Robert S. Crombie, the senior member of the well-known firm of Crombie & Crombie, wholesale and retail grocers, of Riverside, came here in 1886, and in October of that year entered into mercantile pursuits, establishing his present business under the firm name of Newberry & Crombie, with Mr. J. R. Newberry as his partner. This firm continued until March 1888, when his brother, Mr. G. M. Crombie, bought the interest of Mr. Newberry, and the firm of Crombie & Crombie was formed. The business was enlarged and extended and a branch house established by the firm in Arlington. Mr. Crombie is at the head of one of the most substantial business houses in Riverside, which will compare favorably with any business enterprise of its character in the county. His success is not the result of chance or speculation, but has been secured by a strict attention to the wants of the community and a prompt supplying of them with first-class goods at reasonable prices.
The subject of this sketch was born in Richmond, province of Quebec, Canada, in 1860, the son of William and Mary J. (Montgomery) Crombie. His father was a native of Scotland, his mother of Ireland. Mr. Crombie was reared upon his father’s farm, but given the benefit of a good education, graduating from the St. Francis College of Richmond in 1879. In that year he came to the United States and was first located in Dakota, where he was for a year or more employed in Government, surveys, after which he engaged in the lumber business at Larimore, Dakota, until 1883. He then went to Mexico, and was prospecting and mining, and later entered the employ of the Mexican National Railroad Company. In 1886 he returned to his old home, and after a brief stay returned to the Pacific coast and located in Riverside and established himself in his present business.
Mr. Crombie’s interests are fully identified with Riverside and her people, and he is a sup-porter of her enterprises. He is the owner of his residence on the east side of Orange Street, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets, and also residence and business lots and store at Arlington. He is a member of the Episcopal Church, and united with the society at Riverside. Politically he is a Republican. Mr. Crombie married in 1888, wedding Miss Ella E. Guilder, a native of Wisconsin.