Ventura County
Biographies
J. S. Harkey
J. S. Harkey. - Among the well know pioneers of California we find the name of J. S. Harkey. He was born in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, October 27, 1829. He was the son of Isaac Harkey, a resident of North Carolina for many years and afterward of Arkansas, from 1839 to 1872, when his death occurred in that State. His mother, Cottin P. M. (Shinn) Harkey, was born and reared in North Carolina. The progenitors and the family on both sides were German, but long residents of America. The subject of this sketch was the fourth of a family of fifteen children, and was reared and educated in Arkansas. When he became of age he rented land from his father and engaged in farming for a time. He afterward went to school and studied law. A siege of typhoid fever at this time resulted in his abandoning the idea of engaging in the legal profession. After two or three years' farming, he became a clerk in Norristown, on the Arkansas River, and eighteen months later bought out his brother's partner and engaged in business. Having met with losses in various ways, in 1858 he closed out his interests there, and, with his wife and son Thomas, then two years old, came to California. He left $1,500 due him, from which he never realized a cent. He arrived in San Francisco December 15, 1858, and the same evening left for Russian River, Sonoma County. He there lived on a rented farm eleven years, and was not out of the county during that time. In 1869 he located in what was then Santa Barbara County, now Ventura, and bought a squatter's claim in Pleasant Valley, supposing it to be Government land. When he arrived here he had, all told, property and money, about $1,500. He bought the grant to get title to his land and gained his suit, but afterward lost everything. In 1872 his wife was taken sick with typhoid fever and died February 26, that year, and he was left with a family of helpless children, without means. He manfully overcame his troubles, and cared for his family without remarrying. In the fall of 1873 he was elected Justice of the Peace of Hueneme Township, serving two years. In the fall of 1875 he was elected County Assessor, and served four years. He is a Democrat, but was nominated by both parties. In the spring of 1877 he bought twenty acres of land where he now resides, at a cost of $70 per acre. He has planted fruit trees of different kinds on his place, but his principal crop is corn and beans. The land produces from 1,800 to 2,400 pounds ob beans to the acre, and they bring $2 and more per 100 pounds. Mr. Harkey has raised 4,600 pounds of shelled corn to the acre. He is farming adjoining lands.
Mrs. Harkey's maiden name was Mary Ann Petray. She was a native of Arkansas. They were married in Arkansas and had a family of six children, three sons and three daughters, viz.: Thomas N., George W., William D., Ida May, Fanny and Laura Ann.
Mr. Harkey is a man of his word, a strictly temperate man; and has been a Master Mason for thirty-seven years.
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES OF SANTA BARBARA, SAN LUIS OBISPO, AND VENTURA, CALIF. by Ida Addis Storke, 1891, p 511 Transcribed by Sandy Neder
O. F. Hawley
O. F. Hawley is a California pioneer. He was born in Canada, December 28, 1830, the son of Charles Hawley and Cynthia (Laboree) Hawley, both natives of Canada. His grandfather, Amos Hawley, was a native of New Hampshire, and his grandfather on the maternal side, Rufus Laboree, was a native of Connecticut, and the ancestors of both families had long been residents of America. He was the fourth of a family of thirteen children, and the first twenty years of his life were spent in Canada. In 1852 he came to California, and worked in the mines in Mariposa County, with ordinary success. After being there a year he went to San Francisco, and February 16, 1853, sailed in the Monumental City for Australia, where he arrived after a voyage of eighty days. He went directly to the mines, where he worked for a year and a half, having fine success. He washed as high as $200 in gold in a single day, with an old-fashioned rocker. Upon his return to California he went to the mines in Nevada County, and worked at river mining in the South Yuba, with indifferent returns. In 1862 he went across the country to Idaho and prospected where the city of Auburn is now located. The next year he went to Boise Basin, being more successful and remaining there two years and a half. He was one of a company of five who worked four or five claims at one time and took out as high as $10,000 in a single week. Mr. Hawley took out $4,900 in one week, with five hired men, each receiving $6 per day. They employed four men to work at night, to save the water and also the gold. The water cost 50 cents per inch for twelve hours' use. When he left the gravel mining he sold his claim, and, with his brothers, went to Nevada and prospected in quartz-mining. They had hard luck and met with heavy losses. After this Mr. Hawley bought a ranch in Placer County, where he farmed four years. Then his wife died, and he sold his farm and went back to the mines in Nevada County, where he obtained a situation as a water agent and remained there ten years. At the expiration of that time he came to Southern California and at Carpenteria rented land for five or six years, which he devoted to the production of Lima beans. When he came to his present location he purchased eighty acres of choice land, a part of which he has since sold, retaining forty-three acres. This contains a nursery of walnut trees and a variety of fruit trees.
Mr. Hawley was married, in 1865, to Miss Matty Wheelock, a native of New York. They had two children: Ida B., born at Columbia Hill, Nevada County, is now the wife of John Dickerson, and lives near her father; Frank A., born in Placer County, resides with his father. After five years of married life, Mrs. Hawley died December 18, 1870. Mr. Hawley afterward married Miss Anna Carrol, a native of New York. They have had two children, born in Nevada County, Clarence and Lee, aged eight and twelve respectively. Mr. Hawley is a Royal Arch Mason, and has been a life-long Democrat.
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES OF SANTA BARBARA, SAN LUIS OBISPO, AND VENTURA, CALIF. by Ida Addis Storke, 1891, p 561 Transcribed by Sandy Neder