San Bernardino County and Riverside County, California Biographies

History of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties 
By: John Brown, Jr., Editor for San Bernardino County 
And James Boyd, Editor for Riverside County 
With selected biography of actors and witnesses of the period 
of growth and achievement.
Volume III, the Western Historical Association, 1922, 
The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, ILL

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm


ERNEST SMITH MOULTON (includes Sylvanus H. Ferris)
 
         The late Ernest Smith Moulton was for years one of the leading bankers of 
Riverside, and took a prominent part in civic affairs, identifying himself with 
practically every enterprise which promised to prove beneficial to the city in a 
practical way. He had been connected with railroading with the Chicago, Burlington, 
& Quincy Railroad and the Santa Fe Railroad for many years in Illinois, and when he 
came to Riverside brought with him a ripened experience, vigorous energy, and 
many ideas which were of practical value in the progressive development of this 
district. Mr. Moulton was born at Galesburg, Illinois, January 5, 1859, a son of Billings 
and Harriet (Smith) Moulton, natives of Massachusetts. The Moultons are of French 
descent, but the family was founded in this country long prior to the American 
Revolution, in which war representatives of it served with distinction. Growing up in 
his native city, Ernest Smith Moulton attended its excellent public schools and Knox 
College, also of Galesburg. His work of a practical character began with this connection, 
already referred to, with the railroads of Illinois, and he remained with them until 1881, 
when he came to California. Immediately upon his arrival here he identified himself 
with the packing industry, first experimenting with raisins and later with oranges, and 
for seventeen years was very active in this line of business. At the time he withdrew 
from it he was the oldest orange packer in California. Mr. Moulton held many positions 
of trust in the orange associations, and was a member of the Citrus Protective League 
of Southern California. Elected president of the First National Bank of Riverside, he held 
that position for five or six years, and during that time secured the erection of the 
present elegant bank building. Mr. Moulton had other interests, and was one of the 
directors of the Highland Water Company. At one time he served as president of the 
Chamber of Commerce, and was connected with the Business Men's Association. 
Instrumental in forming the Banker's Association of Riverside, he became prominent in 
the state and national associations, and served for a time as president of the State 
Board of Bankers, and that body made him one of the vice presidents of the National 
Association. Mr. Moulton was one of the most progressive of men, his broad vision and 
outlook on life enabling him to see his duty and how to carry it out, especially with 
reference to civic matters. For many years he served as a school director, and was 
president of the board for a number of years, and during his occupancy of that office the 
Polytechnic High School was erected. At the time of his death he was a member of the 
Riverside Library Board. The Government experimental station at Riverside stands as a 
monument to his good sense and excellent judgment, and in this connection and others, 
he was closely allied with Frank Miller and others in advancing the interests of the city. 
It would be difficult to name any improvement of his day which did not receive his full 
support. Others which have followed later were conceived by him, and have been brought 
about because of the preliminary work he did in their behalf. He was a man whose hand 
and heart were open to the appeal of the unfortunate, but he also believed in the policy 
of providing work for those in need, rather than to make them paupers through 
indiscriminate alms-giving. With his wife to look into the merits of a case, he distributed 
his benevolences wisely and admirably, and was never happier than when he had assisted 
anyone to become self-supporting and self-respecting. A man of great popularity, he was 
active in the Masonic fraternity and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and had 
attained to the Commandery and Shrine in the former order. On November 14, 1883, Mr. 
Moulton was united in marriage at Riverside with Julia C. Ferris, a native of Illinois, and a 
daughter of Sylvanus H. and Sabra B. (Cline) Ferris. Mrs. Moulton came to Riverside with 
her parents in 1881, and since her marriage has been very active in church and Y. W. C. A. 
work. She was one of the directors on the board of the old Riverside Hospital, and is a 
director of the New Community Hospital. For the past six or eight years she has been 
president of the Charity Tree, an organization of ladies banded together for the purpose 
of looking after local charities and filling the breach between public and private donations. 
She has devoted much time and effort to this work, which exemplifies the modern spirit 
of giving, and is one of the most constructive factors in the community work of today. A 
Presbyterian, she is very active in the work of the Magnolia Avenue Church of that 
denomination with which Mr. Moulton was also connected, and which he served for a long 
time as a member of the board on Easter services. Mr. and Mrs. Moulton had four sons 
and one daughter, and all of them with the exception of the second son have the proud 
distinction of being natives of the Golden State, and all of the boys are graduates of the 
California State University, while Doris is a graduate of Vassar. They are as follows: Arthur 
Ferris, Robert Harrison, Ernest Francis, Sylvanus Francis, and Doris Sabra. Arthur F. Moulton 
is now engaged in the lumber business at Ukiah, Mendocino County, California. He married 
Chryssa Fraser, a niece of W. Grant Fraser of Riverside, and they have four daughters, 
namely: Frances, Joan Virginia, Doris Ann, and Barbara Mills. Robert H. Moulton, of the 
R. H. Moulton Bond Company of Los Angeles, considered one of the finest bond houses in 
California, was at the time of the campaigns for the sale of Liberty Bonds, made 
Government manager for the district of Southern California, the youngest man to be so 
honored with such a heavy responsibility. He married Florence Wachter, of Los Angeles, 
and they have two sons, Donald Wachter and Robert H. Junior. Ernest Francis Moulton is 
also a partner with the bond house operated under the name of the R. H. Moulton Bond 
Company. He married Gladys Robb, of Riverside. Sylvanus Ferris Moulton went into the air 
service at the time of the World War, and was trained at San Antonio, Texas, and Columbus, 
Ohio, following which he was stationed at Lake Charles, Louisiana. He is with his brother 
Arthur in the lumber business. His wife was Miss Olive Taylor, of Riverside, prior to her 
marriage. She is a daughter of a prominent Baptist clergyman who founded the Present 
Day Club of Riverside, and did much toward securing the betterment of the city. Mr. and 
Mrs. Moulton have one daughter, Carolyn. Miss Doris Sabra Moulton is a graduate of 
Vassar College, as well as of the State University. On April 9, 1921, she was married to 
William H. Bonnette, in business in Riverside. 

Sylvanus H. Ferris was one of the pioneers of Riverside, and was a man of great prominence. 
He established his residence on Magnolia Avenue, and every bit of wood that went into the
 construction of the house was hauled from San Bernardino. His home was the center of much 
hospitality, which he offered to his Eastern friends, and he was instrumental in bringing more 
than one hundred people from Galesburg, Illinois, to Riverside. He came to this city in 1879, 
and later brought in trees from Illinois and New York, and scientifically studied and experimented 
with reference to the citrus fruit industry.

By birth Mr. Ferris was a New Yorker, as he was born in Herkimer County, that state, 
January 14, 1828, and was given a public school and academic education. His parents 
went to Illinois at a very early day, and he grew up in that state. Before deciding definitely 
upon his occupation Mr. Ferris paid a visit to his uncle, Harvey H. Ferris, of Herkimer 
County, New York, who told him that Eastern lands would depreciate and Western lands 
would advance in price, and advised him to return to Illinois. Following this advice he 
lived in Galesburg from 1862 to 1881, this town having been the family home from the 
time it was founded by his grandfather. In 1879 Mr. Ferris came on a visit to California, 
accompanying O. T. Johnson of Galesburg, and then went on to Carson City, Nevada, 
where his uncle, G. W. G. Ferris, was then residing. This gentleman was the father of the 
man who later invented the Ferris Wheel, one of the attractions of the Columbian 
Exposition at Chicago in 1893. Later the party came to Riverside and Sylvanus H. Ferris 
purchased a ranch on Magnolia Avenue, arranged for the purchase of an adjoining ranch 
for Mr. Johnson, and still another at the head of the avenue for his uncle, G. W. G. Ferris. 
He permanently settled at Riverside in 1881, and built his residence in 1882, which has 
since been one of the substantial homes and still is on that avenue. His home ranch 
comprised forty-three acres, and on it he raised high-grade oranges. In addition Mr. Ferris 
owned orange properties at Tustin, Orange County, and at Etiwanda, San Bernardino County, 
California, a cottage at Laguna Beach, California, and a ranch in San Antonio Canyon, from 
which Ontario, by purchase, afterward acquired its water. A very public-spirited man, Mr. 
Ferris worked hard to secure the Santa Fe Railroad from Orange to Riverside, and was a 
director and manager of the Newton Railroad from Riverside to San Bernardino, which is 
now owned by the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. While he was active as a republican, 
he never sought political recognition. For many years he was a member of the Presbyterian 
Church, and was instrumental in founding it on Magnolia Avenue. In 1858 Mr. Ferris married 
Sabra Booth Cline, who became especially prominent in church and W. C. T. U. work, and 
helped to built up a better sentiment in this locality. She was a philanthropist and one to 
whom charitable impulses were a second nature. Her death occurred in 1919, when she 
was over ninety years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Ferris had four children namely: Eva, who is the 
wife of W. S. Ray; Robert O., who lives on the old homestead at Woodhull, Illinois; Mrs. Julia 
Moulton, who is mentioned at length, and Mrs. Stella Bellows, who lives in Kansas City, 
Missouri. In addition to their own children, Mr. and Mrs. Ferris reared two others, whom 
they took from the Home for the Friendless of New York City. One is Mrs. Della Shieff and 
the other is George F. Lozier, of Denver, Colorado, both of whom grew up a credit to their 
adopted parents and worthy of the love and care given them.
 
Pages 1055 to 1058.
 
Transcribed and submitted by Sally Kaleta, January 2010.