San Diego County
Biographies
JOHN FALKENSTEIN,
of San Diego, was a native of Preston County, West Virginia, born near Brucetown Mills, April 12, 1834. His father, Samuel Falkenstein, was a native of Germany, and came to America with his father when he was eight years of age and settled at Philadelphia. His mother, Ann (Stuck) Falkenstein, was a native of New Jersey. They had a family of eleven children, seven boys and four girls, of whom the subject of this sketch was the fourth. When the war began Mr. Falkenstein lived in a part of Virginia where there was a strong rebel sentiment, and one Colonel Martin made an effort to organize a rebel regiment. At one of their rebel meetings Mr. Falkenstein was offered a first lieutenancy if he would go with them. He, with others, got on their horses and went home. Later in the season there were such persistent efforts made to get him into the rebel service that he went to Morgantown and October 12, 1861, enlisted as a private in the service of his country in Company C, third Regiment of West Virginia Cavalry. They were mustered and equipped at Parkersburg, Virginia. He served three years and three months, having been promoted meantime to the position of Quartermaster Sergeant. He enlisted as a private in the service of his country in preference to a commission in the ranks of its enemies. He was with the victorious Army of the Potomac through all its several marches and long and bloody struggles against a very desperate enemy, commanded by a most accomplished military chieftain, Robert E. Lee, excepting the first engagement at Bull Run and the battle of Antietam. While scouting near Monfield, at Sheets Mills, his horse fell and injured his hip and back, from which injury he has never fully recovered. This accident disabled him for about two months, but he staid with his command. Afterward near Culpeper Court House his horse jumped in a trench and fell on him, and he suffered for two months from that fall but did not leave his regiment. At Beverly Ford, Virginia, he was overcome with heat, so that he has ever since suffered with headache when the weather is hot. His first company of seventy-six men was decimated to eighteen able bodied men, and his second company of ninety-six men had only thirty-six men when it was mustered out. After he was mustered out he enlisted in the Government service as a carpenter and was in that service six mouths. From there he traveled west through Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas, Seeking for a home. He settled in Wichita, Kansas, on 160 acres of Government land which he improved and held for about eighteen years. In 1884 he sold out, some of the land selling for $150 per acre and some for $200. He then went back to Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and was there two years. He then, in 1886, came to San Diego, where he bought property and built a home. He is now Public Administrator of San Diego County. He was married August 5, 1886, to Mrs. Shepherd, a native of West Virginia, daughter of J. C. and Ann Foreman, and widow of Dr. F. C. Shepherd, who was a most eminent and skilled physician and surgeon. Her ancestors were New England Quakers of English descent. She is a member of the Christian Church. Mr. Falkenstein is a member of the G. A. R. and belongs to Heintzelman Post, No. 33.
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.- 311-312
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
BEARDSLEY BROTHERS
Arthur & Nelson
are two enterprising and industrious young ranchers in the vicinity of Perris. Arthur, the oldest of these brothers, was born in Yolo, California, March 22, 1862; Nelson, the other brother and partner in all their fanning transactions, was horn in Solano County, California, January 21, 1866. Both of these brothers are Good Templars. Their father, E. A. Beardsley, was a native of the State of New York, but lived many years in Illinois and Iowa, and in 1860 he moved with his family to California, and now resides in Lodi, San Joaquin County. He was married in 1854 to Miss Maria Pitcher, and had eight children, six boys and two girls. Only one of the boys are dead. Their father and family removed to the San Jacinto valley in November, 1882, and took up 160 acres of land which is now owned by Nelson. In addition to this he bought a section of railroad land. May 29, 1885, Arthur took up 160 acres of land, on which he has built a house and made other improvements. Nelson is a member of the Independent Order of Foresters at Perris. In 1887 they sowed 260 acres of barley and eighty acres of wheat, and they are now (1889) getting the ground ready to sow 320 acres of barley. The soil of their ranches is a sandy loam and is easily plowed. They have excellent water; one well thirty feet deep and the other well fifty feet deep. These young men enjoy the esteem of their friends and the community in which they live, and will no doubt make capable factors in the growth of the new county in which they have settled.
C. A. Beardsley has been a resident of California nearly all his life, and is now one of the industrious farmers of the great San Jacinto valley. He was born in La Salle County, Illinois, April 4, 1859. His parents, E. A. and Maria (Pitcher) Beardsley, came to California when he was two years old, in 1861. His school days were spent in the public schools at Main Prairie, Solano County, California. He was raised a fanner. The first four years of his residence in San Diego County was spent in Pleasant valley, and he located his present ranch November 13, 1884. He has built and made improvements on it and sows about 160 acres of grain yearly since he settled in the valley. He was married March 30, 1887, to Miss Hatty Foster, born in Kansas. August 9, 1864. They have one son: Howard A., born in Pleasant valley, January 11,1888. Mr. Beardsley is a temperance man, a Good Templar, and a member of the Independent Order of Foresters. He is a worthy citizen.
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.- 312
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler