Rather than an exhaustive report, this is more of a brief note of historical context.đ¤
"Foreign immigration is a hot topic these days, but the movement of people from one state to another can have an even bigger influence on the United States' economy, politics and culture. Americans have already seen this with the Western expansion, the movement of Southern blacks to Northern cities and the migration from the Rust Belt." -- New York Times article
Where We Came From and Where We Went, State by State dated 19 August 2014.
One by one, three of the eldest sons born to Justus Roberts and Martha Barks went west to California from their native Missouri. Did they make a pact and all go together? I'm not sure, but with the records I can access, here is when they each arrived in the Golden State:
- William Eppie Roberts was born 1884 in Bollinger County, Missouri. According to an obituary, he was a Coalinga, Fresno County, California resident by 1910.
- Milas Sylvestor Roberts was born 1886 in Bollinger County, Missouri. He married Mary Wood (d. 1974) on Christmas Eve 1910 in Fresno County, California.
- Linus H. Roberts was born 1890 in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri. According to an obituary, he was a Fresno County, California resident by 1916.
A job opportunity in the oil industry may have lured these young men west. William was an oil well pumper. Milas held the occupations of driller, rotary helper, and gauger. And Linus was an oil field teamster and general "oil worker." William spent several years with the Union Oil Company. And on each of their 1942 World War II draft registrations, both Milas and Linus list "Standard Oil Co." as their employer.
"The 19th century was a period of great change and rapid industrialization. The iron and steel industry spawned new construction material, the railroads connected the country and the discovery of oil provided a new source of fuel. The discovery of the
Spindletop geyser in 1901 drove huge growth in the oil industry. Within a year, more than 1,500 oil companies had been chartered, and oil became the dominant fuel of the 20th century and an integral part of the American economy.
...When Standard [Oil Company] entered California in 1900, seven integrated oil companies already flourished there. The Union Oil Company was the most important of these." [Source]
In 1903, according to Wikipedia, "California became the leading oil-producing state in the US, and traded the number one position back-and-forth with Oklahoma through the year 1930."
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| Image by Wikipedia user Antandrus. License for use: CC BY-SA 3.0 |
The Coalinga Oil Field is located in western Fresno County, California, surrounding the town of Coalinga. It was discovered in the late 19th century and became active around 1890. Each of the Roberts brothers named above spent at least some time residing in Fresno County, part of the San Joaquin Valley, and even specifically the town of Coalinga. Saying they worked at the Coalinga Oil Field at some point in their lives seems hardly a stretch.
Per Wikipedia, "A dramatic oil gusher erupted in Sept. 1909 at the 'Silver Tip' well [in Coalinga], producing 20,000 barrels a day, the biggest gusher in California until then. This was an event of such excitement that [the] Los Angeles Stock Exchange closed down for a day so that its members could come by train to view it." Given the timing, I wonder if that gusher guided the Roberts brothers to the San Joaquin Valley, Fresno County, and Coalinga.
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Via Wikipedia. Digitization of unique historic image.
Author unknown. |
Other places on the map above where the Roberts brothers lived include the cities of Fresno and Atascadero. Additionally, upon their deaths, Linus was buried in Fresno's Mountain View Cemetery and William was buried in Atascadero Pine Mountain Cemetery. đĒĻ
The fact that all three brothers stayed in California for the rest of their days hopefully means they deemed their moves worthy and successful.
[These three brothers were part of a family of eleven children. To learn more about the additional eight siblings,
go here.]
BOOK #AD:
American Exodus: The Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in California
