USA > California > San Diego County > San Diego county, California; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 7
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In fraternal circles Mr. Schoonover is well known and popular, being a thirty-second degree Mason and a Knight Templar. He is a past exalted ruler
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of San Diego Lodge 168, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and holds mem- bership in the Knights of Pythias. He is an active member of the Cuyamaca Club. His allegiance is given to the democratic party and he has always been an active worker in its interests. In the nine years he has been in San Diego he has become recognized as a strong and able practitioner, a man of broad and comprehensive knowledge with a statesman's grasp of affairs, who keeps in touch with the onward progress of thought and action in everything relating to his profession and the public advancement and growth.
W. W. NORTON.
There has been no greater development in any line of organized business than in the handling and sale of real estate. He who successfully operates in that field not only acquaints himself thoroughly with property values but also care- fully systematizes his interests and almost with the precision of a military com- mander directs his forces, keeping always in view his object, whether it be the development of fine residence property or the handling of business blocks. With the rapid settlement and growth of the southwest the real-estate man has indeed become a factor in business circles, and in this connection W. W. Norton is widely known. He was born in London, Ontario, Canada, March 8, 1879, but during his infancy the family removed to Detroit, Michigan, and afterward to South Bend, Indiana, where he obtained his education as a public-school student. He later attended De Pauw University at Greencastle, Indiana, and afterward went upon the road in business connections. Subsequently he settled in Chicago where he turned his attention to the real-estate business and as a member of the Hastings-Norton Investment Company developed twelve subdivisions in and near that city. Later he took up real estate, operating under his own name in St. Paul, Minnesota, maintaining offices in both cities. In 1907 he came to Cali- fornia and has since engaged in many large real-estate dealings in connection with his brother F. L. Norton. Their efforts have been of a character that has con- tributed to the general progress and prosperity as well as to individual success. They subdivided and put on the market a plat of land in Redlands, California, and three in San Bernardino. They also opened an office in Los Angeles and developed Lookout Mountain Park. Coming to San Diego in 1908 they sub- divided Bungalow Park into seven hundred and sixty-three lots which were soon sold, after which they handled the Bay Ocean View tract. They next purchased twelve hundred and eighty acres near Sweet Water Dam, naming the district Nortonia. They also put on the market, the Pasadena Park tract in National City, comprising forty acres. In January, 1912, Mr. Norton purchased his brother's interests and has since conducted the business independently. He has developed the Nordica Heights tract of eleven acres, which was sold entirely in two days. He later bought the adjoining forty-two acres which had been in the possession of the old Gates family for a half century, and subdivided that property, calling it Nordica Heights, No. 2. This was divided into three hun- dred and forty lots, and greatly improved, adding much to its natural beauty by the manner in which it was laid out and the improvements that were added. A fine marine view was obtained from this tract, which became one of the show
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W. W. NORTON
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places of the city. Logan Park, which was developed and sold in 1912, has the distinction of having been sold under contracts forever prohibiting the sale of liquor in the district.
Mr. Norton is still actively engaged in the subdivision and development of San Diego properties and it would be difficult to find one who has done more to ex- tend and beautify the city in the real-estate field than he. In connection with his brother he is the owner of the Victoria Park addition to Riverside. During the partnership relations the brothers first operated under the name of W. W. Norton & Company and later conducted their business under the name of the Norton Land Company.
W. W. Norton is a member of the San Diego Realty Board, also the Chamber of Commerce and the Order of Panama. Something of the nature of his recrea- tion is indicated by the fact that he belongs to the San Diego Yacht Club, being the owner of the yacht "White Cap." He is also a charter member of the San Diego Athletic Club. In all of his business affairs he has displayed keen insight in complex situations and sound judgment in the solution of difficult business problems. His ambition to attain success has been evenly balanced by a desire to improve and add to the beauty of the city in which he has operated, and San Diego acknowledges her indebtedness to him for the value and worth of his operations in the real-estate field.
CHARLES L. WILLIAMS.
Charles L. Williams, cashier and a director of the American National Bank of San Diego, who has been an active factor in various business and political interests in the city, was born in Carrollton, Illinois, April 4, 1869, and is a son of John and Rose Williams. The father was born also in Carrollton, his natal day being January 8, 1825. His education was acquired in the public schools and after its completion he became identified with the general merchandise business, in which he grew prominent and important. He was active in the business life of Carrollton until the time of his death, in 1908.
Until he was fourteen years of age Charles L. Williams attended the public schools of his native city and after laying aside his books learned the printer's trade, at which he worked until 1887. In that year he came to San Diego and was engaged as janitor for the Bank of Commerce in this city. There is no more forceful illustration of the compelling power of energetic ability than is found in the story of his rapid rise. Through successive stages of advancement and progress he worked his way upward to the position of cashier and served ably in that capacity until May, 1904, when he resigned in order to accept the position of city treasurer, to which he was elected. After four months, how- ever, he resigned this position also and accepted that of cashier of the American National Bank, with which he has been connected in this capacity and as a direc- tor since that time. For many years this bank has maintained a foremost place among the strong and reliable financial institutions of this part of the state, and its continued progress is attributable in no small degree to Mr. Williams, who is recognized as one of the most efficient men in banking circles of the county. He is successful because his training has been exhaustive and has Vol. II-4
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included almost every branch of present-day banking and because he possesses keen discernment and sound business judgment and an executive force and enterprise which are indispensable factors in modern finance.
He is prominent in fraternal circles, being a thirty-second degree Mason and a Knight Templar and holding membership also in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is a republi- can in his political beliefs but not active as an office seeker, preferring to devote his whole time to his banking interests. He is widely respected for his genuine business ability and worth. Starting out in life in a humble position with little means save his strong determination and his laudable ambition to achieve suc- cess, he has worked his way upward to a position of prominence and importance. Judged by actual attainment or by the distance he has traveled to prosperity his life may be termed successful, for he is one of the able financiers and repre- sentative business men of San Diego.
JOHN SUTHERLAND AKERMAN.
The activities of John Sutherland Akerman have had direct and important bearing upon the welfare, progress and upbuilding of San Diego not only in business connections but also along other lines. In all that he does he is actuated by a spirit of enterprise and no obstacles seem great enough to bar for him the path of progress for his energy overcomes all difficulties in the way. He was born in London, England, May 16, 1860, his parents being John Thomas and Ellen (Stephen) Akerman. Both the father and the grandfather as well as the great-grandfather were among the flourishing and prosperous merchants of London and the business which was there established by the family and conducted by representatives of the name in succeeding generations is still carried on. The mother was also a daughter of a London merchant.
John Sutherland Akerman was liberally educated, pursuing his studies in Lon- don until graduated from Homerton College. He has a diploma from the South Kensington School of Art and one from the Finsbury Technological College. He made his initial step in the business world as a clerk in a stock broker's office in London. The recognition of his business ability, his unfaltering enterprise and his executive force led to his appointment to the position of manager for Stephen & Son, of London, in which capacity he remained from 1882 until 1888. In the latter year he came with his brother to the new world and made his way to San Diego, where he has since resided. His business connections have constantly broadened in their scope and importance, and his efforts have constituted a valuable element in business activity here. He is now secretary of the Pacific Wood & Coal Company, of the Garrettson Investment Company, of the Rose Cannon Brick Company and the San Diego Cycle & Arms Company. The first mentioned enterprise was established in a small way in 1889 but grad- tally its interests have been developed and its trade expanded until its annual sales now amount to three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The success of this undertaking is largely attributable to the energy, executive force and keen discrimination of Mr. Akerman, who moreover is notably prompt and reliable in all of his business transactions.
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In 1899 Mr. Akerman was united in marriage to Miss Bessie Lewis, a daughter of E. B. Lewis, of Muscatine, Iowa, and a sister of Mrs. George G. Garrettson, of San Diego. Her father was a veteran of the Civil war and a representative of one of the old families of Pennsylvania. The children of this marriage are Lewis Sutherland and Elizabeth. The family is prominent socially, having an extensive circle of friends whereby they have the entree to the best homes of San Diego.
Mr. Akerman has been connected with all interests and projects of public importance and worth, inaugurated during the period of his residence here. He has been an active and influential member of the Chamber of Commerce, serving at different times as its treasurer, its vice president and its president. He has likewise been treasurer, vice president and one of the directors of the Young Men's Christian Association and that he is interested in the cause of education is indicated by his service as a trustee of the State Normal School. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and his fraternal rela- tions are with the Masons and the Elks. Along more strictly social and recrea- tive lines he is connected with the San Diego Rowing Club, of which he was president from 1901 until 1908; the San Diego Country Club, of which he was at one time a director; and the Cuyamaca Club. That his interests extend also to the moral progress of the community is evidenced by his membership in Christ's Episcopal church of Coronado, in which he is now serving as vestry- man, and at former periods he was also a vestryman of St. Paul's church and the All Saints church of San Diego. The spirit of undaunted enterprise which is working a rapid and substantial transformation in southern California finds expression in all of the varied connections of his life, making him an important cooperant factor in all that contributes to material, intellectual, social, political and moral progress here.
J. L. PENFOLD.
J. L. Penfold is not only one of the most deservedly successful fruit growers in Chula Vista but also one of the active, public-spirited and progressive men of the city. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, January 23, 1885, and is a son of Henry J. and Ella F. (Butts) Penfold, natives of New York state. The father of our subject went to Omaha in the early days and there established a wholesale drug and surgical instrument business under the name of the H. J. Penfold Company, which has since become one of the largest wholesale enterprises in the city and which is still operated by its founder.
J. L. Penfold received his education in the public schools of Omaha and was graduated from the Omaha high school. Immmediately after laying aside his books he entered his father's employ, where his natural business ability gained him rapid promotion. He began in a minor capacity and learned the business in all its details, resigning as vice president of the company. On February I, 19II, he came west to California and settled in Chula Vista, where he bought a five acre lemon ranch from Dale Smith, which he operates as a general fruit farm. Mr. Penfold picked eleven crops of lemons in 1911 and the entire pro-
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duction amounted to forty thousand pounds of this fruit. Besides lemons he grows upon his property figs, olives, grape fruit, apricots, loquats, guavas, peaches, pears, apples and oranges and he has already picked profitable crops of all these fruits.
In 1902 Mr. Penfold married Miss Emma M. Arnont, a native of Omaha, and they have three daughters, Katherine, Helen and Dorothy. Mr. Penfold came to Chula Vista just before the incorporation of the city in 1911 and was active in the work of incorporation. He is a charter member of the Civic Improvement Club and in many other ways loyally supports movements for further municipal growth and advancement. Success has come to him rapidly while he is still a young man, but it is merely the reward of his energy and ambitious work. There is no reason to believe that his future advancement will be slower than his past progress and he is, therefore, on the road to well deserved prominence and prosperity.
EDWARD G. HAMILTON.
Edward G. Hamilton is a native of California and the son of a pioneer of '49. He has extensive business interests in National City and during the twenty-four years of his residence here has been a factor in the promotion of general activity and growth. His influence has been felt in local politics and in movements of a more or less public nature and his ability and force of character have steadily carried him forward to prominence and prosperity. He was born in Sacramento, March 9, 1865, and is a son of Edgar R. and Mary J. (Neville) Hamilton. The father of our subject crossed the plains to California in 1849 and mined at Placerville for a number of years. He later went to Sacramento and established himself in the hardware business and gradually became prominent in many other lines of activity. In 1876 he organized the Sacramento Bank and was its cashier until the time of his death, in 1904. He had long survived his wife, who passed away in 1867. The children born to their union who are still living are: Mrs. C. K. Halliday, Jr., of Topeka, Kansas; and Edward G., of this review.
Edward G. Hamilton was graduated from the public schools of Sacramento and for two years afterward attended a military academy at Oakland. When he laid aside his books he entered the employ of the hardware firm of Holbrook, Merrill & Stetson of San Francisco and after some time went to Los Angeles, where for two years he was associated with W. T. Hooker, a manufacturer of irrigating pipes. Soon afterward he became connected with Lacy Brothers in the same line of business and in 1887 came to San Diego in their interests. One year later he moved to National City, still retaining his identification with this concern, with which he did not sever his connection until 1893. In that year he entered the employ of the San Diego Land & Town Company of National City as water clerk and has since been active in their interests. By virtue of the nature of his interests and activities he has been one of the contributing factors in the expansion and development of San Diego and National City, for he has not only the faculty of making use of opportunities but also possesses the shrewd ability which commands them. He has other important business interests in
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National City, among which may be mentioned the National City State Bank, of which he was one of the organizers and is now vice president.
In 1890 Mr. Hamilton married Miss Mattie D. James, a native of Illinois, and they have one daughter, Lela J. Mr. Hamilton has been active and prominent in local republican politics for a number of years and in 1910 was elected trustee of National City and is still serving, discharging his duties ably, conscientiously and always with a view to the general benefit and welfare.
GEORGE H. BALLOU.
Among the men who formerly were closely connected with the business interests of San Diego but who are now living retired is George H. Ballou, until 1911 a member of the firm of the G. H. Ballou Company, wholesale dealers in tea, coffee and spices. This business Mr. Ballou established twenty- three years ago and by his ability in its development and the high standards which he advocated he influenced not only his individual success but also the expansion of general business activities in the city. Mr. Ballou was born in Providence, Rhode Island, October 8, 1849, and is a son of Henry S. and Deborah Ann Ballou.
George H. Ballou received his education in the public and high schools of his native city, leaving the latter in 1861. Immediately afterward he went to Lockport, New York, where he clerked in a drug store until 1864. In the following year he gave his services to the Federal government as sergeant of Company E, Engineer Corps, and was later transferred to Company B. He served until 1867, in which year he was mustered out with honorable discharge and he went to New York city, where he established himself in the mercantile agency business, continuing in it for one year. At the end of that time he returned to Lockport and there became connected with the tea, coffee and spice business in partnership with his father. Their association continued until 1870, when the business was sold and Mr. Ballou became traveling salesman for the Lantz Brothers Company, soap manufacturers of Buffalo, New York. In this position he remained until 1875 and then went to Rochester, New York, where he again formed a partnership with his father in the conduct of a retail tea, coffee and spice enterprise. In 1883 he sold out his interests and came west, settling in Fresno county, California, and here he and his brother bought land, upon which they raised grain for two years. When they disposed of this enter- prise Mr. Ballou became associated with C. P. Low & Company, tea exporters, and was sent to Japan as their representative. Later he worked in their interests in the United States and Canada until 1888 and was then given New York terri- tory. In the latter state he remained until January of the following year, when he resigned and came to San Diego in order to establish himself in business independently. He knew everything connected with the importing, exporting, sale and purchase of teas, coffee and spices, for he had studied these questions thoroughly in former years. Therefore, when he established the G. H. Ballou Company for the wholesale dealing in these commodities his success was rapid and inevitable. He built up one of the largest concerns of this kind in San
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Diego and gave a great deal of his attention to its development and improvement until June, 1911, when he disposed of his interests and retired from active life.
Mr. Ballou married, in Lockport, New York, on the 4th of August, 1868, Miss Harriett A. Whitcher, and they have one daughter, Mrs. Lyman J. Gage, of San Diego. Mr. Ballou gives his allegiance to the republican party and takes an intelligent interest in the affairs of his community, although he is never active in politics. He belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is well known in the Masonic order, holding membership in the lodge, chap- ter, commandery, all of the Scottish Rite bodies and the Mystic Shrine. Socially he belongs to the Cuyamaca Club, the San Diego Rowing Club of San Diego, and Union League Club of San Francisco.
Necessarily a man of Mr. Ballou's ability and resourceful energy was carried forward into important relations with the general business interests of the city. Gradually as his prosperity increased he extended his connections until he became a man of large affairs. He invested a great deal in land and now owns a fine ranch in Imperial valley. He also was one of the first directors in the Mer- chants National Bank of San Diego. From 1900 to 1901 he was president of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce and his work in this office was marked by a keen insight into business conditions and an executive ability of a high order. With him retirement has not meant a slackening of his interest in the business affairs of the city or a lessening of the effective power of his public spirit.
ALBERT L. DERBYSHIRE, M. D.
Dr. Albert L. Derbyshire, actively engaged in the practice of medicine and thoroughly equipped for the duties of the profession by collegiate training and long practical experience, has successfully practiced in San Diego for a number of years although the period of his residence here has not been continuous. He was born in Franklin county, Indiana, May 31, 1851, and when a young man, having learned telegraphy, was employed by the Wabash Railroad Company for six years. Believing that the line of his occupation offered little opportunity for advancement he took up the study of medicine while employed as a telegraph operator and completed his preliminary training by study in the Ohio Medical College in Cincinnati and the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis. He was graduated from the latter on the 26th of February, 1886, and opened an office in Connersville, Indiana, where he remained for a year. In 1887, how- ever, he came to San Diego, practicing in this city and in El Cajon valley. He afterward spent a year at Cedrous Island, Mexico, as physician for a mining company, and in 1893 moved to Oregon, settling at Slayton, near Salem. Five years later he opened an office in Portland, where he remained until 1900, when he went to Nome, Alaska. There he engaged in mining for two years, after which he resumed the practice of medicine. He was appointed assistant sur- geon to the United States Marine Hospital in Nome and was placed in charge of the hospital and quarantine work there, in which connection he rendered valuable aid to the government. He was also city physician of Nome for one term and was physician for the federal jail in Nome for one winter. He had
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varied and interesting experiences during his residence in the far north and he still owns valuable mining interests in Alaska, although since 1909 he has made his home permanently in San Diego.
Dr. Derbyshire has been married twice. In 1879 he wedded Miss McCann and they had one daughter, Laura, who is the wife of Cecil J. Barcroft and the mother of a son, Bruce Barcroft. The mother died in 1882 and thirteen years later Dr. Derbyshire married Miss Frances A. Briggs, a native of Slay- ton, Oregon. The Doctor is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He is in hearty sympathy with the order and exemplifies in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft. Membership in the San Diego County Medical Association and the American Medical Association affords him opportunities to meet his colleagues and exchange views upon professional ques- tions. He never allows outside interests to interfere with the faithful perforni- ance of his duties which he discharges with a sense of conscientious obligation and with marked ability. He is physician to the San Diego county highway com- mission and in addition has an extensive and growing private practice which is indicative of the confidence reposed in him by the general public who have seen practical demonstration of his skill and ability as year by year he has discharged his professional duties in this city.
FRANK SCHIEFER.
Among the men who have vitally influenced the trend of business develop- ment in San Diego and who have gained a distinct and important place as factors in general advancement is Frank Schiefer, founder and senior partner in the firm of Schiefer & Sons, manufacturers of show cases, bank, store and office fixtures, refrigerators and mirrors. For forty-five years he has been closely associated with business interests along this line and his work has not only contributed to his individual success but has also been a factor in progress, since it has contributed to the general activity which means growth. Mr. Schiefer was born in Saxony, Germany, August 28, 1851, and is a son of Fred and Julia Schiefer. In his native country he attended the public schools and later a trade school until he was seventeen years of age and then worked as a cabinet-maker until November, 1877. At that time he determined to try. his fortune in America and accordingly crossed the Atlantic to New York city, where he followed his trade until 1880, when he went to St. Louis, Missouri, and Chicago, Illinois, and spent one year in those cities. In 1881 he moved to Galveston, Texas, and was there employed as a foreman in a show case and furniture factory until 1888. These various identifications were excellent train- ing for Mr. Schiefer in his chosen line of work and gave him also an insight into American business ideals and methods, so that he was well fitted for his independent career when he established himself in business in San Diego. He has a large factory at the corner of Eighth and J streets in San Diego and has taken his sons into partnership. It is a three-story brick building. of fireproof construction and equipped with all modern conveniences and acces- sories, including labor-saving machinery. It offers employment to fifty men
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