GEORGE EDWARD ALLEN

Mr. Allen married in 1870 Margaret Morgan, in Knox County, Ill., and has two children living, Mabel B. and William M. One daughter, Jennie, died in childhood in Dakota. Mabel B. married Henry Ward, of Tulare County, and they have a son named Allen Ward. In political affiliations Mr. Allen is Republican, thoroughly devoted to the principles of his party, and as a citizen he is public-spirited to a degree that insures his usefulness to the community.

JOHN WALTON BOZEMAN

In Hinds County, Miss., August 31, 1836, was born John Walton Bozeman, who has lived in Tulare County about as long as any surviving pioneer. His grandfather, Howell Bozeman, built the first state house, at Milledgeville, Ga., and eventually moved to Mississippi, accompanied by members of his family and others. Thomas Jefferson Bozeman, who was John Walton's father, remained in Hinds County, Miss., until after his son was born and he left his wife Rachel Parker, buried there. In 1842 the family moved to Louisiana, where the father married Miss Eliza Ford, of which union two children, William and Mary Near, survive. In 1849 they settled in Texas and in 1854 crossed the plains in a party with ox-team outfits to California, where he became engaged in farming on Kings River and mining in Mariposa and Kern counties, putting up the first tent on Pcso creek flats, where he mined, kept a boarding house, and did freighting.

J. W. Bozeman's recollections of that cross country trip would be interesting reading could they all be put into print. He helped to bury the bodies of members of the Oatman family, who had been murdered by Indians on their way from Texas to California. Two of the Oatman children were captured by the savages and one of them was rescued later by friends. Usually emigrants were safe so long as goodly numbers of them kept together, but there was great peril for any who became separated from their trains.

After his marriage Mr. Bozeman went into the sheep business and was successful for about twenty years, keeping most of the time about ten thousand head. He became the owner of three hundred acres of land on Kings River, where he settled in 1854, with his father, and later rented large tracts on which he sowed grain. His last wheat crop was garnered from thirty-five hundred acres. He disposed of all his holdings in Kings County and lives with his children, and has been a resident of Porterville since January, 1911. He has always been an active, influential and public-spirited citizen.

MARTIN WIRHT

In Tulare County Mr. Wirht's first place of residence was Portervine, from which town he moved to his present home near Exeter, where he has fifteen acres bearing oranges, five acres under grape­vines and twenty-five acres on which he grows vines and trees. His navel oranges are of fine variety and are usually among the earliest in his vicinity to reach the market. When he took the ranch in hand it was raw and without improvements, but he has provided it with a house and other buildings and developed it into one of the best homesteads in the Exeter district.

The marriage of Martin Wirht and Eliza Meredith, a native of Missouri, has resulted in the birth of five children, all of whom were educated or are being educated in Tulare County. Their oldest daughter is married. The parents of both Mr. and Mrs. Wirht have passed away. Mr. Wirht is regarded as a self-made man who richly deserves the success that he has won. He has always been too busy to take up political work and is not ambitious for office, but he is public-spiritedly helpful to all worthy interests of the community.

RICHARD BURKE

This is the life story of a man whose activities were begun as a drummer boy in the Federal army in the Civil war. Born in Clay County, Ill., July 5, 1849, he was only about twelve years old when the war began. He enlisted at Louisville, Ill., December 21, 1863, in Company K, Forty-eighth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which was attached to the Third Brigade, Second Division, Fifteenth Army Corps, with which the name of Gen. John A. Logan is identified. The first fight in which he participated was that of Buzzard's Roost, at Resaca, Ga. From that time on until the end of the war he took part in many hotly contested engagements of greater or less importance, participating in Sherman's march to the sea; his more immediate commanding generals being successively Harland, Hazen, Oliver and Rice. It was not long after his service began that he became a soldier in active duty. He was discharged August 15, 1865, and mustered out at Springfield.

Returning to Clay County, Ill., Mr. Burke remained there unti 1 April 20, 1870, when he started for California, arriving in Stockton, Cal., May 1, that year. He then came to Tulare County and remained until April, 1872, when he located in Squaw Valley, homesteading one hundred and sixty acres of land which he has improved and on which he now lives. By subsequent purchase he has come to own three hundred and fifty-two acres. He farms about one hundred acres, the rest of his land being under pasture and timber, and keeps about one hundred head of stock.

On August 5, 1868, in Louisville, Ill., Mr. Burke married Miss Mary R. Drake, a native of Ohio. Her parents, also of Ohio came to California in 1870, being members of Mr. Burke's party. They found the country very new and were obliged to go thirty-five miles for their mail, which they got at Visalia. They paid eighteen cents a pound for brown sugar by the half barrel, and other things in proportion. Children as follows were born to Mr. and Mrs. Burke . Anna G., Floy I., Elva Lewis, Almeda J., John W., Harry A., Oliver M., Viola L., and Harold R. Anna G. married C. C. Traweek. Floy I. is Mrs. W. A. Hampton. Elva Lewis is the wife of L. B. Holcombe. Almeda J. is the wife of Harlan McIntire. John W. married Miss Jean Lawresten, formerly a teacher. Harry A. married Myrtle M. Akers. Oliver M. married Irene Fleming, who was a teacher. Viola L. married T. R. Byrd. Harold R. is a graduate of Heald's Business College of Fresno and is employed in that city. Mr. and Mrs. Burke have thirteen grandchildren.

In his politics Mr. Burke is Republican. He is a member of Atlanta Post, G. A. R., at Fresno.

A M DREISBACH

At Tiffin, Ohio, April 20, 1852, was born A. M. Dreisbach, who is now a farmer and a minister of the United Brethren Church at Exeter, Tulare County, Cal. His father, a native of Pennsylvania, came to Ohio in his youth; he married a daughter of a German, and died in 1876. Mr. Dreisbach's mother has been dead many years.

A. M. Dreisbach remained at Tiffin until he was twenty-five years old, and there he secured a primary education which he supplemented by a course at the Eastman Business College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. He had just completed. his studies at that institution when he was recalled to his home by the death of his father. His earlier labors were all on the ranch, but eventually he entered the ministry. From his old home in Ohio he went to Kansas, and a year later went up into Iowa. From there he returned to Kansas, and he went thence to Utah. About eighteen years ago he came to California and settled at Exeter, where he now has a beautiful ranch of twenty-five acres, his principal crop being oranges. This property he has acquired by industry and economy and those other personal qualities which are the fundamentals of the success of the self-made man.

In 1878 Mr. Dreisbach married Miss Elizabeth Bollinger of Nebraska, who has borne her husband eight children, three of whom, Clara, John Wesley and Hattie, have died since the family came to California. The others are Minnie, Nellie, Harvey, Grace and Roy. The latter is a student in the high school at Exeter. Minnie married Rev. J. L. Hanson in 1909; he is pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church South at LeGrand, Cal. They have one child, Margaret. Nellie married T. W. Harvey, a furniture dealer at Los Angeles. The others are at home. Mr. Dreisbach is patriotic and public-spirited, interested in the political issues of the day, especially solicitous for the cause of temperance. He has held public office, but he does not affiliate with any secret order.

SAMUEL LAVERNE KENNEY

Back in Tennessee in Greene County, Samuel Laverne Kenney, who now lives three miles southeast of Orosi, in Tulare County, Cal., first saw the light of day in the year 1863. He lived there with his parents until he was seven years old, then the family moved to Mis­souri and located in Pineville, McDonald County, where the elder Kenney farmed sixteen years. It was in 1886 that Samuel L. came to Tulare County, within the borders of which he has since had his home, in the Alta district. The country round about was then a vast wheat field, without trees or fences, and stock roamed at will in the swamps and hills. He now has on his homestead eighty acres of fine land, eighteen acres of which are in Malaga grapes, ten in peaches, ten in miscellaneous orchard trees, and the balance under pasture. His vineyard and orchard are just coming into bearing. He keeps enough horses to work his ranch and raises a few hogs each year. He has a four-year-old grove of eucalyptus trees.

The parents of Mr. Kenney were James D. and Nancy (Goodin) Kenney, natives of Tennessee. The mother died in Missouri and Mr. Kenney came to Tulare County in 1901, where he passed away in December, 1912. They had children named Ebie, Wroten, Bruce R., Samuel L., Callie, and Ida. Bruce R. married Lotta Scott, who bore him three children, Ralph, Laverne, and Goldie. With the exception of Samuel L. and Ida the others have passed away.

As a citizen Mr. Kenney has many times and in many ways demonstrated his public spirit by lending generous aid to movements for the uplift and development of the community. Politically he is a Socialist.

JOSIAH M FERGUSON

Josiah M. Ferguson was reared and educated in his native place and learned much about the cultivation of the soil. In 1863 he made his way through the mountains and enlisted in Company G, Tenth Tennessee Cavalry, serving in that company until he received his discharge. Soon after the war he removed to Tennessee, and there, October 20, 1872, he married Miss Parthenia C. Cundiff, a native of that state. From Tennessee, in 1875, they came to Tulare County, Cal., and homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land which Mr. Ferguson developed into a good farm, on which he lived until 1904, when he moved to Porterville, and passed away in 1909. He helped to establish the postoffice at Poplar and served as postmaster one year. He was a man of public spirit, ready at all times to do anything in his power for the advancement of the interests of his fellow-citizens whom he held in warm affection as friends and neighbors. He aided in building the Poplar ditch, ran the first water, and was president of the company. Fraternally he affiliated with the Masons and was a member of the G. A. R. He was a Republican in politics.

The parents of Mrs. Ferguson were Thomas and Mary (Grass) Cundiff, natives of Virginia and descended from old and honorable Southern families. She bore her husband eight children, three of them native sons and four native daughters of California. All of them survive except James, who was drowned at Oakland in 1901. Cordelia, the eldest, born in Tennessee, was nine months old when her parents came to California. She married Fletcher Martin and is living in Tu­lare County. The others were Dora, Mrs. George Futrell, and Cora, Mrs. William Walker (twins), Mary, wife of Arthur Hayes, Tennia, married to Ernest Ridgeway, James, Thomas and Fletcher. The two last mentioned are in business at Porterville, Cal. Mrs. Ferguson has five grandsons and five granddaughters. She owns a half-section of fine land near Poplar, which was their old homestead. A woman of strong character, whose good influence is manifested in the lives of her children, she is fortunate in being able to pass her declining years in association with friends who honor her for her sake and for her husband's and regard her with gratitude for many kindnesses which she has rendered them.

Descended in the paternal line from old families of Germany, where his father, Peter Click, was born, "Mart" Click, who lives ten miles west of Porterville, Tulare County, is a native of Stark County, Ohio, where he opened his eyes to the world June 18, 1844. He spent his boyhood and youth in attending public schools and helping his father on the farm. In 1864, when he was twenty years old, he came to California. Stopping in Placer County, he worked for wages six years for B. C. Trefry, with whom he came to Merced County in 1870 and bought a band of sheep, numbering about nine hundred head. They remained partners and stayed there until 1874, when they sold out and came to Tulare County and again bought four thousand sheep on the plains. In 1881 Mr. Click bought his partner's interest, since which time he has been engaged independently. In 1877, the year known to sheep men as the "hard year," he had ten thousand head, all of which he lost except about two thousand, by which misfortune he was brought to practical ruin. In 1886, selling his sheep, he bought three hundred and twenty acres of land near Woodville and engaged in raising grain, cattle, horses and sheep, in which business he has continued up to the present time with a degree of success that has done much to make him forget his troubles of the past. His home has been on this ranch since that date, and he has witnessed the development of the County, in which he has been a participant.

JOHN BACON

WILLIAM FINDLEY

On the Siberian River, Texas, William Findley was born February 22, Washington's Birthday, 1851. When he was six years old his parents, John and Sarah J. (Masters) Findley, natives respectively of Missouri and Texas, brought him across the plains to California. The family was included in a party which came with ox-teams and had fre­quent trouble with Indians on the way. The savages often attempted to stampede or run off their cattle, and even when they were driven away they managed to kill the animals. At times the emigrants, under protection of wagon stockades, fought long battles with their red-skinned foes, whose flintlock guns laid many a white man low. Ten of the party were killed by the Indians and Mr. Findley's sister Martha died on the way out. The family came to Hackby Ford in 1858 and started in the cattle business, locating in Tulare later in that year. In August, 1871, the grandfather, John Findley, who was the owner of two square miles of land in Drum Valley, was called to the door of his house by robbers, who demanded his money, evidently believing that he had considerable of it on hand. His wife died in 1900.

About 1907 William Findley located on his present homestead, where he has one hundred and thirty-three acres of grain and pasture land, a garden and about two thousand cords of wood in the tree. He keeps forty-five to fifty head of cattle and about half as many hogs. The elder Findley and his son are Democrats and their fellow citizens recognize them as men of public spirit.

February 22, 1868, his birthday, Mr. Findley married, in the Sand Creek neighborhood, Miss Ellen Woodey, who has borne him ten children. John M. married Martha Dean and has four children, Blanche, Cecil, Gerald, and Inez. William J. married Mrs. Ida Strong, a daughter of Stephen Caster, at one time treasurer of Fresno County. Ivan married Susan Collier and their children are Aaron, Byron and Myrtle. Lee married Minnie Robinson and their children are Earl, Oswald and Melba. Martha married John Dean and is the mother of the following children, Carroll, Maud and Cleo. Callie A. married Levi Dean and their children are Gilbert and Forest. Mary married Fred Kiner and their children are Clare E., Elsie, Harold and Denzelle. Ira, unmarried, resides with William J. Findley. Myrtle is single and lives with her mother at Dinuba. Daisy married Daniel Tullie and resides at Orosi.

CALVIN H ANTRIM

In 1862 Mr. Antrim became a member of that famous military organization known to history as the Squirrel Hunters and participated in the operations involving Morgan's raid into the North. He was honorably discharged from the service March 4, 1863. In politics he is Republican, and as a citizen he has always been public-spirited and helpful.

FRANCIS M MAYES

A native of McDonald County, Missouri, Francis M. Mayes is a son of natives of that state and his parents were Richard and Elizabeth (Moffett) Mayes. He was born November 30, 1845, and came overland to California with his father with ox-teams when he was about twelve years old. The party, under direction of Captain Pogue, left their old homes in April, 1857, and consumed about the usual time in making the trip. There were about thirty wagons in the train and enough oxen for convenient relief. The party came by the North Platte, the Hudson Cutoff, the Honey Lake route, and thence by way of Red Bluff. Along the Humboldt River in Nevada the Indians were very trouble­some and they had only a little while before massacred all the members of a large party of emigrants, appropriating the stock and running the wagons into the River. Only two yoke of oxen were lost to Indians by Captain Pogue's party and they were later recovered. Every precaution for safety was taken. Encamping, a stockade was formed and guards were ever on the alert. During the progress of the journey there was some sickness and two children were born to women of the party. After a brief rest at Red Bluff the journey was completed and Mr. Mayes and family went to a point near Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, where he lived from late in 1857 until in 1875. There the mother died in 1858, leaving three sons and four daughters, of which family but three survive. Coming to Tulare County the elder Mayes resided with his son until his death in 1878.

Having come thus to California, Francis M Mayes gained his education in public schools in Sonoma County and learned blacksmithing under his father's instruction. He settled in Antelope Valley in Tulare County, on one hundred and sixty acres of railroad land which in the course of events he was obliged to relinquish. But he moved his house onto another tract of one hundred and sixty acres in Sand Creek Gap, which he purchased from the Southern Pacific Railway Company. Later he came into possession of two hundred and forty acres of railroad land which he improved and on which he lived until in 1897. when he sold it and removed to Orosi, buying property there and going into general blacksmithing. It was as a blacksmith that he busied himself during the succeeding eight years. When he first settled in the Sand Creek Gap there was no townsite nearer than Visalia, all trading and postoffice business having been done at Visalia. Deer, bear, antelope, and other wild game was plentiful and much of the country round about was given over to the feeding of sheep. At the end of the period mentioned he sold out his interests at Orosi and bought forty-four acres on the Dinuba road, where he took up his residence and has since developed a fine home ranch. The land was mostly planted to fruit. He has ten acres of Malaga grapes, fifteen of wine grapes and five of Muscats. Eleven acres are given to peaches, his trees now being about six years old, and he has sixty orange trees, some miscellaneous fruit and several attractive palms. In 1911 he sold for shipment sixty-two tons of Malaga grapes at $28 and $30 a ton, grew ninety-eight tons of wine grapes on fifteen acres, produced ten tons of Zinfandels to the acre, of which he has five acres, sold four and a half tons of dried peaches for ten cents a pound, and received $900 for wine grapes and the same amount for peaches. He keeps horses enough to work his ranch.

STILES A McLAUGHLIN

The McLaughlin family, to which belongs Stiles A. McLaughlin, originated in Scotland. His grandfather, John McLaughlin, lived in Pennsylvania. His father was William Harrison McLaughlin and was a native of Pennsylvania, where he grew up and learned the trade of carriage maker, later removing to Ohio. Following his trade these for_ a short time he engaged in merchandising and various other pursuits with varying success. It was in Ashtabula County, Ohio, that Stiles A. was born January 3, 1852. When he was about ten years old his parents moved to Pennsylvania, and after a residence there of six years they went to Illinois, where they remained for a like period.

The changes of time brought the younger McLaughlin to California when he was about twenty-one years old. He worked in Yolo County about a year, then came to Lemoore, Kings County, and soon afterward acquired a land claim half a mile south of that town. He relinquished it, however, and bought forty acres, bounded on one side by the city line, which lie planted to fruit trees and retained until 1902, when lie sold it to advantage. He then bought forty acres west of the forty just referred to and eighty acres adjoining this last purchase. After having lived there six years, he sold forty acres of the property, retaining the eighty acres, forty of which is in vineyard, and moved to Lemoore. In these various real estate deals he was quite successful, gradually accumulating money and land until he has come to be considered one of the well-to-do men of that part of the County. He is a director of the First National Bank of Lemoore and has been in one way or another identified with several interests of importance. His public spirit impelled him to accept the nomination of his party for membership of the Board of Supervisors of Kings County. He was three times elected and served continuously from November, 1895, to December, 1906.

Local lodges of Free & Accepted Masons, Woodmen of the World and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows include Mr. McLaughlin in their membership. In 1876 he married Mary Wright, daughter of Samuel Wright, a pioneer of 1868 in Kings County, who made his mark as a farmer and stockman. They have children as follows: Wilmot Wright, of Lemoore; Aimee, wife of Samuel McCorkle. of Diimba ; Mary, who is a clerk in the postoffice at Lemoore; and Elmira, a student in the high school. In April, 1912, Mr. McLaughlin completed his comfortable brick residence on West D Street, which is up-to-date in every respect and adds greatly to the residence district of Lemoore, being most tasteful and attractive in design and appearance.

The Wright family of which Mrs. McLaughlin is a member came originally from England and were old Virginia settlers, coming to Ohio in the early part of the nineteenth century. Later they removed to Iowa, whence Mrs. McLaughlin's parents, Samuel and Amelia A. (Orton) Wright, came overland to California in 1849. Mrs. Wright is of Scotch ancestry and is now making her home at Lemoore, bright and active at the advanced age of eighty-four.

JOHN C JOHNSON

WILLIAM MICHAELIS

In a conversation some time since someone said of this man, who lives in the vicinity of Porterville, Tulare County, Cal., "He is a great booster for Tulare County." This is a homely way of saying very briefly that Mr. Michaelis, though a native of Germany, is loyal to the community with which he has cast his lot and is solicitous for its progress as any native son of the soil could possibly be. He was born August 1, 1882, was educated in the Fatherland and patriotically served two years in the German army. Coming to the United States when he was twenty-four years old, he spent his first few years in California in working at the mason's trade. His father and mother came to this County, too; the former passed away some years ago, and the latter is living in Tulare County.

Martha Yolitz, born September 24, 1881, a native of Germany, became Mr. Michaelis's wife in 1906. She has borne him two children, Willie, born January 4, 1908, and Martine, September 18, 1909. Soon after his arrival here Mr. Michaelis bought land, most of which is in grain, but seven acres are planted in pomegranate trees. His achievements, considering his opportunities, are noteworthy, the more so because they are the achievements of a self-made man, who in his day of small things began in a small way and has risen steadily year by year until he ranks with the prosperous men of his community Politically he is a Republican, interested in all that pertains to the public good. As a citizen he is always generously helpful to all movements for the common benefit.

MICHAEL GILLIGAN

A native of Ireland, Michael Gilligan was born November 15, 1830. After he had grown up he came to Canada, where he was employed for a time in railroad work. Eventually, in 1871, he came to California and remained long enough to fall in love with the country, but went back to Canada and lived there another year before settling here permanently. He located a quarter-section, his brother having located the same amount of land also. All of this land ultimately became his and by later purchase his holdings were increased to ten hundred and twenty acres. The sheep business subsequently engaged his attention, starting with three hundred and seventy-four head, and in time he owned as high as three thousand, but in 1877 he lost all but about seven hundred head. He was compelled to conform to the changes in farming and in stock growing with which the history of Central and Southern California has made every observer and reader familiar, and in time he sold out his sheep interests and gradually paid more and more attention to his land, which he is now handling in a way that makes it very profitable. In 1911 he sold his sheep to his son, who in turn sold them to a Frenchman who rents the Gilligan ranch.

In 1866 Mr. Gilligan married Nora Broderick, who was born and reared in Canada. Of the ten children born to them six have passed away, the four remaining being John E., Hugh, Michael T. and Nora. The latter married Jesse Riley. Mr. Gilligan is a public-spirited man who does his full share in promotion of the general uplift. His interest in the country in which he has cast his fortunes is all the deeper because his recollections of it in the days that are gone are those of a pioneer, who came to it when it was practically a wild state, with antelope and other game plentiful and Indians in evidence everywhere. At that time there was only one house between his home and Visalia, twenty-five miles.

BARNEY DE LA GRANGE

The great grand-father of Barney De La Grange, of Orosi, Cal., came to America to fight for the independence of the colonies under command of General Lafayette, and hence Mr. De La Grange is a genuine Son of the American Revolution, without the necessity of joining the association of that name. Mr. De La Grange is one of the best known carpenters and orange growers in the district north of Orosi and a leading citizen of Tulare County, and was born in West Virginia April 16, 1858, a son of Omie and Elizabeth (McLain) De La Grange, respectively of French and Scotch ancestry. There were in his father's family nine children, five of whom were daughters. When Barney De La Grange was thirteen years old his parents moved to Ohio. He has in the course of his life been an extensive traveler in America, having covered the entire country from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes and from ocean to ocean. He married in West Virginia, Ida M. Lewis, a native of Kentucky, but of English parentage, and she bore him a daughter, Lena Marie, who married George M. Daniels, of Creston, Iowa, and has sons, James B. and Lloyd. Mrs. De La Grange passed away in 1895, in West Virginia.

JOHN B HOCKETT

Of the seven children of Mr. and Mrs. Hockett, five are living. Benjamin F. lives near Hot Springs; Robert Lee lives on White River; E. Barton is at Portola; Lena became the wife of R. H. Allen and resides at Roseville; and Dora married E. L. Scott, of Porterville. The old family home included land in Porterville now covered by part of the townsite. Mr. Hockett acquired land from time to time until his holdings were very large. His widow still owns five sections of grazing land in Tulare and Kern counties and one city block in Porterville, where has been the family residence since December, 1864. Mrs. Hockett's recollections of Porterville and vicinity are very interesting. It was four years before her arrival that the River changed its course, but she had her experiences and witnessed some exciting scenes at the time of the floods of '67-'68 and '69-'70 when the water covered almost the entire town and people had to go about in boats.

Fraternally Mr. Hockett affiliated with the Masons and was Master of the Visalia lodge, being member also of Royal Arch Chapter ; the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. He was a busy and helpful man who counted his friends by scores, his business associates by hundreds. His interest in the growth and prosperity of Porterville impelled him to do everything in his power for the welfare of the community. He was instrumental in establishing the first school and the first Church there, and served on the school board. Since his death Mrs. Hockett proved up on his homestead and purchased three claims of one hundred and sixty acres each, and has improved them; a well of four hundred and forty feet depth has been put down. When he passed away he was publicly mourned by the people with whom he had lived so long and whom he had helped in so many ways.

WILLIAM SWALL

The life story of William Swall, one of the large landowners of the Visalia district and one of the honored citizens of Tulare County, a model of honesty and enterprise and foremost in all good works, is a most interesting one. He was born in LaSalle County, Ill., November 5, 1848, a son of Mathias and Elizabeth (Hayne) Swall, both natives of Germany, the father born in Berlin, January 24, 1824.

Mr. Swall has been described as a prince of good fellows, always ready to lend a helping hand to those less fortunate than himself. The responsibilities of citizenship appeal to him forcefully and definitely. While his character is commanding he is eminently fair in all business transactions and is admired for his kindness, sympathy and good judgment. His loyalty to his family, to his friends and to his convictions has never been questioned.

JOHN A WILSON

One of the leading cattle men of his district, John A. Wilson, who lives at No. 720 North Irwin Street, Hanford, was born in 1862, in the part of Tulare County which is now Kings County, twelve miles north east of the site of Hanford, a son of 0. L. and Rose J. Wilson. The elder Wilson came to California in 1848 and was a pioneer of pioneers. He mined in Placer County and on the Feather and Ameri­can Rivers and after 1850 settled in the vicinity of Gilroy, where he farmed extensively until 1857. In that year he married and came to this part of the state.

It was in the district schools of the days of his youth that John A. Wilson was educated. He began at seventeen, with some financial aid from his father, to fight the battle of life for himself. His career since then has been one of ups and downs, but he has never gone down hopelessly and he is undeniably up at this time so well established that there is little probability that he will suffer further disaster.

In 1887 Mr. Wilson married Miss Mary Alcorn, of California, and their daughter is the wife of Marion Hefton, of Hanford. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows includes Mr. Wilson as one of the most valued members of its Hanford organizations, and he is popular not only with the brethren of the order but with the citizens of Hanford and Kings County generally. Friendly and optimistic, he has a pleasant word for all whom he meets and a ready hand for the assistance of the general interests of the town.

JAMES HOUSTON

JOSEPH LEY

Mr. Ley married, in Indiana, Miss Effie Smith, of English birth, whose parents had settled in Pennsylvania and moved thence to the Hoosier state. They have six children: John E., Martin M., Oliver, Mary, Rose Ann and Susan A. John E. married May Applegate and has a daughter and a son. Mary is the wife of Frank Volf; they have two sons and four daughters and their home is in Calaveras County. The others make their home with their parents.

Politically Mr. Ley is independent of party affiliations. He has no great liking for practical politics, and one of the most vivid recollections of his boyhood days is of having gone to the polls on election day to see and hear Northern and Southern sympathizers wrangle over questions on which they were at odds. He and his family are members of the Catholic Church.

JAMES WALLACE OAKES

Fraternally Mr. Oakes affiliated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Politically he was a Democrat; never shirking the responsibilities of citizenship, but never consenting to become a candidate for office. However, he was for two years a deputy sheriff under Sheriff Balaam and later for three years a deputy United States marshal under Marshal Franks. The duties of the last-mentioned position included the settlement of the Mussel Slough troubles of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company and settlers on its land in this vicinity and demanded great tact and diplomacy, for the people were naturally suspicious of anyone attempting an adjustment of the dispute. Before undertaking the work, Mr. Oakes gained the consent of the railroad company to exercise his own discretion, and he soon won the con­fidence of the land claimants and brought about amicable settlement of all questions in controversy and returned to private life with the commendation of all with whom he had business dealings.

The lady who became the wife of Mr. Oakes was Mrs. Margaret I. (Houston) Allen, a native of Arkansas, whose first husband, W. B. Allen, came to California in 1857 and settled in Mariposa County, but later became a stock-raiser in Tulare County, where he passed away July 26, 1867. Her son, William Byron Allen, is engaged in farming on a ranch of two hundred and twenty acres, two miles east of Visalia, and owned by himself and his mother. Mr. Oakes died De­cember 4, 1909.

M L CRAMER

In 1887 Mr. Cramer married Miss Mae Baker, a native of Kansas, who has borne him six children: Morris, Bessie, Frank, Violet, Eleanor and John. Mr. Cramer's father, J. K. Cramer, a native of Pennsylvania, came to California in 1851, crossing the plains in the slow and dangerous way then in vogue. Taking up land which eventually proved to be railroad property, he suffered disappointment and loss in being compelled to forfeit it. His wife, Eleanor Ott, a native of Ohio, came overland with her parents in 1850, and they were married at Petaluma, Cal., in 1857.

ALLEN J ATWELL (HON)

The day after graduation, Mr. Atwell went to Nebraska, where he read law a year under competent direction. In the early '50s he crossed the plains to California, and after stopping for a time in San Diego he came to Visalia, where he was soon afterward admitted to the bar and where in due course of events he gained a place in history as the orator who delivered the first Fourth of July oration at that County seat. He succeeded as a general practitioner of law, was made district attorney of the County and was elected to represent Tulare County in the legislature of California. He won much success as prosecuting attorney, several important eases having fallen to his management during his term of service, and as an assemblyman the records show that he not only achieved distinction on the floor of the house, but did important and patriotic work as a member of committees. He was for a time owner of the Visalia Times, which under his control was a local newspaper of much influence. During another period he owned and operated a lumber mill near Mineral King, and among his possessions at one time was Atwell's Island, in Tulare lake, where he raised cattle and hogs. For some years he was associated in the practice of law with N. 0. Bradley of Visalia. In his long and useful career he was identified from time to time with various local organizations, and as a citizen he was notably public-spirited.

In 1861 Mr. Atwell married Miss Mary M. Van Epps, a native of Illinois, who survives him, and they were the parents of nine children: Mary, wife of F. M. Creighton; Arthur J.; Nellie, wife of B. J. Ball, of Visalia ; Irving, who is dead; Clarence C.; Allen L.; Paul; Ethel, who is the wife of Hugh McPhail; and Lizetta, who is Mrs. E. Martin.

HENRY CHRISTOPHER ROES

When he was twenty-three years old Mr. Roes became a member of the Masonic order and he has been identified with the Blue Lodge at Merced since 1899. In his politics he is Republican. He is a communicant of the German Lutheran Church.

JASPER N BERGEN

April 19, 1862, Jasper N. Bergen was born in Minnesota. He is now a prosperous fruit grower, two miles and a half southeast of Lindsay, Tulare County, Cal. His parents, natives of Indiana, have passed away. His sister was the first of the family to come to California. When he was twenty-six years old, in 1888, Mr. Bergen came here to visit her, and during a seven months' stay made trips of observation to different parts of the state. He went back to his old home and remained there seven years, then came again to California and during the succeeding seven years was farming five miles north of Woodville. It was not until 1902 that he occupied his present ranch of twenty acres. Small farms are rapidly becoming a feature of Tulare County; many families are not only making a good living, but are each year banking money from returns of twenty-acre orchard, vineyard or alfalfa field. Such farmers are always located close to town and they have daily mails and telephone service that rob rural life of its isolation and make social conditions agreeable. The home built up by Mr. Bergen is one of the pleasantest in its vicinity. For the vacant land he paid $65 an acre, and planting seven acres of figs, he produced a good crop, packed it himself and sold it in the local market at fifteen cents a pound. Four years later he planted five acres of orange trees and two years ago he planted five acres more. His place is almost entirely devoted to figs and oranges.

In 1901 Mr. Bergen married Miss Sarah Etta Dunham, a native of Indiana and a daughter of parents born in that state. Socially he affiliates with the Lindsay organization of the order of Fraternal Aid, of which he was a charter member. While he is not an active politician, he takes an intelligent interest in all economic questions and is helpful to the uplift of the community in a public-spirited way. As a fruit grower he is progressive and resourceful and he is fast coming to the front as one of the leaders in that industry in his part of the County. With figs he has been remarkably successful, and in 1911 he packed about forty-five hundred pounds gathered from four hundred and eight trees.

WILLIAM SWAN

A son of Frederick and Sarah (Butler) Swan, William Swan was born in Kent, England, November 7, 1849, and was two years and a half old when he was brought to the United States by his mother, his father having preceded him in 1850. The family lived in Indiana until 1858, then settled in Decatur County, Iowa, where Frederick Swan bought one hundred and sixty acres of government land at $1.25 an acre, which he improved and on which he lived out his days, dying in 1893, aged eighty-four years. Mrs. Swan died in 1900.

In Iowa, William Swan learned farming and worked at it until 1875, when he came to Tulare County. He went up into the mountains in the neighborhood of Sequoia lake and worked in the timbers and later tended sheep for a while in Kings River at Reedley. Then he came to the valley. Those were pioneer days in a new, wild country, and he had often to cope with bears foraging for food and saw at different times as many as a thousand antelope. His first holding in the valley was two hundred and forty acres of railroad land. Later he bought six hundred and forty acres of other land and acquired a half interest in oak timber land in the mountains. He sold forty acres of land in small tracts, by judicious subdivision. He has now ten acres of fruit bearing land. Around his house are a number of large trees and he owns the biggest orange tree in Tulare County.

The woman who became Mr. Swan's wife was Mary Smith, a native of Kansas, who had taken up her residence in California. Their children who are living are: Bertha J.; Wesley W.; Gertrude; and Wilma E., at home. Bertha J. married J. W. Smith, a native son of California. The Swan family is a family of Democrats and Mr. Swan has served his fellow townsmen as school trustee, in which office his son-in-law, J. W. Smith, is serving at this time. Mr. Swan and Mr. Smith are enterprising and public spirited, ready at all times to do their utmost for the general good.

FRANK REMBRANDT KELLENBERG

Prominent in real estate circles in Visalia and the San Joaquin valley in general, Mr. Kellenberg's enterprise and ability ho'i;:t.--ivon­for him an enviable place among his fellows, yet his high principles and keen sense of justice have actuated throughout his successful career none but the fairest dealings. Mr. Kellenberg was born June 11, 1854, in Alton, Madison County, Ill., and was the second youngest in a family of two sons and five daughters. His father, Francis Jerome Kellenberg, a native of Georgetown, D. C., was an artist of exceptional ability, his early predilection for drawing having been followed by thorough training therein. In his home town he established a studio where he devoted his time to his beloved art, both landscapes and portraits receiving his attention, and after his removal to Alton, where he opened a studio, he continued to maintain his first work shop. In 1860, after the death of his wife, he took his family to Visalia, Cal., where, until his death in 1876, he continued to work at his profession, taking up artistic sign painting also during his latter years. Among his best works are his copies of the Duke of Athens, Venus Arising from the Sea, the Court of Death. upon which he worked almost twelve years, a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, and an original study, The Dance of the Four Seasons. He painted, also, many of the scenic charms of the beautiful Yosemite valley. His delight in life was to work out through the medium of his brush the dreams created by his soul, and his nature. kindly and compassionate toward all living creatures, was unsullied by selfish greed of gain.

Frank Rembrandt Kellenberg received his education in the schools of Visalia, whereupon he entered the employ of Richard E. Hyde, a pioneer merchant of that city, also for thirty years president of the Bank of Visalia. In his first position Mr. Kellenberg served eighteen months. when he became a clerk in the establishment of Douglas & Company, who later sold to Stevens & Company, with whom Mr. Kellenberg remained many years. Eleven years and six months from the date of his entrance as an employee of the store, he purchased a one-fourth interest in same, but in 1881 he disposed of his share in the establishment and started a retail shoe business, which for seven years he profitably conducted. In 1906 he sold his store and entered the real estate field which, offering a more untrammeled and largely open air life, had long appealed to him.

HIRAM KELSEY

HENRY C SMITH

The hardy Norwegian, wherever the fortunes of life may cast him, be he safely landed or shipwrecked, is quite likely to make the best of the situation in which he is placed and more certain than men of some other nationalities which might be mentioned to win all the success that is enwrapped in the possibilities of the unknown future. Kings County has had some pioneers and numerous citizens of this nationality. One of the best known of them is Henry C. Smith of Guernsey, son of John H. Smith, who was born in Norway in November, 1813, eventually coming to Tulare County, and died there May, 1907.

Henry C. Smith was born at Sonora, Tuolumne County, Cal., February 12, 1866, and lived with his father wherever the latter's agricultural enterprises caused him to establish a home until the old Norwegian farmer passed away. As a boy he attended Lakeside district school until he was seventeen years old. Afterwards, in accordance with the custom which has obtained quite generally with farmers' sons, he gave his services to his father until he was twenty-one years old. After that, as has been stated, the two were associated in business during the remainder of the life of the elder Smith. Since his father passed away the son has given his attention to general farming and stock-raising, making a specialty of the breeding of hogs. He owns eight hundred acres of good land and a one-half interest in an additional two hundred and eighty acres. As a farmer he has been very successful and takes rank with the best agriculturists in his part of the County.

In 1909 Mr. Smith built the Kings County Cheese factory, of which he is the sole owner, and its location is on the southeast corner of the northwest quarter of section twenty-five, township twenty, range twenty-one. On his land are a hundred and seventy-five cows whose milk is utilized in the factory. His cheese-maker is an expert in his line and they manufacture three brands of cheese, viz.: Young American, Flat and Monterey, all being full-cream and commanding the highest market prices because of their delicious taste and excellent quality. Constantly looking for improvements, Mr. Smith, in 1911 and 1912, put down two artesian wells so that his lands are now among the best irrigated tracts in the County. The wells have a depth of twenty-three hundred and eighty and two thousand feet respectively, and flow copiously, and in connection with the Lake­side ditch furnish an abundance of water for irrigation purposes.

VAIL BROTHERS

Painting and paper hanging is now a well recognized trade, and those who succeed in it are men who like the Vail Brothers of Hanford, Kings County, Cal., have given years to its acquisition and practice. J. W. and E. M. Vail were born at Antioch, Contra Costa County, Cal., sons of F. M. Vail, a painter, who had himself served an apprenticeship to a trade which he had perfected by long years of experience. When the sons were mere boys their parents took them to Lemoore, Kings County, where their father taught them their trade and they began their career as contractors of painting and paper hanging. It was in 1911 that they built their present store and shops on North Douty Street, Hanford, materially extending their business after having devoted ten years of  work and study to it. Besides handling materials for their own contracts, they sell house lining, wall paper, paint, oils and glass and merchandise of all kinds which can be utilized in interior or outside decoration of buildings.

ROBERT K OGDEN

A native of the Prairie State, now one of the successful men of Tulare County, the career of Robert K. Ogden has been one of struggles and success. He was born at Victoria, Knox County, Ill., April 2, 1864, a son of Mathew B. and Catherine (Fisher) Ogden, the one a native of Pennsylvania, the other of Illinois. The father came to California and, locating in Riverside, was one of the pioneer orange growers in the southern part of the state. He met with much success and became widely known in fruit circles as well as in the leading markets of California and the East. He so far won the confidence of his fellow citizens that they called him to the office of justice of the peace and elected him a member of the board of supervisors of Riverside County.

In young manhood Robert K. Ogden engaged in freighting between Leavenworth, Kans., and Santa Fe, N. Mex. Buffalo and other wild game were plentiful in that part of the country at that time,, and he saw buffalo chased by hunters through the Streets of Dodge City, Kans. After he had freighted for a time he went to Indian Territory. He once drove a band of horses to New Orleans and later was engaged in the livery business for a year in Arkansas. We next find him in Montgomery County, in his native state, working for wages. From Illinois he went to Kansas City, Mo., where he was employed to assist in the construction of a railroad from that city to Beatrice, Gage County, Neb. California has been his home since 1889 and he began his career here as a rancher on Lewis creek, between Exeter and Lindsay. In the period 1891-95 he was farming west of Visalia, growing wheat extensively and breeding hogs in large numbers. In 1896 he bought his present farm of sixty acres on the Exeter road, four miles from Visalia, and has greatly improved the property, planting much of it to alfalfa and maintaining a fine dairy. He is considered one of the up-to-date farmers of Tulare County and his success is of so substantial a character that it seems to hold out a promise of note­worthy future achievement.

ENOCH A SMITH

When Mr. Smith came to this part of the state, cattle and sheep were being fed everywhere, houses were scattered very sparsely over the country and travelers found at Smith Ferry the only dwelling they passel in eighteen miles from that point to within four miles of Visalia. There were many bands of deer and antelope and he shot deer from time to time for food. Brown bear were numerous. He is the owner of many relics of by-gone days. Mr. Smith is a public-spirited citizen of Republican principles and has done his full share toward the development of the County. He married in 1872, in Northeast Missouri, Miss Ellen Harley, a native of Maryland, and their only son and child, George E., a native of California, is a member of their household.

LEWIS S SMITH

In no lines of business is true progressiveness more eagerly sought or more quickly recognized than in those which touch upon our household economies. Especially is this true of the dairy business, which is ably represented at Hanford by Lewis Smith, proprietor of the up-to-date concern at No. 416 S. Irwin Street, which is operated under the name of Smith Brothers. Mr. Smith was born in Lawrence County, Ohio, April 3, 1879, and was there reared and educated. He early inclined to a business occupation and was employed as a salesman in a general store until 1904. Then he came to California and, locating at Hanford, worked in that vicinity until 1907. Then, with his brother George R. as a partner, he engaged in the retail milk business and built and equipped the fine plant at the location above mentioned. It is a building eighteen by forty feet in area measurements, haying a concrete floor and other equipment, thoroughly sanitary and of the latest models. In 1909 he bought his brother's interest in the business, but has since conducted it without change of name. His milk is purchased from R. R. Butler and Ray Campbell, both of whom keep inspected dairies. In 1912 he added a complete outfit for the manufacture of ice cream for the wholesale and retail trade.December 20, 1910, Mr. Smith married Miss Bessie Johnson, a native of Missouri, born April 2, 1891, who had become a resident of Hanford. They have one son, Lewis Sidney, born November 14, 1912. Socially he affiliates with the Odd Fellows lodge, encampment and canton at Hanford and with the organizations of Knights of Pythias. As a member of the Chamber of Commerce and in his other relations with his fellow citizens he has always shown a degree of public spirit that has commended him their good opinion.

WILLIAM M CLARK

The birth of William M. Clark occurred in Scotland County, Mo., November 5, 1866. He was a son of James M. and Martha E. (Baker) Clark, the former a native of Kentucky, his mother a native of Missouri. James M. Clark served in the Civil war under General Morgan in the Confederate army and was one of ninety-nine of Morgan's men who tunneled out of the Federal prison for Confederate captives at Chicago. One of the guards hailed him after he had left the tunnel, and failing to get a response fired at him, but missed him. He had other narrow escapes which would be interesting could they be narrated here. He was in the service from 1862 until the end of the war, all the time in Lee's command and a part of that time under the great general's authority, took part in many battles and skirmishes, and from time to time did hazardous scouting. One of his recollections was of an involuntary horse trade on a bridge, another was of the instantaneous disappearance of the nose of the man near him whose face had unfortunately come into the range of Federal firearms. After the war he lived in Missouri until 1892, when he died, aged forty-five. It was beside his father's deathbed that William M. Clark married Miss Mary Johnson, and they have had three children, Arthur, Marvin and Laurin. Mrs. Clark was born in the same County in Missouri as was Mr. Clark. Their oldest child is now a student in the grammar school.

Mr. Clark lived with his father in Missouri until he was twenty- three years old. He learned farming, and contracting and building, and was employed at different times at these occupations. When he came to California and settled in Tulare County, in 1889, he found himself in the midst of a vast wheat country, the land ranging in market value from $5 to $15 an acre. Later he bought thirty acres at $25 an acre, which is now worth $200 an acre. He has fourteen acres of grapes and ten acres of peaches and will soon plant five acres to orange trees. His first crop of grapes yielded him three-quarters of a ton to the acre and his peaches in 1911 sold for $400. He is not giving much attention to stock and keeps only such as is required on his ranch.

Fraternally Mr. Clark affiliates with the Modern Woodmen, Mrs. Clark with the Royal Neighbors. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In his political conviction he is a Democrat. As a citizen he is public-spirited and helpful.

JABEL M DEAN

In 1906 Mr. Dean was elected city trustee of Hanford, and during his four years' service a number of important civic matters were undertaken, including the beginning of cement sidewalk construction in residence Streets, the extension of the sewer system, the buying of chemical fire engines and of hose carts, and the extension of the electric fire alarm system. In this period a proposition was made to submit to the people the question of the abolition of saloons in the city, and Mr. Dean was the only member of the board who voted for it. He introduced an ordinance demanding that the people vote on the question of a municipal water system. In other ways he has proven his public spirit. He is a member of the Carpenter's Union.

WILLIAM BRYAN CHARLES (M. D.)

In Salem, Washington County, Ind., William B. Charles, M. D., of Hanford, was born March 12, 1857, a son of Levin and America (Rodman) Charles. Nathan Charles, his grandfather, a Quaker, was born in Maryland and was taken by his parents to North Carolina, where lie married. In 1818 he settled within the present limits of Washington County, Ind., as a farmer and saddler, and died there in 1868, aged ninety-one years. His son, Levin Charles, born in North Carolina, was four years old when his parents took him to Indiana, where he passed the remainder of his years, dying at the age of sixty-five after a useful career as a farmer. He was prominent in local affairs as a Whig and later as a Republican. He married America Rodman, who was born in Shelby County, Ky., daughter of Hugh Rodman, a native Kentuckian, who settled in Washington County, Ind., about 1825. He had served in the war of 1812 and later became a successful farmer and he lived to be seventy-five years old. Hugh Rodman, Sr., his father, born in Bucks County, Pa., settled in Kentucky in 1786, going thence by boat down the Ohio River. He traced his ancestry to Scotland. America (Rodman) Charles died in Indiana in 1875, fifty-two years old, having borne eleven children, of whom Doctor Charles was the sixth.

After attending the schools at Salem, Ind., until he was nineteen years old, Doctor Charles came in 1876 to what is now Kings County, Cal., and for two years was employed at farm work and teaming. Then, returning to Indiana, he entered an academy at Salem to prepare himself for the university and was graduated in 1882. A part of the time while he was a student at the academy he taught school in the vicinity and gave some attention to an acquisition of a knowl­edge of the drug business under the instruction of his brother, who was a physician as well as a druggist. He entered the medical department of the University of Kentucky at Louisville and was duly graduated from that institution March 1, 1887. It was at Norcatur, Kans., that he entered upon the practice of his profession. There he remained until 1894, and in March of that year he located at Hanford, building up a lucrative practice and commending himself to his fellow citizens of all classes by his thorough knowledge of his profession and a winning personality. At Norcatur, Kans., Doctor Charles was married November 30, 1887, to Miss Carrie S. Wildfang, a native of Wisconsin, and two of the children born to them are living, Ethel and William Gordon. Though he was always very busy professionally, Doctor Charles, as a loyal, public-spirited citizen, found time to devote himself to the uplift of the community. He was a stanch Republican and influential in political affairs. He served as delegate to several County and State conventions and was a member of the Republican State Central Committee. He was appointed to the office of County physician in 1899 and served until 1906, when he resigned and, on account of his wife's ill health, returned to Kansas and practiced at Oberlin for one year. November 30, 1907, he returned to Hanford and in 1909 was reappointed County physician. In 1912 he was appointed city health officer, and remained in active practice and official life until his death, October 13, 1912. His interest in his profession was deep and sincere and he kept in touch with the progress which medical science is constantly making. Fraternally he affiliated with Hanford Lodge No. 279, F. & A. M., and the Woodmen of the World, Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Knights of Pythias.

WILLIAM P RATLIFF

W. P. Ratliff has been postmaster at Tulare since May 1, 1902, having received his original appointment under President Roosevelt in the preceding April. He has been a local leader in the Republican party, has served on state and County central committees, has been city assessor and city treasurer of Tulare and president and secretary of the Board of Trade. Fraternally he affiliates with Olive Branch Lodge No. 269, F. & A. M., in which he was made a Mason and in which he is past master; with Tulare Chapter No. 71, R. A. M., in which he is past high priest; with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and with the Woodmen of the World. With the members of these orders he is no more popular than in the business and social circles of the city and County.

June 5, 1888, Mr. Ratliff married Alice Harter, a native of Stockton and a daughter of Isaac and Matilda (Parker) Harter, pioneers in California. Their wedding was celebrated in Tulare and there their son Clinton P. was born.