Old Studebaker Home Was Demolished and the Propert-Y Subdivided
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THE CASE & STUDEBAKER HOUSES In the nor thwest portion of Monrovia on what is now Hillcrest Boulevard there stood for many years two large houses that appear ed to be identical in all exterior respects except that one was the "mirror image" of the other. It was not until after 1904 that house numbers came into general use in Monrovia and when this came about these houses became No. 409 and No. 447 we ~ t Hillcrest. One, which is still standing, No. 447, occupies the northeast corner of Mayflower and Hillcrestt and the other, No. 409 was located on the northwest corner of Alta Vista and Hillcrest. The latter was de molished in 1940 and the property on which it stood was subdivided. The street now called Hillcrest Boulevard was originally named Banana avenue and Alta Vista was formerly named J.I.C. avenue, for a race horse owned by Mr. Jerome I. Case, a wealthy machineTy manufact urer of Racine , Wisconsin. Some uncertainty about the early history of these houses has led to controvers~ and the purpose . of this paper is to shed ~hatever ~· light that can be obtained from a study of the records. To go back in ,time a bit, the town of Monrovia was started on May 17, 1886 when the first lot was sold in a new townsite marketed by a group of capitalists headed by W.N. Monroe, a retired railroad build er, and a few of his friends. At that time southern California was experiencing a fantastic real estate boom and property was being bought and sold at a rapid rate, pushing prices up far beyond real istic values. Within a year most of the area now included within the city limits had been subdivided and sold and re-sold. By the latter part -of 1888 :- the boom had . ~ co:Liapsed and several years · of __ severe ec onomic depression ensued. Among Mr. Monroe's many long-time friends were Mr. J.I. Case, of Racine, Wisconsin, and Mr. J.M. Studebaker, of South Bend, Indiana, each of whom played an active part during ..Monrovia's early days. This story is concerned with some of their operations her~ · 4uring that time. The Monrovia Planet, Monrovia's first newspaper, in its issue of March 5, 1887, carried the following announcement from the Los Angeles Times: "E.J. Baldwin(the owner of the Santa Anita Rancho) has sold · 15 acres of the Santa Anita ranch land to each of the two Studebaker brothers, recently from Indiana. Each will erect upon his place a $20 , 000 residence and five or six other wealthy men will put up ele ~ant homes in the same vicinity." A week later, on March 12, 1887, The Planet announced: "The Stude baker brothers of South Bend, Indiana, visited Monrovia one day this week. They have each purchased 15 acres of foothill property from E.J. Baldwin, of the Santa Anita ranch, and will !lllfe rect thereon elegant homes fDr t hemselves and t heir families. Their property nearly ad- joins that of General Pile so that Monrovia may claim them as citizens." The Studebaker brothers referred to above were J.M. Wohn Mohler) Studebaker and J.F.(Jacob Franklin) Studebaker. They were the sons of John Clement and Rebecca Mohler Studebaker who had a family of thirteen children, three of which died in early childhood. Of the ten " -2- who reached maturity, John M. was the sixth and Jacob F. the tenth. John was the ninth to die, having reached the age of 84 years while Jacob, the second to die only attained 47 years. It is believed John and Jacob .were close. as the latter lived in a large house adjoining the former's home, "Sunnyside", in South Bend, Indiana. A search of recorded deeds for early 1887 in the Hall of Records, Los Angeles, failed to disclose any such for Jacob F. Studebaker al though the record is replete with references to John M. Studebaker. Thus, it seems likely t~at Jacob did not purchase any land while visiting here early in March, 1887. At the conclusion of his visit he returned to his home in Indiana and on December 17,1887 he died, apparently of appendicitis, in Chicago• John M. Studebaker extended his visit here for about two months, buying properties in Monrovia and a ranch ~n Duarte. Among his ac quisitions were lots in Monrovia where the Leven Oaks Hotel now stands, The present owner of the hotel has in his possession the original deed signed by J.M. Studebaker. Also, Mr. Studebaker owned lots on the southeast corner of Lime and Myrtle avenues which he donated to the First Presbyterian Church on which was erected the church's original edifice. At about the $arne time he also acquired considerable acreage in the northwest part of Monrovia north of Hillcrest which he developed and formed the Studebaker Addition to the town of Monrovia, first shown on the McDonald Map . of Monrovia issued in August 1887. The portion of the Studebaker Addition pertaining to this discussion is the SW* NW* and a portion of NW*SW* of Section 23 SBBM .which J.M. Studebaker subdivided and sold to J.I. Case on April 18,1887 ex cepting a small tract ~aving a frontage on Hillcrest of 210 feet which he retained for his own homestead. This was augmented by the purchase from John M. Thomas of a strip along Alta Vista avenue with a frontage on Hillcrest of 157 feet. Thus both Case and Stude baker acquired land for their homesteads in April 1887 and each pro ceeded to build their respective homes thereon. The Studebaker home stead occupied the northwest corner of what is now Alta Vista. and Hillcrest with a frontage on Hillcrest of 367 feet. Likewise, the Case homestead occupied the northeast corner of Mayflower and Hill- _crest with a frontage on Hillcrest of 367 feet. In its issue of August 6, 1887 the Monrovia Planet announced "Messrs. Studebaker and Case, the former of South Bend, Indiana, pnd the latter of Racine, Wisconsin, are receiving bids for the construction of their handsome cottages above Banana avenue." On November 5, 1887 the Planet announced,"The foundation of J.M. Studebaker's residence, corner of J.I.C. and Banana avenues, has been completed and construction of the house.- ommenced." Alth6ugh his house was still under construction, Mr. Studebaker announced his intention to be back in Monrovia for Christmas 1887, but his trip was delayed by the death of his brother, Jacob, as mentioned earlier. He finally arrived in February 1888 and stayed until the middle of April. Both the Studebaker and Case hduses appear in the list of houses built in 1887 published i~ the Monrovia Planet for December 31, 1887. . -3-
With respect to the Case homestead the Planet had little to say beyond what is mentioned above. However, there was an indica tion that the Case family spent the winter of 1887-88 here which suggests that the Case house was built at about the same time as the Studebaker house. In the March 21, 1889 issue of the Monrovia Messenger, suc ce.ssor to the Monrovia Planet, the following item appeared: "J.I. Case, of Racine, Wis., arrived last Thursday. His daughter, Mrs. Wallace and her little daughter, reached here this week and they now occupy Mr. Case's elegant residence on Banana avenue. Mr. Case has been in poor health but is improved and he comes to Monrovia to still further recuperate." Mr. Case together with Mr. Studebaker had considerabl~~holdings in real property here , some of which they held jointly at one time or another. Mr. Case ultimately bought much of the Studebaker lands and these belonged to his estate which were sold in 1914 to Sidney Luther, a capitalist of Los Angeles, for $32,000. The property con sisted of 116 acres of unimproved land. So much for the early newspaper accounts---now for the evidence from contemporary witnesses that were published sometime after the events mentioned above all of whom were living here in Monrovia in the same time frame as those events. They are J.W. Harvey, editor and publisher of the Monrovia Planet and its successor, the Monrovia Messenger; W.A. Chess, cashier of the First National Bank of Mon rovia; and Mrs. L.E. Hotchkiss, this writer's mother who came to Mon rovia with her parents in October 1886 and spent the rest of her life here. In 1897 there appeared a "Souvenir Edition" · of the Monrovia Mess enger to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Monrovia as an incorpor ated city. It was lavishly illustrated fo~ its time and although only two copies are known to this writer to have survived to the present day, it is a valuable source of information for the early period. On p. 13 there appears a picture of the house presently standing at 447 west Hillcrest as it was in 1897· At that time it ·was owned by Jonathan B. Harris, reputed to be Monrovia's first ·millionaire. The picture with its accompanying caption states, in part: "The house was built by the late J. I. Case of Racine, Wis., for a winter home. It is a commodious house of ten rooms, at the cor ~er of Banana and Mayflower avenues, and is surrounded by a great variety of flowers and tropical plants. His orchard consists of ten .acres, mostly planted . to oranges and lemons. The - place has a large reservoir and a private water supply." ~nfortunately Mr. Harvey, editor of the Messenger, did not show in his pap~ a corresponding picture. of the house built by Mr. Studebaker on the corner of J.I.C. and Banana avenues. (No. 409) - Mr.Harris purchased the house from W.H. Cook in 1894. Mr. --cook was the cashier for the Granite Bank of Monrovia. This bank had been organized in 1887 by E.F. Spence, J.M. Studebaker, J.I. Case, W.N. Monroe and others and with this connection it is believed Mr. Cook acquired the house from Mr. Case sometime after the Granite Bank went out of business following t~e collapse of the real estate boom. The second contemporary witness, Mr. W.A. Chess, gave an account cif Monrovia's early history which appeared in the June JO, 1930 issue . f
-4- of the Monrovia News Post in which he said; "The Case home and the Studebaker residence, situated respectively at Hillcrest Drive and Mayflower avenue, and Hillcrest Drive and Alta Vista avenue,were among the finest of the early residences of the town." Mrs. L.E. Hotchkiss, who remembered the Case and Studebaker fam ilies, and who later was a friend of Mrs. J.B. Harris when the lat ter was living in the Case house said, in an account of Monrovia's early history published ~nthe Monrovia Daily N~ws Post on May 19, 1952, " J.I . C. (avenue) was named for J.I. Case, a farm implement manufacturer in Racine, Wisconsin, who moved here and built one of the first lovely homes in Monrovia, the present home of Mrs. Harold H. Scott. (No.447) At about the time J.I. Case was building his home the Studebaker family was building an almost identical home next door on Hillcrest Blvd." No.409) According to tax records, Mr. Studebaker sold his home to Col.· R.M. Baker, a retired ..elderly man . . Col. Baker lived in the house until his death, when it passed to his descendents. In 1911, on Col. Baker's 77th birthday he celebrated by extending an ·invitation to any one to come to his party provided they could certify they had attained the .age of 70 years or more. On arrival each was given a handshake and a new one-dollar bill which the colonel pinned to the guest's lapel. A group photograph survives showing the happy party. One interior feature of this house that distinguishes it from its neighbor is the fact that Col. Baker had an elevator installed for his convenience. Being an elderly man, the stairs were a problem. Col. Baker's grandchildren, who are living today, are emphatic in declaring that this'was the Studebaker home rather than its oppos ite number on Mayflower avenue. In January 1940 the old Studebaker home was demolished and the propert-y subdivided. A clipping f:rom __ the ~ra"lia ·News _,Post ioi' . - January 12, 1940 shown on page 5, tells of the house's final days. Appended hereto are two plats; the first, "Survey of Lands owned by J.I. Case and J.M. Studebaker" is based on Records of Deeds on file in the Hall of Records, Los Angeles County. It shows that Case bought two parcels from Studebaker whereby he (Case) assembled land, a portion of whith· was utilized for his homeste~d. Also is shown the portlon of his land Studebaker retained for his own use and also a ~trip along J.I.C. avenue he purchased from John M. Thomas. These two parcels Studebaker joined to form his homestead. The plat "A Portion of the Studebaker Addition to the Town of Monrovia" shows how both the Case and Studebaker properties were combined into a subdivision and the respective homesteads of the -:o two men. This plat represents the situation in 1904. Since then fur ther subdivision has taken place as the to~~ grew and today the same area has been broken down into much smaller parcels. Abstracts of appurtenant deed records are also appended hereto.
T.M. Hotchkiss " October 25, 1984; -5-
fl!J > • 58 MONROVIA NEWS-POST, MONROVIA'S ·:PIONEER NEWSP
EIGHT PAGES MONROVIA, CALIF'ORNIA, FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 1940 ------~------~ r!OLD STUDEBAKER HOME .' >!FALLS BEFORE WRECKERS r : I l.or.:: untt•nauh·d 'an for thr ghost,. of pione-rr Monrovia wht~n it , I'"'' on•· <.f Uu· shnw tl: .. , ... ~ nf tit .. S11n Gabriel \·alley. th .. old Sturlrbaker J ihun11· ;f' St'!'urity· ,t·u·t ~al~:•nal bau~ lu :\lr. strrn.. at a cuu~ideraliun unnamrd, bu< known -Jio l>t' nuh a fradi••" ul j(, uri~:inal \'aluf'. '. I Smitll Hro, .. hHu, o· \Ut•<'kt'l- ur Pasadena, art' dismantling the• house I ;anti \\ill -.dl all noalt•rbb un lht' jub . . i \lr. ~:t'rl!l' h.1' 11111 m.tdt' kur Wll his plans, but offidals o[ thf' bank - I ,tai<•d tt..tl tht· prujll'l·ty wuuld dlhf'r be ,;ubdivided nr dt·;·plopt-rl ilalo a , !ho ~ ut • t·..,talr·. I I Huilt in thr f'arlv ·~HI's hy J. l\1. Studebakf'r, manufadurl'r of the ; !"'"•kh.tl..t ·.· "'·'~'"' · tt11· old ht~mr· t'LSt IIHIII) thou,ands uf dull.tn l,J build ·. ! anti "''" uri~in : tlly '"' ruuud .. •l IJy a lwautiful and M't•ll k<'pl ~;ardt·t>. \\'ith -1 th~ ifln·i:a'•l•' ··qo. l.t. ""d urll:llt· wood trimmm~s uf that ,,.,,;od. tbt" ·; . ~tudt·b.lli•·r houw ""'· urriqth' in that it was the only jlriva!,. rt'siderH·r tn • :\JtuafO\t~ lo ho.tst .1u tlPV-.Itur·. 1 1 1 T11in lf. II~<· SttHk bak•·• home was the h:~ndsome J. I . Ca,.,t> rt-sidence · ' "' tt. .. twrtht·asl ,.,,n .. ·r of 1\-fayfluwt'r and Hillc·rest whidt slill ret:1ins I I i l :tudl uf it, lnlllt
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UlZ UlUl ('l)l:xj (t)l:xj 0 .f:ll-' 0 .f:ll-' t:ll z Nl:xj Nl:xj 948.42' • N.f:l~-' N.f:ll-' 1320'
Ul 1-d '-" UlZ UlUl 0 0 >< ('I) :s ('I) :s Pl UJ '-" 0 .f:ll-' 0 .f:ll-' 1-Jc+ Ul z ('I) N:S N:E; .. \.JJ.f:ll-' \.JJ.f:ll-' ...... :: II I .. '-..:> J.M. Studebaker sold to J.I. Case 0 0 4/18/87 41.88 ac
~l\) ~ '-".... y '-0 N L- 0 H N ._ .. • N Ul 0 c: :X:. :xJ CL 1461.9' Ul < t:x:JOt:x:J :s~ MAYFLOWER AVE J ,_.. Ro z J.M. Studebaker sold to J.I. Case OJ l:xj 0 en yt;l-:rj .. 4/18/87 ---.] . ac :S:tr.lt-'4 10.53 . ~;:,::. t2! Ul t:1 1306. 14' 421.08' Ul 1-3c: ( t:1 ( l:xj J.M. Studebaker tr.1 ;:,::. ;:::o;: l:xj J.M. Thomas sold to :::0 CL J .M. Studebaker :; ·
J. I. C. AVE • 987. 36' - ' x:P~~~. "\
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A PORTION OF THE STUDEBAKER.. ADDITION . TO Scale: 1" = 100'' THE TOWN OF MONROVIA FROM: BOOK 216 p 131 RECORDED DEEDS Los Angeles County Hall of Records John M. Studebaker, Party of the first part sells to Jerome I. Case, Party of the second part, the property described as follows: "Being a part of Lot 1 and a part of the SW~ of the NW~ Sec. 23, TlN RllW SBBM, and more partly bounded and described as follows: Commencing at a point where the center line of Mayflower ave nue intersects the North boundary of the Santa Anita Rancho from which point Statbon 22 ~f the final survey of said Santa Anita Rancho bears S64 45'W distant 18.05 chains (1191.3 ft) and a 3x3 post on the North boundary of the Santa Anita Rancho 14.37 chains (948.42 ft.) South from the~ Sec cornet between Sees. 22 and 23 Township and Range aforesaid bears S 64 45~W distant 13.59 chains ( 896.94 ft.) _,.- - OThence according to the true meridian, the magnetic variation 14 30' East, North 22.15 chains (1461.9 ft.) to a point: thence East 5.025 chains (331.65 ft,) to a point, -thence alohg the West boundary of J.M. Studebaker's land South 19.79 chains (1306.14 ft.) to a point on the North bound~ry of the Santa Anita Rancho. Thence along -said North boundary S64 45" W .5. 555 chains _j 2.§_6. 63 ft.) to the JHace of beginning. 10.53 acres. - : -· Dated Apr i 1 1 8 , 1 8 8 7 . , Recorded April 19, 1887. NOTE: lchain=66 feet.
FROM: BOOK 216 p.135J Jbhn M. Studebaker, Party of the first part, sells to Jerome I. Case, Party of the second part, the following: Being a part of Lot 1 and a part of the SW~ of the NW~ of Sec. 23 TlN RllW SBBM and more particularly bounded and described as follows, to wit: Commencing at a 3x3 post set on the North bound ary of the Santa Anita Rancho, which post is due South 14.37. chains (948.42 ft.) from the~ Sec corner between Sees 22 and 23, Township and Range aforesaid and from which Station:·,No. 22 of the Santa Anita .Rancho bears S64°45'W distant 4.36 chains (287.76 ft.), thence from this place of beginning N64 °45' E 13.59 chains .( 896.94 ft.) to the SW corner of J. I. Case ':s homestead, thence due North 22.15 chains (1461.9 ft.) to a point at the NW corner of said homestead: thence tlue East 5.025 chains (331.65 ft.) to the West line of J.M. Stude- baker's homestead; thence due North 6.38 chains (421.08 ft.), thence due West 17.12 chains ( 1129.92 ft.) to the West boundary of Sec. 23, thence due South 34.37 chains (2268.42 ft.) to the place of beginning, containing 41.88 acres. Consideration: $7200. Dated April 18th, 1887. Recorded April 19, 1887. NOTE: The words "due North ~.38 ~hains (421.08 1t.), thence" line 4 from the bottom of the former page, were inserted before acknow ledgment of this deed. Line 4: North bounda.ry of Santa Anita Rancho, which post is due South 14.37 chains (948.42 ft.) ---etc.. . -2-
FROM: Book 211 p.275 . John M. _Thomas, Party of the first part, sells to J.M. Studebaker Party of the second part, the following: Commencing at J.I.C. and the North boundary of the Santa Anita Rancho from which point Station No. 22 of the final survey of said Rancho bears S64°45'W distant 29.06 chains (1917,96 ft.) and a post on the North boundary 2f Santa Anita Rancho 1~.37 chains (948.42 ft.) South from *Section corner between Section 22 and ,Section 23 bears S 64°45'W distant 24.70 chains (1630.2 ft.) thence from this point of begining North 14.96 c~ains (987.36 ft.) to a point at the cen- ter of J.I.C., thence S64 45'W 2.38 chains (157.08 ft.) to a 4x4 post, thence South 14.96 chains (987.36 ft.) to a 3x3 post on the North boundary of the Santa Anita Rancho, thence along the· said Rancho line 2.38 chains (157.08 ft.) to the beginning. 3.21 acres. Consideration $3216
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.. ' STUDEBAKER FAMILY
JOHN CLEMENT STUDEBAKER l799-1877 Rebecca Mohler Studebaker 1802-1887 Married October 1820
Three children died early in life: HENRY 1821-1824 JEREMIAH 1823-1824 DELILAH 1828-1831 & Ten children attained adulthood: 1 SALLY (Sarah) STUDEBAKER WELCH 11/1/1822-1/19/1901 Age 79 5th to die 2 NANCY STUDE~ER LUCAS 1/22/1825-9/26/1872 Age 47 1st to die 3 HENRY STUDEBAKER 10/5/1826-3/2/1895 Age 69 3rd to die 4 ELIZABETH STUDEBAKER WITWER 5/18/1829-4/22/1909 Age 80 7th to die 5 CLEMENT STUDEBAKER ~/1~/1831-11/27/1901 Age 70 6th to die l 6 JOHN MOHLER STUDEBAKER 10/10/1833-3/16/1917 Age 84 9th to die 7 PETER EVERST STUDEBAKER . 4/1/1836-10/9/1897 Age 61 4th to die 8 REBECCA STUDEBAKER 12/21/1837-2/10/1915 Age 78 8th to,,die 9 MARIA STUDEBAKER S/~611840-5/25/1925 Age 85 10th to die ).10 JACOB FRANKLIN STUDEBAKER 5/26/1844~12/17/1887 Age 43 2nd to die
A total of 13 children in 24 years: the last was born when the mother was 42 years old.
JOHN MOHLER STUDEBAKER 1833-1917 Mary Jane Stull 1 Lillie Elgin Studebaker 1860-1901 m Harry Johnson 2 Gracie Studebaker 1862- m Frederick Fish 3 John Mohler Studebaker II 1871-1947 m Lillie Lingle 1 John Mohler Studebaker III 1900-1945 m Lillian Bartlett 1 Lillian Studebaker m Gordon Hardy • 2 Mary Studebaker m Frank Winder
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STUDEBAKER FAMILY
JACOB FRANKLIN STUDEBhKER C7613
b 26 May 1844 Ashland County, Ohio. s/o John Clement Studebaker & Rebecca Mohler Studebaker d 17 Dec. 1887 Chicago, Ill. bur City Cemetery South Bend, Ind. m 4 Oct. 1864 Harriee Chord b 1848 d/o Samuel Chord d 4 Jan 1909
Jacob attended Notre Dame 2 years, then journeyed to Tiffin, Ohio where he learned the trade of wagon and carriage making with Peter Van Ness. Returning to St. Joseph County, Indiana he engaged in farm ing for 3 years. In 1868 he joined the Studebaker Brothers ~ufact uring Co. as a salesman and later became secretary. After marriage he became a Baptist continuing a trend away from the German-Baptist heritage of his an cestors. Jacob married Miss Harriet Chord of South Bend, Indiana, and main tained a large home next to John Mohler's "Sunnyside~" Their children were Ida and Helen, later Mrs. E.I. Kuhns and Mrs. Russell Ulrich. After Jacob's deat~ his widow married and passed her later years in Buffalo, N.Y •
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