An illustrated history of Southern California : embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the peninsula of Lower California, from the earliest period of occupancy to the present time; together with glimpses of their prospects; also, full-page portraits of some of their eminent men, and biographical mention of many of their pioneers and of prominent citizens of to-day, Part 130

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1038

USA > California > Los Angeles County > An illustrated history of Southern California : embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the peninsula of Lower California, from the earliest period of occupancy to the present time; together with glimpses of their prospects; also, full-page portraits of some of their eminent men, and biographical mention of many of their pioneers and of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 130
USA > California > San Diego County > An illustrated history of Southern California : embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the peninsula of Lower California, from the earliest period of occupancy to the present time; together with glimpses of their prospects; also, full-page portraits of some of their eminent men, and biographical mention of many of their pioneers and of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 130
USA > California > Orange County > An illustrated history of Southern California : embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the peninsula of Lower California, from the earliest period of occupancy to the present time; together with glimpses of their prospects; also, full-page portraits of some of their eminent men, and biographical mention of many of their pioneers and of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 130
USA > California > San Bernardino County > An illustrated history of Southern California : embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the peninsula of Lower California, from the earliest period of occupancy to the present time; together with glimpses of their prospects; also, full-page portraits of some of their eminent men, and biographical mention of many of their pioneers and of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 130

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

all doing a good business. There is a commo- dious new postoffice, also telegraph, telephone, and express offices, one weekly and one semi- weekly newspaper, a large brewery, a candy factory, a brick and lumber yard, a pork-pack- ing house, a sausage factory, two planing and turning mills, two grist-mills and two bakeries, besides the nsual complement of grocery and dry-goods shops, shoe and general merchandise stores and mechanics' shops.

The Anaheim Gazette is, except the San Diego Union, the oldest newspaper in Southern California.

Northern, on the Santa Fé line, near Ana- heim, is the station for the Buena Park Milk Condensing Company, whose works have capac- ity sufficient to use daily the milk from 3,000 cows. The supply comes from over a large district, the radius reaching as far as Artesia. The product of this manufactory fiuds sale locally and in the neighboring mining districts. It is expected that there will be large foreign demand for this staple in the near future. At the same factory is prepared canned coffee, to be reduced for table use by the addition of water.

On this tract, too, is being promoted the de- velopment of an industry new to Southern Cal- ifornia -the manufacture of molasses from sorghum cane. Last year trial work was done in this direction, with so much success that eighty acres have been planted this year to the cane. This promises to be an important indus- try, as the climate here develops a much better quality of cane than that grown east of the Rocky mountains, and the samples of molasses produced last year were greatly superior to the imported grades now in our local markets.

ORANGE.

In 1870 Messrs. A. B. Chapman and Andrew Glassell purchased from the Yorba family sev- eral thousand acres of land, which they divided into small parcels and sold to actnal settlers the following year. Eight ten-acre blocks were divided into town lots of 50x 150 feet each, and

outside of this nuclens were laid off ten-acre farın lots, in their turn surrounded by lots of forty acres each. At intervals of one-half mile, throughout the whole tract, running from north to south and from east to west. were surveyed roads sixty feet wide.

The town, as a town, dates from about 1874. The oldest orange trees were planted in 1871, and bore in 1879 from the seed.

In the spring of 1873 many new settlers arrived at Orange, planting numerous orchards and vineyards; building a school-house, and securing the establishment of a postoffice, then named, with the town, Orange. In 1874 also came many new people, who engaged largely in the planting of citrus fruits. During this year was built a Methodist church, costing abont $3,500, also a hotel, three stores, and a saloon, the last soon being starved out.

During 1875, 1876 and 1877 were made some improvements, but there was no immigration. In 1878 the existing water supply proving in- adequate, a new ditch company was formed, the control remaining in the hands of those most interested, and in 1878-'79 was completed a new ditch, costing $60,000, of sufficient capac- ity to supply the stockholders with abundant water. Early in 1879 there were, by actual count, 80,000 orange trees and 16,000 lemon trees in this settlement. In 1880 these figures had increased to 100,000 and 20,000 respect- ively. The present acreage of oranges can not be stated closely, as it is impossible to obtain the figures; but it is necessarily large, since this is one of the finest points in the orange belt.

Orange is about three miles northeast of Santa Ana, at the junction of a branch of the Santa Fé with the main line, and also on the line of the Southern Pacitic. The town is in- corporated as in the sixth class; it is well laid out, having a plaza, with neat walks, lined with flowers, and a central fountain. An ordinance prohibits saloons inside the corporate limits. The population is 1,500 to 2,000. There are fine church buildings, the religious denomina-

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

tions being represented by Methodists, Presby- byterians, Christians, Baptists, and German Lutherans. There is a postoffice with several mails daily, and telegraph, telephone, and ex. press offices, two weekly newspapers, two job offices; also a public library well supplied with periodicals and newspapers, and 1,000 volumes. There is here a bank doing a prosperous busi- ness, one dry-goods shop, two general inerchan dise stores, three drug stores, one confectionery, one bakery, two hotels, two real-estate offices, two fruit-p cking establishments, one furniture store, one bookstore, two livery stables, one hard- ware store, one tinshop, one shoe shop, three blacksmith shops and two barber shops.

The water supply comes from the Santa Ana river, through the canals of the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company, which has about seventy-five miles of distributing zanjas, with some fifty miles of private lateral ditches. This company's capital stock is $20,000, each share costing $5. One share of water-right goes with each acre, so that the enterprise purposes to cover 20,000 acres, of which some 14,000 acres are already water stocked. This company has been operating since October, 1877.

The domestic water supply is from a company having a private franchise from the corporation.

Anaheim Landing is situated in Westminster township, about four and a half miles due west from Westminster. This is a coast landing for shipping purposes, with a good wharf and ware- house on the inlet. The Anaheim Lighter Com- pany was organized as an incorporation in 1864, to ship the produce and import the necessary supplies of this section, and all needful privi- leges were granted by the Legislature. Since the railway reached Anaheim, the business of that town with the Landing greatly diminished and the through line of the Santa Fe yet further affected the traffic by way of this port, yet a considerable business is done there. The pop- ulation at this point is about 200.

McFadden's Landing is about twelve miles south of Santa Ana, and abont a mile from the old wharf at Newport Bay. . Here is constructed

an " outside " wharf, 1,200 feet long, with twenty-two feet of water at extreme low tide, this being sufficient to accommodate all coast vessels. This is the most substantial wharf on the southern coast. Grading is vigorously in progress for a railway very soon to be laid between the wharf and Santa Ana. The wharf (known as Newport Pier) and the line are owned by the Newport Wharf and Lumber Company, which does thereby a large lumber business. Much of the traffic between Santa Ana valley and San Francisco goes over this road. Newport Beach, near this wharf, is a popular bathing re- sort, 500 to 1,000 persons camping there during the summer.

Fairview is a town located on the high mesa lands between Santa Ana and Newport Landing. This town was laid ont abont the time the " boom " subsided, and it has been advancing, notwithstanding the general business depression. The Fairview Development Company's narrow- gange railway between this point and Santa Ana is designed to extend some four miles farther to Newport bay.

The water supply, both for irrigation and domestic purposes, is supplied from artesian wells, which flow a large volume of water. The flow from some of these wells is very warm, having a temperature of 90°, and it is highly impregnated with mineral substances, considered to possess valnable medicinal qualities. One or two of these wells emit a combustible gas, which has been utilized to a limited extent as fuel.

Fairview has a $12,000 hotel, a number of tine store buildings, and numerous cottages and residences ranging from $1,000 to $15,000 each. Very few inferior buildings are in this town.

TUSTIN.

From the heirs of the Yorba estate, Messrs. Bacon and Johnson bought a tract of land which they sold in 1857, to Columbus Tustin and N. O. Stafford, who, dividing the tract in 1868, had each, 1,359 acres.

On his portion of the land, Mr. Tustin, in 1869, established the settlement of Tustin City,

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

having surveyed a town site of about 100 acres, in blocks 300 feet square, divided into lots 150 x 50 feet.

Settlers soon began to congregate here, pur- chasing mostly small tracts of five to twenty acres, and their improvements were so effectual and valuable that Tustin to-day is one of the richest and most beautiful spots in Orange County. The homes are handsome and sub- stantial, and the products numerous and remu- nerative. Indeed, Tustin may justly be called one of the garden spots of the county. This is the terminus of the foothill line of the South- ern l'acific Railway. The Tustin & Santa Ana street-car line connects this town with the coun- ty seat. The population is about 1,100; voters, 202.

Corn, barley, all kinds of vegetables and many fruits, including bananas, flourish here. Tobacco is raised in small quantities, for home consumption. Alfalfa and peanuts are staple productions. The orange crop for 1889 from Tustin, is estimated at 150 car-loads.

Tustin has a $12,000 school building, a Presbyterian and an Episcopalian church, and the following fraternal societies: Tustin Lodge No. 331, I. O. O. F., and Tustin Lodge I. O. G. T.

WESTMINSTER.

The original township of Westminster was composed of the whole of Rancho Los Alamitos, containing 28,027.11 acres owned by the heirs of Michael Reese, who bought under the fore- closure of mortgage made by Abel Stearns, the original grantce from the Mexican government.

This land is flat in the north and west, with rolling and mesa land in the south and south- west.

Westininster was started as a colony enter- prise, in the autuinn of 1871, by Rev. L. P. Webber, who selected a tract of level land, com- prising about 8,000 acres, afterwards eularged to 10,000 acres, between Anaheim and the ocean, where he endeavored to assemble settlers who would co-operate in church, school and social matters. The original tract was soon sold,

mostly in farms of forty acres each. There are four school districts: Westminster, Las Bolsas, Garden Grove and Alamitos.

The water supply is the distinctive feature of Westminster, which probably has more flowing .wells than any other section of the United States, of equal area. Every property-holder owns and controls his own water supply. There are in this district about 250 artesian wells, which afford an abundance of cool, pure water, sufficient for all purposes, including irrigation. Water in quantities sufficient for irrigation can be had at a depth of fifty to 200 feet. More- over, the soil here is so damp that a large por- tion of the land will grow fine crops without irrigation.

The productive qualities of this land are almost marvelous; corn reaches a yield of 125 bushels to the acre, and other products are in proportion. The chief staples of produce are corn, beets, potatoes, pumpkins, sorghum, al- falfa, vegetables, and deciduous fruits; on the higher lands of the colony are grown some fine oranges. Dairying and stock-raising are profit- able enterprises, and not a few Westminster people follow these avocations

In the southern portion of this colony are the celebrated peat lands.

This section is thickly populated, the land be- ing owned mainly in small holdings. The col- ony lias a population of some 900; the central settlement, about 450. The business houses comprise two stores of groceries and general merchandise, two blacksmith and wagon-makers' shops, one hotel, one drug-store, one feed-yard, and one saloon. There are three churches, and a good school building, with two departinents. The town has a lodge of I. O. O. F., and a branch of the W. C. T. U.

The stern Presbyterian stock that first settled Westminster pledged themselves to grow no grapes, that no inducement might exist to wine- making amongst them; but outside influence has so far modified matters that grapes are now grown freely, and even a saloon is established here.

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

GARDEN GROVE.

The town site of Garden Grove was selected and laid ont in 1877 by A. G. Cook and Con- verse Howe. It is now a town of 350 to 400 population lying about four miles west of Santa Ana; it is the trade center of a fine agricultural district. The country around Garden Grove has made greater advancement in the way of increase in residence buildings during the past year than any other settlement in the county, and also there has been more land brought under cultivation than in any corresponding section. The chief products are corn, barley, fruits, cit- rus and deciduous, vegetables, grapes, and wal- nuts. Dairying, stock-raising, and the poultry business are also carried on with profit. Garden Grove has a postoffice with two daily mails, a good church, a good school-house, one hotel, one dry-goods and general merchandise store, one gro- cery store, one shoe shop, and one blacksmith shop.

Gospel Swamp is a tract of about 4,000 acres of damp land lying in the southerly portion of the Rancho Santa Ana. A portion of the east- ern and of this tract is full of alkali; hence un- fit for cultivation, but about four-fifths of the tract is of marvelous fertility. Some of the farms here have produced the enormous amount of 118 bushels of shelled corn to the acre. The Morinon Church here was organized in 1875.

San Juan Township comprises ten ranchos of old Spanish granting, constituting one of the most fertile valleys on this coast. Some of the finest walnut orchards of the State are in this section, which is especially adapted to the growth of this nut, as well as oranges and lemons. The scale bug, which so devastated many of the citrns groves of Southern Califor-

nia, never infested the orange trces of this val- ley. Here are produced abundant crops of deciduous and citrus fruits, olives, potatoes, corn, and garden vegetables. In the neighbor- ing cañons are numerous bee ranches, whence the apiarists ship yearly a large amount of white-sage honey, the best in the market. Be- sides the agricultural and horticultural interests of this valley, the surrounding foothills and mountains possess considerable merit as a stock conntry, supporting large herds of sheep, horses, and cattle, that bring extensive revenues to their owners. Some idea of the products and possibilities of this section may be formed from the following partial statement of the shipments from Capistrano station during the past season: Beef cattle, 1,500 head; inutton sheep, 1,000 head; wool, 185,000 ponnds; English walnuts, 176,250 pounds; honey, 46,000 pounds; mis- cellaneous, 100,000 pounds.

The town or village of San Juan Capistrano lies on the main line of the Santa Fé, some twenty-seven miles south of Santa Ana, and two miles from the Pacific ocean. This is the trade center of a large scope of country. The Mexi- can inhabitants, of which the population here was mostly composed nntil very lately, is now rapidly being replaced by Americans. This is one of the oldest settlements on the Coast, the mission here having been established in 1776. The old Mission church and buildings at pres- ent are, virtually, but a pile of ruins, having fallen into decay since the partial destruction of the edifice by earthquake, December 8, 1812. Religions services are still held here, however, and this venerable site is celebrated in song and story.

Very Truly yours Josse the Arnold

HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

839

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

ESSE H. ARNOLD .- Prominent among those who have been most active in ad- vancing the interests of Orange County, stands the gentleman whose name heads this sketch-the pioneer merchant of Orange. He is a native of Howard County, Missouri, born July 15, 1842, and son of John and Mar- garet (Heard) Arnold. His father died in Howard County, Missouri, January 30, 1870, aged about seventy-four years; his mother died at his residence in Orange, September 19, 1889, aged eighty-seven years, three months and twenty days. At the time of his mother's death, Mr. Arnold wrote the following obituary, which not only throws much light upon facts of family history, but also brings out in a strong light his own sense of appreciation of lofty Christian endeavor:

" My mother, Margaret (Heard) Arnold, was born near Lancaster, in Garrard County, Ken- tucky, May 30, 1802. She was one of eight children of John and Jane Heard, whose maiden name was Stephenson, and who at the time of her marriage to John Heard, was the widow of William Wolfskill, of the same county and State.

" My mother's mother, Jane Heard, became a widow the second time, and soon emigrated from Kentucky and settled in Boone County, Missouri, in 1818, bringing with her eight chil- dren by John Heard, and an only son by her first husband, William Wolfskill. A few years

after her arrival in Missouri -- which was then an almost unbroken wilderness, inhabited by wild animals and treacherous Indians, which compelled the settlers to live for the most part in defensive forts for protection-my mother was married to Alfred Head, a surveyor and son of a noted frontiersman, after whom one of the principal Indian forts was named, viz .: Head's Fort, Howard County, Missouri. By him she had three children, now all living: Ex- Lientenant-Governor Lafayette Head, of Colo- rado, now residing at Conejos, in that State; Barthena M. Gray, of Calhoun, Missouri, and Eliza J. Downing, of Virginia, Illinois.

"Alfred Head having died, after eleven years of widowhood, my mother married my father, John Arnold, July 1, 1841, in Howard County, Missouri, whither he had emigrated from Mer- cer County, Kentucky, even earlier than she- in 1811. My father was then a widower, hav- ing lost his wife by death some years before. Of this marriage I was the sole issue.

" My father was an expert rifleman, and his skill was often in request as a scout and soldier in repelling incursions of the hordes of sur- rounding savages. For his services in the Black Hawk war, for many years my mother has drawn a small pension from the Govern- ment.

" My mother was a prudent, plain, practical kind-hearted woman, who recognized the seri- ous obligations of life in all daily matters, and

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

strove to discharge them with unshrinking and conscientious fidelity. She was positive and decided in her character, and when once her opinion was founded, it was seldom changed by argument.

" Early in life she close the ' Pearl of Great Price,' and for about sixty years, I think, had lived a consistent Christian life. My first recol- lections of her are associated with her teach- ings of the divine Savior and an omnipotent God. Her trust in the promises of His revealed Word was always implicit and unquestioned. Her faith was founded upon the Rock of Ages, and in its depth, completeness, simplicity and intensity was absolutely sublime. Whatever is best and most praiseworthy in the character and lives of her four children is imbibed from her, and is the reflection of her teachings and her living example of practicing what she taught. In her long, useful and eventful life, and in every station and relation of it she has occu- pied, she was ever the 'perfect woman, nobly planned.' A dutiful child, a helpful daughter, a faithful wife, a model mother, an earnest Christian, is the honest and truthful tribute of those who have known her. The grateful in- cense of a useful life has been constantly diffused all along her varied pathway. She lıatlı 'sown to the spirit, and of the spirit shall she reap everlasting life.' What an answer to the argu- ments of those who would destroy our belief in God and our hope of heaven!"

Jesse H. Arnold, with whose name this sketch commences, was rcared and educated in his native State. He took the full classical course at the Missouri State University at Columbia, and was graduated in the class of 1861. His diploma, dated July 4, of that year, bears the signature of the faculty as follows: B. B. Minor, President, and Professor of Moral Philosophy and Political Economy; John H. Lathrop, LL. D., Professor of Ancient Litera- ture and History; George H. Mathews, Pro- fessor of Ancient Languages and Literature; Edward T. Fristoe, Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy; J. G. Norwood, Professor of

Natural Science and Natural Philosophy ; R. L. Todd, Secretary of Board of Curators. Those who took the full classical conrse with Mr. Arnold were: Thomas L. Napton, valedictorian, who became a brilliant and wealthy lawyer, and who was for some time judge in Montana; William S. Woods, who is a bank president of Kansas City: Fred Conway, James J. Hitt and William P. Jackman, of whom Mr. Arnold has lost trace.

Judge J. H. Wright, of Arizona, and Hon. John T. Heard (Mr. Arnold's cousin), a promi- nent member of Congress from Missouri, were also in the same class, but did not take the full classical course.

Mr. Arnold had planned in early life to be- come a lawyer, but the war coming on before he had completed his literary education, he went, after graduation, to California, where he remained until 1866. While in this State he clerked for John Arnold & Co. (whose principal was his half-brother) for one year at Sacra- mento. After this he went to Virginia City, and took a position in the Empire Mill & Mining Co., as book-keeper, under Mr. Lathrop Dunn, superintendent. In 1866 he went back to Missouri and married the lady of his choice, Miss Elizabeth Cochran, a native of Boone County, Missouri. After their marriage they lived in Boone and Howard counties, and farmed until 1875, when Mr. Arnold removed to Colorado and went into business with Field & Hill, commission and shipping merchants at Pueblo, and remained with them as their busi- ness moved to temporary terminal points along the line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, till it was built to Fort Garland, when he left them and went into business by himself at Conejos, an old town and the county seat, and which soon afterwards became a temporary terminus of said railroad, and a lively business town. There he remained until 1880, when he again returned to California.

At Orange Mr. Arnold has been eminently successful in the mercantile business. He lias taken an active part in all enterprises affecting

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

the interests of that beautiful place. He is vice-president of the Bank of Orange, and has a large interest in the Orange, Santa Ana & Tustin, and the Orange, McPherson & El Mo- dena street car lines. He has all along recog- nized the necessity of a good water supply to protect the city in case of fire, and has strongly agitated in favor of taking measures looking to that end. It was with this idea that he took stock in the Santiago Land and Water Company. These are only cited as instances of his activity, though many might be mentioned. But above all, to Mr. Arnold the town of Orange and its vicinity owe a debt of gratitude for the estab- lishment of the Orange County College. This was effected by purchasing by subscription the Rochester Hotel and converting it into a college building; and it is but just to say that had it not been for Mr. Arnold's influence, energy and enterprise, Orange would not to-day have had a college in her midst.

He it was who first publicly suggested and advocated the idea, in an elaborate and elo- quent article published in the Orange Tribune of June 16, 1888, addressed to "The People of Orange and the Santa Ana valley," of which editorial mention was made as follows: "The paper of Mr. Jesse H. Arnold, which appears elsewhere in this issue of the Tribune, presents to the public of the Santa Ana valley the sug gestion of a college of a high order of in- struction to be known as Orange College, ap- propriating the beautiful building and grounds of the ' Rochester Hotel' at Orange for the purpose. Read Mr. Arnold's article: he states the matter fully and eloquently." The article was extensively read and copied by other news- papers, and laid the foundation of a hope which has already been largely realized.

Among the beautiful sentiments which per- vade the article alluded to above, is one em- bodied in these words: "Such an enterprise cannot be paralleled for future good to our race, and I would rather be a founder of such or a promoter or instrument in establishing snch, than to be the hero Napoleon or a soldier 53

of the Old Guard which died but never surren- dered."

Mr. Arnold is president of the Orange Pub- lic Library Association and is a gentleman of decided literary taste. A novel feature in his business advertisements for years pist has been that he has written them in poetry.

Politically Mr. Arnold is a conservative Dein- ocrat. He is a member of the Christian Church, and takes an active part in the affairs of his congregation. His daily walk, conversation and honorable business habits show him to be a true Christian gentleman at heart. He is a char- ter member of Orange Lodge, No. 293, F. &. A. M., having joined the order iu Escurial Lodge, No. 7, at Virginia City, Nevada, in 1863.

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Author: Lewis Publishing Company Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1038

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1038