Kings County
Biographies
JABEL M. DEAN
As citizen and official, Jabel M. Dean, of Hanford, Kings county, Cal., has impressed his personality upon the progress of that city. Born in Tennessee, June 29, 1860, he settled in Hanford in 1880 and learned the carpenter's trade with W. H. Nyswonger. He worked as a carpenter until 1896, when he engaged in contracting and building with W. W. Cole as a partner. Among the residences built in Hanford by this firm may be mentioned those of T. J. McJunkin, A. G. Parks, L. C. Dunham, Charles McGee, J. Bowman, William Trewhitt, Thomas Ebod, A. M. Fredericks, Frank Arnold, E. W. Pilkington, Mrs. Mary Bruner, and three for H. E. Wright. In Lemoore they erected the residences of Ed. Sellors and R. Deacon; they built an addition to the Methodist church at Hanford; and among the country homes of their fashioning are those of J. J. Cartner and John W. Jones, and those of Mrs. Hitchcock and Mr. Hackett of Grangeville. They draw their own plans for buildings and give the most conscientious attention to every detail of construction.
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.
History of Tulare and Kings Counties, California with Biographical Sketches - Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company, 1913
pp. 868
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
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 he 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.
History of Tulare and Kings Counties, California with Biographical Sketches - Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company, 1913
pp. 868-870
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler