Los Angeles County
Biographies
JOHN
GUESS
(Deceased)
So
long ago did John Guess’ adventurous pioneer spirit bring him to Rosemead from
Arkansas, across the plains by ox-team, that his eldest son, Henry, born a year
after his parents’ arrival in California, is believed to have been the first
American child born in Los Angeles County.
John Guess first came to the area, later known as Rosemead, in 1852,
where his descendants were to live for one hundred three years, until 1955,
substantial and public-spirited citizens who were to contribute to the area’s
progress.
John
Guess was born in Independence County, Arkansas, on March 28, 1828. His father, Joseph Guess, was engaged in
farming and trading and died during a cholera epidemic when Jon was still a
young boy. His mother, Lottie (Menyard) Guess, moved the family to Conway County,
Arkansas, where they were subjected to the rigors of pioneer farming and where
there was little formal education available.
In
March of 1852 John Guess was married to a young widow, Harriet (Holifield) Rogers; In April he and his bride started on the
seven-month journey to California, arriving in what is now Rosemead, in October
of 1852. After camping for several weeks
a short distance from where the family ranch was to be located, Mr. Guess lived
briefly in the Compton area as a farmer, and returned to Rosemead, then known
as the Savannah area, in 1855 when the Spanish dons
were the predominating influence in the community. John Guess’ ranch of one hundred seventy-four
acres included most of the area from Rosemead Boulevard to Rio Hondo. John Guess engaged in farming and
stock-raising, becoming one of the foremost stockmen of the district. Sometime between 1855 and 1859 he made the
long trip back to Missouri and returned with mules which he bred for public
use, being the first stockman in the area to do so. John Guess also had property in Riverside
County where he maintained a herd of eight hundred cattle, as well as cattle
raising operations in the vicinities of Chino and Tehachapi, but his home was
in Rosemead where he was active in public affairs. He was one of the organizers and the first
stockholder in the First National Bank of El Monte, served on the school board,
and was a Master Mason and charter member of Lexington Masonic Lodge Number
104. John Guess died at the venerable
age of ninety-one, on January 12, 1919, having subdivided his ranch in 1912 and
left it to his children. There is a
street in Rosemead named after the Guess family.
Five
of the eight children of John and Harriet Guess lived to adulthood: Henry Guess, born in 1853, the first white
child born in the area; Mrs. William T. (Sally) Slack, born in 1857; Mrs.
William (Emma) Parker, born in 1859; Richard, born in 1865; and Mrs. James
(Harriet) Steele, born in 1870. Both
Richard and Harriet spent their entire lives in Rosemead.
Richard
Guess attended schools in the Savannah area of Los Angeles County, ranched with
his father, and in 1889 married Emma Williams, born in 1870, whose family had
crossed the plains to El Monte in 1853.
Four children were born to Richard Guess and his wife: John, Frank, Charles, and Thelma.
The
eldest son, John, born in 1890, was killed in World War I and received,
posthumously, for bravery in the Battle of the Argonne which claimed his life,
the Distinguished Service Medal. The
American Legion Post in Rosemead was named in honor of John Guess.
Frank
Guess, born in 1895, the second son of Richard, served in the United States
Navy during World War I. He started the
first water company in Rosemead, founded the Abbey-Scherer Company, a wire
products company, in El Monte in 1933, and as one of the founders of the Valley
Savings and Loan Association, was president and chairman of the board for
years. He is a past president of the El
Monte Rotary Club. Frank Guess remained
in Rosemead until 1955 and now lives in Covina.
He married the former Adeline Anna Schanel of
Wisconsin, and became the father of three children, all of whom were born in
Rosemead and attended Rosemead schools:
Joseph Guess, born in 1917, manages the Abbey-Scherer Company, lives in
Covina, is married and the father of a daughter, Mrs. Denis (Jill Ann) Marvosh, who is the mother of one child, Debbie Jo, the
great-great-great granddaughter of the early pioneer, John Guess; Francis M.
Guess, born in 1924, is an anthropologist who spends most of his time in South
America, has taught school there, and has attended many universities, including
the University of Santa Barbara and the University of Mexico City, and is the
father of two children, Jinx and Janet; Mrs. Richard (Anna Adeline Guess) Pick,
born in 1938, now lives in Albany, California, while her husband continues his
studies at the University of California at Berkeley, and is the mother of two
children, Susan and Mark.
Charles
Guess, born in 1901, the youngest son of Richard Guess, and grandson of the
early pioneer, lives in Tujunga, is married to the former Alice Miller and has
a son, Richard, and a married daughter, Charlene, who is the mother of two
children.
Thelma
Guess, born in 1904, the sister of Charles, Frank, and the late John Guess,
passed away in 1934.
Transcribed
by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Historical Volume &
Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park, Rosemead, San Gabriel &
Temple City, by Robert P. Studer, Pages 371-373,
Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California.
1962.
© 2012 V.
Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES
BIOGRAPHIES