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 166

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

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been a representative to the Grand Lodge three different times; he is also a member of the En- canipment, in which he was at one time chief patriarch, and belongs to the Canton. His Civil war service entitles him to membership in the Grand Army of the Republic, and he belongs to the William H. Cornman Post at San Ber- nardino. Politically his affiliations are with the Republican party. His influence has always been a beneficial one to the community in which he makes his home and Mr. Flory is one of the most highly respected citizens of San Bernar- dino.

TYLER PRATT TOWNE. With the death of Tyler Pratt Towne of Pomona in 1891 was broken a link in the ancestral chain which binds the past with the present. The lineage of the family can be traced back to one William Towne, who left England in the seventeenth century and founded the family in Massachusetts, his de- scendants flourishing in that commonwealth for many generations. Among these descendants was Isaac Towne, born in Millbury, Mass., who in young manhood settled in Bethel, Me., where at the age of twenty-one years he taught the first school ever held in that town. Later he settled down as an agriculturist in that local- ity and throughout the remainder of his long life followed this peaceful pursuit. As a man of ability and clear understanding he was rec- ognized as a leader among the citizens of that town and for many years served his constitu- ents as selectman.

It was in the little town of Bethel, Me., that Tyler Pratt Towne was born August 1, 1810, the son of Isaac and Dolly (Gould) Towne. He was educated in the common school of his state, learned the cabinet-maker's trade, but aft- er his marriage took up farming in Bethel and continued that pursuit until he came to Califor- nia. With about eight decades of honored life in the east he came to this state to spend his declining years in a climate less rigorous than prevails on the Atlantic coast, and thus it was that he located in the sheltered Pomona valley in 1888. During the same year he settled in a home at the corner of Caswell street and San Francisco avenue, the only improvement which it boasted being ten orange trees. Besides set- ting out additional trees on this tract he also purchased one and one-half acres at the head of Caswell street, and still later purchased seven acres of the Kingsley tract, on the corner of San Bernardino and Washington streets, which has since been transformed into a fine orange grove. Mr. Towne was a man who was not afraid to venture upon large undertakings, and although he lived only three years after set-

tling in Pomona he had accomplished largely and left a valuable estate to his heirs. During his young manhood, in Bethel, Me., he had mar- ried Miss Miranda Hanscom Watson, who was born in Norway, Me., the daughter of Daniel Watson, a farmer in that vicinity. The mar- ried life of Mr. and Mrs. Towne had been a long and unusually happy one and the death of Mr. Towne in 1891 was a sad blow to his family. As they had been closely united in all their hopes and aims in life, they were not long separated in death, and in June of the following year, at at the age of eighty-three years, Mrs. Towne passed to the Great Beyond. Throughout her life she had been a devout member of the Con- gregational Church. Politically Mr. Towne was a Democrat and an Abolitionist.

Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Towne, the eldest of whom, Saralı M., resides upon the old homestead in Pomona; Emma is the widow of Livingston Gain Robinson, who was born in Maine and for many years was a merchant in Waterford; he died in Bethel, Me., in 1873; the next child in the parental family, Ellen, passed away in Bethel, as did also the only son, Daniel Webster, who died in 1888. He was well educated in Bethel Academy, and after his school days were over he settled down to farm pursuits in his home town. His marriage united him with Mary A. Kelley, of North Yar- mouth, Me., and of the three children born to them only one is now living. Allan Webster, who is engaged in orange growing on San Ber- nadino avenue, Pomona. He also owns and has developed an eighty-acre tract near Claremont, all in oranges.

OLIVER S. HOWARD. When the domain of civilization began to be extended beyond the narrow confines of the east and the fertile soil of the Mississippi valley began to attract pioneer farmers, S. B. Howard, a native of New York, became a frontiersman in the then wilds of Wis- consin, passing through Milwaukee in 1844, when a few log cabins marked the site of the future metropolis of that state. While he learned the carpenter's trade and followed the occupa- tion more or less through all of his active years, yet he had the desire for land that characterized every pioneer, and one of his first steps toward independence was to secure from the govern- ment a claim to a quarter-section in Winnebago county, Wis. Later he removed to Jackson coun- ty, that state, but eventually returned to Win- nebago county and resumed farming in that lo- cality. During 1862 he offered his services to the Union and was accepted as a private in the ranks of a regiment of Wisconsin Infantry, where he remained until the close of the war and

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the honorable discharge of the army. His last days were passed in Winnebago county, where he died in the fall of 1880, at the age of seventy- three years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Salome Skinner, was born in Vermont and died in Wisconsin at the age of fifty-seven years.

Four sons were born of the marriage of S. B. and Salome Howard, namely: Oliver S. and Henry L., both born in Jackson county, Wis., August 24, 1859, and August 11, 1862, respect- ively ; and Ira A. and Grant, who were born in Winnebago county, that state, November 14, 1866, and August 24, 1869, in the order named. Henry L. died May 26, 1880; Ira A. makes his home at Wausau, Wis .; and Grant is a resident of Temecula, Cal. Oliver S. Howard obtained a fair education in the public schools of his na- tive state, and at the age of seventeen secured employment with a lumber company, going in- to the logging camp of the pineries of Wiscon- sin. He followed this for three successive win- ters, remaining at home during the summers.

March 23, 1886, Mr. Howard was united in marriage with Miss Ecie Cook, a daughter of Edward and Adalaide Cook, who were then res- idents of Winnebago county, Wis. The spring following their marriage Mr. Howard and his wife removed to South Dakota, debarking from the train at Desmet, Kingsbury county, whence they made their way overland to Hamlin county. There Mr. Howard succeeded in buying relin- quishments to three hundred and twenty acres of choice land, a homestead and a tree clain. Amid these pioneer conditions they battled with storms and privations and in spite of discour- agements soon built up a home that was a cred- it to that section. Two years after locating there the Milwaukee Railroad Company ran a spur line across the state and located the new town of Bryant in Garfield township. With fifty-nine other citizens Mr. Howard formed the Bryant Elevator Company and also a creamery plant, co-operative concerns established in the inter- ests of the farmers of that region. In addition to his other interests Mr. Howard loaned money on real estate and chattels. For six years he served in the capacity of justice of the peace, as well as township clerk and township treasurer, and also belonged to Company M of the state militia.

Although Mr. Howard's enterprises in South Dakota were thoroughly successful, the dread of the long and tedious winters in that part of the country induced him to seek a milder climate and it was with this idea in mind that he canic to California in 1898 upon a tour of inspection. The result of his investigations was so satisfac- tory that he returned to South Dakota, disposed of his interests there and in the fall of 1899

came to California as a permanent settler, buy- ing one hundred and sixty acres in Riverside county and embarking in the bec business. After two years he sold the place and removed to San Diego county, where he bought two hundred and forty acres, forming his present homestead in Gopher cañon. At this writing his landed possessions aggregate seventeen hundred acres, on which his herds of stock range. The crops are utilized mostly for feed, instead of being sold in the markets. Of recent years he has made a specialty of Durham cattle and on his ranch may be seen some choice and fancy spec- imens of that breed. A neat house adds to the attractions of the ranch and there are also sub- stantial buildings for the shelter of stock and storage of grain. The owner's attention is giv- en to his ranch and stock with such earnestness that he has no leisure nor desire to participate in public affairs and takes no part in politics aside from voting a straight Republican ticket at all elections.

Upon their removal to California in 1899 Mr. and Mrs. Howard were accompanied by Mrs. Howard's father, Edward Cook. He died at his home in Twin Oaks June 23, 1905, at the age of eighty-seven years, and is survived by his wife, Mrs. Howard and one son, George.

HARRY MELANCTON LANDIS. During an early period in the colonization of Pennsyl- vania the Landis family came from Germany and identified themselves with the pioneer de- velopment of the Keystone state. Peter Landis, a native of Lancaster county and for some time a member of its county board of supervisors, platted the town of Landisville, which was named in his honor. Though a farmer by occupa- tion, for some years he devoted his attention to business pursuits and manufactured the Landis plow first at Landisville and later in the Le- banon valley near Harrisburg. Eventually he purchased a large tract of land in Snyder county, Pa., devoted his attention to raising grain and stock, and remained on the farm until his death. Meanwhile he had disposed of a portion of the property, all of which was underlaid with coal mines. Back to the time of the Reformation his ancestors had been followers of Martin Luther and he himself was stanch in his devotion to Lutheran doctrines. In politics he voted with the Republican party.

In the family of Peter Landis was a son, Samuel S., who was born at Landisville, Pa., and became a dairyman on a farm now adjacent to the city limits of Harrisburg. At the open- ing of the Civil war he enlisted in the Union army as a member of a Pennsylvania regiment and for four years he remained at the front.

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meanwhile being twice wounded in battle. At the expiration of the war he was honorably dis- charged from the service and returned to his farm. Later he became active in the local work of the Grand Army of the Republic. Like his father, he was a devoted believer in the Lutheran faith and contributed regularly to the work of that denomination. Fraternally he was a Mason and also connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Susan St. Clair, was born in Liverpool, England, and crossed the ocean at an early age, settling with two sisters in Lancaster county, Pa., and dying in 1860 in Pennsylvania. There were only three children in the family and two are now living.

The youngest of the children was Harry M., born near Harrisburg Pa., September 4, 1856, and reared on the home farm. until fifteen years of age, meanwhile attending public school during three winter months each year. Hearing much concerning the west and ambitious to see some- thing of this part of the world, in 1872 he came to San Francisco and from there worked his passage to San Diego on the steamer William Tabor. When he landed here he found a town radically different from the present city. In- stead of comfortable homes and substanial bus- iness blocks, little except sage brush was to be seen. The few business houses were straggling structures of primitive construction, and the residences were little more than shanties. Yet about all was the subtle charm of climate. There was much to interest the close observer, and he had no desire to seek a larger field of activ- ity. With a willing disposition and capable hands he undertook such work as he could find to do. At the age of seventeen years he became an apprentice to the carpenter's trade under H. A. Perry, with whom he remained for three years. Later he worked as a journeyman for two vears. Since 1880 he has engaged in con- tracting and, in point of years of business activ- ity, ranks as the oldest contractor in San Diego. During his long career he has built many resi- dences and business houses, has drawn the plans for his buildings when desired, and at one time went to Salinas under a contract for some brick business blocks.

The residence which Mr. Landis erected at No. 841 Ninth street forms a pleasant home for his family. In San Diego, February II, 1894, he married Miss Peru A. Perkins, who was born at Ukiah, Cal., graduated from the San Francisco Business College in 1889, and later taught sten- ography and typewriting in the San Diego Bus- iness College. Her father, A. T., and grand- father, Jesse Perkins, were natives of Virginia, and the latter died upon a plantation in that state. The former in 1850 crossed the plains

with oxen and engaged in mining in the moun- tains. After a brief sojourn at Marysville he became one of the earliest settlers of Ukiah, Mendocino county, where he established the Ukiah News, the first paper published in the town. In addition he was interested in a mer- cantile store, a lumber business and in stock- raising, and various of these interests he was still holding in 1879, the year of his death. His wife, who was Elizabeth Harper, was born, reared and married in Georgia, and died in Ukiah. They were the parents of seven chil- dren. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Landis there are a daughter, C. Floyd, and a son, Har- old P.

Prominent in the local activities of the Re- publican party, Mr. Landis at one time was a member of the county convention. From 1895 to 1897 he was a member of the board of dele- gates, serving one year as president. In 1897 he became a member of the board of aldermen, representing the second precinct of the second ward, and by re-election every other year he served until the spring of 1905, when he retired with an excellent record for faithful service to the city. As chairman of the water committee, the building committee, and the electric light and telephone committee, he rendered service that was especially valuable and of permanent assist- ance to the well-being of the city and the tax- payers. In addition he aided measures for the instituting of improvements which have trans- formed San Diego from an old-fashioned town to a modern city of the twentieth century type. On the organization of the Union League Club he became one of its charter members. When the Master Builders' Association was organized he became active in the new society and was hon- ored with the office of president, besides officiat- ing as a member of the board of directors. In 1894 he was made a Mason in San Diego Lodge No. 35, F. & A. M., later took the Royal Arch degree and became connected with San Diego Commandery No. 25, K. T., with all of which he yet affiliates. During 1878 he was initiated into San Diego Lodge No. 153, I. O. O. F., in which he is past noble grand. Among the other bodies with which he has affiliated may be men- tioned the Woodmen of the World, the Forest- ers of America and the Order of the Eastern Star, with which last-named organization his wife also has been associated.

J. LEE CATHCART. As vice-president and general manager of the San Bernardino and Riverside Laundry Companies J. Lee Cathcart has proven his title as one of the most successful and enterprising business men of this section. The Cathcart family has been identified with

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the development of California since 1852, when the grandfather of J. Lee, Capt. John Cathcart, who had been a steamboat owner and captain on the Mississippi river between New Orleans and St. Louis, came here with his family and located at Santa Cruz, where he became a large land owner and lived the remainder of his life. His son Robert was a small boy when brought to the state and spent his youthful days at Santa Cruz. As a young man he engaged in mining operations for a time, later became a merchant at Santa Cruz, and in 1876 located at Pomona and engaged in horticultural pursuits, setting out one of the first orange groves in that section, his one hundred acre tract being devoted almost ex- clusively to that fruit. There were but four American families in that neighborhood when he first went there and the well-settled garden spot that now is Pomona was bare and waste land. The death of the elder Cathcart occurred in Pomona in 1904. His wife was Augusta Durr, a native of Ohio, whose grandfather came from Germany to Ohio, and in 1854 to California via the Panama route, settling with his family in Monterey, and there died. Mrs. Cathcart is now. residing on the home ranch at Pomona, and three of the four children in the family are yet living.

Next to the oldest in the family, J. Lee Cath- cart was born June 17, 1871, at Santa Cruz, Cal., and when five years of age was taken by his parents to Pomona, where he was educated in the public schools, and after the completion of his studies worked with his father until he had reached the age of his majority. He then began to master the laundry business, starting in the workroom and gradually rising until he has reached his present position. He was first em- ployed in the Lorbeer Brothers' Pomona laun- dry, and when he resigned his position with them in 1901 he had attained the foremanship of that establishment. Leaving Pomona he came to San Bernardino and purchased, with others, the San Bernardino Steam Laundry, of which he became the manager. This laundry had been established in 1891 and was incorporated as the San Ber- nardino Steam Laundry Company, which rented quarters at Fourth and D streets, this building continuing as its home until 1903, when a new site was purchased at Nos. 559-561 Court street and a building 80x127 feet was erected. The plant has been given the most thoroughly mod- ern equipment, which includes two forty-horse- power boilers and one thirty-five-horsepower en- gine, a pumping plant, and artesian well and machinery for generating their own electricity to be used in heating the irons and running the ma- chinery. The laundry is pronounced the largest and best equipped in Southern California out- side of Los Angeles, and their business extends

from Riverside through California and into Nevada. In 1905 Mr. Cathcart and his brother purchased a controlling interest in the Riverside Laundry Company, of which J. Lee is president, and they have remodeled and improved the plant, installing pumping and electricity-gen- crating machinery, the steadily increasing busi- ness at that point making it necessary to enlarge the building also. Mr. Cathcart is a member of the Southern California Laundrymen's Associa- tion, and in December, 1906, was elected first vice-president. He is assistant chief of the San Bernadino fire department, belongs to the San Bernardino Board of Trade, and fraternally affiliates with the Woodmen of the World lodge.

In 1892 Mr. Cathcart was married in Berkeley to Miss Amy Green, a native of Michigan, and this union has been blessed in the birth of two children, Howard and Kate.

SAMUEL M. BISE. Prominent among the leading business men of Compton, Los Angeles county is Samuel M. Bise, the well-known fur- nishing undertaker, funeral director and livery- man. Possessing a thorough knowledge of the duties of an undertaker, his services are sought throughout the community in which he resides. He is enterprising and public spirited, taking an intelligent interest in local affairs, ever ready to lend a helping hand towards promoting the best interests of town and county. A son of John Bise, he was born June 26, 1846, in Sullivan county, Tennessee.

A native of Germany, John Bise was but a child when his parents emigrated to this country, settling as farmers in North Carolina. Brought up in that state, he was engaged in agricultural pursuits during his entire life, first in Virginia, then in Tennessee, and subsequently in Missouri, where he spent the closing years of his life, dying there in 1866. He married Mathilda, daughter of John Bohman, of Tennessee, and they became the parents of eleven children, namely : William, John, Lucinda, George, Thomas, Lewis, Cath- erine, Sarah, Mary, Robert and Samuel M. The family were patriotic, five of the sons serving as soldiers in the Civil war, four of them belong- ing to Company C, Second Missouri Volunteer Infantry. The parents were both members of the Baptist Church.

The youngest child of the parental household, Samuel M. Bisc received a good education in the common schools, and at an early age began to be self-supporting. During the Civil war, follow- ing the example of his four brave brothers, he enlisted for three years in Company C, Third Iowa Cavalry, and at the expiration of his term of enlistment re-enlisted, becoming a member of Company H, Thirty-ninth Missouri Volunteer

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Infantry, in which he served ten months, at the close of the war being mustered out of service. He participated in numerous engagements, and being seriously wounded at the battle in Cen- tralia, Mo., was in the hospital for three months. Coming to California in 1866, he located first in Woodland, Yolo county, as a rancher, going from there to Salinas, Monterey county, where he was similarly employed a number of seasons. In 1874 he came to Compton, and with the ex- ception of nine years when he was engaged in agricultural pursuits in San Luis Obispo county, he has since been a resident of this place. He is now carrying on a substantial livery business, and as an undertaker and funeral director is painstaking, efficient and popular.

In Compton, October 21, 1874, Mr. Bise was united in marriage with Sarah A. Rogers, born in California, a daughter of Sylvester Rogers, who was born in Ohio, while his wife was a native of Missouri. Mr. Rogers came to Comp- ton with the colony in the year 1867. Five chil- dren have been horn of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Bise, namely : Ida, Mattie, Marion, Adenie and Sylvester. They have also an adopted son, Frank, whose father was killed in the battle of Manila. Politically Mr. Bise is active in Repub- lican ranks, and for eight years served as deputy constable. He belongs to Shiloh Post No. 60, G. A. R., of Compton ; to the Fraternal Brother- hood, and to the Fraternal Aid, of which Mrs. Bise is also a member. Both he and Mrs. Bise are valued menbers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and are everywhere respected and es- teemed.

JACOB FRANK LOBINGIER. As a hor- ticulturist and manufacturer Jacob F. Lobin- gier holds a high place among the represen- tative citizens of Los Angeles county, where he has been located since 1888 and engaged since that time in the upbuilding of his per- sonal fortune, while at the same time he has given his best efforts towards the material up- building and development of the section. The family of which he is the California repre- sentative is of French Huguenot and Swiss origin, although the name was established in America by his great-great-grandfather, Chris- topher Lobingier, who settled in Dauphin county, Pa., and served his adopted country in the Revolutionary war. The son of his ances- tor, John, a scholarly gentleman who became a county judge and otherwise participated in the public affairs of his community, estab- lished the Lobingier Mills on Jacob's creek, on a turnpike road between Pittsburg and Baltimore. The interest in the mills passed from father to son, each combining farming

with their milling operations. The father of our subject, also named Jacob, was a member of the first class in Bethany College and later became a farmer and merchant tanner at his birthplace in Westmoreland county, Pa. He took a prominent part in public affairs and served as justice of the peace, and as post- master for many years in the town of Laurel- ville. His death occurred in June, 1887, re- moving from the community a citizen of worth and works and one whose place could never be filled. He was an educated and scholarly gentleman, had taken a strong interest on all educational topics, and numbered among his friends many of the most notable men of his commonwealth. He left a wife, a daughter, and three sons, his wife's maiden name being Lillias Stewart. She was a native of Somer- set county, Pa., and a daughter of Andrew Stewart, of Scotch descent, who became a resident of Somerset, where he served for many years as justice of the peace. Mr. and Mrs. Lobingier had six children, of whom three are now living, one son, Henry Schell, who graduated from Bethany College in 1873, became a clergyman of distinction in the Chris- tian Church. His death occurred in 1887 at Pomona. The oldest son, Quincy A., lives at San Gabriel, the subject of this sketch at Po- mona, and Dr. Andrew Stewart is a practic- ing surgeon of Los Angeles.

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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 166

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