Ventura County
Biographies
John Cawelti
John Cawelti is the son of German parents, and was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, January 3, 1829. He received his early education in his native country, and at the age of nineteen years, in 1848, came to America. His first work in this country was in a brick yard in New York, where he was employed for three months. He then went to Milwaukee and learned the butcher business, working for $5 per month. He was taken sick there, and from that place went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was engaged in butchering from 1849 to 1845. In the latter year he went to Iowa, purchased 160 acres of land and engaged in farming, continuing to reside there for three years and a half. In 1864 he came to California, rented lands in Sonoma County and farmed there until 1863, then he came to Santa Barbara County (now Ventura County). Like many others, he thought he was on Government land and for a time he fought title, but when he found he could not hold the land, he rented the property, and in 1875 made about $5,000 on about 1,000 acres of rented land, raising wheat, barley and hogs. In 1877 there came a dry season and he lost nearly all he had before made. The property on which Mr. Cawelti is now located was owned by the Catholic church. They sold to the ex-mission, and when the land was put on the market he bought 1,000 acres, at $16.25 per acre; or $16,250 for the property, paying one-third down, and going in debt $11,000. Since purchasing he has made many improvements on the place, has cleared part of the land, built two barns, at a cost of $1,000, and a nice dwelling, at a cost of $3,000; also two other smaller houses, and has built nine miles of fence. He has bought 640 acres of hill land for pasture, at a cost of $2,000; and now owns 150 head of cattle and eighty head of horses, and is out of debt, having paid up in six years. His horses are part Belgium stock, and he is now introducing Seavern blood into the cattle.
Mr. Cawelti was married, in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1852, to Mrs. Sipp, widow of Mr. Jud Sipp, by whom she had one child, Frederica Louisa. Mrs. Cawelti was born in Bavaria, Germany, and when a little child was brought to America by her parents. Their union has been blessed with nine children, three born in Ohio, four in Iowa, and two in California, viz.: David, John Henry, Catharine, Jacob, John George, Mary E., Dora and Andrew E., all living near him except David, who is in San Bernardino County.
The subject of this sketch is one of the many illustrations how the hardy and industrious sons of Germany succeed when they come to this country. By his own intelligent industry and judicious management, he has risen from a day laborer in a brick-yard to one of the reliable and wealthy citizens of Ventura County, California. Mr. Cawelti was reared a Presbyterian and still holds to that creed. Politically, he is a Democrat; has been elected to the office of school trustee, but is not, in any sense, a politician or office-seeker. he is a quiet and unobtrusive man, and deserved the success which has attended his labors. Long may he live to enjoy the home so nobly and honestly earned!
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES OF SANTA BARBARA, SAN LUIS OBISPO, AND VENTURA, CALIF. by Ida Addis Storke, 1891, p 594 Transcribed by Sandy Neder
Paul Charlebois
Paul Charlebois, one of the leading business men of San Buenaventura, was born near Montreal, Canada. His father, of the same name, was also born in Canada. His grandparents were brought when children by their parents from France, who settled as pioneers in the dense woods of the Dominion. Mr. Charlebois, one of five children - three sons and two daughters - was educated in the French language in the public schools of Canada and in the English language by himself. When twelve years of age he went to Ogdensburg, New York, entering a store as package boy, and remained there seven years in the employ of the house. In 1868 he took a trip to St. Louis, Missouri, and remained there a year and a half; then he was at his native place until 1870, when he came to California, settling in Napa Valley. Next he went to San Francisco, where he was a clerk for a year in a dry-goods house. In the autumn of 1871 he came to San Buenaventura and clerked for the firm of Einstein & Bernham for fourteen years. For them he had charge of their hardware and grocery department, and they had an extensive trade. In 1885 he took charge of the business of Leach & Hunt in San Buenaventura for nine months, and he then bought them out and has since remained in business, dealing in hardware, tinware, stoves and farm implements, on the corner of Main and California streets, in the business center; of course he enjoys an enviable trade. In 1886 he was elected a trustee of the city, and by the trustees elected chairman of the board, a position equivalent to that of mayor in a city. He was re-elected to the same position in 1888. In the fall of 1889 he was elected County Treasurer on the Democratic ticket, being only one of the two Democrats elected that season; he ran ahead of his ticket about 300 votes. He has passed all the chairs in the I. O. O. F., and has been District Deputy for the order four years. Religiously, he was brought up a Catholic; his wife and children are Presbyterians. The life of Mr. Charlebois strikingly illustrates the rise of a chore boy to a position of affluence and honor, and it seems that he has many years yet to live to enjoy the fruits of early industry, enterprise and good judgment.
He was united in marriage in 1874 with Miss Agnes Ayres, a daughter of Robert Ayres, who is a pioneer of Ventura County. She is a native of the State of Illinois, and was only one year old when she was brought across the plains to California in 1858, and was brought up in Petaluma, Sonoma County; and she came with her parents to Ventura County in 1869. Mr. and Mrs. Charlebois have an interesting family of girls, all natives of San Buenaventura, namely: Blanche, Celima, Emma, and Florence.
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES OF SANTA BARBARA, SAN LUIS OBISPO, AND VENTURA, CALIF. by Ida Addis Storke, 1891, p 647 Transcribed by Sandy Neder