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 145

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

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NUMA A. STRAIN. A public officer who has the respect of his fellow citizens is Numa A. Strain, the present roadmaster of the San Gabriel district, and man in every particular fit- ted for the faithful discharge of official duties, his upright character, honesty and integrity lending advantages which few citizens of this section could equal. Like a large majority of the citizens of Southern California he is a na- tive of the middle west, his birth having occurred in Monroe county, Ind., February 10, 1856. His parents, John and Katharine (Finley) Strain, were both natives of Tennessee, the father en- gaging as a farmer in Indiana for some years, shortly after the birth of the son mentioned above removing to Mahaska county, Iowa, where he purchased a thonsand-acre grain and stock farm. His death occurred in this locality at the early age of forty-seven years. He was a citizen of prominence, a patriot inheriting from ancestors

the spirit which sent him forth in the Mexican war to serve with distinction as a lieutenant in an Indiana regiment. He was a stanch Repub- lican in his political views; in religion both himself and wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The mother died at the age of seventy-seven years, leaving a family of ten children, of whom seven are still surviving, Numa A., of this review, and a sister, wife of Dr. Hallowell, being the only two in California.

In lowa Numa A. Strain received his education in the common schools and at the same time re- ceived a practical training on his father's large stock farm. This led to his becoming a cowboy in New Mexico and Texas during young manhood, his expertness in throwing the lariat and round- ing up the cattle winning him the universal com- mendation of his fellows. After seven years of this employment, in 1882 he came to California, still the Mecca for youthful adventurers as in the "days of old, the days of gold, the days of forty-nine." Mining, however, was not the chief occupation of that time, and in Los Angeles county he found employment on the Short ranch, and afterward became the manager of the place, which position he held uninterruptedly for seven- teen years. This ranch contained seven hundred and seven acres devoted to oranges, lemons and grapes, and during Mr. Strain's management great improvements and developments were made. This occupation was interrupted when he re- ceived from the board of supervisors the ap- pointment to his present position, that of road- master of the San Gabriel district, and during the past eight years he has retained the place with constantly increasing benefit to the com- munity. With the comparatively limited amount of money devoted to road improvement Mr. Strain has still accomplished wonderful results, the pres- ent condition of the roads speaking eloquently of his management and the conscientious ful- fillment of his duty. He is intensely interested in the present agitation in Los Angeles county re- garding the building and improvement of roads and no officer will take more action than he in promoting the influence in this direction.

Mr. Strain is a landowner of Los Angeles county, his home consisting of four acres, be- ing located in San Gabriel, while he also owns an acre and a half in the Ramona tract. He has just disposed of a tract of seven and a half acres, for which he received a handsome profit. He was married in 1893 to Miss Georgia Chap- pel, a native of Missouri, and daughter of John Chappel, a pioneer of California, but now a resident of Texas. They are the parents of three children, Numa, John and Catherine. In his political affiliations Mr. Strain is a life-long Republican, having the honor of being one of the first three Republicans in this district. He has

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always been active in his efforts to advance the principles he endorses, attending county conven- tions, etc., but has never cared for personal re- cognition. He is a member of Alhambra Lodge No. 127, K. of P. He gives his support to the Baptist Church, of which his wife is a mem- ber.

DR. JOSEPH E. STEERS. Varied as were the experiences falling to the lot of Dr. Steers, even more eventful was the life of his father, Thomas Steers, to whom Destiny brought the doubtful fortune of prominence during the Civil war and more than once placed him in imminent peril of his life. Intimately associated with the early development of the iron industry in the United States, he removed from Pennsylvania to Virginia early in the '40s and associated himself with Henry M. Bayard in the manufacturing business. It happened that he owned the only mine in the country turning out iron capa- ble of being utilized for canon and during the war the output of the mine was therefore of es- pecial importance. In 1862 he took part in a blockade which resulted in his capture and impris- onment for one year at Fort Lafayette in New York. Through the influence of friends his re- lease was secured from the government, but it was with the understanding that he would re- main north of Mason's and Dixon's line until the expiration of the war. However, in 1864, at the instigation of these friends, he violated the pro- vision and traveled through the south, buying the cotton crop at Charleston, Wilmington and Sa- vannah for twenty cents a pound, and selling in London for $2.50 per pound. At the very outset the scheme was discovered by Gen. B. F. Butler, who, not being taken into their confidence, promptly nipped it in the bud and frustrated the plans of its originators. A further misfortune befell the leader in the burning of his vessel, Huntress, off the shores of Charleston.

Seeking a less hazardous occupation, Thomas Steers returned to Pennsylvania and took up railroad building, constructing a road for Thomas Scott and later having charge of similar work in the Carolinas and Tennessee. In 1873 he went to New York and took charge of the building of the New York, Housatonic & Northern Rail- road from White Plains, N. Y., to Danbury, Conn., in the interests of the Vanderbilt system, the subsequent purchasers of the road. The next enterprise in which he became interested was the building of the South Park Railroad in Colorado and while filling that contract he died in November, 1881. More than twenty years be- fore, in 1858, his wife, Elizabeth Eshleman, had been accidentally drowned at Red Sweet Springs in Virginia.

At the time of his mother's death Joseph E. Steers was a boy of ten years of age. He was born in Lewis county, W. Va., July 11, 1848, and re- ceived a public school education at Lancaster, Pa., after which he attended the Pennsylvania State Normal and completed his education by two years of study in Princeton College. Upon starting out into the world of business activity he became an assistant to his father in railroad work, his specialty being the tunneling through elevations. In 1870 he rounded the Horn on a vessel loaded with railroad supplies bound for Chile where he remained one year. This was followed by a trip to the South Sea islands, where he engaged in the jute busi- ness. Next he went to Alaska and traded with the Indians for ivory and whalebone. During the year 1874 he came to California and settled at San Francisco, but in little more than twelve months he left for Washington, spending one year at Seattle, and then return- ing to San Francisco. After a brief experience in the real estate business at Oakland, in 1881 he became interested in Arizona mines and went to that territory to develop his claims. Soon, how- ever, he became ill with lead poisoning and for five years was disabled for physical labors, mean- while taking every form of treatment that prom- ised even temporary relief. During that period he finally heard of vitapathic treatment and fol- lowing the same he enjoyed a complete restora- tion to health. So gratified was he by the re- sults of the treatment that he determined to de- vote his remaining years to the principle. With that idea in view he took a course of study in the American Health College and was graduated from the same, thereafter practicing vitapathy. In addition to his practice he mined in Mariposa county, Cal., from 1895 to 1897, and with his wife had extensive mining interests in Nevada.

In April of 1899 Dr. Steers made his home in Long Beach. where he passed away July 30. 1906, aged fifty-eight years ..

February 7, 1899 he was united in marriage with Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth (Roberts) Coffman, at Salt Lake City, and one son, Thomas Hallelea, was born to them September 3, 1900. Mrs. Steers is a daughter of John Roberts, represented on an- other page of this volume, and bv her first mar- riage has one son, Harold R. Coffman, now a prominent newspaper cartoonist of Philadel- phia, Pa., and well known in journalistic circles of the east.

FRIEDERICH OTTE. Prominent among the representative agriculturists of Oxnard is Fried- erich Otte, who came from a foreign land to Ventura county, and during the years that he has resided in this locality has pursued the tenor

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of his way as an honest man and a good citizen. Having by persistent industry and wise manage- ment accumulated a fair share of this world's goods, he is now living retired from active labor, enjoying a well-deserved reward. Straightfor- ward and upright in all of his dealings, he has gained in a marked degree the confidence and good will of his neighbors and associates, and throughout the community is highly respected. He was born May 7, 1835. in Germany, where his parents spent their entire lives, the father dying at the age of sixty-three years, and the mother when seventy-three years old. He is one of a family of four children, and the only one that ever left the Fatherland.

Brought up in Germany Friederich Otte re- ceived an excellent education, attending first the public schools, and afterwards completing his studies at a college. He then took up farming on the parental homestead, remaining with his parents until thirty-five years old. When ready to establish himself as a householder, he pur- chased land, and for a number of years was suc- cessfully employed in tilling the soil in his native country. In 1886, disposing of his farm, he im- migrated with his family to the United States, coming directly to Ventura county, where he has since resided. Locating in the Santa Clara valley of Southern California he purchased land, and at once began its improvement. Practical and enterprising, and not in the least afraid of hard work, he and his sons have since improved one of the best and most attractive ranches in this section of the county. He has two hundred and fifty acres of fertile land, and as a raiser of beans and beets has met with great success, his harvests being large and remunerative. In ad- dition to his ranch, on which he is living retired, having relegated its management to two of his sons, he owns a fine new residence in Oxnard.

In Germany, in 1865, Mr. Otte married Tennie Carstans, and they are the parents of six chil- dren, namely: Frederick, who married Augusta Volkert; Mary, wife of John Geltz; William ; Lena, wife of Peter Boefine: Louis, who married Mary Benecke; and Herman, living at home. Politically Mr. Otte invariably casts his vote in favor of the Republican party, and religiously he and his wife are members of the Lutheran Church at Oxnard.

CHARLES W. PAINE. Among the active and enterprising business men of Fernando who have attained success from a financial point of view is Charles W. Paine, a well-known harness manufacturer and dealer and hardware merchant. A native of Illinois, he was born May 6, 1860. in McHenry county, where the first ten years of his life were spent. Moving then with his par-

ents to Nebraska, he there received a practical common-school education, after which he began his career as an employe of the Burlington Rail- road Company.

Entering the service of the company in a minor capacity, Mr. Paine gradually worked his way upward, becoming conductor on a freight train. Coming to California in 1892, he was for seven years employed as brakeman on a freight train for the Southern Pacific Railway Company, hav- ing his headquarters at Los Angeles. Going to Mexico in 1899 he was for six months a conduc- tor on the Mexican Central Railroad, when, pre- ferring life. in the States, he returned to Los Angeles, where he resided until 1902. Locating then in Fernando, he assumed the management of the Hope hotel, a temperance house, and as "mine host" met with excellent results, becoming widely and favorably known to the traveling pub- lic. In the spring of 1903 he established a har- ness store, the first establishment of the kind in Fernando, and ran both his shop and hotel until the fall of 1905, when he disposed of the hotel. Mr. Paine has a finely equipped, up-to-date har- ness shop and hardware store, where he is carry- ing on an extensive and remunerative business. By shrewd foresight and wise management he has accumulated a fair share of this world's goods, owning considerable village property, in- cluding the business block in which he is located and the fine two-story house in which he resides. His wife is also a property owner, having title to two cottages which she rents.

Mr. Paine has been twice married. He mar- ried first, in Nebraska, Jennie Taylor, by whom he had five children, the oldest of whom is dead. those living being as follows: Delmer, of Fernando; Carrie, wife of Frederick Candelot, of Fernando: Mary E., wife of Earl Fullington, of Los Angeles; and Kinsley. Mr. Paine mar- ried for his second wife Mrs. Laura Nixon, and they have one child. Faith Paine. Politically Mr. Paine is a strong Prohibitionist, and religiously both he and his wife are members of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church.

ENOCH F. BYNG. Although but a brief time has elapsed since Mr. Byng came to Cali- fornia he has already established himself on a firm basis in the esteem of his fellow-citizens, being held in high appreciation for the sterling traits of character he has exhibited. He was born in England March 14, 1839, a son of John Byng, a native of the same place; the father brought his family to America in 1850 and be- came a pioneer of Iowa, there carrying on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, although in England he had been a sawmill operator. In Iowa his wife, formerly Elizabeth Bird, a na-

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tive of England, passed away. He later re- moved to Kentucky, where he again married, his death eventually occurring in that state. Both were members of the Baptist Church.

Brought to America when only eleven years old E. F. Byng received the greater part of his education in the public schools of Iowa. He remained at home until attaining his majority, when he began ranching for himself, this occu- pation being interrupted by his enlistment in 1862 in Company C, Twenty-sixth Iowa In- fantry, and serving until December. 1864. He enlisted as a private and was mustered out as first lieutenant. During his service he partici- pated in various important engagements, among them the siege of Atlanta, where he was wounded, Arkansas Post, siege of Vicksburg, Jackson, and marched with Sherman to the sea. Upon returning to civic life he again engaged in farming and later became interested in the sawmill business in Iowa, Missouri and Ken- tucky, following this industry continuously un- til 1903. In February of that year he came to California and located in the Altadena district. where he owned a lemon and orange grove for three years. In April, 1906, he disposed of this interest and coming to his present location pur- chased a ranch of thirty-five and a half acres, of which eight acres are devoted to alfalfa, twenty acres to cultivation and pasture, and is also interested in fine poultry, hog raising and the cultivation of fruit. In addition to the various industries mentioned he has a dairy herd of ten cows. His property is irrigated by six artesian wells.

In 1860 Mr. Byng was united in marriage with Miss Emma Walls. a native of England, her death occurring in Kentucky in 1906, at the age of sixty-four years. She was a member of the Baptist Church. They became the parents of the following children : Alice H. ; Helen M., wife of Rev. Loyd Wilson, of Louisville, Ky .; Louisa, wife of J. H. Wilcox, of Kentucky ; Benjamin F., who married Margaret Itten ; and John W., located in Sedalia, Mo. Politically Mr. Byng is a stanch Republican.

JOSEPH W. MONTGOMERY. The sub- stantial and progressive citizens of Compton have 110 better representative than Joseph W. Mont- gomery, who holds high rank among the keen. enterprising and business-like agriculturists who are so ably conducting the farming interests of this. part of Los Angeles county. In company with his brother. J. B. Montgomery, he is ex- tensively engaged in general farming, owning and occupying one of the finest ranches in centra! California. its buildings, furnishings and equip- ments being of the highest order and invariably

attracting the attention of the passer-by. Sons of John Montgomery, both of these brothers were born in Troy, N. Y., the birth of Joseph W. Montgomery occurring January 26. 1856, and that of his brother, J. B. Montgomery, Novem- ber 16, 1849.

John Montgomery was born in New York, and there married Mary Hallowell, a native of England. Five children were born of their union, namely : Alice, Isabelle, Hester, J. B. and Joseph W. Neither of the parents is now living, the mother having died in early womanhood, and the father in 1902. The father was a Republican in politics, and for many years was a member and treasurer of the Independent Order of For- esters, and both he and his wife attended the Episcopal Church.

Having completed his early education in the public schools of his native town, Joseph W. Montgomery was for four years employed in the drug store of David Magill, after which he served an apprenticeship of five years at the candy-maker's trade. Establishing himself in St. Louis, Mo., in 1879, he went into business for himself, opening an oyster house and restaurant. which he managed for eight years. In 1887 he came to California, locating in San Francisco, where he was similarly engaged for many years, being proprietor of a large and well-kept res- taurant. Selling out in 1904. he bought his present ranch, which is situated two and one- half miles northeast of Compton, and, with his brother, is managing it with pleasure and profit. He raises good crops of alfalfa, has a fine bear- ing orchard of choice fruits, and pays much at- tention to the raising of poultry. Following in the footsteps of his father, he is a stanch Repub- lican, and true to the faith in which he was reared is an Episcopalian.

JOHN A. ANDERSON. The Anderson family, represented in Los Angeles county by J. A. Anderson, came from Norway, in which country his father, Balser Anderson, was born. and where he learned the trade of pulp maker. He immigrated to America and located in Chi- cago, Ill., in which city his wife, formerly Maria Peterson, also of Norway, passed away. They were the parents of six children, all of whom are in America, four being residents of California. Mr. Anderson continued his work in Chicago until his retirement, when he came to California and now makes his home with his son in Long Beach, at the advanced age of sev- enty-five years.

J. A. Anderson was born in Christiania, Nor- way, February 22, 1859. the oldest in the parent- al family, and in his native city he was reared to young manhood and educated in her public

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

schools. At the age of fifteen years he entered the Naval Academy, or Corps of Sea Militia in Horten, and upon the completion of the course went to sea on a merchant marine, his first voy- age being on the Baltic sea. Following this he became a sailor on the Atlantic, and made a trip to China by the Cape of Good Hope, the vessel upon which he was located being engaged in the West India trade. In 1880 he came to America and from Chicago sailed on the Great Lakes until 1882. In the fall of the last named year he came as far west as Flagstaff, Ariz. (where there was but one log cabin used for a store), and was there engaged as foreman of the lumber yard of the Ayer Lumber Company, of Chicago. Continuing with the company un- til 1885, he then went to San Francisco, remain- ing there for a time, and following this located in San Pedro, where he entered the employ of the San Pedro Lumber Company in the capacity of outside man. Later he engaged with the Ker- choff & Cozner Lumber Company until 1895. when he became interested in the real-estate business, which he established in partnership with George H. Peck, the firm being known as George H. Peck & Co. for the period of five vears. Mr. Peck then sold out to John H. F. Peck, since which time the style of the firm name has been Peck & Anderson. The part- ners are men of ability and energy and have been largely instrumental in the opening up of many of the tracts about the city, being inter- ested in the Palos Verdes tract, the Caroline tract, and Grand View tract, as well as others of equal note. In 1904 they established branch office in Long Beach, where Mr. Peck is now acting as manager. They were largely interested in the opening of Seaside Park tract, their company alone having laid out forty acres of ocean front. Mr. Anderson is widely esteemed as a man of business and energy, and is looked upon as one of the progressive lights of the town, an upbuilder and promoter of the city's best interests.

In Chicago Mr. Anderson was married to Ingeborg Anderson, a native of Telemarken, Norway, and they are the parents of the follow- ing children: Ralph, Lorraine, Leonardo and Armand J. Fraternally Mr. Anderson is asso- ciated with the Red Men. In religion he is a Lutheran, while his wife belongs to the Meth- odist Episcopal Church.

HENRY W. WITMAN. Though not ac- counted pioneers of California, the Witman family has been identified with the history of the coast regions for many years, the first of the name in the state having heen C. G. Wit- man, a native of Pottstown, Pa., and a man of

large experience in the oil industry. During early manhood he lived for some years in Ken- tucky and then removed to Parkersburg, W. Va., where in addition to carrying on a hard- ware and plumbing establishment he became interested in oil wells and gradually increased his holdings until he was identified with the operating of about one hundred wells. After a time the industry declined and he then sought another location. During 1883 he came to California, where he remained at Dan- ville for eighteen months, and in 1885 came to Hueneme, Ventura county. For a time he was a member of the firm of Smith & Wit- man, dealers in hardware and plumbers' sup- plies, but later he conducted the business alone. Eventually he turned the store over to his son and removed to Jamestown, Tuolumne county, where he conducted a hardware business. On his return to the southern part of the state he joined his son, J. M., in the hardware busi- ness at Imperial, in April of 1904, and from there went to Los Angeles, where he died De- cember 14, 1905, at the age of more than eighty years. His wife, who was. a member of the McMillan family and was of eastern birth, now resides in Los Angeles. Two of their three children are living, the younger be- ing J. M., of Imperial, while the elder is Henry W., of Oxnard.

During the residence of the family in Ken- tucky Henry W. Witman was born at Cat- lettsburg. Boyd county, July 13, 1860. Dur- ing boyhood he attended the public schools of Parkersburg. W. Va., and there he became familiar with the hardware business while clerking in his father's store. His education was completed by a course in Eastman's Busi- ness College in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., after which he engaged as bookkeeper in lumber mills in West Virginia. In 1887 he joined his father in California and succeeded to the man- ageinent of the hardware business at Hueneme, where he also built up a small trade as a plumber. While in that town he rendered ef- ficient service as a member of the board of school trustees.

On his removal to Oxnard in 1898 Mr. Wit- man erected a building in the new town and embarked in business as a hardware merchant and plumber, in which capacity he continues at the present time. Soon the demands of the trade necessitated the erection of a larger building. In 1902 he erected a substantial brick structure, 30x90 feet in dimensions. The first floor gives him abundant space for the display of hardware and plumbers' supplies, and the upper story is rented to the city for office purposes. During April of 1903 he moved his stock of goods into the new build-

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ing and has since conducted business under the most favorable surroundings. All kinds of hardware are carried in stock, as well as plumbing material of the best assortments, and in addition he does tinwork upon order. For twelve years he was a member of the firm of Chambers & Witman and engaged in putting down artesian wells, for which purpose he and his partner owned three sets of well tools, viz. : hydraulic rig, steam outfit and hand tools, the same being used in boring hundreds of wells still flowing.

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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 145

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