Kings County
Biographies
B. L. BARNEY
At Gouverneur, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., B. L. Barney was born, March 24, 1849. Educated in the public schools and at the Gouverneur Wesleyan seminary, he was early interested in merchandising, farming and the tannery business in St. Lawrence and Jefferson counties, N. Y., until 1891, when be settled at Hanford. For a time he engaged in ranching and later he went into the grocery trade at Hanford, under the firm name of Foster, Barney & Felton. He sold his interest in the business to Mr. Foster and with Mr. Birkbeck as a partner organized a new enterprise under the style of Barney & Birkbeck. Later he became sole proprietor and after a time the firm became known as Barney, Kelly & Widner, and under the last name a store was conducted at Grangeville. Eventually Mr. Kelly bought Mr. Barney's interest at Hanford and Mr. Barney became sole proprietor of the Grangeville store and conducted it until he sold it to J. C. Stewart, in order to give attention to his ranch interests.
While Mr. Barney was interested in the grocery trade he engaged in the raisin and dry fruit packing business as head of the firm of Barney & Cameron, which was succeeded by the B. L. Barney company, of which Mr. Barney was proprietor until he retired from that branch of business. He has purchased a ranch of one hundred and sixty acres, three miles and a half east of Hanford, which is given to the production of fruit and vines, cattle, horses and hogs, and is now conducted by his son, Fred M. Barney.
One of the most active advocates of the formation of Kings county in 1892 was Mr. Barney. He was elected as a Republican to the office of supervisor, in which he served four years, during which time the present courthouse and jail were built. He was chairman of the building committee and was active in the superintendency of the work. He has been a member of the Hanford Chamber of Commerce and of commercial bodies having for their object the promotion of the interests of the county. In 1908 he was elected a member of the board of trustees of the City of Hanford and in 1909 was made chairman of that body, which office he filled one term. He is junior warden in the Episcopal church of Hanford and a member of the local lodge of Knights of Pythias.
In 1873, Mr. Barney married Mary E. Herring, a native of New York state, and they have two children, Anna Louise and Fred M. Anna Louise Barney was graduated with honors from the grammar and high schools at Hanford and from the University of California, and during the last four years has been a teacher of English in the Hanford high school. Fred M. Barney is operating the ranch near town.
History of Tulare and Kings Counties, California with Biographical Sketches - Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company, 1913
pp. 552-553
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
JESSE W. HARRIS
In that grand old midway state, Missouri, in the historic old county of St. Clair, Jesse W. Harris, now a well-known contractor and man of affairs at Corcoran, Kings county, Cal., was born February 24, 1869. When he was five years old he was taken to Union City, Ind. He was educated in public schools in that state and at the State Normal school at Winchester, Ind. One of the conditions under which some students are admitted to State Normal schools is that they shall teach for a certain time after their graduation. Mr. Harris devoted seven years to that work and won great success as an educator. In 1907 he came to California and stopped for a short time in Los Angeles, then came to Corcoran to assist in the erection of a sugar factory which is one of the conspicuous buildings of that town. Eventually he went into contracting and building, in connection with which he later took up real estate, in both fields of endeavor being satisfactorily successful. In all directions may be seen buildings which attest his mechanical skill and his business ability, and he has turned some of the notable local land deals of the last few years.
On November 6, 1894, Mr. Harris married Miss India Peacock, who was born in Indiana, June 14, 1876. Fraternally he affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with the Knights of the Golden Eagle. As a citizen he is public-spirited to a degree that makes him dependably helpful in any emergency demanding action for the good of the community. He is filling the office of justice of the peace with the highest honor and integrity and to the general satisfaction of the people of the town, who have learned to respect and abide by his judgment and to seek his friendly advice in the private settlement of many of their difficulties.
History of Tulare and Kings Counties, California with Biographical Sketches - Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company, 1913
pp. 586
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler