Kern County
Biographies
HON. CHARLES A. BARLOW
AND
WILLIAM H. HILL
No industry
has contributed in greater degree to the wealth of Kern county
than that of oil development and probably no firm has been identified more
intimately with the advancement of the industry during the past decade than
that of Barlow & Hill, a title familiar to all who have kept in touch with
local progress. Since the organization of the firm in 1902 they have organized
many companies, all of which have been successful, and the six which they now
operate have shares of stock that are quoted as gilt-edged security with a
continuous tendency to rise in public and private markets. Besides the six
companies they are at present interested in Maricopa and Midway oil properties
and in addition have been successful in establishing a natural reputation for
Sunset road oil, which is extensively used in the states of California, Oregon,
Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Texas and Idaho and, in fact,
as far east as Kansas City. To the enterprise, knowledge and
direction of the two members of the firm. Kern County is in a great
measure indebted for its present high standing as an oil-producing industry of
this region and in the natural mineral wealth of the state. Thoroughly
optimistic in temperament, yet conservative in action, they stand for that
large element of loyal citizenship indissolubly associated with the progress of
city, county, and commonwealth.
Born in
Cleveland, Ohio, March 17, 1858, Hon. Charles Averill Barlow is a son of Hon.
Merrill and Ann Frances (Arnold) Barlow, the former a disatess,
but in the midst, of a remarkable professional career that had brought him fame
as a leading criminal lawyer of Cleveland. Surviving him were his wife and four
children; the latter named as follows: Coralinne, now
the wife of James S. Rice, a retired orange grower, living at Tustin, Orange
County, California.; Charles Averill, of Bakersfield;
Edward Sumner, who resides on the old home farm at Ventura, this state.; and
Belle Remington, now the wife of Frank Bates, of Ventura. When the family came
to California about the year 1875 they settled at Ventura-by-the-sea and C. A.,
then a youth of seventeen years, began with eagerness
to study western conditions, resources and prospects, meanwhile earning a
livelihood on farms and in various occupations in town. Possessing ideas that
were in advance of his time, he joined enthusiastically when he had a partner.
Mr. Tuley, established and conducted the Reasoner, a weekly paper that became
the Populist organ for San Luis Obispo county. As early as 1888 he
began to support the free silver cause and for years he was the leading
exponent of that movement in his part of the state. During 1893 the Populist party elected him to the state legislature where he served
not only with fidelity, but even with distinction.
With the
assistance of the votes of free silver Republicans, Mr. Barlow in 1896 was
elected by the Populist Party to the Fifty-Fifth Congress as the Representative
as the
representative from the sixth congressional district,
which at that time included the counties of Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa
Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, and Santa Cruz. In congress he
distinguished himself for his uncompromising stand in favor of reform measures.
Credited to his efforts was the passage of a bill setting aside the the Pine Mountain Forest as far as Pasadena. Other measures
for the permanent benefit of the state and the people received his steadfast
aid. When the principles of the of the Populist party
were to some extent adopted by the Democrats, he turned to the older
party organization, in which since ha has been
an active worker. During 1912 he was chosen one of four delegates-at-large from
California to the National Democratic convention at Baltimore that nominated
Woodrow Wilson for President of the United States. The American Mining
Congress, of which he is a member, selected him as committeeman to propose a
plank in the national Democratic platform of that year favorable to mining and
the oil industry.
During 1901
Mr. Barlow and his accomplished wife, who was formerly Miss Elizabeth McDonell, of Ventura County, established their home in
Bakersfield, where they erected and now occupy a beautiful residence fitted
with all modern improvements and conveniences. Since his removal to this city
Mr. Barlow has become a very prominent citizen and has served ably as president
of the Kern county Board of Trade, besides being a large stock-holder and one
of the directors in the new Security Trust Company. In business circles he
enjoys a high reputation. Fraternally he has been actively associated with the
Woodmen, Elks, and Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Since 1902 he has been a
partner of W. H. Hill, a resident of California and Bakersfield from the year
1901 and a native of Genesco, Livingston County, New York, born November 19,1848. While yet very young Mr. Hill began to work in the
lumber business and for years he gave to that occupation his entire time and
attention. For twelve years he served as chairman of the board of supervisors
of Schoolcraft County, Mich. Since coming west he
has become known as a well-informed, accurate business man and his council is
much sought, particularly by those wishing to embark in the oil business. He is
a stockholder and director of the First National Bank of Bakersfield and the
Producers' Savings Bank. Like his partner, he owns a fine home in Bakersfield
and is a firm believer in a prosperous future assured for the city.
Concerning
the firm of Barlow & Hill we quote the following from the oil review edition
of the Morning Echo, Bakersfield, February 28, 1911: "California has no
better known industry than oil and the oil industry has no more well known firm
than Barlow & Hill, for the past nine years doing a large business in
Bakersfield and Kern County as dealers in oil lands and producing oil
companies, essentially the latter. The personnel of the firm, C. A. Barlow and
W. H. Hill, assures its high standing and gives
confidence to its constantly increasing clientele. Barlow & Hill formed a
partnership in August, 1902, to deal in oil lands. Since that time they have
organized many oil companies, all of which have become producers. They have six
oil companies of their own and are extensively interested in Maricopa and
Midway oil properties. They rehabilitated three oil companies which were sold
to eastern capitalists and have produced oil in quantities as claimed by the
firm, frequently in excess of their estimates. Among the many successful
ventures which Barlow & Hill have had to deal with was the making of the
country-wide reputation for Sunset Road Oil. They took hold of the Sunset
companies at Maricopa when it was considered unprofitable and well-nigh
impracticable to handle this oil, owing to its being too heavy and hard for
fuel purposes. But Barlow & Hill were not discouraged and by dint of their
well-directed efforts Sunset Road Oil or its equivalent has become a part of
the specifications in road-building with oil as demanded by municipalities on
the Pacific Coast and elsewhere.
A
Half Century of Progress, Bakersfield and Kern County, 1912, in mentioning the
progressive business efforts of Barlow & Hill, give the following summary
of their work in the oil industry and the importance of this industry to the
development of local wealth: "It should be a matter of the liveliest
satisfaction to the people of California to know that no single corporation or
group of individuals is controlling the destiny of the state's oil industry by
the monopolization of territory, rate of development and production, or the
fixing of arbitrary prices. The petroleum interests of California are too big
for any combination of capital to swing and manipulate at will for any period
of time. Petroleum apparently exists in every section of this big commonwealth,
so blessed by nature in the glories of sky and air, in the ocean about it and
in its pregnant soil, blessed even in the bowels of its earth, which yield a
rich return to man's labor almost for the asking. There are
any number of safe investments in Kern County open to inspection. Money
must be active to make quick and large profits. Slow money slowly responds with
slow interest. The investor who is content with the latter is out of joint with
the times and in the rear end of the race for competency and wealth. No class
of speculative is safer or promises larger profits than investment in oil
companies backed by unlimited capital and experience, and directed by reputable
men. Such is the character of the six oil companies operated by Barlow &
Hill, a firm established in 1902 to deal in oil lands ,
and that since has been one of the effectual forces in the building up of the
oil industry in Kern County. Among their many successful ventures was the
making of a country-wide reputation for sunset road oil. The two partners in
the firm are widely known and are numbered among the most influential men of
the community, taking an active interest in all measures for the advancement of
Bakersfield and her commercial interests.
Transcribed and
Submitted by Sally Kaleta.
"History of
Kern County, California, with Biological Sketches," Wallace M. Morgan, Los
Angeles, California, 1914; Pages 207-209.
© 2014 Sally Kaleta.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S KERN COUNTY
BIOGRAPHIES