Los Angeles County
Biographies
OLLEF OSCAR FARMER
FARMER, OLLEF OSCAR, Contractor, Los Angeles, California, was born in Vinna, Louisiana, November 30, 1877, the son of Asbury Lee Farmer and Ida V. (Fowler) Farmer. He married Nellie Worst at Los Angeles, August 19, 1900, and to them there have been born two children, Pauline V. and Albert O. Farmer.
Mr. Farmer received his primary education in the Log Cabin School of Weatherford, Texas, a private institution, in which he remained for two years. He then entered the public schools and was graduated in 1891. He followed this with a year’s attendance at the Weatherford Business College, leaving there to go into business.
His first year after leaving school he spent in the drygoods and merchandise store of his father, but in 1896 he accepted a position with J. R. Lewis & Company, hardware merchants in Weatherford, and for the next two years was busy in that capacity.
In 1898 he determined to move to the Pacific Coast, and located in August of that year at Los Angeles. His career since that time has been a series of successes, with a substantial position in the business life of the Southwestern Metropolis as the reward for his conscientious work. Like many men of the West, he began at the bottom of the ladder. He first worked in a Los Angeles department store, but after four months he left this to take a position with the Los Angeles Electric Company. He held this for nearly two years, or until October, 1900.
Leaving the electric company, Mr. Farmer rested for about two months and then became connected with the Sunset Telephone & Telegraph Company of Los Angeles, making a specialty of underground conduit systems. He remained with that corporation from January, 1901, until April, 1907, during which time he made a reputation for himself in his particular line, and resigned to take a position with the Western Paving Company. Within three months he was offered a better opportunity for advancement by the Barber Asphalt Paving Company, so went with that concern.
Although he started in as a team foreman, Mr. Farmer’s ability as a road building was quickly recognized and he was soon promoted to a better position. When he left the Barber Company in February, 1911, after nearly four years of service, he was superintendent of the Company’s work for the entire Southern California district.
At that time Mr. Farmer resigned to go into business for himself, organizing the Imperial Engineering & Construction Company, with himself as President and Treasurer. During the first year he was in business, Mr. Farmer did a large amount of road construction in the country around Los Angeles, one of his principal accomplishments being the building of a splendid boulevard through the foothills from Pasadena, California, to Monrovia, California. Southern California in recent years has become noted for its fine boulevards and Mr. Farmer is one of the men who is helping to give the State this fame. He has made a study of road conditions for many years and during his many years in that line has come to be recognized as an expert.
While he was with the Barber Asphalt Paving Company Mr. Farmer had direct supervision of some of its most notable pieces of work, these including the Sunset boulevard, one of the finest roads in the West; the Whittier Road and a vast amount of paving within the city of Los Angeles, which now ranks among the leading cities of the world in miles of paved streets.
During his connection with the Sunset Telephone Company Mr. Farmer was in charge of the underground conduit work in various cities of the Pacific Coast and put down the first four hundred pairs of telephone cables in the Los Angeles underground system. He also put in the Phoenix, Arizona; Riverside, Cal.; San Bernardino, Cal.; San Diego, Cal.; Ocean Park, Cal.; Santa Barbara, Cal., and the Salem, Oregon, systems, in addition to extensions to the Portland, Ore., and Tacoma, Wash., systems.
Mr. Farmer has never taken an active part in politics, and consequently never has held public office, but he is an enthusiastic worker for the upbuilding of Los Angeles and Southern California. He is not a club man, but prefers the society of his home circle.
He is interested in fraternal matters and has membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since 1897. He has been a member of the Knights of Maccabees since 1900.
Transcribed 7-9-09
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 317,
International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles,
Boston, Atlanta. 1913.
© 2009 Marilyn R. Pankey.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPIES