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 73
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The parents moved from Indiana to Iowa in 1869, remaining there for three years, and returning to Indiana; from there they went to Kansas, where they resided for twelve years, coming to California in 1887. They settled at El Modena, and also lived at Pasadena and Burbank before coming to Garden Grove in 1890, and here the family home has since heen established.
In 1898 Harvey V. Newsom bought his ranch, then consisting of twenty acres, and began its development, selling ten acres of it in 1906. In 1900 he was united in marriage with Miss Mina A. Robinson, daughter of the pioneer, Richard Robinson, whose biography appears elsewhere in this volume. They are the parents of one daughter, Vesta Marie, a graduate of the Anaheim high school, and now attending Junior College at Santa Ana, and a son, Stanley O., who died in February, 1911. Mr. Newsom located on his place before the building of the Pacific Electric Railway. By dint of hard, painstaking work he has made of his acreage a valuable property and has erected a fine, new bungalow. He is a member of the Orange Growers Associa- tion and the Lima Bean Growers Association of Garden Grove, and the Garden Grove Farm Center. A stanch believer in temperance, he has been an adherent of the Prohibition party for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Newsom are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Garden Grove, and are highly respected citizens of the community.
JASPER N. DE VAUL .- A pioneer couple representing, in their historic Ameri- can ancestry, some of the best of American brain and brawn, are Mr. and Mrs. Jasper N. De Vaul, who live three-quarters of a mile northeast of Garden Grove. He was born in Grundy County, near Trenton, Mo., on January 31, 1845, the son of James R. De Vaul, and the grandson of Daniel P. De Vaul, a veteran of the War of 1812. The De Vauls were among the first whites to settle at Trenton, having come over- land from Kentucky to Missouri, and James De Vaul served as a soldier in the Black Hawk War. Daniel De Vaul joined the Argonauts of '49 and came to Cali- fornia, where he mined at Placerville; and shifting to San Benito County, then Mon- terey County, he died there, aged seventy-six. James De Vaul continued in Missouri and married Miss Sarah Howel; and in 1880 he moved to Oregon, and settled at Myrtle Point. After lives, respectively, of ninety-three and seventy-eight years, Mr. and Mrs. De Vaul passed away in their northern home. They had twelve children, eight boys and four girls, among whom Jasper N. was the fourth in the order of birth.
He attended the little log schoolhouse of his native district, and in 1863, during the Civil War, served for five months in the state militia. In 1864 he crossed the plains with an ox-team train. driving a four-mule team, and taking five months for the journey. He stopped at Woodbridge, eighteen miles north of Stockton, and there worked on a ranch. He was married in San Jose to Miss Mary Meadows, and by her had three children-Nettie, Emma and William. He was married a second time, in 1880, to Miss Marv Holt. a native of Nova Scotia, and the daughter of J. W. and Nancy (Peel) Holt, Nova Scotians of English blood. The father went to sea until he was twenty-five, when he married and took up farming; and in 1868 they came
J. m. Backs
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to California with their family, and making the neighborhood of Hollister their head- quarters, they moved around considerably. The father died, at the age of eighty-eight.
Mr. and Mrs. De Vaul lived for eight years at Lompoc, and their next move was to Garden Grove, coming there in 1890. They have had five children: Eugene is field manager for the Anaheim Sugar Company, and married Miss Jessie Hickman of Bolsa; they have one son, and reside at Santa Ana; Ira is a rancher near Garden Grove; he married Lulu Chase of Alhambra, and they have one daughter; Oscar died at Lompoc, seven months old; Eva is the wife of W. F. Winters of Garden Grove, and they have two children, and Iola married Earl Crane, an apiarist, and has one daughter. Mr. Crane was in England during the war, and had his right arm badly wounded, and is now a student in the Agricultural College at Davis, Cal. Both Mr. and Mrs. De Vaul are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Garden Grove, and are Republicans, and in every loyal way participated in war activities.
Having become the owner of some sixty acres, Mr. De Vaul has farmed the same; while Mrs. De Vaul, having inherited twenty-five acres, retains fifteen for farming. Ten acres are set out to walnuts and two to oranges. They maintain a home that is a model for comfort and attractiveness, and they dispense, in modest but sincere fashion, an old-time, warming hospitality.
JOSEPH M. BACKS, JR .- Orange County points with pride to the rank and file of its public servants, nor need one be surprised in view of the record of such men as Joseph M. Backs, Jr., the efficient and popular county clerk. A native son, fortunate in starting life in intimate touch with the great commonwealth whose des- tinies he has been called upon to shape, he was born at Anaheim on April 17, 1876. His parents were Joseph and Catherine (Heyermann) Backs, the father being one of Anaheim's pioneers and prominent in the mercantile life of that city for many years; the birthplace of the mother was in Mexico, and she later removed to San Francisco with her father, Dr. A. F. Heyermann, who was at one time connected with the German Hospital, and also for many years engaged in the drug business in that city.
Coming to Los Angeles in December, 1869, then a straggling village, bearing little resemblance to its present metropolitan proportions. Joseph Backs, Sr., for a time worked at his trade of carpenter and cabinetmaker, and then, with his brother Ferdi- nand, embarked in the furniture business, conducting the same for a year, when it was sold. In 1871 the brothers came to Anaheim, where they assisted in furnishing and equipping the two hotels there, after which they started a business of their own, under the firm name of F. & J. Backs, this partnership continuing until 1890, when the business was divided, Joseph Backs continuing in business for himself. He was a pioneer furniture dealer and the first undertaker and embalmer in Anaheim, and in this capacity, as well as in a general business way, he was widely known, not only in Orange County, but in neighboring environs. He continued actively in business until 1914. when he sold out, and now he is living retired at his Anaheim home, his beloved wife having departed this world in 1918. Mr. and Mrs. Backs were the parents of seven children: Joseph M., Sophia, Katie M., Frieda, Adolph, Clementina and Edward. All are living and are residents of Orange County.
The eldest of the family, Joseph M. Backs, Jr., attended the public schools, and also the Woodbury Business College in Los Angeles, where he received an excellent preparation for some of the work he has since been called upon to do. From boyhood he assisted his father in the business mornings and evenings and during his vacations, later working for two and a half years for H. A. Dickel in the general merchandise business. Another profitable year of good training was spent in the main post office at Los Angeles, when it was located at Eighth and Spring streets. Returning to Anaheim he entered the employ of the Union Telephone and Telegraph Company, first as manager for the northern half of Orange County, becoming district manager in 1909, having under his supervision all of Orange County, and maintaining his head- quarters at Santa Ana. Continuing in this position until 1912, he resigned to become deputy county clerk under W. B. Williams. At the August Primary in 1918 he was elected to the office of county clerk for a four-year term, hence, there was no opposing candidate at the November election, and this office he is now occupying to the greatest satisfaction of all his constituents.
At Anaheim, April 15, 1903, occurred the marriage of Joseph M. Backs, Jr., when he was united with Miss Ella Warner, a native of Minnesota, who came with her parents to Anaheim in her girlhood. and there it was she received her education and was one of the popular belles of the place. One child has blessed this union, a daughter named Edna Incz. Fraternally, Mr. Backs is a member of the Elks, and in national politics is a Republican. About the time he reached his majority Joseph Backs, Jr., served as a member of Company E. Seventh Regiment, California National
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Gnard, and being fortunate in the inheritance of a strong interest in and love for Cali- fornia and Orange County transmitted from parents, who are among the most highly esteemed pioneers of the section, it is little wonder that he loyally responded and served acceptably as a member of the registration board during the recent war and was active in all the bond and war drives, and as such sought to do his civic duty in the highest degree possible.
A splendid type of man, Mr. Backs is faithfully serving the citizens of the county, and through his affable manner and his readiness to assist anyone deserving information regarding the office or their affairs in connection with the county, as well as other investigations they may be making, has so endeared him to the people that he has become one of the most popular officials. His mind and heart have been engrossed in the well being of the county, and such has been his success in the solution of problems that his fellow-citizens more and more have reposed confidence in him. Liberal and kind hearted, his pleasing personality has attracted hosts of friends, who appreciate and esteem him for his nobleness of mind and heart. Thus, still in the prime of life, with apparently many years of usefulness before him, Mr. Backs already enjoys a prestige and confidence accorded to but few.
JONATHAN HARMON .- Honored among the interesting pioneers of California, and destined long to be held in grateful remembrance for his part in developing the Golden State, is Jonathan Harmon, who crossed the great plains with his father's family in 1852, a well-to-do rancher and prominent old settler of the vicinity of Santa Ana. They traveled with mule teams, and spent five years as placer miners in the gold regions of Sierra and Plumas counties. In 1857 the family moved to Peta- luma, in Sonoma County, and so it happened that they saw California in her forma- tive days.
Mr. Harmon was born at Olean, N. Y., on October 8, 1841, the son of Luther N. Harmon, who was born in Suffield, Conn., a member of the same family as the Hon. Judson Harmon, ex-Governor of Ohio. Two Harmon brothers came from England to America in 1645, and John was the progenitor of this family. While in Erie County, New York, Luther Harmon married Miss Martha Hall; and he being a hatter, and she a tailoress, they were able somewhat to work together in times that were hard. It is no wonder that with a state of affairs when there was little or no money, the effect of the discovery of gold in California was such as to induce the elder Harmon to migrate to the Pacific Coast and to try his fortune here. He set out from Grand Rapids, Mich., in 1850, mined for gold successfully, and had the good fortune to be here early enough to vote upon the admission of the state. But he did not reach that goal without adventures that might have cost him more than they did. On his first trip across the plains in 1850, the Indians stole his horses, and he had to travel 300 miles afoot. Later, however, he went back to Michigan, and in 1852 brought his family here.
Jonathan Harmon grew up in Petaluma, and early worked in the mines in the northern part of the state, and at Petaluma, in 1870, he was married to Miss Martha E. Warren, a native of Lorain County, Ohio, who came to California with her parents in 1864. In Sonoma County Mr. Harmon cleared a farm of the stumps and improved the place, and little by little set out orchards until he had one of the show places in Sonoma County, with a large, beautiful residence and farm buildings. He had a variety of fruit trees, and at the Sonoma County fair took the sweepstake premium for the finest exhibit of fruit from one farm. However, wishing to locate in Southern Cali- fornia, he came south to Santa Ana, in what was then Los Angeles County, in 1888, at the height of the boom, and bought sixty acres of land; and to this he has added from time to time by subsequent purchases, so that he is now owner of 140 acres of the most desirable land. He has sunk wells and equipped a pumping plant not only suffi- cient to irrigate his own ranch, but furnishes water for irrigation to several of his neighbors. His ranch is equipped with cement pipe lines, this complete irrigating sys- tem making it one of the most valuable ranches in the district.
He is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Santa Ana, as was Mrs. Harmon, who died in 1918, at the fine old age of seventy-two years. Two children blessed their fortunate union: Edward W., a successful dairyman on a part of the Harmon ranch, and John W., an orchardist at Nuevo, in Riverside County.
As a Republican, Mr. Harmon voted for Abraham Lincoln-the first vote he ever cast-an incident of which not so very many men living can boast; but he is really nonpartisan, especially in his attitude toward local men and measures, and always endeavors to satisfy his conscience, and to base his action on principle. In recent years he has favored Prohibition.
Jonathan Harmon
Martha E. Harmon
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VARD W. HANNUM .- A well-trained and thoroughly efficient public official is Vard W. Hannum, the city electrician and superintendent of the Municipal Power House at Anaheim. He was born in Hart, Oceana County, Mich., on June 28, 1883, and reared and educated there, duly graduating from the local high school. Then he went to New York City and took the excellent courses at the New York Electrical School, and from 1910 he was employed in the electrical department of the Union Carbide Company at Sault Sainte Marie, Mich., after which he was a year wth the Algoma Steel Company on the Canadian side.
In the fall of 1911 Mr. Hannum came to California and entered the service of the Pacific Electric Railroad Company, Los Angeles, giving them a year in their electrical department, in installation work at the substation. On August 12, 1912, he came to Anaheim and commenced to work for the municipality. He began in a somewhat subordinate capacity, as one of the engineers, then as foreman, and gradually and properly worked his way up to his present responsible post, to which he was appointed in February, 1917.
Mr. Hannum has charge of the operation of the power plant, and is also re- sponsible for electrical inspection of the city, so that, with the necessity of keeping thoroughly apace with the last word of science and mechanics, and the actual labor of installing, repairing and renewing parts of the system, it will be seen that he is a very busy man. Fortunately for the city of Anaheim, he had years of most valuable experience before he came, to which his day and night labors are constantly adding, and he is fond of hard work, and both mentally and physically able to bear the strain.
In December, 1912, Mr. Hannum was married to Miss Bessie L. Palmiter of Hart, Mich., a charming lady, capable at all times of creating for herself a desirable circle of devoted friends, and herself devoted to others, and ready for any good work. Mr. Hannum belongs to the Wigton Lodge No. 251, F. & A. M., at Hart, Mich. and to Anaheim Lodge No. 1345 of the Elks.
WILLIAM H. PHILLIPS .- A veteran citrus grower who may well take pride in his accomplishment, including the rebudding on an entire grove with his own hands, is William H. Phillips, a splendid old man of nearly eighty years, living on Fairhaven Avenue near Prospect in Orange. He was born near Munfordville, Ky., on June 7, 1842, the son of William Newton and Mary (Moss) Phillips, old settlers of that state. He grew up on his father's farm of 400 acres located on the Green River, and enjoyed a good grammar school education and the comforts of a good home. At twenty-one he left home to seek his own fortune. He purchased seventy- five acres across the Green River from his old home, and started to farm. He also married, in October, 1871, Miss Emma Hodges, who was born in the vicinity of Munfordville, and received a good education at Georgetown College. She made her home with her parents until she was married, and for seven years after they took up their residence on the farm she enjoyed life there, when she passed away.
In 1878 Mr. Phillips sold out his holdings, and with four motherless children started for California, arriving in Santa Ana on March 17, 1878. Porter, the eldest of the family, died in California at the age of twenty. William Albert is living at Orange, and is in the real estate business. Cora Hanson is married to Edward Gray, and is living with Mr. Phillips in Fairhaven. Mary K. is married to L. Hutchins of Alhambra. In 1880 Mr. Phillips was married to Mary Ella Crozier, a widowed mother of two children-Payne and Nancy, and this union was blessed with two children-Robert Ethel and Ernest C. Robert Ethel is a graduate of the Cumnock School of Expression, and is now teaching at that institution, and Ernest C. Phillips, also a graduate of the above school, traveled a season with Madame Modjeska and her company, and is now teaching expression in the Santa Ana high school.
After arriving in California, Mr. Phillips purchased twenty acres on Tustin and Fairhaven thoroughfares, land now owned by Henry Rohrs, which was devoted to general farming. He raised two crops of potatoes each year for nineteen consecutive years, and also raised some corn, broom corn and popcorn. He lived there for eleven years, and there the children grew up. In 1889 he removed to Tustin, to his wife's ranch, where the next nineteen years were spent.
In 1908 Mr. Phillips purchased his present home site of ten acres on Fairhaven . Avenue. It is devoted to budded Valencias, and he has one of the finest orchards in all Orange County. The grove is under the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company. Here he built for himself a beautiful home and large garage, and made many other improvements. He is a live citizen, and aims to support the right candidate, rather than any party. He is a member of the McPherson Heights Citrus Association and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He is now one among the oldest settlers in these parts, and has aided materially in its upbuilding.
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JOSEPH H. MEFFORD .- Among the ablest drillers of water wells in Orange County-an industry, by the way, of greatest importance to the ranchers of this section, and one requiring, more and more, men of highest expert training-is J. H. Mefford. who has resided in Santa Ana for twelve years, and in Orange County ever since its organization. He was here, in fact, "before the creation," for he was born in San Diego County, on February 17, 1869, and as a boy roamed over the picturesque area now dotted with towns and thousands of homes. He came to the Westminster country in Los Angeles, now Orange, County when a lad, and grew up on a farm there. He also attended the public schools; and if they were not of the best or their sessions of the longest, he got out of the instruction imparted what he could.
When old enough to do so, Mr. Mefford began to work in the water fields. He sought and secured a position with Joe Caldwell of Westminster, than whom, perhaps, no better master mechanic could be found engaged in that occupation; with the result, that when he had finished his apprenticeship, he and Joe were about evenly mated, the one scoring some points of advantage over the other.
In October, 1917, at Riverside, Mr. Mefford was married to Mrs. J. H. Roberts, whose maiden name was Laura J. Clatworthy, a native of England who came to and settled in America, and finally very wisely chose California for her home, where she has lived for twenty-five years. With her domestic experience, she was able to accord home comforts to our subject, and thus to help lighten the arduous work in which he was daily engaged, and by which he was to build up that enviable reputation of having drilled good wells all over the county.
Mr. Mefford started in business for himself at Santa Ana twenty years ago, and since then he has contributed much to the great work of developing water in Southern California. He understands the difficult technical processes involved, and he also has special gifts in divining the sources of good water. His years of hard labor have enabled him to boast of hundreds of satisfied customers, and among other places of note owing half of their success, in the matter of natural resources, to his skill in commanding an adequate water supply, may be mentioned the famous Irvine Ranch. Mr. and Mrs. Mefford live at 1004 West Fourth Street, Santa Ana, where they dispense a whole-hearted hospitality to their friends.
Mr. Mefford enlisted for service in the Spanish-American War in Company L, Seventh Regiment, United States Volunteers, and was encamped in San Francisco. For twenty years he was a member of the Orange County baseball nines, and in that wholesome sport he is favorably known by many.
MRS. MARY N. TONEY .- A well-traveled resident of Santa Ana, who has chosen Southern California for her home, and has come to be favorably known as one of the successful orange growers contributing to the wealth of the Golden State, is Mrs. Mary E. Toney, widow of the late S. Toliver Toney, of 826 North Baker Street. She was born near Little Rock, Ark., on March 30, 1854, the daughter of Benjamin and Sobrina (Stover) Large. Her father was a blacksmith by trade, and he also became a landowner in Arkansas. When three years old, she was brought by her parents to California and given a home in Shasta County, where Mr. Large followed his trade at the mining centers. After a while he purchased some Shasta County acreage and engaged in cattle raising.
In 1859 Mr. Large sold out and removed to Hydesville, Humboldt County, where he followed his usual occupation, and from there he went to Trinity County, where he had a shop and ran a hotel at Hayfork, near Weaverville, for a short time. Then he went up into Shasta County on the old overland stage trail between Red Bluff and Yreka, and opened the Loomis House, which he conducted for several years, becoming well-known to all the early travelers. He returned to Hay Fork, bought a hotel, and ran it till he moved to Mendocino County. He made several moves, and finally passed away at Hayfork. The old hotel is owned by his daughter and conducted as the Kellogg Hotel by his grandson. Mr. Large was a Democrat in politics and a Mason.
It was in Mendocino County that Miss Mary Large met and married, at Willits, on November 8, 1870, S. Toliver Toney, a native of Fayette County, Texas, where he was born on November. 17, 1846. His parents were Seth and Mary Adaline (Cox) . Toney, natives of Mississippi and Georgia, respectively. When S. Toliver was eight years of age the family came overland to California from Texas, during which time the Indians were very troublesome, but the wagon train, of which Seth Toney was captain, managed to get through all right, due, perhaps, to the fact that the captain understood Indians, having fought as a volunteer from Texas in the Mexican War. Arriving in California, the Toney family stopped for a time at El Monte, then moved on to Mendocino County and built up a fine home place near Willits. The reason of the Toney immigration to California was that Mrs. Seth Toney's father, the Rev.
Jos H Miford
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John Toliver Cox, and family had preceded them, having come by the Isthmus of Panama in the early 50's, settling first at San Bernardino. Reverend Cox was a Methodist preacher, and was well known all over the state of California. He finally settled near Santa Rosa, and when he died, about 1866, he had accomplished much for humanity during his span of life. He is buried at Mark West in Sonoma County. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity.
S. Toliver Toney was extensively engaged in the raising of sheep in Mendocino County, and Mrs. Toney lived for eleven years near Willitts. Then Mr. Toney sold out, and the industrious couple, feeling the need of rest, spent some time in travel. Finally, in 1884, he settled in New Mexico, where Mr. Toney purchased land near Lordsburg and Silver City and again engaged in cattle raising. In 1909, however, he removed to Douglas, Ariz., where he met with his best success in the cattle industry.
In 1914 Mr. Toney settled up his affairs in Arizona, came to Santa Ana, and purchased a half acre of oranges and a home on East Seventeenth Street, and there, on July 20, 1916, he passed away and was buried at Redlands. He had a wide circle of admiring friends. Mrs. Toney lived at the Seventeenth Street home until February 18, 1920, when the place was sold, and a week later her present home at 826 North Baker Street was purchased. This is a three-acre grove, one-third of which is set out to oranges, and two-thirds to walnuts and apricots.
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