History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 94

Author: Mason, Jesse D; Thompson & West. 4n
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Oakland, Cal., Thompson & West
Number of Pages: 758

USA > California > Santa Barbara County > History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 94

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Mr. Wells, now a vigorous septuagenarian, resides upon his fiue farm, which is under the management of his nephew, Mr. James R. Bol, an enterprising young man, who has greatly improved the place and made of it a very profitable property.

Mr. Wells had married in May, 1842, Miss Cath- arine McPherson, of Schenectady, New York. This lady died in the spring of 1853, leaving him four children, two sons and two daughters. He was again married, in 1857, at Burlington, Iowa, and Mr. and Mrs. Wells now occupy the pleasant home near Saticoy, Ventura County, a view of which is given elsewhere is this volume.

BRIGGS' ORCHARD.

One of the most important events in the history of the rancho is the advent thereon in 1862, of Mr. Geo. G. Briggs, of Marysville, Yuba County. This gen- tleman, well known as the most enthusiastic, enter- prising and extensive orchardist in the State, con- ceived the idea that in the Santa Clara Valley he had discovered such a combination of soil and climatic conditions as would enable him to place his fruit in San Francisco some weeks in advance of all compet- itors, and thus secure the "cream of the market." To this end he purchased the rancho of the More Bros., paying therefor $40,000, on condition that the final confirmation of the title should give him four leagues, which it did. In March, 1862, he started a large nursery, and the next winter he planted 100 acres with several thousand fruit trees of various kinds. The site of the orchard was two miles up the river from the Indian town of Saticoy. It was care-

399

CENTRAL PORTION.

fully nurtured for five years, and was a success in every respect save that of early maturity; but failing in this the project was abandoned. Of 25,000 thrifty trees, but a few miserable stragglers now remain. Mr. N. W. Blanchard, who visited the valley in the spring of 1865, reported grass then as high as one's head and no cattle in sight. In 1867, Mr. Briggs subdivided the rancho and sold it in small farms to those wishing to make their homes there.

One of the earliest settlers upon the Santa Paula y Saticoy Rancho was J. L. Crane, a nephew of the orchardist, Geo. G. Briggs. He located upon the site of the present village of Saticoy in November, 1861. In the December following he brought his family down on the semi-monthly steamer, John T. Wright, running between San Francisco and San Diego.

SETTLERS IN 1867.

In 1867 the following settlers were to be found at work upon the Rancho: Dr. Millhouse in the Wheeler Canon, Col. Wade Hampton, in the Cañada Aliso, Mr. Montgomery, now of Los Angeles, Horatio Stone, Charles Millard, Edward Wright, Wm. Garden, Andrew J. Nutt, A. Gray, E. S. Woolley, and Wm. McCormick. Geo. Marston Richardson came to the county in 1867, and settled where he now is, on the river across from Santa Paula. Isaac Parsons moved in on February 16, 1868.

In 1869

MICHAEL FAGAN

Cast his lot with the good people of the Santa Clara Valley, after a career which was, indeed, a varied one. An illustration of the home in which he now enjoys his prime is published in this volume. It is situated two miles above Saticoy. Mr. Fagan is a native of Pennsylvania, having been born in the Keystone State on the 26th of August, 1840. When two years of age his parents removed to Illinois. While residing there he had the misfortune to lose his mother, who died in 1831. The following year the father, with the motherless children, came to California. The year had not passed ere the father, too, was taken, leaving the subject of this sketch an orphan at the age of twelve years, in a strange land, dependent upon his own resources for his livelihood and his future. Such a position appears most des- perate, and he who succeeds in life from that age without a parent's care and aid, or the interposition of kind friends, exhibits a stability of character of the highest order, and may well be styled a self- made man. Cast upon the world at this tender age, he sought some congenial and respectable employ- ment for support. This was in 1852, and he was in the mining region of Calaveras County, California. In such a locality, at that period, employment would readily be given a worthy lad, and Michael Fagan went to work as a miner. Strong and willing, he was able to do a good day's work, and thus he labored

for three years, when he went to San Joaquin County and engaged as a farmer. Neither the extrava- gancies of the times nor the temptations of the saloons, then so prevalent and so glaring, allured him from his honest course, and he continued to toil as a farmer until 1862, when, following the rush to the silver mines of Nevada, he became a miner in that Territory. At that time the great war between the North and South was raging, and as a consequence the price of cotton had risen some ten or fifteen times its former cost, and efforts were made to estab- lish cotton plantations in other countries. Such a plantation was undertaken on the western coast of Mexico, and laborers were sought to go to that country. In 1864 Mr. Fagan went to Mexico, and engaged in cotton-growing and merchandising; but that did not long continue, and he next sought Arizona as his field of operations. The land of the cactus and Apache had not sufficient attractions to detain him for more than one year, when his wan- derings again brought him to the San Joaquin Valley, in Stanislaus County, where he remained until 1869, thence going to San Joaquin County, where he en- gaged as a butcher The same year he removed to Ventura County, where his wandering footsteps have found rest, and where he has made his home. On the 9th of April, 1880, Mr. Fagan was married to Miss Hattie Tillotson, a native of New York.

OTHER SETTLERS.

William Evans settled on a 100-acre traet in the fall of 1869, from which time to the present he has kept a rain-gauge. He was followed the next year by his brothers, T. J. and James Evans. They began farming at once. Their first crop was barley. The harvested result was about 1,500 pounds to the acre, though the season was a dry one.

Alex. Gray has an orchard of 3,175 fruit trees of different varieties, which was planted in 1869. Hle makes the business a specialty, and enjoys a large measure of success.

The winter of 1871-72 is worthy of notice, as being a very severe one, in which much of the stock perished and the prosperity of the settlement received a severe check.

N. W. BLANCHARD,

Who is often mentioned in this volume, in connec- tion with the town of Santa Paula, was born in the town of Madison, Maine, in July, 1831, his father be- ing Merril Blanchard, of the old New E gland fam- ily of Blanchards, that has furnished so many invent- ors and machinists for the manufacturing institutions of that part of the Union. His mother's maiden name was Eunice Weston. This family name is not com- mon in New England, but is quite so in the older country from which the New England settlers emi- grated. Mr. Blanchard's young days were spent in the good old fashion of hard work on the farm in summer and studying the elementary books in the

400

HISTORY OF VENTURA COUNTY.

winter, in the common schools. In 1841 the parents removed to Woodstock, New Brunswick, where the family had the misfortune to lose the mother-a loss, indeed, to the young son, then only ten years of age. This sad misfortune seemed to break up all the plans of the family, for in two years after, they returned to Maine, settling in the town of Houlton, where he continued the old New England routine of alternate summer labor and winter schooling. When the Honl- ton Academy was instituted, in the autumn of 1847,

N. W. BLANCHARD.

he commenced the preparatory collegiate course, and in 1851 entered Waterville College, now called the Colby University, where he remained until the third or junior year, when a desire for a more active life induced him to leave and come to California. His first attempts at striking a fortune were made in the vicinity of Columbia, Tuolumne County, without much success, however, for we next find him engaged in the butchering or meat business at Iowa Hill; thence he went to Dutch Flat, where he remained until he went to Ventura County, in 1872, where he finally located, purchasing land and building up the property and town of Santa Paula. While in Placer County he was sent to the Legislature, being elected in 1861, and performing the duties to the satisfaction of his constituents. He spent the winter of 1863-64 in the East, and was happily married during the lat- ter year.

Mr. Blanchard has inherited the spirit of industry, as well as the serions cast of countenance, born of years of battle with the rough climate and still rougher soil, common to the people of New Eng- land-an impression likely to cease here in this land of plenty, in the next generation, for want of adverse circumstances to foster it.

He is devoted to business, which he pursues with untiring energy. He is exact and honorable in all his transactions, and gains the confidence of all with whom he comes in business relation.

He has a beautiful home overlooking the town of Santa Paula and vicinity, surrounded with orange and other semi-tropic fruit trees, a view of which is contained in this volume. An accomplished wife and a family of interesting children make his home attractive, and dispense an elegant and genial hospi- tality to their numerous friends and acquaintances.

In 1872 he moved into the valley and associated him- self with Mr. E. B. Higgins, who had purchased the orchard fro. George G. Briggs. He next bought out Mr. Higgins' half interest, and sold it to Mr. E. Bradley. Blanchard & Bradley at once began making exten- sive improvements. Fences were built which cut up the property in a manner calculated to attain the greatest utility. In 1874 they set out an orange orchard of 100 acres in the vicinity of Santa Paula. In the early times Santa Paula was the site of a mission. They had built a ditch in which to convey water for their use. Messrs. Blanchard & Bradley enlarged this, and by means of it secured water- power to operate their flouring-mill, which they built in 1872 and '73. The ditch is taken from the bed of the creek in the Santa Paula Canon, about two miles above the town, through which it passes, extending one mile beyond into their ranch. It supplies the town with water.

ORANGE ORCHARD.

The orange orchard of Mr. Blanchard is now a flattering testimonial to the enterprise and judgment of its projectors. It covers an area of ninety-five acres, and contains about 8,000 trees in a flourishing condition. For flavor and size its fruit compares favorably with any grown in the State. When any tree proves to be of an inferior sort, it is immediately ent back and grafted to the best varieties known. The soil seeming to possess some remarkable prop- erties, a sample was examined by Eugene W. Hil- gard, Professor of Agriculture in the University of California, at Berkeley. In a letter to Mr. Blanchard he writes :-

" That orange-orchard soil of yours proves of spe- cial interest, on account of its power of raising moist- ure from below, and easy tillage; in which respects, jointly, it seems to excel any I know of in the State."

In the report of the College of Agriculture to the Board of Regents, in 1880, the Professor says :-

" Light sediment soil, from Mr. Blanchard's orange orchard, on the first bench of the Santa Clara River Valley, at Santa Paula, Ventura County. Is remark- able for remaining moist within twenty inches of the surface, throughout the season, the water table being fifteen to twenty feet below the surface."

Mr. Blanchard has seven and a half acres in apri- cots. His home orchard contains all the common fruits, which it fully perfects. He has also 600 acres,

ORANGE ORCHARD, MILL & FARM BUILDINGS OF BLANCHARD & BRADLEY, SANTA PAULA, VENTURA CO. CALIFORNIA.

सु

FLOSS IN

JERSEY BELL BEN ROY

MAGGIE MEKÉE

JERSEY JACK

NORMAN FLORA

RESIDENCE & RANCH OF J. F CUMMINGS, SANTA PAULA, VENTURA CO. CAL.

401

CENTRAL PORTION.

which he farms, of which 175 acres are in alfalfa. Ife is also interested in stock-raising.

In 1874 the valley gained one of its most progres- sive settlers, in the person of James A. Day, who bought a fine property below Saticoy. IIere he planted an orchard in 1875, which became a great success. Mr. Finney moved in and set out an orchard in 1876. These two gentlemen are amongst the few fruit specialists of the valley.

JAMES A. DAY'S PLACE.

While traveling from San Buenaventura to Saticoy, one is forcibly struck with the appearance of a fruit farm, about six miles from the former and two miles from the latter place. No garden was ever more care- fully tilled; no nursery ever presented to the sight clearer, brighter or thriftier fruit trees. The dark, sandy loam forms an extensive bed, as level as a floor, upon which the trim and tidy foliage casts its beautiful silhouettes of stem, branches, twigs and leaves.

As might be expected from such thorough culture, the orchard is resplendent with great harvests of golden apricots, rosy-cheeked, bouncing apples, bright, yellow limes, lemons and oranges.

Water for domestic use was peddled out by the barrel when he came into the valley. He started a well, and after due ridicule for his trouble, he suc- ceeded in getting a supply of good water.

Undaunted by the disaster th it overcame Brigg's orchard venture, Mr. Duty has eighty acres set with 8,000 fruit trees of various kinds. Amongst these are 2,000 apricot trees, 1,500 apple trees, 500 lemon trees, 500 lime trees, 500 orange trees and 1,000 walnut trees. Many of these are seven years old; some but two. The orchard is a complete snc- cess except as to oranges, which, although sweet, are small. Many of the apricot trees three years from the bud are bearing heavily, while those of six and seven years are yielding sometimes 200 and 300 pounds to the tree. There are also a number of loquots, guavas and Japanese persimmons, all of which reach full maturity. Mr. Day sends but little fresh fruit to market, but has the most perfect appa- ratus to be found for converting it into other market- able products. He has three Plummer dryers-two of medium and one of large size. He has a distillery that produces fruit brandy which rivals the far-famed Otard and Cognac of France. Mr. Day was one of the first to demonstrate not only the ability of the country to raise fruit, but also the possibility of mak- ing the business profitable. Whatever he touches seems to turn to gold; or, to state it more exactly, realizing that knowledge is power, he gathers all the data available to his business, and, by a wise judg- ment, adapts what he has saved to his peculiar cir- cumstances, and adds to all originality and invention, and a keen knowledge of character and the ways of the world.

Ife has recently planted to fruit trees another tract a mile or two from his home, which bids fair to rival the older orchard. Mr. Day has also a town residence for the benefit of his family when attending school or church.

An illustration of his homestead buildings accom- panies this volume.

In person Mr. Day is unpretending, genial and hospitable; indeed a visitor must plead hard to be exensed from partaking of all that his place affords.

G. W. FAULKNER

Located in this valley in 1876. On another page are illustrated his residence and surroundings, situated on the stage road leading from the town of .San Buenaventura, or Ventura, as it is commonly abrevi- ated. to Santa Paula. three and a half miles from the latter place. The farm consists of 150 acres of some of the finest land in the county, well improved and equipped in the style of a careful and prosperous farmer. The owner of this fine estate is a native of Ohio, boru August 16, 1846, in Richland County, where he resided until thirty years of age, when, in the centennial year of American Independence, he migrated to the Pacific Coast, purchasing the home he now occupies in pleasant Ventura County, where he has since resided. The change from the Buck- eye to the Golden State has been an agreeable one for Mr. Faulkner, as here he has found a milder and still as invigorating climate as on the borders of Lake Erie, while all the fruits of the semi-tropics grow in profusion around him. Here health and abundance abound, and a happy future awaits the prosperous farmer. Mr. Faulkner was married in 1875 to Miss Roda S. Seymour, daughter of Rev. S. D. Seymour, of the North Ohio Conference, and they have two children to share their comfortable home.

PORK-RAISING.

In 1881 many of the farmers satisfactorily inaugu- rated a new departure in the marketing of their wheat and barley crops. They converted their grain into pork, a transaction likely to be repeated when the price of grain is low and that of pork high. Forty thousand dollars was realized in 1880 from the sale of hogs raised in the vicinity of Santa Paula, and this amount was doubled in 1881.

The original rancho is now owned mostly by small farmers, and sustains a large and enterprising popu- lation, who have builded for themselves churches, schools, and such other institutions as are demanded by a prosperous and intelligent community. As typical of the elass of settlers in this vicinity, some particular mention should be made of

JOHN F. CUMMINGS.

This sturdy representative of the disciples of Ceres was born, September 19, 1835, near Mansfield, the chief town of Richland County, Ohio. In that pros-

402

HISTORY OF VENTURA COUNTY.

perous State and among that thrifty people he grew to maturity, receiving his education in the graded schools of the highest class, for which Ohio is distinguished. When of sufficient age, he entered the field as a farmer, and became familiar with the varied classes of labor, mechanisms, stoek handling and business required on a farm in one of the Northern States. With such an education and such an experience, the intelligent American farmer is well qualified for any position in life, and to enter the world to compete for its prizes in labor, trade, manufactures or polities. At the age of twenty-five Mr. Cummings left his native State to seek a new home on the shores of the Pacific, taking the route via the Isthmus of Panama. His first place of busi- ness in California was at Marysville, Ynba County, in which vicinity he engaged in farming, remaining there for five years. From Yuba he moved to Sutter County, and there continued farming until 1868, when he returned to Ohio on a visit to his old home and friends, after an absence of eight years. At the end of six months Mr. Cummings was again in California. On his return he located on a farm on Honcut Creek, Butte County, where he remained four years, when he removed to Ven- tura County, where he has resided since 1872, four miles west of Santa Paula. His farm comprises 150 acres of choice land, and is under a high state of improvement. A view of the home and its sur- roundings, published in this volume, aids in illus- trating the scenery and the improvements of that section. This thorough-going farmer has shown great enterprise and judgment in introdneing the highest breeds and most valuable classes of stock. He has some of the finest Jerseys among his cattle, and his swine are of the purest Berkshire and China-Poland blood found in the State.

Mr. Cummings was married, September 22, 1880, to Miss Georgie Sweney, a native of Long Island, New York, but more recently of Oakland, California.

TOWNS.

The rancho boasts two towns, Satieoy at its lower, and Santa Paula at its upper end. The set- tlement is famous for its fine farms, thoroughly cul- tivated, handsome groves of trees, and its eulture of flax, corn, fruits and flowers. The busy hum of industry tells its own tale to the visitor in the rich luxuriance of its crops, of its orehards and of its gardens. Everywhere are seen temperate and semi- tropie fruits and flowers, in orchard, garden and yard, making attractive, pleasant and valuable homes. Rosy, healthy children, playing among the flowers no fairer than they, make a picture of rural loveli- ness never excelled. The land has a warm exposure, sloping south and eastward, and affords a fine view of the sea and islands. It is peculiarly well adapted to the successful growing of all the semi-tropical fruits, as well as those of hardier climes. The climate

is warm, breezy, bracing, and usually free from the extremes of heat and cold.

THE FARMERS' CANAL

Has a flow of 400 inehes, and extends from a point two and a half miles above Santa Paula to a point six miles below. There are two or three other minor ditches. Water for irrigation is plentiful, and thou- sands of aeres of land, especially along the foot-hills are lying athirst for the blessed moisture that shall call their latent wealth into existence. It is stated that several parties near Santa Paula, who have large ranches, contemplate cutting them into small tracts for fruit farms and residenees. The land below the ditch is expected to range from $35.00 to $50.00 per acre, in ten or twenty-acre tracts.

Among the foremost farmers in the Santa Clara, mention must be made of

CHRISMAN & WILLOUGHBY,

Who are cultivating nearly a thousand acres of the fine land near Satieoy. Thorough-bred horses and cattle are specialties, though other kinds of stock are not neglected. The farm buildings are large and commodious. The orchard, that source of comfort and means of hospitality has not been forgotten. A grove of eucalyptus protects the buildings and orehard from the strong ocean breeze, and the orehard flourishes and yields bountifully.

G. W. Chrisman, the senior partner, is a native of Missouri, coming to the State in 1850, and to Ven- tura in 1869. When Mr. Chrisman ean be induced to relate his experience here in early days he can tell some interesting things. Enough incidents might be gathered out of his recollections to stock a half- dozen sensation novels.

He has a residence for his family in Ventura, where his family can have the benefits of the churches, schools and society of that town. A view of bis town residence and also of his farm is given in this volume.

GOOD FARMERS.

T. J. James and Wm. Evans may be mentioned as good farmers. On their land, corn has produced 3,400 pounds to the acre; flax, 2,200 pounds, and wheat, 3,000 pounds.

Mr. Jacob Reis owns the place once belonging to Mr. Montgomery, from whom he bought it. Mr. Reis states that grizzly bears used to come and drink from the river near his house.

Mr. Richards, at Saticoy, planted 1,000 aeres to canary seed in 1880. The profit from this crop is estimated to be ten times that of barley, and the labor much less. One thousand eight hundred pounds to the acre is stated to be an average crop.

Numerous examples of a happy home and a com- fortable competence, achieved simply by industry, sobriety and economy, are afforded the rising gen- eration in this valley. The career of -

RANCH OF CHRISMAN & WILLOUGHBY, NEAR SATICOY, VENTURA CO. CAL.

RESIDENCE & RANCH OF M. D. L. TODD, SANTA PAULA, VENTURA CO. CAL.

403

CENTRAL PORTION.

M. D. L. TODD

Illustrates this idea. He was born in Chautauqua County, New York, February 13, 1837, and remained in his native State until he had reached the age of seventeen, attending the common schools of the country, and receiving that other education of prac- tical life which has enabled him to overcome the obstacles in the path of unaided youth, and to achieve the success of a prosperous and contented manhood. In a farming country and as a farmer's boy, he grew up inured to toil and familiar with farm work. At the age of seventeen he removed to the Territory of Nebraska, then so fully and freely advertised by the discussions in Congress, and through the press of the Kansas-Nebraska imbroglio over the question of the admission of slavery into the Territories. In Ne- braska Mr. Todd engaged as a farmer, and contin- ued in that employment for nearly five years, when, in the fall of 1858, he returned on a visit to his native State. Tarrying at his old home but through the winter, in the spring of 1859 he again turned his course westward.

In 1859, the journey to California across the plains was still by the tedious ox and mule conveyance, though settlements then stretched far out into Ne- braska, along the valley of the Platte, which had been so wild and unknown to the pioneers of ten years before. Salt Lake also furnished a resting place, although rather a dangerous one to those who too freely expressed an opinion of the peculiar insti- tution of the "saints." Farther west, also, settlements existed in Carson Valley; and thus the route was relieved of a part of its loneliness and dangers. Mr. Todd made the journey in safety, locating in Sutter County on his arrival. He obtained employment as a farmer, and continued his engagement for three years. After this period of experience, he purchased a farm of his own, in the winter of 1862-63, which he held and cultivated until 1869, when he sold it and removed to his present location.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 94

Author: Mason, Jesse D; Thompson & West. 4n Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Oakland, Cal., Thompson & West Number of Pages: 758

Author: Mason, Jesse D; Thompson & West. 4n
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Oakland, Cal., Thompson & West
Number of Pages: 758