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 65

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 65

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ISAAC CRAIG .- A contracting carpenter who has not only been active in help- ing to build up Orange County in the material sense, but who, as an influential City Father has contributed to stimulating and guiding its growth along broad and perma- nent lines, is Isaac Craig, a Canadian by birth, having first seen the light in Ontario on March 19, 1862. His father was John, and his mother Ann J. (McCollough) Craig; they lived busy, useful lives and are now both dead. They had thirteen children, among whom Isaac was the youngest child.

He attended the excellent common schools in Canada, and later learned the car- penter's trade, at which he worked until coming into the States in 1880. He came west to North Dakota and remained there six months, after which he moved on to Manitoba and British Columbia. In 1887, he returned to the States and for six months was employed at Helena, Mont. During the height of the great "boom" in 1887, Mr. Craig came to California and for awhile located at Los Angeles. Then he went north to San Francisco. At the beginning of the century, he came first to Orange County, locating at Olinda and in 1912 came to Brea, where he was one of the first residents; and since then he has built the Brea Hotel and many of the finest residences and busi- ness buildings hereabouts. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, in which organ- ization he is always ready to shoulder his share of any movement making for the progress of the locality. Mr. Craig was easily elected city trustee in 1918, and was one of the first trustees of Brea, with a four-year term. He was also appointed, and then elected justice of the peace.

In Los Angeles on June 27, 1888, Mr. Craig was married to Miss Mary C. Reardon, a native of Charleston, S. C., and their fortunate union has been blessed through the birth of five boys and two girls. John M., in Sumatra; Mary Jane, wife of C. C. Hos- mer, of Alhambra; Sarah E., Mrs. L. B. Depweg, of Honolulu; Edward, James C., William and Thomas, all at home. James C. and Edward were in the World War; the former was in France over a year, serving in the supply department; Edward was in training in the aviation department in England. In club life, Mr. Craig is active and popular in the Grand Fraternity.

JOHN CASSOU .- A highly-esteemed citizen noted for his great faith in the future of Orange County, a faith no doubt quickened because of his own work as a builder up of communities, is John Cassou, of Anaheim, whose good wife is a daughter of an intrepid '49er. He is now one of the oldest settlers of Anaheim living, although he first saw the light in the vicinity of Pau, in the Basses-Pyrenees, France. He was horn there on October 18, 1856, and was descended from an old and well-known family. His parents were liberal-minded folks, and he received the best education that the public schools could afford. So well was he equipped for the ordinary station in life that at sixteen he migrated from home, sailed for America and eventually came to San Fran- cisco. He had a brother in Anaheim, and that circumstance led him to proceed to the mother colony, where for two years he was employed in stock raising. Then, having saved some money, he decided to engage in the sheep business, and to establish some- thing for himself.

He was only eighteen years of age, therefore, when he went to San Diego County and bought a small flock of sheep; and from 1875 until 1886 he ranged them on the plains and the mountains, after which he branched out into other lines. In partnership with his brother, Peter, he ran the butcher shop in Escondido, providing the town with the first meat market; and as the property at present of a nephew it is still running. In 1894, he sold out his various interests, save the ranches, which he still owns, to his brother, and came back to Anaheim. On his return, he embarked in the hotel and liquor trade, and in that line he continued for twenty years, or until he felt that his other affairs demanded all of his attention. He owns a business building, as well as a residence on West Center and Clementine, and also the Cassou Block, which he built in 1916. It is 97x155 feet on West Center, a very central location, and the edifice makes a fine business block. He is a stockholder in the First National Bank of Ana- heim, of which he has been a director, and also a stockholder in the Anaheim Savings Bank. In addition to these realty holdings in Anaheim, Mr. and Mrs. Cassou have

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other valuable property in Los Angeles, which they recently erected and which adds to the artistic standards for which that city is noted. Naturally, Mr. Casson belongs to the Chamber of Commerce in Anaheim, where he is highly esteemed for his progres- sive views.

The marriage of Mr. Cassou to Mrs. Marie (Sarrail) Blanchard, a native of San Francisco, occurred at Anaheim in 1896, and will long be remembered pleasantly by those who participated in the social event. The bride's father was Rock Sarrail, who in 1849 came to San Francisco by way of the Horn, landing after a six months' trip. He followed mining for a while, and then later took up stock raising, coming south to Los Angeles to range his herds. In the beginning, he let his flocks roam in what is now the business center of Los Angeles, but which was then merely open fields; and his herders moved along what is now Hill Street, between Sixth and Seventh. Mr. Sarrail is still living, at the ripe old age of eighty-one years; and he is enviably honored by all who know him as one of the genuine old-timers. Marie is the oldest child of the family, and was reared and educated in Southern California; and as far back as 1869 she came to Anaheim. She first married Victor Blanchard, a native of the Hautes Alps, France, who was engaged in sheep raising in Orange County, and was a promi- nent stockman and landowner, operating extensively, when he died in 1891. They had three children, but only one is living, Mrs. Rose Hessel, of Anaheim. One child, Ruby, a graduate of the Anaheim high school and also of a Los Angeles business college, has blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Cassou. Mr. Cassou is a member of both the Ana- heim Lodge of the Elks and Eagles.

JOHN C. ORD .- Orange County is widely known for its recognition of old-time residents who have had to do with the founding and developing of this favored part of the Golden State, and it is not likely to forget such a worthy pioneer as John C. Ord, the father of Seal Beach, who was born in Orleans County, Vt., on July 28, 1842. As a boy, he worked in the woods getting out lumber, and also in a saw-mill, and at the outbreak of the Civil War enlisted as a volunteer in the cause of the Union, and served for three years. He belonged to Company E, Ninth Vermont Infantry, and was in the Twenty-fourth Army Corps under his cousin, Gen. E. O. C. Ord. He took part in the surrender of General Lee, and recalls that historic occasion as one of the most inter- esting events of his entire life. He was in the battle of Winchester and Harpers' Ferry, and was captured at the latter place and sent to Chicago, where he was ex- changed. He also took part in the siege of Norfolk and the battle at Newport, N. C. In the last year of the war, he was attached to the Sharpshooter Brigade, and par- ticipated in the battle of Petersburg. He was also in the grand review at the close of the war in Richmond. As one result of this meritorious and active service, he helped to organize Baxter Post, G. A. R., at Newport, Vt.

In 1866, Mr. Ord crossed the Isthmus to California, and landed in San Francisco with only $300. This he soon spent and was obliged to find work. The experiment was not without difficulties, and he was forced to tramp through the country in search of employment and begged for something to eat. His first engagement was on a ranch in Contra Costa County, owned by Charles Howard. After that he worked on thresh- ing machines in harvest fields, and then he went to the neighborhood of Monterey in the Salinas Valley, where he chopped wood and again harvested.

In 1869 Mr. Ord returned to his old home in Vermont, on one of the first railroad trains to cross the Continent after the driving of the famous golden spike; but like so many who have found it impossible to say goodbye to California, he came back to the Coast and located at Grass Valley, in Nevada County, where he mined, and built two houses which he sold. He then went to Los Alamitos, Orange County, and erected a two-story store building, in which he kept a general store and also served as justice of the peace.

On February 29, 1904, Mr. Ord hauled his store building to what is now Seal Beach and located it on Main Street, where it is still standing and doing good service. It is owned by John P. May, who conducts there a general store and the local post- office. This was the first building in Seal Beach, and Mr. Ord lived alone in it for three months. Later, he leased out the store and took a six months' trip to New Zealand.

On his return, Mr. Ord started in to build up Seal Beach. He bought lots in the area of the proposed town, some of which he still owns; was appointed first post- master of the place, began to sell his own property, advertising "Bargains in Second- hand Houses and Lots," and cleaned up a handsome profit through his sales, and he also attracted visitors through a fine collection of skunks, squirrels and coyotes, which served as an attraction to beach visitors. He had thirteen skunks, quite as tame as kittens, and perfectly harmless, although he kept them caged.

palmle Ord

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Besides faithfully fulfilling his duties as postmaster of Seal Beach, Mr. Ord also served as agent for the Wells Fargo Express Company on their entering the town, and this enabled him to help still more effectively in building up the place. He planted the first tree in Seal Beach, a blooming acacia, as well as other needed trees, and when the acacia was cut down, a gavel was made from some of the wood and presented to Mr. Ord by his friends; and this gavel he used in presiding over the deliberations of the board of town trustees. When Seal Beach was incorporated, on October 19, 1915, he was elected chairman or mayor, and was reelected to that office, retiring from office in April, 1920, to the regret of all who knew him.

Mr. Ord married Miss Mary White, a Vermont lady, now deceased, who became the mother of a son, Ernest W. Ord. a graduate of the Grass Valley high school. He is now foreman of a large lumber company in Cambridge, Mass. In Irasburg, Orleans County, Vt., Mr. Ord joined Central Lodge of Masons, No. 62, A. F. & A. M., and at Newport. Vt., he was raised to the Royal Arch degree and entered the fellow- ship of the Commandery, when he became a Knight Templar. Later, he demitted to the Norwalk, Cal., lodge of Masons.

GEORGE EDDIE ROBINSON .- A substantial citizen of Santa Ana long and highly honored not only among all old-timers, but particularly among the Masons of Orange County is George Eddie Robinson, one of the oldest stockholders in the Orange County Trust and Savings Bank. He was born at Winterset, in Madison County, Iowa, on August 16, 1857, a member of the family of H. J. Robinson, a native of New York, who was reared in Ohio. In his young days he was a boatman on the Wabash Canal. With his devoted wife, who was Julia Carpenter before her marriage, a native of Ohio, he came to Winterset, Iowa, in 1854. In 1858 he located at Fremont, Nebr., the seventh family to locate in that district, there being a village of 1,500 Indians across the Platte River from them. He engaged in huilding saw mills and flour mills, made the cottonwood lumber for the early settlers, and later made flour. On account of his health he came to California in June, 1875, and for years was engaged in farming here. For twelve years prior to his death he lived retired in Santa Ana. During these latter years his association with Masonry gave him much diversion and comfort. Mrs. Robinson, who was the mother of two children, is also deceased.

The younger of the offspring, George E. Robinson went to the local public schools and remained in the Middle West throughout his youth so that he was a young man of seventeen when he came to California in 1875. He was engaged in farming in Santa Barbara County with his father until 1883, when he came to El Modena, Orange County, and for three years gave his time to the cultivation and care of a twenty-acre tract of vineyard and oranges. On selling this he bought ten acres, now the southwest corner of Fourth and Baker streets; this he subdivided as the Robinson tract and it was soon sold. For fifteen years Mr. Robinson also followed teaming, so that he not only has seen much of the development of Santa Ana and vicinity, but has actively participated in the work of bringing about the miraculous changes. He was a stock- holder in the Balboa Company and helped to lay out the town of Balboa, early took stock in the Orange County Savings Bank, now the Orange County Trust and Savings Bank, and thus attracted to it other capital, and erected three houses worthy of the vicinity. In many ways, therefore, Mr. Robinson has been very much, as he still is, interested in the development of the town and the county.

On September 3, 1890, Mr. Robinson and Miss Fannie Swift were married, but the following year his estimable companion passed away. She left a daughter, Eva F., who is now Mrs. James S. Elliott, through whom Mr. Robinson has one grandchild, James S. Elliott, Jr.

In every good movement for the benefit of the neighborhood, socially and morally an untiring leader working without partisanship, Mr. Robinson is a Republican in matters of national politics, and there endeavors to use his influence for the best nomi- nees. Mr. Robinson is a member of Santa Ana Lodge No. 241, F. & A. M., Chapter No. 73, R. A. M., Santa Ana Council No. 4, R. & S. M., and Santa Ana Commandery No. 36, Knights Templar. He is also a member of Al Malaikah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Los Angeles, and of Hermosa Chapter No. 105. O. E. S. He has been tyler of all the Masonic bodies in Santa Ana for over fifteen years. Mr. Robinson was a member of the California National Guards under Hal Finley, and later under Walter Greenleaf. He was also constable of Santa Ana Township for six years and for eighteen years deputy county clerk, giving his attention to the registration of voters, which position he has held satisfactorily under four different county clerks. As a Republican he has been a delegate to many county and state conventions and has always taken an active part in county politics.

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GEORGE HENRY AMERIGE .- Not many men living can point with pride to such a city as Fullerton and claim, as may the brothers, George H. and Edward R. Amerige, that the splendid reality is the child of what was once a mere dream, and one at which some people even smiled; but such is the occasional step in the evolution of the great Pacific commonwealth, itself the veriest reality crowning the fancies and vision of those who dared to look far ahead. These founders of one of the most attractive and promising of all the municipalities in Southern California were born in Malden, Mass., one of the suburbs of Boston, descendants of an old Colonial family, one of their number being George H. Amerige, an uncle of our subject, who came out to the Coast as a genuine '49er, traveling by way of Panama, and later founded the well-known newspaper, Alta California, in San Francisco. The Amerige family dates back to one of the oldest Protestant families of Italy, who were driven out of their native land at the time of the persecution of the Protestants. They fled to Germany and later to England, and there Maurice Amerige was born and reared. He and two of his brothers came to Boston, Mass., where he became a prominent business man. He married a Miss Brown, the daughter of Solomon Brown one of the early shoe manufacturers of Lynn.

The father of our subject, Hon. Henry Amerige, was born in Boston, and like many New England lads, went to sea for awhile; later becoming well known as a manufacturer and outfitter of sailing vessels, his place of business being at No. 1 Commercial Wharf, Boston. He was one of the first mayors of Malden, which he helped to lay out, and he gave this attractive suburb the land necessary for a park, now known as Amerige Park. He was a representative in the Massachusetts Legis- lature, a member of the board of assessors of Malden, was state commissioner and superintendent of highways for many years, and always occupied a position of promi- nence in the locality, where he was held in the highest respect. The mother, who was Harriette Elizabeth Giles Russell, was born in the old Benjamin Franklin home in Boston; her father, Benjamin Russell, was born in Salem, Mass., and married Miss Giles, whose father, Benjamin Giles, served in the Revolutionary War; he had married Miss Endicott, a cousin of Governor Endicott of Massachusetts. They were all of English descent and of old Puritan stock. Mr. Amerige's great-grandfather, Benjamin Giles, gave the sounding board to the old South Church in Boston. Benjamin Russell owned several vessels and was engaged in the merchant marine trade. He brought the first two colored boys from Africa to Salem and educated them until they were able to make their own way, and also brought the first rubber from South America to Massachusetts. All in all the Amerige ancestors were among the prominent and interesting old families of New England.

There were five children in the family of Henry and Elizabeth (Russell) Amerige, of whom George H. was the second eldest. The other members of the family were Edward H. Amerige, late of Fullerton, who died on May 3, 1915; Hattie A. is the wife of Albert B. Morgan, a prominent druggist of Malden, Mass .; Miss Ella Amerige also of Malden; and Alfred B., who makes his home at Everett, Mass. Mrs. Morgan is the only member of the family of five children to have issue and has been blessed with three children: Henry A., who enlisted and served in the U. S. Navy during the World War, is now associated in the drug business; Russell B. also enlisted for service in the World War, serving in the U. S. Army overseas for eighteen months and since his discharge is also associated with his father; Alva B., the youngest is attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. George H. Amerige, as stated before, was a native of Malden, Mass., born March 22, 1855, and the lad who was destined to play such an interesting role in California history, grew up under exceptionally advantageous circumstances in Malden, where he attended the local schools and was closely asso- ciated with the business life of the suburban cities of the Hub. As a young man he engaged in the wholesale and retail handling of hay and grain at Boston, in partnership with his brother, Edward R., and although they started in a small way, they were soon able to ship in carload lots; they had four different stores in Massachusetts and built and owned warehouses. Hearing of the turn given to land and other affairs in what is generally spoken of as the "boom" period in California, they disposed of their Massachusetts interests and arrived here in May, 1886; here they continued together in business, cooperating in harmony and joy in each other's association until the passing away of Edward R. Amerige in 1915, a loss to town, county and state.

George H. Amerige has told in an admirable historical document, just what they did when once they had cast their lot here, and much of his story is well worth repeat- ing. After a thorough and careful inspection of all the country round about what is now the Fullerton district, these two young men formulated a plan to start a town, thinking that here of all places would be an ideal location for a successful and permanent

annette J. amerigo.

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY

municipality. Its close proximity to the then only well-developed portion of this region. the beautiful and productive Placentia district, was a potent factor in the decision.

The original purchase was made in the spring of 1887, and comprised 430 acres of land, a rich and fertile tract formerly belonging to the Miles estate. Having obtained the information that the Santa Fe Railroad Company would soon build a line from Los Angeles to San Diego, passing through Orange County, then a part of Los Angeles County, and near the Amerige land, the brothers negotiated with the company and induced them, by giving them an interest in the townsite, to change their route so as to run through the new tract. Frank Olmstead of Los Angeles was engaged to survey and plot the townsite; and the first stake was driven in his survey at what is now the corner of Spadra Street and East Commonwealth Avenue, then a field of wild mustard, by Edward Amerige on July 5, 1887. Visionary as this scheme of a town in a mustard field might have then seemed to many, the land was soon cleared, streets laid out and various buildings erected.

The first of these was the one built by the Amerige Brothers and used by them as an office, and ever since for business purposes. At this time the great boom in South- ern California was rapidly subsiding, and the town was seriously handicapped by lack of transportation facilities to and from Los Angeles, the Santa Fe having failed, for a year, to complete its line, as agreed upon, to Fullerton. Wilshire Bros., hearing of the remarkable prospects of the new town, desired to purchase an interest in the venture, and prevailed upon the Ameriges to accommodate them; and later all interests were merged into the Pacific Land and Improvement Company, to better facilitate the new town's growth. When it was proposed to name the place after the founders, they modestly expressed their appreciation of the compliment, but did not wish to have it done; whereupon it was named in honor of George H. Fuller, then president of the Pacific Land and Improvement Company, which was really a branch of the Santa Fe Railroad Company, organized to promote the Santa Fe's interests, and to arrange for rights of way and railroad land, Later the Wilshire Bros. and C. C. Carpenter pur- chased the Pacific Land and Improvement Company's interest, and the Fullerton Land and Trust Company came into existence. The Wilshires failing to fulfill their contract with the Pacific Land and Improvement Company, their holdings were taken over by the land company. Then the interests of Amerige Brothers and the Pacific Land and Improvement Company were segregated, and the Fullerton Land and Trust Com- pany dissolved, and Amerige Brothers stayed with the town.

Fullerton did not receive any natural benefits from the boom, for before the advent of the railroad, it was all over. The first train to reach the town was in the fall of 1888, and the first building of any importance to be erected was the St. George Hotel, named for George Amerige, costing over $50,000, which was wrecked in 1918 to make room for a modern business block, erected by Geo. H. Amerige. The Wilshire Block at the corner of Spadra and Commonwealth avenue was also built in 1888, and it is still standing. The first bank to be established was the First National Bank and Fullerton Savings Bank, affiliated, which came into existence largely through the efforts of Amerige Brothers.

Most of the streets of the town were named by the Amerige brothers, after the streets in or near their native Massachusetts town. Commonwealth Avenue, one of the finest, derived its name from the famous thoroughfare of Boston. Malden Street and Highland Avenue were named for the city and street where the founders formerly lived. and Amerige Avenue perpetuates the name of the town's founders. Other streets were named after officials of the Pacific Land and Improvement Company and of the Santa Fe Railroad Company.

The Amerige Brothers also planted and developed a sixty-acre walnut orchard. since sold by them, and sent their walnuts in carload lots to the East. They erected a number of buildings in the city and George H. Amerige has recently completed two new modern business blocks on his property on East Commonwealth Avenue, a block having 350 feet frontage on Commonwealth and 175 feet on Spadra Street. He also owns two buildings on Spadra Street of fifty and seventy-five feet front and is now building a concrete business block on Amerige Avenue, having a frontage of 100 feet. He still has business interests in Massachusetts and owns valuable property in his native city, Malden. Deeply interested in Fullerton from its inception he had to do with every enterprise and movement started, most of which have had a bearing on making it the splendid residence place of today. He put in the first waterworks that the first citizens to locate might enjoy the convenience and abundance of the necessity of life and with his own hands planted the first trees along the avenues in Fullerton, starting the beautifying of the city that is now so much enjoyed.

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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 65

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