Historical and biographical record of southern California; containing a history of southern California from its earliest settlement to the opening year of the twentieth century, Part 102

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co.
Number of Pages: 1366

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In 1886 Mr. Hunter married Miss Ella F. Stockton, from Philadelphia, but a native of Cal- ifornia. Of this union there is one son, John Stockton Hunter.

JAMES M. HORTON. The association of Mr. Horton with California began during the early pioneer days, and he has been identified with Buckhorn, Ventura county, for a long pe- riod, having come here from Nevada in July, 1866. A native of Delaware county, N. Y., born on the last day of the year 1833, he accompa- nied his parents to Michigan in 1840 and settled near Lansing, where the years of youth were passed. Like many other young men during the '50s, he sought his fortune across the plains in the far west. With an immigrant train, in 1852, he started on the long overland journey for the Pacific coast. enduring all the hardships of such a journey, whose difficulties and dan- gers we of the present day of railroads can form no conception.

Arriving in Eldorado county, Mr. Horton lo- cated several piacer mines, and remained there for four years working his claims. At the out- break of the Civil war, in 1861, he went to Ne- vada and for several years worked in the mines at Esmeralda. Next he removed to Santa Bar- bara (now Ventura) county and settled on the Camulos ranch, noted in the field of romance as the home of the heroine of Helen Hunt Jack- son's famous work, "Ramona." In 1868 he bought his present farm at Buckhorn, which is the northwest quarter of section 30, a part of the old Dominguez ranch. At this writing he owns one hundred acres, twenty-five acres of which are in apricots, two acres in olives, and thirty acres in almonds, the latter being his prin- cipal crop. Besides these fruits he has a general orchard. The development of his ranch is the result of constant industry through many years and speaks volumes for his determined perse- verance.

May 7, 1881, Mr. Horton married Miss Min- nie Stowell, who was born in England and died in California September 13, 1893. Later he was united with Miss Ella Obear. On the ranch where he settled in 1868 his six children were born, all being of his first union, and named as follows: Olive, Alfred, Etta, Harry, Mabel and George.

As a stockholder Mr. Horton is associated with the Ventura County Mutual Fire Insur- ance Company. The nominees of the Repub- lican party not only receive his vote, but his hearty support in every way. The local con- ventions of his party have the benefit of his pres- ence and wise suggestions, while each election day finds him doing active work at the polls. Not only is he active in politics, but also in all plans for bettering the community and uplifting humanity.

FRANK R. HENNION. Preceded by an extended business experience in different parts of the state and country, Mr. Hennion came to Ventura in 1897, as agent for the Union Oil Company of California. This responsible posi- tion he has since creditably maintained, his du- ties extending to a general supervision of the company's interests at this end of the line, a by no means unimportant task, as all of the oil of the concern is shipped from Ventura. Aside from his business obligations, he is variously in- terested in the affairs of the town, his influence as a moral and progressive force being un- questioned and unceasingly exerted on the side of law and order and general improvement. In the suppression of the saloon he has been par- ticularly active, and, as a member of the execu- tive committee and also secretary of the Anti- Saloon League, he has, from the time of its organization, endeavored to enforce municipal purity, and do away with political intrigue and its attendant retrogression.

From practically his fourteenth year Mr. Hennion has been the architect of his own for- tunes, and his toil has supplied the wherewithal for sustenance, education and general ini- provement. The only child in his father's family, he was born October 22, 1866, at Macomb, Mc- Donough county, Ill., son of Martin and Mattie (Reese) Hennion. The father was born in Newark, N. J., and eventually went to Colorado where he followed with varying success and failure the fortunes of a miner. With the break- ing out of the Civil war he enlisted in the Sec- ond Colorado Cavalry, and was raised from the rank of lieutenant to that of captain, in which capacity he served until the close of the war. With the return of peace he settled in Macomb, McDonough county, Ill., and became a com- mercial traveler, but later located in Kansas City, Mo., where he engaged in the mercantile business. In 1886 he removed to San Diego, Cal., which has continued to be his residence up to the present time. His wife was born in Han- over, Ind., and was a granddaughter of Rev. Benjamin Reese, a prominent clergyman in the Presbyterian Church.

Upon starting out to earn his own living Mr. Hennion entered the employ of Meyer Brothers, drug merchants, with whom he remained for three years. Afterward he learned the wood working and furniture manufacturing business, in which he engaged until 1886, or until his re- moval to San Diego, Cal. He was here em- ployed by the Russ Lumber Company as yard salesman until 1892, when he went to Los Angeles, Cal., and was with several different lumber companies in a similar capacity, up to the time of settling in Ventura in 1897.

In Los Angeles Mr. Hennion married Nellie Junod, daughter of Alfred and Eugenie Junod, and a native of Highland, Ill. Of this union

Thorvald Ingvaldsen

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

there are two children, Harry Martin and Ruth Genevieve. Mr. Hennion is a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Presbyterian Church, in which he is a ruling elder. He is a member of the Board of Trade, and is fraternally associated with the United Moderns and the Modern Woodmen.

THORVALD INGVALDSEN. The posi- tion which Mr. Ingvaldsen fills, that of superin- tendent of the Highland Place ranch at Pasa- dena, he has held since 1891, at which time he was employed by John W. Hugus to assume management of the ranch. There was little to attract one in the appearance of the property, which had been permitted to run down, and was therefore proving an unprofitable investment for its owner. The utmost liberty of judgment was given Mr. Ingvaldsen in the planting of fruit, selection of varieties to be cultivated and making of improvements. The two hundred and seventy-four acres have been placed under cultivation to fruit, one hundred and eighty be- ing in grapes, while the balance is in citrus and deciduous fruits. It is said by those competent to judge that some of the finest table grapes grown in the entire country came from his vine- yards, among these being the Lady Finger and Red Emperor varieties. The thrifty appearance of the property indicates beyond a doubt the intelligent supervision of the manager.

As his name indicates, Mr. Ingvaldsen is of Scandinavian lineage. His parents, Tönnes and Karen Töresen Ingvaldsen, were natives of Norway and both not only spent their childhood days upon farms, but after marriage continued a rural existence. On selling their homestead, they moved to Stavanger, Norway, where Mr. Ingvaldsen became manager of the largest steam bakery in the town. When its owner, William Hansen, failed, he invested his savings in the purchase of the business, and continued as proprietor for some years. In addition he owned fishing boats and engaged in business in that line. He was reared in the Lutheran faith, to which he remained faithful until death. Since his death Mrs. Ingvaldsen has continued to make her home in Stavanger. Of their three sons and two daughters all are living but one son, the two surviving boys being in California. The older of these. Thorvald, was born in Stavanger, May 15, 1868, and attended the schools of that town until he was fourteen, when he went to sea. During his life upon the ocean he visited many lands, cast anchor at Port Natal and St. Helena, stopped at the Barbadoes, and in 1885 arrived at Galveston, Tex. Deciding to remain in America, he came to California during the same year and settled at Los Angeles. During the course of his vovages his ship had taken on a cargo of ostriches at Port Natal,

billed to Dr. Sketsley of California, and he had been given charge of the birds. In this way he became interested in the business, and so was impelled to ask the doctor for employment on his ostrich farm. Securing the desired position, he cared for the birds on Los Phillis ranch and also assisted in starting the zoological gardens in San Fernando near Glendale. After two years a change was made in the ownership of the business, and Mr. Ingvaldsen remained on the ranch with G. J. Griffith, who later sent him to the Briswalter tract in Los Angeles. For several years he superintended a tract of three hundred acres, under cultivation to grapes and oranges. After several years he resigned this position, and for two years was an employe of Llewellyn Brothers in their foundry. On leav- ing that place he came to Pasadena for John W. Hugus, whose ranch he has since managed with characteristic fidelity.

Politically Mr. Ingvaldsen is a Republican, while fraternally he is connected with the For- esters and Maccabees. His marriage took place in Los Angeles, March 3, 1890, and united him with Miss Katie Müller, daughter of Andreas and Anna M. (Hansen) Müller, natives respec- tively of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and Erö, Denmark. In a family of four children (all living) she was second in order of birth, and was born at Alsen, Schleswig-Holstein, whence she came to America in 1887 and settled at Santa Ana, Cal. Her father was a soldier in the revolution of 1848 and for forty years was employed as maltster in a brewery at Alsten, where her mother is still making her home. In the schools of her country she received an ex- cellent education. and was in her home early trained to a knowledge of housewifely arts. She is connected with the Ladies Order of Macca- bees, in the work of which she maintains an interest.

WILLIAM A. HEISS. The founder of the Heiss family in the United States was William Heiss, who brought his family from Strasburg, Germany, and settled in Lancaster, Pa., where he became a land owner and farmer. Accom- panying him on this trip was a son, William, who latter married Susan Kafortli, daughter of a colonel in the Revolutionary war and member of one of Pennsylvania's prominent colonial families. Some years after his marriage this ancestor, accompanied by wife and children, re- inoved to the vicinity of Erie, Pa., and bought a large tract of land. the improvement of which brought him wealth. Born of his marriage, among other children, was a son, Isaac Heiss, a native of Lancaster, Pa., and for years a carpenter in Dayton, Ohio, but later a manu- facturer of confectionery in Shelbyville, Ind. On retiring from business pursuits, about 1881 he came to California, and afterward lived, retired,

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in Pasadena, where he died in 1900, at eighty years of age. Politically he was a Republican, fraternally a member of the Masonic Order and in religion a communicant of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His marriage united him with Jane Hartman, who was born in Strasburg, Germany, and died in Shelbyville, Ind. When only two years of age she had been brought to America by her parents. Her father, Rev. John Wesley Hartman, was a minister in the German Lutheran Church, and after crossing the ocean secured a pastorate in Philadelphia, later of- ficiating as pastor of a Dayton church, and finally preaching the Gospel in Chicago. His life was prolonged to the great age of ninety- seven years.

In the family of Isaac Heiss were seven chil- dren, all but one of whom are living, Fannie having died in infancy. The survivors are: Mrs. Louise Weingarth, who lives in Los Angeles; William A., of Pasadena; Mrs. Ellen Emerick, of San Bernardino; Alvin G., who is in partner- ship with his older brother at Pasadena; Frank, also a member of the same firm: and Emma, of Pasadena. William A. Heiss was born in Shel- byville, Ind., May 13, 1855, and received a fair education in the grammar and high schools. Go- ing to St. Paul in 1873, he entered the office of William Lee & Co., a wholesale dry-goods firm, with whom he remained for fifteen years, mean- time filling every position from office boy to manager. Finally, when the business was closed out owing to the advanced age of the heads of the firm, in the capacity of manager he had charge of the settling up of affairs.

On visiting Pasadena for the first time in 1885, Mr. Heiss had been favorably impressed with the city. The following year he returned to the coast and opened a real-estate office in Pasadena, also laid out fifteen acres owned by his sister, Mrs. Weingarth, the tract being known as Weingarth's subdivision to Pasa- cena, and later named Winona avenue. Mean- time, in 1887, the clothing firm of Heiss Bros. had been established, and this enterprise has since been successfully conducted, the present location being on the corner of Colorado and Fair Oaks avenue. Among his other enter- prises was the purchase of a ranch at La Canada, where he has improved an orchard of thirty acres. Other places have also been improved under his skillful management and wise over- sight. At one time he officiated as vice-presi- dent of the Pasadena Deciduous Fruit Associa- tion. In the organization of the Pasadena Mer- chants Protective Association he took an active part. He belongs to the Board of Trade and is a charter member of the Twilight Club. After coming to Pasadena he married Miss Belle Van Camp, daughter of Joseph Van Camp, a mer- chant of Indiana. She was born in Metamora, Ind., but has been a resident of Pasadena since girlhood, and is actively identified with the

Methodist Episcopal Church and various phil- anthropic and social organizations of this city. The children born of their union are named William Van Camp and Olive Blanche.

Ever since attaining his majority Mr. Heiss has been stanch in his adherence to the Repub- lican party. On this ticket, in 1901, he was elected to represent the fourth ward in the Pasadena city council for a term of four years. In this body he has served as chairman of the sewer committee and member of various others, and has at all times advocated measures calcu- lated to promote the city's progress and wel- fare. Among the fraternal societies of which he is a member may be mentioned the Knights of Pythias, Woodmen of the World, and Masonic Order, he having been made a Mason in Pasa- dena Lodge No. 272, F. & A. M., and he is also connected with the Eastern Star as past patron. He is fond of recreation and enjoys his connection with the Green Wing Gun Club, al- though the management of his various business interests and the duties of his office as council- man leave him little leisure for participation in social affairs.

GEORGE WEST HUGHES. By his numer- ous friends and associates in the business and social world, George West Hughes is remem- bered as a man in whom were united shrewd financial acumen and a high sense of moral re- sponsibility. In common with many whose ambitious tendencies outweigh their physical strength, he came to California in 1885, traveling extensively through the state, and finally, Jocat- ing in Los Angeles, came and went in the bus; places of the city, a potent factor in its intel- lectual and material growth. His death, March 25, 1899, signaled the passing of a man of ex- ceptionally fine character and attainments, the memory of whose personality will continue to abide, when his commercial successes have been forgotten.

Of · Welsh descent on the maternal and pa- ternal side, Mr. Hughes was born on the Ouachita river in what is now Camden, Ark., and was a son of Judge Green B. Hughes, a native of Kentucky, and an early settler in Arkansas, where he was a large planter on the Saline river, Saline county. Judge Hughes was prominently identified with the early history of Saline county, and at the time of his death had filled many important positions in the govern- ment of his district, his greatest sphere of use- fulness being found as county judge, a position which he sustained with equity and good judg- ment for many years. He married Louisa West, a native of Missouri, and who died in Arkansas, leaving two sons and one daughter, George West Hughes being the oldest child. The education of Mr. Hughes was acquired at a boarding school in Washington, Ark., after the

W MM Padden

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

completion of which he took a course in civil engineering, to which he devoted many years of his life. Among his most ambitious accomplish- ments in this line was his location of the entire Iron Mountain Railroad through Arkansas, and a similar office which he performed for the Fort Smith Railroad. Recognizing his particular fit- ness, the governor of Arkansas appointed him superintendent of the construction of the levees on the Arkansas river, during which time he resided principally at Little Rock, Ark. His health failing in 1885 he sought release from physical disability in the rejuvenating air of California, a change which probably gained for him many years of life.

In 1887 Mr. Hughes built a residence on Adams street, and in time became interested in the California Bank, of which he was vice- president, and a member of the board of di- rectors up to the time of his death. He was a Republican in politics, and voted with under- standing, and due regard for the personal worth and qualifications of candidates for office. He was above all else the friend of education, and to his children gave every advantage which' money and intelligent direction could bring about. February 28, 1855, he married in Dallas county, Ark., Martha Butler, a native of Henderson, N. C., and daughter of Alexander Butler, who was born in Boydtown, Va. Alexander Butler was a merchant and mani- facturer in Henderson, N. C., and about 1847 removed to Saline county, Ark., and two years later to Dallas county, Ark., where his death occurred. He married Mary Reavis, a native of North Carolina, and whose father, Louis Reavis, was a planter in North Carolina, and came of an old Virginia family. The mother, formerly Miss Sally Wyche, of Virginia, was of Welsh descent, and died in North Carolina. To Mr. and Mrs. Butler were born twelve children, all of whom attained maturity, and seven are liv- ing, Mrs. Hughes being the oldest. To Mr. and Mrs. Hughes were born three children. The oldest son, Walter J., graduated at the Univer- sity of Virginia and the Harvard Law School, and became a member of the bar of Los Angeles, in which city he died, leaving to the care of his mother three children, Marguerite, Reavis, and Mary. Dr. West Hughes is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons in New York City, and is engaged in medical practice in Los Angeles. George Reavis, who died in Los Angeles eleven years ago at the age of thirty-two years, was also . a graduate of the University of Virginia and of Harvard College, in which latter institution he took the degrees of A. M. and LL. B. He had just entered upon a professional practice in Lit- tle Rock Ark., when his health irretrievably failed. Mrs. Hughes is a member of the Methio- dist Episcopal Church South.

WILLIAM M. McFADDEN. While Mr. McFadden is known as one of the successful horticulturists of the Placentia district, and the first settler of what has since developed into one of the garden spots of this well-favored state, his chief claim to distinction is the result of his unflagging zeal in promoting the cause of edu- cation. Favored with exceptional educational advantages in his youth, he has for many years upheld the highest standards of applied intellec- tuality in the localities in which he has resided, and as a teacher and superintendent of teachers, has evolved methods of imparting knowledge as feasible as they were readily understood.

Extending well into the last century the fam- ily to which Mr. McFadden belongs have been identified with Pittsburg, Pa., in which city he was born February 19, 1840. He was gradu- ated from the West Pittsburg high school, and the Curry Normal Institute, also at Pittsburg, and at Beaver Academy, Beaver, Pa. Later he finished a course in the commercial department of Welbourn College, Louisville, Ky., having, in the mean time, paid his own tuition with money acquired from teaching school. In 1864 he came to California, and, arriving in Alameda county, for four and a half years taught in the district schools. In 1868 he came to Southern Califor- nia and continued his former occupation in what is now Orange county, and was for eleven years located at what was then called Upper Santa Ana. During a portion of his work as a teacher lie served as superintendent of schools of the then Los Angeles county. In later years he was president of the high school board at Fullerton, and superintended the construction of the high school building. In Los Angeles county he was a member of the board of education for two years, and during the second year was president of the board.

The horticultural experience of Mr. McFad- den began in January of 1869, when he settled on ninety-two acres purchased from the Stearns Rancho Company, fifty acres of which are still in his possession. From the product's of his soil Mr. McFadden ships annually to the eastern market about twenty-three car loads of oranges, and two car loads of walnuts, his shipping being conducted through the Fullerton Walnut Growers' Association, of which.he was one of the organizers and has been president for several years. He was the second man to raise an orange in the Placentia district, and in con- nection with his interest in horticulture has been prominently connected with many of the impor- tant organizations which are of such invaluable aid to fruit growers. He was one of the five shippers who organized the Southern California Orange Exchange, and was one of the pro- moters of the former Fruit Growers' Bank, now merged into the First National Bank of Fuller- ton.

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Like the majority who have been confronted with the difficult problem of artificial irrigation, Mr. McFadden has realized the necessity of pro- viding reliable water systems, and he was one of the original promoters of the now extinct Cajon Irrigating Company, of which he was secretary and a director for several years. He assisted in the organization of the Anaheim Union Water Company, of which he was at one time president, and has been a director for years.

SIMON HARTMAN. The general merchan- dise store of Simon Hartman in Santa Ynez is among the sound commercial enterprises of the town. Unexpected misfortunes have not inter- fered with its general standing or retarded its progress, and it stanchly holds its own in cater- ing to a large trade extending far into the sur- rounding country. The enterprising owner and proprietor is one of those energetic and practical business men who owe much to their German birth and training, and who, upon coming to American shores, readily adapt themselves to ex- isting conditions, and as readily grasp the oppor- tunities awaiting them in their adopted land. He was born in Prussia, Germany, in 1851, and there lived and attended the public schools until about sixteen years of age. He then removed to Lon- don, England, and while there continued his edu- cation, and also learned the trade of tailoring. Upon immigrating to America in 1872 he lived for fifteen months in the Lehigh valley in Penn- sylvania. Coming to California, via Panama, hie arrived in San Francisco in February of 1876. At Marysville he engaged in the tailoring busi- ness for a couple of years, after which he was in the sewing machine business in San Francisco for three years. In June of 1885 he came to Santa Ynez, but was so unfavorably impressed with the outlook here that he left for Prescott. Ariz., where he remained for six months. He then decided to again visit Santa Ynez, and upon his return bought out his present place of busi- ness, or rather the building in which he first con- ducted his affairs, and which came to a dire end through fire in 1891. The loss was about $12,000, and constituted all that he had in the world, and the insurance was but $2,000. Nothing daunted, he erected the present store and laid in an even larger supply of general merchandise, since which he has had no cause to regret the happy chance which directed his steps to this appreciative little community. Behind the store are five well-fur- nished and comfortable rooms in which the family live.

The marriage of Mr. Hartman and Ricko Jacoboritz occurred in San Francisco in 1883. To Mr. and Mrs. Hartman have been born two children, Hannah, who is twenty-one years of age, and Josephine, who is seventeen years old and attending the high-school at Santa Ynez. Hannah is an unusually bright and capable girl,

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Historical and biographical record of southern California; containing a history of southern California from its earliest settlement to the opening year of the twentieth century, Part 102

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918 Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co. Number of Pages: 1366

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co.
Number of Pages: 1366