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 108

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 108

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

With his wife and children, Benjamin R. Ford migrated west to Washington Territory in 1885, buying and selling wool; and coming to Pasadena in 1906, he re- mained there and engaged in the hardware business on North Lake Avenue. In 1875 he had been married at Greenville to Miss Ella Norton of South Carolina, and they became parents of five children. Etta is married and resides in Oregon; Vernon died in infancy; and E. H., M. M. and C. M. Ford are in Oregon. Mrs. Ford died at 37

1006

HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY

Redondo in 1916. Mr. Ford married a second time, choosing for his wife Mrs. Matilda C. Boebinger, nee Stewart, of Cincinnati, Ohio.

It is only recently that Mr. Ford has taken up cement-work contracting and the building of roads, but he is doing very well in the new field. He has just completed the Magnolia Avenue Road at Buena Park, in Orange County, and also one and three- quarters miles of road for the county at Los Alamitos, both stretches being concrete; and he has recently built one and seven-tenths miles of road at Garden Grove Avenue, Bixby Hill and Ross Street in Santa Ana, county contracts. Besides these he has completed four other contracts for county and city roads. One is on Seventeenth Street, Santa Ana; another on Collins Avenue, Orange; a third, the highway or county road at Olinda; and the fourth at Orangethorpe, from the highway on, west to Placentia Avenue, on the east. These 2.7 miles cost $65,000, and the county furnishes the materials; from which the reader may see what Orange County is at present doing to contribute her share of that unsurpassed chain of public highways which long ago made California a world-paradise for the tourist.

What makes Mr. Ford as a successful man of business and industrial enterprise of especial interest is his academic preparation and professional career. He was educated in North Carolina at the Peabody School and the State School at Chapel Hill, from which he was graduated with the class of '76, and later pursued both law and medical courses, and was duly graduated. He also practiced medicine successfully in both Kansas and Colorado. It is not surprising, therefore, that he should have been intimately associated with many persons of note, including his particular friend, Z. B. Vance, once governor of and senator from North Carolina.

JOHN H. HARMS .- A young apothecary who has succeeded so well that he has one of the finest-equipped drug stores in Orange County, is John H. Harms, who was born near Lynn, Kans., on January 18, 1889. His parents are John P. and Rosina Harms, and they are now honored residents of Orange.

He commenced to receive his education in the grammar schools of Orange, after which he was graduated from the Orange County Business College; and having decided to study pharmacy, he took a night-school course and also served as an apprentice under K. E. Watson of Orange. He also remained in that well-known pharmacy until November, 1917, when he purchased the business and good will of the Orange Drug Company, now known as the Harms Drug Company, at present doing one of the largest volumes of trade of any similar house in the county. He uses only the most scientific, up-to-date methods and apparatus, and carries only the purest and freshest stock in all departments.

On March 7, 1918, Mr. Harms was married to Miss Nettie E. Pogue, a daughter of the late Mrs. Viola Pogue of Glendale, a charming and gifted young lady who came to Los Angeles in 1908 with her widowed mother. She received her early education in the usual graded schools, and took up the study of music under the instruction of Professor Andres of Santa Ana, becoming an artist on the piano. On account of her natural gifts and her willingness to use her talent for the benefit of worthy canses, she became widely known, and as a musician is today one of the local favorites. Mr. Harms belongs to the German Lutheran Church, while Mrs. Harms is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a standpat Republican, an ardent American, and took an active part in all of the Liberty Loan drives.

MARTIN H. SHIELDS .- A resident of Santa Ana who had attained prosperity, both as a farmer and as a business man, and who has, besides, the satisfaction of having reared a large family, is Martin H. Shields, who was born near Sedalia, Pettis County, Mo., on January 3, 1864, the son of Edward and Sarah Shields. The father, a native Ohian, was brought up a farmer and moved to Missouri in 1860. Five years later he moved back to Ohio and there, in Susquehanna County, he again farmed. He stayed a couple of years and then moved on to Benton County, Mo. He died when Martin was two and a half years old, whereupon his mother married John Wesley Dick, and our subject was reared by his stepfather.

He attended a grade school in Benton County, and afterward went to the State Normal School at Warrensburg, Mo., where he studied for a couple of years. For the next two years he was employed as a clerk in the large establishment of Blair Brothers, dealers in clothing at Sedalia, and for the first time came to California in 1884, settling in Mono County. He purchased an alfalfa ranch of 240 acres, situated at an elevation of 5,000 feet above the level of the sea, and raised cattle, hogs and horses. It was a cold country in winter, and he had two cuttings a year from the alfalfa grown there. The ranch was located in Antelope Valley and at first his trading center was Carson City; but this was later changed to Minion, Nev.

Henry Seidel

1009

HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY

On April 11, 1887, Mr. Shields was married to Miss Florence Warfield Crapster, who was born near Florence, Md., the daughter of William and Ellen A. Crapster. Her father was a graduate of Yale, Harvard, and a theological college at Gettysburg, and he taught for a while in Yale College. Afterward he established a school of his own at Lisbon, Md., at which place he died in later years. Mr. and Mrs. Shields had a dairy of more than thirty milch cows of the Holstein strain on their Mono County ranch, and they bred and raised their own stock.

In 1911 Mr. Shields sold out and removed to Santa Ana, and here he purchased twenty acres of open land on Irvine Boulevard, which he sold in the short period of a year. In 1919 he bought what was known as the William F. Lutz home, and this is only one of many pieces of land and property which he has owned since coming to California. He has a full-bearing orchard of twenty acres of oranges in Villa Park to which he gives part of his attention.

Five boys and four girls have blessed this fortunate marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Shields: Raymond C. is at home, working on the ranch; Lela F. is also at home; Cecil R. is serving in the Navy at Guam; Hazel V. is deputy auditor for Orange County; Sylvia S. is employed by the Southern California Edison Company; Gladys C. is at Woolworth's in Santa Ana; Ivory T. is a high school student in the same town; Dallasy-whose name was made up from the last letter of the first name of each of the older brothers and sisters-is a pupil in the intermediate schools; and Martin, Jr., is in the grammar school.

Cecil R. Shields volunteered for service at Santa Ana, and was enlisted at Los Angeles on June 5, 1917. He trained at Goat and Mare Islands, and entered as ship- yeoman, but was transferred as an electrician to the S. S. "Illinois," at Norfolk, Va. Again he was transferred to Philadelphia, and from there he sailed for Brest, France. He did convoy duty in the English Channel and returned to the United States on December 30, 1918, landing at Hampton Roads. He was then sent to the submarine base at New London, was transferred to Newport News, and still later sent to the Island of Guam, where he is at present.

Mr. Shields is a Mason and also an Elk, in affiliation with the lodges at Santa Ana; he is a Republican in matters of national politics, and his family are active partici- pators in the work of the United Presbyterian Church of Santa Ana.

HENRY SEIDEL .- An example of the perseverance and determination to succeed which overcomes every difficulty is found in the life of Henry Seidel of Santa Ana, who, by his own unaided efforts, has made a success in his line of business. He was born in New York City on March 1. 1884, the son of Frank and Anna (Tine) Seidel, the father being a shoemaker in the early days. In 1893, when Henry was nine years of age, the family came to California, locating at Monrovia, and in 1894 coming to Santa Ana. Here the father died, leaving a family of six small children. Henry attended the public school of Santa Ana, but his education was cut short by his father's death, as being' the eldest of the family, when he was only twelve years of age he had to go to work, and with the help of one of his brothers he supported the family. In fact, he had already begun to look out for himself when he was a small lad in New York, having sold papers on the streets of that city.

From this time up until the year 1898 Mr. Seidel was engaged in various occupa- tions, spending some time in ranching, working two years on a celery farm and for some time laying sewer pipe. At this time, because of an unusually rainy season, mak- ing outdoor work difficult. he entered the butcher business, working under Theodore Kling. For the first six months he received $3.50 a week and after that $4.00 a week for a few months and then gradually more wages, and here he continued for five years, learning all the details of the business at first hand. It was in 1905 that he then deter- mined to go into business for himself, and with but little except indomitable pluck and the determination to succeed he made the venture, starting in a little ten-foot room with a capital of only $7.20. His integrity and strict attention to business have won for him a well-deserved and unqualified success, and he has just completed one of the finest and most modern markets in Orange County. He employs eight people and has the largest business in this line in the city. In addition Mr. Seidel owns a market, just as well appointed, in Balboa, where he has the largest business in that seaside resort. He can well claim the title of the pioneer butcher, for there is no other in his line of business here now that was here when he started his shop.

Politically Mr. Seidel is a Republican and in his fraternal relations he is a member of the Elks and Odd Fellows. He has also been a member of the National Guard of California. Especially fond of outdoor life, Mr. Seidel finds his most enjoyable recrea- tion in hunting. fishing, and particularly in trapshooting . He is an enthusiastic believer in the future of Orange County and is ever ready to aid in any movement that makes for its progress.

1010

HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY

WALTER A. SUTTON .- A progressive, practical and scientifically disposed rancher sure to attain to such results as will mark some real progress in local agricul- ture, is Walter A. Sutton, of North Flower Street, West Orange, who was born there, a native son proud of his association with the Golden State, in the old Sutton home on what was called the County Road, on September 19, 1886. His father was James V. Sutton, a native of Adair County, Mo., where he was born on March 18, 1848. When he was nineteen years old he moved to Nebraska with his parents, and for two years lived in Plattsmouth, Cass County, after which they migrated to Collins County, Texas, where they farmed. In May, 1869, he was married at Anna, Collins County, in that same state, to Miss Elizabeth C. Talkington, a Kansas girl, and three years later, or in 1872, he came west to California and at Orange built the fourth house in the town east of the Santa Ana River. In 1875 he returned to Texas and there farmed for the following seven years, when he returned to Orange and purchased a sixteen-acre ranch, setting out the entire acreage to walnuts. This ranch, of excep- tionally rich soil, is under the service of the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company. Some years ago he leased the farm to his son Walter, and now lives in Orange. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Sutton. Alice C., the eldest, is Mrs. Walton of Orange; Victor is a telegrapher near Sacramento; Herbert is employed in the pipe- organ factory at Van Nuys; Walter is the subject of our sketch; and Sadie, Mrs. Ritter, lives at the home of her parents.

Walter Sutton was educated in the Orange schools and then served his appren- ticeship in mechanics under Ben Davis at Orange, after which he worked for Messrs. Kolberg and Gardner in the Orange Buick works. On the last day of the year in 1912 he was married to Miss Maude Belt, the ceremony taking place at Garden Grove. She was a native daughter, also, having first seen the light at Westminster, and her parents, who came to California fifty years ago, were James and Susan (Brown) Belt. She attended the common schools of Garden Grove, and later graduated from the Santa Ana high school. After their marriage, Mr. Sutton lived at Santa Ana for five years, when he was with Kolberg and Kenyon, and then he spent a year with Charles Davis in his garage.

The next five years were given to the Studebaker Garage, under Mr. Lutz, and it was in 1918, while he was unloading a car of autos, that he had his back broken, the result of an auto falling and pinning him down. Everything possible was naturally done for him after the accident, and he was nursed back to health through sciertific and loving care at the home of Mrs. Belt, in Garden Grove.

Since his miraculous recovery Mr. Sutton, who had been such a skilled mechanic from 1904 to 1918, has lived on the old Sutton ranch, where he has built for himself a home. Ten acres are in his father's title; three and a half in his own; while another two and a half belong to his brother, Victor W. Sutton, but Walter has the care of the entire ranch. He has there a pumping plant with a capacity of forty inches; and with the exception of three and a half acres, which are set out to Valencias, all the ranch is in walnuts. He is a member of the Orange Walnut Growers Association. and takes a keen interest in its problems.

Two children were granted Mr. and Mrs. Sutton, but one, Susan Aileen, passed to the spirit land when she was seventeen months old. The other, Fae Lanaire, is now a promising youngster in her second year. Mr. Sutton gives some attention to the great game of politics, but believes in nonpartisan support of the best men and the best measures.

CHARLES W. McKEEN .- A modest, unassuming, but talented gentleman, now a successful walnut grower at San Juan Capistrano, whose family history is associated with interesting chapters in American annals, and who was himself connected with the development of other parts of the Golden State, is Charles W. McKeen, who lives about two miles east of the town on the Hot Springs Road. He was born at Litchfield, Meeker County, Minn., on June 16, 1867, the son of John W. McKeen, a native of Portland, Maine. His grandfather, John V. McKeen, was a ship carpenter in that famous port, and as John W. grew up, he learned ship carpentering. Mrs. Hannah E. McKeen, the mother of our subject, is still living, on Birch Street in Santa Ana, aged seventy-four years. A brother of Charles, Roy A. McKeen, is agent for Orange County for the Savage Automobile Tire Company with headquarters in Anaheim.

Charles W. grew to maturity at Litchfield, and when fourteen, went with his father to Dayton, Ohio, where the latter worked as a millwright. The young man stayed with his father and learned the trade thoroughly. He made Dayton, Ohio. and Indianapolis his headquarters for several years during which time he helped build numerous flour mills, from Texas to Canada. Clever at drafting, he drew up plans for many of the most noted mills on this continent. This fact may be readily under-

Henrad Derty, Elisa Gently

1013

HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY

stood when it is known that Mr. McKeen, as one of the foremost mill builders in America, constructed the "A." "B" and "C" mills for the Washburn-Crosby Company at Minneapolis, the Pillsbury "A" Mill at Minneapolis, and the "Palisade," the "Cas- cade" and "Cataract" at the same place. He also put up the mills for the American Mill Company at Nashville, Tenn., the George C. Urban Mill Company at Buffalo, the Dallas Milling Company at Dallas, Texas, and the Imperial Mill at Duluth.

In 1894, Mr. McKeen came to California and settled at Bolsa, and there he em- barked in the celery business, owning 1271/2 acres of peat lands. About 1908, he went to Garden Grove, and there he bought forty acres of walnut orchard. His next move was to San Juan Capistrano, where he expects to remain-for some time to come.

At Santa Ana Mr. McKeen was married to Mrs. Annie A. Davis, and so became stepfather to her one son, Paul O. Davis, a well-known architect of Los Angeles. Mr. and Mrs. McKeen take a live interest in all that bids fair to develop Orange County permanently and along the best lines; and they are ever ready to "lend a hand" when hard work needs to be done or funds subscribed.

CONRAD OERTLY .- Among the many good citizens of foreign birth Conrad Oertly, who resides on Euclid Avenue, Garden Grove, is worthy of note. A native of the canton of Appenzell, Switzerland, he was born November 25, 1858, the son of Conrad Oertly, a dealer in lumber, who was born, lived, married and died in his native country, Switzerland. Mr. Oertly's mother was also a native of Switzerland, and before her marriage was Miss Anna Encler.

Conrad Oertly's life was spent in his native country until the age of twenty-two, and there he learned the trade of carpenter, afterwards traveling as a journeyman car- penter. He was a resident of Paris, France, one year, then, in 1882, came to America, locating in the Mohawk Valley, at Little Falls, New York, where he remained three years working at his trade. He also worked in Utica and Buffalo, going thence to Covington, Ky., where he was united in marriage with Miss Elisa Wiedmer, whom he first met in Little Falls, New York. She also is a native of Switzerland, and was born in the canton of Berne, at Dientigen, the daughter of Jacob Wiedmer, a stock- man, and her mother was in maidenhood Magdalena Werren. When twenty years old, in 1882, just three months later. and upon the same ship, the "La France," in which Mr. Oertly crossed the ocean, she joined an older sister in New York. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Oertly removed to Lexington, Ky., where he worked at carpentering four years, and there two of their children were born.

In 1889 Mr. Oertly took his family on a trip to their old home in Switzerland, remaining two and a half years, although they did not intend to make so long a visit. While there Mrs. Oertly was injured in an accident, which prolonged their stay. Re- turning to America, they came at once to California and settled in Los Angeles in March, 1892. and there Mr. Oertly was employed at his trade for two years; afterwards he worked in the dairy business for two years, then engaged in the dairy business on his own account for three years. Having been successful in this business, he purchased nine acres of land at the corner of Figueroa and Forty-eighth streets, Los Angeles, and remained in that city until 1906, when he removed to Garden Grove and purchased a twenty-acre piece of property which he improved into an orange and lemon grove, and afterward sold to his son.

Mr. and Mrs. Oertly are the parents of four children, Soule C., who is mentioned on another page in this work; Bertha, the wife of J. G. Allen: Bernhard, who died at Nobleford. Alberta, of the influenza, when it raged so relentlessly throughout the country in 1918, and George M., who is in the fuel and feed business at Long Beach, Cal., and who was also at Nobleford, Alberta, from which place he entered the U. S. service and trained at Camp Lewis, then went to the aero squadron at Kelly Field, San Antonio, Texas. From there he went to Pittsburgh, Pa., where he attended the Carnegie school for quick repairing of aeroplanes; returning thence to Kelly Field he entered the chemical department, and in time was promoted to the head of the department. It was his duty to analyze the lubricating oils and gasoline and O. K. all the purchases of oils; he stood in line for promotion to a lieutenancy when the armistice was signed. He is a well-known football star.

Mr. Oertly has a clear brain, is an interesting talker and a loyal American. Of friendly disposition, warm hearted and genial, he has led an active, moral and useful life, and given his children excellent educational advantages. Gifted and successful, they stand among the most prominent people in the county, and they, as well as their parents, take an active interest in the betterment of the community in every possible way. In their religious convictions Mr. and Mrs. Oertly are members of the Baptist Church at Garden Grove, where Mrs. Oertly is active in Sunday School work.

1014

HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY

HANS GATJENS .- The popular proprietor of the Orange County Soda Works at Anaheim, Hans Gatjens, is a native of Schleswig-Holstein, where he first saw the light of day July 21, 1872. At the early age of sixteen he migrated to America and located first in lowa, working on farms in Scott and Benton counties for five years. In 1893, attracted by the greater opportunities on the Pacific Coast, he came to Cali- fornia, where he chose Orange County as the scene of his future operations. At first he found employment on a sugar-beet ranch. Being very thrifty and industrious, he saved his money and by 1904 he was able to lease 120 acres of land, upon which he raised sugar beets and successfully continued in this business up to 1912.

In 1913 Mr. Gatjens returned to the scenes of his boyhood days in Germany and after a pleasant visit he returned to Orange County, where he entered the employ of the Orange County Soda Works, which was then located at Anaheim. Being a man of enterprise and initiative he soon gained a thorough knowledge of the soda business and in 1918 purchased the works and later erected a plant at 400 South Claudina Street. He has installed new machinery and otherwise improved the plant so that it is up to date in every way and capable of handling his large and increasing business, which now extends all over the county. At present he makes twenty different kinds of soft drinks, his orange flavor being especially popular. He uses two auto trucks in his business.

During his first trip to his native land, in 1902, Mr. Gatjens was united in marriage with Johanna Gatjens, a native of the same district in Germany where Hans was born, although not a relative. Mr. and Mrs. Gatjens are the parents of three children, all born in California, Hattie, Effie and Harry. Hans Gatjens is recog- nized as a self-made man, of which honor he is justly proud. He is a member of the Concordia Society of Anaheim.

W. LESTER TUBBS .- An interesting representative of one of the worthiest pioneer families of California, members of which have frequently been identified with the really stirring and epoch-making events in the annals of the Golden State, is W. Lester Tubbs, who was born at Emerson, Iowa, on July 10, 1894, the son of William L. Tubbs, a native of Flowerfield, Mich. His father was Judge Lewis W. Tubbs, who came to California with an ox-team in 1849, leaving lowa on March 1 as captain of a train which took six months to get across the desert and mountains. He was a native of New York, where he was born in 1829, and brought with him from the Empire State some of that natural spirit of leadership which led his fellow-citizens to send him as a delegate to the first California legislature after California's admission to the Union. Later he made many trips back and forth between the Coast and the Middle West. He married a daughter of William Wheeler, of Michigan, who became colonel of a regiment of volunteers that served the cause of the North in the Civil War. William L. Tubbs married Miss Alice N. Tomblin, and coming to California in 1901, they lived on a small ranch in Tustin for the first seven months, after which they moved into Santa Ana, and Mr. Tubbs became one of the most active organizers of the Santa Ana community. He was the first to be exalted in Lodge No. 794 of the Santa Ana Elks, and was a Mason and a Shriner. When he passed away, on July 11, 1911, his going was mourned by a large circle of devoted friends.

W. Lester Tubbs attended the grade schools of Santa Ana, and afterward went to the Shattuck Military School at Faribault, Minn., from which he was graduated in 1912. He had attained the captaincy of Company C, and was presented with a beautiful silver loving cup by his fellows in the company.

His first venture in business was with the Security Trust and Savings Bank of Los Angeles, where he remained for three and a half years, traveling back and forth each day between Santa Ana and Los Angeles. He was in the loan department of that fine institution, and there demonstrated his capability in caring for the insurance. On February 15, 1917, he became teller in the Orange County Trust and Savings Bank of Santa Ana.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 108

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