Cora Hinckley

First Hinckley home, John and Cora

Second Hinckley home

Vinnie Hinckley

Dr. Hinckley's first car with wife Fannie (c) 1909.

Fannie, Mary (May) and Dr. JP, (c) 1914.

Courtesy Fillmore Historical Museum

Three generations of the Hinckley family had impacts on Fillmore in very different ways.

Dr, John Powell Hinckley, his wife Cora, and their children, Ira, Eugenia, Mary and were the first to arrive. The family was originally from Vermont. In the 1870 census, John White Hinckley, John Powell’s father was listed as a blacksmith, later censuses listed him as a farmer. By 1876, John Powell Hinckley was in medical school at the University of Vermont. It’s not clear now what made him move west by 1880. Dr. Hinckley and family were now in Tulare, South Dakota, where he had set up a practice. Apparently the Great Plains didn’t hold him because by 1890 he was in Ventura County and in 1893 daughter, Vinnie, was born.

According to his obituary which was written by Dr. D. W. Mott of Santa Paula, Dr. Hinckley in 1890 was one of 10 licensed physicians in the county and was a charter member of the Ventura County Medical society. Dr. Mott and other physicians in the county often consulted with Dr. Hinckley because of his excellent training, clinical expertise and dedication to the profession.

John Hinckley was not important to our community just because he was our first physician. He was also one of the founding members of the Fillmore Masonic Temple and an early Worshipful Master. He was on the first board of directors of the Fillmore Citrus Association and a trustee of the Fillmore Grammar School.

Dr. Hinckley came to Fillmore permanently in 1904. Cora passed away in 1907. John married his second wife, Fanny Barnes in 1908. The family eventually built a beautiful two-story home at A St. and Ventura St. (Hwy 126). This home still stands but was moved and now is located on the east side of Central Avenue near Foothill Drive.

Of Cora and John's children, Ira, the eldest went to Berkeley School of Dentistry and after a few years practicing in Ventura, he to set up his shingle in Fillmore ... more about that later.

The eldest daughter, Eugenia, married James Sallee in 1910 and they had one son, John. Eugenia died in 1915.

Their second daughter, Mary "May", never married. The 1940 census lists her occupation as citrus grader. She passed away in 1962.

Vinnie the third daughter, was born in 1893, making her only 7 years older than her nephew, Lawrence Hinckley. By all accounts she was a popular young lady, but was taken from the family in the 1918 influenza pandemic.

Dr. John Hinckley practiced medicine until his death in 1933 serving the community in many ways.