Tulare County
Biographies
SANTOS BACA
A descendant of old Mexican and Spanish families, Santos Baca was born in San Bernardino county, Cal., in what is now Riverside county, November, 1865. His father was Jesus Cabeza De Baca, who was the son of Jose Baca, for whom Vacaville was named. (The name Baca was formerly spelled Vaca, hence the spelling of Vacaville.) Jesus Cabeza De Baca married Inez Baca, a native of Spain, and he engaged in the stock business and grazed sheep where the city of Riverside now stands. He was directly descended from Spanish discoverers who landed on the shores of the United States in the middle of the sixteenth century and eventually settled in New Mexico. In 1849 the parents of Santos Baca came to California with ox-teams from New Mexico, and both passed away at old Spanishtown, near Riverside.
When Santos Baca was seven years old he was taken to Sacramento to attend school and in 1880 made his way to Tulare county and thence to Riverside. In 1883 he went to Vacaville but the same year found him in the employ of a liveryman in Tulare city. In 1902 he located at Porterville and was employed in the same business until 1910, at which time he became one of the proprietors in the Exchange stables. He has from time to time interested himself in other enterprises and has evidenced a helpful solicitude for the advancement and prosperity of the community. Fraternally he affiliates with the Woodmen of the World and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
In 1892 Mr. Baca married Miss Nancy E. Doty, a native of Missouri, who has borne him six children, as follows: Fay and Harold, in the high school; Glenn and Rita, in the grammar school; Rene, in the primary school, and Damon.
History of Tulare and Kings Counties, California with Biographical Sketches - Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company, 1913
pp. 752-753
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
JOHN H. LEACH
One of the comparatively few citizens of Porterville, Tulare county, Cal., who saw the place come into being on the prairie and have witnessed and promoted its development to the present time is John H. Leach. A native of Washington county, Ill., born January 15, 1849, he was reared and educated in Clinton county, whither his parents moved when he was a small child, there taking up the responsibilities of active life. In the spring of 1880 lie left Illinois for the Black Hills, where he prospected for gold and worked in the mills four years. After that he lived for a time in Missouri and later until 1890 in Kansas, where he followed the carpenter trade. In that year he located near Porterville, Cal. He soon bought property and later brought his family on from the east. After he was well started here he bought land, planted orange seed, raised the plants and set out five acres, which he still owns, and has given considerable attention to truck gardening.
In 1875 Mr. Leach married Miss Louisa Lewis, a native of Clinton county, Ill., and they have two children. Their daughter, Mamie E., is a member of their household. Their son, William S., is an architectural draftsman and resides in Baltimore, Md. Mr. Leach's success is all his own and he is recognized as a self-made man who deserves the high place in the community that is his, not alone by his record as a man of affairs, but by the fine character which has been manifest in his entire career and the generous public spirit that makes him promptly responsive to every demand for the general good. Mr. Leach's mother, now eighty-six years, is a member of his household.
History of Tulare and Kings Counties, California with Biographical Sketches - Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company, 1913
pp. 753-754
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler