USA > California > San Bernardino County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume III > Part 34
USA > California > Riverside County > History of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Volume III > Part 34
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THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF RIALTO has been serving that pros- perous community for fifteen years, and in that time has grown to be one of the stronger banks of San Bernardino County.
It was organized in August, 1907, by E. D. Roberts, of San Bernardino, and commenced business February 3, 1908. This bank is a branch of the San Bernardino Savings Bank of San Bernardino. The first officers were E. D. Roberts, president; William Buxton, vice president ; E. M. Lash, cashier. The bank started with a capital of $25,000.00, and was established in a bank building especially con- structed for the purpose. The banking house is of concrete block construction, and has all the modern facilities. On the death of E. D. Roberts in August, 1920, a reorganization of the official personnel resulted in Richard E. Roberts becoming president, J. C. Boyd and Ken- neth MacRae, vice presidents ; E. M. Lash, cashier ; and E. W. Presto, assistant cashier. In October, 1921, another change in officers took place, E. M. Lash becoming president, while J. C. Boyd and Kenneth MacRae are vice presidents ; E. W. Preston, cashier ; and J. E. McManis, assistant cashier.
Up to January 1, 1922, the original capital was still maintained. At that time the bank had accumulated $35,000 in surplus. In the annual meeting that followed the capital was increased to $50,000. leaving $10,000 surplus and $15,000 of undivided profits. At that date the total resources amounted to $540,000. In March, 1921, a burglar proof alarm system was installed at a cost of $4,000, and in the same month the new safety deposit vaults were completed. The First National Bank is a home institution, and fully a third of the most influential people in the community are stockholders.
The official of longest standing in the bank is Eber M. Lash, now president. Mr. Lash was born at Bloomville, Ohio, December 24, 1879, son of John B. and Nancy (Coyle) Lash, natives of Ohio and now deceased. His father was a minister of the Free Will Baptist Church and a graduate of Ohio University of Athens, Ohio. The mother of Mr. Lash was a graduate of Hillsdale College, at Hillsdale, Michigan. Eber M. Lash was also educated at Hillsdale College and practically throughout his career he has been identified with banking. He spent one year in a bank at Camden, Michigan, from 1903 to 1906 was connected with the First State Savings Bank of Hillsdale, Michigan, and then went to Cleveland, Ohio, as teller and bookkeeper in the Cleveland Trust Company where he remained about two years. With this training he came to California in 1908, and from the beginning has been the active official in the affairs of the First National Bank of Rialto.
Mr. Lash is a republican, is affiliated with San Bernardino Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Rialto Chamber of Commerce and Business Men's Association. December 24, 1905, he married Miss Laura J. Schoolcraft, of Hillsdale, Michigan. She
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died April 2. 1910, leaving one child, Lawrence Aubrey, who was born November 10, 1907. On November 20, 1911, Mr. Lash married Miss Lena Johnson, of Rialto, daughter of Charles N. and Anna (Tinkler) Johnson. They have a son, James Eber, born November 22, 1914. Mrs. Lash has been active in women's affairs in San Bernardino County. She attended the public schools of Rialto and the high school at San Bernardino, was queen of the San Bernardino Centennial celebration in 1910, and is a member of the Rialto Women's Club and the Christian Church.
MAJOR WILLIAM JACOB BODENHAMER is to be credited with a position of distinctive priority as an early settler and in rank of importance as a builder and upbuilder of the Ontario community of San Bernardino County. His home is at Upland, and many years ago he began the task requiring patience, foresight and substantial means to develop what was then a very unpromising waste of land into homes, communities and fruit orchards.
Major Bodenhamer is a veteran soldier of the Civil war, and was born at Springfield, Missouri, July 5, 1841. He had a graded school education, and had just entered college when the Civil war broke out. He soon organized a company of Home Guards, subsequently taken into the Fed- eral Army, and was with his command throughout the entire struggle. At the close of the war he had the rank of major. Most of his service was in that dangerous district of the Missouri and western border. Once while scouting he was wounded, and rode a horse ninety miles to get hospital care and medical attention.
At the close of the war Major Bodenhamer returned to Springfield and became a farmer, and also was interested in the manufacture of tobacco products and real estate. He married in 1871, and for about a dozen years remained in Southwestern Missouri looking after his various interests.
Major Bodenhamer came to California in 1883, his destination being Pomona. He came to Ontario to handle a contract for the building of a home for Mr. Buffington. It was in the role of building contractor that he performed his first important work in that locality. At that time Upland had very few improved places, and the town itself was unknown by that name, the locality being generally known as North Ontario. Major Bodenhamer soon bought ten acres in Ontario, but sold that and acquired 200 acres of wild land along Mountain Avenue from Sixteenth Street North. This land he cleared and improved, setting it chiefly to citrus fruit. Portions of that tract he and his son Paul still own and operate. Development work has been the forte of Major Bodenhamer. He has always looked ahead and has anticipated many of the needs of the community. He was the first to sink a well for irrigation purposes in that section. At that time the canyon was available for an insufficient supply of water, and he put down the well against the advice of associates and proved the practicability of getting water from underground in sufficient quantity for irrigation. This well today produces about 100 inches. It was first operated by a steam plant but now by electrical power. A great amount of land has been cleared, graded, set out to fruit and brought into profitable condition through the efforts and under the direction of Major Bodenhamer. His choice of lands was on the higher mesa ground, then considered unfit for citrus production, but now regarded as the very best for that purpose. Major Bodenhamer came to California a man with limited financial resources, and almost incapacitated by ill
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health, using crutches for a time to get about. The country was new, the Santa Fe Railroad not having been built, and he had all the burdens and responsibilities of a real pioneer. Major Bodenhamer has always been a strong republican, though he has never been a candidate for public office.
Now, at the age of four score, he has turned over many of his active responsibilities to his son Paul. On November 22, 1871, he married Miss Maria L. Parker, who was born in Madison, Wisconsin, November 20, 1849. Of their two sons, the older, Guy, was born at Springfield, Mis- souri, December 26, 1872, and completed his education in Chaffey Col- lege at Ontario, California. He is now an active business man of Los Angeles. By his marriage to Laura Cole he has five children, named Rudolph, Francis, Gertrude, Alma and Naomi.
Paul Bodenhamer is to a large extent his father's successor in the management of the lands and property at Upland. He has been very successful as an orange and lemon grower. He was born at Marshfield, Missouri, November 11, 1874, and was also educated in Chaffey's College at Ontario. He married Miss Marguerite Roy, a native of St. Joseph, Missouri, and educated in the public schools of Denver, Colorado. Their two children are Paul, Jr., born March 5, 1910, and Betty Lee, born November 8, 1913.
REETTA V. HADDEN, of San Bernardino, a pioneer of the West, who has used her talents to preserve many invaluable records of the life and affairs of her generation, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, September 23. 1849. Her parents in the spring of 1855 moved to Kansas Territory, and established their home at Pawnee, just east of Fort Riley, in Riley County, the place chosen for the first territorial capital. Her father, Mr. Morris, had a contract to furnish lumber for the capitol building then being hur- riedly erected for the use of the first Legislature, which convened in July, 1855. The family moved into the upper story of the capitol building while the lower floor was being finished, and they were living there when the Legislature convened. Only those who lived through it or have a knowl- edge of the tempestuous conditions of "bleeding Kansas" during the '50s can appreciate the momentous issues represented in that Legislature. The primary question of course was slavery. Most of the members of the Legislature were on the "pro side" while the residents of Pawnee were against slavery. On the second day Mrs. Morris dressed her daughter Reetta in the prevailing style of short sleeves and pantalets suitable for a six-year-old girl at that time. She then went downstairs to join her father, who was a visitor in the assembly. On remarking her presence he at once said, "go back to your mother," but Governor Reeder had also noted the little figure and interposed with "no, let the little child remain, her presence is the only redeeming feature in the room," and turning to her he said, "come and have a seat by my side." That was a long time before women had been granted the privilege of sitting in legislative halls, and it may be that little Miss Reetta was the "first lady" allowed to sit in any legislative assembly in the United States, certainly the first to have "power," for there was no more swearing or fighting that afternoon while she sat by the side of the territorial governor.
A few years later, when Kansas had an election to decide its future on the slavery question, nearly all the ballots cast in the western portion of the settled counties were anti-slavery. The problem was to get them to Lawrence, then the capital, since a large reward had been offered by the pro-slavery men for the capture of the returns. Reetta's father was a cripple, walking on two crutches. He was entrusted with the dangerous duty of seeing that the ballots were delivered to the Secretary of State at
Quetta V. Hadde
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Lawrence. It was a several days' journey with two yoke of oxen. Reetta went along, while the ballots were secreted in a bag of shelled corn under the seat. On the way her father became seriously ill, and his illness in addition to the responsibilities of their mission made the journey an experience that she would never forget. Finally they reached Lawrence, and her father on crutches and Reetta carrying the bag of ballots walked into headquarters, where all hope of their arrival had vanished, these bal- lots turning the tide against slavery in Kansas. That afternoon, when it was learned that a little girl had saved the day, Reetta once more ruled in the capitol of Kansas.
With the outbreak of the Civil war not long afterward the family returned to Cincinnati, where Reetta attended school. At the close of the war she returned to Kansas, and on November 26, 1868, was united in marriage with Mr. Thomas Hadden of New York City. In a few years Mr. and Mrs. Hadden went to New York to live, but on account of her poor health in 1879 they came to San Bernardino, intending to remain here a year. However, California exercised such charm upon them that they have been residents of San Bernardino County now for over forty years.
In all this time Mrs. Hadden has been deeply interested in the city and county. In 1899 she was president of the Woman's Parliament of Southern California, an organization preceding the Federation of Women's Clubs. She was one of the organizers of the Federation and a member of the Credential Committee. Mrs. Hadden has been a writer for over thirty years, contributing occasional short stories for the local press and magazines. As far as can be learned she was the first to have an article in an Eastern journal about San Bernardino. This article appeared in an issue of the Boston Commonwealth in 1884. Her second article was on "The First Capital of Kansas" and appeared in the American Magazine.
Mrs. Hadden originated the By-Product Department of the Orange Show. She was a member of the first civic committee to beautify the streets of San Bernardino. The other three members, now deceased, were W. J. Roberts, president of the First National Bank; Fred T. Perris, con- structing engineer of the Santa Fe; and Mary Bennett Goodcell, who was a leader in every good work in San Bernardino. Of all her other interests the work that furnishes her most complete satisfaction in retrospect, Mrs Hadden claims, was her canteen efforts for the Red Cross during the war.
Of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Hadden the only one remaining is Miss Estelle, at home.
THOMAS HADDEN was born in New York City on November 21. 1844, graduated from a university and when about twenty-four years of age went to Kansas and took up stock raising and farming.
In 1868 he married Miss Reetta Morris, and soon after returned to New York.
In 1879 he came to California, and in 1881 went into the hardware business, in which he has been interested ever since.
Mr. Hadden is an Odd Fellow, Knight of Pythias, and Mason. He has been interested in San Bernardino and its upbuilding, was one of the organizers of the old Chamber of Commerce and is a charter member of the Elks.
HELGA S. PETERS, D. O .- The professional career of Dr. Helga S. Peters embraces a period of nearly twenty years, all of which have been passed at Riverside. It possesses some features of unique interest, inas- much as it was instrumental in breaking through the barrier of professional
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bigotry, which had before her coming largely excluded women from prac- ticing osteopathy in a professional way. Largely to her example, winning, by assiduous attention to her professional duties and by profound knowl- edge of the art and skill in its practice, a place among the reputable prac- titioners of her day and locality, no less than by her persistent efforts to open the doors of professional preferment to deserving and properly trained women, is due the rapid advance which the last quarter of a century has shown in granting to women the privileges accorded the other sex in ministering to the ills and accidents of humanity. To remove the barrier which shut out women from professional employments, in some of which, especially in some departments of the healing art, they have better adapta- tion than the other sex, has required a long and obstinate struggle. At this day, when colleges all over the land open their doors to co-education, not only in professions but in letters as well, and when women are found at the bed-side of the sick, without question of the propriety and fitness of the employment, it seems strange that so long a controversy was required to open the doors of opportunity to them. At Riverside it will appear that Doctor Peters has been a potent factor in bringing about a beneficial change.
Doctor Peters was born at Ringsaker, Hamar, Norway, a daughter of John S. and Olive Skyberg. Her father, a tenant farmer in Norway, immigrated to the United States in 1875 and took up his residence at Grand Meadow, Minnesota, where he established himself in the mercantile business. For a number of years he continued to conduct this establish- ment and to play an active part in the business affairs of his adopted community, but with advancing years he disposed of his interests and at present is living in comfortable retirement. His daughter, Helga S., enjoyed the advantages of attendance at the public schools of Grand Meadow, Minnesota, following which she enrolled as a student at the American College of Osteopathy, Kirksville, Missouri, an institution from which she was graduated with the class of 1903, receiving the degree of Doctor of Osteopathy. Almost immediately after her graduation she came to Riverside and opened an office, and since then her career has been one of constantly growing professional success. She is now possessed of a large and lucrative practice and has attained a recognized position in professional and club circles of the city. Doctor Peters is a member of the Riverside County Osteopathic Society, the California Osteopathic Society and the National Osteopathic Association. Her religious affilia- tion is with the Lutheran Church, to which she has been a generous contributor.
On March 30, 1911, occurred the marriage of Helga S. Skyberg to Dr. Martin O. Peters, of Riverside. To this union there has come one daughter, Loraine Carmen, who is attending the Riverside public schools.
CHARLES E. JOHNSON-San Bernardino has in its employ some of the most capable men in this part of the state, whose efforts and capa- bilities are exerted to furnish the municipality a service not to be found in all of the cities, even those of a much greater population. Many of these men are young, enthusiastic and ambitious, and bring to their work a knowledge of it gained either through technical training or practical experience. Charles E. Johnson, city engineer of San Bernardino, has the advantage of being a professional civil and mining engineer and practical man of his calling, and he is also a veteran of the World war.
Born at Los Angeles, California, January 18, 1890, he is very proud of the fact that his grandfather, Charles McNutt Johnson,
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went from Nova Scotia to the Isthmus of Panama by sailing boat, walked across the Isthmus, and took a sailing vessel from the western coast for San Francisco, California, where he arrived in 1849, being one of the first in the army of gold seekers of that year. Like the majority of them, he prospected for gold during many years. His son, Charles McNutt Johnson, father of Charles E. Johnson, was born at Sacramento, California, and received his education in the public schools of San Francisco. In 1886 he went to Los Angeles, and from there to Little Bear Valley, following his profession of a civil engineer for two years under E. T. Wright. For the subsequent years he was with the Santa Fe Railroad, and from 1890 to 1895 was with the Cucamonga Water Company, before he was made super- intendent of it, and as such served from 1895 to 1907, when he began building and contracting. Some time later he went with the Santa Fe Railroad, but in 1921 joined his son, who has him with him in his office.
Charles McNutt Johnson married Margaret J. Stehens, who was born near Springfield, Illinois. She was very young when her family moved from Illinois to Maine, and only a little older when migration was made to Alabama. From the latter state the Stephens family came to California, first living in Los Angeles and then going to Ontario, California. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson became the parents of eight children, but the first born died in infancy ; Alden McNutt is employed in the Santa Fe shops; Marie L., who married Kenneth Rogers, has one son, Kenneth, Junior; Lillian Frances married Dalmer Devening ; John W. is in the employ of the Standard Oil Company ; James, who is in the medical department of the United States Army, stationed at San Francisco, California; Mae, who is attending the public schools of San Bernardino; and Charles E., whose name heads this review.
After attending the public schools of Cucamonga and Ontario, California, Charles E. Johnson took a course in Civil and Mining engineering, and has followed engineering as a profession. In 1915 he came to San Bernardino, and was with the county surveyor for about a year, and then was associated with M. L. Cook until June 1, 1917, when he returned to the city, and continued with it during the Catick administration, or until 1919. In that year he returned to M. L. Cook, continuing with him until he was appointed city engineer June 1, 1921.
On November 6, 1918, Mr. Johnson went to the Engineer Officers Training Camp at Camp Humphries, and was there about a month, when the armistice was signed. He had to return to California as a witness in an important mining case that was tried at Los Angeles in the Federal Court and after its termination he came back to San Bernardino.
Mr. Johnson was one of the first to help organize the American Service League, and served as its first secretary, Major Stromee being at that time chairman. When the American Legion was organized he was one of the organizers of the Fourteenth Post, De- partment of California, with rank of adjutant, and Major Stromee became its commander
Alden McNutt Johnson, brother of Charles E. Johnson, enlisted in the Aviation Department, and served for thirteen months in a Southern aviation camp as sergeant.
On June 1, 1915, Charles E. Johnson married Blanch Rountree, who was born at Riverside, California, and died March 11, 1918, at
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San Bernardino. In June, 1919, Mr. Johnson married Miss Edith M. McLaren. She was born at Dedham, Massachusetts, June 26, 1898, and there resided until 1919, when she came to San Bernardino. She died June 11, 1920. She was a member of the Eastern Star and was the second secretary of the Woman's Auxiliary of the American Legion. Mr. Johnson has a son, Charles E. Jr., by his first marriage. He belongs to the Native Sons of the Golden West, is secretary of the Better City Club, and a member of the Chamber of Commerce. Fraternally he is a Blue Lodge, Chapter, Commandery and Shriner Mason, and belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Eastern Star, American Association of Engineers, the Lions Club, the La Societe De 40 Hommes and 8 Chevaux of which he is secretary of the last organization and Grande Guard of de Prisonnies of the State of California.
JOHN NOBLE was one of the earliest settlers in San Bernardino and married into one of the most prominent pioneer families of that section, the Millers. The Miller family had endured the privations and hardships and dangers of crossing the desert and plains to California soon after the original discoveries of gold on the Pacific Coast. The fortitude and vision that carried them to the far West proved sustaining qualities in their lives of industry and honor in all subsequent years, and something in particular should be said of John Noble and his family as a permanent memorial to be published in this history of San Bernardino County.
He was born at Ithaca, New York, August 22, 1837, and was four years old when his father died. He grew up with his mother, and after her second marriage she moved to Illinois. John Noble in 1849 was on his way to California. One winter was spent at Pikes Peak, where he almost perished with cold. He came on to San Bernardino and soon became a clerk in the employ of John Byrne, one of the town's early storekeepers. A strong personal friendship grew up between the em- ployer and clerk.
The late John Noble was for a number of years identified with the Rincon community, locating there about 1882. He conducted for ten years a general store and a postoffice at what is now known as Green- field Ranch. In the meantime his family had grown up and left home, and he then retired to Los Angeles. He died April 8. 1912.
In 1867 John Noble married Miss Emily Miller at San Bernardino. She died March 14, 1884, and both were buried at San Bernardino. where they had lived after their marriage. Mrs. Noble was born May 3, 1850, in a wagon of an immigrant train bound for California, and while the party were encamped in the Creek Nation in the old Indian Territory. Her father. Joshua Miller, was a native of Pennsylvania and one of the most prominent of the early settlers of San Bernardino. Mr. and Mrs. Noble were the parents of seven children, four of whom died in in- fancy. The three surviving are Margaret Louise, Fred and Frank Noble. The two sons are now prosperous business men. Fred was born September 14, 1875, and is now connected with the Oxnard Sugar Refinery at Oxnard, California. Frank, who was born May 25, 1880, is connected with a sugar refinery at Rocky Ford, Colorado.
Margaret Lonise Noble, who was born September 15, 1873, is now Mrs. John E. Strong, their home being on Rincon Road, seven miles south of Chino. She acquired her early education in the old school on the Rincon, known today as the Pioneer School House, and finished her education in Los Angeles. In 1892 she was married to Harry L. Field, a native of Connecticut, and descendant of Cyrus Field.
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He died in Rhode Island in 1899. By this marriage Mrs. Strong has a son, Engene L. Field, who was born in Providence, Rhode Island, May 4, 1895, was educated in Massachusetts, graduated from the high school at Corona, California, and for a time was associated with his uncle in the sugar refining industry at Rocky Ford, Colorado, and also at Oxnard, California, and is now a resident of Los Angeles. Eugene L. Field in 1916 married Miss Anna Valentine, of Rocky Ford, Colorado. They have two children, Eugene Lawrence Field, born March 11, 1918, and Gwendolyn Louise, born February 26, 1920.
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