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TULARE COUNTY,

California,

United States

 

INTRODUCTION

SURNAMES

ANCESTRAL GENSITE(S)

LIST OF LOCALITIES

WEBSITE RESOURCES

IMAGE GALLERY

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

County Civic Center 221 South Mooney Boulevard
Visalia, California 93291

  

      Tulare County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, south of Fresno. Sequoia National Park is located in the county. As of 2000 the population was 368,021; as of 2005 the population estimate was 404,909. Its county seat is Visalia.  Tulare County, California is one of the largest counties in the great and fertile San Joaquin Valley. Geographically it is situated about midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, the two principal cities of the Pacific Slope.   

     The county has an interesting historical aura dating back to 1772 when Commandante Pedro Fages, while hunting for deserters discovered a great lake surrounded by marshes and filled with rushes which he named Los Tules (the tules). It is from this lake that the county derives its name. The root of the name Tulare is found in the Mexican word tullin, designating cattail or similar reeds.

     The first Americans to visit the valley came after 1800. The settling of the country about Visalia, the

 

 

creation of the county, the struggles of the early settlers, the wars with the Indians, and the growth and development of the country present an interesting story which can be found in a number of the published histories for the county.

        Tulare County was created in 1852 at the same time Siskiyou and Sierra counties were designated, the large area was maintained until 1856, when Fresno County was created from territory taken from Tulare, Mariposa County and Merced County. Between 1861 and 1876 many parts of the original boundaries were changed to accommodate the formation of Kern County and Inyo County in 1866. In 1893 Kings County was created from the western part of Tulare.    Within the confines of Tulare County are now 4,863 square miles, or 3,158,400 acres. Were the state of Connecticut lifted bodily from the Atlantic Seaboard and transported westward, it could be set down in California, but it would not quite succeed in covering Tulare County.

Source: Wikipedia

Tulare County, California

Surnames

The following are surnames of persons, found within our databases,

as having been either born, married or died in this location.

 

 

McVicker; Moreland; Pinnell; Scruggs and allied families

Bailey;   Cotton;   Della;   Dovel;   Fay;   Fly;   Gilligan;   Gross;   Halbert;   Harper;   Hoskins;   Johnson;   McNutt;   McVicker;   Moreland;   Parsons;   Pinnell;   Rhodes;   Saak;   Schockley;   Scruggs;   Tipton;   Turner;   Wilson

Bozarth; Peiffer; Quigley; Rhubart and allied families

 

Dellinger; Knecht; Pfeffer; Silar and allied families

 

To find out more about each surname listed above click on the corresponding LINK.

Additional information regarding these surnames may also be found at:

  FAMILY SURNAMES - (General Index) 

Tulare County, California

Ancestral GenSite(s)

Farmersville

Plano

Porterville

Poplar

Terra Bella

Tipton

Woodville

FARMERSVILLE

COORDINATES OF IDENTIFIED SITES: 

Farmersville: 36°18′4″N,    119°12′27″W

Deep Creek Cemetery:  36.319ºN,   119.196ºW

DIRECTIONS TO IDENTIFIED SITES (MapQuest):

Farmersville: From Visalia, Total Est. Time:  11 minutes

Total Est. Distance: 7.40 miles,  (see map at image gallery)

Deep Creek Cemetery: see map at image gallery

WEB LINK(s):

ANCESTOR(s): Rhodes, Fly, Pinnell

    

Farmersville is a city in Tulare County, California, United States. The population was 8,737 at the 2000 census.

    William and Sarah (Douglass) Rhodes settled here upon coming to Tulare county in 1860.  It is most probable that Tennesse, Martha, Samuel, Nancy, Hugh and Ora were all born here between 1862 and 1873.  Two children of their eldest son Thomas, Richard, and Clara, were born here prior to Thomas and Sarah (Fly) Rhodes departure for Bakersfield around 1876. The Yokohl Valley where the family pastured their sheep lies due west of here, see map at Image Gallery.

    Peter and Emaline (Peyton) Pinnell migrated from Missouri and settled here.  They are both supposed to be buried in a local cemetery.      John and Elizabeth (Turner) Fly the parents of Sarah (Fly) Rhodes are buried at Deep Creek Cemetery.

PLANO

COORDINATES OF IDENTIFIED SITE(s): 

Plano:  36.044ºN,   119.007ºW

DIRECTIONS TO IDENTIFIED SITE(s) (MapQuest):

Plano:  From Visalia;  Total Est. Time:  43 minutes

Total Est. Distance: 32.87 miles. Plano is located

south of Porterville, see driving map at Image Gallery.

WEB LINK(s):

ANCESTOR(s):  McVicker; Moreland; Rhodes; Halbert; Fay; Scruggs

 

     Plano lies just southeast of Porterville.  It is noted as a township in early 20th century census documents.  Today it may be a part of the East Porterville census district.  Our ancestors for appear here in the last decade of the 19th century. 

     In the 1900 census Plano is named as the location of the farms of Martha Ellen (Rhodes) and her husband  Edwin D. Halbert, and that of her sister Tennessee B. (Rhodes) and her husband Spencer Fay.  The aforementioned farms are noted in the map at the right.

     Also found here in 1900 is the John R. and Mary Ella (Johnson) McVicker Family.  Their daughter Nevada “Neva” was born here in 1897.  John’s brother Moses also lived in Plano until his death in 1919.

It appears that John Earl Moreland resided here in 1910. This may have been the location to which he came after leaving coming to California from Woodward County, Oklahoma. He is listed as Earl in a single man working as a hired man in the household of Jacob Garver. 

In the 1900 census John E. and Minnie (McVicker) Scruggs are listed on the same page with Minnie's parents John and Mary McVicker in the Poplar/Plano area of Tulare County.  John and Minnie may have been living on the McVicker farm at this time or they may have been living on the next farm.  John and his family are also listed in the 1910 census as living in Plano Township.

PORTERVILLE

COORDINATES OF IDENTIFIED SITES: 

Porterville: 36°4′7″N,    119°1′39″W

Hillcrest Cemetery: 36.065ºN,   118.994ºW

Home of Peace Cemetery:  36.065ºN,   118.994ºW

Porterville Cemetery:  36.065ºN,   118.994ºW

Vandalia Cemetery: 36.038ºN,   119.004ºW

DIRECTIONS TO IDENTIFIED SITES (MapQuest):

Porterville:  From Visalia; Total Est. Time: 42 minutes;

     Total Est. Distance: 30.77 miles, see driving map at Image Gallery.

Hillcrest Cemetery:  Located on East Olive Street, near

     Porterville Cemetery and Home of Peace Cemetery

Home of Peace Cemetery:  Located on East Olive Street, near

     Porterville Cemetery and Hillcrest Cemetery

Porterville Cemetery:  Located on East Olive Street, next to Home 
     of Peace Cemetery and Hillcrest Cemetery.

Vandalia Cemetery:  From Porterville take Plano Street south

     through Plano turn left on Avenue 136.  Cemetery is on the left.

WEB LINK(s):  City of Porterville, California;   Porterville Cemetery;   Home of Peace Cemetery;   Hillcrest Cemetery (A-G);   Hillcrest Cemetery (H-O);   Hillcrest Cemetery (P-Z)   

ANCESTOR(s): Gross; Halbert; McVicker; Pinnell; Rhodes; Scruggs 

Porterville History / Background

      Porterville is a city in Tulare County, California, United States.    The City has grown from a community of 5,000 persons in 1920 to 51,467 at the 2007 census. The city's population grew dramatically as the city annexed many properties and unincorporated areas in and around Porterville.

     During California's Spanish period, the San Joaquin Valley was considered a remote region of little value. Emigrants skirted the eastern foothills in the vicinity of Porterville as early as 1826. Swamps stretched out into the Valley floor lush with tall rushes or "tulares" as the Indians called them.

     Gold discovered in 1848 brought a tremendous migration to California, and prairie schooners rolled through Porterville between 1849 and 1852. Wagon trains of gold seekers passed through the village, but other travelers found the land rich and remained to establish farms. A store was set up in 1856 to sell goods to miners and the Indians, who lived in tribal lands along the rivers.

     Royal Porter Putnam came to the village in 1860 to raise cattle, horses and hogs. He bought 40 acres of land and built a two-story store and a hotel on the highest point of the swampy property, which is now the corner of Oak and Main. The town took its name from the founder's given name because their was another Putnam family living south of the town.  

          The cemeteries of Porterville are all located in the same are on East Olive street.  The Home of Peace Cemetery, was established in 1908 and is known for the number of ornate monuments it contains.  Porterville Cemetery, sometimes called Old Porterville Cemetery, had the first burial in 1878. Hillcrest Cemetery, was established in 1930 and is known for its park like effect as the lawns are smooth and unbroken, all of the headstones are sunken.

Ancestors who lived in Porterville

After Albea E. Scruggs died in 1906 his widow Julia moved to 504 Mill Street, Porterville where she passed away in 1922. Minnie (McVicker) Scruggs passed away here in 1920.  Around 1917 Jerre’ F. and his mother Mary Etta (Pinnell) Moreland moved to Porterville and lived in rented house on 212 G Street.  Jerre’ and his future wife Ella Pearl Scruggs graduation from Proterville High School in 1920.  In 1929 Mary was living at 926 North 3rd St. in Porterville.  Mary passed away in Porterville, California on April 28, 1940.   In 1930 Earl and

his family were living at 442 S. G Street in Porterville, California.  Ora later became a teacher in Porterville where she taught third and fourth grades in the two-room Mill Street School.  She and her husband George Robbins lived in house at Second and Harrison streets.  George owned and operated the Robbins Drug Store located in the Davis Block on the corner of Main and Mill streets.  By 1910 Tennie and Spencer Fay had moved off their farm and were living in a house at 703 N. Hockett Street in Porterville. 

POPLAR

COORDINATES OF IDENTIFIED SITES: 

Poplar:  36°3′14″N,    119°8′41″W

DIRECTIONS TO IDENTIFIED SITES (MapQuest):

Poplar: From Visalia;  Total Est. Time: 38 minutes;

Total Est. Distance: 28.10 miles, see driving map at Image Gallery.

WEB LINK(s):

ANCESTOR(s): McVicker;  Scruggs;

   Poplar-Cotton Center is a census-designated place (CDP) in Tulare County, California, United States. The population was 1,496 at the 2000 census.

     The Albea E. Scruggs homestead, as noted on the 1892 map at the right,  was located about 9 miles west of Porterville, California, near the town of Poplar.    In 1876, he purchased his ranch from a railroad company and began to make improvements; while at the same time followed grain farming as well as the raising of stock.       In 1892 he began setting out an orchard of prunes, pears, and peaches being one of the first in the area to devote land to this purpose.  By 1905 Albea owned 400 acres of land on section 28 and 33, township 21, range 26.  Of this land 150 acres was devoted to the cultivation of alfalfa, and 25 acres in an orchard.  He also maintained a dairy that was noted locally for the excellence of its products.      The entire property was under irrigation by the Woods Central Irrigation  Company   of   which  he  was  a director.   At another location, on the plains, he  farmed 480 acres in grain.

     Ross McVicker, Pearl and Harry Scruggs attended the Pleasantview elementary school  in Poplar.  Ora Rhodes, the youngest child born to William and Sarah Douglass Rhodes, was

   born, 13 January 1873, on a farm about five miles west of Porterville near the area now known as Cotton Center.

TERRA BELLA

COORDINATES OF IDENTIFIED SITES: 

Terra Bella:  35°57′41″N,    119°2′27″W

DIRECTIONS TO IDENTIFIED SITES (MapQuest):

Terra Bella: From Visalia; Total Est. Time: 48 minutes Total Est. Distance: 37.31 miles, see driving map at Image Gallery.

WEB LINK(s):

ANCESTOR(s): Rhodes

     Terra Bella is a census-designated place (CDP) in Tulare County, California, United States. The population was 3,466 at the 2000 census.

     Ora (Rhodes) Robbins taught in a school at Salem located south of Terra Bella.  Martha Ellen (Rhodes) Halbert died at Terra Bella on 28 February 1941.

TIPTON

COORDINATES OF IDENTIFIED SITES: 

Tipton:  36°3′33″N,    119°18′37″W

DIRECTIONS TO IDENTIFIED SITES (MapQuest):

Tipton: From Visalia; Total Est. Time: 29 minutes Total Est. Distance: 27.63 miles, see driving map at Image Gallery.

WEB LINK(s):

ANCESTOR(s):  Albea E. Scruggs

Ann H. Rhodes  Charles W. Harper

     Tipton is a census-designated place (CDP) in Tulare County, California, United States. The population was 1,790 at the 2000 census.

     Albea E. Scruggs is listed in the 1900 census as living in Tipton Township.  In the 1900 census Charles Harper his wife Ann (Rhodes) and family are listed as living in Tipton.  His occupation is listed as being a stock rancher.

WOODVILLE

COORDINATES OF IDENTIFIED SITES: 

Woodville: 360537N  1191156W

Woodville Cemetery:

DIRECTIONS TO IDENTIFIED SITE(s)(MapQuest):

Woodville: From Visalia, Total Est. Time: 31 minutes,

Total Est. Distance: 21.87 miles, see driving map at Image Gallery.

Woodville Cemetery:

WEB LINK(s): Woodville Cemetery;  

ANCESTOR(s): Rhodes, Scruggs

     Woodville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Tulare County, California, United States. The population was 1,678 at the 2000 census.

     Albea E. Scruggs listed in the 1890 Great Register as a resident of Woodville Precinct.    Anna H. (Rhodes) Harper is buried at the Woodville Cemetery.

 

 

Tulare County, California

 

List of Localities

 

The red star in the map at the left designates the location of the seat of government for this county.

 

The list below will assist in your research regarding the matching of your ancestors birth, marriage, death dates and in what locality of this county these events may have occurred.

 Source:  Wikipedia

 

Cities and towns:

Alpaugh;   Cutler;  Dinuba;  Ducor;   Earlimart;   East Orosi;   East Porterville;   Exeter;   Farmersville;   Goshen;   Ivanhoe;   Lemon Cove;   Lindsay;   London;   Orosi;   Pixley;   Poplar-Cotton Center;   Porterville;   Richgrove;   Springville;   Strathmore;   Terra Bella;   Three Rivers;   Tipton;   Traver;   Tulare;   Visalia;   Woodlake;   Woodville

 

Tulare County, California

Website Resources

The following are links to websites that will provide you with specific

 genealogical  information to assist with your research for this county. 

 

General Resource Sites

 

 

Use the following LINKS to find more information that may pertain to this location.

 

 

 

 

Tulare County, California

Image Gallery

 

During our research we have collected images and photographs that are of general interest to a variety of localities.  Some of them are presented on this website because we believe they tend to provide the reader with additional information which may aid in the understanding of our ancestors past lives.

Ice wagon, c.1900 on display at the Porterville Museum

 

If you have any photographs or other images relating to this ancestral

 location we would greatly appreciate hearing from you.

 

Use the following LINK to ascertain whether we have any images that pertain to this location. 

ANCESTRAL LOCATION PHOTOGRAPHS and IMAGES

 

Contact Information

 

Email

Pony Express:

Tom
27 Christopher Dr.
Burton, NB E2V3H4
Canada

Email

Snail mail:

Fred
889 Dante Ct.
Mantua, NJ 08051

USA

 

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