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 150

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 150

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As has been said, Mr. Ahern began his acquaintance with the life and problems of the farmer on the ranch of his father, who at one time was engaged in farming leased land on the Irvine, or the San Joaquin ranch at Irvine. Later on, he came down to El Toro and worked on the Twist ranch. He rose to be Mr. Twist's foreman, and held that position for a number of years; about fifteen years ago he began farming operations on his own account. At the present Mr. Ahern has 1,600 acres planted to grain, of which 250 acres are in wheat, and 1,350 acres are in barley grain. He has 200 acres of hay, and 200 acres of beans. He resides with his family at Tustin, where he owns a ranch-a trim little farm of twenty acres, seventeen of which are set out to budded walnuts, while three acres are in Valencia oranges.

Mr. Ahern is serving as school trustee in the El Toro district, and is interested in the proper education of the rising generation, believing that every boy and girl should have the best of educational opportunities. In national politics, he is a Democrat, but he aims to study and to act upon the great questions of the day in the broadest, most nonpartisan spirit. He and his gifted wife still continue to apply themselves closely to their life work and to give the most conscientious attention to every detail in busi- ness; and they enjoy the highest respect of a large circle of friends.

GEORGE H. HANSEN .- An enterprising, successful rancher with an enviable record as an expert oil driller, whose prosperity has stimulated his interest in local affairs of every sort, is George H. Hansen, who was born, a native son, in Placentia, Cal., on May 25, 1882. He is the eldest son of the well-known and highly respected citizen of Placentia, Peter Hansen, and from childhood enjoyed the advantages of a comfortable home, while he attended the district school at Placentia. Later he grad- uated, as a member of the class of '97, from the Orange County Business College at Santa Ana.

Entering the employ of the Union Oil Company at Maricopa, in Kern County, Mr. Hansen was for four years an expert driller in that company's service, acquiring practical experience which proved very profitable. Then in 1913 he took up ranching, on his nine acres devoted to Valencia oranges. It is under the service of the Anaheim Union Water Company and he is a member of the Placentia Orange Growers Associa- tion. In 1918, he built a handsome residence on his ranch.

Mr. Hansen has been married twice. His first wife, Ceola D. Boswell, before her marriage, died in 1917, the mother of three children-Christine May, Ernest and Robert. Ernest served a year and a half in the merchant marine, and at San Francisco was honorably discharged, and now he is an expert baker at Portland. His second marriage made him the husband of Miss Bertha L. Herman, the daughter of R. B. Herman, the rancher of Anaheim. She was a trained nurse, and is now a great helpmate; and she is the mother of one child, George Hansen, Jr. In national politics, Mr. Hansen is a Republican; but he is first, last and all the time American, and ready to work for America and her ideals.

WARREN M. GRAY .- An industrious, progressive and self-made young man conspicuous among those who are "making good" is Warren M. Gray, naturally a mechanic, through training an expert machinist, and very experienced in the handling and directing of men. He is the owner of an excellent ranch about a mile and a quarter east of El Toro, in whose community he and his promising family are highly rated for their citizenship and neighborliness.

He was born in Boone County, Iowa, on July 8, 1886, the youngest of five children born to J. M. and Frances ( Westlake) Gray, and he came to California in 1891 with his parents and the rest of the children. They settled first at San Juan Capistrano, and there Warren grew up and attended the public schools. When thirteen years old he began to work for the Santa Fe Railway, helping to construct and repair, and laboring especially at the laying of track. Three years later, he was made section foreman, and in that capacity he continued with the Santa Fe for thirteen years. His father was a track and construction man for the Chicago and Northwestern Railway in Iowa for twenty-three years and seventeen years for the Santa Fe at Capistrano; he now resides with his daughter, Mrs. Alfred Trapp at El Toro, in the eighty-fourth year of his age, the mother having passed away there in 1910.

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Warren M. Gray took up mechanical engineering through the International Correspondence School at Scranton, Pa., which gave him the necessary insight, since which time he has fortified himself through actual, valuable experience. He is very. efficient in repairing automobiles, is a good separator man, and with A. C. Carle he owns a complete and dependable threshing outfit. Some time ago Mr. Gray purchased twenty acres of rich land, his present home place, and he has since set it out to walnuts, making it a very productive ranch.

In 1910 Mr. Gray was married to Miss Rosie Zarn, a native of Del Mar, in San Diego County; and they have two attractive children, as one might expect who knows Mrs. Gray's charming personality. They are named Catherine and Carrie.

ALFRED HUHN .- A far-seeing business man of winning personality who has repeatedly demonstrated that he has marked ability, is Alfred Huhn, president and manager of the Ehlen and Grote Company. He was born at St. Louis, Mo., on No- vember 18, 1875, the son of Peter and Lena (Theiss) Huhn of St. Louis, where her father was a prominent merchant for many years. There were four children in the family, and three are now living; and Alfred is the only one in California. Both Peter Huhn and his good wife are now dead.

Alfred was reared in St. Louis and educated in the local schools, after which he entered Walther College, from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree. Soon after this he entered the Third National, now the First National Bank of St. Louis, following banking until 1901, when he resigned his position and came west to California. He looked over the Southland and was not long in locating in Orange. Soon after his arrival, he entered the employ of the Ehlen and Grote Com- pany, and for some years continued with them as a clerk. When the business was incorporated in 1906, Mr. Huhn became a stockholder and was elected secretary and director; and in that capacity he remained until Mr. Ehlen sold his interest in 1910, when Mr. Huhn was made president and manager; and these positions he has filled to everyone's satisfaction since 1910. Through the excellent management accorded by Mr. Huhn and his associates, the firm retains its old-time prestige of being the largest retail grocery in Orange County, and very naturally Mr. Huhn is a livewire in the Orange Merchants and Manufacturers Association.

Mr. Huhn is interested in horticulture, and owns an orange ranch near Olive. He also owns business property in Orange and in Los Angeles. He is a director and secretary of the California Fig Nut Company, which maintains factories for the prepa- ration of breakfast food known as "Fig Nuts" made from figs, nuts and whole wheat, a superior article rapidly coming to the front; the demand has increased so rapidly the company is enlarging the capacity and also making plans for materially enlarging the plant. He is also a stockholder in the National Bank of Orange.

At Orange Mr. Huhn was married to Miss Sophie Grote, a native of Kansas, and the daughter of Henry Grote, the pioneer. Two children have brightened their home, and their names are Alfred, Jr., and Lester.

The family are members of St. John's Lutheran Church, and Mr. Huhn is a member of the Lutheran Men's Club, as well as the Commercial Club of Orange. Both Mr. and Mrs. Huhn are intensely interested in the broadest and most enduring develop- ment of Orange County, and are eager supporters of every good movement tending toward those ends.

ERNEST L. MORRISON .- One of the prosperous ranchers of Santa Ana is Ernest L. Morrison, of South Birch Street, a native of Iowa who came to California to spend the rest of his days, and has since had so much success here that he has taken a new lease of life and more than ever, perhaps, longs to play the game. He was born near Cedar Rapids on November 10, 1864, the son of J. W. and Emilie Morrison, and was sent to school at Cedar Rapids, while his father traveled hither and thither as a salesman for wholesale houses. He was an apt student, and in time was graduated from the Cedar Rapids Commercial College.

When only seventeen years of age, he also started out as a salesman, representing the Farmers Fire Insurance Company of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; limited in his territory at first to Cedar and Jones counties, but later special agent, representing the entire state. He next purchased various strips of timberland and built a sawmill in Iowa, cut his own timber, and sold cordwood, railroad ties and lumber. He built many houses in Cedar Rapids, and bought and sold property there. He had a delightful suburban farm of twenty acres near Cedar Rapids, suitable for the life of a country gentleman, and a farm of 180 acres in Cedar County, devoted to general agriculture. Much of the time while he owned this ranch property, he had a tenant on the farm, and he himself gave his attention to the insurance business.

alfred Juha

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY

In 1908, Mr. Morrison sold his interests in Iowa, including some stock in the Farmers Fire Insurance Company, and came out to California on a six months' tour of inspection; and having looked the state over pretty well, he located in Santa Ana. He built a home at 530 East Seventeenth Street, and there made his home until he sold the place in 1916. In April of that year, he bought a five-acre grove of Valencia oranges on Santiago Street, which is well watered by the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company. In February, 1920, Mr. Morrison purchased twenty acres from R. J. Thomp- son of Santa Ana, lying west of the County Hospital, for which he has a private pump- ing plant-that of the Dawn Company, Inc., which has a capacity of 200 inches. He bought his present home at 116 South Birch Street in April, 1919. He is, very naturally, a member of the Santiago Orange Growers Association.

On October 14, 1886, Mr. Morrison was married to Miss Martha A. Jeffries, who was born near Cedar Rapids and educated at both the high school and the commercial college of that city, in the district in which the Jeffries were early settlers. Mr. and Mrs. Morrison are members of the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Ana, and Mr. Morrison is one of the trustees of that congregation. He was formerly a director in the California National Bank. In national politics a Republican, Mr. Morrison is too broad-minded to be partisan in his "boosting" of local projects, and therefore supports heartily any movement deemed worthy for the betterment of the community or the county in which he lives, labors and prospers.

HARRY BARTER .- For nearly a quarter of a century Harry Barter, the pro- gressive rancher of Magnolia Avenue, Stanton, has resided on the same place where he now lives. The ranch was purchased by his father, Alfred Barter, from the Stearns Rancho Company and at that time was a sheep pasture.

Harry Barter was born in Virgil City, Vernon County, Mo., April 17, 1884, the son of Alfred and Annie (Swartz) Barter. The family consisted of six children, three of whom are living, two being residents of Los Angeles County. Alfred Barter was an extensive farmer who, in conjunction with general farming, conducted a nursery for many years in Orange County. He passed away in 1897 and his widow now resides at Long Beach.

Although born in Missouri, Harry Barter was reared and educated in Orange County and has always followed agricultural pursuits. His ranch of eighteen acres is devoted to general farming and is highly cultivated and very productive.

In 1911, Mr. Barter was united in marriage with Miss Mary F. Hooven, a native of Wyoming Valley, Pa., and the daughter of Mrs. Tillie Hooven. Mr. Barter is an enterprising and progressive rancher and is most highly respected for his integrity and high ideals of citizenship.

CHARLES PRINSLOW .- A self-made, self-reliant, substantial and well-to-do rancher, who has worked hard for every dollar that he possesses, is Charles Prinslow, the orchardist, whose trim fifty acres near the Costa Mesa postoffice are well known to other California farmers. He was born at Brandenburg, Germany, on September 28, 1853, the son of Martin and Wilhelmina (Fredericks) Prinslow, farmers and landowners, who migrated with their eight children to Fond du Lac, Wis., in 1869, and there con- tinued agricultural pursuits. The second son and third child, Charles, was then sixteen years of age, and therefore he was educated partly in his native land and partly in Wisconsin.

When twenty-three years of age, he struck out for himself and first pulled up in Lincoln County, Dakota Territory. There he took up a homestead of 160 acres and also a timber claim of the same extent, and proved up on both; and this land he still owns, and a section more.

In 1881, he was married to Miss Nina Ireland, born near Randolph, Wis., and a daughter of James Ireland, who became a farmer near Centerville, where our subject then lived. And after his marriage he raised wheat, corn, hay and barley, as well as stock, so that he became a cattle feeder. Indeed, he fed thousands of cattle for the Chicago market, and was favorably known as one of the extensive cattle feeders of southeastern South Dakota. He bought more land, and in every way prospered.

In 1915, Mr. Prinslow came out from South Dakota, took in the two expositions at San Francisco and San Diego, and returned to his farm of 960 acres in Brooklyn Township, Lincoln County, and the following spring came back to California with Mrs. Prinslow. After looking over various attractive localities, they bought a five-acre home, to which they moved with their family, in January, 1916. They still retain their fine Dakota farm, worth, according to a conservative estimate, at least $300,000, and since their coming here they have made a trip to South Dakota each year. Mr. Prinslow has identified himself in many ways with the life and progress of Orange County, and is known at Newport Heights as president of the Newport Heights Irri- 50

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gation District, which owns three artesian wells on twenty acres of ground bought from James Irvine.

Mr. and Mrs. Prinslow have had eight children-the same number as made up the family of which the subject of this sketch was a member. Mabel is the wife of William Iosty, a farmer at Centerville, S. D .; and Elmer, the second born, is also farming nearby; Lewis was a sergeant in the United States Army, now a barber at Marysville, Cal .; Frank died, unmarried, when he was twenty-two years old; Minnie's husband is John Boyd, the rancher and orchardist in Harper Precinct and they have a son, William; and Charles is a farmer in Lincoln County, S. D .; Alice married John Jones, a fumi- gator residing at Costa Mesa, and they have one child, Robert; Clarence, who has reached his seventeenth year, lives at home.

Mr. Prinslow is a Republican according to his party preferences; but he endeavors to put aside partisanship when local movements and measures are up for support or defeat, and in that way works for the best interests of the community in which he lives and prospers.

ROBERT L. BLANCHAR .- A far-seeing, progressive agriculturist, who leads a quiet but very fruitful life, operating with excellent results some twenty acres on North Flower Street, is Robert L. Blanchar, among the most successful of Orange ranchers. He was born near Windsor, Wis., on August 24, 1877, the son of Harvey C. and Mary Blanchar, and grew up in a circle of refinement and education such as might be expected from the fact that his father was a student at the University of Wisconsin.

In 1900 Robert moved to Faribault County, Minn., with his parents, and there purchased a farm of 200 acres of prairie land, which he devoted to the raising of cattle, horses, sheep and grain. He lived nine years in Minnesota, and then sold out his hold- ings. In the meantime, in 1908, his parents moved to town. In that same year, also, our subject was married, on July 2, to Miss Grace Rorman, the ceremony taking place at Winnebago, Minn.

In December, 1909, Harvey Blanchar came to California and located on North Flower Street, in Santa Ana, later returning to Minnesota. In the spring of the fol- lowing year he and his wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Blanchar, moved out to California for good. This North Flower Street ranch consists of twenty and a half acres, five of which are set out to apricots, two and a half to oranges, and thirteen to walnuts. Our subject set out the apricots and oranges himself, but the walnut trees were already there. He has ten acres under the service of the Santa Ana Valley Irriga- tion Company, and also a private pumping plant with a capacity of forty inches. He uses an electric motor of fifteen horsepower, and a number four pump. In 1910 he built the home in which his mother now lives. His father died, ripe with the honors of seventy-one years, on June 29, 1917. Robert Blanchar belongs to the Orange Lodge of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of Santa Ana.

Mrs. Blanchar was born at Delavan, Faribault County, Minn., the daughter of Will and Kate Rorman, natives of Minnesota, who continue to reside in that state. She attended the grammar schools of the district, and also studied at the high school in Winnebago. Four children have blessed their union. Helen E., Eunice D. and Vivian M. are pupils of the grammar school; and Robert L., Jr., is at home. The family belongs to the First Baptist Church of Santa Ana.

JOSEPH E. DURKEE .- That a professional man may become a successful and prosperous rancher, under the benign influence of sunny California, is clearly demon- strated in the career of J. E. Durkee of Orangethorpe, where he owns twenty acres devoted to oranges and walnuts. For twenty years he taught school in Iowa, and for eleven years he was superintendent of schools of Buena Vista County, in that state.

Mr. Durkee was born January 6, 1862, in Leeds, Wis., the son of Joseph and Edna (Webb) Durkee. In 1855 the parents moved to Wisconsin, and from there the father enlisted in the Civil War and was killed at Yorktown. Later the family moved to lowa, where J. E. received his early education in the excellent public schools of his locality. Subsequently he attended the Agricultural College of Iowa at Ames, from which institution he was graduated in 1889; he then took up teaching as a profession and for which he was admirably qualified.

In 1909 Mr. Durkee came to California, and after spending one year in Los Angeles, he purchased his present ranch in Orange County, where he has since resided. At the time of purchase the ranch was mostly unimproved, but Mr. Durkee, with his characteristic enterprise and spirit of progress, began at once to improve and develop the place, and after expending much money and labor he has brought the ranch up to a high state of productiveness and has made of it a beautiful homestead.

Mr. Durkee's marriage occurred in 1892, when he was united with Miss Lucinda Stewart of Floyd, Iowa. Five children have been born to them, three of them living

Minnie Dietrich

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY

Beatrice, wife of E. T. Watson of Orange, Florence and Ruth. Mrs. Durkee died in Los Angeles in 1910. Fraternally, Mr. Durkee is a Mason, a member of Sioux Rapids, Iowa, Lodge A. F. & A. M., and a member of the Chapter of that city; he is also affiliated with the Odd Fellows.

In these days of scientific farming a man of education and attainments is a valu- able asset to any community. That Mr. Durkee's capabilities have been recognized by his fellow citizens is evidenced by the fact that he has been made a school director of his district and he wields a broad influence in shaping its educational policy, as he is an enthusiastic supporter of every movement for the widening of the educational facilities of the community.

MRS. MINNIE M. DIETRICH .- An enterprising, liberal and kind-hearted woman who has spent many years of her life in Santa Ana, where she is well liked and highly esteemed is Mrs. Minnie M. Dietrich, who was in maidenhood Minnie M. Buchmann, a native of Berlin, Germany, born in 1856, a daughter of John and Rosina (Seidel) Buch- mann, who brought their family of children to Buffalo, N. Y., in 1860, where after a residence of four years they removed to Richardson County, Nebr. There they became successful farmers and there both spent the remainder of their lives.

Minnie Buchmann spent her teens in Richardson County and received a good education in the public schools of that county, and at Fall City, Nebr., she was married, January 21, 1872, when Penrose C. Dietrich became her husband. He was a native of Pennsylvania, born at Kutztown, May 24, 1840. His father, Daniel Dietrich, was also born in Pennsylvania and was a farmer near Kutztown, where he and his estimable wife died. Penrose Dietrich after completing the public schools of his locality came out to Iowa when seventeen years of age and soon afterwards still farther west, locating at Fall City, Nebr., where he met Miss Buchmann, the acquaintance resulting in their marriage. The young couple then located on a Nebraska prairie farm which they improved, growing corn, wheat and oats. In about 1895 they removed to Long Island, Phillips County, Kans., where they purchased and improved a farm and became successful stock raisers and feeders. They met with splendid returns and became owners of a 400-acre farm.

In 1900 they made their first trip to Santa Ana, Cal., and after remaining a year, returned to their Kansas farm, but the lure of the balmy climate was too great and they responded to the call of the West, so in April, 1905, sold their Eastern holdings and located in Santa Ana. They purchased the place Mrs. Dietrich still owns, between four and five acres, on Grand Avenue. They also owned the old Reuter place on Depot Street, where they first made their home until he sold it. They journeyed back East for a visit and there he was taken ill, but so strong was his desire to return to California, the state of his adoption, that he made the trip back, but died six or seven months later, on April 11, 1918.

After his death Mrs. Dietrich spent some time in Los Angeles at her residence, 1231 West Forty-first Street, but now she makes her home on the Grand Avenue ranch, surrounded by her children and many friends. Her seven children are as follows: Annie is the wife of John Hasenyager of Santa Ana, and they have two children; Wm. married Leola Wagner of Santa Ana; Edward is a rancher in Tustin, and married Miss Maude Skelton of Kansas; Frank married Miss Bessie Killebrew of Kansas; Albert and Carrie are deceased; and Elmer is assisting his mother in the care of the ranch. Mrs. Dietrich is a member of the Lutheran Church in Santa Ana and is very charitable in her donations for its upkeep.

JOSEPH POLLOCK .- A very successful, influential rancher whose busy life has been fruitful, ever since his advent here, in advancing the best interests of Orange County, is Joseph Pollock, who lives on Santa Clara Avenue, in Santa Ana, where he devotes his time exclusively to the culture of oranges, and where he has operated since 1911 buying and selling real estate, encouraging others to come to Santa Ana and vicinity to settle, and proving the magnet through which many have found their way to Southern California and fortune.

Mr. Pollock was born in Washington County, New York state, on June 10, 1849, the son of William and Rheuamy (Kinney) Pollock, natives, respectively, of Ireland and New York. He was one of eight children, all of whom grew to maturity, while six are now living; and he is the only one residing in California. He was reared in the Empire State and there educated at its excellent public schools; and when the time came for such a decision, he himself chose to be a farmer.

In 1864, however, as a lad of fifteen, when the Civil War was in full swing, he enlisted as a volunteer in the United States Navy and was assigned to the Albert Lee squadron, in which he served on the old frigate Minnesota, at Fortress Monroe, and afterwards on the Agawam, at Deep Bottom, on the James River, where the second

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officer was Lieutenant George Dewey, in more modern times Admiral Dewey, the hero of Manila Bay. After extended, active service along the Atlantic Coast, Mr. Pollock was honorably discharged at Norfolk, Va., in July, 1865, when he returned to New York.

He then started West and traveled in most of the Middle and Western States, as far as Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, where he followed mining; and then he came back to Hinkley, 111., and on November 30, 1876, was married to Miss Amanda Strever. the daughter of John Strever, a lady of accomplishment and a member of a family long highly esteemed in their locality. Then he resolved to settle down; and in the spring of 1877 he removed to Austin, Mower County, Minn., where he remained for thirty years, and where he owned and cultivated a farm of 220 acres.

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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 150

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