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 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN TEAGUE. Prominent among the successful business men of Exeter is Benjamin Franklin Teague, the owner of the Exeter water works and through his real estate operations one of the material upbuilders of this section of the county. He was born in Fort Scott, Kans.. December 1, 1864, a son of Joab Teague. The latter was a native of Lincoln county, N. C. from which place his father, William, took his family as far west as Morgan county, Ind.. in the pioneer days of the state. William Teague was a soldier in the war of 1812 and a substantial citizen of the community which knew him as a resident. Joab Teague taught school in Indiana until his removal to Osage, Mo., where he followed farm- ing for some years. In 1857 he located in Fort Scott, Kans., and was a farmer and pioneer stockman of that section. He became a prominent man in the community, holding various public offices, among them that of justice of the peace, serving also as county treasurer of Bour- bon county for one term. In 1888 Mr. Teague came to California, locating near Farmersville, Tulare county, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death in 1891 , at the age of seventy-eight years. He was a member of the Baptist Church. His wife, formerly Mary Re- becca Wood, was born in Clarksburg, W. Va., a daughter of William Wood, a native of the same place, and a descendant of English ancestry. He died in Virginia, Mrs. Teague died in Exeter in 1902 at the age of seventy-eight years. In her religious convictions she was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Teague was married twice, by his first wife having five sons and one daughter, of whom five children are now living : John, a resident of Exeter ; Calvin, a resident of southern California ; Monroe, now located near Fort Scott, Kans. ; Jesse, who died in California; Logan, residing near Lemoore, Kings county, Cal. ; and Eliza, the wife of A. B. Gardner, of Idaho. The four sons first mentioned were soldiers in the Civil war. By his second marriage Mr. Teague had two children : Benjamin Franklin, of this review, and Sherman, a farmer near Exeter. Benjamin Franklin Teague was reared on a farm in the vicinity of Fort Scott, Kans., receiv- ing his education in the public schools and the Kansas Normal College at Fort Scott. He taught school until he was twenty-four years of age, when he became a clerk in a general mer- chandise establishment in Uniontown, Kans. In 1889 he came to California and purchased a farm located one mile south of Farmersville, Tulare county, and in conjunction with his brother Sherman, farmed for several years, at the same time clerking in a store in Farmers- ville. In 1892 he removed to Exeter and engaged as a clerk for H. R. Stephens. Two years later he established a general merchandise store on the west side. Purchasing the stock of G. W. Kirkman, he continued alone in the business until 1897, when he removed to the east side, and a year later the firm became known as that of Teague & Miles. Continuing in the business until 1902, he then sold out to Charles Fitzsimmons, when he engaged in the real estate and insurance business. Later, in partnership with Mr. Miles, Mr. Teague bought the old water plant of Exeter. He subsequently became sole owner of the plant, since which time he has re- built the works, putting down a new well which produces fine water, and installing a pumping plant with an electric motor and a capacity of .one hundred and fifty thousand gallons per day. Mr. Teague is also interested in horticultural pursuits, owning sixty-two and a half acres adjoining Exeter on the south, thirty acres of which are given over to vines, two and a half acres to apricots, and ten acres to alfalfa. Twenty-five acres which he formerly owned he set out to oranges and later sold the same profitably. He was also interested with C. H. Cong- don and G. B. Landers of Bakersfield in the location of the talc mines, about ten miles from Exeter, in the Yokohl valley. This is now incorporated as the California Talc and Soapstone Company, with a capitalization of $100,000, Mr. Teague acting as secretary. They have opened quarries and have erected a mill for manufacture and grinding. Their deposit is large and shows exceptionally fine specimens. Mr. Teague was united in marriage with Nannie Fife, a native of Cambridge, Ohio. She is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Teague is associated fraternally with Exeter Lodge No. 308, I. O. O. F., in which he has served as noble grand two terms, and also be- longs to the Encampment, of Visalia. He is also associated with the Woodmen of the World, the Modern Woodmen of America and Knights of Pythias. He is a member of the Unitarian Club, and politically is a stanch Republican, for six years having served as a member of the county central committee. He is a member of the Board of Trade of Exeter, and gives of his best efforts to the upbuilding of the city and the promotion of all worthy enterprises.