Santa Ana California

Biography of James W. Layman

James W. Layman deceased, late of Santa Ana, was born in Peoria, Illinois, January 24, 1846. His parents, Martin and Elizabeth Layman, were from the State of New York, and had thirteen children, of whom James was the eighth. He was educated at Minneapolis, Minnesota, where his father had moved when the son was seven years old. He followed farming with his father in Minnesota until 1871, when he came to California. His first purchase here was a ranch near Newport, where he lived four years. He then purchased property on Main Street in Santa Ana, which he improved and … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Josiah Ross

Josiah Ross, one of the first settlers of Santa Ana, was born in Clinton County, Indiana, in 1844. His parents were Jacob and Elizabeth (Thompson) Ross, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. For a number of years the subject of this sketch has been a quiet but successful tiller of the soil on his fine farm one mile west of Santa Ana. Most of his attention has been given to horticulture, and his well kept orchards show many varieties of deciduous and semi-tropical fruits. He has not cared to take an active part in political matters, but … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Judge George E. Freeman

Judge George E. Freeman, Recorder for the city of Santa Ana, was born in Hallowell, Maine, in 1829, and at the age of twenty-one years left his home for California, coming by steamer and landing in San Francisco November 16, 1851. For seventeen years he engaged in mining and lumbering in El Dorado County. In 1869 he moved to Alameda County, where he worked at contracting and building for a number of years, and in 1877 he moved into the Santa Ana valley and followed his trade there until about four years ago, since which time he has been a … Read more

Biography of Julias A. Crane, M. D.

Julias A. Crane M. D., of Santa Ana, is of New England parentage, and was born in Portage County, Ohio, January 21, 1846. His father, Rev. Eber Crane, was a clergyman of the Baptist denomination, born in Clinton, Connecticut (on Long Island Sound), May 3, 1808, and died at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, April 4, 1884. He was educated at the academy in South Reading, Massachusetts, and pursued his professional studies at the Newton Theological Institute, in the outskirts of Boston, at which time-honored institution he was graduated August 20, 1834. He was a zealous and life-long Abolitionist, a coadjutor and … Read more

Biography of Judge Nathan Baker

Judge Nathan Baker, of Santa Ana, was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, March 10, 1817. His parents, Nathan and Mary (Blizzard) Baker, both natives of Virginia, had three sons and two daughters. The subject of this sketch, the youngest and only one living, started west at the age of eighteen years, stopping first in Washington County, Iowa, and then in Lee County, same State, where he followed farming until 1849. In 1850 he was elected to the State Senate by that county, and at the close of his first term he resigned in order to come to California. He came … Read more

Biography of George Ridgeley Broadbere

George Ridgeley Broadbere editor of the Santa Ana Free Press, was born in New York city and educated at Cambridge University, England. He began the newspaper business as war correspondent while serving in the naval brigade in the Zulu war in Africa, and while there he was severely wounded. In China he did war correspondence for the London Daily News. Returning to America, he was employed on the New Orleans Picayune as reporter and traveling correspondent in Louisiana and Texas; next he was a traveling agent and correspondent for the States of the great southwest for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat; … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Dr. R. F. Burgess

Dr. R. F. Burgess of Santa Ana, was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1834, and when he was quite young the family removed to New York State, and three years afterward to Michigan, locating in Washtenaw County, where they remained about twelve years. The father died in Montcalm County, that State, when the subject of this sketch was seventeen years of age, and the latter therefore had to look after the welfare of the family. He served three years in Company A, Twenty-first Michigan Infantry, during the last war, going out as a wagoner and having charge of an ordnance … Read more

Biography of J. H. Moesser

J. H. Moesser, one of the early pioneers of Southern California, who was a wanderer for many years over several States of the Union, began life in the city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, February 21, 1835. His father, Frederick H. Moesser, was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, town of Altheim, Germany, and was a dry-goods merchant, baker and butcher, at different times. He moved with his family a wife and two children-to Ohio, where he remained a few years; then he moved to Missouri and subsequently to Nauvoo, Illinois. He died at Warsaw, Illinois, in 1853. His mother, Magdalena (Gundel before marriage) Moesser, … Read more

Biography of H. Titchenal

H. Titchenal, of Santa Ana, was born in Harrison County, West Virginia, January 2, 1817, a son of John R. and Rebecca (Harbertt) Titchenal, both natives of West Virginia. His father, a black-smith by trade, moved to Missouri in 1819, and in 1833 to the vicinity of Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he died January 16, 1831. The second of his nine children, the subject of this sketch, and a sister, are the only surviving members of the family. Mr. Titchenal was brought up to the life of a stock-raiser. From 1835 to 1852 he followed his calling, and also mercantile … Read more

Biographical Sketch of J. E. Sharp

J. E. Sharp a retired capitalist of Santa Ana, was born in East Tennessee, November 17, 1809, a son of Joseph and Sarah (Lamb) Sharp, who had but two children: the subject of this sketch and a boy named Prophet, who died in 1850. The parents died in 1828, the father one day and the mother the next. In 1830 Mr. Sharp went to Illinois, where for several years he followed farming in Madison County; after this he went into the mercantile business at Bunker Hill, Illinois, and subsequently he moved to Litchfield, that State. In 1864 he came to … Read more

Biography of William Dresser

William Dresser the proprietor of extensive farms and a resident of Santa Ana, was born in East Smithfield, London, England, August 20, 1813. His parents, Christopher and Mary Dresser, came to America in 1824, landing at Montreal. Subsequently they settled in northern New York, in 1833 in Ohio, and in 1836 in Boone County, Illinois, They had four children. His father was born January 1, 1769, and died June 13, 1841; and his mother, born June 25, 1772, died November 9, 1845. By trade his father was a “linen draper,” which in England corresponds with a dry-goods merchant in the … 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

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

Biographical Sketch of Jacob Ross

Jacob Ross, deceased, formerly a resident of Santa Ana, was literally the first pioneer in this place, coining here when the land was owned by the Spaniards, and buying some 2,500 acres of the Santa Ana de Santiago rancho. He also bought other lands near where the city of Santa Ana now stands, and improved a farm one mile west of the city, where Mrs. Ross now lives. He crossed the plains to this coast with wagons in 1865, and many were the hardships he endured. In the early days here his crops had to be guarded both day and … Read more

Biographical Sketch of C. F. Mansur

C. F. Mansur, cashier of the Orange County Savings, Loan and Trust Company at Santa Ana, was born in Barnston, Ontario, Canada, July 8, 1840. At the age of fourteen years he came to the United States and located at Randolph, Wisconsin, upon a farm. During the war he enlisted in the Eighth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, better known as the ” Live Eagle Regiment,” because they carried a live eagle through the war. After the war Mr. Mansur returned to Wisconsin, followed farming two years, then was a merchant a year or two in Canada, and in 1867 came to … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Henry A. Peabody

Henry A. Peabody manager of the Santa Ana Blade, was born in Detroit, Michigan, Starch 19, 1837; in 1847 he was a newsboy in Cincinnati, Ohio; in March, 1857, as a journeyman printer. He started from Columbia, Missouri, for California, crossing the plains, and arriving at Colusa, California, September 1, 1857, barefooted and without a coat to his back. There he hired himself out to drive an ox team, three yoke, to Petaluma, California, earning his first money in the State. About September 20 he took work in the Democrat office at Santa Rosa, California, and from that time followed … Read more

Biographical Sketch of R. Q. Wickham

R. Q. Wickham, the first County Clerk of the new county of Orange, was born in a Hancock County, Ohio, January 31, 1855. He is by trade a printer, and by profession a teacher, and followed said avocations alternately in Iowa, Dakota and Nebraska, from 1872 to 1887, when he came to California and engaged in the real-estate business at Santa Ana, and resided at Garden Grove. When the movement was revived for the organization of a new county, he joined in with zeal and pushed the matter along. He was appointed by Governor Waterman one of the commissioners on … Read more

Biographical Sketch of A. R. Dresser

A. R. Dresser one of the pioneers of Santa Ana, and a successful businessman, was born in De Kalb County, Illinois, in 1839. For his parentage see sketch of William Dresser. He started out life for himself at the age of twenty-one as a farmer. In 1861 he came to California, located first in Sutter County, where he “held down a squatter’s claim” until 1870, when he Came to Southern California and located in Santa Ana, where he has since resided; and here he devotes his attention mostly to agricultural pursuits. His first purchase was that of 140 acres in … Read more

Cerato, Mildred Elva – Obituary

Joseph, Oregon Mildred Elva Cerato, 88, of College Place, Wash., died Dec. 11, 2003, on her birthday at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Walla Walla, Wash. She was born on Dec. 11, 1915 in Santa Ana, Calif. to George W. and Mary Ella (Pearce) Todd. In 1937, she married John A. Cerato and the couple lived and raised a family in California. After her husband died, Mrs. Cerato moved to Joseph in 1992 to be near her daughter. She was an active member of the Joseph Baptist Church, doing mission work, serving for a time as president of the women’s … Read more