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 69
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 69
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The lady who became the wife of Mr. Fisher was Miss Mary E. Howison, daughter of R. L. Ilowison, who came to Visalia among the pioneers. They were wedded on Mr. Fisher's own home farm. in 1860. Mrs. Fisher has borne her husband three children: Mrs. Alice Markham, who died at Visalia; Mrs. Fannie Bodden of Visalia : and William Lee Fisher. The Fisher farm residence, one of the most hospitable in Tulare county, was built in 1875. In his polities Mr. Fisher was a Democrat. As a citizen, his publie spirit had been many times put to the test and never been found wanting. He died on his home ranch September 18, 1912.
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GEORGE S. CLEMENT
In Allegan county, Mich., twenty miles from Grand Rapids, George Stillman Clement, a prominent landowner and business man of Porterville, was born October 23. 1856. Near his boyhood home he attended school, and as the son of a farmer he early in life was made familiar with the duties connected with farm life. The year 1864 witnessed the removal of the family to Iowa, and from there in 1867 they moved still further west, settling in Nebraska and remain- ing there until 1880. That year found them once more in Michigan, and they remained there until 1887, when they came to California and settled near Springville, Tulare county. There G. S. Clement pre- empted a tract of government land and from time to time he added to this by purchase. At the time he settled there the country was wild and undeveloped and game was so plentiful that he could easily kill any number of deer or hear. He has watched the development of this part of California and has assisted in it to the extent of his ability, having been a member of the school board and identified from time to time with other public interests. For a considerable period he was a well-known figure in the stock business of the county, con- tinuing his residence near Springville until 1910, when he came to Porterville. Here too he has become well and favorably known and has purchased considerable city property.
In 1887, in Michigan, Mr. Clement married Miss Effie May Cronk, a native of Michigan, whose father died in that state. Her mother was a member of Mr. Clement's household for fourteen years, or until 1912, when she passed away, at the age of eighty-eight. Mr. Clement's father, Jacob Clement, was born in the state of New York and died aged fifty-four years. His mother, who before her marriage was Miss Emily Gault, a native of Michigan, died when her son was about five years old.
LYMAN L. FOLLETT
The well-known citizen of Lemoore, Kings county, C'al., whose name is the title of this sketch, was born in Iowa in 1869, a son of Granville W. and Lney (Abel) Follett. His father, a native of Ohio. born September 25, 1834, went to Fremont, Ind., when he attained his majority and became a clerk in a store there. Eventually the store was bought by Dr. L. L. Moore, who admitted him to partner- ship in the business, the association continuing until Mr. Follett sold out his interests in Indiana and went to Granville, Iowa. There he conducted a general merchandise business six years, and during
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most of that time he also filled the office of postmaster. In July. 1875, he brought his son, who was in failing health, to what is now Kings county and deciding to remain here, opened a store within the boundaries of what is now Moore's addition to Lemoore and continued there until 1877. The railroad having been constructed, he found a better location on E and Fox streets, opposite the depot. About that time he and J. A. Fox and Dr. L. L. Moore bought squat- ters' rights to the quarter-section of land which is now the townsite of Lemoore and eventually the railroad bought their interests. For a time they raised alfalfa where the business of the town is now transacted. Mr. Follett continned in the mercantile business until September, 1882, when his store was destroyed by fire. From that time until 1884 he was profitably employed in boring artesian wells. and from 1884 to 1894 his principal business was threshing. In the last-mentioned year he was elected county assessor of Kings county and filled the responsible office with ability and credit for two terms until he retired from active life. Ile died at the home of his son. Lyman L. Follett, June 11, 1911.
In 1868, at Coldwater, Mich., Granville W. Follett married Lucy Abel, a native of Ohio, and she bore him four children, of whom Lyman L. was the eldest. The others were Mary E., who died in childhood ; Carrie E., who died in 1877; and C. W., born in 1878, who lives at Tuolumne, Cal. In 1888 Mr. Follett married Mrs. Sue Thacker, a native of Tennessee. Fraternally he affiliated with the Chosen Friends and with the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
It was in July, 1875, that Lyman L. Follett came with his father to the site of Lemoore. He was then about six years old. Ile was reared at Lemoore and educated in a public school there and in the high school at San Francisco, then took up steam-engineering and ran engines twenty-two years in stationary work as well as in harvest- ing and similar operations. In 1909 he engaged in the insurance business at Lemoore in connection with real estate operations and since then has done much conveyancing and officiated as notary public. In November, 1911, he was appointed city clerk and sewer inspector of Lemoore. He served as deputy-assessor of Kings county under his father and was city assessor of Hanford in 1300. R. A. Moore, of whom a biographical sketch appears in these pages, is associated with him in the real estate business. Mr. Follett was formerly a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and his social affiliations now are with the Woodmen of the World, the Red Men and the Knights of Pythias. He married in 1894 Miss Kato Esery, a native of California, a daughter of Jonathan and Sarah A. Esery, and she died in 1908, after having borne him four children- Charles Granville, La Verne, Eileen and Ernest. The latter is with his unele at Tuolummne.
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In the municipal election at Lemoore, 1911, Mr. Follett was elected City Clerk, which office he fills with entire credit to himself and city.
ELIAS JACOB
The flight of years is not likely soon to make the people of Tulare county, Cal., forget the late Elias Jacob. He gave so much energy to the upbuilding of his personal success, he won so many signal triumphs, he did so much for others, that those who labored side by side with him in the pioneer days of the modern California remember him with a certain tender pride that is nothing short of personal mourning. His success meant the advancement of the coun- try's best interests, the extension of all its affairs of moment, social, political and commercial. He was born in Germany, of German parents, in 1841. His father was a merchant, and even as a child the younger Jacob knew something about business. With a sturdy independence that was characteristic of him, he made his way to ('alifornia when he was only twelve years old, found employment at Stockton in a drygoods store, and in that position busied himself till 1856, about three years after his arrival. He had learned some- thing of American business ways. He liked California, but wanted to see more of it before settling down to a good long struggle for fortune. He passed a year at Millerton, then the seat of justice of Fresno county, and then came to Visalia to take charge of the store of his brother-in-law, H. Mitchell. Mr: Mitchell passed away in 1859 and young Jacob became his successor and enlarged the store and continued the business until 1876. Meantime he had opened several stores in different towns in Fresno and Tulare counties, which had been successful. Now, his health having declined, he retired from trade and devoted himself to the acquisition of land, and in the years following bought about forty-five thousand acres in Tulare county, his largest single tract containing fifteen thousand two hundred acres. It is a matter of most interesting farming history that in some years his entire acreage was sown to wheat. He improved his property with artesian wells, putting down as many as eight on some single tracts, using the flow of water both for irrigation and for stock. During his mercantile career, in the days before he was an exten- sive land owner, he was an enthusiastic advocate of the opening up of irrigation ditches, and his ventures in that way brought him manifold returns, and the lands he acquired have grown very val- nable because of their ample water supply. The stock on his hold- ings long remained intact. He built many houses in Visalia, all 42
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of which became a part of his estate when he passed away. His death occurred October 1, 1902.
The whole community appreciated Mr. Jacob's personal char- acteristies, recognizing in him a citizen who gave the best of him- self for the publie advancement. In his political affiliations he always gave his support to the men and measures of the Democratie party, and was one of its most influential workers in the county. Wanting no political preferment for himself, he repeatedly refused such as his admiring friends would have bestowed upon him, at the same time putting forth his best efforts to promote the principles he en- dorsed and to angment the prestige and influence of his party in his part of the state. He served for many years as a member of the county and state Democratie Central committees. Fraternally, he was a Royal Arch Mason, and it is a part of the Masonic history of Talare county that he was the orator of the day on the occasion of the laying of the corner-stone of the courthouse at Visalia by the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of California.
LEWIS WASHINGTON HOWETH
The late and respected citizen of Porterville, Tulare county, familiarly known as "Luke" Howeth, was born in DeKalb county, Ala., June 4, 1837. a son of Thomas and Nancy Howeth, natives of the same state. Following are the names and birth dates of their other children: William, 1818; Tandy B., 1819; Fletcher, 1820; Har- vey, 1821; Nelson, 1823; John W .. 1824; Eliza, 1825; Martha, 1827; Sarah, 1828; Thomas, 1829; Jefferson, 1831; Cornelius, 1833; Cather- ine, 1836; Byron, 1838, and Franklin, 1841. Nelson, Jefferson, Cor- nelius and L. W. lived in California.
In his native state Lewis Washington Howeth was reared and edneated and under his father's instruction and that of some of his elder brothers, acquired a practical knowledge of farming. In 1855. when he was about nineteen years old, he made an overland journey to California and minel in Inyo county until 1860, when he took np farming in San Joaquin county. From there he went to Tuolumne county, thence to Stanislans county, and for a time he was engaged in Imbering in Mendocino county. After his mar- riage, which occurred September 25, 1867. Mr. Howeth removed to Tulare county, making his home here until his death, June 9, 1904. During his residence here he became one of the most extensive sheep- men of the county and he became equally well known as a tiller of the soil.
In maidenhood Mrs. Howeth was Miss Sophia Gardner, born
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in Jefferson county, Ill., April 5, 1843, the daughter of Jacob and Sophia Gardner, natives of Germany, who came to the United States in 1840 and settled in Illinois. From there they came to California in 1852 by way of the Isthmus of Panama. They located in Tulare county and it was here, in 1858, that their daughter became the wife of John Hewey. He died in 1864, leaving a widow and two chil- dren, Emma R. and John W. Hewey. Mrs. Hewey's marriage to Mr. Howeth occurred in Stockton. Of this marriage the following children were born: Mary Lee, who died in infancy; Franklin J., who was born in 1869; Thomas A., born in 1871; Lney in 1873. the wife of H. W. Manter and the mother of two children; Elizabeth, born in 1876 and the wife of H. J. Thomas; Edgar W., horn in 1879; May, born in 1881, the wife of Roy Smith and the mother of two children ; and Hazel, born in 1883, the wife of Fred LaBrague and the mother of one child.
In his political affiliations Mr. Howeth was a Democrat. Fra- ternally he was identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Ilis place in the business community is filled in part by his son, Thomas A. Howeth, a native of Stanislaus county. The latter, who was formerly a far- mer and merchant, is now handling real estate quite extensively at Porterville.
FRANK P. SMITII
At San Jose Mission, Santa Clara county, Cal., Frank P. Smith was born in 1852, a son of Henry C. and Mary (Harlan) Smith, natives respectively of Michigan and Illinois. Ilis father crossed the plains to California in 1845, with Colonel Hastings, who blazed the way for the tide of emigration that was to follow, a little later, after the discovery of gold. For a time he was at Sutter's Fort. He was occupied in whip- sawing lumber in the woods north of Oakland and then went to the mines when the excitement was the greatest. In the early days, when California's capital was at Vallejo, he was three times elected to repre- sent his district in the legislature, and for some years he was justice of the peace at the Mission of San Jose. As an interpreter of the Spanish language he had, perhaps, no superior in all California. As such he was often called upon to help in the settlement of matters of great importance. The last year of his life he passed at Livermore, C'al., where he passed away in 1875. Ile had children as follows: Frank P .; Emma, who has taught school at Livermore for more than thirty years ; and Charles F., of Richmond, Cal. Mrs. Smith is now living at the age of eighty-six years, making her home at Livermore.
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It was in the original Contra Costa county that Frank P. Smith grew to manhood. Ile engaged in ranching there, and after a time went to a place near Cambria, on the Pacific, in San Luis Obispo county, where he began dairying. After twenty years' residence he came, in 1901, to Tulare county. For four years he operated the old Broder ranch, east of Visalia, then came to the place that he has since owned and occupied. It is located five miles west of Visalia and comprises three hundred and fifty-eight acres, of which a hundred acres is in alfalfa, twenty acres in Egyptian corn, and the balance in grazing and general farming nses. He has a dairy of forty to fifty cows and has usually abont a hundred and fifty hogs. As an example of the prodnetiveness of California land, he says that in one year he ent from eight acres of land fonr tons of wheat hay and then planted the same land to Egyptian corn and prodneed a thousand pounds of corn to the acre.
In 1882 Mr. Smith married Miss Martha Chappell, a native of Gilroy, Santa Clara county, Cal., and she has borne him two sons, Henry C. and Charles L. In his work he is assisted by his sons, who take an interest in local affairs and are members of Four Creek Lodge No. 94, I. O. O. F., in which Henry C. holds the office of vice- grand. The father is a Native Son of the Golden West. A man of enterprise and public spirit, he has in many ways demonstrated his interest in the county and its economie problems. His uncle, Ira Van Gorden, was so early a settler in Tulare county that when he came he could count the white inhabitants of the county on the fingers of his two hands.
WILLIAM N. STEUBEN
The first agent of the Wells-Fargo Express Co. at Visalia, Tulare county, Cal., was William N. Steuben, a native of New York, who crossed the plains with other pioneers in 1849, mined in Placer county three years and came to Visalia in 1852. Soon he was made agent of a local express company, called the Overland Stage Company, which was later taken over by the Wells-Fargo company. His recollections of the business included the experiences of the days when all express matter came to California in the overland stages, guarded by sharp- shooting pony express riders, and of the days of the development of the express business along modern lines, in which the railroad is the chief utility. He passed away in 1892, having been sneceeded as agent long since by his son Zane Steuben, who was the local represen- tative of the company at Visalia for nearly fifty years prior to his death, which occurred on Washington's birthday, 1908. The elder Steuben took an active interest in all public affairs of the town, par-
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ticularly in the establishment and development of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he was a devoted member. He married Miss Katherine Hamilton, a native of New York, and their family consisted of: Zane and Katherine, married to Ned Hart, who in the early days was identified with the United States land office at Visalia ; her children, William N., Frank R. and Ned Hart, are deceased.
It was in 1852 that Zane Steuben came to California, around Cape Horn. For a time he mined at Placerville; later he became his father's assistant in the express office, and in time his successor, as has been narrated. He married Mary Louisa Elme, and they had four children : Mrs. Mary E. Burland, William E., John and Catherine H., who died in infancy.
From the day when the Wells-Fargo company began to do busi- ness at Visalia to the present time, the Steubens have been in charge of its local affairs. Something of the administration of William N. and Zane Stenben has been told. William E. and Mrs. Mary E. Burland are now in charge of the office. John Steuben is working for the Central California Cannery, having the management of the receiv- ing department. The history of the Stenben connection with this important interest for so many years is a history of faithfulness to duty and of fidelity to all trusts, a history that carries a lesson for good to men and women who would succeed worthily and permanently.
JAMES SWEENEY
One of the prosperous and highly respected fruit growers of Tulare county, Cal., is James Sweeney, who owns a fine ranch near Farmersville. Mr. Sweeney was born in Kentucky June 10, 1858, and left home when very young, working his way here and there around the country. For quite a while he lived at Cairo, Ill., and later at St. Louis, Mo. His opportunities for schooling were limited, but he has a good fund of practical information, which he gained in the "college of hard knocks," and which he finds very useful in various emer- gencies.
In 1890 Mr. Sweeney came to California and for some time worked for wages on the John Jordan peach, prune and grape ranch of eighty aeres near Ilanford, Kings county, which he later rented and operated for twelve years. He came to his productive ranch of one hundred and ten acres near Farmersville, in 1902. It was formerly the property of R. E. Hyde and is one of the best improved farms in the vicinity. Ile owns a tract of twenty acres near by and two town blocks in Farmersville. On his ranch he has four hundred apricot
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trees, three acres of Tragedy French prunes, ten acres of Laval peach trees and three acres each of orange clingstone, Mnir and Sus- quehanna peaches, and has recently set out eighteen acres of French and Robe De Sargent prune trees. Besides he has thirty acres in alfalfa and keeps hogs, turkeys and a dairy of twelve cows.
The woman who became Mr. Sweeney's wife was Miss Bridget Sweeney, of the same name, a native of Missouri, who has borne him nine children, viz .: Timothy, AAlbert, Nora, John, Mary, Dorothy. Michael. Maggie and Viola. As a farmer Mr. Sweeney is thoroughly up-to-date and in all his plans and work progressive. His place is well improved and outfitted with good buildings, modern machin- ery and appliances and every essential to its successful cultivation. As a citizen he takes an interest in all affairs of the community and extends publie spirited aid to every movement for the general benefit.
JESSE A. THOMAS
Among the progressive farmers of his vicinity is Jesse A. Thomas, whose father, Dewbart W. Thomas, was a native of Illinois; his mother, Clarinda (Harrell) Thomas, was born in Texas. Jesse A. Thomas was born January 29, 1868, near Visalia, Tulare county, Cal. In 1849 Dewbart W. Thomas crossed the plains to California and for a little while mined in the northern part of the state. Then he came to the Four Creek section of Tulare county, and some time in the early fifties bought eighty acres of land on which he established him- self as a farmer. Later he took up one hundred and sixty acres of government land, which he improved during the succeeding eight years, devoting it to the breeding of cattle and horses. He passed away in 1888, leaving seven children: Alexander, Jesse A., Mrs. Nancy Hicks, Sarah Janie, Frances, Weiley D. and Carrie.
Reared and educated in Tulare county, Jesse A. Thomas began his active life as a farmer in association with his father, and after the latter's death managed the home farm three years. He then rented three hundred and twenty acres of land north of Visalia, on which he has won snecess as a farmer and dairyman, maintaining a dairy of sixty-seven cows and growing much alfalfa. He now owns eighty acres of grazing land on Cottonwood Creek and another eighty acres three miles southeast of Visalia. Thirty acres of the latter tract he devotes to Egyptian corn, of which he has marketed ten sacks to the aere. lle keeps about fifty head of cattle and as many hogs and is at this time planting peach trees on fifteen acres.
In 1889 Mr. Thomas married Miss Mattie F. De Pew, a native of Iowa, and they have had these children: Lawrence L., Hazel L., Dollie N., Angusta and Jessie F. Dollie N. has passed away. Fra-
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ternally Mr. Thomas affiliates with Four Creek Lodge, No. 94, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and with the Foresters of America. As a man of enterprise he is making a distinct personal success, and as a man of public spirit he is prompt and generons in the aid of movements proposed for the good of the community.
JOHN W. WILLIAMS
One of the well-remembered citizens of Visalia, Tulare county, of the period including the latter part of the last and the opening year of the present century was John W. Williams, who was born in Sonth Carolina and who died at Visalia, his busy and useful life hav- ing spanned the period beginning December 12, 1830, and ending October 12, 1901. He came to California, by way of the Isthmus of Panama, in 1853, and went to the mines of Tuolumne county, where he met with various degrees of success and failure. In 1859 he located near Porterville, Tulare county, where he divided his time for some years between farming and the superintendency of the Tule River Indian reservation. It is a matter of local horticultural history that he planted the first fig tree near Porterville. Later in life he was interested in sheep raising in the mountains. The pioneer days of this comparatively early settler were full of the vicissitudes of life on the border and in the mines. His skirmishes with Indians were frequent and some of them would make interesting reading were he here to supply the details. In 1862 he went to Sacramento, where he had a band of horses, and the animals were all lost in the flood of that year. Thus suddenly and providentially impoverished, he made his way back to Tulare county and made his home in Visalia, where he held the office of city marshal twelve years. He proved himself the man for the place and the time by ridding the town of a rough and lawless element that had so intimidated former marshals that not a man of them had stuck to the office after real opposition set in. Later he was deputy sheriff two years under Sheriff Parker and four years under Sheriff Kay, performing the duties of the position with characteristic bravery and fidelity.
The lodge of Free and Accepted Masons ineInded Mr. Williams in its membership. He married Julia Storey in 1865. Her parents, Farris and Adella C. (Johnson) Storey, were natives of Georgia. Mrs. Storey died in her native state, and Mr. Storey brought his child Julia to California in 1852, making the journey by way of Panama. After having been for several years engaged in stock-raising in the Santa Clara valley and later near Los Angeles, he located at Visalia in 1857, continuing in the stock business. In 1860 he was put in command of a local company in Nevada which engaged in war-
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fare against predatory Indians, and he was killed while leading his men in a fight. Thus he yielded his life in defense of the settlers. Storey county, Nevada, was named in his honor. Mrs. Williams has one son, J. Fred Williams, a member of the firm of Williams & Butz, Visalia. Ile married Miss Nellie Jones and they have two sons, Farris W. and Storey F. As his pioneer ancestors were leaders in their time, so is he in his, alive to the business possibilities of this part of the state and solicitons for the development and advancement of all its important interests. The widow of John W. Williams is passing her declining years in the town where he won some of his greatest triumphs, cheered by loving relatives and welcomed everywhere by a wide circle of admiring friends.
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