Orange
County
Biographies
CHESTER E. HOLCOMB
A leader in every project for Orange
County’s development and prosperity, Chester E. Holcomb belongs to that
desirable class of citizens who make their private business enterprises public
assets and is now in charge of the Long Beach office of the D. S. Jeppson Company, certified public accountants, but resides
at 2202 East Commonwealth Avenue, Fullerton.
He was born in Muscatine, Iowa, June 1, 1867, a son of the Rev. Francis
Reuben Holcomb, of who more extended mention is made elsewhere in this work,
and Annie L. (Johnson) Holcomb, both now deceased.
Reared in the Hawkeye state, Chester
E. Holcomb supplemented his public school training by attendance at the Eastern
Iowa Normal School and the Iowa Wesleyan University. In 1888 he came with the family to California
and has since been identified with the citrus fruit industry of Orange
County. He was chosen secretary of the
Placentia Orange Growers Association in 1895, acting in that capacity until
1899, and was next cashier of the Fruit Growers Bank of Fullerton. It was converted into the First National Bank
of Fullerton in 1900, Mr. Holcomb continuing as cashier until 1901, when he
went to Thermal and took up a desert claim, proving up on it. In 1903 he entered upon the duties of cashier
of the Citizens Bank of Anaheim, which he helped to reorganize, and it then
became known as the First National Bank of Anaheim. Of this institution he was cashier and a
director until 1904, when he disposed of his banking interests, and returned to
the Coachella Valley, specializing in the raising of cantaloupes and asparagus. In 1905 he formed the Melon Growers
Association of Coachella Valley, doing important work as manager of the
organization, and this was the real beginning of melon growing in southern
California. Pioneering in other
departments of agriculture, Mr. Holcomb, in association with his father, was
the first to ship asparagus from southern California to Chicago and eastern
markets. Chester E. Holcomb began
growing oranges about 1907, continuing for thirteen years. He was one of the organizers and the first
president of the Northern Orange County Fruit Exchange, also became president
of the Anaheim Citrus Association and a director of the Semi-Tropical Fruit
Exchange.
In 1914 Chester E. Holcomb again
became an influential factor in financial circles of Orange County by acquiring
control of the First National Bank of Anaheim, of which he was elected
president, and the American Savings Bank of Anaheim, affiliated with the First
National. In 1919 he purchased stock in
the First National Bank of Fullerton and was made vice president of the
institution, which also profited by his financial acumen and foresight. Constantly increasing the scope of his
activities, he turned his attention to public utilities and for three years was
a director of the Southern Counties Gas Company. Formerly he was also identified with the
newspaper business as an associate of George Case, with whom he published the
Fullerton Journal in 1890. He has an
unusual capacity for detail and his power of concentration enables him to give
his entire thought to the matter in hand, so that he brings to bear all of his
force and energy in the accomplishment of his purpose. He is now the manager of the Long Beach
branch of the D. S. Jeppson Company, well known as
certified public accountants, who also maintain offices in Santa Monica and Los
Angeles.
In 1899 Mr. Holcomb married Miss
Minnie Zeyn, whose father, John P. Zeyn, was one of the original founders of the Anaheim
colony in 1857. Mr. and Mrs. Holcomb
have two sons, John Francis and James Willis.
A thirty-second degree Mason, Mr. Holcomb belongs to Anaheim Lodge, No.
207, F. & A. M.; and Long Beach Consistory, A. A. S. R. He is likewise a Shriner, with membership in
Al Malaikah Temple at Los Angeles. In
politics he is a Republican but has never sought public office, preferring to
discharge the duties of citizenship in a private capacity. A tireless worker and a broad-gauged man of
strict integrity, Mr. Holcomb has been one of the potent forces for progress in
his district. His initiative spirit has
enabled him to continue beyond the paths marked out by others into new and
untried fields where his intelligently directed efforts have resulted in successful
achievement.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 397-399, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S ORANGE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES