Orange
County
Biographies
JAMES SLEEPER
On the roster of public officials in
Orange County appears the name of James Sleeper, who has filled the position of
county assessor by repeated re-election during the past twenty-two years. He was born in Lewisburg, Arkansas, October
5, 1866, his parents being Leander and Sarah (Holyfield) Sleeper. Leander Sleeper, a native of Kentucky, served
as a captain of infantry in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. In 1870 he came to California, locating at
Los Nietos, Los Angeles County, where he remained for three years. On the expiration of that period he returned
east to Arkansas, in which state he continued his residence until 1885, serving
as sheriff of Conway County, Arkansas, in the years 1882, 1883 and 1884. He came back to California in 1885 and was
successfully engaged in the contracting business in San Bernardino until his
retirement some time prior to his death which occurred in 1896. He gave his political allegiance to the
Democratic Party, was a Baptist in religious faith and fraternally was
affiliated with the Masons and the Knights of Honor. Mrs. Sarah (Holyfield) Sleeper was a native
of Alabama who crossed the plains to California in 1851, locating in
Stockton. In 1856 she went back east as
far as Arkansas, where she formed the acquaintance of her future husband,
Leander Sleeper. The couple returned to
California in 1870 and in this state Mrs. Sleeper spent the remainder of her
life, passing away in the year 1904. She
was held in high esteem by all who knew her and had an extensive circle of warm
friends. By her marriage she became the
mother of four sons and three daughters, but only two members of the family
survive, James and Mrs. Alice Woods, the latter a resident of Morrilton,
Arkansas.
James Sleeper supplemented his
public school education by attendance at the University of Arkansas in
Fayetteville. After leaving college he
was employed in a drug store at Morrilton, Arkansas, for a year and next spent
two years in Ballinger, Texas, as bookkeeper in the service of a wholesale
hardware firm. In April, 1886, when a
youth of nineteen years, he made his way to San Bernardino County, California,
and became bookkeeper for the Talmadge Lumber Company of Little Bear, now
Arrowhead, this state. In the fall of
1886 he obtained the position of bookkeeper with the B. O. Johnson Company at
Redlands, California, who conducted one of the first mercantile establishments
of that city. Mr. Sleeper remained in
Redlands until 1887 and in the following year entered the office of the
assessor of San Bernardino County, continuing therein until October, 1888. At that time he came to Santa Ana, then a
part of Los Angeles County, and located on the San Joaquin Ranch, where he
devoted his attention to the raising of grain and beans for fifteen years. Subsequently he spent a similar period on the
Trabuco Ranch in Orange County, being thus successfully engaged in ranching for
thirty years altogether. It was in
January, 1911, that Mr. Sleeper was appointed county assessor of Orange County
to succeed W. M. Scott, who had died shortly after his election. Mr. Sleeper has continued in the office of
assessor throughout the intervening period of more than twenty-two years,
having been re-elected at the close of each four-year term. His present term will expire in 1935. Though a Democrat in politics, he was twice
elected without opposition in a county which has a normal Republican majority,
for his ability and his integrity and fairness in the discharge of his
important duties are recognized by all.
Mr. Sleeper has been twice married,
first in 1891 to Miss Loretta Harlin of Santa Ana, California, who died in 1904
leaving four children as follows:
Claude, a veteran of the World War; Ina, Mrs. Kenneth Morrison; Lloyd;
and Boyd. In 1905 Mr. Sleeper married
Miss Harriett D. Madden of Santa Ana, and they became the parents of a son,
James William, who died in 1922 at the age of sixteen years.
A worthy exemplar of the teachings
and purposes of the Masonic fraternity, Mr. Sleeper is a member of Santa Ana
Lodge, No. 241, F. & A. M.; Santa Ana Chapter, No. 73, R. A. M.; Santa Ana
Council, No. 14, R. & S. M.; Santa Ana Commandery, No. 36, K. T.; and Al
Malaikah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Los Angeles. He is likewise affiliated with Santa Ana
Lodge, No. 236, I. O. O. F., and with Santa Ana Lodge, No. 794, B. P. O.
E. His religious faith is indicated by
his membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and his life has been
an upright and honorable one in every relation.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 249-251, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S
ORANGE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES