USA > California > San Bernardino County > Ingersoll's century annals of San Bernadino County, 1769-1904 : prefaced with a brief history of the state of California : supplemented with an encyclopedia of local biography and portraits of many of its representative people > Part 102
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HISTORY OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
RICHARDSON BROS., of Victor. This firm is composd of W. W. and E. E. Rich- ardson.
W. W. Richardson was born in Wilson county, Kansas, September 16, 1875. He is the son of R. N. and Margaret L. Richardson. He received a common school education and was brought up on a farm near Altoona, Kans., where he lived until he came to Victor, December 3, 1897. His older brother had preceded him, and in partnership with a man named Chilson, under the firm name of Richardson & Chilson, was engaged in a general blacksmith and livery business and dealing in hay and grain. Purchasing the interests of Mr. Chilson in the business, it was continued under the present firm name. Beside their business above referred to, Richardson Bros. have a stage line to Gold Mountain, making two trips each week. Mr. Richardson is not married. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity.
E. E. Richardson was born in West Virginia, November 22, 1861. His school days were passed in Kansas, where he received a common school education, finishing with a course in the Little Rock Commercial College. After two years he came to Santa Ana, where he worked one year on a ranch, five years in a butcher shop and the last five yeras of his residence in that town owned a feed store. He came to Victor July 3, 1897, and engaged in his present business. Mr. Richardson is a member of the Masonic fraternity and a Knight of Pythias and an Elk. He is not married.
WILLIAM HENRY RANDALL, deceased, of Highland, was born in Pownal, Cum- berland county, Me., December 5, 1834.
His father, William Randall, also a native of Pownal, was a mill owner and merchant of that town. His mother was Lydia, daughter of Gid- eon Winslow Haskell of New Gloucester, Me., and descendant on the maternal side of the New England Winslows who figure in the early his- tory of Plymouth Colony.
William H. Randall passed his boyhood and received his education in North Pownal. His father died in 1847 at the age of thirty-eight years, and a few years later William Randall succeeded to the mill property and the family homestead, consisting of forty acres of land. He lived in his native town thirty-one years. In 1864 he re- moved to Virginia City, Nev., and engaged in quartz mining, remaining until 1874. He then went east and soon thereafter returned west with his family and located in Riverside. In 1878 he formed a partnership with his life-long friend and relative by marriage, William T. Noyes, and purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in what is now Highlands; also acquiring by pre-emption forty acres of government land. From the beginning he was one of Highlands' active and progressive citizens. He was a prime mover in the development of Highland water system and WM. HENRY RANDALL an organizer of the Highland Vineyard Associa- tion. In 1892 Mr. Randall was elected on the Democratic ticket Supervisor for the fifth district. His efforts were directed toward the advancement of the interests of the public, and he labored unceasingly in that direction. He was active in promoting the building of the new Court House, and in instituting necessary reforms in the County Hospital and Poor Farm, placing the latter on a practical business basis. Mr. Randall was an earnest advocate of the temperance cause.
Mr. Randall was twice married. January 20, 1862, he married Miss Helen J. Sylvester, of Cumberland, Me. She died at Riverside, leaving three sons-George W., a resident of Los Angeles ; Henry I., civil engineer, professor in the University of California at Berkeley; Martin M., of Highlands.
October 4, 1880, Mr. Randall married Mrs. Dorcas C. Thompson, widow of James II. Thompson. Mr. Randall died at Highlands May 25, 1897.
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HISTORY OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
FRANCIS M. HUBBARD, late of Colton, was a native of Putnam County, Ind., born June II, 1831, the son of John Hubbard, a physician. The father was a native of New York state ; he early emigrated to the west, and in 1837, settled in Illinois, near the present site of Elgin. Francis M. was educated in Elgin and then spent two years as a student in Dr. Troll's Medical Institute, New York city. He returned west and located at Ripon, Wis. Later he removed to Nora Springs, Iowa, where he engaged in the drug business, and was also editor and publisher of a newspaper. He was actively interrested in the growth and material progress of the city, and served on the board of trustees and as mayor of Nora Springs. He was of a mechanical turn of mind and invented and patented a number of useful devices among them a stone-dumper, which came into universal use, and from the sale of which he derived a considerable revenue. He made other practical and successful inventions.
In 1888 he came to California and located at Colton, where he established the first, and for a long time, the only drug business in the town. He here took a prominent part in busi- ness, social and civic affairs, and served on the board of city trustees. He was prominent as a Mason and belonged to the I. O. O. F. He died in Colton February 2, 1904.
Dr. Hubbard married Miss Harriet E., daughter of Rev. Aaron Burbank, a Baptist clergyman. She now resides in Pasadena. Two children surrvive the father, Myra Alice, widow of John Hanson, of Pasadena and Charles H., for many years a resident of St. Paul, Minn., now living in Los Angeles.
CAPTAIN JOHN W. BABSON, of Needles, was born in Washington county, R. I., December 24, 1834, the son of Joseph W. and Louisa Otter Babson. He has one brother, James W. Babson, residing in Mojave, Cal.
While quite young the family removed to Carbondale, Pa., the first town from which anthracite coal was shipped to the Atlantic sea-board. Here he received a common school education, and after working on a farm a time learned the trade of machinist at Susque- hanna, Pa. He traveled a good deal, working in different shops, and finally reached New York city and was employed there from 1854 to 1860. On the breaking out of the war he enlisted in Co. M, 4th Penn. Cav., and was discharged from the service March 26, 1863, for partial loss of eyesight, but remained with the Quartermaster's department until the close of the war.
From 1865 to 1868 he acted as captain on a freight boat on the Alabama river. He then entered the employ of the Delaware and Hudson River Railway and remained with them until 1887. He was employed as foreman of the mechanical department of the A. & P. Ry .at Albuquerque, Mojave and Peach Springs for six years. In 1897 Captain Babson came to Needles and since 1899 has had charge of the steamer "St. Vallier" on the Colorado river.
Captain Babson has been a Mason since 1869. . He is also a member of the K. of P. and is an attendant of the Protestant Episcopal church.
L. A. INGERSOLL was born at Delta, Easton county, Mich., August 7, 1851, the son of Alexander and Emeline Baker Ingersoll. Alexander Ingersoll was a son of Erastus Ingersoll, a prominent and successful pioneer of Michigan, of whom mention is made in the sketch of Joseph Ingersoll. Alexander Ingersoll succeeded to the ownership of an extensive water-power, mills, farm and other property at Delta, and was for several years supervisor of Delta township and for many years deacon of the Congregational church and superintendent of the Sunday school. He was a man of business, social and political influence. He died at St. Croix Falls, Wis., March 12, 1893.
Emeline Baker Ingersoll was a native of the town of Stafford, Gennesee county, N. Y., a daughter of Captain Remember Baker and great-grand-daughter of the Captain Remember Baker who was with Colonel Ethan Allen when he captured Fort Ticonderoga. He was immediately afterward dispatched to Crown Point and was there killed. History records him as the first American officer killed in the Revolution. Emeline Baker was a sister of General Lafayette Baker, the first Union spy to enter Richmond, for which service he was commissioned colonel and by authority of President Lincoln organized the United States Secret Service Bureau and was its chief executive head during the war. He closed his public career by planning and effecting the capture of the assassin of Lincoln in company with his men, Colonel E. J. Conger and Lieut. L. B. Baker. Mrs. Ingersoll was a woman of great force of character and Christian fortitude. She died at St. Croix Falls, Wis., February 12, 1905.
L. A. Ingersoll attended the district schools at Delta and the public school at Lansing and Olivet College, Olivet, Mich. He spent several years as salesman in a dry goods house in Lansing. In 1880 he entered the local history publishing business and continued the same for Chicago and New York publishing houses until 1887, when he established
FRANCIS M. HUBBARD.
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HISTORY OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY.
the St. Croix Valley Standard, at St. Croix, Wis., and published the same until 1889. He then sold out and came to Los Angeles, which has since been his home.
He began gathering the data for Ingersoll's Century Annals of San Bernardino County it! the summer of 1898, and after encountering some unforeseen and tedious delays, pub- lished this work in 1905.
He was married September 5, 1881, to Miss Mary, daughter of Henry and Rose Lambert Otto, of Ypsilanti, Mich. They have one daughter, Grace.
JOSEPH INGERSOLL, of San Bernardino, was born in Watertown, Clinton county, Mich., November 6, 1856, the son of Egbert and Mary E. Holmes Ingersoll, and grandson of Erastus Ingersoll, who with a fam- ily of thirteen children located on Grand river, in the heart of a dense wilder- ness, in Central Michigan, in 1836. Here he developed a water-power, built mills and established a prosperous community which he named Delta. Egbert Inger- soll pursued farming and fruit growing near Delta for several years. During the Civil war he went to Washington and entered the United States secret service as a detective, under General Lafayette C. Baker. He rendered the gov- ernment valuable services in the stir- ring events of those strennous days, par- ticipating in the capture of the assassin of President Lincoln and the conspir- ators against the lives of his cabinet. After the war Mr. Ingersoll returned to Michigan to his farm. Later he lived in Lansing, until 1901, when he came to California and located in Los An- geles.
Joseph Ingersoll spent his youth on the home farm near Delta, and early started out in life to seek his fortune. He spent several years in Detroit as an engineer and later engaged in the mill- ing business at Lansing. He also took up the study of stenography, mastered the science and acted as a reporter in the criminal courts of Ingham county, Mich. He came to California in 1882 and worked as a mechanic in the Baker JOSEPH INGERSOLL Iron Works, Los Angeles. In this ca- pacity he installed the machinery in the Brookside winery and operated the same. Eventually he became a member of the firm of E. Vache & Co., owners of the Brookside winery. In 1891 the company opened a wholesale wine and liquor business in San Bernardino under the management of Mr. Ingersoll and his cousin, F. J. Esler. Five years later the firm of Ingersoll & Esler was organized and purchased the Vache interests in the San Bernardino business, retaining their interest also in the Brookside property. The firm also engaged in gold mining and was one of the first to make dis- coveries and to develop mines in the Virginia Dale district. They disposed of their prin- cipal mine, the "O. K.," in 1903, for $75,000, still retaining other valuable claims. The firm has invested largely in San Bernardino property, chiefly on Third street, and are among the most prosperous and substantial business men of the city.
Mr. Ingersoll takes a modest but effective interest in local affairs, having served as a member of the grand jury and of the board of freeholders which framed the present city charter of San Bernardino city. He married at Detroit, Mich., March 24, 1879, Miss Alice Stoddard, and they have two daughters-Mary and Lozie. He is a prominent I. O. O. F. and is Past Noble Grand of San Bernardino Lodge No. 146. He was one of the organizers of Aerie 156, Fraternal Order of Eagles, and was its first president.
O. W. HARRIS
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HISTORY OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
THURLOW INGERSOLL was born in Watertown, Clinton county, Mich., August 6, 1862, second son of Egbert and Mary Holmes Ingersoll, of whom more extended mention is made in the sketch of Joseph Ingersoll. He left home at about eighteen years of age and in Detroit learned the trade of stationary engineer. In 1882 he made a trip to California and to Redlands, and took a position as superintendent of the Brookside winery. He remained in California one year and then returned to Lansing, Mich., where he held a position with E. F. Cooley as electrical engineer, having charge of the city lighting plant. In 1884 he again came to California in company with his cousin, Fred J. Esler, and occupied a position as engineer and electrician with the Los Angeles Lighting Co. He again returned to Michigan and was for about eight years superintendent of the Lansing city water works and lighting plant. From 1896 to 1902 he was engaged as engineer in the city of Los Angeles. In 1902 he became one of the incorporators of T. Vache & Co .. owners and operators of the Brookside winery, and is now a director and secretary of the company.
Mr. Ingersoll married in 1890 Miss Alice Dorrance, a daughter of William Dorrance, a Michigan pioneer. They have one daughter, Gladys. Their home is in Redlands.
FRED J. ESLER, of San Bernardino, is a native of Eaton county, Mich., born August 28, 1863, the son of Benjamin T. and Minnie Holmes Esler. B. T. Esler was a pioneer settler of Michigan and was for years the leading merchant of Grand Ledge. He came to California and lo- cated at Redlands, where he is now a successful orange grower. Fred J. Es- ler attended the public schools at Grand Ledge and clerked in his fathers store until the age of twenty-one, when he came to California. He found employ- ment at the Brookside winery of E. Vaché & Co., near Redlands, and thor- oughly mastered the business, and for several years acted as superintendent of the establishment. In 1891 Mr. Esler became a member of the firm of E. Vaché & Co., which opened a . whole- sale wine and liquor business in San Bernardino, managed by Mr. Esler and his cousin, Joseph Ingersoll. This ar- rangement continued until 1896, when the firm of Ingersoll & Esler was organ- ized and purchased the Vaché interests. (See sketch of Joseph Ingersoll.)
December 23, 1886, Mr. Esler mar- ried Mrs. Carmelli Reitz, of Los An- geles. Mr. Esler is a prominent Odd Fellow and has held responsible offices in San Bernardino Lodge No. 146. Mr. Esler owns valuable business and resi- dence property in San Bernardino and is influential in business and social af- fairs of the city.
J. W. DRIVER, of Needles, was born in England, October 3, 1865. He FRED J. ESLER was the son of John and Isabella Driver. The family came from England and set- tled in Hillsdale county, Mich., in 1869. He has one sister, Mrs. N. B. Woods, residing in San Bernardino.
Mr. Driver was educated in the public schools of Hillsdale, graduated from the high school and finished with a commerical course at Hillsdale College in 1881. After leaving school he went to Sandusky, Ohio, and engaged in business with his father, a contractor. December 15, 1883, they came to San Bernardiano, and engaged in the same business, erecting many buildings, among them the Stewart Hotel. He remained with his father for a time and then went to work in the drug store of Towne and Nickerson, and was with them nearly
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HISTORY OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
three years. He next entered the employ of Dr. Bedford in the same business, and worked for him one year. Then forming a partnership with C. A .Fisher, under the firm name of Driver & Fisher, established the business known as the National Pharmacy, which they con- tinned three years. November 30, 1891, he received a certificate from the State Board of Pharmacy, and selling his interest in the National Pharmacy to Dr. Campbell, went to work for Dr. White in the Owl Drug store, where he remained two years. After one year in the employ of F. M. Towne, he went to Redlands and worked three years for the firm of Gillis & Spoor, then to Los Angeles, where he had charge of the Natick Pharmacy for one year.
Mr. Driver came to Needles September 1, 1898. He has been in charge of the drug store of Dr. Reese since that time. He has always been prominent in musical circles, and is a mein- ber of the orchestra. He was one of the charter members of the old M. A . Band. He organized the first base-ball team in San Bernardiano.
Mr. Driver married Miss Della Campbell, daughter of Dr. C. G. Campbell of San Ber- nardiano, March 15, 1888. They have one son-Leland Driver. Mr. Driver is a member of the Knights of Pythias.
ALMYRA MOSES KENNISTON, of San Bernardino, was born in the state of Maine in 1827. He came to California early in the fifties and located in Los Angeles, where he was employed in driving stage be- tween Wilmington and Los Angeles by General William Banning, in the days preceding railway transporta- tion in Southern California. He lo- cated .in San Bernardino while the town was still a village, and in com- pany with the late James Brazleton,
ALMYRA MOSES KENNISTON
formed the firm of Brazleton & Ken- niston, in 1874. They conducted a general livery business from this time. until Mr. Brazleton's death, after which Mr. Kenniston retired from the business.
For several years Mr. Kennis- ton was a member of the board of city trustees, serving as chairman and using all his efforts in behalf of good government and public in- terests. He has now retired from active life, and resides at his beauti- ful old home in the city of San Bernardino.
JOHN H. BARTON, of San Ber- nardino, was born in the state of Missouri in 1858. He is the head of the firm of Barton & Catick, and is an energetic and competent business man. He is prominent in fraternal circles and an untiring member of the Masonic order, having been inter- ested in the new Masonic hall.
O. W. HARRIS, of Redlands, was born at Newton, Ind., October 14, 1860, the son of John T. Harris, also a native of the Hoosier state, and by occupation a farmer. The grandparents were Virginians, and among the early pioneers of northwestern Indiana. The mother was Louise Coshaw, of Welsh descent.
Mr. Harris came to California in 1887 to seek a more favorable climate. He engaged
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HISTORY OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
in citrus fruit culture in Redlands and now owns valuable orange lands and orchards and a beautiful home in the city of Redlands. He is also interested in the Oak Glen property in the upper Yucaipe Valley, a beautiful mountain resort.
He married Alice E. Cook in Milton, Ind., and they are the parents of six children- Ruth E., Chester C., Benjamin H., Virginia R., John M. and Olive.
FRANKLIN A. SHOREY, of Redlands, is a native of New Hampshire, born in the town of Somersworth, then Great Falls, July 16, 1844, the son of Aaron and Elizabeth McGregor Shorey, both natives of Maine. The father was a contracting carpenter. Mr.
JOHN H. BARTON
FRANKLIN A. SHOREY
Shorey passed his youth in his birthplace. In 1859 he went to Boston, where lie learned the trade of carpenter and builder and carried on a general contracting business for eight years in that city. He then located in Omaha, Neb., where he took an active part in building up that city during the busiest period of its growth. In 1875 he came to California and settled at Santa Rosa, Sonoma county, where he remained until 1886, when he located in Redlands. He entered actively into the building up of the new town, and erected several of the first business blocks and residences of Redlands. This was before the railroad had reached this point and all supplies and building material had to be hauled by team from Colton.
Mr. Shorey was married at Waldboro, Me., to Miss Delia, daughter of Henry Weaver. There are four children, Elizabeth, wife of William Fowler of Redlands; Edith, at home; Mabel, Mrs. F. Earl Alderson, Los Angeles; Frankie E. Mr. Shorey has served as trustee of the Lugonia school district and of the Union High School district.
N. MANCHESTER, INDIANA 46962
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