Samuel K. Klinefelter is the junior member of the firm of Hayt & Klinefelter, the proprietors of the well known Fashion Livery Stables of Riverside. Mr. Klinefelter was born in Richland County, Ohio, June 10, 1845. His parents, Joseph and Elizabeth Klinefelter, were natives of Pennsylvania and were among the early settlers of the county in which he was born. He was reared in his native place until twelve years of age. In 1857 his father moved to Brown County, Kansas and was there engaged in farming occupations until his death in 1858. Mr. Klinefelter was brought up to farm life.
In March, 1862, although less than seventeen years of age, he enlisted in the military service of his country as a private in Company C, Seventh Regiment of Kansas Cavalry, and was for more than three years engaged in that memorable struggle, the war of the Rebellion. His regiment was attached to the Sixteenth Army Corps or the Army of the Tennessee, and participated in some of the severest campaigns and hardest-fought battles of the war. He was engaged at Iuka, Corinth, Oxford, Holly Springs and many other battles, and also took part in many of the cavalry raids which his branch of the service was called upon to execute. After his honorable discharge from the service in October 1865, he returned to his home in Kansas and was for some years engaged in conducting the farming operations upon the old homestead.
In 1870 he came to California and located at Galt, Sacramento County, and there engaged in stock business. He was extensively engaged in dealing in cattle and horses. In 1871 he drove his stock to Monterey County and later took fifty head of milch cows to Nevada and established a dairy in Washoe Valley, and was among the first to establish a regular milk business in Virginia City. In 1873 he sold out his dairy business, returned to Monterey County and established a hotel at Soledad, which he conducted for the next two years. He then located at Placerville, El Dorado County, and opened a meat market. In 1876 he went to Colusa and was for several years engaged in various pursuits. He opened a market at that place, and was also engaged in supplying the markets of Sacramento and other places with beef cattle from Oregon and Northern California. In partnership with Thomas Hales he conducted the well-known Colusa House and Eureka Hotel. In 1881 Mr. Klinefelter came to Southern California and after a brief stay in Riverside located in Los Angeles, where he formed a partnership with Theodore A. Gardner, and conducted a confectionery store on Main Street, near Spring, until 1883. In that year he established his residence in Riverside as a member of the firm of J. R Newberry & Co., fruit packers, carriage dealers and horticulturists. Mr. Klinefelter superintended the extensive horticultural enterprises of the firm, and among the operations planted 200 acres of vineyard and thirty acres of pears at Rincon. In 1885 he sold out his interests in the firm and in connection with his brother, P. K. Klinefelter, purchased a twenty-acre tract of land in Brockton Square, on Rubidoux Avenue, and engaged in horticultural pursuits. In 1887 he formed a partnership with Charles P. Hayt, and since that date has been engaged in the livery business.
Mr. Klinefelter is an enterprising citizen and a thorough businessman, and is well known in Riverside, where he has a large circle of friends. In political matters he is a straight Republican and a supporter of the best elements of that party.