony Davis, Sr., who was also a native of Virginia, of an old-time family. For four years the senior Davis fought in the Civil War on the side of the Confederacy, thereby losing his health, so that he died when but forty six years old. Anthony's mother was Miss Lucy Gray, a native of Pittsylvania county, Va., and the daughter of Ben jamin Gray, a farmer. She still resides in Virginia on the old farm, to which Anthony Tinsley Davis returned for a visit when he had been seven teen years in California.

The second eldest of eleven children, nine of whom ire still living, the subject of our sketch grew up on a farm and attended the public schools. taking charge of the ranch when only fifteen years of age, and continuing in its management until he was twenty one At that time, when his two youngest brothers were old enough to succeed to the responsibility, Mr. Davis moved to Ray county, Mo., and for two years farmed for himself Then, meeting with two brothers-in-law of George Post, of Shandon, who described to him the attractions of the Golden State, he decided to abandon

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Missouri, and on Thanksgiving Day, 1891, he came to California as the mly member of his family to reach the Coast. Somewhat in debt on account of the expense for fare, he was forced to go to work immediately ; and enter- ing the service of a Mr. Shaw at one dollar a day, he stayed with him until his crop was in. So clever was he with the reins, that he drove a team of thirty-two horses, thereby establishing a reputation for skill which enabled him always to secure employment. At the end of four years he had paid his debts, and had saved somewhat over one thousand dollars; when he bought a six-horse team, and set to work raising wheat and hay and making improvements on rented land in the Cholame valley.

In the fall of 1895, Anthony Davis was married to Miss Alta Grainger, a native of Santa Paula, and the daughter of Baxter Grainger, who in early days had come across the plains, originally from Missouri, and later from Kansas. He was, indeed, a pioneer of Spring district, now Shandon, and homesteaded a hundred sixty acres, eventually retiring to AArroyo Grande, where he now resides. In Shandon, Miss Grainger went to school ; and there she grew up a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Five children bless the home: Lucy, Edith ( Mrs. W. HI. Post, of Riverside county), Alma, Ida, and Baxter.

For two years Mr. Davis ran the ranch in the Cholame valley, above referred to, and then he went in for grain farming on Shandon Flat. In the meantime, in 1906, he had bought, first a hundred sixty acres half a mile west of Shandon, and later two ranches of one hundred sixty acres each, lying half a mile farther south, which he farms, while renting six hundred forty acres near by. This he devotes to grain and stock, putting in about four hundred forty acres a year to wheat. To accomplish his extensive work, he raises draft-horses, and runs three big teams and uses a combined harvester of thirty-two horse-power, with which he reaps his own crops and those of others in the vicinity.

Mr. Davis is at present a trustee in the Shandon school district, an office in which he has served for several terms. He is a member of Santa Lucia Lodge of the I. O. O. F., of Paso Robles, and is always popular in social circles. In politics, he is a Democrat.

No one will doubt Mr. Davis' success, and it is worthy of note that he attributes this success largely to steady and close application.

GEORGE A. WHITE .- In what manner a man may inherit success, or rather, perhaps, the genius for overcoming obstacles and ultimately suc- ceeding, is illustrated in the family history of George A. White, whose father, George H. White, a native of Restigouche county, New Brunswick, was also a farmer of repute and affluence. In that delightful corner of the Hast, the elder White married Miss Jean MeNair, who was born in that dis- trict, of Scotch descent. Seven children resulted from this marriage. Of these, two sons, Richard and David, came to California about 1886, Richard ettling in San Luis Obispo County, and David in Sierra county. Two years Inter their parents and the other children followed them to the West. George 11. White, the father, bought three hundred twenty acres where the Subie t of this sketch now resides, and there he lived until his death on Mar 1, 1904. The mother still resides at San Luis Obispo.

The youngest of the four children still living. George A. White was bort on September 1, 1876. He was brought up in New Brunswick until

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he was twelve years of age, and was sent to the public schools there and in the Eagle district. As a lad he learned to drive the big teams used on the ranches, and to ride far and wide after stock; and he remained at home, assisting on the place, until his father's death.

After his father died, he removed to San Luis Obispo and engaged in the grocery business with AArthur Luttrell, under the firm name of White & Luttrell, retaining his connection with the firm for four years, when he sold out his interest and resumed farming. Leasing the home place, he took up the raising of grain and cattle, and has continued in that field ever since. The home ranch contained three hundred twenty acres. He bought seven hundred twenty acres additional, and later sold two hundred forty. He now owns four hundred eighty acres, and leases considerable land in addition, managing in all about eleven hundred twenty acres. The ranch is located in McMillan's canon, extending some two miles along the road, and here he has about seventy head of horses and cattle. He raises about two hundred sixty acres of grain each year.

In San Luis Obispo, September 22, 1909, George White was married to Miss Emelie Gates, born in Fresno, by whom he has had three children, Richard, George and Marion. Mrs. White is the daughter of Solomon and Zerelda (Shimmin) Gates, natives of Ontario, Canada, and Wisconsin and carly settlers in Mendocino county, Cal. They moved to San Luis Obispo County, where Mrs. White attended school in Eagle district. Mr. and Mrs. White are Prohibitionists and devoted attendants at the Presbyterian Church.

JOHN T. HOPPER .- No one can read the absorbing story of John T. Hopper and his struggle to "win out," despite the fact that bad luck met all his efforts, as a young rancher, for the first, second, third and even the fourth year, and fail to be impressed with the heroic qualities demanded of pioneers in the arduous task of founding such a commonwealth as Califor- nia. A native son, John was born three miles west of San Miguel, March 15, 1870, his father being none other than John B. Hopper, the long- esteemed pioneer of California and San Luis Obispo County, who is very properly mentioned elsewhere in this work. The third oldest of eleven children still living, of the twelve born to this veteran, John was brought up in this county, either at work on a farm or in attendance at Willow Creek, Adelaida, and Shandon public schools. When not over nine years of age he followed the plow : and he labored at all-round farm work until he was twenty-one, his farm wages going to the support of the home folks.

In 1897, John T. Hopper located on his present place, leasing a ranch of such raw land that never before, perhaps, had a furrow been made there ; so that one of his first struggles was to break up the ground and plant the six hundred forty acres to grain. Four hundred fifty acres are now under the plow, and managed according to the most approved and latest methods.

When John started out for himself, he was in partnership with his brother, D. L. Hopper, a combination of enthusiasm and energy from which much might reasonably be expected. The first year, however, they not only did not raise anything salable or serviceable, but they paid twenty dollars a ton for alfalfa from the Sacramento ranch in order to feed and save their stock. This expense alone was a burden, but John worked it out through day labor at the Sacramento ranch, paid for at the rate of a dollar a day, 41

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while D. L. Hopper ran the team. They stuck to their original plan, and a second time planted a crop ; but it was four years before their luck turned and they began to get anything worth while for their toil. The year 1901, however, proved an excellent season, and they then got such a good start that they were soon out of debt.

In this pleasant and helpful manner the brothers continued together until 1906, when their partnership was dissolved and John T. Hopper managed his affairs alone. Since then he has bought two hundred forty acres adjoin- ing his place, farmed it, and used the land for stock pasture. Each year he puts in about two hundred fifty acres to grain. In farming his place he uses two big teams and a combined harvester operated by twenty-seven horses. Four brothers, in fact, are interested in this machine, which does the harvest- ing on from a thousand to twelve hundred acres a year. He also raises draft horses of the Clydesdale type.

A very hard worker during most of his years, and one who for a long time performed all of his own labor, John T. Hopper has at last been re- warded with the success which eventually should come to every one who sticks to his last and pegs away industriously. He is a stockholder and a director in the Farmers' Alliance Business Association of Paso Robles, and is interested in the Imusdale Oil Co., operating at Parkfield.

Mr. Hopper is a Democrat, and for several years has been a member of the County Central Committee and a delegate to the county and state conventions. He has served for eight years as a trustee of the Eagle school district, and has also done considerable grand jury duty. In social circles he is a member of Santa Lucia Lodge No. 350, I. O. O. F., of Paso Robles, and of the Encamp- ment, in which he is Past Patriarch.

OLIVER AND EVERETT HOPPER .- What is often noted in a pro- gressive community-that where industry and consequent success have marked the life and labors of a parent, the same qualities of attainment and the same reward are characteristic of the children who bear an honored name is illustrated in the case of Oliver and Everett Hopper, the two sons of John B. Hopper, the pioneer represented on another page of this work. Born on the Kentucky ranch at Adelaida, the one on July 3, 1880, and the other on December 29, 1881, the brothers attended the district schools in the Cholame and Eagle neighborhoods, and early learned to make themselves useful about their father's farm. To their great advantage, also, their father took them with him when he farmed upon the Stirling Cook ranch, and there they acquired the trick of driving the team of many horses.

When able to push out for themselves, they leased and operated, for four Years, the George H1. White place ; and in 1909 they formed a partnership with their other brother, D. I .. Hopper, under the firm name of Hopper Bros. The same year they bought the James Jones ranch, of about eight liundred acres, and the following year added to it, by purchase, the J. T. Lunes ranch of the same size. Since then they have bought the Marsh and John Conroy ranches, so that now they have almost two thousand acres of fand in a body, located on the west side of the Cholame river opposite Shan- Ion. At suitable headquarters on this splendid estate, Oliver and Everett manage the enterprise, while D. L. Hopper farms independently in MeMil- Hun's canon. Besides raising grain, they breed cattle and horses, their brand, 16 (the brand of their honored father ), adding to the value of their superior

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Durham cattle and fine Percheron horses. One of the products of their stables was the thoroughbred stallion Carnation. Most of the time they keep busy two large teams and a combined harvester pulled by twenty-seven horses, an imposing mass of mechanism capable of gathering in the grain of seven hundred acres or more a year. With an artesian well two hundred eighty feet deep and flowing constantly, the young ranchers are able to cultivate and grow alfalfa with success. The water is exceptionally good, and the pressure forces it to the residence and barns for domestic use.

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History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches, Part 95

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