San Diego County
Biographies
P. A. CLARK.
On the south side of Diamond valley, nine miles south of San Jacinto, with the foot hills for a background, and the beautiful valley of the San Jacinto and San Bernardino range of mountains in front, stands the nice new residence of Mr. P. A. Clark. October 23, 1883, broken in purse and in health, he came to the present site of his now comfortable home and took up a Government claim of 160 acres of choice land. He built himself a place to live in and has rapidly improved in both health and purse. He has made many improvements on his ranch back of the property, and above it he has two fine springs of pure water and has one of them piped to his residence. He has twenty acres of land planted to every description of fruit trees, many of them bearing. The altitude of the place is 2,000 feet, and here are growing orange trees loaded with fruit. He is also raising as fine apples as can be raised in any State of the Union. He is also raising grain and some stock, but is doing most in the nursery business, and has a good supply of young trees on hand. He was born in Knox County, Illinois, February 9, 1845. His father, J. W. Clark, was a native of New York. His grandfather, John W. Clark, was also born in New York, but the family were originally from New England. His mother was Miriam Daugherty, born in Orange County, Indiana. Mr. Clark was the oldest of a family of seven children, and came to California with his father and family when fifteen years of age. They came across the plains in 1860, and settled in Yolo County, where they remained four years, when they removed to Oakland. They remained here one year and then went to St. Helena, Napa valley, when, Mr. Clark being of age, he went to the silver mines. He found silver, and becoming eager to get rich, he spent all he had gained prospecting. After four years of this kind of work he removed to Anaheim and engaged in the book and stationery business. He settled there in 1871 and continued there until 1877, when he was again taken with the mining fever and for four years more dug and prospected back of Anaheim. Then he lost his health and became disgusted with the mining business. He was then for awhile with the Baker foundry in Los Angeles. Then with a partner he tried the real-estate business, which he soon gave up and went to Pasadena, where he was with his brother, B. O. Clark, then in the nursery business. He had, when younger, learned telegraphy, and at this time went into the railroad station at Anaheim and learned the routine of a station agent, so that he has had quite a diversity of business experiences. In 1886 he was married to Mrs. Dora Summers, widow of Joseph Summers, of Illinois. They have one child living, Mabel, born November 30, 1889, and his wife has one daughter, Myrtle, born in February, 1883. They also have one adopted daughter, Gertrude, born in England in 1881. Mr. Clark was elected Justice of the Peace, and was Assistant Postmaster there; he was also Notary Public and District Recorder, and Postmaster while at Silverado, Los Angeles County. At present he is Justice of the Peace, one of the school trustees and clerk of the board. He is a member of the Pentalpha Lodge, F. & A. M., Los Angeles. Mr. Clark is a pioneer and a leading citizen of his county, and is demonstrating the capabilities of this fine soil to raise choice fruits in this unequaled climate.
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.- 136-137
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
DANIEL OLSON,
the proprietor of the San Diego Steam Laundry, was born in Sweden, in September, 1849. He was educated in the common schools and under the Lutheran Protestant religion; his father was a farmer. The subject of this sketch was mail carrier in Sweden for about two years, at the age of from fifteen to seventeen. He emigrated to the United States in 1868, landing in New York. He then went to Chicago, where he worked five years in the dry-goods business, and then started a laundry, which he continued for fifteen years, with good success. He came to San Diego in January, 1887, and bought one end of a block on B street, between State and Columbia. He built a laundry building on the corner of State and B streets, 47 x 75 feet, two stories in height, and in the rear he built stables, and houses for his help. His laundry plant is valued at $8,000, and has facilities to do all kinds of plain and fancy laundry work. He employs from twenty to twenty-five hands and runs four wagons; it is the leading laundry in the city.
Mr. Olson was married in Chicago, in 1875, to Miss Hattie Hultgren. They have two children, both of whom are living.
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.- 137
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler