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 93
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of Foresters and of the Knights of Pythias. He was formerly the local health officer of Needles. He is a member of the Christian Church, a denomination having no organ- ization in Needles at the present time.
ALBERT THOMPSON, M. D., of Colton, was born at Waterbury, Vt., April 28. 1831, a descendant of sturdy New England stock; his father, Uriah Thompson, was a Vermont farmer and a deacon of the Congregational church; his mother was Roxana Joiner. In 1840 his father removed to Avon, Ohio, where he purchased and cleared up a heavily timbered farm. Later he sold the property and removed to Oberlin, Ohio. where he was elected a trustee of Oberlin College and made chairman of the finance committee,a position he re- tained until his death. He was actively interested in ad- vancing the interests of the institution and many of the fine college buildings are monuments to his memory, for he personally superintended their construction and paid for their material
Dr. Thompson's education began in the public schools of his native town. In 1848 he entered Oberlin College and during his four years' course, when not engaged in his studies, he was teaching school. From 1854 to 1858 he held a position with the Sandusky, Dayton & Cincinnati Railroad Company. At the expiration of that time he en- tered the medical department of the University of Michi- gan, at Ann Arbor. Shortly after the beginning of the civil war, in October, 1861, he enlisted in the Third Mich- igan Cavalry, and was commissioned by Gov. Blair, second lieutenant. He was discharged February 4, 1863, on a sur- geon's certificate of disability, and returned at once to Ann Arbor to complete his medical course. March 31, 1864, he received a commission as assistant surgeon of the Third ALBERT THOMPSON, M. D. Michigan Cavalry, and on October 24 of the same year was promoted to the rank of surgeon, which he held until the close of the war. He was mustered out of service March 5. 1866. Dr. Thompson's war record is worthy of particular notice; he rendered valuable services to the medical division to which he was attached and received the compliments of his superior officer for his efficient work.
.Immediately following his discharge from the service he began the practice of his profession at Vermontsville, Mich. In 1868 he located in South Haven, Mich., where, aside from his professional duties, he was actively interested in municipal affairs, serving as a member of the city board of trustees and was twice elected a county supervisor of Van Buren county, Mich. In 1874 he was elected senator, to represent the 16th senatorial district in the Michigan State Legislature. In 1875 he came to California, locating first in San Bernardino and subsequently at Colton. Dr. Thompson has been identified with public affairs from the beginning of his residence in Colton. From 1888 to 1894 he was a member of the city board of trustees and three years of that time president of the board During the term of President Arthur, Dr. Thompson was appointed physician to the Mission Indians, resigning the position at the end of six years. In 1893 he was appointed county health officer, resigning October 1, 1894 to accept the office of county physician. His health failing he resigned the latter position January II, 1897. During the time ne was in charge, he instituted many improvements in the management and administration of the affairs of the county hospital, thus making his valuable experience in the manage- ment of institutions a benefit to the whole community. Returning to Colton from county service he was again elected alderman of the city.
Dr. Thompson married Miss Alma Hunter, of Oberlin, Ohio, in 1854. Their children were: Willis A., deceased, married and died at Carson City, Nev., September, 1887: Ed- ward E., formerly a merchant of Colton, later proprietor of Stewart hotel, San Bernar- dino and Steward State Insane Asylum, Highlands.
DR. O. P. HART, of Needles, was born in Freeport, Ill., August 26, 1866. He is the son of John Hart, now a resident of Needles, and Rebecca Sheets Hart. The family are of Irish and German descent, the father formerly a farmer, but in later years engaged in mercantile business. Dr. Hart received. his early education in the public schools of Free- port, leaving the high school of that city one year before the completion of high school
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course ; entering the dental department of the University of Tennessee at Nashville, gradu- ating February, 1888. He began the practice of dental surgery at Freeport, remaining there four years, until 1892, when he removed to Needles. After arriving at Needles he entered into a partnership with Dr. D. W. Reese, in the drug business, continuing about two years, when he sold his interests in the business to Dr. Reese and continued his pro- fessional practice.
Dr. Hart married Miss Blanche Powell, in Wisconsin, April 27, 1891. They have two children, Lillo and Genevieve. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Order of Foresters.
HENRY L. MILLIKIN, D. D. S., of San Bernardino, was born in Vermillion county, Ind., February 9, 1853, the son of Johh Millikin, a physician. In 1863 the family removed to Hamilton, Ohio, where Henry L. learned the trade of machinist. He then spent two years under the tutorship of Dr. H. C. Howes and later worked under Dr. A. Berry of Cincinnati. In 1880 he graduated from Ohio College of Dental Surgery at Cincinnati, and subsequently practiced at Hamilton, Ohio, Cincinnati and Greensburg, Ind. In 1895 he came to California and located at San Bernardino, where he has since practiced his pro- fession.
Dr. Millikin was married at Bloomington, San Bernardino county, February 10, 1898, to Miss Margue- rite M. Pottenger. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., K. of P., Fraternal Aid, Woodmen of the World, and of the Presbyterian Church of Greensburg, Ind. He is also a mem- ber of Encampment Order of I. O. O' F. and of the Daughters of Rebekah.
HARRISON HAZLETT GUTH- RIE, M. D., of San Bernardino, was born in Preston county, W. Va., April 17, 1832, the son of Stephen and Fannie Hazlett Guthrie, also Virginians. At the age of nine days he was left motherless and was reared by his maternal grandparents in Maryland. His education began in the old log school house and later he attended an academy at Merritts- HENRY L. MILLIKIN, D. D. S. town, Pa. At the age of fifteen he began teaching and taught six terms in Pennsylvania and Maryland. When twenty-one, he moved to Illinois and there taught school, thus earning means to continue reading medicine with Dr. R. S. McArthur, of Rockford, Ill.
In 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company "C," 67th Ill. Vols. Inf. He was as- signed to duty as clerk in the post surgeon's office. After his discharge from service he attended Rush Medical College in Chicago and graduated there. Again he went into military service as hospital steward and assistant surgeon, in charge of three wards. After leaving the hospital he located at St. Charles, Minn., where he remained for eighteen years in the practice of his profession. He was a member of the Board of Education of that city for seven years and for four years lectured before the County Teachers' Institute on geology. Later he prepared a chart showing the strata of the earth. From St. Charles he removed to San Bernardino in 1881, and later to Antelope Valley, Los Angeles county, where he spent five years on his government claim. There he gave a series of lectures on temperance, entitled the Chimera. He then returned to San Bernardino, where he has since resided.
Dr. Guthrie married Miss Mary E. Hovey, of Rockford, Ill., April 16, 1863. She died
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March 6, 1866, leaving one daughter, Florence, the wife of James Hutchins, of San Ber- nardino. At. St. Charles, Minn., June 25, 1868, he married Miss Mattie L. Smith, of Joliet, Ill., who died December 19, 1894. Of this marriage, Arthur S. Guthrie is now liv- ing. He was captain of Company "H," 6th Cal., in the Cuban war and is now division chief clerk in the adjutant general's office, Manila, Philippine Islands.
October 6, 1897, Dr. Guthrie married Mrs. Elizabeth S. Newton, a native of Canada. He is a member of the G. A. R. Post of San Bernardino. He was one of the organizers of the Post of St. Charles and was its first commander. Dr. and Mrs. Guthrie are mem- bers of the Baptist church and he is prominent in the official affairs of the church and interested in the Sunday school work. He is a Mason and is also a member of the South- ern California and San Bernardino County Medical Associations, and was a member of the state and county medical societies in Minnesota.
DR. IRA S. BAKER, of San Bernardino, was born in Union City, Mich., August 31, 1843, the son of Calvin S. and Phoebe Sheldon Baker. His school days were spent in Dodge county, Wisconsin, and he took his degree in 1860 from the Eclectic Medical College of Cincinnati, O. He returned to Lowell, Wis., and began to practice with his father, who was also a physician. On the breaking out of the civil war, he enlisted and was assigned a commission as surgeon with the 29th Wis. Vol. He served in the field during the war and for eighteen months was in charge of a hospital at Helena, Ark., and was discharged from service June 28, 1867. He located in Richardson county, Neb., where he practiced medicine for twenty years. In 1895, he came to California and purchased and set out an orange grove at Rialto. The next year he bought an alfalfa ranch near San Bernardino city, where he now resides and continues the practice of his profession.
In 1872 he married and has five children, Phoebe, now Mrs. Racy, of Nebraska; Calvin J., Robert C., Olen L. and Nellie. There are also living in the family two adopted chil- dren, Paul and Hilda Quincy. Dr. Baker is a member of the A. F. & A. M. and of the Christian church.
A. R. RHEA, M. D., of Barstow, was born June 12, 1853, in Indiana county Penn. He was the son of Joseph and Louisa Workman Rhea. His school days were passed in Armstrong and Olin counties, Pa., until twelve years of age, when his parents removed to .Northwestern Ohio. Entering the Western Reserve College at Hudson, Ohio, he com- pleted his freshman year in that institution, and graduated from the medical department of the same university in March, 1880. He began the practice of medicine at Sharpsville, Mercer county, Pa., remaining there four years, then removed to California and prac- ticed medicine one year and a half in Los Angeles. February 6, 1885, he went to Calico, and has lived on the desert ever since.
He owned and operated a drug store in Calico and passed through the rise nad de- cline of that town in its mining days. He was instrumental in promoting and organizing the Silver Valley Land & Water Company, investing forty-six thousand dollars in cash in that enterprise, of which he has recently disposed of a controlling interest. He has been very fortunate in his mining operations, having lately sold iron mining properties bringing him fifty thousand dollars, and still holds property worth much more than that figure. He has been gradually getting possession of mining property during the past seven years, from which he expects to realize a fortune. Dr. Rhea is a very enthusiastic and loyal son of the land in which he has prospered for he expects to spend the balance of his life on the desert.
Dr. Rhea was married in San Bernardino to Miss Hannah S. Glendenning, of. Sharps- ville, Mercer county, Pa. They have no children, Dr. Rhea is a member of Token Lodge, I. O. O. F., of San Bernardino; of the American Medical Society, the Southern Cali- fornia Medical Society and the County Medical Society. He has been company surgeon for the Santa Fe Railway Company the past ten years, at Barstow.
DR. E. W. REID, of Cucamonga, was born in Madison county, Ill., December 26, 1852. He was a son of W. J. Reid, who was a farmer. He was educated in the public schools of Bethalto, Ill., and at Shurtleff College, Alton. He began the study of medi- cine with S. A. Albro, M. D., at Bethalto and graduated from the St. Louis Medical Col- lege in 1878. He practiced in Bethalto until he came to California in 1883. He purchased a tract of unimproved land in the Iowa Colony and was one of the original settlers of that place. He gave up the practice of his profession and devoted himself to horticulture and has a beautiful home on the place that he originally bought.
Dr. Reid married Mary J., daughter of Geo. W. Rennick, at Bismarck, Mo. in 1876. They have two daughters, Gertrude and Eunice, both students of the State University,
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Berkeley. Dr. Reid is a member of the I. O. O. F., A. O. U. W., and the Woodmen of the World.
C. S. HARRIS, M. D., was born in Keene, N. H., April 29, 1875. He attended the University of Vermont at Burlington and the Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tenn., and graduated from the literary and medical course of the University of Vermont. During the Spanish-American war he enlisted in the Fourth Ohio Volunteers and acted as hos- pital steward for nine months. After his discharge he completed his medical studies and in 1902 came to California and located at San Bernardino, where he is now practicing his profession.
JEFFERSON THOMAS COLLIVER, M. D., of Los Angeles, was born January 19, 1841, at Mt. Sterling, Ky. He is the son of Dr. John Colliver, of Kentucky, born in 1811, who was the son of Richard Colliver, a merchant, of Scotch descent. His mother was Mis; Matilda, daughter of John M. Robinson, of Kentucky. His father, a physician of high standing, with a large practice, was noted for sincerity in his work and for his kindness to the poor. Dr. Colliver's youth was passed in Ohio, where his parents removed during his infarcy. He received a common school education, and began the study of medicine at an early age. at home. In 1865 he graduated from the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati, O., the youngest member in a class of one hundred and twenty-five students. He practiced medicine even prior to this date, with his father, who had more business than he could attend to. After his graduation Dr. Colliver opened an office at Columbus, Ohio, where he remained until 1887. During his residence in that state he was called out to help suhdue the "Morgan raid," into Ohio, at the time of the civil war. He came direct from Columbus to San Bernardino, where he resided and pursued his professional work.
Dr. Colliver married Miss Francis Elizabeth Adams, daughter of Dr. W. W. Adams, of Clinton, Ill., November 18, 1868. Mrs. Colliver died at the California Hospital in San Francisco, December 31, 1897, leaving a family consisting of two sons and two daughters- John Adams, M. D., of San Bernardino; M. Adelle, vocalist and instructor in music; Simeon Robinson, journalist; Lida, a student at the State Normal School, Los Angeles.
Dr. Colliver is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and was ten years the treasurer of Madison Lodge No. 221 at West Jefferson. He is a member of the Central Medical Association, of the National Medical Association, the Southern California Eclectic Medical Association, and the California State Medical Association.
Dr. Colliver was a member of the school board in Ohio several terms, and has filled the same position in San Bernardino four years.
DR. JOHN ADAMS COLLIVER, of San Bernardino, was born at West Jefferson, Madison county, Ohio, May 20, 1872. He is a son of J. T. Colliver, M. D., of this city. He attended the public schools of his native city, and at Columbus, Ohio, until January 5, 1887, when, with his parents, he removed to California. After clerking for some time in the drug store of Towne & Nickerson, he entered the San Bernardino High School, graduating in 1891. The following year he matriculated at Stanford University, and in 1896 received the degree of B. A. in physiology and histology. In 1896 he was editor of the class hook. He has always been interested in athletics, particularly foot racing and jumping. He entered the medical department of the University of California and in May, 1899, he graduated with distinction. For one term he studied biology at Hopkins Seaside Laboratory. Since then Dr. Colliver has been a practicing physician and surgeon of San Bernardino. He has served as health officer of the city. He is now practicing in Los Angeles.
EUGENE H. LYMAN, D. D. S., of San Bernardino, was born at Chatsworth, Ill., December 1, 1877, the son of Edward M. Lyman, now a real estate dealer at Long Beach. Mr. Lyman attended primary schools in Illinois. The family came to California in 1895 and thereafter he attended the Citrus Union High School at Aznsa, graduating in 1898, and then entered the dental department of the University of Southern California, from which he graduated June II, 1901. He immediately entered upon the practice of his profession in San Bernardino.
Dr. Lyman married Miss Maude Parker, of Covina, June 26, 1904, and they reside at 453 Tenth street, San Bernardino.
DR. J. A. MACK, of San Bernardino, was born in Syracuse, N. Y., June 24, 1842. He received his education in the schools of Syracuse and Fulton, New York, and began the study of medicine with Dr. Townsend, of Syracuse; he also graduated from the Geneva, N. Y., College. He practiced his profesion at Syracuse and later at Rochester
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HISTORY OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
and Lyons. He then went to Chicago and in 1876 graduated from the Bennett Medical Col- lege (Eclectic). He remained in Chicago until 1886, when he came to California as one of the Chicago Colony which located at Redlands. He conducted the Prospect House for a year and a half, then built his residence on a tract of one and a half acres. Dr. Mack married Miss Annette Bishop, a native of New York City, November 26, 1876. They have three children living, John A., Jr., Roy A. and Raymond.
BIOGRAPHIES.
J. N. VICTOR, of San Bernardino, was born in Sandusky, Ohio, April 2, 1835, the son of Henry G. and Gertrude Nash Victor. His father was a farmer and one of the pioneers of the state of Ohio. Mr. Victor received his education in the schools of his native city and afterward learned the printer's trade. His connection with railroads began in 1855, when he entered the services of the old Mad River Railway, one of the earliest railway lines in Ohio, and he continued with this line until the outbreaking of the civil war. Owing to physical disability he was not eligible for active service in the army, but for three years he had charge of the military railway under Gen. McPherson. He was with General Sherman in Georgia.
After the war he located at Kansas City, where he had charge of the Pacific Dis- patch-a fast freight line. The eight years following this service were spent with what is now the International and Great Northern Railway of Texas, with headquarters at Hous- ton and Galveston. He was transferred to New York as representative of this line when his health necessitated a change of climate. May 1, 1881, Mr. Victor accepted a position with the California Southern Railway as general freight agent, the road then extending twenty miles south of Colton. In August, he was appointed superintendent of the line which was completed to San Diego, and after eleven months' delay caused by the S. P. refusing to permit the new road to cross its tracks, the C. S. was built to San Bernardino. In 1884 thirty miles of track was swept away by flood. In 1885 this track was re-built and the line was extended through the Cajon Pass to a connection with the A. & P. at Bar- stow. Mr. Victor was superintendent of all this construction and as such handled $1.750,- ooo in the work. After the completion of the road to its eastern connection, it was con- solidated with the Santa Fe system, under the management of C. W. Smith. Mr. Victor's' connection with the road ceased in 1887-88.
After leaving the railway service, Mr. Victor was elected supervisor and served three years as president of the board. It was during this time that the new court house was built and the county division fight was made. Soon after Mr. Victor's election a heavy storm swept over this section and washed out every bridge of any importance in the county Besides rebuilding and repairing old bridges many new structures were put in, in different portions of the county at this time-South Riverside crossing, Lytle Creek, on Mt. Vernon avenue; Fourth Street bridge, San Bernardino; a bridge near Cucamonga and a long high- span bridge at Victor across the Mojave and another near Daggett. The construction of these bridges made the work of the board of supervisors at this time fully as important as any ever undertaken in behalf of the county.
Mr. Victor married Miss Elizabeth Burlew, of Syracuse, New York, and removed to Texas immediately after the marriage. They are the parents of three children, Hugo, cashier for the Santa Fe Railway Company, at San Diego; Royal, a student at Columbia Law School, New York City; Leonora, at home. The family attend the Congregational church, of which Mrs. Victor is a member.
WILLIAM W. SKINNER, of Upland, was born in Rensslaerville, Albany county, N Y., November 6, 1832, the son of John and Miranda Manchester Skinner. His father, also a native of New York state, was a soldier in the war of 1812. Mr. Skinner passed his early years in the state of New York, where he received a limited education. From 1853 to 1857 he was a sailor on a whaling vessel in the Pacific and Northern oceans. He then returned to land life and settled at Madison, Wis., where he learned the butcher's trade, an occu- pation he has since followed. In 1859, Mr. Skinner joined a party made up of thirty men and five women and started overland for California, traveling with ox teams. After reach- ing Honey Lake Valley, California, the party disbanded and Mr. Skinner went to San Francisco. In 1863 he went to Vallejo, where he lived for twenty-three years and followed his trade. In 1886 he came to San Bernardino and in 1899 he located in North Ontario.
Mr. Skinner married Miss Ada E. Morse, of San Francisco, in 1861. They have had nine children, six of whom are now living, all in San Bernardino county-W. H., Frank
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M., George P., A. H., Belle and Guy Skinner. Mr. and Mrs. Skinner are members of the M. E. church. He was a member of the Vallejo Rifles and is also a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Phoenix Lodge, San Bernardino.
WILLIAM C. RIGHTMIER, of Chino, was born in Edgar county, Ill., July 31, 1851, the son of James and Mary Bruce Rightmier. In 1855 the family came to California by the northern overland route, via Utah, the North Platte and Sacramento Valley. The father lived in many different sections of Northern and Central California and engaged in team- ing, worked in saw mills and raised stock. He located in what is now Madera county, oli the San Joaquin river, in 1865, and died there at the age of seventy-three in 1897. The mother still lives there.
William Rightmier lived in various places in California until 1891, when he located at Chino, where he has ten acres; he has also twenty acres in Orange county. Mr. Right- mier married Miss Sarah Amanda Welch, daughter of Laurence Welch, at Centerville. Fresno county, in 1874. She was born at Devil's Gate, Wyoming, July 1859, while her family were en route overland for California. They came from Missionri and located at Sacramento. After various changes they came to Los Angeles county in 1875 and there her father died at El Monte. Mr. and Mrs. Rightmier have had twelve children, James Lawrence, David L., Mary E., Jesse C., Ida A., Martha M., William E., Charles A., Earl I., Nora F., Clemma A., Emily. Two of these, William E. and Clemma A., are dead.
ROBERT J. HALSEY, of Needles, was born in Texas, October 1, 1862, the son of Jacob P. and Sarah Banty Halsey. His mother having died when he was one year and a half of age, and his father dying while he was yet a youth of tender years, left him to his own resources at a very early age. His school days were spent in Indiana and Arkansas, and his first work away from home was as water boy with a construction gang employed on the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, coming with them to Needles, March, 1883. June 2, 1883, he was joined by his brother, J. B. Halsey, and forming a partnership with Charles A. Rouse, they engaged in the saloon business, following the railway construction camp the length of the road. Later they bought out the Rouse interests in the business and opened the first place of the kind in Needles, erecting the first building on the lot now occupied by Lamar Bros. Halsey Brothers disposed of their saloon business very soon after their arrival in Needles and opened a general merchandise store under the firm name of Halsey Bros., in which they continued until 1893, when the partnership was dissolved. Robert J. Halsey continued in the grocery business for one year, then removed to Vander- bilt. In 1896 he returned to Needles and entered his present line of business which is Jum- ber and builders' hardware.
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