San Bernardino County
Biographies
JAMES BOYD,
a pioneer of Riverside, came to the colony in 1872, all his worldly goods consisting of a farm team of four horses, four cows, a lot of chickens and a few household effects, and eight dollars in cash; but he had a reserve capital of health, energy, intelligence, and a determination to succeed. He secured a squatter's claim to seventy-three acres of land about two miles north of Riverside, and later an adjoining tract of eighty acres, upon which he camped with his family, his only shelter being a shanty 10 x 10, devoid of protection from the scorching sun and sand storms. Their modest cook stove was in the open air, and all the cooking was done in the morning to avoid the heat of the mid-day sun. Their mid day repast was served cold, but the necessary heating of tea, coffee and even edibles, was accomplished by setting the receptacles containing them upon the fireless stove in the open air; it was rare, indeed, that the fierce rays of the sun had not generated heat, that the storage qualities of that old stove rendered sufficient to bring water nearly to the boiling point. Mr. Boyd planted the seed of the eucalyptus, surrounding his home with those trees. Their growth seems marvelous; careful measurement taken in 1889 showed one of these trees, seventeen years old from the seed, nearly 150 feet in height and eleven feet four inches in circumference, measured four feet from its base. In the spring of 1873 Mr. Boyd commenced the planting of nursery stock, citrus trees, deciduous fruit trees and grapevines. A large portion of his land is devoted to general farming and stock-growing; he also engaged in jobbing work, teaming, etc. He entered heartily into public improvements, road building, etc. He served for a term or more as road master, and during that time the first two and a half miles of the famous Magnolia avenue was laid out, graded and trees planted by him, and the commencement of an enterprise established that has resulted in forming one of the most beautiful and extended avenues to be found on the Pacific coast. At this writing (1889) Mr.Boyd has twenty-five acres in oranges, the trees planted varying in age from one to sixteen years; and ten acres of vineyard, producing raisin grapes of the Muscatel variety. He now has a nursery stock of 30,000 orange trees, from which he will put in a large acreage of the most approved varieties of citrus fruits. He has devoted study and research to his horticultural pursuits, and has been successful in producing the best results. His vineyard, which has been in bearing for many years, brings him an income of $200 an acre, net, on the average; he used to cure, pack and market his raisins himself.
Politically Mr. Boyd is a Republican in national affairs, but a decided independent in local matters. He is a strong advocate of home protection for labor as well as products, and was one of the first in Riverside to oppose the importation and employment of Chinese. He is a temperance man from principle and practice, and strong in his support of the temperance movement. He belongs to the Citrus Fair Association and Board of Trade, and helped to build the first Odd Fellows' hall in Riverside.
A brief resume of Mr. Boyd's life before his advent into Riverside may be of interest. He was born near Glasgow, Scotland, in 1838; his parents, John and Jane (Wright) Boyd, were natives of that country. Mr. Boyd was reared and schooled in his native place until eighteen years of age. He then went to London, and for the next two years was engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1858 he decided to try life in the colonies, and in that year settled in New Zealand. Finding it a desirable country for energetic and industrious people, he induced his parents to join him, and they established their residence there in 1862. Mr. Boyd spent nearly eight years there, engaged in farming and stock-growing, and while there, in 1866, he was married to Miss Catherine McIntyre, a native of Scotland. He finally came to the United States, embarking in December, 1866, for California, and arriving in San Francisco in January, 1867. Shortly after his arrival he located in San Mateo County, near Redwood City, and engaged in lumbering; later he rented lands and engaged in farming. In 1870 he packed his goods in his wagons and started southward, arriving in Los Angeles County in December, 1870. He located at Downey, where be purchased land and established himself as a farmer. That enterprise was a failure, and he decided upon a further move; accordingly, in 1872, he came to Riverside.
Mr. and Mrs. Boyd are the parents of six bright children, that are the chief pride and joy of their lives. Their names are: Jennie R., John D., Katie M., Hugh J., Bessie A. and William Wallace, five of them being born in Riverside; the eldest being born in Los Angeles County, not being able to walk when she came to Riverside.
SOURCE: An Illustrated History of Southern California: Embracing the Counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the Peninsula of Lower California… Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1890. p.- 617-618
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
EDWARD LESTER
was born at Covington, Kentucky, in 1829. His parents, Joseph and Elizabeth (Holmes) Lester, were natives of Yorkshire, England. They came to the United States in 1818 and settled in Indiana and later located in Covington. There his father was engaged in building, and later as an employé in the first cotton factory that was ever erected west of the Alleghany mountains. In 1830 Mr. Lester's parents settled in Hamilton County, Ohio, and engaged in agricultural pursuits. There the subject of this sketch was reared and schooled. His schooling was such as could be obtained in the common schools of that date, and from early life he was inured to the hard labor of an Ohio farm.
In 1852 Mr. Lester decided to try his fortune in the El Dorado of the West, and in the spring of that year he went to New Orleans, thence to Brownsville, Texas, and across Mexico to Mazatlan, and from there via sail-vessel to San Francisco. From San Francisco he proceeded at once to the mining districts. Not meeting with success in that calling, he turned to farm work and was for some years engaged in Marin, Yolo and Sonoma counties. In 1855 he went to South America and located at Lima, Peru, and there established the first American brickyard in that country. He successfully conducted his enterprise until 1858. In that year he returned to the United States and located in Lavaca County, Texas, where he engaged in the farming business. In 1859, while on a visit to his old home in Ohio, he married Miss Ellen Clegg, a native of England, the daughter of Joseph Clegg, a well-known resident of Hamilton County, Ohio. Mr. Lester continued his farming operations in Texas until 1861. He was a strong Union man, and upon the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion and the seceding of the State of Texas from the Union he was subjected to many persecutions. To such an extent was this continued that he was finally compelled to sell his farm and seek refuge in Mexico. From there he slowly worked his way out, with his family, to California. He finally succeeded in reaching Guaymas, where he purchased an open boat and came up the Gulf to the mouth of the Colorado river. From thence he came by steamer to Yuma. There he paid his fare on an ox wagon and wended his way across the desert to the "promised land," Los Angeles County. Stripped almost entirely of this world's goods, he commenced to live anew. After about three years' farming upon rented lands of the San Pasqual ranch, San Gabriel valley, he moved, in 1866, to San Luis Obispo County, and for nearly ten years was successfully engaged in stock-raising and general farming. In 1875 he returned to Southern California and located in San Bernardino County. Upon his arrival he purchased 245 acres of productive land in the Chino judicial township, about five miles east of Chino. He has since been engaged in general farming. His fine farm now comprises nearly 600 acres and is one of the most productive in that section. Thoroughly versed in the stock business, he has devoted most of his attention to that calling, raising good graded horses, cattle and hogs for market purposes. His fine orchard and vineyard, for family use mainly, attest the fact that he is well versed in horticultural pursuits.
Mr. Lester is a strong believer in the future growth and prosperity of Southern California, and he is an illustration of what may be done by one who is possessed of sound sense, energy and a strict attention to business. He came as a refugee from the Southern Confederacy with nothing but the manly qualities so characteristic of the man as his capital. His broad acres, well stocked, rich harvests, well ordered home, etc., is the result, and better still is the universal respect and esteem he has gained from a large circle of friends and acquaintances. Mr. Lester is a Republican and takes an earnest interest in the success and welfare of his party. In San Luis Obispo he took an active part, and attended many of the conventions as a delegate. Mr. Lester's wife was his companion and the sharer of his varying fortunes for many years. She was accidentally killed in 1880, leaving five children, viz.: Joseph C., a resident of San Diego County; Annie E., now Mrs. Max Dietrich, of the same county; William L., George H. and Agnes M. In 1881 Mr. Lester was again united in marriage with Miss Mary Taylor, a native of Delaware County, New York.
SOURCE: An Illustrated History of Southern California: Embracing the Counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the Peninsula of Lower California… Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1890. p.- 618-619
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler