A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, also containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present, Volume I, Part 133

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1184

USA > California > A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, also containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present, Volume I > Part 133

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After disposing of some of his Los Berros land, in 1889, Mr. Callender bought eight hun- dred acres near Oceano, of which the now famous Oceano Beach was a part. This he sold in 1903, and still owns some acreage prop- erty and town lots in and near the town of Oceano, and a ranch of two hundred and twelve acres in the oil belt adjacent to Arroyo Grande.

In 1872 Mr. Callender was married to Miss Maria Persing, a native of Michigan, and to them have been born a family of four children : Carrie M., for the past two years a teacher in the San Mateo high school; Georgia, wife of W. O. Smith, head of the science department in the Mission high school, San Francisco, whose residence is in Berkeley: Roy, who re- sides in San Luis Obispo ; and Edna, a student at the University of California, in Berkeley. Fraternaily Mr. Callender affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having been initiated in 1854 in Dixon, Ill., and being now by card a member of Oakdale Lodge No. 228, I. O. O. F. He is an advocate of the prin- ciples embraced in the platform of the Repub- lican party, casting his maiden presidential vote for Fremont and so down the line for every Republican nominee to Roosevelt.

Mr. Callender is now subdividing some twelve hundred acres of his Berros property to put on the market this coming season with his Oceano town property. He takes active interest in the development of his locality, is a hard worker and quite active for a man of seventy-seven years.

DELOSS POTTER THAYER. Among the earliest settlers of Long Beach, Deloss Potter Thayer has been an interested witness as well as a participant in the remarkable development that has changed this town of twenty years ago into the active city of today. Mr. Thayer has inher- ited his most salient points of character from a long line of American ancestors prominent in public affairs. His paternal great-grandfather was a Frenchman, who immigrated to America in the colonial days of our country and located

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in Massachusetts. His son, Amos Thayer, par- ticipated in the war of 1812, during which service he was severely wounded. Later in life he re- moved to Cortland county, N. Y., where he pass- ed the remainder of his days as a farmer. He reared a family of children among whom was a son, Alonzo, who was born in Cortland county, N. Y, there reared to young manhood when in 1848 he became a pioneer of Kalamazoo county, Mich., and engaged as a farmer in the vicinity of Galesburg. Seven years later he removed to Dane county, Wis., and near the city of Colum- bus, improved a farm. Inheriting the spirit of his forefathers, he enlisted in 1861 in Company A, Twenty-ninth Regiment Wisconsin Infantry, in response to the call for men for service in the Civil war, participating in the historic struggle which followed until the close of hostilities in 1865. Returning to civic pursuits he engaged in farming near Reedsburg, Sauk county, Wis., where his death eventually occurred. His wife, formerly Mary Macomber, a native of New York, born of English and German ancestry, also died in Reedsburg.

In a family of six children all of whom are now living, Deloss Potter Thayer is the eldest and the only one in California. He was born in Cortland county, N. Y., in the town of Solon, June 24, 1847, and taken by his parents the following year to the middle west there at- tained manhood's estate. He attended the pub- lic schools in pursuit of an education and at the same time received a practical training along agricultural lines which proved of advantage to him on taking up an independent career. He followed farming in Dane and Sauk counties, in Wisconsin, and also lumbering, rafting lumber down the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers. He followed this occupation for ten or twelve years. Having been trained to the work from

the age of fourteen years. In 1871 he removed to Woodbury county, Iowa, and in the vicinity of Oto purchased a farm. In the meantime, in Portage, Wis., he had married Mary McGann, a native of that state, and after her death in Iowa in 1885 he disposed of his farming interests and returned to Wisconsin. For the ensuing two years he was engaged in sawmill- ing in the last-named state, when, November 3, 1887, he decided to seek a milder climate and ac- cordingly came to Southern California. In El Modena he engaged in teaming for three weeks, when he came to Long Beach and permanently established his home in this city. After one year occupied in teaming here he entered the employ of the Crocker estate of San Francisco, known as the Long Beach Development Company, engaging as foreman of the construction and later as collector for the firm, remaining so occupied for thirteen years. The organization

sold their interests to the Seaside Water Com- pany, after which Mr. Thayer resigned his posi- tion and accepted employment as foreman for a cement contractor. Shortly afterward he en- gaged as foreman of the construction for the Citizens' Water Company, just then organized, and later occupied a similar position with the Inner Harbor Gas Company, retaining his con- nection with this firm since February, 1906. Mr. Thayer has also taken a keen interest in real estate operations in this city, having purchased lots and erected four houses during the past few years. He has been a successful business man in all his connections here, is highly esteemed both for his business qualities and the stanch integrity of his character, and justly occupies a position among the representative citizens.

Mr. Thayer had five children by his first wife : Guy, a farmer in Iowa; Edgar, a merchant in Oto, Iowa; Cora May, wife of J. H. Morgan, of Long Beach; Lydia Ellen, wife of Charles Saunders, of Long Beach, and Charles Barnard, who was accidentally killed. In Long Beach, February 27, 1905, Mr. Thayer was united in marriage with Mrs. Hattie (Cushing) Gifford. She is a native of Middleboro, Mass., and a daughter of Perez Lincoln Cushing, the latter born in Boston of an old New England ancestry. He was educated for the ministry and during the years of his maturity established the Cushing Family School, of Middleboro ( now known as the Eaton Family School). He brought his family to California in 1876 and in Santa Bar- bara spent the remaining years of his life. By marriage he allied himself with another old New England family, Lavinia M. Parker, of Caven- dish, Vt., becoming his wife. Her father was Joseph Parker, a prominent farmer of that sec- tion of Vermont. One of her brothers, Rev. H. I. Parker, came to California in an early day and in Visalia, Santa Barbara, Santa Ana and Riverside organized the first Baptist churches. Mrs. Thayer was the only child born to her par- ents. Until she was sixteen years old she re- ceived her education in her native state, after which she came to California with her parents and completed her education in Point Loma Sem- inary, in San Diego, and the Santa Barbara Col- lege. In Santa Barbara she married Nelson D. Gifford, a native of Owego, N. Y., a jeweler by trade, who had come to California in an early day. Later they removed to Santa Ana and in 1886 came to Long Beach, where Mr. Gif- ford engaged in the livery business for some time. His death occurred in Monrovia Septem- ber 10. 1889. She had two children by this mar- riage. Lavina L., wife of Hugh C. Wilson, and Maud M., at home. By her second marriage she has two children, Robert Deloss and Juanita Edris. Mr. Thayer is associated with the Frater-

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

nal Aid, Independent Order of Foresters, and was made a Mason in Long Beach Lodge, with which he still affiliates. With his wife he is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of this city. In his political affiliations he is and has always been a stanch adherent of the princi- ples embraced in the platformn of the Republi- can party.

JACOB LUDY. In no state of the Union, since the redemption of waste lands, and the es- tablishment of quick means of transportation, is general farming carried on in such magnificent proportions, and with so much profit, as in Cali- fornia. Here are to be found some of the most active, intelligent and progressive agriculturists of the country, men whose forethought, wisdom and good judgment have been instrumental in bringing about this condition of affairs. Promi- nent among this number are men of foreign birth and breeding, one of whom is Jacob Ludy of this review, formerly a prosperous ranchman of Rainbow, San Diego county, but now a retired resident of Los Angeles. He was born Decem- ber 15, 1848, in Wurtemberg, Germany, being one of the five children of Christian and Cath- erine (Roecker) Ludy, who spent their entire lives in the Fatherland, and the only one of the family that ever crossed the Atlantic ocean.

Receiving a practical common school educa- tion in his native country, Jacob Ludy there be- gan life for himself as a teamster. At the age of twenty years he left home, determined to try his fortunes in America, and on January 11, 1869, landed in New York City, a stranger in a strange land. Going directly to Ohio, he was there employed in teaming until 1878, when he went to Pennsylvania, where he lived for ten years, being engaged either in teaming or rail- roading. In 1888, having in the meantime ac- cumulated some capital, he came across the con- tinent to California, and for six months was a resident of Los Angeles. Locating then in San Diego county, he took up one hundred and twenty acres of government land, from which he improved a good ranch. In 1892 he removed to the Temecula valley, where he was engaged in his chosen calling for three years. The en- suing three years he was engaged in general farming on the Wolf tract, which he then pur- chased, obtaining title to thirteen hundred and seventy-seven acres of land. Adding to the im- provements previously inaugurated, he embarked in general farming on an extensive scale, and meeting with excellent success as a raiser of grain, alfalfa and stock bought additional land, increasing the size of his farm to seventeen hun- dred acres. This large estate he sold in July, 1905, for the sum of $28,500, but he still owns

considerable land. He bought a ranch of three hundred and twenty acres in Rainbow district where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits, raising grain and hay, and feeding stock, until his retirement in the fall of 1906. . This property he has deeded to his wife. In 1905 he purchased thirteen acres on Central avenue which is stead- ily increasing in value.

In 1869 Mr. Ludy married Christiana Schu- man, a native of Germany, who has ever been an able assistant in all his farming operations. Of the eleven children born of their union three died in infancy, and eight are living, namely : Christian, John, Jacob Frederick, George, Will- iam, Adam, Katie and Lizzie. Politically Mr. Ludy supports the principles of the Democratic party, and religiously he and his wife are mem- bers of the German Lutheran Church.

RICHARD QUINN. A pioneer of Southern California, Richard Quinn is located in the vicinity of El Monte and engaged in the manage- ment of a small ranch of eighteen acres, de- voted to the raising of walnuts. He was born in Ireland, June 12, 1829, a son of Daniel and Jane (Lomasney) Quinn, both natives of Ire- land, where they both died, the father at the age of sixty years and the mother at seventy-five ; they were the parents of seven children, of whom but two are living, Richard, of this review, and Mrs. Kate Towne, of Oakland.

Richard Quinn was reared on his father's farm and educated in the common schools, after which, at the age of nineteen years, he came to America and in New York city and on Long Island did general work for a brief time. He finally enlisted in the regular army in Rochester, N. Y., becoming a soldier in Company K., Eighth United States Infantry, and his regiment was immediately sent to Texas against the Indian uprising. He served during the ensuing five years in El Paso and Fort Bliss, doing scout duty, having been in the southwest about a year when Captain Stanton was killed. After five years he was honorably discharged at Fort Stanton because of disability, having been wound- ed severly. From that point he went to San Antonio, Tex., and engaged in teaming for the ensuing three years, and in 1860 he set out for California, where he arrived in June after a series of mishaps because of the Indians. In Los Angeles he teamed for a time and finally went to Wilmington and did a similar work for the Banning Company. After a time spent in El Monte he went to Santa Clara and engaged in well boring, having learned this work in Texas. Returning to El Monte later he pur- chased a ranch of thirty-four acres ; he has since sold sixteen acres of this, and upon the remain-

MIT,Buttus

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ing eighteen acres is engaged in raising walnuts.

In February, 1862, Mr. Quinn was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Slack, a native of England, and born of this union were twelve children, one of whom is deceased: Those liv- ing are as follows: Eliza J .; Clotildis, wife of Albert Kerns, of Savannah; Mary, wife of John Lightfoot, of San Bernardino; Richard, who married Catherine Sullivan ; Lillie, wife of Rowan Thorpe, of Los Angeles; William, who married Maud Hazard, of San Diego; Herbert; Edith, wife of Edmund Nicholson, of Los Angeles; Mabel; Nita; and Gladys. Mr. Quinn is a Republican in politics, and in religion is a mem- ber of the Catholic Church at San Gabriel, the oldest church in the state. He is a man of fine personality, interesting in his reminiscences of the pioneer days. and proud of the development which has taken place during the last fifty years in California. He is specially interested on all educational affairs, having given the best ad- vantages possible to his own children and con- stantly advocating the establishment and main- tenance of good schools throughout the country.

WILLIAM H. BUTTERS. Thorough business training under the supervision of his father and the advantages of educational facil- ities in institutions of high merit, supplement- ing natural abilities of a superior order, en- abled Mr. Butters to take rank among the most influential men of Long Beach, where at the time of his death, March 16, 1907, he was senior member of the Butters & Paul Invest- ment Company, Inc. Doubtless he inherited his ability in a large degree from his father, Horace U. Butters, who was an extensive lum- ber merchant, and a man of prominence in the lumber circles of Michigan, known and hon- ored for his long.identification with the lum- ber interests of the state and for the high principles of honor displayed in his every bus- iness transaction. To any community, the passing of such a man is a calamity, and there were many who mourned, with a sense of per- sonal loss, the death of this successful lumber- man, which occurred in May, 1905. when he was seventy-three years of age.

At the family homestead in Michigan Will- iam H. Butters was born November 23. 1866, and in the neighboring schools he received his primary education. It was his good fortune to later attend the' Morgan Park Military Academy, Northwestern University at Evans- ton, and the Spencerian Business College at Milwaukee, Wis., in all of which institutions he availed himself of the excellent opportuni- ties offered. For ten years he remained near Wilmington, N. C., where he had the super-

vision of a branch of his father's business, and there he met with more than ordinary success in managing the diverse interests under his care. On the closing out of that place lie re- turned north and then went to the mines of the northwest, where for five years he tried his luck at mining in Washington and Idaho. At the expiration of the period named he came to Southern California, settled in Los Angeles, and took up the real estate business as an avenue of employment, remaining there until his removal to Long Beach. After his location here he organized the Butters & Paul Investment Company. Inc., with a capi- tal stock of $100,000, the Strand Investment Company, with a capital stock of $50,000, be- ing president of both companies, while he was vice-president of the Inner Harbor Land Com- pany, Inc., capital stock $100,000, also director of the State Bank of Long Beach. In addi- tion to his other interests Mr. Butters owned and managed the Strand apartment building on the beach, where he was living at the time `of his death. Mrs. Butters was in maiden- hood Miss Ada Edwards, and was born in Louisiana, but during girlhood went to Vir- ginia, her marriage occurring in Alexandria, that state.

The Republican party received the support of Mr. Butters in local and general elections, but aside from voting he took little part in political activities and could not be called a partisan in any sense of that word. As a member of the Union League Club he was identified with one of the leading social or- ganizations of the place. During his resi- dence in Michigan he was prominent in Ma- sonry, holding membership in Pere Mar- quette Lodge No. 299, F. & A. M., at Lud- ington ; Ludington Chapter No. 92, R. A. M .; Apollo Commandery No. 31, K. T., at Lud- ington ; and Oasis Temple, at Charlotte, N. C., while after going to the northwest he was raised to the consistory degree in Oriental Consistory No. 2, at Spokane, Wash. Widely traveled, a man of keen ob- servation and logical faculties of reasoning, he had utilized every advantage and in this way acquired a breadth of information surpassed by few men of his locality.

EDWARD GRANVILLE. Facilities for travel by railroad between San Diego and Es- condido are lacking to such an extent that many travelers prefer to avail themselves of the ad- vantages offered by the stage line running be- tween the two cities by way of Poway. The future development of the railroad system in San Diego county will witness many improve-

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ments; towns will be brought into closer con- tact through the ramifications of railroads yet to be constructed, and land value will be in- creased by reason of the advantages offered for the marketing of produce. However, at the present time, pending such development as the twentieth century may bring, the excellent equip- ment of the stage line brings to the people ad- vantages of great desirability. The success of the line is due to the efforts of the president, John Granville, Jr., who resides in San Diego, and the secretary and general manager, Edward Gran- ville, who attends to the Escondido end of the line. The entire distance of thirty-five miles is easily covered in one day without weariness of body to the passengers. In addition to, and in connection with, the stage line, Mr. Granville conducts a livery barn at Escondido, having opened the same November 1, 1904, since which time he has slowly but steadily increased his equipment of horses and vehicles suited to the wants of the public.

Born in Orange county, N. Y., October 7, 1870, Edward Granville is a son of John and Catherine (Gillmartin) Granville, natives respect- ively of England and Ireland, but residents of the United States from early childhood. After their marriage in New York they engaged in the nursery business in Orange county, but about 1872 removed west as far as Kansas and began to grow nursery stock at Topeka. After a res- idence of fourteen years in Kansas they came to California in 1886 and settled in San Diego, where they still make their home. The earliest recollections of Edward Granville are associ- ated with Kansas, where he received his edu- cation in grammar and high schools. On com- ing to California in 1887 he secured employ- ment in San Diego and in 1901 he became in: terested in the stage line, which two years later was incorporated with his brother as president and himself as secretary. Outside of the man- agement of the stage line and the livery barn, he finds leisure for participation in social affairs and fraternal organizations, is a welcomed guest in the most select circles of Escondido, and is an active worker in the Knights of Pythias and the American Order of Foresters. All movements for the upbuilding of Escondido receive his stanch support and his co-operation is always relied up- on in matters for the public welfare. September 15, 1906, he was united in marriage with Bessie May Bevington, a native of San Diego county.

FRANK G. THOMPSON. The business in- terests of Escondido have a representative in Mr. Thompson, who for a considerable period has been a resident of the town and a leading factor in its commercial development. During the early

years of his residence here he confined his atten- tion to the livery business, but more recently he has also became the properietor of an under- taking establishment, has established and main- tained the transfer business of the town, and also maintains a sample room for the conven- ience of commercial travelers. In addition to his possessions in his home town he retains land in Minnesota, is interested in the oil wells of Kern county, Cal., and also owns interests in San Bernardino county.

Born in Leroy, Mower county, Minn., July 8, 1866, Mr. Thompson is of New England ancestry. His parents, Isaac and Hattie (Bray) Thomp- son, were natives of Maine and Vermont re- spectively and the father was a miller by trade. Attracted to the west by the discovery of gold, he came from his eastern home by way of the Horn to San Francisco in 1850 and proceeded from that city to the mines at Marysville. For ten years he engaged in the dairy business and in the butcher's trade, selling meat and butter to the miners. On his return to Maine about 1860 he married Miss Bray and removed with his young wife to Minnesota, where he became pro- prietor of a mill at Kingston, Meeker county. Later he removed to Leroy, Mower county, and there his death occurred in November of 1904. at seventy-three years of age.' His wife had passed away in July, 1898, when sixty-five years of age.

The schools of Leroy afforded Frank G. Thompson fair educational advantages, but his broad knowledge of mankind has been gained through habits of close observation rather than from the study of text-books. At the age of nineteen years he left home and started out to earn his own livelihood, first going to the Da- kotas, where he remained for four months. Not satisfied with prospects there, he decided to come to the coast. During August, 1886, he arrived at Oleander, Fresno county, Cal., and soon se- cured employment in horticultural pursuits. Af- ter a time, in recognition of his efficiency, he was made manager of the Newhall vineyard and orchard, which position he held until he resigned in November, 1890, on the occasion of his re- moval to San Diego county. Since coming to Escondido he has built up a livery of about twenty-five head of horses, with every kind of vehicle needed by those who travel on the pleasent roads of San Diego county. In July, 1904, he purchased the J. H. Sampson undertaking busi- ness, which he runs in conection with the livery business.

In Leroy, Minn., the marriage of Mr. Thonp- son occurred December 21, 1898, to Louise C. Hambrecht, who was a native of that place, born December 18, 1866. Personally he is a man of pleasant address and genial manner, one whose

R. R. Christie

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

good fortune it is to be liked and respected by the people, and one whose standing in business circles is as substantial as his uprightness is unquestioned.

ROBERT RANSON CHRISTIE. Among the most successful real-estate dealers in Long Beach is Robert Ranson Christie, who has been engaged in business in this city since August, 1904. His family is of original Scotch extraction, although his ancestors came to America in an early day, the grandfather, Is- rael, who was born in Virginia, having fought in the war of 1812. That the race is an unus- ually strong and vigorous one is evidenced by the fact that this man became the father of fifteen children, all of whom grew to maturity and married. Rev. Jeffrey B. Christie, the father of Robert Ranson, was a native of Ken- tucky, who later removed to Daviess county, Mo., and settled on a farm from which he made his living, while he gave his services as a Bap- tist minister to the church of that denomination gratis. He died in Missouri at the age of sev- enty-nine years, survived by his wife, who re- sides in Bagdad, Ky., at the present time. She was in maidenhood Miss Bohannon, daughter of Henry Bohannon, who was secretary of Georgetown (Ky.) College

at the time of his death : he served in the legislature of that state many times. The great-grand- father on the maternal side, Rev. Abram Cook, was a Baptist minister, and a member of a pioneer family of Kentucky which fought the Indians and assisted in making the coun- try a safe one in which to make a home. Four generations ago the family removed to Mis- souri.

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A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, also containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present, Volume I, Part 133

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company Number of Pages: 1184

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1184