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 172

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 172

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In 1896 Mr. Tingley was married at National City to Miss Sarah J. Cox, daughter of William and Isabel Cox, natives of England, and they have one daughter, Margaret O. Tingley. In 1902 he moved to Santa Ana, and here, in Orange County, he has been actively engaged in the lumber business ever since. Previous to his establishing the Tustin Lumber Company, Mr. Tingley was in the employ of the Pendleton Lum- ber Company at Santa Ana.

As a wide-awake citizen who has not only provided a place for himself, but has contributed toward the advancement of both the county and the state, Mr. Tingley is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Tustin, and never fails to support a move- ment for the progress of the town. He is also both a member and a trustee of the Presbyterian Church. In Masonic circles he is especially popular, but he counts his friends in all circles of society, and in various communities.

WERNER R. DROSS .- To the young men, both of the past and present genera- tion. California had proved a land of opportunity, and success is within the reach of all who possess energy, business ability and a determination to succeed. Such has been the experience of Werner R. Dross, the efficient warehouseman of the San Joaquin Warehouse Company, a position he has held for the past ten years. This is the largest lima bean warehouse on the Pacific Coast, and consists of two large buildings, one 450 by 40 feet and the other 500 by 40 feet. Seventeen cars of beans can be loaded at one time. There are two bean cleaners in each warehouse and only the most up-to-date methods and the best machinery are used, none but white labor being employed to hand pick and clean the beans. The product is put up in 100-pound sacks, ready for the consumer.

A native of Germany, Werner R. Dross was born at Elbing on February 6, 1879. his parents being Walter and Vanda (Gerdes) Dross, both natives of Germany, who

S. E. Tingley

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lived and died there. The father was the owner of a flour mill, farm and grain warehouse at Elbing, so that Werner was familiar with the warehouse business from his earliest childhood. By his first marriage Walter Dross was the father of three children: Frieda, who died in Germany, leaving three children; Werner R., the subject of this sketch; and Erich, a farmer in Germany. The mother passed away when Werner was but three years old, and the father married again, his second marriage uniting him with Augusta Kaehler, who is still living in Germany. The following children were born of this marriage: Walter, Robert, Maryana, Bernhard, Gerhard and Helmut. Bernhard the first and Gerhard both died in infancy, and Walter and Helmut lost their lives in the recent war. Bernhard, second, is the manager of the Newton Grain and Bean Warehouse at Oceanside, he and Werner being the only members of the family in America.

Mr. Dross grew up at Elbing and received an excellent education there, attending the high and polytechnic schools, where he studied bookkeeping, higher mathematics, Latin and French. At the age of nineteen he became a sailor before the mast, shipping to Singapore, thence to Buenos Aires, South America, and from there to Honolulu, and back to San Francisco. When he reached the latter port in March, 1900, he was so agreeably impressed with the country that he resolved to locate in California. Shortly after landing, however, he heard of the great mining prospects in Lima, Peru, and made his way there with a friend. He was soon engaged by the Prussian government as a draftsman, a position for which he was well qualified by his polytechnic school training in his native land. He soon decided, however, that Peru was too warm a climate for a place of residence, so returned to California, and he has since made his home in the state of his choice. His first position was with George W. Kneass, the proprietor of a boat building and furniture manufacturing establishment in San Fran- cisco, and there he remained for two years, working as a mill hand. He then went to work for the S. P. Milling Company in 1904. holding positions with that company at Santa Barbara, Oxnard, Kings City, San Ardo and Camarillo. In 1911 he came from the latter place to Irvine, taking the position of warehouseman with the San Joaquin Warehouse Company, and he has continued with that concern ever since, making a splendid success of his responsible position.

A man of excellent business judgment and executive ability, Mr. Dross stands high in the community, and is popular in the circles of the Elks and Odd Fellows, having been a member of the Santa Ana lodges of these organizations for several years. Having become a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1913, in Santa Ana, Mr. Dross has never regretted the circumstances that led him to make this land his home, and the passing of the years has made him increasingly fond of this particular section of his adopted country.

WALTER N. CONGDON .- The interesting and highly instructive history of several representative pioneer families is recalled by the story of Mr. and Mrs. Walter N. Congdon and their continued and increasing prosperity. Mr. Congdon is the proprietor of the Congdon Motor Car Company, whose motto, "We can fix your automobile any place, any time," has captured more and more patrons, and as an ignition expert managing the Prest-O-Lite exchange, he has done much for Orange County motorists in guaranteeing strictly first-class machine work. He was born at San Juan Capistrano on August 16, 1878, the son of J. R. Congdon, so well known to Californians, who had married Miss Mary A. Rouse, one of another widely-connected family. He learned the plumbing trade at Santa Ana, and worked for the Nickey Hardware Company, whose proprietor was Frank P. Nickey, of Santa Ana.

On June 15, Mr. Congdon was married to Miss Allie M. Nickey, of 517 Bush Street, and the daughter of the aforesaid gentleman, once a supervisor of Orange County. She was born in Iowa, but grew up in Santa Ana, and here attended the high school, from which she was graduated in time with honors. Two children blessed the union-Jack N. and Mildred Allyne.

Having made his mark in Santa Ana, Mr. Congdon returned to San Juan Capis- trano, and in 1914 established, under the name of Congdon's Garage, the business now so agreeably associated with his daily activity, and under the charge of Mrs. Congdon. as well as himself. that accomplished lady acting as bookkeeper. Mr. Congdon is ably assisted by his younger brother, Chester, who is also a first-class mechanic and auto expert. They maintain a Ford service station, and while doing vulcanizing, carry a full line of four or five different kinds of tires. They sell gasoline, oil, greases and a full line of auto supplies; and because of the completeness and quality of their stock and their prompt way of doing things, it is safe to say that they never lose a customer when once they get one. And they always have as many as they can conveniently care for, with their expert service.

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FRANK C. PLANCHON .- A hard-working, successful rancher, who has be- come a leading grower of both beets and beans in Orange County, is Frank C. Planchon, who owns a fine ranch of thirty acres in the Newport precinct. He was born in Santa Clara, Cal., on March 4, 1885, the son of John P. S. and Martha (Rey- naud) Planchon. His father, who was born in South America, was a business man in Montevideo, where the grandfather, also named John P. S. Planchon, established a large wholesale meat market, and he owned, besides, 10,000 acres of land, and 10,000 or more head of cattle, the market for which he thus found himself. He also estab- lished a confectionery manufactory there. The Waldensians had a settlement of about fifty families at that place, but on account of the frequently occuring revolu- tions in that country, having for the most part large families, they were desirous of getting the young men away from being pressed into military service for no cause whatever, so the minister, the Reverend Solomon, and ten families left La Plata, and came to Barry County, Mo., and how and where they traveled en route is worth recording. The trip from Montevideo to Verona, Mo., took two months, for they sailed from La Plata to Buenos Ayres, thence to Rio de Janeiro, after that to Cape Colony, South Africa, and then up the African Coast to the Canary and the Cape Verde islands, and after that to the Azores, then to Havre, France, next to Liverpool, and thence to New York City-sixty-four days on the seas. From New York they proceeded by rail to St. Louis, and finally to Verona, where the Waldensian settlers had bought land. Grandfather Planchon was born near Piedmont, in the duchy of Savoy, and he went to South America as a young man, and there married Miss Cath- erine Courdin, who was a native of Piedmont. Once arrived in Missouri, Mr. Planchon bought 1,000 acres of land, and here he resided until his death. He had six boys and two girls; his son, John P. S., came to California when a young man in the early eighties, and was married in Santa Clara County to Martha Reynaud, born in France. They followed farming until 1886, and then returned to Barry County, Mo., where he is a large and successful farmer.

Frank C. Planchon grew up on his father's farm in Missouri, receiving a good education in the local public school. When twenty years of age, having always had a desire to see the state of his nativity, he came to Orange County, intending to stay four months and then return home, but he liked the country and conditions so well here that he has prolonged his stay until now. He worked on ranches and then rented land and engaged in farming.

In 1908 Mr. Planchon was married to Miss Pearl Walker, who was born and reared in Los Angeles, and who had moved to Talbert in 1905, where her father, Frank P. Walker, was a farmer until his death. They have been blessed with three children, Carl, Earl and Martha. Mr. and Mrs. Planchon are members of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church South at Greenville, where he is financial secretary, as well as secretary of the board of trustees, and where his influence is directed for the good of the community.

In 1915 Mr. Planchon bought his ranch of thirty acres, two miles southwest of Santa Ana, seven of which he has planted to lima beans, fifteen to beets, while the balance of the area is devoted to yards and alfalfa. His method of cultivation shows a thorough knowledge of local conditions-the first requisite always to success.

ALBERT C. LANTZ .- A representative of a successful business family, noted as an oil expert, who is pardonably proud of his accomplishment in effecting an extensive oil lease. is Albert C. Lantz, who was born eight miles from Aurora, in Will County, Ill., on July 29, 1885. His father was W. D. Lantz, a native of Will County, where he first saw the light of day on August 21, 1859, the son of Daniel and Betsy (Holdman) Lantz; and he was married to Miss Isabelle Malcolm, the mother of our subject, in Will County, November 4. 1880. Albert lived with his parents, who were farmers, raising Shorthorn beef cattle and Poland-China hogs.

Mr. and Mrs. W. D. Lantz removed to Iowa in 1893 and there purchased a farm of 240 acres four miles north of Waterloo, devoted to corn, stock and grain. At Waterloo, Albert went to the district school, at the same that, as a live, healthy boy, he worked about the farm. In 1907, W. D. Lantz came to Santa Ana and began to deal in real estate, buying and selling houses; establishing that reputation for experience and fair dealing which has ever since been of such value to them and brought them so much patronage.

After coming to California. Albert Lantz engaged in the automobile business as the authorized Ford distributor for Santa Ana; and this Ford agency he conducted until 1914. Now he is in the oil promotion field, and owns a half interest in the largest oil lease in Orange County. This lease was effected on May 15, 1920, and is jointly owned by R. T. Tustin of Chicago, who has recently come to Santa Ana as an old oil expert from the East, and A. C. Lantz, our subject. The lease embraces 23.835 acres

Mr&Mrs 7. C. Planchon

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of old, proven oil land, and was given by L. F. Moulton. On this land, some ten years ago, a well was sunk 2,400 feet, striking oil, but the oil was not produced in paying quantity. The lease extends in wide area from the Moulton lines near El Toro, running southwesterly to the ocean.

A derrick is to be put up and first-class oil drilling machinery will be installed in Aliso Canyon. A well is then proposed for each thousand acres, and if production warrants the increased investment, two wells will be sunk for the same area. Mr. Lantz was a graduate of the Waterloo high school, and so has the fortunate asset of a good education. He belongs to the Elks.

Royce W. Lantz, another son of W. D. Lantz and a brother of our subject, was born near Aurora, in Will County, Ill., on November 11, 1892, and lived with his parents, coming west to California with them. He went to the district school in Will County, and finished his studies in Santa Ana, where he graduated from the high school. Since then he has engaged with his father in Santa Ana realty, and at present is widely known as a wide-awake, successful operator, making honesty the basis of all of his business dealings.

On December 13, 1917, Mr. Lantz enlisted in the United States Navy, and was sent to Mare Island for training. He left for the Hawaiian Islands on February 15. 1918, and there served as a machinist's mate at the radio station. Later he returned to the United States and was discharged on July 23, 1919. Now he is a member of the American Legion.

ALFRED TRAPP .- Honest, industrious, and well-informed Americans, reason- ably contented with their environment and lot, and ambitious and hopeful for the future, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Trapp belong to that sterling class of "hard laborers" which is the wealth, the bulwark and the pride of our country. He is a machinist, a blacksmith and a carpenter, and an all-around mechanic as well, trained through long experience as a section foreman on the Santa Fe Railway, a ranch foreman and a builder, and is employed by the L. F. Moulton Company, who undoubtedly appreciate his versatility.

He was born at Otto, in Fulton County, Ill., on September 7, 1873, a brother of Mrs. Dempsey W. Gould, and grew up in Illinois, where he attended the public schools. He was early introduced to a life of unremitting industry; and since he was always handy with tools, he had no need to be begged to develop his mechanical turn.

He came out from Illinois to California in 1898, and went to work as a trackman at Serra, in Orange County, in the service of the Santa Fe Railroad Company. For two years he worked as a section hand, and then he rose to be track foreman or section boss, and that position of responsibility he held for five years.

In Capistrano he was married to Miss Chester C. Gray, a daughter of J. M. Gray, who lives with the Trapps at El Toro, and a sister of Warren M. Gray, who is mentioned elsewhere in this book. J. M. Gray was a track foreman and construction boss for the Chicago and Northwestern Railway in Iowa for over forty years, and well earned the rest he now enjoys. Mrs. Gray is dead. After that, Mr. Trapp entered the. employ of E. W. Scripps at Miramar, in San Diego County, and for six years shouldered all the responsibility as foreman of road building on that millionaire's elegant ranch and adjacent roads. He takes great delight in his problems, and derives from his work something more than mere income.

Four children were given to Mr. and Mrs. Trapp, and three they have been allowed to retain, one having passed beyond. She was the second in the order of hirth, and was given the attractive names Frances Elizabeth. The surviving children are the eldest, the third, and the youngest-John M., Grace Myrtle and Harry Alfred.

Mr. Trapp who, by the way, has been a Socialist for the past twenty years, is a student of economics, industrial relations and politics, and in common with his good wife, who also has a humanitarian disposition, is deeply interested in the industrial and other questions of the day.

HARRY ARTHUR FROEHLICH .- Among the many freedom-loving citizens of the German Empire who left their native land to escape the iron rule of Bismarck was Joseph Froehlich, a friend and compatriot of Carl Schurz, who came to American as soon as he had finished his required term of service in the German army. He had received an excellent education in the schools of his native country and had been taught the trade of a piano maker there, but after coming to the United States he took up the work of court reporting in the circuit court in Henderson County, Ill. Shortly after coming to this country Mr. Froehlich was united in marriage with Miss Amelia Stuck, who was, like himself, born in Germany. Four children were born to them: William is a blacksmith at Fillmore. Ventura County; Harry Arthur is the subject of this sketch: Tillie resides at Pacific Beach: John is connected with the technical

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department of one of the large moving picture concerns and makes his home at Los Angeles. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Froehlich are both deceased.

Harry Arthur Froehlich was born at Oquawaka, Ill., December 27, 1873, and passed the first six years of his life in Illinois, when he moved to Winfield, Sumner County, Kans., with his parents. Here his father engaged in the lumber business as agent for the Rock Island Lumber Company, and the family made their home there for about eleven years. Coming to San Diego, Cal., in the spring of 1889, Harry A. started to work for M. F. Heller, continuing with him for the next six yars, after which he traveled out of Los Angeles for four years representing the old firm of Steinen and Kirchner, a barber and butcher supply house. On account of ill health he gave up his business association with them and located at Miramar, San Diego County, where he engaged in the grocery and general merchandise business with good success for a period of five years, when he disposed of his business profitably and went to farming at Del Mar. After two years he sold out his leasehold and leased the Boynton fruit ranch at El Toro. At different times he was employed by L. F. Moulton, and on March 1, 1919, he accepted the post of warehouseman for the L. F. Moulton Company ,a position of great responsibility and trust, as he handles upwards of $500,000 worth of grain and beans each year.

El Toro is the grain emporium of Orange County, and the greater part of it is handled through the two great warehouses of the L. F. Moulton Company, which have a capacity of 100,000 sacks. They are finely equipped with the latest and most approved machinery for cleaning beans and a roller mill for crushing barley.

On December 25, 1897, Mr. Froehlich was united in marriage with Miss Grace North, a native daughter of the state. Santa Ana being her birthplace. Her parents, who are now both deceased, were John J. and Sophia Jane North, the father, a native of Liverpool, England, while Mrs. North was born in Australia. Mr. Froehlich is a Republican, and fraternally is affiliated with the Wbodmen of the World.

ALBERT PRYOR .- A highly-intelligent and industrious representative of an early pioneer family of Southern California, concerning whom it would not be a mere commonplace to say that "his word is as good as his bond," is Albert Pryor, the San Juan Capistrano horticulturist, who owns over forty of the choicest acres in the neigh- borhood, including eighteen in well-set walnuts. He not only lives in the famous Mission town, but he was born there, on April 6, 1872, and there he attended the public schools, later studying at the excellent St. Vincent's College at Los Angeles, and topping off his student work with a stiff course at the Woodbury Business College, in the same city.

Nathaniel Pryor-sometimes referred to as Don Miguel N. Pryor-was the grand- father of our subject, and came here, it is said, far back in 1828, when he was thirty years of age, being, therefore, one of the earliest Easterners to settle in California. Fifteen or twenty years later, about the time that he was made a Regidor or Council- man, he was one of perhaps ten Easterners who had farms inside of the district of the Los Angeles pueblo and was one of the oldest and most prominent citizens, well thought of and highly respected by everyone. Part of his property was a vineyard, between the river and what is now Los Angeles Street, and on it was an old adobe which, according to Harris Newmark, the pioneer-historian, may still be seen on Jack- son Street, the only mud-brick structure in that section. Nathaniel Pryor was twice married, having a son, Pablo by his first wife, and a son, Nathaniel, Jr., by his second.

His first marriage was to Theressa Sepulveda of Los Angeles, who died when her son Pablo was born, in about 1840, and is one of the few, according to Newmark, with the mother of Pio Pico, buried inside of the old Catholic church at the Plaza, Los Angeles. Pablo, or Paul, who was born in Los Angeles, married Rosa Avila of San Juan Capistrano. Her father, Don Juan Avila, was a large landowner and cattle grower. Paul Pryor owned the old Don Miguel Pryor ranch in Los Angeles, as well as a valu- able estate in San Juan Capistrano, residing at the latter place until his death in 1878, leaving a wife and six children, Albert being next to the youngest. The widow sur- vived until 1915.

Albert Pryor was with Joseph Mascarel in Los Angeles until his death, and had charge of his estate. During that time, he witnessed many stirring events, and saw the steady progress of the Southland, including the building of the Santa Fe Railroad. In 1894 he was married, in Los Angeles, to Miss Natalia Leonis, a native of Los An- geles, in which city she was brought up, and they have had two children-Albert T. and Paul. Seventeen years ago he bought a residence at San Juan Capistrano, in order to remain there and afford his children the best educational facilities. He owns a farm of forty-three acres, advantageously situated at Serra, and this may some day outrival his Capistrano holding.

albert thyou

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LEON EYRAUD .- Southern California has welcomed many sons and daughters of the Hautes Alpes, France, affording them opportunities they would probably never have enjoyed had they remained in their beautiful but less favored country, and among those who have succeeded here, and who, in succeeding, have contributed toward the advancement of the great commonwealth, must be noted Leon Eyraud, the genial and thoroughly attentive proprietor of the Capistrano Hot Springs Resort, twelve miles northeast of San Juan Capistrano. He was born in or near Marseilles, France, on February 24, 1878, the son of Pierre Eyraud, who had married Honorine Cadwel; his father was a blacksmith who had both a smithy and a cafe, and he and his wife were born, married and died in France, passing away at the ages, respectively, of seventy-six and seventy-eight. They had seventeen children, eleven boys and six girls; and among them Leon was the sixteenth in the order of birth. Pierre Eyraud served under Napoleon in 1848, and was esteemed because of his military record.

Leon attended the government, or public schools in France, and learned the blacksmith trade from his father. He served for three years in the French cavalry, and while in France was married to Miss Fannie Faur, who was born near Marseilles. Then he and his bride came across the ocean and the continent to Los Angeles, in 1906, sailing from Havre on the steamship La Provence of the Transatlantique Com- pany on September 22, and landing at New York City. after a pleasant voyage, on September 28. They spent three days in the New World metropolis, and then took the train for Los Angeles, in which city they arrived on October 4.

For four years Mr. Eyraud worked for the Cudahy Packing Company at Los Angeles as a sausage maker, and then he conducted a French boarding-house under the name of the Cafe des Alpes, which he started in 1913.

Having bought the Capistrano Hot Springs on January 1, 1919, he sold his Los Angeles cafe on January 20, 1920. Since then he has expended some $10,000 in fixing up the new resort. He has his own vegetable garden, and produces his own supply of milk, cream and butter. He bought all the buildings, consisting of the main hotel, a store building, a pavilion, a fine kitchen and dining-room, and seventeen cottages and twenty-four tents; and on last Memorial Day catered to over 200 people. He maintains his own poultry ranch, and also a store for various supplies, including oil and gasoline for automobiles, and is also the postmaster of Capistrano Hot Springs. He holds under lease some 150 acres of the Mission Viego rancho, and he has engaged a full staff of competent help who operate under the successful direction of Mrs. Eyraud.

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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 172

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