San Diego County
Biographies
THE HIGH BROTHERS.
Messrs. William
E. High and John E. High were sons of John High, a native of Chester County,
near Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, who was born in 1795 and was a land-owner and
farmer. Their grandfather, Jacob High, was a resident of Chester County, and
removed to Cumberland County, where he remained until
his death. Their forefathers came from Germany to America before the Revolution;
their name was Hoch, German for high. Their mother, Christina Ehst, was born in
Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 1800, a daughter of Samuel Ehst, who was a farmer
and lived until his death in that county. Their parents were married in 1820,
and had a family of eleven children. William E. was the fifth, and John E. the
seventh. They came to California together, and so have remained since, being
identical in all their business relations, so that when one is mentioned it is
almost equivalent to speaking of both. Their parents, in their religious views,
were Mennonites, a sort of Quaker-like branch of the church; and although they
do not belong to any church here, they are believers in Christ and in the
Scriptures. The ranch on which they live consists of ten acres in Chollas
valley, not far from the end of the H street railway of San Diego. This ranch is
devoted to almost every kind of fruit, while their market is at their very door.
They have many bearing orange trees of several varieties, including Washington
and Australian Navels, also lemons, limes, olives, guavas, loquats, peaches,
pears, apples, apricots, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc. From 100
feet square of blackberry bushes they raised in one year 2,500 baskets, which
sold for $410. The next year they sold from the same ground $385 worth.
William E. High was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, on the 1st day of January, 1830. He remained on his father's farm until he was twenty years old, attending the district schools as opportunity afforded. Then he went to Chester County and lived with an uncle for two years. At the end of that time he returned to the old farm. In June following, which was 1852, his father died, the place was sold, and he hired out to work on a farm in the same county. He remained there for three years, and during that time taught the district school for one season. Afterward he went to Bucks County, and during 1856–'57 ran a saw-mill. The latter part of 1857, however, saw him back again in Berks County, where he stayed until the following spring. These subsequent changes in business had tended to unsettle him somewhat, and he decided to seek a new country. He had heard much of California and the fortunes that had been acquired in that distant land. Thither he determined to journey. After two weeks spent in New York city, he set sail on the Star of the West for Cuba, and from there took passage on the New Granada for Aspinwall. Crossing the Isthmus, he took the John L. Stephens at Panama, and after an uneventful voyage he arrived at San Francisco the 15th of May, 1858. The same day he left for Sacramento, and from there went through Placer and El Dorado counties. At Diamond Spring, in the latter county, he worked in a saw-mill for six months. Then he went to Nevada County, where he engaged in mining, following that business with varying degrees of success for nearly ten years. During this time he was located at Moore's Flat, Washington, and at North San Juan.
Early in 1868 he visited San Francisco, and while there made up his mind to come to the southern part of the State. He accordingly went back to Nevada County, settled up his business, and in the following spring started for San Diego, arriving here on the 2d of March. Being well pleased with the outlook, he decided to remain. He located 160 acres of land eighteen miles southeast of the city, but sold it in six months' time, and settled on another piece of 175 acres adjoining the National Ranch grant, ten miles from San Diego. He cultivated a small portion of this in fruit, and remained on it four years, during which time he acquired a title, after some difficulty experienced, some parties claiming it as a Mexican grant. About the 1st of January, 1874, he moved to Chollas valley, two and one-half miles from San Diego, where he purchased five acres of land, and there he and his brother engaged in raising fruit of different varieties. They experimented with various kinds until they found what was most suitable to the soil and climate, and these varieties they adhered to. The result was that they soon acquired the reputation of raising the finest fruit to be found in this section, and the product of their orchard commanded the highest price.
Mr. High still remains on this famous place, and, with his brother, still cultivates it. In April, 1876, he went East to attend the Centennial, and while absent was married to Susan Bechtel. He returned in October with his bride. Two and one-half years later she died. For the last eight years Mr. High has been a member of the Cemetery Commission of San Diego; he was the first president of the San Diego County Horticultural Society, and is now its vice-president. He was one of the directors and vice-president for two years of the Consolidated National Bank, and was a stockholder in the old San Diego Bank before the consolidation. He is interested in the San Diego & Cuyamaca Railroad, now in the course of construction. Four years ago he bought 2,000 acres of land in the Cuyamaca grant, and he and his brother now own 3,000 acres there, which is used for grazing purposes, and they have over 200 head of cattle on it. Mr. High and his brother are equally interested in all their enterprises, and together they own considerable city and outside property. The site of Otay was sold by his brother to the present owners. Together they contributed 160 acres of fine land as a bonus to the California Southern to induce them to build their road here. Mr. High has contributed liberally to all public movements, and although of a retiring disposition he is in reality one of San Diego's most progressive and substantial citizens. It is to the earnest and well-timed efforts of men like William E. High that the present prosperous condition of this thriving city is largely due.
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.- 166-167
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
JOHN H. CRESMER,
proprietor of wagon and carriage shop, San Jacinto, was born in Hartford County, Maryland, November 15, 1860. His father, John G. Cresmer, with his mother, came to the United States from Germany in 1853. They had a family of eleven children, two of whom are dead. The subject of this sketch was the eighth child, and was educated in Baltimore, Maryland, in both German and English. He made a business of canning fruit for some time, both in Maryland and afterward in De Witt County, Illinois. He also canned large quantities of sweet corn. In 1886 he came to San Jacinto, where he worked in the planing-mill, making doors and windows, and during the rapid building of the place made nearly all the doors and windows in town and vicinity. He now has a carriage and wagon shop, where he manufactures and repairs. He was married in 1882 to Miss Lena Gerhardt, also a native of Maryland, born in Baltimore, at which place her father was a manufacturer of and dealer in shoes. They have four children, viz.: Walter H., L. Ernestine, Nellie V. and Elizabeth Ruth. His father died September, 1876, aged sixty, and his mother resides with a son in Maryland. Mr. Cresmer is a good, industrious citizen, one of the kind who helps to make the country grow.
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.- 167-168
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler