History of Los Angeles county, Volume III, Part 35

Author: McGroarty, John Steven, 1862-1944
Publication date: 1923
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 844

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for the property, working after school, on holidays and during vacation 1 times, while his widow has shown excellent management. The property, being close to the City of Los Angeles, is a very valuable one, and is evidence of Mr. Steele's foresight and judgment in selecting it. He was known as a good business man and accepted as a reliable and worthy citizen, and his death was mourned by a wide circle of friends.

In 1902 Mr. Steele married Miss Nellie Porter, who was born in County Cork, Ireland, December 4, 1874, a daughter of John and Ann (McClenahan) Porter, farming people of Ireland and the parents of nine children. Mr. Porter died in 1903, and his widow continued to live in Ireland until May, 1922, when she came to the United States. She still survives, at the age of eighty-eight years. Mrs. Steele came" to this country in 1892 and located at Chicago. When she came to California she was in ill health, but has recovered entirely. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Steele: Sydney, born in Chicago, September 23, 1904, was educated in the Montebello schools ; his twin, Robert, was also educated here; and Florence, born October 8, 1907, at Chicago, is still attending school. Mrs. Steele and her children are members of the Methodist Church.

JEFFERSON G. WINGERT. No lawyer at the Whittier bar is generally acknowledged to have a more ready and sound judgment in broad and intri- cate matters of civil jurisprudence than Jefferson G. Wingert, city attorney. His knowledge of the law is remarkable both for its comprehensiveness and accuracy, and in its application he is earnest, concise, logical and forceful, which accounts in large measure for the high and substantial nature of his professional standing.

Mr. Wingert was born September 3, 1869, in Clearfield County, Penn- sylvania, and is a son of Henry George and Pauline (Walker) Wingert. The great-grandparents of Jefferson G. Wingert were natives of Germany, but left that country in 1848 with their son, his grandfather, objecting to the government of the country as members of the liberal wing, the most notable example of which was the late Carl Schurz. They settled in Penn- sylvania, where was married the grandfather, and in that state Henry George Wingert was born. He was a farmer by vocation, and followed that calling in Clearfield and Jefferson counties, and later went to Indiana County, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in farming and mercantile pur- suits until his death. During the Civil war he was on his way to the recruiting office to enlist when hostilities ceased. Mrs. Wingert, who is also deceased, was born in Pennsylvania, of German descent.

Jefferson G. Wingert attended the public and preparatory schools of Pennsylvania, and graduated from the University of Wooster, Ohio, as a member of the class of 1892, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then studied law with George A. Jenks, United States solicitor general under the administration of President Cleveland, and was admitted to practice in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, in December, 1895. He prac- ticed his calling in that county and in counties adjoining until 1914, when he came to California looking for a new location. After making a thorough study of all the cities he decided that Whittier was the most attractive and progressive place he had seen, and accordingly made it his permanent home. While practicing in the East Mr. Wingert was also engaged in the lumber business and the coal business and was president of the Farmers and Miners Trust Company at Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. He was city attorney for that place, as well as a member of the Board of School Directors. Since coming to California he has taken a great interest in matters political, and has worked for the republican ticket. During the last five years he has occupied the post of city attorney of Whittier, and has discharged the duties of that office in a highly capable manner. Upon his arrival he formed a law partnership with Gen. Madison T. Owens, and this has endured to the present. Mr. Wingert is a member of the City Attorneys' Association, the Chamber of Commerce, the Hacienda Country

Jof & Naught.

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Club and secretary and a trustee of Murphy Memorial Hospital, in addi- tion to holding membership in the City Planting Commission. He has property and commercial interests at and about Whittier.

On March 4, 1922, at Los Angeles, Mr. Wingert married Judd W. Rhodes, a native of Missouri.

HENRY KRUSE. There are numerous substantial citizens of Los An- geles County who have been the builders of their own fortunes ; who from small beginnings have erected structures of business solidity. Few, how- ever, have gained a greater proportionate amount of success than Henry Kruse, whose worldly assets upon his arrival in California in 1903 consisted of fifty cents, and who is now one of the well-to-do citizens of the El Monte community.

Mr. Kruse was born November 8, 1876, at Olevenburg, Germany, a son of Gerd and Metha (Bruns) Kruse, natives and farming people of Germany and the parents of twelve children. The public schools of his native land furnished him with his early education, following which he spent two years in the German Army. As a youth he adopted the vocation of farming, which he followed in the land of his birth until October, 1903, then coming to the United States. His first location was in Kansas, but he was not satisfied with that state, and accordingly came to California, which state offered a broader field for success. He had only fifty cents in his pocket at the time of his arrival, but was willing and ambitious and immediately secured work on the Leffingwell orange ranch. He had no knowledge of English, but studied nights so that he could speak the tongue of his adopted country, and took out his naturalization papers shortly after his arrival. For years he was employed on citrus groves, including the Leffingwell ranch, San Mendenhall and the "Bill" Mulholland ranches, and in May, 1904, sent for his wife, whom he had left in Kansas. By July, 1909, Mr. Kruse was ready to begin activities on his own account, and at that time leased from the Baldwin estate 100 acres. In 1911 he secured an option on thirty acres, a property which he purchased in 1912, borrowing $500 to add to his own $500 in order to make the purchase. For a time he conducted a dairy and truck farm, and also set twenty acres to walnuts. In October, 1919, Mr. Kruse leased this land to the Doheney Oil Company for oil, and from the proceeds thereof had sufficient means to erect a modern home and to install numerous improvements. He is now one of the substantial men of his community and one who is held in high esteem. He takes an active interest in local affairs, and while he has not sought public office has always been ready to discharge the responsibilities of citi- zenship.

While a resident of Kansas Mr. Kruse married Miss Anna Engelmann, a daughter of Johann Gerhard Engelmann, of Germany, and an old-time schoolmate and childhood sweetheart of her husband. She was educated in her native land and came to the United States about the same time as her husband, their marriage occurring in Kansas in November, 1903. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Kruse: Clara, born in 1904, who is attending the high school at El Monte; Walter, born at Whittier in 1905; Otto, born at Whittier in 1908; Alma, born at El Monte in 1912; and Dorothy, born at El Monte in 1920.

JOSE MARIA RAMIREZ. Forty years have passed since the death of Jose Maria Ramirez, yet his name is worthy of perpetuation in a work of this kind, as he was typical of the old Spanish dons whose descendants played such an important part in the settlement and development of Southern California, including Los Angeles County.

Jose Maria Ramirez was born in 1819, in the State of Sonora, Mexico, his parents being natives of Spain. He was given his education in the schools of his native community, and followed farming and cattle raising until joining the gold rush of 1849 into California. He was one of the fortunate ones to discover the precious yellow metal, and, returning from

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the gold fields with a large sack of dust, first bought 100 acres of land at Los Nietos, Los Angeles County. Later he purchased 1,000 acres at what is now New East Whittier, and here settled down to extensive operations as a farmer and raiser of cattle. It was at this time that the great American invasion began, and Mr. Ramirez, who had been impressed with the belief that Americans were all savages and that he and his wife and child would be massacred, started on a flight to Mexico. However, he met the approach- ing and much-feared troops at the Gila River, where was born Mr. Ramirez' second child, Jesus. Instead of the ill usage that he feared for himself and his loved ones, Mr. Ramirez received only the greatest kindness. The army surgeon accompanying the troops officiated at the birth of his son, and later gave the refugees ten days supply of provisions to continue on their way to Mexico. There they remained for a year, when they came back to California, Mr. Ramirez spending his last days here. In 1883 he sold his property for fifteen dollars an acre and again went back to Sonora, but his visit there was short, and he soon returned to Whittier, where his death occurred in 1883, burial being made at the Temple Cemetery at Puente. Jose Maria Ramirez was one of the prominent men of his day and locality, and held in full the respect and confidence of those among whom he lived, the populace looking up to him and the church officials holding him in high esteem. An instance of this is found in the fact that at a time when Bibles were scarce, after having been refused a Bible by the Father at the old Mission, he was finally sold one for $37. This valuable and reverenced book, over a century old, is one of the proudest possessions of the descendants of this honored man.

Mr. Ramirez married Josefa Rangel, also a native of the State of Sonora, the ceremony being performed by Father Tomas Estenega at the old San Gabriel Mission, where Mrs. Ramirez was buried. They became the parents of seventeen children, of whom two died in infancy, while four sons and two daughters still survive, as follows: Louisa Luis and Anita, of Los Nietos; Angel, at the old Mission; Juan, a resident of Los Nietos; Enrique, who lives at Whittier; and Facunda, whose home is at Los Nietos.

HERBERT ANDERSON. The ranks of the citrus growers of Los Angeles County who have made such a great success of this industry, have been recruited from men in all walks of life, but for the most part are men whose parents were pioneers into California or at least early settlers of the state. In the latter category is Herbert Anderson, a native son of this locality, who gave up a successful banking business for the occupation of citrus fruit growing, and who has made a great success therein.

Mr. Anderson was born April 30, 1880, at Orange, California, which at that time was included within the boundaries of Los Angeles County, a son of Joseph W. and Sarah M. (McClelland) Anderson. Joseph W. Ander- son was born at Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1838, and as a lad was taken to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he was taught the tanning trade under the instructorship of his father. During the Civil war he was engaged in making leather war material for the Union Army. Mr. Anderson was a man of some education, being a graduate of the Pittsburgh High School. In 1873 he made his way to San Francisco, via the old Central Pacific Railroad, then by boat to Wilmington and to Orange by stage coach, there being no railroads in Southern California at that time. Here he was first engaged in the grocery business, together with ranching,. was one of the first in the section to plant a citrus orchard, and was also the owner of a vineyard. He sold out these holdings during the boom days at an advantage and moved to Los Angeles, where he became associated with M. L. Wicks in the real estate business. Wicks was one of the earliest and largest of the western realtors, and at one time was reputed worth $1,000,- 000. Mr. Anderson as a realtor subdivided and sold numerous Los Angeles additions. After the boom subsided he became an accountant. He was a stalwart republican in politics, but never sought public office. When he

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came to California it was on the advice of his physician, and he made a complete recovery, in the meantime building up his original capital of $8,900 to a comfortable fortune. He was a faithful member of the Christian Church, in the belief of which he died in 1915. He and his widow, who survives him as a resident of Los Angeles, were the parents of six children, the four elder born at Pittsburgh and the two younger born in California: Lawrence M., who for years has been controller of the city water works of Los Angeles; George H., engaged in the automobile business at Redondo, California; Margaret M., who died in 1919; Ivan, of Los Angeles; Arthur T., of Los Angeles ; and Herbert.

Herbert Anderson attended the public schools of Los Angeles, follow- ing which he joined a surveyor's crew, with which he was engaged prin- cipally on railroad surveys. Later he was made city paymaster of Los Angeles, and continued in that capacity until 1909,. when he entered the banking field, being associated with the First National Bank of South Pasadena. In 1911 he bought fifty-four acres of walnut land, his present valuable home and holdings on the Los Nietos road, a portion of which he has replanted to Valencia oranges. He has vastly improved the prop- erty and is now accounted one of the leading citrus men of the district. He is a director in the Whittier Walnut Growers' Association, and one of the active men generally in the development of his community.

In 1904 Mr. Anderson was united in marriage with Miss Blanche Har- lan, a native of Missouri, and one of the leading women of her locality, where she is prominent in social and charitable work. Three children have come to this union: John Harlan, educated in the Whittier High School, born in 1905; Helen, born in 1907, also attending high school; and Catherine, born in 1912, attending the graded schools. Mr. Anderson has memories of the early days of Los Angeles, when the former courthouse stood on its old site, surrounded by an assemblage of street fakirs selling trinkets, etc. When six years of age, from a point of vantage on a hill above the old courthouse, he witnessed the legal hanging of a criminal in the court yard. From thence to the present he has watched with the eye of a proprietor the growth of this adobe pueblo to a great and world-noted city.

JAMES FLETCHER ISBELL. The individuals who founded and developed the various sections and towns of Los Angeles County during the early days had to be men of breadth of view, foresight and courage, who had the courage of their convictions and whose vision was sufficiently developed to look ahead into the coming years, with the ability to impress their asso- ciates with their own confidence. Such a man was the late James Fletcher Isbell, who took a prominent part in establishing and building up the county and who retained his interest in its prosperity and that of its people up to the time of his death, in 1908.

Mr. Isbell was born May 4, 1848, in Newton County, Missouri, a son of Thomas and Rachel (Wright) Isbell. The father, who was of English descent, died at Glendale, while the mother, who died in 1858, was of Scotch-Irish ancestry. For four years the father served as a member of the famous Texas Rangers while the family resided in the Lone Star State. James F. Isbell had but few opportunities to secure an education in his youth, these being confined to attendance at the local subscription school, but in later years, through observation and study, combined with experi- ence, he became a well-informed man on many subjects. He resided on his father's Missouri farm until 1856, in which year the family moved to Wise County, Texas, and there he married, in 1866, Miss Mary L. Roland, who was born in Texas in 1846, a daughter of James Rowland and Charlotte (Smyth) Rowland. Mrs. Isbell acquired her education in the subscription schools of Texas. In 1868 the young married couple joined a wagon train which made the journey from Texas to California, a some- what perilous trip in those days of no railroads and numerous Indians. The first home of the Isbell's in California was a temporary one, being on

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the rancho of Gov. Pio Pico, the last Mexican governor, who kindly allowed them to have a room which was at that time a part of the Catholic Church. That night was born James Isbell, the first child of Mr. and Mrs. Isbell, and the first white child born on this rancho. Later there were born ten other children : Martha, who died at the age of three years; Exa, who died at the age of thirteen months; John P., who married Minnie Knol; Ollie E., the wife of M. Holbrook; Lettie O., the wife of James Faulking- burg ; Orrie T., who is married; Catherine, who married Albert Dickerson and later Levi Hurr; Elton S., who married Maribel Piper; Everett F., who married George Lamborn ; and Lenora, who married Rex Cowley.

At the time of his arrival in California Mr. Isbell at once made a deep impression on the old governor, Pio Pico, who took the greatest interest in his affairs and offered him the greatest of favors, including a home and farm and all the land he wanted at twenty dollars per acre, with unlimited time to make payment. The youth had faith in his own foresight, how- · ever, although he lived to regret his refusal of the governor's generous offer. Instead, in 1872 he went to Orange County, where he bought twenty acres of land, and then gave ten acres of it for orange trees to plant, paying thirty dollars an acre for the land. Later he purchased five acres more, and all of this property he later sold at $500 per acre. Mr. Isbell was instrumental in organizing the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company, which bought out the Chapman & Glassell Company, and this great advancement in irrigation allowed him to obtain the great increase for his property. The old ditch had proven too small, and Mr. Isbell became one of a party of sixteen men who bought out the old company and organized the new one at a cost of $65,000. This was a large proceeding, as money was scarce at that time and hard to secure. During the con- struction of this ditch Mr. Isbell acted as superintendent of a gang of men working in the Santa Ana Canon.

In 1883 Mr. Isbell changed his residence to Los Nietos, where he pur- chased thirty acres of land, and this he set to walnuts and oranges. After his arrival he was instrumental in securing much of the right of way be- tween Los Angeles and Orange County for the Santa Fe Railway. While working in behalf of the railway's interests he was able to secure fifty acres, on which he located the town of Rivera, which he subdivided and sold in lots. Thus he became one of the most prominent realtors in the county, and in addition had various other interests, including the building of the hotel and the town hall. A man of charitable impulses, he gave the land for the Baptist and Presbyterian Churches of Rivera, and assisted in numerous other worthy enterprises. Fraternally he was affiliated with Whittier Lodge No. 323, A. F. and A. M. From a young, penniless and friendless stranger at the time of his arrival he rose in station and wealth to be one of the community's prominent citizens, a man universally re- spected, and the father of a worthy family of children who have since carried on his good work and perpetuated his honored name.

THOMAS FREER, one of the sterling citizens of El Monte, is a native son of California and a representative of an honored and influential pioneer family of this commonwealth. Of his father and of the family history in general adequate record will be found in personal sketches appearing on other pages of this work, he being a son of the late William Henry Harrison Freer, to whom a memorial tribute is entered in this volume.

Thomas Freer was born at Berryessa, Santa Clara County, California, December 25, 1859, and in his native county he was reared to the age of fifteen years, his educational advantages in the meanwhile having been those of the schools maintained at Berryessa and Savannah. At the age noted he accompanied his parents on their removal to the El Monte District of Los Angeles County, and he contined to remain at the parental home. associated with his father's agricultural and horticultural enterprise, until 1893, in which year was solemnized his marriage to Miss Victoria Schmidt, who was born at San Gabriel, this state, the second in a family of five

Thomas Freer

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children. The father of Mrs. Freer was born in France, and as a skilled blacksmith he established one of the first blacksmith shops at San Gabriel, California, where he continued its operation many years. His wife was a daughter of William Stark, who was a pioneer settler in California, the daughter having been born and reared in this state.

After his marriage Mr. Freer engaged in independent farm enterprise in the Mountain View District. Later he conducted a large dairy-farming business on the old homestead of his father. In 1903 he purchased twenty acres of land at a point two and one-half miles southeast of El Monte, and here he has developed one of the fine soft-shell walnut groves of this favored section of Los Angeles County, the while he has gained success and prestige as one of the progressive exponents of walnut culture in this dis- trict. Mr. Freer is an active member of the Mountain View Walnut Grow- ers Association, and in politics he is a loyal supporter of the cause of the democratic party in national and state affairs, with sufficient lack of par- tisanship in local affairs to give his support to men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment, regardless of party lines. He has the sterling characteristics that are his natural heritage from the pioneer stock of which he is a scion, believes in justice and fair dealing, is earnest in support of educational interests and other things that make for civic welfare, and he has taken pride in giving to his children the excellent educational advantages which he himself was denied in his youth.

In 1875 the family home of the Freer family was established on a pioneer farm about one and one-half miles north of Savannah, Los Angeles County, and on this farm the subject of this sketch worked with his father until he married and established a home of his own, as already noted. Mr. and Mrs. Freer's eldest child is Walter, who was born at El Monte in 1893. The maiden name of his wife was Ruby Justice, and they have one daughter. Walter Freer volunteered for service when the nation became involved in the World war, received preliminary training at Camp Lewis, was assigned to the commissary department and went with his command to France, his departure for the stage of warfare having occurred July 4, 1918, and his return to the United States having occurred in May, 1919. After receiving his honorable discharge, with a record of loyal and efficient service, he returned to El Monte, where he now owns and conducts two of the leading meat markets of the city. Merle Marguerite, the second of the children, was born at El Monte in 1895, and remains at the parental home, the while she is a popular figure in the social activities of her native city. Thomas Freer, Jr., the youngest of the children, was born in 1897, and after his graduation from the El Monte High School he entered and was eventually graduated from the College of Dentistry at the University of Southern California. Since receiving his degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery he has been successfully established in the practice of his profession at El Monte. In 1922 Dr. Freer married Miss Doris Green.

Mr. Freer takes deep interest in all that concerns the prosperity and progress of his native state, and is proud of the fact that he is a repre- sentative of one of the honored pioneer families of California.

WILLIAM G. REICHLING was for a quarter of a century one of the val- ued and useful citizens of Whittier. For many years he was connected with the State School there, and at the same time he and Mrs. Reichling developed a fine ranch, where she still resides, and both were deeply inter- ested in fraternal, civic and social affairs.

William G. Reichling was born under the British flag, of German par- entage, on the Island of Cephalonia, on the western coast of Greece, son of Christian and Margaret (Haas) Reichling. His parents were born in Coblenz, Germany. His father for many years was a master tailor in the British Army service. There were nine children in the family, and no two of them were born in the same country. After the father left the British Army he brought his family to America, and lived in New Jersey the rest of his life. William G. Reichling grew up in New Jersey, attended school

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History of Los Angeles county, Volume III, Part 35

Author: McGroarty, John Steven, 1862-1944 Publication date: 1923 Publisher: Number of Pages: 844

Author: McGroarty, John Steven, 1862-1944
Publication date: 1923
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 844