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 158

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

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 II > Part 158

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The marriage of Mr. Hall was solemnized at Terre Haute, Ind., and united him with Miss Ella W. Whiting, who was born in Connecti- cut, and is a descendant of the noted clockmaker of the same name. Two children were born of their union. The son, Albert E., Jr., died at the age of eight years. The daughter, Mrs. Mary E. Burr, resides in Long Beach. In national politics Mr. Hall gives his support to the Republican party ; locally he favors the men whom he deems best qualified to protect the in- 'terests of the people, irrespective of political allegiance. Remembrance of the old war days is borne in mind through active participation in the work of Long Beach Post No. 181, G. A. R., with which he has been identified since coming to this city. Movements for the benefit of the city receive his co-operation and influence, and its rapid growth is a realization of his anticipa- tions. From the time of his arrival he has been a believer in the city's future prosperity and present events are proving the wisdom of his judgment and the keenness of his foresight.

FRANK LIBBY. After fourteen years of identification with the grain and stock interests of California and after having established inter- ests of large financial value, Frank Libby passed from earth's activities, followed to the place of interment in Santa Ana by tributes of the highest esteem from all of his former associates. Prior to his removal to the Pacific coast he had en- gaged in the development of an unimproved ag-

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ricultural country in Nebraska, whither he had gone from the Mississippi valley. Mention of his ancestral history appears in the sketch of his brother, C. S. Libby, of the San Luis Rey valley. Suffice it here to say that he was a son of Jacob and Julia (Guphill) Libby, and that his mater- nal ancestors also belonged to the Libby family, his mother's mother having been a daughter of Daniel Libby, a soldier of the Revolutionary war. The lineage is traced back to John Libby, who came to America shortly after the Pilgrim Fathers had established their homes on the bleak shores of the Atlantic coast at Plymouth.

Born in Goodhue county, Minn., and educated in the public schools of Emerson, Mills county, Iowa, Frank Libby became a pioneer of Ne- braska in his young manhood and on land in Madison county he turned the first furrows in the prairie sod. June 24, 1886, in Humphrey's township, Platte county, Neb., he married Miss Eunice M. Curtis, who was born at Metherill, Devonshire, England, being a daughter of Thomas and Mary T. (Salmon) Curtis, natives respectively of Devonshire and Cornwall, Eng- land. Both were descendants of very old fami- lies in their native shires. The maternal grand- parents, William and Mary Ann Hicks (Thomas) Salmon, were born in Cornwall, the former a descendant of a family whose record in that shire is traced back to 1650 and the latter a daughter of Thomas Thomas, also of an ancient family of the same shire. Mrs. Mary T. Curtis is still living, as is also her husband, and both are earnest members of the Methodist Church. On coming to America in 1870 Thomas Curtis settled near Mineral Point, Wis., and later spent five years at Chebanse, Iroquois county, Ill., af- terward made his home at Emerson, Iowa, for five years, but eventually moved to Nebraska, where he now lives at Omaha retired from busi- ness responsibilities. All of his four children are now living, and Mrs. Libby is the only one of the number in California. Among the four she was next to the oldest, and her education was

received in the grammar schools of Illinois and the high school of Creston, Iowa. For a few years after her marriage she and her husband re- mained in Nebraska, but in May, 1890, they re- moved to California, settling on a farm near Carlsbad, where they remained for three years.

From Carlsbad the family removed to Santa Ana and devoted two and one-half years to hor- ticultural pursuits in that vicinity, after which they purchased and removed to a farm in the San Luis Rey valley. On selling that place Mr. Libby devoted his attention to his farm of about five hundred acres situated two miles above the Mission, where he had one mile of valley land on the ditch and engaged in raising grain and full-blooded Hereford cattle. For some time he

served as secretary of the San Luis Rey Irrigat- ing Company and for nine years he officiated as clerk of the San Luis Rey school board. After a brief illness caused by pneumonia he passed away February 22, 1904, on the anniversary of his father's death. Through all of his life he had been stanch in his allegiance to the Repub- lican party. In religion he maintained a deep interest in the work of the various denominations and was especially in sympathy with the Epis- copal Church and its teachings.

In September following her husband's death Mrs. Libby left the farm and removed into San- ta Ana, where she makes her home at No. 515 Cypress avenue. In 1905 she sold the farm, since which time she has made other investments. Only one child remains to her, a daughter, Reta G., the other daughter, Mary Louise having been taken by death June 19, 1905, when in the morning of life with all of its rich promises awaiting fulfillment. The mother and surviv- ing daughter are communicants of the Episcopal Church and contributors to its societies and philanthropies. Socially Mrs. Libby is promi- nent and popular and occupies a leading position in Santa Ana, where she is a welcomed guest in the most select circles, an earnest church worker and an influential member of the Re- bekahs and the Maccabees.

NELSON H. TWOGOOD. One of the most successful orange growers in Riverside county is Nelson H. Twogood, whose home is on a ranch of twenty-five acres, eighteen acres de- voted to the growing of oranges and one acre is in grapes. About one acre of his orange grove is of the tangerine variety, the rest being navels, bloods, valencias and homosassas. He also owns two other ranches, one of four and one-half acres in oranges, and another compris- ing thirty acres located near Perris, which is given over to grain raising. Mr. Twogood was born September 25, 1851, in Winnebago county, Ill., and received his education in the Pecatonica high school. He was the son of James D. and Amanda M. (Cable) Twogood, the father a native of New York, and the mother of Ohio. They were early pioneers of Illinois and the homestead which Mr. Cable entered in 1837 is still in possession of the family, and is occupied by a sister of Mrs. Twogood. In 1886 the parents came with the family to Riverside county, Cal., where a ranch was purchased. Mr. Two- good was a stanch Republican and active in local politics during his life. Both father and mother were members of the Baptist Church in River- side, and they lived to advanced ages, he being seventy-five years old at the time of his death, and she living to attain seventy-seven years. Of

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the ten children born to them, five are now liv- ing, all having homes in California except one daughter, who is a resident of Colorado.

After leaving high school Nelson H. Twogood became a school teacher and was for six years engaged in that profession in Winnebago and McLean counties, Ill. He subsequently conducted a farm in McLean county, and in 1883 removed to Dakota, where he took up government land, engaged in the grain and stock business and re- mained for eighteen years. Before selling out there he had acquired eight hundred acres of land, having met with very good success in all of his business undertakings. Coming to Cali- fornia Mr. Twogood bought the ranch upon which he now resides and has one of the most attractive homes in this part of the county. His marriage, which occurred in 1880, united him with Miss Mary H. Wight, a native of Ohio and a daughter of Benjamin Wight, born in the same state. The Wight ancestors were from the Isle of Wight and landed in Massachusetts soon after the original Plymouth colony came to America in 1620, and played important roles in the early history of the country. Mr. and Mrs. Twogood became the parents of five children : Blanche W., the wife of Elmer Haas, and who resides with her parents; Ernest N .; Ralph S .; Archie J .; and Ruth, who was killed in an acci- dent when nine years of age. The parents are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Highgrove, and fraternally Mr. Two- good was made a member of the Fulton Lodge No. 123, I. O. O. F., in South Dakota, and also belongs to the Ancient Order of United Work- men of Fulton. He is Republican in politics and takes a special interest in educational matters, having served as school trustee both in South Dakota and in California. In the former state he also filled the offices of town clerk and justice of the peace, and in a business way assisted in the organization of a farmer's warehouse com- pany, for three years having had charge of the warehouse which they owned. He is now one of the trustees of the East Riverside Water Com- pany.

ANDREW J. LOCKWOOD. Upon coming to California in 1897 Mr. Lockwood settled in the vicinity of Chino, San Bernardino county, and so well pleased and satisfied has he been with the location that he has had no desire to change to any other part of the state. When he purchased his present ranch of twenty acres it bore no improvements whatever, but the raw. forbidding land is now transformed into one of the most prosperous ranches in the county, all of which Mr. Lockwood has accomplished alone. Conditions are here very favorable for the snc-

cessful raising of alfalfa, and he has his entire acreage in this commodity, harvesting annually on an average of eight tons to the acre.

Mr. Lockwood is a native of Iowa, born in Wapello county, July 28, 1865, one of five chil- dren born to his parents, Jared and Ann (Davis) Lockwood, they being natives of Indiana. The parents removed from Indiana to southwestern Iowa, settling first in Mills and later in Fremont county, and there they are now both making their home, having reached the venerable age of eighty years. During his younger years Mr. Lockwood was very active in the public life of his community, and besides filling other public offices served as justice of the peace for some time. He still takes a keen interest in political events, and especially in issues concerning the Democratic party, for ever since his voting days began he has supported its candidates. He is a member of the Odd Fellows, and with his wife is a member of the Christian Church.

Andrew J. Lockwood was educated in the common schools in the vicinity of his home. No event of special importance occurred in his early life to distinguish his own from the majority of farm-reared lads, and after completing his com- mon-school education he returned to the home farm, working side by side with his father, un- til in his twenty-third year. It was about this time, in 1887, that he established home ties of his own, and at the same time settled upon a farm in that vicinity. His marriage united him with Miss Fannie Stateler, who was born in Iowa, and of their marriage four children have been born, as follows: Lee, Jared, Horace and Mae. He lived on a farm which he cultivated for a number of years, or until coming to Cali- fornia in 1897. San Bernardino county was his destination, and here he has since remained. In 1899 he purchased the ranch on which he now resides and it has undergone such marvelous changes in the meantime as to be scarcely recog- nizable, for at the time it came into his posses- sion not a furrow had been turned. In connec- tion with his own ranch of twenty acres, which is devoted exclusively to raising alfalfa, he also rents land, this latter being given over entirely to grain. Altogether he has between two and three hundred acres under control and is demon- strating in a substantial way that he thoroughly understands the principles of agriculture, wheth- er worked out in the Mississippi valley or on the irrigated lands of the west. During the thirty- two years of his residence in Iowa, Mr. Lock- wood was an important factor in the public life of his community, and for some time served as supervisor of Scott township No. 2. Fremont county. In 1892 he was initiated into the Knights of Pythias, being made a member of the lodge at Bartlett, Iowa, and since coming to the

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west he has joined the Fraternal Aid and the Fraternal Brotherhood. Politically he is a Democrat, in this respect coinciding with the views held by his father. Mr. Lockwood is held in the highest esteem by his neighbors, who ap- preciate his advent among them, for he has set a high standard along agricultural lines that di- rectly and otherwise has had its influence in im- proving general conditions in the community.

MYRON R. McKINNEY. Progressive and enterprising as a road superintendent, M. R. Mc- Kinney occupies a prominent place in the devel- oping life of the community. He is a native of Plattsburg, N. Y., where he was born March 14, 1857, a son of John R. and Marietta (Martin) Mckinney, natives respectively of Plattsburg, N. Y., and Vermont in the vicinity of Lake Cham- plain. The father followed farming in Minne- sota and was also a contractor of excavations. They finally removed to California and settled in the vicinity of Norwalk, where the father died at the age of seventy-nine years and the mother at seventy-seven. They were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church; in politics the father was a stanch Republican. They were the parents of six children, of whom but three are living ; the eldest son, John, served in the Civil war from 1861 to 1864.

M. R. Mckinney was the youngest child in the family of his parents. In infancy he was taken to the middle west, his home being for a time in Wisconsin and later in Minnesota. In the spring of 1869 the family located in Minne- apolis and there Mr. Mckinney received his edu- cation in the public schools; he also attended a commercial college and thoroughly fitted himself for a successful career in life. In that city he learned locomotive engineering and the trade of carpenter, following railroading and the latter occupation until 1889, as a carpenter working for one firm in Minneapolis for four years. Com- ing to California in 1889 he followed his trade in Los Angeles for a year and a half, when he came to Artesia and purchased a ranch of forty acres and established a dairy business. He con- tinued this occupation for about fifteen years, and also raised stock, improving his property from wild, uncultivated land; four years ago he lo- cated on the place he now makes his home, and leases his ranch as he is now performing the duties of road overseer, to which position he was elected through the influence of the Republican party, of which he is a stanch supporter. He has built up a splendid reputation because of the manner in which he has performed his duties, has fine roads in his district, and is held in high esteem for the qualities of citizenship he has demonstrated during his long residence in this

section. He has improved his property by the erection of a good residence, two barns, four ar- tesian wells, and other necessary equipment.

In 1876 Mr. Mckinney was united in marriage with Miss Emma Maltby, a native of New York, the two having been schoolmates in the Minne- sota schools. They became the parents of the following children : Alfred E., who married Miss C. Freeman; Dora M., who married H. H. Hooper, a jeweler of Whittier, and has one child ; Roy H., who married Blanche Freeman, and has one son; and Ellen M., a clerk in a large dry goods establishment of Los Angeles. Mr. Mc- Kinney is identified with the Masonic organiza- tion, being a member of Artesia Lodge No. 377, F. & A. M., and also belongs to the Fraternal Aid, having served as president of the Artesia Lodge for two terms, and is now holding a sim- ilar position in the Artesia Lodge No. 545. In Artesia he served for several years as school trustee. He is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, which he liberally supports.

FRANCIS J. GANAHL is a native of Aus- tria, where he was born in 1840, and a member of a family of seventeen children, in which he is the fifth son. His parents, John J. and Ben- edicta (Wuerbell) Ganahl, were both natives of the province of Tyrol and Vorarlberg, in Aus- tria, and the father when a young man was .a butcher, later engaging in the milling business and in farming. In 1868 he came on a visit to some of his children in America, and after a consideration of the advantages and attractions of many of our larger cities, he decided to locate in St. Louis, Mo., and returning to Austria, brought his family to that place and there re- sided until his death. Mrs. Ganahl also died in St. Louis.

Mr. Ganahl received his education in the com- mon schools of his native country, and was eighteen years of age when he arrived with one of his sisters at St. Louis. He there engaged himself as an apprentice to a printer to learn that trade, and after his four years of appren- ticeship at the wage of one, two, three, and the last year four dollars a week, he gave up the trade and started a grocery business. He con- tinued that business for four years, and the bal- ance of his twenty-nine years of residence in St .. Louis carried on several different wholesale and retail businesses. Deciding to make a change of location, in 1887 Mr. Ganahl came .to Los An- geles, and immediately upon his arrival engaged in the retail and wholesale lumber business. He conducted the business in partnership with his brother, C. Ganahl, for a number of years, and then commenced for himself under the firm name of F. J. Ganahl Lumber Company. In 1905. on

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account of sickness, F. J. Ganahl retired from the business, his brother having bought his in- terests. Since that time Mr. Ganahl has lived retired at his beautiful residence, No. 316 North Avenue 57, Highland Park, Los Angeles.

In other ways than business Mr. Ganahl has taken a great interest and prominent part in the upbuilding of the city of Los Angeles and vicin- ity, and is at present engaged in the real estate business, and is now erecting the largest and finest brick block in East Los Angeles. He was one of those who fought continuously for the five- cent fare on the Pasadena electric line from Avenue 57 to any part of the city of Los An- geles until the rate was conceded, and in the agitation for the extension of the Garavanza line to that point he campaigned the fight to a suc- cessful end. He was one of the principal work- ers who originated the proposition to build the Pasadena boulevard from North Pasadena through to Los Angeles, making it one hundred and fifty feet wide and nine miles long, and had the project been consummated it would have added millions of dollars' worth of value to the property in the vicinity.

Politically Mr. Ganahl affiliates with the Dem- ocratic party, in the principles of which he is a firm believer. His membership in fraternal or- ders embraces the Western Commercial Trav- elers' Association and the C. K. of A. He was married to Miss Louise Le Brun, a native of St. Louis, Mo., July 12, 1871, and they are the parents of eleven children, all living, the young- est being eleven years old. Mr. Ganahl is a man who has lived a well-rounded life and has met with unusual success in all of his undertakings. His influence has been very largely felt in this section of the state, and he holds the highest esteem and respect of the citizens of the com- munity.

WALTER C. HARGRAVES. As an official in the beautiful city of Redlands Mr. Hargraves takes a keen interest in its development and up- building, and can always be counted upon to further any movement toward this end, his personal efforts for success lying parallel with those in the interest of the general community. He came to Redlands in 1889; his father, Will- iam C. Hargraves, now deceased was a native of Lancashire, England, and married Angeline S. Clough, a native of the Town of Bow, N. H., and a daughter of Enoch Clough. She died in California in which state are located her three children.

Born in Manchester, N. H., Walter C. Har- graves there spent the years of his youth, re- ceiving such education as the schools of the city afforded. He held responsible positions with

business houses in the eastern states until the spring of 1881, when he came west, locating for two years in Colorado, and later going to Van- couver, British Columbia. There he entered the contracting, building and real estate business. He was eminently successful in this line and was identified with the pioneer growth of Van- couver, where he is well known and favorably remembered. Coming to Redlands fourteen years ago and being at once impressed with the beauty of the situation and the possibilities for orange growing, Mr. Hargraves purchased twen- ty acres in the Lugonia side of, the city, which he planted to oranges and where he lived until the recent sale of his orchard. He then moved into the city. He is the owner of considerable business and subdivision property, most of the latter being situated in the Lugonia district, and takes an active interest in the welfare of the community. He has been a director of the Board of Trade and enters heartily into move- ments tending toward the advancement of the prosperity of Redlands. On April 11, 1904, he was elected a member of the Board of Trustees for the term of two years and was re-elected in April, 1906. Fraternally he is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and Knights of Pythias and is also a member of the University Club. Enterprise and ability are the secret of the success achieved by Mr. Har- graves, and in this distinction he is measured among his fellow citizens.

FREDERICK ELISHA HOTCHKISS. No citizen has proven himself more useful or given more of his time and attention towards advancing Redlands and the interests of the orange growers of this section than Mr. Hotch- kiss, whose efforts along this line have won for him a permanent place among the representa- tive citizens of Southern California. He came of a New England family which was estab- lished on American soil many years prior to the Revolution, in which historic struggle the pa- ternal great-great-grandfather, Caleb, participat- ed until his death July 5, 1779, at New Haven, at the time of the British invasion. His father was also called Caleb, while his grandfather, John, was born in England, a son of Samuel, and became the colonial emigrant from whence the American branch of the family sprung. The great-grandfather of our subject, Jonah Hotch- kiss by name, was a West Indian merchant, and reared his son, Ezra, to that occupation. The family were residents of Connecticut and there Leonard S. Hotchkiss was born, reared and edu- cated, in manhood becoming cashier for the New Haven County Bank until his removal to Redlands, where his death eventually occurred.

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He had made a trip to the state in 1849 via the Isthmus of Panama, spent eighteen months, and then returned home and followed the banking business until his retirement. His wife, former- ly Julia Mix, was born in New Haven, a daugh- ter of Eli Mix, a merchant of that city and also the descendant of an old New England family. She died in Redlands, also.

Frederick Elisha Hotchkiss was the only son, and was born in New Haven, Conn., November 26, 1843. and there reared to young manhood and educated in the public and high schools. He was but little more than seventeen years old when he answered the call of his country by enlisting July, 1861, in the First New York Lincoln Cav- alry, which was supposed at that time to be the only cavalry regiment for the Civil war. The Secretary of War wrote the governors of the sev- eral states, that the government would furnish the arms but could not furnish the horses and equipments and asked the governors of the state to do this, and in another letter spoke of the war being but a ninety-day affair and that the one regiment of cavalry would probably be suf- ficient. It is interesting to note at this point that before the close of that mighty struggle there were three hundred cavalry regiments in service. He was mustered in as a private and June 25, 1865, was commissioned first lieutenant. He participated during his long service in many of the most important engagements, was through the Peninsular campaign in the Shenandoah valley for two years and was on staff duty under Gen- eral Caphart and associated with General Cus- ter and was at General Lee's surrender. After the close of the struggle he returned to New Haven and accepted a position as bookkeeper in the New Haven County Bank. He finally re- moved to Gloversville, N. Y., and there engaged in glove manufacture for the period of eight years, when he returned to his native city and be- came head accountant for the L. Candee Rub- ber Company. He occupied this position for ten years when he came to California as secre- tary of the Bear Valley & Allesandro Develop- ment Company, an enterprise formed by princi- pals in the east for the purpose of taking up arid land in this section of Southern California, ir- rigate and dispose of it at a profit. He contin- ued with this company after its consolidation with the Bear Valley Land & Water Company, the concern becoming known as the Bear Valley Ir- rigation Company. Later when this company passed into the hands of a receiver in 1893, Mr. Hotchkiss became private secretary of E. H. Spoor, the receiver in the interests of the Sav- ings & Trust Company of Cleveland, and has occupied this position ever since. In 1903 he was active in the incorporation of the Bear Val- ley Mutual Water Company, whose stockhold-

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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 158

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