Orange County
Biographies
RAY BILLINGSLEY,
attorney and counselor at law, Santa Ana, is a native of Washington County, Iowa, born November 10, 1854. At the age of sixteen years he entered the State University of Iowa and graduated there in 1877 with the degree of Ph. B. Two years afterward he graduated in the law department of the same institution, and directly was admitted to practice in the State, Supreme and Federal courts, and he followed his chosen profession at Vinton, that State, until 1886, when he came to Santa Ana, resumed and still continues his professional practice, appearing for respondent in the first case from the new county of Orange in the Supreme Court of this State, and is at present of the law firm of Billingsley & Cooke, of Santa Ana.
He was married February 22, 1882, to Miss Eleanor A. Patterson, of Charles City, Iowa, a daughter of ex-Senator J. G. Patterson, of that State. Mr. and Mrs. Billingsley have four interesting children, whose names are William Patterson, Helen May, Harlow E., Ray and Carey Val.
SOURCE: An Illustrated History of Southern California: Embracing the Counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the Peninsula of Lower California… Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1890. p.- 889
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
WALTER B. TEDFORD,
Postmaster at Santa Ana, was born in Huntsville, Randolph County, Missouri, July 9, 1854, and came to California in 1864 across the plains with his father, being five or six months on the road. After working upon his father's ranch at Newport for about ten years he was employed two years in the recorder's office in Los Angeles, under C. E. Miles. He then made a prospecting trip to Arizona, was fireman on the railroad some months, in the recorder's office in Los Angeles again, and in mercantile business at Newport until August 16, 1887, when he became a citizen of Santa Ana. Here he served as assistant postmaster under Granville Spurgeon, and September 6, 1888, he was appointed Postmaster by President Cleveland. Since July 1, 1888, this has been a second-class office. There are six daily mails in and out, and the office employs three clerks. Mr. Tedford has made his own way in the world, being not afraid to work, and to-day he stands high in the esteem of his fellow citizens.
He was married October 20, 1886, to Miss Nellie F. Purrington, a native of Santa Rosa, California, and they have two children: Lois Eleanor and Clarence. Their residence is at 305 East Third street.
SOURCE: An Illustrated History of Southern California: Embracing the Counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the Peninsula of Lower California… Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1890. p.- 889
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
G. E. FOSTER,
the Recorder and Auditor of Orange County, was born in La
Salle County, Illinois, in 1861, a son of William Emory and Julia (Abbott)
Foster, the former a native of Columbus, Ohio, and the latter of western New
York. At the age of eight years Mr. Foster with his parents came to California,
being among the passengers on
the first train over the Union Pacific railroad. From Sacramento, which
was then the terminus of the road, the family came by boat to Santa Barbara, and
in December, 1877, they changed their residence to the vicinity of Orange, in
the Santa Ana valley. Here Mr. Foster was employed upon his ranch in the raising
of grapes and oranges. He completed a course at the Business College at Los
Angeles, and at the age of twenty-two years was appointed superintendent of the
Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company's ditch, which position he filled for four
years. After this he was road overseer.
In July, 1889, he was elected to his present position, and while attending to its duties he is a resident of Santa Ana, but he owns a residence and orange orchard near Orange. He is yet a very young man, but has held some office of public trust ever since he attained his majority, and well deserves the honor which the citizens of Orange County have conferred upon him.
His first wife, whose maiden name was Hattie E. Cook, died in 1885, and April 13, 1886, he married Miss Cora L. Cook, a sister of his former wife. Mr. Foster is a member of Santa Ana Lodge, No. 241. of the Masonic fraternity; a member of the order of Eastern Star, and is also First Lieutenant and Ordnance Officer of the Ninth Infantry, First Brigade, National Guard of California.
SOURCE: An Illustrated History of Southern California: Embracing the Counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the Peninsula of Lower California… Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1890. p.- 889-890
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler