San Bernardino County
Biographies
MATTHEW CLEGHORN,
a farmer of San Bernardino County, was born in Knox County, Kentucky, in 1829, a son of Rev. Lorenzo D. Cleghorn, who was a native of Virginia and a minister of the Christian Church. His mother, Mary (McLain) Cleghorn, was of Scotch parentage. They had five children, of whom our subject was the second. He left home at the age of twelve years and subsequently entered the Mexican war. He enlisted in the Sixteenth Kentucky Volunteers, but was afterward attached to the Eleventh. He carried the express for eight months from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico and thence to Lulusa. On account of sickness he was sent to the Marine Hospital in New York in 1848. After the close of the war he traveled over parts of Ohio, Indiana, Louisiana, Iowa and Oregon, and while in the "Hoosier" State he met and married a lady who has since been the companion of his life, Miss Serena Hendry, a native of that State and a daughter of Isaac Hendry. After his marriage he moved to Iowa and thence to Oregon, where he remained until 1860. He came then to California, first settling at Watsonville in Monterey County, where he remained three years. In 1863 he came to San Bernardino County and located on the farm where he now resides. He arrived here December 25, 1864, and homesteaded 160 acres of land, which cost $16. For several years he was engaged successfully in the livery business. He is now one of the leading stock-raisers in the valley, owning some thoroughbred stock, the Glencoe, of Kentucky, being the principal. He has a magnificent residence four miles east of San Bernardino on Base Line, which commands an imposing view of the fertile valley and the surrounding mountains. He owns valuable property in various parts of the county and is a man of considerable wealth and influence.
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.- 606
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
JOHN C. RALPHS,
of San Bernardino, was born in Utah in 1852, while his
parents were on their way to California. His father, Richard Ralphs, and his
mother, Mary (Newal) Ralphs, were both born in England. His father was a potter
and also a bricklayer by trade, and made the brick for the Los Angeles jail,
also that in the old Workman property, after coming to California. He wintered
once in Salt Lake City, and in 1852 he crossed the plains by ox team to
California and bought seven acres of
land, on which he built a cabin; this was before the land was surveyed. He then
bought fifty-seven acres in American District; then forty acres more in the same
district, and engaged extensively in general farming and stock-raising. He next
bought 135 acres adjoining the original fifty-seven acres, and several lots. He
had a family of eight children, five boys and three girls, one of whom died on
the way to California. He died September 15, 1874, and his wife April 22, 1887.
John C. Ralphs, the subject of this sketch, received but a limited education, and made a hand on the farm from the time he was ten years old. He first bought a claim on the Santa Ana river, remained there fifteen years and then lost the claim. Then he bought twelve acres in American District, and has since added 100 acres to the original twelve acres. Seven years ago he built a fine residence on Mill street and Mount Vernon avenue, southeast of San Bernardino city.
In 1882 he was married to Miss Eunice Roberts, daughter of John Roberts, a pioneer of this valley. They have seven children, viz.: Mary Angeline, Martha, Richard, George, Ida Belle, Charles B. and John. Mr. Ralphs has made his own way in the world and is highly respected by all who know him.
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.- 607
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
JOHN C. HARDMAN,
proprietor of the City Pharmacy of Riverside, which is the pioneer drug-store in the city, was first established in 1876 by James H. Roe. Mr. Hardman purchased the business in January, 1886, and immediately increased the stock and enlarged his business until the City Pharmacy ranks as the leading establishment of its character in the city. In addition to a complete and varied stock of drugs and medicines, he is a large dealer in toilet articles, perfumery, fancy goods, wall paper, paints, oils, etc. He is a skillful druggist and chemist, with years of experience, and employs none but able assistants; consequently his store has a reputation for accuracy and dispatch in the preparation of prescriptions that is unexcelled. Mr. Hardman is a gentleman of genial and courteous manners, and is favored with a large patronage, which he justly merits.
The subject of this sketch dates his birth in Coshocton County, Ohio, in 1852; eight years later his parents moved to Vermillion County, Illinois, where he was reared and given the advantages of a good schooling. At the age of twenty years he commenced life in his profession as a clerk in a drug store in Fairmont. The next year he went to Robinson, Crawford County, and entered the employ of A. R. Short & Co., the leading drug store of the county. His abilities and sound business principles were appreciated and the establishment was placed under his charge. He continued in that employ until 1878, and then went to Texas and located in Navarro County, where he engaged in the drug business until 1885. In December of that year he came to Riverside, and the next month established himself in his present business. Mr. Hardman has gained a large circle of friends and stands high in the business and social circles of Riverside. He is a member of the Methodist Church and is also a member of the Sunnyside Lodge, No. 112, Knights of Pythias.
In Texas, in 1887, he married Miss Ardilla O. Vance, daughter of John T. Vance, of Paris, Illinois. Mr. Hardman's father, Samuel Hardman, was a native of Ohio and a descendant of one of the oldest families in the State.
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.- 606-607
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler