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


JAMES TURNER DORAN. Possessing great artistic ability, and much native talent, 
James Turner Doran is the leading photographer of Tulare, and has the distinction of being the 
longest-established artist in the county. He is also interested in horticultural pursuits, own- 
ing land in different parts of the state, and may truly be considered a representative man, enter- 
prising and progressive. A native of Ontario, he was born, August 22, 1844, near Brantford, 
and was there reared and educated, remaining there until twenty-one years of age. 

Migrating to the United States in 1865, Mr. Doran located in McLean county, Ill., where he 
was engaged in business as a photographer for twenty years, during which time he kept in touch 
with all the newer methods employed in his profession. Removing to Chicago in 1885, he fol- 
lowed his profession in that city two years, and then came to California to reside. Settling in 
Tulare, Mr. Doran built his present studio, which was the first complete establishment of 
the kind in Tulare county. It is finely equipped with the best instruments and appliances used 
in photography, including artistic scenery and backgrounds. His work is acknowledged to be 
of a superior order, and he makes pictures of all styles and kinds, from the smallest to life 
size, doing his own retouching in a skillful manner. Mr. Doran has bought considerable land 
since coming to the state, and in its management has met with success. In 1886 he bought 
forty acres of raw land, lying about five miles west of Fresno, and this he devotes to the culti- 
vation of fruit, one-half of it being set with raisins, and one-half with peach trees. He also 
owns six hundred and forty acres of land in San Diego county, and he is financially interested 
in the Tulare Fuel, Feed and Land Company, of which he is one of the directors. 

In Illinois Mr. Doran married Kate Brown, a native of Connecticut, and a woman of culture 
and refinement. Mr. Doran is a member of the California Association of Photographers. Po- 
litically he is a strong Republican, never swerving from the principles advocated by his party. 
Fraternally he is prominent in several organizations. He was made a Mason in Farmer City, 
Ill., and is now a life member of Garfield Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Chicago; he joined the Odd 
Fellows in Illinois, and is now past grand of Tulare City Lodge No. 306, I. O. O. F. ; and 
past chief patriarch of Mount Whitney Encampment No. 82; in 1896 and 1897 he was. Grand 
Patriarch of the Grand Encampment of California; in 1898 was representative to the Sovereign 
Grand Lodge, which met in Boston, Mass., and in 1899 attended the meeting of the Sovereign 
Grand Lodge at Detroit, Mich., in the same capacity.