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 89
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Charles C. Welch was educated under Father Kenna, at San Ignacio College. San Francisco. He left school in 1879, and with a band of mules went into the Colorado river country, but returned to San Francisco and remained until 1882. He then went .) take charge of the stock of the Blythe estate, having been appointed superintendent. This estate comprised ninety-seventy thousand acres of land and immense herds of cattle and sheep. He remained in charge ten years. From 1896 to 1899 he was in business with John W. Tuck in Needles. He sold his interests to Mr. Tuck and has since been engaged in the cattle business. He is the owner of five or six hundred head of cattle. Mr. Welch is not married.
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HISTORY OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
ROBERT S. THOMPSON was born in Cadiz, Harrison county, Ohio, May 27, 1865. In 1882, he came to California and located at Highland with his family. His mother is now Mrs. W. H. Randall. September 22, 1892, Mr. Thompson married Miss Jennie P., daughter of W. T. Noyes. He has been engaged in the orange packing business for the past fifteen years and was for four years manager of the Highland Orange Growers' As- sociation.
ALAND B. PADDOCK, of Rialto, was born at Meriden, Connecticut, March 20, 1852. His father, Samnel Clark Paddock, of Welsh descent, was one of the most successful busi- ness men of Meriden, also holding many positions of public trust in that city. His mother, Jannette Hall, was the daughter of Cas- per Hall, the first representative of Meriden, in the general assembly of Connecticut, and direct descendant of Lyman Hall, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. A. B. Paddock was educated in the public schools of his native place and at the. Connecticut Literary Institute, Suf- field. Later in life, he supplemented his education by a course in the scien- tific circle of the Chatanqua Institute. He began life in a mercantile
ALAND B. PADDOCK
business on his own account. Later he was traveling representative of the N. Y., N. H. and Hartford Ry., in the New England states. He next went to Nebraska and was employed as Vice-President of the Elgin State Bank and was also post master of the town of Elgin.
In December, 1896, he came to Califor- nia and after looking about for some months, he located at Rialto and en- gaged in the real estate business. He is now serving his second term as Jus- tice of the Peace for Rialto township, which includes the precincts of Rialto, North Rialto, Bloomington, Grapeland, and Declez. He is a member of the Fraternal Brotherhood, and Knights of the Macabees. December 29, 1875, Mr. Paddock married Miss Flora A. Sey- mour. They have two daughters, Grace Adella and Flora Estelle, the former dying at ten years of age, the latter is the wife of H. B. Kelley, an
accountant of the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank, of Los Angeles. By this union Judge Paddock has two grandchildren, Howard Allen, and Grace Seymour Kelly. Mr. Paddock has valuable real estate holdings at his former home in Meriden, while he and Mrs .. Paddock occupy a very pleasant home in Rialto.
JAMES MOFFATT, of Rialto, is a Canadian by birth, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, com- bining in himself the sturdy characteristics of the race and country of his birth. His' business prior to coming to California was in the mercantile line, and he also owned . a saw mill in Canada. In 1888, Mr. Moffatt came to California and purchased forty-two acres of land in the Rialto tract and commenced development of the property by setting out orange trees, chiefly Washington Navel variety; he is now successfully reaping the results of his labors with satisfaction and profit. Mr. Moffat has been chosen director of the Lytle Creek Improvement Company and also a director of the Rialto Fruit Exchange. Mrs. Moffat was, prior to her marriage, Miss Ada E. Elinor. They were married in 1884. and have one child-a danghter, Marion Ellis.
THOMAS MOFFATT, of Rialto, was born in Riceville, Canada, March 1851 the son of
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James Moffat, a farmer. In 1886, he came to California to investigate the country and its products and was so well pleased that he purchased land. Five years later he came with his family and located permanently at Rialto and since then he has improved his ranch successfully.
Mr. Moffat was married in 1881 to Miss Agnes Magee, a native of Canada. They have two children, Howard Lee and Iva Irene. Mrs. Moffat is a member of the Presbyterian church.
HENRY MEYER is a native of Switzerland, born January 1, 1860. In 1884, he came to America, landing at New York and coming overland to Los Angeles. He found work in Los Angeles and remained there until 1891, when he located in Rialto. In 1893, he purchased ten acres at Base Line and Eucalyptus avenues which he has planted to fruit.
In 1897, he married Miss Carrie Kandler, of Los Angeles, and they are the parents of four children, Anna, Carrie, Henry, Elizabeth Irene.
WILLIAM E. NYE, of Highland, was born in Warren, Monmouth county, Illinois. His father, Elisha Nye, was a brother of "Bill Nye," the humorist. The father was it native of Bangor, Maine, and was in early life a stock dealer and butcher. He re- moved to Monmonth county, Illinois, where he engaged in the furniture business. He diel in Chicago at the Exposition as the result of a paralytic stroke.
William E. Nye received a common school education and learned the trade of black - smith, and was for eleven years employed in the Weir Plow Works. He then spent sev- eral years in prospecting in New Mexico, Colorado and British Columbia. He was for three and a half years superintendent of the Coeur de Alene Mining Co., Idaho. After which he lived for five years in Beaver Crossing, Seward county, Nebraska, where he en- gaged in the grain, lumber and stock business. In 1891, he came to California and pur- chased the forty acre place known as the "Laycock" place at Highland. He has also made other investments in land in this vicinity.
Mr. Nye was married at Beaver Crossing, Nebraska, to Mary E. Tisdale, whose maiden name was Forbell, a native of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. They have three children, Aura, Mrs. James Cram; Villa and Howard. Mr. Nye is a director of the North Fork Ditch Co., and a member of the Masons, K. of P., A. O. U. W. and Elks.
WILLIAM TOBEY NOYES, of High:land, was born in Durham, Cumberland county. Maine, August 22, 1836, the son of John H. and Sarah Webb Tobey Noyes. The Noyes family were descendants of Rev. William Noyes, of Wiltshire, England, who settled in Newberry, Massachusetts, in 1763. The father died at the residence of his son, Wil- liam T., in Oakland, California, in 1880, aged 76; the mother lived with her son at High- land and died in 1884, aged 74 years.
William T. Noyes learned the trade of carpenter in Portland, Maine. In 1863, he came to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama, arriving in San Francisco and go- ing thence to Virginia City, Nevada, where he engaged in the lumber business. He later followed the same business at Lake Tahoe, where he owned 2000 acres of government land. In 1865 he returned to San Francisco and was employed as foreman of carpenters on the government fortifications at Alcatraz Island. Subsequently he went into business as builder and contractor in East Oakland, remaining there until :880. After a year in Arizona, he came to San Bernardino county, and in company with William H. Randall purchased 120 acres in Highland and turned his attention to fruit and vine culture.
Mr. Noyes was one of the promoters and incorporators of the North Side Water Co., and of the City Creek Water Co. In 1890, he was elected Justice of the Peace and held the office until 1894. He is a pronounced advocate of temperance views and in 1888, al- lowcd his name to be used on the Prohibition ticket, as candidate for sheriff, although there was no possibility of election.
March 5. 1861, Mr. Noyes married Miss Harriet, daughter of William Randall, of Pownal, Maine. They have one daughter, Jennie, wife of Robert S. Thompson, of Highlands. They are members of the Congregational church and have always been active in the Highland church. Mr. Noyes belongs to the I. O. O. F. and is a charter member of. Orion Lodge, No. 189, Oakland.
W. E. OXLEY, of San Bernardino, was born in Montgomery, Mo., September 9. 1860. He was the son of Eli James and Lucinda Talbert Oxley. His mother died when he was nine years of age. His father was a farmer and his education was received in the public schools of Missouri. From Missouri he removed to Waco, Tex., and remained there from 1880 until 1886, and then came to California. Ile first engaged in the dairy business in Los
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HISTORY OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
Angeles, continuing for two years, and then came to San Bernardino, where he was for a time employed in railroad work and then engaged in a mercantile venture, but the greater portion of the time he has followed the dairy business, his present occupation.
Mr. Oxley has been twice married. While in Waco, Tex., he married Mrs. Jackson, who died, leaving one child named Hilda. This daughter resides with relatives in Texas. In 1891 he married Leanna Driggers of San Bernardino, but formerly of Palo Pinto county, Texas, where her parents still reside. They are the parents of two boys-William Everett and Lee Forrest. Mr. and Mrs. Oxley are members of the Baptist church. Mr. Oxley is a Woodman of the World, I. O. O. F., Fraternal Aid and Fraternal Brotherhood.
JAMES W. PECK, of Rialto, was born in Union county, Iowa, November 21, 1857, the son of William Peck, a carpenter. He learned the trade of wood and iron worker, horse shoeing, etc., and became an expert mechanic. He removed with his parents from Iowa to Saline county, Kans., in 1869, and came to California in 1897 and located at Rialto, where he has a blacksmith shop.
He was married January 16, 1883, to Miss H. Amelia, daughter of Amius Weller, of Saline county, Kans. Mrs. Peck died November 26, 1903, at thirty-six years of age. They were the parents of five living children. Mr. Peck is a member of the Loyal Mystic Legion and of the Knights of Maccabees of Rialto. He also belongs to the orders of A. O. L. W. and I. O. G. T. in Kansas.
JOHN CLARK POWELL, of Ontario, was born in Williamson county, Tenn., Novem- ber 1, 1847, the son of Honor and Susan R. Powell. The family is of Welsh descent and his father, a native of Kentucky, was the son of a pioneer of that state who located in the Powell River valley, the river taking its name from the family. Honor Powell removed to Tennessee, where he married Miss Susan R. Clark and engaged in farming. He died in 1850, leaving a family of six children. His widow removed to Macoupin county, Ill., in 1854; from there to Missouri, and later to Nebraska. She finally came to California and died in the home of her son, John C., at the age of eighty-one.
John C. grew to manhood in Prescott, Ariz. There he experienced the hardships of a frontier life, and saw much of the Indians. He was engaged in the hay and grain business in connection with a corral for the mule teams of the freighting business. After five years in Arizona he returned to Missouri to visit his family and friends and was there married to Miss Mary Ella, daughter of Lawson and Mary P. Sharp, old neighbors in Macoupin county, Ill., but then residing in Missouri. Soon afterward he returned west and located on a ranch between Ontario and Pomona, where he has since been engaged in the orange nursery busi- ness and in olive and orange growing.
Mr. and Mrs. Clark have been the parents of eight children, one of whom is dead. The living children are: Emma B., H. Clyde, R. Chester H., Henry D., Osa Opal, M. Ellamae and J. Orvil.
R. M. McKIE, editor of the Colton Chronicle, was born in 1841 in the state of Mississippi. His father, Daniel Pines McKie, was the owner of a large plantation about twenty-five miles from Memphis, Tenn. R M. McKie attended the common schools, the University of North Carolina and LaGrange College, Tenn., and then entered upon news- paper work, first with the Commercial and the Argus, of Memphis, and subsequently with the Ledger and the Appeal. In 1872 he removed to Denver, Colo., and later to San Antonio, Tex. Afterward in 1881 he founded the El Paso, Tex., Herald, and was its editor and pro- prietor until he came to California in 1889. Mr. McKie located at Colton, purchased the Semi-Tropic and changed the name to the Chronicle, and has continued to make this paper a strong factor in the prosperity of Colton. The paper was founded in 1876 and is now in its eighteenth year.
In 1871 Mr. McKie married Miss Kate Van Pelt, the daughter of Henry Van Pelt, an ex-mayor of Memphis. They have had two children-a daughter, now Mrs. I. N. Todd of Pasadena, and a son who is a civil engineer in Manzanillo, Mexico.
EDWIN RHODES, of Chino, was born in Galena, Ill., in 1866. He was educated in the common and high schools of Illinois and lowa, and .in 1886 came to California and lo- cated in San Bernardino county. In 1891 he took charge of the Chino Champion, which he has ever since published, and of which he is now proprietor and editor. He has always worked disinterestedly for the best interests of Chino and vicinity, and the Champion has been an important factor in the prosperity of that section. He has for ten years past acted as justice of the peace, has been a member of the school board for Chino district, and has filled many other positions of trust and responsibility during his residence in Chino. Mr.
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HISTORY OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
Rhodes has a pleasant home and enjoys the society of a family consisting of his wife and two daughters.
MAURICE MOYSE, of Chino, was born May 7, 1850, in Lorraine, France. He was educated in his own country, took a thorough course in business and had practical experi- ence in one of the leading dry goods establishments of Paris. He then enlisted in the French army and served through the Franco-Prussian war, entering as a private and rising to the rank of first lieutenant. He was discharged in Paris and almost immediately sailed for America. After a brief stay in New York he came direct to San Jose, arriving June 14, 1871. He located in Chino in 1891 and opened his store first in the old postoffice building and later moved into the opera house block.
Mr. Moyse was married in San Francisco, February 9, 1890, to Miss H. Kahn, also a native of Lorraine, France. They have two children-Gertrude and Sidney.
ALEXANDER McDONALD, of Needles, was born in Gerry, Canada, October 30. 1858. He was the son of Archibald and Catherine McIntosh McDonald. His father was a farmer and his school days were passed in Canada, where he received a com- mon school education. Mr. McDonald has one sister ond one brother living, the latter, Donald J. McDonald, a con- duetor on the Santa Fe railway at Needles.
Mr. McDonald entered the employ of the A. & P. Ry. Co. in New Mexico in 1881 as general foreman of bridge work. Following this he had charge of a work train, and afterwards was a freight conductor. He was promoted as passenger conductor in 1890. In point of service, Mr. McDonald is the oldest conductor starting out from Needles. He has been connected with the Santa Fe for 23 years and has never been called to the head office for ne- glect of duty or other cause. He is a genial gentleman, a very popular con- ductor and a general favorite on the whole road. He is a member of the O. R. C. and a Knight of Pythias.
JOHN A. MART, of Chino, was born in Pittsfield, Ill., October 28, 1859, the son of Charles F. Mart, a native of Germany. He was a silk weaver, learning the trade in France and work- ing in Paris. He made two trips to this country and finally settled at Pitts- field, Ill., where he took up landscape gardening as a profession. He died ALEXANDER McDONALD there in 1873 at the age of fifty-four. John A. Mart was raised on a farm and learned the butcher trade. He came to California in 1887 on account of the reports of friends who had preceded him. He worked at his trade in Pomona for Richard Gird, and about 1898 located in Chino. He owns ten acres of land a half mile from the postoffice.
Mr. Mart was married in Missouri to Mary L., daughter of John Standifer, a pioneer of Bates county. She is a native of Illinois. They have two daughters and a son-Avalon. Lottie and Homer. Mr. Mart is a member of the I. O. O. F., K. of F. M., and Fraternal Aid Association.
JUDSON LEWIS, of Rialto, is a native of Canada, born in Oxford county, September 9, 1858, the son of Mathew and Mary McLees Lewis, both natives of Canada and pioneers of the section in which they lived. The father died when the son was eleven years old, and he
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HISTORY OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
early learned the cares of farming and aided in the support of his two sisters, Mrs. J. F. Snyder and Mrs. Frank McKern, both now residents of Riverside, where his mother also lives. He came to California in 1888 in poor health, and in 1891 located at Rialto, where he purchased ten acres of hare soil. He now has forty acres here and ten acres in Riverside. He has developed a successful nursery business and has taken charge of ranches for others. Mr. Lewis married Miss Anna Guien, of Oxford county, Canada, in 1894. She died in 1902, leaving no children. Mr. Lewis is a member of the Baptist church of Riverside.
GEORGE W. McRAE, of Highland, was born in Hannibal, Mo., June 28, 1854, the son of William and Elizabeth Spooks McRae, the latter a native of Kentucky. He learned the trade of stone miason and resided in Hannibal until he came to California in 1890 from S :. Louis. He first settled in Sacramento. He then came to Highland and purchased ten acres of land. Mr. McRae was married in 1878 to Miss Emma, daughter of William and Sarah Wright, a native of Randolph county, Ill., and a resident of Hannibal, where they were mar- ried.
JOHN McBRIDE, of East Highiand, was born in Alabama, May 28, 1850, the son of John and Mary Birch McBride. The family left Alabama when he was five years of age, and he spent his school days in Louisiana and Texas. His father was a machinist, and also owned a ranch in Texas.
Mr. McBride first came to San Bernardino county in 1869, afterwards going to Arizona. where he prospected and teamed for six years. He then returned to San Bernardino and made it his headquarters for mining and prospecting expeditions to various parts of th: desert. In the spring of 1881 he made the first location in what was afterwards known as the Calico District, the first location in that section of the county. One of his claims was called "The Sionx." He reained his interests in this locality until 1891. He then became interested in the Grapeland tunnel in Lytle Creek and worked there for a year. About 1892 he purchased a sixteen-acre orange grove at Eas: Highland, where he has since made his home.
February 20, 1384, Mr. McBride married Miss Mary Worley, of Missouri, in San Ber- nardino. He is a member of the K. of P.
SMITH C. HAILE, of San Bernardino, was born in South Carolina, May 16, 1850, the son of Isaac and Sarah Haile. His school days and early life were passed in Llano county, Tex., on a farm and cattle ranch, and he came from there to San Bernardino. His first work after arriving in San Bernardino was hauling ore from the old Ivanpah mines. In 1877 he started a general merchandise business, in partnership witht Chas. F. Roe. In 1879 he purchased the interest of Mr. Roe and formed a new partnership with Daniel Rathburn. This partnership continued until 1881, when he entered into partnership with W. R. Wiggins for two years. Mr. Haile then engaged as agent for the Standard Oil Co., and worked for them three years; then acted as agent for the Union Ice Co. one year. At the end of that time he re-entered the employ of the Standard Oil Co. and is still their representative in San Ber- nardino. Mr. Haile has served the city in an official capacity, having been city Recorder two years, and a member of the board of trustees. He was president of the board at the time of its incorporation as a city.
Mr. Haile married Mrs. Laura Rodden, widowed daughter of William McDonald of San Bernardino. They have had a family of five children, only one of whom survives-Walter Haile. Mr. Haile is interested in fraternal societies; he is a member of the A. O. U. W., Woodmen of the World, F. & A. M., Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery.
LOUIS W. LITTLEPAGE, of Chino, was born in Lyons county, Mo., September 7, 1852, the son of William W. and Mary Woods Littlepage. In 1854 the family moved to Texas and lived in different parts of Central Texas until they came to California in 1868. Upon arrival they located in the El Cajon valley, San Diego county, and opened one of the first farms in that valley. Later they took up government land in Ballena valley. Here the father died in 1902, the mother having died previously. Of their thirteen children, nine are now living.
Louis W. followed teaming in San Diego county. About 1894 he located on his present place, where he has eighteen acres of alfalfa. He was married in 1881 to Miss Ida B., daugh- ter of Alfred Barlow of San Diego. She is a native of San Francisco. They have six children-Henry, Ralph, Joseph, Myrtle, Wallace and Pearl.
STEPHEN M. WINDLE, of Del Rosa, was born at Mt. Vernon, Ill., December 13, 1863, the son of James H. Windle. His father was a Baptist minister, a native of Illinois, who
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HISTORY OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
now resides in Bartlett, Kansas. His mother was named Hinson, also a native of Illinois.
Mr. Windle was educated in his native town and was raised on a farm. He went from Illinois to Colorado and from thence came to California and located at Del Rosa in 1896. Here he opened a store and was made postmaster under Cleveland's administration. He has been identified with the . Methodist church since coming to Del Rosa and has been Superin- tendent of the Sunday school since his arrival. He is also chorister of the church.
He was married in Missouri to Miss Emma, daughter of Louis and Anna Estes, a native of Kentucky. They have two daughters, Zulu and Alvena, both natives of Colorado.
JACOB POLHEMUS, deceased, was one of the pioneers of Colton, having settled there in 1875. He was a carpenter and builder and erected the first buildings in the town, among the first being the store of Hathaway and Davenport. In 1877, Mr. Polhemus erected a home and shop for himself on the corner of Eighth and I streets. In 1886 he erected the Polhemus Block, one of the first brick buildings in the city. He was one of of the stockholders and incorporators of Colton Building and Loan Association and was always prominent in en- terprises looking to the betterment of Colton.
Mr. Polhemus was born in New Jersey in 1822, the son of Theodorus and Leah Cooper Polhemus, both na- tives of New Jersey and descendants of early Dutch set- tlers of that state. For more than twenty years Mr. Polhenius followed his trade of carpenter and builder in Jersey City, N. J. In 1871 he came to California and located first in San Francisco, then worked in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Bernardino, until 1875 when he located in Colton and resided there until his death, De- cember 12, 1889.
Mr. Polhemus was married to Miss Jane Tier in 1843. She died in 1870, leaving three children, Lizzie, now the wife of Frank D. Sweetser, of San Francisco; George H., a resident of New Jersey; and William. of Colton. In 1879, Mr. Polhemus married Mrs. Lu. cretia E. Bent.
JACOB POLHEMUS
WILLIAM POLHEMUS, of Colton, was born in Jersey City, N. J., June 29, 1853. He learned the trade of carpenter and builder and in 1872 came to California and in 1875 located in Colton, where he engaged in building and contracting with his father.
November 13, 1880, he married Miss Ida, a daughter of A. E. Jones, Sr., of San Bernar- đino. They were the parents of three children, Ivan S., of Santa Monica ; Mable T., wife of A. H. Howland, of Bloomington; and Eva K., of Colton.
EARL F. VAN LUVEN, of Colton, was born in the Province of Ontario, Canada, in 1861. He is the son of Zara Van Luven, a successful business man from whom the son re- ceived his first training in business methods. After receiving a college education in Canada the young man came to the United States in 1888.
Soon afterward Mr. Van Luven came to California and located at Colton, where he pur- chased property. He is now the owner of one of the oldest groves on the celebrated Colton Terrace. He has been identified with the marketing of citrus fruits for a dozen years past, being a director of the Southern California Fruit Exchange and secretary and manager of the San Bernardino County Fruit Exchange since the existence of these organizations and in these capacities has handled thousands of carloads of oranges and lemons. In 1893 the Colton Fruit Exchange was organized and Mr. Van Luven was elected secretary which position he held until 1902 when he resigned it on account of his numerous other duties,
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