San Bernardino County
Biographies
BELDEN D. BURT.
The subject of this sketch is one of the pioneer merchants of Riverside, and is the senior member of the firm of B. D. Burt & Brother. This is now the oldest mercantile firm in the city, having been established in 1875, and been continuously in business since that time. The first brick block erected in Riverside was that occupied by Mr. Burt, on the corner of Main and Eighth streets. For many years he conducted a general mercantile business, but in the later years, has confined his business to dry goods, clothing, boots and shoes, etc. Mr. Burt's partner in his business is his brother, Benjamin Franklin Burt, and it is safe to say that there is no business firm whose standing is higher in the community than B. D. Burt & Brother, nor is there one that has inspired more confidence or gained a heartier support than this firm. The brothers are well known, and their years of dealing has been characterized by honest, straightforward business principles. Their word has ever been as good as the strongest bond; their name is synonymous with integrity and stability for years before the advent of banking institutions in Riverside. They were made the custodians of the funds of their customers, and even now their books show a large list of depositors.
The subject of this sketch was born in Orange County, New York, in 1823. In his youth his parents moved to Chemung, and later to Steuben County. Mr. Burt was reared to farm life, and educated in the common schools until seventeen years of age; he then entered into mercantile life as a clerk. He remained in his native State until 1849. The gold fever then claimed him as a victim, and he started in the spring of that year, via the Isthmus route, for the El Dorado of the West. He left New York March 3, but it was not until the 8th of June that he arrived in San Francisco, having been compelled to seek the poet of Callao, after crossing the Isthmus, in order to secure a vessel to San Francisco. Soon after his arrival in that city he struck out for the mines, and located in Placer County. He spent one season in the mines, and then engaged in business in Sacramento. With the exception of a visit to the East in 1852, Mr. Burt has spent twenty-five years in the northern counties of the State, principally in Placer, Nevada and Napa counties, during which time he was engaged in mercantile enterprises and other industries. He is well and favorably known throughout the mining districts. In 1875 he decided to seek a home in Southern California, and selected Riverside as combining the most desirable lands of any locality he could find. He was a firm believer in the future of Riverside, and has always been hearty and liberal in the support of the many enterprises that have tended to build up his chosen city. He is the vice-president of the Riverside Land and Irrigation Company. One of the incorporators of the Riverside Fruit Company, and the president and manager of the company from 1883 to 1885. He was one of the projectors of the Riverside Public Hall Association. In the establishing of the municipal government of Riverside Mr. Burt took a prominent part, and was the first city treasurer elected in the city. In political matters he is a straight Republican, and has taken an active interest in the affairs of his party in whatever community he has been, serving in county and State conventions. He was for several years the Postmaster of North Bloomfield, Nevada County, and in 1873 was chosen as the Republican candidate for the Legislature of the county. He is a member of Riverside Lodge, No. 282, and Star Encampment, No. 73, I. O. O. F., of Riverside.
Mr. Burt married, in 1853, Miss Irene M. Badger, a native of Boone County, New York. There are no children from this marriage.
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.- 718-719
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
WILLIAM P. RUSSELL.
This well known pioneer of Riverside is one of the leading horticulturists of the colony, and has for the past eighteen years been identified with the growth and progress of the city, and has held a prominent position in her municipal government since the incorporation in 1884. He is a native of White County, Indiana, dating his birth in 1849. His father, William Russell, was also a native of that State. Mr. Russell was reared as a farmer, and educated in the public schools of his native county. In 1869, when twenty years of age, he struck out in life upon his own account, and his first move was for the Pacific coast. Upon his arrival in California he came to San Bernardino County and located in Tia Juana valley, and there, in partnership with his uncle, P. S. Russell, entered into the nursery business. Upon the founding of the Riverside colony, in 1870, he was induced to visit the lands, and upon an inspection he became satisfied that a prosperous future awaited the
orange-grower in the Riverside valley, and the next year, in February, 1871, he purchased a twenty-acre tract on the east side of Spanish-town avenue, now Orange street, and on the north of Russell street. This street was given his name in honor of his being the pioneer in improving that section. He commenced his preparations at once for horticultural industries, clearing his lands and perfecting his irrigation system. He established himself in the nursery business, the pioneer of that enterprise. In 1872 his uncle joined him and they conducted a large nursery business for the next six or seven years. At the same time he fully improved his land, planting citrus and deciduous fruits, grapes, etc. Many of his first ventures in horticulture, however, proved unprofitable, and such mistakes were corrected by uprooting and replacing with citrus fruits. At this writing (1889), Mr. Russell is the owner of and occupies nine and a half acres of his original tract, which is devoted to orange-growing. He has one of the finest groves to be found in the county. A large portion of his trees are seedlings, sixteen years old; the remainder are budded fruit, mostly Mediterranean Sweets. There is no branch of horticulture as required in the Riverside valley in which he is not practically experienced, and the results he has obtained in orange growing are worthy of mention, showing as they do the profits to be obtained from that industry in the Riverside colony. From six acres of orange grove, 960 trees, planted in 1872, 250 trees of which were budded on four-year-old stock, and the remainder seedlings, he sold his crops as follows: in 1886, for $3,000 gross; in 1887, $1,960 gross (more than one-fourth of his crop in that year were blown off and plowed under); in 1888 the crop sold at the packing-house for $3,650. This is a creditable showing, averaging, as it does, nearly $500 per acre for a series of years, and sufficiently attests Mr. Russell's skill as a horticulturist.
Mr. Russell has been a strong supporter of Riverside enterprises. He has been a director in the Riverside Water Company for several years. In political matters he is a Democrat, but liberal in his views. In 1884 he was elected one of the city trustees, which office of honor and trust he has so creditably filled that his supporters seem bound to continue his term indefinitely. He still holds the office, having been twice re-elected. He is a member of Sunnyside Lodge, No. 112, Knights of Pythias, of Riverside. He married, in 1878, Miss Ida Moody, the daughter of John H. Moody, of Oakland, formerly of San Francisco.
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.- 719-720
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler