San Bernardino County
Biographies
THOMAS P. DRINKWATER.
There is probably no section of Southern California that can produce such thorough horticulturists as the Riverside colony, and it is noticeable that some of the most proficient of those are men who have spent their previous lives in the counting-house or factories of the East; men who have had no previous opportunity of studying the marvels to be found in nature's horticultural productions; but it is equally noticeable that such men have been ranked to pursuits that have called for skilled labor or mental work. Some of the finest work in horticulture of this date is being done by that class of men. The subject of this sketch is a fair example of that class, who came to Riverside in 1879, and first located on Bandini avenue and purchased seven and one-half acres of land, which he improved and planted in orange trees. This place he sold in 1882, to M. S. Rowell; he then purchased from B. W. Handy, nine acres on Cypress avenue, and later, the ten acres adjoining this on the south. There were but inferior improvements on these places, but Mr. Drinkwater raised nursery stock for new trees, budded the old trees, fertilized the soil, thoroughly cultivated and irrigated, and in a few years produced some of the finest groves in this section. In 1886 he sold the south ten acres to H. Jaracki. It is now owned by D. P. Chapman and J. S. Koethen. In 1887 he sold the balance of his land, after which he engaged in horticultural pursuits for others, in the planting, care, etc., of their orange groves. His skill and well-known ability readily found employment, and he often has as much as 200 acres of orange groves under his care. In March, 1889, he purchased thirty-one acres of land on Bandini avenue, one-half mile west of Brockton avenue; this purchase was from C. Flentje. There are six acres of this in oranges, three acres in grapes, and the balance in alfalfa; about twenty-five acres is bottom land, and has a water-right from Spring brook; the upland is watered from the Riverside water system.
Mr. Drinkwater was born in Penobscot County, Maine, in 1851. His father, Isaac Drinkwater, is a native of Massachusetts, and is a veteran of the war of the Rebellion. Mr. Drinkwater's mother, Betsey Waterman, is a native of Plymouth, Massachusetts. When seven years of age his parents moved to Brockton, Massachusetts, and there he received his schooling, and also learned the trade of shoemaker from his father. He learned the mason and bricklayer's trade, at which he worked for about three years. Mr. Drinkwater was engaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes in the factories of Brockton, and also established a shop in that city, which he conducted until his emigration to California. He married Miss Mary F. Brickford, a native of Massachusetts. There are three children from this marriage, all born in Riverside, whose names are: Mary S., Alfred T. and George H. Mr. Drinkwater is a member of Evergreen Lodge, No. 259, F. & A. M., of Riverside, and a supporter of the Universalist Church. In political matters he is a stanch Republican.
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.- 627-628
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
ROBERT S. CROMBIE,
the senior member of the well-known firm of Crombie & Crombie, wholesale and retail grocers, of Riverside, came here in 1886, and in October of that year entered into mercantile pursuits, establishing his present business under the firm name of Newberry & Crombie, with Mr. J. R. Newberry as his partner. This firm continued until March, 1888, when his brother, Mr. G. M. Crombie, bought the interest of Mr. Newberry, and the firm of Crombie & Crombie was formed. The business was enlarged and extended and a branch house established by the firm in Arlington. Mr. Crombie is at the head of one of the most substantial business houses in Riverside, which will compare favorably with any business enterprise of its character in the county. His success is not the result of chance or speculation, but has been secured by a strict attention to the wants of the community and a prompt supplying of them with first-class goods at reasonable prices.
The subject of this sketch was born in Richmond, province of Quebec, Canada, in 1860, the son of William and Mary J. (Montgomery) Crombie. His father was a native of Scotland, his mother of Ireland. Mr. Crombie was reared upon his father's farm, but given the benefit of a good education, graduating from the St. Francis College of Richmond in 1879. In that year he came to the United States and was first located in Dakota, where he was for a year or more employed in Government surveys, after which he engaged in the lumber business at Larimore, Dakota, until 1883. He then went to Mexico, and was prospecting and mining, and later entered the employ of the Mexican National Railroad Company. In 1886 he returned to his old home, and after a brief stay returned to the Pacific coast and located in Riverside and established himself in his present business.
Mr. Crombie's interests are fully identified with Riverside and her people, and he is a supporter of her enterprises. He is the owner of his residence on the east side of Orange street, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets, and also residence and business lots and store at Arlington. He is a member of the Episcopal Church, and united with the society at Riverside. Politically he is a Republican. Mr. Crombie married in 1888, wedding Miss Ella E. Guilder, a native of Wisconsin.
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.- 628
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler