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 49

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

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AUGUSTUS HORATIO ALLEN .- A progressive, exceptionally active and able young man who is successfully operating two ranches, one of twenty and one of thirty acres, a part of the estate of the late Horatio A. Allen, doing much of the work himself with the most up-to-date machinery and according to the most approved methods, is Augustus Horatio Allen. A native son of California, Mr. Allen was born at Tustin April 8, 1893, his parents being Horatio Augustus and Emma (German) Allen, both born in Ontario, Canada, a review of their lives appearing on another page of this history. The father, who was for many years a prominent banker in Canada, located at Tustin in 1886, and at once began the development of a tract of eight acres which he had purchased. As the years went by he met with prosperity and added to his holdings until they comprised eighty acres, in five ranches, the larger part of the acreage being devoted to walnuts, the remainder a thriving grove of Valencia oranges.

Reared on the home place, Augustus Horatio Allen received his early education in the local school, attending the Orange Union high school for two years, later entering the Los Angeles Military Academy, where he graduated with honors in 1911. Two years later, on June 6, he was married to Miss Georgia Liggett, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Liggett, now of Fresno. Two children have blessed their union, Barbara and Jean.

As has been said, Mr. Allen takes hold of the work himself, not content merely to direct the labor of others, and frequently runs the Cletrac tractor, which is only one of the many of the up-to-date machines and implements making up an enviable complement for his farm work. He looks far ahead, and heeds both the last word of science and the practical experience of the veteran agriculturist whose schooling has generally been confined to the ranch itself; and so his groves and orchards yield well.

Two brothers of Mr. Allen also bid fair to attain their measure of success, if, indeed, they have not come to enjoy the same already. Lucius is a rancher at Tustin, and Gerald N., who, with his mother, lives in Los Angeles, and is a freshman at Occidental College. In national politics Mr. Allen is a Republican; but he knows no partisanship in his attitude toward problems of local import, and heartily supports the home district.

ROBERT D. BACON .- To be recognized as a "self-made" man is the honor accorded to Robert D. Bacon, a pioneer of Buena Park, Orange County, and one of the most successful and progressive ranchers of that section.

He is a native of Illinois, born May 13, 1865, in Macoupin County, son of Thomas and Mary (Hoover) Bacon, the former an Englishman by birth, while the mother was a native of Indiana. At the age of twelve years, Robert was deprived of the love and care of his mother, she having passed away in 1877; his father survived until 1898. It was in his native state that Robert D. Bacon was reared and educated, and where he remained until 1884, when he moved to southwestern Kansas, where he resided four years and partly improved a claim. 19

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In 1888 he migrated to the Golden State, locating in Buena Park, Los Angeles County, where he had a friend with whom he made his stopping place until he could establish himself. He worked at any honest employment that came his way and helped to build up Buena Park as it is today. Actuated by that worthy and commendable desire that should possess every man's life-the owning of a home-Mr. Bacon purchased two acres of land, which he disposed of later and secured ten acres as the nucleus of his future ranch. To this ten were added, in due time, and after years of hard work and successful operation of his ranch he was financially able to purchase twenty more, giving him a splendid ranch of forty acres. His ranch is improved with modern buildings, and after many years of continuous development of the land from its primitive condition, Mr. Bacon has lived to see his original experimental walnut grove a financial success. His ranch is devoted to diversified farming and to the dairy business. He bought land in early days for fifty-four dollars an acre, a marked contrast in land values of today. In early days Mr. Bacon worked out by the day and improved his own land at odd times, as circumstances would permit, but in course of time he discon- tinned this, when he had succeeded in developing his land to the point where it yielded enough to support his family.

Thrift and frugality are strong characteristics of Mr. Bacon, and to these, coupled with hard work and a definite aim, are due his present prosperity. On Christmas Day, 1905, Mr. Bacon was united in marriage with Miss Agatha Van Loenen, a native of Iowa, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Van Loenen, natives of Holland. This happy union has been blessed with three children: Mildred, James E. and Robert W., all attending Orange County public schools.

Mr. Bacon is deeply interested in the educational affairs of the county, and for five years served as an efficient trustee of Centralia school district, and is an honored member of the Farm Bureau of Buena Park. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and has served as a delegate to many conventions. In every way that he could, Mr. Bacon has supported all movements for the upbuilding of the county. Especially has he worked to form a storm district for the control of the Santa Ana River. As a pioneer of the Buena Park district he has seen the development of the land from sheep pastures into small tracts and settled upon by contented families.

ANDREW WESLEY THOMPSON .- Strong and active at the age of seventy- six, Andrew W. Thompson has the unusual record of never having had a day's illness in his life. One of Orange County's pioneer citizens, he has always been a leader in the neighborhood affairs of El Toro and his counsels are eagerly sought on political matters, and he has for the past fifteen years occupied the office of deputy county clerk at that place.

Through his maternal ancestors Mr. Thompson traces his ancestry back to Holland, the progenitor of the Commer family in America having come from that country in 1632, settling in the Mohawk Valley in New York. Grandfather Commer served under General Washington in the Revolutionary War, and nine cousins including the subject of this biography, fought in the Civil War. Andrew W. Thompson was born December 16, 1844, his parents being Andrew and Maria (Dayton) Thompson, the latter the daughter of Alexander Dayton. Mr. Dayton ran a ferry across the Pike River in Canada, and also ran a hotel there, and it was while Mrs. Thompson was staying there that Andrew W. was born; but, although he was born in Canada, the family were residents of New York. There were seven children in the Thompson family, and Andrew W., who was the second in order of birth, is now the only one living. He came to Henderson, Sibley County, Minn., in 1854, with his parents, and here grew to manhood. The country was in its primitive state at that time and there were practically no opportunities for an education, so that Andrew had no schooling until after he was married, when, realizing the handicap he was under, he went to studying and became a well-informed man. He worked hard in those early days, helping break the virgin soil of Minnesota and raising some of the first hard wheat grown in that locality.

In December, 1862, Mr. Thompson ran away from home to enlist in Company M, Second Minnesota Cavalry, and for two years fought the Indians on the frontier, having many thrilling experiences, among others being called to the relief of the white settlers during the massacre at New Ulm, Minn. He then served for four years with the Union Army during the Civil War, after which he returned to Minnesota. In 1870 he began farming there, and also kept a trading post at Big Stone Lake, trading with the Sioux Indians. With a cousin he hunted buffalo for the Government to feed the troops stationed in this territory. In 1875, with his wife and two children, Mr. Thompson made the long journey to California, settling in Ventura County, where they remained for a year. In 1876 they came to Laguna and bought 172 acres about two miles north

ALEXANDERHENRY VITE CHE GARANWAR

alexander N. Henry

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY

of what is now Laguna Beach, this place being known as the Spring Ranch, paying $1,500 for the place. He also took up 160 acres of Government land, so that he had a ranch of more than a half scction, where he farmed and raised stock. He also worked on the San Joaquin ranch for a time, helping care for the stock.

In 1870 Mr. Thompson was married at Glencoe to Miss Esther Tickner, a native of Illinois. Her father, Ezra Tickner, hunted ducks in the early days where Chicago now stands, later becoming a pioneer farmer in Minnesota. Seven children were born of this union: Senath died at the age of sixteen; Ivy, Mrs. Charles Thompson, resides at Watts; Irving is a retired rancher of Madera; Joseph is employed by Orange County on road construction and resides in Santa Ana; Maria is the wife of Levi Gockley, who owns the old Rosenbaum ranch north of Capistrano; Rebecca was the wife of Orin Boyenton, who died on their ranch at Escalon, Cal., in 1920. She still resides there; Andrew Wesley, Jr., is a rancher, and lives with his father. Mrs. Thompson passed away at Laguna Beach July 23, 1886. Mr. Thompson's present wife, to whom he was married in Santa Ana in 1908, was Mrs. Sarah M. Bonnell, the widow of William Bonnell, who died in the East, leaving her with one son, Robert L. Bonnell, a photographer in New York City. Mrs. Thompson in maidenhood was Miss Sarah M. Clarke, the daughter of Timothy and Rachel Clarke of Passaic, N. J. She was born in Passaic, N. J., where she was educated. She was gifted with a beautiful soprano voice and sang in Henry Ward Beecher's choir of vocalists, in reserve for his famous church choir.

Mr. Thompson removed to El Toro in 1890 and he has since made his home there. He is a member of Sedgwick Post No. 17, G. A. R., at Santa Ana. In religious matters he is a member of the Reorganized Church of Latter-Day Saints of Santa Ana and a preacher and elder in that denomination, and has traveled and preached all over the state. Politically he is a Republican and has always taken a prominent part in the local affairs of his party.

ALEXANDER N. HENRY .- It is given to few men to look back over a life so crowded with eventful memories as that of Alexander N. Henry, one of Anaheim's best-known retired pioneer citizens. A native of Scotland, he was born at the seaport town of Leith, February 15, 1837, the third child in the family of Innes and Jacobina (Nicholson) Henry, natives of Lerwick, the chief town of the Shetland Islands. His grandfather was named Innes, as was his great-grandfather, who was chief of the clan and lord of the islands. The Henry clan coat of arms was a mailed arm pointing upward, the hand grasping a scimiter, the inscription being "Semper Paratus" (always ready). The maternal grandfather, William Nicholson, was also of an old family of the Shetland Islands, and took part in the Battle of Waterloo. There were eight sons and four daughters in the Henry family.

When only ten years old, Alexander N. was apprenticed to his brother, who owned a fleet of vessels and it was while he was at his work that .he met with an accident which rendered him unfit to continue and his indenture was cancelled and he was sent home. Two years later, in 1852, he joined a British man-of-war and for eight years was in the service of his government. During this period he went through all of the Crimean War, being wounded six times in battle. He took part in the storming of Sebastopol, the famous charge of Balaklava, and the battles of Alma and Inkermann. After the war his ship, the Agamemnon, was sent to the Baltic, later to the Black Sea, under Admiral Lyons. When he left the navy he apprenticed himself to the ship builder's trade at Leith, later sailing the seas as a ship carpenter. During his service in the navy and the merchant marine Mr. Henry sailed in every sea and visited almost every important seaport in the world. The broad knowledge he ac- quired during his travels make him an interesting and instructive companion. Nat- urally one of his most thrilling recollections is of the charge at Balaklava, immortal- ized by Tennyson in his "Charge of the Light Brigade" and he well remembers how with set faces and hearts that knew no faltering, "into the Valley of Death rode the six hundred" on that October day in 1854. Other stirring memories cluster about Mexico, which he visited during the reign and downfall of Emperor Maximilian.

Sailing from Glasgow on a vessel bound for California around the Horn, Mr. Henry landed in San Francisco after a journey of six months. For a time he con- tinued as a ship carpenter, later followed mining in different places in the state. In 1867, ten years after the San Francisco Company had made its initial efforts towards founding a colony at Anaheim, he came to this town, which was then an undeveloped settlement, and he purchased 220 acres of land at West Anaheim and began farming and raising fruit, principally wine grapes, and for eight years he maintained a winery. When the hlight struck the vines in this section he turned his attention to growing oranges and walnuts, being among the pioneers who experimented with these products which have since given the county of Orange such a reputation all over the world, as

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a center for nuts and fruit. After disposing of all but fifty acres of his original purchase, Mr. Henry developed his homestead, Caledonia Grove, thus linking it with the ancient name of his native country. Here he developed one of the finest and most productive ranches in the county, raising oranges, walnuts and some grapes, and erected a residence costing $10,000, also beautifying the grounds with ornamental trees and a cypress arbor, that was one of the finest in the entire state, and made of his ranch a show place of the Southland. Mr. Henry had a number of discouraging experiences, chief among these being a heavy loss through four fires, in three of which he had no insurance, and in the fourth only one eighth, when he lost more than $30,000 worth of property. In 1910 he sold his ranch and retired to a home in Anaheim which he erected. While a rancher, at a cost of $8,000, he constructed a water plant on his property that produced 156 miner's inches from two wells of 600 and 320 feet.

While still in his native town of Leith in 1862, Mr. Henry was married to Catherine Mason, who was born and reared there. Three sons have been born to them, all now living retired after active and successful lives as ranchers. They are Innes, John and Archibald. Mr. Henry was a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen for thirty years. He is a charter member of the Knights of Pythias and of the B. P. O. Elks, both of Anaheim, and he is most enthusiastic in his support of these orders. He still retains his membership in the Masonic lodge at Leith.

Mr. Henry is intensely patriotic and when the Boer War was in progress, being an enthusiastic supporter of the cause of England, volunteered his services and agreed to pay his own expenses to the field if he would be allowed to enlist. This he was not allowed to do unless he would relinquish his American citizenship, which he felt that he could not do. After the death of King Edward and when George V was to be crowned Emperor of India, all the veterans of the Crimean and Indian wars were invited to witness the coronation in India as guests of the English government. On account of illness in his family Mr. Henry was unable to attend, though he was prevailed upon to be present.

It was but natural after participating in such stirring events as did Mr. Henry in his young days that his interest and enthusiasm should be aroused during the World War. After the sinking of the Lusitania he went to Los Angeles to see the British Consul, who wrote to the British Minister in Washington, D C., that Mr. Henry had offered his services in any capacity and on any condition to the British government and would pay his own expenses to Canada if he could only be guaranteed the privilege of joining either the army or navy. At that time the minister wrote that he had no authority to enlist American subjects. After the United States entered the war he went to Los Angeles three different times and tried to enter the service of his country in any capacity they chose to put him but the members of the military boards replied, "We can see the fighting devil in your eye, but we are very sorry to state that you are too young to be accepted," so he had to return home and to be content to work for those who were at the front. He was active in all the allied drives and organized efforts that had such an important part in backing up the men at the battle front, giving freely of his time and means. He had a muzzle-loader salute gun cast and mounted at Los Angeles and this arrived in Anaheim a few days before the armistice was signed; it was used to fire the salute of victory. He now uses it on all occasions where salutes are fired. Robert and George Henry, nephews of our subject and subjects of Great Britain, lost their lives when their ship was sunk in the battle of the North Sea. A grandson, Archibald Henry, of Anaheim, trained for service but was taken ill and honorably discharged and died five weeks after he reached his home. Mr. Henry helped organize Orange County and has contributed generously to its prosperity during his residence of fifty years.

STEPHEN McPHERSON .- One of the earliest settlers of the Orange section of Orange County was Stephen McPherson. He was born in Chaumont, Jefferson County, N. Y., on March 5, 1839, the son of William and Jane (Forsythe) McPherson. His father, a native of Deering, N. H., moved to northern New York in the early part of the nineteenth century, and there became a successful farmer. Stephen McPherson began his education in the public schools of his native county. He then attended the Belleville Academy and the Jefferson County Institute at Watertown, N. Y. Before he reached manhood he was teaching schools near his own home. He then attended and was graduated from the Bryant and Stratton Commercial College at Buffalo, N. Y. Following this, he taught school two years in Ohio.

In 1862 he came to California by way of Panama, where a brother and sister had already preceded him. He settled first in Santa Clara County and followed his profession as a school teacher. In 1872 he came to Los Angeles and settled in the Westminster Colony. The same year, with his brother, he bought land east of the

C. C. Collins

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Santiago Creek, of Chapman and Glassell. This land was cleared of brush and cactus and the first raisin vineyard in Southern California planted. A partnership was formed under the name of McPherson Brothers, and the raisin business grew to large proportions. In the eighties it was the biggest of its kind in California, until the raisin business was wiped out by the Anaheim grape disease in 1887-88. In addition to viticulture, Stephen McPherson was one of the pioneer school teachers of Los Angeles County. In 1872 he taught the first term of the Orange public school. At that time the Orange district was known as Richland, and included what is now several school districts. During the following decade he taught various schools in what is now Los Angeles and Orange counties, known as Newport, San Gabriel, El Monte, Santa Monica and Los Angeles City. After the dying of the vineyards, Mr. McPherson gave his attention to other lines of farming, and was particularly interested in orange growing. He saw cactus and brush covered land that he bought at ten and fifteen dollars an acre in pioneer days grow to high values.

Mr. McPherson was an earnest Presbyterian and a charter member of the church in Orange. In politics he was a Republican. In 1882 he married Miss Jennie E. Vincent, who was born in Cape Vincent, Jefferson County, N. Y., and survives him. Three children are also living: S. V., who works for the Southern Pacific railroad at Colton, Cal .; William, now living with his mother, and farming; and Lulu, wife of Walter L. Vieregg of Hollywood, Cal. Stephen McPherson died August 21, 1917. He was a pioneer and upbuilder of Orange County and lived long enough to see the fruition of his efforts.

CORNELIUS C. COLLINS .- A decidedly progressive and successful man in the world of business, who is at the same time quite as pronounced a "home man," and therefore very much interested in all that means the development, building up and upbuilding of the community into which he has cast his lot, is Cornelius C. Collins, of the widely-known firm of C. C. Collins Company, the fruit packers and shippers of Santa Ana. He was born in Greene County, Ohio, November 20, 1852, the son of Joseph Collins, a farmer, who was also a pioneer in Ohio enviably identified with the forming of the Buckeye State. He married Miss Isabella Morrow, and they had eight children, the youngest being the subject of this sketch.

Cornelius C. attended the rural schools of his neighborhood, and later was a student in the Ohio Central and Antioch colleges. After finishing his studies he remained in charge of his father's farm for several years; but in the year of 1887. when California was harvesting largely from its great "boom," Mr. Collins disposed of his interests and came west to Santa Ana. For a year he was busy with real estate ventures, but in 1890 he entered the packing field, and formed a partnership with W. M. Smart, the firm being known as Smart & Collins. This continued for two years, when the concern became the Collins Fruit Company, and later C. C. Collins; finally, when Mr. Collins' son, W. C. Collins, had completed his education he became a member of the firm, which has since been known as the C. C. Collins Company. In its consecutive history under these various names. the establishment is the oldest business house of its kind in the county and has won a high standing for square dealing among the growers of fruit and nuts wherever the company has had business with the producers. The statement has often been made that Mr. Collins' word is always as good as his written agreement. He belongs to and supports the Chamber of Commerce and the Merchants & Manufacturers' Associa- tion, as well as other public movements for the betterment of conditions in general throughout the county and state.

At Clifton, Ohio, on December 5, 1878, Mr. Collins was united in marriage to Miss Emma Elizabeth Anderson. The union was an exceptionally happy one and has been blessed by the birth of six children and three grandchildren. A daughter is Ina Isabella, the wife of F. W. Stanley of Fresno; Walter C. is in partnership with his father; Wilford A., is a bean thresher and fruit dryer; Robert W., is engaged in the shoe business; Mary F. is the wife of Ernest C. Fortier of Turlock, Cal., and Joseph S., an automotive mechanic. The family are all members of the United Pres- byterian Church, in which Mr. Collins has always been an active worker; for many years he has been identified with mission work in Orange County, part of the time among the Spanish people and later with the Christian Endeavor in the County Hospital, always having in mind the moral uplift of the people in general.

The C. C. Collins Company pack and ship dried fruit, beans and walnuts, send- ing their products to all sections of the country; and they employ from fifty to 150 persons in all branches of their industry during the busy seasons. They have one packing house in Santa Ana, where the main office is located, and the other at Hill-

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grove, near Puente, Los Angeles County, both being equipped with modern methods of handling their output.

As a pioneer business man of Santa Ana, Mr. Collins has always been much interested in the advancement of the city as a commercial center and in all move- ments for its upbuilding has ever been found among the leaders. During the World War he gave of his time and means to make Orange County go "over the top" in all the allied drives for loans and funds. He has seen the city grow from a straggling village to one of the best cities in the Southland. Public spirited to a high degree no one is prouder of the city and county of his adoption than C. C. Collins.

CYRUS NEWTON MAGILL .- A very successful rancher with a record of thirty years or more as a pioneer, is Cyrus Newton Magill, whose twenty acres constitute one of the "show-places" of the West Orange voting precinct. He was born in Clinton County, Ind., on August 12, 1836, the son of Cyrus D. Magill, a native of Kentucky who farmed for a while in Indiana and later in Wisconsin. While in the Hoosier State he was married to Sarah Miller, and it was in the historic year of 1849 that he moved to Wisconsin. He attended the public schools in Indiana, and also at Richmond, later Orion, in Richland County, Wis., and grew up on his father's farm, two miles from the Wisconsin River. Thus he saw that section of the country in its undeveloped state, before there was any railroad there.

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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 49

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