San Bernardino County
Biographies
REUBEN L. DEWITT,
of San Bernardino, was born in Switzerland County, Indiana,
October 19, 1815, the son of John and Jane (Potter) DeWitt, natives of Indiana
and New York respectively. His grandmother, Elizabeth Sheridan, was an aunt of
the late General Sheridan. He was left an orphan at the age of fourteen years.
For several years he
traveled around in different counties of Illinois and Iowa. In 1851 he crossed
the plains to Salt Lake City, where he spent two years, and from there came to
San Bernardino County, where he has lived ever since. His first purchase of real
estate was sixty acres where he now lives, at $11 per acre. At one time he owned
some very valuable property in San Bernardino.
In 1846, while in Hancock County, Illinois, he married Charlotte Huntsman, of Mahoning County, Ohio, daughter of John and Deborah Huntsman, who were first cousins. Mr. and Mrs. DeWitt have had fifteen children, eight of whom survive: John A., Sarah, who married Mark Thomas, had only one child, and died at the age of twenty-three; Melisse, now Mrs. Thomas Long, of Garden Grove; Almira, wife of Hiram Potts, had two children, twins, and died at the age of twenty-one; Reuben Las Vegas, born in New Mexico, while they were en route to California, died at the age of thirty years; Martin, who accidentally shot himself at the age of sixteen; Andrew Jackson, Alfaretta, wife of Joseph Kelley; Caroline, now Mrs. George Lathrop; Polly Ann, wife of George Knights; James Monroe and Salina. The educational advantages of Mr. DeWitt were such as were afforded by the common schools of Indiana when he was of school age, and those who know anything of those times know that they were exceedingly limited. His principal study has been the Bible.
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.- 607-608
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
A. D. S. ALKIRE
is the well-known and popular City Clerk and Assessor of Riverside, a position he ably fills with credit to himself and honor to that enterprising city. Mr. Alkire is a native of Pickaway County, Ohio, born at Mount Sterling in 1837. His father, William A. Alkire, was a native of Kentucky and a descendant of an old colonial family of Virginia. He was a carpenter by trade, but was engaged also in farming. Mr. Alkire's mother, Hannah (Osborne) Alkire, was a native of Ohio, and died when the subject of this sketch was but four years old.
He was reared in his native place, and his lot from early childhood was one of labor. At the age of eleven he really commenced life on his own account and depended upon his own exertions for support and schooling. It was a rough school for a boy, but he developed those manly traits of his character which have in after years secured his success in business pursuits and enabled him to wage the battle of life, gaining victories where his more favored competitors suffered defeat. Mr. Alkire's first essay in supporting himself was in learning the shoemaker's trade. A hard master forced him to abandon that, and he engaged in work for the farmers of his town until sixteen years old. He then learned the carpenter's trade, and with his brother worked in Putnam County until 1880. In that year he located in Jasper County, Indiana. The war of the Rebellion in 1861 aroused his patriotic spirit, and he abandoned his occupations and consecrated himself to the service of his country. In that year he enlisted as a private in Company K, Eighteenth Indiana Veteran Volunteer Infantry. Mr. Alkire proved a gallant and faithful soldier. He rose through the successive non-commissioned grade to be the Orderly Sergeant of his company. His service in the field ended July 21, 1864, when he was so severely wounded at the battle of Deep Bottom, Virginia, as to cause the loss of his left leg, and render him a cripple for life. His army life was one of hard campaigns and severely hard-fought battles, commencing in Missouri and ending in Virginia. He was engaged in the battles of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, March 6, 7, and 8, 1862; Cotton Plant, Arkansas, June, 1863, where the Confederates hoisted the black flag with the motto, "We take no prisoners;" the siege of Vicksburg, Department of the Gulf, and in the service on the Rio Grande, and finally under General Butler's command in the Army of the James. In March, 1865, Mr. Alkire was honorably discharged from the military service, and returned to Indiana, crippled in limb and broken in health. The veteran of the war was undaunted by the prospect before him.
He located in Brookston, White County, and was for nearly twenty years connected with various interests and industries of that section, as a druggist, merchant, farmer, painter and photographer. He resided in Chicago from 1866 to 1869. In 1882 he decided to seek a home on the pacific coast, and coming to California he chose Riverside as his place of residence. His manly qualities and straightforward and consistent course of life gained for him the respect and esteem of the community, and in 1886 he was elected City Clerk and Assessor of Riverside. He proved to be the right man in the right place, and in 1888 he was re-elected by a majority that well attested his popularity. In political matters he is a stanch Republican, and has proved himself an earnest worker in the ranks of his party as a delegate to county conventions, etc. He is a member of the Riverside Post, No. 118, G. A. R.
In 1863 Mr. Alkire was united in marriage with Miss Rebecca A. Little, a native of Indiana. There are two children from this marriage: Carrie C. and Charles O. Both are members of their father's household. At this writing Charles O. Alkire is the Deputy City Clerk of Riverside. Was again elected by a majority of 1,056 out of an entire vote of 1,073.
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.- 608-609
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler