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 35

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 35

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In 1880 Dr. Doig married Nellie E. Seiver, a native of Muskegon, Mich., and they have one child, Ruth P., a pupil in the San Diego Normal school. The doctor is a Republican in his polit-

Stime !

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ical affiliations, and for a number of years served as pension examiner for the United States gov- ernment. Fraternally he is a member of Ells- worth (Kans.) Lodge No. 146, A. F. & A. M .; of Ellsworth Chapter, R. A. M .; demitted from Ellsworth Commandery, K. T .; and is a mem- ber of Isis Temple ( Salina, Kans.), A. A. O. N. M. S .; and of Ancient Order of United Work- men. He is also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

PROF. JOHN HARVEY STRINE. Rank- ing as one of the foremost educators of Cali- fornia, Prof. John Harvey Strine has, during the twenty years of his active work in this field, given much valuable service both in the schoolroom and in an official position, for he served a term as superintendent of the Los Angeles county schools, during which time he greatly improved the school system. Genera- tions ago the ancestors of Professor Strine immigrated to America and showed the value of the inheritance of the best blood of Eng- land, Holland and France by becoming active participants and leaders in the development of the new country. On both paternal and ma- ternal sides Professor Strine's grandparents were natives of Pennsylvania, the former hav- ing spent their entire lives in Franklin coun- ty and the latter in Lancaster county. The family made a commendable reputation for patriotism during the Civil war. Peter Strine, a great-uncle, fought in the army of the Po- tomac during the entire conflict; Samuel G. Strine, an uncle, in the Eighty-third Illinois Regiment of the Army of the West, served throughout the war; Jacob Strine, another uncle, in 1861 enlisted for a term of nine months and at the expiration of that time re- enlisted for three years, and was killed at Petersburg just two days before the surren- der of Lee ; the third uncle. Jonathan G. Strine, who had also enlisted for three years, was shot in the head at Petersburg, the same bat- tle in which his brother's life was lost, and in spite of his wound is yet living, his home be- ing in the vicinity of Greencastle, Pa.

On October 26, 1858, occurred the birth of John Harvey Strine, in Newbridge, Franklin county, Pa., he being a son of John and Maria Catharine (Long) Strine, the father having been born February 28, 1829, in Franklin coun- tv. Pa., and the mother December 25, 1832, in Lancaster county, of the same state. The father died February 13, 1906, and those of the family now living besides John Harvey are his mother. his sister, A. M. Strine, and his brother. D. L. Strine, all residents of Downey, Cal .. and A. T. Strine, of Los Angeles.

John H. Strine's school days began at the early age of five years in Roxbury, Pa., and a year later, his father removing to Martins- burg, W. Va., where he conducted a brick- yard, he attended the common schools, and when he was twelve years of age he com- menced to work for his father during vaca- tions. The father also purchased a farm near Martinsburg, and when business was espe- cially brisk in the brickyard he left the man- agement of the farm to his sons. In 1877 the family removed to Missouri, after which John Harvey Strine, whose educational privileges until that time had been confined to the com- mon schools, entered the state university of Missouri. In 1882 he graduated from the teacher's course, having earned his expenses by teaching a part of the time. At the time of his graduation he also passed an examina- tion which entitled him to a life diploma as a teacher in Missouri, and after his arrival in California he was given a similar certificate as a high-school instructor. He taught for a time in the district schools of Missouri, but soon arose to the position of principal of the Rolla public schools, and after filling it for two years, resigned in order to remove to Cali- fornia, he having been offered a position at the head of the Downey schools.

Professor Strine's arrival in Downey dates from July 30, 1887, at which time he assumed his duties in the schools, his first work being the grading of the pupils. His ambition was to have his school produce as high class work as any in the state. and within a short time the results of his efforts began to show, in a short time pupils from Downey being accepted in other higher schools without examination. During his residence in Downey Professor Strine has been a leader in many lines, his su- perior education, talents and position natural- ly giving him a prominent place in the com- munity. In July, 1891, upon the re-organiza- tion of the Downey Bank, he was unanimously elected a director by the stockholders and was immediately placed upon the auditing com- mittee. In 1890 he was appointed a member of the board of education of Los Angeles coun- ty, and in 1892 was made president of that body, being re-elected the following year.

In July. 1893. Professor Strine was elected to the principalship of the Monrovia Grammar and High schools, and continued in that position until 1899. when he resigned in order to en- ter upon his duties as superintendent of the county schools. In recognition of his efficient work in the interests of the schools of the county he was at the time of its organization, in 1895. elected to the presidency of the Los Angeles Pedagogical Society and continued to

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

fill that position, also, until his election as county superintendent. He was one of the most earnest and zealous incumbents of that office that the county has ever had, and the influence of his work and methods are still felt in the schools throughout the county. This was followed by two years of faithful service as secretary of the California state text-book committee. While it would be natural to ex- pect Professor Strine to find his greatest in- terest in matters educational, he has not con- fined his talents to those lines, but has been a moving influence in other matters of progres- sive interest to the community in which he lives. He is the possessor of considerable musical talent and was repeatedly made presi- dent of the Apollo Club of Monrovia, and also assisted materially in the organization of the Monrovia Opera House Company, the chief purpose of which was to provide a suitable hall for public assemblages, and the enterprise as carried out has been of untold benefit to the city. During the past two years he has been organizing syndicates, which have been among the most successful in the state in quickly han- dling large tracts of valuable lands. He is a prominent Mason and is past master of Mon- rovia Lodge No. 308, F. & A. M. He always stands ready to aid any measure for the bene- fit of the people, whether from a religious, moral or educational point of view, and does not neglect any of the duties of an intelligent citizen.

FRANK H. REED. Wide-awake, ambitious and enterprising, Frank H. Reed, of Vista, is numbered among the younger generation of suc- cessful and prosperous agriculturists of San Diego county, and as a man of upright charac- ter and good principles is fast winning for him- self an enviable reputation in both the business and social affairs of his adopted home. A son of Dr. J. H. and Ella (Halbert) Reed, of Wis- consin, he was born, February 2, 1880, in Ne- braska, but was brought up in Grant county, Wis., where his parents settled when he was a small child.

Immediately after his graduation from the high school, Frank H. Reed was obliged to leave home on account of ill health, the climate of Wisconsin being too severe for him. Coming to Southern California to recuperate, he spent three years at Redlands and Long Beach, inhaling the life-giving air, each day feeling the beneficial in- fluences of the invigorating breezes from the Pa- cific. Turning his attention to agricultural pur- suits, he located in San Diego county in 1905, and at once assumed possession of his present property, known as the Edge Hill ranch, which

contains three hundred and eleven acres of land, most of which is tillable. The farm is well im- proved, having a fine residence and a good orchard, at one time selling for $75,000. Mr. Reed has now excellent prospects of becoming a mine owner and discovering on his estate gems or tourmaline, as on the ridge which passes through it mines have been opened, and bid fair to yield valuable minerals.

In 1903 Mr. Reed married Dorothy Muffley, who was born in Grant county, Wis., and the home over which she so graciously presides is pleasant and attractive. Politically Mr. Reed is a stanch Republican, and fraternally he is a mem- ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Independent Order of Foresters.

CLAUDIUS OTIS DEMSEY. Early in the colonization of America the Demsey family came from Scotland to aid in the development of the new country. John M. Demsey, M. D., a son of the immigrant, was born in Ohio, and there practiced his profession, later becoming a promi- nent physician of Decatur, Ill., and serving as a surgeon in the Blackhawk and Mexican wars. The lady whom he married, Miss Mary Duncan, M. D., was a graduate of a medical college in Edinburgh, Scotland, and possessed unusual en- dowments of mind and character. Under their influence it was natural that their son, C. F., a native of Akron, Ohio, should take up the study of materia medica, for which indeed he seemed to possess inherited talents. After having ac- companied the California Hundred to the west in 1858 and having gained further knowledge of the country and mankind through his service as a non-commissioned officer in the Second Massa- chusetts Cavalry during the Civil war, at the close of that historic struggle he entered Rush Medical College, took the complete course and subsequent to graduation practiced in Missouri and Decatur, Ill. The year 1886 found him again in California, viewing with gratification the many improvements wrought by the passing years. For a time he practiced in San Fran- cisco and then removed to Mojave as surgeon of the Southern Pacific Railroad for that dis- trict, and since then he has remained in that town, engaged in the practice of medicine and in the oversight of his mining interests. The Republican party receives his support in all elec- tions, and fraternally he affiliates with the Grand Army of the Republic and the Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows. During early life he met and married Clarinda Gates, who was born in Ohio and died at Pasadena, Cal., in 1901; her father and two of her brothers served in the Union army during the Civil war. Her mother was a member of the Barrett family.

William 14. Thomas

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

The older among two children and the only son in the family, Claudius Otis Demsey was born in Dayton, Cass county, Mo., March I, 1870. At an early age he displayed energy of character and force of will. When ten he began to learn telegraphy and at the age of thirteen he was appointed night operator on the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville Railroad at Warrensburg, Ill. The year 1886 found him in California, employed in the electrical department of the Southern Pacific Railroad at San Francisco. The example of his father, grandfather and grandmother led him to take up the study of medicine in 1888 in Rush Medical College, but a course of lectures covering two years was suf- ficient to convince him that his talents did not lie in the direction of therapeutics, and he re- turned to the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in San Francisco and Oak- land. In 1897 he married Miss Emma Solari, who was born and reared in Ventura, her father, Augustine Solari, a native of Zoagli, Italy, hav- ing been a representative of one of the oldest and most honored families of that county.

After his marriage Mr. Demsey resigned from railroad work and went to the City of Mexico in the employ of Wells-Fargo Company, his work being the changing of rates at the adop- tion of the metric system. For such a responsi- bility his knowledge of the Spanish language admirably qualified him. At the expiration of six months he became an operator at Mojave and later was made train dispatcher at Bakers- field. At the latter town, with three others, he located three hundred and fifty acres of oil lands, which he later sold at a fair profit. In 1902 he came to Los Angeles as train dispatcher for the Coast Line at River station, but a year later re- signed the position, and in August, 1904, came to Redondo, where he and a partner purchased the grocery stock of Spradling & Lyon. Sep- tember II, 1905, he sold his interest to J. M. Chrisman, and in January, 1906, opened a grocery and bakery in the Bank building. Here he has the latest type of oven, with a capacity greater than that of any similar plant in the town. The entire equipment is modern and in- cludes a refrigerator and ice machine. Besides his other interests he owns stock in the People's Savings Bank and the First National Bank. With his wife. and two sons, Raymond and Clem- ent, he occupies a comfortable home in Redondo and has many friends in the town. - Since com- ing to this place he has been a leading member of the Board of Trade and a local worker in the Republican party. Though he no longer follows telegraphy, he is still an active member of the Order of Railway Telegraphers, and also affili- ates with Lodge No. 99, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks at Los Angeles, and is worthy

past president of the Order of Eagles at Redondo.

WILLIAM M. THOMAS. Among the active, progressive and substantial citizens of Long Beach, William M. Thomas occupies an assured position. As a street grader and con- tractor he has carried on an extensive busi- ness for a number of years, and to his skilful and systematic work is the city largely in- debted for the excellent condition of its prin- cipal public thoroughfares. A son of J. E. Thomas, he was born, April 13, 1871, in Browu county, Kans. A native of Virginia, J. E. Thomas was reared to agricultural pursuits, and when a young man followed the march of civilization westward, settling as a pioneer farmer in Brown county. Kans., where he was engaged in general farming for many years. Coming to California in 1892, he was first en- gaged in ranching in Santa Ana, but is now retired from active pursuits, having a pleas- ant home on Atlantic avenue, Long Beach. He married Lizzie Ramey, who was born in Virginia, and they became the parents of eight sons and two daughters, William M. being the eldest child.

Brought up in Kansas, William M. Thomas left school when fifteen years of age, and from that time was self-supporting, working at any honorable employment. In February, 1890, before attaining his majority, he came to Cali- fornia, settling at Santa Ana, where he rent- ed an alfalfa ranch, which he managed suc- cessfully for about six years. In 1897 he lo- cated at Long Beach, and with the two teams that he brought with him established the Pio- neer Truck Company. Engaging at once in heavy hauling. street grading and contract- ing, he has built up a large and remunerative business. keeping now ten teams of his own constantly at work, besides having many more. When he located here there was but one street graded, and under his supervision almost all of the other streets and public high- ways have been constructed and graded. He has acquired some city property, and at the corner of Seventh street and Linden avenue has an attractive residence, in which his office is located.

Mr. Thomas was first married in Whittier, Cal .. to Minnie Shank, who was born in Texas, and died at Long Beach. He married for his second wife, in Los Angeles. Cal., Neva Crav- en. a native of Nebraska, and they have one son. William M., Jr. In his political affilia- tions Mr. Thomas is a strict Republican. ever loyal to the interests of his party.

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

A. R. ROBBINS. In promoting the devel- opment, growth and material prosperity of Ocean Park A. R. Robbins stands second to none, his influence being apparent in industrial, business and social lines, and to him belongs the distinction of having the original name of the town, South Santa Monica, changed to the name by which it is now known. A son of Chand- ler Robbins, he was born, October 30, 1859, in Madison, Ind., of substantial Puritan ancestry. His grandfather, Chandler Robbins, Sr., was born and reared in Connecticut, and in early manhood went with Gen. Rufus Putnam to Ohio, settling on the Western Reserve with the New England colony of brave pioneers.

Chandler Robbins was born in Marietta, Ohio, March 1, 1818. and died in Topeka, Kans., May I, 1885. A talented musician, he was in his earlier life a professor of music in some of the best known colleges of the east, and was after- wards for many years connected with W. W. Kimball & Co., music publishers in Chicago, Il1. Subsequently removing to southern Illinois, he was in business for himself in Cairo until 1877, when he went to Kansas, where he spent his re- maining years.

But a year old when his parents located in Chicago, A. R. Robbins lived there until fifteen years old, receiving his elementary education in its public schools, and completing his studies in Cairo. Ill., and in Kansas. Beginning life for himself as a merchant he was first located in In- dependence, Kans., and afterwards in Topeka. Retiring from mercantile pursuits after a brief experience, he entered the service of the Santa Fe Railroad Company, from 1885 until 1888 be- ing employed in the treasury department at To- peka. His health failing, he then went to Las Vegas, N. Mex., to recuperate, and was there claim clerk for the same company for two years. Being then appointed by President Harrison post- master of the city, he served for four years, be- ing well liked and prominent in the community. In the spring of 1894 he came to Los Angeles county and for three years, as agent of the Santa Fe Railroad Company, had charge of the upbuild- ing of South Santa Monica, now called Ocean Park. Continuing with his employers, he was afterwards made oil inspector of the Fullerton oil wells, a position that he retained for some time. Going then into business on his own ac- count. he was engaged principally in promoting oil properties in the Puente district and in Ven- tura county, continuing until the boom abated. Returning to Ocean Park, he embarked in the real-estate business, helping to organize the Southern California Realty Company. Subse- quently selling his interests in that firm, he started the Robbins Realty Company (Inc.), of which he has since been elected president. This

company is carrying on an extensive and sub- stantial business, its main office being located at No. 144 Pier avenue, Ocean Park, with branch offices at Santa Monca, Venice, and at Shakes- peare Beach, all of these being places which have been largely developed through Mr. Rob- bins' forethought and good judgment of prop- erty values.

In July, 1883, Mr. Robbins married Laura N. Rowe, and into their home five children have been born, namely: Gardner, Earl, Gilbert, Ber- tha and Vivian. Politically Mr. Robbins is a Republican, and is now serving as Republican precinct committeeman and as notary public in Ocean Park.

HENRY ALLGEYER, a rancher located a mile and a quarter from El Monte, Los An- geles county, was born in Rhineland, Mont- gomery county, Mo., March 25, 1875. The fam- ily is of German origin, and the grandfather, who was seven feet in height, served as body- guard to Kaiser Wilhelm. The father, John B. Allgeyer, was born in Baden, Germany, where until 1868 he engaged in viticulture. In that year he immigrated to the United States and located in Missouri, there following a similar occupation in addition to general farming. Coming to California in 1881 he spent four months in Napa, after which he returned to Missouri and settled down to his old occupa- tion. Subsequently he again came to the state and located in Anaheim, Orange county, en- gaging as a vineyardist. A year later he went to Norwalk, Cal., and after spending another year in the state returned to his old home in Missouri. Two months later he concluded to locate permanently in California, and accord- ingly sold his property and in the fall of 1885 brought his family to Norwalk. He remained in that location for three years engaged as a vineyardist, when, in 1888, he located in El Monte and purchased sixteen acres of new land, which he set out in walnuts and other- wise improved and cultivated until his retire- inent. His death occurred in this location No- vember 5, 1906. Ever since his location in the United States he had been deeply interested in its public affairs and was a stanch Republican. His wife, Martina Mair, was also born in Ba- den, Germany ; she survives her husband and still resides in this section, being now seventy- two years old. They were the parents of four- teen children, of whom seven grew to years of maturity and five are now living.

The youngest of the children born to his parents, Henry Allgeyer was reared in Mis- souri until attaining the age of ten years, when he was brought to California by his parents

Witheher

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and here completed his education in the public schools. He remained at home and engaged in farming until 1900, when he purchased the home farm and continued its improvement and cultivation. He also purchased adjoining prop- erty until he now owns twenty-eight acres on the San Bernardino road, all in walnuts and ten acres of peet land, which he is engaged in farming. He has been successful in his work and at the same time takes a deep interest in all movements calculated to advance the gen- eral welfare, like his father supporting the Re- publican party and advancing its principles. He is one of the charter members of the Mountain View Walnut Growers' Association. In Ana- heim Mr. Allgeyer married Miss Emily Martin, a native of Germany, and daughter of Ludwig Martin, who died in Anaheim. They have three children, Pearl, Alhert and an infant daughter unnamed.

WILLIAM H. NEHER. Though still a young man in the prime of life, Mr. Neher has attained a success for which many give a lifetime of arduous effort. For some years he has made his home on a ranch one mile south of Inglewood. Upon coming to this property in 1896 he bought five acres on the install- ment plan. From time to time he added to the original tract until he finally acquired ninety acres, but afterward he sold seventy acres of the ranch at a gratifying advance on the first cost. Twenty acres are left in his pos- session, bearing modern improvements, in- cluding a neat residence. In the cultivation of the land Mr. Neher found the raising of pop- corn and Indian corn especially profitable and these he made his specialties. In the midst of his ranching operations he found leisure to invent and construct a corn harvester which is unique in that it will not only cut the corn, but also husk and shell the ears. At this writing he is devoting his attention to a number of impor- tant inventions and, in order to concentrate his thought upon their perfection, he has rent- ed his ranch and devotes himself exclusively to his patents.

Near Salem, in the county of Marion. In., Mr. Neher was born October 21, 1872, being a son of John and Margaret (Beydler) Neher, natives of Indiana. and a grandson of Daniel Neher, who was a pioneer of Indiana, going there from Pennsylvania. Upon attaining man's estate John Neher left Indiana and set- tled in Illinois, where he improved a tract of land near Salem and remained for a number of years. When Kansas was attracting settlers to its rich farm lands. he took his family to that state, and in 1889 came to California, set-

tling at Lordsburg. Five years later he re- moved to Texas, but eventually settled in Oklahoma, and now, at sixty-three years of age, is making his home in that territory. During the residence of the family in Kansas his wife died at forty years of age. She was a daughter of an American family of German extraction and her parents were natives of Pennsylvania, removing from there to Indiana and securing government land in an early day.

The children of pioneer families have few advantages for acquiring educations, and the early life of William H. Neher proved no ex- ception to this rule. It early became neces- sary for him to earn his own livelihood. Being ambitious by nature, he did not allow obsta- cles to discourage him, but at the age of six- teen years began to be self-supporting and worked his way through the college at Mc- Pherson, Kans. In 1890 he entered school at Lordsburg, Cal., where, as before, he paid his own way, earning a neat sum by teaching singing classes. Later he secured a teacher's grammar-grade certificate and for two years taught a country school in Riverside county, but in 1896 gave up that work and came to Inglewood, Los Angeles county, where he has since resided, engaging in ranch pursuits and in the perfection of various inventions.

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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 35

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