Ventura County
Biographies
Crane Brothers
Crane Brothers are the leading merchants of Saticoy. The business was established by E. C. Crane in 1886, he conducting it until 1889, when his brother, L. P. Crane, became a partner, taking a half interest in the business. The store was first located on the Telegraph Road, and in 1887 it was removed to a point one-half mile northwest of where the depot now is. After the depot was built, as they are buyers and shippers of produce, and as the new hotel is at the station, they saw it would be to their interest to again move their store, and accordingly located near the station. They are now building a large store-room at the rear of the main building, making the whole depth of the building 110 feet. Over the store is a large hall which is used for public meetings. Both of these gentlemen are enterprising and are active in all measures tending to build up the town. Both are native sons of the Golden West, having been born in Ventura County, within a few miles of Saticoy, their father, J. L. Crane, being one of the earliest pioneers of this part of the country. (A sketch of his life appears elsewhere in this work.)
E. C. Crane, the senior member of the firm, dates his birth in 1863. He was reared on a farm and educated at Carpenteria. In 1884 he was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Cross, a native of Wisconsin. They have three children, Cora L., Ella and Clarence. Mr. Crane's political views are Democratic. He was Postmaster under the Cleveland administration. Mr. Crane resides in a neat cottage which he built not far from their place of business.
L. P. Crane, the junior member of the firm, received his education in the public schools of the county. He is a successful farmer, owning a fine ranch in the Santa Clara Valley, one miles from their store, and is conducting this in addition to his other business. He has built a nice residence and barn and resides on the ranch. He was married in 1888, to Miss Abby Briggs, a native of Yuba County, California, and a daughter of John O. Briggs. They have one son, Bertie, born in Saticoy. L. P. Crane shares his brother's political views.
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES OF SANTA BARBARA, SAN LUIS OBISPO, AND VENTURA, CALIF. by Ida Addis Storke, 1891, p 282 Transcribed by Sandy Neder
George G. Crane
George G. Crane, one of the prominent citizens of Saticoy, was born in Sharon Township, Medina County, Ohio, July 7, 1835. His father, George W. Crane, was a native of Massachusetts, born in 1809, and removed to Ohio in 1834, bought a farm in that new country, cleared it and made it his home until his death, which occurred in 1884. Mr. Crane's grandfather, Barnabas Crane, was born in Dighton, Massachusetts in 1774. Their ancestors were English and Scotch, and were among the first settlers of the new world. Mr. Crane's mother, Louisa (Briggs) Crane, was a native of New York, born in 1815. She is now (1890) a resident of California. Her brother, George G. Briggs, was the pioneer in a promoter of the raisin-grape industry in California, devoting as many as 1,000 acres to their production. She is the daughter of Thomas Briggs, who was a native of Massachusetts. Mr. Crane is one of a family of seven children, all now living except one, and was reared and educated in his native place. When a young man he came to California, worked in the mines and by the month, after which he returned to his native State and purchased 125 acres of land. After residing on that farm twelve years, he sold out and removed to Cass County, Missouri, where he bought a farm and lived six years. He then disposed of his property there and went to Denver, Colorado, engaged in the wholesale fruit business, and later in quartz mining, continuing the latter business six years. In 1884 he bought his present home place of 140 acres, situated in one of the very best valleys in Southern California, and improved the property by building, tree-planting, etc. He has fifty acres in English walnuts, four years old, and one-half acre in eucalyptus trees, planted in rows six feet apart and four feet apart in the row, now over fifty feet high, which will furnished all the wood needed on the farm. Mr. Crane raises from sixty to 110 tons of beans each year.
He was married in1859 to Miss Adaline Huntly, a native of Ohio, born in Granger Township, Medina County, in 1836. They have two children, both born at his home in Sharon, Ohio, -- Amie and Abbie. Amie is the wife of E. E. Huntly and resides at Saticoy. Mr. and Mrs. Crane are members of the Universalist Church, and are liberal in their religious views. In politics he is a Democrat, and has held the office of Supervisor both in Ohio and in Missouri. He has always taken an active interest in schools, and has frequently held the office of school trustee. He is an intelligent and agreeable gentleman, and is highly respected by his fellow-citizens.
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES OF SANTA BARBARA, SAN LUIS OBISPO, AND VENTURA, CALIF. by Ida Addis Storke, 1891, p 304 Transcribed by Sandy Neder