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 53
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GUY V. WHALEY
The fame of Pomona for its exceptional educational opportuni- ties, really one of the inducements which has made the city preeminent- ly a home town, cannot but be extended and assured through the ap- pointment there recently of Superintendent Guy V. Whaley, late super- intendent of schools at San Diego, where he was under a four- year contract, waived in order to be near his parents at Pomona. With wide experience as an educator, Mr. Whaley comes to Pomona well prepared to take charge of the city's educational system. His recom- mendations from the State University and from Stanford University certify him as one of the best qualified men in the state; through fre- quent visits to Pomona, he is known to be in complete accord with the ideals and plans of the newly-elected board of education; and it is natural that the board is pleased that it has been able to persuade Mr. Whaley to make the geographical change.
Superintendent Whaley was born at Dow City, Iowa, on February 23, 1877, the son of W. V. Whaley, a native of Ohio, who married Rebekah A. Simms, daughter of John F. Simms and Catherine Draper Simms, and a native of Ohio; and as a boy he attended the public schools at Dow City. Later, he studied at the University of Iowa, where he specialized in biology ; but he had previously been graduated from the Denison Normal, had taught school in the rural districts of Iowa for three years, and also pursued courses at Simpson's College at Indianola, Iowa. All in all, he was eleven years in Iowa schools, and in that time was principal of the high school at Stuart; supervising principal of the schools at Corinth; city superintendent of schools at Correctionville, and also city superintendent of the Perry, Iowa, schools.
On coming to Pomona, in 1909, Superintendent Whaley did a full year and one summer session of special work as a student at Pomona College, receiving departmental honors in economics and history. He then entered Stanford University and there made a brilliant record
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and was graduated with high honors. After leaving Stanford he was made principal of the Riverview Union High School at Antioch, Cal., and later he continued his education at the University of California, which gave him his master's degree in education. His old position at Perry was again offered him at an advanced salary, but he declined, preferring to remain in California.
A higher salary drew Mr. Whaley away from Antioch to Vallejo, which had a larger school system with greater responsibilities and greater opportunities for advancement, and for five and one-half years Mr. Whaley served Vallejo to the entire satisfaction of the school authorities there and the people generally. When, however, the San Diego school board offered him the superintendency there, the circum- stances leading up to their action was such that he could not well refuse to accept. The board had asked the two universities, California and Stanford, to recommend the most suitable man for the place; and Mr. Whaley was named and elected before he even knew that San Diego was seeking a school head. He made no application, therefore, for the position, but was elected on the recommendations of the univer- sities. As a matter of fact, Mr. Whaley's work at San Diego was so successful in every way that the board of education was reluctant to release him from his contract, and at first refused to let him go; but when it was understood that his desire was to live near his parents, the board reconsidered its action.
That Superintendent Whaley is familiar with school administra- tion was demonstrated many times at the first meetings of the Pomona board of education, at which he was present. His advice was frequently sought by the board on important questions, and he was always prompt with an answer based upon his knowledge of school law and adminis- tration, or upon wide experience. His recommendations respecting the employment of three expert teachers elected by the board showed that efficiency is his aim, and that the best service, and only the best, will be offered to public school patrons. Superintendent Whaley showed the keenest interest in the problems with which the Pomona board was dealing, and several times requested that he might be per- mitted to take an active part in the solution of some of the knotty matters long before the authorities. He asked in particular that he might have the supervision of any adjustments respecting new rooms or new lighting, as his knowledge of modern methods made him natu- rally interested in such contemplated changes for the Pomona schools. The members of the board indicated their pleasure at this desire to render the highest service, and assured Mr. Whaley that his advice would be eagerly sought, and he should have free control of such part of the administration.
On August 24, 1905, and at Chesley, Ontario, Canada, Mr. Whaley was married to Miss Mary Elizabeth Reed, a native of Ontario, Canada, and the daughter of George W. and Alice Robinson
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alice Seymour
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Reed. Two children, Harold Reed and Warren Paul Whaley, blessed the union. Mrs. Whaley passed away in 1918 after a long illness. While they had lived at Pomona, Mr. and Mrs. Whaley were active members of the Trinity Methodist Church; and Mr. Whaley has retained his membership in that communion.
During the summer session of the San Diego State Normal School, Professor Whaley was both a teacher and a lecturer. At Stanford, during his residence, he belonged to the Acacia Fraternity, and upon graduation was accorded membership in the Phi Delta Kappa fraternity, which is the honorary educational fraternity of the United States. While in Iowa, Mr. Whaley became a member of Burning Bush Lodge, A. F. & A. M., at Correctionville, Iowa, Pal- myra Chapter, R. A. M., and Gerard Commandery, Knights Templar, at Perry, in that state.
MISS M. ALICE SEYMOUR
England may boast of the birth of M. Alice Seymour, a lady who has attained more than local fame in one of the new industries of the Pacific Coast, and was educated in the schools of her native land, and came to America in 1906, locating for a while at Hunters Hot Springs, Park County, Mont. In 1916 she came to California to make a study of both the citrus and deciduous fruit industries; and coming to Pomona, she worked as fruit packer in the Pomona Fruit Growers Exchange Packing House, and also in the Pomona Valley Cannery.
After perfecting herself in both branches, she settled at Anaheim, in Orange County, and entered the employ of the Crawford Marma- lade Factory. She perfected herself in all the branches of marmalade making, and was promoted to the head of the cooking department. In the spring of 1919, a change took place in the superintendency of the San Dimas factory, and she was then made manager. This would perhaps call for less comment were it not true that Miss Seymour has the unique distinction of being one of two women to become managers of packing or manufacturing plants devoted to the citrus fruit industry in Southern California.
The making of marmalade-a toothsome delicacy associated with memories of orange groves and losing none of its attraction because it was a preserve originally made from quinces instead of citrus fruit-on a large, commercial scale in Southern California was started by Thomas Crawford at Anaheim, who commenced operations in a small way and incorporated his undertaking, as the business grew, into the Exchange Orange Product Company. The factory in San Dimas, a branch of the Anaheim factory, was built in September, 1918, and has been wonderfully successful from the start. When run at full capacity, the San Dimas factory turns out from sixteen to
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eighteen thousand pounds of marmalade a day, which is packed in glass jars and marketed through the California Fruit Growers Exchange. The Company also has a plant in Toronto, Canada, to which point it ships the raw materials, which are there made up into the finished product.
Miss Annie Crawford, sister of Thomas Crawford, brought the recipes for Sunkist Marmalade from Scotland, and this marmalade is made in California right where the best oranges grow. The spick- and-span kitchens, supervised by Miss Crawford and Miss Seymour, where Sunkist Marmalade is cooked, are owned and operated by the growers themselves, and Sunkist Marmalade is marketed by there same growers through their own cooperative organization-the Cali- fornia Fruit Growers Exchange. This is the association of growers which also markets the famous Sunkist oranges, lemons and grapefruit.
In the making of this famous California delicacy, the fresh, ripe fruit is taken from the groves of members, after which the yellow part of the peel is carefully removed. The fruit is then cooked down to get all the rich, pure juice. The thin, yellow peel is finely shredded so it will not form lumps, and all pulp and white part of the peel are discarded. Next, the juice and shredded peel are cooked together, and pure sugar and a little grapefruit or lemon juice are added. Nothing else goes into it-no pulp, glucose, no preservative of any kind what- ever. Two pounds of fruit are cooked down to make one pound of marmalade, and so the full orange flavor is obtained. The cooking is done at the factory much the same as it is by most people at home when they make preserves. Small, individual gas stoves are used, and only a few pounds are cooked at a time; to be exact, less than four gallons. Nor is there any hurry. There are no "short-cut" methods. Each kettle is watched individually, and the contents are constantly stirred and tested until they are done just right. With the costlier small stove and slow cooking, the "home taste" is acquired.
All the cooks of the Sunkist factory are women, and they work under the supervision of a Scotchwoman, a connoisseur of marmalades and preserves, who brought the recipes to this country, and introduced the small-stove as the only rational method. She selected, she says, women cooks exclusively as her assistants because "no man, no matter how able, was ever a cook by instinct." Thus the Sunkist factory, now so well established and becoming more and more celebrated, has three policies-"home materials," "home stoves," and "home cooks" -looking to real "home taste."
In November, 1919, Miss Seymour severed her connection with the Exchange Orange Products Company at San Dimas to accept a position tendered by California Food Products Company of Anaheim, manufacturers of marmalades, jams and preserves, to which she is now giving the same careful attention and time. The above is a new plant just started by the Anaheim Sugar Company.
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E. THEODOR SEDERHOLM
Though born in far-away Finland, E. Theodor Sederholm has spent all of his mature life in this country, and has reached a position of high standing in his adopted country, which he has served with all the earnest capability for which his ancestry is noted. A native of Helsingfors, he was born January 26, 1860, a son of Clas Theodor and Sophia ( Blomquist) Sederholm, the father a publisher, the author of several books, and also interested in steamship operation; his life span was from 1832 to 1881, and that of his wife from 1834 to 1886.
E. Theodor was the eldest in a family of eight born to his parents, and was educated in the schools of Finland, both elementary, college and the University of Finland, and obtained the degree of mechanical engineer in 1880. For a short time thereafter he followed his pro- fession in Russia, then, in 1881, came to the United States, locating in Philadelphia, where he was with the Baldwin Locomotive Works a short time. Later in that same year he went to Milwaukee and spent most of his time with the Edward P. Allis Company, and also with Hoffman & Billings Manufacturing Company, as chief engineer, putting in seven years in all. From Milwaukee he went to Chicago, as chief engineer of Fraser & Chalmers, Inc., and for fourteen years was with that firm, during this time acting as consulting engineer for their English house and traveled for them in Europe, Central America, Africa and Alaska. His health finally failed under the strain, and he rested for a few years; and on recovery went back to Milwaukee, with the Nordberg Manufacturing Company, remaining with them until 1913.
That year marks the date of Mr. Sederholm's arrival in Pomona, and here he turned from the more exacting business of following his profession to that of fruit growing, which he has followed successfully since that time, and has in the meantime been connected with the Indian Hill Citrus Association, first as director, then vice-president, and then as president of the company. In 1918 Mr: Sederholm resigned to accept an appointment from the United States Shipping Board, first as district mechanical engineer of the Great Lakes District, following which he was district plant engineer, stationed at Cleveland; he traveled continuously in attending to his important duties, and worked even harder for "Uncle Sam" than he had for himself in former years, giving sixteen months to the work and cheerfully sacrificing his own interests to those of his country.
The marriage of Mr. Sederholm, which occurred on September 24, 1885, united him with Miss Amanda H. Hintze, a native of Wis- consin, and into their happy home life they adopted two children: Jack Robbins Sederholm, serving his native land in the merchant marine; and Elizabeth, attending high school. Fond of music and science, Mr. Sederholm has found time to devote to both hobbies, and
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to the study of shipbuilding. Fraternally, he is prominent in Masonic circles, and is a member of the Knights Templar and a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, holding membership in Chicago. In political belief he is a Republican, and in civic affairs he is actively interested in all matters which have for their object the further advancement of Pomona Valley along all branches of development work. Mr. Sederholm is a member of the American Society of Me- chanical Engineers, and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. Mr. Sederholm has patented many inventions along the line of his profession. It would be hard to find a man more in accord with the spirit of true Americanism than this patriot of many attainments.
ELMER E. IZER
The founder of the Pomona Manufacturing Company, Elmer E. Izer, and its president up to the time of his death at Pomona, Cal., August 26, 1918, was a native of the State of Maryland, where he was born at Hagerstown July 22, 1851. When a young man he removed to Alliance, Ohio, and learned the machinist trade, which he followed until he came to Pomona in 1898 and engaged in a bicycle repair and sales shop.
In March, 1902, Mr. Izer organized the Pomona Manufacturing Company. This plant, which started in a small way in an old barn, was the first plant in the Valley to make deep well pumps and the irri- gation valves used in irrigating pipes. The pumps are installed in orchards and on alfalfa ranches. The business grew and expanded until it is now the largest manufacturing plant in Pomona Valley and one of the largest in the United States devoted to the making of deep well pumps. The company supply three-fourths of the pumps used in Pomona Valley and occupy a large, modern, up-to-date place of busi- ness. The United States Iron Works Company of Kansas City, Mo., are its Eastern agents.
Mr. Izer married Elizabeth McCain, daughter of Nelson Mc- Cain, pioneer of Pomona, who died from the effects of a paralytic stroke April 5, 1919. He was a native of Putnam County, Ind., was born in 1831, and during his early years engaged in the occupation of farming. As a young man he was ordained as a minister in the Meth- odist Episcopal Church and at the outbreak of the Civil War joined the Union army as a chaplain, and served for four years in that ca- pacity. Previous to coming to Pomona in 1887, he had spent some time there, and after 1887 made his home continuously in that city. He was a man of strong personality and was always held in the highest esteem by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. Mr. McCain married Mary Richie in Missouri, where she was born, and she lives at Huntington Park. Three sons and one daughter preceded him to the.
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beyond, and five daughters and one son are left to mourn his loss, namely: Mrs. T. B. Copeland, Los Angeles; Mrs. K. G. Cullen, Huntington Park; Mrs. D. A. Cullen, Los Angeles ; Mrs. E. E. Izer, Pomona ; Mrs. O. L. Butler of Arroyo Grande, Cal., and M. Grant McCain of Pomona.
Mr. Izer was a man of sterling character and great executive and business ability, and his untimely demise was deeply deplored by a large circle of friends. Fraternally he was a prominent member of the I. O. O. F., and had passed all chairs of that organization. Mrs. Izer has one adopted daughter, Mildred Izer.
GEORGE WILMONT FORESTER, M.D.
Fortunate generally in her representatives of the learned profes- sion, Pomona has been especially so in such splendidly trained physi- cians and surgeons as Dr. George Wilmont Forester, who was born at Lexington, Mich., on January 6, 1864. His father was Wesley Justice Forester, well known in official and scientific circles as construc- tion superintendent of the United States Government in the very im- portant work of erecting lighthouses and building wharves. His wife was Esther Jamima Beecher before her marriage ; and she was a second cousin to Henry Ward Beecher, the great pulpit orator. They had four children, and George was the third in the order of birth.
He began his education at the grammar and high schools at Che- boygan, Mich., and at eighteen finished his studies at the high school. In 1884 he went to Dexter, Iowa, where he spent one year at the Normal School and in 1887 he came to California and attended the medical department of the University of Southern California. After this he spent a year at the Northern Indiana Normal at Valparaiso, then entered Drake University at Des Moines, Iowa, where he was graduated March 4, 1894, with the degree of M.D. Thus equipped with a first-class foundation, he next took a course in pharmacy at Highland Park College and Normal School at Des Moines, from which he was graduated in 1897 with the degree of Ph.G., and since then, to keep abreast of his profession, he has taken post-graduate work in New York or other large cities every year. When he began to practice he had an office three years in Des Moines and there extended his reputa- tion for learning and skill.
In 1898 he came to Pomona, and he soon aided in building the first hospital here, at the head of which he officiated for six years, or until the Municipal Hospital was built. Besides his professional in- terests, he has orange groves in a high state of cultivation, having had many of them, some of which he set out and improved.
On March 4, 1891, Doctor Forester was married to Miss Lilly Belle Williams, a native of Illinois, and three children have come to bless
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their union. Hazel W. is a graduate of the University of Southern California and is a physician, practicing with her father; the second child is William, a rancher in Saskatchewan, Canada ; while the third is Frank, blind but brilliant, a graduate of Perkins Institute and responsi- ble for several bills passed by the legislature and designed to help in the educating of the blind. He is now studying law, and bids fair to be heard from in that field. The family attend the Trinity Methodist Church.
Doctor Forester is a Republican, but one who is ever ready to co- operate with neighbors representing other platforms in the improve- ment of local conditions. He is a Knight of Pythias, an Elk, a Macca- bee, and also belongs to the Fraternal Aid, and everywhere he is popular socially.
FRED KALTENBECK
A hotel manager whose wide experience of years have enabled him to establish and conduct some of the best hostelries, for their size, in all California, while he has become one of the most popular hosts with the traveling public, is Fred Kaltenbeck, the proprietor of the Hotel Avis at Pomona. He is a native of Delaware County, New York, and was born in Roxbury village and reared on a farm. When a young man, he removed to Stanton, Montcalm County, Mich., and for twelve years conducted a general store and at the same time ran a hotel. Then he located at Middlesboro, Bell County, Ky., where he ran a dairy, while he also conducted a hotel for seven years. He made his hotel one of the best in the county, and built up an exceptionally good trade.
Desiring to get into the metropolis, he sold out and moved to New York City, where he conducted a wholesale produce business on tlie corner of Twelfth Avenue and Thirty-fourth Street. His usual ability to please also stood by him in that venture, so that his seven years there were years of increasing success.
Having twice visited California and become acquainted with the wonderful possibilities of the Golden State, Mr. Kaltenbeck came to California in 1905, and located in Pomona, where he leased the Kellar House, and soon afterward took over the lease of the Palomares Hotel. At the end of five years, however, he located in Los Angeles and there leased two different apartment houses, the Ponet Square and the Fond du Lac, on South Grand Avenue. He later conducted the Casa Loma Hotel at Redlands for five years and then leased the Casa Blanca Hotel at Ontario, which he managed for two years. In June, 1919, he came again to Pomona and leased the Hotel Avis.
This hotel was erected in 1916 by Walter M. Avis, and is one of the best hotels in Pomona Valley, and, in keeping with modern de- mands, has sixty rooms, all a part of a five-story modern brick struc-
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ture. Many of its appointments are due entirely to the combination of Mr. Kaltenbeck's experience and taste with the good judgment dis- played by the original builder.
At Roxbury, N. Y., Mr. Kaltenbeck married Miss Nettie Frisbie, a native of Delaware County, that state, and two daughters were born to them, both now deceased. Mary married John Hooper, by whom she had a son; and Maude became the wife of M. F. Fisk and the mother of a daughter. Mr. Fisk is associated in business with Mr. Kaltenbeck.
JOHN L. TYLER, M.D.
A distinguished native of Illinois boasting of good old Scotch- English ancestry and descent from thoroughly loyal and efficient Revo- lutionary stock is Dr. John L. Tyler, the well-known veterinary sur- geon of Pomona, who was born at Chebanse, in Iroquois County, on February 19, 1870. His father was John Jefferson Tyler, and his mother was, in maidenhood, Elizabeth Janet Ackley, and soon after their marriage settled in Illinois in 1850, where they endured the pri- vations and discomforts of pioneer life on the then frontier.
John L., when fifteen years old, removed to Arkansas, where the family lived for a time, and then he returned to Chebanse to finish his common school education. Next he entered and in 1891 he was grad- uated from the Chicago Veterinary College, but he almost immediately took up the study of medicine and two years later was given his M.D. degree and diploma as a graduate of the National University of St. Louis. Coming back to his native town he practiced medicine there from 1893 until 1898, and then, having removed to Otterbein, Ind., he continued his practice there. He was also a physician at Crowley, La., from 1900 until 1902, when he returned to Indiana and for two years practiced medicine at Mexico.
On account of ill-health, Dr. Tyler sought the salubrious climate of California, and on May 1, 1904, arrived in Pomona. After a short time, he removed to Long Beach, where he first began the practice of veterinary medicine ; and a year and a half later he opened an office at Los Angeles. Such was his success in the new field of medicine that he continued there as a veterinary until April, 1910, when he located in Pomona, where he has been active ever since.
While in Los Angeles, Doctor Tyler was appointed Deputy State Veterinary Inspector, and traveled all over the state; and for the past six years he has been a member of the Pomona. Board of Health. On August 22, 1919, he was honored by Governor Stephens with appoint- ment to a membership in the State Board of Examiners in Veterinary Medicine; and at a meeting of the Board in San Francisco early in October of that year he was elected secretary. In his private practice he specializes on cattle, and has recently perfected and put on the
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market a valuable instrument known as the "dilator," which has fast attained popularity. He owns a fifteen-acre ranch east of Chino, on which he raises beans, corn and walnuts. Thus, fortified with a thorough knowledge of medicine in general, Doctor Tyler has become one of the best-known veterinary surgeons in the state, with an envi- able experience in agriculture useful to one dealing with cattle.
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