Tulare County
Biographies
JAMESON, IRVING L.
Born near Dixon, Solano county, Cal., in 1862, Mr. Jameson is a true son of California, proud of its history and traditions, and devoted heart and soul to its best interests. His parents were John B. and Catherine (Watts) Jameson, natives of Illinois. His father crossed the plains with mule teams in 1854, and at the end of his long and tiresome, but never to be forgotten, overland journey settled in Napa county. Later he moved to a place near Dixon, Solano county, where he acquired government land and engaged in farming and stock-raising, his chief product being grain, with which he was quite successful. Mrs. Jameson bore her husband children as follows: Henry, of Glenn county; Edwin of the state of Washington; Mrs. John Bond; Mrs. Robert Board; and Irving L. The father died in 1902, the mother in 1874. Mr. Jameson was enterprising and progressive, honest, industrious and public spirited in every sense of the term a good and useful citizen.
It was in the public school near his childhood home in Solano county that Irving L. Jameson laid the foundation for the practical education which has helped to make a success of his life. His primitive venture into business was made as a rancher on the Jameson homestead, near Dixon. Afterward he became owner of the place by purchase from his father. In 1888 he moved from Solano county to Tulare county and bought one hundred and sixty acres of land on Deer creek, where he raised grain. From there he eventually moved to Porterville. He came to his present ranch of about eighty acres, four miles north of Tulare, in 1898, and has greatly improved the place, making of it a high grade dairy ranch of thirty-five cows, sixty-five acres being devoted to alfalfa. His new dairy barn, recently built after his own plans, is one of the most practical for its purposes in the county. The cow stalls have cement floors, and there are individual stalls, which were designed by Mr. Jameson with a view to giving each animal comfort. The feed alley also is cemented, and the provisions for convenient grain storage are excellent, while the plant for pumping water is up-to-date and thoroughly efficient. Mr. Jameson’s finely bred Holsteins attract the attention of all visitors to the vicinity of his dairy. He is practically and enthusiastically interested in horses, and owns the well-known imported French Percheron stallion, Mardochet, registered; five brood mares and colts and an imported jack for breeding mules.
Absolutely as his home interests command his attention, Mr. Jameson has others. He is a director of the Tulare Rochdale store, a member of the Dairymen’s Co-operative Association of Tulare, and is identified with local bodies of the Woodmen of the World and the Fraternal Brotherhood. He married, in 1898, Miss Ida Roberts, a native of Solano county, and they have children: Mada, Lawrence, Doris and Lowell. The interest in public affairs so characteristic of the elder Jameson has been passed down to the son, and there is no other man in this part of the county more willing to assist, according to means and opportunity, any measure that may be proposed for the general good.
SOURCE: History of Tulare and Kings Counties, California with Biographical Sketches - Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company, 1913 Pp 414, 417
Transcribed by: Craig A Hahn
BLAIR, THOMAS H.
The character of any people is usually well indicated by that of its public officials. Throughout its history Tulare county has quite generally commanded the confidence of the public through the representative men who have been called to fill its offices. Judged by capacity and by zealous devotion to the interests in his charge, none has gained higher place in popular regards than Thomas H. Blair, county assessor. In qualifications essential to the proper discharge of his difficult duties he is adequate to all demands upon him, and by keeping in close touch with increase of property values and familiarizing himself with all current improvements he is able to judge accurately as to the proper assessment to place upon a given piece of property. Looking solely to the interests of the county, he complies with the law in the performance of his duties, manifesting always a conscientious regard for the rights of the taxpayer.
In Randolph county, Mo., Thomas H. Blair was born in 1864, a son of Calvin H. and Mary E. (Moffett) Blair, natives respectively of Arkansas and of Tennessee, and was brought to California by his parents, who settled in Sonoma county in 1865 and in Tulare county about a year later. Calvin H. Blair crossed the plains first in 1850 and after mining two years in California went back to Missouri in 1852. There he married in 1856 and about ten years later he moved to Iowa, where he remained about three months, losing all his worldly possessions except an ox-team and a saddle horse, which he sold for just enough money to take him to California by way of New York and the Isthmus of Panama. He moved from Sonoma county to Tulare county, bringing his family and belongings in wagons, and settled on Dry Creek. From there he moved to near Exeter, in the Yokohl valley, where he farmed for some years. In 1875 he went to Orosi, in the northern part of the county, and bought land there which he farmed until 1896, when his death occurred. Following are the names of the children of this pioneer and his wife, Mary E. (Moffett) Blair, who died January 14, 1912: William M., Thomas H., Mattie, wife of H. Meyers of Fresno county, Cal., Laura, Caledonia, Sarah, wife of George Hedgepeth, Frank L., James I., Finis E., and Clarence Holmes.
On his father’s stock ranch, Thomas H. Blair was reared, acquiring a good knowledge of cattle raising, meanwhile attending public schools as opportunity afforded. After the death of his father he associated himself with his brothers in the management of the home ranch. From his early manhood he has been active as a Democrat in local political affairs, and in 1902 was elected county auditor of Tulare county. He was re-elected to that office in 1906 and in 1910 was elected county assessor. The work of the county assessor is of such a character that his duties are not to be compared with those of any other officer. His success depends largely upon the accuracy of his judgment; he comes in direct contact with all classes of people and in designating property valuations he must treat all with impartial fairness. That such is the spirit of Mr. Blair’s official conduct is well known to all, and he is personally acquainted with nearly every old citizen of the county and no man or official is held in higher esteem. Socially he affiliates with the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
SOURCE: History of Tulare and Kings Counties, California with Biographical Sketches - Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company, 1913 Pp 418, 419
Transcribed by: Craig A Hahn