USA > California > San Bernardino County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume II > Part 18
USA > California > Riverside County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume II > Part 18
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LC. Waite
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June 11, 1908, at Riverside, Mr. Johnson married Miss Irene LaRue, a native of Riverside and daughter of the late Seneca LaRue, one of the prominent citizens of this section of Southern California. The two daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are Frances, born in 1911, and Margaret, born in 1913, both attending the public schools of Riverside.
CAPT. LYMAN C. WAITE is not only the oldest resident of Riverside, but he has the distinction of being one of its most prominent citizens and has been connected with its growth and development from the beginning of its history. As he reviews the past from the days when he first located here, even then being imbued with an unwavering confidence with its future, the present marvelous development appears like a miracle, although no other man is better acquainted through personal experience with the actual progress, step by step.
The birth of Captain Waite took place in Walworth County, Wiscon- sin, September 12, 1842. He is a son of Sidney and Parmelia ( Barker ) Waite, both of whom were born in Western New York, where Sidney Waite was engaged in farming until 1836, when he moved to Wisconsin, arriving there during its pioneer period. He was located in different sections of the state, including those in the vicinity of Sheboygan Falls, Fond du Lac and Appleton, and there Lyman C. Waite grew to manhood and acquired first a common-school training and later one in the more advanced studies at Appleton University, which he entered in 1860.
Like so many of the youths of that day his studies were interrupted by the call of patriotism, and he enlisted in 1862 and was assigned to Company D, Twenty-first Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. Those were the days which proved a man's mettle, and this young private, through his bravery and capability, rose very rapidly through all the stages to be captain of Company C of his regiment. Later his regiment was attached to the First Brigade, First Division, Fourteenth Army Corps, and had the honor of serving at different periods under Generals Grant, Buell, Rosecrans, and Sherman. During his service he participated in forty-two battles and skirmishes, and was with General Sherman on his historic March to the Sea and in the Grand Review at Washington. Among the notable engagements in which he took part were those of Chaplin Hills (Perryville), Nashville, Jefferson Pike, Stone River, Chickamauga, Mis- sionary Ridge, Resaca, Dallas, Kenesaw, Peach Tree Creek, Averysboro and Bentonville. The history of his regiment is most interesting. For one year and eight days after its organization there were but forty-two men able to report for duty, and it was commanded by a captain. Cap- tain Waite's own company could muster only five enlisted men and two officers, and it is likely that the latter were numbered among the living only because they had been serving on detached duty.
Returning to his university after receiving his honorable discharge Captain Waite completed his courses in it and was graduated therefrom in 1868, and at once began teaching school. A year later he went to Belle Plaine, Iowa, and became principal of its graded schools. It was not his intention to remain in the educational field, and in 1869 he began the study of law in the office of Clark & Tewksberry, and in October, 1870, was admitted to the bar at Toledo, Iowa. In January, 1871, he was admitted to the bar of California in San Bernardino County, and at once opened an office at Riverside. He was first justice of the peace and the first notary public, and acted as both for four years. Had he cared to devote all of his energies to the law there is no doubt but that he would have become one of the leading lights of his profession, but
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fate ordered his life otherwise and bestowed upon him still greater honors.
Upon very small circumstances oftentimes hinge a man's career, and this is the case with Captain Waite. Being on a visit to Chicago, he happened to attend the old Woods Museum, and saw a picture of Inspiration Point in the Yosemite which so attracted him that he resolved to push further westward, although it was not until 1877 that he was able to gratify his desire to gaze upon that marvel of natural beauty, Inspiration Point. In that year he visited the Point and other places in the Yosemite Valley staging from Merced City via Coulterville, making a stage trip of 200 miles. It was in 1907 he visited the Yellowstone Park and Salt Lake City, the headquarters of the Mormon Church.
It was in 1870 that Captain Waite came to California, arriving on December 8, sole capital at time being $100 in money and the unlimited enthusiasm of youth and a well-balanced, highly-trained mind. During 1872 and 1873 he returned to his first calling and taught the children of the first settlers at Riverside, and at the same time began his experiments in horticulture, which, although then were productive of but little profit, laid the foundation for his future wealth and opened up a new vista for the people of his country. His first purchase was of ten acres of land, to which he later added fifteen acres, and he has lived in the same and adjoining block for 46 years. When he first came to California Los Angeles had a population of but 5,725, San Bernardino, 1,500 and San Diego, 3,000. He was with Judson Brown when Redlands was first surveyed, and there started two nurseries. He also established two nurseries at Highland, and with Stephen H. Herrick owned the first packing house of that community.
His small holdings in realty were expanded until at one time he was one of the heaviest landowners in this vicinity. His early nursery operations in Riverside were carried on under the firm name of Waite & Simms, J. A. Simms being the junior member. As early as February, 1871, Captain Waite volunteered to go to Los Angeles for supplies for the community at Riverside. Accompanied by T. J. Woods, he made the four day trip, arriving on the return trip March 1, 1877, bringing with him not only the required supplies, but also a number of lemon, orange and walnut seedlings, the latter two supposed to bear in eight years and yield a profit in twelve years. The lemons proved worthless, and the walnuts were the hard-shell English nuts. In all of the earlier plant- ing Captain Waite and his associates were ignorant of the amount of water to use, and the best varieties for the soil and climate. Some of the trees proved to be utterly worthless, and the ground had to be re-planted several times. Out of these first experiments, disheartening as many of them were, has sprung the most important industry of the Golden State. By 1886 such favorable results had been obtained that Captain Waite with two associates took with them to the fair held at Chicago during that year such an exhibit of orange-bearing trees and many other Cali- fornia products, including calla lilies, as to make a profound impression and to awaken enthusiasm for this then not widely-exploited Southwest. As an orange grower Captain Waite met with remarkable success, producing some of the finest trees in the world, and became the owner of a model orange grove. In connection with his orange-growing Captain Waite has the distinction of having received the higest price paid up to that time for a forty-acre tract of oranges in Highland, from Alexander Fry who paid him $100,000 for it, and it was then conceded to be the finest grove in the state. For many years Captain Waite maintained an interest at Highland, where he had owned the first fifteen acres of land
Neva Lyman C. Traile-
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laid out for town sites. He contributed the land for the freight and passenger stations of the Santa Fe railroad, and was connected with many of Highland's leading concerns.
Captain Waite during his active years was a dominant factor in the life of Riverside. He was a director of the Citizens Water Company. which later became the Riverside Water Company, and for years was president of the Pioneer Society. Among other concerns which he served as official or stockholder were: La Mesa Packing Company, of which he was president ; was a director of the First National Bank of Riverside, which he assisted in organizing in 1885, and of which he served as vice president from 1885 to 1900, and president from 1900 until 1905; a director of the Artesia Water Company, the Pacific Lumber Company and the Loring Opera House Company ; president and largest stockholder of the Highland Domestic Water Company of San Bernardino ; a director and stockholder in the Coast Line of the Santa Fe Railroad ; and president and a director of the Riverside Savings & Trust Company, which he assisted in organizing. He was one of the organizers and was president of the bank of Banning. Owing to an injury, Captain Waite was forced to retire from all business activities, resigned from all his official positions, and took an extended trip to Honolulu.
Captain Waite's activities were not confined solely to business affairs, for he was always foremost in securing advantages of all kinds for his home community and those in which he felt an interest. He organized the first school district at Riverside, in 1872, which was several miles square. When this property was assessed to secure funds for the erection of a schoolhouse it was discovered that the tax to be collected was not sufficient to complete a building 16x24 feet with the plaster. With customary energy Captain Waite went among the residents and urged upon them the importance of raising the necessary money among them- selves, and the building was completed that year. This building not only housed the first school, taught by the energetic Captain, but was useful for numerous community purposes. In it the first church of Riverside County had its home. Here the people gathered for social intercourse, and many pleasant memories are retained of this pioneer building by the older people. Captain Waite did not relinquish his connection with this first school even after his increasing cares made it impossible for him to continue its teacher, but for many years served as clerk of its School Board. The attendance on this first school increased so rapidly that before long a second building of the same size had to be erected to hold the pupils. This original school building was also used as the first Court House in the county.
It was Captain Waite who organized the first judicial district, securing the signatures to take before the Board of Supervisors. This work took full two days on account of the difficulty in securing transportation. During the early history of Riverside there was a good deal of trouble from the Mexicans, who regarded the Americans as trespassers, and on several occasions it took a good deal of diplomacy on the part of Captain Waite and other prominent citizens to avoid serious conflict. The first justice of the peace, Captain Waite, was elected for a term of two years. The following election, the Mexicans, massing their forces, elected their own man. It was then that the new judicial district was created by cutting the old one in two, and Captain Waite was reelected.
A pioneer in many undertakings, Captain Waite has the distinction of also heing the first white man to be married at Riverside, the ceremony occurring April 5, 1872, when he and Miss Lillian M. Shugart were united in marriage by Rev. I. W. Atherton. Mrs. Waite is the daughter
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of the late Doctor Shugart, who with his wife and family came to River- side among its pioneers. The following children were born to this marriage : A son who was accidentally drowned when two years and eight months old ; Marion P., who was graduated from Stanford Univer- sity, is a broker of Los Angeles, California, and married Miss Anna Chapman, a daughter of D. P. Chapman of that city ; Charles E., who was also graduated from Stanford University, was for seventeen years connected with the Riverside Savings & Trust Company, is now a broker for the Dubiske holdings at Riverside ; Lillian Martha, who was gradu- ated from the Marlborough Institute, is at home; Leila M., who is the wife of John A. Robertson, of Phoenix, Arizona, has two sons and one daughter ; and Mildred H., who is the wife of U. L. Voris, in charge of shipments on the 35,000-acre farm of the Gates Estate at Corcoran, California.
Believing it to be the duty of every man to make personal sacrifices for the public welfare, Captain Waite has responded generously to calls made upon his time and capabilities and served in the City Council of Riverside for five years, being elected to it from the First Ward in 1906. He retired from the office in January, 1912. During the time he served as a member of that body he was one of its most active workers to secure lasting public improvements, many of which still stand as monuments to his foresight and public spirit. He is a member of Riverside Post No. 118, G. A. R., and of the San Bernardino Valley Division of the Loyal Legion of the States of California and Nevada, which he served as vice commander. The distinctive character of Captain Waite, his broad and warmly human traits, and the unfailing and sincere attachment which he inspires in all those who have come within his influence are perhaps the secret of his remarkable success, quite as much as his unusual mental endowments and excellent business capabilities.
CHARLES E. WAITE, one of the enterprising business men of River- side, was during the past few years the local representative of the H. W. Dubiske & Company concern, one of the largest industrial security houses in the world, with over 100,000 satisfied clients secured during its short business career of about four years. This company has its headquarters in the Consumers Building, Chicago, Illinois, and a branch office in New York' City, New York. Mr. Waite built up a satisfying clientele of his own, and was one of the most popular salesman in the district.
Mr. Waite was born in the old home on Mulberry Street, Riverside, January 14, 1878, youngest son of Lyman C. Waite, whose sketch appears above. He received his educational training in the public and high schools of Riverside and Leland Stanford University, class 1903. On November 1, 1903, he went into the First National Bank of Riverside to learn the banking business, and filled various positions in it up to and including that of cashier, which position he resigned in 1906 to become assistant cashier of the Riverside Savings Bank, and later was made assistant cashier of the Peoples Trust & Savings Bank, and remained with that institution until March 1, 1920. Recognizing a prof- itable and pleasing future in the selling end of business, he associated himself with the Dubiske Company, with the result as above stated. On September 1, 1921, he was appointed Riverside County representative of the Super Test Products Company of Los Angeles, of which his brother. Marion P. Waite, is one of the stockholders and directors. This company is the wholesale manufacturer of various paints and accessories, its prod- ucts being widely sold throughout this state. He was vice president and one of the directors of the Riverside Title Company, and for many years
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was secretary and one of the directors of the Riverside Hospital, but disposed of these interests so as to devote all of his time to his present work.
During the late war he claimed no exemption, but was not allowed to enlist on account of the order issued by the administration that all banking officials must remain in their positions. He is a republican, and has been active in politics, although he has never sought office aside from membership on the county central committee for a year, and that of delegate to the county convention one year. He served as alternate for his father, who was unable to attend, to the State Senatorial Convention. Fraternally Mr. Waite is a Shriner Mason, through the York Rite, and belongs to Riverside Lodge, B. P. O. E., which he has served for fourteen years as treasurer. He is a member of the Sons of Veterans. the Loyal Legion, Woodmen of the World, Modern Woodmen and Royal Arcanum. Until the parlor at Riverside of the Native Sons of the Golden West was discontinued he was active in that organization, and he takes pride in his membership in the college fraternity Phi Delta Theta.
Mr. Waite married October 19, 1905, at Woodhull, Illinois, Gertrude Ferris, a native of Illinois, and a daughter of Robert O. Ferris, a farmer. Her great-great-grandfather Ferris was one of the founders of Galesburg, Illinois. The Ferris family is of Revolutionary stock and English descent. Mrs. Waite is a graduate of Knox College, Galesburg, and a very accomplished and cultured lady, and with her husband is numbered among the social leaders of Riverside.
ASHBEL G. LOVE-Until he was about fifty years of age Ashbel G. Love was completely absorbed in a growing and profitable business as a merchant in the Middle West. When he disposed of his interest there and came to California it was for the purpose of retiring, but the pur- chase of an orange and alfalfa farm at Riverside has furnished him a great deal of occupation, pleasant and profitable, and he has continued to enjoy an active life while here. He is one of Riverside's most esteemed citizens, a worker for everything good in the community.
Mr. Love was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, November 3, 1845. His parents were James and Martha (McNair) Love, both natives of Pennsylvania. His mother was born in Bucks County, of an old family of Scotch ancestry. James Love was of Scotch-English descent. To the task of farming James Love gave all his active years In 1856 he removed with his family to Galesburg, Illinois, and later to Altona in that state, and lived out his life on a farm.
Ashbel G. Love was eleven years of age when the family went to Illinois, and he finished his education in the public schools of Knox County, of which Galesburg is the county seat. After school he went to work as clerk in a mercantile establishment at Altona, and the mer- cantile business opened for him a broad and successful career. In the fall of 1891 he removed to Holdredge, Nebraska, and for seven years had charge of one of the largest stores in that thriving community.
When he came to California in 1906 Mr. Love and his sons pur- chased fifteen acres of oranges and alfalfa at 271 East Central Avenue. He has had many opportunities to sell this property at an advantage, but is thoroughly attached to it and still makes it his permanent home. His son Waldo owns it with him, but Mr. Love gives it his personal attention while Waldo is engaged in other work.
Mr. Love is a republican in politics. For many years while at Altona, Illinois, he took a leading part in politics. He was for several years postmaster at Altona and a representative party in county con- Vol. 11-9
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ventions and on the city and county central committees. He gave his first presidential vote to General Grant. Mr. Love has not been active in politics in California. His spare time is chiefly devoted to church work, and for the past six years he has been one of the trustees of the Magnolia Avenue Presbyterian Church. He is a member of the Arling- ton Heights Fruit Exchange No. 10.
In November, 1879, at Altona, Illinois, he married Miss Abbie W. Waldo. She was born in that state and comes of an old New York family of English ancestry. Her father, M. B. Waldo, was for forty years an employe of the Burlington Railroad, most of his time being divided between his duties at Princeton and at Altona. Mr. Love lost his wife in Nebraska in 1899, after they had been married twenty years. She is survived by two sons, Waldo Love and Frank K. Love. Waldo Love, associated with his father in the ownership of the orange and alfalfa farm, gives most of his business hours to his duties as one of the employes of the Mission Garage of Riverside. He married Miss Anna C. Craven, a native of California and daughter of Dr. Wallace Craven, of Riverside. They have a daughter, Mary, member of the class of 1921 in the Riverside High School. The younger son, Frank Love, is an employe of the American National Bank of San Francisco. He married Miss Edna Barr, of Holdredge, Nebraska, and has a daugh- ter, Helen McNair Love.
WILLIAM T. KIRKPATRICK, whose services as a contractor and build- er have been responsible for the erection of many beautiful homes in Riverside, came to this city sixteen years ago and was instantly con- verted into an enthusiastic admirer of the community, and all his work here has been permeated by the spirit of loyalty and regard for the best interests of the locality. No one stands higher in his profession than Mr. Kirkpatrick.
He is a native of old Kentucky, born near Paducah, January 12, 1859, son of Rev. J. D. and Mary Jane (Rudolph) Kirkpatrick. His parents were natives of Tennessee, his mother of German ancestry. His father was descended from Roger Kirkpatrick, whose name figures conspicuously in the early day politics of Scotland. Rev. J. D. Kirk- patrick gave his active life to the ministry of the Presbyterian Church. He was a Confederate soldier the last thirteen months of the Civil war, being in the cavalry under General Forrest and Colonel Holt. His service was along the Mississippi and at Nashville and Chattanooga. He died in December, 1912.
William T. Kirkpatrick acquired his education in the public schools of Kentucky. His father also owned a farm, and to its duties he gave his time after leaving school until he was thirty. Having a strong in- clination for mechanical work, he then became a carpenter at Paducah, and from his trade developed a business as a contractor and builder During his active career at Paducah he constructed many buildings in that city. Mr. Kirkpatrick came to Riverside in 1905. His brother had been here for a year, and Mr. Kirkpatrick came out to investigate for himself the glowing reports sent back East. He found that the most enthusiastic statements were more than supported by fact, and nothing has occurred since then to mar his complete satisfaction with Riverside as a home and place of business. He resumed his career as a journeyman carpenter, but after a few years had accumulated the facilities for a general contracting and building business. Many houses in the city are the result of his work, including the Lewis and McDermott homes on West Seventh Street. He also did carpenter work for the
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Masonic Temple and the Crossley Garage, under contract, and a few years ago he overhauled and improved the Desert Inn at Palm Springs. He also built an ice plant and several cottages there.
Mr. Kirkpatrick is independent in politics, was quite active in local politics in Paducah but has concerned himself only as an intelligent voter since coming to California. He has been an elder in the Calvary Presbyterian Church for fourteen years, and believes that the church and its benevolent causes demand a proper share of his influence and energies.
In Kentucky Mr. Kirkpatrick married Miss Mattie Dishman, who died in 1902. Mr. Kirkpatrick married at Los Angeles, November 14, 1914, Miss Ada James, of Portland, Oregon, daughter of late Fred James, of Prince Edward Island, Canada. His children, all by his first marriage, are five daughters and one son: Pearl, who is the wife of Linus Roof, a resident of Paducah, Kentucky, and has four children, named Lucile, Raymond, Velma and Eloise. Miss Nina Kirkpatrick lives at home with her father. Velma is the wife of Floyd K. Brown, of Los Angeles, and has two children, Perry and Barbara Alline. Miss Beulah Kirkpatrick is in the office of the Aetna Insurance Company at Hartford, Connecticut. Alline, wife of Stanley Wimpress, con- nected with one of the oil companies at Tampico, Mexico, is the mother of one son, Norman. J. Ewing Kirkpatrick, the only son, was in the draft at the time of the World war, but the armistice was signed before he went overseas. He is now employed as a chemist by the Citrus By- products Company at Corona, California, but will continue his higher education in the University of California in 1922.
MAXWELL R. WHIFFIN-While Southern California may not be the "melting pot of civilization," it is the one portion of the globe any person not completely centered in his local surroundings hopes to see before he dies. Its citizenship has been naturally recruited from men of most diverse nationality and experience, but perhaps none can better appreciate its charms from the contrast of personal travel and experi- ence in most remote parts of the world than Maxwell R. Whiffin of Riverside. Mr. Whiffin is a native of Scotland, represents a family of distinction in British military history, himself had an early training for the army, afterward entered the English Civil Service, and spent many years in the Orient and other British possessions. He finally came to California, and the impression made upon him by Riverside was such that as soon as possible he returned, and regards this as his home for the rest of his life. Mr. Whiffin has long been prominently identified with the fruit business, and is now general manager of the American Fruit Growers Packing House at Riverside.
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