One of the leading and most progressive men in San Dimas, who by his energy and enterprise has contributed greatly to the upbuilding of this section is John S. Billheimer, secretary and manager of the San Dimas Lumber Company, a successful business man and financier. He was born in Jonesboro, Tenn., April 10, 1864. His father, Rev. Isaac Billheimer, was a minister of the gospel in the old days when he preached gratis and farmed for a living. In 1872 he removed with his family to Clinton County, Ind., where as a minister he did much good and was a much loved and highly respected man; his death occurred in 1910. Mr. Billheimer's mother was Salome E. Sherfy and she died in 1879. She was the mother of six children, of whom John S. is the eldest; he was reared in Clinton County, Ind., from the age of eight years, whither his parents had removed in 1872. Here he received a good education in the public schools, which was supplemented with a course at Mt. Morris College, Mt. Morris, Ill. Then he made his way to Kansas in 1885 and taught school near Lawrence, Franklin County, until 1887, when he satisfied a desire to come to the Pacific Coast and located in Pasadena, where he was engaged in business until 1901, nearly all of which time was spent in the lumber trade. While thus engaged he completed a commercial course at the Pasadena Business College, an accomplishment he has since found of great value and benefit to him.
Finding a good opening for a lumber yard in Lordsburg, now named La Verne, he organized the Lordsburg Lumber Company, of which he has since been president and general manager. He established a lumber yard in that prosperous locality and has met with pronounced success. When the name of Lordsburg was changed to La Verne they named the company the La Verne Lumber Company. From his advent there he supplied San Dimas with lumber, and seeing the need of a yard, he organized the San Dimas Lumber Company in 1904 and established the lumber yard. He had also supplied Claremont with lumber so he also organized the Claremont Lumber Company, and was its president until he sold his interest. He is now secretary and manager of the San Dimas Lumber Company, a business that has grown to very large proportions.
He resided at La Verne several years, and then moved to Los Angeles. In 1909 he purchased a ten-acre orange grove on North San Dimas Avenue, and the same year he moved onto it and engaged in citrus culture. The orange orchard is fortunate in its location, being one of the most desirable home sites in Southern California. In 1910 he was elected a director of the San Dimas Orange Growers Association, and in 1919 was elected vice-president of the First National Bank of San Dimas, as well as of the San Dimas Savings Bank.
In Covina occurred the marriage of Mr. Billheimer, when he was united with Miss Anna L. Overholtzer, a native daughter, born at Tracy. Her father, Samuel A. Overholtzer, crossed the plains to California in 1864 and engaged in farming in San Joaquin County for many years. He then located at Covina, where he became a citrus grower. Mr. and Mrs. Billheimer's union has been blessed with two children, Glenn I., a graduate of Bonita high school, who learned the lumber business under his father and is now holding a responsible position with the E.K. Wood Lumber Company at San Pedro; and Vera, a student at "Broad Oaks," Pasadena. Always interested in education, he is a trustee of Bonita Union High school, and has taken an active part in making for that school the high and accredited standing it enjoys, having served two years as president of the board.
In his religious convictions Mr. Billheimer is a member of the Christian Church, in politics he supports the Republican platform, and in his fraternal affiliations he is a member of San Dimas Lodge of Masons, a member of the Maccabees and of the Woodmen of the World. Mr. Billheimer is never idle, but an inveterate worker, leading a strenuous life because it is not alone his own business that engrosses all of his time, but he devotes much of it to matters and positions to which he has been selected by his fellowmen; thus in his liberal and enterprising way giving of his time and means as far as he is able towards the improvement and advancing the standard of education and morals in the community. He is a very domestic man, enjoying and taking pride in his family and home. He is well and favorably known for his integrity and honesty of purpose, as well as his quickness of perception and sagacity of judgment, and is deserving of having his name perpetuated in the annals of the history of Southern California as a man who has done his share in helping to develop the country and in adding to its material wealth.
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 10/08/08, Pages 528-531
Los Angeles County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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