Ventura County
Biographies
Joseph Hobart
Joseph Hobart is a pioneer of the State of California and one of the most prominent horticulturists of the Upper Ojai Valley. His life history would make a book of most interesting reading, but in the short space allowed in a work of this character only a brief outline can be given. He comes of hardy New England ancestry; and in the early pioneer days of California, only the men of strong will power braved the dangers of the long journey to the far West and, once there, stayed and helped to make the country what it is to-day; and it is to their indomitable qualities that California owes the proud position she now occupies among the sisterhood of States.
Mr. Hobart is a native of Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. His father, Benjamin Hobart, was a native of the same town, was a graduate of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, later became a manufacturer and made the first tacks ever made in the United States. He was a member of the Congregational Church. His death occurred in 1875. Mr. Hobart's grandfather, Colonel Aaron Hobart, was born in the same town, and was a foundryman. He cast cannon to be used in the Revolutionary war. The original ancestor of the family in America landed at Hingham, Massachusetts in 1632, and was one of the first pastors of the Hingham Church. Mr. Hobart's mother, nee Deborah Lazell, was a descendant of the Huguenots, and was the mother of twelve children, five daughters and two sons still living. Mr. Hobart received his education at the Phillips (Exeter, New Hampshire,) Academy and at the Leicester Academy, Massachusetts. Being feeble in health and afflicted with asthma, he was advised to go to sea, and his second voyage brought him to San Francisco, in 1849. He returned to that city in 1856, and, in company with his brother, engaged in the wholesale boot and shoe business, which proved a success and which they conducted until 1864. He then sold his interest and went to New York and Boston, and in 1871, health again failing, returned to San Francisco. Being troubled with asthma, he then came to Southern California, first to Santa Barbara and then to Upper Ojai Valley. Being delighted with the country, and finding it conducive to health, he purchased 441 acres of land on which he built and planted and on which he has since resided. The altitude of this land is 1,100 feet above sea level, and it is located four miles east of the village of Nordhoff. With him everything was experimental, and those who have not experienced the disappointments and failures know nothing of the difficulties under which the early settlers labored; but intelligent industry has gained the victory, and Mr. Hobart now has one of the finest fruit ranches in this beautiful valley. During his eighteen years' residence in the Ojai Valley he has never had an attack of asthma. He has 1,500 large bearing apricot trees, loaded with fruit; 1,000 French prunes in the same fine condition; 1,000 almond trees also bearing abundantly, and a large orchard devoted to a general variety of delicious fruits. He keeps his ranch in a most excellent condition, has his own fruit-dryer, and has a nuthuller of his own invention that makes hulling of the nuts quite easy. To give an idea of the productiveness of the land we state that, in 1888, from 285 almond trees, Mr. Hobart sold $784 worth of nuts, and the prospect is still better this year. Mr. Hobart has also given some attention to the raising of fine horses and cattle, principally for his own use.
The subject of this sketch was married in 1860, to Miss Elizabeth Hutchinson, a native of Philadelphia, a Quaker, and a lady of Scotch-English descent. This union has been blessed with two daughters, Margaret and Gertrude. Their cozy California home, embowered with trees and vines, at once denotes the intelligence and refinement of its inmates. Mr. Hobart is a gentleman pleasant in his manner and pronounced in his ideas on all subjects. He takes an active interest in educational matters, and is School trustee of his district. He is a decided Republican, and a man of influence in the county.
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES OF SANTA BARBARA, SAN LUIS OBISPO, AND VENTURA, CALIF. by Ida Addis Storke, 1891, p 290 Transcribed by Sandy Neder
G. W. F. Johnson
G. W. F. Johnson, Proprietor of the Petrolia Hotel, Santa Paula, California, was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, April 22, 1853. His father, George W. Johnson, was born and reared in Indianapolis. While attending school, he spent three years of his life in the family of Henry Ward Beecher. For a long time he was employed on the Daily Sentinel, now a leading paper of Indianapolis. Mr. Johnson's grandfather, Collin P. Johnson, was a pioneer of Indianapolis. He was a native of Winchester, West Virginia. Mr. Johnson's mother, nee Mary E. Kittlemen, was born in Indianapolis, and her father, James Kittlemen, was a pioneer there. Her grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and lived to be 104 years old.
The subject of this sketch was the oldest of a family of three children. He received his early education in Iowa, Kentucky and Oregon, completing his studies at Plymouth College, Oregon. The first work he did was to help Mr. Ben Hodely construct a telegraph line. After that he was engaged for ten years in the hotel business. In 1883 he purchased the Calistoga Hot Springs, together with 148 acres of land known as the old Sam Brannan property, and conducted it a year a half, after which he sold it to Governor Stanford, who now owns it. In Sonoma County, he bought 500 acres of land and for two years carried on general farming and stock-raising. On account of his wife's failing health, her physician ordered them South, and they traveled for nearly two years, seeking health for Mrs. Johnson, but without success; and finally located at Phoenix, Arizona, on a farm of 640 acres. There Mr. Johnson established the Calistoga breeding farm, importing and breeding fine stock of all kinds. After conducting this two years, he sold out and engaged in business in Phoenix, forming the firm of Hiller & Johnson, dealers in investments, bonds, warrants, etc. While in that business they purchased 150 acres of land, joining the city of Phoenix, which city is now the capital of Arizona, and laid out the Hiller and Johnson addition. During the last year he spent in Phoenix, Mr. Johnson conducted the Lemon Hotel - then the leading hotel of the Territory.
March 1, 1888, Mr. Johnson sold his interest to his partner, Mr. E. Hiller (now the cashier and manager of the Hartford Banking Company of Phoenix), and came to Santa Paula. He purchased the lease of the old Union Hotel, and conducted the house successfully for ten months, when it caught fire and burned down. Three months later he bought the ground and commenced the erection of the Petrolia Hotel, which he completed and furnished in a very satisfactory manner. It is 50 x 110 feet, with two stories and a half and a basement, containing forty rooms, and having a central location on Main street. The house is lit with gas, does a good business, and is well managed. It is the regular eating-house for passengers on South Pacific trains, and it is the leading hotel of the place.
Mr. Johnson was united in marriage to Miss Sarah M. Booth, a daughter of Mr. James R. Booth. She was born in Oregon in 1857. Their union was blessed with two sons and one daughter, namely: Chester, born in Napa County, September 1, 1877; Carl, in the same place, February 2, 1879; and Pearl E., in Adin, Modoc County. Notwithstanding the efforts put forth to save the life of Mrs. Johnson, she died, of consumption, in 1884. In August, 1885, Mr. Johnson married Miss Mary F. Fornia, a native of Nebraska City, born in 1869. She is the daughter of Mr. Milton Fornia, a merchant of Leadville, Colorado. They have two interesting children: George N., born in Phoenix, May 30, 1887, and Eleanora Cecelia, born September 13, 1889, in Santa Paula.
For the last five years Mr. Johnson has been a contractor for the Government posts in Southern California and Arizona. While in Arizona, Governor F. A. Tritle appointed him Secretary of the Territorial Fair Association, at a salary of $1,200 per year. He was a stockholder in the Valley Bank, and in the Hartford Bank. Mr. Johnson has obtained every degree in the I. O. O. F., and has passed all its chairs. He is a K. of P., and a member of the military order of the Loyal League of the United States. In politics he is a Republican, but is not radical. He is a prominent business man and a very obliging hotel-keeper.
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES OF SANTA BARBARA, SAN LUIS OBISPO, AND VENTURA, CALIF. by Ida Addis Storke, 1891, p 638 Transcribed by Sandy Neder