USA > California > San Bernardino County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume II > Part 43
USA > California > Riverside County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume II > Part 43
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Real Estate Association, is a member of the board of the National Real Estate Association and has served three times as president of the River- side Realty Board.
During the World war all his resources were at the disposal of the Government and patriotic movements. He was a member of the local War Council, was a leader in every local campaign and also served as second lieutenant in the 16th separate company of the California National Guard until the signing of the armistice.
Mr. Nye is a charter member of the Rotary Club of Riverside, having served two times as secretary of the club. He is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce, Present Day Club and the Victoria Club, and is affiliated with the republican party. He was formerly a member of the Riverside School Board.
On February 25, 1909, at Riverside, he married Miss Alexina Adair, a daughter of A. Aird Adair, a prominent attorney of Riverside. They have two children, Frank Adair and Mary Elizabeth.
DAVID G. MITCHELL, county treasurer of Riverside County since its inception, has proved his fitness for the position by that very fact. He has as steward of the county's wealth, been as impregnable as the Rock of Gibraltar, the driving wheel of the financial machine of the county, which has never slipped a cog. It is surely a record of which to be proud, but he had proved his manhood before he came to California, having been one of the youngest soldiers of the Union and actively engaged in many battles. He is also a pioneer and has been a vital factor in both civic and political life here.
Mr. Mitchell was born in Erie County, Pennsylvania, July 3, 1846, the son of Richard and Sophia (Bailey) Mitchell. His father was a native of New York and was engaged in the cooperage business. He came of Revolutionary stock, as did his wife.
D. G. Mitchell was educated in the public schools of his birthplace from six to fifteen years of age, when he left school and enlisted in Com- pany C. 111th Pennsylvania Infantry. He served the time of his enlist- ment, December 12, 1861, to December, 1864. As soon as mustered out lie re-enlisted, being assigned to Company M, 102d, Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Regiment. When he was honorably discharged, July 3, 1865, it was his birthday and he was nineteen years old
He was in the Army of the Potomac until the battle of Gettysburg and after that the 11th and 12th Corps were sent into the Western Army, forming the 20th Corps. He was engaged in the battles of Gettysburg, Cedar Mount, Virginia, the Battle of Atlanta, Culps Hill, all through Georgia, then, in the Western Army, he participated in the battles of Wanhatchie, Tennessee, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Ringgold Gay, Taylor's Ridge, Rocky Fall Ridge, Reseca, New Hope Church, Dallas, Altoona Hills, Marietta and Kenesaw Mountain. He came out a mere boy but a seasoned veteran when he was honorably discharged.
His first position was in the bridge department of the Erie & Pitts- burg Railway Company, where he remained to the fall of 1870. Then he was for six months in a store in Rockford, Illinois, and from there he went to Fayette, Iowa, where he farmed for about a year. He then took charge of a construction gang for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company. He returned then to Rockford, Illinois, and opened the first steam laundry there. In the year of 1886 he came to California, locating at once in Riverside County, where he has lived ever since.
He located at Perris, where he engaged in ranching. He lived there until 1893. That was the year that Riverside County was created, and
Thu Andreson
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Mr. Mitchell took an active part in the work of organization and in all the many details. He was appointed by the Governor one of the five commissioners to complete the organization and bring it to perfection. Hc was chosen secretary of the board, and when the duties of that office ended he had so proven his ability that he was elected county treasurer when the county commenced housekeeping, and he has been treasurer ever since, the election taking place in June, 1893
Mr. Mitchell is, of course, a member of the G. A. R., Riverside Post No. 118. He is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Riverside Lodge No. 643; of the Knights Templar Commandery of Riverside : of Al Malaikah Temple, Los Angeles; of the Junior Order United American Mechanics, which he has served as state counsellor a :- 1 has represented at the State Organization Convention held in Detroit, Michigan, in 1910. He is a republican, and has served his party on the County Central Committee and has represented it as delegate to both county and state conventions. He is affiliated with the Congregational Church, which he has served as a deacon for sixteen years.
Mr. Mitchell married at Forestville, New York, Miss Harriet Godfrey, of that city, a native of Pennsylvania. They have had five children, four sons and one daughter, Harry E., a native of Pennsylvania and connected with the Sherman Institute; Frank E., a native of Iowa, in Geneva, Illinois ; Claude W., of Berkeley, California, Richard Ray, road building for the Government in Idaho, and Alice M., a deputy in the treasurer's office, all natives of Illinois. Claude W. and Richard Ray are graduates of the University of California. Miss Alice M. is a graduate of the River- side High School.
JOHN ANDRESON, SR., a prominent business man and capitalist of San Bernardino, passed away a number of years ago, but he is remembered, and will be in the years to come, as one of the most progressive, altruis- tic and worth-while citizens of the pioneer period. He did not make it his home from previous contemplation, but when he did see it he re- linquished all other plans and became a loyal resident. From his first residence he showed his faith in it by purchase of a home and a business, and later on he built more pretentious business buildings and hotels, and always he worked individually for the best interests of the city, and much of her progress and improvement is due to his efforts and his money. He wanted the best of everything for his adopted home just as he did for himself, for he erected the best of buildings and nothing but the best ever satisfied him in work for the commonwealth and for himself. He wanted an unhampered development of the city and he succeeded in many of his plans, practically in all, for the word failure seemed to have been eliminated from his vocabulary. His public record speaks for him now as in the time to come and is worthy of chronicle.
Life was not always smooth and easy for Mr. Andreson, for he made his own way in the world, but his path always led upward, each enter- prise a stepping stone to something higher, something better. Born in another country, he was one of the most patriotic of citizens, loyal to the land of his adoption and its flag. He came from Denmark, which has given so many sturdy men to America, when a young man, and America is the better for his coming.
Mr. Andreson served his city and county in public office many times, most satisfactorily, as well as the state, but he was not overly fond of official life and only accepted such positions when he thought it was his duty. A follower of the sea in early life, indoor confinement and de- tail irked him. He led an interesting life, first the sea, then the life of a
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prospector in the really "wild and woolly" days, and then the adventures of pioneering in the making of a city.
Mr. Andreson was born in Schleswig Holstein, Dominion of Den- mark, January 28th, 1834, and came to South America as a cabin boy in 1850 on a sailing vessel around Cape Horn. He landed on Peruvian Guano Islands, where they loaded and remained a short time, then went to Liverpool, England. He came back again in 1852, on the same boat, and spent six months in the Argentine Republic and then came to Cali- fornia, around the Horn. He was a seafaring man along the coast for many years, owning vessels in San Francisco Bay. He also ran a river boat up the Sacramento, engaged in the grain business.
In 1861 he started a grocery business in San Francisco, but the oc- cupation was too sedentary for him and he could not stand its confine- ment, so in 1863 he sold out and went to Arizona, mining and prospecting for several years. He next went to La Paz, Arizona, and with a practical brewer he started a brewery there which was very successful, accumu- lating what was considered in those days quite a fortune, mostly in gold dust. He returned to California in 1871, intending to settle in San Francisco, but he stopped in San Bernardino on his way, and went no farther.
His first act was to buy an acre of land on the northwest corner of Third and E streets, on which was a small brewery. He enlarged the plant to a thirty barrel daily capacity and ran it until 1884, when he sold ont his interest in the brewery. He had in the meantime erected a brick block on the property in 1872. In 1887 he built the Andreson Building, a three-story brick block considered at that time the best in the city. It contained eighty rooms and was occupied by the St. Charles Hotel, with offices and stores on the ground floor.
In 1888, with H. L. Drew, Mr. Andreson built the Post Office Block, corner of E and Court streets, and he was also one of the owners of the Stewart Hotel. He was one of the organizers of the Farmers Exchange Bank, served as a director from its organization and was afterward its president. He served several terms as a county supervisor and also as city trustee and as a member of the Library Board. He was appointed a director of the State Insane Hospital by Governor Waterman. Mr. Andreson was one of five men who purchased the land where part of the Santa Fe Depot now stands, and was one of the committee of five purchasing the above land, which was afterward taken up by public subscription and given to the Santa Fe for its station.
Mr. Andreson was in his youth a democrat, but changed to the re- publican party, although he never adhered blindly to party lines, voting always for the men he considered best qualified for the positions they were seeking. His fraternal connection was with Phoenix Lodge No. 178, A. F. and A. M.
Mr. Andreson married Emma Knapp, a native of Pennsylvania ; she passed on, and Mr. Andreson died January 14, 1912, in San Ber- nardino. They were the parents of five children, Emma, wife of O. H. Kohl, of San Francisco; J., Jr., William J., of San Bernardino ; Frances L., wife of Walter Kohl, of San Bernardino; and Edmund Knapp, deceased.
JOHN ANDRESON, JR., is the eldest son of John Andreson, one of San Bernardino's early pioneers, capitalists and prominent financiers, and is himself a prominent factor in the financial and business life of the city in which he was born.
John Andreson, Jr., was born in San Bernardino on January 7, 1873, and he was educated in the private schools of the city and in Sturges
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Academy, from which he was graduated. His first essay in business life was in surveying for the Santa Fe, but he was with them only a short time when he entered the Farmers Exchange Bank as a collector, filling vari- ous positions up to cashier and then vice president. He was in the service of the bank for sixteen years, from 1892 to 1908, when he resigned, though he is now and has been for twenty years a director.
Mr. Andreson is a director in many corporations and has varied interests, being also president and manager of the Andreson Company, which was incorporated to hold the Andreson estate intact. He has an aptitude for finance and organization, and his long training in the former has made him a prominent figure in financial and business circles.
Mr. Andreson, in addition to all his other duties, has found time to serve the past six years as a member of the Board of Education, and was two years on the Library Board.
Mr. Andreson married in 1900 Minnie Riley, a daughter of C. F. Riley, of San Bernardino. They are the parents of two children: Laura Frances and John, Jr.
His fraternal connections are with San Bernardino Lodge No. 348, A. F. and A. M .; Keystone Chapter No. 56, R. A. M .; St. Bernard Commandery No. 23, Knights Templar ; Al Malaikah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S .; and thirty-second Scottish rite Mason. He is also a member of San Bernardino Lodge No. 836, B. P. O. E., of which he was a charter member ; Knights of Pythias, and Arrowhead Parlor No. 110, Native Sons of the Golden West, of which he was grand trustee in 1920.
Mr. Andreson is a republican in politics.
C. L. MCFARLAND, attorney-at-law of Riverside, is an integral part of the city, professionally, socially and civically. In all but the "accident of birth" he is a real Californian.
He is the son of John McFarland, now deceased, who was of Scotch descent, the lineage tracing back to the Revolutionary days in an un- broken line. Mr. McFarland came with his parents to Riverside in 1882, having been born in Galesburg, Illinois, September 22, 1872.
He was educated in the public schools of Riverside, and then spent four years in the University of California. He was admitted to the bar in Los Angeles in 1896. Immediately afterward he established an office in Riverside, where he has been practicing his profession ever since.
He is a republican in politics, and has always taken an active part in the ranks of that party, representing them in both county and state convention prior to the direct primary. He also served on the County Central Committee, and has been chairman of that committee. For seven years he served on the Riverside Board of Trustees, being the last chair- man of the board, and also was a member of the commission which pre- pared the present charter of the city.
Mr. McFarland has taken a very vital interest in the affairs of the Public Library, having been a member of the Board of Directors of the Riverside Public Library twelve years, and is now president of the Board.
Mr. McFarland married Jean Henderson, of Riverside, a daughter of Robert Henderson, and they have three children: Jean, Mary and Ruth.
FRED STEBLER. On coming to Riverside something over twenty years ago Fred Stebler acquired an interest in a small machine shop plant, and largely through his talent as an organizer and as an industrial executive has made this one of the few really important manufacturing establish- ments of Riverside County.
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Mr. Stebler is a native of Iowa, born December 28, 1870. His father, Jacob Stebler, came to this country from Switzerland and proved his devotion to his adopted country by serving four years as a Union soldier in Company K of the Sixth Iowa Infantry. After the war he followed farming, and died in 1898.
A public school education in Iowa combined with a practical working knowledge of the home farm filled up the first twenty years of Fred Stebler's life. He then started to learn the trade of machinist, and had had an active experience of eight or nine years in his work when he arrived at Riverside July 5, 1899.
At that time Crawford & Fay were doing a machine shop business, making packing house machinery. Mr. Stebler bought the interest of Crawford and in March, 1902, became sole proprietor. In 1903 he took in Austin A. Gamble as a partner, and they were associated under the name of the California Iron Works until 1909, since which year Mr. Stebler has been sole owner and the responsible head of this interesting industry, continuing under the name of the California Iron Works until January 1,.1921.
On the latter date. the California Iron Works was consolidated with part of the Parker Machine Works of Riverside under the corporate name of the Stebler, Parker Company.
Mr. Stebler's specialty is machinery supplies and machinery of all kinds needed in the citrus fruits industry. The works include a foundry, machine shop, tin shop, pattern shop and wood shop, and all depart- ments are fully equipped and can handle any class of business. Stebler, Parker Company and its predecessors in business is primarily a California industry, but it is a tribute to Mr. Stebler's business energy and the high quality of his products that machinery and equipment from his plant have gone to all parts of the world, shipments being made to the Holy Land, South Africa. New Zealand, Australia, British Columbia and Mex- ico. The business is one requiring a floor space of about fifty thousand square feet.
At the time Mr. Stebler came to Riverside the citrus industry was without adequate mechanical apparatus of any kind, and he built up his business in helping to supply this. He has invented and taken out patents on numerous inventions and improvements which tend to bring this line of machinery to the forefront. Many of these improvements were of such a character as to at once become accepted and in preferred demand. Patents covering them were sustained as valid by the courts as constituting a novel and advanced improvement in the art.
Mr. Stebler is a republican, but close attention to business has not allowed any participation in politics. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Wood- men of the World and the Sons of Veterans. June 15, 1904, he married Miss Eva V. Woodman, a native of Cleveland, Ohio. Their five children are named Eve Irene, Hazel Louise, Jessie Genevieve, Frederick Alfred and Elsie Frances.
JOHN W. ARNOLD, M. D. V., has the largest practice in Riverside County and is the most popular and prominent man in his profession in his home district, where he has been engaged in active practice over twelve years.
Mr. Arnold comes of Revolutionary stock, his ancestors being of Scotch and Irish descent. His parents were Ira M. and Hattie E. Arnold. both were natives of Illinois and born and reared in DeKalb County of that state. Ira M. Arnold was a farmer and livery man, and a man of high
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standing. John W. Arnold was born at Sandwich, Illinois, February 12, 1868 and was educated in the public schools and High School of De- Kalb County. From there he went to Chicago, where he attended the McKillip's Veterinary College, graduating with the degree of M. D. V. He returned to Sandwich and practiced for some time, but decided to come out to California, which he did in 1908, locating in Riverside. Here he has practiced his profession ever since, his clientele embracing not only Riverside County but all the district. In politics Dr. Arnold is a repub- lican, but has never taken an active part. He married Mary S. Snyder. a daughter of Charles S. Snyder, who was in the insurance business in Sandwich but is now deceased. She is a native of Illinois. They were married in the old Arnold home in Illinois. Dr. Arnold is a member of Riverside Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he has been through chairs and is a past noble grand.
HENRY P. ZIMMERMAN. In some forty years of active residence at Riverside Henry P. Zimmerman has been identified with a number of the local mercantile interests, has also been active in politics, has achieved prosperity out of humble beginnings, and has used this prosperity wisely and considerately for the welfare of the community.
Mr. Zimmerman was born in Preble County, Ohio, April 15, 1860, and represents an old American family of Revolutionary stock and original German descent. His father, John Zimmerman was a native of the Shenandoah Valley. Jeremiah, an older brother of Henry P. Zimmerman, was a soldier all through the Civil war. Henry P. Zimmerman was nine years of age when his parents died, and his meager education was acquired in the public schools of Ohio. After the death of his parents he found his time and energies fully taken up with farm labor. At the age of fifteen he came to California, and for a year and a half worked on a ranch at thirty-five dollars a month. He has been permanently located at Riverside since 1882. He was the first agent of the old motor road, now part of the Pacific Electric system. The first day his motor road was operated a man was killed, an accident which cost the owners seventeen thousand dollars. As agent of the road Mr. Zimmerman rented the old Park Hotel, the rental for the entire building being only twenty dollars a month. After conducting the business for two years he sold out to D. G. Clayton.
For two years he was a merchant on Main Street, then associated C. D. York with him as a partner, Mr. York eventually buying him out. Still later he was in the mercantile business between Main and Market on Eighth Street, and for twelve years his partner was Henry Miller. He finally sold out to Mr. Miller, who changed the name of the business to "The Ark."
Mr. Zimmerman bought the old Scott place at Riverside and owned it two years before he sold to S. C. Evans. Leaving there, he bought a twenty-one acre ranch on Olivewood Avenue, built a home and lived there three years, but then returned to Riverside and bought the Star Corral Feed and Fuel Company. This business was the headquarters in what might be regarded as Mr. Zimmerman's chief enterprise in Southern California. He is well known in horse trading circles all over the southern part of the state. For twenty years he has bought and sold, and has conservatively estimated that in that time he has handled about two hundred thousand horses. It is a business in which he is still interested. He owned the Star Corral
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Enterprise for seven years. Mr. Zimmerman owns real estate property all over and around Riverside.
In 1917 he was elected a member of the City Council, was re-elected and had one more year to serve when two years ago he was elected public administrator. After the first two years in the City Council he was candidate for mayor, and lacked twenty-one votes of election. He is one of the most active and influential republicans in the county. He is a former president and still a director of the Humane Society. Several years ago Mr. Zimmerman built a chapel called Hebron Hall on Twelfth Street at his own expense, and a congregation of about thirty worship there regularly. He is a member of the Present Day Club and for many years has been identified with the Chamber of Commerce.
In 1882 Mr. Zimmerman married at Riverside Mrs. Alice Meldrim, who came to Riverside in 1882. They have five children: Lertin H., Robert, Albert, Inna and Storie. Storie is still in high school. Lertin H. is associated with his brothers Albert and Robert in the transfer business at Long Beach. Two of the sons have military records. Robert was a captain in the navy during the war. He was one of a crew of twenty-one locating mines when the boat went aground, overturning and precipitating all the men into the water, and all were drowned except Robert and his captain. The son Albert was a sergeant in the army. He directed the training of a hundred and forty men. He was with the ammunition transport service at the front, and was exposed to much danger and saw much of the hard- ships of real fighting.
CHARLES JEFFERSON DALEY, ex-chief of police of San Bernardino, has the distinction of not only being a native son of the city but of being also the son of one of the earliest pioneers of the district, a man who left his imprint for all time on the County of San Bernardino. No history of this section could be written without referring to the many projects he inaugurated and carried on to success. His life history carries with it the history of the State of California from "The days of old, the days of gold" to the day of his death.
His son, Charles Jefferson Daley, has added his bit to that same history. He secured what education he could in his native city, but it of necessity was limited, as he worked on the ranch with his father. In later years he supplemented it greatly. On the ranch he became thoroughly acquainted with the stock industry in all its branches, and was one of the best posted men in the state in this line.
He remained on the ranch until he was twenty-one, when he went to Arizona to take charge of 1,250 head of cattle for William Hardy. He was foreman of this ranch in Yucaipa County for one year, when he returned to San Bernardino to take up ranching. In 1905 he was appointed a state collector by Governor Pardee, and he served two years in that position in San Francisco. At the end of that period he returned to San Bernardino and resumed ranching, in which he has continued ever since.
In 1919 he was appointed chief of police of San Bernardino by Mayor Henderson and filled that office and gave a splendid adminis- tration until 1921.
Mr. Daley was born in San Bernardino, the son of Edward and Nancy (Hunt) Daley. This couple, imbued with the spirit of adventure and the desire to make a home in the West, came to California in 1851. using the favorite mode of conveyance at that time, the ox team, reaching
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