USA > California > Santa Barbara County > History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 66
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In 1847, he opened a public house, " The Washing- ton," near where the American shipping discharged, and did a very good business. In 1848, he took him- self another wife, Kate Ryan, a native of the county of Tipperary, Ireland. She belonged to a notable family, the Ryans of Drumwood, who were closely related to the O'Neils and also to the Prouts, of Water Grass Hill, near Cork-the famous Father Prout being one of the family. Catching the Califor-
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nia excitement, they sailed June 1, 1849, for San Francisco, which city they reached in one hundred and ten days, after a stormy and dangerous passage. Thence they went to the San Jose Mission, and tak- ing possession of some of the old abandoned rooms, repaired them so as to make them habitable, and weut to work. The rooms had been inhabited by a set of roughs, and bore on the wall many precepts and sen- timents that would not bear publication. At that time the Mission was quite a center of business. Beard & Horner, who afterwards supplied San Francisco and the mines with vegetables, had then just commenced operations. Two or three prominent men, including Vallejo and Andres Pico, were also there. The latter made a demand on McCaffrey for rent, which he de- clined paying, until he should "show cause." While residing at San Jose Mission, he received an injury to his arm, from a horse, which interfered with the pursuit of his trade; though, with the assistance of his wife, who was devoted to his interests, he man- aged to keep up his business. While in this condition he met N. A. Den, of Santa Barbara, who held out better prospects for him as a renter, informing him that he had also rented the Mission lands there, and would assist him. He fixed himself up for the trip, with a wagon, one pair of mules and one of horses, and followed the trail down the coast, for there were no roads. It took sixty days to reach Santa Barbara. In 1852, he commenced farming, by renting fifty-two acres of land, a portion of which had to be grubbed before it could be plowed. He raised potatoes to the value of $1,700, and hay to the value of $400, which he sold in the town. In 1856. he rented the San Jose Vineyard from Bishop Thaddeus Amat, and com menced making wine, which he found very profitable. However, he afterwards came near being financially ruined by some irregularities in the office of Internal Revenue. Henry Carnes, the Deputy Collector, not having the necessary blanks, told McCaffrey to go on with his work; but when the chief agent came along, he seized all the property, including the rooms in which the provisions were stored, putting his seal upon them all, because of his not having filed the requisite bonds-which were not to be had. The Deputy Collector wanted $1,000 for releasing the property, but Mr. McCaffrey refused to pay anything. Several keepers were appointed. . One, a great, drunken lout, would drink brandy until he became oblivious, and then McCaffrey's sons would put him to bed. By the assistance of Alfred Packard, attorney, and Frank Pixley of San Francisco, he was enabled to regain his property without great loss, though the under officers evidently intended to con- fiscate the vineyard.
In 1863-64, in common with others, he lost many cattle and sheep by the drought, which nearly exter- minated the cattle of Santa Barbara, as well as the other southern counties, and he would have been bankrupt but for the vineyard, which yielded boun- teously. The land which he had rented of R. S. Den
he lost, as Mr. Den's title was pronounced not good by the courts. McCaffrey retains the vineyard to the present day. is well-to-do in the world, and is enjoying the rewards of a well-spent life. He has a numerous family-sons and daughters-his first wife bearing him three children, and his second seven, two daughters and five sons. In politics, Mr. McCaf- frey and sons are intensely Democratic.
One of the largest and best ranches in the Patera is that which was the property of T. Wallace More, and known as " More's Home Ranch." It consisted of 2,000 acres of capital land, the greater part being kept always under cultivation. One hundred and sixty acres of woodland diversifies the place, affording a supply of fire-wood for all time to come. Stock-rais- ing was engaged in largely on this estate, improved breeds being mostly chosen. Mr. More erected the wharf at this place.
THE SANTA BARBARA NURSERY,
The property of Mr. Joseph Sexton, is one of the most complete and extensive institutions of its kind in this country. There is nothing in the State that will give the tourist so perfect an appreciation of the boundless agricultural and horticultural resources of this coast, as this place which Mr. Sexton has built up. The farm contains forty acres, almost entirely devoted to the propagation of useful and ornamental trees. The fruit-trees of all countries-tropical, sub-tropical and temperate-are here represented, in their utmost vigor and beauty. There are hundreds of rose-trees, some of them being of the rarest varieties, and two hundred species of pinks and carnations. Large greenhouses on this place, fitted up with forc- ingbeds, are warmed by hot-air pipes, keeping the temperature even.
Mr. Sexton's well deserves especial mention. Wish- ing for purer water than wells afforded, he con- structed a cistern of brick about 12 feet in diameter and as many feet deep. This is filled with rain-water caught from the roofs of the buildings. On one side of this cistern is a brick compartment which serves as a filter. From this side of the well is drawn, dur- ing the summer, an ample supply of cool, pure water.
JOSEPH SEXTON.
The owner of this property was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, March 14, 1842, of respectable parent- age. Removed with his parents to California, arriving in 1853, January 4th. After remaining in San Fran- cisco one year, he went to Ione Valley, Amador County. His education was limited, owing to the poor condition of the schools in California at that time. Having reached manhood, he started out for himself, and after rambling around the State for two years, finally brought up in Santa Barbara in 1867, which place he has since made his home.
Fruit farming seems to have been the employment of the family. One season, having nothing better to do, they picked up peach stones in San Francisco to
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the amount of half a bushel, which were planted at Ione. From the product of these was sold $500 worth of trees at one dollar each. The balance were planted, and an orchard started. The first erop, valued at $10,000, was entirely destroyed by frost in 1858. In subsequent years it was very profitable. In 1868, after removing to Santa Barbara, he started the nursery which he now owns, and which has been made an eminent success. Among other things which he introduced into the nursery were the pampas plumes, which were soon in demand in San Francisco, and shortly after in New York, readily bringing from $20 to $25 per hundred, Peter Henderson, the famous seedsman, being instrumental in introducing them to the New York market. The pampas roots are planted about ten feet apart, each bunch, when well matured, producing one or two hundred plumes. It will be seen that an acre of pampas would at this rate bring in a princely revenue. The second year 5,000 of the plumes were disposed of, and the third year 10,000. They have, however, gone done in price, so that now they are only worth about $7.00 per hundred. This is only one of the main successes attending the efforts of Mr. Sexton. Raising fruit trees became a specialty, until a hundred thousand or more budded trees attest the extent of the business. His small place of forty acres has proven far more profitable than many a 1,000-acre ranch, and out of the profits has grown a fine two-story honse, 40x60 feet, well finished and furnished, containing thirteen rooms. Mr. Sextou was married in November, 1869, to Miss Lucy Fo-ter of Goleta, and they have nine children, five boys and four girls.
The secret of Mr. Sexton's success lies in his keep- ing several years in advance of anybody else in his line of business. This is shown by his beginning the culture of several special products before others had thought of it. As an instance, besides the pampas grass spoken of, the cherimoya may be mentioned. This, described by Humboldt as the most delicions of all fruits, is attracting more and more attention in various parts of the world. When it was first spoken of as likely to find a favorable habitat in lands to which it is now a stranger, Mr. Sexton seized the opportunity, and began to raise the young trees, and now has a large stock of them for sale. Thus, by always being able to meet the demand for seedlings and cuttings, he has built up a large business, which is of immense use to the country at large.
In the same vicinity lie the farms of Messrs. Peter P. Martin, W. N. Roberts, Edward Orr, and George Brick, to all of which the same remarks will apply. The soil of each is of excellent quality, producing large erops in favorable years, and commanding a very high price. Much of the soil is adobe, difficult to work, but producing well. The ordinary crops of hay, corn, squashes, beans, beets, etc., with a very small amount of grain, are produced.
WILLIAM NELSON ROBERTS
Is a native of the Green Mountain State, having been born in Caledonia County, Vermont, October 4, 1840. There he grew to manhood, attending the pub- lic schools until prepared to enter the higher grades, when he finished his education by a three years' course at the Newbury Seminary. A thorough edu- cation is much better appreciated by one who has been compelled to struggle to obtain it, than when the student is almost driven from a luxurious home to his studies at school and college. By hard labor Mr. Roberts was enabled to attend the Seminary, teaching school in the meantime for his support.
In the month of February, 1862, he left his native State for California, taking the route by the way of Panama, and arriving in San Francisco on the 26th of the same month. For six years he remained in San Francisco, engaged in various occupations; but at last, tiring of this precarious way of making a liv- ing in a large city where much capital is required for any business of importance, and powerful influence required to obtain a situation of employment, he turned his steps to the country and went to farming, in Monterey County. During the following five years he continued his farming operations in Mon- terey, and then removed to Santa Barbara County, where he has since made his home, being engaged in farming, stock-raising, dairying, etc. The ranch is located about ten miles west of Santa Barbara, on "La Patera," containing one hundred acres of choice land. which is well improved. The pleasant home on this ranch is shown on another page of this book. Mr. Roberts was married in 1865, to Miss Susan James, youngest daughter of S. L. James, Esq., and has five children-three sons and two daughters. Since his residence in Santa Barbara, Mr. Roberts has taken a prominent part in public affairs, taking a particular interest in educational matters. For several terms he has served as School Trustee of his District, and through his exertions and energy, a handsome school house has been erected, costing $1,000, which is a fine ornament to the neighborhood, and an evi- dence of its thrift and enlightenment.
The orchard, planted by B. F. Owen, is a valnable one, and is favorably located for fruit-growing. The place was sold to Joseph W. Cooper in 1877, for $125 per acre.
THE SAN ANTONIO DAIRY FARM
Lies five miles from the city, and contains 170 acres, supporting forty cows of good breeds. Usually sixty acres are devoted to raising hay, while corn is planted on ten or fifteen acres. The object of the crops is, of course, to secure feed for the cattle. This dairy is considered a paying institution.
Mr. Kellogg, who purchased land in the Patera in 1876, built an excellent dwelling thereon, at the cost of $7,000, and made other improvements. Some of the results of his agricultural operations were unique. For example, the pumpkins which he raised. Nine
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of these aggregated a ton in weight. One being eut open and the seeds removed, three of the young Kelloggs could be placed in the cavity. An Eastern visitor was astonished at the spectacle of a good- sized young lady of eighteen stepping forth from a pumpkin, the halves of which were taken apart. This had been arranged as a surprise, says the nar- rator, who evidently feared that the visitor might think she grew there, and would so report, to the detriment of Santa Barbara's reputation for truth- telling. Sinee that time every bachelor farmer is desirous of raising squashes of that variety.
There is an interesting and instruetive bit of his- tory connected with the Goleta Grant. As before stated, this was made to Daniel Hill. This old set- tler passed forty-two years of his life in California. In 1842 he came into possession of the Goleta Rancho, and retained it until his death in January. 1865. His grant is said to have cost him $200 in money, besides a vast amount of trouble. It was seeured from Pio Pico. The value now cannot be exactly told, but the various farms into which it has been divided could not be bought up for half a million of dollars. During his later years misfortune overtook the owner, and a series of unfavorable years caused the loss by starvation of large numbers of cattle, and the old man sunk into comparative poverty, although still possessing the Goleta, which, at that time, rep- resented but a tithe of its present value. It is doubt- ful if a purchaser could have been found to pay $5.00 per aere for the land even so late as 1865.
THE DOS PUEBLOS RANCHO
Was granted to Nicolas A. Den, as before related, This individual married a daughter of Daniel Hill, but dying before her, the property passed to her and her second husband, Mr. G. C. Weleh. Nearly one- half of the original quantity of land remains in the possession of the family. Of this amount two-thirds is arable land. On the Welch place is the old resi- denee erected in 1854, with a hotel, stable, store, and three houses for the use of renters. The orchard of 800 trees was planted in 1856. The ranch is stocked with 300 head of cattle and 4,000 sheep. About 500 acres are in cultivation. The rancho buildings are much the same as thirty years sinee, and form a striking contrast to modern buildings, and give an ancient and venerable air to the hills and dales com- posing the place.
GREENLEAF C. WELCH
Was born Angust 12, 1826, in the State of Vermont. His parental ancestry were Jacob Weleh, of London, England, and Louisa (De Meritt) Weleh, of New Hampshire. The members of the family have been noted for their patriotism, having been represented i.i nearly every national conflict sinee the organiza- tion of our country. His grandfather (De Meritt) fought for American independence in the memorable battle of Bunker Hill, and his unele, Abraham Welch,
was in the war of 1812; he also had a brother in the Mexiean War, and another in the Union army dur- ing the Rebellion.
Having aequired a good education in the schools of his native State, he bound himself out to the Fair- banks Company of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, for the purpose of learning the art of making scales. In 1849, seeing bright and golden prospects in Califor- nia, he joined the stampede for the land of promise. arriving December 12th, the same year. Sinee then the period of the average years of man has passed, and the pioneer still battles the way of life, bearing the honored marks of time upon his brow, and buoy- ant in spirit, bold in aet, and ready in speech, as when he left the comforts of Eastern civilization to build up a new home in the unknown West. Upon arriv- ing in California, Mr. Welch entered the mines, where he remained, " seeking the golden fleece," until 1854, when he removed to Southern California and located in Santa Barbara. Here he was married in 1866 to Rosa Hill de Den, widow of Nicolas A. Den, and daughter of Daniel A. Hill, one of California's earli- est pioneers. A view of their Santa Barbara residenee. and surroundings will be found in this volume. In politics Mr. Welch is a Republican, and has served as Justice of the Peace and Associate Justice of the Court of Sessions.
THE STOW ESTATE.
In 1872 W. W. Stow, the well-known lawyer of San Francisco, bought 1,100 aeres of the Dos Pueblos grant from German Senter. Immediately after the purchase he commenced improving it, laying out money unstintedly in order to make the place pro- ductive and attractive. In the winter following 9,720 almond trees and 3,240 walnut trees were planted together in an orehard, with twenty-foot spaces between the almonds and forty feet between the walnuts. The almond trees were bought in Davis- ville, Yolo County, and at Niles, Alameda County. The walnuts were mostly procured from Colonel Heath, of Carpenteria. The almonds have not proved a profitable growth.
Next the proprietor turned his attention to limes and lemons, ascertaining that the limes furnish a sure and abundant crop. Consequently, having eleared a large traet of bottom land of its heavy oaks, he planted 3,700 lime trees of various ages, preferring for his purposes the Mexican variety. The lemon question was to a large extent unsolved in this State. Mr. Stow proeured his stoek by pur- chasing from Mrs. Hale, of Alameda, cuttings of a desirable species, which were grafted upon lemon stalks growing at Los Angeles. After the budding was completed these lemon trees were transplanted to the Stow Farm. Some twenty or thirty lemon trees were imported from Australia a short time afterwards, the buds of which were put upon four- year-old orange roots, it having been decided that orange roots were more healthy and hardy than.
RESIDENCE OF W. W. HOLLISTER GLEN ANNIE SANTA BARBARA CO. CAL.
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lemon roots. These orange roots were afterwards removed to the home ranch and set out, the result being an immense and thrifty orchard.
Mr. Stow, through his son, Sherman P. Stow, the director and part owner of the place, has made many other improvements on the farm, all of a substantial nature, there being good houses, fine barns, conven- ient out-houses, etc., with an expensive system of water-works, embracing four miles of main, besides service pipes. Water is found necessary in the cul- tivation of the citrus family, but not in excessive quantities. There are at " Chenango Farm," as the Stow estate is sometimes called, some handsome Dur- ham and ether improved breeds of cattle, and also thoroughbred horses, " Nordale," a scion of the cele- brated Norfolk, having been for a long time unsur- passed in the whole county for good qualities.
The farm has under cultivation at present, 3,000 lemon trees, 200 orange trees, an immense number of almonds, now considered useless or nearly so, a small orchard of other fruits, 2,200 lime trees, which, despite the use of curative agents, are suffering from the attacks of disease, and 110 acres of walnut trees, from three to eleven years old. There are 1,500 acres of land now included in the estate, some having been added by purchase since the beginning
HOLLISTER'S PLACE.
When the tourist bent on seeing the sights, and the invalid in search of health, and the seeker for information, arrive in Santa Barbara, and begin to make inquiries as to the interesting surroundings of the beautiful city, they are at once referred to Hollister's place. So general and widely-extended has the fame of this rancho become that it is doubtful if it is rivaled in that respect on the whole Pacific Coast. Possibly there is not in the United States another establishment of the kind that has attained such universal fame. Out of the thousands of pages that have been written of it, the following account has been prepared, which, it is hoped, may be thought to do justice to a subject so interesting :-
The famed estate lies a short distance back from the coast, and about twelve miles to the west of Santa Barbara. It is a portion of Nicolas Den's Dos Pueblos grant, and includes an arca of about 3,600 acres, five-sixths of that being rich, arable land, adapted for most agricultural pursuits. It is ap- proached from Santa Barbara by a broad highway leading out from town, well graded and provided with bridges, culverts, cte., and 100 feet wide. Six or seven miles out from the city the range of hills on the left gradually lessen, subsiding into a wide reach of plain, now and then breaking into undulations, or stretching out unbroken to the blue Pacific. Thirteen years ago the tract was unsettled and unimproved. The hills and broad plains were covered with wild grasses, over which ranged great herds of native cattle. The traet is one and a half miles in extent along the highway, and extends baek over three
miles into the mountains. Through it run three streams of living water, furnishing the most ample provision for irrigation. The soil is of the best description, and of such fertility as to render the raising of large crops a matter of comparative ease and certainty. It is made up of the detritus of the mountain range, which is composed of clay with shells imbedded, and of sandstone enclosing pebbles. A small portion of adobe land exists on the rancho.
After its purchase came the improvement of the place. Fencing to the extent of over six miles was erected, and the " Lower House" was built. Thisis the business center of the place, the dairy being situated here, and the laborers boarded and lodged. The family residence, "Glen Annie," is two miles from the main house, and is approached through an ave- nue lined with lemon trees. It is named in honor of Mrs. Hollister, the mistress of the estate, and is situ- ated at the head of a beautiful canon a mile in length, which opens toward the sea and runs back to the base of the hills. A creek called the Tecolote (owl) passes through this canon. At the rear end, a little to the right of the Glen Annie chateau, another canon opens, extending up to the foot of the Santa Ynez Mountains. This canon is thickly wooded with oak and sycamore, and contains expanses of rich land, said to be of very high value in the growth of trop- ical and sub-tropical fruits and plants, by reason of their sheltered situation. The native timber on the estate consists mainly of live-oak, with smaller quan- tities of sycamore and willows, and in the cañadas numbers of the beautiful California laurel. Among the wild flowers are the ceanothus, or wild lilac, resembling the doniestic hlae in fragrance; the native althea abounds, and white and red honeysuckles and the star-like mountain pink exist. The principal native grasses to be found here are the burr clover, red and white clover, and alfileria.
In its unimproved condition bears, deer, coyotes, foxes, badgers, ground-squirrels, gophers, and other animals were known, but the advance of civilization has, of course, caused them to disappear. Bird life was and is abundant, the vulture. buzzard, owl, hawk, and other predaceous birds being found, as also the humming-birds in large variety, black birds, linnets, doves, ducks and sea-gulls.
In his later work of getting the place under culti- vation, Colonel Hollister has been lavish of expense and care. Ile has introduced every improvement that ingenuity and refinement could suggest. Not a single vegetable growth that might be supposed to be of use or ornament has been overlooked. It would be useless to attempt to give a detailed account of what has been done on this magnificent estate, but a description of what is now to be found thereon is deemed suitable, and is here presented.
Beginning with the ornamental trees, which at various times have been set out to beantify the estate, there can be found the eucalyptus, in profusion, the pepper tree, many varieties of acacia, the white
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chestnut, the California walnut, fourteen varieties of flowering magnolias, the camphor, and rubber tree, the cork-elm, weeping-oak, the weeping-ash, the silver-leaved mulberry, two varieties of the Norfolk Island pine, four varieties of the palm tree, among which are the date palm and fan palm; the Monterey cypress and the redwood.
Fruit culture on the estate is carried to a pitch not elsewhere known. Of almonds which were formerly regarded with vast favor, there are no less than 55,000; constituting the greatest almendral or almond orchard that the world contains. Nothing can exceed the beauty and regularity of this prodigious plantation. Together with the similar but smaller almendrals of the neighboring ranchos, " Ellwood ', and " Chenango," these great orchards make up a spectacle not to be seen elsewhere. Observers have said of them, when in bloom, that the view is worth the journey across from the Atlantic shore to wit- ness. The species of almonds mostly in favor has been the Princesse de Languedoc .* There is also an immense number of English walnut trees on the ranch, estimated at 1,500 in 1877, but much increased now; 1,500 orange trees, embracing different varie- ties, the Myrtle, Los Angeles, and the Mandarin, a dwarf variety. One thousand lemon trees had been planted by the year mentioned, 500 limes, and 750 olive. About ten years ago the owner began experimenting in the culture of the Japanese persimmon, of which he procured four or five varie- ties. This produces a fruit which has become familiar to the eyes of many. Its value is undoubted, and there are strong probabilities of its becoming a com- mon production wherever suitable conditions of growth can be attained. There are extensive vineyards, containing the best varieties of grapes, and orchards of peach, nectarine, pear, apple, quince and other trees. The principal crops cultivated have been wheat, corn, barley, pota- toes, sweet potatoes, beans, etc. Tobacco has been successfully cultivated, and an experimental field of cotton was produced some half dozen years since. An acre of as fine bolls as the South ever produced was the result. Volunteer crops of wheat on the ranch are very significant of the rare advantages of the place. About 1870 there was a tract of about forty acres of corn growing on land plowed that year for the first time. When the corn crop was removed the ground was sowed with barley and a large yield obtained. In the next winter a fine crop of volunteer barley came up and matured, but its quantity was not ascertained. The ground was harrowed again and second and third crops of volunteer barley obtained, of not less than fifty bushels per acre, and this with but the one plowing.
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