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 179

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

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HIRAM K. SNOW. The Snow family was founded in America by three brothers who 'came from England in 1624 and settled at Bridge- water, Mass. The grandfather, Isaac Snow, was born at Bridgewater and died in New Hanıp- shire. During the Revolutionary war he was a soldier in the colonial army. The father, James Snow, was born in Massachusetts, and became a blacksmith in Whitefield, N. H., besides which, with a brother, he built and op- crated the first sawmill in the whole state .. He married Statira Hutchins, who was born in Fryeburg, Me., and died in Solano county, Cal. Her father, Stilson Hutchins, was born in Maine, of remote English descent; and her grandfather, Stilson Hutchins, Sr., when a young man, was captured by the Indians and carried to Canada, but managed to effect an escape and returned to Maine, later enlisting from that state in the Revolutionary war. James Snow was twice married and by the two unions had ten children who attained mature years,

three sons and one daughter now living. The oldest son, Asa B., enlisted in the Civil war as surgeon of the First Corps of New York En- gineers. He was stationed at James Island, where he was taken ill and died when en route to New York. Another son, Horace, was first lieutenant in the regular army, but resigned his commission after the war and some years later died in Tustin, Cal.

The next to the oldest child born of his father's second marriage, Hiram K. Snow was born in Whitefield, N. H., November 15, 1834. In the spring of 1852 he left his native town to start upon the long journey to California, going to Boston, where he sailed on the ship Witch of the Wave, arriving in San Francisco, via the Horn, October 17, 1852, after a voyage of one hundred and sixteen days. At once he pro- ceeded to the mines of Calaveras and Mariposa counties, where he remained for four years. In 1856 he returned east via the Panama route. After a few weeks at his old home he settled in Osage, Mitchell county, Iowa, where he carried on business pursuits for two years. During his residence there he married Miss Cynthia O. Downs, who was the first white child born in Janesville, Wis., and was a daughter of a pioneer physician of that town, Dr. E. M. Downs. In 1859 Mr. Snow removed to Bandera county, Tex., and embarked in the cattle business, re- maining there until the Civil war broke out, when, not wishing to live in a state that seceded from the government, he started for California. At the time it was impossible for Union sympa- thizers to get through El Paso, so his party took an out-of-the-way route through Chihua- hua, Mexico, where they had the protection of the Mexican government. The trip was not without its heavy personal sorrow, for Mr. and Mrs. Snow buried their only child, Carrie, on the way, and they themselves were ill and worn when, after five months of travel, they arrived in San Francisco in November, 1861.

For seventeen years Mr. Snow engaged in the mercantile business in Vallejo and meantime served for two years as recorder of Solano county. During 1877 he bought fifty-six acres of raw land at Tustin, and upon it he settled the following year. But little improvement had been made, and his was the arduous task of bringing · the land under cultivation. As yet no irrigation had been introduced, but the same year he joined with others to bring a ditch from Santa Ana, forming the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company, of which he has served as a director for some time. A number of experiments were necessary before he found to what products the soil was best adapted. Later he bought two hundred acres north of Tustin, but afterward sold half of the tract, and of the balance had eighty-five acres in grapes and fifteen acres in apricots. Unfortunately, blight killed the vines,

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causing a loss of $20,000, while the apricots proved to be a kind that did not bear in this soil. Since then he has planted ten acres in olives, forty acres in oranges, twenty acres in lemons, while the remainder is in alfalia. At his old home place he owns twenty-six acres, in oranges, lemons and walnuts. He has built lemon houses on both places.

In the development of the peat lands Mr. Snow was a pioneer, his first effort being to utilize them for corn, but later celery was proved to be more profitable, and on his place was raised the first celery for eastern shipment. He owns three hundred acres near Fairview, of which two hundred are improved. Among his other possessions may be mentioned a walnut grove of one hundred and twenty-five acres in Ventura county, where the trees that he set out are now in fine bearing condition. The grove lies near Oxnard and is one of the largest south of the Santa Clara river. All movements tend- ing toward the development of Southern Cali- fornia's resources have in him a warm cham- pion, and he has been prominently identified with various organizations founded for this pur- pose. The Orange Growers' Association has had the benefit of his counsel and encourage- ment from the first, as has also the Walnut Grow- ers' Association of Santa Ana. He aided in or- ganizing the Tustin Fruit Growers' Association and for sonie time acted as a director. Formerly he also represented Orange county as a director of the Southern California Fruit Exchange. At one time he was a member of the American Horticultural Society, and he was a member of the first board of horticultural commissioners of Los Angeles county. In politics he has worked for the Republican party. While in Osage, Iowa, he was made a Mason, and after coming to California he was raised to the chapter in Vallejo and consistory in San Francisco.

The children born of Mr. Snow's first mar- riage are as follows: Hiram K., Jr., a rancher at Oxnard, Cal .; Lottie C., Mrs. Sinnard, of San Francisco; James Edmund, who has charge of the ranch at Fairview; Asa Geib, now a student in Throop Polytechnic Institute at Pasadena, and Charles Otis, at home. The second mar- riage of Mr. Snow united him with Miss Lu- cinda Elva Downs, who was born in Texas and is a sister of his first wife. The only child born of this union is named Elvetia Snow.

LELAND B. STEWARD. As a member of the board of directors of the Anaheim Union Water Company, and the Fullerton Walnut Growers' Association, Mr. Steward has wielded an influence in matters connected with the growth of Orange county. He is one of Cali- fornia's native-born sons. his birth having oc- curred in Placer county, October 29, 1863. His parents, Newton B. and Lorana (Gilbert) Stew-

ard, were natives respectively of New York and Michigan. The father spent fifteen years in the far west, and returned to Michigan in 1865. From that time until 1888 he made his home in Wayne county, Mich., but in the latter year again came to California, this time settling at Santa Ana, where he died September 24, 1896. His widow, who was born in 1836, is still living in Santa Ana.

When two years of age, Leland B. Steward was taken by his parents to Wayne county, Mich., where, later, he was given good educa- tional advantages, including a two years' course of study in the Michigan State Normal School at Ypsilanti, Mich., and he was graduated in 1889 from Cleary's Business College, also in Ypsilanti. On the completion of his education he was employed as an instructor in commercial bookkeeping and penmanship for one year in a business college at Toledo, Ohio. His next enterprise was as a dealer in baled hay and straw at Albion, Mich., where he remained sev- eral years, being a member of the firm of Bent- ley & Steward. From Michigan he came to California in January, 1898, and settled near Fullerton, where he owns a ranch of twenty acres.

HARRISON L. MONTGOMERY. A resi- dent of California since 1852, Mr. Montgomery has witnessed the unparalleled growth of the state and has himself contributed thereto, espe- cially through his work as a horticulturist. In 1868 he came to Los Angeles county, his first home being in the vicinity of Downey, and he purchased a tract of land from Don Pio Pico, the last Spanish governor of California. In 1869 he settled on a ranch near the present site of Rivera, and for thirty years gave his atten- tion to the cultivation of the land, superintend- ing its planting to various fruits and to English walnuts, and bringing it to a high state of cul- tivation. In 1889 he and his wife came to the village of Rivera, where it is their intention to spend their remaining years. However, he still owns the ranch.

In company with two brothers, in 1852 Mr. Montgomery went from Ohio to New York and there took passage on an ocean vessel bound for San Francisco: The voyage was compara- tively uneventful, and after one hundred and sixty-five days he landed at the Golden Gate harbor. His object in going west had been to try his luck in mining, and he proceeded to the Auburn gold mine on the Middle Fork of the American river, where he prospected and mined for a short time. His next location was in Sut- ter county, Cal., four miles from the old John A. Sutter residence, where he remained for thirteen years, meantime engaging in the wood business. Subsequently he turned his attention to farming and stock-raising. In 1866 he settled in Men-

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docino county, Cal., and engaged in farming, but two years later he established his home in Los Angeles county, where he has since re- mained. He was one of the first in this county to grow English walnuts, and his success stimu- lated others to embark in that industry, which is now one of the most staple in California.

DAVID C. BOYD. Improvements made upon his place in Riverside bespeak the intelli- gent activity of Mr. Boyd. When he came to this city, on the Ist of January, 1893, he estab- lished his home on Riverside avenue, where he owns fourteen and three-fourths acres of fruit land, under an excellent irrigation system and fenced with cypress hedge. The land is set out ir. navel oranges. To prove the results of his wise management, it is but necessary to state that when he picked his first crop of oranges from his orchard the entire output could be placed in two boxes, but now he picks about twelve car loads from the same grove.

In Bethany, Butler county, Ohio, Mr. Boyd was born July 22, 1850, being the youngest of three children, two now living. As early as 1882 he became interested in California, during which year he purchased nine and one-quarter acres of land in Riverside. Two years later he made his first visit to the coast, inspecting his purchase, and was so favorably impressed that he determined to remove here, as soon as it would be practicable. This he did, but he still owns property in Ohio. His aunt, Mrs. Eliza Sarber, had come to California in 1882 and set- tled in Riverside, where she still resides, and it was in no small measure due to her favorable reports that he was led to invest here.

Politically Mr. Boyd has always been a stanch Republican, and in religious belief is a Presby- terian. He was united in marriage, in Butler county, Ohio, with Miss Lizzie Magie, who was born in Ohio, and is a member of an old family of that locality. They are the parents of three children, Shirley B., Mary Alice and Harriet Mildred.

DR. PALMER ROSS REYNOLDS, of Santa Ana, was born in Clinton county, N. Y .. December 28, 1863. While making his home with an uncle, Barber B. Reynolds, in Dundec. Huntington county Canada, he attended a grammar school and later studied in a high school. He then returned to his father's home and from there started on a tour of the western states, principally Kansas and Minnesota. In the latter state he visited two uncles, and in the former state he was clerk in a hotel at seventeen years of age. Later he again went to his father's home, where he remained for three years, and. then came to the Pacific coast. In Los Angeles he took up the study of dentistry with E. L Townsend, D. D. S., his brother-in-law. After

gaining in this way a rudimentary knowledge of the profession, he entered the medical depart- ment of the University of Southern California, from which he was graduated in the class of 1893. Soon afterward he passed the examina- tion before the State Board of Dental ·Exam- iners and received a state license, after which he opened a dental office in Santa Ana. He has a finely equipped suite in the Bristol and Rowley building and is building up an excellent practice.

WILLIAM GRANT FRASER. Having com- pleted his literary education in the Academy of Inverness, in 1882 Mr. Fraser sailed for Halifax. and thence soon went to New Glasgow, Picton county, where he became a bookkeeper in the Bank of Nova Scotia. Continuing in the bank- ing business until October, 1887, he then re- signed his position and came to California, lo- cating at Elsinore, now in Riverside county. There he held the office of cashier of the Elsi- nore Bank until it was merged into the Ex- change Bank. Locating in Riverside in June, 1890, he entered the employ of the Riverside Trust Company, which was just starting to de- velop Arlington Heights tract and the Gage canal system. At first he was connected with the surveying corps, and in January, 1891, be- came an accountant in the office. In 1899 he was made assistant manager of the same, and in December, 1900, was appointed manager of the entire company's interest. The company per- fected the Gage canal, twenty miles long, and thereby brought over eight thousand five hun- dred acres under possible cultivation to oranges and lemons. This land, watered by the canal, is considered the best orange orchard district in this vicinity. The company has about fourteen hundred acres of its lands planted to oranges and lemons, and the product is marketed through the Arlington Heights Fruit Company.

J. DE BARTH SHORB. For many years Mr. Shorb was one of the most substantial business men and best-known citizens of Los Angeles county. An important factor in busi- ness life and public affairs, he won and retained the confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens. He was widely known as president and general manager of the San Gabriel Wine Company and as president of the San Gabriel Valley Railroad and the Pasadena & Alhambra Railroad. For a time he was also president of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. His interests were therefore varied and important, and his name was well known in commercial circles in South- ern California.

In 1867 Mr. Shorb purchased an interest in the Temescal grant and began mining opera- tions. During the same year he married a daughter of Benito Wilson, who at that time was a prominent citizen of Southern California.

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Mr. Wilson advised his son-in-law to give his attention to the raising of grapes and the manu- facture of wine. It was through his influence that Mr. Shorb became a member of the San Gabriel Wine Company, whose interests include ten thousand acres of land, one thousand and three hundred acres of this property being de- voted to the culture of the grape. It is said that this vineyard, both in its equipment and the quality of its grapes, is one of the best in the world.

FRANCIS MARION BRUNER, M. D. Very early in the history of this country a German family settled in Virginia. A later gen- eration journeyed down the Ohio river and settled in Kentucky during pioneer days.

Francis Marion Bruner, son of Henry Bruner, . in 1870 was called to the presidency of Oska- loosa College in Iowa, at the head of which he remained for seven years. He then cast in his fortunes with Abingdon College, and when that institution was united with Eureka College, he was chosen president of the Bible department of Eureka College, which position he filled for nine years, until the failure of his health neces- sitated his retirement from teaching.

By the marriage of F. M. Bruner to Esther Lane, who now resides in Des Moines, Iowa, seven children were born, Francis Marion, of this sketch, being next to the youngest. While the family were living at Abingdon and Eureka, he attended the colleges at those places. After- ward he studied in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and was graduated from Bellevue Hospital Medical College in New York with "the class of 1890. Going to St. Louis, Mo., he was for two years employed by the health de- partment in the City Hospital. Afterward he practiced near Des Moines, Iowa. In June, 1899, he came to California and opened an office in the Hervey building, Santa Ana, where he has since engaged in practice.

FRANK E. ABBOTT. In the Highgrove district, under the Gage canal, are the orange groves which Mr. Abbott owns and superin- tends. Of the sixty acres, forty-five are in bear- ing condition, while fifteen acres contain young fruit. The fact that the oranges are the finest quality of navels makes them marketable at fair prices, and the owner has found the manage- ment of the property not only an interesting re- laxation from business pursuits, but a source of no inconsiderable profit as well.

After completing high school studies, Frank E. Abbott began clerking, and later was book- keeper for a paper company, but, owing to poor health, in 1885 he traveled through Montana. Oregon and California, hoping that the change might prove beneficial. January 25, 1886, le came to Riverside for the first time and was :0

pleased with the place that he returned to New York and arranged to locate here permanently. He embarked in the real estate business, and in 1892 accepted a position as secretary and manager of the Riverside Savings & Loan As- sociation, retaining the latter position until he was appointed postmaster, August 11, 1894, by President Cleveland. In September of the same year he assumed the duties of his office. His business administration was a source of gratifi- cation to the people of the city. The free de- livery limits were extended under his super- vision and other improvements were made. The fact that his administration was satisfactory to all is especially noticeable by reason of his oppo- sition by six candidates when he first entered the race for the office. He gave his undivided attention to the position, and his industry, con- stant oversight and tact were fruitful of a large success. August 17, 1898, he retired from the office, and since then he has followed horticul- tural pursuits. His residence is on Line street, in addition to which he has built other substan- tial houses.

JAMES A. WHITAKER. On coming to Southern California in 1885, Mr. Whitaker pur- chased six hundred and ninety acres of land in Orange county and at once embarked in the stock-raising business. On the advent of the Santa Fe system in what is now Buena Park, he was induced by the railway officials to lay out the village, platting for the purpose a por- tion of his original purchase. From that time to the present his name has been inseparably associated with the growth and upbuilding of the little town. Every enterprise calculated to pro- mote local interests receives his active support and co-operation. Among these may be men- tioned the Pacific Condensed Milk Company, of which he was a promoter, expending large amounts in order to secure its location in Buena Park, and subsequent events have proved the wisdom of his judgment, for the company now pays out large sums of money for labor and for milk gathered from farms throughout the localitv. His foresight in developing this re- gion has been largely instrumental in bringing into it, as investors, such prominent men as Andrew McNally, George B. Reeve and Frank W. Emery, all of whom have purchased large tracts of land and are developing them into fine fruit ranches.

On leaving Chicago in 1884, Mr. Whitaker came to California and spent some months in San Francisco, thence came to Orange county in 1885. He now owns one of the finest resi- dences in Buena Park, and is closely identified with the history of this place. Actively inter- ested in town and county politics, he has fre- quently represented his district as a member of the Republican county central committee, and

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has often been solicited to accept important of- fices, but has invariably declined, preterring the quietude of home life.

D. W. HASSON, M. D. The medical pro- fession of Southern California has no more popular or capable addition to its ranks than is furnished by the medical and surgical services of Dr. Hasson, of Buena Park. While distin- guished in the calling to which he has chosen to devote the remainder of his life, he is no less known as a politician of the broad and com- prehensive kind, and at present as the state rep- resentative of the Seventy-sixth California as- sembly, to which office he was elected in No- vember of 1900 for a term of two years.

A varied and useful existence preceded the removal of Dr. Hasson to California in 1893. He was born in Jo Daviess county, Ill., Feb- ruary 20, 1847, and served in the Civil war. After years of professional and public service in South Dakota and Nebraska, he came to Cali- fornia in 1893.

For a time after locating in California Dr. Hasson lived in San Bernardino county, and later spent a few months in Downey before com- ing to Buena Park in 1898. He has steadily advanced in the good will and confidence of his fellow townsmen, and, aside from the influence acquired from a large and lucrative practice, has been a promotive factor along educational and general improvement lines. He is at present a member of the board of trustees of the Buena Park school district and clerk of the board.

WILLIAM LIONEL ROBERTS. The orange industry is indebted to Mr. Roberts for some important improvements in the methods of fertilizing, principally brought about through his introduction of the Thomas phosphate pow- der, an article manufactured in the steel works of Great Britain, Germany and Belgium. It lias many points of excellence as a fertilizer which appeal to the thinking and progressive horticulturists, not the least advantage being a reduction in the price over the old methods. Several ranchers have tried it to their satisfac- tion, and have found that it greatly strengthens the trees. The most noticeable improvement was apparent on the ranch of Mr. Roberts, who raised without the fertilizer two thousand one hundred loose boxes one year, and with the fertilizer his output increased to three thousand six hundred loose boxes the following year. About fifteen pounds of the Thomas phosphate are used to the tree, with two or three pounds of sulphate of potassium, and a similar quantity of nitrate of soda, and the mixture is about ten dollars cheaper per ton than the old-time fer- tilizers.

The activity of Mr. Roberts extends into sev- eral lines of industry, among them being the oil

business with which he is extensively connected. He is one of the original promoters of the Grand Central Oil Company, which owns forty acres of land on section 4, on the famous Kern river. He is also one of the original members of the Tamarack Oil Company at Los Angeles, which has an extensive field southwest of the city. As a horticulturist he was one of the organizers and stockholders of the California Fruit Company, which erected a cannery at Ontario, Cal., for canning deciduous fruits, and which is one of the largest in Southern Cali- fornia.

ROBERT M. TEAGUE, proprietor of San Dimas Nurseries, established in 1890, is a pros- perous horticulturist and nurseryman. Having made a study of horticulture, he is qualified to carry on successfully the propagation of nursery stock. Years of experience in both orchard and nursery have afforded him every opportunity for wide observation and investigation as to the best methods of producing a superior article of fruit, as well as the best nursery tree for orchard planting. In his nursery are all the well-known varieties of oranges, including the unsurpassed and unsurpassable Washington Navel, the China Mandarin, Thomson's Improved Navel (orig- inated in 1890 by A. C. Thomson, of Duarte), Dancy's Tangerine, Valencia Late, Ruby Blood, Mediterranean Sweet, Paper Rind St. Michael, Kumquat or Kin-Kan (a native of Japan and a unique member of the citrus family), Malta Blood and Satsuma (which ripens as early as November). Among lemons he has the Eureka, Villa Franca and Lisbon varieties; in grape fruit, the Marsh seedless, Triumph G. F., Impe- rial G. F., and Improved Pomolo, also the Citrus Medica Cedra, from which citron rind is ob- tained.

REV. FRANCIS R. HOLCOMB. A na- tive of Portage county, Ohio, Francis R. Hol- comb was born Tune 4, 1841, a son of Chester R. and Adaline (Spencer) Holcomb, natives of Granby, Conn. When five years of age he was taken by his parents to what is now Muscatine, Iowa, and there received an academic education. Having decided to devote his life to the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church. he was or- dained in 1878, and subsequently acted as pastor of various churches throughout Iowa. He be- came influential in promoting the cause of edu- cation, and in this capacity served for many years as clerk of the board of trustees of Bloom- ington townshin, Muscatine county. Upon re- moving to California. in the fall of 1888. he became pastor of the Fullerton Methodist Epis- copal Church, and during his five years of serv- ice was also connected for two years with the church of the same denomination at Anaheim, and for a year with the church at Garden Grove.

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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 179

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