Exeter History Tellers: John Firebaugh

John Firebaugh is rightly remembered as the founding figure of the city of Exeter, California. In 1888, he sold 240 acres of land to the Southern Pacific Railroad (SPRR) and collaborated with their agent, D.W. Parkhurst, to lay out what would become the heart of the town: seventy-four full and partial blocks bounded by Kaweah Avenue to the east, Orange Street to the west, Willow Street to the north, and Firebaugh Avenue to the south. Together, Firebaugh and Parkhurst also planned and added the “West Villa” section—four blocks west of the original town design—where the streets were oriented north to south, in contrast to the prevailing layout aligned with the railroad tracks.

Though John Firebaugh’s contributions were monumental, the honor of a street bearing his name was the extent of his formal recognition, overshadowed by his vibrant uncle, Andrew Firebaugh, who had already secured his place in California’s early history by founding a ferry business in what would become the town of Firebaugh in Fresno County, thirty years earlier. Norton Lott, an SPRR engineer based in San Francisco, was the man who named Firebaugh Avenue in John’s honor. Lott also designated the town’s lettered avenues and chose tree names for the others, perhaps suggesting to future citizens the various plants that might grace the new town’s streets.

But how did John Firebaugh and his family come to settle on the open fields east of Farmersville in the late 1880s?

Both Reggie Ellis, current publisher of the Sun-Gazette, and Joe Doctor, former editor of the Exeter Sun and a cherished local historian, have written about Exeter’s early days. Each drew from a 1905 biographical account of John Firebaugh’s life—a document I will include as an attachment to this article when it is published on https://cach-exeter.org.

John Firebaugh (1846–1908) was born in Virginia, the second of seven children born to Benjamin Franklin Firebaugh (1818–1880) and Emma Horn (1821–1879). The Firebaugh lineage traces back to Germany, with the first family members—originally bearing the name Feuerbach, meaning “Fire Root”—immigrating to Pennsylvania in 1744. These early ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War, and by the time of John’s birth, the family had become well-established Virginians.

Though they were neither slaveholders nor sympathizers of slavery, John had little choice but to enlist at the age of fifteen when the Civil War erupted. He served under Major George Chrisman and saw battle in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, though much of his time was spent stationed in the Confederate capital of Richmond. One of his brothers lost his life during the conflict. After the war, John returned home but eventually joined his parents in following his adventurous uncle Andrew westward to California.

Their journey was nothing short of epic—they braved the perilous voyage around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America, arriving in San Francisco in 1868. John initially farmed in the Watsonville area but by 1869 had joined his father on newly acquired land just east of what would one day become Farmersville, along today’s Marinette Avenue.

In 1873, twenty-six-year-old John married nineteen-year-old Mary Elizabeth Davis, daughter of California pioneer Edwin Davis, who had left Missouri in pursuit of gold two decades earlier. Together, John and Mary began their life on the vast, treeless fields that would later become Exeter—raising wheat, livestock, and eventually, a family. They built a modest country home near what is now the intersection of Palm and C Streets. Over the years, they were blessed with six children: Minnie (who married Mac Twiehaus), Luther (Lizzie Drew), Edna (George Hinds), Elmer (Ruth Edwards), Clarence (Lillian Buckman), and Lorena (John Matthews).

John’s success as a farmer allowed him to expand his holdings to over 500 acres. During the 1870s and 1880s, the San Joaquin Valley saw a boom in grain production, particularly wheat. When Parkhurst arrived in 1887 with plans to establish a townsite on 240 acres of his land, John used the resulting capital to build a stately home on the north edge of the town, close to the railroad. The home, located where North F Street now curves into Filbert Avenue— was then known as “Old Post Office Road.”

Firebaugh home

Mural painted by Colleen Mitchell-Veyna

This is the house appearing on the Pine Street mural, painted by premier muralist Colleen Mitchell-Veyna in 2013. John and Mary Firebaugh are depicted arriving in a wagon with their children gathered before the home and barns.

John Firebaugh passed away in October 1909 at a hospital in Fresno, the result of a burst appendix. His funeral, held at his home days later, was said to be one of the most well-attended events in Exeter’s early history, drawing many from the town’s then 800 residents.

Firebaugh obituary

Following his death, John’s son Luther moved into the family home, where he raised his own children. Sometime after 1930, the house was relocated to Belmont Avenue on the southern edge of town, though it was eventually destroyed by fire.

Today, John Firebaugh and his legacy endure through the mural on Pine Street, unveiled in 2013 and pictured below. That fall, many of his descendants gathered in Exeter to witness and celebrate the dedication of a piece of public art that honors the roots from which their city grew.  I’m grateful to Mickey Hirni, of the Exeter Mural Committee, who compiled extensive research on the Firebaugh family in preparation for the mural.