A man who has attained the ripe age of seventy-five cannot fail to have had a rich and varied experience in the school of life. John S. Adams, Pomona's septuagenarian orange grower, was born June 14, 1844, in the territory of Iowa, two years before it became a state, and now, when seventy-five years young, he is spending the afternoon of life amidst the orange groves of Pomona Valley.
He was reared and educated at Cedar Falls, Iowa, and can recall many interesting experiences in his early life that occurred in his native state. He followed the occupation of carriage making in Waterloo, Iowa, and was also general agent for Iowa for the St. Paul Harvester Company and sold many of their harvesters in Iowa. In 1887, a young man in his prime, he came to San Diego, Cal., where he followed the trade of carpenter and wheelwright, and helped build the Coronado Beach Hotel, later setting up all the machinery and working as wheelwright in the shop owned by the hotel company. While living in San Diego County he owned two ranches, one at Campo and the other at Lyons Peak. He returned to Waterloo, Iowa, and after sojourning there four years came back to California, this time selecting Pomona as his place of abode, where he was employed in the carriage shop of the Pomona Implement Company. Being an expert interior wood-worker, he was called to Los Angeles to do the finishing on many of the fine homes in that city. While in Pomona he owned a five-acre orange and lemon grove in San Dimas, which he sold later. His present ten-acre lemon and orange ranch is located on North Glen Street. Mr. Adams does all his own budding and has recently budded 250 trees to Valencia oranges. In 1918 his 500 six-year-old lemon trees yielded $1,000 worth of fruit.
He has been twice married. His first wife, who was Miss Phœbie Beckley of Waterloo, Iowa, before her marriage, bore him six children: Jessie and Jennie, twins. Jessie is Mrs. Mock of Glendale, Cal., and the mother of four living children; Jennie is Mrs. Skeele of La Jord, Saskatchewan, Canada, and is the mother of four living children; John B., of Morrillton, Ark., was city postal deliverer of Waterloo, Iowa, for about ten years. He has eight children; Anna, formerly a school teacher, later a graduate from Hahnemann Hospital, New York, who is now a professional trained nurse in Bakersfield Hospital in charge of the X-ray department. One son, Darwin, was in the railway mail service and later a fumigator, and Katie died in San Diego. Mr. Adams' second wife was Miss Alma E. Harroun, a native of Minnesota, but a resident of Mason City, Iowa, before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Adams have many warm friends, and they have the confidence and esteem of all who know them. They are Republicans and advocates of temperance, and members of the Christadelphian Church.
History of Pomona Valley, California, with Biographical Sketches
of The Leading Men and Women of the Valley Who Have Been
Identified With Its Growth and Development from the Early Days
to the Present
Published in Los Angeles, Cal., by the Historic Record Company
1920
Transcribed by Linda Jackson 10/06/08, Page 510
Los Angeles County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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