USA > California > San Diego County > San Diego county, California; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 27
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Mr. Moore was married in 1910 to Miss Edna Mathews. He is public- spirited and takes an interest in all matters pertaining to the welfare and growth of the city in which he makes his home, giving his support to the republican party, the principles of which he warmly defends. His fraternal relations extend to the Masons and the Knights of Pythias and he is valued in both of these organizations as an active and forceful character. Although Mr. Moore's residence in San Diego lias been of short duration he fills an important place in the life of the community in his connection with the powerful association which he represents and his services have found due recognition in his continuance in the important office which he holds in connection therewith.
J. FRANK OVER.
One of the most prominent and active men in business circles of San Diego is J. Frank Over, formerly of the firm of Over & Nagle, cement and grading contractors, and to his prominence and ability in his chosen line the city owes many of its miles of beautiful and well paved streets. its fine curbings and walks and the cement work upon its most important public and business build- ings. He was born in Sterling, Illinois, in 1861 and was reared and educated in that city. When he was seventeen years of age he went to Omaha and there learned cement making under John Grant, one of the pioneer men in that line of business in the city, who is still active and well known. In 1889 Mr. Over came to San Diego as foreman for the Pacific Paving Company of San Fran- cisco. This concern had the contract to pave Sixth street in San Diego and under Mr. Over's management the work was brought to successful comple- tion.' He remained in the city after it was accomplished and secured employ- ment with the Excelsior Paving Company, which was at that time putting in sidewalks and curbings on Fourth street, from A to Ivy streets. After the completion of this work he determined to go into business for himself and in partnership with Charles Nagle established the firm of Over & Nagle.
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They do a general cement and paving contracting business and have laid more sidewalks and curbs in San Diego than any firm in a similar line of work. Mr. Over has also been connected with the work of laying the curbings in Coronado from the ferry to the hotel at the point and he did other important paving work in the city. In San Diego he laid the foundations for the Granger block, the Home Telephone Company, the Pickwick Theater, the annex to the Brewster Hotel and all of the buildings in the business block owned by the old Chadburn Furniture Company. He has also been connected with the building of many of the finest residences in San Diego and a great deal of work along lines of municipal improvement. He built as a speculation the rock crusher and bins, at Fourteenth street and National avenue, and owned and operated it for some time, and while in this business furnished the materials for the American National Bank building, the Grand Hotel garage, the County Hall of Records, the Knights of Pythias building, the Conard block, the B Street underground flume, the paving of Fifth street, H street, Sixteenth street, Logan avenue, National avenue, Arctic street and others. No man can be drawn into such extensive business relations without possessing the rare qualifications for busi- ness success and in the twenty-three years of his residence in San Diego Mr. Over has furnished abundant and tangible proof of his capability.
In 1894 Mr. Over married Miss Gertrude Ells, a native of Iowa, and they have one son, Franklin A. Mr. Over belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World. At one time he was extensively interested in ranching and owned one hundred and sixty acres at Escondido, where he raised large crops of grain and small fruits. He has, however, aban- doned this branch of his activities and gives his entire time and attention to the promotion and development of his business enterprises. As one of the successful and prominent men in San Diego he is well known in the city and throughout the county. His life record shows what may be accomplished by a determined spirit and unfaltering enterprise. He has carefully noted and utilized his opportunities, making each moment count, and his example of unremitting industry and perseverance as a supplement to his ability is one well worthy of emulation.
GEORGE PUTERBAUGH.
The activities of George Puterbaugh have been so varied that it would be difficult to determine upon what particular line his efforts have been of greatest value to his fellow townsmen and to society at large. For many years he prac- ticed law in Illinois as the partner of Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll and in his young manhood he was a soldier of the Civil war. He has at different times been the incumbent in important public offices, the promoter of important busi- ness concerns and a valued representative of various fraternal and social organizations. His life record had its beginning at Mackinaw, Illinois, his natal day being August 6, 1842. His parents, Jacob and Hannah (Hittle) Puterbaugh, were ambitious that their son should have good educational oppor- tunities, and he was sent to Yellow Springs, Ohio, where he attended Antioch
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College until the death of Horace Mann. He was afterward a student in Illi- nois College at Jacksonville, Illinois, until the outbreak of the Civil war in April, 1861, when he put aside his text-books and offered his services to the government. He was at home during the spring vacation of that year when the president issued his call for troops, Mr. Puterbaugh enlisting as a private. He was soon promoted, however, to the rank of first corporal of Company F. Eighth Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel Rich- ard J. Oglesby, who afterward became major general, later governor of Illinois and subsequently United States senator. The enlistment was for three months under President Lincoln's first call, Mr. Puterbaugh's term expiring July 25, 1861. He reenlisted for three years but, becoming ill with quinsy sore throat, followed by typhoid fever, he was refused muster. He then returned home and later enlisted in Company E, Forty-seventh Illinois Infantry, being mustered in as first lieutenant August 16, 1861. On the 12th of September, 1862, he became captain of that company and so served until the regiment was mus- tered out October 11, 1864, by reason of the expiration of his term of service, his three years' term having ended on the 16th of August previous. Early in 1862 tlie Forty-seventh Illinois, the Eleventh Missouri, the Eighth Wisconsin and the Fifth Minnesota Infantry Volunteer Regiments were brigaded together and so remained throughout the entire war, becoming known as the "Eagle Brigade" owing to the fact that they carried an eagle known as Old Abe, belong- ing to the Eighth Wisconsin. Mr. Puterbaugh's command participated in thirty-three battles besides many skirmishes in which losses occurred many times greater than were sustained in several of the historic battles of the Revolutionary war and also greater than in many of the battles of the more recent wars of the country. His brigade was in all of the important engage- ments of the Army of the Tennessee to the time of the famous Red river expe- dition, in which they participated under the command of Major General Joseph A. Mower and Major General A. J. Smith, who commanded all that part of the Army of the Tennessee which was detached from the immediate command of General W. T. Sherman for the Red river expedition. That expedition under General Banks lasted longer than was expected and therefore the brigade to which Captain Puterbaugh belonged was unable to join General Sherman on his march to the sea. During the three years of his enlistment the regiment traveled by rail forty-three hundred and eighty miles, by water, forty-eight hundred miles and on foot fifty-one hundred and seventy-five miles, making in all a total of fourteen thousand, three hundred and fifty-five miles. Upon being mustered out Major A. J. Smith in general orders said to the brigade: "You have never experienced defeat nor repulse." This is absolutely true for not even in skirmishes were the men ever driven from the field. In 1866 when the regular army was increased Captain Puterbaugh was twice tendered a captaincy in the regular army but after careful consideration declined to accept.
At the close of the war Captain Puterbaugh took up the study of law with the firm of Ingersoll & Puterbaugh, and was admitted to the bar by the supreme court of Illinois in January, 1866. In 1873 he became a partner of Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll and the association under the name of Ingersoll & Puterbaugh con- tinued for many years. Soon after his admission to the bar Mr. Puterbaugli was elected city attorney of Peoria, Illinois, and upon the expiration of his
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term of office in 1868 was elected state's attorney for the district composed of Peoria and Stark counties for the term of four years, expiring January 1, 1873. Having contracted throat trouble in the army the rigorous climate of Illinois caused this trouble to continuously increase and in March, 1881, he went to Colorado, seeking relief. Under medical advice he located at Breckenridge, Summit county, which town, owing to mining excitements, soon sprung up from a small mining camp into a city of several thousand inhabitants. This necessitated city organization and Captain Puterbaugh was elected the first mayor of Breckenridge, which office he held for two terms. In 1884 he deter- mined to move to California, hoping to find still greater relief from his throat trouble. He traveled over the state for many months and in the spring of 1885 was recommended to try San Diego. Here for the first time since the war had closed he spent a year without a recurrence of his ailment. He therefore continued to reside here and in all these years has only four times suffered from his old trouble, and these attacks were comparatively light. He entered upon the practice of law in this city under the firm style of Puterbaugh, Leovy & Humes, so continuing until February, 1889, when he accepted an appointment from Governor Watterman as judge of the superior court. Two years later he was elected for another term of six years and thus sat upon the bench for eight years, his record being distinguished by a masterful grasp of every problem presented for solution. With his retirement from the position of superior court judge he resumed the private practice of law and in 1907 was elected city attorney of San Diego for a two years' term. In July, 1909, he was appointed city justice and in the fall of 1910 was elected to that office for a term of four years, being still the incumbent. He has had business interests in connection with the U. S. Grant Hotel Company of which he was the first president and of which he is now vice president.
Judge Puterbaugh was married September 13, 1866, to Carrie Troyer James, who died in March, 1870. On the Ist of October, 1874, he wedded Catherine Hall Wagoner, who passed away in July, 1905. He was married to his present wife, Amy C. Wood, August 25, 1909. She was in her maidenhood Amy C. Young, a daughter of Captain J. F. Young, a great-grandson of Betsy Ross, who made the first American flag. Judge Puterbaugh's children are: Maude Troyer, now the wife of John H. Koch, of New York city; and Johnson Wag- oner, an attorney at law of San Diego.
WILLIAM BLACK.
No man is more familiar with the pioneer history or early conditions of living in San Diego county than William Black, who has the distinction of being the oldest living settler in Otay valley, building the third house in Otay in 1869. He has witnessed the development and progress which has taken place in this section during the years, has seen cities grow and ranch lands develop and to a great extent has been identified with the change. He was one of the earliest fruit growers in this section of the state and has lived to see an industry in which he was a pioneer become one of the important sources of wealth of a
WILLIAM BLACK
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great and prosperous section of California. He was born in Webster, Worces- ter county, Massachusetts, December 8, 1830, and when he was eight years of age moved with the family to Cambridge, Vermont, where he resided until he was seventeen, acquiring his education in the public schools. When he laid aside his books he returned to Massachusetts and worked upon a farm until he came to California, making the journey by way of the Isthmus of Panama and landing in San Francisco on the 10th of May, 1852. He was thus one of the earliest pioneers in California and in the first days of his residence here encountered many of the hardships and privations of frontier life. For some time he mined in Tuolumne and Mariposa counties and for five years worked on a farm near Stockton, in San Joaquin county. Leaving California he went to British Columbia but after one year returned and worked at the lumber business in the red woods of Mendocino county. In March, 1869, he came to Otay, built the third house in the town and has since continued to reside here. He purchased a one hundred and sixty acre ranch which he planted in decidu- ous fruits and for fourteen years operated the enterprise, his efforts being powerful factors in the development of the fruit-growing industry. Eventually, however, he sold his ranch and retired from active life, having won rest and ease by long years of earnest, steadfast and faithful work. During the forty- three years of his residence here his upright, useful and straightforward life and his high integrity and force of character have gained him widespread con- fidence, respect and esteem and he today heads the list of honored pioneers in the Otay valley.
EUGENE FERRY SMITH.
Eugene Ferry Smith, mining engineer and lawyer, was born in Encinitas, San Diego county, California, March II, 1887, and since being admitted to the bar, January 15, 1912, has been engaged in the practice of law. His parents are Sam Ferry and Hannah (Hammond) Smith. While spending his boyhood days under the parental roof he attended the public and high schools of San Diego and was graduated from the latter in February, 1904. He then attended the University of California, taking up mining engineering, and became a graduate of this department in December, 1909. Immediately thereafter he went to Heroult, Shasta county, California, and found employment with the Noble Elec- tric Steel Company, remaining with this firm in various capacities for one year and resigning his position to engage as draftsman in the department of civil engineering of the University of California, continuing in that employment for four months. Subsequently he was for six months with the United States for- estry service at Berkeley, California, in the timber testing department. In Feb- ruary, 19II, he returned to San Diego and engaged in the study of law under his father. He was admitted to the bar of the state of California on January 15, 1912, and to practice in the United States federal courts in March of the same year.
In politics he is a republican and takes a laudable interest in his party's well- being. He has given time and attention to athletics, and indications of his love Vol. II-14
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for outdoor life are manifest by his memberships in the Country Club, the San Diego Rowing Club and the Barbarian Athletic Club of San Francisco. Since his university days he has been a member of the Big C Society of the University of California, which is composed of men who have made their 'varsity letter. He has deeply interested himself also in archæological subjects and has the honor of serving on the board of directors of the Archaeological Society of San Diego, which is quite a distinction for one so young. He also is a member of the Order of Panama. He keeps in touch with members of his profession through the medium of the San Diego County Bar Association. Under the able guidance of his distinguished father, Eugene Ferry Smith promises to occupy soon an important position among the lawyers of the city, and if his accomplishments are any indication of attainments the future may hold in store for him, he will soon be numbered among the foremost lawyers of the city.
SIMON LEVI.
Simon Levi, of the Simon Levi Company, wholesale grocers, is regarded as one of the most able and far-sighted business men in southern California, a dis- tinction which he has gained by steady and persistent work against adverse con- ditions. He was born in Austria, on the 26th of December, 1850, and when he was twelve years of age came to America, arriving in San Francisco in March, 1863. In 1873 he came to Temecula and went into the general merchandise business there until 1876, when he became a partner in the firm of Steiner & Klauber of San Diego. In January, 1883, Mr. Klauber and Mr. Levi purchased Mr. Steiner's interest and the latter retired from business. He continued in this connection until 1896, when the Simon Levi Company was formed, since which time he has served as its president and executive head.
Mr. Levi's career has been a remarkably successful one, but his prosperity is not by any means the result of fortunate circumstances but is entirely due to his own perseverance and business ability. Coming to America at an early age, he was thrown upon his own resources and, moreover, was handicapped in the struggle by his ignorance of American customs and of the English lan- guage.
It was not until he had located in San Francisco and his financial resources had to some degree increased that he was able to set aside a small portion of his time to the improvement of his mind. He then devoted all of his spare moments to study, attending evening schools and availing himself of every means in his power to compensate for his lack of early advantages. Through wide and well selected reading, constant study, observation and experience he broad- ened his knowledge until he is now considered one of the best informed men in San Diego county. He has extensive business interests in San Diego and Los Angeles, where his influence has for many years been felt as a force in commer- cial expansion. His grocery and produce enterprise is conducted under the name of the Simon Levi Company and the concern handles the largest volume of busi- ness along these lines done on the Pacific coast. He has been active in the pro- motion of various projects that have had an influence in the upbuilding of the
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city, aside from his more strictly personal business interests. He served as vice president of the old San Diego Gas Company, as vice president of the San Diego Telephone Company and president of the San Diego Building & Loan Association, when these enterprises were first established in San Diego, and at one time was president of the Chamber of Commerce. He was one of the early promoters of the California-Panama Exposition and was one of its directors. For eleven years he was a member of the city council and in this connection exercised his official prerogatives in support of various progressive public measures, the beneficial effect of which has been demonstrated. His cooperation can at all times be counted upon when a work of public progress is undertaken, but at the same time he carefully conducts private business affairs or cooperates in the successful conduct of corporations. He is now a director of the First National Bank, vice president of the San Diego Grain & Milling Company, vice president of the Masonic Temple Association, and treasurer of the Cuyamaca Club, in addition to being president of the Simon Levi Company of Los Angeles and San Diego. Moreover, he was for twenty years a director of the Santa Fe Railroad Company. He belongs to that class of enterprising and reliable business men upon whom the stable prosperity and substantial growth of the community depends and he utilizes every opportunity which his ability commands not only to advance his own interests but also to promote the general welfare.
In 1876 Mr. Levi married, in San Francisco, Miss Ermance Meyer, and to their union have been born three children: Sara, the wife of J. B. Jacobs, of Los Angeles; Alice, the wife of Eugene Willard, of Los Angeles; and Bernard, who is associated with the Simon Levi Company, of San Diego and is its vice president. Mr. Levi is a past master of San Diego Lodge No. 35, F. & A. M., and has other important fraternal affiliations. It has not been along business lines alone that he has done such splendid work for San Diego and southern Califor- nia. No public movement which has for its object further civic development along material, educational or moral lines seeks in vain his cooperation and active support and he is always a leader in any work of municipal expansion. He stands for progress at all times, seeking his own success and the city's advancement along lines which will bear the closest investigation and scrutiny.
RUTHERFORD B. IRONES, M. D.
Extensive college training, clinical study and investigation in the hospitals in foreign lands have made Dr. Rutherford B. Irones particularly well qualified for the duties of a profession which many regard as the most important to which man can turn his attention. His wide learning and his native ability have placed him in the front rank among the practitioners of San Diego. California num- bers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred in Oakland, March 4, 1877. His father, John H. Irones, came to this state by way of the Panama route in 1847 and following the discovery of gold he went to the mines in Tuo- lumne county in 1849 and afterward was connected with the famous Comstock mine. He died in Oakland in 1878. His son, Dr. Irones, was liberally educated
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and is a graduate of the University of California. He also attended the Vander- bilt clinics at the Roosevelt Hospital in New York city and was assistant to the chair of orthopedics there. On his return to San Francisco in 1900 he was appointed to the United States marine hospital service by Dr. Kenyon and ren- dered valiant and valuable aid during the bubonic plague in that city. Subse- quently he went to La Boca, South America, where he made a study of yellow fever during a year spent in that country. He afterward spent five years in the Orient, visiting all of the hospitals in the principal cities and thus becoming conversant with the advanced methods of the leading practitioners of other lands. In 1907 he opened an office in San Diego and has since practiced his profession here. He has a large private practice and at the same time is on the advisory board of St. Joseph's Hospital.
In January, 1906, Dr. Irones was married to Miss Georgie E. Dow, a native of Maine and a daughter of George Dow, one of the early settlers of San Diego. Dr. Irones holds membership with the Elks and with the Knights of Pythias and has social qualities which render him popular with a large circle of friends. His professional membership relations are with the County Medical Society, the State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He is patient under adverse criticism, is deeply interested in all that tends to bring to man the key to the complex mystery which we call life and is continually making progress in a profession in which advancement can only be attained by individ- ual effort and ability.
EDWARD L. RAMBO.
For twenty-five years Edward L. Rambo has been a resident of San Diego and since the beginning of his active career has been prominently identified with business interests of the city, being today one of the leading and representa- tive contractors and builders. He is a native of Iowa, born in Davenport, on the 15th of June, 1869, and a son of Alonzo and Nancy A. Rambo.
Edward L. Rambo acquired his education in the public schools of his native city and at the age of eighteen came west to San Diego, where he received a thorough and practical training as a builder. This occupation he has followed since the beginning of his career and for the past ten years has been in business for himself. He has secured a representative patronage, connecting him with a great deal of the important construction work done in the city, and his business is steadily increasing in volume and importance. He has erected many of the finest office buildings and residences in San Diego and is at present engaged in the construction of the Milo C. Treat home, which upon its completion will be one of the most artistic and attractive in the city. Mr. Rambo stands high in the respect of his business associates, as is indicated by the fact that he is president of the San Diego Builders Exchange.
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