USA > California > San Bernardino County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume II > Part 41
USA > California > Riverside County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume II > Part 41
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64
N. B. Hale was a member of the A. O. U. W., and was its finan- cial secretary for many years.
JOHN FLACK-Many of the enthusiastic boosters for San Bernardino, while dwelling at length upon its greatness as a railroad center and the opportunities here afforded for industrial and commercial expansion, for- get another and important claim it has to favorable consideration for resi- dential purposes, for the Gate City is second to none in this part of the country as a home city the year around. This feature is recognized by a number of men who have already earned the right to step aside from the deeply trodden path of business endeavor and during the remainder of the years allotted them enjoy amid delightful surroundings the peace and plenty their own industry has provided. One of these representative retired residents of the city is John Flack, who for thirty-two years was a railroad man before coming to San Bernardino, and for some years there- after, a merchant. For the past four or five years, however, he has belonged to the leisure class, although he still maintains his interest in the city and its further progress.
John Flack was born at Atlanta, Georgia, August 17, 1850, a son of John and Mary Flack, natives of Germany, both of whom are now deceased. The father was a contracting carpenter, and well known in his day.
Although only a child when war was declared between the North and the South, the younger John Flack was in thorough sympathy with the Confederacy, and in spite of opposition from his parents, who naturally felt that the battlefield was no place for one of his tender years, he managed to join the famous guerilla leader General John Morgan, and participated in many of the noted expeditions of his command, and re- mained in the service until the close of the war.
The excitement and discipline of his military service aged the boy, and at the close of the war he did not return to the Nashville, Tennessee, schools where he had been a student, but went into railroad work for the Nashville & Decatur Railroad, starting at the bottom, and by gradual steps working himself up to the position of locomotive engineer. He was later with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, and still later with the Illinois Central Railroad, his run on the latter being from Watervalley to Canton, Mississippi, and later from Canton to Memphis. Out of the thirty-two years he was engaged in railroad work he spent twenty years
885
SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTIES
with the Illinois Central Road. Resigning from this road in 1899, he came to California, arriving at Colton July 12 of that year, and after a short stay at that point he came to San Bernardino and here established himself in the mercantile line, and conducted a flourishing business until about 1916, when he permanently retired, after seventeen years in business. 1Il health necessitated this change, but he still looks after his personal interests, which consist principally of different properties in San Ber- nardino, for his faith in this city has led him to invest extensively in its real estate.
As an echo of old days Mr. Flack maintains membership with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. He is very active fraternally, and is a member of Watervalley Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Water- valley Commandery, Knights Templar ; the Mystic Shrine at Meridian. Mississippi ; the Knights of Pythias at Decatur, Alabama, and also belongs to the Improved Order of Red Men and Fraternal Order of Eagles. While he always votes the democratic ticket, he has never been active in politics.
On August 17, 1883. Mr. Flack married at Yazoo City, Mississippi, Miss Charlcy Ann McCarty, a native of Mississippi, and a daughter of Tom and Amanda McCarty. Tom McCarty was a Confederate soldier who died from the effects of wounds received at the battle of Vicksburg. His death occurred in June, and Mrs. Flack was born the followng August. She is a member of the Knights and Ladies of Security and the Royal Neighbors. Mr. and Mrs. Flack have one son, Charles L. Flack, who is stenographer for the district attorney of San Bernardino County. He married Rose Goodcell, a half-sister of Judge Henry Goodcell. Charles L. Flack and his wife have three children, namely : John, Lillian and Rosalind.
There are very few men of Mr. Flack's age who served in the war of the '60s, and his reccollections of those thrilling days are extremely interesting. Naturally his viewpoint, because of his youth, is somewhat different from that of those who were more mature at the time of their service, and for that reason all the more valuable. He is often called upon to relate his experiences to his neighbors, and his grandchildren hang upon his tales, never tiring of them. As old soldier, former railroad man and merchant, and present man of property, he has lived up to his highest conception of duty, and has striven to do just what he thought was right and just.
ARTHUR H. HALSTED-A review of the lives of many of the leading business men and reliable citizens of Riverside reveals the fact that many of them came to Riverside primarily in search of health, and, remaining, not only gained that but a material prosperity far beyond anything they had hoped for in their former homes. To be sure, these men, given the health which is now theirs, would have been successful anywhere, for while Riverside is decidedly the Gem City of the country, it cannot make rich men of those who are not willing to exert themselves and have not the necessary qualifications. Still there is no doubt but that here men of ability are afforded unusual chances to acquire a fair portion of this world's goods. Arthur H. Halsted, president of the Rivino Water Company and an orange grower of considerable prestige, belongs to the class above referred to. and he has not only made a success here, but has also rendered the city a valuable service in many ways, and is recog- nized as one of its worthwhile citizens.
Arthur H. Halsted was born in New York State. January 1, 1870. a son of John F. and Catherine (Thompson) Halsted, both of whom are
886
SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTIES
now deceased. They were natives of New York State, and came of English descent, although their families had long been established in this country. John F. Halsted was a prominent man of New York City, at one time serving as president of the Firemen's Insurance Company, with offices at 153 Broadway, which building has been torn down and the company been absorbed by one of the larger insurance companies. He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
Arthur H. Halsted was educated in private schools in New Jersey and the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institutes, and at the close of his studies engaged in New York City with the China and Japan Trading Company. After four years with this concern his health failed, and in April, 1890, he came to California in search of a more salubrious climate, being accompained by his brother, who had visited Riverside on previous trips and was fully aware of the many attractions and advan- tages of this garden spot. He induced A. H. Halsted to look the place over, and the latter found that his enthusiasm had a real foundation. In fact, he was so pleased with Riverside that he bought seven and one- half acres of the old Haight place on Rubidoux Avenue, and the following year erected a comfortable residence at 163 that avenue, which has been the family home ever since. His acreage was planted to seedling oranges, and he has subsequently budded every alternate tree with navel oranges. He has also planted shrubbery and ornamental trees around the house, and today owns one of the most attractive homes on the avenue.
A far-sighted, public-spirited man, Mr. Halsted has connected himself with numerous enterprises of the city, and is a director of the Riverside Water Company and president of the Rivino Water Company. One of the organizers of the Rivino Land Company, he has served it as vice presi- dent since its establishment. This company owns 650 acres of land in the river bottom, largely in San Bernardino County, although some of it lies in Riverside County. At one time this company held large holdings in the vincinity of Riverside, which it developed and then sold. Mr. Halsted is a member of the Southern California Fruit Exchange, and is responsible in large part for much of the improvement in his section of the city. During the World war he served as a member of the Home Guard, and otherwise made himself useful in local war work, and is still chairman of the Riverside Chapter of the American Red Cross, which attends largely to Home Service work. While he is interested in the success of the republican party, he has not been active in politics, and has never sought public honors.
Mr. Halsted has been twice married, the first time at Riverside, in April. 1895, to Euphemia Wright, a native of Pennsylvania, and the daughter of John Wright. She passed away in 1908, leaving two children. Samuel Thompson, graduated from Leland Stanford University, class of 1917, with the degree of Civil Engineer. During the World war he served as a lieutenant in the Aviation Squadron at Vancouver Barracks. He is now a resident of Riverside, he and his wife, formerly Catherine MacMaster, being leaders in the younger social set. Miss Katherine Halsted, the second child of Mr. Halsted, is a student in Los Angeles. Mr. Halsted's second marriage occurred at Riverside in June, 1909, to Miss Ada Till, a native of England, and a daughter of John Till. Both Mr. and Mrs. Halsted are earnest members of All Saints' Episcopal Church, of which he has been senior warden.
Mr. Halsted is enthusiastic with relation to the possibilities of River- side, for he contends that its natural and developed advantages are unsur- passed, and that here opportunities are offered to those willing to take the trouble to avail themselves of them. The man who comes to the city,
ARNOLD J STALDER
887
SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTIES
however, expecting to have the good things of life fall into his hands without making any return is liable to be disappointed, for here, as elsewhere, something is required before rewards are given. However, it is certainly true that the returns are much more generous for the outlay than in many other sections, and at the same time the investor has the benefit of the unsurpassed climate and the beautiful surroundings. The rigors of the Eastern climate have no terrors for the people of Riverside. In the midst of their lovely orange groves, surrounded by flowers and fruits, they can enjoy life as never before, and at the same time know that they are the owners of a fine income-bearing property, whose value is increasing with each year. Mr. Halsted is proud that he has borne his part in the civic development which now furnishes the residents with all of the advantages of urban life, together with the pleasures usually only to be found amid rural surroundings.
ARNOLD J. STALDER-Perhaps a few of his old time friends and associates recall the time when Arnold J. Stalder had no more important relationship with business in Southern California than as a teamster and ranch hand. The greater part of his wide acquaintance know him as a very prominent figure in business circles at Riverside and elsewhere and as a man who has accumulated from the nucleus of ambition and industry interests greatly extended over the farming and agricultural area of Southern California and in numerous business corporations at Riverside and elsewhere.
Mr. Stalder was born September 14, 1861, in Richardson County, Nebraska, out on the frontier, where his father, Frederick Stalder, settled after coming from Switzerland. The Stalders were identified with all the pioneer phases of life in Nebraska. Frederick Stalder lived in a lonely settlement twenty-five miles from the nearest market, and he carried his supplies home on his back. When he first went there the entire district contained only one saddle horse, and the first team that he owned to work on his land was oxen.
Arnold J. Stalder himself has recollections of conditions in Nebraska not far different from those encountered by the real pioneers. He helped his father on the farm, attending school only three months each winter, and that was the routine and program of his life until he was twenty years of age.
In February, 1882, he arrived in Los Angeles with only ten dollars remaining of his limited capital. The first work he did was driving a team for Mr. Nadeau, helping haul material for the Nadeau Hotel, corner of First and Spring streets, at that time considered the outskirts of the city. He also worked on the Farming and Milling Company's ranch as foreman for two years. Becoming interested in farming, from there he went to Cucamonga Valley (later called Wineville) and took up a homestead and also contracted for railroad land on five years' time. His assets were $25,000 borrowed at ten per cent, payable quarterly, on no security but his name. While farming he also did his own cooking and other housework until his marriage on September 14, 1887. He and his wife lived on their farm in that locality fourteen years, since which time their home has been in Riverside.
Mr. Stalder, with his brother F. W. Stalder as a partner, has always maintained a large share in farm ownership and farming interests. At one time they had eight thousand acres devoted to dry land farming. They were the first extensive farmers in the Wineville and Rincon coun- try, also the first at Corona, Arlington and West Riverside. In 1900 the farm of two thousand acres at Wineville was planted as a vineyard and was sold December 5. 1907, to the Riverside Vineyard Company.
888
SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTIES
Later buying a farm four miles south of Wineville, they carried on farming and cattle raising for several years. They finally gave up cattle raising on a general scale and devoted their attention to farming and to pure bred Holsteins, having a hundred and fifty head of this fine stock at the time the ranch and herd was sold, October 19, 20, 21, 1920. Having faith in the business future of Riverside, they erected a concrete building at Eighth and Fairmont Boulevard. They established the Riverside Dairy Company in March, 1912, and A. J. Stalder is still president of that industry, which is located at the corner of Vine and Tenth streets, with Steve Kennedy as manager. They also organized the Riverside Farming and Milling Company in 1902, with A. J. Stalder as president. This was incorporated as the Riverside Milling and Fuel Company in 1905, of which A. J. Stalder is president. This was moved to Ninth and Orange streets, where it is still continued under the management of H. L. Graham. The Glenwood Mission Garage now stands on the lot vacated at the corner of Market and Seventh streets. In January, 1913, Mr. Stalder and his brother bought a half interest in this garage. It was incorporated in 1918 with C. A. Dundas as president, A. J. Stalder, vice president, S. Gordon Stalder, secretary, and F. E. Bennet, treasurer. A. J. Stalder was at one time director in the National Bank of Riverside, a member of the City Council for four years, on the Board of Utilities for two years and is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Riverside. He is a democrat and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Present Day Club and the Southern California Fair Association.
At Los Angeles, September 14, 1887. he married Miss Lillie Holmes, a native daughter of California. Her parents were pioneers who came across the plains in the days of ox teams and ox carts, settling in Los Angeles in 1865. Of the two children of Mr. and Mrs. Stalder one died in childhood. The other is Sydney Gordon Stalder, whose career is taken up specifically on other pages. Mr. and Mrs. Stalder are members of the Universalist Church.
CHARLES AUSTIN DUNDAS-Successful business everywhere is a record of small and slow beginnings, with gradually accumulating momentum and power, usually due to the driving force of some one individual. Such has been the career of Charles Austin Dundas, president and manager of the magnificent Glenwood Mission Garage of Riverside and actively associated with a number of other large commercial interests in Southern California.
Mr. Dundas was born in Kansas April 25, 1880. His birth occurred in Republic County of that State. His father O. J. Dundas was a native of Illinois and was possessed of that pioneer and adventuresome spirit which kept him and his family almost constantly on the move. partly with the desire to better his condition and partly to see new countries. He was an early settler in Kansas, went to Nebraska when Charles A. was six months old. There he started construction of a steel work bridge for a railroad company, but ill health inter- vening he went out to Oregon, and for a time was in the shingle business on the Columbia River in Washington. Then followed a brief visit to California after which he returned to his Nebraska farm, then went South to Moscow, Tennessee, and on Elk River started a grain mill. After a year he was back on his Nebraska home- stead, remained there twelve months and sold out, and at Lincoln the state capital started the Purity Dairy. These moves are indicated in outline since Charles A. Dundas was at that time a boy and shared
baLandas
889
SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTIES
in the varying family fortunes. On leaving Lincoln O. J. Dundas moved to Colorado and went on a wheat and potato ranch in the San Luis Valley. For six months he operated a restaurant at Grand Junction, Colorado, and then started a dairy at Salt Lake City, Utah. He was in the dairy business in Utah until the fall of 1895.
At that time Charles A. Dundas was fifteen years of age. He joined his father in an overland expedition to Chino, California. The expedition was made up of sixteen teams, with prairie schooner wagons, and the party started with a large bunch of horses. It was a thirty-six day journey. They lost their way in Death Valley. and between Chinaman Ranch and Las Vegas were completely out of water and feed. Charles A. Dundas and a man named Scott were selected to make a rush for provisions, feed and water. They started for a point they thought was Granite Knob, having four of the best horses, two tied to the back of the wagon. Leaving at four in the afternoon their first trip was for water. The water sump hole which they finally reached was full of dead rabbits. At the foot of Granite Knob they met two men who gave them directions how to get to Johannes- burg. After a day and night drive they reached that point, where they secured six horses, three barrels of water, six bales of hay and provisions and started to return. Reaching the scene where they had left the party they picked up their trail and as they proceeded met two men and a burro who informed them of where they could find their people. The remaining party had in the meantime reached some old smelter ruins where there was a lot of canary grass and a little stream of water. Another incident of the trip for provisions was the losing of a nut off the wagon. When the wheel came off C. A. Dundas had to follow back for half a mile over the trail before he found the nut. From Johannesburg the party proceeded through Victorsville, through Cajon Pass into Chino. C. A. Dundas remained there until fall and in 1900 reached Riverside.
About that time Mr. Dundas began an eleven months' course in the Riverside Business College. He did not possess a dime when he arrived, but he paid tuition and cost of books by clerking in the shoe store at the present site of the Racket store. From four to six and from six to eleven he "hopped bells" and then attended school next day at nine o'clock. When he finished his course he had every- thing paid up and had two hundred twenty-five dollars in bank.
Following this he entered the service of the Telephone Company. For one week he dug post holes, did lineman work one week, spent one month as a collector, traveling auditor four or five months, and was then transferred as manager of the San Bernardino Exchange. He remained in the service of the Telephone Company until the spring of 1904.
Up to that time he had made a living but had accumulated no capital beyond experience and a great deal of resourceful courage. When he left the Telephone Company he secured an automobile stage outfit and began running a line between San Bernardino and Arrowhead Hot Springs. Later he sold out and took the tourist auto agency for Riverside and San Bernardino for cars manufactured in Los Angeles. His headquarters for a time were at the Orange Valley Garage, and from there he moved to Seventh Street adjoining the present location of the Glenwood Mission Garage. He soon added Frank Miller's business to his own by purchase and after operating alone several years he then incorporated the Glenwood Mission Garage. He is now president and manager of the company Vol. 11-19
890
SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTIES
with A. J. and F. W. Stalder half owner and vice president, and Sydney G. Stalder, secretary, while F. E. Bennett is treasurer. This was known as the largest garage in the world on a ground floor, 32,000 square feet of floor space. It is reliably recorded that when Mr. Dundas began his business in Riverside he had an exact capital of three hundred nine dollars. The corporation of which he is now head is capitalized at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and has about fifty thousand dollars in dividends to date. The company's assets today are about $500,000.
For his success in this business and in other ways automobile circles credit Mr. Dundas with a great deal of deserved prominence. He is the oldest Studebaker dealer in Southern California. He took the Studebaker automobile agency and was the first demonstrator of that car and brought the first Studebaker car to the coast by express. For one year he was president of the Studebaker Dealers Association of Southern California. In early days Mr. Dundas promoted hill climbs by autos up the Box Springs grade. He has been very active in all the automobile shows and races of Riverside and in Los Angeles. Mr. Dundas was the expert who repaired the first aeroplane which landed in Riverside on its nose.
He is a stockholder in several companies, and is president of the Neuevo Land Company, owning about five thousand acres between Riverside and Perris. This company is developing this tract with the planting of grape vines, peach, apricot and other deciduous fruit trees, and selling off the tract in small lots. It is situated in one of the best deciduous fruit districts in California. Six big wells have de- veloped water, each well having a flowing capacity of one hundred inches.
The Glenwood Mission Garage Company also owns a tract of fifty acres at 8th and Gage Canal, with seven acres in lemons. The company also owns the four-story, eighty-four room Glenwood Apart- ments at 722 South Alvarado Street.
Mr. Dundas was president of the Riverside County Auto Trades Association, and for two months was president and is still a stock- holder in the Frazee Film Company. He is a former director of the Chamber of Commerce, Riverside Business Men's Association, Riverside County Fair Association, and is affiliated with Riverside Lodge No. 643 Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has never been active politically.
March 17, 1908, at Riverside he married Miss Estelle Baker, a native of Iowa and daughter of Mrs. Sarah Baker.
FREDERICK W. STALDER for nearly forty years has been one of the prominent figures in the development of the country and the business affairs of San Bernardino and Riverside counties. He and his brother A. J. Stalder have been closely associated in many of their enterprises, which are briefly described in the sketch of A. J. Stalder.
Frederick W. Stalder was born October 9, 1863, in Southeastern Nebraska, grew up and received his public school education there, and his life was that of a farmer until 1883 when he came to Cali- fornia. For a time he followed different occupations at Los Angeles and up and down the coast, but eventually took up a homestead at Wineville. Then with his brother A. J. Stalder extensive areas were purchased and brought under cultivation and they kept their large holdings in that vicinity selling out in the fall of 1920.
FREDERICK W. STALDER
S. GORDON STALDER
891
SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTIES
Many diverse interests in Riverside County, including alfalfa ranching, dairying, automobile business and others have been jointly shared in by Frederick W. Stalder and his brother. His own part in this fraternal partnership has been that of managing the farming interests, a line of work in which he has taken the greatest pleasure and has found profitable as well. He is one of the owners with his brother and a director of the Glenwood Mission Garage at Riverside, and until recently was one of the directors in the Riverside Dairy Company.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.