A native of Iowa who has contributed largely to the business life of Pomona Valley during his many years of residence here is Daniel G. Arbuthnot, who was born in Benton County, Iowa, on November 1, 1880, and was seven years old when he came to California with his parents. He was fortunate in coming direct to Pomona; and here he attended both the grammar and the high school, after which, for a year, he studied at the University of Southern California.
Leaving the academic halls, Daniel assisted his father for a while on the home ranch, and then, at the age of eighteen, commenced to pack oranges with J.D. McClenny of Pomona. He took up the various occupations in the fruit-packing industry, and became foreman of the Moffitt Fruit Packing Company at Rialto. Then, for two and a half years was foreman of the California Citrus Union of Pomona, and after that was in a similar capacity for the Pomona Fruit Growers Exchange.
In the fall of 1909, Mr. Arbuthnot came to La Verne and helped organize the La Verne Orange and Lemon Growers Association, one of the most effective cooperative associations in the state; and he has been secretary and manager of the same ever since. Under his excellent guidance and inspiration, the establishment has become the largest plant of the kind in the Pomona Valley, and his pride in its growth, during the ten years of its existence, is very natural.
At the time of its formation there was no packing association at La Verne, and the fruit grown in that vicinity was packed by the San Dimas and Indian Hill Association plants. In a single decade, the La Verne Association has grown from an output of 225 cars for the first year to 1,500 cars during the year 1919. In the fall of 1914, also, a lemon plant was built, and in 1919, 200 cars of lemons were shipped as the La Verne crop.
In the fall of 1914, the capacity of the orange house was doubled, and a precooling and ice manufacturing plant was erected and equipped. Here the fruit, after being packed, is put in the precooling house and cooled, and afterward loaded on the cars, which are iced. Under this method the fruit is carried to its final destination without additional icing. The business has increased so rapidly that the stockholders have found it necessary to erect another orange house, and to increase the size of the lemon house, which will be ready for the 1919-20 pack.
Concerning the recent progress of this useful cog in the wheel of California's industrial and commercial development, the newspapers have published an item of exceptional interest. "Next week," said one of the journals, "the offices of the La Verne Orange Growers Association will be moved into the new administration building which is nearing completion, the work having been progressing satisfactorily since the middle of December. The new administration building will contain four handsome office rooms with a large directors' room in connection. The mission style has been followed in the architecture, the building being constructed of brick, plastered over. In the interior the woodwork is of mahogany. Besides this structure, the association has just finished a lemon storage building, the dimensions of which are 72 by 120 feet. It is especially arranged for the storage of lemons, with particular attention being given to ventilation. There are two floors to the structure, giving ample space for holding a large quantity of fruit. D.G. Arbuthnot, manager of the La Verne Association, is highly pleased with the new building."
The officers of this wide-awake association are: President, D.C. Crookshank; vice-president, B.A. Woodford; secretary and manager, D.G. Arbuthnot; directors, V.W. Baker, Claremont; J.C. Gaff, Pomona; and W.S. Romick, R.L. Davis and J.T. Tittsworth of La Verne. September 1, a new district exchange was formed, known as the La Verne Fruit Exchange, having under its control the sale of oranges and lemons in the La Verne district, and Mr. Arbuthnot was chosen secretary and manager of the new exchange, a position he is filling with his usual ability. It was also deemed advisable to separate the orange and lemon interests and the La Verne Lemon Association was formed. J.D. Van Duyene was made manager of the Orange Association to succeed Mr. Arbuthnot, and J.W. LaMont was selected manager of the Lemon Association. Mr. B.A. Woodford, who for many years was the successful manager of the California Fruit Growers Association, is president of the La Verne District Exchange, having all his citrus holdings in the La Verne district.
At Pomona, on December 10, 1903, Mr. Arbuthnot was married to Miss Margaret McNaughton, a native of Scotland, where she spent the earlier years of her life, by whom he has had three children: Melvin, Margaret and Raymond. The family attend the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church of Pomona, and Mr. Arbuthnot is a member of the Knights of Pythias. As a prominent orange grower he has owned several groves in the La Verne district; in partnership with Dana C. King, orange sales manager for the California Fruit Exchange, he has recently purchased a grove of 160 acres, eighty acres of which is highly improved, the remainder being valuable foothill land which offers facilities for many beautiful building sites. It is located above the Base Line Road north of La Verne and was formerly owned by J.F. Cumberland, who personally planted the entire grove, and who is now living retired at Highland Park, Los Angeles. Thus it will be seen that Mr. Arbuthnot has personally contributed to the development of the section along the lines of its natural destiny.
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 10/04/08, Pages 493-495
Los Angeles County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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