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 153

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

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HUGO J. LAMB .- A favorite son of western Orange County who is fast rising into prominence and influence, is Hugo J. Lamb, who is also a very successful beet and bean raiser, operating his ranch of 144 acres, but resides in Santa Ana. He was born at New Hope, in Orange County, on December 9, 1888, the fourth of the five living children of the late W. D. and Elizabeth (Holt) Lamb. The other four children are: Mrs. E. J. Levengood, of Pomona; Walter D. Lamb, who resides at 415 West Walnut Street, in Santa Ana; Mrs. G. L. Harper, the wife of the rancher living on Mrs. Eliza- beth Lamb's ranch; and Earl A. Lamb, also a rancher. Hugo J. grew up in western Orange County, and saw the Gospel Swamp, as the country used to be called, in its native state of jungle, tules, willows and peat bogs. He attended the Talbert grammar school, which is known by the name of the Fountain Valley grammar school; and being ambitious of obtaining as good an education as was possible, he also pursued the courses of the Huntington Beach high school.

At the age of twenty, March 3, 1909, Mr. Lamb was married at Santa Ana to Miss Effie Stockton, born in Arkansas, a daughter of the late J. T. Stockton of Winters- burg. Their union has been a singularly happy one, and was blessed with the birth of two children, Lois and Alice. Mr. Lamb belongs to Santa Ana Lodge, No. 794, B. P. O. Elks, and in politics aims to support only the best men and the best principles. He is serving as a member of the Orange County grand jury. Foresight and the appli- cation of the last word in science to the problems of agriculture characterize the manner in which Mr. Lamb operates. He uses twenty horses for his farm work, and both a Holt forty-five horsepower tractor and a tractor of the Sampson make. All the other appliances of his well-kept farm are thoroughly up to date. Although still operating the farm he resides with his family in his residence at 530 South Sycamore Street, Santa Ana.

RUDOLPH MEGER .- A progressive, successful rancher whose home-place im- provements have added materially both to the wealth and the attractiveness of Orange County, is Rudolph Meger, who owns and operates ten acres devoted to choice oranges, a quarter of a mile south of Broadway and east of Brookhurst Street, Anaheim. When he purchased the property, in 1913, it was in a very unimproved condition; but it was not long before he had set out 300 trees which will soon be in full bearing condition. He continued his labors and experiments, and he has been able to make many other desirable improvements on his ranch, converting the land into a most desirable country estate. Mr. Meger was born in Russia-Poland, on March 10, 1884, and is the son of Gotlieb and Elvina Meger, natives of the same northern country. No less than eleven of the fourteen children born to his parents are now in America, and of these, nine are in California and seven are in Orange County.

As early as 1902 Mr. Meger came to Orange County, and having always followed agricultural pursuits, he had less difficulty than many in establishing himself amid new environments. He has also always worked hard, and as a reward he has seen a profit- able homestead spring into existence for himself and family, if not in a single night, then by such steady degrees as give heart and satisfaction to the worker. What he and his worthy family have, they may fairly be said to have made with their own hands, and so should be credited with the favorable results.

Successful and assured of even more success, smiling at a world that beamed and smiled at him, Mr. Meger on July 3, 1912, was married to Miss Tina Edinger, the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Edinger; and three children have blessed their fortunate union. They are Ruth, Edward and Henry. Mrs. Meger was also born in Russia, in 1890, and was a mere babe when she came to the United States, so that she has grown up under the Stars and Stripes.

WALTER A. LUCE .- A young, enterprising rancher of the type which can never be restrained from forging ahead and making for itself a most honorable place in the agricultural world, is Walter A. Luce, who has been a resident of California since 1906. He is a native of Hazardville, Conn., where he was born on October 30, 1886, and is the son of Walter and Mary Luce, the former a native of Connecticut, the latter having first seen the light in Germany. Besides our subject, these worthy folks had another son, Frank, who is now a painting contractor in Anaheim.

The family migrated to Nebraska when Walter was a small boy, and there he was educated, enjoying the advantage of both a grammar school and a high school training. Early in life, he entered the dry goods trade in Omaha, and in time he specialized in millinery. He served as a clerk in Omaha, then became a millinery buyer there, in the store where he was employed, then went to Houston, Texas, in the same capacity; later he went to New York City and from there came to Los Angeles, Cal., in 1906. as millinery buyer for the Broadway Department Store. He followed this business until coming to Anaheim in 1917 to take charge of the orange and lemon ranch

N. J. Lamb

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY

that had been purchased by his mother, three miles west of Anaheim on the boulevard, in that year, and since that time he has applied himself steadily to the task of making the place a paying proposition and how well he has succeeded is shown by the returns from the acreage. He was married in 1914 to Miss Caroline Hartman. Mr. Luce's father died in 1891 and the widow is making her home in Anaheim.

The Luces have brought their acreage up to a high and very creditable state of production, and no doubt their excellent well and pumping plant, installed according to the most up-to-date plans, have had much to do with the development. The well is 250 feet deep with a ten-inch bore, affording a capacity of eighty inches of water; and the pump is one of the best pieces of machinery for miles around and operated by electricity. Anaheim has always welcomed such progressive citizens as Mr. Luce and his near-of-kin, and well may they be proud of them, for they are the sort that, in building for themselves, also build and upbuild for others.

GEORGE McNEIL .- A resident of Buena Park, where he owns and operates a fruit ranch on Orangethorpe Avenue, George McNeil has been a valued citizen of Orange County for the past fourteen years. Mr. McNeil comes from good old New England stock, being born in Deering, Hillsboro County, N. H., June 2, 1863, the son of William and Elizabeth (McQuesten) McNeil, who were also natives of that state and both passed away there. To them were born four children, and two of them are still living-a sister, Anna, who still resides in the East, and George, the subject of this review. He was reared in his native state and after he had completed his education in the schools of his locality, he spent several years as a clerk in a mercantile establish- ment. When he became of age, however, he decided to try his fortune in the great western country, of which he had heard such glowing tales. Accordingly he made the long journey across the continent, reaching California in 1894. Locating in Los Angeles, he spent five years as clerk in a store, but with the exception of that period, all his time has been spent in agricultural pursuits.

In 1906, Mr. McNeil decided to locate in Orange County, being attracted there by the wonderful successes being made in fruit growing. He purchased a place of nine acres on Orangethorpe Avenue, and he has ever since made this his home. His ranch is at present devoted to oranges, walnuts, and fruits in general. He is working to the end, however, of devoting all his acreage to the citrus industry. All the improvements on the place have been made by himself.

Mr. McNeil's marriage occurred in 1900, in Los Angeles, when he was united to Miss Lillie E. Tubbs, also a native of New Hampshire, and the daughter of Alvin and Jennie Tubbs. Their home has been blessed with a son and a daughter, Alvin G. and Ethel C., attending Pomona College. Mr. McNeil is prominent in the Masonic fra- ternity, where he holds the office of master in Buena Park Lodge No. 357, F. & A. M. He has also been honored with a seat on the school board, which he has held since 1912. He is a Republican in national politics. He is a worthy citizen who has won the entire confidence of a large circle of friends through his genial personality.

FRED PEITZKE .- Among the successful growers of oranges and walnuts in the Anaheim district is Fred Peitzke, whose home is on Stanton Street, near the County Highway. Mr. Peitzke is a native of Southern Iowa, where he was born on August 24, 1877, a son of William and Ruah Peitzke. The family of William Peitzke consisted of twelve children, and when Fred was one year of age his parents removed to Wright County, Iowa, where he was reared and educated. During his younger days he followed the cattle business from the age of eight until he was seventeen. Endowed by nature with an unusually large and virile physique, fearless and courageous of spirit, it is not strange that such a man should be sought to fill the position of city marshal of Kaw City, Okla. In the early days in this territory, men were not chosen for this hazardous position because of political affiliations or social relations, the chief requisite being a good shot and one who could get his man. While filling this position Mr. Peitzke, although equipped with the usual allotment of arms and ammunition while on duty, seldom resorted to their use in capturing his man, but, with his firm grip on the person of the lawbreaker, the criminal always submitted. Mr. Peitzke always considered his powerful hands his best weapons at close range.

In 1913 Mr. Peitzke migrated to California and took up his residence near Ana- heim, Orange County, on Stanton Street on his father's property. He bought five acres where he now lives and made all the improvements. Here he has successfully and most profitably cultivated oranges; some of his orange trees are now six years old.

Mr. Peitzke's marriage occurred in 1903, when he was united with Miss Ellen Fullington. Fraternally he is a member of Ridgely Lodge, I. O. O. F., at Black- well, Okla., and is also a member of the Orange and Walnut Growers Associations of Anaheim. Mr. Peitzke's father and family came to California in 1910, and three sons and a daughter are now residents of Southern California.

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DR. WILLIAM M. CHAMBERS .- A retired dentist, who successfully practiced his profession many years in Mexico and Central America, Dr. William M. Chambers owns and operates a fine ranch of forty-one acres situated one quarter mile west of the State Highway, on Katella Road, in the Anaheim section of Orange County. His ranch is devoted to walnuts and oranges and was settled by his father, Dr. William Chambers, in 1890, who purchased the land in its virgin state from John Hannah.

Dr. William M. Chambers, of this review, is a son of William and Martha Cham- bers, natives of Pennsylvania, who lived near Philadelphia and were descendants of Quaker families. William Chambers, Sr., was a dentist of high repute and practiced his profession many years in Bogota, Colombia, South America, where he located in 1852, and here Dr. Chambers was born in 1866. His father moved to California in 1890, locating on the ranch now occupied by his son, and here he passed away in 1893; his widow still survives and is now a resident of Los Angeles. Dr. Chambers was edu- cated at the University of Pennsylvania, from which institution he graduated with the degree of D.D.S., in 1886. Afterwards, for nine years, he practiced his profession in Guatemala City, Central America, and from 1898 to 1911 he was located at Puebla, Mexico, where he practiced dentistry and was for ten years the consular agent for the United States, being the predecessor of William O. Jenkins, whose imprisonment by the Mexican authorities caused such widespread discussion.

In 1911, Dr. Chambers returned to the United States and settled on the old home- stead near Analieim. He made many improvements, set out trees, installed a water system for irrigation and erected a modern residence, which has added much to the attractiveness of the place. In addition to raising walnuts and oranges, Dr. Chambers is deeply interested in breeding pure-blooded Chester-White hogs, his stock being acknowledged by experts among the best in the state.

Dr. Chambers was married in 1889 to Miss Jennie Berley, a native of Lousiana, and four children have been born to them, and three of them are now living: Olive, Fenner and Amanda.

CHARLES S. COX .- Among the citrus fruit growers of California can be found men from every state in the Union-men of virility and strength of purpose who have had the courage and energy to seek new fields in which to make their homes and fortunes. A native of Hendricks County, Ind., Charles S. Cox, who now has an orange and lemon grove east of Cypress, migrated to California in 1897. His parents, Daniel and Elizabeth Cox were both natives of Indiana and there their eleven children were born. The father died in 1890, but Mrs. Cox is still living, aged eighty-eight years. Charles S., who was born in January, 1857, is the only member of the family in the State of California.

On coming to California Mr. Cox first located near Morgan Hill in Santa Clara County, where he purchased a forty-acre ranch devoted exclusively to prunes. He remained in Santa Clara County until February, 1907, when he removed to Madera County and one year later moved to Los Angeles County and then, in 1909, located on his present holdings near Cypress, Orange County. When Mr. Cox bought this ranch of twenty acres the land was in a barren state, and while the soil was rich and produc- tive, it required steady, hard and intelligent work on the part of Mr. Cox to bring it up to its present state of cultivation. He has devoted his holdings to the production of oranges and lemons, and some of the trees are now bearing abundantly, bringing him well deserved returns. Mr. Cox has an interest in the Wilcox well, which has a sixteen-inch bore, and is capable of furnishing irrigation for several ranches. From this well he expects to draw an extra supply of water, if it should ever be necessary.

In Hendricks County, Ind., August 19, 1879, Mr. Cox was united in marriage with Miss Flora Ader, also born in Indiana, whose parents were William and Julia Ader. Four children have been born to them: Bernard is a structural iron worker and resides in Portland, Ore .; during the World War he served in the Spruce Division of the Aviation Corps; Ernest is a shipfitter and marine engineer and is employed on a vessel in the Pacific trade; Walter is a guarantee marine engineer and during the war was inspector for the U. S. Shipping Board at Seattle, Wash .; and Herbert is a graduate in the first class with eight members from the State Polytechnic at San Luis Obispo; he is an electrician in the employ of the Edison Company and lives with his wife and son, James Leslie, in Eagle Rock. Mr. and Mrs. Cox are entitled to much praise for the progress their sons have made in their chosen pursuits, since their home training and education have fitted them in a high degree for the advancement they are making. Mr. Cox is a member of the Cooperative Orange Growers Association at Anaheim. For more than thirty-six years he has consistently voted the Prohibition ticket and has supported all uplift movements in the county that have been brought to his notice.

John 6 Cordes

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JOHN C. CORDES .- Orange County is fortunate in the number of its real estate representatives who themselves own and operate property, so that they are the better able to judge of realty values and rightly and honestly to forecast the future of one of the most favored and promising sections in the entire state. Such a man is John C. Cordes, who was born near Bremen, in Hanover, Germany, on May 25, 1863, and reared on a fruitful North German farm until he came out to the still more alluring America. He was about twenty-five when, in 1888, he first began to assimilate himself with the life and ideals of the young Republic; and for a while he worked for a farmer in Iowa. Later, he bought 285 acres in Iowa County, Iowa, which lie so improved that he casily became one of the most successful farmers of that county.

In 1904 he came to California and Anaheim, and soon after pitching his tent here, entered the field of realty, and so welcome was he in an environment very congenial to him from the first, that he has ever since handled Anaheim and other real estate. He really came to California for his health; but he found that, after opening his office at 171 West Center Street, his activities contributed to, rather than mitigated against, his improvement, and he found recreation in a line of trade in which he had a chance to contribute toward both the building up and the upbuilding of the town.

Mr. Cordes also owns the famous Captain Henry estate, one of the well-known show-places hereabouts-a ten-acre ranch located on the County Road, and highly improved with Valencia oranges. He had, besides, five and a half acres of an orange grove within the city limits, on West Street. This is one of the best producers in the county, and he sold it for $35,000, the highest price paid for a five-acre tract thus far. The 1919 crop was about 3,000 boxes. He owned the brick block on East Center Street now occupied by the Puritan Dry Cleaning Company, but he traded it for the five and a half acres just described. He is a stockholder in the Anaheim Citrus Fruit Association, and also in the Mutual Orange Distributors Association.

While in Germany, Mr. Cordes was married to Miss Annie Steurman, who died in 1919, leaving many to mourn her demise. They had ten children, and nine are still living-Lena, Herman, Henry, Katie, Alfred, William, Annie, Alma and Linda. Mr. Cordes has for years been president of the Concordia Singing Society, and he is now an alderman in the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church. He belongs to Anaheim Lodge No. 1345, B. P. O. Elks. In every way, Mr. Cordes and his family have been progressive, public-spirited, patriotic citizens, proving themselves splendid examples of the combination of ideals and attainments in more than one race or people.

JOHN A. CRANSTON .- For her substantial fame as one of the most desirable of all places for residence, Santa Ana owes much to Professor John A. Cranston, super- intendent of the public schools of that city, who has done much, since his advent here nearly a decade and a half ago, to advance the cause of popular education in Orange County. He was born at Madrid, an interesting town in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., on June 14, 1863-a very notable day in Civil War history, for the Confederates in- vested Winchester, the Federals fought their way out with a loss of three thousand men. Confederate cavalry invaded Maryland and Pennsylvania, and fortifications were thrown up around Pittsburgh; he came of a family distinguished through various branches, numbering as it does Henry Young Cranston, the Rhode Island lawyer, Robert Bennie Cranston, his brother, who bequeathed $75,000 to those poor of Newport "too honest to steal and too proud to beg," and long before their day, John and Samuel Cranston, both presidents of the Little Rhody commonwealth. The family has also left its impress in the familiar history of the Hudson.

Mr. Cranston's father was John Cranston, a farmer, of Madrid, N. Y., and he married Mary Ann Weatherston, who came from Scotland with her parents when she was three years of age. Both are now dead. There were seven children, two daughters and five sons, in the family; and our subject was the fifth child in the order of birth and the eldest of the three children living. John A. Cranston was educated in the public schools of his district and the Canton Academy, and in 1887 was graduated from the University of St. Lawrence, when he received the B.S. degree.

Having chosen the career of a pedagogue, Mr. Cranston accepted the principal- ship of a grade school at Helena, Mont., but after a short time there, resigned to travel. In the fall of 1888, he went to Phoenix, Ariz., where he taught school one term, and in the following spring went to Minnesota as superintendent of schools. From 1889 until 1893, he was at Wadena; from 1893 to 1898 at Elk River; from 1898 to 1902 at Alexandria; from 1902 to 1906 at St. Cloud; and since 1906 he has been at Santa Ana. Some idea of the growth of the school in Santa Ana is noted that in 1906 there were fifty-four teachers and 1,400 pupils, and now there are 140 teachers and about 4,000 pupils enrolled-this includes kindergarten, elementary, high school and junior college. A Republican in matters of national political import, Mr. Cranston was chair- 51

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man of the Juvenile Home Committee for nine years, and for seven years he was also on the California council of education. He belongs to the California Teachers Associa- tion, and was president of the Southern section in 1912, and a member of the National Education Association since 1902.

At Canton, N. Y., in 1891, Mr. Cranston was married to Miss Gertrude Gulley, a native of Canton, N. Y., and the daughter of Argalons D. and Caroline (Curler) Gulley, Vermonters who settled in New York. Two children have blessed their happy union: Alice has become Mrs. J. Baxter Jouvenat, Jr .; and Rena Gertrude, who was married in June. 1920, to E. T. Borchard of Long Beach, Cal.

Mr. Cranston is fond of tennis and out-of-door sports generally; and his close touch with Nature makes him more and more interested in both the past and the future of Orange County. He has put his whole energy, and devoted a great part of his time to the important school interests entrusted to him; and among other things to which he may point as more or less monuments to his life and work may be mentioned the new high school buildings erected in 1913, under his incentive and supervision, the high school plant being considered one of the finest in the state and naturally a pride to the residents of Santa Ana.

DALE R. KING .- The increase in the acreage devoted to growing citrus fruits has caused the establishment of many associations and more district exchanges in various sections of the country for handling the product of the orange and lemon groves. The Northern Orange County Citrus Exchange was established August 1, 1917, and is under the competent management of Dale R. King, a native of Knights- town, Ind., born March 26, 1887. He is the son of William F., now deceased, and Ella (Reeves) King. In the parental family of six boys and five girls, Dale R. was the fourth child in order of birth. He was educated in the public and high schools of Indianapolis, Ind., a city noted for the excellency of its schools. After completing his education he followed various vocations, among others the commission business, which he first engaged in at Indianapolis. He was in the sales department of the California Fruit Growers Exchange for ten years, being located at Indianapolis, Chicago and San Francisco, going thence to Orange County, Cal., to assume the management of the Northern Orange County Citrus Exchange on its organization in August, 1917.

On August 11, 1909, Mr. King was united in marriage with Miss Vie Barnes, and they are the parents of two children, Jeanne and Lois. Politically Mr. King casts his ballot with the Republican party. He is a member of the Fullerton Club and the Board of Trade and takes an active and helpful interest in the development of Orange County. He has business acumen and the ability to grasp an opportunity, and is making a name for himself in the community in which he lives, and in which he is esteemed as an upright and progressive citizen.

RAYMOND N. JOHNSON .- An enterprising young rancher who is a good "booster" for Placentia, having learned, after an automobile ride of 2,000 miles in Northern California that there is "no place like home"-when that home is in Orange County-is Ray Johnson, of Placentia Drive, who was born, a native son, in Placentia, September 5, 1895. He is the youngest son of Nels Johnson, the pioneer rancher of Orange County, who married Miss Martha Paulson, who proved just the right kind of a helpmate. Eight children were born to the sturdy parents, four of whom are living, and all reflected creditably on the family name. Ray attended the grammar school and meanwhile worked on his father's ranch until he was fourteen years of age. And then, although still in his teens, he commenced to ranch for himself. He began by farming the thirty-two acres of his father's land and now owns fourteen acres. He uses the tractor and other machinery exclusively, and no longer employs the horse.

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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 153

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