California Biographies Transcribed by Peggy Hooper This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm Source: History of the state of California and biographical record of the San Joaquin Valley, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from its earliest settlement to the present time. Prof. James Miller Guinn , A. M. The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1905 Notes: Missing Page: 865-866,983-984,1175-1176 LEWIS H. APPLEGATE. In California, as well as in Oregon, the name Applegate is synonymous of true worth and integrity, and the identification of this family with the early his- tory of both states is well known. Lewis H. Applegate has been a resident of California since 1870 and has been identified with Merced county for nearly thirty years. He was born in Goshen, Clermont county, Ohio, December 21, 1844, a son of Perrine and Susan (Frybarger) Apple- gate, the former a native of New Jersey and the latter of Ohio. His paternal grandfather, Elijah Applegate, also born in New Jersey, was of Welsh descent and by occupation was a car- penter and farmer. He removed to Ohio when his son Perrine was but three years old and in that state he followed the occupation of a millwright, erecting many of the early mills of the state. He died in Ohio when forty-five years of age. Perrine Applegate was reared and edu- cated in Ohio and upon leaving school he learned the carpenter's trade under the supervision of his father ; his later years, however, were spent in agricultural pursuits. He passed to his final rest in 1888, aged seventy-two years, being survived ten years by his widow, who died in 1898. They became the parents of sixteen children, fourteen of whom reached years of maturity, and of these twelve are still living. With the exception of the two who died in infancy, their family consisted of the following: Andrew J., a manufacturer of Anderson, Ind. ; Oliver H. P., a traveling salesman of St. Louis, Mo. ; Thomas F., a member of the Thirty-fourth Indiana Vol- unteer Infantry, who died during the Civil war ; Angeline, wife of William McClelland, of Goshen, Ohio; Lewis H. ; Sallie E. Spence, of Goshen ; William P., a successful rancher of Merced county ; Margaret C. McClintock ; Susan A. Stouder; John P., now deceased, who came to California in 1875 ; James B., a successful druggist of Perkinsville, Ind. ; Joseph H., a farmer near Goshen, Ohio; Lydia A., a deaconness of the Methodist Episcopal Church, en- gaged in missionary work at Salt Lake City; and Pearl W., vice-principal of the grammar school at Goshen. The two eldest sons also have military careers. Andrew J. as a soldier in Company G, One Hundred and Seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and Oliver H. P., as color sergeant in the Second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Reared on his father's farm, Lewis H. Applegate attended the common school of his district, supplementing it by a course in Goshen Seminary, after which he began teaching school and so continued until coming to California, since which time he has been engaged in farming. The appearance of the state at that time, with its sparse settlements, was a striking contrast to the many thriving business centers of the present day, scattered throughout various parts of the state. The first year of his residence was spent in Stockton, which place he left intending to go to Nevada. At Knight's Ferry, however, a short stop was made, and he was induced to change his route. In 1872 he arrived in Merced county, remaining but a short time, when he pro- ceeded to Stanislaus county, where he farmed near Turlock, till 1875. Returning to Merced county that year, he, with a partner, rented land six miles east of Merced and for ten months fol- lowed general farming. He then embarked in a similar business for himself, renting the ranch upon which he now resides, and which is located along Bear creek, nine miles east of Merced, where for the past twenty-eight years he has given his entire time and attention to raising stock and grain. As he has prospered, he has added to his acreage from time to time, and has made valuable improvements on the land in shape of buildings, etc. His home place con- tains eleven hundred and sixty acres, devoted to raising grain and stock; another ranch which he owns, seven miles east of Merced, contains six hundred and forty acres, also devoted to the same industry; one mile from Atwater he purchased another section of land devoted almost en- tirely to the cultivation of barley ; in Fresno county he bought a forty-acre alfalfa ranch, and twenty acres in the Yosemite colony, Merced county, which is also devoted to alfalfa. He has always been an advocate of advancement and when called upon to do so has aided all projects that had for their object the development of the county. Mr. Applegate has been prominently connected with the Grange, having served as over- seer two terms and president and master four terms. He is an active member and a director of the California Grain Growers' Association, the object of which is to establish a uniform ocean freight rate from San Francisco to Liverpool, England. He is a Democrat in politics, though never an aspirant for office.