A sturdy pioneer of the early nineties, whose coming to Pomona meant the addition of another successful man of affairs to a community already strong in prosperous men, is Albert P. Condit, who was born in Delaware County, Ohio, in 1842. When only fourteen, he removed to Iowa with his parents, where he began to farm; and at the promising age of nineteen, when a young man usually is ambitious to set out in earnest on his own career, he responded to the call of the distressed nation and enlisted in the Civil War, joining Company H of the Fourteenth Iowa Infantry. He took part in the battles of Fort Donaldson and Shiloh, and during the latter contest was captured, with nearly 3000 others, on Sunday, April 6, the very day that witnessed the death of the Confederate General, Albert Sidney Johnston, formerly of Los Angeles and Pasadena—as a result of which he served in a rebel prison in Chaba, Ala., and Macon, Ga., two months.
After the war, and until 1881, Mr. Condit farmed in Iowa, and then he removed to Ames, in the same state, where he embarked in the clothing business. Later, he ventured into real estate and insurance, and after that he owned a farm of 160 acres in Hamilton County, Iowa. Then he lived for awhile in Grinnell, and from Iowa, in 1893, he came west to California.
On settling in Claremont, Mr. Condit ran a feed and fuel business for seven years, at the same time that, as a kind of "side line," he conducted a real estate and insurance office. Then he moved to Highland Park and later to Pomona.
On December 31, 1871, and at Marshalltown, Iowa, Mr. Condit was married to Miss Kate O. Rice, a native of Iowa and the daughter of Lucian Rice and Elizabeth (Allen) Rice, by whom he has had two sons and one daughter. A. Ray Condit was with the Y. M. C. A. in busy France nine months, while C. Clifford Condit resides in Pomona; Kate was an accomplished musician and taught French, German and music, and was active in building up Claremont College, leading the glee clubs and choirs. She married Silas Brimhall, M. D., and passed away in 1913.
Few men are more popular than Mr. Condit in fraternal circles, being especially active in Vicksburg Post, G. A. R., of Pomona; and few men are more esteemed in religious circles, the Congregational Church of Pomona claiming our subject as an exemplary deacon.
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 12/14/08, Pages 726-727
Los Angeles County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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