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 170

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

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MICHAEL CLARENBOLD WHITE. The life of Michael Clarenbold White was an inter- esting and adventurous one from the time he ran away from his home in England at the age of fourteen with a companion by the name of Steph- ens, both of whom went to sea. After two years in cruising, the vessel in which the boys were sailing headed for California, and his companion having been killed by falling from the masthead two days before reaching port, Mr. White re- solved to remain in this state. He was the second white man to come to this state, the first having been an English gentleman named Richardson, who married a sister of Mr. White's wife, and after her death suddenly disappeared and was never heard from again. The first three years after coming to the Pacific coast Mr. White spent in coasting for the Mexican governor, the state then being under Spanish rule. He then settled in San Pedro and was engaged for a time in the construction of a schooner for the mission of San Gabriel, but the craft broke from its moorings in a storm before even a trial trip had been made in it.

The next move of Mr. White was to northern California and there he entered into a contract with the governor to carry mail into the interior for a year, in payment for which services he was to receive a land site where the city of San Fran- cisco is now built. After eleven months of serv- ice he became party to a quarrel with an official and resigned the contract, thereby failing to re- ceive the promised land. Removing to lower California he took up stock raising, and after ac- quiring a herd of three hundred head of cattle was

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unfortunate enough to lose the whole number through theft by the Indians. The following two years he conducted a store in New Mexico in partnership with Mr. Workman, which business interest he disposed of to come to San Gabriel. where his wife had bought one hundred acres of land a short distance from the Mission. Here they established a home, but on account of the In- dian raids it was a discouraging effort at the be- beginning, but finally succeeded. A few years later Mr. White established a camp in San Ber- nardino county at the mouth of Lytle creek and again started in the cattle business. Here he was joined by two other white men, who after agree- ing to a plan to take up all of the valley land de- serted him before the consummation of the scheme. The Indians learning that he was alone decided that it would be a good time to make a raid and drive away the herds, and under the lead- ership of Chief Coyote, who was one of the craft- iest and most vicious in that section, they accom- plished their purpose. The next morning in com- pany with an, Indian boy of seventeen years, who was friendly to him, Mr. White started out to find the stock and overtook the thieves at the head of Cajon Pass. Here the Indians had camped and killed a horse, upon which they were feasting when Mr. White discovered them. Cleverly cir- cling the camp he managed to get ahead of them and was endeavoring to stampede the stock when Chief Coyote saw him and started toward him. Waiting until the Indian was within forty or fifty yards of him Mr. White took steady aim and shot him dead, the report of the gun stampeding the cattle. They returned home, Mr. White and the Indian boy following and reaching the valley in safety after having killed a number of other red- skins. The boy had been of great assistance to him by loading his extra gun.

When the governor heard of this affair he sent for Mr. White and ascertaining that he had no land but desired to receive a grant, application was made and surveys taken, and in a few years he received papers conveying to him thirty-two thousand acres of land. When the war between the United States and Mexico was declared he in company with about a hundred trappers banded themselves together under the leadership of Capt. B. D. Wilson against the Spaniards, and that company was the first to be attacked before the troops arrived. Mr. White was wounded and finally the company was forced to surrender, but the Spanish officer, J. M. Silvas, being a relative of his wife their lives were spared. She was the first woman in California to lend assistance to the American soldiers. Years later when the United States government officials came to look up the validity of the grants Mr. White went before them personally with his papers and hired Attorneys Crittenden and Granger to look after

his interests. In payment for their services he deeded one-half of the grant to Mrs. Granger, but Mrs. White's signature being lacking this did not prove to be a legal transfer. Later the U. S. government sent Mr. Hancock to survey the land, but Hancock before making the survey closed a deal to purchase the holding for one thousand dollars, a proper deed to be given as soon as the money was paid. Only eight hun- dred feet of lumber was ever paid in the trans- action, however, and after surveying thirty-two thousand acres in the valley from Arrowhead south, he left and afterwards appeared with a forged deed to half of the grant. After the death of Mr. White in 1885 his son, James B., brought suit to recover but was defeated and the whole property was lost to the family. The marriage of Mr. White united him with Marie del Rosario Guyllen, and they became the par- ents of the following named children: Jennie, now Mrs. Andrew J. Courtney ; Michael; Sarah, now Mrs. Ygnacio Alvarado; Frances, now Mrs. Joseph Heslop, of Pasadena; Alvira, now Mrs. Louis Marshall; Jane, now Mrs. Luis Capde- vielle ; Esther, now Mrs. Castillon ; and James B. Mrs. White died in 1892.

On June 24, 1855, James B. White was born at San Gabriel Mission and has always lived in Southern California. His marriage which oc- curred June 27, 1882, united him with Dolores Zasueta, a daughter of Francisco and Gregoria (Romero), and four children have been born to them : Michael Louis; Rosa; Esther; and Olympia.

EDWARD J. HATCH. Classed among the most enterprising, progressive and wide- awake business men of Escondido is Judge Ed J. Hatch, who is widely and favorably known as the local agent of the Wells-Fargo Express Company, manager of the Sunset Telephone and Telegraph Company, and as justice of the peace. Public-spirited and liberal, he takes pride in advancing the welfare of his adopted town and county, and is ever ready to assist any movement which tends to promote the in- terests of the community in which he resides, and by his fellow-citizens is held in high re- spect and esteem. Coming from a long line of substantial ancestry on both sides of the house, he was born, October 6, 1851, in Dixon, Ill., a son of James Hatch.

The descendant of a colonial family of New England, James Hatch was born and reared in Nashua, N. H., on the farm of his father, James Hatch, Sr., a life-long resident of the Granite state. When a young man he re- moved to Dixon, Ill., where he followed his trade of baker for a number of years, being

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a pioneer in the business in that locality. Giv- ing that up after a few years, he was subse- quently employed as a real-estate dealer and insurance agent in Dixon until his death. His wife, whose maiden name was Maria Louisa Jackson, was born near Boston, Mass., a daughter of William Jackson, who settled as a pioneer in Ogle county, Ill., near the town of Oregon. She died in Illinois in 1853.

The youngest of a family of ten children by his father's first marriage, three of whom are living, Ed J. Hatch is the only one of the fam- ily residing on the Pacific coast. After grad- uating from the Dixon high school he served an apprenticeship at the painter's trade, and going to Chicago, for two years worked in the shops of the Chicago & Northwestern Rail- road Company. Going then to Rock Falls, Ill., he was a contracting painter for two years, being subsequently similarly employed in Chicago for seven years. From that city he went to Pennsylvania, where he worked at his trade for some time, first in Pittsburg and then in Westmoreland county. Again chang- ing his place of residence he went to Manson, Iowa, where he was engaged in painting for four years. Subsequently, with headquarters at Sioux City, he was in the employ of the Illinois Central and Sioux City & Pacific Rail- road Companies for awhile.

Coming to California in February, 1887, Mr. Hatch purchased property in Escondido, aft- er which he returned to Sioux City to settle up his affairs, and in September, 1887, he brought his family to this place and resumed his business as a painter, filling heavy con- tracts in Escondido and throughout the north- ern part of San Diego county, being very suc- cessful in that industry. For two years he served as collector for the Escondido Irrigat- ing Ditch Company, and for the same length of time was collector and assessor for the same company. In 1898 he was elected jus- tice of the peace for Escondido township, and served with ability and fidelity in this posi- tion for eight years. In 1900 he was made agent of the Wells-Fargo Express Company at this place, and also assumed his present re- sponsible position as manager of the Sunset Telephone and Telegraph Company, his office being located in the First National Bank build- ing. By the exercise of good business tact and judgment he has accumulated a fair share of this world's goods. He owns a valuable ranch of fifteen and one-half acres, lying one and three-fourths miles from the city, on which he has erected a fine residence and a substan- tial set of farm buildings. This ranch he de- votes to the raising of oranges and lemons, in which he is quite successful. He is also a

stockholder in the Escondido Rochdale Com- pany.

December 25, 1877, in Westmoreland coun- ty, Pa., the native place of the bride, Judge Hatch married Matilda Null, a sister of the wife of Dr. David Crise, of Escondido, and of the children born of their union six are living : Elfreda N., a graduate of the State Normal School at San Diego and a teacher for some years, is the wife of F. A. Brown of Highland, San Bernardino county ; J. Paul, of Escondido, is a graduate of the Los Angeles Bible Insti- tute and engaged in Spanish mission work in Los Angeles; he married Gladys McClin- tock, a native of Kansas, and has two daugh- ters; the other children, Flora Faith, Neal, Vivian and Dorothy, are at home. Fraternal- ly the Judge was made a Mason at Sioux City, Iowa, and was a charter member of Consuelo Lodge No. 325, F. & A. M., of Escondido, of which he was at one time master, and from which he has since taken a demit ; in Pennsyl- vania he joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. Polit- ically he votes with the courage of his convic- tions, regardless of party restrictions. He be- longs to the Escondido Chamber of Commerce, and for many years has been an active and faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he was a trustee, and for- merly superintendent of the Sunday-school.

THOMAS BECK. Occupying a good posi- tion among thie esteemed and respected citizens of Long Beach is Thomas Beck, a man of up- right character and sterling worth, now living re- tired from active labor, enjoying a well-earned leisure. A native of Ireland. he was born, in 1851, in County Antrim, where his parents, Hen- derson and Jane (McClelland) Beck, spent their entire lives, both dying in 1853.

Left an orphan when about three years of age, Thomas Beck was brought up by relatives, and was educated in the public schools. When twelve years old he began working for his uncle in a bakery, and three years later entered upon an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade, which he subsequently followed successfully for a number of years, being located in Belfast, Ireland. Im- migrating to the United States in 1874. he was engaged in carpentering at Paterson, N. J., for a year, and was subsequently similarly employed in Philadelphia for five years. A superior work- man, skilled in the use of tools, he made inoney while following his chosen occupation, and in 1880 returned to the old country. He worked at his trade in Ireland for one year, assisting in the erection of many fine residences and public build- ings, and then went to Glasgow, Scotland, where

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he spent two years as a ship joiner. Coming back to this country, he located in Hancock, Iowa, where he worked at his trade two years, then lo- cated in Box Butte county, Neb., and took up a claim, but shortly afterward went to Alliance, that county, where he engaged in the hardware business for several years, having an extensive and lucrative trade, and being numbered among the leading merchants of the place. In 1900 he and his wife took an extended trip through Great Britain and attended also the Paris Exposition, being absent from home about six months. Sell- ing out his stock in 1902, Mr. Beck came to Los Angeles county, locating at Long Beach, where he purchased the estate which he now owns. This included a vacant lot, on which he erected a fine, modern cottage, in which he is living retired from active pursuits, having by well-directed toil and exceedingly good management acquired com- petency.

In Alliance, Neb., in 1897, Mr. Beck married Mrs. Elsie P. (Mead) Darling, a native of In- diana. Politically Mr. Beck is a Republican, and fraternally he is a member of Alliance Lodge No. 183, A. F. & A. M., of Alliance, Neb., and with Mrs. Beck is a member of Long Beach Chapter, O. E. S. Religiously he belongs to the Presby- terian Church, and Mrs. Beck attends the Epis- copal Church.

HERBERT CROUCH. Many generations of the Crouch family lived and labored as hus- bandmen in England, but the family has be- come extinct in the country where once they flourished, and in America the sole representa- tives are Herbert Crouch and his son and two daughters. Joseph and Jane (Lloyd) Crouch, natives of England, passed their entire active lives upon a farm in Berkshire and were useful citizens and devoted Episcopalians. Their family consisted of three children, but Herbert, the youngest of the three, is the sole survivor, and the others left no descendants, so that he and his children alone remain to perpetuate the name. He was born in Berkshire January 15, 1840, and received a common-school education in his native shire. Upon setting out to make his own way in the world he sailed on the Black Wall from London to Melbourne, Australia, where the ship cast anchor after an uneventful voyage of one hundred and twelve days. Min- ing engaged his attention and he met with fair success. In 1862 he returned to England on the Orwell, which cast anchor after a voyage of one hundred and twelve days. A year later he returned to Australia on the Star of Eng- land, which landed at Brisbane after a vovage of one hundred and twelve days. In addition to the coincidence in the length of the three

voyages he also felt interested in the fact that each time he sailed on Monday and landed on Monday.

The next voyage which Mr. Crouch entered upon brought him to San Francisco, March 24. 1868, on the barque Camden, after sixty- nine days on the ocean. For about one year he remained on a ranch near Stockton. Feb- ruary 25. 1869, he arrived at San Diego, and on the 25th of March he came to San Luis Rey. San Diego county, where now, with the excep- tion of B. F. Libby, he is the oldest surviving settler of an age permitting the entering of land at that time. With a partner he em- barked in the sheep business and herded his flocks upon the ranges in this part of the coun- ty. In 1873 he entered and proved up on one hundred and sixty acres on the San Luis Rey river, where, in additon to enduring all the liardships of frontier existence, he had the further trouble of a contest in the courts cover- ing a period of more than four years, in which the settlers were involved with the claimants of the Peoiche grant of twenty-six leagues. The settlers eventually won and he was then free to take up the work of improvement. In 1874 he removed from the river to his present location three miles from Oceanside in the San Luis Rey valley, where at one time he had fif- teen thousand head of sheep, divided into dif- ferent flocks. To improve the quality of his steck he imported a number of bucks and bred to secure the highest type of Merinos. Not only were he and his partner the largest sheep- men of their day, but also, when they sold out in 1887, their flock was said to embrace the finest Merinos in the whole country. After discontinuing the raising of sheep he began to raise grain and at one time had charge of more than eighteen hundred acres, of which four- teen hundred and eighty acres were in the home place, extending to the corporate limits of Oceanside. At one time he owned river land and devoted it to the raising of alfalfa, but this he sold, and also in 1905 he sold seven hundred and sixty acres of his ranch, so that now he has five hundred and ten acres in his homestead. In additon he owns two ranches at Julian, a ranch of four hundred acres at Ballona and still another ranch, comprising one thousand acres, in the Lagona mountains. The homestead is well improved with neat buildings and modern conveniences, and there is a fine orchard of citrus and deciduous fruits. with olive trees more than twenty-five years old and the largest in the entire county.

The marriage of Mr. Crouch took place at San Diego in 1876 and united him with Miss Martha Avenell, who was born in Wiltshire. England, and by whom he has three children,

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Lucy Jane, Emily Elizabeth and Joseph Lloyd. Reared in the Episcopalian faith, he and his wife have always adhered to that religion and have trained their children in its doctrines. Since becoming a citizen of the United States he has been a pronounced believer in Repub- lican principles and always gives his ballot to the party and its candidates, but for himself steadfastly has refused to become a candidate for official honors. There are few men now living in San Diego county whose arrival ante- dated his own. The majority of those now in- fluential in horticultural, agricultural and com- mercial affairs have been drawn hither by the development made by the earlier settlers, of whom he was among the most prominent. Comparatively few now living have had a per- sonal experience of the hardships of life in the early days of San Diego's American occupancy and comparatively few were called upon to fight for their rights in the courts for a pro- tracted period; but notwithstanding all the hardships he has endured and the obstacles he has been obliged to overcome, he is loyal to his county, for it is here that he has reaped his greatest success and here that he has risen to a position as a large land-owner and pros- perous orchardist. Through his successful work in fruit-raising he has stimulated others to enter this occupation and thereby has been helpful to others. Gone are the days when large flocks could roam over the broad ranges and gone the days when the sheep .industry was perhaps the most profitable occupation open to San Diego county settlers; but in the place of those balmy years there has come an era of smaller farms with better improvements and more diversified methods of farming. In this transformation he has been a prominent factor, and his efforts have been rewarded with success under the new system as under the for- mer régime.

FATHER ANTONY LEBELLEJAY. As pastor of the Mission Church at San Fernan- do, Father Antony LeBellejay leads a busy and useful life, conscientiously and faithfully performing whatever duties may fall upon him. A native of France, he was born, in October, 1855, in the province of Burgundy, or Bour- gogne, where he was reared and educated, be- ing graduated from the public schools and from the Bourgogne College.

Studying for the priesthood when young, Father LeBellejay emigrated to this country, and for a number of years prior to this was engaged in religious work in the Dominican congregation in France. Coming to California in 1901, he spent six months in San Francisco,

and then came to San Fernando to assume his present position as pastor of the Mission Church, which is composed of about twenty- three families, mostly Mexicans, his charge covering a large territory. Father LeBelle- jay is a man of upright principles, entirely de- voted to the interests of his people, and has a large circle of friends outside of his par- ishioners, his sterling integrity and nobility of character being recognized throughout the community.

FERNANDO CORTEZ HERBERT. A successful horticulturist is named in the per- son of Fernando Cortez Herbert, who owns a ranch of fifty-two acres in the vicinity of El Monte, where he located in 1890. Mr. Herbert is a native of Hempstead county, Ark., born October 9, 1862. His father, Fernando Cor- tez Herbert, Sr., was born in Hardin county, Tenn., where he married Annie Deavenport, also a native of that state, and in 1861 they removed to Arkansas, where Mr. Herbert car- ried on farming until his death in 1869. His wife survived him and in 1872 removed with her family to Texas, locating in Denton coun- ty, where she passed away two years later.

Of the seven children born to his parents Fernando C. Herbert was the fifth in order of birth. Because of the father's early death each was thrown upon his own resources and com- pelled to begin the battle of life at a tender age. This son passed his youth with an un- cle, who was a miller in Denton county, and during this time he attended the public schools. Three years were passed thus when, in the fall of 1877, he returned to Hempstead coun- ty, Ark., and there with his older brother, Thomas, engaged in farming for nine years. In November, 1886, he sold out his interests and came to California. In Monrovia he fol- lowed the carpenter's trade and later worked with a surveying corps and helped to survey Glendora and the trail to the top of the mount- ain as far as Whitcomh. For a short time he was located in Redondo, where he teamed for the Redondo Company. In 1890 he purchased eleven and a half acres of land in the Mount- ain View district, which had just been set to walnuts, and from that time to the present writing he has given his time and attention to horticultural interests. He has improved nis property hy the erection of a comfortable residence and outbuildings, and in 1901 add- ed to his interests by the purchase of forty acres of walnuts near his first property. He has been very successful in his work and holds a place of importance among the horti- culturists of this section, being a charter mem-

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ber of the Mountain View Walnut Growers' Association and a promoter of the best in- terests of the community.

Mr. Herbert has been twice married, his first wife being Miss Mabel Pullee, who was born in Orange county, a daughter of a pioneer family of Southern California. She was mar- ried in Mountain View and died here. In San Bernardino he married Miss Fannie Blanche Ludwig, a native of Pennsylvania, and born of this union are two sons, Ross Deavenport and John Edgar. Mr. Herbert is a Democrat politically and a stanch upholder of the inter- ests of his party. Fraternally he is identified with the Odd Fellows and Independent Order of Foresters (having been a member of the lat- ter organization for the past fourteen years), and is now affiliated with Monrovia lodges.

JAMES WILEY VEACH. Among the up- builders of the interests of Redlands prominent mention belongs to James Wiley Veach, a resi- dent of the city since 1900. He was born in Illi- nois, near Charlestown, Coles county, October 21, 1850; his father, James, was also a native of that state. The family trace their ancestry back to three brothers of Wales, who emigrated to America in an early period of its history and lo- cated the name in the southern states, whence later members settled in Kentucky. There the paternal grandfather of Mr. Veach was reared and from that section he came to Illinois and lo- cated in Coles county and later in Adams county, where his death eventually occurred. James Veach engaged as a farmer in Adams county, where his death occurred in July, 1851. His wife, formerly Jellico Mayes, was born in Wayne county, Ill., a daughter of Thomas Mayes, a na- tive of the Carolinas, when he came to Illinois and engaged as a farmer until his death. He served in the Black Hawk war, as did two of his sons, James and Andrew. In the Civil war James Mayes and five of his sons participated. Their patriotic spirit was inherited from their great- grandfather, who served in the Revolutionary war. Mr. and Mrs. Veach were the parents of the following children: John, a sergeant in the Twenty-eighth Regiment Illinois Infantry in the Civil war, in which he served four years and eight months and died in Illinois in 1906; An- drew, a corporal in the same regiment, died from the effects of wounds received at Shiloh; Mary, Mrs. Dell of Kansas; Ellen, Mrs. Stevens, who died in Nebraska; and James Wiley, of this re- view.

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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 170

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