USA > California > Santa Barbara County > History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 68
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Grasshoppers used to be a great pest, and were partly overcome by Indians being sent out early in the morning with large baskets, which they had to fill before they were allowed to eat. It was another version of "no song, no supper," set to the tune of " no hoppers, no breakfast."
It is said that rust in wheat was prevented by Indians running through the field with stretched riatas, which bowed the stalks of grain, the rebound, as they straightencd, shaking off the moisture that, in hot weather, causes rust.
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THE WESTERN PART OF THE COUNTY.
As late as 1846 the Tulare Indians used to fight desperate battles with the Coast Indians.
ORIGIN OF THE COLONY.
The history of the Lompoc proper begins in the fall of 1874. At that time a metamorphosis of that region took place, no less wonderful than the evolu- tion of the bright, active butterfly from the dull, inane grub, and of much the same nature, as at the touch of a magician's wand, from the somber expanse of dun-colored grazing land, with not a vestige of civilization npon it, there sprang into almost imme- diate existence a flourishing town, with all the usual concomitant features, surrounded by a thriving agri- cultural section of small farms, the ideal of the economist. Where tinkled the bells of vast droves of sheep, and where the swarthy vaquero exploded his coarse oaths; now resounded the hum of various village industries, the chiming of church and school bells, and the hearty song of the sturdy husbandman as he turns up the virgin soil, rich in latent products, which his toil and care are to change into actual results.
The central idea of the founders of the colony was to eliminate forever from its prospective history that greatest of social evils-intemperance. They rea- soned thus: one may fight in vain with the mists around him, but let him once ascend above them and the air becomes as clear and pure as an Eden morn- ing. So, given a community of natural growth, and it is impossible to educate public sentiment (which is always the ultimate law) to a radical position on the liquor traffic question. Hence, they laid the founda- tion of their contemplated superstructure on the solid rock of temperance, by making it a condition in all deeds of sale. Surely, the history of such a movement must be full of interest to the sociologist and the philanthropist.
On the 15th day of October, 1874, a company of California farmers and business men organized under the auspices of the California Immigrant Union of San Francisco, as a joint stock company, bought from Messrs. Hollister and Dibblee the Lompoc and Mission Vieja Ranchos, for half a million dollars, payable in ten annual installments. The capital stock was divided into 100 shares, of $5,000 each. Into the deed was inserted the following temperance proviso :--
CONDITIONS OF SALE.
" No vinous, malt, spirituous, or other intoxicating liquors shall ever be sold or manufactured upon any portion of the Lompoc or Mission Vieja Ranchos purchased by this corporation; and it shall be the duty of the Board of Directors to incorporate into any and all agreements, leases, contraets, or deeds, whereby such lands, or any portion of them. are leased, covenanted to be conveyed, or conveyed to any lessee or purchaser, a clause forever prohibiting such sales or manufacture thereon, which clause shall run with the land and be appartenant thereto; pro- vided, that such prohibition shall not extend to the
sale thereof by druggists for medicinal purposes, upon the written prescription of a practicing physi- cian residing upon said lands."
Surveyors were at once set to work, and the land divided into five, ten, twenty, forty, and eighty-acre lots. One square mile was reserved for a town site. It was situated nine miles from the coast, near the center of Lompoc Valley, and supplied with good water sufficient for a population of 25,000. Every facility was utilized to call attention to the sales to begin on November 9th.
For days before the time set for the sale the ground had been alive with people on the lookout for homes, drawn thither from other sections of the State and country by the announcement that a valley as choice and favored as the celebrated Santa Clara and Pajaro Valleys was to be thrown open to sale and settle- ment-a valley with a virgin soil twenty feet deep in places, unfurrowed by plow and untouched by spade, save where the gardens of the Jesuit Fathers had been cultivated about the old Mission Church. These pioneers had some of them traveled for five days in their wagons to reach Lompoc. They had their rough maps of the ground, and notebooks filled with memoranda of choice spots. Around the stakes set by the surveyors the ground was literally tramped by the fect of many prospectors.
The terms of sale were as follows: Upon lands other than town lots, ten per cent. in cash, fifteen per cent. additional on the last Monday in the fol- lowing December, and ten per cent. annually there- after, with interest at ten per cent. per annum from the day of sale. Upon town lots the terms were very nearly as liberal, a somewhat larger cash requir- ment, but the same ten per cent. on annual install- ments, on deferred payments. After January 1st the full payment might be made. All taxes for that fiscal year were paid by the company.
EXCITEMENT.
When the day of sale came a caravan, embracing an odd variety of vehicles-four-horse stages, two- horse stages, ditto wagons and buggies, and other ". go-carts," besides horses and mules, with their riders-moved upon the rancho, carrying their hu- man freight of 250 men and twenty ladies. Many brought seed and farming utensils all ready to go to work.
The cavalcade was headed by the President of the association through which the rancho had been bought, and by the auctioneer, and moved to the center of the main valley, where the sale commenced. As soon as one tract was disposed of the next in order was announced, when the auctioneer dashed off' to the new location, carrying his red flag, looking like a mounted "marker " with his guidon on bat- talion drill, and followed by the whole cavalcade and caravan, all driving or riding like mad, and cach striving to outstrip his fellows.
Excitement ran high. Shares boomed up to a high
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HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.
figure, $1,000 premium being asked for shares of $5,000 on the third day. The first piece of land sold was a forty-acre tract, scheduled at $40 per aere; it was started at $45 and struck off at $76. The average price per acre for the first two days, when only share-holders were allowed to buy, was $70. Land that was rated at $40 in the morning sold for $89 in the evening. The prices realized from the three-days' sale of farm lots ran from $35 to $95.50 per aere, and averaged over $60. Eleven thousand acres only were put upon the market and sold, besides a portion of the town site.
The sale of the town lots eame off in the latter part of the week. One of the corner lots sold for $1.200 gold coin, while others sold as high as $800, $500, and so on, but few below the latter figure. Suburban property sold for $205 per acre. The grand result of the sales was something over $700,- 000. of which $70.000 came from the sales of city property. About 35,000 acres remained unsold, for which the company were offered $370,000 by the original owners of the rancho.
One-quarter of all the proceeds of the sales was set apart as a fund for a college of agriculture and experimental farming. Another fund for the erec- tion of a school house soon reached $30,000. A lot was set apart for the use of the different orders. These donations were never realized, in consequence of poor crops and consequent financial embarrassment.
The result of the sale amazed even Californians, until they visited the spot and saw with their own eyes its singular beauty and the extraordinary fertil- ity of the soil.
About 200 of the purchasers were actual settlers- one-third of them from the States of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, ete., and two-thirds of them from other seetions of California-men who are the best judges of California lands. The class of settlers was naturally of the best. As indicative of their character, $500 was subscribed " on the spot " with which to start a newspaper enterprise, under the management of W. W. Broughton. Among the early settlers was a Mrs. Kelsey, who crossed the plains in 1841. " Kelsey Dry Diggings," near Georgetown, El Dorado County, took its name from her husband.
Immediately upon the close of the sales building and farm operations were begun and rapidly pushed. Within one month a dozen houses were up, and at the end of sixty days eighty families were settled in their new homes.
There was about this time much discussion about the formation of a new county, to be called Santa Maria, and to be formed of portions of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. Lompoc ambi- tiously put forward its claim to be made the county- seat. In the same month a new county road was built through Purissima Canon, connecting Lompoe with the outer word at La Graciosa. The Rev. J. W. Webb, well known as the Grand Secretary of
the Good Templars for Southern California, and than whom there has never been a more enthusiastie and effective worker for the interests of the colony, eame to Lompoc in April, 1875. He opened the first school on May 3d.
LOMPOC " RECORD."
The Lompoc Record, a bright, newsy, weekly journal, was started April 10, 1875, by W. W. Brough- ton, of the Santa Cruz Enterprise. On April 24th the Lompoc dairy lands were sold, Henry Houghton of Salinas officiating as auctioneer. Large sales were made. At their elose, the trustees of the Lom- poe Company voted $1,500 to assist Mr. Broughton in the Record enterprise. Mr. Hollister subscribed for 100 copies, Mr. Dibblee for fifty, and others for numbers of copies for distribution. At this time Mr. Dibblee fenced in an eighty-acre tract, and planted it with trees.
The town was now flourishing. It supported a newspaper, a notary public, a physician, a justice of the peace, a Sabbath-school of 100 members, and a tri-weekly stage.
THE CRUSADE AGAINST LIQUOR.
It becoming known that one Green, a druggist, had been retailing liquor contrary to the terms of the land sales, prompt measures were resolved upon to abate the nuisance. Two hundred men and women, before proceeding to the druggist's, and simply as a matter of form, searched every other business house in town for liquor, finding none. Then the women entered the drug store, and set about destroying the liquor stock. Green denied their right to interfere, drew his pistol, and threatened to shoot any one who laid hands upon his property. At this juneture some men entered the store, and significantly displayed a rope, when the druggist judiciously put up his weapon. Immediately the work of destruction began. Mrs. Pierce applied an ax to a forty-gallon eask of whisky just brought in, and soon every barrel, cask, and bottle containing the stuff was broken to pieces, and seattered over the floor, which was ankle deep with whisky. Their purpose accomplished, the women quietly withdrew. Those who took an active part in this crusade were: Mrs. J. B. Pierce, Mrs. F. N. Kleckner, Mrs. John P. Henning, Mrs. William Jackson, Mrs. W. H. Peck, Mrs. Robert McLeod, Mrs. Geo. Downing, Mrs. J. W. Webb, Mrs. H. Poland, Mrs. Liggett, Mrs. G. W. Richards, Mrs. J. W. Hendricks, Mrs. A. J. Downing, Mrs. E. H. Arne, and fifty otber respectable wives of Lompoc. The following parody on Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade" was published in the Lompoc Record after the raid :----
THE FAIR HUNDRED.
Ox they come, on they come, Onward, still onward, On to the liquor store Rushed the fair one hundred. Onward still the leaders cry,
.
BOOTS, SHOES & CLOTH INC GEO ROBERTS.
RANCH, LAND OFFICE AND STORE OF GEO. ROBERTS. LOMPOC, SANTA BARBARA CO., CAL.
พระสาโรช
RANCH & RESIDENCE OF JESSE I. HOBSON. SANTA MARIA VALLEY, SANTA BARBARA CO.CAL.
RESIDENCE & RANCH OF JOHN G. PRELL, SANTA MARIA, SANTA BARBARA CO.CAL.
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THE WESTERN PART OF THE COUNTY.
They know the reason why. Theirs not to make reply, Theirs to make the whisky fly. Determined this to do or die, Rushed the fair hundred.
Into the drug store Went the fair hundred. Down with the whisky ! How the men wondered ! Charged then that fair brigade, No menace their purpose stayed, Not one would be afraid, Nor would their hands be stayed, Till to the ground they had Their enemy tumbled.
Bottles to the right of them, Bottles to the left of them, Bottles in front of them, Labelled and numbered. Smash then went the bottles there, The barrel next became their care, Oaward hurried every pair, The bar-keeper, in despair, Murmured and grumbled.
Flashed then their eyes with wrath, None dared to cross their path, Each one a duty hath, Of that fair hundred. Fast fell the ax's stroke, Fiercely the hoops they broke, Fearing not the feet to soak, Barrels that were made of oak Were rudely sundered.
Whisky to the right of them, Whisky to the left of them, Whisky all around them, Dashed to the floor. Bravely they fought, and well, Bearing still the whisky smell, They passed from the gates of hell, Their duty over.
Honor the brave and bold, Long shall the tale be told, Yea, when our babes are old, How that fair brigade so brave, To snatch their loved ones from the grave, Dared in spite of taunt and scoff, To pour the poisonous liquid forth. Their children yet in time shall rise, As honest and sober men and wise, And honor that heroic deed, By which their youthful lives were freed From all temptation to the bowl, That damn the body and the soul.
The Lompoc Grange, P. of H., was organized May 27, 1875. The first officers were: William Jackson, W. M .; H. Summers, Overseer; W. W. Broughton, See- retary ; J. B. Pierce, Treasurer; J. W. Webb, Chaplain; F. Jenkins, Steward; E. T. Hirgs, A. S .; J. Freed- man, G. K .: Mrs. W. C. Jackson, W. C .; Mrs. C Price, Pomona; Mrs. M. Saunders, Flora; Mrs. A. E' Friel, Ceres; O. L. Abbott, of Santa Barbara, L. A. S.
An Independent Order of G. T. was organized in Lompoc, June 18, 1875. The following officers were selected: J. W. Webb, W. T. C .; Mattie O'Brien, W. V. T .; C. W. Powers, W. S .; G. W. Frick, W. F. S .; James Nash, P. W. C. T .; Gusta Foreman, W. T .; J. W. Montgomery, W. M .; Emma Hendricks, W. D. M .; Susan Barker, W. I. G .; Wm. Foreman, W. O.G .; Mattie Barker, W. R. II. S .; Laura A. Frick, W. L. H. S.
THE FIRST MARRIAGE
In Lompoc was that of Jesse I. Hobson to Miss Lyndia Spencer, July 25, 1875. Three children, one boy and two girls, are the fruits of the first marriage.
JESSE 1. HOBSON
Is a native of Illinois, having been born in MeLean County, of that State, February 26, 1852. When the territory beyond the Missouri was opened for set- tlement, in 1854, the family of Mr. Ilobson moved into Kansas, and there remained until 1862. In that year they crossed the plains to California, the family settling near Linden, in San Joaquin County, about fifteen miles cast of Stockton. Eight months after the arrival of the family in California the father died, leaving the mother and the large family of children dependent on their own resources. In the fall of 1863 they moved to Santa Clara. The boys of the family were now required to shift for themselves, the subject of this sketch being then cleven, or nearly twelve years of age. He made his home in Santa Clara until 1874, engaged in various employ- ments, struggling against many obstacles, but tri- umphing over adversity. In 1874 he came to Santa Barbara County, locating near Central City on a new place, and here he has made a farm and his home. This he is successfully cultivating at the present time, having improved it with good judgment and taste. A view of his home is published in this book. . Father MeNally, now of Oakland, who has done great work for the church in this county, went to Santa Barbara in 1875, and agitated the project of building a Catholic Church at Lompoc. In this he was successful. The bells of the old Purissima Mis- sion were transferred to the new churches in the vicinity, one being placed in the tower of the Lom- poc church, which was christened " La Purissima." To this enterprise Catholics and Protestants gave. alike, the old ranchos especially contributing largely Hollister and Dibblee donated land worth about $3,000. The warmest relations existed between the members of these opposite religious sects.
PROGRESS.
The census of 1875 allotted 225 children to Lom- poc School District. On October 16th the town voted to appropriate $3,000 to the School House Fund. A " Band of Hope " was organized on October 24, 1875. In November, the first anniversary of the found- ing of the colony, it contained 200 families and ample church and school facilities. The school house was built in 1876, funds being raised by the sale of bonds.
GREAT STORM.
In June, 1876, the fiereest storm ever known in that vicinity visited Lompoc. A vessel costing $20,000 was cast ashore at Point Sal, a total loss. According to the Lompoc Record the waves ran twenty feet above the wharf. In 1876 the Lompoc wharf, at Point Purissima, thirteen miles up the coast from Lompoc, was completed. In the same year the name of no property owner appeared on the delin- quent tax list. On February 4, 1878, a bridge across the Santa Ynez at Lompoc was completed, and the county Supervisors paid to the contractor, H. R.
37
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HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.
Stevens, $600, the amount pledged by them. In November, of the same year, the proposition of forming a new county was discussed again, but to no practical result. The inconvenience and loss of hav- ing the seat of county government at so great and inaccessible a distance as Santa Barbara were becom- ing serious considerations.
LIBERALITY OF HOLLISTER AND DIBBLEE.
The boom with which the Lompoc Colony was inaugurated did not influence the elements which at the beginning were unpropitious, and unfa- vorable seasons made their influence felt The original owners came grandly to the rescue, resolved that their pet scheme should not languish. Col- onel Hollister, holding five-twelfths, and Albert Dibblee and Thos. B. Dibblee each two-twelfths of the company's indebtedness, voluntarily remitted all of the accrued interest from the date of the pur- chase, October 15, 1874, to January 1, 1878, three years and two and one-half months; while Mr. and Mrs. Sherman, P. Stow, and Mr. and Mrs Jack, each holding one-twelfth of the indebtedness, remitted one year's interest. This amounted to $130,000, and this generous conduct renewed hope in the hearts of the colonists.
CONDITION IN 1880.
As illustrating the progress of the colony an account of its condition in 1880 will be useful. The town contains 200 inhabitants. There are five church organizations, the Methodist Episcopal, the Christian, the Roman Catholic, the Cumberland Presbyterian, and the M. E. South, of which the first three own church structures, and the first two support flourish- ing Sabbath-schools. A handsome and commodious two-story school house adorns the town. Secret soci- eties are represented by the I. O. O. F., I. O. G. T., K. of P., and a Grange of P. of H. A Masonic Chapter is soon to be established. There is a Literary and Musical Society, and also a uniformed brass band of thirteen pieces. The Record still maintains its envi- able reputation under the able management of Mr. Philip Tucker. The business of the town is enlivened by the busy hum of a fully-equipped fifty-horse-power steam flour-mill. There are four stores selling general merchandise; also one for the sale of hardware, farming utensils, wagons, etc., and the manufacture of tinware, one drug store, one paint shop, two milliner stores, one barber shop and bath house, one tailor shop, one watchmaker and jeweler's shop, three hotels and boarding-houses, one harnessmaker's shop, one shoe shop, two blacksmith shops, one livery stable, one buteher shop, one vari- ety shop, one fruit store, one pork and bacon curing establishment, one furniture, cabinetmaker's and undertaker's establishment, one soap factory, one lumber yard, one book and stationery store, two billiard rooms, one general commission house. A pub- lic hall 30x60; a public library; a Good Templars'
library; a fire insurance agency, and one job printing office, in a building owned by
JOHN FRANKLIN DINWIDDIE,
The proprietor of Dinwiddie's Hall is a native of Mis- sonri, born January 15, 1839. In 1850, he crossed the plains to California-coming to the State at so early an age that he has grown up a Californian, receiving his education at its public schools, and acquiring the manners of the country. His first home in this State was in Yolo County, where he remained until 1875. During his long residence in the North, he spent twelve years as teacher in the schools of Yolo and Sutter Counties. With the proud record of an instructor of youth through so many years, he moved to Santa Barbara, and located in Lompoc Val- ley, where he has lived since 1875. Since his resi- dence in this village, he has been engaged in busi- ness, keeping a variety store, his establishment being in the lower story of his large building known as " Dinwiddie Hall," the upper story being a large and commodious hall, devoted to public purposes. This is one of the best buildings in Lompoc, and was erected in 1876.
Mr. Dinwiddie was married April 4, 1864, to Miss Flora V. Vaughn, a native of California, and five children have been born to them-three being girls and two boys.
There are two Justices of the Pcace; two consta- bles; one lawyer and Notary Public, and two doctors. A real estate and general business agency is carried on by Roberts & Hemming. They are agents for the Lompoc Valley Land Company, of which George Roberts is the President. A daily mail, Wells, Fargo & Co.'s Express, and the Western Union Telegraph Company, afford ready and rapid communication to all parts of the world.
GEORGE ROBERTS.
The various phases of American life can nowhere be better shown than in a succession of biographies of citizens of the productive and representative classes. More particularly is this the case in Califor- nia, where are people from every State of the Union, and from many other countries of the world. Very truly do they show how much one's success, happi- ness, and good name depend upon his own exertions, and the firmness of his principles, rather than what his parents were, or the fortune they left him. George Roberts, of Lompoc, is a representative man of Santa Barbara County. He was born at New York Mills, Oneida County, New York, May 22, 1832, and there remained until 1844, when his parents moved to Osceola, Lewis County, in the same State. At that time the subject of this sketch was of the age of eleven years, which many thrifty people consider old enough for boys to earn their own living. A farm- er's boy of that age constitutes, if required, a very important " hand " upon the farm, and so valuable is he that he is too often forced to work, to the neglect of his scholastic training. Young Roberts constituted a
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THE WESTERN PART OF THE COUNTY.
farm hand until 1848, when he transferred his ener- gies to the towpath of the Erie Canal, as a driver of' horses in towing boats along that celebrated channel of commerce. Such a situation was usually regarded as most dangerous to the character of a boy, exposed, as he was, to a very rough element of mankind, and to many temptations in an exciting and busy life. The men who have risen to prominence from that position are evidences of the innate strength of character so many of the canal boys exhibited, notably the late President Garfield. After driving on the canal for two years, Mr. Roberts went to the city of New York, drove stage on the East Broadway fine until 1852, when he returned to Osceola and worked upon the farm until 1860. In January of that year he came to California and located at Omega, Nevada County. There he engaged in trade, establishing a mercantile house and carrying on a large business in general merchandise, mining supplies, etc. His business ex- tended over a large area, through the surrounding mining camps, for a distance of twenty miles, in all directions-packing his goods on mules and horses to the cabins and mines of his customers. This he con- tinued very profitably and energetically until 1869, when he sold out and moved to San Jose. In that growing city he bought largely of real estate. But the quiet lite of a real estate dealer did not satisfy his active business disposition, and he engaged in a wholesale and retail store of general merchandise, and, for a short time, also kept a hotel. The store and hotel he sold in 1874; then joining the " Lompoc Valley Land Company," he removed to Lompoc, Santa Barbara County, and became the Secretary of the company. Mr. Roberts has sold most of the land brought into market by that Association, and has also engaged largely in business, keeping a store of general merchandise, including drugs, dry and fancy goods, and a boot and shoe store. He has several farms, and raises fine horses and fine hogs. At pres- ent he is the agent for the sale of all the lands and property of the Lompoc and Mission Viejo Ranchos, for which he has an office in the town of Lompoc, where he transacts a great deal of business. In the neighborhood, he owns six hundred and sixty-one acres of land.
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