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 37

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

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Although his early years were passed in Massachusetts, famed for the high character of its literary institutions and the wide scope of its educational opportunities, it was not pos- sible for H. P. Schofield to attend school ow-

ing to conditions over which he had no control. Born in Sheffield, Mass., the son of Arthur, Jr., he was only eight years of age when he ran away from home and from that time on- ward he was self-supporting. The success which he later achieved was not the result of educational privileges or the help of others, but came as the result of his unaided exertions in

the field of business enterprise. The world was his school-room and experience his teach- er, and who shall say that he failed to learn his lessons under the rigid discipline of his stern instructor ? After having served a full apprenticeship to the trade of carriage-maker in Massachusetts, at the age of eighteen lie en- listed in the Union army for service during the Civil war. As a member of Company K, Four- teenth New York Infantry, enlisting at Hud- son, N. Y., he accompanied his regiment to the front, where he remained for two years. He was then summoned to Washington, D. C., where he served nearly one year in the quar- termaster's department.

At the expiration of the Civil war in 1865 Mr. Schofield went to Rochester, N. Y., and opened a carriage-manufacturing plant, which proved a success front the inauguration of the enterprise. After ten profitable years in the same location he went into the oil regions as an operator and contractor and builder, be- sides which he operated at Elmira, N. Y. The next industry which engaged his attention was in Chicago, where he manufactured ma- chinery under special patents. The plant on Canal street gave employment to one hundred and fifty workmen and produced machinery for the filing of every variety of saw; from the smallest hand saw to the largest circular kind. By this process the work of filing, previously done by hand, was entirely revolutionized and simplified. From a small beginning the bus- iness grew, without the aid of any traveling men whatever, until orders were received from every part of the United States and eventually from every portion of the civilized world.

After a remarkably successful business ca- reer as a manufacturer of his inventions and patents Mr. Schofield eventually disposed of his interest in the factory to his partner, L. L. Filstrup. Being thus released from business cares, he was able to seek the delights of a genial climate and thereupon came to Southern California, where he built his beautiful home, Walholla, at Ocean Park. Though his busi- ness life was one of great responsibilities and his labors often kept him at his desk from dawn until midnight, yet he retains to a large degree the robustness of youth. In a large measure this is due to his temperament and fine poise

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of mind. Business cares were left behind when the office door was closed. Anxious moments he had, as do all who control great enterprises, yet he never allowed himself to be worried or irritated by his anxieties, and thus has re- tained his physical and mental strength and alertness. In fraternal matters he affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Benevolent Protective Order of Elks while living in Chicago. While living in Rochester, N. Y., just after the close of the Civil war, he married Mary A. Darling, who died in New York, and later he married Margaret Buttrey, who was born in London, Canada, and was making her home at Galesburg, this state, at the time of their union.

FRANCIS PERRY SAPPINGTON, M. D. The family with which Dr. Sappington, of El Monte, is connected is one of the oldest and most prominent of St. Louis, Mo., the town of Sap- pington, in St. Louis county, being his birth- place. His father, T. J., was born there, while his grandfather, John, belonged to an old family of Kentucky and in 1803 settled in St. Louis, which was then a part of the Louisiana territory. He inherited the patriotic spirit which induced him to serve in the war of 1812, an ancestor, John Sappington, of Maryland, having served throughout the Revolutionary war, after which he removed to Kentucky and became a planter, serving in the state legislature and becoming rec- ognized as one of the strong upbuilding factors of the section. He had seventeen children, all of whom he sent to Missouri to buy land nine miles from St. Louis and agreed to come himself as soon as Jefferson purchased the territory. John Sappington, Jr., became the owner of three thousand acres of land and received a medal from the Missouri legislature for having the model farm of the state. In the war of 1812 he was the first man to plunge into the Mississippi river and swim across to join Governor Edwards, of Illinois, for service. T. J. Sappington became a farmer in Missouri, where his death occurred at an advanced age. He was a friend of Gen- eral Grant and helped him build his loghouse at what was known as Hardscrabble. He married Julia Leffingwell, a native of Beloit, Wis., and daughter of William Leffingwell, of Salem, Mass., and a descendant of Mayflower ancestry and Revolutionary sires. He himself served with Perry in the war of 1812 as a musician. The mother still survives and makes her home in Sappington, Mo.

The oldest in a family of four children, all of whom are living, Francis Perry Sappington was born in the town of Sappington, September 8, 1871. He was brought up on his father's farm

and educated primarily in the public schools and Kirkwood Military Academy under Professor Haight. He then entered the medical depart- ment of Washington University, from which in- stitution he was graduated in 1893 with the de- gree of M. D. Locating in Sappington, he prac- ticed medicine there for nine years. In No- vember, 1902, he came to California and in Whit- tier engaged in the lumber business in partner- ship with A. G. Clabaugh, the firm name being Clabaugh & Sappington. Six months later he sold out his interest in this enterprise and re- turned to Missouri, where he settled up his busi- ness and in January, 1904, once more located in the Pacific state. In El Monte he purchased a fifteen-acre ranch on Tyler street, erected a handsome residence, and at the same time es- tablished a lumber business and the first lumber yard in the town. He now owns an acre on the railroad, where he has put up sheds, etc., and is carrying on an extensive and constantly increas- ing business.

In St. Louis, Mo., Dr. Sappington married Miss Fannie Walls, a native of that city and a daughter of William C. Walls, a broker. They have three children, Thomas Jefferson, and twin daughters, Mildred Halpain and Joyce Harbison. Fraternally the doctor was made a Mason in Whittier Lodge No. 323 and now belongs to Lex- ington Lodge No. 104, of El Monte. He is also identified with the Independent Order of For- esters and Modern Woodmen of America. In religion he is a member of the Episcopal Church, and politically is a Democrat.

GEORGE ELLIOT. An instance of a man who has gone out to meet opportunity, who has had the alertness to grasp it and the ability to develop it, is found in George Elliot, a rancher engaged in strenuously promoting the grain and bean industry in the neighborhood of Santa Maria. Mr. Elliott possesses the steadfastness of purpose and perseverance of the Scotchman, and that determination which minimizes obstacles and rises upon defeat. He was born near Edin- burg, Scotland, October 11, 1850, the son of Francis and Jane (Douglas) Elliot, who, in 1862, brought their family to America and set- tled on a farm in Delaware county, N. Y. The elder Elliot was an experienced dairyman, and he continued to follow this occupation until a few years before his death, at the age of eighty years. His wife died in 1877, at the age of forty- four. She was the mother of eight children, of whom one daughter died at the age of thirty- seven years, and of whom three sons live in Cal- ifornia.

George Elliot was twelve years old when his youthful activities were shifted from Scotland to

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Delaware county, N. Y. There he learned all about dairying from his father, and at irregular intervals attended the public schools. In 1873 he came to California to seek the rewards of an in- dependent life, settling in San Jose, where he found employment for a couple of years. In 1875 he came to the Santa Maria valley, rented a ranch for two years, and then engaged in the stock business in the mountains for four years. For the following two years he was employed on a ranch in the valley, and in 1886 purchased the farm of two hundred acres which formed the nucleus of his present large property. From general farming and stock-raising he eventually changed to grain and beans, and these crops proved so profitable that in 1903 he added two hundred acres to his farm, the majority of it un- der these two products. Excellent improvements have resulted from his occupation of this large estate, and all are of a practical and enduring na- ture. The owner has studied well the economic side of agriculture, and is quick to adopt the new order of things.

The family of Mr. Elliot consists of his wife, formerly Ellen Bradley, a native of California, and whom he married in 1886, and a son, Fran- cis. His political affiliations are with the Repub- lican party, and as its chosen representative he has served as a member of the board of educa- tion. Fraternally he is connected with the Santa Maria Lodge No. 340, F. & A. M., and the Knights of Pythias. He finds a religious home in the Presbyterian Church. The life and labor of Mr. Elliot, as an expression of earnest and praiseworthy resolve, is entitled to enrollment among those adopted sons of the state who are adding to its material, intellectual and moral wealth.

SAMUEL H. FLINT is one of the highly re- spected pioneers of Ventura county who has been very successful in his ranching projects. He was born January 22, 1834, in Clinton county, N. Y., being a member of a family of ten children, nine of whom grew to maturity, but only two are now living : Samuel H. and John, the latter living in Iowa. The father, Samuel Flint, was born in New Hampshire, and the mother, who was Ann Dominy before her marriage, was a native of Long Island, N. Y., and was married in Clinton county. In 1835 the father went to Ohio with his family and there he remained until his death, at the age of fifty-five years. He was a Demo- crat in politics and belonged to the Masonic fra- ternity. The mother also died in Ohio, when forty-five years old.

Samuel H. Flint was less than two years old when his parents took him to Ohio and in that state he received a part of his education in the ear-

ly subscription schools. From Ohio he went to La- Salle county, Ill., with an older brother and there finished his schooling, after which he engaged in farming. He later was the owner of a fine farm, but he finally sold it and came to California in 1875. He went to Santa Barbara county, living near what is now Montecito, where he remained one year. He then came to the Santa Clara val- ley of Southern California and bought his pres- ent ranch, upon which he has resided ever since. Besides the fifty-two acre ranch near Santa Paula he also owns fifty-five acres near Saticoy, which is devoted to farming purposes. The home ranch is planted to corn and barley, and the fact that Mr. Flint has always given his attention to farm- ing and not divided it with other pursuits may be one reason why he has met with the success that has been his. Practically all the improvements on his ranch are of his own making.

In 1857 Mr. Flint married Miss Eliza J. Sin- clair, a native of Kentucky. Six children were born to them, three of whom died in infancy, and the three living are Henry A., Lizzie and Clara. Politically Mr. Flint affiliates with the Demo- cratic party on national issues, being a Cleveland Democrat.

JACKSON FREER, son of William H. Freer, who is represented elsewhere in this work, was born April 6, 1870, in San Jose, Santa Clara county, Cal. In 1875 he was brought to South- ern California by his parents and was reared to young manhood on the parental ranch, receiv- ing his preliminary education in the public schools and completing it in St. Vincent's Col- lege. He remained at home with his father un- til he was twenty-three years old, assisting in the cultivation of the ranch, when, in 1893, he located on his present property, of forty-six acres, which he had purchased upon attaining 'his majority. This he began to improve and cultivate, installing a pumping plant, building a house and barn, and setting the land to walnuts, the grove now being pronounced one of the finest in this district.

In El Monte Mr. Freer married Miss Eliza Jane Schmidt, a native of El Monte, whose father, Henry Schmidt, was born in Lorraine, France, October 15, 1842. Her grandfather, Henry Schmidt, was born in Bordeaux, France, and was superintendent of the Count of Ham- burg's dominion in Lorraine until his death in 1866. His wife, Margaret, also died in that location. They were the parents of sixteen chil- dren, of whom fifteen attained maturity. Henry Schmidt was the ninth in order of birth; in boyhood he was apprenticed in Luxemburg to learn the trade of blacksmith. After completing his apprenticeship he traveled throughout France,

John C. Olmsted.

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Belgium and Holland, and finally went to Poland, returning thence to Paris in 1863 and making that city his home for three years. In 1866 he came to California via the Nicaragua route, and from San Francisco went to San Jose, where he worked at his trade for a time. He was next located in Marysville, then Virginia City, Nev .; then to Winnemucca, same state; thence went to Silver City and Boise City, Idaho; and from the last-named place overland to Alaska. Forced back by the snow he returned south and located for a time in Salt Lake City, thence went to White Pine, then Lincoln county, Nev., and in 1869 came to El Monte, Cal., where he estab- lished a blacksmith shop and has ever since followed his trade. He married in El Monte Eliza Slack, a native of Cole Creek, Utah, and a daughter of William Slack, mentioned at length in the sketch of his son, George Slack, found elsewhere in this volume. They had the following children: Eliza Jane, wife of Jackson Freer : Victoria, wife of Thomas Freer; Frank, a butcher located in Arizona: Maggie, wife of William Chambers, D. D. S., of Los Angeles ; and Camilla, who became the wife of Herman Platt. and whose death occurred in Los Angeles.

Mr. and Mrs. Freer had three children, only one surviving, Delma. Mr. Freer is a member of the Ancient Oder of United Workmen, while politically he is a stanch Democrat. He is a charter member of the Mountain View Walnut Growers' Association.

JOHN CROSBY OLMSTED is remem- bered in Southern California as one of the noblest pioneers whose aims and purposes were always for the upbuilding of his adopted state, the development of its resources, the promotion of great public enterprises, rather than for personal gain, while his hand was ever held out to assist those less fortunate than himself, his death in 1891 removing from the community a man, citizen and friend whose place could never be filled. His sterling traits of character were an inheritance from an old New York family, members of which had been prominent in public affairs for generations. His father, John Olmsted, was president of the First National Bank of Yonkers, to which place he had removed from New York City, where John Croshy Olmsted was born, the oldest son of his parents. He was reared in Yonkers, receiving his preliminary education in its public schools, after which he graduated from Williams College, then he went south and engaged as a tutor for a short time. The west held out great attractions to a young man of energy and ambition and accordingly in 1864 he turned his face toward California, making

the journey to San Franicsco via the Isthmus of Panama and upon his arrival engaging with A. Rowan, the most extensive book and sta- tionery dealer in that city. His education and scholarly tendencies made of Mr. Olmsted a very successful man in this line, and it was not much later that he became a partner in a similar business with a Mr. Cohn, the firm name being known as Olmsted & Cohn, lo- cated on Kearney street. In 1877 he disposed of his business interests in San Francisco and came to Los Angeles, where under the firm name of Olmsted & Wales he conducted a book and stationery business on First street between Main and Spring streets, and later was located on South Main street. Some time after this his partnership was dissolved and alone he established a similar enterprise on South Spring street, where he remained oc- cupied until his death, which occurred Jan- uary 6, 1891. He had been active in religious work ever since his location in Los Angeles, being a member of the Third Presbyterian Church in which he officiated as elder many years. Politically he was an ardent Republi- can and gave his support to the advancement of these principles, although locally no man could be counted upon more to further public welfare, regardless of party affiliations.

Mr. Olmsted was married in San Francisco June 17, 1868, to Miss Millicent Marshall Hickcox, a native of Cleveland, Ohio. She boasts an ancestry which has given to her some of the best blood of the eastern states, Massachusetts and Connecticut being the home of the name originally. her paternal grand- father. Benjamin, born in Durham county, Conn., in 1736. having married Miss Hannah Clark. of Norwich. Mass., whose direct ances- tor was mate on the Mayflower in its memor- able voyage. Benjamin Hickcox became a pioneer of Oneida county, N. Y., and was postmaster at Clinton, and there Edward Y. Hickcox, the father of Mrs. Olmsted, was born. He was a merchant in Buffalo for many years, later was located in Cleveland, Ohio, in the management of a furniture business un- der the firm name of Chas. & D. A. Shepard. In 1863 he came to California via the Isthmus of Panama in search of the health which the state has since given to countless numbers of the world's seekers. He lived but three years, dying in San Jose in 1866. He was survived by his wife, formerly Sophia L. Scott, who was born in Mayville. Chautauqua county, N. Y., her mother being a member of the Holmes family. Orsamus Holmes. a great-uncle of Mrs. Olmsted, was a soldier under Washing- ton in the Revolutionary war. She afterward made her home with her daughter in Los An-

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geles, where her death occurred in 1893, at the age of eighty-five years. She was the mother of the following children : Sophia, wife of Judge James Cary, who came to California in 1852. She died in San Francisco; Edward, who came to California in 1853, and engaged in mining, his death oc- curring in Idaho in 1863: John S., of Wash- ington, D. C., who served as superintendent of the Senate folding room for over twenty years ; Harriet, who died at the age of nine years; Benjamin, who died in infancy ; Seth H., of El Monte ; and Millicent M., Mrs. Olmsted, who was born January 18, 1844, in Cleveland, Ohio. She was educated in the Cleveland semi- nary and in 1863 accompanied her parents to California, where in San Franicsco she was married to Mr. Olmsted. In 1877 she came to Los Angeles and after the death of her hus- band she continued to make that city her home for about ten years, when she came to El Monte and about a mile and a half north of the town purchased the property where she now resides. This consists of forty acres de- voted to walnuts. She is also interested in real estate in Los Angeles, with her brother owning a building which was erected at No. 452-454 South Main street, also Los Angeles street property, as well as residence prop- erty throughout the city. Mrs. Olmsted is a member of the Central Presbyterian Church, of Los Angeles. She is a woman of rare worth of character. eager to give of the best of her life to others, rather than to keep for herself, glad of her ability to lessen some of the trials and troubles of the world. Her chief aim and ambition is the founding of a hospital, and for this purpose she placed in the hands of Dr. Hugh Walker the power to select a board of trustees for the erection of such a building, but this has later devel- oped into a Presbyterian Hospital. This is to be conducted on humanitarian principles, and will be the foundation of a substantial build- ing to be conducted as a Presbyterian Hos- pital, constructed and supported by dona- tion and endowments of those who desire to assist such a worthy enterprise. One of the main objects which Mrs. Olmsted has in mind is that this enterprise be not wholly for physi- cal needs, but will prove of untold benefit spiritually, in her donation requesting that it be conducted on spiritual grounds and that all the nurses be Christian women. This will at its consummation be one of the noblest and far-reaching influences in the upbuilding of physical and moral betterment, and will for- ever perpetuate the name of its donor-rich in the Higher things, broad in the truest con-

ception of Christianity, and gladly holding out her influence to extend beyond "life's little day.".

E. W. SELBACH is a successful business man of El Monte, Los Angeles county, where he is conducting a fine meat market, modern in all its appointments, a refrigerator of con- siderable capacity, a three-horse power gaso- line engine, all appurtenances for the manu- facture of sausage, lard, etc., and since his es- tablishment of this enterprise he has built up a wide custom. Mr. Selbach is a native Cali- fornian, born in Pleasanton February 7, 1871 ; his father, A. Selbach, was born near Ham- burg, Germany, became a butcher by trade, and in the early '50s came around the Horn to California, arriving in San Francisco and starting a butcher business, owning two stalls in the old California market for many years. He established his home in Pleasanton. Lat- er in life he went on the stock exchange and lost the greater part of his accumulated fort- une. He then returned to the butcher business and worked for wages, first in San Felipe, then in Lemoore, Kings county, in the latter place establishing a market which he conducted for fifteen years. His death occurred in that loca- tion. Fraternally he was an Odd Fellow, and politically cast his ballot for the Republican party. His wife was formerly Pauline Bots- ford, a native of Michigan and daughter of a pioneer of California; her death also occurred in Lemoore.

From the age of six years E. W. Selbach was reared in Lemoore and in that place re- ceived his education through the medium of the public schools. His business education was obtained in the Chestnutwood Business College, of Santa Cruz, through which he worked his own way. He continued with his father until attaining his majority, when in 1892 he came to Los Angeles and engaged in the butcher business, which he had learned from early boyhood. He was employed by Vickrey & Hines until they went out of bus- iness, when he went to Wilmington and con- tinued for George Hines, and in time became manager of the Wilmington department. Up- on the death of his father he resigned this position to look after the interests of the es- tate, which was finally sold and settled up. when he returned to Los Angeles. He was then identified with the business of John Brin- er, of Pasadena, with whom he remained but a short time, however, when he purchased a ranch in the peet lands, consisting of forty acres, which he improved for two years. Dis-

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posing of this property at a good figure, he then went to Monrovia, Cal., and engaged at his trade until 1900, when he located in El Monte. He here established a meat market, which has since grown to lucrative propor- tions, a wide trade growing up throughout the country, and an equipment modern and up to date in every way following in order to respond to the large demands made upon the business.

Mr. Selbach has built two residences here, and has also improved a lot with a store build- ing, which he still owns. He was married in Los Angeles to Miss Mariette Teague, who was born in Uniontown. Kans. He is one of the original stockholders of the First National Bank of El Monte, and in other ways has tak- en every interest in the upbuilding of the town. Fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, Ancient Order of Unit- ed Workmen, and a charter member of the Lemoore Parlor, N. S. G. W. Politically he is a Republican.

CHARLES M. STONE. Not a few of the men now prominent in commercial and financial circles in Pomona are those whose initial train- ing in these lines was obtained in the east. Such is the record of Charles M. Stone, cashier of the First National Bank of Pomona, the oldest and most influential financial institution in the Po- mona valley. Under its original charter, granted in May, 1886, a flourishing, though conserva- tive, business was carried on for twenty years, when, in May, 1906, a new charter was granted. The bank is capitalized for $100,000, with sur- plus and profits amounting to the same figure, and has a record for reliability and conservatism unequaled by any similar institution in Southern California. The First National occupies its own building, known as the First National Bank block, and is the only bank in the city able to make this boast. Besides doing a general bank- ing business the bank has a fine equipment of steel vaults, of the most modern construction, where valuables of all kinds may be stored with perfect safety.

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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 37

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