USA > California > San Diego County > San Diego county, California; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 51
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H. C. Smith, the present manager, is a native of California, born in San Francisco, and is well qualified by ability and experience for his responsible position. He has made an extended and scientific study of soil and of the most economical methods of irrigation and fertilization and bases his success in fruit cultivation upon thorough and scientific efficiency. For a number of years he was connected with the Stewart Fruit Company of Fresno and in this way added practical experience to his theoretical knowledge, so that today he is the leading authority in this part of the state upon questions connected with the science of fruit growing.
A. L. KNOX.
In the summer of 1859 the clipper ship Golden Rocket, under command of Captain Pendleton, after a long journey of one hundred and sixty-five days from Maine around the Horn, dropped anchor at San Francisco. Among her pass- engers was A. L. Knox, a pioneer in San Diego county and the earliest living set- tler in El Cajon valley. For over forty years he has been one of the greatest individual forces in the gradual development of this section and has influenced progress along material, political and moral lines.
Mr. Knox was born in Berwick, Maine, December 6, 1833, and spent his childhood and early youth in that state, acquiring his education in the public schools. In 1859 he came around the Horn to California and from San Francisco pushed on to Alameda county, where he farmed for some time, later mining in Silver Mountain, Alpine county. He came to San Diego on the Ist of August, 1869, having driven a mule team from northern California, and made his settle- ment in the city before the first railroad was constructed. At that time there
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was only one store in San Diego and the city presented many of the aspects of a pioneer settlement. Mr. Knox remained there only a short time and then came to El Cajon valley and obtained employment on a ranch owned by the Sublitt- Meredith Company. He then received for his services thirty dollars per month, but his ability gained him rapid advancement and it was not long before he was promoted to the office of manager of the twenty-seven thousand acres, displaying in the discharge of his duties the energy, conscientiousness and ability upon which his success is founded. He carried on farming operations upon a large scale and in 1874 harvested from the ranch twenty-one thousand sacks of wheat, averag- ing one hundred and thirty-eight pounds to the sack. Naturally a man of Mr. Knox's ability and force of character when face to face with the many oppor- tunities which a newly opened community offers, became prominent in business and political circles. He built the Knox Hotel and a large stable in 1879 and conducted both for a number of years, during which time he was also interested in various other important enterprises. He served as deputy sheriff of San Diego county under Benjamin Hill and was later constable for a number of years, bringing to his public life an energetic and enterprising spirit and a keen sense of the responsibilities which rested upon him as a citizen and as an official.
In 1879 Mr. Knox was united in marriage to Mrs. Illa M. Birdsey, who had two children by a former marriage, Mrs. John Valentine and Dr. Fred Birdsey. Mr. and Mrs. Knox have become the parents of two children, Dr. Charles R. and Alice M. Mr. Knox is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has gained a place of prominence in that organization. Of late years he has devoted his time entirely to ranching, living upon a fine property which was once a portion of the old Lanksheim place. He is spending the evening of his days in peace and content, resting to some extent after the labors of his life, although he is still hearty and active in spirit and interests. He has lived to see the sec- tion to which he came as a pioneer grow, expand and develop along lines of prog- ress and upbuilding into one of the most wealthy and fertile parts of a great state and has to an important extent been a factor in the change. Throughout the years he has resided here he has won the warm regard and high esteem of all who have had business or social relations with him and by his upright, honorable and straightforward life has made his name honored and respected wherever it is known.
OSCAR MARSHALL.
Oscar Marshall is a cement contractor of San Diego and one of the native sons of this city. He was born July 17, 1872, of the marriage of Howard and Anna (Robinson) Marshall. The father, a native of Maryland, and a printer by trade, came to San Diego early in the '6os and thus cast in his lot with the pioneer settlers, but his death occurred a few years afterward.
Oscar Marshall was reared by his stepfather, J. P. Christianson, under whose direction he acquainted himself with the work of a cement contractor. He started in business on his own account about 1900 and in the intervening period has built many miles of sidewalks and curbs in San Diego. He also built the foun-
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dation for the Elks hall, the city reservoir, the San Diego brewery and did the cement work for the San Diego Consolidated Gas Company. He likewise laid the foundation for the Greer & Walsh building and also for the Cobb & Culver building, together with the foundations of many fine residences. He did the reinforced concrete work for the city on Seventeenth and F Streets, laid the foundation for a new wing to the County Hospital, built two concrete barns for the county and did the cement work for the Hardy slaughter house at Old Town. He has acquainted himself with every phase of cement work and has kept abreast with the progress that is continuously being made along construction lines of that character. He is a well known member of the Builders Exchange and he also holds membership in the Masonic fraternity.
Mr. Marshall was married in 1907 to Miss Maud Latta, a native of Cali- fornia, and they are well known in San Diego where Mr. Marshall has spent his entire life. The fact that many of his friends are those who have known him from his boyhood to the present is an indication that his has been an honor- able as well as an active career. There are no esoteric chapters in his life his- tory and his prosperity is the merited reward and legitimate outcome of earnest. persistent effort, intelligently directed.
LOUIS LEONHARD.
Louis Leonhard, prominent in the real-estate business in Escondido and one of the most able and successful business men in this part of San Diego county, was born at Trenton, Illinois, in 1860, and acquired his education in the public schools of that section. On April 27, 1887, he came to California and settled in San Diego, where he conducted a hay, grain and feed store on Fifth street, between I and J streets, until 1890. Later he became well known in various other lines of work and remained in San Diego until 1900. On the 14th of Feb- ruary of that year he sold out all his interests in that city and came to Escondido, where he accepted a position with the firm of Graham & Steiner. On February 15, 1903, Mr. Graham sold out his interest to his partner but Mr. Leonhard retained his connection with the concern until July 17, 1912. On that date he opened a real-estate office and since that time has handled property aggregating in value over two hundred thousand dollars. He has also options on thou- sands of acres of productive land in San Diego county besides fine tracts of residence and business property in Escondido and other growing towns. He has been rapidly carried forward into important relations with the general business life of the city and has valuable business interests aside from his opera- tions in real estate. He is one of the charter members of the First National Bank of Escondido and for a number of years has acted as secretary of the Chamber of Commerce. He is a director in the Escondido Mutual Building & Loan Association, and has been connected with this enterprise for nearly twenty years. He owns a beautiful house in Escondido and is well known in social cir- cles of the city, his upright and straightforward qualities of character having gained him wide recognition and many friends.
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In 1888 Mr. Leonhard married Miss Ina M. Hartupee, a native of Crown Point, Indiana, and a daughter of J. H. and Clara (Case) Hartupee. Her father was one of the early settlers in California, building the first house in Coronado. He is still living at the age of sixty-nine. Mr. and Mrs. Leonhard became the parents of one son, Harland L., whose birth occurred in 1902. Mr. Leonhard belongs to the Knights of Pythias and politically is affiliated with the republican party. He is an intelligent, active, able and progressive man and in the course of years has become one of the most prominent residents of Escon- dido. He is possessed of excellent business ability as an organizer, forms his plans readily and in their execution is determined, prompt and reliable. He has made good use of his time and opportunities and justly merits the success which has come to him.
F. WILSON VAN.
There is perhaps no history in this volume that illustrates more clearly the effectiveness of strong character, of determined purpose and laudable ambition than that of F. Wilson Van, who as designer and builder has erected some of the principal structures in San Diego. Step by step he has worked his way upward to a place of prominence, meeting obstacles and difficulties which do not usually fall to the lot of the average boy. He is a native of Chicago and was only two weeks old when left an orphan. It has been with him a struggle almost from infancy but nature endowed him with strong mentality and he early grasped the eternal truth that industry wins and made industry the beacon light of his life. The difficulties which he encountered seemed to serve but as an impetus for renewed effort and concentration on his part. He seems to have lost no opportunity nor neglected no advantage. One of his valuable sources of training for his chosen life work has been his travel abroad. He has visited all parts of the globe, gaining comprehensive knowledge of various lands and their peoples and the styles which predominate in the architecture of different coun- tries. He is a remarkably keen observer and his knowledge acquired has not been alone along the lines of his profession. He has studied well the lessons of life as taught in the school of experience and has come to judge correctly of those things and the people that make up life's contacts. With an early mastery of the building business he has added to his efficiency as the years have gone by and has held some important business connections. At different times he has been employed by the Guggenheims, by McGill, of Nevada, by the "Copper Queen" of Mexico, by the Denver Engineering Works of Colorado and other concerns of great extent and national importance. During the past three years he has been a resident of San Diego and the reputation which he had already won gained for him a large clientage here. As a designer and builder he has erected some of the principal buildings of the city, many of the leading structures standing as monuments to his skill and ability. While thoroughly understanding the great scientific principles of construction he has at the same time studied art forms in architecture and ever combined beauty with utility.
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In Denver, in 1909, Mr. Van was united in marriage to Miss Lena Gibson and they are well known socially in this city where each year adds to their circle of friends. Mr. Van is alert and energetic and stands as a high type of the rep- resentative business man of the west to whom opportunity means effort and success.
WILSON S. SMITH.
The future business expansion of San Diego, like that of every other city, is largely in the hands of its young men. Accordingly as they are able in man- agement, active in building up and carrying forward their interests, and progres- sive, straightforward and honorable, so will the general standards be raised and modified. Therefore San Diego should welcome to her business circles such men as Wilson S. Smith, president and manager of the Wilson S. Smith Auto- mobile Company, and one of the most forceful, able and successful young men in the city. A native of Wisconsin, Mr. Smith was born in Waupaca county, October 8, 1877, and is a son of Salkeld and Martha A. Smith. When he was still a child his parents moved to Denver, Colorado, where he attended the pub- lic schools and the manual training school, graduating from the latter institu- tion in 1898. For some time afterward he worked upon his father's farm near the city, and when he was twenty-seven years of age became active in the develop- ment of his father's mining property in the same section. After one year he went to Loveland, Colorado, where he was weighmaster for the Great Western Sugar Company, and when he resigned this office he came to San Diego, where he has resided since that time. He first worked as bookkeeper for the Kessler Machine & Supply Company and remained in that capacity until June, 1907, when in partnership with Edgar G. Davies he bought out the Hunt Automobile Company and became its president and manager. The concern offered him a splendid field for the exercise of his executive business talents, for the auto- mobile industry was then, as it is now, growing rapidly and steadily increasing in importance. Mr. Smith studied methods, conditions and the innumerable details connected with the sale of automobiles and was one of the active forces in the success of the enterprise with which he was connected. He continued his connection with it until August, 1908, and then assumed charge of the Franklin agency until 1909, when he incorporated the Wilson S. Smith Auto- mobile Company, of which he is president and manager. In three years he has made this one of the important business concerns of the city and in his manage- ment of its affairs has proven his business instincts and the practical qualities which make them effective.
In San Diego in June, 1909, Mr. Smith married Miss Isabella H. Simey, and they have one son, George Salkeld, who is two years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the Methodist church. Mr. Smith has always supported the republican party and is allied with the progressive movement. He is always ready to give his cooperation to the many movements for the general welfare which are constantly being inaugurated in the growing city of San Diego and has had his full share in the rapid expansion of the community along all lines.
WILSON S. SMITH
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He has attained a substantial position in business circles and an enviable place in social life and gives much credit for what he has achieved to the inestimable assistance of his wife in furthering her husband's interests.
S. D. CHAPIN.
S. D. Chapin, well known as a general contractor in Coronado and one of the active factors in the general business life of the city, was born in Ionia, Mich- igan, February 21, 1871. He was reared upon a farm in that section and also learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed for some time. He began his independent career as owner of a farm of eighty acres, in his native state, upon which he raised wheat, corn, oats and hay, harvesting annually abundant crops and becoming well known among progressive and representative agriculturists. He operated this farm until 1907, when he came to Coronado and established himself as a general contractor and builder, making a specialty of designing and erecting private homes. His business has expanded and developed along pro- gressive lines, his activities covering Coronado and San Diego until today Mr. Chapin employs in the various departments from twenty to twenty-five men con- tinuously. Beside three houses which he erected on his own account, he built fifteen in Coronado for F. C. Winchester, two for R. H. Luscomb, two for Arthur Dewar and homes for Mrs. Sarah Carpenter, W. T. Johnson, Miss Winifred Caine, J. R. Burge, L. Dilley and H. L. Jackson. He also erected three fine homes on Ocean Front including one for Admiral Uriel Sebree. In San Diego Mr. Chapin designed and constructed the residences of Mrs. W. J. Morgan, Mrs. Brown and Walter Davis. He was also the architect and builder of the Christian Science church in Coronado and the home of Mrs. M. G. Earle. He is energetic and determined in all of his business relations and his ability and well directed industry have brought him substantial success.
In 1894 Mr. Chapin married, in Michigan, Miss Sarah Clark Dean, a native of that state, and they have two children : Clyde D., aged seventeen ; and Ivah Janette. aged eight. Although numbered among the comparatively new arrivals, Mr. Chapin has become well established as a factor in business circles of Coronado and his executive force and business ability promise definitely further success in the future.
FRED A. HEILBRON.
Fred A. Heilbron is well known in business circles of San Diego, where he is conducting one of the largest plumbing concerns in the city. He was born in Sacramento and received his education in that city. He remained in his native section until 1889, when he came to San Diego and entered the plumbing establishment of J. S. Johnstone in order to learn the trade. He worked with his former employer until 1903 and then started in business for himself at 1446
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Fifth street and has met with the success which his training and ability com- mand. The owners of some of the finest residences in San Diego and Coronado have entrusted their plumbing equipment to him, believing that in so doing they were receiving the most expert service and the most skilled labor. Mr. Heil- bron has installed the plumbing in the beautiful new homes erected by John D. Spreckels and Harry L. Titus in Coronado and in the Detroit, the Kingston and the San Diego Hotels in San Diego. He was responsible for the plumbing and heating in the Home Telephone building and in the fine modern residences belonging to R. Clayton, E. S. Barker, P. Thompson, Milo Treat, George Marston and J. Scripps, as well as many other homes in San Diego, National City and Del Mar.
In 1902 Mr. Heilbron married Miss Charlotte Prout, a native of California and a daughter of William J. Prout, a pioneer in the development of San Diego. They have four children, Frederick A., Edward, Dorrine and Charlotte. Frater- nally Mr. Heilbron belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and holds membership with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. By virtue of the work which he has done in the twenty-three years of his residence in the city and by reason of the ability which promoted the rapid expansion of his business concern Mr. Heilbron has gained an important place in commercial and trade circles of the city. He is a member of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce and is identified with many important enterprises. His associates recognize in him a shrewd and able business man, thoroughly trained in his special line and successful because of his strict adherence to high general standards of honesty and integrity.
GEORGE SEARS.
One of the progressive, able and enterprising agriculturists of El Cajon valley, as well as one of the most extensive landowners in this part of the state, is George Sears, proprietor of a forty acre ranch near El Cajon and of fourteen hundred acres in Hillsdale and Jamul valley, besides a model dairy, which he conducts upon one hundred and sixty acres of leased land in Imperial county. The capable management of his large interests, as well as his shrewd, discrim- inating and resourceful business ability have all contributed to his steady advance- ment and to the prosperity which places him today in the front ranks of progress- ive agriculturists and substantial business men. Mr. Sears is numbered among the many worthy citizens whom Germany has given to America. He was born in the fatherland, but in his childhood crossed the Atlantic with his parents, who settled in Valparaiso, Indiana, where Mr. Sears grew to manhood. He acquired his education in the public schools and when not engaged with his books aided his father with the work of the farm, thus becoming at an early age familiar with the best methods of farm operation. He began his independent career as a conductor on the Pittsburgh & Fort Wayne Railroad, but when he resigned this position he went to Pueblo county, Colorado, and engaged in the general merchandise business. From a humble beginning he built up a large and
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profitable enterprise, securing a representative patronage by reason of his straight- forward business methods, his reasonable prices and his careful consideration for the wants of his customers. During his residence in Pueblo county he took up a government claim of desert land and after proving his title, farmed on an extensive scale, adding to his holdings from time to time until he owned two thousand acres of land, divided into four ranches. He gave his time and atten- tion to the further development and improvement of his extensive holdings in Colorado for thirty-six years, becoming well known among the enterprising agriculturists of Pueblo county.
On coming to El Cajon Mr. Sears purchased forty acres near the town, and this property he has, developed along modern and progressive lines since that time. He has other important holdings in this section, for he engages in farming on an extensive scale at Hillsdale and Jamul valley, where he operates fourteen hundred acres of fine land as a grain and cattle ranch. In addition he leases one hundred and sixty acres in Imperial county and upon this conducts a model dairy, keeping seventy-six high-grade cows for this purpose. In all of his busi- ness affairs he has proved himself enterprising and reliable and his success is well merited, for he is capable in management and displays untiring energy in carrying forward his interests. He is, however, not ambitious only for his own prosperity, but is also eager to promote the growth of the valley. ' As president of the El Cajon Valley Development Company he has been a factor in upbuilding and a force in increasing the wealth and resources of this section. The company is interested in the improvement and development of lands in El Cajon valley and recently purchased a ninety acre tract, constituting the old Chase ranch, which they have subdivided into town lots, all of which have been sold. The tract is known as Chase's addition No. I to El Cajon and has been so profitable as a business venture that other property will soon be put upon the market. Mr. Sears is president of the Cuyamaca State Bank and has other important business interests, all of which are conducted in a progressive and able manner.
In 1872 Mr. Sears was united in marriage to Miss Bertha A. Jones, and they became the parents of a son, Robert W. In 1883 Mr. Sears was again married, his second union being with Miss Sarah Jane Meredith, by whom he has four children, George M., Edna, Aubrey and Myrtle, all born in Colorado. Mr. Sears belongs to Pueblo Lodge, No. 8, I. O. O. F., and his name is an honored and respected one wherever he is known, standing as a synonym for all that is progressive and upright in business life and all that is public-spirited and unselfish in citizenship.
L. OPPENHEIMER.
L. Oppenheimer has one of the best equipped and most highly productive fruit ranches in El Cajon, where he owns twenty acres of land and is numbered among the active forces in the growth and development of the important industry in which he is engaged. He was born in Johnson county, Iowa, August 29, 1866, and acquired his education in the public and high schools of that section. He afterward took a two years' course in electrical science in the Western Normal
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School at Lincoln, Nebraska, and applied the knowledge thus gained during the twelve years he was associated with the Roaring Fork Electric Light & Power Company of Aspen and Leadville, Colorado. When he severed this connection he went to Alaska, spending two years in Dawson City and Cape Nome, after which he built his own boat and, going down the Yukon river, shot the rapids. In 1899 he left Alaska and came to San Diego on a pleasure trip, but, being much impressed with the possibilities offered to the enterprising and progressive busi- ness man, he determined to establish his residence here. In 1908 he returned to San Diego county and purchased a twenty acre fruit ranch in El Cajon, whereon he has since resided, giving his entire time to its development and culti- vation along modern and practical lines. Twelve acres are in bearing in Valencia navel oranges and upon eight acres Mr. Oppenheimer has recently set out Valencia navel oranges and grapefruit and expects to harvest abundant crops when the trees begin to bear. He has greatly improved his ranch since locating upon it, has kept everything about the place in excellent condition and has in- stalled the necessary equipment. This includes a fine electric pumping plant and all other conveniences and accessories to be found upon a model California fruit ranch. Mr. Oppenheimer gathers more abundant harvests every year, for by scientific methods he has greatly improved the bearing quality of his orchards and today he stands among the men of El Cajon who have already accomplished a definite success in fruit raising and whose prosperity is continually increasing owing to straightforward business methods and honorable dealings.
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