San Bernardino County
Biographies
E. J. WAITE
is a native of Walworth County, Wisconsin, and came to California in 1876, locating at Riverside, where he remained until 1879. In March, 1882, he came to Redlands and worked as foreman for Judson & Brown. It was he who planted the first orange trees in Redlands, and he has planted and raised more orange trees than any other man in the place. He owns several lots in the city and the finest nursery stock in the whole valley. His property has all been secured by planting and caring for trees for other parties, and taking lots and lands in payment. He is a thorough horticulturist.
In August, 1889, Mr. Waite married Miss Catherine E. Jones, of Bureau County, Illinois, but, at the time of her marriage, a teacher in the public schools of Crafton. She was educated at the high school of Tiskilwa and graduated at the Northwestern Normal School.
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.- 666
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
SAMUEL R. LANGWORTHY
is one of the most progressive and energetic real‑estate and insurance men of Riverside. He established his office and business in May, 1888, at a time when the "boomers" were rapidly retiring from the field of real estate in disgust. He is not a "boomer," but is a wide‑awake, energetic business man, confining himself to legitimate straightforward dealings, and his success in business and the rapid extension of his operations are a sufficient proof that bonafide real-estate transactions can always be consummated in Riverside, when based upon their real value. It is to his efforts that many desirable but cheap cottage homes are springing into existence on the east side of Riverside, and are being placed within the means of an industrious labor element that is seeking a residence in the city and valley. By a system of monthly payments but little exceeding fair rental for the property, he has made it possible for the poor to obtain comfortable homes.
Mr. Langworthy is a native of Ulster County, New York, and dates his birth in 1859. His parents, John S. and Emma (Fordham) Langworthy, were natives of that State. His father, Major John S. Langworthy, was a prominent merchant of Ulster County. At the outbreak of the civil war in 1861 he promptly offered his services to the Government, and was appointed and commissioned as a paymaster in the United States army. At the close of the war he was discharged from the military service and appointed Deputy Comptroller of Currency in the United States Treasury at Washington. He then brought his family to that city, and there the subject of this sketch was reared and schooled, closing his studies in the Emerson University. During his university course he devoted much attention to mechanical and civil engineering, and in 1879 he went to Colorado, and was for a year or more employed as a civil engineer, after which he located in Chicago and entered into business pursuits as a dealer in drug specialties. He was also at one time connected with the well-known publishing firm of Belford, Clarke & Co., of that city.
In 1886 Mr. Langworthy came to California and located in Riverside. Upon his arrival he established himself as an engineer and land surveyor, and was for the next two years employed in his profession in various sections of San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties. In the fall of 1888 he established his present business and has since conducted it. Mr. Langworthy is an educated and practical business man, prompt and reliable in all his dealings, and is justly considered as a desirable acquisition to Riverside. In politics he is a Republican. In May, 1889, he was commissioned by the Governor as Notary Public. He is a member of Riverside Lodge, No. 282, I. O. O. F., and Lieutenant in Company C, Ninth Regiment, National Guards of California.
Mr. Langworthy was married, in 1884, to Miss Agusta Cox, a native of Canada. Their only child is a daughter, Annie.
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.- 666-667
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
DAVID D. BANTA
is the business manager and principal owner of the Riverside Mills. This mill was built by the Riverside Mill Company, Walker & Banta, in May, 1887, and conducted by that firm until the death of Mr. Walker in 1888, since which time Mr. Banta has had the sole management of the enterprise. The Riverside Mills ranks as one of the leading industries of the city, being 106 x 40 feet, and is fitted with the most improved machinery for the manufacture of doors, sash, moldings and all class of work required in building and interior finishing. Mr. Banta, a skilled workman of years of experience, is one of the largest employers of skilled labor in the city, engaging some fifteen men, most of whom are mechanics. The machinery of his works is run by steam, requiring an engine of thirty-horsepower.
Mr. Banta was born in Bergen County, New Jersey, in 1859, and was reared and schooled in his native place until eighteen years of age. He then went to New York city and entered upon an apprenticeship at the carpenter and builder's trade. After serving as an apprentice for four years he engaged as a journeyman, working in that city. He spent nearly six years in :New York city and then started Westward, and was engaged as a carpenter and builder in Chicago, and later in Kansas City. In 1883 he came to California, and after six months in San Francisco located in Stockton, and was there employed as a foreman by the firm of P. A. Buell & Co., and later as their bookkeeper. In February, 1887, he came to Southern California and located in Riverside, and in May of that year established his present business. In addition to his mechanical abilities he is a thorough trained business man, and much of the success of the enterprise is due to his management of its affairs. Mr. Banta identifies himself thoroughly with Riverside and her interests, and can always be counted upon as supporting public enterprises that add to the prosperity of the city. In political affairs he is an ardent supporter of the Republican party. He is a consistent member of the Methodist Church, and is also a member of Truth Lodge, No. 52, I. O. O. F., of Stockton.
In December, 1885, Mr. Banta married Miss Emma Stults, a native of Ohio. She is a stepdaughter of his late partner, A. E. Walker. There has been born from this union one child: Clare W.
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.- 667-668
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler