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 36

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 36

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His marriage in Elmira, N. Y., in 1872, united his destiny with that of Miss Martha McClary of that city, and of their union ten children were born, namely: Charles E .. William H., Lottie J., Mary E., Arthur J., Joseph E., Grace J., Earl J., Harriet N. and Clara M. Joseph E. is a minister in the Christian Church, and has been a successful missionary in India for five years. Mrs. Moody died, aged forty-four in September, 1892. and Mr. Moody again entered the state of matrimony in August 30, 1893, being united with Miss Elizabeth Alderman. A daughter, Catherine G. by name, was born of this union. Mrs. Moody is a native of Grass Valley, Cal. She was born on May 23, 1852, and is the daughter of Samuel and Catherine Alderman, early California pioneers who came to the state about the time that Mr. Moody came, and ran a dairy ranch in Nevada County. Of the nine children in the Alderman paternal home, seven are living. In their church associations Mr. Moody and his family are members of the Christian Church. 15

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RICHARD W. JONES .- Closely connected with the commercial, political, horti- cultural and humanitarian undertakings of Orange County for the past thirty-six years, Richard W. Jones is one of the "old-timers" who has seen the wonderful transformation of Southern California from a sparsely settled section to a district that is not equalled by any in the entire state. A native of Wales, he was born at Carnavonshire, on October 30, 1854, the son of John and Mary Jones, both natives of that country and where the last days of their lives were spent. Orphaned carly in life, his mother dying when he was but one year old and his father four years later, the lad was reared by his grand- parents until he was eleven, when he was thrown upon his own resources. He worked upon farms in his native land until he was seventeen years of age, when he went to Liverpool, and then, in 1878, decided to try his fortune in America. Arriving here he went to Columbia County, Wis., and there followed farming for six years, coming to California and to what is now Orange County in 1884. One year later he became a foreman on the David Hewes ranch at El Modena and after he had demonstrated his ability to look after such a large property and bring it to a high state of development, he was made manager, remaining on the place for twenty years and having a great deal to do with its early improvement and development as the years passed. He had the entire confidence of Mr. Hewes, who approved his methods of planting, harvesting and marketing the products of the great ranch. This ranch was once a sheep range of 800 acres, which Mr. Hewes bought in 1880 for from $20 to $30 per acre, and then set about to make it one of the beauty spots of the state by spending thousands of dollars on Hewes Park and in carrying ou the most up-to-date methods of ranching. It is conceded by those who know that Mr. Jones was the genius who perfected the plans and superintended the work and gave the impetus to its popularity.

While employed by Mr. Hewes, Mr. Jones had bought a ranch of thirty acres in El Modena precinct and begun its development; this land he added to until he now owns forty-six acres, thirty- of which is fully improved and brings in handsome returns. On his ranch he erected an attractive house, the green foliage of the foothills forming a picturesque background for its white exterior, making a beautiful setting for the residence. The land lies in a sheltered cove, in what is known as the "frostless belt," making it one of the best locations for a citrus grove in this section of the county. Here, with the aid of his son, Marion E., he is carrying on horticultural pursuits that bring in handsome yearly returns and enables him to enjoy life to its full.

On June 20, 1895, at McPherson, R. W. Jones was united in marriage with Miss Clara J. McPherson, a member of a Scotch family tracing their lineage in America back to the sixteenth century. Her father, William Gregg McPherson, migrated from Illinois to California in 1859, crossing the plains with ox teams, and after his arrival he engaged in mining near Downieville, meeting with more than ordinary success. He then returned to Chicago and married his first wife, Miss Harriet Crowell, and four children were born of that union: Edwin H., William Gregg, Clara J., Mrs. Jones, and Frederick; Mrs. Jones now being the only survivor.

Returning to California Mr. McPherson lived at San Jose, and there his daughter was born, and while there he found the most profitable employment he could find was teaching school. From San Jose he moved to Westminster in 1871, in order that his growing family might have the advantages of school and church in the new Presby- terian colony. In 1873 he bought forty acres at McPherson, named in honor of the colony of McPherson relatives, of whom there were over fifty at one time, and while he was developing his property he employed his talents as a teacher and thus endeared himself to many of the young men and women of the locality who received instruction from him. During his residence at McPherson he was the magnet that drew many emigrants from the East to California, and not a few settled here in Orange County. He was a man of much public spirit, desirous of doing good in order that good might be accomplished. He passed to his reward in 1908, deeply mourned by all who had known him. Mrs. Jones' mother died in 1876.

A native daughter of the Golden State, Mrs. Jones is deeply interested in all move- ments for its upbuilding, is a woman of unusual attainments, and has been a true help- mate to her husband in the highest sense. She is one of the foremost women of the county, has given freely of her time and talents to uplift work and humanitarian move- ments, and her influence and kindly deeds have been known far beyond the confines of her home environment. She was a leader in club circles, and in church and charitable enterprises is known throughout Orange County, and in fact the entire state of California. She is president of Orange County Sunday School Association, and one of the officers of the Los Angeles Presbyterial, and has been a delegate to the national conventions.

A. MM Hadden

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Mr. and Mrs. Jones have been active in the many cooperative enterprises that have had such a direct bearing on the rapid growth of this district, and have ever lent a helping hand to every project designed to assist and enhance the public welfare. They became the parents of two children, only one of whom, Marion, E., reached maturity. He is married to Elva May, and they reside upon the home ranch and assist in its management. For thirteen years Mr. Jones served as a trustee of the Orange Union High School; for twelve years he was a director in the John T. Carpenter Water Company; and he is a director in the Orange County Mutual Insurance Company, the National Bank of Orange, the McPherson Heights Citrus Association and the Orange County Fruit Exchange. In political matters he is a Republican and believes in pro- gressive movements for the salvation of the country, for ours is an age of advancement along every line of endeavor.

WILLIAM M. McFADDEN .- The name of William M. McFadden is worthy of enrollment among the very early settlers of Orange County who foresaw its great possibilities and put their shoulder to the wheel to develop the opportunities by which they were surrounded. A pioneer of California who came hither by way of Panama, and for twenty years an educator in its schools, he was one of that sturdy band of men who pushed westward to aid in the development of our wonderful state and at the same time to find greater opportunities for themselves than were to be had in the more populous East; and in enduring the privations to be found in a newer civilization, and each doing his bit to build up whatever portion of the state they cast their lot with. these men have builded even better than they knew, and California today stands ready with all praise for their unselfish strivings.

William M. McFadden was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., on February 19, 1842, and was a graduate of the West Pittsburgh high school and the Curry Normal Institute, as well as the Beaver Academy, at Beaver, Pa., and later, the commercial department of Wellborn College at Louisville, Ky. During much of this time, he paid his own tuition, with money which he had earned through teaching school, and this circum- stance alone affords a key to at least one side, and a very important one at that, of his mental and moral make-up as a prospective pioneer and pathmaker.

In 1863. the young school teacher came to California, and for four and a half years he taught in the Alameda County district schools. Then, in 1868, he came to Southern California, and continued teaching in Los Angeles County, living for eleven years at what was then called North Anaheim, now Placentia, while he kept school at what was known as Upper Santa Ana. During a portion of that time he served as superintendent of schools of Los Angeles County, where he was also a member of the board of education for two years, the second year serving as president of the board; and later he was president of the high school board of Fullerton, and superintendent of construction of the first high school building in the county, erected in Fullerton.

In January, 1869, Mr. McFadden became interested in horticulture, and purchased ninety-two acres from the Stearns Rancho Company, which he set out to oranges and walnuts; later, as the trees began to bear, shipping yearly about twenty-three carloads of oranges and two carloads of walnuts. He was one of the first to raise oranges and walnuts here after the development of water, and was rather naturally one of the origi- nators of the Fullerton Walnut Growers Association, which in turn levied upon him for its president for years. He was the second man to grow oranges in the Placentia district, and one of five shippers who organized the Southern California Orange Ex- change. When he started his orange culture in the Placentia district. Mr. McFadden secured oranges from Mexico, and the seeds of these were planted in seed beds and watered from well water; the plants were then budded to Australian Navels and later to Washington Navels.

Among other important development projects, Mr. McFadden was one of the original promoters of the Anaheim Union Water Company, the other man associated with him heing R. H. Gilman, J. W. Shanklin, Wm. Crowthers, J. B. Pierce, P. Hansen. and Henry Hetebrink. The building of this ditch was an important event in Mr. Mc- Fadden's life-work, and has been a decided factor in the further development of the county, for these pioneer irrigation projects laid the foundation for the present intensive cultivation everywhere to be seen throughout the county. In this company Mr. Mc- Fadden served as president, and was also for years a director; and he was one of the organizers, secretary and director of the Cajon Irrigation Company, later merged into the Anaheim Union Water Company. He was intensely interested in every project that had for its aim the development of the county; and as an enthusiastic advocate of popular education, he built with his own money the first school house at Placentia, in what was then called the El Cajon district, and served on the school board for years.

Mr. McFadden was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Kansas City when Bryan was nominated, and he was also a member of the notification com-

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mittee-a reasonable honor, considering that he was one of the prime movers in organ- izing Orange County, as he became among its most philanthropic citizens.

At Alameda, in 1866, Mr. McFadden was married to Miss Sarah Jane Earl, who had come to California via Panama when she was eighteen, and had already taught school for two years. She had eight children, all but one of whom were born in the Placentia district in Los Angeles County. Those still living are Carrie E., now Mrs. Herbert A. Ford, Clarence, Thomas, Ralph and Robert. Will E. died in 1912, aged thirty-nine, leaving a wife and a danghter. The others, a boy and a girl, died in 1875. This relation of the birth of the children to Placentia district is of more interest when it is recalled that it was Mrs. McFadden who gave it the name of Placentia, in which district she came to be a charter member of the Placentia Round Table, the woman's club. This organization erected the first woman's club house in all Orange County. She was very active in all forward movements, and participated eagerly in whatever contributed to the upbuilding of society as well as the building up of the nearby places; and she lived to witness much of the wonderful development of Southern California. She died on August 18, 1908, at Fullerton, six years after Mr. McFadden, on July 21 and in the same town, had passed away, honored in particular by the Masons, whose ancient fraternity he had joined as a member of the San Francisco lodge, later demitting to Anaheim Lodge; he instituted and was the first master of Fullerton Lodge. He was also a member of the Chapter and Commandery in Santa Ana. Mrs. McFadden was the first matron of the Eastern Star Chapter at Fullerton.

MRS. MARIE EUGENIA DAGUERRE .- The beautiful family life of France perhaps find its fullest expression in that picturesque mountain district, known as the Basses-Pyrenees, and in this wonderful, healthful climate the children are reared with exceptional care, and especially is the highest standard of morals established, and thus the honor of the family altar is kept sacred. Here in this corner of Sunny France, not far from the border of Spain, was the birthplace of Mrs. Marie Eugenia Daguerre, the owner of a third interest in the great Moulton ranch at El Toro. Born at St. Pierre de Yrube, near the famous old fortified city of Bayonne, Mrs. Daguerre before her marriage was Maria Engenia Duguet, her parents being Baptista and Elizabeth (Uris- buru) Duguet, who were farmers for many years in that part of France. The fourth of a family of six children, Mrs. Daguerre is the only one living and the only one to come to America. She was educated in the convent at St. Pierre de Yrube, and in 1874 sailed from Havre with the Amestoy family, landing at New York. They continued on to San Francisco and then to San Pedro by boat, reaching Los Angeles, June 24, 1874, and located on a large ranch at Rosecranz, now Gardena. Here Mrs. Daguerre con- tinned to make her home with the Amestoys until her marriage, at the Amestoy resi- dence, to Jean Pierre Daguerre on October 7, 1886.

Mr. Daguerre was also a native of Basses-Pyrenees, Hasparren having been his hirthplace, and he came over on the same boat as Mrs. Daguerre, being eighteen years of age at the time. Here he was employed with the Amestoys in the care of their stock, so became thoroughly experienced in this work, continuing with them for eight years, when he resigned to begin stock raising on his own account. Making his way to San Juan Capistrano he formed a partnership with Don Marco Forster as sheep growers. After his marriage Mr. Daguerre and his wife went to El Toro, where he continued actively in the sheep business for several years. After dissolving partnership with Don Marco Forster, Mr. Daguerre formed a partnership with Mr. Lewis F. Moulton on his extensive ranch of 22,000 acres, the business being conducted under the name of Lewis F. Moulton and Company. The partners met with phenomenal success, and after the death of Mr. Daguerre on May 5, 1911, Mrs. Daguerre, who had been a true helpmate in sharing the business responsibilities of her husband, continued in the partnership, and still owns a third interest in the ranch. The Moulton ranch is one of the largest and most profitable in Southern California, and upwards of fifteen tenants are engaged in raising beans, grain and hay on its extensive acreage. In addition the Moulton Company is engaged in raising beef cattle on an immense scale, their herd of high-grade Durhams being one of the finest in the county.

Mr. and Mrs. Daguerre were blessed with six children, the two younger of whom passed away in infancy. Domingo Joseph, who after the death of his father assisted Mr. Moulton and took an active part in the affairs of the company, was a well liked and popular young man displaying splendid traits of character and much ability, when his promising career was cut short by influenza, January 11, 1919, at the age of thirty- one; the three daughters are Juanita, Grace and Josephine.

Mrs. Daguerre resides in her comfortable residence on the Moulton ranch with her three loving daughters, who shower on her their affectionate care and devotion, and assist her in the management of the large interests left by her husband, thus doing all they can to shield her from unnecessary worry and care. While far from her native

Jean Pierre Laquerre

Marie Eugenie Daguerre

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land, Mrs. Daguerre has never had cause to regret her choice in establishing a home in this beautiful Southland, whose resources rival that of any other country. The family take an active part in civic matters and are strong protectionists and Republicans. They are liberal and enterprising and give their aid to all matters that have for their aim the upbuilding of the county and the enhancing of the comfort and happiness of its citizens.

MRS. WYRAM L. KNOWLTON .- More than one romantic chapter in the his- tory of California is recalled by the records of Mrs. Wyram L. Knowlton and her interesting family. She was born in Yorba, Los Angeles County, in 1859, the daughter of Ramon H. and Concepcion (Bustamente) Aguilar, and was named Nicanora. Her father was a native of Spain, born in 1801, and the son of Jose M. and Dolores (Villa- viciencio) Aguilar, who left his native land when Ramon was a baby and settled on a grant of land in Lower California. The father of Jose M. was tailor to the King of Spain and he was given a large grant of land in Lower California for his fidelity, and this was in turn handed down to his children at his death, Jose M. being given the Guadalupe grant as his portion. The ancestors of the family were among those who assisted the padres in founding the early missions and they later returned to Spain, but eventually settled in Lower California, from which place members of the family mi- grated to California and helped to lay the foundation for our present commonwealth. Jose M. Aguilar was a man of wealth, as it was counted in those days, and he spent liberally of his means to uplift the native Indians, an ambition that was always upper- most in his soul. He died when Ramon H. was a small child.

Ramon Aguilar lived in Lower California until 1827, when he migrated to Cali- fornia and here he was married to a native daughter of the West, and by her had fifteen children, all born in California, and nine of them grew to years of maturity. Those still living are Mrs. Nicanora Knowlton, Mrs. T. A. Darling, Mrs. Edward Crowe, R. F. Aguilar and Mrs. Herman Fesenfeldt.

Nicanora Aguilar was united in marriage in 1896, in Orange County, with Wyram L. Knowlton, a native of Wisconsin, born at Castle Rock on December 4, 1853. He was educated in Wisconsin and lived in Iowa for some years and migrated to California in 1889. He became the owner of considerable land in Orange County, which he .sold off from time to time, having improved it in the modern manner of the period, only retain- ing ten acres, the home place of the widow today. This couple had one daughter. Laura, a graduate of the Anaheim high school and now the wife of Paul V. Domen- guez. Mrs. Knowlton busies herself with the care and improvement of the ten acres she owns, assisted in the operation of the place by her daughter. Mr. Knowlton was a member of the Fraternal Brotherhood and was a liberal supporter of all movements for the upbuilding of his adopted county, and was held in high esteem by all who had the pleasure of knowing him. His widow and daughter are equally liberal and have a wide circle of friends.

WYLLYS W. PERKINS .- An able, efficient man of business, who was never known to be afraid of hard work, is Wyllys W. Perkins, the retired rancher, residing at 806 Spurgeon Avenne, Santa Ana, whose financial success hegan the day when he formed a partnership with his brother, Charles H. Perkins, formerly a wholesaler in New York state. He was born in Oconomowoc, Waukesha County, Wis., on May 23, 1860, the son of Charles H. Perkins, a native of Windsor, Conn., where he married Miss Elizabeth Hinsdale. They came out to Wisconsin in the early forties, and while Mr. Perkins farmed, he and his good wife also kept a general merchandise store at Oconomowoc. Wyllys is the youngest of seven children in the family, and when five years old was brought by his parents to the vicinity of Grand Rapids, Kent County, Mich., where his folks went in for farming and the raising of fruit. He attended the common schools of Kent County, and under the wholesome conditions even then prevalent in Michigan, received an excellent preparation for the battle of life.

When fifteen years of age. Mr. Perkins left Michigan to join an older brother. Clarence, at Burlington, Kan., and for two years he was with him on a stock farm at Strawn. He worked on the ranch during the summers, and in winter time went to school nearby. After two years of outdoor life, however, he returned to his home in Michigan and entered the Commercial College at Grand Rapids, where he took a two years' business course. On coming west again to Kansas, he went to work for a short time for the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad Company, when he again shifted, this time to La Junta, Colo., at which place he was given a responsible post with the Atchinson, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. He had charge of coal bins until he found it possible to make still another move-to California-when he fired a locomotive at Eureka, in Humboldt County, on the Boner & Jones logging railroad.

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At the end of a year he went to San Luis Obispo and was with the narrow-gange San Luis Obispo and Port Harford Railway, where he fired for six or eight months; and then he went to Mojave and secured a position with the P. I. Railway, now a part of the Santa Fe system. He was next promoted to be an engineer on a switch engine in the Southern Pacific yards in Los Angeles, and switched for that company for eight months. Later he became a locomotive engineer for the Los Angeles & Pacific Rail- way, and for a couple of years ran a passenger train from Los Angeles to Santa Monica. After that he went to the Santa Fe Railroad and for seven years ran both passenger and freight engines, mostly between Winslow and Williams, in Arizona, but also as far as Albuquerque, N. M.

During this time, at Grand Rapids, in 1884, Mr. Perkins was married to Miss Clara Lee of that city, and for a while he made his home at Winslow, although he started housekeeping at Mojave. He first became fireman at the roundhouse, and ran a general merchandise store in connection with his railroad work at Mojave. He fol- lowed railroading until 1894, when the great A. R. U. strike occurred, and he was discharged for refusing to run the engine of a striker.

He then came to Orange County and spent six or seven months looking around, so · that he made no mistake when he finally settled at El Modena, where in 1895 he purchased ten acres of unimproved land. His brother, Charles H. Perkins, now eighty years old, and residing at 911 Spurgeon Avenue, Santa Ana, was then extensively engaged as a dealer in wholesale fruits in New York, and bought California fruit and honey; and while visiting California on business he came to El Modena to see his brother and the ten-acre ranch, and there proposed a partnership to be known as the Perkins Bros. They bought more land, and soon had 160 well-improved acres, in the El Modena precinct. They also acquired a ranch at McFarland, in Kern County; but they traded it for more land in Orange County.

For several years, also, Mr. Perkins was in the seed and nursery business, growing rose bushes on a commercial scale; and later Perkins Bros. specialized first in flower seeds, and then exclusively in rose bushes. They produced and shipped as high as five or six car loads a year, and this enterprise proved decidedly profitable. In 1917 the firm dissolved, and since then Mr. Perkins has sold so much of what he once had that he has left only two ranches, both in the El Modena district, the one of thirty-one. the other of ten acres, and has retired to live in Santa Ana. Mr. Perkins helped organize, and is still a stockholder in the Villa Park Orchards Association.

Eight children blessed the union of Mr. Perkins and his wife. Elizabeth, the eldest, lives at home; Frank died in Arizona when he was five years old; Winnifred and Wyllys, W. Jr., are twins-Winifred is the wife of William Thomas, a mechanical engineer, residing at Los Angeles, and Wyllys is married and lives, as a rancher and an orange-grower, at McPherson. Dixie, a trained nurse with an enviable record for service in France during the late war, keeps house for her father. Arthur and Archie are also twins; the former is in the Agricultural College at Corvallis, Ore., and Archie attends the high school at Santa Ana. And Clara is in the grammar school of the same city. Mrs. Perkins died March 19, 1906, and he married a second wife, Miss Fannie Parker, of Grinnell, Iowa, who also died-on December 10, 1919.

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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 36

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