Luther C. Tibbets

Luther Calvin Tibbets (June 26, 1820 - ) was born in South Berwick, York County, Maine.cite web |url=http://www.calarchives4u.com/biographies/sanbernardino/sber-tays.htm |title=San Bernardino County Biographies, from "An Illustrated History of Southern California, Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1890" |accessdate=2008-08-27 |work= |publisher=California Genealogy and History Archives |date= ] He and his wife Eliza Tibbets effectively founded the California citrus industry when she brought two navel seedless orange trees to Riverside, California in 1871. Luther Tibbets also became a rights activist after he was extensively persecuted whilst trading in the Southern states.

Tibbets was from Maine farming stock but began his career in the mercantile grocery business. During the American Civil War he was successfully involved in grain and ceral dealing, but by refusing to become involved in corrupt operations, his rivals were able to move against him and Tibbets lost his fortune. In 1863, he married Eliza Lovell and after the Civil War, the couple relocated to Fredericksburg, Virginia. Southern feelings towards staunch Union supporters such as the Tibbets were less than accommodating and the couple suffered extensive persecution. Tibbets was involved in a number of law suits involving the state and the Ku Klux Klan.cite web |url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/rbaapcbib:@OR(@field(AUTHOR+@od1(Tibbets,+Luther+Calvin+))+@field(OTHER+@od1(Tibbets,+Luther+Calvin+))). |title=Spirit of the South; or, Persecution in the name of law, as administered in Virginia - An account of various law suits involving Luther C. Tibbets, a Union man, and of his persecutions by the Ku Klux Klan |accessdate=2008-08-27 |work=Library of Congress - full text]

Orange farming

They received three trees through a friend at the U.S. Department of Agriculture which were originally from Bahia, Brazil. One of the trees later died after being mauled by a cow. The other two were later protected with a fence. The seedless navel oranges became very popular as growers in Southern California would request grafts from Mr. Tibbets. Mr. Tibbets would sell his grafts at a reasonable price to fellow growers as he didn't want to profit from the governments gift. Sadly, he died a poor, penniless man, while other growers profited handsomely from the seedless navel oranges he brought from Washington, D.C. to California.

References

External links

* [http://www.calarchives4u.com/biographies/sanbernardino/sber-tays.htm Biography from An Illustrated History of Southern California]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A0DE3D7103DEE32A25753C2A9629C946397D6CF NY Times Archives: Featured Story]
* [http://www.riversideca.gov/rlhrc/historydiv/sendai3/Navel_Planting.jpgPicture of President Roosevelt replanting one of the original orange trees in Riverside]