USA > California > San Diego County > San Diego county, California; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 17
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DAVID WEBSTER.
David Webster, a venerable and respected citizen of Coronda, has here lived retired since 1903, enjoying in well earned ease the fruits of his former toil. His birth occurred at North Island, Vermont, on the 9th of April, 1829, and his edu- cation was acquired in the common schools. When a youth of thirteen he removed to Malone, Franklin county, New York, and at the age of nineteen years enlisted in the army and went to New Mexico, intending to participate in the Mexican war. Hostilities ceased, however, soon after his arrival in that state and he then entered the United States army, as a member of the Third Infantry, under command of Major Gordon. For five years he served in the Indian wars on the frontier and was a friend and neighbor of the famous trapper and guide, Kit Carson. While a resident of New Mexico he was engaged in the milling and general mercantile business. In 1853, at Fort Massachusetts, that state, he was dis- charged from the army and returned to Malone, New York, in 1869, where he embarked in the tanning and leather manufacturing business in association with his two brothers on an extensive scale, successfully conducting his interests in that connection for about four decades. In 1894 he came to California and pur- chased and located on a small ranch in National City, San Diego county, re- maining thereon for nine years. On the expiration of that period, in 1903, he
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came to Coronado and purchased the old home of the late Charles Nordoff, the noted California historian. As above stated, he has lived retired for the past nine years, spending the evening of life in the enjoyment of a rest that has been truly earned and is richly merited.
In 1873, at Malone, New York, Mr. Webster was united in marriage to Miss Helen Hutton, a native of New York, by whom he has two children, namely : David Hutton, a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard College, who is now professor in the University of Nebraska at Lincoln; and Mary Helen, a teacher by profession. Mr. and Mrs. Webster also adopted two children, Caroline Virginia Pease and Janet Anderson, who are now engaged in teaching. The family is well known and highly esteemed throughout the com- munity. Mr. Webster has now passed the eighty-third milestone on life's journey and his record has ever been such that he can look back upon the past without regret and forward to the future without fear.
ELMO RIDDELL.
A worthy son of a worthy sire, is a fitting caption to head the review of Elmo Riddell, who with his father, George N. Riddell, is successfully engaged in the real-estate business in San Diego, which he has made his home and field of operation for the past six years. Fortune has smiled on them and crowned their labors for they have found favor in the graces of the fickle goddess who bestows her gifts upon those who are worthy of her only because of whole-souled, single-minded, incessant effort. Elmo Riddell is a native of Missouri, born in De Witt, Carroll county, July 16, 1878, and is a son of George N. and Mary Riddell. The father was born in Lexington, Missouri, July 1, 1850, and when only fifteen years of age he stood up to the wheel as pilot and was the youngest pilot of the United States at that time. It is recorded on the United States inspector's report that he carried first-class licenses on more rivers than any other man in the country. He served his apprenticeship under Bob Wright, the famous pilot of olden days, remaining with him until he was twenty-one years old, and during this time he was one of the eye-witnesses of the great and san- guine battle of Lexington, which continued fiercely for three days, between General Price, of the Confederate forces, and Colonel Mulligan, of the Union army. During the Civil war he also did full duty as yeoman in the transpor- tation of wheat, cotton and hemp to the various ports. There being no rail- roads at the time, all passengers and merchandise were carried by boat, and the position of captain and pilot in those days assumed well-nigh the importance of a passenger director of a great modern railway system. For many years he plied the waters of the Missouri and Mississippi and between the ports of St. Louis and New Orleans. While acting as pilot on the river, it was his fortune to make the acquaintance of another of the same vocation with whom he became intimately acquainted and who became his friend, and this other was our own Mark Twain. An interesting incident is indelibly impressed upon the memory of Captain Riddell. At one time he had two hundred and fifty passengers aboard his vessel, who, for three days and nights, were without food, and it needed all of his
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diplomacy and geniality to keep these in good humor and make them comfortable. During the early days when buffalo were still plentiful, their hides constituted a large part of the cargo and he often carried great quantities on his boats. At various times he commanded many boats and for forty-two years he plied as cap- tain and pilot on the Father of Waters.
Elmo Riddell received his early education in his native town but went to St. Louis to round out his learning with a high-school course. At an early age in life he became interested in his father's work which naturally appealed to a boy in its romantic aspects much as it had appealed to one warm-hearted whimsical Samuel Clemens, who later became known the world over as Mark Twain for his truly typical American humor. Elmo Riddell joined his father as soon as he was old enough to stand at the wheel and remained in the river service until he came to San Diego. The advent of George N. and Elmo Riddell in this city of the golden west took place six years ago and, casting around for a profitable occupation, they decided upon the real-estate business as offering the greatest opportunity for rapid success. In the few years of their activity in this city they have succeeded in building up an extensive business through close application and today enjoy the confidence of a good clientage on account of their reputable dealings. They have acquired large experience since they have engaged in business and their knowledge of real-estate values in this city and surrounding country is broad and accurate. They also engage in the wholesale and retail oil business, supplying a large portion of the automobile trade of San Diego. Both father and son are members of the Merchants Association and the Order of Panama. The name of Riddell stands for soundness, integrity and enterprise in commercial circles of the city of San Diego and both are highly esteemed and respected for their qualities of char- acter.
CHARLES H. E. REMONDINO, M. D.
Dr. Charles H. E. Remondino, although a young man, has built up an exten- sive medical practice and enjoys a prestige and reputation remarkable for one of his years. He is a native of San Diego and was born November 30, 1883, his parents being Dr. Peter C. and Sophia Ann Remondino. He is a graduate of the Los Angeles Medical Department of the University of California, taking his degree on the 13th of June, 1905, and also took post-graduate courses at the San Francisco Polyclinic Post Graduate Medical Department of the University of California. His decided ability seems largely inherited from his father, who is one of the most prominent and able physicians in southern California and whose writings enjoy a wide circulation and high reputation among the profession on the Pacific coast. Dr. Charles H. E. Remondino specializes in diseases of the thorax, abdomen and of the blood, of which subjects he has made a special study, and in the past seven years has built up a gratifying practice in this particular line. He is often called into consultation, a fact which proves his ability in the line of his specialty, and at the present writing has under the course of prepara-
Charles Ste Flenanduno
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tion a book concerning the blood and glandular activity. He is genial and affable and retains the confidence and friendship of his patients. His success stands as proof of the saying that this is the age of the young man, and if his past attain- ments are any indication of what the future holds in store, an eminent career may be prophesied for him.
On June 4, 1912, Dr. Remondino was married to Miss Marie Catherine Hayden.
GROVER C. MUEHLEISEN.
Grover C. Muehleisen was the founder and promoter of the Muehleisen Tent & Awning Company, of San Diego, in which connection a growing and substantial business has been built up. He was born at Okawville, Illinois, August 30, 1888, a son of Adolph and Mary Muehleisen. With the removal of the family to St. Louis he became a pupil in the public schools of the city, where he pursued his studies to the age of thirteen, when the family came to San Diego. In this city he served an apprenticeship to the trade of manu- facturing tents and awnings, mastering the business in principle and detail and carefully saving his earnings until he was possessed of a sufficient sum of money to enable him to establish business on his own account. Accordingly he organized the Muehleisen Tent & Awning Company, which has since de- veloped rapidly, becoming one of the largest enterprises of this character on the Pacific coast. There is an enormous demand for products of this kind in southern California, where many people live in tents the year around, few cities showing as large a tent population as does San Diego. Mr. Muehleisen is a very energetic, alert, wide-awake and determined young man and by reason of his close application and capable management he soon built up a successful business.
About a year ago Adolph Muehleisen, an older brother, joined Grover C. Muehleisen in a partnership that still exists. He, too, is a native of Okawville, Illinois, born in August, 1881. In early life he engaged in the plumbing busi- ness and acted as one of the plumbing inspectors of San Diego for a number of years. He spent fourteen years in all in that business, five years as appren- tice, four years as journeyman plumber and five years as master plumber. He then joined Grover C. Muehleisen and is devoting his efforts toward controlling and enlarging the business of the tent and awning company which has already reached gratifying proportions.
In 1910 Grover C. Muehleisen was married to Miss Clara Rosemeyer. The older brother, Adolph Muehleisen, wedded Miss Vesta C. Gates, a normal school graduate, and unto them has been born a son, Dolph Edward, now three years of age.
The brothers are members of the Merchants Association, the Chamber of Commerce and the Industrial Association, cooperating in all movements of those organizations to advance the best interests and promote the welfare of the city. Adolph Muehleisen is a prominent Mason, belonging to San Diego Lodge, No. 35, F. & A. M., while in the Scottish Rite he has attained the thirty-second Vol. II-9
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degree. He is also a Noble of the Mystic Shrine and he belongs to the Mod- ern Woodmen camp and is an honorary member of the Master Plumbers Asso- ciation. The brothers are very energetic young men and that they have gained a most creditable and enviable position in manufacturing and industrial cir- cles of the city is indicated by the fact that they have done the awning work on all of the large office buildings and business blocks including the Marsten de- partment store. In their vocabulary there is no such word as fail. They have recognized the eternal truth that industry wins, and industry has become the beacon light of their lives. They could not be content with a mediocre place in the business world and are rapidly advancing, having already reached the point where their manufacturing interests have become an important factor in the business development of San Diego.
FRANK C. SPALDING.
Among the more recent arrivals in San Diego who have established them- selves in a substantial and creditable position among the business men of the city, is numbered Frank C. Spalding. A native of Kansas City, Missouri, he was born November 2, 1869, his parents being James F. and Jeanette Spalding. He spent his youthful days in the place of his nativity and after attending public and private schools there and pursuing his high-school course to the age of nineteen years, he went to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he entered the State University, in which he spent two years. He then returned to Kansas City and made his initial step in the business world, becoming business manager of the commercial college conducted by his father. He acted in that capacity until 1899 and then sought what he believed to be a broader field of labor by becoming secretary of the Surety Trust Company, which afterward consolidated with the Southwestern Trust Company. When the amalgamation was effected he remained as secretary of the latter company and so continued until 1908, when he sold his interest in that business. His activities constantly broadened in their scope and he became director of several banks owned by the same company. In 1908 he came to San Diego and has since been engaged in speculative building as well as in buying and selling property. A gratifying measure of prosperity has attended him here and he is today regarded as one of the strong workers for the city whose labors are proving of direct benefit in promoting San Diego's welfare and upbuilding. He is now secretary of San Diego Realty Board and is also president of the Chamber of Commerce, in both of which connections he is giving hearty support to the efforts put forth to promote the growth and insure continued prosperity for this part of the state. In addition to his other interests he is the president of the Fellows Boat Works.
Mr. Spalding was married in Kansas City to Miss Clara L. Salisbury, and they are well known socially here. Mr. Spalding is a popular and representative member of San Diego Lodge, No. 168, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and the Modern Woodmen, and he also belongs to the Cuyamaca Club, the San Diego Country Club and was commodore for 1911 and 1912 of the San
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Diego Yacht Club. He likewise belongs to the Rotary Club and to the Order of Panama and he was the first secretary of the Panama-California Inter- national Exposition in which position he continued for a year, largely furthering the interests of that project which it is thought will be one of the most potent forces in bringing the attention of the world to the natural resources of this part of the country. Nor is his interest confined to material things for he is a worker in the Young Men's Christian Association and is now serving as its treasurer. In fact his is a well balanced life in which various interests receive due attention and consideration without neglect of any of those vital and im- portant forces which enter into the life of every successful business man and progressive citizen.
HAROLD A. TAYLOR.
No man has done more to exploit the attractions of southern California or to spread a more general knowledge of the beauty of its scenery than Harold A. Taylor, artist and photographer, whose out-of-door views of California are known all over the western coast of America. He is a native of England, born in Croydon, near London, on the 24th of July, 1878, and his early education was acquired in the public schools of that community. He supplemented this by a course in Exmouth College of Devonshire, thus completing a thorough practical education.
Mr. Taylor remained in his native country until 1896, when he crossed the Atlantic to America, settling immediately in California. He took up ranching in Bakersfield, Kern county, but not long afterward entered photography as a profession, in which he has since attained such distinct and substantial success. He went first to the Yosemite valley and there opened a studio which he maintained for six years, taking pictures of the wonderful scenery and con- fining his attention to outdoor work, of which he has made a specialty. With the prestige of his artistic work there Mr. Taylor came to Coronado in 1902 and opened a studio in the Hotel Del Coronado, where he has since remained. His collection of pictures, called "Views of California and the Southwest," is known all over the United States and the beauty and artistic value of the work is widely recognized. Mr. Taylor has built up an extensive and lucrative business which is constantly increasing in volume and importance, his pictures commanding a ready sale from San Diego to British Columbia. His agents reach every retail store upon the coast, for Mr. Taylor formerly conducted all business in this way. Recently, however, he has opened a retail store of his own in San Diego, at the corner of Fifth and C streets, and has made a framing department one of the principal branches of the enterprise. He has made an exhaustive study of color photography and has developed some new and satis- factory methods which he has used in his operations with very successful re- sults. In 1911 he traveled through the high Sierra mountains and obtained some rarely beautiful color plates. Mr. Taylor's work has obtained wide recognition, for it is truly beautiful and conforms to the highest artistic stand- ards. The illustrations in Marah Ellis Ryan's story, entitled "For the Soul of
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Rafael," were made from photographs taken by him, expressly for the book, as were also those in John Vance Cheney's book of poems, entitled "At the Silver Gate."
In 1908 Mr. Taylor was united in marriage to Miss Maud Taylor, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and both are well known in social circles of Coronado. Mr. Taylor is a member of San Diego Lodge, No. 35, F. & A. M., of the Ma- sonic order. He is now at the head of a large and growing business which he conducts ably along progressive modern lines. His work has marked a distinct advance in artistic photography and has placed him in the front ranks of what is rapidly becoming a separate and important profession.
SAMUEL JAMES DAVIS.
Samuel James Davis occupies an important position in the industrial life of San Diego as the vice president and superintendent of the Sterne Brothers Company, in which position he has served since 1902. All credit is due to him, for he has worked himself up from assistant machinist to the important office which he now fills with the Sterne Brothers Company. Mr. Davis was born in St. Louis, Missouri, May 30, 1861, and is a son of Frank M. and Martha Davis. When our subject was five years old the parents removed to Kansas City, Missouri, and there he attended the public and high schools, graduating from the latter at the age of sixteen years. He then began his active career by becoming an apprenticed machinist in the Keystone Iron Works of that city and later worked as full fledged machinist for the same concern, his con- nection therewith covering a period of ten years. He subsequently became identified with the Fort Scott & Memphis Railroad as machinist and was later promoted to the position of foreman of the driving box department of that road. In this position he remained until in 1887, when he came to San Diego and became machinist in the employ of the California Southern Railroad, remaining in that connection until 1890, when he returned to Missouri and accepted a position with the Kansas City & Ohio Southern Railroad as foreman of the round- house, with headquarters at Sheffield, remaining there for three years. He then returned to San Diego to take charge of the San Diego Wire Works, efficiently filling this position for six months. At the end of that time he again retraced his steps to the east and worked in various places at his trade until 1896, when he returned to San Diego for the second time to become foreman of the Sterne Brothers Company, being later promoted to the position of super- intendent. That his services in this connection were appreciated by the firm is evidenced by the fact that in 1902 he was elected to the office of second officer of the corporation and was made vice president, retaining at the same time liis former place as superintendent of the works. The Sterne Brothers Company has greatly benefited by the methods which he has introduced in its operating department and the success of the rapidly growing establishment is in no small way due to his efforts.
Mr. Davis was married in San Diego, February 15, 1896, to Miss Rose Sterne and two children were born of this union: Mary Katharine, who is
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attending high school; and William Sterne, who is in his sixth year. Mr. Davis is a republican in his political views and although his manifold duties in connection with his business forbid active participation in public life, he ex- ercises his right of franchise and gives to public matters that consideration which is a duty of every right-thinking citizen. His religious faith is that of the Unitarian church and his fraternal associations consist of membership with the Woodmen of the World. That Mr. Davis has attained the important position in the commercial life of the city which he now holds is the best proof of the fact that he has those qualities of mind and character which make a whole man. He is liked and esteemed by high and low and is as popular with the workmen in his shop as with the leaders of commercial and public life in the city.
MRS. LUCY L. FLOWER.
Mrs. Lucy L. Flower needs no introduction to the citizens of Coronado, nor, indeed, to those of the United States, for the influence of her helpful, charitable and upright life has extended beyond local boundaries. A woman of broad edu- cation, extensive knowledge and great wisdom, she has proved herself a prom- inent factor in this community and in others where she has lived through the quiet, yet forceful, influence she exerts in behalf of public progress, through her hearty cooperation in measures for public reform and growth and through the unostentatious charity of her useful life.
Mrs. Flower was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but her early life was passed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. There she attended school and sup- plemented the usual course by a year at the Packer Collegiate Institute of Brooklyn. Afterward she taught a school at Madison, Wisconsin, until her marriage. After the great Chicago fire she and her husband settled in that city, where Mr. Flower practiced law for a number of years. Upon locating in Chicago Mrs. Flower immediately began to take an active part in work of civic improvement and reform. Any projects in the cause of charity, any move- ment which had for its object the amelioration of the hardships and the wrongs of the poor and unfortunate received her hearty cooperation. She became a member of the board of managers of the Chicago Half-Orphan Asylum and later of the Chicago Home for the Friendless, being still an honorary member of the latter organization. Her excellent judgment, which is at all times capable of grasping things which are of real importance and value, soon recognized that the welfare of the society of the future rested to a great extent in the public schools and she became active in educational work, in which she soon grew to be prominent and influential as her interests broadened. She was the third woman ever appointed on the Chicago Board of Education and for a time was the only woman associate of twenty men upon this board. She has the distinction of having been the first woman elected as trustee of the Illinois State University at Champaign, in which position she served ably and well for six years. In recognition of her work along lines of vocational education and in honor of her great and lasting accomplishments in introducing industrial
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work into the schools of Chicago, the high school of industrial arts for women was named the Lucy, L. Flower School and stands today as a memorial to her public spirit and social conscientiousness. With her educational work Mrs. Flower was also vitally interested in saving the children of Chicago from the evil effects of environment, heredity and other misfortunes and in giving them a chance for safety before they had crossed the threshold of the world. She assisted in preparing the laws under which the Chicago juvenile court is oper- ated, was on the committee that established it, and for the first two years raised the money with which to pay the probation officers in order to keep the affairs of the court out of the hands of politicians. She also helped to organize the Illinois Training School for Nurses, which began with two wards in the county hospital and which now has control of the entire establishment, and about the same time assisted in establishing a contagious disease hospital. Mrs. Flower was also associated with reforms in the management of the county poor house and the county insane asylum and, indeed, was interested in everything which aided in lessening or preventing the poverty, pain and misery of the world. -
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