USA > California > History of the State of California and biographical record of Coast Counties, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 89
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JOSEPH W. BEILBY.
A small but valuable ranch in the Pajaro val- by is that owned and occupied by Joseph W. Beilby, one of the well-known citizens and suc- iessful orchardists of this fertile part of the county. From a crude and unprofitable condi
tion the owner has improved and developed the latent possibilities of his land until the finest por- tion is worth $500 an acre, while the seventeen acres on the hillside is devoted to pasture for cattle and horses. No more enthusiastic or enter- prising tiller of the soil has located in this neigh- borhood, and through realizing his expectations Mr. Beilby has come to regard his choice of a home as little short of providential.
A native of Jackson county, Iowa, Mr. Beilby was born March 10, 1863, a son of Charles W. and Elizabeth ( Woodworth) Beilby, natives re- spectively of New York and Illinois, and both living at the present time. Charles W. Beilby, destined to become an important factor in the growth of Sutter county, Cal., was born and reared on a farm in New York state, and while comparatively young learned the carpenter's trade, at which he worked after removing to Iowa at the age of eighteen. After his marriage. solemnized in December, 1857, he started across the plains with other seekers for largeness of chance, and upon arriving in Sutter county took up one hundred and sixty acres of land, to which lie later added a similar amount. He now owns twelve hundred and forty acres in Sutter county, and though at present sixty-nine years of age. still maintains a lively interest in the manage- ment and disposition of his large estate. In county affairs he has been unusually promi- nent and has held various local offices at the disposal of his Democratie constituents. . \ member of the Christian Church, he has been a
The accident of birth alone prevents Joseph W. Beilby from being a Native Son of the Golden West, for he was an infant in arms when his par- ents set out across the plains. While being reared on the paternal farm in Sutter county he ac- quired a common school education in the district schools, and as a boy was thrifty and frugal, giv- ing promise of his present good judgment and business sagacity. His youth was uneventful, as
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was his early manhood, and at the age of twenty- six he married Cora Ragsdale, of Sutter county, who has borne him four children: LeRoy, Claude, Eva and Ida. For a time after his mar- riage Mr. Beilby leased his father's ranch, but in 1892 bought his present farm of sixty-one acres. He is a broad-minded, public-spirited citi- zen, and understands the practical and scientific side of farming. A Democrat in politics, he has never sought or accepted public office. For sev- eral years he has been a deacon in the Christian Church.
WILLIAM H. BENTLEY.
The beet industry in the vicinity of Agenda, Monterey county, is being promoted with vigor by William H. Bentley and his cousin, Edward Littlefield, whose united efforts have been prolific of most gratifying returns. Last year these en- thusiastic Californians had one hundred and thirty acres under beets, averaging twenty-seven tons to the acre, and this year they have one hundred and forty-five acres under the same root. Needless to say, they are making money, and their past and present success argues much for a continuation of the same good fortune. ( Mr. Littlefield is mentioned in another part of this work.)
A native of Solano county, Cal., Mr. Bentley was born in Dixon, June 10, 1865, a son of Horatio Bentley, a native of Wisconsin, and in later life a resident of Canada. The elder Bent- ley was married in Canada to a sister of Hiram Corey, one of the large stock-raisers of Monterey county, and came to California about 1800, pur- chasing the ranch upon which his death occurred when about sixty-one years of age. Mrs. Bentley was born in Canada and died on the homestead near Dixon, Solano county, Cal., when fifty-three years of age. Like her husband, she was a stanch member of and worker in the Presbyterian Church, and was the mother of six children : Reuben, a ranchman of this county; Iloratio, deceased at the age of thirty-six years ; Ila, the wife of F. A. Tyler, of Placer county, Cal .; Amelia, the wife of E. II. George, of San Benito county, Cal. : Rodney W., a painter of Lodi, Cal. ; and William H.
When his father died, William H. Bentley was twelve years of age, and he thereafter came to Monterey county to visit his uncle, Hiram Corey, and liked it so well that he stayed and for about nine years worked for his relative on the ranch which he now leases. Later he worked for Dave Spencer, and during that time was fore- man of a ranch of seven hundred acres. Subse- quently for three years he had charge of the Tu- licities ranch of seventeen hundred acres, which was devoted to cattle raising, and then leased four hundred and fifty acres of the old Corey ranch for three years. In 1902 he formed a part- nership with his cousin, Edward Littlefield, and they lease fifteen hundred acres for their general farming, stock and beet raising operations.
In 1891 Mr. Bentley married Flora Long, a native of West Virginia, who came to California when fifteen years of age. To Mr. and Mrs. Bentley have been born two children, Edith Pauline and Eva Pearl. Mr. Bentley is a Repub- lican in national politics, but as regards local af- fairs is extremely liberal. Fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen, and with his wife is a member of the Presbyterian Church, of which he is a trustee. He is one of the prominent and worthy citizens of this well-favored locality. and has many friends among those who, like him- self, are public-spirited and enterprising.
MRS. MARY (PEARSON) BURKE.
Among the pioneer women of Santa Cruz county the name of Mrs. Burke deserves men- tion. She was born in Ireland, a daughter of David and Catherine ( Nolan ) Pearson, the for- mer of whom died when his daughter was quite young. Accompanied by her mother, Miss Pear- son came to America in 1853. locating in New York City, where she lived until 1864, in which year she came to Watsonville, Cal., and has ever since made this city her home.
October 28. 1868, Miss Pearson was united in marriage with James Burke, who was born in Ireland, and came to the United States when six- teen years of age. In 1850 he became a resident of San Francisco, and later for forty years made his home in Santa Cruz. As a means of liveli
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houd here In myaged his ranch of eighty-one acre-, devitell principally to apples, and located two miles from Watsonville. Politically he was a stanch Democrat, but never held office, although at times he worked for the advancement of his friends. Mr. Burke died December 28. 1899. a firm believer in the doctrines of the Roman Cath- olie Church. Mrs. Burke now makes her home on the ranch. She is one of the typical women of the earlier days, and has made numerous friends who appreciate her many worthy personal characteristics.
AUGUST BRENDLIN.
As the principal purveyor of bakery goods in Paso Robles, Mr. Brendlin has a place of busi- ness advantageously located in the center of the town, connected with which is a confectionery store, and a parlor for dispensing ices and light refreshments. He learned his trade with all the thoroughness characteristic of Swiss bakers. as for some time after removing from his birthplace, Baden, Germany, he resided in Switzerland. He was born August 28, 1848. His father, Anton, also a native of Baden, was a builder and con- tractor, and followed his trade up to the time of his death. at the age of forty-two years. His mother. Catherine (Godlove ) Brendlin, was also born in Baden, and reared three sons and one daughter to years of usefulness, August being the second oldest in the family.
Equipped with a high-school education, Mr. Brendlin came to America in 1871, locating in Peoria, 111., where he followed his trade with con- siderable success for five years. After coming to California he lived for seven or eight years in Sacramento, thereafter trying his luck in several different parts of the state. He finally decided in favor of Paso Robles, partly because of its im- munity from malarial tendencies, and from the beginning of his residence here in 1887 has watched with increasing interest the gradual growth of the town. From a few straggling resi- dences have developed the present enterprise and Thrift. an added advantage to Mr. Brendlin being The fact that he has the only business of its kind mi the town. He is the possessor of considerable
real estate in the town and country, and aside from his bakery and residence owns a ranch of fifty acres, twenty of which are in orchard.
In Peoria, Ill .. Mr. Brendlin married Frances Frietch, also a native of Baden, Germany, and a daughter of Joseph Frietch, a weaver in Ger- many, where he passed his entire life. Two sons and one daughter have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Brendlin, viz .: A. August, Edward and Emma M. Mr. Brendlin is possessed of shrewd business sagacity, his plant and equipments de- noting enterprise and progressive methods, and he has succeeded in working up a yearly business of considerable extent. He is a Democrat in pol- ities, but aside from casting his vote has never entered the arena of politics. Fraternally he is associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is now serving his second term as city trustee, having been elected without respect to politics.
J. K. BURNETT.
The law firm comprising J. K. and W. W. Bur- nett is one of the well-known and prominent firms in San Luis Obispo, the members thereof being men of unquestioned standing in the community, both as regards legal acumen and all-around sub- stantial and desirable citizenship. J. K. Burnett, prominent also in politics, and the creator of a brilliant record in the state assembly, is a native son of this county, and was born January 24. 1802.
Wesley Burnett, father of the brother lawyers. was born in Sullivan county, Ind., and is enrolled among the noble band of pioneers who braved the dangers of the western plains and subse- quently lent his strong character and developing force to various interests on the coast. For years he flatboated on the Mississippi river, and in 1850 crossed the plains with ox and mule teams, ac- companied by nine young men, whom he brought to the state at his own expense. He had saved up $5,000 with which to begin life in the west, and located in Santa Clara county, afterward remov- ing to Cayucos, San Luis Obispo coanty, where he purchased five thousand acres of the San Geronimo rancho. Later he increased his hokl- ings to twenty-two thousand acres, all of which
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was swept away by the panic of 1893. Of later years he has lived at Adelaide, this county, where for several years he was engaged in cattle and sheep raising. At this writing he is eighty-four years of age. His wife was a daughter of James Kennedy, a native of Scotland, who located in Canada when a young man, and crossed the plains to California in 1852. Mr. Kennedy engaged in mining on the Sacramento and Feather rivers, and died in the midst of the western activities. Ile was honored for his admirable qualities, traits inherited by his daughter Mary, the wife of Wes- ley Burnett. Mrs. Burnett became the mother of eight children, six of whom are living, J. K. being the oldest of her marriage with Wesley Burnett. C. R. Cooper is a son of Mrs. Burnett by a former husband.
Mr. Burnett was educated in the public schools and at the University of the Pacific, also at the University of Southern California at Los An- geles. In 1885 he engaged in stock and fruit raising with indifferent success upon recently purchased land amounting to fifteen hundred acres. With a firm in Los Angeles he first began the study of law, and afterward studied in San José. from which town he was admitted to the bar. Although reared a Republican, he is independent in politics, and has already been closely identified with affairs political. He was a member of the National Convention of the Peo- ple's party held at St. Louis, and has been a dele- gate to the state convention on numerous occa- sions. In 1896 he was elected to the legislature and again in 1808. In 1897 he served on the ways and means committee, and during the same year came into prominence as an investigator. Charges of bribery were made by the San Fran- cisco Eraminer, and certain members were in- criminated by the seizure of a box of Western Union dispatches at Truckee. In 1809 he again became prominent as an investigator. This time charges of bribery in connection with the contest for United States senator were preferred by the Call. The investigation resulted in the resigna- tion of the speaker of the assembly. The same year he received the complimentary vote of his party for United States senator. While assem- blyman he assisted in the passage of a bill pro- viding for the establishment of a polytechnic
school at San Luis Obispo, which, however, the governor failed to sign.
W. W. Burnett, younger member of the law firm, was born in California March 4, 1872, and was educated in the public schools and at the Universities of the Pacific and Southern Califor- nia, also attending Stanford University for four years. In the latter institution he studied law and mining, becoming one of the very promising young lawyers of San Luis Obispo. In athletics he also gained some renown while attending this university, being center rush and right tackle in the football games, and was captain of the team in 1900. During the Spanish-American war he vol- unteered in the U'tah Light Artillery, participated in thirteen battles, and spent thirteen months at the seat of war. A Republican in politics, he has not yet been heard of in political affairs. Mr. Burnett is interested in athletics and social af- fairs, and has many friends in the profession and out of it. He is a splendid type of the western man of affairs, is six feet tall and weighs not less than two hundred pounds.
S. H. HANSON.
A native son of Denmark who has transferred to his adopted country many admirable per- sonal characteristics, and who has contributed a share towards the best development of San Luis Obispo, is S. H. Hanson, a very old settler and prominent plumber. He was born in Den- mark, October 21, 1848, a son of S. H. and Anna (Jorgingson) Ilanson, both of Scotch descent. The father was a soldier in the Danish army, and died when his son, S. H., was three months old. Of the eleven children born to this couple, the popular plumber of San Luis Obispo is the youngest, and the only one living.
Educationally, Mr. Hanson was fortunate in his youth, for he attended the military academy near his home, where the most rigid discipline was maintained, and a thoroughly practical edu cation given the cadets. During the vacation season he learned the plumbing trade under his uncle, Henry Holm, having completed which he enlisted in the Prussian and Danish war, and faithfully served the interests of his country. He was ambitions of larger chances than seemed
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to confront him in his native land, and therefore embarked for America, landing in Boston on the day that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. From that city he removed to Michigan, settling in Grand Rapids in 1868, and came to California in 1872. Locating in Lake county, he engaged in the plumbing business with considerable suc- cess for a year. In 1873 he went to San Fran- cisco, and worked for W. W. Montague, who sent him to San Luis Obispo to work for Turner & Potter. From 1878 to 1887 he engaged in an independent plumbing business, and then was employed by the United States government to build the Point St. Louis lighthouse water- works. This responsibility was completed at the end of a year and a half, after which Mr. Hanson settled down to business in San Luis Obispo, and has since worked up a very desira- ble trade. He has fitted out with plumbing nearly all of the large concerns in the town and county, and has a reputation for thoroughiness and up-to-date methods approved by the most earnest students of sanitation.
In Michigan Mr. Hanson married Tina Camp- bell. and of this union there is one daughter, Myrtie, now the wife of Edward Harlo. In 1800 Mr. Hanson contracted a marriage with Mrs. Anna Elliott, and of this union there are three sons, Silas, Elbon and Elmer. Mr. Han- son was one of the pioneer fire brigade of San Luis Obispo, and he has assisted at the inau- guration of many of the pioneer enterprises of the town. He is fraternally connected with the blue lodge and Royal Arch Masons; with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is past grand and past chief patriarch. In politics he is independent, and in religion is a Lutheran.
R. P. LATHROP.
In this part of the country the name of Lathrop is by no means unfamiliar, and carries with it the true western grit and determination, and abso- lute disregard for beaten paths and obstacles. The Lathrop Hay Company, the largest of its 1.ind in California, and one of the largest in the West, bears testimony to the intrepid industry and business sagacity of R. P. Lathrop, traits inher-
ited by this honored citizen of Hollister from a father whose career has been in many ways re- markable.
One of the pilgrims who crossed the plains in the memorable golden year of '49 took his way from Waukegan, Wis., with the full determina- tion of making the west yield him measure for measure in return for the discomforts and uncer- tainties of his ox-team jaunt. This traveler, Levi B. Lathrop, the father of R. P., settled in Trinity county, and at once began to exercise his genius for sizing up situations and utilizing chances. As there were mines in Trinity county there was also ore to handle, and to meet this demand he put up one of the first mills for this purpose. After several years of mining he went in search of pastures new in Shasta county, where he per- fected an irrigating system and began raising vegetables on a large scale. As he was the only one in the county to engage in a similar occupa- tion, and as vegetables were a great luxury, it stands to reason that his innovation was success- ful from the start, and that money rolled into his deserving coffers. Having cleared $26,000 in one year, he naturally concluded that other coun- ties in the state were equally worthy of his at- tention, so removed to San José, Santa Clara county, and set out the first orchard in that county. Fruit growing had hitherto not been associated with this part of the state, and prophets of woe were prolific of forebodings, and even hinted at temporary insanity on the part of the enthusiastic orchardist. Nevertheless they were glad of the chance presented at harvest time. and lost their prejudice in admiration of one whose forethought had exceeded their own. There were one hundred acres in the orchard, and the yield more than realized the expectations of the owner. Thus Mr. Lathrop went from one large enterprise to another, merrily upsetting precedent. and utterly ignoring dire predictions. In the meantime a decided talent for invention had found vent in numerous directions, and the combined thresher and harvester, now manufac- tured in Stockton, and still extensively used in grain sections, was evolved from his fertile brain, as well as the Lathrop hay press, used in the northern part of the state, and manufactured in San José. Inventions also of minor importance
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filled many long-felt wants in the state, among them being a lamp burner, wagon spring. and anti-rattler for wagon wheels.
In 1875 Mr. Lathrop removed to Hollister and bought sixteen hundred acres of land near the town, upon which he proceeded to raise hay. There were no warehouses here at the time, so he built one with a capacity of sixteen hundred tons, allowing one ton per acre. This warehouse was the first to be equipped with railroad car scales and track in the center for loading. The son, R. P. Lathrop, took charge of the entire business, and he soon built up a large trade, doing a general hay and storage business. In 1895 L. B. Lathrop removed to Capitola, Santa Cruz county, and is still living there in compara- tive retirement from business cares. He is known from one end of the state to the other, not only on account of his valuable services in the devel- opment of the resources of the same, but because of a vivid and striking personality, which has led him into taking up the cudgels against certain undesirable western tendencies. He is uncom- promisingly opposed to the use of liquors and to- bacco, and in support of his beliefs his voice has often been heard from the platform in earnest entreaty. He is also opposed to secret societies, a peculiarity which has brought him very promi- nently before the public. On the whole, free from denominational lines, he is yet in sympathy with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has filled the local pulpits on special occasions. Of great strength of character and pronounced per- sonal magnetism, Mr. Lathrop has made a deep impression upon the communities in which he has lived, and few are more deserving of the praise accorded his individual, well-directed efforts. He was born in New York state April 30, 1815.
R. P. Lathrop was born in San José December 6, 1855, and received his education in the public schools, and in the business department of Gates Institute, one of the early colleges of the town. graduating therefrom in 1875. Immediately fol- lowing he came to Hollister and bought his father's hay warehouse, which was the beginning of his career as hay merchant. In time the in- crease of business required additions to the ware- house, and to-day he has a capacity of thirteen thousand five hundred tons. He managed the
business independently until 1893, during which year a corporation known as the Farmers' Hay Company was formed, and continued with the same success which had characterized its prede- cessor. In the meantime another warehouse had started up in business, and the two firms con- solidated in 1899 as the Lathrop Hay Company, the largest in the state. The firm handles an av- erage of two thousand tons per month the year round, and since May 15, 1901, six hundred and seventy cars, holding seventy-three hundred and seventy tons, have been shipped. Of course the yield varied with the state of the weather, and, whereas in 1893 sixteen hundred and fifty-two cars, holding eighteen thousand one hundred and seventy-two tons were shipped. in 1900, an un- usually dry year, only seven hundred and twenty- three cars, holding seventy-nine hundred and fifty tons, were shipped. The most satisfactory year was 1896, when twenty-four hundred and sixteen cars, holding twenty-six thousand five hundred and seventy-six tons, were shipped ; and the next best year was 1894, when nineteen hundred and eighty-eight cars and twenty-two thousands tons were distributed over the country. The name of Mr. Lathrop is especially known in regions of the state where hay is not among the immediate available commodities, and where the consumers patiently await this necessary article, and are able to profit by the splendid system obtaining in the business of the popular and remarkably success- ful hay merchant.
The enterprise inherited by Mr. Lathrop, and fostered by many years of well-directed effort, is by no means confined to the hay industry, for all of the large enterprises of the town and county have been benefited in some way by his patronage or direct interest. He is a director and also a member of the finance committee in the Bank of Hollister, one of the most successful interior banking institutions in central California, and vice-president and one of the managing board of the Grangers Union, a department store in Hol- lister, which has been very successful, doing an average annual business of $180,000. In the Hollister Light and Power Company he is also a director, is a director and treasurer of the Hollister Creamery, a very successful enter- prise, and is one of the original builders
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of the Hollister Irrigation, being one of a few who carried it beyond the experimental period and made it a success. He is a mem- ber of the board of control and treasurer of the San Benito County Improvement Club, and is manager of several large tracts of land, con- sisting of several thousands of acres, owned by corporations and individuals living outside of the county. Except as any good citizen should, he takes no special interest in politics, preferring to devote his time to his many business interests. So successful and so sound has been the judgment of Mr. Lathrop upon all matters of public mo- ment, and so practical is his attitude towards the important commonwealth of which he is a domi- nating figure, that he has won the esteem and ap- preciation of all who appreciate true western citi- zenship ennobled by high ideals and regard for all with whom he comes in contact.
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