The Ventura County Bar Association has been serving Ventura County Attorneys for over 117 years. 

The Ventura County Bar Association (VCBA) was established in 1906 and incorporated in 1968 as a California non-profit 501(c)(6) Mutual Benefit Corporation. Currently, the VCBA has 1000 members and 24 sections, committees, and affiliates. The VCBA is governed by a 15 member board of directors and operated by a devoted staff of 3 professionals.

Charles F. Blackstock VCBA 1st President

Charles Fidellio Blackstock was an original member of the Revived E. Clampus Vitus in the 1930’s California. Delegate to the Republican National Convention from California in 1936. A Jr. High school in Oxnard is named after him. Charles F. Blackstock Junior High School was named after a man who was a teacher, principal, lawyer and judge. Judge Blackstock served as a teacher and a principal of the Hueneme Grammar School after his college graduation. He remained in education until 1907 when he became a full-time lawyer and set up his law office in Oxnard. In 1946 Charles F. Blackstock became a judge. He gave up a law practice that earned him exactly five times what he made as a judge. Judge Blackstock believed that men, like himself, should share their legal experience and knowledge towards the betterment of our society. On September 9, 1966, Judge Blackstock died at the age of 90. He left behind the image of a humanitarian and philosopher. He was a man that used his mind to help his fellow man and was respected and loved by all who knew him.

As a Judge he sentenced Elizabeth “Ma” Duncan, the fourth woman to be put to death in California since 1941 for the 1959 murder of her daughter in law, and she was executed at San Quentin in 1962.

Published in 1926

Possessing all the requisite qualities of the able lawyer, Charles Fidellio Blackstock has long stood among the eminent practitioners of Ventura County, and the history of his community would be incomplete without the due reference to his long and honorable career. In his chosen field of endeavor, he has attained much more than ordinary success, and his eminent standing among the leading attorneys of his locality has been duly recognized and appreciated not only in his own community but throughout this section of the state. In addition to his creditable career in one of the most useful and exacting of professions he has also proved an honorable member of the body politic, rising in the confidence and esteem of the public, and today he stands in the forefront of the representative men of Ventura County. Mr. Blackstock is a native of the county now honored by his citizenship, born in Ventura on the 30th of December, 1875, and is a son of Nehemiah and Abbie Blackstock. 

Charles F Blackstock spent his boyhood days in Ventura, where he attended the public schools. In 1895, he entered the University of California, at Berkeley, from which he was graduated. He then engaged in teaching school in Los Angeles County, in which he met with pronounced success, and he undoubtedly would have attained distinction as an educator. However, he had determined eventually to devote his life to the practice of law, and to this end he employed his spare time in the study of Blackstone and Kent under the direction of his father, who was an able prominent lawyer in Ventura.  Later he taught school in Ventura County, his pedagogical career covering a period of 9 years. In April 1903, he had been admitted to the bar (license #2529), but he continued teaching until 1907, when he located in Oxnard and enter upon the practice of the legal profession, in which he has been engaged continuously since.  He has attained eminent distinction as enabled and a student lawyer, his services being greatly independent as a counselor. As evidence of his recognized ability, it may be noted that he is counsel for a number of the most important concerns incorporations in this locality, including A. Levy, Inc., the Southern Pacific Milling Company, the Farmer’s Bank of Camarillo, the Colonia Realty Company, a corporation, the California Fruit Confectionery Company, and the Poinsettia Beach Improvement Company. He has served for sixteen years as city attorneys of Oxnard. An earnest and convincing speaker, Mr. Blackstock is a forceful and successful pleader, and he has been retained in many of the important cases tried in the Ventura courts for many years.

On July 27, 1896, Mr. Blackstock was married to Miss Grace Woods, who is a native of Galesburg, Illinois, and who came to Ventura in 1892 with her parents, Neely C. and Cecilia Woods. Later her father bought a ranch in Simi Valley where he established his permanent home. He was a veteran of the Civil War, having served as a captain for 4 years in the 7th Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Calvary. He was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Grand Army of the Republic, while in politics he gave his support to the republican party. At the age of 76 years he was killed by a train while securing Liberty loan Subscriptions. His wife died at the age of 73 years. To Mr. and Miss Blackstock have been born 4 children namely: Mrs. W.C. Craddock of Oxnard, Mrs. Tiffany of Hollister, Jeanette at home and Bernice. All of the children are graduates of the University of California.

Judge Charles F. Blackstock 1946

Mr. Blackstock has always taken a deep interest in local public affairs and particularly in educational matters. For 6 years he has served as a member of the board of education and also was president of the board. He has been a lifelong supporter of the Republican party and has served as chairman of the county central committee of his party, while at one time he was a member of the Republican state central committee. During the World War he was chairman of the Four-Minute Men of Ventura County.  He is a member of the Ventura County Bar Association of which he was the 1st president and is a director of the International Indemnity Company of Los Angeles. Fraternally he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons; of Al Malaikah Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine at Los Angeles; and of Oxnard Lodge, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, of which he is past exalted ruler, and he is past president of the Oxnard Rotary Club. Mr. Blackstock’s birthplace was on the site of the present courthouse at Ventura, and the beautiful palm trees that now adorn the courthouse yard were set out by him when he was a small boy. He has been successful financially and owns a valuable ranch of 55 acres, about two miles from Oxnard, where he has a fine lemon and orange grove, as well as a number of fine walnut trees. He lives here and has so improved the place as to make it one of the most comfortable and attractive homes in this locality.