Former Sheriffs
Appointed: 1907 – 1911
Robert Dean Chittenden was born in Switzerland County, Indiana, on February 1870 in a farming family. The family migrated to Fresno County in 1887. Chittenden gained experience in the fruit industry and later became a partner in the construction and operation of the first raisin seeding plant in Fresno County.
Active in Democratic Party politics in Fresno, he was elected to the office of Public Administrator, and served from 1903 to 1907. As the Democratic candidate for sheriff, he was elected in November 1906, and held the office from January 1907 to January 1911.
Appointed: 1899 – 1907
James Darwin Collins was born in Rhea County, Tennessee on Oct. 30, 1843. At the age of 18, Collins enlisted for service in the Army of the Confederacy. In 1863, he was captured by Union forces and served 18 months as a P.O.W. before being released in a prisoner exchange.
At the conclusion of the war, he migrated to California, settling in Fresno County. In 1870, Collins founded "The Academy," the first secondary school in the valley, located at the present day community of Academy. He was elected to the State Assembly in 1876, serving one term.
Appointed: 1893 – 1899
Jay Scott was born on January 13, 1850 in Will County, Illinois to J.H. and Anna Chamberlain Scott. In 1852, the Scott family crossed the plains in an ox-drawn wagon and settled in the Sacramento Valley where the family farmed.
Scott left the family farm as a young man and went to work for the railroad until he grew tired of it. Scott and his family arrived in Fresno in 1888 and he engaged in business and the acquisition of land.
Appointed: 1889 – 1893
John Murray Hensley was born on November 10, 1850, at Cass County, Missouri to John J. and Margaret Murray Hensley. In 1853, the Hensley family left their farm and came across the plains in wagons drawn by eight cows to California.
The family settled in Calaveras County until 1860, when they moved to Tulare County. After a brief stay in Tulare County, the family moved to Fresno County in the fall of 1861.
Appointed: 1885 – 1889
Oliver James Meade was born in 1848 in the Northern Division of Brunswick County, Virginia, to Oliver H. and Mary E. Meade. The Meade family had been inhabitants of Brunswick County since the 18th century.
In January of 1864, at the age of sixteen, Meade enlisted and became a Private in I Company, 3rd Regiment, Wickham's Brigade, Virginia Calvary of the Army of Virginia, Confederate States of America. Meade served with distinction in many engagements Wickham's Brigade was involved in.
