USA > California > Los Angeles County > History of Pomona Valley, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the valley who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 40
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In Vinton, Iowa, May 19, 1880, C. C. Johnson was married to Miss Louise Moore, who was born in Durand, Ill., the daughter of Hubbard Moore. From Vermont, his native state, Mr. Moore set out with the '49ers for the gold region, but he did not remain long in the West at that time. Later he removed to Beloit, Wis., and afterwards to Durand, Ill., and established himself in the dry goods business, which he followed until removing to Vinton, Iowa, there following the builder's trade. Removing from the Middle West in 1881, he came to California and the same year purchased a ranch adjoining Pomona, upon which he lived the remainder of his life, and in addition to its management he also carried on contracting to some extent. Mrs. Johnson's mother, Emma L. Peck, a native of Massa-
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chusetts, died in Durand, Ill., when Mrs. Johnson was only nine months old and afterwards Mr. Moore married her sister, who resided with Mrs. Johnson until her death. Five children blessed the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson: Albert, who is engaged with the Standard Oil Company at Santa Barbara; James D., in the real estate and insurance business in Claremont; Clarence was in the Ordnance De- partment of the United States Army in the late war and is now ranching at Claremont; Emma, deceased, and Katherine. Politically Mr. Johnson was a strong Republican, and in his church affiliations was an active member of the Congregational Church, of which at one time he was a trustee. Thoroughly devoted to the interests of this part of California, he was one of those citizens whose coming from the East meant so much to the development and growth of the state.
JOSEPH CHRISTMAS PIERSON
Prominent among the names of the successful men of affairs of Pomona Valley is that of Joseph Christmas Pierson, the scion of a worthy American family of note in our country's history in early Colonial days, who fought valiantly in the Colonial wars and served with distinction in the Revolutionary War, also in the War of 1812 and the Civil War of the sixties.
Mr. Pierson was born at Newark, N. J., May 1, 1857. His father, Joseph Christmas Pierson, was born in New York, of English descent, the ancestors coming from England to Massachusetts. Rev. Abraham Pierson was the first Presbyterian minister in Newark, N. J., coming there in 1666. His son, also named Abraham, was the first president of Yale College. Mr. Pierson's mother was Sarah A. Blauvelt of old Knickerbocker stock, who were the founders of Blau- velt, N. Y. Joseph C. received a liberal public school education in the excellent schools of his native city, which was supplemented by a course at the Newark Academy, and completed at the Pingree Preparatory School, at Elizabeth, N. J.
In 1874 Mr. Pierson began his business career in New York City as an office boy at 81 Beekman Street, at two dollars a week, which was gradually increased until the fourth year, when he received $800 for the year. In 1877 he came to California and spent two years in San Francisco in the employ of the large mercantile establish- ment of Huntington & Hopkins. He then returned to New York City and became identified with the firm of Tennis & Wilson. In 1881 he began the manufacturing business on his own account in Newark, N. J., being engaged in the manufacture of steel goods. Later he became associated with Messrs. Flagler & Forsyth, incorporated as Flagler, Forsyth & Pierson at 298 Broadway, New York City, with Mr. Pierson as vice-president. Later a Mr. Bradley bought his part-
J. l. Person
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ners' interest and the company became the Bradley & Pierson Manu- facturing Company, with Mr. Pierson as president. They were manu- facturers of metal goods, tools and forgings. In 1887 he sold his interest in the company and removed to Minneapolis, Minn., where he was engaged in the hardware business for two years; selling out, he continued to reside in that Western city for three years more. He again returned to New York City and purchased an interest and be- came treasurer of the Frasse Company, importer of tools and sup- plies and one of the oldest firms in New York City, dating back to the time when Robert Fulton purchased tools and supplies of them to build his first steamboat. Retaining his interest and official position with the Frasse Company, located at 38 Cortlandt Street, New York, now the site of the Terminal Building, Mr. Pierson also became interested in the Garwood Foundry and Machine Company at Gar- wood, N. J., of which he was also president. They made all the cast- ings for the Hall railway signal, some of the castings weighing four- teen tons. He was also president of the Brock Wrench Manufactur- ing Company of Garwood, N. J., makers of chain wrenches, and continued actively in the management of the company until he sold his interest to the J. H. Williams Company. At the same time he sold his interest in the Garwood Foundry and Machine Company and resigned as president of both companies.
Soon after this the Frasse Company office, factory and warehouse burned down and after settling with the insurance company they sold the firm name and business. After selling the Brock Wrench Com- pany, Mr. Redfield of the J. H. Williams Company made a request for Mr. Pierson to continue with them, and he accepted the offer and was placed in charge of the New York office, where he continued ac- tively for ten years, when he resigned after being for over forty years in business in New York City. Mr. Redfield, ex-Secretary of Com- merce in President Wilson's cabinet, was president of the J. H. Wil- liams Company, the largest manufacturers of their kind in the world. Before selling out the Brock Wrench Company Mr. Pierson was the second largest manufacturer of chain wrenches in the United States.
In Asbury Park, N. J., in 1883, Mr. Pierson was united in mar- riage with Miss Hattie C. Baker of Asbury Park and they became the parents of four children : William B. of La Verne, who is married and the father of one child; Marion E., the wife of D. M. Mauger of Summit, N. J .; Helen Estelle, wife of Robert P. Yeager of Berkeley, Cal .; and Joseph T., attending the University of California.
As early as 1907, while still living in New York City, Mr. Pier- son became interested in California and purchased an orange grove in La Verne, and later, in 1912, he bought another grove, which finally culminated in his resigning his position and removing to La Verne in 1914, where he resides with his wife in a comfortable bungalow, from
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which place he superintends his orange orchards, one being a nine- teen-year-old Navel grove from which he took 9,000 boxes of oranges in 1917. His other grove of ten acres is devoted to Navels, Valen- cias and lemons and is just coming into bearing. He is active in local affairs and is a director of the La Verne Land and Water Company, as well as a director of the Farmers and Merchants Bank at La Verne.
Mr. Pierson is very patriotic and justly proud of his distinguished Colonial ancestors, being a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. He is prominently identified with the social and business life of La Verne and personally is a man of wide popularity, whose natural talents and acquired training make him a valuable addition to the community.
DEWITT CLINTON BRYANT, A.M., M.D., F.A.C.S.
An eminent physician of pleasing, attractive personality who has become a most successful specialist is Dr. DeWitt Clinton Bryant, who was born near Cleveland, Ohio, on June 3, 1849, the son of David Bryant, a merchant, and a native of Shortsville, N. Y. He came as a young man to Cleveland and there married Miss Sarah Flanagan of Ohio; and he died about 1872. Mrs. Bryant spent her last days with her son, Doctor Bryant, in Omaha, and died in 1897. She had three children, the subject of our review being the second eldest.
De Witt Clinton Bryant received his education in the public schools and at Chatham Academy, and after graduation there entered Oberlin College, where he was a student until the close of his third year. Then, on account of his father's death, he returned home to look after and settle up the estate ; after which he began the study of medicine, attend- ing the medical department of Wooster University, now the Western Reserve University, from which well-known institution he was gradu- ated in 1875, with the degree of M.D., almost immediately engaging in practice in North Ridgeville, Ohio. In 1879, he went to New York City and attended Bellevue Hospital Medical College, after which he crossed the ocean to England and entered the Royal Ophthalmic Hos- pital at London, where he made a special study of the eye and ear. He completed the course of study in 1881, and received his certificate of graduation, so highly prized the world over. He returned to North Ridgeville and again practiced medicine.
In 1884, Doctor Bryant located in Omaha, Nebr., then a city of 40,000, and there established himself in the practice of his specialty, the eye and ear ; entering upon a career of thirty-two years of uninterrupted success, from which he turned only when the condition of his wife's health made his removal to California a prime duty. During his resi- dence in Omaha, he was one of the founders, in 1892, of the Creighton Medical College, and for twenty-two years he was Dean of the Col- lege, from its first session until he resigned to remove to the Pacific
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Coast. During the same period, he was Professor of Ophthalmology. The institution was very successful, with its $300,000 college building and its hospital erected at a cost of $1,000,000. The attendance grew from fifteen to more than 200 during Doctor Bryant's association there, and he saw Omaha expand so as to boast of a population of over 225,000 persons. As a result of his activity in Nebraska, Doctor Bryant is an ex-President of the Omaha and Douglas County Medical Asso- ciation, and also ex-President of the Nebraska State Medical Society; and he is a member of the American Medical Association. He was one of the founders of the American College of Surgeons with headquar- ters in Chicago, and was a member of its first Board of Supervisors. In 1892, the degree of Master of Arts was conferred on him by Creighton University, and the American College of Surgeons conferred on him the degree of Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. During all these years he has contributed liberally to medical literature, particularly in the field of his specialty, and so has gradually become widely known to the medical profession, both in America and abroad.
He made his first trip to California in 1891, and after that he came west repeatedly. For his wife's sake, Doctor Bryant finally gave up his prosperous practice and enviable position in the Creighton Medical College; and having sent his wife here as early as 1914, to seek a milder climate, he followed her in 1916. Soon after he purchased his present place on Amherst Avenue, Claremont, which he improved and beautified with a large modern residence; and besides the beautiful, well-kept grounds, he has an acre devoted to the culture of all kinds of fruit trees grown in California, and many from South America and the Orient, and finds some of his highest delight in watching them grow. He has continued his researches in the science of medicine, and is still interested in Omaha medical affairs, maintaining a certain partnership with others there.
At Chatham, Ohio, Doctor Bryant was married to Miss Sophronia J. Peckham, a native of Ohio, although the Peckhams are of an old New York state family, her mother being a Gridley, of good old Ohio stock. Despite all of his loving ministrations, Doctor Bryant was be- reaved of his devoted wife in July, 1918.
Doctor Bryant is a well traveled man. In 1899-1900, accompanied by his wife, he spent a year in Europe, where he studied in the line of his specialty in London, Berlin and Vienna. Some time was also spent visiting the different countries of Europe, excepting Russia. In 1909, again accompanied by his wife, he made a tour of the world. Leaving New York City this trip was via Madeira Islands, Gibraltar, Cairo, Borneo, Philippine Islands, China, Japan, Hawaiian Islands and back to San Francisco, a trip of six months. During this trip he visited the hospitals in the different countries and wrote articles on them for medi- cal journals.
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An ardent Republican, Doctor Bryant in 1917 was elected a city trustee of Claremont and was immediately chosen president of the board. He was made a Mason in Omaha Lodge No. 1, A. F. & A. M., as well as a member of the Royal Arch Chapter, Commandery and Consistory, in that place, and is a member of the Tangier Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Omaha. He is also a member of the Omaha Lodge of Elks. From a young man, his religious convictions have made and kept him a member of the Congregational Church.
THOMAS ROSS TROTTER
One of the "old-timers" in Pomona whom everyone knows, and who, to know, is to esteem and wish to know still better, is Thomas Ross Trotter, the very popular city clerk. He was born at Youghal, County Cork, Ireland, on December 29, 1850, the son of Edward Jackson Trotter, a ship-owner and grain merchant, who owned and operated large elevators. He married Miss Charlotte Ross, who be- came the mother of thirteen children, among whom Thomas was next to the youngest.
He was educated at the so-called national schools, and as a young fellow, took up the study of architecture. After a time, however, the lure of the ocean which he had inherited took him to sea, and for four years, as a sailor before the mast, he was tossed about on the briny deep. He touched at many of the leading ports of the world, saw more or less of the life of the leading countries, and so wonder- fully enlarged his vision of life and knowledge of other peoples.
In the early seventies, he came out to Canada, and for four years was tow-boat agent on the St. Lawrence River and Gulf, with the duty of meeting incoming ships and arranging to tow them to port-an experience productive of no end of good stories, some of which our subject occasionally tells. For two years, also, he was purser of the steamer Marguerita Stevenson, a passenger and mail vessel sailing between Gaspe and Campbellton.
Because of an accident, however, Mr. Trotter was compelled to abandon the sea, so he made for Toronto, in which bustling city he became known for the next three years in the gent's furnishing trade. Then he took up a homestead in Manitoba, and later moved south to Phoenix, Ariz., where he acted as clerk for a contracting company.
In 1886 he came to Pomona, Cal., remained a few months and then went to San Diego, and there he was bookkeeper for contracting firms for about a year. Returning to Pomona he located permanently, engaging in the grocery business. He spent one season at Catalina in the boating business.
On July 3, 1903, Mr. Trotter was appointed deputy city clerk of Pomona, and in April, 1907, he was elected to the office, and has been
FRYroller
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reelected ever since. He is a stanch Republican in politics, and'is a member of Pomona Lodge No. 789, B. P. O. Elks, and in the circles of both no one is more popular, for he has missed but one lodge meeting in almost ten years.
In 1891, at Pomona, Mr. Trotter was married to Miss Nellie E. Kuhn, who died on August 2, 1917. She was the mother of six children, three of whom died in childhood. Those living are: Ada Garnet, George W. and Helen Hazel. The family attend the Episco- pal Church, Mr. Trotter being junior warden for twenty-five years.
ALTON B. HILL
A real pioneer of the Pomona Valley, one who has reclaimed land from cactus and sagebrush and developed many acres into pro- ductive and flourishing ranches, A. B. Hill deserves mention among the representative men of this section. Born in Norway, February 18, 1856, his people were large landowners and prominent in that country. He received his education in the public schools and attended a military college for three years. On reaching young manhood, he desired greater opportunities than could found in his native country, and the year 1883 found him in the United States. His first business ventures in the new country were real-estate operations, which he carried on in St. Paul, Minn., Buffalo and Rochester, N. Y., Cleve- land, Ohio, and other Eastern cities, and met with success in these enterprises, which were on a large scale of operation.
Before coming to Pomona, Mr. Hill had purchased land in the Valley, and in 1900 he came here and began the development of his holdings, consisting of 300 acres, all of it raw land. He spent large sums of money in removing rocks and sagebrush and cacti from the land, and then planted, developed and produced from his extensive holdings ; some of the acreage was put to peaches, apricots and plums ; and a 120-acre ranch took the place of the wilderness. This property was situated near First Street and Grand Avenue. Besides this devel- opment work, Mr. Hill developed a forty-four-acre orange grove on East Kingsley Avenue; twenty-six acres on San Bernardino Avenue, in oranges, grapefruit and tangerines ; and twenty acres on Grand Avenue and Phillips Boulevard devoted to peaches, apricots and pears. His present holdings consist of 250 acres, 130 of which he has given to his sons. At one time Mr. Hill owned eighty acres in Pasadena, now owned by the Pasadena Country Club.
Mr. Hill has taken an active part in advancing the civic interests of this section; formerly president of the Eastside Dry Yard, during the war he dried 325 tons of fruit under government supervision, and was also an independent shipper of green and dried fruits to New York. President of the Palomares Water Company, he has interests
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in four different water companies, and has spent thousands of dollars yearly on the irrigation system of his property, and at a rough estimate has spent over half a million on labor and improvements on his ranch properties. He markets his crop through the Claremont Citrus Asso- ciation. A real upbuilder and developer in every sense of the word, Mr. Hill takes rank as one of the foremost citizens of the Valley and a man of sterling character. He is the father of four sons: George L., Thornwell, Robert and Conrad; and three daughters, May Grace, Winnie and Stella.
J. MOSES WHITEHEAD
Although born and reared in a far northern clime, where the orange industry is unknown, J. Moses Whitehead, well-known orange grower of Pomona, while comparatively new to the culture of the golden fruit, has made a success in that industry since he came to Pomona.
Mr. Whitehead was born in eastern Ontario, Canada, October 2, 1878, and was reared in the timber country on his father's 190-acre government claim home place. Logging and the lumber business are the chief industries in that section of country, and in his early life Mr. Whitehead was accustomed to the scenes incident to these vocations. In 1899, the year he attained his majority, he sought his fortune in the northwest territory, homesteading a piece of land in the newly formed province of Saskatchewan, which in 1905 was formed from the former districts of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan and Athabasca. After farming for seven years the allurements of Southern California brought him to Pomona, where he arrived July 4, 1906. He purchased his present six-acre orange grove, paying $100 down, the remainder to be paid within three years. He has taken the best possible care of the place and the orchard is very productive. Its highest yield was 4,200 boxes of Valencia and Navel oranges in 1913, and the average yield is from 2,500 to 3,000 boxes of fruit yearly. This grove is a part of the Packard Orange Grove Tract. Mr. Whitehead also owns a twelve- acre grove on West Holt Avenue, one-fourth of which is planted to Valencia, one-fourth to Navel, one-fourth to walnut and one-fourth to. lemon trees.
On April 21, 1909, he formed domestic ties by his marriage with Miss Laura Hardin, a native of Nebraska, and their five children were all born in Pomona Valley. They are: Mildred Genevieve, Laura Elizabeth, Margaret Ella, and the twins, Josephine E. and Joe A. In his religious affiliations Mr. Whitehead is a member of the Pilgrim Congregational Church at Pomona, of which he was deacon four years.
Mr. Whitehead has made a decided success in the orange industry, is a young man of enterprise and energy and has many warm friends.
O.J. youta
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PORFIRIO J. YORBA
Fortunate in a name that awakens memories and fancies of early, romantic California days, Porfirio J. Yorba was born at Yorba, in Orange County, on May 28, 1876, the son of Trinidad Yorba, also a native of that place and a member of the famous Yorba family once playing such a picturesque role in this wide-sweeping Coast country. His father-Porfirio's grandfather-was Bernardo Yorba, a native of Spain and the holder of three grants, aggregating over 165,000 acres, given him by the King of Spain. These grants were La Sierra, in Riverside County, and Rancho San Antonio, Canyon Santa Ana, in Orange County; and just how historical character the founder of this family was, may be gathered from the reference to him by his con- temporary, Harris Newmark, the Los Angeles pioneer, who says in his personal reminiscences, "Sixty Years in Southern California," beginning with the year 1853:
"Bernardo Yorba was another great landowner; and I am sure that, in the day of his glory, he might have traveled fifty to sixty miles in a straight line, touching none but his own possessions. His ranches, on one of which Pio Pico hid from Santiago Arguello, were delight- fully located, where now stand such places as Anaheim, Orange, Santa Ana, Westminster, Garden Grove and other towns in Orange County -then a part of Los Angeles County."
When Don Bernardo died, on November 20, 1858, adds New- mark, with interesting exactness as to details, he bequeathed to nu- merous children and grandchildren an inheritance of $110,000 worth of personal property, in addition to 37,000 acres of land.
Trinidad Yorba married Josefa Palomares, a member of an- other historic family long among the land barons of California, and a descendant of Don Francisco de Palomares, Governor of the Castle of St. Gregory at Oran, Spain. Coming down the generations, we find another Don Francisco de Palomares, who was a well-known citizen of Toledo, Spain. His children were Don Francisco, who was clerk of the city of Madrid and died in 1795; Donicio; Maria Josefa; and Juan Leocadio, who crossed the ocean from Spain to Mexico, married Dona Maria Antonia Gonzales de Zayas (sister of Father Elias, an influential priest ), and established a home in Sonora. Their only son, Juan Francisco, was born in Sonora and became the father of the fol- lowing children: Herman, Antonia, Juana, Francisca, Procofio, Almara, Tranquilina, Fiburcio, Manuel, Ignacio and Jesus. Among the offspring of Manuel was Juan Leocadio, by whose marriage to Maria Antonia Gonzales was born an only child, Cristobal. He came to Los Angeles as a sergeant in the Mexican army and afterward served as judge in that city, while he resided on the site of the present Arcade Depot. By his marriage to Benedita Saiz he had the following children : Concepcion, Barbara, Rosario, Francisco, Ygnacio, Louis,
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Dolores, Maria de Jesus and Joséfa; and it was this attractive daughter, Joséfa Palomares, who became the wife of Trinidad Yorba and the mother of Porfirio, our subject. There were eight children in Trinidad's family, but besides Porfirio, only a daughter, Frances, now Mrs. Frank Z. Vejar, is still living. These two well remember the early days when much of the family splendor remained, and the Yorbas raised cattle, which they shipped to San Pedro, together with hides. Not much attention was then given to grain, for there was as yet no grain market; but they cultivated the fields for potatoes, although they had to sell them for five cents a sack.
Trinidad Yorba died during Porfirio's youth; the latter attended the public schools of Orange County, then studied at St. Vincent's College at Los Angeles, later attending La Verne College, where he was graduated. In 1889, shortly after the great boom in Southern California, he located in the Pomona Valley; he now resides on the Lordsburg road at La Verne, and as the result of hard work and sensible care of his investments, he has some of the best developed ranch property in the Valley. One hundred six acres are situated at the edge of La Verne, and twenty of these he has set out as a young orange grove ; sixty-five acres are in walnuts (twenty-four bear- ing), and he has some fine ten-year-old trees, from which he took nine tons of nuts in 1918, and eighteen tons in 1919. He has devel- oped a good supply of fine water in two wells, and installed a modern electric pumping plant, so that his ranch is well equipped in every respect. On his La Verne ranch he has erected a large beautiful resi- dence with well laid out and improved grounds, which make it one of the finest places in the Valley. He also owns a grain ranch of 418 acres in Riverside County, a part of the original Rancho La Sierra given by the King of Spain to Bernardo Yorba ; and he holds title to valuable Pomona city property, including the Hotel Pomona Block, at the northwest corner of Second and Thomas streets, a two-story building 65 by 120 feet.
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