USA > California > Los Angeles County > History of Los Angeles county, Volume III > Part 45
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his death. He was specially vital and progressive in furthering the devel- opment of the citrus-fruit industry, and was one of the organizers and prominent and influential members of the Duarte-Monrovia Fruit Ex- change. He was a republican in politics, and while he had no ambition for office of any kind his civic loyalty was shown in his effective service as a member of the Board of Education at Duarte. He reveled in life in the great outdoors, was fond of hunting and fishing, and each Easter morning he attended the open-air church services at Eagle Rock, appreciative of the fact that "the groves were God's first temples." He had a finelv cultivated baritone voice and was every ready to entertain his friends by his musical talent. His final illness, of only two weeks' duration, was the result of a paralytic stroke he received while driving in his automobile and supervising the shipment of grapefruit. He was a popular member of the Los Patos Duck Club, and among the representative sportsmen of this sec- tion of the state he had many friends.
On the 18th of February, 1886, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Merriell and Miss Catherine Ellen Tobitt, who accompanied him to Cali- fornia the same year. Mrs. Merriell was born in England and was sixteen years of age when her parents came to the United States and established their residence at Washington, D. C., whence removal was later made to Chicago, in which city she continued to reside until her marriage. Of the three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Merriell, two survive the devoted father: Edith is the wife of Oliver Kopta, and they have one child, George Merriell Kopta. Dorothy is the wife of Loring Day, and they have three daughters, Catherine and Lorraine (twins) and Elnora.
WILLIAM J. FUQUA. One of the pioneers of Walnut, Los Angeles County, and of the walnut and citrus industry in this locality, William . J. Fuqua has lived to see his faith in this region justified, and to become a man of means. He was born in Los Angeles County, March 18, 1861, a son of Isham Fuqua, who was born in Virginia, January 2, 1815, and was of French and Scotch ancestry. He had but a limited education, and in his youth drifted westward through Kentucky and Tennessee to Texas. When war broke out between this country and Mexico he enlisted under the com- mand of General Taylor, and was one of the forces which entered Mexico City. After his honorable discharge from the army in July, 1848, he re- turned to Texas, where he and his brother Joshua were given 640 acres of land for their military services. Going to Missouri, Isham Fuqua married Mrs. Johanna (Hathaway) Cross. Mrs. Cross had been left a widow with one son, T. J. Cross. Mr. and Mrs. Fuqua had three sons and five daugh- ters born to them. After their marriage they settled in Texas, and he was engaged in farming in Le Mar County until 1852. By that time the gold excitement was at its height and many of their neighbors were leaving for the West. In that year they ventured forth on the long and dangerous journey with oxen, and the trip took six months. They settled in the San Isabella Valley, San Diego County, but in the fall of 1854 moved to El Monte, Los Angeles County, and here he continued to be engaged in farm- ing and sheepraising until his death, April 5, 1890. She died August 19, 1905.
William J. Fuqua did not attend school beyond the grammar grades, for schools were few and poor during his youth in California, but he has since read and studied and is a very well-educated man, with a wide, practi- cal experience of great value. In 1884 he came to Walnut, and this has since continued to be his home. When he selected it as the scene of his fu- ture operations it presented an entirely different aspect from what it does today, for it was a most desolate place, covered with crackle burs. Mr. Fuqua set out walnut groves and orange groves, and has owned several very valuable ranches in this vicinity. He purchased his present homestead in 1903, and set it to walnuts and oranges, and developed his own water by sinking a splendidly producing well. He is familiar with old landmarks,
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and because of this is oftentimes able to render a very valuable service in straightening up old land tangles. A man of progressive ideas, he was the first to actively engage in good road building in Los Angeles County, and is now president of the Good Roads Club and several others of a social nature.
In 1888 Mr. Fuqua married Miss Louisa C. Hidden, who was born in Lawrence, Kansas, a daughter of Charles and Louisa (Corbin) Hidden, natives of New Hampshire and Vermont. They were early settlers of Lawrence, Kansas, and Mr. Hidden was its first justice of the peace. In 1874 they came on to California and located at San Bernardino, where he worked at his trade of a wheelwright, and where he died in 1897. Mrs. Hidden died in 1912, having borne her husband seven children. Mr. Fuqua has been active in his home community, and since 1892 has been a school trustee of the San Jose District, which he helped to establish, and he is also now clerk of the board. In January, 1899, he was made road foreman un- der Supervisor Longden, and has served in this capacity ever since, making in the office an enviable reputation. He served six years as foreman of the ranch of Rhodes & Baker and for twenty-three years has been road overseer for the County of Los Angeles. Since he cast his first vote he has been a stanch democrat. Pomona Lodge, I. O. O. F., holds his member- ship. He belongs to the First Christian Church of Pomona.
In the prime of life, and yet an old enough inhabitant to remember when things were so entirely different, he appreciates the wonderful prog- ress that has been made on every side, and is proud of the part he has been permitted to play in the development of Los Angeles County and the walnut and citrus industry.
ADDISON SENCE. One of the men who has participated in the growth and development of Burbank, who has advanced with its advancement and who has prospered with its prosperity, is Addison Sence, founder and president of the Union Supply Company, and a man who is prominently identified with various other large business and financial enterprises.
Mr. Sence was born in Indiana, in 1858, a son of Amos and Susan (Kahl) Sence, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. He received his early education in the public schools of Indiana, after leav- ing which he received his introduction to the serious business of life by working on his father's farm. When he left the parental roof it was to become identified with the lumber business at Young America, Indiana, and he remained in the same business and the same community for eight years, at the end of which time he came to California, locating first at Ventura. There he was engaged in ranching for a period of eight years, and in 1902 came to the vicinity of Burbank and located on another ranch, on which he carried on agricultural operations for a period of four years. By this time Mr. Sence had acquired some capital, and this he invested in leasing the Porter ranch of 2,000 acres, which he devoted to the raising of hay and grain. The business proved successful, but he had his eye on larger things, and in 1911 came to Burbank and founded the feed and fuel business known as the Union Supply Company. Just as Burbank has progressed and grown, so has this business continued to grow and develop until it is now one of the principal enterprises of this thriving community, its total sales in 1921 amounting to $244,988.65. Mr. Sence keeps five automobile trucks busy at all times, and has just completed the erection of a new warehouse, 100x50 feet, to adjoin which he is building an additional structure of 50 feet, to be used as a mill and office. The firm deals extensively in hay, grain, fuel and poultry supplies, both wholesale and retail, and manufac- tures all its own poultry foods. The product is generally recognized as be- ing of a superior grade and has a ready market all over the state and into adjoining commonwealths.
Mr. Sence is also the proprietor of a general merchandise store, presi- dent of the Burbank Building and Loan Association, president of the Farm- ers and Merchants Bank of Burbank, president of the Snowlene Refining
JohnberBlumen
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Company, vice president of the Burbank Oil Company, and is justly ac- counted one of the capable and progressive men of his locality, where he has identified himself with various movements for the general welfare. In politics he is a democrat and his fraternal connection includes membership in the local lodges of the Masons, Knights of Pythias and Knights of Khorassan, in all of which he is popular.
In 1884, while a resident of Young America, Indiana, Mr. Sence was united in marriage with Miss Florence Robinson, also a native of Indiana, and they are the parents of two children : Faith, who is the wife of Henry Story, a hardware merchant of Burbank; and Ray R. Ray R. Sence, one of the younger business men of Burbank who has made himself a place by progressive methods, industry and natural abilities, is associated with his father in the conduct of the Union Supply Company, to the success of which he has been a large contributor.
JOHN GEORGE BLUMER, whose death occurred on the 24th of December, 1918, when he was seventy-three years of age, was a man whose noble character, engaging personality and large and worthy achievement conspired to make his name one entitled to enduring honor in the state of his adoption. He was one of the prominent and influential citizens of Sierra Madre, Los Angeles County, at the time of his death, and was survived by his widow, three sons and three daughters.
Mr. Blumer was born at Harwich, County of Essex, England, in the year 1845, and was a son of George and Clementina (South) Blumer, representative of sterling old English families. George Blumer was an active and energetic business man, and was for many years engaged in shipbuilding enterprise at Hartlepool, England. He was able to give to his son superior educational advantages, and after the subject of this memoir had graduated from the high school at Edinburgh, Scotland, he served an apprenticeship in connection with his father's shipbuilding business. He was finally admitted to part- nership in the business, under the firm name of George Blumer & Son, and within a short time thereafter he assumed charge of the business, owing to the impaired health of his father, whose death, in 1867, led the son to sell the business and change his sphere of endeavor. At Darlington, England, Mr. Blumer became general agent of extensive coal mines in the County of Durham, and this position of trust and responsibility he retained until he left his native land, came to the United States and established his home in California. While at Dar- lington he was engaged also in the mercantile business, besides acting as agent for the Diamond Rock Boring Company in 1871-72-73. He was agent for Ferens and Love, coal owners, from 1868 until he left England. Within the period his residence at Darlington, notwith- standing the manifold exactions of his varied business interests, he filled many positions of great responsibility and honor. He was a director of the Arlington Steel Company, president of the Tees Bottle Company, a director of the Wingate Limestone Company, and a figure of prominence in connection with educational affairs. He served as a member of the school board of Darlington, as a governor of the Dar- lington grammar school, as honorary secretary of the Darlington High School for Girls, and also as honorary secretary of the Cambridge & Durham university extension scheme.
In the year 1871 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Blumer and Miss Julia Edith Walford, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Porter) Walford. Mrs. Blumer was born in the City of London. Of this gracious union were born six children, namely: George, Elsie, Hilda, Edith, Philip Walford, and Frederick Breakspeare. Mrs. Blumer has exceptional literary talent, and as an authoress she has gained no little distinction. Among the best known productions from her pen are the book entitled "Little Content," and her translation of the "Chevalier Bayard" from the French. She has compiled also a work entitled
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the "Table Talk and Opinions of Napoleon," and the "Words of Wellington."
In 1886, primarily by reason of his failing health, Mr. Blumer decided to sever the ties that bound him to the land of his nativity and to seek restoration in California's sunny clime of flowers. He never regretted choosing as his home the beautiful Sierra Madre Dis- trict, with its equable temperature, pure air and water and delightful scenery. Here he established his home on the north side of Grand View Avenue. In this new stage of thought and action Mr. Blumer showed the same fine public spirit and sense of personal stewardship that had so prominently marked his course in the land of his birth. He became a stockholder and director of the Sierra Madre Water Com- pany, and for nineteen years was president of the Board of Trustees of the Sierra Madre Public Library. It was in 1889 that Mr. Blumer was made president of the Sierra Madre Library. He soon discovered that the available funds from subscriptions were quite inadequate to cover the salary of a librarian. Under these conditions he put in opera- tion a distinctly unique system. A corps of twelve ladies, all residents of Sierra Madre, was enlisted in the service, each assuming a service of one month in the capacity of librarian, with a nominal reward repre- senting a year's subscription. With twelve such loyal volunteers the gamut of the year was run effectively. The ladies were always on time to give out and receive books, and were most efficient. Mr. Blumer himself purchased the books, covered the same, and renewed these supplemental covers whenever they gave evidence of wear or soiling. He also, at the end of the year, with the co-operation of the corps of ladies who served as librarians, made an inventory of the books in the library. It was a very rare thing to lose a book in those days. This system of voluntary librarians was continued during the entire period of Mr. Blumer's presidency, and also until the city took over the care and responsibility of the institution. In support of the library under the presidency of Mr. Blumer various expedients were brought to bear in raising the required funds. There were presented in behalf of the library amateur theatrical performances by local talent, all the participants volunteering their service without compensation, so that every cent raised in this and other ways went to the library. In connection with such theatrical entertainments in that early period the sum of ninety dollars was considered as representing a "very good house."
For more than twenty years Mr. Blumer maintained active affilia- tion with the time-honored Masonic fraternity, and his religious faith was deep but not connected with the creeds of any church. He won the confidence and high regard of the people of his home community in California, and in all the relations of life his course was guided and governed by high ideals and noble aspirations. In connection with his other interests Mr. Blumer showed his civic loyalty and pro- gressiveness by becoming chairman of the Electric Road Promotion Committee (Sierre Madre Extension), and of his service in this con- nection the following estimate is gleaned from an editorial that appeared in the Sierra Madre News: "No history of the Electric Railroad, written or compiled, could equal Mr. J. G. Blumer's report as chairman of the promotion committee. This report was sent out to all the subscribers a little over a month after the first Sierra Madre passenger electric cars, loaded with enthusiastic Sierra Madreans, left Sierra Madre New Year's morning, bound for the Pasadena Tour- nament of Roses, January 1, 1906." Mrs. Blumer still retains her home in the beautiful Sierra Madre, and concerning the children the following brief record is given in conclusion of this memoir: George Blumer, M. D., first married Anna Evans, daughter of J. W. Evans, of San Diego, and after her death he wedded Miss Mabel Louise Brad- ley, daughter of E. E. Bradley, of New Haven, Connecticut. Elsie
yours for w stainles Flag Einschapman
HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
Blumer is the wife of John Wilson Hart, a son of Professor Hart who came to California from Cleveland, Ohio, and established the family home at Sierra Madre. Hilda Blumer, now deceased, was the wife of William Larned Thatcher, a son of Professor Thatcher, a member of the faculty of Yale University, the latter's wife, Elizabeth, neé Sher- man, being a granddaughter of Roger Sherman. Miss Edith Blumer remains with her widowed mother in the Sierra Madre home. Philip Walford Blumer married Miss Teddla May McConnell, whose parental home was at Burlington, lowa. Frederick Breakspeare Blumer still has his name enrolled on the list of eligible young bachelors, and is now an accountant in New York City.
ERVIN S. CHAPMAN, D. D., LL. D. A life of signal consecration to high ideals and one marked by large and noble service was that of this dis- tinguised clergyman, author and temperance worker, whose death occurred in the City of Los Angeles on the 30th of August, 1921, after he hal attained to the venerable age of eighty-three years. He was survived by his widow, one son, William Mead Chapman of Glendale, Los Angeles County, and two daughters, Mrs. Henry J. Martin of Los Angeles and Mrs. Frank J. Woodward of Berkeley, this state.
Dr. Chapman was for many years superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League of California, and was the originator of the "Stainless Flag" national movement in promotion of prohibition. From 1898 until 1914 he was editor of the Searchlight, the official organ of the California Anti-Saloon League, and during a portion of this interval he served also as superin- tendent of the Anti-Saloon League of the State of California.
Dr. Chapman was born in Williams County, Ohio, on the 23d of June, 1838. A man of fine intellectual powers, he had received academic degrees from Westfield College in the State of Illinois ; Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania ; and Otterbein University in Ohio. As a youth he served as clerk in the House of Representatives in the United States Congress, and as a young man he made more than one hundred stump speeches in further- ance of the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency of the United States. In this connection it is pleasing to note that he utilized his intimate knowledge of the martyred president in compiling the last of his published books, entitled "Latest Light on Abraham Lincoln." He wrote volumi- nously, ever with force and directness, and at all times with a fine sense of personal stewardship in aiding and uplifting his fellowmen. He was the author of many books, including the one entitled "A Stainless Flag," in which he presented an argument for prohibition, and declared it disgraceful for a government to countenance the liquor traffic. Of this work, which attracted wide attention and had great influence in the furtherance of the prohibition movement, 3,000,000 copies were sold. His admiration for Lincoln was one of the dominating sentiments of his life, and the wonderful collection which he made of articles and mementos attaching to the life of Lincoln his daughters expect eventually to present to some national institution in which their popular valution will be enhanced.
In 1872 Dr. Chapman was ordained a clergyman of the church of the United Brethren of Christ, and his first pastoral charge was at Westerville, Ohio, the seat of Otterbein University. Later he transferred his member- ship to the Presbyterian Church, as clergyman of which he held various pastoral charges in Ohio, Wyoming and California.
At Brunersburg, Ohio, on the 2d of October, 1860, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Chapman and Miss Adelia Haymaker, who likewise was born and reared in the old Buckeye State. Their ideal companionship cov- ered a period of more than sixty years, and the gracious ties were not long broken, for Mrs. Chapman survived her husband only five weeks.
The second pastorate of Dr. Chapman was at Dayton, Ohio, and upon coming to California he became pastor of the Tabernacle, the leading Pres- byterian Church in the City of San Francisco. Later he held a pastorate
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at Oakland, and finally he established his home and official headquarters at Los Angeles, upon assuming the office of general superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League, the national organization, of which he became the general director and in behalf of which he delivered lectures in all sections of the United States.
In the climacteric period leading up to the Civil war Dr. Chapman was an implacable opponent of human slavery and a zealous worker for abolition. He became an intimate friend of Abraham Lincoln, and thus his published work on that great American is of enduring historical value. He main- tained active affiliation with the republican party from his young manhood until he became active in the prohibition cause, which he continued to support until the close of his long, useful and noble career.
CHARLES LYMAN STRONG was an honored pioneer and distinguished figure in the early history of California. His constructive activities em- brace practically all the Pacific Coast. As a mining engineer he had much to do with the development of the mineral resources of California, Nevada and Arizona. His powers found expression in connection with many other lines of business and industrial enterprise. He came to California in 1850, and his home was at Oakland when he died.
He was born at Stockbridge, Vermont, August 15, 1826, son of David Ellsworth and Harriet (Fay) Strong. He was a descendant of Elder John Strong, who came from England to America in 1630, and in 1659 set- tled at Northampton. From this progenitor the line of descent is through his son John and the latter's wife, Elizabeth Warriner ; their son John and his wife, Hannah Trumbull; their son Jonathan, the latter's son Job, whose son Job, Jr., and his wife, Damaris, were the grandparents of Charles Lyman Strong.
Mr. Strong was afforded in his youth the advantages of Willison Semi- nary and Amherst College. For eight years he was connected with a mer- cantile house in New York City. Coming to California in 1850, he estab- lished a bank at San Francisco. The bank building was destroyed by fire the following year, and Mr. Strong was severely burned while attempting to save some of the property. His injuries caused his confinement for a pe- riod of six weeks. Later he was able to settle every account of the bank, which was accepted by the Court, a work he achieved entirely through mem- ory, since the records of the institution had been destroyed. In 1855 Mr. Strong became one of the principals in the publishing firm of LeCount & Strong, which published California's first magazine, "The Pioneer." He acted as California manager for the firm. For the accommodation of the business Mr. Strong erected in San Francisco the first four-story building on the Pacific Coast. On the same premises was manufactured the first gas in California, this gas being used by the business. His next pioneer venture was in connection with the salmon fisheries on Puget Sound. Con- siderable money was spent by him in hunting for cod fish. He erected stone warehouses and placed on a secure foundation a business which has become one of the great industries of the Pacific Coast.
In 1860 Mr. Strong was superintendent of the Gould & Curry Mining Company at Virginia City, Nevada. This developed some of the greatest silver mines in the world. The first bonanza on the historic Comstock Lode was the Gould-Curry, which yielded upwards of $11,000,000 in one year. The reduction works were completed early in 1863 and were enlarged be- fore the close of that year. The company claimed all of the ledge embraced within their end lines and upheld their right to everything under their out- crop. Mr. Strong's sagacity was shown in his advising the company not to enter into lawsuits with testers working on the spurs of their lode, but rather to secure the property by pushing mining work very actively from the main ore body and by following this deposit to reach its opponents' ground. During the last nine years of his life Mr. Strong developed sev- eral mines and erected several mills, two in California, one in Arizona and
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two in Nevada. Perhaps the achievement that most clearly associates his name with the development of the mining industry was the invention of a cyanide process of extracting the precious metals from low grade ores.
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