Charles A. Partridge & Family
Contributor: Pam Vaughan
Charles Adell Partridge
B:
Families were large in the days when Charles was born. His father Philip was from a family of 12 children, so we can presume Philip decided to go west to find new land. His brother James had preceded him to Porterville, California in Tulare County some years before. Philip packed up his family, put them on the train, and off they went in about 1888 when Charles was 12. There had been an older brother, Frederick William, who died in infancy which left Charles the oldest. There was also a half sister, just a few years older than Frederick, Frances, whose mother, also Frances, had died just after childbirth of childbed fever. Phillip remarried Rhoda McKibben just ten months after the elder Frances’ death. It is still a mystery who raised the young Frances. She is not in the formal portrait of the five Partridge children who were born in Minnesota just before they took the train to California. Perhaps she was raised by one of her aunties. We know that later, she married Charles E. Johnson in 1895 (Alexandria Post). They ended up in Rutland, Sargent Co., ND. It is clear that she didn’t come to California with the Partridges and none of the Owens Valley Partridges knew what happened to her. In fact, they were surprised of her existence. We have since located a photograph with Charles and his sister as adults.
Whether the Philip Partridge family went to Porterville initially remains a mystery, but they eventually ended up in the Owens Valley just south of Bishop where they homesteaded some parcels and bought other adjoining pieces from the BLM. (Inyo County, www.BLM.com) Where this is now located is as follows: while driving south on 395 out of Bishop, you pass the Keoughs Hot Springs on the right. After that, there are two groves of cottonwood trees. It was in one of these groves that the early Partridges set up their homestead, probably in the second and largest grove. Charles worked on several ranches in particular A.W. Rawson’s ranch called the Longyear Ranch (located just north of the present Partridge/now Yribarren Ranch on the north side of Collins Road.) An old Inyo Register account of Charles also noted that he was the manager of the Butler Ranch.
THE RANCH
What was to become the Charles
Partridge Ranch in the Aurora Land District was owned by several previous
owners.
After Charles and Lena purchased the ranch from her parents, Charles set out to be a successful independent man of the land; like many farmers and ranchers, they had a diversified income through a variety of stock, crops, and eventually other means. There were, for example, usually around forty or fifty turkeys and the processing was an all day family affair. Around
December 19th or 20th, the family would spend the day pithing, plucking, cleaning, and then loading them into barrels for shipment to the Los Angeles market. (Charles’ diaries, Helen Partridge Milligan)
They also kept many swine. They had a smokehouse where Charles would make ham and bacon. Dorothy can still remember the big tub where they would put the dead hog into hot water in order to scrape off the bristles; Helen added that they kept a fire stoked under it to keep the water boiling. Sometimes they would sell the little piggies to local kids for projects. They often had as many as 200 heads of hogs. Most of these live beasts were shipped to market, however. Helen remembers calling the hogs from the willow patch; they never would come until she and her brothers or sisters would somehow make them mad, and then the hogs would chase them all the way back to the barn. The ranch pigs were never like “Babe.”
There were always rabbits and chickens that were for family meat and egg use. Grandma would sell the eggs to people in town, and when I was visiting we would often make egg delivery stops. They usually had a couple of jersey milk cows, too. There were always pans of milk sitting around the kitchen in various stages of souring. Lena would use the soured and boiled milk for her corn and curds mix for the chickens.
Cattle, however, were the mainstay for Charles and Lena. They usually kept around 180-200 head, and they were always purebred Herefords. Charles was careful about where he bought his bulls as this entry from his diary will show:
Sometimes he would buy his bulls from George Watterson, the uncle of Mark and Wilfred who would later lose the bank during the water war and their freedom to San Quentin.
They practiced “transhumance.” This is where you send your stock to better seasonal pastures. In 1930 for example, Charles and Lena sent 180 head of cattle to Coyote Valley for which they paid about $120/month to keep cattle during the summer months. Coyote is a beautiful lush place in the summer with streams and several small lakes high up in the Sierra. The cattle drives were famous in the family, and I always wanted to go in the worst way! The cowboys would all arrive at the ranch at 2 A.M. and Grandma would get the food ready for them. They would then drive the cattle up the mountain, have a big party, and come back the next day. They always consoled me telling me I’d have to eat dust and it wasn’t as fun as it was cracked up to be. Then in September, the cattle were driven down, and it was always a worry if they would all come back. If they didn’t, they would have to send a couple of people back up to find the strays. One year in Grandpa’s diary about twenty head were left in the mountains or strayed off the trail on the way home.
Besides livestock, the family raised many crops including Peruvian alfalfa, sweet clover, red top (clover?), hairy Peruvian hay, timothy (a type of European hay,) wheat, corn, barley, and black barley. They also had plenty of potatoes and vegetables which Lena tended. There was a big canvas covered and lined hole in the ground where the root crops were stored so the family could have vegetables in the winter. Lena did a lot of canning and kept these products near the house in the cellar which stayed cool all year round. There was also a large orchard with a variety of fruit and a two acre vineyard on the north side of Collins Road across Hwy. 395 near Wilkerson. In one of Charles’ early diaries, he talks about 91 baby apple trees arriving, and then he and his brother, Harold, planting them. Helen remembers having to sit and guard the vineyard full time when it got near harvest to make sure no strangers picked the grapes. She enjoyed hiding out and scaring people.
Charles also found joy in his beehives and there were over a hundred of them. The family even had a honey house which burned when the house burned down (some of Charles’s important papers, etc. were also stored here and burned.) In 1927 he sent the Diamond Match Co. $28.10 for 2000 honey sections. In the 1926 diary, he sold his honey for $167.
Until his sons, Kid and Jack, got old enough to work on the ranch, Granddad usually hired someone to work for him. In his early diaries, 1911-1915, Pat worked for him. Daughter Helen said this was a Native American man and perhaps his last name was McGee. After that, his brother, Harold, worked the ranch with him. At haying time, he also hired other workers for about $4.00 per day each. He frequently mentions his other brothers in his diaries: Wallace, Frank, and George and their comings and goings.
He rented out pasture to many folks. In 1914, he would receive $.50 per month per horse. This would probably be the same for others’ cattle.
The old barn was always an interesting place to be. It contained stalls and the tack room, and we kids loved to play there. I remember pieces of old wanted posters still on the wall of the tack room. In the old days, this building functioned as the stagecoach stop. Local modern school classes would visit to see this historical relic, but unfortunately it burned in the 1990s. The only parts of the old ranch which still exist are the silo and the large old garage.
Just an aside on the price of things in Grandpa’s diaries: In 1930 for 2 Pendleton shirts he paid $13. His Buick got 16 miles to the gallon on their long trip to the Mid West in 1929. Gasoline ranged from $.13 - $.16 per gallon.
Often in the summer on Sunday afternoons after everyone’s chores seemed to be done, the family would head for Keoughs. His diaries refer to it as the “swimming pool.” His diaries also mention the movies that he attended as well.
OTHER FINANCIAL INTERESTS
Income from other sources was varied. He appraised herds of livestock for the banks. In order to do this, he traveled all over Inyo and Mono County and occasionally into Nevada. Helen would sometimes accompany him on his travels. He received $5 for this service in his early diaries, $7 in his later ones.
His other salaries were for county supervisor: $75 per month in his early diaries, $100 in his later entries. He also was on the Board of Bank Directors for which he received $5 per month.
He invested wisely. He accumulated many stocks such as Bancitaly (which would become Bank of America), Transamerica Insurance, Republic of Peru bonds, Bulgarian bonds, Caribbean sugar futures. He also bought federal and municipal bonds such as road bonds to help the the city of Los Angeles. He also invested for his mother (example, Verdugo Avenue bonds in Los Angeles County) and brothers. His children now say that even though he didn’t have much of a formal education, he was a very intelligent man and was self taught in these financial matters.
Charles also loaned people money. His beginning of the month diary entries list what loans he’s made, the interest involved, and the delivery of his statements to the recipients. The tough part of this was when he would have to foreclose. He had to foreclose on a farm near Merced at Atwater but let the former owners stay on as renters. The worst foreclosure by far was the Hans Loft property at the top of Sherwin Grade in 1938. In Charles’ diaries, Hans seemed to eek out a living on this 163 acres, growing potatoes and he sometimes would give potatoes to the Partridges. Loft also owned the original Tom’s Place. The 163 acres had gone into foreclosure when Charles died so Lena had to take Mr. Loft along with the Bergens (unsure who they are) to court. When Jack, Charles’ son, moved to the property, Hans had trashed it. Jack’s sister, Helen, stayed with him in order to have a couple of people there and said Hans was a scary guy with his wild eyes and hook in place of a hand. This was during the Depression, not a good time for people.
OWENS VALLEY WATER WAR
From Charlie’s diaries, we can probably figure out that he was not one of the radicals in this conflict. He was part of several Ditch Committees and they pooled their resources into the “Ditch Pool” where Charles represented the Owens River. Together, they hired a lawyer, Mr. Boone. Perhaps Grandpa could see that it was inevitable that Los Angeles would win no matter what, even though he was county supervisor at that time. A. A. Brierly said, “Fred Eaton ... wanted the City to pay him for the 150-foot Long Valley Dam. The City [refused] and commenced buying land. So the heads of the Associated Ditches, William Symons, George Watterson, George Warren, and I think Charles Partridge, good, respectable, honest farmers, went for it.” In Charles’ diaries he seemed to mainly want a fair settlement for the local ranchers and farmers.
In “The Untold Story; The Owens Valley Controversy and A. A. Brierly”, Brierly stated it was the new Irrigation District organization that was formed that radically fought the city, being the ones who blew up the aqueduct. There were 70 of those folks who headed out of Bishop with their car headlights turned off one night and captured the aqueduct for about a week. Charles didn’t seem to be one of them although his heart was with them. He did attend one of their barbeques as you will see later in his diary excerpt and donated $5.00 to their cause. According to Brierly, “those were red hot times. Lots of people packed a gun” (Pierce) It’s uncertain whether Charles did or not. Helen never saw this, but said it was possible he may have had one under the seat of his car. However, when Charles went upstairs in the Bank Building to talk to the city officials, Cy Williams (owner of the grocery store), H.V. Wotton (owner of the hardware store) and several other men stayed down below with sawed-off shotguns and told Charlie that if he didn’t come down, they were going up. During this time period, his son, Charles Jr. (Kid) was deputized to protect his father. Helen remembers her father telling his wife and children to get under the bed one night because a truck had broken down out in front of the house. In general, everyone in the valley was edgy, and when one contemplates the goings-on during this era, it’s a miracle no one was killed.
Here are excerpts about the water war and foot and mouth disease from Charles’ diaries extracted from several years. These diary entries are not edited for spelling or grammar. The parts in italics or brackets are my comments. The diary entries were longer than this, but I’ve just included the pertinent parts.
The earliest there seemed to be water problems for Charles was in 1919.
1919
Unsure of day- “Went to town to meet L.A. men Van Norman, Shuey, and Eaton.”
July 19- “Went to town in P.M. Made demand on Power Co. for 1000 inches water to help in keeping crops alive.”
1924
This was quite a year because foot and mouth disease was fought by Supervisor Partridge the first half of the year, and then he fought the city of L.A. in the second half.
Mar 28- “I and Johnson went to Independence to special Supervisors meeting to put quarantine on all stock on a/c of foot and mouth disease.
Mar 29- In town most of all day on road work also explaining quarantine.
April 9-Sent telegram to Governor regarding foot and mouth epidemic- asking him not to grant permits to stock into this co.
April 10- No new out breaks of foot and mouth disease reported.
April 16- Went to Little Lake to see about getting fumigating of passengers and autos under way. Using permanganate of potash, formaldehyde on passengers and formald. and chloride of lime on cars.
April 17 & 18- Still at Little Lake fumigating train for first time. About 35 cars per day.
April 26- Met someone from Dept. of Agri. Fumigating fruits and vegetables coming into county.”
May 2- He went to L.A. to meet with disease experts.
Monday Mar 17- “Watermen in furore over visit of San Fernando Chamber of Commerce mens visit and proposal to buy water.
June 8- Went to Long Valley and L.A. dam site and Hot Creek then on to Mammoth with Mr. Nickerson and Austin and 2 other of committee from L.A. Chamber of Commerce. Home people Gus Cashbaugh, Tom Summers, Glasscock [newpaper], Wilder, Ayres, M. Watterson, McCarthy, Harold Eaton, Karl Keough. L.A committee C.S. Whitcomb, J.S. Nickerson, Dyer B., Holmes, J.C. Austin, M. Elsasser.
June 9- Went to meeting to consider getting attorney to represent us in injunction suit with city.
June 10- I went to meeting of Canals to arrange for hiring Boone to defend our injunction suit brought by city of L.A.
June 11- Went to Independence to make return on Writ of Certiorari brought by Symons against Owens Valley Irrigation District.”
[Webster’s Dictionary defines Certiorari as: “To be informed; a writ of a superior court to call up the records of an inferior court or a body acting in a quasi-judicial capacity.”]
On June 12 he met with Boone about the injunction.
June 16- “Went to Independence to Certiorari hearing. White, Smith, W.W. Yandell, and Thos. Thompson going along.”
On June 17 he met with Boone again.
June 24- “Went to Chamber of Commerce meeting in evening on L.A. boycott.
July 14- Went to Keeler in evening with Hession and [Sheriff] Collins went on Watterson foreclosure bond.
Aug 27- “L.C. Hall brutally assaulted.” L.C. Hall was a lawyer fighting the City of Los Angeles. He was asked to leave town after being taken out in the desert and threatened to be killed. According to Brierly, he complied.
Sept. 5- “Went to town to meet water board of L.A. consisting of R. Del Valle, W.P. Whitsett, Dykstra, Dr. Haynes, J.B. Baker, W.B. Matthews, Mulholland, Van Norman, and others.
Nov. 16- Mob from Bishop turned water out of aqueduct at Alabama Hills.
Nov. 18- Business houses closed as all clerks and owners down to aqueduct picnic.
Nov.20- All men on road as before til noon [referring to one of his roads projects] then we went to aqeduct camp on the hill to barbeque....Mrs. Montgomery and Mrs. McNeil went to camp with myself and Mr. McNeil and Montgomery. Went to town in evening. Put in collection at gate- $5.00.” [The collection at gate refers to the aqueduct; it was extracted from his list of expenses that day.]
1925
Jan 17- “In L.A. and went to meet water board in P.M. Took W.W. Watterson and Jake Clausen along with us. Also Geo. Clark, Fred Walker, and Brad Collett.
Feb 7- Signed pool to sell ranch property to L.A. for $162,750.
July 13- Stacking hay all day. Went to water (pool) meeting in evening. City offers 60% of pool price.
July 15- Another pool meeting.”
During this year there seemed to be many water meetings and not all of them listed in this transcript. The entries are much like July 15.
July 22- “Went to water meeting (pool) in evening. Nothing done. West Bishop and Round Valley selling out.
Oct. 30- Naylor Jones, and Clark at ranch looking over to appraise for L.A.
Dec. 4- Rec’d. appraisal from city of L.A.. $104,200.00
Dec. 8- Came home in evening and went to water meeting at Sunland Schoolhouse. $2.50 [sic] On committee to see about getting appraisement Com.- to meet with owners as prices are not agreeable.
Dec. 11- Wrote to Story- Wheeler. George and Azarian regarding appraisment and sent list of officers and stockholders of Mesa Canal to Water Dept. of L.A. City.”
1926
Jan. 16- “Greased auto in A.M.
Went to town to sign contract for sale of ranch to receive $4000.00 Mar and
balance on or before
1927
On June 25, he received his check for $100,000 plus interest of $2650 from the City of Los Angeles.
1930
Sept 30- “Went to Independence with Brockman and got numbers of Rhoda Partridge’s lots to submit to city for prices
Oct. 30- Sent in favorable reply to city regarding mother’s prices
564-B-411 house etc. $3608
436-B-313-14-15 742
589-B-3 lots-9-10-11 616
$4966”
OTHER DISEASES
Besides Foot and Mouth Disease,
Charles worried about other animal ailments. Helen remembers when the
newborn calves were born in the middle of winter, sometimes their little tails
would freeze. On
the grass got so short that the cattle would eat some of the dirt. Burning carcasses was a frequent happening on the ranch. There were several entries in his diaries about burning these corpses with a wagon load of manure. There were also frequent worries about “black leg.” Black leg is in the clostridial family of bacterial infections which can cause edema and also tetanus in cattle. It usually affects calves, especially bull calves.
The ranchers had many animal disease
worries, but there were human diseases to worry about, too. On
CHARLES’ LIFE AS A SUPERVISOR
He was Inyo County Supervisor from 1920-1937. You can see his name on the bronze plaque next to the front door of the Inyo County Court House in Independence. He was one of the Supervisors when the new court house was dedicated in 1921. In his diaries, he never seemed to campaign too much, but when he did drive around to meet his constituents to drum up votes, Lena often accompanied him. In his diary of 1928 he states he was re-elected by a “slim margin” of 38 votes, but then Inyo County had a small population. In his diaries, he also spent election days supervising elections to make sure they were honest.
Charles wasn’t like the county supervisors of today who simply vote on ordinances and show up at events. Charles was elected in the days when they really did supervise the spending of tax payers’ money. He seemed to spend much of his time overseeing the building of roads such as Sunland Drive. On an almost daily basis in his diaries, he ventured out to check on the upkeep or progress of this road or that bridge or purchased explosives to take up to the mountain trail builders. Helen remembers taking the trips to the trails where the two of them would mark the future Sierra trail with rocks. Then the crews would come through and dig and blast through the route they had laid. In his 1928 diary, he complained about the airport road being so sandy. He also oversaw the building of the airport that same year and then went on to mention Wallace Beery coming in for a landing.
Occasionally he would also travel to distant parts of Inyo County to look over mines including ones in Death Valley. One time while there, he stayed at Ryan, a Borax mining camp, where the male miners put on a play for them, the men also playing the female roles. He said the play was “very good.” [Years later I would stay at Ryan for a week with a San Jose State University science class.] Charles would go with other supervisors on these adventures which they seemed to enjoy. One time he stayed at the near completed Scotty’s Castle; he knew Scotty, and Charles also had dealings with Scotty’s friend, Mr. Johnson, who would come into Bishop occasionally. Another time while checking out mines in that area he stayed with Charles Brown in Shoshone.
He also talked about the supervising
of pension and welfare cases. He was a frequent visitor to the county farm
at Big Pine. This was located where the Big Pine Care Center is
today. It was also referred to as the “poor farm” because welfare cases
lived there where they were able to grow a few vegetables, raise meat animals,
etc. He also mentions in his diaries many cases of poor folks receiving
assistance to go to Los Angeles for medical treatments, etc. He often
mentions giving the local grocery store $25 credit for this poor family or that
poor family. His obituary recalls that he did not keep his supervisor’s
salary but used it to help the poor. On
Charles was going to run for state senator and sent his daughter, Helen, to Woodbury Business College in Los Angeles so she could be his secretary in Sacramento. His daughter, Marion, also later attended. Charles Brown even came to him and told him that he was also thinking of running, but was not going to if our Charles ran. Grandpa told Brown that he was going to run after his next term was up since he was just re-elected to his 4th term as supervisor. So Brown went ahead and ran for Senator and won.
OTHER LEADERSHIP ROLES
In his earliest diaries, he mentions
his involvement in the local schools. He may not have had much of a formal
education, but he wanted to make sure the local schools functioned well.
In an entry dated
Charles Partridge also took other leadership roles in the Owens Valley besides his supervisor’s and trustee’s positions. He was the chairman of the Owens River Canal Committee and one of the directors of the Bank Board. He also took leadership roles in the various other ditch committees such as Mesa Canal Committee.
MEMBERSHIPS
Charles was involved in many fraternal organizations. In the diaries, he seemed to go nightly to this meeting or that meeting. On other nights, he enjoyed going to the movies, particular favorites being Wallace Beery, Joey Brown, and Laurel and Hardy. He was heavily involved in Knights of Pythias while Lena was in the Pythian Sisters; the Masons where he was in the rank of Scottish Rites; the Shriners (his fez was buried with him); Livestock Association; the Advisory Committee of the Alfalfa Growers Association; Woodmen of the World, a fraternal insurance organization; and Rotary. In his diaries, he seemed to travel to all the associated conventions in California (Los Angeles, Oakland, and Santa Cruz.) He and Lena also traveled in 1929 to Dallas to the national Rotary convention after which they traveled to Minnesota to visit relations including his half sister Frances and then to Canada to visit other relatives. They were gone for a month. Since it was in March, the muddy roads were a real hindrance, but he enjoyed making diary comments on the condition of farms or farming regions.
THE ACCIDENT
Helen Partridge Milligan, Charles’ daughter, remembers the accident they were both in:
“
I was unconscious until the following Wednesday about noon. Mom had two or three specialists from Los Angeles come to check Dad out and they all said there was not any chance for him to live. He died around 6 P.M. on Wednesday evening, March 17- St. Patrick’s Day. A hearse and ambulance were called from Bishop to come down and move us to Bishop where I was in bed- flat on my back for 2 1/2 months. Mom slept beside me on the couch. Sometimes I could hear her crying in the night.
The people from Bishop were named Kelso. One of their daughters married Jack Barlow later on.
We were in a Buick car-which was a new car. Dad had bought this car in November, and the wreck was in March. Totaled the car.”
Charles Partridge’s last two diary entries are as follows:
March 9- Set balance of posts on West brush pasture land strung one wire. Went to town and seen Ford regarding telegram to Mayo in regard to bill no 1202 relating to irrigation dist. disolution - a very nice day.
March 10- Finished fence on west side of brush field next to Gerkins. Went over roads in Sunland in P.M. Pd. for groceries- 2.24. Appointed as one of the appraisers of Andy Gangles (Gaugles?) Estate to look over property Friday P.M.”
March 11 is blank.
On
March 12- Chas badly injured in a auto accident 20 miles north of Mojave. Taken to the hospital there along with Helen and Helen Barlow. I came down with Arthur Barlow and stayed. He going home and taking his girl with him. Chas & Helen still there. Chas totally paralized. Car a total wreck.
March 13- Wallace, Wilford, and Enid came down also Bob Moxley and Lubkin to see Chas. The Drs. set the vertrabra in his neck. Gave him a 50-50 chance. Sent check of $1345.00 from forced sale of Pacific Coast Bond Co. Std. to Bank also my signature to be recognized. Found Helen had a fractured pelvis bone.
March 14- Wallace and Hazel brought the children to see their father. Dr. Anderson phoned about moving him to Los Angeles.
March 15- After seeing Naylor and Brown desided not to move him. Nerve specialist Dickerson came and gave me no hope. Special nurse arrived at 4 A.M. Had Hazel wire the boys. Began have trouble with gas. Paid Dickerson specialist $250.00. Gave me no hope.
March 16-Chas failing fast, eyes very bad, night very bad.
March 17- Flowers came from Rotary Club, Knights, and Masons. He could hardly see them. Wallace and Hazel arrived about 2 oclock. Gas very bad. Chas passed away about 5:30. Phoned for ambulance for him and Helen. Raining very hard. Kid & Erma arrived about 10 P.M. to late to see their father alive. Paid hospital $265.00 (Get milages allowed by sheriff by
State Board of Control. See Roussel regarding reports of auditor.)
March 18- Went to town to see about moving Helen. Dewey loaned me a bed. Seen to things nessary. Burns fixed up income tax for me. Cashed Edison check for me for $75.
March 19- blank
March 20- Emma, Bob, and Olive Watson [Gish cousin] came for funeral. Had Marion and Pep’s hair cut $1.00. Bill’s shoes $3.09. Marion shoes- 2.98, hat 1.98, hose .79 Pep’s shirt .79= 6.74. Myself hat $1.95, underwear 1.25, Pep’s socks .50= $3.80
Sunday, March 21- Chas. funeral, large crowd estimated 350 persons. Very blustery day. God give me courage to carry on as he would have me. Jack arrived at 6 A.M.
March 22- Paid Bishop hospital $5.00. Sent back night shirt to hospital.
March 25- ...Sent out about 150 cards to those who sent flowers.
March 26- Received $400 from Shriners Widows and Orphan’s Fund. Started an account in the bank in my name with it....
Sources:
The diaries of Charles Partridge
Wife of Charles Partridge: Lena
Partridge.
Children of Charles Partridge:
Helen Partridge Milligan, Dorothy Partridge Moxley, Bill Partridge, Philip
Partridge, Marion Partridge O¹Neil, Enid Partridge Ashworth, Jack Partridge,
Charles Partridge, Jr.
Pearce, Rob, The Untold
Story: The Owens Valley Controversy and A.A. Brierly, Lincoln, NE, Dageforde
Publishing, Inc., 1999.
Back to Inyo County Families Back to Inyo County GenWeb Main