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 89

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 89

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Chas 9 g/ Reusch Frieda K. S. Reusch

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remainder is handled by the E. A. White Fruit Company, of Santa Ana, who send the avocados to various cities in the county, and ship some to Arizona and even as far east as Kansas City. Mr. Holloway has his own packing house on his ranch where the selected avocados are packed in excelsior for shipment and each box labeled with his purple and gold brand on a tri-colored lithograph with photo of two avocados. In 1920 he purchased eight acres in La Habra Heights tract at La Habra which he is arranging to set to avocados. He has a nursery where he raises stock for his own use, as well as for sale. He is a member of the California Avocado Association.

In Whittier Mr. Holloway married Miss Donna J. Carter of lowa, and they are now the parents of four children-Louise, Helen, Paul and William. The family attend the Friends Church at Yorba Linda, and Mr. and Mrs. Holloway, as honored, influential pioneers of the town, never lose an opportunity to advance its material growth and its development on lines needed for tomorrow.

CHARLES F. W. REUSCH .- An old-time rancher early resident in Orange County who has many interesting and highly instructive stories to tell, is Charles F. W. Reusch, whose well laid out and equally well-managed ranch is entered from Placentia Avenue, south of Ball Road in Anaheim. He was born near Sterling, in Whiteside County, 111., April 10, 1877, the son of Henry and Antone Reusch, Illinois farmer folks, who removed to Sanders County, Nebr., when our subject was two years old. There the worthy parents purchased 120 acres of land, which they devoted to general farming, and there also Charles attended the public school.

In 1889 the parents came out to California and purchased a ten-acre grove on Collins Avenue, northwest of Orange; and Charles helped to set out the vacant land to walnuts and oranges. He attended first the grammar school at Orange and then the high school; and at sixteen years of age left home to care for himself. For a couple of years he worked on the Adams ranch northwest of Orange, and then he learned the miller's trade at Olive, and was with the Olive Milling Company for eleven years, the last four years serving as head miller. While there, he pursued a course of study with the International Correspondence School in steam engineering, and when he had finished he went to work for the Santa Fe Railroad, and was with them as engineer for four years.

In 1912 he purchased thirty-five acres on Placentia Avenue, southeast of Anaheim, paying only thirty-five dollars an acre; it was considered waste land and was covered with cactus and brush, but he had the same cleared; after which he ventured into mining near Mojave, Cal., for a time. On his return he located on his farm and engaged in ranching. His mother owns twenty acres of the original thirty-five, and he has twelve; and his portion he has divided up so that he devotes two acres to walnuts and ten to oranges, irrigated by their own private pumping plant. He belongs to the Anaheim Cooperative Orange Association, and not only profits by their service, but energetically supports their excellent work. When his people came to Orange, there was only one house between Collins Avenue and Olive Road, and only one house on the avenue now called Taft, and so Mr. Reusch is able to compare the past with the present. He picked the first oranges gathered on the Fletcher Place, and received in payment one and one-half cents per box for his labor; and it cost him twenty-five dollars an acre to have his thirty-five acres cleared and leveled. There was considerable game on the land at that time, and he remembers to have killed there two mountain lions, several wildcats and one brown bear.

On May 16, 1904, Mr. Reusch was married to Miss Anna Timken, daughter of Jacob and Martha (Tinken) Timken, who was born in Kansas, and they have four children: Paul, Ernest, Henry and Bertha, all of whom are at home and students at the Anaheim schools. Mrs. Reusch came to California with her parents in 1891. and for a while lived at Acton, Cal. Then the family moved to Paso Robles, and in 1904 came to Southern California. On April 19, 1911, to the sorrow of all who knew her, she passed away. On June 16, 1916, Mr. Reusch married a second time, choosing Miss Wally Neuhoff for his companion, a native of Saxony, Germany. She was the daughter of Arthur and Minnie Neuhoff, and came to the United States in 1909; and ten years later, on July 20, 1919, she, too, passed to the Beyond.

On September 7, 1920, Mr. Reusch was again married, the ceremony taking place in Anaheim, when he was united with Mrs. Frieda S. ( Kopfer) Swanson, a daughter of Adolph and Theodora (Stahl) Kopfer, farmers in DeKalb County, Ill., until they passed away. Frieda Kopfer received a good education in the excellent schools of northern Illinois, and there she, too, was married to Theodore Swanson. a farmer in DeKalb County until his death, in January, 1919, leaving his wife and four children: Catherine, Dorris, Edgar and Theodore. Having two sisters living in Anaheim, on being left on her own resources, Mrs. Swanson came hither, and thus

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it came that she met Mr. Reusch, the acquaintance resulting in their marriage, a union that is proving very happy and congenial to both. Mr. Reusch appreciates his wife's encouragement and assistance in his ambition as an horticulturist and pronounces her a most excellent helpmate. He is a member of the Lutheran Church, and marches under the banners of the Republican party. From 1916 to 1918 he served as deputy sheriff of Orange County, and no one who knows his geniality, his fearlessness and his desire to do justice to all needs to be told that Charles Reusch was a very efficient and impartial officer.

LEON C. HISERODT .- A rancher who has not only prospered in the Golden West but who has the satisfaction of knowing that his long-honored parents contributed their share to the development of this corner of the great American commonwealth, is Leon C. Hiserodt of 423 North Claudina Street, Anaheim. He was born in Whiteside County, Ill., on June 25, 1869, the son of Edward D. Hiserodt, a farmer, who married Miss Elizabeth Chatfield. He purchased 320 acres of land in Howard County, Nebr., and while his good wife and our subject, for the sake of the boy's schooling, removed to Fulton, Ill., Mr. Hiserodt took up his residence on the farm, and there lived alone until, in 1884, his family joined him. Then St. Paul was the nearest railroad town; but later the B. and M. came through that part of Nebraska, and the town of Cushing was founded. As early as 1853, Edward Hiserodt crossed the great plains with an ox-team, and when he returned East, he traveled by the Isthmian route. He died in 1910, at the age of eighty-six. His widow is still living in Fullerton, hale and hearty at the still more advanced age of eighty-eight. A sister of Leon Hiserodt in 1886 married L. C. Vanderburg, a Nebraskan farmer, and eight years later, Leon traded his farm with him, the Vanderburg place having many improvements, while there was only a sod house on the Hiserodt farm, and Mr. Vanderburg wished to come out to California. In 1897, Mr. Hiserodt sold the Nebraska farm, and came out to eastern Oregon, where he lived for a couple of years.

On October 2, 1890, Mr. Hiserodt married Miss Hattie M. Dickenson, a native of Dakota, whose parents came to Iowa, so that she received her education in that state. Mr. Hiserodt, by the way, studied first at the Northern Illinois College at Fulton, and later at Northern Nebraska College at Central City. Two sons have blessed this for- tunate union: Elmer Guy is on a ranch in Orangethorpe; and Earl Orlo is on a ranch in the Magnolia school district. While in Oregon Mr. Hiserodt had some interesting experiences, hauling lumber and logging in lumber camps. At Burns, he was in Harney Valley, which is thirty miles wide, sixty miles long and 5,000 feet in elevation; and he drove a four-horse team out of the Valley in 1899. When he came South to settle, he purchased ten acres on West Orangethorpe, and set the same out to oranges; and in 1905 he purchased another ten acres adjoining on the east, where he also planted Valencias. This land is under the excellent service of the irrigating system of the Anaheim Union Water Company, and the soil is very productive. The Hiserodt ranch is, in fact, one of the best twenty-acre groves for miles around. In national politics a Republican, in his support of local movements nonpartisan and generous, Mr. Hiserodt is, in fraternal affairs, popular as a Woodman of the World.

ARTHUR R. MARSOM .- Prominent among the names of the successful men of affairs of Orange County is that of Arthur R. Marsom, a resident of Fullerton since 1910, and one of the most progressive of the citizens of the growing city. A native of Michigan, he was born at Detroit on July 14, 1871, the son of Henry and Susie (Mays) Marsom. Of their family of five children Arthur R. is the third in order of birth and he received a substantial education in the public schools of his native city. At an early age he learned the trades of carriage painter and decorator and followed the former in his home city until 1898.

In the above-named year Mr. Marsom came to California hoping to find a broader field for his operations and in this he was not disappointed. He began contracting to build houses in Los Angeles, taking them from basement and walls to a home com- plete and ready to move into. As he succeeded he opened a store in 1903, wherein he carried everything to be found in a well-ordered establishment carrying paint, artist materials, draperies, tapestries, pottery, etc. His trade of decorator was of great assist- ance to him in finishing houses ready for occupancy by furnishing hangings, rugs, tapestries to make complete and cosy the homes he constructed. These homes varied in prices from $2,200 to $35,000, and he did much to build up the western section of Los Angeles with its fine homes. " Besides doing a general contracting business, for which purpose he kept from forty-five to seventy-five men on the payroll, Mr. Marsom bought property and subdivided it into building lots and erected homes and sold at a satisfactory advance in price. In the meantime he opened a branch at Long Beach and thereby was enabled to demonstrate his ability in that beach city. He met with

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more than ordinary success in his business ventures and in 1910 disposed of his inter- ests in Los Angeles and came to Fullerton and cast in his lot with the embryo city.

That his coming to this place has meant much to the city is demonstrated by his erecting the first apartment house "The Marwood," in the town and some of the first bungalows. He invested his money in lots and buildings and entered into the life of the community with his characteristic energy and in a very short time he was con- sidered the leader in expansion and development. His investments today represent over $200,000 in Fullerton, while he also owns a business block in Anaheim. Mr. Mar- som is an extensive dealer in real estate and is a fine judge of values. His home, which he built, at 441 East Commonwealth Avenue, is one of the finest to be found in northern Orange County.

The marriage of Arthur R. Marsom with Miss Marie Warrington was celebrated in 1893, in Detroit, Mich., where she was born. Of this union there have been born three children-Earl John, Ivy F. and Blanche Marie, who with their parents have an ever-widening circle of friends. Mr. Marsom is a stanch Republican in national affairs but in local matters he is nonpartisan, believing it best for the greatest number that the man and not the party be recognized. The family are members of the Catholic Church and Mr. Marsom is a member of the Knights of Columbus, having taken the third degree. He is a member of the Fullerton Board of Trade and is a hard worker for all progressive measures for civic improvement and uplift of Fullerton. It is to such men as Mr. Marsom that California owes a debt of gratitude for they have entered heartily into all movements for the upbuilding of the greatest state of the union, know- ing that when others profit they will garner their own share, and at the same time pave the way for posterity to enjoy the fruits of their labors and thereby build a monument that will last for all time.

JOHN McFADDEN .- Among the most prominent old-time merchants to whose well-merited prosperity Santa Ana owes much of its steady progress must be mentioned John McFadden, who died on June 23, 1915, leaving for his heirs and posterity a record of honesty and industry such as is always of the highest credit to individuals or to nations. He was born at Scotch Mountain, near Delhi, in Delaware County, N. Y., in 1843, the son of John McFadden, a native of Perthshire, Scotland, who migrated to America and settled in New York. He was a farmer, and as an agriculturist, made his mark in Delaware County. His wife was Effie Lamont before her marriage and she was a native of the Isle of Wight. Of their eleven children, four sons and a daughter came out to California: Mary (Mrs. Alvin Palmer) died at Redlands; James closed his life at Altadena, to which place he had removed on account of Mrs. McFadden's health; Archibald passed away in Santa Ana, and so did John McFadden, our subject; while Robert McFadden, the only one surviving, still resides at Santa Ana.

John McFadden was educated in the public schools of Delaware County, N. Y., and later the academy at Delhi, N. Y., where he prepared for college, then entered Union College at Schenectady, N. Y., from which he was graduated in 1867 with the degree of B.A. In his senior year he was elected to the honorary scholarship society, Phi Beta Kappa. Soon after that he came to California and engaged in teaching at Vallejo, Solano County, and later in a military school at Oakland. Next he moved to Santa Ana, then a small place, and with his brothers, James and Robert, emharked in the lumber business at Newport. This satisfied him for only a few years, however, and then he sold out and, in 1879 started in business in Santa Ana. He began on West Fourth Street with M. J. Bundy and when their partnership was dissolved he moved to 111 East Fourth Street, where he erected the John McFadden building. Later, for six or seven years, he was located at 112 East Fifth Street, and then moved back to 113 East Fourth Street, in the John McFadden building. He established the oldest and largest general hardware establishment in Orange County. At his death the estate was incorporated as the John McFadden Company, and since that time the family have carried on the business. Edwin McFadden is president; Clyde Walker, vice-president; Lamont McFadden, treasurer; and Miss Mabel McFadden, secretary. Mr. McFadden was one of the stockholders of the First National Bank of Santa Ana until his death, and also for years a director of that institution.

At Santa Ana, on April 9, 1883, Mr. McFadden was married to Miss Elizabeth Walker, a native of Oakdale, Washington County, Il1., and the daughter of Thomas and Sarah (McClurken) Walker, natives, respectively, of South Carolina and Illinois. The father was a farmer in Illinois and early settled in Orange County. Soon after his marriage Mr. McFadden erected the large, comfortable residence at 906 North Main Street, where the family still make their home. Mr. and Mrs. McFadden were blessed with five children: Mahel, Edwin and Lamont are giving their time to the success of the hardware establishment of the John McFadden Company; Ada is a teacher at the

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Claremont high school; and Flora is a student at Pomona College, from which insti- tution Mabel, Ada, Edwin and Lamont in turn graduated.

Mr. McFadden was a member of the United Presbyterian Church, one of the earliest and most prominent of churches here, and for thirty-five years he served as clerk of the congregation, and for many years of that time was also its treasurer. He believed in aiding people in the most practical manner, in the great work of assisting them to help themselves, and so was one of the founders, and for many years president of the Home Mutual Building and Loan Association, which has made it possible for many people to acquire property for themselves, and to get into the self-respecting habit of saving. Intensely interested in civic matters, he was a prominent member of the city council of Santa Ana, serving as its president for a number of years; he was also active in the Chamber of Commerce and in the Merchants and Manufacturers Association, serving as president of those bodies for several years. In connection with the separation of Orange County from Los Angeles County, he took a prominent part. He was fond of fishing and hunting and with his boon companions Messrs. M. M. Crookshank, A. J. Crookshank, Clarence Crookshank, Z. B. West, Cubbon and Visel, often went to the mountains for that recreation and sport found in the great wilds of the Sierras. Mrs. McFadden, like her husband, was much interested in the growth and development of her adopted city and has always favored and aided all movements that have for their aim the building up of the city and county and enhancing the comfort and happiness of its people. She is an active member of the Ebell Club as well as the Ladies' Aid and Missionary societies of the United Presbyterian Church of Santa Ana, of which she has been a member since 1878.

JOHN E. SCOTT .- There is no better proof of a town's business prosperity and progress than the kind of business men it attracts. The cashier of the Placentia National Bank and the Placentia Savings Bank, John E. Scott, is a man who has had much experience in banking business. He is possessed of keen business ability, and talent fitting him especially for the position he occupies. A Canadian by birth, Mr. Scott was born in Dunnville, Ontario, January 20, 1885. He is the son of John E. and Sophia (Galbraith) Scott. The father, who is deceased, was government overseer in Canada, and in the paternal family of five children John E. is the youngest child. He was educated in the public schools of his native country, attended high school two years, and supplemented this with a three years' course at Saint Andrews College. Toronto. He afterwards worked for the Bank of Hamilton, at Dunnville from 1903 to 1908, as chief teller. In 1908 he came to California, and in 1909 located on an orange grove at Upland. In 1914 he disposed of his holdings and came to Placentia temporarily to assist in the bank, but was induced to remain permanently, and on September I. 1919, he was made cashier. He is also a director in both banks and is president of the local Chamber of Commerce, is vice-president of Orange County Bankers Association .. Mr. Scott's marriage occurred December 2, 1908, uniting him with Miss Lillian May Krick, also of Dunnville, and they are the parents of three children: John E .. 3rd, William Winston and Lawrence Lauchlin. Mr. Scott is a member of the Epis- copal Church and in his political views is a Republican, and lost no time after his location in the land of the Stars and Stripes to become a citizen. Fraternally he was made a Mason in Fullerton Lodge, No. 339, F. & A. M., and is a member of Fullerton Chapter, R. A. M. Like most of his countrymen he is fond of outdoor sports, fishing being one of the means of relaxation he enjoys from the cares of business life. As a live wire in the interests of Orange County he is a decided acquisition to the com- munity, and is held in high esteem by his large circle of friends and acquaintances. among whom he is a favorite socially.

GEORGE ESMAY .- The life of George Esmay, the efficient and popular assistant cashier of the Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Fullerton is related in a very interesting manner to those who could boast of pioneer experiences and pioneer deeds. and reminds one how much of the progress of today is due to all that has gone before. His great-grandfather, John Esmay, and his grandfather, Thomas Esmay, both moved from Marathon, Cortland County, N. Y., westward by team, and passed through Chi- cago, Ill., near Fort Dearborn, where they had to ford the river because there were no bridges. They settled in Iowa on the western bank of the Mississippi River and were pioneers of the eastern part of the Hawkeye State. At Sabula, Jackson County. Iowa, George Esmay was born on April 30, 1859, the son of Francis Esmay, who married Miss Nancy Seeber, both of Cortland County, N. Y.

Growing up in Sabula, George attended the country school of that period and locality, learned the carpenter's trade and worked until 1879 in his father's sash, door and blind factory. Then he became a railroad operator, and was cashier and ticket agent on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad in Lyons and Clinton, Iowa, until

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1907. Resigning, he came to California in 1907 and became cashier of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad at Fullerton, leaving in April, 1913, to accept a position on the staff of the Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Fullerton.

At Marshalltown; in Marshall County, Iowa, on March 28, 1883, Mr. Esmay was married to Miss Ettie May Garlick, the daughter of James Platt and Henrietta E. (Dodge) Garlick. Mr. Garlick was born in Tintwisle, England, on March 7, 1825, and at the age of ten sailed from Liverpool on the "Ambassador." on what proved to be a long and dangerous voyage across the Atlantic. Delayed by three weeks of fog off the Irish Coast, the voyagers met stormy weather and once saw their ship afire; but after being out from land for seven weeks and five days, they landed at New Orleans on November 11, 1835. Mr. Garlick was one of the many who came across the plains to California in 1849. Before the Civil War he was active in organizing the "underground railroad." He ran the first "train" from Missouri to Canada, and was once in a house where a posse was searching for him, and heard his pursuers offering a reward of $500 for him, dead or alive. Mr. Garlick died at Fullerton on December 2, 1916, and Mrs. Garlick passed away at the home of her daughter on July 14, 1918. Mr. and Mrs. Esmay have had five children: Vora Lorena Esmay is Mrs. James Earl McCulley; Anna Leona Esmay; George Leffingwell Esmay married Miss Esther E. Kropp; Mary Lilah Esmay is Mrs. Alvin L. Ford; and Ruby LaGrille Esmay is Mrs. Frank A. Treadwell. The family attend the Baptist Church, and Mr. Esmay is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and the banker of the lodge here from 1917 to date. He belonged to Pioneer Camp No. 1, Modern Woodmen of America, at Lyons, Iowa. and was a charter member there, and paid every assessment up to date; and in 1909 he was transferred to Camp No. 8260 at Fullerton, Cal.

A Republican in national politics, Mr. Esmay looks back to active participation in civic duties. He was bugler of Company L of the First Regiment, Iowa National Guards of Lyons, Iowa, from 1892 to 1894, and was also a bugler of the Home Guards at Fullerton from 1916 to 1919. With his family he is intensely interested in Orange County and naturally has a preference for everything pertaining to the development and future of Fullerton.

THOMAS GRUSSING .- A very successful horticulturist under Southern Cali- fornia conditions who has set an excellent example in "boosting" for Orange County and thus wishing to share with others the superior advantages he has found here, is Thomas Grussing, who was born near Champaign, Ill., on January 31, 1875, the son of John Grussing, a pioneer of that state. He bought eighty acres of raw land at nine dollars an acre, resolutely broke the prairie, and harvested such excellent results that he continued to buy more until he had about 700 acres in a body. He improved it in every desirable way and raised grain and stock, and eventually divided what he had among his children. After he retired he resided in Gifford, Ill., until his death, July 1, 1920, at nearly eighty years of age. A leader in local Republican councils, an ex- member of the board of supervisors of Champaign County, he was for years a pillar in the Lutheran Church of his neighborhood. When he married, he took for his wife Miss Trentje Esterman, who proved an indispensable helpmate, and she is still living to enjoy the affection and esteem of those who know her. Nine children were granted this worthy couple; and seven are now living.

The fourth eldest in the family, Thomas from a boy learned to farm, while he attended the local public schools, held chiefly in winter. He remained home to assist his father until he was married to Miss Anne Flesner, a popular belle of that vicinity. After that he bought, operated and then sold a farm of eighty acres; then he purchased 160 acres nearby, and later increased his holdings until he owned in all 320 acres, which he devoted to raising stock and grain, chiefly corn and oats; and with this first-rate agricultural plant he continued until 1912. While living there he responded to the urgent invitation of his neighbors to act as school trustee.

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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 89

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