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 21

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

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WARREN COOPER LUKENS was born in Harrison county, Ohio, March 20, 1845, and is the second oldest son of a family of six children born to William E. and Margaret (Cooper) Lukens. The former was born in Pennsylvania, the latter in Maryland and were both members of the Society of Friends. The father was a farmer in Harrison county, Ohio, and later was a miller in Sterling, Ill., where the parents died. One of their sons is Theo. P. Lukens, superintendent of Forest Reserve, residing in Pasadena, a man of much promi- nence and influence. Mr. Lukens was educat- ed in the common schools until the age of six- teen when at the first tap of the drum he vol- unteered in Company B of the Thirteenth Illi- nois Volunteer Infantry and was mustered into the three months' service. Early in 1861. and before the expiration of his time, he re- enlisted May 24 with Company B, Thirteenth Illinois Infantry, serving under General Curtis in the Army of the Southwest, until Novem- ber, 1863, when on account of physical disabil- ity he was mustered out in St. Louis, Mo. He then returned to Illinois, but his constitution had received such a setback that he never re- covered, and for four years was unfit for any labor. For two years he engaged in horti- culture in San Jose and then returned to Sterl- ing. Ill., following the same business until

1880, when he came to Pasadena, Cal., when there was but one store and blacksmith shop in the place. He purchased thirteen acres and set out a peach and apricot orchard, which at the time of the boom he, in 1887, sold to good advantage. He then removed to Red- lands where he purchased thirteen and one-half acres of cacti and sage-brush and started a nursery and at the same time set it out to oranges, which he sold in 1900. In the mean time, in 1899, he had purchased seventy-nine acres at Oak Glenn in the Upper Yucaipe val- ley and with four others formed a private com- pany known as the Oak Glen Land and Water Company. The water was brought by ditch and pipe-line from Oak Glenn creek to irrigate their farms and he set out thirteen acres to apples, now an excellent blooming orchard. He with four others of the Oak Glenn com- pany in the Southern California exhibit at St. Louis received the highest award for apples. In March of 1905 he removed to Los Angeles and located at No. 2707 Normandie avenue.

His marriage occurred in Fairview. Ill., uniting him with Maria Jane McIlmoyl and to them have been born five children: William Ellis, who died in Redlands; Annie M. and Ernest B. of Los Angeles; Charles A. of Oak Glenn and Walter at Colon, on the Isthmus of Panama. Mr. Lukens is a member of Bear Valley Post, G. A. R., at Redlands, and his al- legiance politically is with the Republican party.

JOHN HENRY FAIRBANKS. Of original English extraction the Fairbanks family in co- lonial days settled in Massachusetts, and from the time when the great-grandfather, Nathaniel, gal- lantly fought for freedom in the Revolutionary war until the present day its members have been closely identified with the upbuilding and devel- opment of our country. John Henry Fairbanks, who was born July 20, 1837. in Schoharie county, N. Y., was a son of John B. and a grandson of John Fairbanks, both of whom were natives of Worcester, Mass. The grandfather lived on the old family homestead in Worcester and served in the war of 1812. The father was by trade a con- tractor and stone mason and at the age of twenty- five years removed to New York state, where he was married to Hannah Granidier, a native of that state, her family being of German and French extraction. Her father, Abraham, was one of the earliest settlers in New York, and he also was a soldier in the war of 1812, in which he attained the rank of major. Seventeen years after locating in New York state Mr. Fairbanks went to Racine, Wis., and engaged in business as a contractor and builder, and it was while resid-

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ing in that state that the death of his wife oc- curred. In 1849 he joined the rush of gold seek- ers to California, crossing the plains with his old- est son, and for three years they worked at min- ing. Two years later the son died at Sacramento and the father returned to Racine, where his death occurred.

A member of a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters, John Henry Fairbanks is the only son now living. One of his brothers, Abraham F., served as a second lieutenant in the Fifty-first Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteers during the Civil war. His own boyhood days were spent in Wisconsin, where he attended the district school in the primitive log schoolhouse furnished with slab benches. With generations of patriotic blood flowing in his veins it is not surprising that his decision to offer his services to his country at the outbreak of the Civil war was quickly made. After leaving school he had occupied himself as a teamster, going from Ra- cine and Milwaukee to Burlington, and later was foreman of Norton's ranch for four years. He was working on a threshing machine when the news of the declaration of war reached him. and turning the job over to his father he immediately volunteered his services. In 1861 he was mus- tered in at Milwaukee as a member of Company C, First Regiment of Wisconsin Infantry, and among the engagements he took part in were those at Murfreesboro, and Marietta, assisting in the taking of Atlanta; was wounded in the bat- tles at Buzzard's Roost and at Chickamauga, hav- ing been shot from his horse and made insensible at the latter place. He was an officer in the ord- nance department, having supervision over the ammunition of the Fourteenth Army Corps, to which he had been previously attached. At the expiration of his time of enlistment he was re- turned to Milwaukee and there mustered out in 1864. After the close of the war he went to Sparta, bought a farm, and continued to raise stock and conduct a threshing business until 1884. For eighteen continuous seasons he operated a Case thresher, made many inventions for the ma- chine and helped J. I. Case, who had been a boy- hood schoolmate, with many improvements both on the thresher and the steam engine. Having disposed of his farm Mr. Fairbanks retired from active business for five years and resided in Sparta.

In 1889 he came to Los Angeles and made his home in that city for two years, after which he went to Downey, purchased a ranch and im- proved it and raised fruit and hay, still owning ten acres of land there. He had early purchased a lot on West Third street, Long Beach, and the residence which he erected thereon is still the family home. He has witnessed many changes in the city since first coming here and himself

farmed land which is now occupied by city homes. By his marriage in Monroe county, Wis., he was united with Phoebe Ann Dame, a native of Maine, and they became the parents of three children : Imogene, who married Lewis Millard, of Long Beach; Mattie, who became the wife of a Mr. Whalen and died in Los Angeles in 1905 ; and J. T., who resides on the ranch at Downey. Mr. Fairbanks is a strong Republican, has served on the county central committee for years and has been sent as delegate to conventions. He is a member of Long Beach Post, G. A. R., and Mrs. Fairbanks is a member and active worker in the Baptist Church. In all matters relating to the social and civic development of the city he takes an energetic and enthusiastic interest, and is held in the highest respect and esteem through- out the community.

ALBERT JOHNSON. As clerk of the board of school trustees of Long Beach Albert Johnson is recognized as one of the most progressive citizens of this city, for those men who interest themselves in the cause of education are the most valuable citizens a community can have. On his mother's side he is a direct descendant of Governor Bradford of Massachusetts, and his father's family comes from old English stock. Mr. Johnson was born July 8, 1843, in Stock- bridge, Mass., the son of Jonathan and Eunice (Bradford) Johnson, the former a native of Stonington, Conn., and the latter of Massachu- setts, her father, William, having been born in Connecticut. There were five children in the fam- ily, and of them William Bradford came to Cal- ifornia in 1852, via the Isthmus, his death oc- curring in Petaluma in 1857: Edward L. is a resident of Dixon, Ill .; Mrs. S. J. Carr lives in Los Angeles; Mrs. Brewer died in Dixon, and Albert was the youngest child.

Reared on his father's farm in Massachusetts, Mr. Johnson received a preliminary education in public schools, and then entered Lennox Acad- emy to prepare for Williams College. August 20, 1862, he demonstrated his patriotism by enlist- ing in Company F. Forty-ninth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and was mus- tered into service in Pittsfield, having enlisted for a term of nine months. He was first sent to New York City on provost duty on the steamer Illi- nois, went from there to the gulf and New Or- leans under General Banks, took part in the siege of Port Hudson, being there at the time of its surrender, and was engaged in skirmishing until he had served three months over time. He was then ordered back to Massachussetts and mustered out at Pittsfield. In the fall of 1868 he removed to Dixon, Ill., where he farmed for a short time, but in 1875 entered the county re-

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corder's office as deputy circuit clerk and deputy county recorder. At one time he also conducted a large abstract business in partnership with Ira W. Lewis, under the firm name of Lewis & Johnson, in all of his work meeting with good success.

The condition of Mrs. Johnson's health neces- sitating a change of climate the family removed to California in 1894, locating in Los Angeles, where Mr. Johnson engaged in the real estate business. In 1902 he came to Long Beach and continued to deal in realty, the greater part of his time being devoted to the handling of his own property. The family residence is at No. 225 West Fourth street. Mr. Johnson was united in marriage with Emily Comstock, a native of Lee, Mass., and they are the parents of three children : William Bradford, teller in the German-Ameri- can Savings Bank of Los Angeles; Lottie, Mrs. John T. Laing, who resides in Dixon, Ill .; and Emma L., who makes her home under the par- ental roof. Mr. Johnson is an active member of the Presbyterian Church, of which he is an elder. Fraternally he is a member of the Modern Wood- men of America and belongs to Long Beach Post G. A. R. He is an advocate of Republican prin- ciples and in all matters of social and civic in- terest lends his · influence to the furthering of those enterprises which tend to elevate and up- build.

SYLVANUS THURMAN. Prominent among the old pioneers of Southern California is Sylvanus Thurman, who came to the state with his parents in 1860, a lad of ten years, and since that time has made his home in the land adopted by them, content to pass his declining years in its pleasant surroundings. He was born in Ta- ney county, Mo., April 5, 1850, the eldest in a family of four sons and one daughter; their father, Elisha A. Thurman, was a native of Kentucky, where the paternal grandfather, John, located from Virginia and engaged in farming, finally removing to Missouri and following the occupation of flatboating on the Mississippi river. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, serving un- der General Jackson at New Orleans. Elisha A. Thurman located in Taney county, Mo., and en- gaged as a farmer and stockman, and in 1860 outfitted with ox-teams and necessary provisions and brought his family across the plains, via the Platte, Sweetwater, Fort Hall on the Snake river, across the Humboldt, thence by the Car- son route to California, making the journey in seven months. He located in Ione, Amador county, and engaged as a farmer, and remained there until 1866, when he went to Jackson coun- ty, Ore., and followed a similar occupation for the period of three years. Returning to Califor-

nia in 1869 he located in Los Angeles county and near the Seventeen Mile house at Anaheim en- gaged in the stock business. In 1872 he bought a farm at La Puente, later resided in El Monte, and finally located in the vicinity of Downey, where he farmed until his death, which occurred in 1902 at the advanced age of eighty-two years. His wife, formerly Eliza Phillips, was born in Tennessee, a daughter of John Phillips, who re- moved to Moniteau county, Mo .; she died in El Monte. Besides Sylvanus, there were three sons and one daughter, namely : Columbus, who died in Downey; William C., located in Humboldt county, Cal .; Elisha A., Jr., who died in Red- lands; and Susan, wife of O. H. Beardsley, of Mentone.

Sylvanus Thurman was reared in Missouri to the age of ten years, when he accompanied his parents on the memorable journey across the plains. He helped drive the ox-teams and the cattle, taking his turn at standing guard, and early learning the lessons of self-reliance and courage. Besides his father's two wagons, his mother's brother had a team and wagon, and he, having crossed the plains before, knew the way and they came through without trouble. After locating in Amador county he attended the pub- lic school, after their removal to Oregon assist- ing in the management of the home farm. He remained at home until attaining his majority, when he began for himself, starting in the sheep business two years later at Puente, and continued there until 1877. This being the dry year, he sold out and then engaged in farming at El Monte, and after two or three years spent one year at Verdugo, and then went to Tombstone, Ariz., and took charge of a freighting outfit for Springer & Van Tazzle. One year later he re- turned to California and in 1882 located on Mill creek just below the Tyler ranch and engaged in farming and the conduct of a pack train, he run- ning the first passenger pack train over the San Bernardino mountains from his ranch to Bear valley and Seven Oaks. He continued this work for many years and was very successful in it. In 1891 he purchased a ranch of one hundred and twenty acres at Bluff lake, and now has two hundred acres. In 1884 this was named Bluff lake by the Bear Valley dam workers; it has an altitude of seventy-five hundred and seventy-five feet, and consists of a beautiful meadow a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide, with the lake in the center ; the plateau is surrounded by. pines and fir trees, one fir being eight feet in diameter and one hundred and fifty feet high. Here he has erected log cabins and shake cabins which are used for cottages, Mr. Thurman himself con- ducting the dining room, running a dairy in con- nection with it and having his own beef to sup- ply the table. Since 1891 he has made this place

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his home, spending his winters in Crafton and his summers in this beautiful resort. He also owns four hundred and forty acres a mile from Crafton, and this property is devoted to the rais- ing of hay, grain and stock. He has an orchard on the place which supplies all his own fruits and also for market. There are eleven mountain springs on his ranch which supply ample water.

In Redlands in 1892 Mr. Thurman was united in marriage with Miss Mary Abbie Pillsbury, a native of New Hampshire and a graduate of Mt. Holyoke College of Massachusetts and who has been a resident of California since 1889. They are members of the First Congregational Church of Redlands, and are liberal supporters of its charities. Politically Mr. Thurman is a stanch advocate of the principles advocated in the plat- form of the Democratic party.

GEORGE A. LANE. Oceanside has a full quota of live, energetic business men, promi- nent among whom is George A. Lane, who, as one of the re-organizers and inanagers of the Bank of Oceanside, is carrying on a substan- tial general banking business. In the varied occupations in which he has been employed he has gained valued experience and become well and favorably known in mercantile and financial circles. A son of Gilbert Lane, he was born, in 1856, at Long Branch, N. J., be- ing descended from an old and honored fam- ily. His father was born in New Jersey eighty years ago, and during his active life was en- gaged in the transportation business in New York City. He and his wife, whose maiden name was Catherine Hathaway, are still liv- ing. Of their four children, George A., the subject of this sketch is the only one residing in California.

Brought up in Long Branch, George A. Lane attended the public schools when young, completing his education at a business col- lege in Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Starting in life on his own account when a young man, he went to Wamego, Kans., where he was for a time engaged in mercantile pursuits. Locat- ing in Trinidad, Colo., in 1879. he remained there a number of years, first as a merchant. after which he took a contract with others to supply ties for the Utah extension of the Den- ver & Rio Grande Railroad. Later he engaged in the cattle business with a partner, his in- terests remaining there until 1890. In the meantime in 1886, he went to Flagstaff. Ariz .. to take the management of the commissary department of the Arizona Lumber Company. Disposing of his property in that locality in 1800, he came to California, and for the next ten years was in the employ of a wholesale

hardware company in Los Angeles, and while in the pursuit of his duties in that capacity became associated with many of the promi- nent business men of Southern California. Re- signing his position in 1900, he removed to Winslow, Ariz., to take the position of cashier of the Navajo County Bank, which he held for five years. Returning to California in the spring of 1905. he, in company with J. X. Woods, bought and re-organized the Bank of Oceanside, and he is rapidly building up a large and lucrative business as a banker, and in addition to managing that institution or- ganized, in 1906, the First National Bank of Oceanside, and is also interested to some ex- tent in real estate in this vicinity. Since the death of J. X Woods he has been elected to the presidency of both banks, giving to these institutions his personal supervision. The present officers of the First National Bank of Oceanside are: G. A. Lane, president ; W. V. Nichols, vice-president : and E. S. Payne, cashier ; while those of the Bank of Ocean- side are: G. A. Lane, president ; C. S. Libby, vice-president ; and E. S. Payne, cashier.

In Los Angeles, Cal., Mr. Lane married May Welch, a native of Wisconsin, and they have one child, Edith. Politically Mr. Lanc is a Republican, and fraternally he was made a Mason in Los Animas Lodge No. 28, F. & A. M., Trinidad, Colo., and is now a mem- ber of Oceanside Lodge No. 381, F. & A. M .. of Oceanside, of which he is junior warden ; he is also a member of Winslow Chapter. R. A. M., of Winslow, Ariz., and both he and his wife belong to the Order of the Eastern Star. Mrs. Lane is a woman of culture and refinement, highly esteemed, and is a consist- ent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

WILLIAM C. HUNT. The active, able and progressive business men of San Diego have no better representative than William C. Hunt, who is widely known as one of the leading contract- ing painters of Southern California. Endowed by nature with many gifts, he has cultivated his perceptive faculties, developing to an eminent degree his mechanical skill and his knowledge of form and color. becoming, in truth, an artist with both pencil and brush. He is noted for his fine workmanship. and as a sign writer and painter has no peer in the county. A native of Dublin, Ireland, he was born May 3, 1852.

Learning the trade of a painter when voung. Mr. Hunt located in New York City in 1875. and there followed both carriage painting and house painting for awhile, being subsequently similarly employed in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and

GOTFRIED MAULHARDT

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Massachusetts. From the latter state he came, in 1883, to Oakdale, Stanislaus county, Cal., which was then the terminal point of the railway, and was there profitably employed at his trade for four years. In 1887 he took up his residence in San Diego, and has since been engaged as a contracting painter, and has built up a thriving and lucrative business, not only as a painter of houses and carriages, but as a sign painter, in the latter line especially winning an enviable reputation. He does much of the contract work of the city, keeping from ten to twenty hands employed during the bitsy season, and in the filling of his contracts invariably giving satisfac- tion to all concerned.

In the Isle of Man Mr. Hunt married Fannie Ireland, a native of England, and they are the parents of two children, namely: William Charles, engaged in the painting business at Santa Clara, and Dorothy Frances. Mr. Hunt is a member of the San Diego Chamber of Com- merce, and of the Master Painters' Association, which he assisted in organizing. He is one of the most active and prominent Odd Fellows of the county, being a member and past grand of Sun- set Lodge No. 328, I. O. O. F. ; past district dep- uty grand; a member and past chief patriarch of San Diego Encampment No. 58; while Mrs. Hunt is a member and past grand of the Re- bekahs, and past district deputy. Mr. Hunt also belongs to Silver Gate Court, Foresters of America.

GOTFRIED MAULHARDT. In the rush of twentieth century enterprise we often fail to give the credit due to the unostentatious patriots and pioneers of the century gone by, and often too we fail in appreciation of the work accomplished by the men and women who laid the foundation of the present prosperity; hence it were well to record their names in the annals of local history in order that future generations may give their memories the tribute of respect they deserve. From the time of his arrival in Ventura county in 1867 until his death more than thirty years afterward Mr. Maulhardt lived up to the measure of an honest and conscientious public and pri- vate life. Though of German birth he was in- tensely American in ideals and spirit, and he was one of those men who, in pursuing the even tenor of their way, form the bone and sinew of Americanism.

Dutterstadt, Germany, was Mr. Maulhardt's native place, and May 27, 1836, the date of his birth, he being a son of Jacob and Christine (Krukenberg) Maulhardt, lifelong residents of Germany, where the father followed the builder's trade. Three of the sons came to California, namely : Jacob and Gotfried, who died in Ven-

tura county, and Anton, who died in Los Angeles. On the completion of the studies of the common- schools Gotfried Maulhardt learned the carpen- ter's trade and at the expiration of his apprentice- ship he worked as a journeyman in his home locality. On coming to America in 1867 he proceeded direct to California and settled in Ven- tura county, where he rented land and engaged in raising grain and stock. After a time he in- vested his savings in four hundred and ten acres situated one and one-half miles from the present site of Oxnard. and on this place he followed general farm pursuits with gratifying success. When land in the vicinity became very valuable he disposed of a portion of the ranch, but the bulk of the property is still owned by his estate. On the homestead he remained engaged in ranch- ing until his death, which occurred on Christmas day of 1898. In politics he voted with the Demo- cratic party after becoming a citizen of the United states. while in religion he was an earnest mem- ber of the Roman Catholic Church.

Some years before leaving his native land Mr. Maulhardt established domestic ties, his marriage in 1862 uniting him with Miss Sophia Maena, a native of the same locality as him- self. On the home farm of her parents, John and Dora (Peter) Maena (both of whom are now deceased), she grew to womanhood, mean- while fitting herself for the practical duties of a housekeeper and also receiving a fair educa- tion in German schools. Of all her family she was the only one to emigrate to America, and the death of her husband now leaves her alone, yet her life is far from lonely, for she is surrounded by warm friends and well-wishers and has a large circle of acquaintances in Oxnard, where since 1904 she has made her home on E street. Reared in the Roman Catholic faith, she always has re- mained true to its teachings and has given gener- ously to its charities and missionary organiza- tion. Not only has the church been the recipient of her generosity, but also other movements of a practically helpful nature have commanded her ready sympathy and active co-operation. and probably no one in Oxnard is more deeply in- terested than she in the progress of all that makes for the permanent prosperity of the city.

MELVIN WILLARD HURST. A man of many estimable qualities is Melvin Willard Hurst, one of the proprietors of the Dream- land skating rink at Oxnard, who has been a resident of this state since 1878. He was born October 8, 1858, at Connersville. Ind., a son of Bennett and Cynthia Simpson Hurst, both na- tives of Indiana. His grandfather. Sanford Hurst, was a stockman and farmer, and the father still resides on his farm nine miles from

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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 21

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