Los Angeles
County
Biographies
JOHN
WILLIAM CLAY
Chief
engineer and superintendent of the City of Alhambra Water Department until his
retirement in 1958, John William Clay had entered the service of the City of Alhambra
in 1924 as a junior engineer. One of his
finest achievements was the designing and building of the largest all steel
welded water storage tanks in the United States, which were installed in
Alhambra at Marengo Avenue and Alhambra Road in 1935. Duplicate tanks were completed in 1940 and
installed at the corner of McLean Street and Alhambra Road.
John
William Clay’s ancestors date back to 1613 in the United States when Captain
John Clay, an officer in the English Grenadier Guard, landed at Jamestown and
settled in Charles City County, Virginia.
He was the son of Sir John Clay, a coal baron of Wales. John William Clay’s great-great-grandfather
was Jordan Clay, of Halifax, Virginia, who was a soldier in the War of
1812. He served in the 5th
Regiment, Virginia Militia and also in the Virginia Artillery at Fort
Norfolk. A cousin of Henry Clay, the
statesman, Jordan Clay moved to Lawrence County, Kentucky, in 1850. John William Clay’s grandfather was John
Akers Clay who was born at Inez, Martin County, Kentucky, August
5, 1836. During the Civil War he served
as a lieutenant in Company 8H of the 16th Regiment, Mounted
Infantry, in the Confederate Army. Mr.
Clay’s maternal grandfather, William Eplin, was also
a Confederate soldier in the cavalry. He
fought under the Confederate General J. E. B. Stuart.
John
William Clay was born March 2, 1888, in Dassel, Meeker County, Minnesota, the
son of George and Letha Jane (Eplin) Clay. George Clay moved his family from Minnesota
to Montana in 1889 and was employed by the Northern Pacific Railroad, then
engaged in improving their line through Montana, in their civil engineering
department. While living in Montana,
John Clay played only with Flathead Indian Reservation children until he was
sent away to attend school.
Receiving
his elementary education in Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, Mr. Clay
attended high school in Pendleton, Oregon.
He studied civil engineering through the International Correspondence
School, and in 1932 took a course in government at the University of Southern
California; he is a registered civil engineer in the state of California.
Before
his arrival in California on October 13, 1913, Mr. Clay was engaged in railroad
and United States Reclamation Service construction work. In California he was employed by the Pacific
Electric Railway until World War I.
Following the war he was employed by the United States Engineers, War Department,
in moving the mouth of the Los Angeles River away from San Pedro and locating
it at Long Beach. He was later engaged
by the city of Fullerton to build a water reservoir and install new water
lines. In 1922 Mr. Clay surveyed and
laid out the original city of Temple City, and also surveyed and laid out many
subdivisions in the city of Alhambra before entering the Alhambra city service
in 1924. He is presently director of
District Number Two of the San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District. Holding this position since 1959, his term
expires on January 1, 1965.
During
World War I, John William Clay was a sergeant in Company C of the 18th
Engineer Regiment of the United States Army.
He landed in France on August 26, 1917, the first engineers’ regiment to
land there, and remained in that country until April 24, 1919. He was honorably discharged from the Army on
May 15, 1919, in San Francisco, and received the Service Medal for serving in
France.
A
member of the Church of Our Savior Episcopal Church in San Gabriel, Mr. Clay is
also a member of the Alhambra Chamber of Commerce as well as the American
Legion, Alhambra Post Number 139, and the American Water Work Association. He is a thirty-second degree Mason of the
Pasadena Consistory and of the Alhambra Masonic Lodge Number 322, and is a
Shriner affiliated with the Al Malaikah Temple in Los Angeles.
John
William Clay and the former Miss Aileen Eleanor Outwater
were married on January 19, 1947, in Las Vegas, Nevada. They are the parents of two daughters, Joleen and Susan Jane, who are students at Marguerita Elementary School in Alhambra.
Mrs.
Clay graduated from Southern California College in Allendale, an area of
Pasadena, in 1933. She is a past
president of both Alpha Delta Chapter and Alpha Mu Chapter of Phi Epsilon Phi,
a businesswomen’s sorority. A secretary
on the staff of Los Angeles State College, Mrs. Clay is also active in Girl
Scout work and in the Marguerita School
Parent-Teachers’ Association in Alhambra.
Mrs. Clay is also a member of Alhambra Chapter No. 193 Order of the
Eastern Star.
Mr.
Clay has written articles for the engineering profession, and for relaxation
takes great enjoyment from hunting and fishing.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 622-624, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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