Los
Angeles County
Biographies
WILLIAM FRANKLIN SCHOCH
An able lawyer with a background of
nearly fifty years of practical experience in the legal profession, William
Franklin Schoch has practiced successfully at Long Beach since 1921. He was born in Le Roy, McLean County,
Illinois, January 5, 1859, a son of David H. Schoch, who was a native of
Freeburg, Pennsylvania, born March 1, 1830.
The family is of Swiss origin but its representatives lived in Alsace
for generations and spoke the German language.
The American progenitor, Matthias Schoch, came to this country in 1759,
settling near Kreamer, Snyder County, Pennsylvania,
and there built what was long known as the “Schoch blockhouse” to protect himself and neighbors from Indian attacks. David H. Schoch married Eunice Ann Abbott,
who was born in Circleville, Ohio, June 7, 1836, and came of English ancestry.
Reared on a farm, William F. Schoch
acquired his early instruction in a country school and attended high school at
Parsons, Kansas, for two years, afterward becoming a teacher. When a lad of twelve he left his native state
removing with the family to Jefferson County, Iowa, in 1871, and lived in the
vicinity of Batavia and Abingdon for four years. With his parents he journeyed to Akron,
Harrison County, Missouri, in 1875, and in 1877 went with them to Labette
County, Kansas, where he taught school, devoting his leisure hours to the study
of law. Admitted to the bar at Oswego,
Kansas, in 1883, he opened a law office at Mound Valley, that state, but in
1890 returned to Oswego, practicing there until 1895. He then located in Topeka, Kansas, and for a
quarter of a century ranked with the leading members of the bar of that
city. In 1920 he came to Long Beach,
entering upon practice here in February, 1921, and began making real estate
loans about the same time. In these
fields of activity he has since continued.
In Montana, Labette County, Kansas,
on February 12, 1884, Mr. Schoch was married to Miss Katharine Bates, who was
born near Carlinville, Illinois, May 25, 1859.
Her parents, who were of English lineage, were natives respectively of
Tennessee and Kentucky. Her father died
in 1877 and the mother in 1917. Mrs.
Schoch passed away August 12, 1912, at the age of fifty-three years. She was a member of the Art Club and the
Study Club of Topeka, Kansas, and an active worker in the Protestant Episcopal
Church.
A lifelong Republican, Mr. Schoch
has been an influential factor in the councils of the party since 1884. While living in the Sunflower state he was
several times chosen a member of the county central committee and in 1888 was
made chairman of the Republican central committee of Labette County. In 1924 he was elected a member of the
Republican central committee of Los Angeles County. Called to public offices of importance, he
discharged every trust reposed in him to the best of his ability and
established an enviable record as a public servant. He was city attorney of Oswego, Kansas, from
1891 to 1894; probate judge of Shawnee County from 1909 to 1913; and represented
that county in the Kansas state senate from 1916 to 1920. At Parsons, Kansas, he joined the state
militia, of which he was a member from 1878 to 1883. A prominent Mason, Mr. Schoch is identified
with Siloam Lodge, No. 225, A. F. & A. M., at Topeka, Kansas; Topeka
Commandery, No. 5, K. T.; and also belongs to Palos Verdes Chapter, No. 310, of
the Eastern Star at Long Beach. His
religious belief is indicated in his membership in the Protestant Episcopal
Church. Vigorous and alert, he appears
much younger than his seventy-four years and is highly esteemed because of his
fine qualities of heart and mind and his upright, industrious and serviceable
life.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 73-75, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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