History of Orange County, California : with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its earliest growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 101

Author: Armor, Samuel, 1843-; Pleasants, J. E., Mrs
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1700

USA > California > Orange County > History of Orange County, California : with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its earliest growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 101

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The high standing of each of the officers of the First National Bank of Olive, their known personal character, their experience and their ability, and the reasonable conservatism thus far demonstrated in the progressive programs of the institution, give a double assurance to patrons and public alike as to the present healthy state of the bank, and its inevitable promising future-a matter of such moment to progressive and would-be healthy Olive itself, with all its commendable ambitions requiring cash and financial credit. It will be seen, therefore, to what an extent such a sound and sanely developed institution plays in the history of a young town, and what enviable oppor- tunities for good are at the disposal of the men at the guns. Olive is proud of the First National Bank; and the bank looks proudly toward the city of Olive of tomorrow.

KADJA V. WOLFF .- It must be a source of peculiar satisfaction to Kadja V. Wolff, the efficient and popular cashier of the First National Bank of Olive, to look back upon his uninterrupted association with that well developed and substantial institution of finance; for he has served in his present official capacity since the hank first threw open its doors for business. He helped, in fact, to organize the First National Bank, in 1916, when its home was temporarily in the Olive Mercantile build- ing, directly across the street from its present-day location; the first bow was made to the public on the sixteenth day of August of that year; and ever since the public, with encouraging approbation, has been bowing genially in return.

Mr. Wolff was born at Morris, Minn., on September 30, 1884, the only child of Henry G. Wolff, an honored and prosperous merchant in that town, and who still lives there with his devoted wife, who was Miss Inez M. Little before her marriage. From Morris, when Kadja was sixteen years old, the parents moved over to Lead, S. D .. and there he finished the course of study in the Lead high school, from which he was graduated with the class of '01. He then entered the employ of the Harrison Tele- phone Company, starting with the construction gang, and arose to be emergency man; and he was with that company from 1901 to 1903. He next went south to Vosburg, Miss., where he busied himself for a year as hotel clerk, bookkeeper and cashier, but in 1904 he "saw the light" and made straight for California. He pitched his tent for a while in the City of the Angels, and for five years was employed as cashier in the Los Angeles office of Fairbanks, Morse and Company.

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY

On account of failing eyesight, however, he left that employment and came to Orange, where he clerked for a year in a clothing store. There, on October 5, 1910, he was married to Miss Helen A. McCarty of St. Louis, who was sojourning in Southern California with her cousin, Mrs. K. Watson, of Orange. Soon after, he bought a ranch of eight acres, three quarters of a mile west of Olive, and planted the same to Valencias. He continued to ranch for two or three years, when he joined the National Bank of Orange, in 1913, and as teller served that wide-awake establishment until he came up to Olive and organized the First National Bank. He resides, for the time being, on one of his ranches, being also the fortunate owner of a beautifully located farm of twelve or more acres, now coming into bearing, half a mile up the Santa Ana Canyon. Mr. and Mrs. Wolff have two attractive children-Elizabeth or "Bettie," and Eileen. He belongs to the Santa Ana Lodge of Elks, and there is no more popular member.

The building of the First National Bank of Olive was erected by its owner, H. C. Myers of that city, who is also a stockholder in the bank. It is of pressed brick, two stories high and 25x50 feet in size. It has a modern, reinforced concrete vault, which houses the Ely Norris fire and burglar proof safe; and the bank is fully protected by insurance of the Royal Indemnity Company. It has a capital of $25,000, with $5,000 surplus; and in three years has grown from nothing to be a strapping youngster with $225,000 in its pockets. The first officers in the history of this institution were: Presi- dent, Dr. J. D. Thomas, Olive; vice-president, J. D. Spennetta, Orange; and cashier, K. V. Wolff. Its present officers include the directors: Dr. J. D. Thomas, J. D. Spen- netta, D. P. Crawford, H. T. Moennich and A. M. Lorenzen.

As a conservative, yet very progressive manager of finance, and as a public- spirited citizen very successful as chairman of all the Liberty Loan drives, Mr. Wolff has always shown his most marked characteristics: efficiency, with high standards of character; deep insight into economics, of which he is a careful student; philanthropic tendencies, with an especial leaning toward the idealism of "home-making"-all of which have easily made him one of those naturally popular business men who could not fail of success if they would.

CARL W. MARTIN .- The United States, and California in particular, offers men of foreign birth many opportunities they were unable to enjoy in their native land. The Golden State has received her share of these thrifty and enterprising men, who have adapted themselves to their new surroundings and aided in the upbuilding of the horticultural and agricultural interests of the state.

Carl W. Martin, the successful rancher of Garden Grove Boulevard, was born on March 16, 1878, in Rhine Province, Germany, a son of Ludwig and Catherine Martin. At an early age he developed a strong desire to live in the United States that he might embrace the splendid opportunities offered here to ambitious young men. In 1890, he immigrated to America, locating in Orange County the following year. His parents, with their five living children, left Germany for "the land of the free and the home of the brave" in 1893 and settled in Los Angeles County. In 1896 the family settled in Orange County, where both parents died and now the children are all in Los Angeles County except Carl W. Of the twelve children born in Germany, only five are living.

In 1912, Mr. Martin purchased ten acres of unimproved land, his present home, and by hard labor and close attention to details he has succeeded in bringing the land up to a high state of cultivation and it now produces an abundant crop of the best variety of oranges and walnuts. In addition to these crops he has been successfully engaged in raising and selling young orange trees.

Mr. Martin's marriage in 1908 united him with Miss Clara M. Rust, a native of San Francisco, whose parents, Gustaf and Clara Rust, settled in Anaheim in 1866. Fraternally, Mr. Martin is a Mason, being a member of Los Angeles Lodge, No. 42, F. & A. M .; he belongs to Fullerton Chapter, R. A. M., and the Santa Ana Council.

EUGENE S. SARGENT .- A public-spirited man who believes it to be both the duty and the privilege of the citizen to contribute in every way possible to both the building up and the upbuilding of the community, is Eugene S. Sargent, a native of Watertown, Jefferson County, N. Y., where he was born on Washington's Birthday, 1850. His father, Richard Sargent, was also born there, and his parents, William and Mary Sargent, were English folk who settled in Jefferson County. Richard Sargent was a carriage maker, long at LaFargeville, N. Y., who moved west to Iowa in 1868 and settled at Monticello, Jones County. There he engaged in blacksmithing and carriage building until his death, in 1869. Mrs. Sargent was Phoebe Sage before her marriage, and she also spent her last days in Iowa. They had two children: Eugene, the subject of our interesting sketch, and his sister. Florence E. Sargent, who became the wife of E. C. Renken, a druggist. They lived together in Iowa, until he passed on, and since 1907 she has resided in Orange.

E.E. French

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY

Eugene S. Sargent was educated in the public grammar schools and at a private academy in La Fargeville, N. Y., and in 1868 removed to Iowa, where he learned the trade of the wheelwright under his father. In 1869 he began work as a carpenter, and later clerked for a while in a store. In 1876 he removed to Galena, Cherokee County, Kans., where he set up as a contracting builder; and he also went in for prospecting and mining for lead. He opened several new mines and sold them, and later removed to Carbondale, Osage County, Kans., where as a contractor he did general building. Then he pitched his tent at Onaga, Pottawatomie County, Kans., and continued to build extensively. He resided there from 1879 until 1904, and was instrumental in influencing building laws and customs of the state.

In 1904 he came to California and located at Anaheim, where he bought a ranch devoted to the cultivation of oranges and walnuts. Three years later he sold out and located at Orange, where he purchased a twelve-acre ranch at the corner of Tustin and Walnut streets, and set it out to oranges. He also came to have a ranch of two and a half acres on North Shaffer Avenne; and with his sister, Mrs. Renken, he owned an- other ranch of five acres at the junction of Cambridge and Palm avenues, which they had set out to oranges and walnuts. All these desirable properties have recently been disposed of.

Mr. Sargent now makes his home with his sister, Mrs. Renken, at 280 North Shaffer Street; and in his leisure hours devotes some attention to politics, marching under the banners of the Republican party. Mrs. Renken is a member of the Presby- terian Church, and also of the P. E. O. chapter in Orange; and she belongs to the Orange Woman's Club.

EUGENE EDMUND FRENCH .- Closely identified with Huntington Beach, Orange County, since 1906, Eugene E. French was one of the most active of its settlers in its upbuilding until in March, 1920, when he removed to Santa Ana, having been appointed under-sheriff of Orange County. A native of Illinois, where he was born July 9, 1863, at Tuscola, Douglas County, a son of Wm. T. and Julia (Edmunds) French, natives of Steuben County, N. Y., and Ireland, respectively, Eugene French was reared in New York. His mother died when he was but an infant, and he was brought up by his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Sluman T. French, who resided near Corning, Steuben County, in that state. Here he was educated in the public schools, learning the trade of a carpenter when quite young. He decided to take up railroad- ing, however, and followed this line of work for sixteen years, starting in as a brake- man and working up to the position of conductor. During these years he was with the Chicago and Northwestern, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul and the Burling- ton, Cedar Rapids and Northern railroads.

Becoming the owner of a ranch in Carroll County, Ark., Mr. French located there in about 1900, and followed farming for some time, later going to Wagner, then in the Indian Territory, where he took up his early trade of carpentering. In 1906 he decided to try his fortune in California, and on his arrival here located at Huntington Beach. This was shortly after the town was started, and Mr. French thus became one of its pioneer residents. He formed a partnership with H. B. Crozier, under the name of Crozier and French, and they became actively engaged in contract- ing and building. This partnership continned for seven years, Mr. French after- wards continuing in the contracting business alone. He has always been very success- ful in his business, making a specialty of fine residences, and many of the beautiful homes at Huntington Beach stand as examples of his superior workmanship. He has, indeed, been a big factor in the npbuilding of the city.

Mr. French's interest in his chosen place of residence was not limited to its mate- rial advancement, for despite his busy life as a contractor, he has always been keenly interested in all the civic affairs of the city, and has taken an active part in them. For six years he served as a member of the board of trustees of Huntington Beach, and for two years was chairman of the board, this office corresponding to that of mayor. During his term of office many important improvements were made; the beautiful concrete pier was built, a sewer system installed, and many of the streets were paved. Mr. French thus witnessed a marked change in the appearance of the city during his residence there, as when he arrived there was not even a paved street there. He was also enthusiastic in the work of the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce, being one of its organizers and serving as its president for four years, until his removal to Santa Ana. In 1919, Mr. French resigned his office as chairman of the board of trustees to become city marshal of Huntington Beach, holding this position until March 12, 1920, when he was appointed under-sheriff of Orange County by Sheriff Calvin E. Jackson. This appointment was a fitting recognition of Mr.

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY

French's capabilities, as there were a number of applicants for the office, and he was selected as the man best fitted for the post.

Mr. French's marriage united him with Miss Estelle D. Bradley, who was a native of Edgar County, Ill., and they are the parents of five children: Homer E. is engaged in concrete highway construction in Northern California; Gladys is the wife of Roy Labodie of Huntington Beach; John B. is associated with his brother in highway construction work; he enlisted for service during the World War, serv- ing. for fourteen months in the quartermaster's department in France; he was top sergeant of his company, and at the time the armistice was signed was attending an officers' training school in France; Julia and Margaret are under the paternal roof.

Politically, Mr. French has always been a stanch adherent of Democratic prin- ciples and active in the councils of that party. In fraternal affairs he is prominent in the circles of the Odd Fellows, being a member of the Huntington Beach Lodge, No. 183, of which he is a past grand; he has also served as District Deputy Grand Master of District No. 69, California, and he is also a prominent member of the Encamp- ment and Canton at Santa Ana. He was made a Mason in Huntington Beach Lodge No. 380, F. & A. M. Besides, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. Since coming to Santa Ana he continues to show his deep interest in civic and busi- ness affairs with the same energy he showed at Huntington Beach, and is now a member of the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce.

WILLIAM E. CLEMENT .- A successful business man who is also an experienced . horticulturist, and who in both undertakings has displayed unmistakable talent as a systematic manager operating according to the latest and most approved methods, is William E. Clement, one of the best city officers Orange has ever had. For fourteen years he has been manager of the Griffith Lumber Company, for ten years he was chief of the fire department, and for eight years he was responsible for the town finances.

A native son very proud of his association from the beginning with the Golden State, Mr. Clement was born in Garden Grove, Orange County on December 5, 1876, the son of Johnson Clement, a native of Missouri, who came with his parents to Cali- fornia, crossing the great plains as a boy, and finally locating in Orange County. He married Miss Cassie Morrell, a native of Texas who also came to California with her parents, and settled at Bolsa, where the Morrells were farmers. The grandfather, Lafayette Morrell, was one of the pioneer founders of that settlement. Johnson Clem- ent was married in what is now Orange County, and with his devoted wife com- menced to farm at Garden Grove. Later, they removed to Santa Ana, where Mr. Clement engaged in real estate; and today he is a very successful realty operator at Orange. Mrs. Clement, it is sad to relate, died at Los Angeles in 1914. They had three children-two girls and a boy; and of these William was the oldest.

Brought up in Orange County, William attended the public grammar school and also the Santa Ana high school, and then took a stiff course at the Orange County Business College in Santa Ana, from which he was graduated with honors in 1894. Then for three years he was with the Newport Lumber Company at Riverside, when he returned to Santa Ana, and was employed in the Exchange Bank as a bookkeeper, until it was consolidated with the First National Bank, when he continued in the same responsible capacity.

Having resigned, Mr. Clement accepted his present position, on March 15, 1906, as manager for the Griffith Lumber Company, at Orange, and he opened their yard here, and has been in charge there ever since. The yard is located on North Cypress Street, and there the company carry lumber, mill-work, doors, windows, cement, roof- ing and wall-board. They also maintain a planing mill, and this alone has proven of great service to the community.

Mr. Clement, while never an office seeker, has responded to the calls of his fellow citizens and has done his full duty as an office holder. In 1910, he was elected the second chief of the fire department of Orange, reelected each year and served until he resigned, on January 1, 1920. During that period, with the loyal cooperation of others, he built up the department so that from the condition with only a hose cart, the city now has a Seagreave combination motor truck with its full equipment. In 1912, he was elected the city treasurer of Orange, and he has been reelected ever since, for terms of two years. In respect to party preferences, Mr. Clement is a Republican; but this party affiliation never operates to prevent him from entering heartily into whatever seems best for the development and prosperity of the community.

Mr. Clement has been twice married. On the first occasion, the ceremony took place at Riverside, and Miss Mabel Russell, a native of California, became his bride. Her health failing, she was taken to the mountains; but she died at Riverside. She left

Wm. Celflanalf Mrs. Ruth abplanalp.

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY

two children, Margaret and Virginia, both of whom are in the Orange Union high school. The second Mrs. Clement, whom he married at Orange, was Miss Nora Miller in maidenhood; she was a native of Kansas, and has become the mother of three children: Lois, Melvin and Clarence. Mr. Clement owns a fine residence in town, and a fine ranch west of the town, which he devotes to the raising of Valencia oranges, on which account he is a member of the Santiago Orange Growers Association. He. belongs to the Orange Lodge of the Odd Fellows, and the Santa Ana Lodge of Elks.

WILLIAM ABPLANALP .- In making mention of those men who have made a success of ranching in Southern California and who, at the same time, have cooperated in all movements that have had for their aim the building up of the state, and Orange County in particular, William Abplanalp of the Anaheim district is to be found worthy in every way. For twenty years he has made his home on the ranch on Lincoln Avenue, west from Anaheim, improved the property from a barley field, and has set ont walnut, peach and apricot trees that are now in full bearing, and with the develop- ment of water in 1913, and the installation of an irrigating system, bids fair to make of this eighty-acre ranch a veritable show place in the near future. For thirteen years he carried on dry farming, and even in that line of agriculture demonstrated that a success could be made by the man of enterprise and thrift. It is said by many who. know that Mr. Abplanalp has gained a financial reward through his own efforts and hard work, assisted in all that he has undertaken by his wife and helpmate, who shares with him the esteem of all who know them.

Mr. Abplanalp was born at Sunman, Ripley County, Ind., August 27, 1864, the son of Jacob and Annie (Stahley) Abplanalp, the former a native of Switzerland and the latter of Indiana. Mrs. Abplanalp had two children, William and Emma, now Mrs. August Michael, both of whom are residents of Orange County, this state. When William was four years old his mother died and his father married again, and by his second marriage was the parent of three children. The father made five trips to Cali- fornia from his Indiana home-the farm, by the way, on which he is still living was improved by his father in 1852, was operated by himself until he turned it over to his son, who still conducts it, and with whom he makes his home when in Indiana. He spent about six years in California at various times and was highly respected by all who came to know him for his kindly manner and charitable deeds.

William was educated in the public schools of his native county, and followed farm work there until 1886. When the "boom" struck California he came West, and ever since that time has been closely identified with Orange County, though it was a part of Los Angeles County when he first located at Orange and worked at any honest employment until he could make a stake, which he did, and then invested in ranch land, believing that such investment was the surest way to wealth, and so it has proven to him.

On May 25, 1895, in Orange County, William Abplanalp and Miss Ruth Goodrich were united in marriage. She was the adopted daughter of Brainerd and Susan (Williamson) Goodrich, and was born in Taylorville, 1[]., in 1870. Her mother died when she was a babe and she was taken by Mr. and Mrs. Goodrich and reared in their home as a daughter. Her girlhood was spent at Hartford, Conn., where she attended the public school until she was fourteen, then accompanied her parents to Orange County, Cal., and settled with them at Orange, where Mr. Goodrich was for thirteen years connected with the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company as its secre- tary, and was widely known throughout the entire county. He died in 1910, leaving two daughters: Mrs. Ruth Abplanalp and Mrs. Alice Sproule. Mrs. Sproule taught school in Orange County for about eighteen years, and is now teaching at Hemet. Riverside County, her home since her marriage. Two children have come to bless the home of Mr. and Mrs. Abplanalp, Wilton B. and Lucy A. The family are members of the Fullerton Baptist Church, and both Mr. and Mrs. Abplanalp belong to the Fra- ternal Aid Union.

During the World War the family assisted in every way to aid the Allied cause, Mr. Abplanalp spent much of his time in working for the various Liberty Loan drives, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army drives, and bought to the limit of bonds him- self, even refraining from making needed improvements on his ranch in order to invest in securities of the government. Mrs. Abplanalp and her danghter worked in the Red Cross and the Junior Red Cross. For more than seven years Mr. Abplanalp has shown his interest in matters of education by serving as a school trustee, and in national politics he is a staunch Republican. Both he and his wife were residents here before there was any Orange County, and they have watched the development of this won- derful county with great interest and have done their share to assist in making it the. banner county of this state.

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY

FRED T. VOLBERDING .- A self-made young man who has long ago proven to his fellow-citizens his qualities as a loyal American and an enterprising man of busi- ness, intent both on building up his private interests and also in contributing what he can for the general building up of Orange County, is Fred T. Volberding, partner in the Orange Contracting and Milling Company. He was born near Reinbeck, Grundy County, lowa, on April 5, 1882, and reared on a farm, while he attended the public schools; and when seventeen years old, he commenced to learn the carpenter trade, also working on his father's farm. At twenty-one, he began working out at his trade, and at that time his parents moved into Reinbeck.

In December, 1908, Mr. Volberding came west to California and located in Orange County where he was employed by the Ainsworth Planing Mill, and later he was with the Griffith Planing Mill at Santa Ana. At the same time, he followed contracting and building, returning to the mill when he had completed his job. He built bungalows and other structures, and helped to finish the interior of the St. John's Lutheran Church. In December, 1914, Mr. Volberding became associated with Messrs. Miller and Loescher, and they built a planing mill, and entered actively into contracting and building; and four years after this triple alliance was formed, Mr. Volberding and Mr. Miller bought ont Mr. Loescher, and since then they alone have owned the Orange Contracting and Milling Company. They employ ten men, do all their own mill work and custom work, make their own designs, and cater only to the highest class trade.

At Orange, Mr. Volberding was married to Miss Martha Anschutz, a native of Saginaw, Mich., by whom he has had one child, Helen. The family belong to St. John's Lutheran Church, and Mr. Volberding is a member of the Lutheran Men's Club, and interested in all that makes for moral uplift in the community-an interest actively shared by Mrs. Volberding. Orange congratulates itself on such good and highly progressive citizens.

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History of Orange County, California : with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its earliest growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 101

Author: Armor, Samuel, 1843-; Pleasants, J. E., Mrs Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1700

Author: Armor, Samuel, 1843-; Pleasants, J. E., Mrs
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1700