Orange County CA

Biography of Henry Babel

Henry Babel, deceased, formerly proprietor of the celebrated springs which bear his name, and which are now the property of his widow, was born near Hanover, Germany, on August 2, 1826. In 1845 he immigrated with his parents to America, and settled in Lebanon, Illinois, where his father and mother both died within a year. After their decease Henry went to St. Louis, Missouri, and on October 8, 1849, he married Miss Elizabeth Holadway, a native of Tennessee, a descendant of Scotch ancestry on her father’s side, and English on her mother’s. Early in May, 1850, Mr. Babel and his … Read more

Biography of Leonard Parker

Leonard Parker of Anaheim, was born in the town of Boston, New York, March 1, 1818. His parents, Joel and Annie (Woodcock) Parker, were natives of Massachusetts. The senior Parker, by trade a carpenter, was employed as a builder and contractor in the city of Buffalo, New York, for many years, and the subject of this sketch had very little opportunity for getting an education. At the age of twenty-one years he started out as a farmer, and afterward learned the blacksmith trade, his early life being a rugged one. He walked five miles to work and then cradled wheat … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John Turner

John Turner of Westminster, was born in Genesee County, New York, in 1818. At the age of eighteen years he walked all the way to Michigan, where he worked by the day for a year, and then returned to New York. There he married Miss Harriet Hopkins, whose father, James Hopkins, was one of the wealthiest farmers of Genesee County. Mr. Turner went with his wife to Michigan and carved a farm out of the dense forest. In 1852 he came to this State, and for ten years followed dairying in Amador County. In 1862 he moved to Carson City, … Read more

Biography of Prof. C. N. Andrews

Prof. C. N. Andrews, of Redlands, was born in Guernsey County, Ohio, in 1852. His father, Robert Andrews, crossed the plains to California with an ox team in 1857. They were on the plains at the time of the Mountain Meadow massacre, and were five months and ten days from Boonville to Sacramento. He purchased a farm in Sonoma County, in 1859, and is still living on it. He had a family of four sons and one daughter. The subject of this sketch received his early training in the common schools of Sonoma County, is a graduate of several prominent … Read more

Biography of Sylvester Lyman

Sylvester Lyman deceased. American biography has always been considered to be of the greatest interest, far outranking in this regard the same study in any other country. The cause of this is the large proportion of self-made men in our population, men who have plucked the flowers of success from the thorns of difficulty. Mr. Lyman, the subject of this memoir, illustrates this fact. He was born at Westhampton, Blandford County, Massachusetts, February 26, 1826. At the age of fourteen years his father moved his family to Shiawassee County, Michigan, where Mr. Lyman assisted in the farm work for some … Read more

Fix, Russell Oro – Obituary

Russell Oro Fix, 87, died Oct. 28, 1993. He was born Oct 3, 1906 in Anaheim, CA, however, he has lived in Kapowsin, WA, since he was three months old. His parents, Samuel Edgar Fix and Clara Jane Harris were early Washington pioneers. His father came to Orting, Washington Territory, in 1889 and his mother in 1874. Russ was graduated from Kapowsin High School in 1925 and attended the University of Washington where he majored in forestry and rowed on the UW crew team. Russ retired from Puget Sound Power and Light in 1972 as a hydroelectric operator. He had … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Alexander Henry

Alexander Henry farmer and stock-raiser, near Anaheim, was born in Edinburg, Scotland in 1838, the son of Innes and Jacobina (Nicholson) Henry. His father had seven children by his first marriage, and eleven by the second: Alexander, who was a member of the second family, joined the English navy in 1850, and was in service throughout the Crimean war. He was at first errand boy and then ship’s carpenter. After the war lie served six years at the shipwright’s trade at Leith. Next he joined the Sidney of Glasgow and came to San Francisco in 1860, where he worked at … Read more

Ryder, Jack Hughes – Obituary

Sumpter, Oregon Jack Hughes Ryder, 70, of Sumpter, died July 15, 2002, at his home. His funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave. Pastor Bill Cox of the McEwen Bible Fellowship will officiate. Burial will be at the Blue Mountain Memorial Garden at Walla Walla, Wash. Jack was born on July 3, 1932, at Baker City to William Horace Ryder and Helen Rose Hughes Ryder. He graduated from Baker High School and went on to attend Oregon State University at Corvallis for three years. Jack served his country in the … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Tim Carroll

Tim Carroll proprietor of the Anaheim 4, Evergreen Nursery, was born in County Cork, Ireland, March 25, 1840, the second in a family of nine children, of Patrick and Mary (Scandlan) Carroll, who moved to Australia in 1855. He came to Santa Cruz, California, in 1866, and worked at shipping lumber two years. In 1868 he came to Anaheim and bought fifty acres of land, his purchase being the first outside of the town limits. He then started the nursery business on a small scale, and today he has the largest nursery in Southern California if not in the State. … Read more

Fagenstrom, Ottilie Brummer Mrs. – Obituary

Ottilie Fagenstrom, 85, a former Baker City resident, died March 31, 2006, at Life Care Center of the Treasure Valley in Boise. Her memorial service will be at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 17th Street and Pocahontas Road. Ottilie Fagenstrom was born on Sept. 21, 1920, at Oslo, Norway, to Walter and Catherine Pattenhausen-Brummer. Ottilie moved with her parents to the United States in 1924. Her father, Walter, continued his import-export business. When Ottilie was 14, her mother, Catherine, died. Ottilie moved with her father to California. She was a 1939 graduate of Santa Ana High School. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Judge S. M. Craddick

Judge S. M. Craddick Justice of the Peace and City Recorder at Orange, was born in Marion County, Iowa. In 1881 he went to Pierre, Dakota, and thence to Mankato, Minnesota, where he was engaged in the book and stationery trade. In 1886 he went to Chicago and engaged in the real-estate business until, on account of the ill-health of his wife, he had to seek a more genial climate. Coming to Orange, he has since then, by his active business habits and enterprising spirit, won the confidence and respect of all the business men who know him. He was … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Dr. Moses Spencer Jones

Dr. Moses Spencer Jones, the oldest resident physician in Orange County, was born in Clinton County, Illinois, in 1842, a son of Charles Lee and Elizabeth Leek (Spencer) Jones. His father, a native of Buckingham County, Virginia, moved to Christian County, Kentucky, in 1824, and thence in 1830 to Illinois, where he died August 2, 1860. Dr. Jones was educated at McKendree College, at Lebanon, St. Clair County, Illinois, and completed his education under private instruction in St. Louis. He took a special course under the celebrated Dr. William Niehaus, in ophthalmology and aural surgery, and subsequently a special course … Read more

Tonack, Ron – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon Ron Tonack, 66, of Baker City, died July 6, 2002, as a result of the progression of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). His graveside funeral will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at Mount Hope Cemetery. Pastor Allan Franks of the Church of the Nazarene and Lynn Shumway will officiate. Ron always enjoyed casual dress, his family members said. They encourage those attending the funeral to dress comfortably in the warm weather. Ron was born Sept. 24, 1935, at Pendleton to Robert and Becky Tonack. He grew up in the Pendleton area. He received his bachelor’s degree from Eastern … Read more

Coffee, Alice Wiles – Obituary

Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon Alice Wiles Coffee, mother of Bob Coffee of Enterprise, died Aug. 30, 1989, at Wallowa Memorial Hospital. She was born Dec. 9.1915, at Santa Ana, Calif., the daughter of Scott and Mary Wiles. On Dec.22, 1945, she married George L. Coffee at Long Beach, Calif. He preceded her in death on March 3, 1989. She worked as a parachute rigger in Long Beach, Calif., during World War II where she met her husband. She was a homemaker. After the death of her husband, she moved to Enterprise. Survivors include her son, Bob Coffee, Enterprise, daughter, Kathy … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Arquis L. Sells

Arquis L. Sells a farmer near Westminster, was born in Wyandot County, Ohio, September 6, 1845. His parents, John and Mary (McKissen) Sells, were natives respectively of Ohio and Virginia, and had five children, three of whom are still living. John Sells was a well-known attorney in Wyandot County for a number of years, and died November 19, 1886. Marquis worked on the railroad as a trackman, and subsequently attended school at New Hagerstown and Harlem Springs. Then he taught school for some ten years in Ohio and Missouri, and in May, 1871, he came to California with two brothers … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Prof. John P. Greeley

John P. Greeley, County Superintendent of Schools of Orange County, was born in Swanville, Maine, in 1860. Was educated in the common and high schools of his native place. Graduated at the State Normal School at Castine in 1883, standing second in a class of forty-five. Before graduating he taught in his native town six years. Had charge of the graded schools at Searsport for two years, and in Belfast two years. Prof. Greeley was elected Superintendent of Schools of his native place for three successive years, resigning when he came to California in 1884. Taught one year in San … Read more

Biographical Sketch of W. Head, M. D.

W. Head, M. D. of Garden Grove, was born in West Tennessee, in 1840. His parents, Dr. Horace and Mary (Brown) Head, were natives respectively of Virginia and Tennessee. He received his literary education at Obion, Tennessee, and his medical education at Nashville, and in 1866 began the practice of his profession, in company with his father. After sustaining this relation for ten years, he came to California and bought land near Garden Grove, where he has since given most of his attention to stock-raising and farming. In political matters the Doctor is a zealous and able advocate of Democracy. … Read more

Biography of Illiam Lamson

Illiam Lamson a capitalist of Garden Grove, was born at Mt. Vernon, New Hampshire, October 1, 1810, the eldest of six children of John L. and Nancy (Bradford) Lamson. At the age of twenty-one years, after having been an industrious worker for his father, he started out in life for himself, his father taking him as far as he could in one day, giving him $2 and telling him not to drink or to gamble, and to do the best he could for himself. With the $2 Mr. Lamson went about half way to Boston and hired out for one … Read more

Biography of Louis Schorn

Louis Schorn President of the Olive Milling Company, was born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1839, came to the United States in 1856, and engaged as clerk for a dry-goods merchant in Alabama until 1861, when he returned to the old country to visit his parents. In 1864 he again sought “the land of the free.” After clerking three years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he spent one year in Kansas, and then until 1882 he was successfully engaged in the grocery and milling business in Texas. Then he came to California and purchased forty acres of land northwest of Anaheim, where he … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Joseph Beach

Joseph Beach of Orange, was born in Essex County, New York, August 20, 1816, and for twenty-six years after he arrived at the age of manhood he followed agricultural and mercantile pursuits. Then he was a farmer in Calhoun County, Michigan, ten years, until 1873, when he came to California. Since then he has been engaged successfully in the cultivation of a fruit farm in the Santa Ana valley, until lately, being in his seventy-fourth year, he has practically retired. Being one of the first settlers of Orange, he is respected as a pioneer, an honored citizen and a successful … Read more