Imperial County
Biographies
HON. BEN HULSE
With broad
experience in public affairs, the Hon. Ben Hulse, of Imperial, is making a
creditable record as a member of the state senate, and he has also accomplished
much as a business man. Born in Washington County, Arkansas, September 24, 1894, he is a son of John and
Drusilla (Delano) Hulse, the former also a
native of that state, while the latter was born in Indiana.
The father, a prosperous farmer, served as United States marshal and has long
been one of the influential men of his district. There were eight children in the family and
seven are living.
Reared on
the home place, Hon. Ben Hulse early became familiar with the duties and labors
that fall to the lot of the farm-bred boy and while living in his native state
acquired a high school education, which was supplemented by a course in a
business college at Los Angeles,
California. After working in a machine shop at Stockton, California, for
two years he came to Imperial
County and began handling
tractors, having the first enterprise of the kind in the county. His mercantile activities were centered in
Calexico, Imperial
County, from 1910 to
1920, during which period he laid the foundation of his present success. He deals extensively in automobiles, tractors,
and farm implements, with large plants at Yuma, Arizona, where he operates under the name of Hulse &
Dick, and at El Centro, California, sells Ford cars and caterpillar
tractors under the firm style of Hulse & Anderson. His well defined plans and capable management
have enabled him to create a highly efficient mercantile organization and he is
classed with the foremost men in his line in Southern
California. He has
materially stimulated the progress of agriculture in Imperial
County and in Mexico has done notable work in
that connection, developing one hundred and twenty-five thousand acres of farm
land.
In 1919, Mr.
Hulse was married to Miss Bessie Phenia, of Kentucky, and they reside in a desirable
home in Imperial. Mrs. Hulse worships in
the Christian Church and is active in its behalf, also participating in the
social life of her community. Mr. Hulse
belongs to the Calexico Lodge of Elks, and his Masonic affiliations are with
Imperial Lodge, No. 390, F. & A. M.; Chapter, R. A. M.; San Diego Council,
R. & S. M.; San Diego Consistory, A. A. S. R.; and Al Bahr Temple, A. A. O.
N. M. S., at San Diego. A civic work, he has served on the school
board and is active in the affairs of the Calexico Chamber of Commerce. Selected as a supervisor of Imperial County,
he was twice made chairman of the board, and is now a member of the state
senate, to which he was elected on the Republican ticket in November,
1932. He represents the Thirty-ninth
district and has served on the taxation and other important committees. He has a strong sense of duty and honor and
is efficient public servant, while as a business man he stands equally high.
Transcribed
By: Michele Y. Larsen on August 19, 2012.
Source: California
of the South Vol. V,
by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 243-244,
Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles,
Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 Michele
Y. Larsen.
Golden Nugget Library's Imperial County Biographies
California Statewide
Golden Nugget Library