Redlands California

Biography of Prof. Charles Russell Paine

Prof. Charles Russell Paine, of Redlands, is a native of Massachusetts, born in Barnstable September 9, 1839, a son of John and Lucy (Crowell) Paine. He is one of a family of six children. He was graduated at Amherst College, and has taught in Maine, Rhode Island, Ohio, Indiana and California. He came to this latter State in 1870 and taught school in Riverside. He also taught the first school in Colton. In 1873 he established a private school in San Bernardino and in 1876 was elected County Superintendent of Schools. He subsequently served as principal of the city schools … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Harvey Hewitt

Harvey Hewitt, residing three miles northwest of Redlands, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1859. His father, Isaac L. Hewitt, was a native of New York, and for fifteen years was senior member of the firm of Hewitt & Schofield, petroleum commission. At one time he owned a line of steamers on Lake Erie. He is now retired from active life. He had five children, the subject of our sketch being the fourth. He was educated at the Polytechnic Institute at Brooklyn, New York. He was connected with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, on the engineer corps, for … Read more

Biography of S. Taylor

S. Taylor. Among those who have contributed largely to the success and advancement of Redlands, none should receive more credit for untiring energy in the past than the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. He was a native of Canada, born at London, Ontario, October 8, 1854, his parents being John and Jane (Barter) Taylor, both of whom were born in England, the father being a contractor and builder. Our subject was reared and educated at his native place, and on arriving at a suitable age, commenced, as his first employment, clerking in a dry-goods store. After that he was … Read more

Biography of George Edmund Otis

George Edmund Otis, a leading member of the Southern California bar, is a descendant of one of the oldest New England families, his ancestors having emigrated from Somersetshire, England, about 1630. That he springs from a cultured family is evidenced in the fact that his paternal great-grandfather was one of the early graduates of Harvard University, as far back as 1752, and his father was a graduate of the same institution ninety years later. His mother was a direct descendant of Judge Sewall, who is associated in history with the hanging of the witches in the seventeenth century. Mr. Otis … Read more

Biography of R. J. Waters

R. J. Waters, Redlands. A more important name cannot be mentioned in connection with the history of Redlands than that of Mr. R. J. Waters. Indeed, he is recognized as the father of the city. He built the first brick business block in the place, and has built and caused to be built by far the greater number of business houses in the place at this time. His first block was erected on the corner of State and Orange streets, in March 1887. Mr. Waters came to California in 1886, an invalid, and located the Chicago Colony, of which he … Read more

Ancestry of Herbert Isam Mitchell of Brockton, MA

Herbert I Mitchell

The family bearing the name of Mitchell is one of the oldest in the New World, its progenitor being Experience Mitchell, who came over in 1623 in the “Ann,” and from that time to the present the records of various towns of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, chiefly Plymouth, Duxbury and the Bridgewaters, bear mute testimony of the prominence in peace and war of the members of the family in the different generations, and the present head of the family in Brockton, Isam Mitchell, president of Isam Mitchell & Co., lumber dealers and contractors, and his son, the late Herbert Isam Mitchell, active in business with his father and prominent in fraternal circles, have proved themselves firm in purpose and able in business.

Biographical Sketch of Israel Beal

Israel Beal was born thirty-five miles west of Richmond, Virginia, April 10, 1849. His parents, Oliver and Elvira (Myes) Beal, were both natives of Virginia. His father died during the war, and his mother is still living, at a good old age, having reared a family of eleven children, nine of whom are still living. The subject of this sketch came to California via the Panama route in 1865, and worked for a mining company in Kern County for three years. He then went to Nevada and Arizona and mined, and then came back to California and worked for M. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of C. E. Owen

C. E. Owen, a pioneer of 1849, residing on the corner of Olive and Eureka streets, Redlands, was born in Sheffield, Ohio. March 16, 1840, he left Ohio for California, shipping his horses and wagons to Chicago. At St. Joe, Missouri, he traded his horses for oxen. He left Iowa Point, May 10, 1849, with a company consisting of 100 wagons, and September 10 of the same year they arrived in the Sacramento valley with eighty-three wagons, under Captain Dorland. Mr. Owen can tell some interesting incidents of the journey across the plains, and of his experiences as a miner … Read more

Biographical Sketch of E. K. Henderson

E. K. Henderson, a young and enterprising horticulturist on Base Line, five miles east of San Bernardino, was born in Benton County, Iowa, August 18, 1858. His father, Robert H. Henderson, of Indiana, was for fourteen years successfully engaged in farming in Iowa. In 1875 he came to California and first bought ten acres of land in Riverside and put it out in fruit. It cost him $100 per acre, and after eight years be sold it for $9,600. He had one of the best vineyards in the State, which at three years from planting netted him $341 per acre. … Read more

Parker, George “Brownie” – Obituary

Pine Creek, Oregon George “Brownie Parker Sr., 83, a resident of the Pine Creek area near Halfway, died May 3, 2002, at his home. His graveside service will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Pine Haven Cemetery in Halfway. George Perry Parker was born at Marietta, Okla., on March 31, 1919, to Sally and James Parker. Their family migrated to Roswell, N.M. around 1930. “Brownie” moved to Redlands, Calif., in 1933 working as a meat cutter there until 1936. At this time, he started a career of climbing trees that spanned seven decades. He moved to Bakersfield, Calif. in … Read more

Biographical Sketch of F. P. Morrison

F. P. Morrison, President of the First National Bank of Redlands, is a “native son of the Golden West,” being born in the city of San Francisco. His father, A. L. Morrison, came from Ohio in 1854, and was a successful businessman for many years. The subject of this sketch came to Redlands in 1882. He had considerable money, and being pleased with the location, and believing that there was a bright future for the place, he bought forty acres of land and put out 300 orange trees the first year. The improvements he has since made on this place … Read more

Biography of Samuel J. Hayes

Samuel J. Hayes, residing in Redlands, on Cypress Avenue, was born in Litchfield County, Connecticut, June 20, 1826. His father, Gaylord Hayes, was a second cousin to ex-President Rutherford B. Hayes. When Samuel was a lad of seven his father removed to La Salle County, Illinois, where he engaged in stock-raising until his death, which occurred in 1838, when Samuel was but twelve. His mother died in 1842, and he had to provide and care for his three younger brothers and sister. In 1850 he crossed the plains to California, where he mined for six months and then returned to … Read more

Biographical Sketch of R. J. A. Mack

R. J. A. Mack, of Redlands, is a native of Syracuse, New York, born June 24, 1842. He received his education in the schools of Syracuse and Fulton, New York, and commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Townsend, of Syracuse; he also attended and graduated at the college at Geneva. He began practice at Syracuse, afterward continuing at Rochester, and later at Lyons, New York. Thence he removed to Chicago, where he attended Bennett Medical College (Eclectic), graduating in 1876. He practiced in Chicago until 1886, when he removed to California, and on the 9th of November of that … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Captain William A. Rogers

Captain William A. Rogers, of Redlands, is a native of Lincoln County, Maine. Since leaving the sea Captain Rogers has given his attention to the cultivation of his oranges and vineyards and the improvement of his home in Redlands, on Colton avenue.

Biographical Sketch of F. E. Brown

Mr. F. E. Brown was born in New Haven, Connecticut, graduated at the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale College, and came to California in 1877. He was the engineer of the Redlands Water System and the discoverer of Bear valley as a reservoir; and more to him than any one else is California indebted for that great reservoir. The Bear valley dam was built by him. He has been one of the foremost citizens of Redlands, and in connection with Mr. E. G. Judson he has projected and built up that lively colony.

Biography of Prof. C. N. Andrews

Prof. C. N. Andrews, of Redlands, was born in Guernsey County, Ohio, in 1852. His father, Robert Andrews, crossed the plains to California with an ox team in 1857. They were on the plains at the time of the Mountain Meadow massacre, and were five months and ten days from Boonville to Sacramento. He purchased a farm in Sonoma County, in 1859, and is still living on it. He had a family of four sons and one daughter. The subject of this sketch received his early training in the common schools of Sonoma County, is a graduate of several prominent … Read more