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 33

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 33

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A native of Germany, Mr. Pfeiffer was born at Muehlhausen on January 25. 1837. His parents were farmers in moderate circumstances, but gave their son all the educational advantages possible, and he early developed ambitious tendencies, feeling that America offered greater opportunities. In 1850, at the age of eighteen, he took passage on a sailing vessel from Bremen, and after sixty-six days reached New York. Going on to St. Louis, Mo., he secured employment in a store, improving his spare moments by attending a business college, realizing how this additional training would help him to advance in business. Securing a position with the mercantile establishment of Gen. W. F. Thornton at Shelbyville in 1855, at the modest sum of $200 a year, his worth was soon recognized, and he was rapidly advanced to a position in the banking honse of General Thornton, and was steadily advanced to a salary of $200 per month and the post of cashier, an office he filled with unqualified success for twenty-eight years. As a mark of the confidence reposed in him by his employer, upon the death of General Thornton, Mr. Pfeiffer was made administrator of his estate, without bond. and he settled np all the complicated details of this large business in a most satisfactory manner. At the breaking out of the Civil War he was running a mercantile business of his own, but he sold out and offered his services to his country. On account of partial disability he was placed as a sntler.

His health somewhat impaired by the heavy responsibilities of so many years. Mr. Pfeiffer and his family went to San Antonio, Texas; there he ontfitted and trav- eled over the frontier for a time. Returning again to Illinois he resumed his position, but in September, 1881, brought his family to California. Settling in Villa Park pre- cinct, then called Mountain View, he purchased thirty-two acres. At that early day hoth agriculture and horticulture were in their experimental stages, and it was not yet fully determined to what products the soil was best adapted. Many vineyards were being set ont, however, and Mr. Pfeiffer set fourteen acres of his ranch with grapes. Like everyone, his vineyard suffered from blight, and he rented the ranch, moved to Highland and for two years ran a grocery store, during the building of the hospital. Returning to the ranch he planted vines a second time, but was unable to root out the disease, and gave up his efforts.

After this discouraging circumstance Mr. Pfeiffer disposed of his land and removed to Orange, where he erected two bungalows on North Grand Street, in one of which Mrs. Pfeiffer still resides. He was prominent in the ranks of the Odd Fel- lows, having been a charter member of the lodge at Orange and treasurer of it from the date of its organization for many years. He was also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In 1916 Mr. Pfeiffer suffered an attack of paralysis from which he never recovered, his death occurring on Angust 23 of that year. An upright. energetic citizen, Mr. Pfeiffer was loyal to every trust reposed in him and his memory will ever be cherished by the many friends who appreciated his sterling character.

Mr. and Mrs. Pfeiffer were the parents of six children; two passed away in infancy during their residence in Illinois; Henry O. died in San Diego at the age of twenty, and August died at Highland at the age of nineteen; Mollie Mahle is the wife of Arthur S. Barker, a real estate dealer at Los Angeles; they have one son, Russell A. Barker, who served in the World War, seeing active duty in France; Mrs. Ada Meine is a bookkeeper for a Los Angeles firm. During their residence at Villa Park, Mr. and Mrs. Pfeiffer were active members of the Neighborhood Church there. Since

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coming to Orange Mrs. Pfeiffer has affiliated with the Christian Church at that place, having been reared in that faith. A Rebekah, she has been a faithful member of its ranks for many years in Orange.

MRS. ELIZABETH LAMB .- An extensive land owner, well endowed with this world's goods, and highly respected and loved for her many beautiful and sterling traits of character is Mrs. Elizabeth Lamb, widow of the late William D. Lamh, promi- nent pioneer citizen of Southern California. Her life has indeed been rich in varied experiences in that sort of interest and adventure that was the accompaniment of pio- neer days, nor has it been unmixed with hardships, some of them being almost unbe- lievable.

Mrs. Lamb is a native of England, her birthplace being at Billings, Lancashire, June 24, 1850. Her parents were John R. and Sarah (Jolley) Holt, also of English birth. The father was a wheelwright and joiner and he followed this line of work for a number of years in his native land. They were the parents of nine children, and when Elizabeth was thirteen years of age she came to America with two sisters and a brother. They sailed from Liverpool in May, 1863, and even then Elizabeth's adventurous experiences began. After seven weeks of storm and calm they finally landed at Castle Garden, New York, coming across on the old condemned sailer "Antarctic" which was sunk on the return voyage. Their destination was Utah, and they made their way across the country as far as Omaha by train, thence to Salt Lake City by ox team, arriving there six months after their departure from Liverpool. Here they located, and later Elizabeth made the acquaintance of William D. Lamb, to whom she was married on October 12, 1868. Mr. Lamb was then only nineteen years of age, but his life had been filled with arduous experience, even at that time. Born in Onondaga County, N. Y., he was left motherless at the age of four, and lived for a time with an uncle near Grand Rapids, Mich. When he was eleven years old he set out to make his way alone, working his way through to Omaha on railroad grading work. When he was about fourteen years old his father came up from the South and the two crossed the plains in a Mormon freight train. At that time he had not even learned to read, for his life had been so full of toil that there had been no time for schooling, but after reaching Salt Lake City he managed, even in the midst of many duties, to learn the alphabet and acquire the rudiments of an education.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Lamb remained in Salt Lake City for a time, and there their eldest daughter, Mary, now Mrs. E. J. Levengood, was born. Then they decided to locate in California, and when they arrived here Mr. Lamb earned a living by chopping and hauling wood on what was later the Lucky Baldwin ranch, Mrs. Lamb and her little one making their home in their covered wagon. They then moved on to El Monte and tried farming there, but there was a long season of drought and all their corn and other produce was dried up. Their next move was to Azusa, where they lived in the canyon, afterwards named Lamb's Canyon for Mr. Lamb. Here two of their children were born, but they lost both of them and they were buried there. Mr. Lamb next bought a squatter's claim of 160 acres four miles from Huntington Beach, but in 1879, after they had lived there four years, litigation arose and he and other claimants to adjoining tracts were dispossessed, the Los Bolsas Company winning the suit. His next purchase was forty acres of the Stearns ranch at Newhope; here they settled, made many improvements and prospered. They sub- sequently added to their acreage, and Mrs. Lamb still owns the old home of 120 acres there. The next purchase was 220 acres at Garden Grove and, in 1892, he closed the deal for 720 acres of the Los Bolsas ranch at a very reasonable price, and here Mrs. Lamb now makes her home. At first they only ran cattle on these lands, but they have now been brought up to a high state of cultivation. They were always among the most progressive farmers of the community, as their place was always equipped with the latest inventions in farm machinery that could be obtained, and the example of their enterprise meant much for the progress and welfare of their neighborhood.

For several years Mr. Lamb was the resident manager of the Los Bolsas Land Company and other large ranches, and through his work much improvement was made on the tracts under his charge. He early saw the necessity for drainage and irrigation, and with several associates purchased a dredger, the first of its kind in this territory, and thus completely revolutionized the early methods of carrying on this work. In no instance, perhaps, is his perseverance and progressive spirit more plainly shown than in the fact that after he had embarked in business for him- self he employed a man to keep his books, and paid him an extra salary for his per- sonal instruction in reading, arithmetic and the general principles of business, this arrangement continuing for three years; after that he was able to superintend every detail of his extensive business interests for himself and with marked success. Mr.

W & Lamb

Elizabeth Lamb

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Lamb passed away in March, 1911, and is buried at Santa Ana. Like her husband, Mrs. Lamb had only the most limited opportunities to secure an education, but this was fully made up through the practical business experience and "hard knocks" of pioneer days. She has always been a woman of great business and executive ability. and ever shared with her husband the burdens and responsibilities of their great under- takings, and much of his success was due to her splendid judgment and management.

Mr. and Mrs. Lamb were the parents of nine children, five of whom are living: Mary, now Mrs. Edward J. Levengood of Pomona, was first married to William Hamner, by whom she had two children, Jessie M. and Anson; Wm. Anson and Vina died in childhood; Arthur, now deceased, married Mary Stephens and had one son, Leo Ford Lamb, who resides in Los Angeles; Walter D., a rancher near Santa Ana, married Gertrude DuBois, a daughter of Valentine DuBois of Santa Ana, and they have two children, Mrs. Velda May Squires and Kenneth; Laura is the wife of Gregory Harper, and they have two children, Ivan H. and Harold L .; Hugo J., a rancher near Huntington Beach, married Effie Stockton, and two children have been born to them, Lois and Alice; Earl A. is also engaged in ranching near Huntington Beach; he mar- ried Etta Bradley, and they are the parents of three children, Rachel E., Wm. G. and Alvan; Robert died at the age of four months.

Mrs. Lamb makes her home on her 720-acre ranch southeast of Huntington Beach, her son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Harper, living with her. and she is active and interested in the management of her properties and extensive business interests. A woman of great force of character, withal kindly and consider- ate, she is greatly beloved hy her family and a large circle of friends. A true type of the pioneer woman, her life is a record of accomplishment and good deeds that will leave their beneficent influence on the generations to come.

WILLIAM WENDT .- A distinguished American artist who has added lustre to the rapid development of art in California is William Wendt, who was born in a little village in the north of Germany on February 20, 1865, and came to America at the age of fifteen, when he took up his residence in Chicago. He attended the public schools, and became interested in commercial art, spending a number of years in the shops, together with Gardner Symons.

In 1893. Mr. Wendt contributed to the Chicago Society of Artists Exhibition, and was awarded his first recognition in the granting of the Yerkes prize. He main- tained a studio at Chicago, and spent the following year sketching near San Jose, in California. Later, he made another trip to California, this time to Los Angeles, after which he returned to Chicago and planned with Mr. Symons a tour of Europe. With the exception of two terms of study in the evening classes of the Chicago Art Insti- tute, Mr. Wendt is a self-taught artist.

Proceeding to Europe, Mr. Wendt spent fifteen months in the galleries of London and other English centers, and in painting scenes of rural life in England; making his headquarters at St. Ives, Cornwall. Leaving his companion still luxuriating in British art environment, Mr. Wendt returned to America, and with his foreign subjects made an unusual exhibition at the galleries of the Art Institute in Chicago. A second trip to Europe was extended to a survey of the galleries and art fields of Hamburg, Berlin. Munich and Amsterdam and Paris, returning to America in 1904 to devote himself to American landscape painting. Mr. Wendt contributed to the St. Louis Exposition in 1904, and received the silver medal; and the same year he was awarded the Kahn prize at Chicago. In 1897 he had been given the Young Fortnightly Prize, and in 1901 the bronze medal of the Buffalo Exposition. The next year he was given honorable men- tion at the exhibition of the Chicago Society of Artists.

In 1906, Mr. Wendt moved to Los Angeles, and for seven or eight years was president of the California Art Club. He exhibited at the Museum in Exposition Park, which museum later purchased his picture, "The Land of Heart's Desire."

For many years, Mr. Wendt has been associated with the art development at Laguna Beach, having painted in that locality for the last seventeen years, and in 1918 he erected a well-planned studio at Arch Beach about a mile south of Laguna Peach, on the Coast. The studio is more than a working place, it is a retreat from the humdrum of everyday activities, for Mr. Wendt feels he has found at Laguna the opportunity for seclusion sought for during many years, and he expects here to complete many of his dreamed-of pictures, and to accomplish the height of his ambition. Besides having been made an associate of the National Academy of Design, in 1913. Mr. Wendt is a member of the National Art Club of New York City, the Chicago Society of Artists, the California Art Club, and the Laguna Beach Art Association and Federation of Arts, Washington. In addition to the honors already referred to, Mr. Wendt received the fine arts prize of the Society of Western Artists in 1912, the silver medal of the Panama Exposition in 1915, the Wednesday Club Medal prize, St. Louis

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1910, and the grand prize of the San Diego Exposition of the same year, the Kirch- berger prize, American Artists Exhibition, Art Institute of Chicago, 1913, and the Clarence A. Black prize of the California Art Club in 1916. He is represented in perma- nent collections of the Chicago Art Institute, the Friends of American Art, the Cliff Dwellers, the Union League of Chicago, the Athletic Club of Los Angeles, the Cin- cinnati Museum, the Art Association of Indianapolis. the National Arts Club, New York, and other museums and clubs.

In June, 1906, the same year in which Mr. Wendt became a resident of Los Angeles, he was married to the noted sculptor of Chicago, Julia M. Bracken; their home is at 2814 North Sichel Street, Los Angeles.

According to a writer in the Chicago Tribune, under date of May 16, 1920, the four favorite pictures in the Chicago Art Institute are. first, "The Song of the Lark," by Jules Breton; second, "The Silence of Night," by William Wendt; third, "The Flower Girl in Holland." by George Hitchcock; and fourth. "The Home of the Heron," by George Inness-usually rated the greatest of American landscape artists. "The Silence of the Night," which may perhaps rank as Wendt's masterpiece, was presented to the Chicago Art Institute by a number of the friends of that museum and school; another canvas by Mr. Wendt also hangs in this noted gallery, a landscape entitled "When All the World is Young," painted at Topango Canyon. California.

JAMES R. KELLY .- In the passing away of James R. Kelly on April 17, 1908, Orange County lost one of its stanch citizens whose labors for the development of this locality in striving to enhance its progress and develop its resources entitle him to a prominent rank among its early residents.

The lineage of the Kelly family is traced back to three brothers and a sister who were born in Ulster, in the north of Ireland, and who came to America between the years of 1720 and 1730, so that they have an honored history of nearly two centuries on this side of the Atlantic. One of the brothers, Col. John Kelly, was accompanied by his wife, who before her marriage was Margaret Armour, also a native of the Emerald Isle. The young couple became pioneers of Pennsylvania, settling in Bucks County as early as 1760, and there they remained all their lives. An ardent lover of liberty, John Kelly was ever devoted to the land of his adoption, and when the Revolutionary War broke out he at once offered his services and joined in the conflict. It is needless to say that he suffered many dangers and privations during that long siege, but he never wavered in his loyalty to the cause he had esponsed and through his courage and patriotism he rose to the rank of colonel in the Continental Army.

Colonel and Mrs. John Kelly had a family of nine children, and one of their sons, John, who was for many years a resident of Juanita County, Pa., married Miss Rebecca Clarke, a native of Scotland, and their son, Moses Kelly, married Miss Eliza- beth Patterson and reared a family of ten children in Juniata County, Pa. The seventh of their children was James R. Kelly, of this review, who was born near Mifflintown, Pa., June 28, 1835.

Educated in the public schools of Juniata County and trained to a practical knowl- edge of agriculture, James R. Kelly became one of the intelligent and prosperous farmers of his native county, where for years he devoted himself to his chosen occu- pation, save for the period of his service in the Civil War. Upon retiring from general farming he removed to Kansas and established a home at Lawrence, Douglas County. Three years later, in 1888, he came to Southern California and purchased a lot and built a home at 528 Walnut Street, Santa Ana, where he resided until his death. Immediately after his arrival he identified himself with the fruit-growing busi- ness and soon became familiar with every department of the leading industry of the locality. On his ranch he raised apricots, oranges and walnuts. It was his aim to grow only fruits of the choicest varieties, so that the products of his grove might command the highest prices in the Eastern markets.

Mr. Kelly's marriage on March 18, 1869, united him with Miss Jane Robinson, a native of Juniata County, Pa., and a daughter of George and Priscilla (Laird) Robin- son, both of Scotch-Irish ancestry, but born and reared in Juniata County. Mr. and Mrs. Kelly were the parents of three sons: Frederick M., who was educated at the University of Michigan, is an assayer and chemist; he is one of the leading citizens of Needles, Cal., where he has been postmaster for many years. He married Miss Pearl Glenn of Springville, Iowa, a granddaughter of the first white child born in Chicago, and they are the parents of two sons, Robert Glenn and Fred: George Patterson Kelly. who was also educated at the University of Michigan, practiced law for a number of years in Chicago and while there married Miss Agnes K. Gavney of Aurora, III. George P. Kelly passed away in 1915 at Santa Ana and his wife died in 1919, leaving one son, James T .; R. Bayard, born at Juanita, Pa., March 13, 1880, attended the public schools of Santa Ana, took bookkeeping and telegraphy and was employed at Needles for eight

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years, then returned to Santa Ana and was a successful walnut grower of the Tustin district until selling in 1919. He was married in 1915 to Miss Magdalena Lauterbach, who was born at Buffalo, N. Y., but who has been a resident of California since 1904. They are the parents of one son, Robert. Mrs. James R. Kelly passed away at her home in Santa Ana, April 6, 1919, at the age of about eighty-three.

Like his forbear of Revolutionary days, James R. Kelly was intensely patriotic and any mention of his life work would be incomplete without recording his war service, which put to a severe test the qualities of courage, patience and endurance possessed by him to a remarkable degree. Soon after the outbreak of the Civil War Mr. Kelly offered his services to the Union and on July 25, 1861, he was accepted as a member of Company A, First Pennsylvania Reserve Cavalry, enlisting from Juniata County. This regiment was ordered to the front at once and became one of the most famous fighting units of the Federal Army. In the charge at Cedar Mountain Companies A. B, C and D went into action with 264 men and came out with only seventy-two able to report for duty. Mr. Kelly held the rank of first lieutenant in Company A and owing to the frequent absence of the captain was often called upon to command the company. In the battle of Shepherdstown, July 17, 1863, an exploding shell struck him, cutting an artery in his leg and leaving a painful wound. On another occasion he was slightly injured in battle. While in a cavalry skirmish at Samaria Church, Va., June 24, 1864, he was taken prisoner and confined in the famous Libby prison. Later he was transferred successively to Columbia, S. C., Macon, Ga., Belle Isle, Savannah, Ga., and Charleston, S. C., remaining in these prisons until the close of the war with the exception of two brief periods when escape had been rendered possible by the ingenuity of the prisoners. However, in both instances he was recaptured. It was characteristic of the man that he never complained in the midst of hardships that would have daunted any but the bravest of spirits. On the other hand, he was quick to note any humorous incidents that occurred and his cheerful disposition was a ray of sun- shine to others in hours of trouble. When he was mustered out, April 25, 1865, he returned to his Pennsylvania home with the esteem of his superior officers and the friendship of his comrades. After the organization of the Grand Army of the Republic he identified himself with that work and never ceased to cherish affection for the "boys in blue." Politically he voted with the Republican party and during his resi- dence in Pennsylvania he filled local offices. Early in life he had become a member of the Presbyterian denomination, and after coming to Santa Ana he officiated as an elder in the First Church, to whose philanthropies and missionary enterprises he was a generous contributor.

DR. JOHN MCCLELLAN LACY .- Whenever the historian shall essay to tell the story of Santa Ana, he will find it a pleasureable duty to narrate again the career of Dr. John McClellan Lacy, the pioneer physician, who did so much in many ways for the welfare and advancement of the town. He was born at Huntsville, Ala., on Wash- ington's Birthday, 1837, the son of Thomas H. and Mary E. Lacy, Southern planter folks who moved from Alabama to Arkansas, when John was eighteen years of age. And there, in 1861, Thomas Lacy died, the father of three boys and eight girls, worthy descendants of a family tracing its ancestry back to France. At that time, the name was de Lacy; but when the Huguenots came to America on account of religious persecution in France, this branch of the family, coming with them, changed the name to simple Lacy. Mrs. Lacy was a Mcclellan, and her mother's maiden name was Wallace; and she was able to trace her ancestry to Sir William Wallace of Scotland.

John McClellan Lacy attended the grammar school in Huntsville, Ala., and when old enough to do so, read medicine with Dr. William B. Welch in Arkansas. He later was graduated from the St. Louis Medical College, and still later took post-graduate work at the University of Nashville, Tenn.

When the Civil War broke out, Dr. Lacy volunteered for service in the Con- federate Army as surgeon to an Arkansas regiment, and from 1861, he marched and fought for four long, hard years. He had farmed and shipped cotton, while reading medicine, and so was able to hold his own in the arduous campaigning.

After the war. Dr. Lacy practiced medicine in Arkansas and the Indian Territory. (later Oklahoma) and in 1879 came to California across the great plains. He made the journey in wagons, and was eight months on the road; and he and his party had many interesting experiences with the Indians, and other adventures by the way.

At Cane Hill. Ark., on April 3, 1861, Dr. Lacy married Miss Eliza P. Bean, daughter of Mark Bean, and his wife, Nancy J. He was a wealthy cotton planter and factory owner, and was honored by his fellow-citizens with election to the state legislature as a representative from Washington County. Several children blessed the fortunate union. Margaret M. is the eldest daughter; and the other children are Mary L., Mrs. William P. Vance; Maude L., Mrs. Newton Pierce; Lela. Mrs J. E. Vanghan; Laura

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L., Mrs. J. W. Murray; and Mark B., who married Genevieve Waffle. Dr. Lacy's youngest brother was sheriff of Orange County for sixteen years.

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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 33

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