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 57
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The lady he chose for his wife and to whom he was united November 25, 1916, was Miss Lucy Barry before her marriage.
Politically, Mr. Hinman supports the principles of the Republi- can party, and in his fraternal associations he is a member of the B. P. O. Elks and of the Knights of Pythias, and is a member of the Chamber of Commerce.
While devoted to his business interests, Mr. Hinman still has time to enjoy the out-of-door life of which he is fond, and which the climatic conditions of California make so enticing at all seasons of the year. He is deeply interested in the progress and development of Pomona Valley and is ever ready to lend his influence to further its interests.
ARTHUR DURWARD, A. M.
Scotland has long since claimed the honors of birth of numerous men and women distinguished in foreign lands, and especially in the field of education has she been well represented by those who, having first seen the light of day under her bonnie skies, have gone forth to wrestle with some of the most serious problems of life, and to assist in the progress of the world to broader, higher and better things. Among such educators who look back with pride to the land of Scott and Burns, and forward with anticipation to the new Republic of Longfellow, Emerson and Horace Mann, is Arthur Durward, A.M., the scholarly principal of the Bonita Union High School at La Verne. He was born near Aberdeen on December 23, 1870, and when one year old was brought to the United States, where he was reared on a farm near Boulder, Colo. For a while he attended the public schools of his locality, and when old enough went to the State Uni- versity at Boulder, from which well-known institution he was grad- uated with the Class of '93, with the degree of B. S. He next attended Harvard University at Cambridge, Mass., where he took a course in science and engineering, and still later he did some graduate work there, and was assistant instructor in physics in the same university, receiving his Master of Arts degree in 1897.
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The same year he arrived in California and for a year taught at St. Matthew's Boys' School at Burlingame, a military academy, after which he taught for four years in the Hanford High School. Coming to Pomona in 1902, Mr. Durward was vice-principal of the Pomona High School for another four years. In 1907, luckily for the Bonita Union High School, he became its principal, and this posi- tion of responsibility Mr. Durward has filled to the satisfaction of the community ever since. He has not only been placed at the head, but he has been a large factor in the school's development. A number of new and important courses of study have been added, and these include manual training, domestic science, agriculture and music.
Mr. Durward served for four years as city trustee for La Verne, and during that time, for two years, he was president of the board. The bond issue was then carried, and a municipal water system was provided. Good roads were then built, and many streets were paved. Besides being a member of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Durward has been active in the First Methodist Church, and as an educator, a man and a fellow-citizen, he has shown his intense interest in and loyalty to Pomona Valley.
Mr. Durward has also embarked in orange culture and now owns two groves; one, of ten acres, lies to the south of the Pacific Electric Station ; the other, of seven acres, is near the Bonita High School. Associated with others, he has developed water by sinking wells and put in pumping plants, from which they irrigate their ranches.
While at Pomona, on November 30, 1899, Arthur Durward was married to Miss Clara Pitzer, a native of lowa and the daughter of S. C. and Alice Pitzer, pioneers of Pomona. Three daughters have blessed this union, and they bear the names of Ruth, Lois and Alice. Mr. Durward is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, also the Council of Education of the southern section of the California Teachers Association.
VINCENT W. BAKER, D.D.S.
Among the successful orchardists of Pomona Valley, Vincent W. Baker, D.D.S., deserves mention. He is a native of New Jersey, where he was born at Boundbrook, July 4, 1866, and is the son of Abraham and Mary J. (Blauvelt) Baker. The father was a capitalist of New York City, and in a family of seven children Vincent was the youngest. He completed his education in the high school at Asbury Park, and attended the New York College of Dentistry, grad- uating from that institution with the class of 1888. He practiced his profession in Plainfield, New Jersey, for fifteen years, came to Cali- fornia in 1901 and located on a ranch at La Verne. Since then he
FrankaHickman
Minine E. Hickman
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has devoted his entire attention to citrus culture, abandoning the prac- tice of dentistry. He had charge of seventy acres, and now has fifty- eight acres under his supervision. However, he makes his home at 1269 Harvard Avenue, Claremont.
His marriage with Miss Bessie Hull was solemnized September 26, 1893. In his religious convictions Mr. Baker is a member of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, of Boston, Mass. Politically he does not adhere to any party. He is broad-minded and liberal in his views, and active in the management of his business interests, of which he has made a pronounced success.
FRANK A. HICKMAN
An enthusiastic advocate of and an authority on good roads is Frank A. Hickman, the well-known citrus grower of San Dimas, who for twelve years was street superintendent of Road District No. 112, formerly known as the old San José road district. He was born at Fairmount, Vermilion County, Ill., on January 9, 1868, the son of H. H. Hickman, who married Miss Ivy Snyder, and who was active as a farmer in the Prairie State until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he enlisted in the Twenty-fifth Illinois Regiment and served throughout the great conflict, in which he was severely wounded. In the fall of 1868 they removed to Kansas and located on a homestead in Anderson County on the frontier, where roamed Indians as well as countless antelope and buffalo, and there they resided until their death. The parents had five children, all of them still living, the youngest brother still residing on the old home farm.
Frank A., who was second in the order of birth, was taken to Kansas at the age of eight months, and there was educated in the public schools. He assisted his father on the home farm until he was of age and then followed farm work and cattle feeding, principally for J. M. Broady. After seven years in his service Mr. Hickman moved to the vicinity of Cripple Creek, Colo., and there, also for seven years, he was employed at lumbering and logging. Desirous of getting a first-hand view of California, he came out to the coast in 1902, purchasing a three-year-old Valencia orange grove of ten acres in Los Angeles County, which he cared for and improved until he sold it in 1906 for $1,000 an acre, and then returned to Colorado.
In 1909, however, haunted by alluring memories of the Golden State, Mr. Hickman came back and bought his present orange grove near San Dimas, for which he paid $15,000. There are twelve acres in the tract, devoted to oranges and grape fruit. He has made many improvements on the place and built a fine large residence, so that it is now one of the most attractive places in the Valley, and reflects the painstaking, intelligent labor that has been expended upon it. A
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self-made man in every sense of the word, has entered enthusiastically into the life of the community, and is a director in the New Deal Land and Water Company and a member of the San Dimas Orange Growers Association and the San Dimas Lemon Growers Association.
On March 5, 1901, Mr. Hickman was married at Colorado Springs to Miss Minnie E. Allen, born at Cedarville, N. J., the daughter of William P. and Hannah A. (Conklin) Allen, natives of New York state. Her father served in the Third New Jersey Cavalry Regiment in the Civil War. He was a contractor in Bridgeton, N. J., until he removed to Manitou, Colo., and there he engaged in the same line of work. Both he and Mrs. Allen are deceased. Mrs. Hickman was seventeen years of age when the family took up their home in Colorado and she completed her education in the schools at Manitou. On the Allen side she is a lineal descendant of Ethan Allen, the hero of Ticonderoga in the Revolutionary War. On her maternal side she is of the old New York Conklin stock.
Mr. Hickman's party affiliation is Republican, but he is at all times above party and partisanship, when the best interests can be served by voting for a rival candidate or measure. In 1919, Mr. and Mrs. Hickman made a trip of three months to the East and South, visiting Colorado, Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, Alabama and Florida. They returned home at the close of the year more pleased than ever with this section and their experience leads them to the conclusion that there is no state in the Union equal to California for climate, resi- dence nor the opportunity for making money.
RICHARD N. LOUCKS
A citizen of Pomona for nearly forty years who has contributed his share to the permanent and substantial development of the city, and a man who has witnessed the marvelous growth of the city of Pomona as well as the prosperous development of Pomona Valley, is Richard N. Loucks, who for twenty-five years has been actively engaged in the general insurance business here.
Mr. Loucks was born in the parish of East Baton Rouge, La., May 31, 1848, where he was reared. Before he had reached his six- teenth birthday, Mr. Loucks entered the Confederate Army as a mem- ber of the Sixth Louisiana Cavalry, and was captured near Mobile, Ala., December, 1864, and on May 6, 1865, was paroled.
After the Civil War, Mr. Loucks accepted a position in a mer- cantile business at Baton Rouge and later on conducted a general mer- chandise store for himself in that city until 1881, when he migrated to California.
It was in the year 1882 that R. N. Loucks arrived in the then un- important little town of Pomona, and here for a number of years he conducted a general merchandise store on East Second Street. In
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1894, Mr. Loucks realized that Pomona offered a first-class oppor- tunity for a good general insurance business, whereupon he opened an office and has since then been engaged in this particular line of en- deavor as the representative of some of the best insurance companies in the country. During his long residence in Pomona he has aided in the material development of the city.
In the second year after coming to Pomona, Richard N. Loucks was united in marriage with Cora E. Cromer, a native of Indiana, and this union has been blessed with three sons, and by a prior marriage three boys, and all grew to manhood in Pomona: Robert G. and Frank H., residents of Los Angeles; Sylvester D., Richard N., Jr., Howard F., and John W. During the late World War, Mr. Loucks had the proud distinction of having five of his sons in the United States Army, two of whom were in active service with the American Expeditionary Force in France. John W. received the Croix de Guerre with bronze star.
Fraternally, Richard N. Loucks is a member of Lodge No. 789, B. P. O. Elks, Pomona, and also a charter member of Pomona Lodge, No. 107, K. of P. His keen business judgment has won for Mr. Loucks a commendable position among the progressive business men of Pomona.
FERDINAND DAVIS
One of the pioneer builders of Pomona, and a man of sterling character, Ferdinand Davis was born in Cushing, Maine, February 8, 1840. He learned the carpenter trade as a boy, and at the age of ninteen went to Lebanon, N. H., to engage in that business. At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted, September 21, 1861, in the Seventh New Hampshire Regiment, and took part in sixteen engage- ments, first seeing service in the Tenth Army Corps, Department of the South, and later in the Army of the James, General Butler in com- mand. He was wounded in Florida, and was afterwards attached to the brigade staff of General Hawley of Connecticut, and mustered out at Concord, N. H., December 22, 1864, though in service till February 8, 1865.
After the years spent in the service of his country, Mr. Davis returned to Lebanon and resumed work at his trade; he worked for a New York firm who took contracts for interior finishing, and later took up this line himself in New York City, gradually working into architectural drawing, for which he had a natural inclination.
In 1887, Mr. Davis came to California as a licensed architect and located for a short time in Pasadena; soon after he came to La Verne in charge of building operations there, and in 1888 he settled in Pomona. Here he immediately became identified with the building up of the town, and drew plans for all the business blocks on the north
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side of Second Street, from the First National Bank Building to Geary Street, and the four business blocks on the four corners of Garey Ave- nue . He drew the plans for Trinity Church, and was associate archi- tect for the Congregational Church. Mr. Davis also was architect for the Ebell Club House, the Masonic Temple, the Investment Build- ing, in Pomona, among other work; and the Masonic Temple and other buildings at Ontario; modern business blocks and residences in Clare- mont ; and the packing houses at San Dimas and Glendora.
Besides his business interests, Mr. Davis has given time to orange growing, and owns an eight-acre grove in the Ontario district. Since his first settling in the Valley he has been a part of its growth, and has been a factor for progress and upbuilding in the community. In fra- ternal circles he is a member of the Commandery in the Masons, and is also a member of Vicksburg Post, G. A. R.
Mr. Davis married in Lebanon, N. H., January 8, 1867, to Eliza A. Thompson, and four children were born to them: Bernice G .; Mrs. Nellie Hibbard; Raymond M., manager of the Bank of Italy at Modesto, and Mrs. Beatrice Ashworth of Santa Barbara. The family attend the Trinity Methodist Church.
FREDERICK W. BOWEN
Prominent among the pioneer residents of Pomona Valley, where he has resided for the past thirty-four years, is Frederick W. Bowen, who was born near Buffalo, Erie County, N. Y., September 1, 1849. At the age of twelve he removed with his father's family to Cerro Gordo County and three years later to Humboldt County, Iowa, where he was brought up on a farm. In 1869, soon after the continental railroad was completed, he came to California on one of the first trains across the continent, and after remaining one year on the Pacific Coast he drove a horse and buggy north, from Sacramento, Cal., to Albany, Ore., and returned to Iowa, where he resumed the occupation of farm- ing. In 1885 he came back to California to make a permanent home and spend the remainder of his days. He settled in Pomona Valley, where he purchased the place where he now lives, which lies west on Holt Avenue, near Huntington Drive. He planted the land, which was a barley field at the time he purchased it, to orange and apricot trees, and sold four acres of it. The remaining four he still possesses. It is planted to budded Navel and seedling oranges, and some apricots.
Before the days of the packing house he sold his fruit to com- mission men in Pomona. The average yield for five years on one acre of apricots was ten tons a year-a fine record. Nearly all the apricot trees were taken out and orange trees planted. The grounds around his home contain many beautiful and rare shrubs and plants. There are two rose bushes that are thirty-four years old, and he has the tallest
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apricot trees in the state on his place. There are also apple trees, vines, pepper trees, etc. The soil is very rich and productive. He has made all the improvements on the place himself, even to finishing the interior work on his house.
Mr. Bowen has been very active in water development in the Valley. He is president of the Currier Tract Water Company and also of the Irrigation Association of Pomona. The latter system serves about 2,000 acres of fruit land east and south of Pomona. The water formerly came from artesian wells, but an air-compresor pump- ing plant is now used. The Currier Tract Water Company serves over 100 acres of land north of Pomona and owns two water rights; the water is pumped by electric power.
In his domestic relations Mr. Bowen married Miss Sara Wickes, a native of the state of New York. A son was born to them, who died in infancy. They then took a niece of Mrs. Bowen's, Cornelia Lor- beer, who took the name of Bowen and who was a school teacher in Los Angeles County for several years. She died in 1903.
Mrs. Bowen, who has been a teacher in the First Presbyterian Sunday School for the past thirty years, has heard all of the ministers who have preached in that church during that time. She is very active in the missionary society of the church and also in Red Cross work, and is an active member of the W. C. T. U. When she first came to Pomona there were only 500 inhabitants in the place, which supported seventeen saloons. She and seven other ladies banded together, and through their efforts in the cause of temperance the saloons were banished from Pomona.
Mr. Bowen is a deacon in the First Presbyterian Church, and is also very active in temperance work, and with his wife shares in the esteem and affectionate regard of the community.
HOWARD E. ULERY
A merchant with extensive Valley connections, who has witnessed many changes in the transaction of business since he first entered busi- ness, is Howard E. Ulery, the well-equipped dealer in feed, fuel and seed. He was born near Adel, Dallas County, Iowa, on August 11, 1887, the son of Joseph F. and Susan ( Miller) Ulery, natives of Ohio and Indiana, respectively, who became farmers in Dallas County, Iowa, and became the parents of six children-three boys and three girls ; and Mrs. Ulery died in California in 1907. In 1896, Mr. Ulery came west and started in the feed business at Pomona, on West Second Street, and he has remained more or less active in that line since com- ing here.
The fourth child in the order of birth, Howard enjoyed the usual common school and high school advantages, graduating from the latter
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institution here in 1907, and then attending Pomona College for a couple of years. Thus, little by little, he prepared for those responsi- bilities in life which he has always discharged in the most conscientious manner. In 1909, he entered his father's business as a partner, the firm having formerly been Hoffman & Ulery. When he bought Mr. Hoffman out, however, the firm name changed to Ulery & Son, but for the last year, Howard Ulery has assumed the management of the business. Besides his interests there, he owns a tract of good land in Chino.
In Pomona on June 22, 1910, Mr. Ulery was married to Miss Rita Rogers, whose parents were W. J. and Luella J. Rogers, and who was born in Kansas. They have a son, Howard E., Jr., and another named Roger Edwin; and the family attend the First Methodist Church. Mr. and Mrs. Ulery are public spirited, and ever ready to do their full duty as citizens, and especially as residents of the most flourishing and beautiful of inland towns-Pomona.
CARLTON H. SANBORN
A contractor of Pomona accustomed to operate on an extensive scale is Carlton H. Sanborn, a native of the City of the Angels, who is justly proud of the fact that both his father and his grandfather have been prominently identified with the upbuilding of the Valley. He was born at Los Angeles on May 11, 1888, and his father was Arthur Sanborn, who was born in Minnesota and married Lucy Dickenson, a native of England. He came from Missouri with his father, Isaac N. Sanborn, a New Englander, in 1886, just when California was beginning to "boom," and, locating in Pomona, they engaged in brick contracting. Later, Arthur Sanborn moved to Los Angeles, but in 1902 returned to Pomona. Isaac Sanborn and his son Arthur erected nearly all of the brick buildings in and around Pomona, including the Sunset Cannery, in which they were both interested financially ; the Con- gregational Church, the various school buildings, the Masonic Temple at Ontario, as well as other buildings there ; the Odd Fellows' Building at Azusa, and they burned the brick for the Union Block in North Pomona on the Mesa. The grandfather died in 1911, and Arthur Sanborn died a year later. Mrs. Lucy Sanborn lives at Victorville, and is the mother of five children, two deceased. Those living are : John Halvor, a forest ranger ; Carlton H .; and Mrs. Ruth Lester.
Carlton attended the public schools of Los Angeles and came to Pomona with his folks. Here he attended the high school and later learned the bricklaying trade under the direction of his father. On the death of the latter, in 1912, he took up contracting for brick work, and since then has erected all the brick buildings in Pomona except two. These include the Hotel Avis, the Washington School, the Home
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Telephone Building, the White, Booth, Wurl, Opera and Richter garages, all in the city itself, as well as the cooling plant for the Indian Hill Packing House at North Pomona, the building of the La Verne Orange and Lemon Growers Association, the addition to the First National Bank, Azusa, the business blocks in San Dimas and Puente, the Pacific Electric Station and several other buildings in Claremont, a business block in Cucamonga, and the George Junior Republic Boys' School south of Pomona, each of which is a credit for its durability, workmanship and style.
Mr. Sanborn married Sallie Dossett, a native of Kentucky and daughter of James L. Dossett of Pomona, the ceremony taking place at Long Beach in 1911. Three children have blessed the union, Wilma, Ruby and Carlton H., Jr., all of whom may be proud of the family name, since many of the edifices erected by the Sanborns will stand as monuments to their building genius and honesty. Mr. San- born is a member of the Pomona Lodge of Odd Fellows, and also belongs to the Knights of Pythias.
DANIEL MACKENZIE
A gentleman of Canadian birth who, having brought with him to California a valuable experience, has been able to be of real service to the community while advancing his own interests, is Daniel Mac- kenzie, who was born at Unionville, Canada, of Scotch parentage. He was reared and educated in his native locality and then learned the trades of blacksmith and carriage builder and followed his trade and carried on a large carriage manufacturing business for years, and later a sales business of all kinds of agricultural implements, at Owen Sound, Ontario.
Coming to Pomona, Cal., in March, 1905, Mr. Mackenzie bought his present place at the corner of Holt and Union avenues. The ranch was in a run-down condition at time of purchase and he has made many valuable and needed improvements, among them the erec- tion of a comfortable residence and necessary outbuildings. He has given the trees a scientific cultivation and has increased the production of oranges from a mere 106 boxes a year to an average of 2,500 boxes. This country home has been given the name of Tulloch Ard, the rallying cry of the Mackenzie clan for hundreds of years, in the Highlands of Scotland, and is the center of a kindly hospitality.
Mr. Mackenzie is superintendent of the Orange Grove Tract Water Company, which owns a finely-equipped system for supplying water for irrigation and domestic use to more than 600 acres in the Packard Orange Grove Tract. This is one of the best systems in the whole Valley, commanding a continuous flow of water from wells and elevated by means of powerful pumping plants. All ranches are on meter and the consumer pays only for what he uses.
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In Canada occurred the marriage of Daniel Mackenzie and Mar- garet Mitchell Levins, the latter born in Banff, Scotland, and they have one child, a daughter, Helena Bruce Mackenzie, who is widely known for her ability. She studied art and drama at Pomona College, gives readings and recitations that afford pleasure and uplift to many. She is now teacher of art and assistant in dramatics in the Claremont High School. Mrs. Mackenzie, who holds a life certificate in Canada as a teacher, also one to teach school in Los Angeles County, has, since 1916, conducted a private school at Tulloch Ard for children who are in need of individual instruction, and her pupils have been promoted and made their grades in the schools of the city.
It is through such worthy settlers as Mr. and Mrs. Mackenzie that Pomona and many of the most desirable residential cities of California have been rightly developed and permanently and safely established.
IRA W. POLING
What Pomona Valley has done and, therefore, what the Valley may do again for the orange grower, is well illustrated in the success attained by Ira W. Poling, who came to California a little over a decade ago .. He was born near Kewanna, Fulton County, Ind., on March 18, 1852, the son of Arnold and Lydia (Hudkins) Poling, born in Virginia, who removed to Indiana and became farmers there. Ira W. grew up on the home farm until he was twenty-three years of age. Then, in 1875, he removed to Pawnee County, Nebr., where he bought a quarter section of land near Pawnee City, which he im- proved and brought to a fine state of cultivation. Selling out, he went to Jackson County, Kans., near Holton, and there bought eighty acres, which he farmed for a short time. Once more selling out, he removed to Shawnee County, in the same state, and there secured a quarter section of land near Topeka, which he farmed and afterward traded for a quarter section near Oklahoma City, Okla., where he engaged in agricultural pursuits for fourteen years. In Kansas he was a member of the Farmers' Alliance, and both profited and contributed toward the association with others in the same field.
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