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 37
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 37
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Until 1881 Perry Dorman Fowler farmed and raised sheep. Then he began buying grain for G. W. McNear and selling farm machinery for Baker & Hamilton of San Francisco. In the period 1887-1900 he operated the Fowler farm. In 1900 he was appointed horticultural commissioner for Tulare county and to the work of that office he has since devoted himself. He has a farm of seventy- one acres, five miles from Tulare, which is leased by his son-in-law. Thirty acres of it is in orchard and thirty acres in alfalfa.
On September 9, 1879, Mr. Fowler married Jeanette Josephine Hawkins, who was born at Suisun, Solano county, Cal .. February 1, 1857, and died May 12, 1910. She was a daughter of Vardiman Hawkins, of Elmira, Solano county, a pioneer in that part of the state. She bore her Imsband two children, Jeanette May, December 10, 1880, and J. Benjamin, July 19, 1882. The daughter is the wife of J. B. Southwell of Tulare county. The son, who is farming on the Lindsay road, seven miles east of Tulare, married Mrs. Annie Smith, and they have two sons, Roy Benjamin and Perry Daniel Fowler.
By the board of directors of the Tulare irrigation district, Mr. Fowler was appointed to assess property to raise revenue with which to pay off the bonded indebtedness of the district to settlers, as provided in the compromise with the bondholders in 1883. He is a member of the Mutual Farmers' Insurance Company, and being a man of much public spirit has been identified from time to time with other interests of importance to the community. He is a mem- ber of the First Christian church of Tulare.
EDWARD H. CHANCE
One of the extensive agriculturists of his county, who has been closely identified with its development for many years is Edward H. Chance, who now lives near Sultana in Tulare county. He was born near Versailles, Ind., March 24, 1860, a son of Henry and Louisa (Nuckles) Chance, and has not seen his mother since he was four years old. His father was a pioneer in Oregon, living for a time in Cottage Grove. There Edward HI. went in 1887, having spent his life in Indiana and Kentneky until that time. He was employed at logging and lumbering nine years in that part of Oregon, then came to Fresno county, Cal., where he remained one year before settling in Tulare county.
Soon after his arrival in this county Mr. Chance bought forty
D. H.Zumwalt
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acres of the Bump tract, paying $800 for twenty aeres and $35 an acre for the other twenty. lle has five acres planted to a peach orchard, fourteen aeres under alfalfa and a good acreage of corn. He keeps seven head of stock and a few hogs, and has gradually improved his ranch from a wheat field until it is one of the best in the neighbor- hood. By bringing it to a high state of cultivation he is seeuring crops which do not suffer by comparison with any others of their respective kinds raised in the vicinity of Sultana. As a progressive farmer and citizen he enjoys a high reputation. His public spirit impels him to help all movements for the benefit of his community to the extent of his ability. In politics he is a Republican but has never sought office. While living in Oregon he was road supervisor for two years in Crawfordsville, and deputy constable in the Sultana district. Fraternally he affiliates with the Modern Woodmen of America, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Beavers.
In Indiana, March 24, 1883, Mr. Chance married Miss Martha Carson, who was born sixty miles north of Indianapolis, and they have four children living, Perey E., Lester Carl, Eddie Frank, and Bruce Allen. Pearl, the only daughter, is deceased. Percy married Mollie Ramsey; later he married Sadie Carter and they have a child and are living in Benton county, Oregon.
DANIEL KINDLE ZUMWALT
A descendant of an old Virginia family, Daniel Kindle Zumwalt was born near Joliet, Ill., January 24, 1845, of German extraction, his first American ancestor, George (or Adam) Zumwalt, having emi- grated from the Fatherland in the eighteenth century, to become a settler in Virginia and later a pioneer in Ohio, which was then on the fringe of civilization. Jacob Zumwalt, son of the emigrant, went, in Jannary, 1830, from Adams county, O)., to Hancoek county, Ind., where he died December, 1833. Jacob, his son, was born in Ohio, September 15, 1807. He married, June 24, 1830, Susanna Kindle Smith, born in Ohio, June 12, 1811. With his father, his three brothers and his five sisters, he went to Haneoek county, Ind., in 1830, and four years later he went to Will county, Ill., about ten miles from Joliet. There he remained twenty years, until March, 1854, when he started with ox- teams overland for California. He farmed in the Sacramento valley until 1872, when he came to his farm near Visalia, Tulare county, where he died May 31, 1878. Ilis wife died in Sacramento November 20, 1896, and they are both buried there. He was a Methodist and in many ways evinced great publie spirit. His wife bore him children as fol- lows: Nancy (Mrs. Rockwell Hunt), who died in Sacramento in 1904;
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Sarah M. (Mrs. James Shoemaker), of Santa Clara; Joseph, born April 30, 1836, who died in Kern county, August 1, 1878; John H., of San Jose. C'al. ; Elizabeth ( Mrs. Hawk), of Sacramento; Daniel Kindle, of this review.
When his father came to California, Daniel Kindle Zumwalt and other members of their family came along, and Daniel rode horseback and helped to drive the oxen. He was only nine and his youth ex- empted him from guard duty, but every other duty that fell to the lot of his elders was performed by him at one time or another. He attended the public and high schools of Sacramento, and was graduated in 1865, later taking the degrees of A.M. and A.B. at the University of the Pacific. Having been awarded a first-grade teacher's certificate, he taught school a year at Yolo, then came, in 1869, to Tulare county. where he lived out his allotted days. For twenty-three years he was land agent and attorney for the Southern Pacific Railroad company. his territory including Tulare, Kern and Fresno and what is now Kings county. He was one of the originators and organizers of the 76 Land and Water company, most of the capital for which he per- sonally secured. Preparatory to the formation of the company Mr. Zumwalt bought the water rights of Risley & Cameron and others and secured options on large tracts. of land. As secretary of the company he promoted its interests until its principal office was moved from Visalia to Traver. He was a prime factor and a stockholder of the Kaweah Canal and Irrigation Co. and was influential in the pre- vention of the diversion of the water from the settlers. In the course of his busy life he improved and developed lands of his own, and his estate owns a fine farm between Visalia and Tulare, which is devoted to dairying and the raising of Shorthorn cattle; in the improvement and equipment of this property he established a creamery. He was instrumental, also, in the setting up of another at Visalia.
In the construction of other canals than those mentioned above Mr. Zumwalt was active. With others, he was indefatigable in pre- senting proofs to the Interior Department, at Washington. D. C., of the necessity for the preservation of the redwood forests for future generations. It was he who enlisted the co-operation of Congressman Vandever of California, who secured the passage of an authorization of the setting aside of General Grant Park, which insures the preser- vation of the giant redwoods, there more numerous than in any other part of the Sierras.
At Tulare, May 20, 1890, Mr. Zumwalt married Emma F. Black- wedel, a native of Taycheedah, Wis. J. Henry Blackwedel, her father. born in Hemsling, Hanover, Germany, was a son of John Blackwedel, who brought his family to the United States in 1847 and settled on a farm in Wisconsin, whence they moved later to Jo Daviess county, III. John Henry Blackwedel was a farmer in Wisconsin and later a mer-
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chant in Sauk City, Wis., and Galena, Ill., and later became a resident of Dubuque, Iowa, in which city he passed away November 29, 1863. Of literary tastes and education, he entertained writers and lecturers who visited him wherever he lived. He deserves a place in history as one of the sponsors of the Republican party. His wife, formerly Anna Meta Holterman, was born in Germany, a daughter of H. C. Holter- man, who lived ont his days there. She died in Dubuque, lowa, in 1872. Two of their children lived to maturity, Mrs. Zumwalt and Mrs. Minnie Pillsbury. Of a former marriage two sons, Henry Herman and John Frederick, died in service, while members of Company I, Seven- teenth Missouri Volunteer Infantry. Mrs. Zumwalt, next to the young- est, was reared and educated in Dubnque, came to Riverside in 1886 with her sister, Mrs. Pillsbury, and in 1887 came to Tulare county. She is a helpful member of the Methodist church and does much for Visalia Lodge No. 48, Independent Order of Good Templars, with which she has been identified since its organization by her late hus - band November 18, 1870. He was foremost in incorporating the Good Templars' Hall Association and in building the Good Templars Hall at Visalia and in so safeguarding it that it cannot be diverted from its intended nse or pass from the control of the society. He was Grand Conneilor of the order and for many years one of its most devoted and liberal supporters. He was a member and a trustee of the Methodist church of Visalia and in 1869-70 organized its Sunday school, of which he was long superintendent. Politically, he was in early life a Repub- liean, in later years a Prohibitionist. His opinions on the liquor ques- tion are shared by Mrs. Zumwalt, who, as an ardent woman suffragist, has seen much in which to rejoice in these later days of awakening and of regeneration in matters politieal. She was a valued assistant to Mr. Zumwalt, standing beside him in all trials and encouraging him with her devoted wifely love. Their union was a very happy one, and at home, in church work or in lodge work their interests were mutual Mr. Zumwalt's death occurred November 2, 1904.
The town of Traver, Tulare county, was laid out through Mr. Zumwalt's instrumentality. So versatile was he that he carried on au abstract and land business, gave attention to stoek-raising and dairv- ing, patented a process for photographing and preserving records. and did many other odd and interesting things not directly connected with his chief pursuits. With the instincts of a true business woman, Mrs. Zumwalt personally attends to business connected with her sov- eral ranches. She has a dairy ranch of twelve hundred acres near Tulare City. On her Deer Creek ranch of thirty-three hundred acres she raises many fine beef cattle. She has a quarter-section of land on the Tule river, of which eight acres are planted to oranges just com- ing into bearing, and she has other ranelies which she rents out
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DR. E. H .. BYRON
The birth of Dr. E. H. Byron occurred at Lemoore, September 17, 1877, the son of H. W. Byron. He was educated in the common school and in the Union high school at Santa Paula, Ventura county, graduating in 1896, when he entered the California Medical College at San Francisco, where he was graduated in medicine in 1900. Then he took the pharmaceutical course at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the same city, and was graduated as a pharmacist from that institution in 1907.
After leaving college Dr. Byron was in charge of MeLean hos- pital, San Francisco, for a year, and during the ensuing two years he was in the practice of his profession, with offices in that city. Then, going to Guerneville, he opened an office and was in practice there two years and during the next two years he was in profes- sional work at Wheatland, Yuba county. He then opened a drug store in Oakland which he conducted in connection with professional practice until in 1909. In November of that year, he entered into professional partnership with his brother at Lemoore, and in the month of November, 1912, opened up his present office in the Bolt- man block in the city of Lemoore. He is a member of the San Joaquin Valley Health Association, the California State Medical Society and the American Society of Medicine and is the health officer and a member of the city board of health. He affiliates so- cially with most of the fraternal orders represented at Lemoore. To a general practice Dr. F. H. Byron has consistently devoted himself with such success that his services are in demand not only in the town but also in its tributary country and as a citizen he has demonstrated much publie spirit. In 1902 he married Miss Har- riet Freeman of San Jose. Their son, Herbert Freeman Byron. celebrated his seventh birthday May, 1912.
THOMAS B. TWADDLE
The present chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Tulare county is Thomas B. Twaddle, who has long been prominent in the affairs of this part of the state. Born in Utah, in 1857. he was taken as a child by his family on their removal to Nevada, and it was in the last named state that he grew to manhood and obtained an education and a practical knowledge of elemental business. He came to California in 1879, when he was about twenty-two years of age, and settling three miles east of Tulare, he rented land, raised
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grain and did general farming in the vicinity of Tulare until 1904, since when he has given his attention to other interests.
In 1892 Mr. Twaddle was first elected to the office of supervisor, and he has served in that capacity by repeated re-election continu- onsly to the present time. It is said that he holds the record in California for unbroken service as supervisor for nineteen years, and during the long period of fourteen years he has been chairman of the board. In every measure for the advancement and improve- ment of Tulare county that has been put forth during the last two decades he has taken a helpful interest and some of the more im- portant ones he has been instrumental in putting through by sheer force of will, determined that Tulare county should have the very best in any line that was available to it regardless of reactionary opposition. He has proven himself a model official and has come to be known as one of the men of California who accomplish things.
In 1883 Mr. Twaddle married Miss Emma Garison, daughter of a pioneer in Stanislaus county, Cal., where she was born, and they have children as follows: Alice M., who is the wife of W. J. Fisher of Tulare; Forrest J .; Frank C .; William, and Thomas B., Jr. Socially he is a member of the order of Woodmen of the World and has for several years been council commander of his local di- vision and is a supporter of the auxiliary order of Women of Wood- craft. He is a Red Man, also, and affiliates with the order of Fra- ternal Aid.
HI. SCOTT JACOBS
The talented and successful lawyer of Hanford, who has at- tained a high position at the bar of Kings county, Cal., and by many public-spirited acts has won reputation as one of the leading citizens of Hanford, is H. Scott Jacobs who was born at Visalia November 2, 1875. He obtained his English education in public schools at Lemoore and in the San Jose high school from which he was graduated in 1894. His professional studies were begun in 1895 under competent direction, and after mastering the law course at the University of California he was graduated in 1899 and was admitted to the bar of California May 19th that year.
It was at Hanford that Mr. Jacobs entered upon the practice of his profession, opening an office in the First National Bank build- ing. From the ontset he succeeded even beyond his expectations. Not much time was required for his ability and attainments to
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become known to the business public and his general attitude as a lawyer and as a citizen commended him to the people. It became evident that his public spirit was equal to any reasonable demand upon it and that he was willing at all times to encourage to the extent of his ability any proposition put forth for the benefit and development of the town and county. In November, 1902, he was elected district attorney for Kings county, in which office he served faithfully and efficiently four years. In 1906 he was appointed by the board of trustees of the city of Hanford to the office of city attorney, and in that relation to the general public he has still more markedly won the good opinion of all. In his political affiliations he is a Republican, and fraternally he is identified with Hanford Parlor No. 37 Native Sons of the Golden West, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World.
Mr. Jacobs married, April 30, 1901, Mary Elizabeth Manning, a daughter of T. A. Manning, of Lemoore, and they have three chil- dren, Elizabeth Belle, Justin Manning and John H.
LEE GILL
A son of L. L. Gill, a pioneer of Tulare county, by many thought to have been the owner of the first orange trees in Tulare county, Lee Gill was born in Yokohl valley, Cal., August 16, 1884. When he was a child, his father moved to Frazier valley, to the property on which Lee now lives. The old place was purchased from H. M. White and was the scene of the primitive venture in orange-growing referred to above.
In the public schools near his home, Mr. Gill was educated and on his father's ranch he obtained the intimate knowledge of stock- raising which has made him an adept in that line. His operations in association with his brothers mark him as one of the leading stockmen of California. They own abont forty-eight thousand acres of range land and keep on Lee's ranch abont six hundred cattle, two hundred hogs and many fine horses, buying and selling for the city market, in which Mr. Gill is as well known and as highly es- teemed as any stockman in the state.
In 1908 Mr. Gill married Miss Mand Porter, a native of Cali- fornia, a lady of many accomplishments who shares with him much social popularity. They have one son, Austin. Mr. Gill is a young man of much publie spirit, who is found always ready to assist to the extent of his ability any movement for the benefit of the community.
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HON. WILLIAM M. DE WITT
This old established, reliable and successful lawyer of Tulare, Cal., was born in Monroe county and grew to manhood in Warren county, Ky. The time of his birth was May 17, 1839, and his parents were the Rev. Allan W. and Hannah (Tooley) De Witt, his father having been a native of Kentucky and his mother having been born in Virginia. Eventually the family moved to Illinois. From there, in 1859, they crossed the plains with ox-teams to California, starting in April and arriving September 18. Allan W. De Witt, who was a minister of the Christian church, died at Tulare May 31, 1897, his wife having passed away in 1896. Their son Samuel lives in Los Angeles; Eleazar, their second son, is a rancher living west of Tulare; their daughter, Lydia A., is Mrs. Zumwalt of Tulare; William M. is the immediate subject of this sketch.
It was as a school teacher that William M. De Witt began his life in California in 1861, in charge of a country school at Red Bluff, Tehama county. With Job F. Dye he drove a band of cattle and horses from Red Bluff to eastern Oregon in 1862. They intended to drive their cattle up to the mining camps of British Columbia, where there was a great number of miners at work and where they intended to butcher their cattle, freeze the meat by burying it in the snow, and sell it out during the winter as it would be needed. While camp- ing on John Day's river near Canon City, De Witt suggested that they try a pan of the gravel at that place. Mr. Dye improvised a pan, with which they succeeded in finding considerable gokl in the very first pan. The news of their find spread and in an inconceivabley short time some six lmndred miners had located claims and were busily and profitably engaged at placer-mining. It is needless to say that it became unnecessary for them to take their cattle to the British Columbia market. Thus was gold first discovered at Canon City on the John Day's river by William M. De Witt and Job F. Dye. Returning to California, Mr. De Witt read law, in 1866 was admitted to the bar and began the practice of his profession at Woodland, Yolo county. There he succeeded very satisfactorily and attained so much personal popularity that he was elected to represent Yolo county in the State Legislature at the session of 1877-78 and was appointed a member of the judiciary committee and of other important committees. Meanwhile he conducted a successful practice at Santa Cruz for about six years. He came to Tulare from Woodland in the spring of 1878 and has been in active practice there ever since. For ten years he has held the office of justice of the peace in Tulare and during that long period no decision of his has been reversed. He has traveled extensively throughout the state, having visited nearly every county within its borders.
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A lover of country life, Mr. De Witt has given some attention to ranching near Tulare. He was married in Santa Cruz, January, 1872, to Miss Agnes McDonald, a native of Vermont, who has borne him nine children: Florence C. (Mrs. Brown), has children named Earl and Mand. Alice W. is Mrs. Barnaby of Spokane, Wash. William II. married Miss Shedler and they have children named ('amille and Earl. The others are Walter, John (of Coalinga). Edward and Edna (twins), Iram and Earl. In every relation of life Mr. De Witt has shown himself a man to be depended upon. Where- ever he has lived he has taken an interest in all matters affecting the public good. Since coming to Tulare he has in many ways demon- strated his solicitude for the advancement and prosperity of the city and its people.
SAMUEL W. KELLY
From Arkansas, which has long been a distributing ground for settlement throughout the south and west, Samuel W. Kelly emi- grated to California in 1857, coming by way of the overland trail with ox-teams and consuming seven months in making the journey. He was then twenty-nine years old, having been born February 11, 1828, in Alabama, and had been taken as a small boy by his parents on their removal from his native state. It was in Arkansas that he was educated, grew to manhood and acquired a working knowledge of agriculture.
On his arrival in California, Mr. Kelly settled in Tulare county and engaged in teaming between Stockton and Visalia. Settling on Elbow creek, he put up a rail pen with but a dirt floor and this was the home of the family for three years. In 1867 he went back east. but soon made a second overland journey to the Pacific coast, this time using mule teams, which brought him through in three months. From the time of his return until the completion of the railroad, which put him out of business, he teamed between Fresno slough and Visalia. Then he bought ten acres within the city limits, on which he farmed for a time and which has been eut up into lots and dotted with dwellings. For ahout twelve years he operated successfully as a cattleman in the Three Rivers section. Politically he affiliated with the Democratic party, and as a citizen he showed his public spirit in many practical ways.
In 1853 Mr. Kelly married Miss C'eletha Iludson, who was born and reared in Arkansas and accompanied him to California. She bore him three children, Samuel A., Mrs. Lulu E: Reeves and Mrs.
Mr and Mrs. S. W. Kelly
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Mary J. Sparks, who with the widow survive him. The home of Mrs. Kelly is No. 500 Goshen avenue, Visalia. Mr. Kelly passed away April 15, 1911, deeply regretted by all who had known him.
HON. J. W. GUIBERSON
Conspicuous among California's self-made men, is the prom- inent financier and member of the state Legislature, whose name heads this article. He is a native of the state, having been born in Lake county, November 26, 1865. When four years of age he was taken to Ventura county, where he grew up, attending the pub- lie schools, and later became a student at the University of Southern California, supplementing this with a commercial course at Wood- bury Business College.
Full of ambition and eager to succeed, J. W. Guiberson started his active business career without a dollar to aid him. At the age of nineteen he rented a six hundred and forty acre stock ranch in Ventura county, his good reputation and credit enabling him to obtain a five-year lease of this ranch. He devoted himself most assiduously to the operating of this place, reaping such a measure of success, that when he was dispossessed of it at the end of fifteen months, because of the sale of said ranch, he was reimbursed for his labors there to the amount of $1,500. He then rented mountain land for a cattle range and increased his herd. Meanwhile he had bought out a drug store and made some good investments in real estate at Santa Paula, the results of which at the end of that year netted him a capital of $3250 cash. His career, however, had not been an easy one. His health broke because of his close confinement in the drug store, and he was compelled to seek an outdoor life For a short time he engaged in the mercantile business, but mnet with heavy financial losses, and with such discouragements at hand he again was obliged to begin at the bottom to retrieve his losses. He obtained a lease for one-half share in the renting of the same ranch on which he had started out when nineteen years old, at the end of the first year being able to make a payment on eighty acres in Ventura county which he immediately began to improve and farm. Some years later he purchased a second ranch of forty acres in the same county, improving and farming it for some time, and finally having a fine farm, good buildings and most productive or- chards on both places. llis orchards were planted to apricots, lemons and prunes, and he soon had them in condition to be good income property.
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