History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 97

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

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The Ojai Grange was organized March 19, 1874, with C. E. Soule, M .; J. M. Charles, O .; G. T. Grow, L .; Theodore Todd, S .; F. M. White, A. S .; I. N. Jones, C .; Robert Ayers, T .; James Hobart, Seere- tary; George L. Walters, G. K .; Mrs. Georgie Jones, Ceres; Mrs. M. H. McKee, Pomona; Mrs. Adeline Soule, Flora; and Mrs. M. E. Jones, L. A. S.

SCHOOLS.

In 1875 the Ojai School District was divided into two, known as the Ojai and the Nordhoff Districts.

F. S. S. Buekman, of the Ojai, was County Superin- tendent of Schools from 1872 for five years. He has a pretty ranch, upon which he has a large patch of strawberries and 1,000 orange trees, and to which he proposes adding 200 aeres of grapevines.

The settlement of the valleys has been most rapid, and now all arable land is eut up into small farms. At one time the Lower Ojai had not half-a-dozen inhabitants; four years later it had nearly a hundred, forming an enterprising and intelligent community such as is seldom seen.

QUALITY OF THE SOIL.

The fertility of the soil is hardly exceeded any- where in the State. In the Ojai the wheat crop reaches its maximum of quality and quantity. The traveler along the roads in all directions sees wheat, wheat everywhere; growing, too, under forests. This is the way it grows around Nordhoff, where the trees appear to be just far enough apart to let in

the sunshine sufficiently to keep an even growth of grain. A field of 300 acres in wheat, that was almost ripe the first day of June, 1880, averaged four and a half feet high; and this was only a sample of thousands of broad aeres growing in and around this land of cereals. The Proper and the White Australian wheats are the varieties mostly sown No irrigation is needed, or, at least, used, for the small grain crops. Artesian water is obtained at Nordhoff, but does not rise much above the surface. The land is extremely fertile, not only in the valleys but everywhere. On the hills all the usual northern farm erops thrive remarkably-the vine, the fig, and in fact all the semi-tropieal fruits and flora. In the Upper Ojai apricot-drying gives occupation to sev- eral dryers, which turn out a superior quality of fruit. This valley is peculiarly adapted to apricot culture. No richer, brighter fruit was ever put upon the market than that of Captain Robinson. He has fourteen acres of fruit trees on the Upper Ojai, which area he intends to double. He also has fourteen aeres of fruit on his other place in the Lower Ojai, where most of his property is situated. Captain Robinson's place is 350 feet higher than Mr. McKee's, and ranges from 1,000 to 1,200 feet above the sea.

AS A SANITARIUM.

But great as are the agricultural and fruit re_ sources of the Ojai, they are secondary to its value considered as a pleasure and a health resort. It is to these considerations that its great and ever- extending fame is due, and which will soon make its reputation not only national but world-wide. Asthma, that most distressing and tenacious enemy of man's health and happiness, speedily takes to itself wings and flies away from a elimate of such character. An apt case to the point is furnished in the eareer of

JOSEPH HOBART,

Of Nordhoff, one of the most estimable residents of the valley. Mr. Hobart traces his ancestry through the earliest Pilgrim Fathers of New England to their former homes in the "fast-anchored isle," being a deseendant of Rev. Peter Hobart, who came from the town of Hingham, England, in 1633, and settled at Hingham, Massachusetts, where he served as min- ister in the first church ever built in the English colonies of America. To such an aneestry all New England's sons refer with pride, as from that stal- wart, brave, and liberty-loving body came the thoughts and principles now erystallized in our Re- publiean institutions, and which are destined to dom- inate the world. Joseph Hobart was born at Abing- ton, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, December 3, 1831, his parents being Benjamin and Deborah (Lazelle) Hobart. The father was born October 24, 1781, graduated at Brown University, in the elass of 1804, and died in 1876; the mother was born in 1796,

RESIDENCE OF J. HOBART, UPPER OJAI VALLEY, VENTURA CO. CAL.

RESIDENCE & RANCH OF JOHN MCKENNA, SANTA PAULA, VENTURA CO. CAL.

OJAI VALLEY HOUSE

OJAI VALLEY HOUSE FRANK P. BARROWS PROP. NOROHOFF OJAI VALLEY VENTURA CO. CAL.

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WESTERN PART OF THE COUNTY.

and is still living, proofs of a long-lived and vigorous race. Mr. Hobart, however, has not been entirely exempt from the ills that flesh is heir to, as from early youth he has been afflicted with that dreaded com- plaint, the asthma. While attending the Phillips Acad- emy, in Exeter, New Hampshire, he was so troubled with the asthma that he concluded to leave school, and take a voyage to sea. Returning from his first voy- age, he learned of the discovery of gold in Califor- nia, and for a second voyage he sailed for the golden land, leaving Boston on the 17th of July, 1849, doub- ling the stormy cape, and arriving in San Francisco, January 14, 1850, a youthful pioneer of the new State upon the Pacific Coast. Following the example of others, he first sought the mining region, going to the mines on the Middle and South Forks of the American River. At this toilsome vocation he con- tinned for six months, and then engaged in other business. In 1852 he returned to his home in Massa- chusetts, and engaged in business in Boston, where he remained until 1856, when he again sought the Pacific Coast, and in the mercantile house of Hobart Bros. & Co., engaged in the boot and shoe trade. The establishment was located on California Street, between Battery and Front, San Francisco. In this he remained until 1864, making frequent journeys to the East, in connection with his business. In 1864 he went East with the intention of remaining, resid- ing in the cities of Boston, New York, and Philadel- phia. His asthmatic affection rendered life uncom- fortable, notwithstanding all the luxuries and pleas- ures the great cities of the East afforded, and he decided to again make the Pacific Coast his home. While in San Francisco he had been comparatively free from his complaint, and he designed making the city his permanent home. With the expectation of meeting relief, he left New York January 1, 1871, and arrived in San Francisco on the 8th of June of that year. This time, however, he was disappointed in the expected effect. The climate that had been so kind to him in former years now denied him comfort and threatened his life. Within a few hours after his return, he was attacked by the dreaded asthma, and for three weeks could not lie down. As soon as he was able, he took the steamer for Santa Barbara, and Was soon breathing freely again. Tarrying six weeks in Santa Barbara, he felt so far recovered as to ven- ture to return to San Francisco, where he immedi- ately met his old enemy, the asthma, which kept him elose company while in the city of winds and fogs. This admonished him that only in the mild clime of the southern coast could permanent relief be found, and there he determined, directed by the bright promise of comfort and prosperity, as well as by necessity, to make his future home. Returning to Santa Barbara September 1, 1871, he remained there for about one year. when he purchased of W. S. McKee, the rancho Viejo, in the Upper Ojai Valley, comprising 442 acres. There he has since resided, and been entirely exempt from his long

affliction. Mr. Hobart's fine rancho is devoted to the production of wheat, fruit, and stock, filling every requirement of its enterprising and energetic owner.

Mr. Hobart was married in Philadelphia, Jannary 16, 1862, to Miss Elizabeth Hutchinson, a lady of English and Scotch descent, who, for many years, has shared his joys and solaced his woes. She occupies the front rank in society. Mr. II. has always taken a warm interest in public affairs and social orders, being for two years Master of the Ojai Grange of Patrons of Husbandry. Ile is also a member of the Order of Free and Accepted Masons.

The Swedenborgian philosophy of religion is the faith he accepts. In his early San Francisco life he was a member of the " City Guard," a military organ- ization of the peaceful period, so gallantly toasted by Phoenix, as " Invincible in peace; invisible in war." But the military of 1859 were not without their spirited contests, as the records of the best restau- rants of that day attest, conviviality and social pleasures being more the object of the plumed and belted warriors, than the shedding of fraternal blood. In politics he is a staunch Republican, impelled by ancestral blood to advocate freedom to all, and con- tinual progress in the development of society. With his extensive business operations, and while in pur- suit of health, Mr. Hobart has been quite a tr veler, making the journey to Europe in 1848, and again in 1865. In 1849 he came around the Horn, and has crossed the Isthmus of Panama fourteen t'mes in his journeys between San Francisco and New York. In 1862 he took the overland route by stage through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Missouri to St. Louis, returning by the Pacific Railroad in 1871.

After such an active life, contentment and happi- ness may well be found in the healthful and equable climate of Ventura County. His pleasant home is illustrated in this volume.

ROADS TO THE OJAI.

The road from San Buenaventura leaves nothing to be desired, being a nearly uniform ascending grade of about sixty feet to the mile, smooth all the way. From the county seat it follows the San Buenaven- tura River, until the eastern tributary. formed by the union above of the two Ojai creeks, is reached, into which it turns. The canon thus reached is one of the most charming that ever delighted the eye and refreshed the soul of a weary traveler. The road winds gracefully through it, now under some high bank fringed with giant sycamores from the lofty branches of which the wild grapevine droops into natural bowers, flecking the smooth way with deli- cate shadows, Nature's own inimitable tracery-now opening out into some dainty dell where nestles the neat, trim home of some contented granger, who looks ont in rain or shine upon his growing wealth of maturing grain with quiet satisfaction. The road crosses and re-crosses a clear, sparkling, pebbly-bot- tomed trout stream a dozen times or more in the four

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HISTORY OF VENTURA COUNTY.

miles, more or less, that it covers before reaching Lion Canon, the outlet of the Upper Ojai Valley. Continuing up the left-hand branch, the Lower Ojai Valley all at once bursts upon the gaze with all its bowildering loveliness. In the lower part of the valley, at its point of greatest breadth, half hidden in the thickest clusters of oaks is the village of

NORDHOFF,

Named after the well-known New York Tribune correspondent, and author of "California," Chas Nordhoff. It is already a famous resort of the pleas- ure-seeker and invalid, and even without the attrac- tion of its unequalled climate, would charm by its beauty, freshness, and repose. Perched a thousand feet above the sea, this spot has the first and most important elements of a resort: remoteness from cities, landscape beauty, and a delicious atmosphere. Add to these, for the pleasure-seeker, a refined neigh- borhood and the presence here, for many months yearly, of the most agreeable society; and for the invalid suffering from nervous and pulmonary com- plaints, heart disease, or asthma, the mild, balmy, and soothing properties of the climate, and the fame of the place will be explained. The sea breeze, by its journey across mountains and hills, is so tempered that it is mild and stimulating; soothing without enervation, and in the winter, warm without being too hot.

Though delightful at all seasons of the year, Nord- hoff is essentially a winter resort. It is then that the local accommodations are taxed to their utmost by those seeking to escape the greater rigor of that sea- son in central and northern California. Here, in a region of almost incomparable wealth of beauty, of situation, and of vegetation, where modern civiliza- tion has commenced to blossom so symmetrically, in a climate where exercise is delight, where sleep is a revelation, and where appetite finds wholesome stim- ulus to eat abundant food, life becomes an enjoyment all at once. The valley of the Ojai is free from ex- cessive wind, cloudiness, and dust. The average annual rain-fall is about fifteen inches. Not only is this valley attractive for its climate, its productions, and its scenery, but the sportsman finds large and small game in its mountains, and fine fish in the waters of Matilija Cañon. In brief, the claims of the unsurpassed valley of the Ojai upon the tourist and invalid, challenge comparison with any place in the wide world, and are great inducements that must start into irresistible movement hitherward, those who would seek relaxation far away from the glare of the great citics, and those who would find a true fountain of health.

The " Ojai Valley House," kept by . Frank P. Bar- rows and "Glen Cottage," kept by W. S. McKee, and a number of cosy cottages are open for visitors, whose proprietors aim to make their guests at home, and by so doing, induce the same people to return to them year after year.

FRANK P. BARROWS

Is a native of Massachusetts, coming to this State in 1874, and to the Ojai in 1879. He is the popular landlord of the " Ojai Valley House," situated in the delightful hamlet of Nordhoff, described in an adjoin- ing article. The house contains about twenty-five rooms, situated so as to have the largest amount of sunshine. The remarks made about the Glen Cot- tage will apply nearly as well here, because the ad- joining town is not large enough to interfere mate- rially with one's comfort. Quiet comfort characterizes everything about the place. In the winter season the house is taxed to its utmost, but pleasant rooms can be obtained in the town adjoining. When the sanitary influences of the Ojai Valley are duly appre- ciated, larger hotels will be required.

PRIVATE HOUSES.

Aside from these hotels the town contains a store and post-office, a brick school house, and fifteen or twenty dwellings. Divine service is regularly held.

Nordhoff was laid out in 1874, by R. G. Surdam, of San Buenaventura. The " Home" for invalids was then opened, by A. W. Blumberg, who sold out to F. P. Barrows in 1879, who changed the name to " Ojai Valley House." Nordhoff is fifteen miles from San Buenaventura, with which it is connected by a daily stage and mail. A stage runs to Santa Barbara viu Casitas Pass, one day, and returns the next, distance about thirty miles.

Continuing on his way beyond Nordhoff, the trav- eler, at the end of four miles, comes suddenly to a tolerably steep ascent, which, followed for nearly a mile, brings him to the lower end of the upper val- ley, 600 feet above the lower valley, and 1,600 feet above the sea,-a basin-like valley, with its bounds rising in acclivities to the feet of its inclosing hills, and separated from the main Ojai Valley by a ridge with a scattering growth of live-oaks upon it. Noth- ing could be more charming than the landscape as it first salutos the eye of the visitor. There is but little timber, and so thousands of acres of golden grain, dotted with thriving orchards, cover the entire basin, reaching far up the sides of the hills. Agri- culture and fruit-raising are the only industries. The fences, buildings, and all the improvements in the entire valley are neat, comfortable, and substantial. The buildings are of a modern style of architecture, neatly painted and beautifully surrounded. There is no hap-hazard, shoddy work. There are in the valley about forty families, mostly in easy circumstances. It may be said of both the upper and lower valleys, that, as is always the case with an industrious people farming its own rich land, this whole agricultural community is in a very prosperous condition, and individuals of more than comfortable wealth are by no means rare. There is an air of comfort and cheer- fulness about their homes, and, notably, a great profu- sion of flowers, fine orchards, and shade trees. Com-

View of the valley from the house.

RESIDENCE & RANCH OF H. J. DENNISON, UPPER OJAI VALLEY, VENTURA CO. CAL.

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WESTERN PART OF THE COUNTY.

modious home-like mansions, looking into pleasant blooming gardens, are dotted over the landscape. One of the most attractive of these homes is the one owned by

HENRY J. DENNISON.

The indomitable energy which achieves success unaided by inheritance, the assistance of friends, or fortuitous circumstances, commands the attention and respect of the best of mankind. . Still more commend- able is the career of him who has gained success through labors of benefit to fellow-creatures, or at the risk of life in defense of the common country. Such has been the career of Henry J. Dennison, who first saw the light on the 9th of February, 1833, in Guernsey County, Ohio. The progenitors of this gentleman were Elias and Naney (Jackson) Denni- son, the mother being deceased, and the father now dwelling with his son, at his splendid home in the Upper Ojai Valley. Possessing the laudable ambi- tion of a worthy American youth. young Dennison sought an education in the public schools of his na- tive State, completing his school education at the Manual Labor University of Athens County, Ohio. With a good education and high resolutions he entered upon the duties of active life. In 1855, when twenty-two years of age. he commenced teaching school in his native State, and remained thus engaged for six years. He then made a journey to Texas, from which State he removed to Iowa, and resumed the practice of his profession, teaching both in Iowa and Missouri. During this period he also became the owner and tiller of a farm, bordering on the dividing line between the two States. There he remained until 1871, a period of ten years. On March 21, 1861, Mr. Dennison married Miss Margaret Rapp, a native of Laurence County, Ohio. The War of the Rebellion called him to the field in defense of the Union. He joined the Missouri Volunteers, and was assigned to the duty of guarding the railroads of that State. This was an arduous service, and full of danger, although it did not take him to the front of battle, where the great armies marched, and where glory was won.

In 1871, Mr. Dennison and family removed to Cali- fornia, settling upon his present home in the Upper Ojai Valley, where he is the happy owner of 1,000 acres of excellent land. Here his chief business has been farming and stock-raising. He taught in the publie school during one winter of hisresidence in the county. Politically, Mr. Dennison acts with the Re- publiean party, and is never backward in letting his sentiments be known. As a publie man and a farmer, he takes an active interest in the society of Patrons of Husbandry, commonly known as the Grangers, of which he is a worthy member. His character and sense of refinement is well shown in the elegant home which he has established in the midst of his broad aeres. This residence is classed as one of the

handsomest of Ventura County, and is illustrated in this volume.

VIEWS NEAR THE UPPER OJAI.

Standing on the flower-bespangled ridge of low hills that separate the two valleys, the lover of nat- ural scenery has spread before him a feast worthy of the appreciative mind of Thorean, the glowing pen of Seott, and the magie brush of Bierstadt. To the south, a lofty range of hills, with here and there a dip, spur, and angle, descends to the San Buenaven- tura Valley. To the west, and in the immediate fore- ground, lies the lower valley, with its wealth of foli- age, and nothing to mar its peaceful beauty. Nearer, beneath the trees that stoop to kiss their shadows in the stream below, glimpses are caught of San Antonio Creek and beyond, where fields are shining through the open forest. Looking further west, the high hills of the coast join those of San Miguelito, which turn toward the south, following the course of the Ventura River, and coming boldly up to the sea, shut off the wind and fog of Santa Barbara Chan- nel. Nature® has thus placed a barricade before her lovely valleys of the Ojai, which she keeps sacred to herself, holding them in her rough but cherishing mountain arms.

To the north rise the high Santa Barbara Mount- ains, prolonged in a serried succession of curving crests, bare on their summits, but covered with pine forests on their northern slopes; while farther west the line is broken by the Ventura River, which has torn its broad way through them. and filled its valley with rich deposit. Beyond the winding river and fruitful valley are Topa-Topa Peaks, standing in bold relief and keeping eternal watch over all this loveliness at their feet.

POETRY.

The Ojai is the natural home of the poet. Where so much poetry exists in every environing object, springs from the soil in countless forms of beauty, and breathes in the balmy, incense-laden zephyr, poesy becomes a second nature. As exemplifying this idea, a portion of a poem on the Ojai, written by John Montgomery of Nordhoff, is given. Its length unfortunately prohibits its full publieation, but a short extract will show forth its merits. The opening lines of the epic relate the troubles of imperial Jove in dealing with applications for the contract of ferrying across the Styx and carrying the mails to the yon shore :-

"The mail-bags celestial with letters are crammed, Begging contracts to ferry the souls of the damned 'Cross the dark River Styx."

Diana is pictured as wailing and sobbing because of the destruction of her beloved forests. Jove, who has always been a devoted admirer of Diana, notwith- standing her persistent refusals to yield to his amorous desires, wishing to console her, gives her a

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HISTORY OF VENTURA COUNTY.

home more charming than any that gods or god- desses had yet seen :-

"But Jove, all serene, to the goddess replied:

'For thy future, my danghter, the gods will provide; In ages long distant, thy wrongs we foresaw, And man's disregard for thy rights and our law. We decreed that for thee a retreat should be found, A bright spot of beauty, where joy shall abound, A health-given Eden, by soft winds caressed, In sunshine and shadow, alternately blessed; That mountains to circle the spot should be found, High, rugged and · teep, to stand guardian around, With forests so dense that the moon's silver ray Scarce kissed the moss through the leaves in its play. That sweet, smiling valley is thine, oh! my child; Go! Guard its green forests and mountains so wild'- *

* * *

* *

He said; and the goddess, in joy from on high, Took her flight to the valley we call the Ojal."

According to the author, Jove continued his atten- tions to Diana, promising to visit her often at the set- ting of the sun, the most witching and dangerous hour for gods or mortals susceptible to the fascina- tions of beauty. As Jove promised to visit her fre- quently, it may be presumed that the Ojai is not far away from the regions celestial.

JOHN MONTGOMERY,

Author of the above poem. and one of the large land- holders of the Ojai Valley, is a native of England, born in Liverpool, January 1, 1834. His parents, now. deceased, were Thomas and Ellen (Morton) Mont- gomery, and were of Scotch or North Ireland de- scent. The life of Mr. Montgomery has been one of travel, study, enterprise and adventure. When but eleven years of age, he left England for France, where he obtained his edueation, attending several schools and colleges in that country, until sixteen years of age. Thus acquiring a thorough education and a knowledge of languages, he was well fitted to travel or engage in business in the various civilized countries of the world. After finishing his education, he spent three years in traveling through Europe and the United States, and at the age of twenty, found himself in Texas, thence removing to Mexico, settling in 1854 at Monterey, in the State of Nuevo Leon. There he engaged in business, chiefly dealing in cotton goods and other merchandise, and there he spent many years of his life, remaining until 1873. On the 21st of August, 1863. he was married to Jacobita Tejerina de la Fuente, a native of Mexico. This lady is of illustrious family, her grand unele be- ing Lieineiado de la Fuente, the author of the Con- stitution of the Republic of Mexico. The many years spent in Mexico eovered an eventful period in the history of that country, as well as in our own United States. This period embraced the years of the allied invasion; the French conquest of the Capital; the ephemeral empire of Maxmillian, and the restoration of the Republie upon a more solid basis than before. These many changes were witnessed by Mr. Mont- gomery: who always took great interest in public affairs.

Owing to the impaired state of health of Mrs.

Montgomery, he decided to seek the genial climate by the shore of the Pacific, and in 1873, moved to Santa Barbara, the Mecca of invalids. The following year, he located in the Ojai Valley, upon a fine farm of seventy-five acres, adjoining the town of Nordhoff. This is the home place of Mr. Montgomery, and is well improved, but he owns three other farms in the Ojai, aggregating 1,100 acres of land.

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History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 97

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