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 134

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 134
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 134
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 134
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 134

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).

In 1858 he married Miss Sarah A. Fitch, who was born in Boston. Her father, Asa Fitch, was a prominent mercantile man in Boston and Chicago. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Gates are: Frank S., Clara I. and James L.

NDER MILLS, deceased, was born May 6, 1814, in Massachusetts. At the age of sixteen years he left home, and traveled extensively in different States. In Missouri, in 1852, he married Miss Ruth A. Ripper, and immediately started across the plains to Cali- fornia, with an ox team. In this State he first took up abont 3,000 acres of Government land, on which he herded cattle for twenty years with considerable profit. In 1874, his health failing, he came to Sonthern California and bought 320 acres in the Westininster colony. His children were: Julia, wife of George McCorinac; Maria, deceased; Amanda, deceased; Jane, wife of James Young; Abram, deceased; Frank and George H. The two last mentioned, the only surviving sons,

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

are now in possession of the Westminster farın. George married Miss Eliza Barker, a native of California, and they have a daughter named Myrtie. The subject of this sketch died March 3, 1890, and his wife had died previously, in 1872.

LFRED BECKETT, a prominent citizen of Westminster, Orange County, was born in Ontario, Canada, June 7, 1830, a son of Stephen and Anna (Taylor) Beckett, and the sixth child in a family of nine. He received a good common-school education, worked at the mill and lumber business for several years and also did some farming, and in 1877 came to California and bought forty acres of land in Westminster, which he has put under a high state of cultivation. Politically he is an intel- ligent supporter of the Republican party. Both himself and wife are highly respected members of social circles.

He was married January 3, 1856, to Miss Mercy Ward, also a native of Ontario. Her parents, Richard and Ruth (Hoag) Ward, were from Dutchess County, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Beckett have three children: Rnth; Hattie, now Mrs. Everett B. Trefethen, of San Pedro, California, and Susie, wife of Edwin McPherson, of Hanford, California.

OHN BECKETT, a prosperous citizen of Westminster, was born in Ontario, Canada June 2, 1819. His parents were Stephen and Anna (Taylor) Beckett, natives respectively of New Jersey and Canada, who had nine chil- dren. The father was a miller by trade. John worked at the lumber business in Pelham Town- ship for several years, and in 1877 he moved to California, arriving at Westminster July 1. There he purchased forty acres of land, which he has since improved, and being well down on the " shady side of the hill," he expects to spend

the remainder of his life in the quiet of his lovely home, under the semi-tropic skies of Southern California. Both himself and wife are adherents of the church of the Friends, earnest and consistent Christian people.

Mr. Beckett married, in 1850, Miss Susan McMaster, who was born in County Sligo, Ire- land, a daughter of William and Margaret (Frazier) McMaster, of Scotch origin. They have nine children, and came to Canada when Mrs. Beckett was eleven years old.

- F. TOWNSEND, a prosperons farmer near Garden Grove, was born in Bow- O doinham, Maine, in 1834, educated at the high school there, and in 1855 left home to take care of himself. For nine years he worked in a wholesale boot and shoe store in Massachu- setts, and from there, January 13, 1864, he went to Chicago, Milwaukee, Sioux City and other places; then to Omaha, and to Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, where he worked on a farm until 1866, teaching school during the winter seasons. Then he went to Baxter Springs, Cherokee County, Kansas, engaging in the manu- facture and sale of boots and shoes for five years; then he followed farming three years, and in 1874 came across the plains with a mule team to California. Here he first bought an interest in a mining camp in San Bernardino County, and spent one year with it. Subse- quently he bought 160 acres at Garden Grove, where he has made a fine farm and on which he has a beautiful residence. He has also recently purchased 240 acres of peat land in the Bolsa and Chico tract. This land is very productive. The peat beds are from two to twenty feet deep, and very rich. For this land Mr. Townsend has refused $300 per acre. As a business man Mr. Townsend has been eminently successful. In his political sympathies he is a Prohibition- ist and in favor of woman suffrage, and socially he is a member of the Masonic fraternity.

December 5, 1869, is the date of his marriage

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

to Miss Anna E., daughter of Captain Isaiah Cooper, a veteran of the last war, who lost his arm at the battle of Vicksburg. Mrs. Town- send is a native of Illinois. The children are Mabel A. and Ernest F.

ERCY H. WALLING, of Garden Grove, was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, in 1838. His parents, James and Louisa (Saxton) Walling, were natives of Vermont, and early settlers of the Buckeye State. Their fourth child, the subject of this sketch, went with his parents in 1853 to Green County, Wisconsin, where later he bought land and engaged in stock-raising and farming until 1880, when he moved to Jewell County, Kansas, and subsequently to Mitchell County, where he was in the stock business until he came to Cali- fornia in 1888. He has here erected a very handsome residence at Garden Grove, where he expects to spend the rest of his life taking care of his fruits and vines. He also lias good resi- dence property in El Modena.

He was married in Wisconsin in 1871, to Miss Emma, danghter of Harmon B. Stewart, and a native of Wayne County, Ohio. Their children are: Mabel, Bertha, Leon, Lester and Frank. Politically Mr. Walling is a Republi- can. He is an old veteran of the war, having served four years in Company E, Thirteenth Wisconsin Volunteers.

ENRY STERLING PANKEY, a farmer of the Los Bolsa tract in Orange County, was born in Tippah County, Mississippi, in 1852, and reared principally in Tennessee. His parents, Henry and Zilpah (Daniels) Pankey, were natives of South Carolina The father died when his son Henry was only a year old, and the mother married Marion Clark four years later. Being ill-treated by his stepfather, Henry left him to live with William Burns, of

Texas. Six months' schooling was all that Mr. Pankey ever received. During the war he suffered many privations and undertook many disagreeable risks. He had to go twelve miles to mill, sitting upon his sack of corn to keep the soldiers from taking it. In March, 1869, he started across the plains for California with an ox team and a drove of cattle, and had to do a great part of the traveling at night. He carried water in pint bottles. From Fort Yuma onward he had but 50 cents in money npon which to travel. At Azusa he worked six montlis in payment for a horse, and subsequently worked for a man named Marion Taylor.

At this point it may be interesting to relate what was probably the most remarkable inci- dent in Mr. Pankey's life. He drove an ox team across the plains for his stepfather, who had so abused him. The last time he saw his mother was at Pachee Pass. She and her hus- band went to San Diego County and remained there five months, and he went afterward to Downey, where he died. Henry's mother, now the second time a widow, had four children and was in destitnte circumstances. She advertised for her son, who had left them on the plains, not knowing, of course, that he was, at Azusa, and he did not know where she was. July 4 he went to a celebration at Downey, and hap- pened to notice a saddle and a horse which he recognized as belonging to Clark. This he raced up, and by it found where his mother was, and was able thus to save her from the destitute circumstances into which she had been thrown.

Mr. Pankey worked by the day, and by so doing earned sufficient to pay for a small piece of land near Downey, and in 1871 came to Orange County. After residing one year at Orange, he kept cattle for a year in Laguna cañon, and from there he went to Trabuca cañon, where he was the first settler and where he en- tered the business of bee-keeping. Afterward he followed farming two years at Newport, and then kept bees again at Temescal some two years, when he moved back to Newport and followed

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

agriculture there three years. Then he came to New Hope district and bought twenty acres of land; but this he sold a year afterward and bought eighty acres on the Los Bolsa tract, where he now lives. Out of a barren waste he has made a fine farm, and where the wild cactus once stood loses now bloom. His beautiful residence is a monnment of his enterprise. In his business as a general farmer he is very suc- cessful, having built himself up from the lowest financial round of the ladder to his present enviable position. Socially he is a member of the I. O. O. F., and of the Reorganized Church of the Latter-day Saints.

In 1872 he married Nancy E. Damron, a native of Kanfman County, Texas. He was a resident of California, and his children are: Jeff. Vernon, who was killed at thirteen years of age; Maggie Lee, Dora Jennie, Zilpah Pearl, John Henry and Edgar.

P. JUSTICE, of Westminster, was born in Pulaski County, Indiana, November 10, 1838. His parents, Jesse and Ma- tilda Justice, were natives respectively of Penn- sylvania and Ohio, and brought up nine children, one having died early in life. They moved to Texas when Perry, the subject of this sketch, was fifteen years of age, that is, in 1853. In 1857 the former moved to San Bernardino Connty, California, and engaged at work in the pine forests. In 1859 he moved to Azusa and lived there until 1888. In 1861 the subject of this sketch started in business for himself by taking up a elaim, being one of the pioneers who beat Henry Dalton & Co., plaintiffs, in a snit against them. He followed farming nntil 1879. In 1883 he bought sixty acres, where he now lives, at Westminster, and is prospering well in the business of general farming and stock-raising. He is an active worker in the cause of education, and has served his district a number of years as trustee. Politically he affili- ates with the Republican party.

In 1869 he married Martha A. Cotman, who was born in San Diego County, a dangliter of John and Mary Cotman. Mr. and Mrs. Justice have eight children: Clara, wife of Perry Glines; Martha, Lanra, Oliver P., Wiley Wells, Jesse Albert, Roy Cleveland and Rhoda Viola.

AVID BRUSH, a farmer of Orange Coun- ty, was born in Fulton County, Illinois, October 12, 1848, a son of John and Mar- tha (Faucet) Brush, both natives of Pennsylva- nia. His father was one of the pioneers of San Bernardino County in 1855, where he lived for over twenty years. He crossed the plains to California in 1854, with an ox team, being on the road six months. He stopped at Salt Lake eight months, to recruit stoek and obtain snp- plies. David, our subject, came to what is now Orange County, fifteen years ago, and bought forty acres of land at Newport, where he fol- lowed farming for abont seven years; he then bought a fine ranch, where he now lives, eight miles west of Santa Ana, and there he is a suc- cessful and prosperous stock-raiser. He has seen same of the rough and practical side of human life, but his good sense has carried him safely thus far, being a citizen whom everybody re- spects. Politically he is an intelligent supporter of the Republican party.

In 1882 he married Susan Beals, who was born in Michigan, the daughter of Zephianiah Warren Beals.

ORR B. CHAFFEE, a resident of Garden Grove, was born in Kane County, Illinois, in 1841, a son of Eber and Anna (Davis) Chaffee, natives of Vermont, and of English and Scotch origin. His father was born in 1799, and died in 1877, and his mother, born in 1803, died in 1876. The subject of this sketch, the first in their family of twelve children, born in Illinois, was edneated at Elgin Academy.

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

Afterward he taught school in Kane County, and then engaged in the dairy business a nnm- ber of years at Elgin. He came to California in 1881; has made a beautiful home in Garden Grove, and owns valuable property in Santa Ana. He is a true Christian man and respected by all who know him.

He was married in 1865 to Miss Lodona Treadwell, who was born in Canada, but reared in Kane County, Illinois, in which county her father, J. Martin Treadwell, was a well-known dairyman. By this marriage there were five children: John M., deceased; George D., Ern- est A., Fannie L., and Martin H., deceased. Their mother died in June, 1881, and Mr. Chaffee, in September, 1883, married Miss Helen B. Willits, who was born at Delhi, Mich. igan. Her parents were Walter W. and Char- lotte (Bottsford) Willits. He was a miller by trade, and had twelve children. One of his sons, Edwin Willits, served two terms in Congress, from Michigan, and is now in the Agricultural Department at Washington. He also served as president of the Michigan State Agricultural College, near Lansing. Mrs. Chaffee was edn- cated at Delhi and Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her brothers and sisters are: Edwin, Lizzie, now Mrs. Nichols, of Marysville, Michigan; Addie, of Garden Grove, and Eugene, of Jackson, Michigan. By Mr. Chaffee's last marriage there is one child, Eugene Willits, born June 15, 1885.

LBERT JOHNSON CHAFFEE, of Gar. den Grove, was born in Kane County, Illi- nois, in April, 1848. His parents, Eher and Anna (Davis) Chaffee, emigrated from Vermont to Illinois in 1840, locating upon a farm twelve miles from Elgin, where he successfully carried on farming and stock-raising until his death in 1877, his wife having died a year pre- vious. They had in all twelve children, of whom nine are still living. Albert was educated at Jennings Seminary, Aurora, Illinois. He

subsequently taught school in Kane County, Illinois, and in Clinton County, Iowa. He has been a citizen of the Golden State since 1881; owns some valuable land on the Ocean View road, besides his residence property in Garden Grove. He is energetic, enterprising, public- spirited and enjoys the confidence and respect of his fellow-citizens.

In 1873 Mr. Chaffee married Miss Susan E. Ambrose, who was born in Maine, the daugh- ter of Rev. Samuel and Henrietta (Greeley) Ambrose, also from New England. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Chaffee are: Mettie E., Edward A., Burns S. and Ralph A. Both Mr. and Mrs. Chaffee are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Chaffee is a strong temperance Republican.

ICHARD ROBINSON, a prosperons farmer of Garden Grove, was born near Ottawa, Canada, in 1827. His parents, Isaac and Margaret (Moses) Robinson, were na- tives of Ireland, moving to Canada in 1821. The senior Robinson was a shoemaker by trade and also owned a large farm. He died in Canada in 1843, leaving a family of nine chil- dren. Richard, the third in the family, re- ceived a common-school education and entered business when very young, having to help in the maintenance of the family until 1852, when he started for California by way of Cape Horn on the bark Fanny Major. He landed in San Francisco in September, 1852, and first followed mining for eight months on the Yuba river; then for six months he drove a truck from San Francisco; then followed mining two years in El Dorado County. Next he followed farming two years in Sonoma County, and again sought the mines. In May, 1858, he he went to British Columbia and followed mining there for a year and a half; then he was engaged in mercantile business two and a half years at Kempville, Canada. In 1862 he came again to California, by way of the Isth-

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

mus. Until 1872 he followed farmning in Sonoma County, and then three years near Colusa City; next for two years he kept a col- lege boarding honse at Santa Rosa, and in this lost money. He next went to Tulare County, where he followed farming again for abont six years. His next and last move was to South- ern California. At Garden Grove he has a fine ranch and is very prosperons.

Mr. Robinson was married in the spring of 1854, in El Dorado County, to Lettie Bolton, also a native of Canada, and a danghter of Richard Bolton, a native of Iowa. The children are: Isaac, Forest, Wellington and Chester Ar- lington (twins), Mina, Frank, Adda, Byron, Porter (deceased) and Bertha. Mr. Robinson has traveled a great deal and has seen many of the hardest realities of life; but he retains a sympathetic heart and gives a cordial welcome to all his friends.

EORGE HOUGH, a prominent citizen of Garden Grove, Orange County, was born February 5, 1855, in Lewis County, New York. His parents were Burage and Mary (Alexander) Hough, natives respectively of Connectient and New York. The father re- moved with his family to De Kalb Connty, Illinois, in 1837, and died there, at the age of sixty-five years. Mr. George Hough, onr sub- ject, was the second in a family of twelve chil- dren. He returned to New York State in 1838, and was there married, in Lewis County, to Miss Hester A., daughter of David and Polly (Puffer) Tiffany. In 1842 Mr. Hongh removed again to De Kalb Connty, Illinois, where he was a successful farmer until 1881, when he came to California and bought a residence in Garden Grove. In 1878 his wife died and July 20, 1887, he married Mrs. Harriet Walker, whose parents, Daniel and Melissa (Peck) Hoag, were natives of New York State. She had two children by her former husband-Theodore and Charles. Mr. Hough's children are: John J.

and Calvin, living, and the deceased are Daniel, Albert, Clinton, Henry, Helen, Mary, Elizabeth and Levantia. Mr. Hough is a sincere Christian gentleman, and is enjoying the evening of life in his quiet home at Garden Grove.

O W. HEAD, M. D., of Garden Grove, was born in West Tennessee, in 1840. His parents, Dr. Horace and Mary (Brown) Head, were natives respectively of Virginia and Tennessee. He received his literary edu- cation at Obion, Tennessee, and liis medical education at Nashville, and in 1866 began the practice of his profession, in company with his father. After sustaining this relation for ten years, he came to California and bought land near Garden Grove, where he has since given most of his attention to stock-raising and farming. In political matters the Doctor is a zealous and able advocate of Democracy. He was in the Confederate army four years, serv- ing for a time as a Captain in the Ninth Tennessee Regiment. Near Greensboro, North Carolina, he received two wounds, and in 1865 surrendered to Sherman. In 1882-'84 Dr. Head represented Los Angeles County in the Legisla- ture, and was a faithful worker for the late county division. Socially he is a Master Mason.

He was married in August, 1869, to Miss Maria Caldwell, a native of Tennessee and daughter of Waller Caldwell, a wealthy planter. They have an interesting family of seven chil- dren, namely: Horace, now a student of the State University ; Percie, Flora, Maggie, Bessie, Clare and Mary.

D. CHAFFEE, M. D., of Garden Grove, was born in Campton, Kane County, Illi- nois, November 5, 1843, and received his literary education at the Methodist Seminary at Mt. Morris, that State. His health failing, he

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

came to California in 1875, and purchased a ranch at Garden Grove, intending to give his time to outdoor pursuits; but his love for study still grew upon him, and, having in great meas- ure regained his health, he went to San Francisco and took a course at the Hahnemann Medical College, where he graduated in 1887. "Since that time he has given his whole attention to the practice of medicine at Garden Grove and vicinity. He has built up a large and lucrative practice, his professional ability being recog- nized far and wide. He has a beautiful home among the orange and cypress trees, where his grounds are fragrant with the breath of roscs.

Dr. Chaffee was married in Illinois, Septem- ber 29, 1868, to Miss E. M. Bradley, of Dundee, Illinois. Her father, W. S. Bradley, was a pioneer of that State, a successful farmer, and died in California in July, 1888. Both the Doctor and Mrs. Chaffee are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Their neat church building at Garden Grove stands as a monument of their Christian zeal and enterprise. The society was organized in 1879, with the following named members: John D. and Ellen Chaffee, A. G. and B. W. Cook, J. H. Rice and wife, Father B. Rice and J. Rice. Since its organization the church has steadily grown in numbers and prosperity, there now being enrolled over one hundred communicants.

OHN WARNER, dentist at Garden Grove, was born in Otsego County, New York, in 1820. His parents, Zachariah and Lanra (Hale) Warner, were natives of Connecticut and of English ancestry. John, the fifth in a fam- ily of eight children, learned dentistry at Cin- cinnati, first started in business in Kentucky in 1840, and from 1865 to 1877 he was at Leav- enworth, Kansas, engaged in wholesale queens- ware and plated-ware. In 1877 he came to Oakland, this State, where he practiced dentistry for seven years. Since coming to Garden Grove

he has practiced his profession to some extent, but most of his attention is given to the cnl- tivation of his fruit and ornamental trees and the beantifying of his home. Here he hopes to spend the rest of his life, free from the excite- ment and worry of business. He is a member of the F. & A. M. and I. O. O. F. He was in early day a Whig, but is now an ardent Re- publican.

Mr. Warner was married in 1853, in Estill County, Kentucky, to Miss Harriet Wilber, a native of the Empire State. Her parents were Church and Hannah Seva (Gambel) Wilber, natives of Barnard, Windsor County, Vermont, and of English, Scotch and French descent. They had ten children, and moved from New York to Michigan when Mrs. Warner was bnt four years old. They subsequently lived in Indiana and other places in the West. The father died in West Virginia, at the age of ninety years, well preserved in body and mind; the mother died some years previously. Mrs. Warner is an earnest member of the Presbyterian Church.

ILLIAM LAMSON, a capitalist of Garden Grove, was born at Mt. Vernon, New Hampshire, October 1, 1810, the eldest of six children of John L. and Nancy (Bradford) Lamson. At the age of twenty-one years, after having been an industrious worker for his father, he started out in life for himself, his father taking him as far as he could in one day, giving him $2 and telling him not to drink or to gamble, and to do the best he could for himself. With the $2 Mr. Lamson went about half way to Boston and hired ont for one year, at $10 per month. At the end of the year he had saved $100, which he put out at interest, and it is still drawing interest in some of his mortgages! After his first year's work he en- tered a glass factory, where he exhibited the sterling qualities which have characterized him as a business man all through life. The super- intendent of the glass works was a careless, in

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

temperate man and wasted a great deal of ma- terial. Mr. Lamson saw this, and when all the other men liad quit work he remained and gath- ered up what was about to be wasted and put things in order. The company, observing him in the performance of these chores, appointed him superintendent of the work at their next ineeting, and this position he held for seventeen years. The next twenty-two years he was a resident of Woodford County, Illinois, engaged as gardener, in settling estates, buying tax titles, making collections, etc. Twelve years ago he came to California and bought 160 acres of land at Garden Grove, where he now has a fine stock and fruit farm. He has also interests in the First National Bank and the Commercial Bank at Santa Ana, and the bank of Anaheim. He has been eminently successful in life, and he says that his success is due to his observance of the rule, " Keep out of debt."

He was married May 28, 1835, to Miss Sarah Starrett, of New Boston, New Hampshire, and their children were: William Bradford, George S., Sarah Frances and Gustin W. Mrs. Lamson died June 6, 1883. Mr. Lamson is now eighty years old, and well preserved in body and mind.

ENRY STEPHENS, a fariner near West- ininster, was born in Monmouthshire, En- gland, in July, 1827, and in 1851 came to the United States. He traveled awhile in the Eastern States, and in 1852 came to California, by sail-vessel from New Orleans to the Isthmus, across which he traveled by the Nicaragua route, and thence to San Francisco, where he landed in August, having been six months in coming. After spending a year in the mines he returned to the Southern States, purchased a number of cattle and drove thein across the plains, starting from Clark County, Arkansas, and arriving in California in September, 1854, after a six-months trip, by the way of the Evansville route. Sub- sequently he mined two years near Sacramento, disposed of his cattle, and for twelve years ran

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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