A pioneer of Pomona, both in respect to his long years of residence in this favored section and also in the introduction here of superior workmanship in painting, is Ethan H. Earle, who was born in Dubuque County, Iowa, on February 3, 1847, and was reared on a farm while he attended the country schools. When eighteen years old he moved with his parents to Clinton County, Mo., and there, as a young man, took up the trade he has followed ever since, that of house painting. All in all he has been over half a century at his trade, a fact that adds to the interest of his early work in Los Angeles County.
In 1886, at the beginning of the great boom in California realty, Mr. Earle came from Missouri to California, and through exceptional fortune was at once directed to Pomona, then a small town, but one that had the unmistakable marks of promise, of about one thousand people. He has personally witnessed, therefore, all the important changes of the passing years, and is never at a loss to relate an interesting and sometimes an absorbing experience.
He started to contract on painting and interior decorating soon after his arrival, and his first job was to paint Brown's Hotel, one of the old landmarks of the city, now called the Commercial House, on West Second Street. He also painted many of the homes of the early settlers in pioneer days, and among these were the Armour residence, the James Beckett place, and the L.W. Pierce residence. He also painted and decorated the First Methodist Church. He is the pioneer in his line in Pomona Valley, and although past seventy-two years of age, he is still very active in his work. Besides the display of his art and craftsmanship in Pomona Valley, Mr. Earle has worked on some of the finest residences in Los Angeles, and has painted a number of houses for J.S. Stewart in Long Beach. He ran a paint store at 122 South Thomas Street for about four years.
Not only have long years been granted this vigorous path breaker, but he has been privileged to rear a large family. In the year 1872 and at Cameron, Mo., he married Miss Ellen Smart, a native of Missouri, and by her he has had ten children. Lena became Mrs. John Schuman and died, leaving eight children; Cora B. died in 1898; Charles W.; Olie died in 1898; Nellie has become Mrs. Sidney White and has one child; Maude is Mrs. Riley Gillenwater, the mother of three children; Gertrude is Mrs. Harry Collins; Lela; and Alfred. The oldest of the family died in infancy.
Mr. Earle made a unicycle about thirty years ago and has run it all over the Valley, and in Second Street when the mud was eight inches deep. This was on display in the parade on October 30, 1919, in the March of Progress.
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 9/16/08, Pages 388-391
Los Angeles County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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