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 171

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 171

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WILLIAM D. PETERKIN .- A busy man of affairs, whose popularity has been founded in part on his expertness in the field in which he is a leader, and partly on his genial and sympathetic temperament, is William D. Peterkin, the assistant manager of the Orange County Fumigation Company, whose office is at 349 South Lemon Street, Orange. He was born in the city of Montreal, Canada, on June 9, 1883, the son of William H. Peterkin, the well-known rancher and orchardist of Orange, from whom he inherited and derived by companionship and personal instruction much of that ability and knowledge which have enabled him to come forward so rapidly.

Fifteen years ago Mr. Peterkin came from Santa Barbara County to Orange County and engaged in citrus work. He accepted one position after another and gradually became familiar with horticultural problems. In time, he was employed by J. A. King at fumigating, and he has since become assistant to him as general manager of the Orange County Fumigating Company. It is exceedingly dangerous work, for science calls for and supplies death-dealing agents, which may also work destruction to those engaged in the work. No less than ten men died in Orange County, in 1919- 1920, while ridding orchards of damaging scale and other pests.

Some idea of the extent of the Orange County Fumigating Company's business may be formed from the fact that they make use of 1.000 tents, and send out fifteen or more outfits, detailing six men to each outfit, and operating with the Fruit Growers Exchange of Orange County. They follow the last word of science, profiting from the experiments with liquid hydrocyanic acid which was first used largely in experimental tests in 1916. and on an extensive commercial basis the following year for the fumiga- tion of citrus trees in California. This acid has been known to chemists for many

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years, but probably because of its instability and its very poisonous nature, it has not been manufactured on a large scale. It is a colorless liquid, less than three-fourths the weight of water, and is also very volatile, and boils at less than eighty degrees Fahren- heit. For these reasons, hydrocyanic acid gas is rapidly given off from the surface of the liquid, and there is danger in breathing in an atmosphere close to an open container. This danger is increased when the liquid is sprayed or spattered. Gas from this acid will injure the fruit and foliage if used in excess, in much the same way as the gas generated by other methods; hence it is highly important that such work of fumigating should be given to a thoroughly reliable concern like the one of which we are writing.

The killing efficiency of the liquid hydrocyanic acid as compared with pot and machine generation, or other methods of fumigation was determined, first by com- parative tests in a fumatorium; second, by comparative tests under form trees; third, by comparative tests in the field; and fourth, by examination of commercial work in the field, and it is no wonder that this new means of citrus fumigation has come into such favor that the Orange County Fumigation Company has all that it can do. The place, with this new method, where the greatest concentration of gas occurs under the tent from the liquid is practically the reverse of that from the pot, or portable generator; with the former method, the most effective killing is at the bottom of the tree, while with the latter the most effective killing is at the top.

The Orange County Fumigating Company is a growing enterprise, having been duly incorporated for a very necessary work. Its officers are: president, L. W. Evans; vice-president, J. A. Maag; secretary and manager, J. A. King; treasurer, E. W. Bol- inger. Directors: L. W. Evans, El Modena; J. A. Maag, Orange; L. A. Bortz, Olive; J. F. Allen, Orange; A. G. Finley, Santa Ana; and Ed. H. Dierker, Orange.

Mr. Peterkin is a member of the Odd Fellows at Orange, and also of the Modern Woodmen and the Elks at Santa Ana. He was married at Santa Barbara to Miss Rebecca Jordan, a native of Missouri; and their fortunate union has been rendered the happier by the birth of one child, Thelma.

WILLIAM F. DIERS .- Santa Ana owes much of her commercial prosperity to such far-sighted. optimistic men of grit and experience as William F. Diers, for the past six years manager of the Wm. F. Lutz Company, Inc. He is a native son, and was born in Kern County, on November 11, 1884, and his father was Henry Diers, a farmer still living, who was born in Germany, and now resides in Santa Ana. He married Miss Mattie Baker, by whom he had four children, and she passed away some thirty years ago.

William was the third child in the interesting family, and enjoyed the educational advantages of both the grammar and the high schools. He came with his folks to Santa Ana in 1890, and grew up not only to prepare himself for an earnest tussle with the world, but to enjoy sport as well, particularly horseback riding. He belongs to the Orange County Country Club.

In 1900 he entered the service of the Wm. F. Lutz Company, Inc., and step by step rose to his present position of responsibility and trust. In 1913 he was made manager of the firm, and much of its recent success must be credited to his experience and fidelity. A stanch member of the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Diers is also an active worker in the Merchants and Manufacturers Association. Mr. Diers is a Republican in national political affairs and has served for three years in the National Guard of California. He belongs to Santa Ana Lodge No. 794, B. P. O. Elks, and was honored there as exalted ruler in 1919. In the World War period, he was most active on all the drives for war work purposes, and in many respects has set an inspir- ing example of plain, loyal and worth-while citizenship. On February 28, 1920, he married Mrs. F. E. Gustlin of Santa Ana.

ROBERT G. TUTHILL .- Could a history of the recent development, along sani- tary and strictly edifying lines, of undertaking in California be written, and proper credit given those individuals who have not only "done things," but have pointed the way to others wishing also to do and willing to follow, then one of the leading firms of Santa Ana-Messrs. Smith and Tuthill-would necessarily be mentioned in the front rank, and another star be added to the long list for which the town has striven and fought these many years. Both Robert G. Tuthill and his partner, George S. Smith, have endeavored, ever since creating their present establishment, to advance the status of undertaking whenever and wherever possible; and how far they have succeeded in their ideals those most familiar with their actual accomplishments can tell.

Born in Oskaloosa, Iowa, in May, 1878, Robert was the son of George Tuthill, a business man born in New York, who had married Miss Mary Skillen. The parents moved from Iowa to Kansas when the child was three months old, and then they went

archie. V. Kewell

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on to Portland, Ore., where they are both living. They had three children, and Robert was the second in the order of birth.

He attended the grammar and high schools of Kansas, and also a business college, and as a young man followed the undertaking business, first, in 1899, at San Francisco and after two years again in Kansas. Three years later, he was back in Los Angeles; and there he continued in undertaking for seven years.

On March 1, 1914, Mr. Tuthill came to Santa Ana, and soon afterward formed a partnership with Mr. Smith, who had been here twenty years. In every respect the equipment, including the needed automobiles, is modern and strictly up-to-date; and the progressive, refined and refining spirit animating the two gentlemen and their associates has won for them a large number of appreciative patrons. It is not sur- prising that Mr. Tuthill is a wide-awake director of the Santa Ana Chamber of Com- merce and enthusiastic in its progressive work.

On September 22, 1913, Mr. Tuthill and Miss Ella Dougherty were married at Portland, Ore .; the bride being a native of Kansas and the daughter of Jas. and Mary Dougherty. They have three children-Mary, Martha and Roberta. In national politics Mr. Tuthill is a Republican, he is a Protestant in religious faith, and he belongs to the Masons, the Knights Templar, the Odd Fellows and the Elks.

ARCHIE VERNON FEWELL .- The distinction of being a native Californian belongs to Archie Vernon Fewell, of the firm of Wine and Fewell, cement pipe manu- facturers and irrigation contractors, and he has spent practically all his life in Orange County, his birthplace. Mr. Fewell was born at Santa Ana on June 4, 1892, the son of Edward and Rosa Wilkinson Fewell, who were the parents of three children: Archie Vernon, of this review; Blanche, now the wife of Merrill Stearnes, a cotton grower in Arizona; and Mildred, the wife of Albert Shinn, also residents of Arizona. The father, who is a resident of Tustin, was born in Iowa, while the mother was a native of that state. She passed away in 1905, when Archie was but thirteen years old.

Mr. Fewell started in the cement business in Santa Ana at the early age of fifteen, working for John M. Wine, now his partner. He remained there until 1914, when he went to Lankershim where he conducted a general cement business. After one year there he returned to Santa Ana and formed a partnership with his former employer, John M. Wine, their place of business being located at 1029 East First Street. They are the leading firm in this line in Santa Ana and have always on hand a full stock of valves, gates and cement pipe of all sizes, so that they are able to handle any work that comes to them. They have executed many large contracts for Orange County, as well as for scores of the largest citrus growers and ranchers of Santa Ana and the neighboring towns. They place an absolute guarantee on every foot of their work and have built up a reputation for thorough, efficient work and square dealing that places them in the forefront of reliable business firms of the county. In the laying of cement pipes, Mr. Fewell has no equal, perhaps, within a wide radius. He does all this work himself and from January 1 up to the first of June, 1920, he laid more than 75,000 feet of pipe. Endowed with strength and physique far above the average, Mr. Fewell has a propensity for hard work and it is often said of him that he does two men's work every day.

Mr. Fewell's marriage which occurred at Santa Ana, June 15, 1911, united him with Miss Ollie Pickering, a native daughter of California, born at Santa Paula, Ven- tura County, but reared in Seattle, Wash. Her parents are George and Laura (Buff- ham) Pickering, the father of English birth and the mother a native of Illinois. Mrs. Pickering is one of Santa Ana's successful business women, being engaged in the real · estate business there. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Fewell: Their first born were twins, George V. and Laura Belle, the former only living to be sixteen months old; Dorothie Rose and Bernice. The family home is at 910 West Fourth Street, Santa Ana. Mr. and Mrs. Fewell attend the United Presbyterian Church at Santa Ana and enjoy a wide popularity in its social circles.

FREDERICK P. YANDEAU .- The ranch of twenty acres on Western Avenue, owned by Frederick P. Yandeau, is one of the show places of the vicinity, with its well-cared for, up-to-date appearance. The Valencia orange trees, now in their sixth year of growth, had just been set out when Mr. Yandeau purchased the place. At that time the irrigation facilities were limited, but the property is now piped and valved to a complete degree, and its appearance testifies to the care bestowed upon it.

Mr. Yandeau was born in Essex Junction, Vt., on April 11, 1872, the son of John and Tillie Yandeau, also natives of the Green Mountain State, whose children numbered eight, six of whom are living, and two of whom migrated to California. Frederick P. was reared and educated in his native state and had the benefit of a high school education. He afterward followed the occupation of a telegraphier for a number

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of years, and in 1897, when twenty-five years of age, came to California. A year later, in 1898, he entered the U. S. service as a member of the signal corps, and served in this capacity until 1900. At the outbreak of the Boxer Rebellion in China, he again entered active service, serving one year in China. He returned at the close of that time to the Philippine Islands, which he left for the scene of war. In 1904 he was appointed district telegraph officer in the Philippine constabulary, ranking as first lieutenant. After a period of two years he was appointed postoffice inspector, and retained the office four years. Ill health caused him to retire from the service and return to California, where he located in San Diego County to recuperate his failing health in the balmy climate of the Southland.

His marriage in 1908 united him with Miss Lena M. Holliday. His interest is ever to build up and add to the commercial influence and prosperity of the community in which his lot in life is cast, and among whose citizens he is highly esteemed as a worthy member. He is active in the membership of the Anaheim Cooperative Orange Growers Association.

P. H. NORTON .- A conservatively careful, yet progressive ranchman whose agri- cultural methods are the true keys to his phenomenal success, is P. H. Norton, of 301 Edgewood Road, Santa Ana. He was born on November 20, 1877, in Freeborn County, Minn., the son of G. E. and May H. (Phillips) Norton, and started life with the district school training there. His father was a native of Vermont, and his mother was born in Wisconsin, and as might be expected of such genuinely American folks, they afforded every advantage possible for the education of the son, who eventually took an agri- cultural course at the St. Anthony Park branch of the University of Minnesota, during the time, until he was twenty-six years old, when he remained at home on his father's farm, lending a hand in the work there.

On December 9, 1904, Mr. Norton was married to Miss Iva E. Wiseman, who was born near Albert Lea in Freeborn County, Minn., the daughter of A. P. and Ellen Wiseman, farmers and early settlers of Minnesota. The same years, Mr. Norton pur- chased eighty acres and leased 160 acres in addition, farming 240 acres in Redwood County. He followed agriculture there for seven years, making a specialty of breeding Percheron horses.

When he sold out, finally, he came to Santa Ana, and in 1911 purchased a tract of about six and one-half acres on Edgewood Avenue, two acres of which were in walnuts and three in Valencias. In 1918 he added by purchase six acres of walnuts, and as all was under the service of the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company, he easily had one of the most desirable properties in the county. From 1916 to 1917, Mr. Norton also owned a four-acre grove of young Valencias on East Palmyra Street. He is a member of the Santa Ana Valley Walnut Growers Association and also of the Santiago Orange Growers Association.

Four boys make up the family of Mr. and Mrs. Norton: Arold P. is a student at the Santa Ana high school; and Francis W., George Stanley and Miles A. Norton are in the grammar school. Mr. Norton is a member of the First Baptist Church at Santa Ana, and is also a Mason. Mrs. Norton, who long studied music under the best masters available, gives much pleasure to her family and friends with her proficiency on the piano.

ORAL V. DART .- A man who will long and pleasantly be remembered for his substantial work in both building up and upbuilding Santa Ana and Orange County is Oral V. Dart, the carpenter and contract house mover, who was born in Rexford, Thomas County, Kans., on November 9, 1887, the son of George W. and Tracy J. Dart, . farmers and landowners, being among the first settlers of western Kansas. When Oral was nine years old, they removed with him to Jewell County, where he was educated in the Jewell district school.

In 1908 he came to California and worked on the Valencia ranch near San Juan Capistrano, for the following two years, when he returned to Kansas for a short time, in the winter of 1911, owing to the death of his beloved mother. Then he came West again, this time to Seattle, and there he was employed by Albers Bros, in their flour mill. Once more he returned to Kansas and farmed.

In 1912 he came to California and for some time limited himself to ordinary carpentering. Realizing the need, however, of an expert mover of houses, he entered that field, and found no difficulty in demonstrating that he was the man for the occasion and the community. Since then he has been busy enough contracting for that kind of work, in some instances undertaking what others would not care, under the difficult conditions. to attempt.

At Santa Ana, on June 14, 1917, Mr. Dart was married to Miss Helen Teel, a daughter of F. H. and Mary Teel, of that same city. There Mrs. Dart was born,

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reared and educated. One boy, a promising lad named Alvin Lowell, born on July 9, 1918, has blessed this fortunate union. Mrs. Dart is a member of the Nazarene Church of Santa Ana, and Mr. Dart belongs to the Free Methodist Church.

He has just traded his handsome home at 1322 West Fifth Street for a grove of eleven acres lying between Santa Ana and Orange, and as nine acres are already in walnuts, the cosy ranch bids fair to be of real value in the near future.

Orange County is fortunate in having such public-spirited men as Mr. Dart, who for years stuck by the Prohibition party, and now that their goal has been reached, believes in working for the highest citizenship regardless of party lines.

JEROME V. SCHULZ .- A sincere, peace-loving citizen, fond of his home and solicitous for the welfare of children, and interested in the political problems of the day, is Jerome V. Schulz, the successful Williams Canyon rancher. His parents were John C. and Mary Ann Schulz, and he was born in Waterloo County, Iowa, on May 21. 1873. After having become a prosperous farmer, John C. Schulz came out to San Francisco with his wife and the six-year-old lad, Jerome, and for three years engaged in the hardware business. In 1882, Mr. Schulz came south to Anaheim and bought five acres. The land had been set out to grapes, but the new owner planted walnut trees. The lad helped his father on the ranch, at the same time attending the district schools.

On October 18, 1905, in Santa Ana, Jerome Schulz was married to Naomi A. Alsbach, the daughter of Montgomery and Mary E. Alsbach. The lady had first seen the light at Los Angeles, and when a year old had accompanied her parents to Downey. On account of her mother's health, they removed to Silverado Canyon, and there she still lives on their old home-site.

Directly after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Schulz moved to their present ranch in Williams Canyon, which Mr. Schulz had purchased in 1902, and where they and their family have lived ever since. There are 160 acres in the ranch, eight of which he has planted to budded walnuts, twenty-one are under cultivation in small grain and corn for domestic use, and two acres are given to prunes and apricots. Sycamore and eucalyptus trees grow in abundance on the place. This land was originally the Williams Ranch, and belonged to the man after whom the canyon was named.

When Williams purchased the ranch he bought it for a sixty-pound can of honey; he had for the most part goats as stock, and mountain lions would come down and steal them. Now the Schulz children go over a mountain trail one and a half miles long, on their way to school, and they used to frequently call to their father to come and kill the rattlesnakes they found. Of late, they have killed many of the reptiles themselves. This particular place on the ridge they have named Rattlesnake Peak.

Five children-four girls and a boy-have blessed the happy union of Mr. and Mrs. Schulz. Evelyn Dorothy is the oldest; then comes Vernon Everett, and after that Alice May, Florence Louise and Frances Isabel, all of whom attend the Silverado grammar school. Mr. and Mrs. Schultz are Democrats, but also were stand-patters for Hoover. Mrs. Schulz, who is serving her second term as trustee and clerk of the Sil- verado School district, is a woman of much native ability and business acumen, who is of much assistance to her husband, and both are taking an active part in helping the movements that have for their aim the building up of the county and community.

WILLIAM B. ALEXANDER .- The history of the family of Mr. and Mrs. Wil- liam B. Alexander is associated in a very interesting manner with the stirring events in three great commonwealths-California, Tennessee and Colorado-Mrs. Alexander's father having been among those who repeatedly braved and suffered much to help found the Pacific State, and Mr. Alexander having held public office when such was anything but a sinecure. He was born in Lebanon, Tenn., about thirty miles east of Nashville, on August 6, 1858, the son of John C. and Sarah ( Moser) Alexander, also natives of that state, as their parents were before them; and he was educated at the district school at Lebanon, Tenn.

When nineteen, in 1877, he left home to go to Colorado, and in Durango, La Plata County, he settled for a while and was employed by the San Juan Smelter and Refining Company. Supplies were at that time very scarce and dear; so much so that when he went on tours of investigation in the Rockies, hic had to pay as high as sixty-five dollars a ton for his hay for the horses.

Durango was four miles from the Navajo Indian Reservation, where the Utahs, the Navajos and the Pueblos lived; and the Indians would steal the whites' horses, and the whites, in turn, would steal the redskins' cattle. Then uprisings occurred, and the whites would he compelled to drive the Indians back into their own territory. Notwithstanding the privations and the responsibility, Mr. Alexander remained fore- man of the smelter company for twelve full years.

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After that he went into the cattle business, and often bought and sold as many as 1,000 head at a time. And he continued buying and selling cattle for about eight years, when he sold out and came West to San Diego, Cal., where he engaged in wholesaling and retailing.

When he came to Orange County, he purchased ten acres west of Santa Ana, which he devoted with success to beets and beans; and he also bought and sold property in Santa Ana. He owned good lots on Baker and Parton streets; and being satisfied with the future outlook of the town, in 1917 he bought a home on West Fifth Street, and also established his vulcanizing works. The patronage accorded by the public from the start of this enterprise speaks for itself.

In February, 1878, Mr. Alexander was married to Miss Ina L. Pennington, a native of Wilson County, Kans., and the daughter of J. T. and Sarah Pennington, early settlers in Wilson County, who came to Durango, Colo., in 1872. One son has blessed the union-Thomas D., who works in Santa Ana. Mrs. Alexander was educated at the Durango high school, and later taught in the vicinity of her home until she was married. Her father made three trips in "prairie schooners" across the plains, coming to California for the first time in 1849, during the famous gold rush. The family attend the Methodist Church.

In Tennessee, before going to Colorado, Mr. Alexander was a deputy sheriff for a couple of years; and in Durango he was on the town board for two years. In national politics he is a Democrat. Fraternally, he is a member of the Odd Fellows, of the Woodmen, and of the Elks; and there is no one who enjoys greater popularity, or carries his honors more modestly.

S. E. TINGLEY .- Among the decidedly progressive men of Orange County, itself one of the most progressive sections of the great California commonwealth, should be mentioned S. E. Tingley, a prominent resident of Tustin, who in 1910 established the Tustin Lumber Company, now playing such an important part in the development of the district. They do a general lumber and mill business, and handle all kinds of builders' material, cement, roofing and wall board; and by anticipating the wants, rather than merely catering to the needs of the community, render the town and environs a great service. A large force of men are employed on the two acres of the company, and it is not surprising that their business last year amounted to forty thousand dollars.

Mr. Tingley is a native of Trenton, Mo., and was born in the notable year of 1876, when the nation was celebrating its first century of existence and prosperity. His father was Joseph F. Tingley, a native of Ohio, who married Miss Eliza Roberts, a native of Virginia. Of their five living children, S. E. is next to the youngest and was two years of age when the family removed to Wamego, Pottawatomie County, . Kans., remaining there until 1887, when they came to the Pacific Coast, locating at National City, San Diego County, Cal., and here he completed the public schools.

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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 171

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