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 194

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 194

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avenue, being president of the board at the time of the erection of that building. In the organ- ization of the bank of Long Beach he took a warm interest and officiated as a member of its first board of directors. He was actively inter- ested in the Long Beach public library, and he was chosen the first president of that organiza- tion.

Exchanging his ranch at Long Beach for a tract of forty acres three miles north of Comp- ton, he removed to this latter property, which he vet owns. Since coming here he has pro- moted various important enterprises, including the Bank of Compton ; the Compton Home Tele- phone Company, in which he was a member of the first board of directors; the Compton Water and Lighting Company, of which he officiated as vice-president; and the Glen Holly Dairy Company, of which he acted as general manager for ten months and is now a director. He is a man of progressive spirit, great enterprise, shrewd foresight, with the enthusiasm and judg- ment necessary to all who promote important in- dustries.

In Ohio, Mr. Moore was married, December 24, 1888, to Miss Callie Martin, and they have six children, namely: Hazel, a student in the Los Angeles high school; Wallace, who is in- terested in the dairy business and owns five reg- istered Jersey cows : Mabel, Emmett, Bruce and Helen. The family are identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church. During the cam- paign of 1840 Mr. Moore's father supported William Henry Harrison and rallied around the slogan of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too." Mr. Moore himself has always been a firm believer in Republican principles and votes the ticket in both local and general elections. Fraternally he is associated with the Uniform Rank No. 29, K. of P .; Anchor Lodge No. 273, F. & A. M., at Compton, and Long Beach Commandery No. 40, K. T., to all of which organizations he gives his hearty allegiance.

S. B. NIVERTH, who conducts a blacksmith, general repair and wagon making shop in the Santa Maria Valley, has been identified with this locality for many years. Its earlier part in- cluded an apprenticeship to a blacksmith, and subsequent employment in different shops of the town, his own business having been established about fourteen years ago. He also carries a line of feed, grain and hay. At certain seasons of the year he employs several assistants, and his patrons come from many miles of the surround- ing country.

Mr. Niverth was born in Austria August 2, 1866, and is one of two surviving sons in a fam- ily of six children. When fifteen years old he

accompanied his parents, Antone and Barbara (Ullman) Niverth, to the United States, locat- ing in Brown county, Kans., where his mother died at the age of forty-six, and where his father still engages in general farming and stock rais- ing. S. B. Niverth spent three years with the family in Kansas, and then contracted the western fever with the results mentioned above. In 1889 he married Rachel Bradley, daughter of one of the early pioneers of the county, and the first girl born in Santa Maria Valley. To Mr. and Mrs. Niverth have been born four daughters: Alice, Barbara, Mary and Louise. Mr. Niverth is a popular addition to the social life of the town, and a member of the Hesperian Lodge F. & A. M., and the Fraternal Brotherhood of Los An- geles.

LOUIS A. PFEIFFER, a native of Califor- nia and clerk of San Bernardino county, was born in Vacaville, Solano county, September 1, 1864, a son of Joseph Pfeiffer, whose birth oc- curred in Alsace (then France), and whence he was brought by his parents to America when a child. He was reared to young manhood in the state of Illinois, engaging with a mercantile firm for his first independent venture in life. In 1849 he crossed the plains to California and for a few years following engaged in mining in both this state and Idaho, in the latter state being one of the organizers of the General Custer mines, in which he was associated with George W. Gray- son and J. B. Hoggin. This embraced extensive interests and after its sale to an English syndi- cate proved a valuable property. Because of im- paired health Mr. Pfeiffer then came to San Francisco and in 1887 to Redlands, San Ber- nardino county, the latter place in the interests of property he owned here, and during his resi- dence here he contracted a cold which resulted in his death in 1898, at the age of sixty-seven years. He left a considerable estate, in which was a ranch of two hundred and forty acres in Redlands, upon which he had himself set out an extensive orange orchard. He was a man of spirit and enterprise and always found foremost in all movements which had for their e the general welfare of the community in w je se gi resided. During the Bannock Indian war's, of 1877 he was active in his participation for the white man's interests. Mr. Pfeiffer is survived by his wife, Sophia, who now makes her home in Los Angeles.

The youngest child in a family of three daugh- ters and one son, Louis A. Pfeiffer was reared to young manhood in the Santa Clara valley, re- ceiving his education in the public schools in the vicinity of his home. In 1878 he entered the Santa Clara college and took a three years'

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

course, following which he went to Idaho where his father's mining interests were located, and shortly afterward entered the store in Bonanza and also worked in the store at Custer, eventual- ly becoming manager of the two. He occupied this responsible position until 1890, when the firm disposed of their interests, at which time he came south to Redlands, where his father was engaged in horticultural pursuits. From tlie year 1893 to January, 1895, he served as deputy county recorder under J. B. Goodwin, and in January, 1895, was appointed deputy county clerk under Col. J. W. F. Diss; the latter re- signed his position in 1898 to participate in the Spanish-American war, being sent to the Phil- ippines as first lieutenant of Battery D, Heavy Artillery. Mr. Pfeiffer continued to serve un- der the new appointee, J. B. Parzett, until the following fall, when he was nominated on the Republican ticket for the office of county clerk, and in the election that followed receiving the preference of the people by a majority of one hundred and seventy-eight votes over the Fusion candidate, J. Stanley Brown. Taking the oath of office January, 1899, he entered upon the duties incumbent upon him and has since dis- charged them with an efficiency that won for him a renomination and subsequent election in 1892, by the increased majority of eleven hundred and fifty-nine votes over the Democratic candidate, Robert T. Curtis.

In Bonanza, Idaho, Mr. Pfeiffer was united in marriage with Miss Kathyrine Spahn, a native of that state, and a daughter of Michael Spahn, formerly a cattle and mining man of Idaho. She is a woman of culture and education, being a graduate of an institution of Salt Lake. Be- sides his official interests Mr. Pfeiffer is the owner of a sixteen acre orange grove. Frater- nally he is affiliated with the Elks, being a charter member of the Redlands Lodge No. 183, B. P. O. E .; was made a Mason in San Bernardino Lodge No. 348, F. & A. M., now holding mem- bership with Keystone Lodge No. 56, R. A. M., San Bernardino Commandery No. 23, K. T., and Al Malaikah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Los Angeles. He is a member and past president of Redlands Parlor, Native Sons of the Golden West.

E. RIGHETTI is one of the many Swiss- Americans who represent their mother country's aptitude along dairying lines in Santa Barbara county. He was born in Switzerland, May 8. 1865, a son of Peter Righetti, who had the good fortune to achieve political and general influence, as well as to hold all of the local offices of im- portance in his home town. He married Mary Tognazzi, reared a family of nine children, all

of whom are living, and five of whom are in California. He attained the age of seventy-five years, his wife living to the age of seventy-eight years.

E. Righetti was sixteen years old when he immigrated to the new world, coming to San Luis Obispo county direct from New York, which he reached during the summer of 1881. After four years of training under a well known San Luis Obispo dairyman he moved to Santa Cruz and engaged in the same occupation about three years, or until locating on the ranch he has occupied for the past thirteen years, near Or- cutt, Santa Barbara county. This property cou- tains three thousand acres, of which about one hundred acres are under grain, and the balance in pasture. Of the five hundred head of cattle, one hundred and fifty are milch cows, and the raising of hogs also adds to his income. In ad- dition to dairying and stock raising, he manu- factures one hundred and forty pounds of butter dailv.

Fraternally Mr. Righetti belongs to the Odd Fellows' lodge at Guadaloupe. In 1890 he joined the Guadaloupe lodge of Masons, since ab- sorbed by the Santa Maria lodge, and of which he has served as junior warden. In 1893 he became a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. In 1893 Mr. Righetti was united in marriage to Lelia Pezzoni, a native of San Luis Obsipo county, and of the union there are five children : Alfred, Edith, Tilden, Ernest and Leo.

WILLIAM RINEBARGER, of Ventura county, is now engaged in farm pursuits near Somis. Wayne county, Ohio, is Mr. Rinebar- ger's native place, and December 27, 1847, the date of his birth. His parents, Michael and Susanna (Miller) Rinebarger, were natives of Ohio and spent their entire lives in that state, where the father industriously engaged in farm pursuits. His wife died in 1869 at sixty-nine years of age, but he was spared to the age of eighty-three years. In his large family he had sons who were unusually courageous, self-re- liant and patriotic, and he was proud of their faithful service in the Union army during the Civil war. Two of the sons, George and Lee. enlisted in the Forty-sixth Ohio Regiment and served practically through the entire period of the struggle. Thomas was a member of the Fifty-fifth Ohio Regiment and Henry also served with a company of Ohio soldiers. Nor was the fifth son, William, less patriotic than his broth- ers, for he, too, offered his services to the Union, was accepted as a member of the One Hundred and Forty-sixth Illinois Infantry in which he rendered faithful service for one year and three

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months, being honorably discharged at Spring- field, Ill., the expiration of his term of service.

Immediately after his discharge from the army William Rinebarger secured employment as a brakeman on the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chi- cago Railroad, and in due course of time was promoted to be conductor on a through freight from Fort Wayne to Crestline. At the expira- tion of five years he resigned from the railway employ and turned his attention to farm pursuits in Illinois, later removing to an Iowa farm and still later becoming a resident of Kansas. I11 many respects the climate of these states proved unsatisfactory and for that reason he was led to remove to California in 1889, since which time he has engaged in ranching in Ventura county. Before leaving his early Ohio home to make his way in the world he had formed the acquaintance of Miss Mary E. Spoon, an estimable young lady who was born and reared in Ohio. When ready to establish a home of his own they were married at Wyandotte, July 3, 1867, since which time they have shared each other's joys and sor- sows and have labored for their mutual wel- fare. They have two children. The daughter, Daisy E., married J. F. Fulkerson and lives in Fairview valley; the son, Oscar James, at this writing is in the Santa Paula high school. Dur- ing the period of his residence in Iowa Mr. Rine- barger was initiated into Allerton Lodge No. 310, I. O. O. F., at Allerton, Wayne county, and for thirty-three years or more he has affiliated with that fraternity.

WILLIAM NEWEL SEAMAN. The business interests of Long Beach have in Mr. Seaman an able representative, his connection as president with the Peoples Ice & Storage Co. resulting in the material development of this enterprise. He is a native of New York City, his birth having occurred in that place Septem- ber 20, 1862. His father, Luther Seaman, was born in Central, N. Y., and died in New York City, as did also his mother, formerly Lide Thompson, whose death occurred in 1905. They were the parents of two children, Myron D. be- ing a horticulturist of Yates county. William N. Seaman was reared in Yates county, N. Y., receiving his preliminary education through an attendance of the public schools, after which he attended Watkins academy at Wat- kins Glenn, then known as Penn Yan. In young manhood he engaged in the bakery and confec- tionery business, in which occupation he con- tinued until 1899; disposing of his interest at that date he located in Marshall, Minn., where he purchased hotel Atlantic and successfully con- ducted the same for a period of four years. De- ciding to locate upon the Pacific coast he came

to Los Angeles in 1893 and followed the con- fectionery business at No. 322 Broadway. After five and one-half years he became interested in the real estate business, and in June, 1903, located in Long Beach, where he has since re- mained, a prominent factor in the upbuilding en- terprises. He not only organized this company known as the Peoples Ice and Cold Storage Company, but through him it has been built up to its present lucrative proportions, their work at the beginning being carried on with one horse and wagon, while they now operate five large wagons and three single rigs, with a pay roll from $1,000 to $1,500 per month. This enter- prise was incorporated in 1904 with W. N. Sea- man as president, P. Gallagher as vice-president, and W. L. Beach as secretary. The following year they erected an ice plant at a cost of $19,- 000, thoroughly modern and up to date in every particular, well equipped, and capable of pro- ducing twenty tons of ice per day. They also bought out the Long Beach Ice Company in 1895, adding its patronage to their own. The entire plant of this firm is valued at $50,000, their business, which is constantly increasing through shipments to San Pedro, Wilmington, Terminal and other adjacent points, requiring an increase in capacity each year.

Mr. Seaman resides in Los Angeles, his home being presided over by his wife, formerly Lizzie Emery, a native of Adrian, Mich., with whom he was united in marriage in Yates county, N. Y. She is a sister of Robert B. Emery of Los Angeles. Mr. and Mrs. Seaman are the par- ents of one daughter, Bessie M. Mr. Seaman is a member of the lodge No. 440, W. O. W., of Long Beach, and is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias lodge of Marshall, Minn. He is a member of the Episcopal Church in his religious connections. He is a progressive and enterprising citizen, taking a deep interest in all matters of civic importance. He votes the Re- publican ticket, but in local affairs seeks the development of the men and measures he con- siders best calculated to advance the general wel- fare.

J. D. RUIZ was born where he now lives, near Santa Maria, March 19, 1870, and is one of the nine surviving children in a family of eleven. His parents, Juan B. and Rita (Onti- vero's) Ruiz, were born in California, and the latter is a native of Los Angeles county. The parents own and live on the old homestead where the greater part of their married life has been spent. J. D. first attended the public schools of Santa Barbara county, afterward entering St. Mary's College, at Oakland, from which institu- tion he returned to the ranch. The land is

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adapted to fruit, grain and beans, and for many years these products' have been regarded as its stable output.

In 1891 J. D. Ruiz married Dolores Yorba, a native of Orange county. The two children of Mr. and Mrs. Ruiz died in infancy. Mr. Ruiz is an active Republican, and has held the office of constable for four years. He is a member of the Catholic Church.

WILLIAM G. WATSON. Numbered among the respected and esteemed citizens of Glendale is William G. Watson, a man of un- doubted ability and integrity, distinguished for his honorable record as a brave soldier in the Civil war, and for his upright and honest busi- ness transactions. Industrious and thrifty, he has labored with diligence in the various occu- pations with which he has been identified, and has met with signal success. A native of Eng- land, he was born December 4, 1842, in York- shire, where his father, James Watson, and his grandfather, were life-long farmers.

Growing to man's estate in his native land, William G. Watson received but limited edu- cational advantages. When young he learned the glass blower's trade, which he followed a few years, but the work did not agree with him. Giving it up, he came, in 1863, to America on account of his health, and for a few months after his arrival was employed in the coal mines of Mauch Chunk, Pa. In 1864 he enlist- ed in Company M, One Hundred and Second Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war. With his company he was at the front in the siege of Petersburg, and with it was the first over the line when the entrenchments were captured. He was sub- sequently present, with his regiment, at the surrender of General Lee, after which he took part in the Grand Review, at Washington, D. C. Being shortly afterwards mustered out of service, he resumed work at the coal mines in which he had formerly been employed. Subse- quently going to Texas, he was for a time en- gaged in shipping fruit from Houston and Sherman. In 1876 he came to the Pacific coast, locating in Pasadena, where he bought land, and for eight years conducted a meat market. Going from there to Elsinore, Riverside coun- ty, he took up a government claim, proved up on it, and afterwards sold at an advantageous price. He subsequently lived for a few years in Verdugo, owning a farm there, and for elev- en years being engaged in ranching and in mercantile pursuits, owning and operating a meat market, of which he subsequently dis- posed. With his sons he is now engaged in raising nursery stock, mostly citrus trees and

palms. Another profitable venture was the erection of a business block at the corner of Fourth street and Glendale avenue.

In Texas Mr. Watson married Alice Nelson, and of their union seven children have been born, namely: James Joy, Thomas W., Mrs. Emma J. Reed, Mrs. Ida Ella Jones, Mary, Alice and Nettie. For forty-five years Mr. Watson has been an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, has been superin- tendent of the Sunday school for many years and is now teaching a large Bible class. Polit- ically he is a strong Prohibitionist. Coming to the state on account of lung trouble in 1876, Mr. Watson has completely overcome the diffi- culty and is now well and hearty.

GEORGE A. WILLIAMS. The commercial enterprise of which Mr. Williams is the sole proprietor ranks among the most important in San Pedro. The establishment of a furniture and general house-furnishing store here has proved a fortunate undertaking, and he now carries the largest stock in this vicinity, it be- ing valued at $5,000. In connection with the store there is also a warehouse for the storage of surplus goods.

George A. Williams was born in Kendall- ville, Noble county. Ind., October 27, 1859. His father. William Williams, was a New England- er by birth, born in Massachusetts, and by trade was a machinist and foundryman. Re- moving from the east to Indiana before the birth of his son, he carried on his trade there for awhile, but during the early boyhood of the latter located for a short time in Missouri. Still later he crossed the plains to Colorado, which was his last earthly home. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Lydia Drown, was a na- tive of Michigan, and died when their son was an infant. The other child born of their mar- riage was a daughter, who is now the wife of J. K. Christie, of San Pedro.

As his parents removed from Indiana before he was of school age, Mr. Williams attended the schools of Missouri after the family located in that state, and subsequently took a course in Adrian College, in Michigan. After his grad- uation he mastered telegraphy, and for about nineteen years thereafter followed it in connec- tion with railroading, his duties taking him to points all over Missouri, Kansas and Colorado. It was not until November of 1903 that he first touched foot on California soil, going at that time to San Jose and remaining for three months. His identification with San Pedro dates from December, 1903, when he purchased the nucleus of his present large and flourishing store. He has demonstrated his satisfaction

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with the town as a place of residence by the

broom manufacturing business, this time locat- purchase of a home for his family, besides . ing a factory at Beloit, Kan. After five years which he owns a number of vacant lots.

A marriage ceremony celebrated in Missouri in 1882 united the destinies of George A. Will- iams and Lida Burns, the latter a native of the Empire state, and two children have been born to them, Clarence A., who assists his father in the store, and Agnes. Mrs. Williams is a com- miunicant in the Roman Catholic Church, to- ward the support of which her husband con- tributes. As a Republican he is true to the principles which he believes to be right and votes for the candidates of that party at each and every election. Various fraternal organ- izations claim Mr. Williams' membership, among them being the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen of America and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

JOHN A. VAN WINKLE of Hemet was born October 14, 1844, in Carthage, Hancock county, Ill., the son of John A. and Annie Mill- er Van Winkle, both parents being of Holland Dutch descent and members of old New York families. The father located in Hancock coun- ty, Ill., where he died when his son was six months old, and at nine years the lad was also deprived, by death, of a mother's care. Of the seven children in the family four sons are now living, the oldest, Abraham, having served in an Illinois regiment during the Civil war.

The school advantages of John A. Van Win- kle were exceedingly limited, for upon the death of his mother he was obliged to make his own way in the world. He was an ambitious youth, however, and spent his evenings in study, thus acquiring a very considerable amount of book knowledge at the same time that he was learning the broom maker's trade. When nineteen years old he joined an overland party, which after encountering the Indians and driving them away landed Mr. Van Winkle safely in Montana, where for over three years he engaged in gold mining, pursuing operations at Helena, Virginia City and Boise City, Idaho. He then returned to Illinois and after his mar- riage located in Nebraska, where he bought school land in Johnson county and endeavored to farm. This was, however, during the grass- hopper years in that state and his crops were destroyed completely by these insects. Accord- ingly he left the country and settled in Clin- ton, Mo., and engaged in the manufacture of brooms at that point and for twelve years car- ried on the business very successfully. For the two years following he worked in the lead mines at Joplin, Mo., but met with unsatisfac- tory results and again decided to take up the

he decided to build a steam plant and as his health was poor he took a partner to assist him with the work. In this respect he was very un- fortunate, for while Mr. Van Winkle was sick the man secured the money that was in the bank, sold the factory stock and left a five hun- dred dollar debt for Mr. Van Winkle to pay.

· For a time he engaged in clerking, but was advised by his physician to employ himself at outside work, and he secured employment on the section for a time at a dollar and a quarter a day. Finally a neighbor sold him some broomcorn at one cent a pound. As he had one machine saved from the wreck of his former business he succeeded in making two dozen brooms a day, his wife sewing them, and thus they managed to get along until fall, when he was made foreman of the section gang. Upon the occasion of the big washout at Downs he was sent to that point, but the position requir- ing Sunday labor he resigned, and although importuned by his employers to remain refused to sacrifice his principles in the matter for the sake of the work. Again engaging in the broom manufacturing, backed in the venture by the banker of his home town, he built up a large trade, shipping brooms to many different points, and managed to accumulate consider- able money. Finally removing his factory to St. Joseph he operated it there for eleven years and then sold it to go to Auburn, Neb., and en- gage in merchandising.

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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 194

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