USA > California > Kings County > History of Tulare and Kings counties, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the counties who have been identified with their growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 30
USA > California > Tulare County > History of Tulare and Kings counties, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the counties who have been identified with their growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 30
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On February 28, 1882, Mr. Dodge was united in marriage, at Parkersburg, Iowa, to Miss May F. Davis, a native of Maine. 1 danghter was born to them in Parkersburg, and in 1887 they moved to Hanford, Cal., where they purchased five acres of land on the edge of what was then the town limits. Here they erected a cottage, 18
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and Mr. Dodge entered the office of the Hanford Sentinel, which was established by David and Frank L. Dodge in February, 1886. Sub- sequently he purchased the half interest of David Dodge, and the firm of Dodge Brothers continued to publish the Sentinel until 1897, when Frank L. sold out his interest to J. E. Richmond. The firm name was then changed to Dodge & Richmond, since which time Fred A. Dodge has been the editor and Mr. Richmond the business manager of the paper.
Mr. and Mrs. Dodge are the parents of two children, born in Hanford, George Raymond, born February 3, 1891, and Florence Mildred, born November 16, 1895. ,
Mr. Dodge has for more than thirty years been in the harness of a newspaper man, most of the time engaged at editorial work. While he has served many terms on boards of education, boards of library work, and on business and commercial committees, he has never sought political office.
FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF LEMOORE
That strong financial institution, the First National Bank of Lemoore, the policy of which from the first has been to extend to the business community all accommodations consistent with sound banking and which has been a potent factor in the upbuilding and development of Lemoore and its tributary territory, was organized June 9, 1905, and began business in July following. Its original capital stock was $25,000, all paid up. The first officers and direc- tors were: B. K. Sweetland, president; Stiles MeLaughlin, vice- president ; F. J. P. Cockran, cashier; E. G. Sellers, C. H. Bailey, John Trimble and E. P. May. In February, 1912, its capital stock was increased to $50,000. The bank has erected a fine two-story building, covering a ground space of seventy-five by one hundred feet, at Fox and D streets. It is a modern brick structure, contain- ing fine banking offices and the best facilities for the keeping of cash and valuable securities. It is the belief of the bank officials and of the general public that this banking establishment is as nearly fireproof and burglar-proof as it is possible to make it.
The First National Bank of Lemoore has from the day of its opening steadily grown in the confidence of the business community of the city and surrounding country, and numbers among its de- positors many of the wealthiest and most important business men and citizens of that part of the county. The following are the names of its present officers and directors: C. H. Bailey, president; E. G. Sellers, vice-president; W. E. Dingley, cashier; G. B. Chinn, Stiles MeLanghlin. L. S. Step, and J. K. Trimble.
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VISALIA PLUMBING AND SHEET METAL COMPANY
To be successful in the field of mechanics a man must neces- sarily possess thorough training in the science which he attempts to represent. The world of today demands skill in every line of labor, and the man who is not prepared to compete with his expert neighbor is beaten ere the fight begins. Apropos of the above subject, Visalia is godmother to a plumbing and heating company of which she is justly proud, and, having helped to maintain its popularity, feels that she has a share in its success and growth. The most difficult points in the work of installing heating and plumbing apparatus, the erection of windmills, tanks and troughs, etc., are accomplished by the Visalia Plumbing and Sheet Metal Company with the greatest skill and ease, as may be attested by the many citizens who have been fortunate enough to secure their services.
Visitors to the showrooms of the Visalia Plumbing and Heating Company feel well repaid for their trip, for there are displayed many models of the most up-to-date appliances for toilets, bathrooms, furnaces, etc., and they are conceded to have the finest and most up-to-date showroom of that character in any town between Fresno and Bakersfield. This business was started about five years ago in the Odd Fellows and Masons building on Church street opposite the court house. Their fine sheet metal work is not the least of their accomplishments, as countless illustrations may testify. The mechanics whom they employ are the best that can be secured, and as they guarantee every detail of their work they have given general satisfaction. The business has grown rapidly and now its annual output amounts to $50,000 worth of business and the plant is indicated as one of the successful enterprises of the growing and prosperous city of Visalia. Against the moderate charges for services, no complaint has ever been received; on the contrary, the people of Visalia and locality are unanimous in their opinion that the terms are low in comparison with the standard of perfection maintained in their work. The firm is owned and controlled by Isaac Clark and Frank A. Newman, long established citizens of the community.
Isaac Clark was born in Frankfort, Maine, January 12, 1870, and upon completion of his education learned the stone-cutter's trade, which he conducted nine years in his home town, removing thence to Augusta, where he worked two years at his trade. He then served three years as an apprentice to Malcolm & Dyer, plumbers, after which for five years he filled the position of custodian of the Augusta city hall. In 1905 he immigrated to California, and choosing Visalia as his permanent location, accepted a position as sheet metal worker for the Cross Hardware Co. Upon the erection of the factory of the Pacific Sugar Co., Mr. Clark was engaged by said company
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to do the sheet metal work, accomplishing the work most satisfac- torily. In 1907 he joined Frank A. Newman and C. B. Porter in establishing a general plumbing business. Two years later Mr. Porter withdrew from the firm, leaving Mr. Clark and Mr. Newman sole proprietors.
In 1897 Mr. Clark was united in marriage with Miss Mary A. Beck. also a native of Maine. They have two charming children, Marjorie F. and Addison W. Mr. Clark is a valued member of the Knights of Pythias, Calantha Lodge, No. 52, and the Bethlehem Lodge, A. F. & A. M., No. 135, both of which he joined in Augusta, Maine.
Frank A. Newman was born in Cooper county, Mo., January 31, 1869. His father, Jesse Newman, died before his son reached manhood, and in the fall of 1884 the mother, formerly Elizabeth Hill, brought her little family to California. Frank A. Newman ranched several years and also served as foreman of the Harrell stock and grain ranch. Later he conducted on his own account a three hundred and twenty-acre wheat farm in the Stone Corral district, Tulare county, and he then became an apprentice to the Cross Hardware Co., and upon completion of this service engaged in the plumbing business with Isaac Clark. The partners started their venture in a small way, but their trade grew steadily and they now employ twelve able assistants.
Following is a list of the buildings which this company have equipped with plumbing and heating fixtures: The Exeter high school building, the Lemoore high school building, the new hotel at Lemoore and the new high school building at Delano. They have also recently installed the heating apparatus in the Kingsbury grammar school; the sheet metal and heating work in the Reedley grammar school; all the sheet metal work on the First National Bank building at Porterville; also on the three-story Blue building on Main street, Visalia. They have replaced the old plumbing for new throughout the county jail, the three-story Harrell buikling, and put in all the new plumbing in the Merriman building and the Tipton and Lindsay grammar school. For years Mr. Clark has made a thorough study of the matter of proper heating for public as well as private build- ings and uses the gravity and mechanical systems in order to produce complete circulation, replenishing the air in a room from six to ten times during one hour. He has obtained the most satisfactory results both regarding even temperature and sanitation. Among the resi- dences thus equipped by him may be mentioned those of A. Lewis, H. F. Miller, R. E. IIyde and the M. E. Church of Visalia. The company has also installed plumbing and heating systems in the residences of R. F. Cross, Capt. H. White, Ralph Goldstein, Meyer F. Eiseman, two houses for J. F. Carter, Mrs. Oaks' home and
Elever Vaughan W.T. Vaughan.
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numerous other private residences in Visalia and throughout Tulare county.
Both Mr. Clark and Mr. Newman by their rigidly fair and honest dealings have won the trust and favor of their many patrons. In every movement pertaining to the development of the locality they are always prompt to tender their practical assistance.
WILLIAM T. VAUGHAN
Among the prominent men of Tulare and Kings counties men- tion is made of the efficient supervisor of the third district, W. T. Vanghan, who was born at Visalia, Tulare county, June 21, 1865. In September of the same year he was taken by his parents to San Luis Obispo county, where he attended school and lived until 1877, when the family moved to Pima county, Ariz., and that territory re- mained his home until 1900. After his arrival in Arizona the young lad begun work on cattle ranches. He had bnt little opportunity to attend school and until he was nineteen years of age his educa- tion was obtained by contact with the primitive conditions to be found on the frontier. He grew up on a cattle range and was con- nected with the stock interests of that part of the country until his removal back to California in 1900. At the age when most boys are in school he was superintending a large ranch and becoming an expert in the handling of stock, enduring privations, but develop- ing a strong and sturdy constitution and laying the foundation for his future success. When he was abont fourteen he was conducting a meat market in Ramsey's canyon and going to the school at that place. He would sit so he could watch the door of his shop and when a enstomer would come he would have to leave the school- room and attend to his wants and then return to his books. He was also a member of the Territorial militia and was compelled to keep his gun within reach at all times should a call come to defend the settlers against the Indians. After he was eighteen he attended the University of Southern California at Los Angeles for a time and says he got more education during that short time than in all his former years.
His days for book-learning over, he returned to Arizona and as he succeeded he built up a cattle business of his own and carried it on very successfully until 1900, when, having sold his six thousand cattle and closed ont his other interests in the territory, he returned to California and, with his father and brother, bonght three hundred acres of land one mile north of Hanford, upon which were erected buildings suitable for their needs and began the development of the
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land. He now has one hundred and fifty-five acres in fruit and the remainder in alfalfa. In 1911 he sold eighty acres at a good profit. He is the owner of eighty acres a mile south of Hanford, which he put into alfalfa and leases to others, also has ten acres west of the city, which is in fruit and which he bought in 1901.
The father of W. T. Vanghan, James Upton Vanghan, was born September 9, 1841, in Mississippi, went to Texas and in 1852 crossed the plains to California. He passed away in Kings county Novem- ber 7, 1911. His widow makes her home with her children. A brother, Andrew Henry Vanghan, came to Kings county with Wil- liam T., and they had interests together for several years. On September 25, 1892, Mr. Vaughan was united in marriage with Miss Elenora Sorrells, a native of Phoenix, Ariz., born July 13, 1874, daughter of A. B. and Melvina (Parker) Sorrells, who were natives of Arkansas and California respectively. Mrs. Vanghan received her schooling in Arizona and was there married to Mr. Vaughan. They have four children, Merle E., Pearl E., William J., and Bertha L., all members of their parents' household; the two eldest are attend- ing the Hanford high school.
Mr. Vaughan has invested in residence property in San Diego, Cal., is a stockholder in the First National Bank of Hanford, owns shares in the Lacy Oil company, operating in the Devil's Den country, and in the Castle Oil company of the Coalinga field; is a member of the Hanford lodge of Elks, has passed all the chairs in the local lodge of the I. O. O. F., and for one year served as District Deputy Grand Master; he also belongs to the K. of P. and with Mrs. Vaughan belongs to the Daughters of the Rebekahs. Always interested in politics he has taken an active part in local and state affairs. In the fall of 1910 he was elected to the board of super- visors, representing the third district of Kings county, and is serv- ing with fidelity those interests that placed him in office. He has had charge of the road building of his district in every detail and devotes his energies towards the faithful discharge of his duties. He represents Kings county in the matter of the erection of a counties building at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915 at San Francisco. It is safe to say that no man has become so closely allied with the people in all things tending towards publie betterment than has W. T. Vaughan.
JOHN N. HAYS
The president of the Hays Cattle Co., John N. Hays, a prominent business man of Kings county, Cal., has had a career the history of which thus far is both interesting and instructive, and it should be
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an encouragement to young men who would succeed in spite of lack of capital and in the face of many obstacles. Mr. Hays was born in Missouri, February 3, 1854, and came to California in September, 1872, when he was in his nineteenth year. The first eighteen months of his life here were spent in Mariposa county, where he was employed by some relatives who had come on before him. Late in 1873 or early in 1874 he came to Lake Tulare (then in Tulare but now in Kings county), where his people took up land on the border of the lake. For two years they farmed on rented land in the Dingley Addition, now the site of Lemoore, Mr. Overstreet, his stepfather, having been in charge, and there Mr. Hays remained nntil 1886, when he disposed of his interests at the lake and moved to Cholame valley, Monterey county, where he lived and labored ten years. At the expiration of that time he came back to Lemoore and went into the stock business and in 1894 he bought three hundred and twenty acres of land, a mile and a half west of Guernsey, which he devoted to grazing. He operated independently until 1911, increasing his business from year to year till he took rank with the big cattle men of central California. He then organized and incorporated the Hays Cattle Company, of which he is president; Roy D. Hays, vice-presi- dent; and R. W. Forbes, secretary. The company expects to dispose of about six hundred to eight hundred cattle annually, its last year's business having amounted to six hundred, and is renting forty thousand acres of pasture for its stock.
Oil development in the Devil's Den country has interested Mr. Hays, who has investments there, and he owns also an interest in oil lands in the Cholame valley district. He has from time to time had to do with business of other kinds and his interest in the com- munity makes him a citizen of much publie spirit. Fraternally, he affiliates with the Circle and with the Woodmen of the World. He married Miss Lillie Mills in 1882 and she passed away in 1891, leaving three danghters and a son. Floy is the wife of R. W. Forbes, of Lemoore. Roy D. is vice-president of the Hays Cattle Company. Panline married Clarence Esrey of Lemoore. Alice is Mrs. William McAdam and her husband is operating in the oil field. In 1907 Mr. Hays united his life with that of Mrs. Jeanette Bryan, who has borne him children whom they have named Richard Upton, Dorothy and Ann.
JOSEPH D. BIDDLE
The forceful character of the citizenship of J. D. Biddle during the past quarter of a century has given him for all time a place in the annals of the state as well as of Ilanford, which has been his
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permanent home during this time and the scene of his activities to a large extent. A native of Tennessee, born in Bedford county. April 30, 1852, he passed his boyhood, youth and young manhood in the vicinity of his birth and the home of his parents, and at the age of twenty-seven, in 1879, made his first trip to the west. After a stay of two months he returned to the south, but in 1882 retraced his steps and this time remained six months. It was in 1887 that he made his third and last journey to California, his two prior trips of inspection thoroughly satisfying him that here as nowhere else were opportunities awaiting the young man of push and determination. Having disposed of his merchandise and milling business in Shelby- ville, Tenn., in 1887 he came that same year to California and located in Hanford, his first work here being as auctioneer of livestock. As an adjunct to this business he bought livestock and sheep, as well as wool, the latter being gathered from a large territory, extending from Mexico to the Oregon line. Ilis shipments of this commodity are large, being made to all parts of this country, as well as to Canada. His first experience in the wool business was in his early days in the west, when he was a representative for the Thomas Dunnigan & Son Co., a well-known wool house of San Francisco. The live stock which Mr. Biddle handles he secures from all parts of the state, and he has had as high as twenty-five thousand sheep in his possession at one time.
In financial circles throughout the San Joaquin valley few names are better known than that of Joseph D. Biddle, and to his splendid judgment and conservatism may be given much credit for the substantial character of the monetary institutions with which he has had to do. Among the latter may be mentioned the Sacramento Bank, German Savings & Loan Society of San Francisco, Savings Union Bank of San Francisco, Union Trust of San Francisco, and he has also made large loans of money through independent capitalists. He also represents several of the largest and best insurance com- panies of San Francisco, and is largely interested in the oil industry. His first venture in this field was the purchase of some of the best oil lands in the Coalinga district, and following this he organized several oil companies which are now organizations controlling great wealth, these and the banks through which the business is carried on representing a combined capital of over $150,000,000. Mr. Biddle made large expenditures in drilling on his oil fields, but owing to the low prices of oil at the time it was deemed advisable to suspend operations until it demanded a better price. The property is still owned by the various companies, in all of which Mr. Biddle is a director, as follows: Investment Oil Company and the Phoenix Oil Company. Other companies were also organized in the Bakersfield district, but these have since been disposed of.
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Not only was Mr. Biddle a pioneer and moving spirit in the industries above mentioned, but he has been equally forceful along agricultural and horticultural lines. During his early years here he bought and platted the Bonanza vineyard, embracing a tract of three hundred acres. Later acquisitions were the Silvia ranch of one hundred acres, the Griswold apricot orchard of eighty acres (at that time the largest orchard of the kind in that section, but which has since been sub-divided into small holdings), the Haywood vineyard of eighty acres, the Redwood vineyard and orchard of one hundred and twenty acres, the Savings Bank vineyard and orchard, consisting of eighty acres south of Hanford, which has since been sold, the Happy Home vineyard of twenty acres and the A. P. Dickenson ranch of eighty acres. For five years he also leased and operated the Banner vineyard of three hundred and twenty acres and for a number of years also leased Mrs. M. S. Templeton's vineyard of one hundred and sixty acres northeast of Hanford. In connection with his large fruit interests Mr. Biddle erected a grading plant on the Bonanza ranch, where he was prepared to dry, cure and bleach the fruits from his various ranches, all of which found a ready sale in eastern markets. Besides handling and shipping all of his own fruit, he also bought raisins and peaches all over this section, paying the local packers in the country to pack his raisins and peaches under his own brand and ship them direct to the eastern markets. In order that none of the fruit should be wasted, he bought peaches and sacked them at the depots when the packing house was filled to its capacity.
Mr. Biddle's interests in another direction are apparent in a number of substantial structures in Hanford. One of his first ventures along this line was the rebuilding of the block formerly occupied by the city stables, the site now occupied by the Old Bank. He also owns the building occupied by the Hanford Mercantile Corporation. This organization is capitalized for $100,000; and Mr. Biddle is one of its largest stockholders and secretary, and a director also. He was also one of the prime movers in the organization of the Hotel Artesia, which was built by the corporation of which he was a member and subsequently sold to B. J. Turner. Through an exchange of property Mr. Biddle became the owner of the Axtell block at the corner of Seventh and Irwin streets, the name of which has since been changed to the Sharpless block. He also moved the postoffice from its old site and placed it on Irwin street: and he moved both telegraph offices into the Hotel Artesia, their present locations. He at one time owned what is now the Vendome hotel, and he also bought and moved the first hotel erected in Hanford to the corner of Fifth and Douty streets, remodeling it and ultimately selling it to B. J. Turner.
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Reference has elsewhere been made to Mr. Biddle's interest and activities in the stock business. It was no uncommon thing for him to have on hand from ten to twenty thousand hogs on the McJunkin ranch, one and a half miles north of Hanford. It was during his earliest experiences in the business that he attempted to fatten his hogs on grain that had been saved as salvage from a large fire in Stockton. He purchased the damaged grain to the extent of one hundred thousand sacks, or one hundred cars, and shipped it to Hanford. It required all of the vehicles available to hanl the grain to the Bonanza vineyard, where it was spread over eight acres of ground to dry in the sun. It was then resacked and stacked in the dry yard, the whole presenting the appearance of hay stacks in a field. He then bought steam engines and large tanks in which to steam the wheat, after which he fed the grain thus treated to the seven or eight thousand hogs which he had on the ranch at the time. The experiment proved a failure, it being demonstrated that charred grain was injurious to hogs, as they sickened and died under the diet. The experience was a costly one, but it did not deter Mr. Biddle from making further investigations as to the most desirable methods of feeding.
Owing to his wide experience and versatile knowledge it is not surprising that Mr. Biddle has been called upon from time to time to act in the capacity of administrator and transact other business of a similar nature. On numerous occasions when a difference of opinion arose as to the proper settlement of legal matters he has been called into consultation with attorneys, not only in Hanford, but also in Fresno, Visalia, Sacramento and even to San Francisco. At one time he was called to Portland, Ore., to settle a law snit involving $30,000, and he was also called to Nevada in the adjustment of a snit with Carmen & Richey involving $1,000,000, and this also was equably adjusted. At the present time Mr. Biddle is interested in the live stock, wool, oil, insurance, real estate and merchandise business, heing in close touch with all of the details of each, and he is also actively interested in all of the organizations of his home city which have for their ohjects the uplifting of the citizens and the general welfare of town and county. He is a valned member of the Chamber of Commerce and he was also a member of the committee appointed to attend the convention held in Los Angeles for the purpose of discussing matters relative to the Panama canal. He has also been an active member of a committee appointed by the supervisors of Kings county for the purpose of preparing a petition for bringing the main highway through Hanford, the county seat. through Visalia to Bakersfield. He has also been appointed a member of the highway commission to meet in Sacramento in January, 1913,
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