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 92

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 92

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A. B. and L. S. HAVEN .- Prominent among the industries of California that have proven of the greatest benefit to Santa Ana, and so have added greatly to the wealth, prosperity and progress of Orange County, must be rated that of the Haven Seed Company, which expends over $100,000 annually in the town for labor and supplies. The business was organized and founded by E. M. Haven, an Ohioan and a member of a family of English origin. The progenitor of the family in America was Richard Haven, who came from the west of England and settled in Lynn, Mass., in 1644. He sought neither the wealth of the Incas, nor did he hope to find mines of gold, nor did he pant for the conquest of a new world, but as an humble artisan, a carpenter by trade, he hoped to find here an opportunity to pursue his calling in the freedom of a sincere Christian heart. The great-great-grandfather of A. B. Haven, Elisha Haven, married at Warwick, Mass., in 1792, into the Goodell family, of French descent, members of whom sailed from a port on the west coast of England to America on the ship "Eliza- beth" in 1634. John Haven, great-grandfather, was a native of New Hampshire, but had resided in Vermont, Eastern New York and Ohio. He married, in 1820, at Shalers- ville, Ohio, into the noted English family of Sanford. Grandfather, G. W. Haven, was born in Shalersville, Ohio, September 18, 1831; and at North Eaton, that state, in 1854. married into the Wilmot family, also of English descent. He was a pioneer farmer in the Buckeye State. The Haven ancestors were numbered among those pioneers who made farm homes by clearing forests and doing the hardest kinds of labor to accomplish their objects. E. M. Haven grew up in Michigan, to which state his parents removed in 1863, when he was a lad of eight years. There he married, on February 27, 1878, Miss Ludema PeLong, a lady of French extraction, born on March 14, 1859, in South Lyons, Oakland County, Mich. At Bloomingdale, Van Buren County, Mich., E. M. Haven started the Haven Seed Company, in 1875.

The business grew and expanded, and in 1891 Mr. Haven moved to South Haven, Mich., and there built up a wholesale trade, making a specialty of tomato, radish, beans, cucumber, sweet corn and other vegetable seeds, the farmers growing them under con- tract and Mr. Haven selling to seed dealers. In the autumn of 1903, the Haven family moved out to California, and for a season settled in San Luis Obispo County. From 1905 to 1909, they operated in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties, and in 1910 put in their first year in Orange County at Tustin, where they conducted a seed farm. In September, 1917. E. M. Haven died, mourned by all who knew him, esteemed his winning personality and admired his extraordinary ability. Since then, Mrs. Haven has resided in Santa Ana.

A. B. Haven, the president and manager of the Haven Seed Company represents the ninth generation in America and was born at Bloomingdale, Mich., on August 25,

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1881. He bought forty acres, in 1917, adjoining the city limits of Santa Ana-a fine tract since then increased to 100 acres-and there had built a large warehouse of hollow tile, 55 x 72 feet in size, three stories high. Together with another warehouse, the company has some 13,000 feet of floor space; they also have finely-equipped offices, and have laid no less than thirty miles of tiling for drainage purposes, the exact value of which is being slowly tested and demonstrated. . The water from their wells is lifted by pumps operated by electric power, furnishing an abundant and ample supply for irri- gation. In 1918, also, a fine barn, 52 x 120 feet in size, was erected, to care for the twenty-four head of horses and mules, with additional buildings for the Holt caterpillar tractor, and other high-grade farming paraphernalia. This barn, erected after A. B. Haven's own plans, with many novel features all ingeniously arranged, is said to be the most up-to-date in all the county. In 1914, the Haven Seed Company was incorpo- rated under the laws of the state of California.

Mr. Haven and his brother, L. S. Haven, who was born in South Haven, Mich., on July 8, 1895, and is secretary of the Haven Seed Company-with C. E. Utt of Tustin, as treasurer-have spent their entire lives in the seed business, and are decidedly practical men. They make a specialty of tomato seeds, and grow upwards of eighty varieties, being in that respect the largest growers of tomato seeds in the world. Two-thirds of their 600 acres are given up to tomatoes, and their seeds go to every civilized country on the globe. Part of their success is undoubtedly due to the orig- inality of their improved methods, one of which is the most approved means of sepa- rating the seed-an invention that is the outgrowth of original ideas of members of the corporation and perfected by A. B. Haven. Besides the eighty varieties of tomatoes grown, the Haven Seed Company also produce several varieties each of eggplant, pepper, cucumber and special crops of other vegetable seeds including lima beans. Great care is taken that only the best seed is distributed to anyone.

A. B. Haven was married August 23, 1911, at Tustin, Cal., to Miss Lizzie H. Brown, by whom he has had five children-Mary, Archibald B., Jr., Annie, Elizabeth and Hilda L. In 1918 he built for himself and family a bungalow residence on the seed farm. L. S. Haven was married at Santa Ana, his bride being Miss Cammie B. Mitchell, with whom he now resides on Broadway, in Santa Ana. Two children have blessed their union, Ralph L. and Earl M. The Havens attend the Christian Church at Santa Ana.

MRS. MAUDE H. CHASE .- A highly cultured lady whose interest in art, espec- ially painting-in which she herself, blessed with exceptional talent, is very proficient- has enabled her to contribute much for the edification and happiness of others, is Mrs. Mande H. Chase, the widow of the esteemed Charles H. Chase, living at 1701 North Bush Street, Santa Ana. She was born in West Side, Iowa, the daughter of LeRoy and Lottie L. (Rowland) Hall, who took her, when she was a mere baby, to Crawford, Nebr. There her father, a banker by profession, had the Commercial State Bank of Crawford, and he lived there for thirty-five years.

Mande Hall attended the public schools of Crawford, matriculating in time at the Nebraska State University; and after a course of study in that thorough institution, she later studied at the Armour Institute of Technology in Chicago. From time to time, she also studied painting in water colors and on china, and attained to a pleasing fame among her friends. In Chicago, Miss Hall was married to Charles H. Chase, a native of Akron, Ohio, where he was born on June 21, 1871, the son of a physician, Dr. Byron Chase, who had married Miss Henrietta Sabin. He attended the schools of Akron, and later graduated from the law school of the Western Reserve College.

After their happy marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Chase removed to Denver, Colo., where Mr. Chase was associated for a year with the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. Then they removed to Crawford, Nebr., and there Mr. Chase was in the mercantile trade. He was also elected and reelected the first mayor of Crawford, holding that responsible office for two consecutive terms. He was also affiliated with the Commercial State Bank of Crawford, and while in the bank was a member of the state legislature, representing the sixth district. His business was wholesale fruit and produce; and he was busy in that line, as one of the commercial leaders of the city, when he passed on, June 21, 1914, a member of the Congregational Church.

Mr. Chase was a member of the Akron Lodge of B. P. O. Elks, and had just taken his first steps in Masonry. Mrs. Chase is an active member of the Eastern Star, and also a prominent member of the local Ebell Club, the Santa Ana Chapter, P. E. O., and the Laguna Art Association. As a Christian Scientist, she belongs to the Mother Church of that organization at Boston, Mass; and she takes an active part in public welfare work, and was an active participant in all war work expected of women. Four children have given joy to Mr. and Mrs. Chase: Henrietta H. is a student in the Santa Ana high school; Charlotte E. attends the Intermediate school, as does also Charles H .; and Bryon L. is in the second grade.

A. B. Staven.

P. S. Haven

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY

ALMON GOODWIN .- A successful rancher who never fails to interest, as an experienced old settler, the traveler looking for early California stories, is Almon Goodwin, whose uncle, Maj. C. M. Goodwin, was on the expedition with General Fre- mont when he was putting down the Indian uprisings and clearing the country for the white settlers. As an old-timer, he has had much to do with the development of Orange County, and few are assured of longer or more delightful remembrance by an appreciative posterity. A native son naturally proud of his association with this Pacific commonwealth, Mr. Goodwin was born near Stockton, in San Joaquin County, on June 24, 1854, the son of Almon D. Goodwin, a native of St. Lawrence County, N. Y., who had married a daughter of Vermont, Miss Martha Brosee. As far back as 1852 his parents came to San Joaquin County, and Almon was sent to the San Joaquin district schools and to the Stockton high school. One of his fellow students in those early, rawer days was James H. Budd, popularly known as "Jim," who afterward went to Congress and then became governor of California.

Almon Goodwin spent the early days with his father on a wheat ranch of 1,080 acres in the San Joaquin Valley, and in 1875 he and his brother George bought his father's ranch, where he remained until the fall of 1880. He then sold his holdings, came south and settled in Tustin; and there he purchased ten and one-quarter acres of old Mr. Moorehead, which he set out to oranges. At the same time, he bought 552 acres in the Los Bolsa district, and also ninety-seven acres near Fairview, which he leased out for a while and then managed for himself. He planted 200 acres to alfalfa the first year he came South, and started a dairy farm, becoming in time sole owner, and also raised horses, mules and hogs. He built the first cheese factory hereabouts, five miles from Santa Ana, west of where the Bolsa store now stands on section No. 18; and he had his young stock on his farm at Fairview, all this time making his home on his seven-acre grove on First Street, in Tustin. In January, 1886, he sold out his seven-acre grove and moved into Santa Ana; and, while residing here, he ran the two ranches at the same time. During the boom in 1888, however, he sold his holdings in Bolsa and Fairview.

While living in Santa Ana, Mr. Goodwin started orange grove development in Orangthorpe, and in 1890 set out fifteen acres of oranges on Commonwealth Avenne in Fullerton. In 1891 he planted fifteen acres of walnuts and five acres of oranges in West Orangethorpe; moving up to Orangethorpe in 1898. He sold the fifteen acres at Fullerton the second year after he set out the grove, and in 1907 disposed of the twenty acres in West Orangethorpe. He lived in Fullerton, and in 1910 built a home on his ranch on East Orangethorpe Avenue. At the present time he has eighteen acres in his ranch, and this is devoted to the culture of oranges. He has a well of sixty-two inches of water with a private pumping plant, where he installed a Lane and Boller pump.

On February 14, 1874, Mr. Goodwin was married to Miss Katherine Vilinger, a native of the same district in San Joaquin County in which he first saw the light of day. She attended the San Joaquin County schools, and became the mother of four children: Jesse is on the ranch adjoining his father at Orangethorpe; Pearl is Mrs. Parker and lives on a ranch on East Orangethorpe Avenue; William A. is in Fullerton; and Florence E. has become Mrs. Howard and resides in Shasta County. Mr. Goodwin is a public-spirited man, as might be inferred from such a career affecting the destinies of others beside himself; and he has served three terms on the city council of Santa Ana-two terms for two years, and one for four. He is a member of Lodge No. 236. I. O. O. F. of Santa Ana, and Mrs. Goodwin is a member of the Methodist Church in Fullerton as well as of the Rebekahs.

MISS BERTHA D. PROCTOR .- Not everyone, perhaps, who enjoys the high degree of popularity with which Miss Bertha D. Proctor, the very efficient librarian of Huntington Beach, is favored, so well deserves the honor and good will of their fellows, for she is both a young woman of exceptionable ability, and an indefatigable worker, ever having the best and most permanent interests of the community at heart. She was born at Janesville, Wis., the daughter of Joel Proctor, who had married Miss Della Scott; and with them she resides at 242 Fourteenth Street, Huntington Beach. A younger and only brother has the responsibility of the Saltville salt works near Rands- burg, Cal.

Having graduated from the Janesville high school, and removed to the Pacific Coast, Miss Proctor attended the Los Angeles Normal School and secured a certificate to teach. For two years she was assistant principal, and for two years principal of the Riverside grammar school; but believing that in still another field lay her true mission in life, she went to Long Beach and there took the librarian's course under Miss Mun- son, the cataloguer, of the State Library. On finishing this course, she came to Hunt- ington Beach, and has been closely identified with the growth of the town ever since.

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The library, one of the youngest but among the most promising in Orange County, has been erected on six lots, at the corner of Eighth and Walnut streets, valued at $2,350. It was established through the library association which was formed on February 9, 1909, and which became a public library association on June 14, 1919. The library is well patronized, as may be seen from the fact that in ninety days the circu- lation was 9,360 volumes, taken out by 1,062 cardholders. Besides the collection of books, the library has over 800 very attractive stereopticon views.

The basement of the library structure is used by the Chamber of Commerce, of which Miss Proctor is the assistant secretary; and there a superb exhibit of the many varieties of Huntington Beach products of the soil is maintained. At the last Orange County Fair, Miss Proctor was in charge of the County Library exhibit, and a recent issue of The Golden West describes what was seen there as follows:

"A large and artistically arranged booth, decorated with flowers and plants, housed the exhibits of Santa Ana, Orange, Fullerton and Huntington Beach, each of which was both creditable and interesting. Books, magazines, papers and pic- tures told of the attractions and benefits of the various libraries, and Miss Bertha Proctor explained to all questioners the system and many avenues of library work. Miss Proctor is the librarian of Huntington Beach Carnegie Library, which is strictly up-to-date as to equipment and furnishings, while the circulation is excep- tionally good for the size of the city. Gardens of flowers, walks, a fountain, a flagpole and ornamental lights surround the building, and adjacent lots have been converted into croquet courts and quoit grounds, while Nature has provided the sea beach only a block away for an outdoor reading room. The library is one of the most valuable assets of Huntington Beach, and is the pride of the little city."

Miss Proctor has a well developed artistic sense very useful to her in her public work; and this is shown in her displays as an amateur kodaker, and also a painter and a decorator-a field in which she has taken rank among the best of local amateurs. Her own popularity has contributed much to make the library a more popular and a more serviceable institution-a good example of the value, in sociological work especially, of character and the trained intellect.

HUNTINGTON BEACH CARNEGIE PUBLIC LIBRARY .- Among the live- liest agencies long and most effectively working for the upbuilding of Huntington Beach must be rated the Carnegie Public Library, since 1911 in charge of Miss Bertha D. Proctor, librarian. In 1909, R. M. Blodget and Mrs. R. H. Lindgren aroused the interest of both the Board of Trade and the Woman's Club, and a library organization was formed by Mrs. Lindgren, Mrs. Blodget, Mrs. Mary Manske, Mrs. C. D. Heart- well, Mrs. Minnie Nutt and Mr. Blodget. One dollar was fixed as the membership fee, a "drive" brought in many new supporters, and an entertainment by the Woman's Club netted fifty dollars. Mr. Reed guaranteed fifty dollars for the purchase of an old building that was being moved from the present site of the Collins Block to the southwest corner of Walnut and Main streets; carpenters and painters donated services to assist in making the affair, a mere shell, habitable; secondhand furniture was painted up and varnished; Mr. H. Gibbs furnished the fuel for the first winter, and the Hunt- ington Beach Company the electricity and water until the library moved to its present building.

In 1909, the city agreed to provide for the library, and the first board of trustees was chosen with the appointment of A. W. Everett, Mrs. Lindgren, Mrs. S. L. Blodget, Mrs. Manske and Mrs. Ida Vincent, all of whom served the community with rare fidelity. So did the first librarian, Miss Edith Brown, whose highly-intelligent work lives after her. In 1910, Miss Maude D. Andrus succeeded Miss Brown, who was deceased, and then the library building was removed to the southwest corner of Third and Walnut streets, and enlarged.

In February, 1911, Miss Proctor took charge of the library, which had now come to be in greater demand, owing to the establishing here of the Holly Sugar Factory. Soon after, four lots on the corner of Eighth and Walnuts steets were bought as a site for future library purposes, and on February 13, 1913-a red-letter day in the history of Huntington Beach-the glad tidings was received from New York that the Carnegie Corporation had given the city of Huntington Beach $10,000 for the erection of a public library building. In November of the same year, fitting ceremonies attended the laying of the cornerstone, and ou May 7, 1914, the library was moved to its new home, a dignified structure faced with red tapestry brick, trimmed with a brick of light gray, and having a mission tile roof. It is 35 x 61 feet in size, and has a basement ten feet deep. It contains a large lecture room, a reference room, a work- room and a furnace room, while on the first floor is the general reading room, the children's room and the librarian's room. The furnishings are steel, and battleship linoleum carpets the floors. A tall grandfather's clock stands at the entrance, the gift of the high school graduates in 1914.

El. Franzen Emilie Franzen

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY

Largely because of the broad and liberal spirit of the city fathers toward this meritorious institution, much has been done to beautify the library grounds, from time to time, and the library itself has been steadily augmented. When Miss Proctor took charge, there were only 300 volumes, but now she and her assistant, Mrs. E. J. Harlow, are responsible for over 6,500 well selected works in all fields of knowledge. Popular magazines and the leading newspapers are also to be found here. The present board of trustees consists of the president, H. T. Dunning; secretary, J. H.Eader, and A. M. O'Brien, Mrs. Ed Manning and Mrs. S. A. Moore.

EMANUEL C. FRANZEN .- There is always something inspiring to the historian in writing of a man who has made his own way in a successful battle with the world, despite, too, the moments when the issues depended altogether on the pluck and tenacity of the contestant. Emanuel C. Franzen, who owns a beautiful ranch and home site at the corner of Fairhaven and Yorba avenues, is one of those whose intelligence and hardihood have carried him through to the goal, and one with whom it is ever a pleas- ure to come into close contact.

He was born near Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein, November 13, 1867, and is the son of Asmus Franzen, also born there of an old Danish family, who married one of his countrywomen, Miss Dorothea Schmidt. In 1879 the family came to Sycamore, DeKalb County, Ill., and in 1880 to Columbus Junction, Louisa County, Iowa, where he followed farming until 1889, when they came to Orange, Cal., and was engaged in horticulture until he retired. He had served in the Schleswig-Holstein War in 1864-66, and also in the Franco-Prussian War. The mother died in March, 1913, while the father died in 1916. They had four children, among whom our subject is the only son. Besides Emanuel C. Franzen, who is the eldest, two are living: Mrs. Christine Cox of Santa Ana, and Mrs. Minnie Rohrs of Orange.

Emanuel C. Franzen was twelve years of age when he came to the United States, and he attended the public schools in Illinois and Iowa, and during spare time worked on his father's farm. In 1887 he came to Orange, arriving on November 7 of that year. He began work in orchards, so has been associated with citrus growing since 1887. As was the custom, his wages went to his father until he was twenty-one years of age, when he engaged in farming for himself. He worked on a farm nine months, was employed for two years on a ranch in Villa Park, when he went to Los Angeles and worked for Phil Hirschfeld and Company (now Zellerbach). While there he attended the Los Angeles Business College at night after work was over. After being employed for two years at Hirschfeld & Company he returned to Orange. In 1890 he bought his present ten acres of land on Fairhaven and Yorba avenues. He grubbed out the deciduous and eucalyptus tres and raised farm produce. In 1894 he set five acres of apricots, but when they began bearing the price of apricots was so low it did not pay, so he took them out and set out Valencia oranges, and now he has a splendid bearing orange grove of ten acres under the Santa Ana Valley Irriga- tion Company. He has built a large modern residence, as well as improved it with other suitable farm buildings.

At. Orange on July 11, 1895, Mr. Franzen was united in marriage with Miss Emilie Engelbert, a daughter of Rev. William P. and Catherine (Deitz) Engelbert. William P. Engelbert was a graduate of Concordia College, Fort Wayne, Ind., and was a minister in the German Lutheran Church, preaching in one congregation in Ohio for eight years, then was called to Racine, Wis., where he founded St. John's Lutheran Church, and under his guidance it became a power for good, and he continued as their much loved pastor for seventeen years, until his death December 30, 1878. His widow spent her last days in Los Angeles, and died September 26, 1890. They had ten children, eight of whom grew up and three are still living. Besides Mrs. Franzen there is a sister, Mrs. Pauline Eifler of Los Angeles, and a brother, Rev. Ferdinand Engelbert, pastor of the Lutheran Church at Braddock, Pa. Mrs. Franzen was born in Racine, Wis., and there received a good education, coming to Orange County, Cal., with her mother in 1887, and it was here she met Mr. Franzen, their acquaintance resulting in their marriage, and of their union three children have been born, Lillian, Alma and Herman.

Mr. Franzen has been a member of the McPherson Heights Citrus Association from its organization, and being interested in the cause of education, has served as a trustee of the EI Modena school district for eight years. The family are members of St. Peter's Lutheran Church at Santa Ana, Mr. Franzen being a member of its board of trustees, while Mrs. Franzen is an active member and ex-secretary of the Ladies' Aid Society and an active Sunday School worker, and their daughter, Mrs. Alma Reusch, is the organist.

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY

WILLIAM T. NEWLAND .- A pioneer settler of Orange County who has watched and aided its growth from a primitive condition to its present state of perfection, is William T. Newland, since 1882 a resident of California. A native of Adams County, Il1., Mr. Newland was born at Camp Point, a short distance from Quincy. He is descended from Revolutionary stock and his father, John Newland, a native of Penn- sylvania, served in the Third Missouri Cavalry in the Civil War, and died during his service. John Newland had married Mary Wortick, also a native of Pennsylvania, and of the six children born to them, William T., the subject of this sketch, was the eldest. He was only eleven years old when his father left home to enlist and his death a little more than two years later left him the practical head of the little family and it became necessary to assist his mother in caring for the younger children; but this seeming handicap only developed his self-reliance and gave him the determination to succeed. When Mr. Newland was seventeen years old he went to Morgan County, Ill., and began working on the farm of John M. DeLapp for thirteen dollars and a half a month, sending this money home to his widowed mother until her death two years later. When Mr. Newland was twenty-five years of age he was married to Mary Juanita DeLapp, the daughter of his employer.

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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 92

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