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 152

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

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DAVID C. STRONG, M. D. It is unusual that a professional man meets with so much suc- cess in so short a time as has attended the career of Dr. David C. Strong, who although young in years, is creditably filling the position of super- intendent of the San Bernardino county hospital. and at the same time attends to a large private practice as physician and surgeon in the city of San Bernardino. Dr. Strong was born August 26, 1879, in Paxton, Ill., the son of Robert and Martha (Miller) Strong. His early years were passed on the farm of his father, who was a prosperous farmer and stock-raiser, and in the winter time attended the district school in his neighborhood, acquiring a good knowledge of the common branches, after which he attended Rice Collegiate Institute for four years. The first two years of his medical course were spent in Rush Medical College, Chicago, and the last two years at the College of Physicians and Sur- geons in the same city.

Upon acquiring his medical degree Dr. Strong located at Wichita, Kans., and for eighteen months conducted a successful practice. He then came to California and built up a large and lucra- tive business at Redlands. In 1905 he received the appointment to his present office of super- intendent of the county hospital at San Ber- nardino, in which institution the number of pa- tients ranges from seventy-five to as high as one hundred and thirty-five on some occasions. Dr. Strong has identified himself with the various medical societies of the state, holding member- ship in the San Bernardino County Medical So- ciety, the State Medical Society and the South- ern California Medical Society. His marriage to Miss Mary Glenn of Chicago took place in 1901, and they have one son, Robert Glenn.

MAJOR ORIN PECK SLOAT. One of the most highly respected citizens of San Bernardino is Maj. Orin Peck Sloat, who for the past ten years or more has been division storekeeper for the Santa Fé Railroad Company, having charge of the Santa Fé and Los Angeles divisions. A native of New York. he was born in 1859. in

Hobart, Delaware county, the son of William Henry and Permelia (Peck) Sloat, the father having late in life moved to San Bernardino, where he died in 1905. Until his sixteenth year Major Sloat attended the common schools of his native state, and for several succeeding years was employed on farms. In 1881 he came to Los Angeles, Cal., where he became an employe of the W. C. Furrey Hardware Company as clerk, remaining in that position five years. The fol- lowing four years he spent in the employ of the C. W. Mettler Hardware Company in the same city, and subsequently he served as deputy county clerk under C. D. Hamilton for two years.

In 1895 Major Sloat became connected with the Santa Fé Railway Company, and was sent to San Bernardino to take charge of the stores here, a position which he has retained from that time until the present. He is a stanch believer in the principles advocated by the Republican party, and he has always taken an especial in- terest in military affairs. In July, 1889, he was elected a member of Company K, Seventh Regi- ment of California National Guard, of which company he was soon made captain, and was afterwards commissioned major, which office he still holds. At one time he served as secretary of the regiment for eight months. In 1898 he was appointed captain of a company of United States volunteers. Fraternally he is a member of San Bernardino Lodge No. 348, F. & A. M., and he is recognized in his city as a man who is always willing to lend his efforts toward the furtherance of any enterprise tending to build up the community in which he lives.

EARL L. AMES. A well-to-do mining man of San Bernardino and one who has made the whole of his $35,000 fortune within the past five years in this city is Earl L. Ames, whose life, with the exception of about two years, has been spent in San Bernardino county, where he was born February 9, 1857. The life of the Ames family is linked prominently with the pi- oneer history of that section of Southern Cali- fornia. The parents, Ellis and Olive J. (Gibbs) Ames, the former a native of Ohio, and the lat- ter of Rutland, Vt., were married in Jackson county, Mo., where the elder Ames was engaged as a farmer for several years. He later removed to Salt Lake City and finally pushed on across the desert and mountains to California. The trip across the plains was a very long one and full of hardship, for at one time they ran out of water and were obliged to kill a heifer and drink the blood from it in order to keep from dying of thirst. They at last reached Bitter Springs, and there the teams gave out, neces- sitating a stop at that point. The family land-

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ed in San Bernardino in 1854. Mr. Ames soon established a grocery and dry-goods business, becoming the first merchant in San Bernardino, and continued in business here for several years. He at one time owned Slover mountain near Colton, which today produces fine marble and cement stone, and was also an early official in the county, held the office of district attorney and was the first public administrator for the county. Politically he affiliated with the Repub- lican party. At the time of his death, at the age of seventy-four years, he was living retired from active business. His wife, who lived to the ad- vanced age of eighty-five, was a member of the Reorganized Church of the Latter Day Saints. They were the parents of fifteen children, nine of whom are still living. C. E. Ames is a res- ident of Santa Ana: Edson, Ellis, Don A. and Carlos are living in San Bernardino; Mrs. Net- tie Garner lives in Los Angeles; and Mrs. Syd- ney Mee has her home in San Bernardino.

After attending the common schools of San Bernardino county Earl L. Ames learned the trade of brick mason and followed it for three years in that city, after which he went to Ar- izona on a prospecting trip, crossing the Colo- rado river sixteen times on this occasion. Lat- er he was engaged in running a fruit wagon into the mining camps of Arizona, where he sold apples at the high price of ten cents apiece. Aft- er two years at this employment he returned to San Bernardino and took up his old trade of stone mason, and prospected on the nearby mountains during his spare time, continuing this for about twenty years. In July, 1901, he dis- covered the Native Son mine, which he dis- posed of in 1905, and now owns other claims that he considers just as good as the Native Son. He also holds in his possession several mining claims on the west slope of Old Baldy mountain, at an elevation of about seven thou- sand feet, which hold an untold wealth of quartz, and is still conducting prospecting operations in the same locality. Some of his other claims in the desert district of the county also show good quartz. He has a number of valuable property interests in San Bernardino city, where he owns a house and lot on F street, and is a stockholder in the Home Gas company. He bought an eleven acre tract of land containing a good house and other improvements, located in the city lim- its, and recently sold three acres of the ground at a handsome profit. In 1901 Mr. Ames was a poor man and the fortune which he has accumu- lated in the intervening years has been made in mining and judicious investments, in real estate and other lines.

Mr. Ames' marriage united him with Miss Sadie, a daughter of J. M. Sanders, of River- side, and they have become the parents of six

children : Myrtle, Mabel, Lena, Robert E., Dale and Thelma. Politically Mr. Ames is an ad- herent of the Republican party. He is an ex- pert workman at his trade, a good business man, possesses sound judgment and is held in the highest esteem by all who know him.

BENJAMIN F. McLEOD. The proprietor of the leading nursery establishment in San Ber- nardino is Benjamin F. McLeod, who started this business in 1904 and has in this short time built it up to its present large proportions, do- ing both a wholesale and retail business. Mr. McLeod was born of Scotch-American parentage in August, 1869, in Laingsburg, Shiawassee county, Mich., the son of Rev. James and Eme- line (Whitmore) McLeod, the father being a native of Scotland and the mother of New York City. Rev. Mr. McLeod was educated for the ministry in his native country, graduating from the Glasgow University, in which he received special training in the study of modern and an- cient classics. He was a man of strong person- ality, a ready and forceful speaker and became prominent in his profession in several different states of the Union. After a most successful career, in which he came in contact with a host of people who learned to love and respect him, he passed away in 1889. His wife is yet living and resides in Bakersfield, Cal.

Benjamin F. McLeod was reared in a refined and intellectual atmosphere and was surrounded by elevating home influences. His education was received in the public schools of Laingsburg and when his school days were over was vari- ously employed in his native state until 1894. when he came to California and settled at Bak- ersfield, engaging in business there for many years. In 1903 he disposed of his interests there and removed to San Bernardino and estab- lished a nursery and florist's business, in which he is now engaged. He is located at No. 655- 659 G street on a lot 150x300 feet, which con- tains his family residence as well as the green- houses, and the well with a modern pumping plant, which forces the water into the large re- servoir to be used for irrigating purposes. He carries a very select stock of the finest foreign and American flowers and plants, many of them being of his own propagation. He has a very large local trade and also ships to neighboring towns in the state, besides which he receives orders from other states, even as far away as Missouri. Mr. McLeod has given plants and entomology considerable scientific study and has discovered a valuable destroyer of the various enemies to flowers and plants.

The wife of Mr. McLeod was Miss Grace E., daughter of Timothy T. and Saralı E. (Stiles)

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HISTORICAL, AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Cates, of Bangor, Me., and they are the parents of one child, Nellie F. Mr. McLeod is frater- nally a member of San Bernardino Camp No. 79, W. O. W., of which he is now (1906) serv- ing as council commander. He has a fine resi- dence and takes a prominent part in the social, business and public life of his city, in which he is held in the highest esteem by all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance.

HENRY F. GANSNER. The popular and successful well contractor of San Bernardino, Henry F. Gansner, was born in St. Louis, Mo., July 13, 1863, but his earliest recollections are of life in California. His father, Florian Gans- ner, was a native of Switzerland, and his moth- er, who was Christina Pohle, was born in Ger- many. Both parents came to America when quite young and settled in St. Louis, from which city in 1850 the father removed to California and settled in Plumas county, there engaging in gold mining. Later on he located on the east bank of Feather river and there continued op- erations for seven years. From there he re- turned to his old home in Missouri and engaged in building operations, he having learned the carpenter's trade when a young man. Life in the east never seems the same to one who has lived for a long period in California, and thus it was that the year 1865 found the Gansner fam- ily back in San Francisco. After a short time spent in that metropolis, they settled in Plumas county, where Mr. Gansner operated a sawmill for the manufacture of lumber, his mills being located near Quincy, which is now the county seat of Plumas county. In these mills he sawed principally white and sugar pine, and he re- mained in that vicinity until his retirement from business. He is now living there at the age of fourscore years.

The education of Henry F. Gansner was ac- quired through the medium of the common school in Quincy, and at Lauden's Business Col- lege in Oakland, where he took a commercial course. After his graduation he returned to Quincy for a short time and in 1887 came to San Bernardino, where for four years he was associated with William Manson in artesian well contracting. After the expiration of this period he formed a partnership with George Renwick and under the firm name of Renwick & Gansner continued in the well business for six years, when Mr. Gansner began independent opera- tions. The latest and most improved machin- ery composes his equipment, including gas en- gines for power, and in the prosecution of his work he gives employment to a large force of men. His services are not confined to this part of the state only, but include contracts in Arizo-

na and southern Nevada. The wells range in depth all the way from fifty to twelve hundred feet and are from six to ten, and some even twenty-four inches in diameter. One especial- ly fine well, located two and one-half miles north- west of the city of San Bernardino, is fifteen inches in diameter, eleven hundred feet deep, self-flowing, and furnishes three hundred and twenty-four thousand gallons of water in twen- ty-four hours. The average depth of the wells at Phoenix is two hundred feet.

On December 6, 1892, Mr. Gansner was mar- ried to Miss Polly Ann Frink, a native of San Bernardino, and the daughter of Horace M. Frink, one of the earliest settlers in this county.

. The two children born of this union are Freda and William George. The home residence is a neat and substantial one, located at No. 596 D street, and Mr. Gansner also has an orange grove to which he gives considerable attention. He is a member of San Bernardino Lodge No. 348, F. & A. M .; of Token Lodge No. 290. I. O. O. F .: and of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks No. 836. He is a man of progressive ideas and in keeping pace with the newest methods of the day has provided himself with a fine auto- mobile, so that he may readily reach the dif- ferent places where his men are at work.

PETER J. FILANC. Among the younger generation of ranchers in San Bernardino county who are making a name and place in the world Peter J. Filanc deserves special mention. His entire life has been spent on the homestead ranch which he now occupies, and which he has had entire charge of since the death of his father in 1896. Independent of any reflected honor from his worthy father he is respected and esteemed by all who are brought into business relations with him, for principles of a high order have dominated his life. the result being that he has established a reputation for square dealing which is as well known as his name. Besides having charge of the home ranch he is also interested in the buying and selling of real-estate in Los An- geles.

Of the three children born to Peter J. Filanc. Sr., and his wife, who before her marriage was Elizabeth Lughan, Peter J. Filanc was the youngest and was born on the old homestead in San Bernardino county January 5, 1866. His course in the common schools of that county was supplemented by a year's study in the University of Southern California at Los An- geles, still later taking up a business course in the Pacific Business College in San Francisco. The death of his father in 1896 made it neces- sary for him to return home and assume con-

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

trol of the homestead, his only brother having died also. The entire tract of two hundred and thirty acres is tillable land, devoted to raising hay and alfalfa, besides which cattle are raised extensively. The facilities for mar- keting his produce are especially favorable, as the ranch has a splendid location, lying close to Colton, and good roads add a further ad- vantage.

In 1903 Mr. Filanc established a home of his own by his marriage with Miss Stella J. Heb- bard, a native of Kansas City, Mo., and a daughter of W. C. Hebbard, the latter a well- known wholesale grocer in Colton. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Filanc is brightened by the presence of one son, to whom they have given the name of Pierre Hebbard. The family are communicants of the Catholic Church in San Bernardino. In his political affiliations Mr. Fi- lanc is a Democrat, and the only . fraternal order to which he belongs is the Independent Order of Foresters, his membership being in the lodge at Colton.

CHARLES E. HOLLAND. Santa Monica has in Charles E. Holland one of its success- ful real-estate operators, who since 1902 has engaged actively in the promotion of enter- prises calculated to be of permanent benefit to the community and its citizens. Establishing his home in the city in July of the year above mentioned, he immediately became identified with others in important movements in the matter of real-estate development, receiving both substantial and sympathetic aid from moneyed institutions here and elsewhere, and putting on the market lots offered for $75 and $125 each, which afterward sold for $3,000- an advancement due to the upbuilding for- warded by the enterprising and progressive men of the section.

Mr. Holland did not come to California to make his first success in life, for he had been identified with business enterprises ever since 1887-two years before attaining his majority. He was born in Saginaw. Mich., Ma - 28, 1868. the oldest in a family of four children (Charles E., Andrew J., Harry F. and Edward J.), who blessed the union of his parents, Albert Leslie and Mary A. (Merrill) Holland; they were natives respectively of Albion, N. Y., and · Niagara county, N. Y., her father, Andrew Jackson Merrill, removing with his family to Tuscola county, Mich., where he and his wife are still living on property which they have occupied for forty years. Albert L. Holland followed ·his trade of carpenter and joiner in Saginaw for many years, and in 1894 located in Southern California, where in the city of

Los Angeles he is now passing his declining years amid the prosperity which industry and good management have brought him.

In early life Charles E. Holland became de- pendent upon his own resources, developing the trait of self reliance so noticeable in the sons of the middle west, and on the Fourth of July, 1887, he landed in Leadville, Colo., with a small amount of capital, an unlimited supply of courage and energy, and the determination to succeed. Although it was the middle of summer the air was full of snow and the ground white, but the vigor of the atmosphere served to strengthen the young man's purpose. Be- cause of his capital he was enabled to enter into partnership with an old mining engineer, R. W. Miller, with whom he began the devel- opment of the Forest Queen mine, which turned out to be such a profitable venture that before Mr. Holland attained his majority they were offered $60,000 for it. Mr. Holland made a thorough study of all branches of the mining business and rapidly rose to a position of note and prominence among the mining engineers of Colorado. He became associated with a few of the prominent mining men of the state, associations which proved profitable. Because of failing health, however, he was forced to withdraw entirely from his former employ- ment, and accordingly in 1902 he came to Cali- fornia, in search of a more congenial climate. This he found in Santa Monica, where he has ever since resided. Among his most important enterprises have been his association with the building of the Club House and the Venice View, while later he was associated with T. W. Aisbitt, who supported the Equitable Trust & Improvement Co. as the first sole agent for the magnificent Venice property, and many of their ideas have been carried out by a later management of the enterprise. Property has risen steadily in value until to-day it is worth many times its original price, an increase due to the judicious investments and management of the men at the head of real-estate operations in this section of the coast. In November. 1905. Mr. Holland established an office at No. 304 Third street, in Santa Monica, where under. satisfactory conditions capital may be secured by honest workingmen desirous of acquiring a home independent of debt and obligations.

In Colorado Mr. Holland was united in mar- riage with Miss Laura L. Knouse, a native of Holland, but educated in Ohio, where she grew to womanhood. They have a pleasant and comfortable home in Santa Monica, where Mrs. Holland is prominent in local society. Mr. Holland has taken time to identify himself with fraternal organizations, being a member of the Knights of Pythias and Fraternal Broth-

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

erhood, while politically he is a Republican. Success has accompanied the efforts of 'Mr. Holland, and deservedly, for he has combined irreproachable traits of manhood with unusual business ability, making every public effort for success consistent with his inherent ideas of right and equality. He is still a young man and gives promise of much future success.

SAMUEL C. SLANKER. Pomona is in- deed fortunate in claiming the citizenship of Mr. Slanker, who since the spring of 1901 has filled most acceptably the position of superin- tendent of streets. During his incumbency thus far vast changes have taken place in the condi- tion of the roads and drives, and as long as he is retained in the position his fellow-citizens may continue to look for innovations tending toward the beautifying and improving of the road service.

A native of Berks county, Pennsylvania, born January 4, 1853, Samuel C. Slanker is a son of Daniel Slanker, also a native of the same county and state. After his marriage and the birth of some of his children the father disposed of his farm in the east and settled down to agricultural pursuits in Edgar county, Illinois, near Paris. His service in the Civil war as a member of the Seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Company A, broke in upon the routine of his peaceful life, but when his term of service was over he re- turned once more to his former pursuits, at this time, however, taking up farming in Henry county, Missouri, where he had purchased a large farm. That was his home throughout his remaining years, and his death occurred there in 1882. His wife also passed away on the Mis- souri homestead. Prior to her marriage she was Lydia Lenhart, a native of Pennsylvania and the descendant of a long line of ancestors on both sides of the family who had flourished in that commonwealth. Of the twelve children born to these parents seven are living, and of these three sons are in California.

The boyhood years of Samuel C. Slanker were passed successively in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Missouri, following his parents in their migra- tions from the cast to the middle west. When he became old enough he attended the public schools near his home and became fairly well educated, considering his advantages. As he was the oldest of a large family, his help on the home farm was greatly appreciated and he gave his services to his father until attaining his maturity. In company with one of his brothers, he started for California in 1875, and for a year he worked as a farm hand in Los Angeles county. The next year he secured a position with a freighting com- pany in charge of R. N. Nadeau, in whose em-

ploy he remained for ten years, carrying supplies between Cerro Gordo, Inyo county, Cal., and Mojave, Ariz., the latter city being the head- quarters of the company. Many and thrilling were his experiences with the Indians in that frontier country, and more than once he was re- ported dead. He met the enemy frequently in making the trip from Mojave to Tombstone, Ariz., and subsequently, at Lordsburg, they met in altercation, the Indians having stolen three of the mules belonging to the company and in his charge. Tiring of the hazardous life which he had followed for so many years, he came to Pomona and settled down to quiet pursuits. He first opened a livery stable at the corner of First and Main streets, and later removed to larger and more commodious quarters at the inter- section of Second and Gordon streets, remaining in the latter location until May 1901, when he sold out his business to accept his present posi- tion of superintendent of streets of Pomona to which he had been appointed by the council, and every two years thereafter he has been re- appointed his own successor. This fact in itself is sufficient evidence that his services are appre- ciated, and much praise is due him for what he has accomplished. To bring about these results he was instrumental in securing, through the trustees, the necessary outfit for grading, sprinkling and oiling the streets. The latter method of settling the dust in the roads is used almost entirely throughout the city.

Mr. Slanker has a pieasant and modern resi- dence at the corner of Main and Tenth streets, embodying in its construction and architecture his own ideas as to beauty and utility. He and his wife, formerly Miss Sarah Kelty, have be- come the parents of six children, as follows: Bessie. Frank, Margaret. Catherine, Jenerose and Raymond. Mr. Slanker is well known in fraternal circles, belonging to Pomona Lodge No. 439. I. O. F., in which he has passed all the chairs, and also to the Fraternal Brotherhood, in which at one time he served as president of his lodge.

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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 152

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