San Diego County
Biographies
ELON G. HAIGHT,
a liberal citizen of San Diego, was born June 6, 1839, in Rochester, New York. His father, Daniel C., was also a native of that State, and married Catharine Gallman, a native of Dutchess County, New York. He was a farmer and also a surveyor. In that family were fourteen children, of whom only five are now living. Elon G., next to the youngest, went to Buffalo at the age of eighteen years, and became bookkeeper for Van Stock & Notten, boat-builders, remaining with them three years; then, in March, 1861, he came to California, landing at San Francisco on April 10. He was employed at Redwood until the spring of 1864; then, until the fall of 1869, he was clerk at Virginia City, Nevada. November 10 he arrived at San Diego, and for the first few years clerked for Culverwell & Jorus, forwarding and commission merchants.
In May, 1872, he was elected City Trustee and City Clerk; afterward he was appointed Deputy County Clerk by Captain A. S. Grant, and held the office until March, 1878; in 1879 he was appointed again by S. Statler, and served until January 1, 1883. During the previous autumn he had been elected Auditor and Recorder, and he entered upon the duties of this office the first Monday in January, 1883, and held the office for two years. In 1886 he was re-elected for another term, and in the fall of 1888 for still another. Among the societies of which Mr. Haight is a member are the F. & A. M., A. O. U. W., O. C. F., and I. O. R. M.; and also of the " Matrimonial Society."
He was married February 22, 1871, to Miss Addie M. Turpin, who was born in Rochester, New York, in 1864. And last., but not least, he is a member of the Society of San Diego Pioneers. The official and other relations which our subject sustains attests his liberal spirit and popularity.
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.- 339
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
DR. GEORGE W. BARNES,
San Diego, is of Scotch ancestry; he was born in Frederick County, Virginia, December 9, 1825, son of Stephen, a native of Frederick County, Virginia, and Eleanor (Scarf) Barnes, also a native of Frederick County. Dr. Barnes' father's mother was from the north of Ireland, and his ancestors were Scotch. When ten years of age the Doctor moved with his parents to Newark, Ohio. Having decided to follow the profession of medicine he became a student of Dr. A. O. Blair, then one of the most prominent homeopathic physicians of Ohio. After attending a course of instructions at the Medical College of Ohio, the Eclectic Institute of Cincinnati, and the Cleveland Homeopathic College, he graduated in the latter institution in 1851. He then located at Mt. Vernon, Ohio, where he enjoyed an extensive practice for over fourteen years. In 1865, having been elected a professor in the Cleveland Homeopathic hospital College, he removed to that city. In 1869 his health failed by reason of excessive labor, and compelled him to resign his position and seek a milder climate. He came to California and spent nearly a year in the study of its climate. At the end of that time he gave San Diego the preference and settled there. Several years since the Doctor received a spinal injury from the rearing and bucking of his horse, from which he has never recovered, but, notwithstanding this, he continues his professional work far beyond his apparent ability. Dr. Barnes had associated with him in practice from 1881 to 1884, Dr. E. A. Clark, now of Los Angeles, and from the latter date to the first of November last, he had as his associate Dr. A. Morgan. He now has associated with him Dr. P. F. Gamber, late of Cleveland, Ohio.
Dr. Barnes was largely instrumental in organizing the San Diego Society of Natural History. He has been its president since its organization and has faithfully labored to promote its prosperity. Since 1853 he has been a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy, and since 1878, in consequence of a membership of over twenty-five years, he has belonged to the association of seniors of that body. He aided in the establishment of the first medical dispensary of Cleveland and the Homeopathic Hospital, still in operation there, and was one of its consulting physicians. He was physician to the Cleveland Protestant Orphan Asylum, was secretary of the Cuyahoga County Medical Society and treasurer of the Western Institute of Homeopathy. He was associated in the establishment of the Ohio Medical and Surgical Reporter, and its editorial management during its first volume. Ever since his resignation as professor in the Cleveland College, he has had the honorary title of Emeritus Professor of Materia in that institution. He is now a member of the California State Homeopathic Medical Society, and an honorary member of the Los Angeles Homeopathic Medical Society. He is also a corresponding member of the St. Louis Academy of Science, and of the Wisconsin State Historical Society. He has contributed to many medical journals, and is the author of a seventy-page pamphlet, entitled "The Hillocks and Mound Formations of the Pacific Coast."
After what has been above stated we need not add that the Doctor stands eminent in his profession. His is a most enviable position. He invested considerably in city property during his early residence here, and this having increased in value, he is now independent. The Doctor's physical disability has been such that he has many times been carried up stairs to see a patient. He now does an office business, and goes out only to engage in consultation.
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.- 339-340
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler