Ventura
County
Biographies
BLANCHARD FAMILY
The Blanchard family was established
in Ventura County by Nathan Weston Blanchard, who exemplified the highest type
of California pioneer. He was born in
Madison, Somerset County, Maine, July 24, 1831, and after attending the academy
at Houlton, in that state, taught school for a time. Later he was a student at Waterville College
(now Colby University), receiving a degree from that institution.
Early in 1854 Mr. Blanchard came to
California, crossing the Isthmus at Panama.
He went first to what is known as the “Southern Mines,” but not meeting
with success there, he went to Placer County where he lived until he moved to
Ventura County. In Placer County he
tried mining again, and was again unsuccessful.
In Iowa Hill Divide he was employed by Kneeland
and Wilcoxsen, meat and cattle men, and later went
into partnership with them. His next
venture was in the lumber business in partnership with the Towle brothers and
he was engaged in this business until he moved south to Ventura County, then
Santa Barbara County, in 1872. There he
bought a part of the land grant, Saticoy y Santa Paula, from E. B. Higgins and
with him engaged in general ranching which had as one of its major interests
sheep raising. A flour mill which was
the only one between San Luis Obispo and Los Angeles was put up and a fine
quality of flour was produced.
The location of the mill connected
with the water privileges of the creek, suggested the founding of a town at
this point, which Mr. Blanchard named “Santa Paula.” In 1874 he started an orange and lemon
orchard and was thus the pioneer in the citrus fruit industry in this
valley. He was one of the three men who
were responsible for the building of Santa Paula Academy, which was
subsequently given to the district to be used as a high school. Mr. Blanchard was one of the charter members
of the Central Pacific Railroad and a moving spirit in every project destined
to prove of benefit. He and Mrs.
Blanchard gave to the town of Santa Paula the Dean Hobbs Blanchard Memorial
Library in honor of their first child.
He was elected to the state legislature from Placer County and served
during the sessions of 1862-63. His
religious affiliation was with the Congregational Church of which he was a
generous supporter. A York Rite Mason,
he was a past commander of Ventura Commandery, K. T., and also belonged to the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was
a member of the Sons of the Revolution and of the California Club of Los
Angeles. His death occurred October 22,
1917. Of him it was said: “He gave to the world the best of an
essentially virile, loyal and noble nature and his standard of integrity and
honor was inflexible. A man of high
civic ideals, he manifested his liberality in connection with measures and
enterprises tending to advance the general welfare of the community and was
universally recognized as a citizen who was well worthy of the unqualified
confidence and esteem in which he was held.”
On December 21, 1864, Mr. Blanchard
was married to Miss Ann Elizabeth Hobbs, a native of North Berwick, York
County, Maine, who died in November, 1924.
Five children were born to them:
Dean Hobbs, Sarah Eliot, Eunice Weston, Nathan Weston, Jr., and Thomas
Goodwin. Dean Hobbs and Thomas Goodwin
died early in life. Sarah Eliot
Blanchard, residing in the old family home, is the only one now living. Eunice Weston, the wife of Dr. Arthur L.
Kelsey, was killed in 1929 in an automobile accident. She was accompanied by her husband, an
adopted child and another child, all of whom were fatally injured. Dr. and Mrs. Kelsey were the parents of a
daughter, Elizabeth, who is Mrs. John E. B. Merriman of Ventura County. They have two children, Sarah Eliot Merriman
and John William Blanchard Merriman.
Nathan W. Blanchard, Jr., the first
boy baby to come to Santa Paula, was born October 16, 1873, and grew to manhood
in this community. He was associated
with his father in the citrus fruit industry, the original orchard having trees
which have borne fruit for more than a half century. He was a member of the Jonathan Club of Los
Angeles, was vice president of the Limoneira Company,
owners of the largest lemon orchard in the state of California; president of
the N. W. Blanchard Investment Company; and a member of the executive board of
the First Branch of the Pacific-Southwest Trust & Savings Bank of Santa
Paula. He was a worthy son of an honored
sire and at his death on February 5, 1932, the editor of a local paper
said: “His many friends and neighbors in
this community who have enjoyed his acquaintance these many years, and have
known his inner life, whether in the home, the lodge, the many benevolent
associations, or in the field of sports, will miss his kind, genial and
generous personality.”
His widow, Josephine Esther
(McClelland) Blanchard, resides in the home built by her husband. It adjoins the old home of Nathan W.
Blanchard on Palm Avenue. Mrs. Blanchard
is one of California’s native daughters.
Her father, Dr. James Long McClelland, journeyed to California in the
‘70s and became one of the best known representatives of the medical profession
in this state. He had a large practice
in Fresno, where he made his home until nearly eighty years of age, passing
away January 27, 1932. Dr. McClelland’s
widow, Sophia (Byrd) McClelland, lives in Los Banos. Their son, Dr. James H. McClelland, a
graduate of the medical school of Stanford University, is practicing
successfully in San Francisco, as a specialist in diseases of the eye, ear,
nose and throat. He has a wife and one
daughter.
Elizabeth Isabella McClelland, a
sister of Mrs. Blanchard, lives near Reno, Nevada. She is the wife of Harry E. Hansen and the
mother of five children.
Nathan W. Blanchard, Jr., and
Josephine Esther McClelland were married in Fresno, California, in 1908. They became the parents of three sons, of
whom Nathan Weston (III) is the eldest.
He graduated from Yale in the Class of 1931and began the study of law at
Stanford in the autumn of that same year.
After his father’s death the following spring, he returned to his home
to go into the family business. He
married March 26, 1933, Miss Barbara Finley Weston, second daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Samuel Hopkins Weston, of Santa Clara.
Dean Hobbs Blanchard, the second
son, is at present studying abroad, and Eliot McClelland Blanchard, who
graduated from the Thacher School in 1932, is now a
student in Stanford.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 145-148, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN
NUGGET'S VENTURA
BIOGRAPIES