German Evangelical Church Bardsdale 1890.
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Bardsdale Methodist Church 1912.
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Fillmore Methodist Church circa 1912.
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Sespe Church circa 1916
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Old Sespe Church (now a restaurant) in 1930.
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Fillmore 1st Methodist Church circa 1988.
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Willow Grove School, also a church meeting place.
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Courtesy Fillmore Historical Museum

Religion and spiritual support were always a major factor in the lives of our earliest pioneers. Those first brave settlers initially looked to itinerant circuit riders who had also moved west as the United States expanded. Most of Fillmore’s early churches were organized under the live oak trees of Kenney Grove. Thus Sespe may be regarded as the birthplace of the churches in the east end Ventura County.

In 1873, the first Sunday School in the Santa Clara River Valley was organized by families living near Cienega (the current location of the Fillmore fish hatchery). This was a location on the wagon road to the coast and initially a stage stop. The first services were held by a Baptist preacher, Reverend Riley, with music supplied by Mrs. Sam Guiberson. The first major milestone in the life of the church was a celebration of our nation’s founding on July 4th 1876. The Reverend John Warner Guiberson led the services with both the Sespe and Santa Paula Choirs performing. At the time there was no church building on the Sespe but there was already a Sunday school and Ladies Aid group.

By 1884 the Cienega church group had disbanded and the local Methodists were meeting either at the Sespe school house on the corner of Muir St. and Sespe Ave (now Grand Ave) or at Willow Grove School on the south side of the river. The preacher was Rev. Wilhite. In the 1890s the Sespe Methodist Episcopal Church was built near Muir St. and Grand Ave. (over time the Methodist Episcopal churches would drop the Episcopal designation).

The original Sespe School house was moved several times from its original location on the banks of the Sespe River. Its first move was to the banks of the Santa Clara River near the current bridge crossing from Bardsdale. It was later moved back to the Sespe and then into Fillmore where it was located on the south west corner of Central and Sespe St. where first it was used as a drugstore with a residence in the back and later a restaurant. There it remained until the 1930s when it burned down in a late night fire.

In 1887, before the arrival of David C. Cook in Piru, the Methodist congregation met in a schoolhouse near the mouth of Piru Canyon on Main St. Cook had come west from Elgin, Illinois, for his health. He had been very successful as a publisher of Sunday School literature and was deeply religious. He was the founder of Piru and the son of a Methodist minister. Initially he hosted church services under the live oaks in his own yard. He paid for the building of the Piru Methodist Episcopal church and also built the Piru Mansion, his home. Both still stand. He also planned to develop a replica of the Holy Land in Piru Canyon. But his health improved and he returned to Illinois. The olive trees growing along the road to Piru Lake are the only remnants of his Holy Land project.

Bardsdale in 1890 was mostly dry land farming where the early farmers grew beans, potatoes and raised cattle and sheep. The 1890s also saw the development of an oil industry. Some of the first settlers were German immigrants. Among them were Haases, Bartels and Baldeschweilers (later Balden). They built a small German Evangelical church which also served as a school house. Services began in 1892 and were in German in the morning and English in the afternoon. The small building still stands on Owen St. in Bardsdale though it has been remodeled and moved.

In 1887, Royce Surdam purchased 1,599 acres south of the Santa Clara River and platted out the city of Bardsdale. The development was approved by Ventura County and he proceeded to sell the land for homes. Within the plat plan there were lots for houses, stores, churches and schools. But, plans were almost immediately derailed by the coming of the railroad on the north side of the river. Try as he could, Surdam could not sell the lots for houses so he began to sell land to the immigrant farmers for agricultural purposes. The only buildings built were the Bardsdale School and Bardsdale Methodist Episcopal Church both of which still stand today. The church is still an active Methodist Church and the school is now a private home. Both can be seen on Bardsdale Ave and Ventura St. The Methodist church was built in 1898 and still has an active congregation today.

In 1910 the Fillmore Methodists met in Fillmore’s Stephens Hall (located on the alley behind Stephens Store – now La Estrella Market) to discuss the organization of Fillmore Methodist Episcopal Church. Their first Church building was built in 1913. The first service was on Dec. 20, 1912, but the building was not finished and there were no chairs – they had to borrow some. In 1957, ground was broken for a social hall. Once that building was finished the old wooden church was taken down and a new church building built. The church and social hall are now owned by One Step A La Vez. The former social hall now serves as their activity center.

The history of Methodism in valley parallels the history of the pioneers and their families and the history of our part of the Santa Clara River Valley.

Based upon feedback from the first Community Conversation - Police and Community Relations – the City will kick off a series of discussions on various topics. Each topic will last one hour allowing time for questions. All discussions will be held via Zoom in both English and Spanish and broadcast live on YouTube. We have room on Zoom for 90 participants. Registration will open one week before each event. A link will be published on the City’s website and social media platforms. For registration questions, please contact Erika Herrera at eherrera@fillmoreca.gov or 805-946-1712. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnO2vlq-9iZRqVR9TOYg75g. Courtesy City of Fillmore Facebook Page.

Piru Wildfire Liaison Michael Lopez with volunteer James Lopez helping clear out some vegetation.
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The Piru Wildfire group is a community-based volunteer organization serving Piru and surrounding communities by providing:

• Hazardous Fuels Reduction in the Wildland Urban Interface

• Neighbor helping neighbor Home Ignition Zone Assessments

• Educational classes and mitigating wildfire risk

• Smoke and Carbon Monoxide program

• Community chipping events

• Youth Jr. Wildland Fire Event (Summer)

• Educating youth in potential fire careers

We have had a successful 2021 and will continue to do so. All events are in cooperation with Ventura County Fire, Los Padres National Forest, Cal Fire, California Conservation Corps, and Ventura County Regional Fire Safe Council.

If you are interested in getting involved feel free to reach out to the Piru Wildfire Liaison Michael Lopez at piruwildfireprevention@gmail.com Facebook: @piruwildfireprevention Instagram: piru_wildfire_prevention

Michael J. Lopez, Wildfire Liaison/ Lights and Sirens Chair Biography
Michael J. Lopez is the Piru Neighborhood Council Wildfire liaison and is responsible for providing prevention and fire mitigation services. In cooperation with wildfire, Michael is also our Lights and Sirens Chair in which he will work with our local cooperators such as Ventura County Sheriff Office, Ventura County Fire, Los Padres National Forest, Cal Fire and California Highway Patrol to insure safety of the Piru corridor. As a resident Michael has served on the Piru Youth Sports board and is known locally as “coach”.

Michael has been with the fire service since 2001 and continues to serve others with great integrity. He currently serves a Fire Captain in the Federal Prevention Bureau. He’s worked as a fire crew member, incident team member, crew boss and public information officer. He holds many high-level state and federal fire credentials. Michael’s various roles in fire response and customer service has allowed him to develop a professional approach to risk evaluation, effective mitigation and wildfire safety. Combined with this experience and positive attitude, Michael will always provide the best professional and personal services to our town of Piru.

For updates follow: Facebook @piruwildfireprevention Instagram piru_wildfire_prevention
Email: piruwildfirepreventon@gmail.com

A copy of the inside cover of Myrtle’s book circa 1908.
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Tallman's red book regarding the 1905 trip.
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Tallman evening program 1912.
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Courtesy Fillmore History Museum

Note: For a longer version of this story with additional photos, please visit the Fillmore Historical Museum's website at https://www.fillmorehistoricalmuseum.org/myrtle-tallman

Some time ago John Nichols, well known photographer and author from Santa Paula, found a small red book at a library book sale. He contacted us at the Fillmore Museum to see if we had any information on the author of the book, Myrtle Tallman, who had family in Fillmore.

The following story is the result of that simple question.

Myrtle Catherine Tallman
The Author Who Lived in Her Wheelchair
by John Nichols
Santa Paula - 2021

Myrtle Catherine Tallman made herself famous during her lifetime by selling a book she wrote titled “The Traveling Trio” that documented her travels in 1905 all over the western United States in her wheelchair. She moved to Fillmore, California in 1910 to be with her family but later moved to Long Beach and died in 1918 and was buried with family members in Bardsdale Cemetery near Fillmore.

Here is the Obituary of Myrtle Catherine Tallman From Fillmore Herald

Death of Myrtle Tallman, August 26, 1918

With peaceful resignation to the fates, Miss Myrtle Catherine Tallman, a life-long invalid, sank into the great sleep that knows no waking last Monday at Long Beach. Deceased was born at Tilden, Nebraska, May 17, 1878, and at the age of 8 years she was stricken with infantile paralysis, which left her a helpless invalid for 32 years, all of which time she has been confined to a rolling chair, needing an attendant at all times. Notwithstanding her affliction, Miss Tallman was cheerful through her life of suffering. She devoted herself to study and was a writer of more than ordinary ability. Accompanied by her sister, Edythe, she came to Fillmore about nine years ago, shortly after the death of her mother, but found she could not stand the climate of this valley and took up her residence in Long Beach.
The funeral was held Tuesday morning from the family residence on Santa Clara Street, the private services being conducted by Rev. Harry Shepherd. The interment was held at Bardsdale Cemetery.
Deceased is survived by her father, W. W. Tallman, and sisters, Miss Edythe Tallman of Fillmore, Mrs. Francis D. Buck and Mrs. Von Harmonson of Sespe, Mrs. Maud Richards of Rockford, Illinois, and two brothers, Ward Tallman of Fillmore, now in the Navy, and R. W. Tallman of Lincoln, Nebraska.

But the story for me started about 3 years ago when I found a copy of a strange looking book. It had a bright red cloth cover and the illustration on the cover showed a young woman in a wheel chair being lifted into the baggage car of the Union Pacific Railway train by three porters. They were possibly African American. She was being loaded onto the train car in her wheelchair and would travel with the baggage. Two other women looked on.
It was published in Lincoln, Neb. in 1908 by Myrtle Catherine Tallman and facing the title page was a portrait of her in her wheel chair with a cat sleeping on a pillow at her feet. Another member of the Traveling Trio pictured below in the book was her sister Ruth Jane Tallman (1891-1971).

I took it home not knowing how it came to be for sale in Santa Paula. My first act when I buy an interesting new vintage book is to look it up on www.abebooks.com. The strange thing was that there was not another vintage copy for sale anywhere in the world. There were several reprints for sale so there must be some interest in the topic or the writings.

I continued my research.

Lately I’m finding a huge number of books that can be downloaded free for reading on my iPad. One source is Open Library where The Traveling Trio can downloaded as a PDF, ePUB, FB2, MOBI and TXT. Do a Google search and download your own free copy. Or buy a physical copy.

My next dip into research was to search Find A Grave to see where she ended up. To my shock and surprise I found that she was buried about 10 miles from my home in Santa Paula at the Bardsdale Cemetery. The family plot contains a tombstone for her father William Warren Tallman, a Ventura County pioneer, who died at age 79 at his daughter’s home in Santa Paula. She was Mrs. Edythe Moisling. It is possible that my copy of the book came from the Moisling estate. She and her husband George are also shown living in Piru on Howe Road in the 1940 census. She died in Fillmore in 1973.

I searched the Fillmore Newspaper on line at the CDND, which is the California Digital Newspaper Collection and found the obituary for Myrtle Tallman that appears at the beginning of this story.
The CDND is a great research tool. cdnc.ucr.edu
I searched digital copies of the Santa Paula Chronicle that I have on an external hard drive and found Myrtle's father's brief obituary.

County Pioneer Called By Death

William W. Tallman, 79, of Fillmore answered the call of death recently at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Edythe Moisling in Santa Paula. He had been a resident of Fillmore for the past twenty years, except for the last six months when he has been confined to bed in his daughter's home here.
The deceased is survived by four daughters: Mrs. Mamie Harmonson, of Fillmore; Mrs. Edythe Moisling, of Santa Paula; Mrs. Ruth Buck, of Fillmore; Mrs. Alta Hampton, of Ventura and one son, Ward Tallman of Long Beach.
Private funeral services were held yesterday afternoon in Fillmore, Rev. Gammon of the Fillmore Presbyterian church officiating and music was furnished by Mrs. Leo Harmonson and Mrs. Frank Howard of FilImore. Pall bearers were Ross Buckman, Leo Harmonson, Howard Williams, Arthur Taylor, J. M. Horton and A. James. Internment was in Bardsdale Cemetery.

Now that I was getting to know the Tallman family better I went to RootsWeb.com for more information.
It showed Myrtle being born in Scranton, Iowa in 1878 even though her obituary lists Tilden, Nebraska. She and her family moved to Nebraska and appear on their census of 1900. She next appears on the census of 1910 living in Fillmore. She had moved to Fillmore after the death of her mother Nellie Ward Tallman in 1909.

Her occupation in 1910 is listed as “Selling own books”.
Hair: Auburn
Had Rheumatoid Arthritis from childhood. Confined to a wheelchair.
(Myrtle's obituary only mentions "infantile paralysis" from age 8 but as an adult it was properly described as rheumatoid arthritis.)

The rest of this fascinating story and more photos can be found at www.fillmorehistoricalmuseum.org