The Bixbys are a legendary name in the history of Long Beach and the Rancho Los Alamitos, and deservedly so. The true start of the family fortune goes back to the early 1850s when cousins Benjamin and Thomas Flint and Lewellyn Bixby returned home to Maine from Gold Rush California, where they had some success … Read more
This bio was originally printed in Samuel Armor’s History of Orange County, Part 2, p. 1606. JOB DENNI. — A native of Canton Unterwalden, Switzerland, Job Denni was born on September 30, 1878, at Geswil. He was educated in the public schools of his native country and is the only one now living of a … Read more
Jack Baird was a real estate agent and insurance man in Los Alamitos. He lived in Los Alamitos in the 1930s, then he and his family, which included his daughter Laura then aged three, moved to Long Beach. There Laura grew up, became a singer of some local renown and married architect Edward Killingsworth who … Read more
Clark J. Bonner was a nephew of William A. Clark and J. Ross Clark, the builders of the Los Alamitos Sugar Factory. When J. Ross Clark died in 1927, Bonner who had been a successful businessman in his own right, assumed control of J. Ross Clark’s financial interests. He already controlled the financial interests of … Read more
originally published in Long Beach Independent. Sept. 25, 1949 Mrs. Beerling is Mrs. Watte St. Matthew’s Catholic Church was the setting Saturday for a 9 a.m. wedding ceremony uniting Phyllis Marie Beerling, 1770 Stanley Avenue, and George Dennis Watte, son of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Watte of Los Alamitos. Rev. James P. Lynch was the … Read more
This article was originally published in The News-Enterprise, presumably in the year 1980. Bessie Juszkievicz was the wife of Bronislav Juszkievicz who was the field superintendent for the sugar beet factory. They arrived in Los Alamitos in 1922 from Illinois. Bronislav kept that job for a number of years, even after the factory shut down … Read more
John Ord is one of Seal Beach’s most familiar names. Over the years he continually claimed that he was not only Seal Beach’s first resident, but that for a long time he was the new town’s ONLY resident — all of which was interesting news to the 200 permanent residents who lived a few blocks … Read more
from the Long Beach Indpendent, Sunday, Nov. 8, 1950 — page 43-A Rosary or Mrs. Alice Otte Cosyns, 73, of Los Alamitos, who died yesterday, will be recited at 8pm in Mottell’s Chapel. A native of Belgium, Mrs. Cosyns came to Long Beach 39 years ago. She belonged to the St. Isadore Catholic Church. Survivors … Read more
originally submitted to the OC Register, and published on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 She tells stories from Los Alamitos’ past Esther Mejia, 94, lives in the house where she grew up. Submitted by Brett Murphy For The Orange County Register Her name is Esther Mejia. She is the one who taught me how to … Read more
Most histories of the Los Alamitos area frequently mention a strong heritage of Belgian immigrant farmers. While their numbers and impact to the area are usually overstated, some certainly had an impact. One of those was long-time Seal Beach doctor, Homer Eugene deSadeleer, whose obituary is reprinted below. According to Frans De Man, Denderhoutem in … Read more