The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.

Fullerton’s population grew from 2,690 in 1910 to 4,415 in 1920.

Fire Protection

In 1908 following a big fire downtown, Fullerton created its first volunteer fire department. In 1914, voters approved bonds for a fire truck and named officers. J.M. Clever was chosen as chief.

Health

A new hospital was approved in 1912 at the corner of Pomona and Amerige. This building still stands today, although it is no longer used as a hospital.

In 1918, a deadly flu epidemic spread across the world, including the United States. Though it likely did not actually originate in Spain, it became known as the Spanish Flu. Hospitals were filled to capacity, and lots of people died, including here in Fullerton.

International Affairs

South of the border, the Mexican Revolution caused thousands of immigrants to migrate north, to the United States.

In 1916, Pancho Villa’s fighting forces raiding American settlements along the border, prompted a full-scale invasion of Mexico by U.S. troops, much to the consternation of Mexican president Carranza, who was also fighting Villa.

One unfortunate consequence of the conflict with Mexican revolutionaries was that it led to fear and suspicion of Mexicans in the United States, who were sometimes viewed as being in sympathy with Villa, or even secretly helping his cause.

“That secret recruiting of Mexicans for the Mexican army has been going on in Fullerton for the last week became known today. Half a score of Mexicans are known to have left town and others are said to be preparing to leave,” the Tribune reported. “Further precautions against possible rioting of lawless Mexicans here took concrete form Thursday night when the board of trustees, at a special meeting, approved the addition of thirty-five citizens to the ranks of the police force as deputy marshals…Five deputy marshals have been on the force for some time, swelling the total of officers available to forty, and other additions are to be made within a short time.”

In 1914, World War I began in Europe. The United States would not officially enter the war until 1917. Upon this announcement, local residents formed a Home Guard, and the high school formed a military company.

The U.S. government instituted a draft to obtain soldiers for the American military. Eligible adults aged 21-30 had to register. 385 people registered in Fullerton. Charles C. Chapman was local draft board chairman. 

The Tribune actively sought to shame those “slackers” who did not register for the draft, printing the names of those required to register, and those who were caught not registering.

Patriotism was in the air, manifesting in rallies, Red Cross drives, Liberty Bond drives, and a massive fourth of July celebration.

Two local young men, Fred Strauss and Nels Nelson, registered for the draft. According to an oral history interview with Strauss conducted decades later, he explained what prompted him to enlist.

“We went there to Los Angeles and had a lot of beer. Finally, after we had had enough beer and we got to feeling pretty good, I said to my pal, ‘Let’s go and enlist and join the Army.’ And he said, ‘Okay, we’ll go.” So they enlisted.

Amidst all the patriotic fever, one local group took a public stand against the war–the local Socialist Party.

High School principal E.W. Hauck enlisted, or was drafted.

Unnaturalized Germans over the age of 14 living in the United States had to register with the postmaster.

In 1918, Germany surrendered, essentially ending the war.

The 1916 Flood

A terrible flood took place in 1916 when the Santa Ana river overflowed its banks. This was particularly devastating for Mexican-American families who lived in the lowlands along the river’s path.

The Tribune stated, “Ten Mexican families are being cared for by Alfred Vail, who lives between Fullerton and Anaheim, and other Mexicans, are being cared for at Anaheim.”

“The body of Mrs. Eleareintia Nunez, a Mexican woman 89 years of age, was found by C.A. Myers in his walnut orchard. The body was identifited by Jose Nunez as that his mother, Mrs. Elcarcintia Nunez. Nunez also identified the body of the 12 year old Mexican boy discovered Thursday as that of his son Juan,” the Tribune reported. “The body of one of Nunez’s sons is still missing. Alberto, aged 9, was in the house at Peralta that was washed away by the flood last Sunday night. There were three persons in the house, the two boys and their grandmother. Nunez and his two daughters had gone to Anaheim for supplies, and did not return Sunday on account of the rain. That is all that prevented them from being in the house that went down the river.”

After the flood, local leaders began to talk about plans to control the waters of the Santa Ana river.

In 1913, Fullerton built a new municipal water system with a pumping plant, a reservoir, and 12 miles of underground water pipes.

Additionally, the city was building a modern sewer system.

City Council Members

Below are the City Council Members elected in each election during this period:

1914: George Anin, R.S. Gregory, August Hiltscher, and E. Livingstone.

1916: J.R. Carhart, J.M. Clever, A.H. Sitton, and Perry C. Woodward.

1918: R.R. Davis, Robert Strain, and Perry Woodward.

1920: W.F. Coulter, L.P. Drake, and R.A. Mardsen.

Women’s Suffrage

The state of California was ahead of the curve when it came to women’s suffrage. Women in the Golden State got the right to vote in 1911, as a result of a ballot measure (Prop 4), fully nine years before the passage of the 19th Amendment. Women could also run for political office.

Of course, not everyone was in favor of granting women the right to vote, as this advertisement in the Tribune demonstrates:

In the leadup to the vote, there were large gatherings on the issue of women’s suffrage, including in Fullerton. Ultimately, Prop 4 passed, and women were allowed to vote in California.

In 1920 the first woman was elected to public office in Fullerton. Belle J. Benchley was elected a grammar school trustee. Benchley would eventually move to San Diego, where she would become a noted zookeeper and author.

1920 was also the first year women were allowed to serve as trial jurors in Orange County.

Prohibition

In just about every election cycle since Fullerton incorporated in 1904, petitioners put the liquor question on the ballot. In 1912, with the large number of women registered to vote, the town voted (once again) to ban liquor licenses, thus making Fullerton a “dry” town.

The national prohibition question was also playing out locally.

“Laying plans for the 1917-18 campaign, prohibition workers from all parts of the county gathered in Fullerton Monday,” the Tribune reported.

The US Senate had passed the 18th Amendment in 1917, but it would not be ratified by a majority of the states until 1919, and national prohibition did not take effect until 1920, with the passage of the Volstead Act. Prior to that the Wartime Prohibition Act took effect in 1919, which banned the sale of beverages having an alcohol content of greater than 1.28%.

Both locally and nationally, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union had been an active proponent of Prohibition for many years.

Education

In 1910, Fullerton’s second high school, which was located at Amerige Park, burned down. In 1911, Fullerton voters approved a bond measure to fund the construction of a new high school. There was some debate over the location. Ultimately, the site was chosen on Chapman Ave. where Fullerton High School is today.

In 1913, Fullerton College was established. Today, Fullerton College is recognized as the oldest continuously operating community college in California.

The new college campus started on the newly-built high school campus on Chapman Avenue.

In 1914, the principal of FUHS was Delbert Brunton, and teachers were chosen by the Board of Trustees.

A popular movement seeking to prevent both racial and labor strife was called “Americanization” in which employers provided education to “Americanize” its foreign-born immigrant workforce. In contrast to today’s appreciation for diversity and cultural and linguistic difference, the Americanization movement sought to mold different ethnic identities into English-speaking Americans.

“Where no English is spoken disease breeds, because the immigrant cannot read the suggestions of the Board of Health. The I.W.W. [Industrial Workers of the World] breeds where no English is spoken,” the Tribune reported. “The country is awake to the danger of the alien population, and ‘Americanizing’ must become the great national movement.”

Locally, citrus growers, in collaboration with educational leaders, established special schools in “Americanization” for their predominantly Mexican workforce.

Read more about Fullerton’s Americanization program HERE.

Racism

In 1913, the California legislature passed the California Alien Land Law (also known as the Webb–Haney Act), which prohibited “aliens ineligible for citizenship” from owning agricultural land or possessing long-term leases over it, but permitted leases lasting up to three years. It affected the Chinese, Indian, Japanese, and Korean immigrant farmers in California. Implicitly, the law was primarily directed at the Japanese. 

It passed 35–2 in the State Senate and 72–3 in the State Assembly.

The law was the culmination of years of anti-Asian sentiment in California, going back to the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act.

By 1920, anti-Japanese feeling in California was intense. Apparently, it was politically advantageous to demonize Japanese immigrants. A Senator James D. Phelan came to Fullerton to speak on the “Japanese Menace.”

California was not the only state to pass an exclusionary law against the Japanese. Texas (of course) followed suit, a long with Arkansas, Florida, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Speaking of racism, in 1914, California had laws on the books which outlawed interracial marriage. The News-Tribune printed an article which pointed out that some Japanese people in California had married white Americans. Given the widespread anti-Japanese sentiment at the time, this article was likely meant to provoke outrage, rather than sympathy. Interracial marriage, which was outlawed since California became a state in 1850, would remain illegal in California until the 1948 court case Perez v. Sharp.

In the early 20th century, there was an emerging pseudo-science called eugenics which was the basis for racist beliefs and practices, such as laws which prevented interracial marriage.

While Fullerton was building new housing and businesses for its white residents, in 1919, there was vocal opposition for the construction of housing for Mexican Americans.

“The first thunderbolt was in the form of a petition from 117 prominent citizens headed by former trustee August Hiltscher and backed up by William French, former city marshal and now justice of the peace and newly appointed city recorder. This petition was a protest to the building of a concrete structure by the Santa Fe at Highland and Santa Fe avenues for the housing of its Mexican employees,” the Tribune reported. “The petitioners asked if it would not be possible to prevent the erection at that point or at least the housing of the Mexican element in that locality. The matter was discussed from every angle but there seemed to be no relief from a legal standpoint, and finally a resolution was adopted by the board asking the company to abandon that site and erect its building near its section houses, and City Attorney Allen was delegated to present the resolution in person to Superintendent Hitchcock at San Bernardino. Mr. Allen left for San Bernardino this morning to carry out the mission.”

“City Trustees Davis, Strain, and Woodward and City Attorney Allen were closeted with Superintendent Hitchcock of Hitchcock of the Santa Fe in his private car in the yards of the company at this place this morning to discuss the matter of the housing of Mexican workers at Highland and Santa Fe avenues by the company,” the Tribune reported. “A mass meeting has been called for this evening at the city hall for taking action.”

Ultimately, the Santa Fe Railroad won, and got the housing built, much to the consternation of Fullerton residents, many of whom showed up at a “mass meeting” to protest the construction.

“The Santa Fe Railroad Company will continue its work and complete its building at the corner of Highland and Santa Fe avenues for the housing of its Mexican employees and will house them right there,” the Tribune reported. “This bald assertion is made because the mass meeting at the city hall Thursday evening to take steps to avert the menace simply went up in smoke, and went sky high. The council chambers was filled to the doors with property owners, principally from the “infected” district, and they talked and talked and talked, but never got anywhere.”

One of the protestants was heard to say, “Well, we don’t like it, but we’ve got to take it.”

Crime

In 1912, after an Anaheim marshal was shot and killed by a Mexican man, local law enforcement scoured the region searching for the killer. There was even talk of lynching.

An ordinance was passed with the aim of “separating the bad element among the Mexicans from their guns.” Civil liberties were perhaps not being equally respected.

“It is my desire that all my deputies should enforce this ordinance at every instance, and especially among the Mexicans. It will be your privilege and duty to search every man you suspect of carrying a concealed weapon, and if found to bring him to the county jail, at the expense of the county,” OC sheriff Charles Ruddock stated.

In other crime news, a rancher named Gerorge Biggs brutally slayed his neighbor F.A. Montee and his wife in a debate over a strip of roadway. As far as I can tell, there was not a similar effort made by law enforcement “to separate the bad element among the whites from their guns.”

Fearing juvenile delinquency, in 1916 the board of trustees of the Fullerton Union High School District urged the City Trustees to pass an ordinance banning teenage boys from pool halls.

Also, in true Footloose fashion, local churches successfully lobbied to have a planned series of outdoor dance events banned.

The biggest crime story of 1920 was the murder of local rancher Roy Trapp and the assault of his wife by a Black man named Mose Gibson, who fled town after the crime.

There was a manhunt for the murderer, who had given the false name of Henry Washington.

Because the murderer was Black, many local citizens wanted to lynch him when he was caught. This was the 1920s, when lynchings were not uncommon.

Eventually, Mose Gibson was captured near the Mexican border, and brought to the Los Angeles jail, where he confessed to the murder.

Gibson was tried and sentenced to death by hanging.

As reported by the News-Tribune, feeling in Fullerton regarding Gibson was “intense.”

Editor Edgar Johnson didn’t exactly help matters by calling Gibson “the lowest type of human beast.”

Prior to being hanged, Gibson also confessed to several other murders and crimes across the United States. One of the people he confessed to murdering was J.R. Revis of Louisiana. Unfortunately, a Black man named Brown, it turned out, had been wrongfully lynched for the murder.

While Gibson was in San Quentin prison awaiting execution, a group called the Housewives Union sent a letter to the governor of California, pleading for the man’s life.

“We ask your attention to the case of Mose Gibson, condemned to suffer the death penalty, September 24,” the letter stated. “The fact that the man is a negro is likely of itself to prevent him fro having that consideration before the law which a white man in his humble position might receive. It seems that when a negro is the culprit, that the white man feels it his peculiar privilege to indulge in any amount of brutality.“

Alas, Gibson was hanged, nonetheless.

Labor

In labor news, members of the Industrial Workers of the World (or “Wobblies”) passed through Fullerton sometimes, spreading their message of working class solidarity. They were viewed with suspicion, fear, and hostility.

“Cowed by the guns of the police, sixteen I.W.W.’s were captured here Thursday night after repeatedly defying the crew of a Santa Fe train who attempted to drive them from the cars,” the News-Tribune reported in 1917. “Ten of the I.W.W.’s were marched to the depot, where they were held under armed guard till Sheriff Jackson and deputies arrived from Santa Ana. Six more I.W.W.’s were captured later and they were driven from town.”

And a bit later: “Shortly before 8 o’clock Thursday night word was received from Los Angeles at the Santa Fe depot in Fullerton that I.W.W.’s had taken possession of an east bound freight train that was due here a few minutes after 8. Deputy Sheriff Murillo was quickly called and he immediately sent word to Marshal French. The latter responded at once and a few minutes later the two were joined by Deputy Marshal Woodford.”

In response to a strike by Mexican Citrus workers, growers brought in “Negro” labor from Los Angeles.

“Negroes are being imported in to Orange County in relieve the labor situation developing through the refusal of Mexicans to take contract jobs or to work for less than $3 or $4 a day,” the Tribune reported. “Twenty-five were brought into the beet fields Tuesday afternoon from Los Angeles and agents of the sugar factories and farmers, are now in Los Angeles securing more.”

As a kind of punishment to the striking Mexican workers, some local merchants stopped allowing Mexican strikers to purchase food on credit.

With some wartime labor shortages, there were special provisions to bring in Mexican farm labor, but not Chinese Labor, which Californians were not keen on.

“Last year Mexicans were brought here to help in the sugar beet harvest. This was done through a resolution of congress allowing the immigration department to make that kind of an importation, and in the regulations those bringing in the Mexicans were under bond to return them to the border,” the Tribune reported. “This does not apply to Chinese labor. It is my firm opinion that efforts to get the bars lowered so that Chinese can come in will not be successful. Whatever the qualifications of the Chinese as a laborer may be, I don’t believe there is any possibility of getting congress to alow the Chinese to be brought in even temporarily.”

Oil!

Large oil companies like Standard Oil and Union Oil were buying up properties of smaller local companies in the Fullerton Oil fields.

“At the opening of the year 1916 the daily production of all wells in the field totaled 35,273 barrels,” the Tribune reported. “The production has been steadily increasing during the year until the daily production in round numbers is 55,000 barrels. The production for the past year will run close to 18,000,000 barrels.”

In 1914, a number of lawsuits were filed against A. Otis Birch, owner of the Birch Oil Company by landowners who felt they were cheated out of oil profits on their land.

In 1918, the pioneering Bastanchury family sued the Murphy Oil company for defrauding them of millions of oil dollars.

Back in 1903, Simon J. Murphy secured a lease of a couple thousand acres to search for oil. He told Domingo Bastanchury that he found no oil, and yet still convinced the old man to sell him the land for $35 an acre. He paid Bastanchury $79,000 for the land.

About a month after purchasing the land, the newly-formed Murphy Oil Company sunk a well that was a 3,000-barrel a day gusher. Many other oil-producing wells were subsequently sunk on the land.

In 1912, the Murphy Oil Company sold its oil holdings to the Standard Oil Company for around $24,000,000.

Meanwhile, Domingo Bastanchury died, and his lands fell to his widow and sons.

In 1917, former workers of Murphy Oil told Domingo’s son Gaston that they had actually discovered oil prior to the purchase of the land, and Murphy lied to Domingo about this fact.

The Bastanchury heirs sued Murphy for recovery of funds from the millions of barrels of oil that had been extracted over the past fourteen years, alleging that the property was obtained by fraud.

In 1919 the Bastanchury family won a large $1,200,000 judgment against the Murphy Oil company.

Meanwhile, local oil workers organized a union, also seeking better wages.

Perhaps a part of the widespread labor unrest, some oil wells were bombed in the Fullerton fields.

“Believing that they have in custody one of the perpetrators of the recent bomb outrages in the Fullerton oil fields the police today detained a man describing himself as Antone-Kratchel, aged 35, an Austrian, who was arrested at First and Gless streets by Patrolmen H.R. Boehm and J.Y. Walton,” the Tribune reported.

Culture & Entertainment

Before the Fox was built in 1925, Fullertonians went to see movies at the Rialto Theater. It was located at 219 N. Spadra (Harbor Blvd).

The Rialto Theater featured a talented musician named Winifred Wilbur, who played multiple instruments that accompanied the films.

In 1918, popular entertainer Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle made a special appearence at The Rialto.

Sometimes famous people would speak at the high school auditorium, including Helen Keller and politician and failed presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan.

In a more racist vein, there was in the Tribune an advertisement for the Geo. Primrose All White Minstrel Show, presumably featuring white people in black face.

The local American Legion post sponsored a Big Minstrel Show, which presumably featured white performers in blackface.

Another form of popular entertainment at this time was the traveling Chautauqua show, which came through town.

In 1920, the local Masons built a huge new temple which is now the Springfield Banquet Center.

Transportation & Infrastructure

In 1914, Fullerton voters approved bonds for the fire department but voted down bonds for road improvement. What else is new?

In 1917, Fullerton finally got a Pacific Electric passenger train line to pass through the town. The Pacific Electric “red cars” would become, by the 1920s, the largest interurban rail system in the United States. The whole system would unfortunately be dismantled in the 1950s, as southern California became firmly entrenched as a “car culture.”

Homelessness

The local policy toward homelessness had, for years, been to jail people on vagrancy charges. However, in 1916, given the inadequacy of the local jail, town Marshal French decided to stop this practice.

“They can implore as much as they want,” he declared, “but I shall place no more prisoners in the city jail. In the first place the arrest of vagrants and tramps is not included in the duties of the city marshal. It is up to the constable to make those arrests and if the county wants the floating class handled, let him do it.

“I shall no longer make an attempt to control the undesirable class in Fullerton so long as they violate no city ordinances. The necessity for a new jail will probably be impressed upon the people by the time the floating class is allowed to remain unmolested for a short time.

In 1917, in the category of “the more things change, the more they stay the same,” local authorities shut down a homeless encampment near the train depot.

“Officers early Wednesday evening raided a hobo camp east of the depot and sent thirteen tramps out of town with instructions not to return. The raid was made by Marshal French and Deputy Sheriff Murillo,” the Tribune reported. “Reports reaching Marshal French said the tramps had established a camp near the wye made by the branching of the Santa Fe to Richfield. The spot is  favorite site for a camp with bums, a permanent camp having been established there last year despite daily raids by the police.

“When the two officers arrived at the camp Wednesday night the thirteen occupants were stretched about a camp fire, some of them lying down and others engaged in cooking supper.”

“None offered resistance when the officers searched them for arms. All of them were without weapons and most of them had no money.

“According to their story to the police they were on their way to San Diego, where they expected to find work in the kelp beds.

“Most of the crowd were young men and all of them were shabbily dressed. The oldest man in the camp, bent and grizzled, gave his age as 62 and told the police he did not know where he was going.

“The camp raided Wednesday night is the first that has been established by hoboes this year, according to Marshal French.”

Housing

Fullerton’s population was growing, and there was a housing shortage, so there was much new construction. The 1920s would bring a big housing boom to Fullerton. The Board of Trade established a “housing fund” to finance construction of new housing.

“The Housing proposition is the most important problem which confronts the city today. We not only need good houses but we need business blocks, as people who desire to engage in business here are turned away every day,” the Tribune reported.

In 1919, realtors R.S. Gregory and George A. Ruddock announced the opening of a new subdivision on six acres of walnuts and Valencias on the 200 block of West Whiting, next to downtown. Another new subdivision was Jacaranda Pl., developed by Charlie Gantz. Many of these homes still stand today as well.

In addition to housing, new business blocks and buildings were added to downtown, such as the Gardiner Building, McKelvey & Volz Drug Store, the Sanitary Laundry Building, and more.

Unfortunately, part of this “progress” meant destroying old buildings, such as the Henderson Blacksmith shop, which was one of the oldest shops in town.

The Town of Orangethorpe

Before the town of Fulleton was founded in 1887, some early ranchers settled in an area south of the town-to-be, an unincorporated community called Orangthorpe. In 1920, city leaders attempted to annex part of Orangethorpe so as to extend the city’s “sewer farm” which is now the Fullerton airport. The ranchers who lived around this area organized to fight this Annexation.

The ranchers were successful in blocking this annexation, and they even voted to incorporate as the town of Orangethorpe to protect the land from future annexation attempts.

Deaths

In 1912, Joseph Goodman, co-owner of the Stern & Goodman general store, passed away.

That same year, Colonel Robert “Diamond Bob” Northam, passed away after being assaulted in his home. Northam was for years the agent of the Stearns Rancho company–which owned and sold thousands of acres of prime southern California real estate. He was a colorful and wealthy local figure.

Chapman Avenue was originally called Northam Avenue. In 1911, his wife Leotia sued him for divorce, stating that she was fed up with his drunkenness.

In 1911, the Tribune painted an interesting picture of Diamond Bob: “He is now 65 years of age and a millionaire manufacturer and is widely known as a princely spender, bon vivant and general good fellow…Colonel Northam is a pioneer, coming here in 1870, and today, in addition to the manufacturing business at 110 West Twelfth street Los Angeles, has large realty holdings, including the beautiful country place, Los Robles Viejos at Santa anita, one of the well known show places of the big county.”

He had married his wife 10 years prior when he was 55. She was just 20, an aspiring actress.

Mrs. Northam said, “No one could have treated me better than Bob in every way…dresses, jewels, a beautiful home–I had all that heart could desire. But his constant drinking drove me to distraction…He is his own worst enemy and was fast becoming mine.”

In 1914, Jose Antonio Yorba, a descendant of the pioneering Yorba family of Orange County, passed away.

That same year, Loma Vista Memorial Park, Fullerton’s first cemetery was established. It remains Fullerton’s only cemetery, and many early pioneers are buried there.

B.G. Balcom, pioneering Fullerton banker, also died in 1914. Balcom Avenue is named after him.

In 1915, Fullerton co-founder Edward R. Amerige, who had served on City Council and in the California State Assembly, passed away.

In 1917, Charles E. Ruddock, former Fullerton marshal and Orange County sheriff, died.

“Ruddock was born in Chemano county, New York making him almost 53 years of age at the time of his death,” the Tribune reported. “He and his family came to Fullerton from Wisconsin in 1897 and since have made their home here. Serving a trifle more than two years as a city marshal of Fullerton, Ruddock also served as county sheriff from 1910 to 1914.”

Goodbye, Old St. George Hotel

The Shay Hotel, originally called the St. George Hotel, was one of the first buildings in town at the corner of Spadra (Harbor) and Commonwealth. Sadly, in 1918, it was torn down.

“Bright and early this morning a large force of men started in to dismantle this old landmark of Fullerton,” the Tribune reported. “George Amerige, the proprietor, has sold the building to the Whiting Wrecking Company of Los Angeles for wrecking purposes and the work of razing the old structure has started. Big signs with white background and black lettering have been plastered all over the exterior of the building which read “Watch It Go.”

The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.

Government and Politics

At the turn of the century, Fullerton was not yet incorporated as a town, and therefore had no City Council. The governing body was the County Board of Supervisors. 

In 1902, Dallison Smith Linebarger, a Democrat who owned a livery [horse] business in town was elected to represent District 3 on the Orange County Board of Supervisors. He defeated fellow Democrat B.F. Porter (a Fullerton rancher) in the primary, and Republican William “Billy” Hale (also a rancher) in the general election. He would be re-elected and serve until 1912.

That same year, town co-founder Edward R. Amerige, a Republican, was elected to the California State Assembly. He would serve two terms.

Fullerton incorporated in 1904. Residents voted to establish Fullerton as a city, complete with a Board of Trustees (City Council) and taxation powers. The first Board of Trustees was Edward Amerige, E.K. Benchley, Charles Chapman, George Clark, and John Gardiner.

W.A. Barnes was elected city marshal, George Ruddock was elected City Clerk, and J.E. Ford was elected city treasurer.

The newly-established Board of Trustees began to pass a series of ordinances. They established a fire protection district, a board of health, franchises with telephone, gas, and electric companies, built new sidewalks, and made street improvements.

They also passed ordinances prohibiting some things in town, most of which make sense–no fighting in the streets, etc. But some of the town prohibitions seem quite harsh, such as bans on vagrancy and cross-dressing.

There was some conflict over the appointment of a postmaster for Fullerton. This was a position appointed by local congressman Milton Daniels. Although a petition with 500 signatures advocated the appointment of Cora Vail, Congressman Daniels appointed Vivian Tresslar (a man), allegedly at the request of Mayor Chapman.

“Captain Daniels has announced that he will absolutely refuse to recommend the appointment of any woman for the position,” the Tribune stated. 

Tresslar was also the hand-picked editor of the Tribune’s rival newspaper, the Fullerton News–which was bankrolled by Mayor Chapman.

During the 1906 election, eschewing any kind of journalistic objectivity, Tribune editor Edgar Johnson clearly had his favorite candidates. Prior to the election, he ran articles/editorials that advocated for what he called “The People’s Ticket,” which included City Trustee candidates E.R. Amerige, R.T. Davies, and L.P. Drake.

This was in contrast to what Johnson called “The One-Man Power Ticket.” That one man was Charles C. Chapman, whom Johnson had taken to calling the town “Czar” and “The Great I Am.”

Unfortunately for “the people,” the Chapman ticket swept the race. Chapman, for some reason, was not up for re-election–perhaps he had a four year seat.

Town co-founder Edward Amerige, who was a part of the “People’s Ticket” wrote a letter to the Tribune after the election condemning dirty political tactics of his opponents. His words show that not much has changed in over a hundred years:

“I desire to say a few words in your paper regarding the anonymous letter which was sent through the mails during the recent election. Such a contemptible, sneaking, lying and cowardly act is hardly worth replying to through the medium of newspapers. The proper place to answer such a blackmailing and malicious letter is through the criminal courts and should information be secured as to the authorship of this libelous letter such an action will be commenced. The men and parties who would stoop to such despicable means of trying to influence voters would stoop to anything to carry their ends, and are a dangerous and undesirable element in any community. Several of the parties who are mixed up in this disgraceful attempt to besmirch decent men are supposed to be respectable citizens, but when they resort to such methods and are so cowardly as not to dare sign what they write, they are worse than a coyote that roams in the dark.”

In 1908, the City Council election pitted the “All Citizens’ Ticket” against “The Peoples’ Ticket.” Tribune editor Johnson clearly favored “The Peoples’ Ticket, and they (mostly) won. The newly elected trustees (council members) were: Will Coulter, August Hiltscher, J.H. Clever, and William Crowther. The treasurer was W.R. Collis, the clerk was W.P. Scobie, and the Marshal was Charles Ruddock. Coulter was chosen as Chairman, or Mayor.

In 1910, the following men were elected to City Council: R.S. Gregory, E.R. Amerige, and George C. Welton. Roderick D. Stone was elected Marshal, C.A. Giles was elected City Clerk, and W.R. Collis was elected Treasurer.

At the state level, California was in the midst of quite a political shake-up, with the election of progressive Republican Hiram Johnson as governor in 1910. At this time, the California Republican Party was divided between the more establishment/conservatives (who were connected to large business interests like the powerful Southern Pacific Railroad) and the progressives, who wanted to enact many political reforms. One of these reforms was the creation of the direct primary system. This allowed the voters, rather than party bosses to choose candidates. It was intended to help “clean up” corrupt “party machine” politics.

Meanwhile, another town co-founder H. Gaylord Wilshire, a noted socialist, had his magazine the Challenge banned from the U.S. mail. He ended up changing the name of the magazine to Wilshire’s Magazine and shipping them out of Canada, to get around the ban.

News

Tribune editor Edgar Johnson spent considerable space ruthlessly attacking the competing newspaper in town, the Fullerton News, which was funded by mayor/orange grower Charles C. Chapman because he didn’t like the coverage he was getting in the Tribune. Johnson called the Fullerton News the Fullerton Snooze! When Chapman sought to end the city’s contract with the Tribune to publish official notices and give the contract to the News, Johnson again called him “Czar Chapman.”

Meanwhile, some of the front page “news” stories in the Fullerton News were blatant puff pieces about Mr. Chapman and his sprawling orange ranch. Below are a few excerpts:

“He comes of that sturdy American ancestry which has ever in past times of peril been the salvation, and must in like times to come, be the hope of this country.”

“Under Mr. Chapman’s ownership and management, this property has become the most famous orange ranch in the world, as well as one of the largest…Indeed, the Santa Ysabel is a model, perfect in every detail as an orange ranch and home, and one in seeking to describe it with justice would be forced to use language seemingly superlative to one who has not viewed it for himself. From the beautiful and elegantly appointed family residence to the cement flumes, ditches, and pipe lines no intelligent effort or expense has been spared, no opportunity neglected to bring everything as near perfection as lies within the power of human hand and mind.”

“It is to Mr. Chapman’s liberality that the Christian church of Fullerton is indebted for the cozy, attractive house of worship it now occupies. A well known religious periodical in speaking of him recently said: “This religion of his is not of the ‘holier than thou,’ sanctimonious sort, but the honest, rugged, straightforward kind that never parades itself, yet everywhere wins the respect of the world.”

His faith is the kind that never parades itself? The newspaper he was bankrolling ran a front page “article” extolling the virtues of Mr. Chapman.

“Mr. Chapman resides at his beautiful, though unostentatious, home; busy with material affairs, hospitality and good deeds.“

His “unostentatious” house had 13 rooms.

“He has been justly termed ‘The Orange King of the World,’ and this he does not resent.”

Then, as now, powerful men like to have a fawning press. Edgar Johnson of the Tribune would not bend the knee to “Czar Chapman.”

Prohibition

The sale of liquor remained (mostly) illegal in Fullerton, following an 1894 county ordinance. There was an active Women’s Christian Temperance Union and an Anti-Saloon League, and they involved themselves in county politics.

In 1902, a Jo Smith of Fullerton was arrested, charged, and found guilty of violating the county liquor ordinance by selling liquor.

Perhaps adding some fuel to the fire of the liquor question occurred when attendees of a temperance meeting of the State Anti-Saloon League at the Fullerton Methodist church were interrupted by screams. Apparently, a Mr. J.J. Grogan had returned home intoxicated and attempted to burn down his house.

One result of incorporation in 1904 was that the newly elected city trustees could either allow or ban saloons. Those opposed to saloons included members of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), some local pastors, and the Anti-Saloon League.

Famous prohibitionist Carrie Nation passed through Fullerton in 1903 and was interviewed by Tribune editor Edgar Johnson.

There was a highly publicized trial against a J.A. Kellerman who was accused of serving liquor in Fullerton as part of a Nationalist Club meeting. He was ultimately not convicted, as there was a hung jury.

The newly-formed Board of Trustees decided to put the question to a town vote as part of a larger city election.

In the newspapers leading up to the election, the Tribune printed editorials for and against prohibition.

Ultimately, a majority of residents voted to allow saloons downtown. However, two years later, in 1906, the town voted to outlaw them.

This was the result of years of organizing by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League.

In 1909, when the liquor question again was put to a vote there was overt voter suppression of Mexicans: “A number of Mexicans who, it is believed, were anxious to vote for license, were challenged, frightened, and not allowed to vote, on the grounds that they could not read, etc.”

The town again voted “dry.”

Education

In 1902, Fullerton had a grammar school and a high school, with an enrollment in the hundreds. Neither of these buildings exist today.

In 1906, voters approved the site for a new high school to be built on Commonwealth Avenue, where Amerige Park is today. The community was outgrowing the first brick high school building on Lawrence Ave. near Lemon.

The new high school was completed In 1908.

Unfortunately, in 1910, the building burned down.

Following this tragedy, the community began plans for a new high school, which would be built on Chapman Ave–where the high school still stands today.

In 1908, a seemingly normal article about the sudden death of W.R. Carpenter, former Fullerton High School principal ended up revealing a scandalous story about how Carpenter left his wife for the widow of the local Baptist minister.

Apparently, Carpenter married a Mrs. French Chaffee (widow of the Baptist minister) at sea when he was also married to another woman. After Carpented died, Mrs. French sued Carpenter’s first wife for money that she claimed she had loaned to her “husband.” Ultimately, French Chaffee’s claim was denied in court.

Meanwhile, the Tribune got its hands on some steamy love letters written by Carpenter to French Chaffee, and published some of them–creating quite the local scandal.

Agriculture

The citrus industry was booming and growing. In 1903, there were nine packinghouses in Fullerton along the Santa Fe railroad tracks. The downtown was surrounded by acres of orange and walnut groves, plus a smattering of other crops. Some groves were relatively small, while others were massive.

The most successful grower in 1902 was Charles C. Chapman, whose Old Mission brand Valencia oranges fetched the highest prices. Chapman’s ranch encompassed over 300 acres. In 1901, he shipped 130 carloads of oranges.

“C.C. Chapman, owner of the Santa Isabella ranchos and Orange groves, holds the highest record for prices obtained for oranges in the United States–$15.05 per box, besides being the largest individual grower and shipper of oranges in California,” the Tribune reported.

By the early 20th century, the orange industry was not functioning by the ordinary rules of capitalism and competition. Instead, the growers, shippers, and marketers were pooling their resources through Fruit Exchanges to eliminate the lower prices caused by competition.

“In this amalgamation the fruit exchanges and the independent shippers are to participate, irrespective of past differences, and the fierce competitive battle for supremacy in selling markets is likely to be replaced by a well-organized central sales agency, through which all independent and all exchange fruit will be marketed by a single board of control,” the Tribune reported.

This citrus conglomerate was initially called the California Fruit Growers Exchange, and later Sunkist.

Sunkist was essentially a union for the growers. Meanwhile, a 1904 article in the Tribune written by “one of the laborers” urged the workers to form a union of another kind–a worker’s union.

Here is the full text of the above (right) article:

“The Tribune has received a communication signed “One of the Laborers,” which advocates increased pay for ranch laborers in this section and their organization into a union to attain that object.”

The communication, addressed “To Whom it May Concern,” begins by stating that the American laborers in the Placentia district have a grievance in regard to their monthly pay. The writer says that the workers want a reasonable price for their day’s work, and cites the action of the Ventura laborers who organized a union, and decided not to work for less than $30 a month. The advantage of a union is then urged, and the local workers are called upon to organize for the purpose of getting their “price.” The communication declares that they now get 95 cents a day, which is denounced as a “regular outrage.” The warning is made that the workers will not stand for this “slavery any longer than the present time.”

After commenting that the hired man is “looked down on, snarled at,” the communication states that he is often forced to sleep in the barn, and concludes as follows:

“Boys, what do you think of that? We are not permitted to sleep in the house after a hard day’s work. We are brothers in Christ Jesus, born of one flesh and blood, and we ought to have a tender feeling for all. But after all of that the cold-hearted rancher sends his hired man to the barn to sleep with the living creatures that inhabit therein.”

On the same page as the above article was another entitled “The Chapmans Entertain Their Friends and Neighbors”:

Here is the full text of that article:

“Strictly the event of all social events in Placentia was the reception given by Mr. and Mrs. C.C. Chapman Thursday evening to their friends, neighbors, and strangers as well, of Placentia. The invitations were universal showing the good spirit and kindliness of the host and hostess, and the acceptance was almost universal. The guests were received by Mr. Stanley Chapman and his sister, Miss Ethel Chapman, and afterward by Mr. and Mrs. Chapman and Mrs. Hatchill, assisted by Mrs. McFadden and Mrs. Bradford. An orchestra occupied the music room and provided music throughout the evening. After cordial greetings on every hand the guests were given the opportunity to inspect the beautiful rooms on the first floor, consisting of library, reception hall, music room, dining room, breakfast room and kitchen. The rooms on the second floor were then shown. The guests were then invited to the third story which proved to be a hall strictly in keeping with the rest of the house. Here the guests were seated and most thoroughly enjoyed an entertainment.

The above contrast between the situation of the workers and the lavish mansion of Chapman, the mayor and wealthiest orange grower, speaks to the social divisions of the day.

Water

In order to make this agricultural economy thrive, water had to be obtained and regulated. The company which oversaw allocation of water from the Santa Ana River and all the major irrigation channels in north Orange County was the Anaheim Union Water Company, which sometimes had legal fights with water companies to the South who also drew from the Santa Ana River, such as the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company.

These were private companies whose Board of Directors tended to be owners of large, local ranches.  Water rights (also called riparian rights) were a really big deal—water is life, and profits for farmers. Around 1901, these two water companies met together to bring legal action against a Mr. Fuller, “the Riverside county land-grabber” to prevent his taking water from the Santa Ana River.  This would be one of many ongoing legal battles over local water rights.

In the meetings of the AUWC, there was discussion of purchasing the water rights of James Irvine, the man whose descendants founded the Irvine Company, which now owns the city of Irvine.  In those early days, “maintaining an accurate division of the water [was] difficult if not impossible to devise.”

Meanwhile, the Anaheim Union Water Company and the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company cut a deal to share water rights. Mr. G.W. Sherwood, a sometimes AUWC Board Member who liked to write lengthy articles in the Tribune criticizing those who disagreed with him, took issue with the deal.  To which Samuel Armor of the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company replied: “G.W. Sherwood seems to be afflicted with a diarrhea of words accompanied by a costiveness of ideas. For two years or more he has been filling the papers west of the river with misrepresentations and insinuations against the S.A.V.I. Co. until his followers have come to believe the the people on this side are equipped with hoofs and horns and forked tails.” To which Sherwood replied: “I have always taken pleasure in setting Armor right, when he gets tangled up in the mazes of his own alleged erudition…With regard to the proposed division of water, Armor’s premises are false and his conclusions are wrong.”

Like any political entity vested with power, the AUWC was occasionally hostile to journalists who were critical of its policies. In 1903, the Board of Directors passed a resolution excluding reporters from their meetings.  Shortly thereafter, the Tribune got word that an important report had been suppressed, to which Tribune editor Johnson replied:  “The best way would be to permit the reporters to attend the meetings, then the reports and proceedings would not be suppressed.”

Perhaps the most contentious local water issue of 1906 was the question of whether the city would buy the town’s privately-owned Water Works (a pumping and storage plant) from its owners, the Adams-Philips Co.  This issue created much public debate over the economic and philosophical merits of public vs. private ownership of utilities, a debate that feels relevant today.  Prior to the election, it appeared that the majority of the citizens of Fullerton favored city ownership of the water works.

Ultimately, however, the issue went to a vote and was defeated. Tribune editor Johnson mused: “with the present plant owned by millionaires and in operation…the longer a city delays in acquiring public utilities, the more expensive becomes the undertaking.”

A group calling itself the Citizens Protective Association organized much of the opposition to the water bond issue.

In 1907, a seven year-long lawsuit upheld the water rights of the two Orange County companies, the Anaheim Union Water Company and the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company against a Riverside rancher named Fuller.

Fullerton rancher Charles Chapman was criticized by the Tribune (and apparently his neighbors) for changing the course of a waterway to protect his crops from flooding, meanwhile causing other ranchers’ properties to experience flooding during a recent storm.

In 1908, the Anaheim Union Water company completed the Yorba Reservoir, (later known as Yorba Linda Lakebed Park). The reservoir was located near Lakeview Avenue in Yorba Linda.

Oil

Starting in the late 19th century, several oil discoveries were made in the hills north of Fullerton, as well as in the Brea-Olinda area.

Early drillers included the Puente Oil Company and the Santa Fe railroad company.

Next, the Graham & Loftus company entered the field drilling “some of the best spouters in the Fullerton field, some of them going as high as 3,000 barrels a day,” the Tribune reported.

Then followed the Columbia oil company, the Fullerton Consolidated company, the Fullerton Oil Company, the Olinda Oil company, The Brea Canyon Oil Company, and the Union Oil Company.

Much of the Fullerton oil was piped to San Pedro by the Union Oil company’s 4-inch pipe line, a distance of 30 miles, and from there the company shipped to San Francisco for refining and other purposes.

By 1903, the Fullerton field was producing monthly nearly 125,000 barrels of oil.

Around this time, the Murphy Oil Company screwed the Bastanchury family out of oil they were entitled to.

The story is told in more detail in an article from the web site Basques in California:

“In 1903, the Murphy Oil Company leased the West Coyote Hills lands from the Bastanchury Ranch to dig for oil. One year of excavations found them hot mineral water at 3,000 feet. As one of the oil workers later confessed, they found an oil well at 3,200 feet but covered it up. In 1905, Murphy bought off from Domingo Bastanchury more than 2,200 acres in the surroundings of La Habra, at $25 an acre. Allegedly, Murphy assured Domingo before the acquisition, that those lands held no oil. Time later, the Los Coyotes Hills area became South California’s largest oil field.”

As time went on, the larger companies used their power to buy out smaller companies.

“The Fullerton field from Olinda to Brea Canyon presents an extremely busy appearance,” the Fullerton News stated. “As far as the eye can reach, new derricks rear their heads. Lumber and rigging are hauled in large quantities and the largest force in the history of the field is employed.”

Social and Business Clubs

At the turn of the century, around 6 million Americans were part of fraternal organizations. Fraternal organizations were a big part of the social life of Fullerton. The most prominent of these were the Masons, whose members included Dr. George Clark, William Berkenstock, William McFadden, A.A. Pendergrast, Otto Des Granges, and other prominent community members.

Another fraternal order, The Odd Fellows, had members who included William Goodwin, Edgar Johnson, Edward Magee, August Hiltscher, W. Schumacher, James Conliff, and others.

Local businessmen organized a Board of Trade in 1902 whose directors included Jacob Stern (co-owner of Stern & Goodman general store), William Brown, T.B. Van Alstyne, E.W. Dean, and V. Tresslar. Among the first matters taken up by the Board was securing electric lighting downtown, protecting the town against fires (the Fullerton Fire Department would not be organized until 1908), improving sidewalks and roads, and devising “a system of keeping tabs on any dead beats who may reside in the county or come this way…for mutual protection of our business men.”

A Chamber of Commerce was also formed, which seems a bit redundant with the Board of Trade. Its officers included Charles C. Chapman, Edward Amerige, and other prominent businessmen.

Religion

By 1902, there were at least three churches in town, all Christian. A Baptist Church, a Presbyterian Church, and an M.E [Methodist Episcopal?] church. In addition to fraternal organizations and schools, churches allowed for social interaction among the townspeople.

Homelessness

Edgar Johnson’s attitude toward the homeless was particularly harsh, and not that different from the attitudes of some today. Below are some excerpts of articles from the Tribune:

“Orange County Constables are having considerable trouble with hobos who infest its towns. Constable Llewellyn of Anaheim has been particularly active of late in making arrests.”

“Anaheim is not alone in being bothered by these wanderers. They abound in Fullerton and vicinity in almost as great an extent as in Anaheim. The experience with some of those arrested in the town down the road is evidence that these tramps are not only an obnoxious but in some cases a dangerous element in the country.

“Tramps are coming into Los Angeles and Orange counties in squads of forty and fifty. Every freight and passenger is loaded down with hobos and the trainmen are kept busy at every stopping point in vain endeavors to keep the brake beam artists off the cars.

Racism

By the turn of the 20th century, Japanese farmers and farm labor had replaced much of the Chinese labor that was curtailed by the Chinese Exclusion Acts. Dredging up the same arguments used to justify Chinese Exclusion (essentially, “they’re taking our jobs and doing better at business than we are”) white Californians agitated for excluding Japanese immigrants as well.

A 1907 Tribune article called “Japs Still in Town,” describes how a committee sought (apparently unsuccessfully) to run some Japanese people out of town, presumably because they were Japanese.

Here are a couple paragraphs from the article:

“Sunday afternoon a number of young men about town decided to go to the house where five or six Japanese reside at a late hour Sunday night with the intention of driving them out of town. Frank Claudina overheard the conversation of two or three of the brave lads and offered to pay the whole bunch $5 a head and also pay their fines if arrested, if they would go to the house and manage to get even one Jap out of the city. They did not take Frank’s offer, but declared that they would make good and hustle the foreigners out of town that very night.

This anti-Japanese sentiment found a welcome home in the pages of the Tribune, as shown by the following excerpts:

“While there has been no open declaration of hostilities there is war between the Japs and the whites of southern California.

“The Jap now clashes with the white, whether it be as a producer and shipper of vegetables, as a wage earner in the garden or orchard or as a laborer in other lines. This competition is becoming so strong that in some sections civic organizations are said to be preparing to appeal to the citrus growers and packers to employ none but Americans.”

Aside from racism, part of the white resentment against Japanese farmers stemmed from the success of Japanese farmers, both at growing and organizing their business.

“The Nipponese may not possess any great inventive genius, but they have not overlooked the co-operative methods of fruit and vegetable men. With a large acreage of farming land under their control they are preparing to adopt, and in some cases have adopted the co-operative marketing method of the Americans,” the Tribune reported.

Tribune editor Johnson re-printed an article by a Mr. Robbins, which argued that “The Japanese Must Go.”

“The question of Japanese exclusion was also being discussed at the national level with a Congressman Hayes introducing a bill “providing for the exclusion of the Japanese from this country, except certain favored classes,” the Tribune stated.

“As a matter of fact,” the article states, “the bill provides for excluding not only Japanese…but all orientals of the less desirable classes in other countries than Japan and China.”

“There is no doubt where the Pacific Coast stands on this question of Oriental immigration. All of the western members met together recently and agreed to support the Hayes bill, or at least the principles in general which it advocates,” the Tribune reported. “The Associated Chambers of Commerce of Orange County is going on record against Japanese immigration, against encouraging the Japanese to settle in Orange County, and against the sending of Orange County literature to the Orient.”

This anti-Japanese agitation would ultimately culminate in various exclusionary policies, including the 1913 Alien Land Law in California, which severely restricted the ability of Japanese (and other Asian immigrants) from owning or leasing land.

New Library

In 1907, Fullerton’s first real library, built with funding by industrialist Andrew Carnegie, was completed at a cost of over $10,000. The Library was on the site where the Fullerton Museum Center is today.

Sports

Walter Johnson, a future Hall of Famer, had been a pitcher at Fullerton High School. He went on to play for the Washington Senators, and became a source of pride for Fullertonians.

Fire

In 1908, a large fire destroyed three buildings downtown.

This fire prompted the citizens of Fullerton to organize the first volunteer fire department, to raise money for fire protection, and to consider municipal ownership of the waterworks downtown.

Health

In 1903, Fullerton’s first hospital opened. The Tribune called it “an up-to-date establishment and the best institution of its kind in Southern California. An efficient corps of nurses are in attendance at all times, so that patients of this hospital receive the best attention and care, which has already made the reputation of this hospital as one of the best.”

Deaths

In 1902, William “Big Bill” McFadden, died at age 62. Originally a schoolteacher, McFadden came to California in 1864, and served as Superintendent of Schools in Santa Ana. In 1869, he became a pioneer of citrus farming and was the second orange rancher in Placentia. He helped organize the Southern California Fruit Exchange, the Fruit Growers Bank, which then became the First National Bank of Fullerton, the Anaheim Union Water Company (on which he served as president and as a director). McFadden was a prominent figure in the local Democratic Party and was a representative from Orange County at the national Democratic convention of 1900.

The pallbearers at his funeral were Edward R. Amerige, Alex Henderson, Richard Melrose, Elmer Ford, Henry Lotz, and A.S. Bradford. The local bank and other stores closed for his funeral. He is buried in the Anaheim Cemetery.

In 1906, Fullerton pioneer rancher Henry Hetebrink died. His son John would later build that big old house (now vacant) on the Fullerton College campus, at the corner of Chapman and Berkeley.

In 1909, pioneer Fullerton resident Domingo Bastanchury passed away.