Orange County
Biographies
A. GOODWIN,
one of the members of the city council at Santa Ana, is a
native of the Golden State, being born in San Joaquin County, June 24, 1854. His
parents were A. D. and Amantha (Brofee) Goodwin, the former a native of New York
State, and the latter of Wisconsin. The senior Goodwin came to California in
1852, and engaged in mining for a time, and subsequently in agriculture, his
death occurring at Tustin, January 9, 1886.
The subject of this sketch, the
eldest of his parents' four children, was educated at the Washington High School
in Stockton, graduating in 1873. He soon bought a ranch in San Joaquin County,
whereon he followed farming until 1883. In 1880, however, he came to what is now
Orange County and bought property west of Santa Ana, on the Los Bolsas tract, on
which he erected a cheese factory and carried on the business for six years. He
then became a citizen of Santa Ana. Here he purchased seventeen and
one-half acres on North Main street, which he has laid out as the Goodwin
addition to the city. The boundaries of it are, on the north, Seventeenth
street; east, Wells and Shafer streets; south, Washington avenue; and west, Main
street. This addition is laid out into lots, on which many beautiful residences
have been erected. Mr. Goodwin also owns valuable business and residence
property in different parts of the city, and he has interests also in both the
First National and the Savings banks. He has aided by his influence and means
the various local enterprises.
April, 1889, he was elected as a
member of the council, and his good judgment in regard to municipal affairs has
made for him an enviable reputation. .
February 14, 1875, Mr. Goodwin married Miss Catharine Villinger, a daughter of Levi Villinger, a native of Germany and one of California's pioneers. They have four children: Jesse, Pearl, William and Florence.
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.- 850-851
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
SHELDON LITTLEFIELD,
Supervisor from the third district of Orange County, was
born in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in 1834, and was brought up on a farm.
At the age of seventeen years he went to Charlestown same State, and clerked in
a grocery for a year. He then took what money he had saved and went to Appleton
Academy so long as his money lasted. Then he taught school at Brookline, New
Hampshire, and next returned to Massachusetts and for a time was engaged in the
manufacture of boots and shoes, and then obtained a position for three years in
a Charlestown provision store; and by this time he had saved money enough to
bring himself to California, a journey he had been contemplating for the last
six years. Taking a steamer at New York city, May 21, 1855, he traveled on the
Northern Light to the Isthmus, and from there to San Francisco on the Uncle Sam,
arriving June 12. Then he went by steamer up the river to Marysville, arriving
there the next
day, and before that night he had hired himself out to work on a ranch in the
harvest field. After he had paid his hotel bill he had but fifty cents
left. The price paid for his labor was $3 a day and board. After the harvest was
over he took charge of stock for two months, and then went to the mines, where
he continued some
nine years. He kept books, clerked in a store, cooked and took care of the
mules. After this he bought a mining claim and worked until 1864; then he was
engaged in the mercantile business three or four years. In 1863–'64 he made two
trips to Arizona, prospecting and mining. Returning then to San Francisco, he
took the stage for Los Angeles and went thence to El Dorado cañon, where he
prospected and mined with but little success. He then went again to San
Francisco and to the placer digging in Arizona, where he and his comrade cut
down the only cottonwood tree there, sawed it into boards with a hand-saw and
made a rocker for separating the gold from the sand. After about three months
Mr. Littlefield came to Los Angeles and went on to the Santa Catalina island,
where he was interested in the mines. He then went to San Francisco again and
tried in vain to get a position in a store. He then bought a retail fruit store,
in partnership with another man, but this connection was of short duration, and
he next opened up a commission house, under the firm name of Littlefield, Webb &
Co., and in this business he continued until 1887. Meanwhile the house became
known far and wide as a fair and square business firm. Their first shipment
received was from the late O. W. Childs, of Los Angeles. In 1887 Mr. Littlefield
came to Anaheim and bought a fruit ranch and a residence. Previous to this,
however, he had purchased a fine ranch of 175 acres three miles west of Anaheim.
He was one of the company who built the mill and Anaheim Hotel. In 1888 he was
elected a Supervisor of Los Angeles County, and he is the present Supervisor
from the third district of Orange County. He affiliates with the Republican
party. In 1888 he was elected also a trustee of Anaheim for four years by a
large vote. As a business man he has succeeded by his own efforts. In society
relations he is both a Free Mason and an Odd Fellow.
He was married in 1871 at San Francisco, to Miss Nancy Southwood, a native of the Golden State. Their children are: Sheldon A., Francis T., Eva, Ellen, Joyce and Maud.
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.- 851
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler