An old settler who so far succeeded in casting his lines in pleasant places, when he came to Pomona, that now, in comfortable retirement, he needs only to look after his ranch property, is Frank C. Evans, who was born at Boston, Mass., on February 14, 1849. At the age of twenty-two he removed to Lowell, in that state, and clerked in a meat market; and on June 11, 1873, he arrived at Los Angeles. Soon after, he took up 160 acres of government land adjoining the San José Grant, near what is now La Verne, and later lost the same; and later, in 1876, he took up the same number of acres in Section 132 in the Live Oak District, and, proving it up, became the second man to settle in that neighborhood. He still owns eighty acres of the land originally granted by the government, which is devoted to the raising of grain, fruit and bees.
In 1884 Mr. Evans came to Pomona, and his previous experience in the meat business becoming known, he was offered a position as foreman and bookkeeper of the Chino Ranch Markets. In 1912 he retired from the meat business, with the satisfaction of having contributed to the proper guidance of Pomona commercial affairs.
Mr. Evans was fortunate in his marriage, at Chino Ranch, to Lillian M. Watt, an attractive lady of Canadian birth, by whom he has had six children: Harriet is the oldest, then came Harold, Frank and Kathleen, and the youngest are Edward and Madeline.
Surrounded by interested auditors, Mr. Evans never fails to entertain with his stories of early, frontier days. When he came there were only a few white people in the Valley, and antelope roamed at will; and while the Indians prospected for gold, he searched for the yellow dust in Palmer Canyon, the only district where gold was found in the Valley, and brought it into Pomona, where he sold it for $18.50 an 'ounce. Men needed to have brawn as well as brain in those strenuous times—although it was not long before brain counted for as much as muscle and other physical endurance.
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 527-528
Los Angeles County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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