California Biographies 

Source:
History of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura Counties, California
by: C M Gidney - Santa Barbara. Benjamin Brooks - San Luis Obispo. 
Edwin M Sheridan - Ventura
Volumes II - Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, ILL., 1917

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

HAROLD H. BRALY. It is an encouraging sign of the times when men of broad technical 
equipment and practical business experience turn their attention to the management of those 
basic industries involved in the cultivation of the land and the reaping of the fruits thereof. One 
example of this sort of thing is the case of Mr. Harold H. Braly of Ventura County.
Mr. Braly is a civil engineer, a graduate of the University of California, has had experience in 
public works and mining enterprises, and a few years ago he took the position of vice president 
and director of the Janss Investment Company of Los Angeles, and has since been in charge of 
the development work of the company.
In 1913 the company bought the Wadleigh Ranch, now known as the Conejo Ranch, comprising 
5,400 acres in Ventura County.
Since then Mr. Braly has been manager of the Conejo Ranch. During 1916, under his 
supervision, 400 acres of the land were planted in beans and 3,100 acres in corn, small grains, 
milo, kaffir corn and alfalfa. The rest of this large tract is grazing land. It constitutes one of the 
big farms and stock ranches of Southern California. The live- stock equipment comprises zoo 
cows, 3,500 hogs and 45 horses. To do the work of all the departments requires the continuous 
service of twenty-five people. Every point of equipment is carefully looked after and the 
progressiveness of the management is indicated by the use of two seventy-five-Holt caterpillar 
tractors, machines similar to those now being used with so much effectiveness by the allies on 
the battle- fields of France. Mr. Braly is planning the construction of from six to eight immense 
silos for the purpose of storing 50,000 bushels of grain. All the buildings are of most substantial 
construction. The hog houses have concrete floors and concrete is generously used throughout. 
Mr. Braly realizes that efficiency depends upon the co-ordination of number-less details, and he 
is constantly working upon a system that will eliminate delays and extra costs, and also increase 
the comfort and well-being of those employed on the ranch. A notable feature of the ranch 
improvements is the modern bunk house used by the employes. This is divided into a number of 
rooms, and every employe has a constant supply of clean linen and the house is generously 
equipped with shower and tub baths.
Mr. Braly is a native Californian, born in San Jose June 3, 1879, a son of John Hyde and Martha 
Hughes Braly. In 1883 his parents removed to Fresno, where he first attended school. In 1887 
they went to San Diego, where he continued his education in the public schools until 1891, when 
the family went to Los Angeles. Mr. Braly was a student in the high school of Los Angeles until 
1896. After that for one year he had a private tutor, then spent two years in Princeton 
University in New Jersey, and returned for his final courses in the University of California, 
where he was graduated in the civil engineering department in 1902.
With this broad technical equipment and liberal education he became civil engineer for the 
Riverside Power Company at Riverside. Going to Los Angeles, he spent 13/2 years as partner in 
the firm of Cornish & Braly, real estate and insurance. On retiring from that firm he resumed 
his work as a civil engineer with the Gold Road Mining Company at Gold Road, Arizona, for one 
year. The following two years were spent in examination of mining properties in Sonora, 
Mexico, and then for a year he was assistant manager of Skidoo Mining Company in Death 
Valley, California. Returning to Los Angeles, he entered the service of the company already 
mentioned.
Mr. Braly is a member of the Masonic order, of the Los Angeles Athletic Club, the Los Angeles 
Country Club, the California Club of Los Angeles, and is a republican. April 2, 1903, at Los 
Angeles, he married Miss Henrietta Janss. They have two children, Dorris and Harold Hyde, Jr., 
both now in the public schools.