Ventura
County
Biographies
A pioneer of Ventura County, Richard
Barrett Haydock has done much to advance the standards of education in this
part of the state and for twenty-one years has served continuously as
superintendent of the Oxnard schools. He
was born in Paducah, Kentucky, March 30, 1867, a son of Richard M. and
Elizabeth (Watts) Haydock, who were also natives of the Blue Grass state. Starting in life as a bank clerk, the father
later became the owner of an iron foundry and while conducting that business
operated steamers on the Ohio, Missouri and Red rivers during the Civil
War. In 1872 he came to California and
in the following year sent for his family, who arrived at Stockton in
September, 1873. Later he managed the
Rawhide Mines in Tuolumne County for his brothers, but eventually moved to
Oakland. For a time he operated a hotel
in San Francisco, and on March 9, 1876, came to Ventura. For seven years he cultivated a small ranch
in this locality and in 1883 bought a farm near Monrovia, California, where he
spent the remainder of his life, passing way when seventy-one years of
age. He was a Mason, and gave his
political support to the Democratic Party.
After his death his widow went to Long Beach, California, to make her
home with her daughter, Mrs. Lula Teel.
Richard B. Haydock completed a
course in the Ventura high school and in preparation for educational work
enrolled in the Los Angeles Normal School, from which he was graduated with the
class of December 17, 1885. In the fall
of 1886 he began teaching school about seven miles north of Ventura and in the
following year became principal of the Hueneme School, remaining there for
twelve years. In 1891 he was appointed
by the general grand jury to exam the county books, efficiently completing that
task. Elected superintendent of the
Oxnard schools in 1901, he served until December, 1906, when he accepted a
similar position at Ventura. At the
request of the school board he returned to Oxnard in July, 1911, and has since
remained here as superintendent. Keeping
in close touch with the most advanced ideas along educational lines, he has
improved the curriculum and methods of instruction, and during his tenure of
office the local schools have been maintained at a high standard. Approximately thirteen hundred pupils are
enrolled in the schools here and Oxnard now has four modern school buildings,
which are a credit to the community.
In 1893 Mr. Haydock was married to
Miss Victoria Lee Martin, a native of Springfield, Missouri, and a daughter of
Joseph and Lucinda Martin. Mr. and Mrs.
Haydock are the parents of a daughter, Ethel Martin, who was graduated from
Leland Stanford University and received the Master of Arts degree from Columbia
University. Afterward she had charge of
a department in the public schools of Long Beach but is now residing in the
family home at Oxnard.
Mr. Haydock is a Royal Arch Mason
and was master of Oxnard Lodge, F. & A. M., in 1903. Appreciative of the duties and obligations as
well as privileges of citizenship, he has generously and effectively exerted his
talents for the general good. Mr.
Haydock was solely instrumental in securing the donation of money for the
Carnegie Library, which has been a vital force for cultural development in
Oxnard. In 1903 he was called to the
town board of trustees, of which he was a member until 1907, and also served on
the board at a later date. At the time
Oxnard was incorporated Mr. Haydock was made Mayor of the city. Elected a member of the county board of
education in 1888, Mr. Haydock proved so highly qualified for the office that
he has been retained on the board for forty-five years, establishing a notable
record of public service. Just after the
close of the World War he organized a local chapter of the Red Cross in which he
has been continuously active since in the matter of membership and
contributions.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. III, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 313-315, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles,
Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN
NUGGET'S VENTURA
BIOGRAPIES