Ventura
County
Biographies
EDMUND ROY GILL
Edmund Roy Gill, mayor of Oxnard
since 1927, has been successfully engaged in farming pursuits in Ventura County
during the past twenty-two years. He was
born in the province of Quebec, Canada, in 1882, his parents being Alexander
and Melinda (Smith) Gill, who settled in Ventura County, California, in 1886
and passed away in the years 1906 and 1922, respectively. The great-grandfather of E. R. Gill in the
maternal line was a resident of Vermont who fought in the Revolutionary
War. Subsequently he left Vermont for
the province of Quebec but returned to the United States at the time of the War
of 1812, refusing to become a British subject.
He lived to the remarkable age of one hundred four years. It was in 1886, as above stated, that
Alexander Gill, the father of our subject, brought his family to California and
came directly from Los Angeles to Ventura County, where he engaged in farming. He reared a family of twelve children, eight
sons and four daughters, all of whom survive.
Edmund Roy Gill, who was four years
of age when brought by his parents to Ventura County, California, acquired his
education in the public schools and a business college. On attaining his majority he leased the Wolfskill Ranch in Los Angeles with his brother Ernest D.
Gill and together they farmed the place from 1903 to 1911. This property is now
the university site. Returning to
Ventura County in 1911, Mr. Gill purchased a farm at Oxnard which he has since
devoted largely to the growing of beans and sugar beets.
In early manhood Mr. Gill was united
in marriage to Miss Mae Anna Schmidtz of Oxnard,
California, and they are the parents of two sons, Edmund Roy, Jr., and Alfred
Carl, graduates of Occidental College of Los Angeles. Masonic degrees have been conferred upon both
sons by their father.
Mr. Gill became a member of the city
council of Oxnard in 1926 and the following year was appointed to the office of
mayor, which he has held to the present time.
He has been uniformly successful in handling the various problems of
city government and has made a splendid record in office. Actively identified with the Chamber of
Commerce, he has served as vice president and is now a director of this civic
body. A worthy exemplar of the teachings
and purposes of the Masonic fraternity, he is past master of the blue lodge,
past high priest of the chapter and past patron of the Order of the Eastern
Star. He is also affiliated with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks. Mr. Gill is a man of quiet, modest
disposition and a successful agriculturist, who has demonstrated unusual
ability in the affairs of civic government as mayor of Oxnard.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 111-112, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN
NUGGET'S VENTURA
BIOGRAPIES