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 II, Part 141

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1234

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however, is not Mr. Sargent's principal busi- ness, the greater part of his attention being given to the care of his bees, of which he has one hundred and fifty colonies. Pleasure and profit are combined in the work in which he is engaged, and no one in this part of the county is more thoroughly informed on the subject of bee culture than Mr. Sargent, for he has made a scientific study of the subject and has put his theoretical knowledge into practical nse. In 1888 Mr. Sargent purchased a tract of one hundred acres one half mile east of his present place, but this he subsequently traded for four sections of land in Texas, which he still owns.

In Greene county, N. Y., Mr. Sargent was married to Roselyn Hitchcox, a native of New York. Of the four children born to them we mention the following: Porter E. is a grad- uate of Harvard College and is engaged in touring with classes of boys preparing for college ; Rose, a musician of note, lives in Red- lands ; Arthur E. is a journalist and publisher of biographical works, the latter relating more particularly to Utah and Salt Lake, although he has also published a work on Los Angeles; Alice W. is the wife of William W. Fisher and lives at the Potter hotel, Santa Barbara. During young manhood Mr. Sargent joined the Odd Fellows and for thirty-five years has been a member of that body. For over thirty years he has served as an elder in the Presbyterian Church, with which he also united in earlier years.

WILLIAM THOMAS BARTON. A man of fine mental attainments, well educated and well informed, possessing great artistic talent and abil- ity, William Thomas Barton is carrying on an extensive and lucrative business at Long Beach as a contractor and builder, and is justly entitled to the honored position which he holds among the esteemed and influential citizens of this part of the county. A native of Indiana, he was born May 22, 1860, in Waveland, Montgomery county. His father, Robert Barton, a native of Flemings- burg, Ky., settled in Indiana when a young man, and has since been actively employed there in agricultural pursuits. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Groves, was born in Kentucky, a daughter of Samuel Groves, and died in Indi- ana. Five children were born of their union, four of whom are living, William Thomas, the subject of this sketch, being the oldest child, and the only one residing on the Pacific coast.

Brought up on the parental homestead, Will- iam Thomas Barton received his elementary edu- cation in the district schools, completing it at the Central Indiana Normal School, in Ladoga. The

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following eight years he was engaged in teaching in Parke county, Ind., being principal of the schools at Coloma two years, and at Mecca for the same length of time. Abandoning his profes- sional career in 1896, he came to Long Beach, Cal., and for four years worked at the carpenter's trade, serving as foreman of construction work for Mr. Green. Embarking in business on his own account in 1900, he has since been prosper- ously engaged in contracting and building, and has acquired a wide and favorable reputation as a talented and skillful workman. He is a fine architect, drawing his own designs and making his own plans, giving much time and thought to this branch of his business, which is one of the utmost importance to himself and to his patrons. In addition to erecting many of the larger and finer buildings of Long Beach, he has recently completed the handsome Marsh & Strong hotel and pavilion buildings at Alamitos Bay.

In Waveland, Ind., Mr. Barton married Lena Hunter, who was born and reared in Greencas- tle, Ind .. and they are the parents of six children, namely: Raymond, Mvrtle. Guy, Robert, Leland and Norma. Politically Mr. Barton is actively identified with the Republican party. Fraternally he is a member of Long Beach Lodge No. 327, F. & A. M., and of the Knights of Pythias. Both Mr. and Mrs. Barton belong to the Christian Church, being faithful and consistent followers of its teachings.

JOHN OLHASSO. Amid scenes far re- moved from the place of his birth and from the home of his ancestors, Mr. Olhasso is ac- tively engaged in the raising of sheep in the Bernardo valley, where he is known as one of the progressive young ranchers of San Diego county. Although not a native of the United States, he has been a resident of this country almost from the earliest period of his childhood recollections and is intimately iden- tified with the agricultural interests of his home county, where he has lived since early. boyhood. The family of which ,he is an hon- ored representative came from France. His parents, Domingo and Fannie (Etchegarry) Olhasso, were natives of the Pyrenees region of France and in early life were students in the schools of the south of France. When the father was a youth of seventeen years he crossed the ocean to South America and set- tled in Buenos Ayres, Argentine Republic, where he learned the trade of a butcher and at a later date became extensively engaged in the sheep business. On the plains of Argentina he had a large ranch with two thousand head of sheep, and for six or more years he carried on important sheep interests, but finally sold

out in order to remove to California. Both he and his wife are still living and make their home in Los Angeles, where two of their four children yet remain with them. The other two members of the family are engaged in the sheep business in San Diego county.

While the family were making their home in Buenos Ayres the gentleman whose name introduces this article was born November 6, 1877, and he was four years of age when his parents brought the children to the United States, settling in California. After a year in San Francisco the family moved to Santa Maria and a year later moved to Bernardo. He received his education in the Escondido grammar and high schools. On leaving school he turned his attention to the sheep industry, in which he received a thorough training under the experienced supervision of his father, and for four years the father and son worked in partnership. At the expiration of that time the latter bought out his father's interests and since then has had a brother associated with him in the work. Starting out for himself in 1002, he has since leased land for a sheep range and carries two thousand head grazing on the range. The excellent price of wool has made the industry profitable for him, in addition to which he has received fair prices for the mut- ton when shipped to the large markets. Keen, capable and resourceful, he has already won recognition as à rising and progressive young agriculturist and holds a high position among the other sheepmen of the country. From boyhood he has been identified with the Roman Catholic Church of Escondido, while his par- ents are members of the Roman Catholic Church in Los Angeles. After his father be- came a citizen of the United States he allied himself with the Republican party, and the son was reared in this faith. A careful study of political problems has deepened his belief in the wisdom of Republican principles and lie uniformly gives his ballot for the men and measures pledged to the support of the party platform.

JAMES A. COBURN. Southern Califor- nia was little more than a wilderness of wild mustard and cactus when James A. Coburn was born at Elmonte, March 18, 1852. His father, James M. Coburn, a native of Indiana, and his mother, formerly Mrs. Lucinda (Swarthout) Kinyon, born in New York, crossed the plains to California with the same train of emigrants, but their marriage did not take place until after their arrival in 1851. Immediately after their marriage they settled in Los Angeles county on a piece of govern-

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ment land, upon which they made their home for two years. Deciding to go further into the interior of the state. they chose San Ber- nardino county for their home and purchased a ranch in this vicinity. Mr. Coburn was a stanch Democrat, and both he and his wife be- longed to the Pioneers' Society of Southern California, and in the early days were active members of the Church of Latter Day Saints. The father died in San Bernardino at the age of seventy-six years, having been preceded by his wife two years, she being the same age as he at the time of her demise. They were the parents of four children, three of whom are living in San Bernardino county.

James A. Coburn was a young child when his parents brought him to San Bernardino county, in which place he received his edu- cation and has spent his life thus far. He worked on the home ranch until twenty-two years old and then, in 1874, was united in marriage to Miss Euphama Brown, who was born in Oregon, the daughter of William Brown, an early pioneer of that state. Mr. Coburn ranched for a time after his marriage, then took a position as foreman of the rail- road section for the Southern Pacific, holding this for eight years. He then decided to re- turn to the ranch and now has a very nice property, being the owner of forty-two acres, forty acres being devoted to the raising of corn, hay and to pasturage purposes, while two acres comprise the home lot and is planted to all kinds of fruits. Mr. Coburn is a Dem- ocrat in politics and fraternally affiliates with the lodge of Fraternal Brotherhood at San Bernardino. Mr. and Mrs. Coburn have a family of five children, as follows: Ada, the wife of George A. Roach, of San Bernardino, and the mother of one child; James W., re- siding at Stockton; Lovina, Jesse, and Clar- ence, all of whom still live under the parental roof. Mr. Coburn has identified himself with the upbuilding enterprises for this section of the state and is a man who is held in the high- est esteem by all who know him.

SAMUEL B. MCFARLAND. As assistant postmaster in Avalon Sammuel B. McFarland is one of the best known and most highly respected citizens of that city. He was born February 8. 1857, in Warrensburg, Mo., the son of Robert and Elizabeth (Gillam) McFarland, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. The parents were married in Lafayette county, Mo., where Mr. McFarland settled in 1844. becoming a farmer near Lexington. Making his home there until 1860, he then removed to Warrensburg, in which city he engaged in merchandising. He

died in 1902, at the age of seventy-eight years ; the mother's death occurred in Lafayette county. The McFarland family is of Scotch descent, the first member coming from Scotland and settling in Virginia before the Revolutionary war, in which the great-grandfather fought. Robert McFarland, although of southern birth, had strong Union sympathies at the time of the Civil war. He and Senator Cockrell were warm friends from boyhood and were married upon the same date in the same log house in Mis- souri. Religiously Mr. McFarland was of Pres- byterian faith and was one of the founders of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in War- rensburg.

The youngest of three children, Samuel B. McFarland was reared in Warrensburg, re- ceived a preliminary education in the public schools of that city, finishing with a course in the Warrensburg normal-school. After the com- pletion of his school work he joined his father in the mercantile business, subsequently becom- ing sole proprietor and conducting the store alone for a time. Disposing of his interests there he removed respectively to Lyons, Kans., and Butler, Mo., engaging in the same line of business. His residence in California dates from 1897, locating originally in Los Angeles, and a year later accepting a position as clerk in an Avalon business house.' In 1900 he received the appointment of deputy postmaster, N. B. Stan- ton having been the duly appointed postmaster, and when Edward Stanton was made his suc- cessor Mr. McFarland retained the position of deputy, having proven himself an efficient and trustworthy official, a courteous and obliging public servant.

By his marriage in Clinton, Henry county, Mo., in 1900, Mr. McFarland was united with Emma Buck, a native of that place. Her father, Thomas Buck, was born in London, England, and came to the United States when twenty-two years of age, settling in Missouri, where he se- cured a piece of raw land, improved it and en- gaged in farming, ultimately acquiring a large acreage in Butler county. Mrs. McFarland, who was one of eight children, received a very fine education, graduating from the Warrensburg (Mo.) State Normal in 1887 with the degree of B. S. D. She began her educational work in Ballard, Mo., serving for several years as head of the schools of that city, and in 1898 was elected principal of the Avalon schools, and was the real organizer of the grammar schools of Catalina. She began teaching in a small room in the back of the Congregational Church, there being about thirty pupils. In 1901 the new school building was erected and she very mate- rially assisted in the planning of the structure. After retaining the principalship for six years,

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during which time the attendance had grown to an enrollment of eighty-five, she resigned her position in 1904 to become clerk in the Avalon postoffice. She is universally admired for her superior qualities of heart and mind and is ac- tive in social and club circles, being at the pres- ent time president of the Avalon Women's Club. She is the mother of one child, Robert Victor. Fraternally Mr. McFarland was made a Mason in Lyons, Kans., still retaining his membership in the lodge there, also belongs to the Royal Arch Masons in Sterling, Kans., and is a member of the Knights of Honor. Polit- ically he is an advocate of the principles em- braced in the platform of the Democratic party. He is greatly interested in the development of the city in which he resides and lends his lib- eral support to the furthering of all upbuilding enterprises.

DAVID BUESSER. Until selling his property in February, 1906, Mr. Buesser was prosperously engaged as a horticulturist at North Glendale, where he improved a valuable ranch. As an orchardist he met with satis- factory results, year by year adding to his wealth. Since selling his ranch he has made his home in Glendale, where he has purchased property. A native of Germany, he was born in Wetzlar, Prussia, where his parents, David and Elizabeth (Rau) Buesser, spent their en- tire lives.

Having completed the prescribed course of study in the public schools, David Buesser learned the trade of a harness-maker, after which he served four years in the Ninth Hus- sar Cavalry. When the Franco-Prussian war was declared, in 1870, he was in Belgium, but prompted by love of the Kaiser and the Father- land, like all true sons of Germany, he re- turned home, and for five months served as a cavalryman in the corps of Reservists, being stationed in Cassel. When a young man he traveled extensively in Europe, being in Paris from 1863 until 1866, going from there to Belgium, where he conducted a large busi- ness, being foreman for a widow, whose hus- band he had previously worked for. Both as a patriotic soldier and as an honest, conscien- tious business man, he made a splendid record while living in his native country. In the army, he was promoted to the first grade for his good conduct and bravery, and has now his certificates from two nations.

Leaving Belgium May 12, 1872, Mr. Buesser crossed the Atlantic with his wife, landing in Boston, Mass., and from there going to New York City, where he worked for six months. Subsequently visiting his brother, Rev. F.

Buesser, in St. Peter, Minn., he spent a year in that place, and then accompanied his brother to Cleveland, Ohio, where he established himself, following his trade there for eleven years. In June, 1884, he came to California in search of a favorable opening for business. Selecting Los Angeles as a place of residence, he purchased a house on Bunker Hill avenue and lived there two years, being in the mean- time employed as foreman for George Peachy, a harness manufacturer, who is now living in Redondo. Deciding then to try a change of occupation, he bought a ranch of twenty-one acres at Hollywood, and after managing it four months sold out to Mr. Wilcox, taking in exchange an orange grove and peach orchard at North Glendale, where he resided until sell- ing out in February, 1906. He improved the property with a fine residence, which, with other improvements, cost him $4,000. In 1895 he sold ten acres of his ranch and was en- gaged in raising oranges and apricots on the remainder, meeting with signal success in his undertakings. As has been previously stated he sold his property in February, 1906, and has since resided in Glendale, where he has erected a modern cottage on Central avenue, in which he has since lived.

Previous to coming to this country, in Ver- viers, Belgium, Mr. Buesser married Louisa Hoch, a native of Alsace, France, and she has proved herself a true helpmeet to him at all times. Mr. and Mrs. Buesser have never had children of their own, but they adopted two, a little girl, who lived only a few years, and a boy, Frank Gustav Buesser, an especially bright and attractive child, who was acci- dentally killed when nine years and six months old. Mr. Buesser is a man of high moral prin- ciples, and with his wife is a consistent mem- ber of the Evangelical Church.

WILLIAM JESSE CURTIS, is the eldest son of Hon. I. C. and Lucy M. Curtis; his father was a prominent member of the bar of Marion county, Iowa, for many years, and represented that county in the state legislature for several terms. His mother is the daughter of Jesse L. Holman, one of the early justices of the supreme court of the state of Indiana, and a sister of Hon. William S. Holman, who for more than thirty years was a member of congress from that state.

Mr. Curtis was born in Aurora, Ind., on the 2nd day of August, 1838. In 1844 he moved with his parents to the then territory of Iowa and settled in Marion county, near the present city of Pella. He was educated at the Central University of Iowa, studied law in his father's

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office, was admitted to the bar in 1863, and became a partner of his father. In 1861 he married Miss Frances S. Cowles, of Delaware, Ohio. In 1864 he crossed the plains with ox and mule teams, came to California and set- tled in the city of San Bernardino, where he has resided ever since. The first five years after his arrival in California he devoted to teaching school. In January, 1872, he opened a law office in the city of San Bernardino. In 1873 he was elected district attorney of San Bernardino county and was re-elected in 1875.

Mr. Curtis has been associated at different times during the practice of his profession with Judge H. C. Rolfe, Hon. J. W. Satter- white, Judge George E. Otis and Judge F. F. Oster, and is now associated with his son, Jesse W. Curtis. The various firms with which he has been connected all occupied prominent positions at the bar of Southern California, and were retained in many important civil cases tried in San Bernardino county, and fre- quently in cases tried in adjoining counties, and the United States circuit and district courts. He is now and has been one of the directors of the San Bernardino County Sav- ings Bank ever since its organization. He is also engaged in growing and shipping oranges, and he and his son Holman have one of the finest and largest orange groves on the Colton Terrace, about midway between the city of San Bernardino and the town of Rialto.

Mr. Curtis has always taken an interest in matters pertaining to the welfare of the city, county and state, and especially in the subject of education, and served for a number of years as president of the city board of education. He is president of the bar association of the county, and one of the trustees of the law library.

FREDRICH JOEHNCK. The Joehnck family formerly flourished in Schleswig-Hol- stein, the ancestral home being at Eckernforde, not far distant from the Kiel canal that brings the waters of the North sea into navigable con- nection with those of the Baltic. Claus was the first of the family to emigrate from the old world and he became a farmer in Clinton county, Iowa, where he and his wife both died at the age of ninety-three years. In religion both were faithful adherents of the Lutheran denomination. Their son, Henry, was born at Eckernforde, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and was a youth of eighteen years when the family sought the larger opportunities offered by America. Shortly afterward he became a pioneer in what is now Grand Island, Neb.,

where he participated in numerous struggles with hostile Indians and proved himself as brave as he was enterprising. By wise manage- ment he has acquired the possession of several farms near Grand Island and now gives his attention to their supervision. In politics he is a Republican.

After .coming to the United States and se- curing the means necessary for the establish- ment of a home, Henry Joehnck married Mar- gareta Goos, who was born in Kappaln, Schles- wig, Germany, and at the age of eleven years came to America with her parents and settled in Scott county, Iowa. She still survives and is hale and hearty in spite of her sixty-six years of active life. All of her ten children are living, there being, six sons and four daugh- ters, all married, of whom Fredrich was sec- ond in order of birth. On the home farm near Grand Island, Neb., he was born April 15, 1862, and there he passed the uneventful years of boyhood. After having completed common- school studies he began to learn the trade of a brick-layer in Grand Island, and on the com- pletion of his apprenticeship he went to Den- ver, Colo., to work at the trade. From there he came to Southern California, arriving at Los Angeles March 1, 1891, and immediately securing employment at his trade. For some years he worked by the day or by contract in that city, but in 1898 he came to Oxnard to work under Carl Leonardt in the construction of the American Beet Sugar Company's plant. The following year he embarked in the manu- facture of brick, having his first yard on the Savier road, but later removing to Montalvo, where he has a yard of four acres furnishing a fine quality of clay for the manufacture of brick. The plant has a capacity of about one million brick per year. In addition to manu- facturing brick he takes contracts for brick work and has furnished the material used in practically all of the brick buildings in Ox- nard.

The residence which Mr. Joehnck erected on First street, Oxnard, and which he still owns, is presided over by his wife, formerly Miss Annie C. Mumm, of Denver, Colo. Mrs. Joehnck's father, Detlef, is a prominent citizen of Hohn, Schleswig-Holstein, and for years has been intimately identified with the Luth- eran Church there as its secretary and treas- urer. His daughter was born July 4, 1864, in Schleswig-Holstein and was reared in the Lutheran faith, to which she adheres with the utmost loyalty, and in which she is training her only child, Henry Detlef Johnck, who was born July 4, 1896. During the period of his residence in Colorado Mr. Joehnck was initiated into the Independent Order of Odd

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Fellows in Denver Lodge No. 14, but since then has transferred his membership to Ox- nard Lodge No. 89, I. O. O. F., and in addi- tion, with his wife, he affiliates with the Order of Rebekalıs. For some time he has been ac- tive in the work of the Sons of Herman and formerly held the office of president; in which position he accomplished much for the upbuild- ing of the order.

GEORGE P. LYMAN. The Lyman family, represented in Long Beach by George P. Lyman, a successful real estate dealer of this city, was established in Massachusetts by Richard Lyman, an Englishman wino located at Northampton dur- ing the colonial period of our history. Succeed- ing generations flourished in that location, whence Samuel Lyman, a farmer by occupation, removed to Illinois in 1856 and in the vicinity of Onarga, Iroquois county, passed the remain- der of his life. By marriage he allied his for- tunes with those of another old and honored family of New England, his wife being in maid- enhood Lucetta Burt, who was born in Massa- chusetts and died in Illinois. They were the parents of the following children : Samuel Burt, who served as sergeant in the First Pennsylvania Rifles (known as the old Bucktail regiment) during the Civil war, was taken prisoner, but survived the horrors of incarceration and re- turned to civic life at the close of hostilities, his death occurring eventually in Minnesota ; John D., who served in the Twenty-fifth Regiment, Illinois Infantry, and died in 1862 at Benton- ville, Ark .; George P., of this review; and Ed- ward M., a native of Massachusetts, who en- gaged in farming in Illinois until 1894, when he came to California and in Covina engaged in the cultivation of oranges. In 1901 he located in Long Beach and has since engaged in the real- estate business with his brother.

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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 II, Part 141

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company Number of Pages: 1234

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1234