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 63

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 63

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Mr. Coate is a member of Gordon Granger Post No. 138, G. A. R., and is a past commander; he has been adjutant, and is now officer of the day. Mrs. Coate belongs to Gordon Granger Post, No. 54, W. R. C. Both husband and wife are Methodists and also equally loyal Republicans.

MRS. MARY McKEE GILCHRIST .- A woman who is very enthusiastic over the exceptional advantages of Southern California, and particularly Orange County, is Mrs. Mary McKee Gilchrist, the widow of the late Duncan Gilchrist, who passed away on January 21, 1908, lamented by many. She was born at Addison, Vt., and made her first trip to California in January, 1906. The following March she returned East, and in November of the same year was back again in California, and has located at Orange -such was, to her as with so many thousands of others, the lure of the Golden State.

Her father, John McKee, of Scotch Irish descent, was married in New York State to Miss Sarah J. Bingham, and the wedding took place on May 13, 1848. She also came of Scotch ancestry, and proved the right kind of a helpmate for a man forging ahead in that early period of the country. As farmers, Mr. and Mrs. McKee moved to Addison, Vt., but after four years they returned to Moriah, Essex County, N. Y., where Mr. McKee farmed along the shores of Lake Champlain. And there he died, on No- vember 7, 1901. Mrs. McKee spent her declining years with Mrs. Gilchrist and passed away at her home in Orange on January 18, 1914. She was the mother of two children, one of whom, Samuel Bingham McKee, was a civil engineer and prominent in railroad building, and died in Los Angeles on November 29, 1910.

Mary McKee, the younger of the children, was brought up in New York and there attended the Sherman Collegiate Institute, after which she engaged in teaching in her home county. In time she became the principal of a school, and so continued in educa- tional work until her marriage in 1895. Her husband, Duncan Gilchrist, was born in the Isle of Islay, Scotland, and when fifteen years of age crossed the ocean to Ontario with his parents. He was a mechanical engineer-and none better worked near him; and when still young came to Michigan, where he was a master mechanic in the iron ore

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mines at Marquette, and then at Ishpeming, for seventeen years, and later at Duluth, going from there to Mineville, N. Y., where he was over twelve years with the Witherbee and Sherman Company, when he resigned to come to California. As an exceptionally qualified mechanic, he was always both well known and well liked, and was frequently consulted on account of his expert knowledge. He had desired always to return to Scotland for a visit, and once with Mrs. Gilchrist went on to New York, but he was called back to Mineville on business before he could sail, and putting it off, he died Jan. 21, 1908, so he never was able to make the cherished visit. Mr. Gilchrist was a mem- ber of the Masonic order. Since his death, his estimable widow has resided at Orange, treasuring the memory of the last years with him, and has built for herself a fine home at 237 North Orange. She is a devoted Presbyterian, and belongs to the same denomination in which Mr. Gilchrist was for many years an elder. Mrs. Gilchrist is a Republican, and belongs to the Gordon Granger Post, W. R. C., where, as well as in the church, the cultured and refined influence of her pleasing personality is especially felt.

JOHN G. LAUNER .- Among the public-spirited citizens of Orange County, John G. Launer, pioneer resident of La Habra, is deserving of special mention in the annals of the county. A native of Switzerland, he was born at Berne on January 16, 1863, the son of John and Anna (Stambauch) Launer, both of whom came from sturdy French and Swiss families. In order to find more congenial surroundings than were to be found in their own country, Mr. and Mrs. Launer left Switzerland in 1866, when their son John was three years old, and sailed for America, their destination being Highland, a suburb of East St. Louis, Ill. Two years after landing there Mr. Launer started to raise grain and stock on an eighty-acre farm he had purchased, and this was later increased to 160 acres. They lived to a ripe old age and died mourned by a wide circle of friends.

John G. attended the grammar school and at the age of fourteen had to leave his books to help with the farm work. When he was eighteen he worked at the thresh- ing business during the season and in winter took up the sawing of wood and when that was dull he butchered for two winters, thus showing he was willing to do any honest labor in order to make a living. On October 16, 1888, he was united in marriage with Miss Rosa Niggli, the daughter of Chris Niggli, a well-established farmer of East St. Louis. Three children were born of this union: Albert, a graduate of the Uni- versity of Southern California and now city attorney of Fullerton; he is married and the father of two children-Catherine and Leland; Nelson M., is a rancher at La Habra and secretary of the La Habra Water Company; he attended both the University of Southern California and the University of California; his children are Eunice and Ruth Launer; Erwin, is cashier in the Commercial National Bank in Los Angeles, he has one son, Malcolm Launer. In 1893 the wife and mother passed to her reward and on March 2, 1894, Mr. Launer married Miss Anna Niggli, a sister of his first wife, and two children have come to bless their home: Richard E., secretary of the Chamber of Commerce of Manhattan Beach and an employe of the Standard Oil Company of El Segundo. He has a son, Raymond. The youngest child, Glenn Launer, is at home with his parents.

It was in the early part of 1898 that John G. Launer first came to California as a tourist and so well pleased was he with conditions and future prospects here that he purchased thirty acres of land in the La Habra Valley, paying seventy-five dollars per acre. Twenty acres of the land was devoted to barley and the balance had de- ciduous trees on it. This land was situated in what is now the limits of La Habra town and after he had returned East and disposed of his holdings in Illinois he brought his family here in the fall of. 1898, dry farmed for several years with more or less success, and marketed his products in Fullerton, Anaheim and Whittier. Mr. Launer is never idle and is a hard worker, though always ready to do his part as a citizen who has the interests of his community at heart. As the town grew he sold off all but ten acres of his' original purchase in acreage and town lots, the tract lying east of Hiatt Street and extending to Cypress Street, north of Central Avenue. The ten acres left is set to oranges. He also has four acres in walnuts, the balance of ten acres south of the Pacific Electric Railroad. He also owned twenty acres west of Hiatt Street. where the main business section of the town now is situated. This property he sold to the Pacific Electric Railway Company, after he had dry farmed it for four years. He paid $150 per acre for this tract at time of purchase. He erected a fine home on his original ranch and in 1919 he built a $9,000 garage building at the corner of Main Street and Central Avenue that is a credit to the town.

Mr. Launer was instrumental in building up the La Habra Domestic Water Com- pany, which obtains its water from the La Habra Water Company. This company was a mutual affair at first but is now a public utility and under the control of the State

John D. Chaffeet .T.

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Railroad Commission, but Mr. Lanner is the president of the company. He helped to lay out the system, install the pipe lines and put it on a sound basis. The source of supply of the La Habra Water Company is the San Gabriel River and the water is carried in lateral ditches to the consumers. It has often been said that the good the consumers have derived from this company far exceeds the cost of the service.

For six years Mr. Launer served as a member of the board of trustees of the La Habra grammar school; for two terms he was a member of the Union high school board of Fullerton, and while he was serving there the property was purchased and the school buildings were being constructed. For five years he was deputy assessor for his district, and four years was deputy under Sheriff C. E. Ruddock .. He was one of the organizers of the La Habra Citrus Association and the La Habra Walnut Asso- ciation. During the World War he and his wife were active in the work of the Red Cross and other allied drives and supported liberally the various loan drives. Politically Mr. Launer is a Republican and at one time served as a member of the County Cen- tral Committee. He was a member of the right-of-way committee that brought the Pacific Electric through La Habra and the first depot out of Los Angeles on the line was huilt at La Habra. A self-made and self-educated man, Mr. Launer has the best interests of the county at heart and is highly respected by all who know him for his public spirit and integrity. It is to such citizens that Orange County owes its great progress in recent years.

JOHN D. CHAFFEE, M.D .- A pioneer of Garden Grove, whose homestead, The Pines, was one of the most valuable properties of that district, Dr. John D. Chaffee was a member of an old English family that settled in Vermont. His father, Eber C., was born near Bellows Falls, that state, and the son of Rufus Chaffee, a farmer. When a youth he learned the trades of tanner and currier, but after re- moving, in 1839, to Kane County, Ill., he turned his attention to agriculture, and improved a farm of 400 acres in Campton township. He married Anna Davis, who was born in Rutland County, Vt., of Welsh and English descent. Both died on their homestead in Illinois. Of their twelve children all but two attained mature years. They were as follows: Sereno S., who died in Los Angeles, Cal .; Fernando H., Mrs. Marcia Ryder; Edmond, who died in Texas during the Civil War; Alonzo, Dorr B., who served in an Illinois regiment during the rebellion; John D., Simon E., also a veteran of the Civil War and Albert J.

Near Elgin, Kane County, Ill., Dr. Chaffee was born November 5, 1843. On completing the studies of the district schools he attended Mount Morris (Ill.) Semi- nary. From boyhood it was his ambition to enter the medical profession and, in spite of obstacles, which would have daunted one less determined, he persevered, making every occupation in which he engaged a means to the end desired. While still living in Illinois he conducted a large dairy and furnished milk for a condensing factory, building up a business that was profitable and important. On account of ill health brought on by the strenuous life he led while building up and conducting his dairy business, Mr. Chaffee came west to California in 1875, stopping for three months in Los Angeles, then going to Westminster. He found that the climate of this part of Los Angeles County agreed with him and decided to remain here and in February, 1876, he located in the vicinity of Garden Grove where he purchased thirty acres of land. He soon sold off twenty acres and thereafter gave his attention to the develop- ment of the ten he retained by setting out various kinds of fruit trees. He acquired another tract of ten acres and set out encalyptus trees and from the small grove he had in five years' time he cut and sold eighty cords of wood. When Dr. Chaffee bought his land he paid for it in currency and in exchanging for the "coin" of Cali- fornia he lost eleven cents on each dollar as greenbacks were not legal tender in this state.

Years ago, with only one text-book to assist him, Dr. Chaffee began the study of medicine, and his rudimentary knowledge of the science was acquired without the aid of an instructor. Other books were afterward added to his medical library and the contents of each absorbed by his receptive mind. In 1884, the year following its organization, he entered Hahnemann Hospital Medical College in San Francisco, from which he was graduated in 1887. However, he had practiced prior to his gradu- ation, and he was, in point of years of professional activity, one of the oldest physi- cians in Orange County, and was beloved by many who appreciated him for his true worth and nobility of character.

The marriage of Dr. Chaffee took place in Elgin, Ill., September 29, 1868, and united him with Miss Ellen M. Bradley, who was born at Dundee, Kane County, Il1. She is eligible to membership in the Daughters of the Revolution, some of her paternal ancestors having participated in the first war with England. Her grandfather, Anson Bradley, spent his entire life in Vermont, and her father, William S. Bradley, was

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also a native of that state, born in Fairfield, but in 1838 settled at Dundee, 1]i., becoming a pioneer farmer near that town. In 1881 he removed to California, where he remained retired from active cares until his death, at seventy-six years. He traced 'his ancestry to English and Scotch progenitors. In religion he was connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Lucia Keiser, was born in New Hampshire and died at Garden Grove, Cal. Their family consisted of four daughters, namely: Jane C., Mrs. Wanzer, a resident of Chicago but who died in Wisconsin; Mary E., Mrs. Hill; Ellen M., Mrs. Chaffee, and Lois E., Mrs. Hitchcock. After completing her education in Elgin Academy, Mrs. Chaffee became a teacher in Kane County, continuing in that profession until her marriage.

Dr. and Mrs. Chaffee were charter members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Garden Grove and he was always one of its leaders and an important factor in its progress, both as a member and through his service as chairman of the board of trustees and in other official positions. In his political adherence he was a staunch Republican and active in the local work of the party, but at no time in his life an aspirant for official honors. In 1901 the family moved to Long Beach and where Dr. Chaffee built up an extensive practice, and there he passed away on May 2, 1907, in the fine home he had erected on Cedar Street.

JAMES ALEXANDER FORBES .- A full and eventful life has been the portion of James Alexander Forbes, scholar, historian and musician, who at the age of eighty- two is now living at San Juan Capistrano, hale and hearty, and, gifted as he is with a remarkable memory, he can relate many of the interesting happenings of the early days of California. A native son, born March 17, 1838, at Santa Clara, Mr. Forbes has spent practically all his life in the state of his birth, except for some years in Mexico in the consular service, and later spending some time there in superintending his mining interests.

His father, James Alexander Forbes, Sr., one of California's earliest pioneers, was born at Inverness, Scotland, and highly educated there, being a professor of languages and music in a college at Inverness. Entering the service of Spain in the warfare against the Moors, he later came to California on a Spanish man-of-war, landing at Yerba Buena, now San Francisco, in 1829. Returning to Scotland, he came a second time to America, making a prospecting tour to Vanconver, and coming to California in 1833 with a party of the Hudson Bay Company, camping on the San Joaquin River where the city of Stockton now stands. During this time he wrote a history of California for the English Government, which was later published in London, and which is the first history of this part of the country written in the English language. Appointed consul by England, Mr. Forbes removed to the Mission in Santa Clara County, and was stationed there when California became a part of the United States. He soon took a prominent part in the development of the country under the new rule, and built a beautiful residence in Santa Clara, with many modern conveniences, such as dumb waiters, speaking tubes, etc., and bringing from England the first cook- stove to be brought into California. He also brought the machinery for a flour mill from Rochester, establishing the mill at Los Gatos. He was the owner of the rich New Almaden mines, and took out of them enormous sums of money, but later he lost much of this fortune through litigation. Mr. Forbes married a native daughter of California, Anita Maria Galindo, the daughter of Juan Crissotomo Galindo, and spent his last years in Oakland, leaving a name that will always be associated with California's early development.

The second son of a family of twelve children, all of whom were talented, inheriting the literary ability of their father, James Alexander Forbes was given a thorough education at Santa Clara College, and after his graduation he began teaching school at Santa Barbara in 1865, having charge of the public schools there until he went to San Francisco, where he was an instructor in St. Joseph's College. Later he was appointed translator of the California state statutes, and from 1867 to 1870 he pursued this work at Sacramento, and after completing this important work he was called to San Francisco, where he became court interpreter in all the Courts of Record, including the United States Federal Court. Appointed keeper of the Spanish and Mexican archives by the Secretary of the Interior in 1877, he served as official trans- lator for the Government under the following surveyor-generals: Theodore Wagner, William H. Brown, Richard P. Hammond, O. C. Pratt and William Green, holding that position until 1892. Under President Harrison he received appointment as consul to Guaymas, Mexico, in 1892, serving throughout his administration. Coming back to California, he remained here for a time, but returned to Mexico in 1906, becoming extensively interested in silver, copper and quicksilver mines in Jalisco, which would have undoubtedly brought him great wealth, but everything was lost in the revolution during the latter part of the Diaz regime. Returning to the United States in 1918. he

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came to San Juan Capistrano in 1919 to make his home. His wife, who before her marriage was Carmen Vasquez, passed away in 1916. She was born in Sonora, Mexico, but was reared and educated in San Francisco. The only surviving member of Mr. Forbes' family is his brother, James Alonzo Forbes, of Monterey, Cal., a former judge of Monterey County.

Mr. Forbes has been deeply engaged in his literary labors of late years and has finished for his publishers the manuscript of a comprehensive historical work entitled, "Forbes' Chronology of the World from the Date of Its Creation 4004 B. C. to the Present Time." "The Golden West," just off the press, is one of the most reliable, clear, brief but interesting histories of California ever published for popular use in pamphlet form, and is beautifully illustrated. He has also published "Gramatica del Metodo," for teaching the English language phonetically to Spanish-speaking people, and a like work for English-speaking people who wish to learn the Spanish language. Among the various other works that he has published may be mentioned "The Rights of Indians and Neophytes of the Missions," which was used by the Land Court in Santa Fe, N. M., and so valuable was the material contained in it that Mr. Forbes was presented a substantial check by the Secretary of the Interior in recognition of his research work along these lines. In politics he has always been a stanch advocate of Republican principles, and he has always brought to bear in his daily life those high principles of honor, honesty and uprightness which were part of his inheritance from his noble Scotch ancestry.

CHARLES H. FORBES .- A native son of the Golden West dating back to days prior to the Mexican War was the late Charles H. Forbes, born in Santa Clara, 1835, a brother of J. Alexander Forbes, whose interesting history, as well as that of the Forbes family in California, is on another page in this history. He received a splendid education and became agent and bookkeeper for Don Abel Stearns, and after his death, for Mrs. Arcadia Stearns Baker, continuing for her until his death in 1900. His headquarters were in the Arcadia Block, Los Angeles. His care of Don Abel Stearns' estate and Mrs. Baker's interests made her property worth millions.

In early days he was agent for the following ranches: Los Coyotes, La Habra, San Juan Cajon de Santa Ana, Los Bolsas, Los Alamitos, Los Paredes, Bolsa Chica and La Sierra Jurupa.

Charles Forbes became a prominent and well-known figure in Southern California and a man most highly respected and esteemed. His wife, Louisa Olvera, was born in Los Angeles and was descended from an old Spanish family, a daughter of Don Agustin Olvera, who was secretary of the Departmental Assembly of California during the Mexican regime, and she preceded her husband to the Great Beyond, leaving him twelve children. The passing of Charles H. Forbes took away one of the old interest- ing and reliable men of affairs in the early history of Los Angeles and Southern California.

ROBERT C. NORTHCROSS .- A native of Tennessee, Robert C. Northcross, popularly known as Bob, was born at Trenton, on March 10, 1877, the son of Marshall Northcross who had married Miss Rebecca Caldwell. They were also natives of Ten- nessee, and were reared and educated in that state. The grandfather on the paternal side was Nelms Northcross of Virginia, who had married Margery Marshall of Ken- tucky. He was a planter in the "Volunteer State," and in 1868 came to California by way of the Panama route, and made a tour of the state, going as far north as Lake County and visiting Orange County, after which he returned to Tennessee. He came back to California with his family in the seventies, and settled in the town of Orange and there, in 1881, he died.

The death of Nelms Northcross brought to California, for the settlement of the estate, his son, Marshall, the father of our subject, who was accompanied by his wife, his daughter, Margery, and young Robert. They settled on a ranch near Orange. It consisted of eighteen acres, at the corner of Main and Chapman streets, and was a part of the grandfather's estate. At first, Mr. Northcross cultivated grapes and seedling oranges, which he in time took out and put in Mediterranean sweets. These he also took ont, and then planted Navel oranges only to substitute for these Valencias. On this acreage the family lived for thirty-five years. All the children of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Northcross were sent to the old public school at Orange, and in time Robert was graduated from the high school at Santa Ana, with the class of 1897. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, he enlisted for service as a member of Company L of the Seventh Regiment, California Volunteers, and served throughout the war. In 1899. also, he enlisted as one of the Thirty-fifth U. S. Volunteer Infantry, Company D, and served during the Phillipine Insurrection. He was made a sergeant, and was in the Island campaign for eighteen months.

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In 1901, Mr. Northcross engaged with a wholesale electric supply concern in Denver, where he remained until December, 1903, when he returned to California and went back on the ranch. In 1905 he entered Occidental College, and in 1906, went with Company L, Seventh Infantry, National Guards of California to San Francisco and took part in the relief work so imperatively demanded at the time of the earthquake and the fire. The same year, he went to Mexico and for a year worked with the engi- neers of construction on the Yaqui River Railroad. In 1909, Mr. Northcross went on a walnut ranch of ten acres, on Chapman Avenne, west of Orange, and there he remained until 1914. From 1914 until 1915 he lived in Los Angeles, and in January, 1915, he went to work for the Orange County Forestry Commission, to propagate trees for, and plant them on the county highways. At first he was in charge of the county nursery, and now he has full charge of the highway forestry work.

On December 30, 1909, Mr. Northcross was married to Miss Eleanor S. Hammack, a daughter of Judge Daniel M. Hammack, of Los Angeles, whose wife, before her marriage, was Miss Belle Stewart, daughter of Judge James Stewart of Monmouth, 111. She had attended the public schools of San Diego, had then matriculated at Occidental College Academy, and was graduated from the University of California with the class of 1900. One son, Robert Hammack Northcross, has been born to them. Mr. North- cross has generally stood by the political doctrines of the Democratic party in national political affairs, but he has been willing to waive and forget the claims of partisanship in all local matters, and has always found great pleasure, as has his wife, in supporting whatever seemed likely to make for the best conditions, and to assure the upbuilding of the community.

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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 63

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