Samuel Cook Pine, Senior & Samuel Cook Pine, Junior

Samuel Cook Pine, Sr., and Samuel Cook Pine Jr., were significant personages in San Bernardino County history.
Samuel C. Pine, Sr., was the grandson of one of the American combatants in the Battle of Lexington at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. He was born and raised in St. Lawrence County, New York.  He married Jane Morrison, the daughter of John and Ellen Morrison of Buffalo, New York. Samuel, Sr., equipped an ox-team in Illinois in 1850 and started across the Great Plains to Fort Bridger, Wyoming. There he remained for several years, operating a trading post and moved on to Salt Lake City, where he resided for about four years and engaged in stock raising. It was here that he and Jane Morrison were married and where Samuel C. Pine, Jr., was born on December 26, 1856.
In 1858 the Pines left Salt Lake City with a Mormon wagon train bound for San Berrnardino. They first settled in the Yucaipa Valley, where the senior Mr. Pine resumed his work as a stock raiser. He and Frank Talmadge erected and operated the first sawmill in Little Bear Valley in the San Bernardino Mountains, powering it with a waterwheel. Mr. Pine moved to San Bernardino and then to Lyle Creek in 1865. He next moved to Jurupa and in 1867 he purchased a squatter’s claim at Rincon, adjoining the Chino Ranch. He had left the Little Bear Valley sawmill, fearing Indian attacks, since they had made frequent hostile demonstrations against the operation of the mill. At Rincon, Mr. Pine acquired 158 acres of prime farm land, which he improved by planting fruit trees and farming on an extensive scale until his death in 1897.
Samuel C. Pine, Jr., was less than two years old when his parents came from Salt Lake City, by means of an oxen-drawn wagon, to the San Bernardino Valley. As soon as he was old enough, he became involved in assisting in his father’s agricultural operations. He remained closely associated with his father until 1877 when he preempted 130 acres of government land on Pine Avenue and Corona Road south of Chino. He developed and improved upon this property, establishing one of the first artesian wells in that area. He became prosperous as a general farmer and dairyman. He left the ranch for a few years and lived in San Diego County where he served as county road overseer.
Returning to his home ranch in 1902, Samuel Cook Pine, Jr., was elected as Fourth District Supervisor on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. He proved to be an efficient and invaluable member of that body and he was quite active in Republican Party affairs. He was repeatedly reelected and served on the board from January 5, 1903 until January 4, 1915, being succeeded by Ray L. Riley of Colton.
Mr. Pine died at his ranch home in Rincon on March 24, 1919. He had prospered and added substantially to his holdings, depending on his strength and honesty to achieve success for himself and his family. His wife, the former Beatrice Gregory, was born in San Bernardino on October 13, 1859. She was the daughter of John and Mary Ann (Dunkerly) Gregory, who were both natives of England. Samuel and Beatrice Pine raised four children, Rena Belle, Samuel John, Mark and Lorraine Beatrice. The Pine family were members of the Congregational Church.

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