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 143

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

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The drought in California of 1877 decided hin to quit the fruit business and go to the Black Hills of Dakota, the then new mining region. There, in company with others, he was success- ful in locating and developing what is known as the Trojan group of mines, near Deadwood, which he and his partners sold in 1883 for $100,000. In the same year he removed with his family to Saticoy, Ventura county, pur- chased and settled upon the ranch he now (1902) occupies. This land was at once utilized for the raising of lima beans and the setting out of walnut trees. To-day there is a fine bearing orchard of Santa Barbara soft shell walnuts cov-

ering fifty acres. Some apricots also are raised on the ranch.

No one has shown more enthusiasm than Mr. Crane in promoting the interests of his neigh- borhood. To further the cause of the walnut growers he assisted in the organization of the Saticoy Walnut Growers' Association. He was one of the first stockholders in the People's Lumber Company, and has also been vitally in- terested in the subject of water supply. In ad- dition to his home ranch he owns eighty acres of land west of Pasadena, which can be devel- oped into grape land. Although a Democrat in politics and a stanch upholder of his party, he has never cared for office and has never been a candidate but once, when he was nominated for supervisor. His kindly and agreeable person- ality has won for him many friends throughout Ventura county. In 1859 he married Adalina Huntley, who was born in Granger township, Medina county, Ohio, in 1836. They are the parents of two children, namely: Amy, who is the wife of E. E. Huntley, of Saticoy; and Abbie, wife of L. W. Andrews, an attorney of Los Angeles.

GEORGE W. FARRINGTON. Before a church had been erected in the now beautiful city of Pomona and before a minister had come to serve the people, the first wedding ceremony was performed by Justice W. T. Martin Octo- ber 5, 1876, and the young couple whose hopes and happiness were thus made one were George W. Farrington and Harriet I. Reed, daughter of the late and honored pioneer, John G. Reed. It is fitting that they should still remain in the city which they have seen spring up from its beginning and in which they have always been respected residents.

In Brooklyn, N. Y., Mr. Farrington was born April 20, 1846. While he was still a boy the Civil war broke out and, with sympathies fired for the Union, he resolved to enlist. At the age of sixteen he became a member of Company L, Merrill Horse (Second Missouri Cavalry, United States Volunteers). Soon he was made corporal of Company I in the Twenty-third Regiment, V. R. C., and later he enlisted in the United States Army and was promoted to be sergeant of Company G, Fourth United States Infantry, and then was made first sergeant of Company K, Eleventh United States Infantry. At the close of the war he was ordered to the frontier, where he remained until December II, 1875, and was then honorably discharged at Fort Richardson, Tex., for physical disability. Exposure, long marches, sleeping on the ground and other hardships had undermined his constitution and brought on disease of the lungs. All physicians who were consulted said he was beyond medical aid. However, he him- self never gave up hope. Learning that the

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climate of Southern California had frequently proved helpful for those afflicted with lung trouble, he resolved to come here, and by so doing his life was saved. After a short time in Los Angeles, he secured employment on a ranch for the purpose of getting outdoor exer- cise. The occupation and climate soon gave him renewed health. For a time he was over- seer on the ranch of Louis Phillips. Afterward he became manager of a grocery in Pomona, but the confinement proved injurious and he was obliged to return to outdoor work. Pur- chasing a team and wagon, he and his wife traveled through the southern part of the state; and while camping at Long Beach (then a new town) he was appointed postmaster under Pres- ident Cleveland.

After his return to Pomona, in October, 1890, Mr. Farrington engaged in the cigar and to- bacco business, having a store with an open front and thus securing an abundance of fresh air. Ever since then he has continued in the business, and his stock is now the largest and most select of its kind in the city. He is well known throughout this locality, and it is always a pleasure to listen to his accounts of the pio- neer days of Pomona, when settlers were few, improvements conspicuous by their absence, but when that spirit of hearty hospitality prevailed that is so essentially a characteristic of every new country. He was the first affiliate in Po- mona Lodge No 246, F. & A. M. His activity in Vicksburg Post No. 61, G. A. R., led to his election as commander, which office he filled for two ternis.

The father of Mrs. Farrington was born in Schuylkill county, Pa., February 1, 1822, and was reared on a farm. After removing to Ohio he learned the carpenter's trade, which he sub- sequently followed, together with contracting. He married Lydia Yoe, who was born in Ohio July 19, 1824, a daughter of John Yoe. After his marriage he took his wife to Shelby county, Ind. Some years later he settled in Pomona, led hither by reports of the invigorating climate. Advertisements reported the town to be promis- ing and quite a city, but when he arrived here, October 31, 1875, he found only six houses be- sides the hotel. However, he had made up his mind to locate in Pomona and did not allow dis- couragements to change his plans. He bought two lots, building his house on Lot 1, Block 89, and the shop where the First National Bank now stands, which is in the center of the city. The house which he built and which is now oc- cupied by his widow is surrounded by the fruit and shade trees they planted on coming here, and some of these have grown to unusual size. An elderberry tree is two feet thick, the cacti reach as high as twenty-five feet, and the growth of other plants and trees has been equally sur- prising. In early days his house was used for

religious services, and in it was held the first prayer meeting in Pomona; while his shop was used for Sunday-school purposes until a house of worship was built. In contributions to re- ligious movements and, indeed, to all worthy charitable and philanthropic efforts, he was lib- eral to the extent of self-sacrifice, and many a time he denied himself some comfort in order that the church might be given a needed con- tribution. In his death, which occurred in 1887, Pomona lost one of its most deserving pioneers, and his name will ever be cherished by those who feel a debt of gratitude to the early settlers. Of his descendants there are living six great- grandchildren, fourteen grandchildren and six children. In order of birth the names of his children are: Jolin A., deceased; Mary L., wife of T. J. Emerick; Henry M .; Harriet I., Mrs. Farrington; Catherine R., Mrs .. A. L. Beam; Sarah J. and Martin L., both deceased; Martha A., wife of I. J. Reynolds, and David C., who is a twin of Martha A.

GEORGE W. FORESTER, M. D., Ph. D. In his professional practice Dr. Forester is an exponent of the world's most advanced deduc- tions of the science of medicine and surgery. In Southern California, which constitutes his field of activity, the tendency to specialization is observable in his career, and he is best known as a surgeon, and as an expert on the eye, ear, nose and throat. In the former capacity he has made himself familiar with every phase of the science. In common with others of equal breadth of mind, he believes that for one man to try and learn all about any one branch of science is no longer feasible. Yet Dr. Forester has few equals and few superiors in the general practice of medicine.

A native of Lexington, Sanilac county, Mich., Dr. Forester was born January 6, 1864, a son of Wesley Justus and Esther (Beecher) For- ester, natives of New York state, and the for- mer of Ogdensburg. The mother, who died in Los Angeles, and who had four children, of whom George W. is the second youngest, and the only one living, was the daughter of a Methodist Episcopal clergyman. The father, who died when George W. was a mere child, was a government contractor, and was engaged in the construction of large contracts on Lake Huron, at the Point of Banks, and other places. Dr. Forester was reared principally in Cheboy- gan, Mich., and was educated in the public schools and at the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso, Ind. Having learned the art of photography, he practiced the same in different parts of the east and west, and upon his first trip to California in 1887 became seri- ously interested in medicine. For a year he studied in the medical department of the Uni- versity of Southern California, his preceptor

John Wilson

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

being Dr. C. E. Shoemaker. In 1880 he en- tered Rush Medical College in Chicago, attend- ing for a year, going then to the College of Physicians & Surgeons at Des Moines, Iowa, which institution was also the medical depart- ment of Drake University. There he finished the four years' course in two years, graduating in 1894. The same year he began practice in Elburne, Iowa, and then went to Des Moines, and while in the latter city entered the High- land Park College of Pharmacy, from which he graduated in 1896. While endeavoring to es- tablish a practice at Des Moines he was also the assistant professor of chemistry and bac- teriology at the College of Physicians & Sur- geons, but owing to the failure of his wife's health he was obliged to seek a change of eli- mate and surroundings. He therefore located in Los Angeles in 1897, and made a specialty of the eye, ear, nose and throat. The following year found him in Pomona, where he continued in the same line of specialties, and where he has since acquired a reputation extending far be- yond the town.

In Elburne, Iowa, Dr. Forester married Lil- lie Williamson, a native of Crete, Ill., and who was educated at the Western University at Toledo, Ohio, and graduated from the Northern Indiana Normal. Of this union there are three children: Hazel, who is ten years of age; Wil- liam, eight years old; and Frankie, aged six years. Dr. Forester has superior professional training aside from that acquired before start- ing upon his career of practice. He has taken special post-graduate courses in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago, and has drunk deeply from the knowledge of the most celebrated and erudite physicians and surgeons. For the suc- cessful demonstration of his operation theories, which, by the way, concur with those of the most famous in the large cities of Europe and America, he has fitted up an operating room in his office adjoining his residence at 267 Gary avenue, which, for perfect completeness can have few superiors anywhere. It is large and light and fitted with all known devices for antiseptic surgery, and the bedroom for pa- tients adjoining, as well as the suite of rooms at the disposal of those in waiting, are furnished in an elegant and thoroughly artistic manner, and constitute one of the finest consulting and operating enterprises in the country.

In connection with his practice Dr. Forester has developed a liking for horticulture, and has improved a twenty-acre orange ranch, known as the Live Oak Farm, and located four miles north of Pomona. The doctor is a Republican in national politics, and is fraternally connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Fraternal Aid, besides sev- eral other organizations of which he is exam-

ining physician. With his wife he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

JOHN NELSON. This substantial Swedish- American resident of Los Angeles was born in Wärmland, Sweden, near Carlstad, August 28, 1863, and was the third child and eldest son in the family of Nels Carlson, likewise a native of Wärmland. After a lifetime of activity in the lumbering business and the tilling of the soil, the father, who is now seventy years of age, is mak- ing his home at Storttäppa, and has largely re- tired from the cares that filled his younger days. His wife, formerly Koren Johnson, is still living and is now seventy-one years of age.

Following the usual custom, John Nelson served in the Swedish army in early manhood. When a little less than twenty-four years of age, in 1887, he immigrated to America and settled in Minnesota, well equipped for the future by vir- tue of his knowledge of the lumber business, to which he had been accustomed from youth. For four winters he was employed in the lumber woods of Minnesota, and during the intervening summers followed the trade of a carpenter, which he learned in Minneapolis. During this time he made every effort to improve his general knowl- edge. To facilitate the acquiring of the Eng- lish language, and to place himself in touch with the prevailing conditions of his adopted home, he attended the Minneapolis high school for three winters, and among other things learned me- chanical drawing. During the last three years of his residence in the northern state he devoted his energies to contracting and building, later removing to Iowa and following the same occ11- pation until 1897, when he located in Los An- geles, as a contractor and builder.

Among the contracts which Mr. Nelson has filled since coming west may be mentioned the following: The Randall building, a three-story brick on the corner of Boyd and Los Angeles streets ; eight buildings and residences on Fig11- eroa and Seventh streets; the residence of Charles Hoff ; two contracts for the county of Los Angeles, which were filled with serupulous fidelity ; a two-story brick structure on Temple street ; the Moreland residence; Santa Rosa ho- tel, a three-story pressed brick building; the R. M. Baker and Farwell three-story flats; and the enlargement of the engine building, boiler and engine rooms to the Los Angeles county court house. In 1902 he received the contract for the erection of the Los Angeles county jail. with a valuation of $150,000, his contract price being $78,900. He is rapidly becoming recognized as a valuable and responsible contractor, who can be relied upon to fulfill all of his obligations.

In politics Mr. Nelson is a Republican. Reared in the faith of the Swedish Lutheran de- nomination, he is a believer in its faith and a contributor to its work. He is respected by all

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who know him and his integrity in business is never questioned.

ROBERT JONES GREGG, M. D. At Car- michaelstown, Greene county, Pa., Dr. Gregg was born September 21, 1843, being a son of William Seaton and Mary (Jones) Gregg, of Scotch-Irish descent. His ancestors settled in Pennsylvania with William Penn. In 1850 his father moved to Wisconsin, and a year later settled in Peoria, Ill., where he engaged in mer- cantile pursuits. As a boy Dr. Gregg attended the Peoria public schools and later took a spe- cial course in Union College at Schenectady, N. Y. Having decided to enter the medical profession, he matriculated in Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, where he took the regu- lar course, graduating in 1866. Returning to Peoria, he opened an office, but in a short time came to California. When he arrived in New San Diego, October 16, 1868, the town had only one physician, Dr. Jacob Allen, now deceased; hence he has the distinction of being the oldest surviving physician of the place. Both in reli- gion and politics he is independent. In 1874 he married Miss Emma, daughter of Dr. L. C. Churchill, of San Francisco. Six children were born of their union, but three died in infancy. Those now living are Ruth, Molly and Agnes.

DUANE FLETCHER HALL. A resident of North Pasadena since 1891, Mr. Hall was born on St. Johns Island, which is one of the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence river. He is a son of Duane Randall and Agnes (Mel- ville) Hall, natives respectively of Watertown, N. Y., and Glasgow, Scotland. The maternal grandfather, William Melville, a native of Glas- gow and a weaver by trade, moved to Canada, where he made a home at Odessa. The pater- nal grandfather, Richard Hall, was born in New York, followed the trade of a wheelwright and clied at Gananoque, Ontario. In the latter city Duane R. Hall for some years engaged in man- ufacturing nails. Later he became a manufac- turer of cutlery in Chicago, from which city he removed to Tolleston, Ind., becoming super- intendent for the Chicago Club's game reserve there. Since his death his widow has made her home in North Pasadena with her oldest living child. Of her six children, three sons and one daughter survive, Duane F. being the only one in California. It is noteworthy that the day of his birth, March 25, 1853, was Good Friday, and that, with the sole exception of 1862, Good Fri- day has never since fallen on the 25th of March.

When eleven years of age Mr. Hall began to take hold of life's problems and anxieties, as he then began to work in a wood factory, re- ceiving twenty cents a week for his services. A year later the family removed to Chicago, where he worked at wood turning and polishing, hav-

ing no chance to attend school except at night. His health being poor, the family were led to remove to Tolleston, Ind., hoping the change would be beneficial to him, and so indeed it proved. For six years he was engaged in hunt- ing and trapping on Little Calumet river, and the game thus secured was shipped to Chicago, New York and Boston, so that he not only improved in health, but also saved some money. Investing his means in a farm of one hundred acres at Highland, Ind., he worked tirelessly to cultivate and improve his land, on which he made his home for fifteen years or more. While living in Highland he married Miss Almira Reed, who was born and reared there, of New York parentage. Christmas Eve of 1880 wit- nessed their union, and they at once settled upon their farm, continuing on the same place until they came to California. They became the parents of six children, of whom Alexander died in infancy. The others are Duane Ran- dall, Harvey Lewis, Elizabeth, Agnes and Ma- rion.

Four years after his arrival in North Pasa- dena, Mr. Hall started the North Pasadena ex- press, and now has four horses expressing be- tween this place and Los Angeles. During the past three summers he has been employed as engineer for the North Pasadena Water Com- pany, his oldest son at these times taking charge of the express business. A natural me- chanic, he not only does expert carpenter work. but is also a skillful wood turner and polisher. and an efficient stationary engineer. However, he is one of those men who do not rest satis- fied with present attainments, but are ambitious to increase their store of knowledge, and at this writing he is taking a course in the Interna- tional Correspondence School of Scranton, Pa. He and his family occupy a comfortable resi- dence which he built near the corner of Kirk- wood and Cedar streets. His wife is identified with the North Pasadena Congregational Church and interested in several of its socie- ties. Fraternally he is connected with the Uni- form Rank, K. of P., the Woodmen of the World and the Independent Order of Foresters. His political views bring him into affiliation with the Republican party. While living in Indiana he was quite active in local matters, and served as supervisor of roads, school director and also as deputy sheriff.

WILLIAM H. H. SCOTT. The progress of the city and valley of Pomona since 1877 has been witnessed by Mr. Scott, who has been identified with local affairs ever since the days when large herds of cattle, horses and sheep roamed through the valley, and the raising of stock formed the principal industry of the peo- ple. A native of Wheeling, W. Va., William

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Henry Harrison Scott was born May 5, 1840, a son of Luke Scott, and grandson of James Scott. The latter came from Glasgow, Scotland, and settled in Delaware. At about the age of fif- teen, Luke Scott went alone to Wheeling. In 1847 he went to Iowa and settled on a farm near Keokuk, where he died in 1851. His wife, who was sixty-eight at the time of her death, was Rachel Frazier; her father, Peter Frazier, a na- tive of Frankfort-on-the-Rhine, attained the age of ninety-seven years.

At the outbreak of the Civil war William H. H. Scott offered his services to the Union, but was rejected. Not being able to go to war, he decided to join a party about to cross the plains, having been asked by them to act as driver of a team of oxen. In that way he journeyed to Vir- ginia City, Nev., where he followed mining until 1864, and then went to San Francisco, Cal., from there traveling by boat to New York and then returning to his old Iowa home. Shortly afterward he married Miss Elizabeth McCleary, of Kcokuk, who was born near Sharon, Pa. They became the parents of five children, viz .: William Henry Harrison, Jr., who died at twenty-one years; James Winfield, who is a court reporter on the Inter-Mountain of Butte, Mont .; Thomas W., of Pomona, who has the reputation of being the fastest orange packer in Southern California; Mae Beatrice, wife of Charles Schwan, assistant postmaster of Po- mona; and Lillie Belle, who has taught for some years in the Central School of Pomona. The daughters are connected with the Method- ist Episcopal Church of Pomona, while Mrs. Scott is a member of the Christian Church.

Accompanied by his family, Mr. Scott came to California in 1881 and has since made Po- mona his home. For six months he was fore- man of the Lewis Phillips ranch, and he filled similar positions on other ranches during sub- sequent years. After the boom in 1881 he erected the first building that was completed in the village of Pomona, this being now occupied by George Weigle's market. Of late years he has engaged in teaming and during the season of inarketing fruit he employs from twenty to thirty men to pick and uses six teams to draw the fruit. His work is carefully done and al- ways proves satisfactory. In 1887 he bought two acres on the corner of Myrtle and West Second streets, which he has since improved by the planting out of orange trees and the erec- tion of a residence. While he has never sought office, he has filled several local positions, among them the office of constable, which he filled by appointment for six months; and street superintendent, to which he was twice clected. As overseer of streets he inaugurated the plan of running a team for that purpose, and not a few of the fine streets of the city owe their neat appearance to his skillful oversight.

ERNEST THOMAS HARNETT. One of the most public-spirited of the younger genera- tion of business men of Long Beach is Ernest Thomas Harnett, the genial and successful owner and proprietor of the Long Beach mill. This notable addition to the commercial solidity of the county is the largest of its kind for many miles around, and under the capable and pro- gressive methods of the present management has greatly extended its field of usefulness. Corn meal and graham flour are manufactured in large quantities, a modern sheller and the lat- est improvements in machinery being among the aids for carrying on the greater part of the work in this section. The principal features, however, are rolled barley and cracked corn, for the perfection of which he has recently added some of the latest improved cleaning machinery. The boiler capacity is twenty and the engine capacity is eighteen horse-power, and twelve tons of barley can be easily rolled out in ten hours. The mill was formerly the property of the Long Beach Milling Company, and was purchased by Mr. Harnett in 1897.

In his make-up Mr. Harnett embodies the sterling and substantial characteristics of his English ancestry, and he is himself of English birth, having been born in Kent county, near Maidstone, October 9, 1874. His paternal grandfather, Thomas, was a native of the same county, where he engaged in farming, and his father, Ernest, owned allegiance to the sanie historic part of the Albion isle. The father brought his family to America in November of 1889, and in January of 1890 located in Long Beach, Cal., near which town he is still engaged in ranching. He married Julia S. Berrell, a na- tive of London, England, and who is the mother of fourteen children, one of whom is deceased. One of the daughters, Jane E., is a teacher at Long Beach, and a son, J. A., is at present in Long Beach.

The youth of Ernest Thomas Harnett was practically spent in Kent county, and his edu- cation was acquired in the public schools of Kent, and of the city of London. He was en- thusiastically alive to the advantages of emi- grating to America. After coming to Long Beach in 1890 he was interested in ranching for a number of years, and in 1897 entered the ranks of the mercantile business by purchasing the half interest of H. Taylor in the Long Beach Milling Company. He later bought the remain- der of the concern, and has since been sole pro- prietor. Nor does the mill represent the extent of the interest of Mr. Harnett, for he is en- gaged in the interesting occupation of raising poultry, ducks and hogs, and derives a consid- erable income from this source of industry. He is a member of the Episcopal Church, of which he is secretary. Socially he is popular among those who are privileged to know him. In po-

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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 143

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