Anaheim, Orange Co., CA - German Settlement ------------------------------------------------------------------ USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ----------------------------------------------------------------- This information is from: "The German settlement at Anaheim" by Dorothea Jean Paule. 1952. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Southern California, 1952. Scanning and OCR by Joy Fisher. CHAPTER V CULTURE AND INSTITUTIONS As a town founded by Germans, Anaheim throughout its early years displayed characteristics typical of a German community. However, inasmuch as those populating Anaheim did not come directly from Germany, but had been in the United States for some time, the town did not have the extreme foreign character such as those eastern and mid-western villages colonized by people directly from a European nation. [1] Most of Anaheim's colonizers spoke English fluently although the German tongue was cherished and used extensively in the early years. For example, the minutes of the Los Angeles Vineyard Society and of the Anaheim Water Company were written in German until 1871. The colonists were quick, however, to adopt certain customs and terms native to southern California. They built their houses not of wood or stone as they would have in Germany, but of less expensive adobe. Those buildings that were wooden exemplified an American style with perhaps some minor traces of German influence. They built irrigation ditches as the Mexicans had and added to their vocabulary "zanja, " "zanjero, " and "vaquero. " The pioneers of Anaheim were serious in their intent to be successful in their undertaking and were industrious and persevering. They were proud of their adopted country and proud of their share in its government. There was self-respect evidenced in their homes by the orderly appearance of their houses, stables, gardens, and vineyards. The houses were reported to be exceedingly neat, the gardens prolific with flowers and vegetables of all descriptions, the yards alive with poultry, and the stables and barns filled with clover, hay, and barley, and cows and horses sleek and fat. [2] Most of the colonists in the first years of making a start in Anaheim were frugal by necessity. Although it is boasted that there were no poor in Anaheim, neither were the majority rich. Many had to enter debt to build their houses and cultivate their acreages, and interest had to be paid on their debts. With their habits of thrift, though, they were able to have enough to eat and care for their children properly. It is said no one failed in his efforts to get out of debt and none would be called destitute. "The sheriff has never sold out anyone in Anaheim, " was one report. [3] Eventually each settler's property became worth from $5, 000 to $10,000. [4] Moral character of the Anaheim residents was high. [5] There were no deeds of violence recorded in the early years. A correspondent wrote in the Daily Alta California of January 4, 1860: Our energies are occupied, not in quarrels with fellow-men, but in reducing rude nature to subjection, and making the desert blossom as the rose. Since I have become a man of peace and a tiller of the soil, I have lost my taste for the records of deeds of blood .... Another writer spoke of the intense morality of the colony as its only objectionable feature. The people kept sober; the making of wine and brandy did not cause drunkenness among the colonists-the only drunken ones to be seen being Indians. It was prohibitive by law to sell or furnish Indians intoxicating liquors. [7] One writer to take exception to the sober characteristic of the community was Edward A. Wicher who wrote of Anaheim: "It was always thrifty; and it was sometimes tipsy. " [8] (The "tipsy" could, of course, refer to the Indians.) The colonists were happy and fortunately had little illness in the first years. Music, dancing, and other pleasant social amusements were a conspicuous part of their social lives. Even before they took possession of their colony, the board of directors was planning entertainments for the members of the Vineyard Society as noted in the minutes of February 28, 1859: "It was decided to have an evening entertainment with music within the next three months and the secretary was instructed to send manager George Hansen an invitation to same." A Singing Society was established in the colony with twenty-two members in 1861. [9] It is said the men especially enjoyed singing and evening song fests. [10] Christmas was a gay occasion in early Anaheim, as was also the Festival of Kermiss, a German holiday of games, races, and matches. [11] The Polish Colony The Germans of early Anaheim were hospitable and were pleased to see guests. A very distinguished guest came to Anaheim in September, 1876, intending to make her home there. She was Madame Helena Modjeska, the famous actress, who with her husband, Count Bozenta Chlapowski, and son and a small group of friends from Poland, including Henryk Sienkiewicz, author of Quo Vadis ?-a total party of eleven persons-intended to establish a Utopian Polish colony in California, on the order of Brook Farm of New England fame. Anaheim was selected because of its German-speaking people inasmuch as these Poles spoke German. [12] The Poles were also anxious to profit from the success of the Anaheim Germans in learning methods of developing their colony. The project was a failure, however, due to the impractical character of the colonists who were "intellectuals, " unaccustomed to manual labor so necessary for the enterprise. Furthermore, the physical facilities were crowded and unpleasant, the house used as living quarters on the rented land being very small for those it was meant to accommodate. Modjeska did admit, though, that in spite of all discomforts, the view of the Sierra Madre Mountains to the north and the~Santa Anas to the east was beautiful. In December, 1876, Count Bozenta purchased a tract of land, some 47.1 acres in extent, near the present location in Anaheim of Center Street and Placentia Avenue, land which, when the colony was disbanded, was resold to its original owners at a considerable loss. After failing to tend properly the horses, cows, and poultry on the farm, and with general discouragement and homesickness, the colony collapsed with all returning to Poland except the Chlapowskis who later settled in nearby Santiago Canyon, on an estate to be known as "Arden. " [13] Churches Anaheim was an unusual nationalistic, homogenous settlement in that those who founded it were not as a group attached to any one religious denomination. Some were even atheists, and there was no established church in the community until ten years after the first settlers arrived. Until establishment of church buildings, religious meetings of various denominations were held in the office of the Water Company which also served as the school during the week. Missionaries passing through the colony conducted meetings on Sundays or in evenings. [14] Catholic services were held by visiting priests from Los Angeles. Between 1869 and 1886, various denominations organized congregations and constructed edifices. In 1869, a Presbyterian church was organized by the Reverend L. P. Webber, who also founded Westminster colony west of Anaheim. A church building costing $3,500 was built in 1872. [15] St. Michael's Episcopal Church was organized in 1875, with services held in Enterprise Hall at Los Angeles and Chartres Street. In the fall of 1876, a church building was completed at a cost of $3,600. A Roman Catholic Society was organized in 1876, and a building completed in 1879, at a cost of $1,000. [16] A German Methodist Episcopal Church was established in 1881. [17] Masonic Lodge No. 207, F. and A. M. was organized in October, 1870, with a hall built two years later at a cost of $4,000. Anaheim Lodge, No. 199, I.O.O.F. was organized January 23, 1872, and a hall erected in 1875. Orpheus Lodge No. 237, I. O.O.F., was organized November 5, 1875, by a number of Germans who preferred to work in their own language, and Orion Encampment No. 54, I. O. O. F. was formed January 4, 1876. Anaheim Lodge No. 85, A.O.U. W. was organized March 5, 1879, surrendered its charter in 1893, but was reorganized under the same name and number in June, 1900. [18] A literary society, the Anaheim Literary Union, was formed in 1877, "holding weekly meetings for musical and literary exercises every Tuesday evening in the Presbyterian Church. " [19] Schools In the fall of 1859, soon after the first colonists arrived, under the initiation of August Langenberger, prominent merchant and colony leader, a petition was circulated for signatures and presented to Mr. J. F. Burns, Superintendent of Schools of Los Angeles County, requesting a school for Anaheim. The request was granted and a school opened in a room in one of the adobe buildings on the large lot of Mr. Langenberger in the center of the community. A teacher was found from among the shareholders, Mr. Fred William Kuelp, who had not yet left San Francisco to take possession of his twenty-acre tract. A temporary home was provided for .him since there was no dwelling upon his property, and in early spring of 1860, he arrived with his family and formally opened the school in the fall of that year with nine pupils enrolled. [20] There were other difficulties to be overcome in addition to securing a physical plant and a teacher for Anaheim's first school. There was the problem of getting supplies and ascertaining requirements from the county superintendent, which entailed tiresome trips over undeveloped roads to Los Angeles. Books and supplies were actually ordered through Mr. Langenberger's store and shipped to Anaheim from San Francisco via San Pedro. Compensation for schoolmaster Kuelp was not great, and to help meet expenses his wife taught music, sewing, and fancy-work, and he became Justice of the peace and Notary Public. Also to make it easier for the family to live on the small salary, they were provided residence quarters in the new adobe building which was constructed for the school, only to be destroyed shortly after its completion in the flood of February, 1862. Classes were then moved to the home of Mr. Langenberger and then later to the building of the Anaheim Water Company. Water Company quarters were not entirely satisfactory, for the one room was sometimes used for meetings of officers of the Company simultaneously with the conduct of classes. Mr. Kuelp continued under these handicaps until 1869, when he was forced to resign because of ill health. The most significant name in early Anaheim School history is that of J.M. Guinn, a graduate of Oberlin College, who came to Los Angeles and to Anaheim in late 1869, and served the system as teacher and principal until his resignation in 1881, when he became Superintendent of Schools of the city of Los Angeles. Mr. Guinn faced an old adobe building with one window, empty boxes and benches for seats, rudely constructed tables for desks, and twenty students when he arrived in Anaheim. Soon an assistant teacher was hired to teach the primary children and a new building constructed, financed by a district tax of about $2, 000 approved in an election early in 1870. Funds were always a problem in maintaining the school. However, Anaheim did well in relation to other districts of the county, ranking third in 1873 in that apportioned among thirty-six districts. Anaheim received $1,216.75, Green Meadow Districts, $1,299.17, and Los Angeles, $8,383.00. Later Anaheim was second in apportionment. Another $1, 000 was raised by a district tax in 1874, and $3,190.50 in 1876. The paramount need of the district was a new school building since the old school house had long reached its capacity, the primary department having to meet in rented quarters elsewhere. A plot of land was purchased in early 1877, for $1, 500 on which a building was to be erected. To finance the building, Mr. Guinn in 1877, drafted a bill authorizing the district to issue bonds in the amount of $10,000 and was instrumental in securing passage of the bill by the legislature, March 12, 1878. The bonds were sold at par. This was one of the first, if not the first instance in the state of incorporating and bonding a school district to secure funds for school building construction. The building resulting from this bond issue- the old Central School-became known as "the handsomest school building in the county outside of Los Angeles city. " [21] It was built in the center of a two-acre lot landscaped with pepper and pine trees and hedged with cypress, at a cost, including grounds, of some $13,000. School enrollment in Anaheim in 1878-1879 was 217, with an average daily attendance of 130. There were four grades in the district school taught by two men and two women with salaries from $73.00 to $75.00 per month. The first class to graduate from the high school was in June, 1880. Politics Anaheim township was created December 17, 1860, setting it apart from Santa Ana township. On February 10, 1870, an act for incorporation for a city of Anaheim was approved by the California State Legislature and Governor Henry H. Haight. The city was declared incorporated according to an act of 1850 which provided for the incorporation of cities. The territory incorporated was described as: All that track of land known by the name of Anaheim, lying and being in the county of Los Angeles in this state and comprising the east halves of sections 9 and 16, and the whole of sections 10, 11, 14, and 15 of township four south range ten west, of the San Bernardino meridian and base line. [22] In the contest for mayor, Theodore Reiser and Max Stroble tied in the election of August 16, 1870, but Mr. Stroble was victorious in the second election on August 30. [23] A council of five members was elected, with John Fischer, president. F. W. Kuelp, former schoolmaster, became city clerk. The incorporated city was given responsibility for maintenance of streets, a responsibility held by the Anaheim Water Company until that time. The tax burden covering these maintenance matters proved too great for the city, and on petition of citizens the charter was revoked by act of State Legislature, March 7, 1872, and approved by Governor Newton Booth. August Langenberger, Theodore Rimpau, and Theodore Reiser were appointed commissioners to settle and adjust matters. After the charter was revoked, the Water Company refused to reassume maintenance expenses it formerly held. Once again the town was incorporated by the Board of Supervisors on December 6, 1876, and on March 18, 1878, by act of Legislature. It was reorganized as a city of sixth class in 1888. [24] In 1886, Anaheim was still the only incorporated town in the county outside Los Angeles. Anaheim was a part of Los Angeles County until 1889, but twenty years previous sentiment was being expressed for creation of "Anaheim County, " and Anaheim had its official representative in Sacramento ready to present its claims and that of its thriving neighbors for cutting off one thousand square miles from the southeast portion of Los Angeles County. Max Stroble was that representative in the state capital and was instrumental in securing signatures for petitions advocating separation on grounds of long distance to the county seat with inconvenience and expense in reaching it over ungraded roads and unbridged rivers and at a cost of six dollars round-trip for the two-day journey by tri-weekly stage. It was also argued that Los Angeles politicians monopolized county government. The proposed dividing line began at a point in the Pacific, three nautical miles southwest from the mouth of the old San Gabriel River, then northeast following the channel of that river to the intersection with San Bernardino base line, thence east on that line to the division line between Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. [25] Stroble's bill passed the Assembly in its 1869-70 session with little opposition, and the hopes of divisionists were high. It was then that Los Angeles awoke to the loss segregation would mean, and enough opposition developed in the Senate to defeat the bill. Funds were contributed to enable Stroble to urge the Senate to reconsider, but he failed. He died soon after his defeat, and management of the county division scheme was placed in the hands of a committee. A bill to create a new county was introduced into the legislative session of 1872, but never reached a vote. Efforts also failed in 1878 and 1881, to form a new county, but finally on August 1, 1889, Orange County was officially formed. This time Anaheim, challenged by the prominence of its neighbor, Santa Ana, opposed the effort which succeeded in making Santa Ana the county seat. [26] FOOTNOTES [1] Hittel, The Resources of California, pp. 417-18. [2] Daily Alta California, September 28, 1865. [3] "Anaheim, " The Land and Emigration Review, pp. 17-19. [4] Nordhoff, California; For Health, Pleasure, and Residence, p. 176. [5] To dispel the idea that all residents of early Anaheim were completely without sin, it is interesting to note in the minutes of the Anaheim Water Company, November 7, 1863, that a committee was appointed to investigate cutting of willow poles from the main ditch. Subsequent minutes reveal certain persons had taken the public poles for inside fencing of their own private lots. [6] San Diego World, May 8, 1873, found in Bancroft Scraps, "Los Angeles County," p. 472. [7] Ordinances of the Town of Anaheim, County of Los Angeles, State of California (Anaheim, California: Anaheim Gazette, Job Print, 1877). [8] Edward A. Wichcr, The Presbyterian Church in California, 1849-1927 (New York: Frederick H. Hitchcock, 1927), p. 148. [9] Los Angeles Star, February 23, 1861. [10] Charles H. Rinehart, "A Study of the Anaheim Community, " (unpublished Master's thesis, The University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1933), p. 35. [11] Works Progress Administration Research Project No. 3105, "Pioneer Tales, " 1936, p. 114. [12] Helena Modjeska, Memories and Impressions (New York: Macmillan Co., 1910), p. 283. [13] Milton L. Kosberg, "The Polish Colony of California, 1876-1914, " (unpublished Master's Thesis, The University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1952), pp. 52-58. [14] Elenora A. Parker, Development and Growth of Anaheim Public Schools, 1859- 1928 (Anaheim, California: Colonist Press, Anaheim Union High School, 1929), p. 6. [15] Pleasants, History of Orange County, California, I, 340. [16] James M. Guinn, Historical and Biographical Record of Southern California (Chicago: Chapman Publishing Co., 1902), p. 191. [17] Anaheim Gazette, October 28, 1937 (an anniversary issue containing historical information). [18] Guinn, Historical and Biographical Record of Southern California, p. 191. [19] Thompson and West, History of Los Angeles County, p. 158. [20] Parker, Development and Growth of Anaheim Public Schools, pp. 2-4. All material for this section on schools has been taken from this source. [21] Thompson and West, History of Los Angeles County, p. 155. [22] Anaheim Gazette, October 28, 1937. [23] Major Max von Stroble had a fascinating life. After participating in the German Revolution of 1848, he took part in a filibustering expedition to Nicaragua, and then came to Anaheim to make wine. Tiring of that in 1867, he unsuccessfully bored for oil on the Brea Ranch. He then started the movement to divide Los Angeles County. Failing there, he began a newspaper in Anaheim in 1872, The People's Advocate, which lasted a year or two. His last adventure was an attempt to "sell" Santa Catalina Island, but the evening before the sale was to be effected for the owners, von Stroble died. (Newmark, Sixty Years in California, pp. 406-07.) [24] Dickson, "The Founding and Early History of Anaheim, " p. 32. [25] James M. Guinn, History of California and an Extended History of its Southern Coast Counties (Los Angeles; Historic Record Company, 1907), p. 471. [26] Guinn, History of California and an Extended History of its Southern Coast Counties, p. 473.